References (16)
They bribed counselors with the intention of thwarting their plans every day from the time of Cyrus, the [first] king of Persia, until [539 BC] the reign of Darius, the [third] king of Persia [522-486 BC].
[The first three kings of the Persian Empire were: Cyrus (539-530 BC), Cambyses II (530-522 BC), and Darius I (Darius the Great) (522-486 BC). The story continues from in , but in between there is a flash forward showing that even after the temple was completed under Zerubbabel, the Samaritans continued to oppose the rebuilding of Jerusalem.]
[After a forward-looking section (with an introduction in verses 4-5 and examples from a letter in verses 6-23) that indicates future opposition, the chronological narrative from resumes here.]
Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased. It was prevented until the second year of the reign of the Persian king Darius [520 BC].
[Darius I took power in Persia after the civil war following the death of Cambyses. A few years into his reign, the political situation had stabilized (except for some battles with Egypt in 518-519 BC). Under Darius' reign from 522 to 486 BC, the Persian Empire reached its heyday.]
The eye of God was watching over the elders of the Jews, so that no one hindered them until the matter had come before Dareyavesh [who reigned 522-486 BC] and they had received a letter back from him about this.
This is what was written in the letter that Tatnai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and Shethar-Boznai and his colleagues, the Afars, beyond the River, sent to King Darius.
They sent him a report, which said:
"Peace be with King Darius.
Then King Darius gave his order, and inquiries were made in the archives of the treasury in Babylon.
May the God who has made his name dwell there strike down all kings and peoples who raise their hands to violate this decree and destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Dareyavesh, give this command. See that it is carried out carefully!"
Since King Darius had sent out such a command, it was carefully carried out by Tatnai, the governor on the other side of the river, and by Shethar-Boznai, as well as by their fellow brothers.
The elders of the Jews continued to build and made progress in the work through the prophetic words of Haggai and Zechariah, the son of Iddo. They built and completed it as the God of Israel had commanded and as Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes (Hebr. Artachshaste) [who reigned from 465 to 424 BC, see , ], king of Persia, had commanded.
The temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar [in the spring—March 12] in the sixth year of Darius' reign [516 BC—almost exactly 70 years after the destruction of the temple in August 587 BC].
[Ezra gives the exact date of completion since Zerubbabel laid the foundation 21 years earlier, see . From the time the work was resumed, through the influence of the two prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the time was only four years, five months, and ten days.]
In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month [Elul], on the first day [August 29, 520 BC], the word of the Lord (Yahweh) came through the prophet Haggai (Hebr. Chaggai) to:
Zerubbabel (Hebr. Zerobavel), son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah [; ; ]
and to Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest [; ; ; ].
[The message is addressed first to the leaders, as it is primarily their responsibility, but the prophetic word is also addressed to the people, see verses 3-4.]
He said [Haggai prophesied]:
[The Feast of Tabernacles (Hebr. sukkah) is celebrated from the evening of the 15th of Tishri and for seven days thereafter. It has now been almost two months since Haggai's first message. The second message comes on the 21st day of the month, which is the 7th day of the feast. This is a fitting coincidence, since Haggai's name (Hebr. Chaggai) means "my feasts." It is also exactly 440 years since 960 BC, when Solomon completed the first temple, see ; .]
In the 7th month [Tishri] on the 21st day of the month [October 17, 520 BC], the word of the Lord (Yahweh) came to Haggai, the prophet, saying:
On the 24th day of the 9th month [Kislev] in the 2nd year of King Darejavesh [December 18, 520 BC], the word of the Lord (Yahweh) came to Haggai, the prophet, saying:
In the eighth month [Cheshvan – Oct/Nov] of the second year of King Darius' reign [520 BC, he was Persian king 522-486 BC], the word of the Lord (Yahweh) came to the prophet Zechariah [Hebr. Zechariah – meaning: 'God remembers'], son of Berechiah [meaning: 'The Lord blesses'], son of Iddo [meaning: 'His witness'].
[Zechariah's grandfather Iddo had returned from Babylon 16 years earlier (538 BC) under the leadership of Zerubbabel, see , . Zechariah was from a priestly family, see , . His ministry begins one month before Haggai receives his last vision, see , . The events in occur at the same time as the events in ]
He [Zechariah] said:
On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shvat [February 15, 519 BC], in the second year of the reign of King Darius [520-519 BC], the word of the Lord (Yahweh) came to the prophet Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo. [Three months after the prophetic address, see .] He [Zechariah] said:
In the fourth year of King Dareyavesh's reign, the word of the Lord (Yahweh) came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Kislev. [December 7, 518 BC]
