“This is a copy of the letter that the Spartans sent.
‘The rulers and the city of the Spartans
To the high priest Simon
And the elders
And the priests
And the rest of the Jewish people,
Our brothers,
Greetings!
The envoys you sent to our people
They have told us about your glory and honor.
We rejoiced at their coming.
We have recorded in our public decrees,
As follows.
‘Numenius son of Antiochus
And Antipater son of Jason,
Envoys of the Jews,
They have come to us
To renew their friendship with us.
It has pleased our people to receive these men with honor.
We put a copy of their words in the public archives,
So that the people of the Spartans may have a record of them.
They have sent a copy of this to the high priest Simon.’”
Once again like the letter in chapter 12, it is the leader and all the people who are involved in this letter writing. The envoys of Numenius and Antipater are mentioned by name. They spoke highly of Simon. They wanted to renew their friendship so that that their words were put in the public archives.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 