522 BC · AM 3482 · Return

A royal order forces the work to stop

Accusers wrote to the Persian court portraying Jerusalem as a rebellious city. A royal reply ordered the rebuilding stopped, and the opponents went to Jerusalem with force; the work on the house of God remained halted until the second year of Darius (Ezra 4:6-24).

regnal dating
📖 Ezra 4:6–8

6At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, an accusation was lodged against the people of Judah and Jerusalem. 7And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. It was written in Aramaic and then translated. 8Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote the letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:

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