Name of three kings of the Persian Empire.
Artaxerxes I was king from 465 to 424 BC. He was known as Macrocheir or Longimanus, son and successor of Xerxes I, who was king from 486 to 465 BC. Xerxes I was the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther and Ezra 4:6.
A few years after the succession of Artaxerxes I, the Greeks urged Egypt to revolt against Persia. Only in 454 BC was that movement crushed along with other dissension in the Persian Empire. By 449 BC, the treaty of Callias brought peace between the Greeks and Persians. Artaxerxes had gained full control over his empire, and a period of peace resulted.
Artaxerxes I stopped the rebuilding of Jerusalem for a short time (Ezra 4:7–23). He also commissioned Ezra to visit the city as secretary of state of Jewish affairs in 458 BC (Ezra 7:8, 11–26). In 445 BC, Nehemiah went to Jerusalem as civil governor in the 20th year of Artaxerxes I (Nehemiah 1:1; 2:1).
Reading Ezra 7:7 as "thirty-seventh" instead of "seventh," made some scholars question if Artaxerxes II was the Persian King who interacted with Nehemiah. But the Elephantine papyri show that Sanballat, governor of Samaria, was quite advanced in years in 408 BC. This was shortly before the death of Darius II, who ruled from 423 to 405 BC. Sanballat’s opposition to Nehemiah must have occurred much earlier. The dates of Ezra and Nehemiah thus fall within the lifetime of Artaxerxes I.
Artaxerxes I was notable for his kindness toward the Jews in Persia, after establishing clear procedures. His support for the work of Ezra and Nehemiah is evident from their writings.
Artaxerxes II Mnemon was the grandson of Artaxerxes I and the son of Darius II. He was king from 404 to 359 BC. His reign was a time of unrest in the Persian Empire, one result of which was the loss of Egypt about 401 BC. He built several impressive buildings and enlarged the palace at Susa.
Artaxerxes III Ochus was the son and successor of Artaxerxes II. He was king from 358 to 338 BC). He brought peace to the empire by smart diplomacy, but he was assassinated. Neither he nor his father is mentioned in the Old Testament.