Now in the {a} first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the {b} mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the {c} spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

The Argument - As the Lord is always merciful to his Church, and does not punish them, but so that they should see their own miseries, and be exercised under the cross, that they might contemn the world, and aspire to the heavens: so after he had visited the Jews, and kept them in bondage 70 years in a strange country among infidels and idolaters, he remembered his tender mercies and their infirmities, and therefore for his own sake raised up a deliverer, and moved both the heart of the chief ruler to pity them, and also by him punished those who had kept them in slavery. Nonetheless, lest they should grow into a contempt of God's great benefits, he keeps them still in exercise, and raises domestic enemies, who try as much as they can to hinder their worthy enterprises: yet by the exhortation of the prophet they went forward little by little till their work was finished. The author of this book was Ezra, who was a priest and scribe of the Law, as in Ezr 7:6. He returned to Jerusalem the sixth year of Darius, who succeeded Cyrus, that is, about fifty years after the first return under Zerubbabel, when the temple was built. He brought with him a great company and much treasure, with letters to the king's officers for all things needed for the temple: and at his coming he fixed that which was amiss, and set things in order.

(a) After he and Darius had won Babylon.

(b) Who promised deliverance to them after 70 years were past, Jer 25:12.

(c) That is, moved him and gave him heart.

Wesley's Notes

1:1 Fulfilled - Nebuchadnezzar carried many of the Jews into captivity in the first year of his reign (the fourth of Jehoiakim). He reigned forty - five years, his son Evil - merodach twenty - three, and his grandson Belshazzar, three years, which make up the seventy years foretold by Jeremiah. First year - Of his reign in Babylon: for he had been king of Persia for many years.

King James Translators' Notes

made...: Heb. caused a voice to pass

Scofield Reference Notes

SCOFIELD REFERENCE NOTES (Old Scofield 1917 Edition)

Book Introduction

The Book of Ezra

Ezra, the first of the post-captivity books (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi), records the return to Palestine under Zerubbabel, by decree of Cyrus, of a Jewish remnant who laid the temple foundations (B.C. 536). Later (B.C. 458) Ezra followed, and restored the law and ritual. But the mass of the nation, and most of the princes, remained by preference in Babylonia and Assyria, where they were prospering. The post-captivity books deal with that feeble remnant which alone had a heart for God.

The book is in two parts:

I. From the decree of Cyrus to the dedication of the restored temple, 1.1-6.22.

II. The ministry of Ezra, 7.1-10.44.

The events recorded in Ezra cover a period of 80 years (Ussher).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

THE BOOK OF EZRA Commentary by Robert Jamieson

CHAPTER 1

Ezr 1:1-6. Proclamation of Cyrus for Building the Temple.

1. in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia-The Persian empire, including Persia, Media, Babylonia, and Chaldea, with many smaller dependencies, was founded by Cyrus, 536 B.C. [Hales].

that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled-(See Jer 25:12; 29:10). This reference is a parenthetic statement of the historian, and did not form part of the proclamation.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:1-4 The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus. The hearts of kings are in the hand of the Lord. God governs the world by his influence on the spirits of men; whatever good they do, God stirs up their spirits to do it. It was during the captivity of the Jews, that God principally employed them as the means of calling the attention of the heathen to him. Cyrus took it for granted, that those among the Jews who were able, would offer free-will offerings for the house of God. He would also have them supplied out of his kingdom. Well-wishers to the temple should be well-doers for it.