The Medo-Persian Empire- Dan 11:2

DARIUS I (HYSTASPES) (cont’d) • Darius I Hystaspes became the fifth

king of the Medo-Persian empire and the fourth king of the Achaemenid empire, following Cyrus, Cambyses, and Smerdis (Gaumata)

• He ruled for 36 years , f rom September 522 BC- October 486 BC

• He established an additional 20 provinces (satrapies) in the empire (The Histories, 3.89), which brought the total to 127 (Est 1:1) cf. (Dan 6:1) and extended the empire “from India even unto Ethiopia” (Est 1:1)

• He ruled the Achaemenid empire at its territorial peak, and it was the largest empire the world had ever seen up to that time- it covered approximately 2.12 million square miles and contained 44% of the world’s population, the largest proportion in history

The Medo-Persian Empire- Daniel 11:2

The Revised Roman Empire- Daniel 2:39

The Revised Roman Empire- Daniel 2:39

The Medo-Persian empire included all or part of the lands currently known as Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS OF THE ACHAEMENID EMPIRE, 490 BC

The Medo-Persian Empire- Dan 11:2DARIUS I (HYSTASPES) (cont’d) • Josephus provides information about the alleged history of Darius in Antiquities

Book 11, Chapters 3-4 • Darius made a vow to God that if he ever became king he would return all the

vessels to the temple that Nebuchadnezzar had taken, but forgot his vow when he became king

• Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, who was instrumental in laying the foundation of the second temple (Ezr 3:2,8,10) and had an old friendship with Darius, came to him from Jerusalem with two others

• They hoped to be chosen to be members of the king’s bodyguard, which hope they achieved (Antiquities 11.3.1)

• In the first year of his reign (i.e.- 522 BC), Darius had a great feast for all those in house, his governors, and his generals but afterwards was unable to get to sleep

• He called for the three bodyguards, including Zerubbabel, and conversed with them for awhile, but then came to issue them a challenge

• He would pose an inquiry to the three of them and the one who gave the most convincing response would be the winner, and the winner would be dressed in a purple garment, drink in cups of gold, sleep upon gold, have a chain of gold around his neck, sit next to the king, and be called the king’s cousin

The Medo-Persian Empire- Dan 11:2DARIUS I (HYSTASPES) (cont’d) • He then posed his inquiry to them asking, which is strongest, wine, kings,

women, or truth? • He let them ponder on their response throughout the night and in the morning,

invited all the great men, princes, and governors of his kingdom to hear their responses (Antiquities 11.3.2)

• The first bodyguard took the position that wine is the strongest and gave compelling evidence to support his claim (Antiquities 11.3.3)

• The second took the position that the king is the strongest and also gave compelling evidence to support his claim (Antiquities 11.3.4)

• Zerubbabel took the position that a women is the strongest of the three and gave even more compelling evidence to support his position

• But then he stated that, while a woman was the strongest of these three it was not the strongest of all, for that distinction went to the truth, which alone is eternal and unchanging (Antiquities 11.3.5-6)

• When Zerubbabel ended his argument, the multitude in audience cried out that his response was wisest of all

• Darius declared that he not only won the honor of sitting beside him and being called his cousin, but could ask for something over and above what was promised

The Medo-Persian Empire- Dan 11:2DARIUS I (HYSTASPES) (cont’d) • Zerubbabel responded by reminding the king of his vow to God in case he

should ever become king- that he would rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, and restore the vessels that Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylon (Antiquities 11.3.7)

• Darius was pleased with what Zerubbabel requested, arose and kissed him, and wrote the orders and letters to resume the work on the temple and restore the vessels (Antiquities 11.3.8)

• The circumstances precipitating resumption of the work on the second temple are much different in the Bible

• Since the details are provided in the OT books of Ezra and Haggai, it is strange that Josephus cites what appears to be contradictory circumstances

• It is interesting to note that Josephus’ account of the three bodyguards and their three speeches is similar to 3 Esdras 3-4

• We may not know exactly what took place during the first year of the reign of Darius, but the Bible tells what took place in the second year of his reign

• DARIUS appears 25x and refers to: (1) Darius the Mede 8x (Dan 5:31; 6:1,6,9,25,28; 9:1; 11:1); and (2) Darius I Hystaspes 17x (Ezr 4:5,24; 5:5-7; 6:1,12-15; Neh 12:22; Hag 1:1,15; 2:10; Zec 1:1,7; 7:1)

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