<P> Seven years later , Cyrus the Great , who allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple , died ( 2 Chronicles 36 : 22 -- 23 ) and was succeeded by his son Cambyses . On his death , the `` false Smerdis , '' an impostor , occupied the throne for some seven or eight months , and then Darius became king ( 522 BCE ) . In the second year of his rule the work of rebuilding the temple was resumed and carried forward to its completion ( Ezra 5 : 6 -- 6 : 15 ) , under the stimulus of the earnest counsels and admonitions of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah . It was ready for consecration in the spring of 516 BCE , more than twenty years after the return from captivity . The Temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar , in the sixth year of the reign of Darius , amid great rejoicings on the part of all the people ( Ezra 6 : 15 , 16 ) , although it was evident that the Jews were no longer an independent people , but were subject to a foreign power . The Book of Haggai includes a prediction that the glory of the second temple would be greater than that of the first ( Haggai 2 : 9 ) . </P>
<P> Seven years later , Cyrus the Great , who allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple , died ( 2 Chronicles 36 : 22 -- 23 ) and was succeeded by his son Cambyses . On his death , the `` false Smerdis , '' an impostor , occupied the throne for some seven or eight months , and then Darius became king ( 522 BCE ) . In the second year of his rule the work of rebuilding the temple was resumed and carried forward to its completion ( Ezra 5 : 6 -- 6 : 15 ) , under the stimulus of the earnest counsels and admonitions of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah . It was ready for consecration in the spring of 516 BCE , more than twenty years after the return from captivity . The Temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar , in the sixth year of the reign of Darius , amid great rejoicings on the part of all the people ( Ezra 6 : 15 , 16 ) , although it was evident that the Jews were no longer an independent people , but were subject to a foreign power . The Book of Haggai includes a prediction that the glory of the second temple would be greater than that of the first ( Haggai 2 : 9 ) . </P>
who gave permission to construct the second temple of jerusalem
who gave permission to construct the second temple of jerusalem
Cyrus the Great ,
Cyrus the Great ,