The name Xerxes is the Greek version of the Persian Xshayarshan, which the Hebrew text calls ’akhashwerosh (Ahasuerus). His father, Darius I, who ruled from 521 to 486 BC, was king when Haggai and Zechariah urged the people of Judah to complete the temple in Jerusalem (see Ezra 4:24–6:22; Haggai 1:1; Zechariah 1:1).
127 provinces: Xerxes ruled a vast empire from India to Ethiopia.