BISHLAM (bĭsh'lăm). An officer of Artaxerxes (Cambyses) who opposed the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra.4.7).
BISHLAM bĭsh’ ləm (
בִּשְׁלָ֜ם,
peaceful [?]). One of three men who wrote a letter of complaint against the Jews to Artaxerxes, the king of Persia (
Ezra 4:7;
1 Esd 2:16; KJV, ASV BELEMUS). The LXX renders the word
bishlam “in peace.” It has also been suggested that
bishlam is a corruption of an original
בִּיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם, meaning “against Jerusalem.” The letter really was against the Jews in Jerusalem and complained that the Jews were rebuilding the city.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)
(bishlam, "peaceful" (?)): One of three foreign colonists who wrote a letter of complaint against the Jews to Artaxerxes (Ezr 4:7 = 1 Esdras 2:16). In 1 Esdras the reading is "Belemus." "And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions, unto Artaxerxes, king of Persia," etc. (Ezr 4:7). The Septuagint renders Bishlam as en eirene, "in peace," as though it were a phrase rather than a proper name; this is clearly an error.
