Tyndale Open Study Notes

Verse 1

1:1-3 The first three verses of Ezra appear almost verbatim in 2 Chr 36:22-23, suggesting continuity between the books.

1:1 King Cyrus II reigned over Persia from 559 to 530 BC. Cyrus and his Persian forces defeated the city of Babylon in October, 539 BC, just as Daniel had predicted (Dan 5). • the prophecy . . . through Jeremiah: God had promised to return his people after seventy years in exile (Jer 25:11-12; 29:10). • God’s power over the heart and mind of this pagan king moved him to enact the decree that follows (see also Isa 13:17; 41:2, 25; Jer 50:9). God is sovereign, even when rulers and nations do not recognize his authority (Isa 10:5, 12-14).

Verse 2

1:2 Though Cyrus speaks of the Lord, the God of heaven, Cyrus actually was a Zoroastrian. His proclamation, written in Hebrew, was probably political propaganda to gain Jewish support for his rule. In a similar statement to the Babylonians, Cyrus claimed to worship their chief god, Marduk. However, his words here do reflect that God had appointed him to build him a Temple at Jerusalem (see Isa 44:28; 45:1, 13). He might have learned of such prophecies from Daniel, who served in his court as a high government official (Cyrus is apparently referred to by his Median name, Darius, in Dan 6:1-28; 9:1). God had long planned to raise up Cyrus and give him a vision to restore worship at Jerusalem (Isa 44:28; 45:13; 48:14-15).

Verse 3

1:3 Any of you who are his people may go: The Assyrians and Babylonians had ruled their empires by deporting people and spreading them out in cities throughout their empires. The Persians, by contrast, returned exiled people to their homelands, expecting the returned people to be thankful, obey the Persians, and pay their taxes.

Verse 4

1:4 Cyrus was probably not urging Babylonian neighbors of the Jewish remnant to help the Hebrews. Rather, he was encouraging Jews who had decided to stay in Babylon to help their countrymen who were returning to Jerusalem.

Verse 5

1:5-6 As he had done with the heart of Cyrus (1:1), God stirred the hearts of Israel’s leaders. • Very few priests and Levites actually responded (see 2:36-42). Most of the people who did respond were from two tribes, Judah and Benjamin. Persian documents show that many Jews stayed in Babylon, where they had homes, businesses, and relatives. A dangerous four-month trip back to the desolate city of Jerusalem, now inhabited by foreigners, was not an inviting choice compared to their comfortable life in Babylon. It was much easier to give many valuable gifts and voluntary offerings to those who did return.

Verse 7

1:7 Many articles . . . from the Lord’s Temple had been taken to Babylon (see 2 Chr 36:7; Dan 1:2). By putting these items in his pagan temple, Nebuchadnezzar had attempted to show his god’s power over the Hebrew God. However, God had promised the return of all the stolen items (see Jer 27:16-22). The items from the Temple were holy utensils, acceptable to God for worship and very valuable to the returning worshipers.

Verse 8

1:8 Sheshbazzar was the Persian-appointed governor of Judah who laid the foundation of the Temple (5:14-16). Some believe that Zerubbabel (3:2, 8) was the same person with a new name (cp. Dan 1:7). However, both names are Babylonian, so it is more likely that these two leaders worked together on the Temple foundation and that Zerubbabel later took over as governor when Sheshbazzar died.

Verse 9

1:9-11 5,400 articles of gold and silver: The numbers listed total only 2,499 items. A parallel account, in the apocryphal book 1 Esdras 2:13-15, lists 5,469 items, while a list in the Jewish historian Josephus’s Antiquities 11.15 lists 5,220 objects. Ezra’s shortened list illustrates the kind of items included but does not include every item. Keeping track of consecrated utensils reduced the possibility of confusing these sacred items with the pagan utensils used in the worship of other gods.