Cyrus — the Great
The Persian king who conquered Babylon and decreed that the exiles could return and rebuild the Temple.
What we know — and how we know it
Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). — CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
ArchaeologyThe Cyrus Cylinder records his policy of returning deported peoples and restoring their temples — the very policy the Bible describes.
Livioandronico2013 — CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
Ancient writersGreek writers tell his story at length — Herodotus his rise and fall, and Xenophon a whole idealised life, the Cyropaedia.
Where in scripture
2 ChroniclesEzraIsaiahDanielNow in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that Yahweh’s word by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
2 Chronicles 36:22
“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given all the kingdoms of the earth to me; and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, Yahweh his God be with him, and let him go up.’”
2 Chronicles 36:23
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that Yahweh’s word by Jeremiah’s mouth might be accomplished, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
Ezra 1:1
“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Ezra 1:2 — Decrees the return
Also Cyrus the king brought out the vessels of Yahweh’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought out of Jerusalem, and had put in the house of his gods;
Ezra 1:7
even those, Cyrus king of Persia brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.
Ezra 1:8
They also gave money to the masons, and to the carpenters. They also gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus King of Persia.
Ezra 3:7
But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel, said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to Yahweh, the God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”
Ezra 4:3
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
In their own words — 3 recorded sayings
“Cyrus, king of Persia, has said, All the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the Lord, the God of heaven; and he has made me responsible for building a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him and let him go up.” — 2 Chronicles 36:23
“These are the words of Cyrus, king of Persia: The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he has made me responsible for building a house for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and take in hand the building of the house of the Lord, the God of Israel; he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And whoever there may be of the rest of Israel, living in any place, let the men of that place give him help with offerings of silver and gold and goods and beasts,…” — Ezra 1:2-4
“In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made an order: In connection with the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be put up, the place where they make offerings, and let the earth for the bases be put in place; let it be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide; With three lines of great stones and one line of new wood supports; and let the necessary money be given out of the king's store-house; And let the gold and silver vessels from the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple at Jerusalem to Babylon, be given back and taken again to the Temple at Jerusalem,…” — Ezra 6:3-5
Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).
Events
Places in their life
Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
In art
