Doug:
...according to the Hebrew Scriptures, it took several kings for the word to rebuild Jerusalem to be accomplished. Not just Cyrus, not just Darius, not just Artaxeres, but all three - ending with Artaxeres.

I don't deny that that Jerusalem was populated before Nehemiah - but the city and wall was not rebuilt until Nehemiah got permission to return to Jerusalem and chop down some trees from Artaxeres's forest to get that done - as rebuilding of Jerusalem was one of the two issues involved in the 490 year prophecy, not just repopulation. The temple was also rededicated in Nehemiah's presence.


Medini:
I know that you believe that what Nehemiah describes in chapters 2 7 (completion of gates and walls) better fits Daniels description of the city as tashuv ve-nivnetah than earlier less complete building efforts. However, Daniel never says that ALL or even MOST of the city will be restored and built nor does he simply leave us to guess what he means by tashuv ve-nivnetah because he adds rechov ve-charutz right after nivnetah. Thus, we read tashuv ve-nivnetah rechov ve-charutz it will return and it will be built - broad place/plaza and trench/moat. In other words, Daniel has qualified quite specifically for us what for him constitutes the status of Jerusalem being restored and built the completion of a rechov (broad place/plaza) and a charutz (trench/moat). Do we have any reason to suppose that these MUST relate to Nehemiahs activities and could not have already been constructed? We do not. In fact, a rechov is specified in Ezra 10:9 during year 7 of Artaxerxes long before Nehemiah came to Jerusalem, and since Ezra says nothing of its construction and matter-of-factly mentions its existence at a time less than 5 months after he arrived, it could easily have existed before he arrived as well. What is more, this rechov is specifically associated with the Temple, which we know was completed some 58 years before Ezras arrival. Thus, a rechov existed at Jerusalem prior to Nehemiah and probably existed there prior to Ezra as well.

Now what about a charutz? If one closely examines the topography of ancient Jerusalem and the ancient accounts, it is clear that only one area of the city really required a fosse or trench the northern side, particularly the Moriah Ridge that had the Temple at the highest peak on its southern end but continued well to the north of the Temple and was the least defensible portion of the pre-Herodian city. The other portions of the city were flanked by valleys and could be much more easily defended. We know from Strabo (Geography 16:2) and Josephus (War 1.7.2; 5.4.2) that a massive pre-Herodian artificial trench was located at a narrow spot on the Moriah Ridge, just north of the Temple area, and that it connected the Kidron Valley on the east with the Valley of the Cheesemakers on the west, creating a more defensive northern city edge. Given its close proximity to the Temple and its vital importance for defense not only of the city but especially of the Temple itself (which would have been unimpediably accessible from the north without it), it is obvious that this trench would have been one of the very first things constructed or restored, either in conjunction with or in close temporal proximity to the building of the Temple. To suggest that this feature was not created for at least 71 years (Nehemiahs arrival) beyond the completion of the Temple, or for even 58 years (Ezras arrival) is totally illogical. Thus, it is likely that a charutz was created very soon after, if not concurrently with, the Temple completion under Darius. Therefore, the Tanach indicates that a rechov clearly had been constructed in Jerusalem before Nehemiahs arrival and probably before Ezras as well, and topographic and logical considerations make it hard to deny that a charutz also was constructed prior to Nehemiah and to Ezra, and the Tanach certainly gives us no reason to doubt this.

So, there is no reason why Daniels conception of what constitutes tashuv ve-nivnetah, namely a rechov and charutz, could not have been met in the 49 years after the Cyrus decree or in the 49 years after Darius' decree. There is simply NO basis in the text of Daniel 9 to assume that the city walls or anything else Nehemiah did represent what Daniel is talking about, and hence, NO support from Daniel 9 for the Artaxerxes "decree" being a legitimate start point for the count of years in question.