Ezra 1:1-11

The Edict Of Cyrus And Its Result (Ezra 1:1).

In 538 BC Cyrus issued an edict allowing Jews to return to their homeland, and authorising the rebuilding of the Temple with state help. The wording of the edict given here is in terms that would be appreciated by the Jews. It was a ‘popular' version, to be proclaimed to the outside world, and was no doubt worded by a ‘secretary of state for Jewish affairs' who preceded the time of Ezra, or by officials given responsibility for Jewish affairs. We should not see it as unique, except in its detail. In basic idea it would have been similar to other edicts promulgated concerning the gods of other nations. For Cyrus was concerned to claim the personal support of the gods of all the nations of his empire, whom he saw as having helped him to where he was. They had, after all, proved their support by the fact that the empire was now his. For example, he could claim of Marduk, the chief god of Babylon, that ‘the entirety of all the lands he (Marduk) surveyed and examined. He sought out a righteous prince, the desire of his heart, who would grasp his hand. Cyrus the king of Anshan, whose name he uttered, he called for kingship over all'. An official version of the Ezra 1 edict in a different format, written in Aramaic, giving practical details concerning the building of the Temple, and promise of state funding, was, according to Ezra 6:3, at the same time lodged among the state records held in Achmetha (Ecbatana).