Ezra

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NASB	Ezra 4:23 ¶ Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes' document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their colleagues, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force of arms.
AMPLIFIED 2015	Ezra 4:23 ¶ Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes' document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they went up hurriedly to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them stop [work] by force of arms.

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Bible Question: I think you misunderstand my question. It is not Darius who I'm questioning it is Artaxerxes. He wrote the letter to stop work on the temple, Artaxerxes wasn't king until 465 BC that's 50 years after the temple was completed. How could Artaxerxes stop the building. At this period in time he would probably still be a child, considering he reigned until 424 BC. Which would mean if he was 1 year old in 519 BC he would have been 95 years old at the end of his reign

Bible Answer: My answer, referal to website.........................................
Hello Power of Grace,

This does seem to be a confusing topic. The problem is that there seems to be several kings named Artaxerxes (at least 3 in the Encyclopedia Brittanica), and also several kings named Darius (at least 3 as well). Perhaps the following information will be helpful for you. I found it at the website "http://christiananswers.net/dictionary/darius.html"

"Darius, king of Persia, was the son of Hystaspes, of the royal family of the Achaemenidae. He did not immediately succeed Cyrus on the throne. There were two intermediate kings, viz., Cambyses (the Ahasuerus of Ezra), the son of Cyrus, who reigned from B.C. 529-522, and was succeeded by a usurper named Smerdis, who occupied the throne only ten months, and was succeeded by this Darius (B.C. 521-486). Smerdis was a Margian, and therefore had no sympathy with Cyrus and Cambyses in the manner in which they had treated the Jews. He issued a decree prohibiting the restoration of the temple and of Jerusalem (Ezra 4:17-22).

But soon after his death and the accession of Darius, the Jews resumed their work, thinking that the edict of Smerdis would be now null and void, as Darius was in known harmony with the religious policy of Cyrus. The enemies of the Jews lost no time in bringing the matter under the notice of Darius, who caused search to be made for the decree of Cyrus (q.v.). It was not found at Babylon, but at Achmetha (Ezra 6:2); and Darius forthwith issued a new decree, giving the Jews full liberty to prosecute their work, at the same time requiring the Syrian satrap and his subordinates to give them all needed help.

It was with the army of this king that the Greeks fought the famous battle of Marathon (B.C. 490). During his reign the Jews enjoyed much peace and prosperity. He was succeeded by Ahasuerus, known to the Greeks as Xerxes, who reigned for twenty-one years."