The several conquests of Nebuchadnezzar (for which, see Babylon, Table VII.) occupied him for many years after the destruction of the Temple, and it was upon his return from Egypt (the last of them), that he had the B. C. dream of the great statue, interpreted by Daniel, (9) (see Dan. ii.) () Blair, Prideaux, and others, 569 place this event in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's accession to the throne of Babylon; but Dr. Hales† assigns it (more satisfactorily) to the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's general dominion after the conquest of the several nations already enumerated, when he was "king of kings; for the GOD of heaven had given him a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory." Dan. ii. 37. (See Prophecy, 7th Period, R.) The same chain of argument places the erection of the golden image in the plains of Dura in the same year (9) Dan. iii.; his second dream, (that of the great Tree) in the year following, and its awful accomplishment a twelvemonth afterwards. Dan. iv.

Upon the death of Nebuchadnezzar, his son Evil(1) Merodach released Jehoiachin from prison, (') (where 561 he had been confined 37 years) and treated him with great kindness and distinction. 2 Kings, xxv. 27-30; Jer. lii. 31-34. The events to be remarked during the remainder of the captivity, relate more to the history of the Babylonians than of the Jews, and must be sought for

accordingly. It was in the first year of the reign (2) of Belshazzar (2) that Daniel had revealed to him 555 the vision of the four beasts, (Dan. vii.) forming an epitome of the prophetical history of the world to the end of time, (see Prophecy, 7th Period, S.) and that of the ram and the he-goat, relating more especially to the empires of Persia and Greece, two years afterwards. (3) (3) Dan. viii. (See Prophecy, 7th Period, T.) 553 In the last year of Belshazzar, that impious monarch * Con. vol. i. p. 145. ↑ Anal. vol. ii. p. 496.

made a great feast; at which, having prophaned the sacred vessels of the Temple brought from Jerusalem by his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar, he saw on the wall the hand writing, which, according to the interpretation of Daniel, denounced his death, and the destruction of his empire by the Medes and Persians, which was accomplished B, C, the same night by Cyrus, (4) who took Babylon; and (4) Belshazzar being slain," Darius, the Mede, [uncle 538 of Cyrus] took the kingdom, being about three score and two years." Dan. v.

In the first year of the reign of Darius, Daniel had revealed to him the prophecy of the 70 weeks. (4) Dan. ix. (See Prophecy, 7th Period, U.) The distinguishing favour shewn by Darius the Mede to the prophet Daniel, exciting the envy of the nobles, they worked upon the pride and vanity of that monarch to form the decree, (ch. vi.) which was intended to compass the destruction of their rival, and for the violation of which Daniel was thrown into the den of lions, where he was miraculously preserved, to the confusion of his enemies, and to the glory of the God of heaven and earth, who thus made his power (5) and goodness to be known to the heathens. (5)

537

Darius the Mede dying the same year, was succeeded by his nephew Cyrus, (5) who had been pointed out by name above two hundred years before by the prophet (Isaiah xlv.), as the instrument of God's vengeance upon Babylon, and the restorer of Jerusalem.

TABLE VIII.

One of the first acts of the reign of Cyrus was an edict for the return of the Jews, and the rebuilding of the Temple. (6) 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22-23. Ezra, i. 1-4. () Accordingly they sat out under the conduct of 536 Zerubbabel and the prince or chief of the tribe of Judah, and grand-son of Jehoiachin, the last king) who was appointed tirshatha, or governor of Judea, by Cyrus,

B. C. by the name of Shezbazzar, and of Jeshua the (9) high-priest, who presided over the ecclesiastical 535 affairs. (9) The number that returned amounted to

50,000, who arriving in Judea the first month of the year, dispersed according to their tribes, and occupied themselves in rebuilding their habitations and manuring their lands, which had remained uncultivated for upwards of 50 years. In the seventh month they all assembled at Jerusalem, where Jeshua and the priests rebuilt the altar, and renewed the morning and evening sacrifices. Ezra, iii.

1-6. In the second month of the following year (') they laid the foundation of the second Temple. (') 534 Ezra, iii. 8-13. The Samaritans offered their assistance in the work, which being declined by Jeshua upon the score of their not being " of the seed of Israel," they, in revenge for the supposed affront, by their insidious misrepresentations to the Persian court, and by bribes to the officers of state there, obtained a counter decree, by which the progress of the building was much impeded during the remainder of the reign of Cyrus, and of the reigns of Cambyses (or Ahasuerus), of the usurper Smerdis (or Artaxerxes), and to the second year of Darius Hystaspes. Ezra, iv.

In the third year of Cyrus (') Daniel had his vision of the things noted in the Scripture of Truth. Dan. xxi. (See Prophecy, 7th Period, V.)

The rebuilding of the Temple, which had been interrupted for about fourteen years, was renewed at the exhortations of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, who be

gan their ministries in the second year of the reign (3) of Darius Hystaspes, (2) and with the work was re520 newed the persecutions of the Samaritans; but

Tatnai, Persian prefect of the provinces of Syria and Judea, being a man of a just and temperate character, would not second their interference without enquiring into the grounds of it; and Zerubbabel and Jeshua having

established the lawfulness of their proceedings, by a reference to the decree given by Cyrus, obtained from Darius not only a confirmation of it, but also a grant of money for the expenses of the building, to be furnished out of the taxes of the province, which falling heavy upon the Samaritans, contributed to occasion that bitter enmity which was ever after kept up between them and the Jews. Ezra, v. vi. 1-12.

Under these favourable auspices the building proceeded rapidly, and was finished and dedicated in the 6th B. C. year of Darius. (3) Ezra, vi.; 13-22. At this de- () dication the 146th, 147th, and 148th Psalms were 515 sung.* The people had "wept" at the founding of this second temple, from comparing the present low and humbled state of the Jewish nation, with the powerful and prosperous auspices under which Solomon had constructed the first; Ezra, iii. 12, and now, at its dedication, must have lamented the loss of many tokens of Divine favour that distinguished the latter, as the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat which was upon it, the Shechinah, the Urim and Thummim, the holy fire and holy anointing oil, &c. &c. Yet God graciously promised, by the mouth of his prophet Haggai, ii. 9, that " the glory of this latter house should be greater than of the former," which was accomplished when CHRIST, the messenger of the covenant, whom the faithful, in all ages, had sought and delighted in, (see Mal. iii.) by his presence conferred upon the second temple, a glory, of which all that belonged to the first was but a type.

1

The following year the Samaritans again molested the

* In the Septuagint versions they are styled the Psalms of Haggai and Zechariah, as if they had been composed by them for this occasion; and this no doubt was from some ancient tradition: but, in “ original Hebrew, these Psalms have no such title prefixed to t neither have they any other to contradict it. Prideaux Co p. 239.

Jews, by refusing to pay the tribute that had been granted for the expenses of the temple; which induced the Jews to send a deputation to Darius, headed by Zerubbabel their governor, praying redress of this grievance ; B. C. and in consequence of their complaint, Darius issued (*) an order to his officers in Samaria, commanding them 514 strictly to inforce the payment sf the tribute. (*)* Darius died after a reign of 36 years, during which he had invariably favoured the Jews; his son and successor, Xerxes, followed his example, and confirmed all their pri

vileges. In the third year of his reign died (5) Jeshua, and was succeeded in the high priesthood 483 by his son Jehoiakim. (5)

Xerxes was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes Longimanus (the Ahasuerus of the Book of Esther), who in the third year of his reign, in celebration of his conquest over his domestic foes and competitors for the crown, made the

feast, at which Vashti the queen refusing to appear, (6) so incensed him, that he divorced her, (6) and after463 wards married Esther the Jewess," (Esther. i. ii.)

whose influence with the king proved a source of great comfort and happiness to the Jews; for it is supposed by many authors, to have been at her solicitation, that Ezra the scribe came to be appointed governor of Judea, with a full commission to re-establish both the civil and ecclesiastical affairs of the Jews according to their own laws; by the same decree, the rest of the Jews were permitted to return; it also granted the restoration of all the vessels of the temple, and the treasures which had been carried off by Nebuchadnezzar, with a farther grant of all that should be

necessary to the expenses of the undertaking, out (7) of the royal treasury. (7) Ez. vii. 1-26. From 458 this year begin the 70 weeks (of years) of the pro

* These occurrences are transferred to the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus, by some authors. See Hales's Anal. vol. ii. p. 524,

note.