Three bodyguards of King Darius entered a contest that would decide the fate of the Jewish Temple. The king had fallen asleep after a great feast and woke unable to sleep again. He challenged his three guards: each would argue what is the strongest thing in the world, and whoever gave the best answer would receive a purple robe, gold cups, a gold chariot, and the right to sit beside the king. One of those guards was Zerubbabel, the Jewish governor.
The first guard argued for wine. Wine makes kings act like orphans and slaves act like kings. It erases memory, makes the poor feel rich, and turns friends into strangers. It arms men against their own families. "Wine is the strongest and most insuperable of all things."
The second guard argued for kings. Kings rule over men, and men rule over everything else. Kings command armies, send nations to war, and rebuild or raze cities at will. Whatever the king says, it is done.
Then Zerubbabel spoke. He conceded that wine is strong and kings are powerful, but women are stronger than both—because women give birth to kings, and a king will abandon his throne to chase after a beautiful woman. Josephus records that even King Darius's own concubine once slapped the king's face, and he only begged her to do it again. The audience laughed.
But Zerubbabel did not stop at women. He said truth is the strongest of all. Wine fades, kings die, women age, but truth endures forever. God is the author of truth, and truth alone is unconquerable. When he finished, the entire assembly shouted: "Great is truth, and mighty above all things!"
Darius told Zerubbabel to name his reward. He asked for one thing: permission to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. The king granted it. He returned the sacred vessels, funded the construction, and wrote letters to every governor in Syria commanding them to help. Zerubbabel had won the Temple back with a speech.