Second Temple Foundation Laid

In the second year after returning to Jerusalem, Zerubbabel and Jeshua began work on rebuilding the temple. They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and provided food, drink, and olive oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa—just as Cyrus king of Persia had authorized, echoing Solomon’s original temple construction.

When the builders laid the foundation of the LORD’s temple, the priests in their vestments stood with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, to praise the LORD as prescribed by David king of Israel. With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD:

“He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.”

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

But the celebration was bittersweet. Many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. The sound of weeping mingled with shouts of joy—no one could distinguish the weeping from the joyful shouting, because the people made so much noise that the sound was heard far away.

The elders wept because this modest foundation couldn’t compare to Solomon’s magnificent temple—built when Israel was united, wealthy, and powerful under David and Solomon. Now they were a remnant, poor and subject to Persia, building on a much smaller scale.

Yet others rejoiced because it was still the house of the LORD—God was restoring what judgment had destroyed. The temple’s glory wasn’t in its physical splendor but in God’s presence.

However, this joy would soon be interrupted. Opposition from surrounding peoples would halt construction for 16 years, turning this foundation-laying into a bitter promise unfulfilled for nearly two decades.