But these ferocious animals had refused to eat so holy a prophet.In the morning，Daniel had walked out of the cage without a single scratch，and after that，he lived his life in peace.
When it became certain that he could not undertake the journey，the Persians looked for another candidate for the governorship of the reёstablished province of Judah.
Their choice fell upon a certain Zerubbabel，who was distantly related to the old Judaean kings.Zerubbabel went to Jerusalem and together with the high priest，Joshua，he began the work of reconstruction.
It was no easy task.The entire city had to be rebuilt.Most of the surrounding territory had been turned into farms and pastures by squatters from the Samaritans’country.They of course hated to be dispossessed and they did everything they could to make the life of the newcomers as difficult and as unpleasant as possible.
They hoped to make an honest penny working on the Temple but they were informed that no heathens need apply for a job on the holy shrine.
To revenge themselves，they sent mysterious messages to Cyrus，warning the Persian king of a rebellion which was to make Judah an independent kingdom as soon as the Temple should be finished.
Cyrus was a very busy man.He had no time to bother about such trifles as a Jewish revolt，but as a precautionary measure，he gave orders that the building of the Temple should be discontinued until the charge should have been investigated.
Soon afterwards Cyrus died and the matter was forgotten.Several years went by and the half-finished walls were beginning to be covered with weeds.Then the prophet Haggai appeared upon the scene.He denounced Zerubbabel for his indolence and timidity and told him to continue the work on the walls with or without royal permission.
Zerubbabel，who was sadly in need of a little encouragement，promised that he would do so.He told the people to go back to work.
But then he got into trouble with Tatnai，the governor of Samaria，who asked him by what right he was building this house of God which began to look more and more like a regular fortification.Zerubbabel answered that he had obtained the permission years ago from Cyrus.Tatnai sent this answer to headquarters.Meanwhile，Cambyses，the successor of Cyrus，had also died and had been followed by Darius.Darius ordered that a search be made of the archives.It was getting to be quite a complicated case.But fortunately，the original decree，signed by Cyrus，was discovered.
Tatnai thereupon withdrew his opposition and four years later the Temple was finished.
Slowly a few other exiles returned to their native country.The vast majority of the Jews，however，continued to live in the commercial centers of Egypt and Babylonia and Persia.Whenever circumstances allowed it，they celebrated their great religious festivals within the walls of their holy city.They acknowledged and honoured the old town as their spiritual home.But the little land-locked capital，with its narrow and dirty streets and its neglected workshops，did not offer sufficient opportunity for worldly success.
As soon as the last offering had been made and the last psalm had been chanted the visitors hastened back to the busy counting houses of Susa and Daphnae.They were proud to be Jews and they loved Jerusalem，provided they did not have to live there all the year round.
In this way there developed that strange double loyalty which was to cause much trouble and suffering during the next four centuries.For although the Jews，in the dispersion，lived peacefully among the Persians and the Egyptians and the Greeks and the Romans，they never adopted the customs of these countries.
Everywhere they formed a state within a state.
They lived in a quarter of their own.
They went to a different temple.
They did not allow their children to associate with the boys and girls to whom Jehovah was just a funny name.They would rather kill their daughters than give them in marriage to a heathenish husband.
They ate different food which had been differently prepared.
They were careful to obey the laws of the land，but besides they obeyed certain very rigid and complicated laws of their own.
By preference they wore a garment which distinguished them from other people.
And they rigorously celebrated certain holidays which were a complete mystery to their fellow-citizens.
People are always suspicious of those of their neighbours whom they fail to understand.The aloofness of these Jewish colonies，the open scorn of all Jews for the gods of other races，together with their gift for racial team-work，often made them unpopular among their neighbours and frequently led to bitter feuds.
In one of these，early during the fifth century before the birth of Christ，the Jews in Persia perished and were for a moment in danger of complete annihilation.
The underlying causes for this sudden outbreak we do not know.But we find all the details of the plot in the book of Esther.
The book of Esther，the last of the so-called historical books of the Old Testament，like the book of Daniel，was written several centuries after the death of Xerxes and in this case there are no Persian inions to help us out.We know a great deal about King Xerxes，who almost destroyed the new civilization of the European mainland.He was both weak and worthless and the story of his behaviour towards his wife is entirely in keeping with his general character.
Xerxes，or Ahasuerus，as the Jews called him，had divorced his wife after a most disgraceful quarrel.The King had been drinking too much.So，for that matter，had the Queen.There had been hot words and Vashti，the wife，had been forced to leave the royal palace.
Xerxes had immediately searched the country for a new queen and he had selected Esther，a young Jewish girl who was an orphan and who lived with her cousin Mordecai，a man of considerable standing in the community and favourably known at the royal court.
