with his wise
policy. He also intrusted the rulership of different kingdoms as far as
possible to native princes. In the Greek book of I Esdras has been
preserved a list (which has fallen out of the biblical book of Ezra) of
those who availed themselves of Cyrus's permission to return to Palestine.
It includes simply the priest Jeshua, or Joshua, the lineal heir of the
early Jerusalem priestly line of Zadok, and Zerubbabel, a descendant of
the Judean royal family. They doubtless took with them their immediate
followers and were probably accompanied by a few exiles whose loyalty
impelled them to leave the attractive opportunities in Babylon to face the
dangers of the long journey and the greater perils in Palestine.

From Jeremiah 41:5 and Haggai 2:14 it appears that a rude altar had been
built on the sacred rock at Jerusalem and that religious services were
held on the site of the ruined temple soon after its destruction in 586
B.C. With the gifts brought back by Zerubbabel and his followers, daily
sacrifices were probably instituted on the restored altar under the
direction of the priest Joshua (cf. Hag. 2:10-14). In the light, however,
of the oldest records it is clear that the revival of the Judean community
in Palestine was gradual and at first far from glorious. The Jews were a
broken-hearted, poverty-stricken, persecuted people, still crushed by the
great calamity that had overtaken their nation. The general return of the
exiles was only a dream of the future, and, despite the general permission
of Cyrus, the temple at Jerusalem still lay in ruins.

Section XCIV. THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE

[Sidenote: Hag. 1:1-6]
In the second year of Darius the king, in the first day of the sixth
month, this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Speak to
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son
of Jehozadak the high priest, saying, 'Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, "This
people say: The time has not yet come to rebuild the temple of Jehovah."'
Then this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Is it a time for
you yourselves to dwell in your own ceiled houses, while this temple lies
in ruins? Now therefore, thus saith Jehovah of hosts, 'Consider your past
experiences. Ye sow much, but bring in little; ye eat, but ye do not have
enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled; ye clothe yourselves, but not so
as to be warm; and he who earneth wages, earneth wages in a bag with
holes.'

[Si