Summary
The chapter opens with the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learning of the rebuilding of the temple and proposing to join the effort, but Zerubbabel and Jeshua reject their help. Instead, the surrounding peoples and Persian officials conspire to sabotage the project by issuing letters of complaint to the king, accusing the Jews of rebellion and threatening to damage royal revenues. These letters culminate in a decree that halts the building of the temple and Jerusalem’s walls. The interference continues throughout the reigns of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, with the opposition employing both political persuasion and force to stop the work. Finally, by the second year of Darius’s reign, the construction of the house of God is suspended due to these external pressures.