Which king is associated with allowing the Jews to return and rebuild the temple?

• A. Nebuchadnezzar
• B. Artaxerxes
• C. Cyrus the Great
• D. Darius

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is who First authorized the Jews to return home and start rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. Cyrus the Great is the king who did that after overthrowing Babylon. He issued a decree letting the exiles go back and begin rebuilding the temple, even supplying resources to get the project started. This moment is a milestone because it shows a foreign king supporting God’s people and their worship, not destroying them.

Nebuchadnezzar is the king who had previously destroyed the temple and carried the people into exile, so his role contrasts with Cyrus’s. Later rulers did have roles in related rebuilding efforts—Darius I confirmed the temple reconstruction after it had already begun, and Artaxerxes is connected to Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the city walls rather than the temple itself. But the initial and decisive authorization to return and rebuild the temple comes from Cyrus the Great.