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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comJamieson Fausset Brown Commentary - Ezra 1:2 - 1:2
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The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth - Though this is in the Oriental style of hyperbole (see also Dan 4:1), it was literally true that the Persian empire was the greatest ruling power in the world at that time.
he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem - The phraseology of this proclamation, independently of the express testimony of Josephus, affords indisputable evidence that Cyrus had seen (probably through means of Daniel, his venerable prime minister and favorite) those prophecies in which, two hundred years before he was born, his name, his victorious career, and the important services he should render to the Jews were distinctly foretold (Isa 44:28; Isa 46:1-4). The existence of predictions so remarkable led him to acknowledge that all his kingdoms were gifts bestowed on him by “the Lord God of heaven,” and prompted him to fulfil the duty which had been laid upon him long before his birth. This was the source and origin of the great favor he showed to the Jews. The proclamation, though issued “in the first year of Cyrus” [Ezr 1:1], did not take effect till the year following.