Ezra 1:1-2:67

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezra 1:1-4

It will be proper for us here to consider, 1. What was the state of the captive Jews in Babylon. It was upon many accounts very deplorable; they were under the power of those that hated them, had nothing they could call their own; they had no temple, no altar; if they sang psalms, their enemies ridiculed them; and yet they had prophets among them. Ezekiel and Daniel were kept distinct from the heathen. Some of them were preferred at court, others had comfortable settlements in the country, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezra 1:1

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia ,.... Not in the first of his reign over Persia, for he had been many years king over that, and now had all the kingdoms of the earth given him, Ezra 1:2 , but over Babylon, and the dominions belonging to it, which commenced with Darius upon the taking of Babylon; he reigned in all thirty years, as Cicero F7 De Divinatione, l. 1. from a Persian writer relates; or twenty nine, according to Herodotus F8 Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 214. ; but... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezra 1:1

Now in the first year - This is word for word with the two last verses of the preceding book; which stand here in their proper place and connection, but there are entirely destitute of chronological connection and reference. Cyrus - This prince, so eminent in antiquity, is said to have been the son of Cambyses king of Persia, and Mandane, daughter of Astyages king of the Medes; and was born about six hundred years before Christ. Josephus accounts for his partiality to the Jews... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezra 1:1

In the first year of Cyrus. The context shows that it is the first year of Cyrus at Babylon which is intended. Cyrus the Great became King of Persia by his final defeat and capture of Astyages, in b.c. 559 probably. His conquest of Babylon was, comparatively speaking, late in his reign (Herod; Xenoph.), and is fixed by the Canon of Ptolemy to b.c. 538. He took the city on the night of Belshazzar's feast ( Daniel 5:30 ), when Daniel had just been appointed to the third place in the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezra 1:1

The crisis. The very first word of this book (literally "and," Keil, Wordsworth, etc.) has its importance. It shows the book to be an additional and continuous portion of that most important of all histories, the history of the Jews. How large is the place of that history in the Bible, beginning at Genesis 12:1-20 . and hardly passing again to that of the Gentiles at Acts 10:1-48 . How interesting a story in itself! No people so favoured ( Amos 3:2 ; Romans 3:1 ; Romans 11:28 ).... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezra 1:1

The sovereignty of God. Dualities are everywhere seen. Amongst these are things passive and active; things ruled over and things ruling. The mechanical heavens are active and rule the passive earth. In animated nature rulers and subjects are individualized; most remarkably so in the kingdom of men. Passing into the spiritual world, we still find order and rule; "principalities and powers in the heavenlies"—amongst angels of light, also amongst angels of darkness. But behind all these... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezra 1:1-4

1. Its promulgation by a heathen king, spontaneously as it would seem; 2. Its recognition of a single supreme God, "the Lord God of heaven;" 3. Its declaration that the supreme God had "charged" the king to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem; and 4. Its actual origination in a "stir" of the king's spirit by God himself. The secret government of the world by Jehovah is, in part, opened to us, and we see how great political events, anteriorly improbable, are brought about by his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezra 1:1-11

The wide reach of the rule of God. We are accustomed to pray that the kingdom of God may come; we desire, and therefore ask, that men may offer themselves in willing subjection to the service of their Divine Sovereign. For this we must labour and pray, and always shall do so the more earnestly as we ourselves are the more unreservedly subject to his benign and gracious rule. Meantime there is a sense in which God's rule is a present thing. The kingdom of God is among us; the arms of his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezra 1:1-11

The beginning of a great religious movement. Israel had experienced long bondage in a foreign land under a heathen king; this would have a beneficial influence. 1. It would tend to cultivate within them a right view of the sorrow consequent upon sin. Their captivity was a punishment for idolatry. Sin sends men into slavery. 2. It would tend to cultivate within them a right view of the external in religion. Solomon's temple was the pride of Israel. They prided themselves in the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ezra 1:1

By the first year of Cyrus is to be understood the first year of his sovereignty over the Jews, or 538 B.C. read more

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