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One of the most well known events involving the Tobiads, was Tobiah's interaction with Ezra and Nehemiah during the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. In order to understand the political tensions and the internal situation within the trans-Euphrates, including Judea, Samaria, and elsewhere, following the return in 539 B.C.E. from the Babylonian captivity we need to understand the context and mechanism of that return.

The historian Ben Sasson proposes that upon conquering the Babylon Empire, Cyrus, embarked on a policy of reconciliation with his new subjects. This policy stood in marked contrast with the bitter rule of Nabonidus the last Babylonian king, who had heavily taxed his subjects and ordered all the temples of his empire closed and their idols removed and brought to protect the capital city. Perhaps wishing to present himself as a restorer of religion and order in Babylon and benefactor of all his subjects, Cyrus issued decrees allowing the rebuilding of temples, and the return of their idols, throughout his empire.

The proclamation by Cyrus, King of Persia, to the exiles of Judah in Babylon permitting them to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, appears to be one more examples of Cyrus policy of restoration and rebuilding of temples. The proclamation was made during his first year of rule after conquering the Babylonian Empire. Most historians date this event to 538 BCE. This was followed by several attempts, eventually successful, over several generations, to restart the Jewish sacrificial system, rebuild the Temple, and enclose the Temple area with a wall.

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah describe these events. The main characters in these books are Zerubbabel (later Nehemiah), Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshmu the Arab. It is generally assumed that Zerubbabel was "Jewish" and Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshmu were native non-Jewish "adversaries of Judah and Benjamin" (Ezra 4:1). The books of Ezra and Nehemiah lend themselves to the simplistic explanation that once the Temple was destroyed, the "Jews" were exiled to Babylon. Afterwards non-Jewish colonists were moved into the Land of Israel in their place. When the "Jews" returned in 549BCE, they started to rebuild the Temple. The local (non-Jewish) population wanted to participate in the construction of the Temple, but was denied. This led to strife and conflict between non-Jew and Jew led by Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshmu against the governors of Judah.

However, upon closer examination the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and in light of archaeological findings, this simplistic explanation does not stand up to critical review. Modern scholarship suggests that Zerubbabel, Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshmu were governors appointed by the Persia government for military, religious, taxation and general administration purposes. It also appears that they were each from leading families among the Jews in Babylon and returning exiles. The local population was an admixture of colonists, poorer Jewish families that had remained, and neighboring ethnic groups that had expanded into what was once the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

David Hughes goes further and suggests that these "leading families" were related to the Jewish royal family and the previous governors of each respective area. Sanballat believed himself to be related to the royal line through the kings of Israel. Tobias was a Levite, and believed himself to be a descendant of the princes of Messashe, governors of Ammon, Moab and Edom, and through them to the royal line. Geshmu was a descendant of the Jewish governors over Nabatu and Sheba, and through them to royal line. According to this theory, when Cyrus sent governors to rule over what had once been Israel and Judah, he sent men from the royal family. These men functioned as tax farmers for the Persian government. In order to gain acceptance with the local population and fascilitate the collection of taxes they heavily intermarried with the local population, except for those associated with the "tribes of Judah and Benjamin".

Critical analysis of the text of Ezra and Nehemia reveals that sets of four occur throughout the text: four governors, four regional districts, four high priests, four scribes, etc. Yet we find that "Jerusalem ruled throughout the entire Trans-Euphrates" (Ezra 4:20). This would imply that the Temple and religious hierarchy in Jerusalem was to function for "all of Israel" throughout the Trans-Euphrates, from Egypt to southern Syria. Thus political tension in the Land of Israel would not necessary be centered on ethnic and religious strife, but rather on the fact that the governors, Sanballat, Tobiad and Geshmu were put in a position where they had to pay for a religious system over which they had no control, "From the taxes of Trans-Euphrates the complete costs are to be given to these men" (Ezra 6:8) This would explain the two-fold resistance to the Temple in Jerusalem, first when it has decreed that there would be a single Temple throughout the Trans-Euphrates, and secondly when it was allowed that the Judeans could build a wall around the Temple restricting control to a single political group.

By following the "sets of four" that occur throughout the text, it can be seen that the Persian governors paralleled each other in many ways, with the exception that the religious prerogative had been specially endowed on the governor of Judea, as detailed in the following table:

Persian Governance of Trans-Euphrates
(as described in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah)

	Judah	Samaria	Trans-jordan	Arabia
Ezra 1:11	Sheshbazzar governor
Prince Ezra 2:60	Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel	descendants of Delaiah	descendants of Tobiah	descendants of Nekoda
High Priest Ezra 2:60	Jeshua son of Jozadak	descendants of Hobaiah	descendants of Hakkoz	descendants of Barzillai
Ezra 3:1	the Israelites were living in their towns, the people assembled in Jerusalem
Ezra 4:1	Judah and Benjamin	the enemies of Judah and Benjamin
Wrote to the King Ezra 4:7		Bishlam	Mithredath	Tabeel
Ezra 4:8		Rehum the commander	Shimshai the scribe	colleagues
Ezra 4:9	deserted	Babylonians	Erechites (Iraqis)	People of Susa (Elamites)
Ezra 4:10-11	Jerusalem	Samaria	other places in Trans-Euphrates
Ezra 4:20	Jerusalem ruled throughout the entire Trans-Euphrates
The officials Ezra 5:3,6 6:12	Zerubbabel governor of the  Jews	Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates	Shethar-Bozenai	colleagues
Temple Tax Ezra 6:8	From the taxes of Trans-Euphrates the complete costs are to be given to these men
Ezra 8:35	They presented the decrees of the king to the king's satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who gave help to the people and to the temple of God.
Zechariah 6:9	Zechariah’s symbolic crowning of Joshua as high priest. ”This will all come to pass if you completely obey the voice of the Lord your God.”
Zechariah 6:10	Josiah son of  Zephaniah	Heldai	Tobijah	Jedaiah
Zechariah 6:14	Hen son of	Helem	Tobijah	Jedaiah
Completion of the Temple Ezra 6:16	The people of Israel the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles observed the dedication of this temple of God with joy. For the dedication of this temple of God they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve male goats for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
The Passover Ezra 6:21	The Israelites who were returning from the exile ate it, along with all those who had joined them in separating themselves from the uncleanness of the nations of the land to seek the Lord God of Israel.
High Priest Ezra 7:1	Ezra
Ezra 7:21,27	I, King Artaxerxes, hereby issue orders to all the treasurers of Trans-Euphrates, that you precisely execute all that Ezra the priestly scribe of the law of the God of heaven may request of you ... [Ezra will] appoint judges and court officials who can arbitrate cases on behalf of all the people who are in Trans-Euphrates who know the laws of your God. Those who do not know this law should be taught.
The Proclamation Ezra 10:7-8	A proclamation was circulated throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles were to be assembled in Jerusalem. Everyone who did not come within three days would thereby forfeit all his property, in keeping with the counsel of the officials and the elders. Furthermore, he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.
Ezra 10:9	Went up	Did not go up
Prince Neh 2:7	Nehemiah governor of Judea
Neh 2:10,19		Sanballat the Horonite	Tobiah the Ammonite	Geshem the Arab
Building Wall Neh 4:1-7		Army of Samaria people of Ashdod	Ammonites	Arabs
Prophets Neh 6:10	Haggai, Zechariah, Zephaniah (father of Josiah)	Shemaiah son of Delaiah son of Mehetabel	Noadiah the prophetess	other prophets
Neh 12:47	All Israel was contributing the portions for the singers and gatekeepers, according to the daily need. They also set aside the portion for the Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron.
Intermarriage Neh 13:23		Women from Ashdod	Women from Ammon	Women from Moab