Enemies Bribe Persian Officials to Halt the Rebuilding for Fifteen Years

The peoples who had been settled in the land by the Assyrians offer to help build the temple — they too worship the God of Israel, they claim. When the leaders of Israel refuse them, they set out to frustrate the project by every means available. They hire counselors against them throughout the entire reign of Cyrus and into the reign of Darius. They write accusatory letters. They bribe officials at the Persian court. Through legal manipulation alone — no armies, no weapons — they manage to shut down the work on God's house for fifteen years. The returned exiles are building their own houses. The temple stands unfinished.