WAEC Christian Religious Studies (CRS) 2023 Theory — Question 7

Model answer

In 538 BC, King Cyrus of Persia decreed that the exiled Jews could return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. As construction progressed, the Samaritans - who were descendants of intermarriages between foreign settlers and Jews left in the land after the earlier conquest of Samaria - approached the Jewish leaders and offered to help build the Temple, claiming to worship the same God since the days of Esarhaddon. The Jewish leaders under Zerubbabel, however, rejected their offer, insisting that only they, the returned exiles, would build the house for the Lord. Offended, the Samaritans set out to discourage and frustrate the Jews, hiring counsellors against them to disrupt the project and instil fear throughout the reigns of Cyrus, Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes. They also wrote letters to the Persian authorities accusing the Jews of rebuilding a rebellious and troublesome city that, once completed, would refuse to pay tribute, custom or toll to the king. As a result, the Persian governors of the province ordered the work to stop by force, and the rebuilding was halted until the second year of the reign of King Darius, when the prophets Haggai and Zechariah stirred the Jews to resume the work despite the continued questioning of the regional governor Tattenai.