Timeline of the Israelites’ Three Returns

1、In 538 BC, in the “first year of Cyrus king of Persia” (Ezra 1:1), Zerubbabel led the first group of exiles back to Jerusalem (Ezra 2:1-3:1). The following year, they began rebuilding the Temple (Ezra 3:8-13).

2、In 530 BC, King Cyrus was killed in Central Asia, and his son Cambyses II (reigned 530–522 BC) succeeded him. The Temple’s reconstruction was ordered to stop for over nine years due to accusations from enemies (Ezra 4:7-22) (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 11, Chapter 2, Section 30). Cambyses II conquered Egypt in 525 BC. Many Egyptian temples were desecrated and destroyed, yet local Jewish synagogues were spared. Jerusalem, located on the road between Babylon and Egypt, was a key area for the Persian Empire to maintain stability.

3、In 522 BC, Cambyses II died on his way back from Egypt, and a distant royal relative, Darius I (reigned 522–486 BC), also known as Darius, succeeded him. At this time, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah began their ministry, and the Temple’s reconstruction was allowed to resume. In 516 BC, the Temple was completed in the “sixth year of King Darius” (Ezra 6:15).

4、In 486 BC, Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes I, reigned 486–465 BC), the son of Darius I and Cyrus’s daughter, succeeded to the throne. Esther became queen in the “seventh year of King Ahasuerus” (Esther 2:16), protecting the Jewish people from annihilation.

5、In 465 BC, Ahasuerus was assassinated in a coup, and his son Artaxerxes (also known as Artaxerxes I, reigned 465–424 BC) succeeded him. Eighty years after Zerubbabel led the first group of people back, Ezra led the second group of exiles back in the “seventh year of King Artaxerxes” to teach the Law of Moses and rebuild the people.

6、Thirteen years later, Nehemiah led the third group of exiles back in the “twentieth year of King Artaxerxes” (Nehemiah 2:1) to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.