Ezra 6:13

THE TEMPLE WAS FINISHED WITHIN ABOUT FOUR YEARS

"Then Tattenai the governor beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their companions, because that Darius the king had sent, did accordingly with all diligence. And the elders of the Jews builded and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they budded and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of Darius the king."

"And Artaxerxes king of Persia" (Ezra 6:14). There was a lapse of 82 years between the end of Darius' reign (486 B.C.) and the beginning of that of Artaxerxes (404 B.C.) (See p. 25, above); and some have wondered just why his name should have been mentioned along with that of Cyrus and Darius. "He was probably included here because he, at a later date, contributed to the beautifying of the temple (Ezra 7:21-28)."[17]

"The third day of the month Adar" (Ezra 6:15). "This was March 12,515 B.C., four and one half years after work had begun in earnest."[18] It will be remembered that it required over seven years in the building of Solomon's temple.