Tattenai was eager to discover if the Jews had a building permit (Ezra 5:3), and who were the ones were who were doing the building (Ezra 5:4).1 He wants to make sure that the Jews have the right authority to actually build their temple. He most likely came to investigate the work going on in Jerusalem in response to noise made by people living around Jerusalem who opposed the Jews, the enemies of Judah and Benjamin mentioned in Ezra 4:1–3.
3 At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?”