The Proclamation of Cyrus

The Proclamation of Cyrus

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Ezr. 1:1

Now in the... Now connects the book of Ezra to the last statement in 2 Chronicles, which also records the decree of Cyrus, as in Ezr. 1:1-4 here.

first year of... Cyrus, this was about 538 B.C.

Kings of Persia

For more than a century now we have had ancient inscriptions deciphered, and these, along with other sources of information (e.g., Herodotus, Xenophon, Ctesias, and Nicolas of Damascus who lived before Christ, and Arrian of the 2nd century A.D.) give us a true understanding of the line of the kings of Persia. In 1846 the writing on the famous Rock of Behistun, which rises about 1,700 feet out of the plain on the high road from Babylon to the east, was found to contain Darius Hystaspis’ own genealogy. On this stone he claimed to be the 9th of a succession of kings of his fathers.

Line of Persian Kings:

1ST LIST	2ND LIST	3RD LIST
History of Herodotus	Behistun Rock	Cylinder of Cyrus
1. Phraortes I
2. Deiokes	Achaemes
3. Phraortes II	Teispes	Teispes
4. Cyaxares	Ariyaramnes	Cyrus I
5. Astyages	Arsames	Cambyses
6. Cyrus		Cyrus II
7. Cambyses II		Cambyses II
8. Hystaspes	Hystaspes
9. Darius Hystaspis	Darius	Hystaspis

Note that on the Cylinder of Cyrus the Persian (mentioned in Ezr. 1:1; Isa. 44:28; 45:1; Ezr. 6:14), he lists only the kings from the 3rd to the 7th—his own son who succeeded him. On the Behistun rock only kings 2-5, 8-9 are given, Cyrus the Persian and his son Cambyses II not being mentioned for some reason. However, Darius Hystaspis, who made this list, does mention that he was the 9th of a succession of kings, so this would include the ones not named. Herodotus gives the first 5 of the 9 Persian kings, and the Bible mentions 5, 6, and 9. We have to supply from ancient history those that are missing in the Bible. The 5th king, Astyages, was the husband of Esther and the father of Cyrus. He was the Ahasuerus of Est. 1:1, and Darius the Mede of Dan. 5:31. He is listed also by Herodotus as the 8th of a succession of Lydian kings, called Aryenis, the husband of Vashti who gave up the queenship to Esther because of her rebellion against him. The 4 kings to stand up in Persia, as in Dan. 11:1-2, were the last 3 on the above list and Xerxes, the son of Darius Hystaspis. Between these 4 and the coming of Alexander the Great, 6 more kings ruled. Some confusion has arisen concerning the Persian kings due to appellatives being mistaken for proper names, and from their transliteration into other languages. Examples of appellatives are: Pharaoh of Egypt and Abimelech of Philistia, similar to the more modern Czar, Sultan, and Shah. Ahasuerus, meaning The Mighty, was the title of 4 Median and Persian kings. Artaxerxes, meaning Great King, was used by 4 Persian kings. Darius, meaning "The Restrainer" or "The Maintainer", was also used by several of these kings.

The Cyrus of this passage was so named by God 150 years before his birth to Esther and Ahasuerus, and about 200 years before this decree which fulfilled Isaiah 44:28-45:1. The events of the book of Esther came before those of Ezra and Nehemiah; and the events of Neh. 1:1-7:4 came before Ezr. 1:1-14.

by the mouth... The fulfilling of Jeremiah’s words (Jer. 29:10; cf. Jer. 25:11-12) was totally God’s doing. Seventy years of Jewish captivity in Babylon were about to end. The first deportation of Jews to Babylon was in 605 b.c. Cyrus’ decree in 538 was 67 years later. By the time the people returned and built the altar in 536, 70 years were almost up. See Isaiah 44:28-45:1.

Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Ezr. 1:2

The LORD God... This knowledge of God was given to Cyrus by his mother, the Jewish queen Esther, and Mordecai and Nehemiah. He was brought up with Jewish training and taught about God and His Word.

he hath charged... God’s prophetic charge (Isaiah 44:28-45:4, Isa. 45:13; Isa. 46:11). No doubt God, who had predicted Cyrus’ name and work 150 to 200 years before fulfillment, also spoke personally to Cyrus or made His will known to him somehow.

Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. Ezr. 1:3

Who is there... Question 1. Next, Ezr. 4:22.

all His people... The people of God, the Israelites, as well of the ten tribes, as of the two of Judah and Benjamin. For this edict was published throughout all his dominions, where were the one as well as the other.

his God be... To incline his heart to go, to protect him in his journey, and succeed and prosper him in what he goes about.
"And let him... Go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, he is the God": The one only living and true God.
"Which is in... Who has been in former times, and is to be worshipped there. Though Aben Ezra says, this is to be connected with "the house of the Lord"; as if the sense was, to build the house that was in Jerusalem or to be built there. And so our version connects them, putting those words into a parenthesis, "he is God"; but this is contrary to the accents.
This leaves absolutely no doubt at all who Cyrus was speaking of. He calls Him the LORD God of Israel. We see also, that Cyrus is offering freedom to all who would return to Judah and build the temple. The temple is to be built in Jerusalem, but any of the captives of any of the twelve tribes, could return and work on the temple.

And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem. Ezr. 1:4

men of his... Their Persian, Median, Assyrian, and other neighbors.

Help him with... Cyrus’ edict also instructed the returnees’ neighbors in Persia to give them the equivalent of money (silver and gold), material goods… livestock, and freewill offerings (cf. Ezr. 1:6). The freewill offerings were for the temple and the other gifts were for the people themselves. This is reminiscent of the Exodus from Egypt when God miraculously took the nation out of bondage and had the Egyptians aid them with gifts of silver, gold, and clothing (Exo. 3:22; 11:2; 12:35). Now God was effecting a new “Exodus,” again bringing His people who had been in bondage back into the land of promise, much as He had done under Moses and Joshua. The people had been in bondage to Babylon because of their failure to keep their covenantal obligations, which Moses had given them during the first Exodus. Once more God was miraculously working in the life of the nation.

Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. Ezr. 1:5

Then rose up... Then—after the decree of Cyrus which freed every Israelite to return to Israel.

chief of the... These chief fathers are named in Ezr. 2:1-70.

and the priests... The religious leaders (priests and Levites) along with the heads of the two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) that had been taken into exile by the Babylonians spearheaded the return to Israel to rebuild the temple, the house of the Lord. The Jews who returned totaled 49,897 (Ezr. 2:64-65).

And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered. Ezr. 1:6

The neighbors of the returnees obeyed the king’s decree by contributing to the effort (Ezr. 1:6). Even Cyrus contributed to the return by giving back the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord. These were the dishes… pans… bowls, and other articles (Ezr. 1:9-10) Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Jerusalem temple in 605 b.c. (Dan. 1:2), in 597 b.c. (2Ki. 24:13), and in 586 b.c. (2Ki. 25:14-15; Jer. 27:16; 52:18-19; cf. Ezr. 5:14; Ezr. 6:5; Dan. 5:2-3) and placed in a temple in Babylon, perhaps the Esagila temple built in honor of the god Marduk. Mithredath is a Persian name, and the word for treasurer (gizbār) is also Persian.

Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods; Ezr. 1:7

Also Cyrus... Not only did Cyrus yield himself as a servant of God to liberate Israel and to decree the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, but he also returned all the temple vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had taken away (Ezr. 1:7-11; 2Ki. 24:13; 25:14; 2Ch. 36:7; Jer. 27:18-22; 28:6; 52:18-19; Dan. 1:2; 5:2).

Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. Ezr. 1:8

them unto Sheshbazzar... Sheshbazzar (meaning "Oh sun god, protect the son") was the Chaldean name of Zerubbabel who was made governor of Judah over the returned exiles (Ezr. 1:8, 1:11; 5:14-16; 6:7). He laid the foundation of the temple (Ezr. 5:16). Called Zerubbabel in Ezr. 2:2; 3:2, 3:8; 4:2-3; 5:2; Neh. 7:7; 12:1, 12:47; Hag. 1:1, 1:12-14; 2:2-4, 2:21-23; Zec. 4:6-10.

And this is the number of them: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine and twenty knives, Ezr. 1:9

and this is... Vessels Cyrus Returned

1st class chargers of gold	30
1st class chargers of silver	1,000
2nd class chargers of gold	30
2nd class chargers of silver	410
Other vessels	1,000
Miscellaneous vessels	2,930
	_______
Total (Ezr. 1:9-11)	5,400

Number of them... What kind of vessels the unspecified ones were is not known, except that they were of gold and silver. Only 2,470 are numbered here, and then a total of 5,400 is mentioned, so we have to supply the 2,930. Besides these, there were 29 silver knives.

Thirty basons of gold, silver basons of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels a thousand. All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem. Ezr. 1:10, 11

all these did... Of whom there is a large and particular account in the following chapter.

“Them of the captivity”: Those whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into Babylonian captivity from Jerusalem, whose return probably occurred early in the reign of Cyrus (ca. 538/537 B.C.).
“Babylon unto Jerusalem”: A journey taking 3 to 5 mounts (compare Ezra 7:8-9).
them of the … From the number of vessels sent to Jerusalem by Cyrus, we can see that he sincerely wanted to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, and he wanted everything that belonged in it returned. This would be the first group of people leaving captivity to return to Jerusalem to build the temple. It is interesting that all through history, the Jews have come back from time to time into their land. They never were out from under Gentile rule for very long at a time, until in 1948 when they received their independence. This I believe, to be the start of the end of the Gentile rule.