Ezra 5 · a question people ask
Was Tattenai one of the adversaries?
The chapter doesn't call him one. Chapter 4 speaks of "the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin" (Ezra 4:1); chapter 5 calls Tattenai "the governor beyond the River" (5:3, 5:6). He asks, "Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this wall?" (5:3), and asks for the builders' names (5:4, 5:10). His letter tells the king, "This work goes on with diligence and prospers in their hands" (5:8), reports the elders' answer in their own words (5:11-16), and asks for a search of the records (5:17). The chapter doesn't say why he asked or what he hoped the answer would be. In the next chapter Darius writes to him, "you must stay far from there" (Ezra 6:6), and "Leave the work of this house of God alone" (Ezra 6:7), and Tattenai and his companions "did accordingly with all diligence, because Darius the king had sent a decree" (Ezra 6:13). These notes keep to what the verses say.
The verses
“Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel,”
“Now therefore, Tattenai, governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the River, you must stay far from there. Leave the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place.”
“Then Tattenai, the governor beyond the River, Shetharbozenai, and their companions did accordingly with all diligence, because Darius the king had sent a decree.”