His tomb is still deeply
reverenced, and no one is allowed to fish near the part of the river
where he is said to have seen his vision.
Cyrus died about seven years after Daniel, much loved by his people,
who, for many years, would not believe him dead, but trusted he would
yet return to rule over them.
LESSON XIII.
THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE.
"The Lord doth build up Jerusalem, and gather together the outcasts of
Israel."--_Psalm_ clxxvii. 2.
42,360 was the number of Jews who returned to their own land by the
permission of Cyrus. They were under the keeping of Joshua the High
Priest, and of Zerubbabel, son of Salathiel, who was either by birth,
son of King Jehoiachin, or else had been adopted by him from the line of
Nathan, son of David. In either way, he was head of the house of David,
and would have been king, had not the crown been taken away because of
the sin of his fathers. He had, it is said, won favour at the court of
Darius the Mede by his cleverness in a contention of wits, where each
man was asked what was the strongest thing in existence. One said it was
wine, because it made men lose their senses; another said it was the
king, because of his great power; but Zerubbabel said it was woman, and
so ingeniously proved how women could sway the minds of men, that the
king was delighted, and promised to give him whatever he would ask.
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