Esra 4:18

Det Norsk Bibelselskap

Det brev I har sendt til oss, er nøiaktig blitt lest op for mig,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The letter which ye sent unto us,.... The plural number is used, being now become courtly for kings thus to speak of themselves:

hath been plainly before me; by such that understood both the Syrian and Persian languages; the letter was written in the Syrian language, and the king being a Persian, it was necessary it should be interpreted and explained to him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Hath been ... read - It is doubtful if the Persian monarchs could ordinarily read. At any rate, it was their habit to have documents read to them (compare Esther 6:1). This is still the ordinary practice in Eastern courts.