World English Bible · The Persian return
Haggai 2
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In the seventh month, in the twenty-first day of the month, word came by the , saying, "Speak now to the son of , governor of Judah, and to the son of , the , and to of the people, saying, 'Who is left among you who saw this house in its former ? How do you see it now? Isn't it in your eyes as nothing? Yet now be strong, ,' . 'Be strong, son of , the . Be strong, all you people of the land,' , 'and work, for I am with you,' of Armies. This is the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of , and lived among you. 'Don't be afraid.' For this is what of Armies says: 'Yet once more, it is a little while, and I will shake , the earth, the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations. The of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with , of Armies. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,' of Armies. 'The latter of this house will be greater than the former,' of Armies; 'and in this place I will give peace,' of Armies." In the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, word came by the , saying, " of Armies says: Ask now the priests concerning , saying, 'If someone carries meat in the fold of his garment, and with his fold touches bread, stew, , oil, or any food, will it become ?'" The priests answered, "No." Then said, "If one who is by reason of a body touches any of these, will it be ?" The priests answered, "It will be ." Then answered, "'So is this people, and so is this nation before me,' ; 'and so is every work of their hands. That which they offer there is . Now, please consider from this day and backward, before a stone was laid on a stone in temple. Through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When one came to the vat to draw out fifty, there were only twenty. I struck you with blight, mildew, and hail in all the work of your hands; yet you didn't turn to me,' . 'Consider, please, from this day and backward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, since the day that the foundation of temple was laid, consider it. Is the yet in the barn? Yes, , the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree haven't produced. From today you.'" 20 word came the second time to in the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, "Speak to , governor of Judah, saying, 'I will shake and the earth. I will overthrow of kingdoms. I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them. The horses and their riders will come down, everyone of his brother. In that day, of Armies, I will take you, my servant, the son of ,' , 'and will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you,' of Armies."
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The world at this moment · The Persian return, 539 BC to 332 BC ›
Persia takes Babylon and reverses its policy, sending exiled peoples home to rebuild their temples. Judah returns as a small province, rebuilding under imperial permission rather than independence.
- Persia
- The largest empire the world had yet seen, from the Indus to the Aegean, run through provinces, a royal road, and a postal system. Its policy on conquered peoples was to send them home and fund their temples, in exchange for loyalty and prayers for the king. The Cyrus Cylinder states the policy in Cyrus's own words, and Ezra opens with the same policy applied to Judah.
- Judah
- A small, poor province called Yehud, a fraction of the old kingdom, with a rebuilt temple that made the people who remembered the first one weep. No king, and no prospect of one. Leadership passes to priests and scribes, which shapes everything afterward.
- Greece
- Persia and Greece collide at Marathon and Salamis, Persia loses, and Athens spends the following decades on the Parthenon, tragedy, and Socrates. Herodotus writes the first history in order to explain that war. Then Plato and Aristotle, whose vocabulary the church will still be using at Nicaea eight centuries later.
- Further afield
- Rome throws out its kings and becomes a republic. In India and China this is the age of the Buddha's early followers and of Confucian teaching taking hold. More of what the world still thinks with was invented in this era than in almost any other.