SUMMARY
The decree of CyrusPersian leader who allowed Jewish exiles to return home. the Great permitted the people to return to their homes in Jerusalem, thus ending the Babylonian exile and fulfilling Jeremiah’s prophecyProphecy is the gift, inspired by God, of speaking and interpreting the divine will. Prophets such as Amos, Isaiah, and Ezekiel spoke words of judgment and comfort to the people of Israel on behalf of God..
ANALYSIS
The Babylonians dealt with conquered peoples by deporting them to Babylon where they could live in relative freedom and prosperity, perhaps accounting for the meager numbers of exiles who wished to return to Jerusalem with EzraScribe who helped establish Jewish practices in Jerusalem after the exile. and NehemiahThe governor of Jerusalem who rebuilt the city walls after the exile.. When the Persians defeated the Babylonians in 539 BCE, the policy of deportation as a means of dealing with conquered peoples changed. The Persians preferred that conquered peoples stay in their own lands (but pay tribute) worshiping their own gods (and praying for the Persians). This tolerant religious policy signaled the end of the exile for the people of Israel and led to Isaiah’s description of Cyrus as God’s “anointed” (messiahThe Messiah was the one who, it was believed, would come to free the people of Israel from bondage and exile. In Jewish thought the Messiah is the anticipated one who will come, as prophesied by Isaiah. In Christian thought Jesus of Nazareth is identified...) in IsaiahIsaiah, son of Amoz, who prophesied in Jerusalem, is included among the prophets of the eighth century BCE (along with Amos, Hosea, and Micah)--preachers who boldly proclaimed God's word of judgment against the economic, social, and religious disorders of their time. 45:1, even though Cyrus was not a follower of Israel’s God.
While they were in Babylon, JeremiahProphet who condemned Judah's infidelity to God, warned of Babylonian conquest, and promised a new covenant. had urged the exiles to accept their lotNephew of Abraham and Sarah. (Jeremiah 29:4-9). But he also announced that the exile would last only 70 years (Jeremiah 25:11, 12; 29:10), after which time the people would return to Jerusalem and rebuild the templeThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged.... These first verses of Ezra see the decree of Cyrus as the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s words. Notice that Cyrus’s apparently magnanimous offer is somewhat self-serving and that it is “the Lord” who “stirred up” Cyrus’s spirit to make the proclamation, just as it was the Lord who “stirred up” the Assyrian and Babylonian kings who brought God’s judgment upon Israel (1 Chronicles 5:26; 2 Chronicles 21:16) and who “stirred up” those exiles who returned to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:5). The majority of those people who returned at the stirring of God were members of the tribes of JudahJudah was the name of Jacob's fourth son and one of the 12 tribes. and BenjaminA son of Jacob and tribe of Israel., the priests, and the Levites. But the text understands Cyrus’s decree to mean that, though not all the exiles need return to Jerusalem, they all need to support the rebuilding of the temple (vv. 3-4).
The returning exiles bring with them the temple vessels that NebuchadnezzarBabylonian king who conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple, and exiled the people. had removed when he destroyed Jerusalem (vv. 7-8). The return of these vessels serves to strengthen the continuity between pre- and postexilic Israel. The discrepancy between the list of the vessels (2,499; vv. 9-10) and the stated total of 5,400 vessels (v. 11) is due to the author’s utilization of differing sources.