Enemies halt the rebuilding
Neighbors who had been refused a share in the building discouraged the workers, hired counselors against them, and finally got a Persian king to order the work stopped.
Then work stopped on God’s house which is at Jerusalem. It stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Ezra 4:24 (World English Bible)
For about sixteen years the temple stood as a bare foundation. Ezra 4 also records letters from later reigns, grouped together by topic, showing that opposition continued for generations.
Places
JerusalemSamariaPersiaBeyond the River
Ancient witnesses outside the Bible
Historical sources, not Scripture.
- 1 Esdras 2:16–30 — the letter to Artaxerxes
- 1 Esdras 5:66–73 — as 1 Esdras retells it
Dating notes
Ussher identifies the “Artaxerxes” of Ezra 4:7–23 with a Persian king who ruled briefly in 523–522 BC (Smerdis). Many scholars instead read 4:6–23 as a later episode from the reigns of Xerxes and Artaxerxes I, placed here thematically.