Clement agrees with us on this [point] in the first [book of his] Stromata [1.21] where he notes [g183]:
The captivity lasted for seventy years, and ended in the second year of Darius Hystaspes, who had become king of the Persians, Assyrians, and Egyptians. As I said previously, it was during his reign that Haggai and Zechariah, of the twelve, and Malachi [Angelus], whose name translates as "angel", prophesied. The high priest at that time was Joshua the son of Josedech.
Such is the account of that credible man [Clement].
[39] Moreover, the prophet Zechariah as a contemporary also testifies that there was a period of 70 years from the destruction of the temple until the second year of Darius. For in the second year of Darius he wrote [Zechariah 1.12]: "God Almighty, how long wilt thou have no mercy [g184] on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these seventy years?"
At this point one might inquire: Why does it state in the beginning of the book of Ezra [1.1]: "In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing." Furthermore, subsequent [passages] indicate that freedom [was given] to the Jews [at that point] and that it was Cyrus who ordered that the temple be rebuilt. From this one would assume that it was during the time of Cyrus, rather than Darius, that the 70 years of captivity came to an end.
To this I reply that the prophecies refer to two [distinct] 70-year periods. The first began with the destruction of the temple and ended, as Zechariah stated, in the second year of Darius [g185]. The second extends from the enslavement of the Jews to the capture of Babylon and the destruction of the Chaldean kingdom. This began in the time of the prophecy and ended with Cyrus, as Jeremiah recorded. [Jeremiah] further predicted [Jeremiah 29.10]: "For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfil to you my promise and bring you back to this place." And he also prophesies [Jeremiah 25.11-12]: "This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then, after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, says the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste. [g186]"
All this came to a head during the time of Cyrus. The period of the enslavement [of the Jews] should not be reckoned from the [time of the] destruction of the temple, but earlier--from the second year of [the reign of] Jehoiakim, king of the Jews, when Nebuchadnezzar the king of the Babylonians enslaved them. [It could be reckoned] even earlier, from the time when the prophet Jeremiah first began to prophesy. From that time until the siege [of Jerusalem] and the burning of the temple 40 years elapsed, and 70 years until the first year of Cyrus. From the start of Jeremiah's prophesying until Cyrus' reign, the first 70 years [period] elapsed. However, from the destruction of the temple until Cyrus, 30 years elapsed, while it was in the second year of Darius that [the other] 70 years was completed. [The temple] was restored in the eighth year of Darius [g187].
[40] And from that time onward, the Jews remained without a king from their own [line of] kings. Their chief-priests served as princes and leaders, and throughout the entire period of the Persian kingdom they remained loyal to the Persian kings. Subsequently they served the Macedonians who ruled after Alexander, until the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. [The latter], ruling Syria, harassed the Jews to adopt paganism. During his time Mattathias, a priest in Jerusalem [g188], son of Asamonaeus, his son Judas, who was called Maccabaeus, and their descendants re-established the principality of the Jews, and held it until the time of Augustus. It was during his reign that Herod, at the order of the Romans, became the first foreign king of the Jews. Our Savior Jesus Christ was born during his reign. This was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Moses [in Genesis, 49.10]: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until he comes to whom it belongs; he is the hope of the gentiles." And it happened in just such a manner.
Five hundred and two years elapsed from the time of Solomon and the building of the first temple to the restoration of the temple in the second year of King Darius. Four hundred and eighty years elapsed from the time of Moses and the exodus from Egypt to Solomon and the building of the temple. Five hundred and five years elapsed from the first year of Abraham to the exodus. Nine hundred and forty-two years elapsed from the flood to the first year of Abraham. Two thousand two hundred and forty-two years elapsed from Adam to the flood. Thus the grand total, from Adam to the second year of Darius and the second building of [the temple in] Jerusalem, is 4680 years [g189]. From the second year of Darius which was the first year of the 65th Olympiad [520 B.C.] [until the time of Christ], is 137 Olympiads and 548 years.
[41] This [material] can be shown in more detail [cross-referenced with the kings of Persia] as follows:
Cambyses took the crown following Cyrus, who was the first Persian king.
Then came Darius, who ruled for 36 years. In the second year of his reign, the temple in Jerusalem was restored. Darius ruled for an additional 34 years.
Darius' son, Xerxes, ruled next for 20 years. During his reign the story of Esther took place.
Artaxerxes ruled for 41 years. During his time Ezra lived, who, it is said, knew all the sacred Hebrew texts by heart including the entire Holy Bible, and transmitted it to the Jews in the new Hebrew script, because the world was riven by warfare. Indeed, it was during this time that Nehemiah, the chief cupbearer, lived. By order of the king, he went to the country of the Jews and [re]built Jerusalem, surrounding the city with a wall. For until then [g190] the city had been in ruins, except for the temple which had been restored in Darius' time. After Artaxerxes the following kings ruled Persia:
Darius, 19 years.
Artaxerxes Mnemon, 40 years.
Ochus, 26 years.
Arsaces, 4 years.
Darius, 6 years.
After these [monarchs], Alexander of Macedon eliminated the Persian kingdom and ruled for 6 years. He ruled an additional 6 years after slaying [the last king] Darius. From the second year of Darius [the First] to the death of Alexander--which occurred in the first year of the 114th Olympiad [324 B.C.]--197 years elapsed.
After the death of Alexander, the following monarchs ruled in Egypt and in the city of Alexandria:
1. Ptolemaeus, son of Lagus, 40 years.
2. Ptolemaeus Philadelphus, 28 years. During his reign the Hebrew sacred books were translated into Greek and placed [g191] in the library at Alexandria.
3. Ptolemaeus Euergetes, 24 years.
4. Ptolemaeus Philopator, 21 years.