<strong>BISHLAM</strong> (bĭsh'lăm). An officer of Artaxerxes (Cambyses) who opposed the rebuilding of the temple (<bibleref ref="Ezra.4.7">Ezra.4.7</bibleref>).<br /><br />

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<strong>BISHLAM</strong> <strong>bĭsh’ ləm</strong> (<span class="hebrew">בִּשְׁלָ֜ם</span>, <em>peaceful</em> [?]). One of three men who wrote a letter of complaint against the Jews to Artaxerxes, the king of Persia (<bibleref ref="Ezra.4.7">Ezra 4:7</bibleref>; <bibleref ref="1Esd.2.16">1 Esd 2:16</bibleref>; KJV, ASV BELEMUS). The LXX renders the word <em>bishlam</em> “in peace.” It has also been suggested that <em>bishlam</em> is a corruption of an original <span class="hebrew">בִּיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם</span>, meaning “against Jerusalem.” The letter really was against the Jews in Jerusalem and complained that the Jews were rebuilding the city.<br /><br />

<h2>International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)</h2>

(bishlam, "peaceful" (?)): One of three foreign colonists who wrote a letter of complaint against the Jews to Artaxerxes (<bibleref ref="Ezra.4.7">Ezr 4:7</bibleref> = 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. (<bibleref ref="Ezra.4.7">Ezr 4:7</bibleref>). 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.<br /><br />