Ezra 1:7

Also Cyrus the king i.e. the Jews were assisted not only by private individuals their neighbours, but by the example of the king himself.

the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth&c. This refers especially to the capture of Jerusalem in 598, when Jehoiachin, his household and 10,000 of the better classes were carried off to Babylon. 2 Kings 24:13 -And he (i.e. Nebuchadnezzar) carried out thence (i.e. from Jerusalem) all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord". It may be noticed that in the original the expression -carried out" in the passage just cited and so translated in A.V. and R.V. is identical with the -brought forth" in this verse.

At the final destruction of Jerusalem (586) eleven or twelve years later, by Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar's general, the remainder of the valuables contained in the house of the Lord were -taken away" to Babylon, 2 Kings 25:14-15.

The passage in Daniel 1:1-2, which attributes to the third year (606) of Jehoiakim's reign a siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, the capture of Jehoiakim, and the removal to Babylon of some of the sacred vessels, is chronologically incorrect. (1) The victory of Carchemish on the Euphrates was not won by Nebuchadnezzar till the fourth year of Jehoiakim (605). (2) According to 2 Kings 24:1 Jehoiakim, who had been tributary to the king of Egypt, did not become tributary to Nebuchadnezzar until after that battle, and, having remained so for three years only, then rebelled. This rebellion led to Nebuchadnezzar's siege and capture of Jerusalem in Jehoiachin's brief reign of three months. All that can be said is that we have in Daniel 1:1-2, a certain chronological error, but that it is conceivable that when Nebuchadnezzar -came up" (2 Kings 24:1) and Jehoiakim submitted, a siege may have preceded capitulation, and a carrying off to Babylon both of prisoners and of some vessels of the Lord may have taken place in 602 or 601. Of this we have no certain confirmation, and it is more probable that the passage in Daniel 1:1 may be a heading containing inaccurate historical statements or late tradition prefixed by a scribe to the narrative of Daniel.

in the house of his gods So A.V. and R.V. The original is -in the house of his Elohim". -Elohim" may be rendered either as -God" or -gods" according as the context requires. The student will observe that in Daniel 1:2 the same phrase -the house of his Elohim" is rendered both by A.V. and R.V. -the house of his god". Nebuchadnezzar was a polytheist. But had the stress here rested upon the plurality of his gods, we should have expected -in the houses of his gods". The rendering -in the house of his god" appears preferable, both on account of the singular -house" and, especially, on account of Nebuchadnezzar's devotion to one god, Merodach, to whom he paid greater honour than to any of the other deities of the Babylonian pantheon. The Temple of E-sagila in honour of Merodach was restored by Nebuchadnezzar with unrivalled splendour. The passage in 2 Chronicles 36:7 -Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his temple at Babylon", helps to confirm the rendering -in the house of his god". The other passages relating to the sacred vessels are Jeremiah 27:16; Jeremiah 28:6; Jeremiah 52:18; Daniel 5:23; Bar 1:8.