Ezra 1:1-4 · Bible study
Ezra 1:1-4 Commentary: God's Stirring of Cyrus
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
God fulfills Jeremiah's prophecy by stirring the spirit of Cyrus to end the exile. A study of divine sovereignty over pagan rulers and history.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God fulfills his word by moving a pagan king to end the exile and authorize the temple's rebuilding.
- Key words: "Stirred up" (Hiphil of ‘ur), divine causation of Cyrus's initiative; "spirit" (ruach), the inner disposition that God directs; "proclamation" (qol), a public decree with the force of law.
- Main debate: Whether Cyrus became a worshiper of Yahweh or remained a polytheist who saw Yahweh as one god among many.
- Theological theme: Divine sovereignty over history and nations; God's word as the engine of events.
- Best use: Comfort in times of political uncertainty; encouragement to trust that God can move any leader.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
1In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:
2“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah.
3Whoever among you belongs to His people, may his God be with him, and may he go to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of the LORD, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem.
4And let every survivor, wherever he lives, be assisted by the men of that region with silver, gold, goods, and livestock, along with a freewill offering for the house of God in Jerusalem.’”
WEB World English Bible 2000
1Now 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,
2“Cyrus king of Persia says, ‘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.
3Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem.
4Whoever is left, in any place where he lives, let the men of his place help him with silver, with gold, with goods, and with animals, in addition to the free will offering for God’s house which is in Jerusalem.’”
KJV King James Version 1769
1Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
2Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
3Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.
4And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
1Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, andput italso in writing, saying,
2Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath Jehovah, the God of heaven, given me; and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
3Whosoever there is among you of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Jehovah, the God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem.
4And whosoever is left, in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the freewill-offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
1And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, at the completion of the word of Jehovah from the mouth of Jeremiah, hath Jehovah waked up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he causeth an intimation to pass over into all his kingdom, and also in writing, saying,
2`Thus said Cyrus king of Persia, All kingdoms of the earth hath Jehovah, God of the heavens, given to me, and He hath laid a charge on me to build to Him a house in Jerusalem, that is in Judah;
3who is among you of all His people? His God is with him, and he doth go up to Jerusalem, that is in Judah, and build the house of Jehovah, God of Israel--He is God--that is in Jerusalem.
4`And every one who is left, of any of the places where he is a sojourner, assist him do the men of his place with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, along with a free-will offering for the house of God, that is in Jerusalem.'
Darby Darby Bible 1890
1And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, and he made a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also in writing, saying,
2Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth has Jehovah the God of the heavens given to me, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
3Whosoever there is among you of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Jehovah the God of Israel — he is God — which is at Jerusalem.
4And whosoever remains in any place where he sojourns, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the voluntary offering for the house of God which is at Jerusalem.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
1In the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremias might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of the Persians: and he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and in writing also, saying:
2Thus saith Cyrus king of the Persians: The Lord the God of heaven hath given to me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea.
3Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and build the house of the Lord the God of Israel: he is the God that is in Jerusalem.
4And let all the rest in all places wheresoever they dwell, help him every man from his place, with silver and gold, and goods, and cattle, besides that which they offer freely to the temple of God, which is in Jerusalem.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Ezra 1:1
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that this passage announces God's direct action to end the Babylonian exile through a pagan king. The opening phrase marks the precise moment when Jeremiah's prophecy about seventy years of captivity reached its completion (Jeremiah 25:11, 12; 29:10). God's sovereignty is the skeleton of the text: the Hiphil verb he‘ir ("stirred up") shows Yahweh inciting Cyrus's spirit, the king is an instrument, not the author of the decree. Barnes and Keil both note that Cyrus's language closely parallels Persian royal inscriptions, yet the content matches Isaiah's earlier prediction (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1), which likely came to Cyrus through Daniel's ministry at court. The Cambridge Bible observes that the decree's structure, beginning with the phrase "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia", deliberately echoes prophetic formulas, placing the edict in the line of divine revelation. Gill emphasizes that the title "God of heaven" became the standard post-exilic name for Yahweh, replacing the earlier "Yahweh of Hosts." All major commentators affirm that God is the true subject of every verb: he stirs, he gives kingdoms, he commands the temple to be built.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Direct prophetic influence (via Daniel): Isaiah 44:28 names Cyrus two centuries earlier; Daniel was in Babylon and likely shared the prophecy with Cyrus.
- Political pragmatism: Cyrus's policy of repatriation was a standard Persian strategy to pacify conquered peoples; the biblical language may be his own religious framing.
- Divine overruling of mixed motives: God can accomplish his purposes even when human actors have multiple or impure motivations; Cyrus's sincerity is less important than the outcome.
What is clear: God initiated the return by stirring Cyrus's spirit, fulfilling Jeremiah's prophecy, and sovereignly directing history for the sake of his people.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Cyrus's faith | God used Cyrus to fulfill prophecy regardless of Cyrus's personal beliefs. | Some commentators think Cyrus became a genuine monotheist after encountering Isaiah's prophecies through Daniel; others argue he remained a polytheistic Zoroastrian who merely added Yahweh to his pantheon. |
| Scope of the decree | The decree applied to the exiles of Judah (the southern kingdom) living in Babylon. | Whether it also addressed the northern tribes (the ten tribes of Israel) depends on how one reads 'all his people' in v.3. Lange and Gill include them; the Cambridge Bible restricts it to Judah because only Judah and Benjamin are mentioned in v.5. |
| Role of Daniel | Cyrus was influenced by Jewish prophecy; the timing and content match Isaiah 44, 45. | The extent of Daniel's direct involvement is speculative. Barnes and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown think Daniel showed Cyrus the scroll of Isaiah; others see the influence as indirect through Jewish captives or general reputation. |
| Meaning of 'first year of Cyrus' | It refers to Cyrus's first year as ruler of Babylon (538 BC), not his entire reign. | No significant debate; the historical consensus is solid. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Cyrus the Great captured Babylon in 539 BC, ending the Neo-Babylonian empire and founding the Persian Empire. The phrase "first year of Cyrus" refers not to his reign over Persia (which had begun years earlier) but to his first year as ruler of Babylon, 538 BC. This dating aligns with Jeremiah's seventy-year prophecy, which the book of Chronicles counts from the fourth year of Jehoiakim (605 BC) to the first year of Cyrus (see 2 Chronicles 36:21, 22).
Cyrus's policy of repatriating exiled peoples and restoring their temples is attested outside the Bible by the Cyrus Cylinder, a clay cylinder inscribed with a declaration that the Babylonian god Marduk had chosen Cyrus to restore order. The biblical account reframes this: the true God who stirred Cyrus was not Marduk but Yahweh, the God of heaven. This title appears frequently in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel, books written after the exile, showing a shift in how Israel spoke of God in a world ruled by empires.
Literarily, Ezra 1:1, 4 repeats almost word-for-word the final verses of 2 Chronicles (36:22, 23). This indicates that the Chronicler and the compiler of Ezra regarded the decree as both the close of Israel's judgment and the doorway to restoration. The surrounding chapters describe the actual return and rebuilding, giving context to who responded: the heads of families in Judah and Benjamin, priests, and Levites whose spirit God also stirred (v.5).
Textual Notes
The passage is virtually identical to 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23, with minor differences in phrasing (e.g., Ezekiel 1:2's 'God of heaven' versus Chronicles' 'God of heaven' with a slightly different word order). The repetition suggests a common source or that the Chronicler's account was used as the introduction to Ezra. No significant textual variants appear in the manuscript tradition for these verses.
Reception History
Early Christian readers saw Cyrus as a type of Christ, a foreign ruler who liberates God's people and rebuilds the temple. Matthew Henry, in his commentary, called this passage 'the resurrection of dry bones,' referencing Ezekiel 37, and saw it as a pattern for God's deliverance of the church from spiritual captivity. Reformers such as Calvin pointed to it as clear evidence of God's sovereignty over even the most powerful rulers. In Jewish tradition, the decree marks the end of the seventy-year exile and the beginning of the Second Temple period; the Midrash emphasizes that God 'stirred' Cyrus's spirit as a sign that repentance is always possible. Some Christian hymns and liturgies reference Cyrus as a reminder that God can use anyone to accomplish his purposes.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God's word shapes history. The decree happens "that Yahweh's word by Jeremiah's mouth might be accomplished." Prophecy is not fortune-telling; it is the declaration of what God will do, and it determines events.
- God works through unlikely instruments. Cyrus is a pagan king who worships multiple gods, yet God "stirred up his spirit." No ruler is beyond the reach of God's sovereignty.
- God calls his people to respond. The decree ends with an invitation: "Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up... and build." The exiles must choose to go or stay.
Five-point outline
- The context: seventy years of exile are ending.
- The instrument: Cyrus, king of Persia, receives a divine stirring.
- The proclamation: Cyrus acknowledges Yahweh as "God of heaven" who gave him power and commanded the temple rebuild.
- The permission: all Jewish exiles may return and rebuild with community support.
- The provision: those who stay must assist with material goods and freewill offerings.
Illustration hooks
- An unexpected ally. A school board member who rarely agrees with the principal suddenly champions the restoration of a neglected building. The community wonders what changed their mind, sometimes credit goes to a quiet influence no one sees.
- A move you didn't plan. A family feels a persistent pull to move to a new city for work, even though the timing seems inconvenient. Later they discover how their skills were needed there.
- Support from unlikely sources. A church plant receives its largest donation from a local business owner who doesn't attend services. The gift enables the purchase of equipment for a community program.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Does God still direct world leaders today? Can we pray for our rulers and expect God to move their hearts?
- How do I distinguish between God's stirring and my own ambition when I feel eager to make a change?
- What holds us back from joining God's rebuilding work, comfort, fear, or attachment to the familiar?
Leading a Discussion
This passage opens the book of Ezra with a dramatic pivot: judgment gives way to restoration, and a foreign king becomes the agent of God's promise. Read through the four verses together and notice who is doing what. Pay special attention to the verbs.
Discussion questions
- What does the phrase "Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus" tell us about God's relationship to political power?
- Why does the writer mention Jeremiah's prophecy at the very start? How does that frame the whole decree?
- Cyrus uses the title "Yahweh, the God of heaven." Why might this phrase have been chosen rather than "Yahweh of Hosts"? What does it communicate to a multicultural empire?
- In verses 3, 4, the decree includes both a call to return and a command to those who stay. What does this reveal about community responsibility in God's work?
- What might it have felt like for an exile to decide whether to return or remain? What factors would they weigh?
- How does this passage challenge our assumptions about who God can use to accomplish his purposes?
- If God can stir the spirit of a pagan king, how might he be stirring your own heart toward a specific action or change?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| II Chronicles 36:22 | Now 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, |
| II Chronicles 36:23 | “Cyrus king of Persia says, ‘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.’” |
| Ezra 5:13 | But in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree to build this house of God. |
| Ezra 5:15 | He said to him, ‘Take these vessels, go, put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let God’s house be built in its place.’ |
| Ezra 6:22 | and kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy; because Yahweh had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of God, the God of Israel’s house. |
| Ezra 7:27 | Blessed be Yahweh, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify Yahweh’s house which is in Jerusalem; |
| Psalms 106:46 | He made them also to be pitied by all those who carried them captive. |
| Proverbs 21:1 | The king’s heart is in Yahweh’s hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke highlights a shift in divine titles: before the exile God is called Lord of Hosts, but afterward he is styled God of Heaven, though the meaning is the same. He also notes that the return was voluntary, testing each person's heart for God. Those who stayed were commanded to support those who went.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes draws attention to the Persian inscription's language: the Hebrew text deliberately equates Yahweh with the Persian supreme god Ahura-Mazda, since both conceive of one sovereign Spirit. He also suggests Cyrus likely learned of the prophecy through Daniel, which explains why the king accepted the command to rebuild the temple.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentary stresses that Cyrus was a polytheist, not a monotheist, and his decree was a shrewd political act to unify his empire by honoring local deities. The opening word "Now" signals that Ezra continues a longer history rather than starting fresh, linking to Chronicles.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes highlight that God stirred the spirit of a pagan king, Cyrus, to fulfill Jeremiah's prophecy exactly as spoken. They stress that Cyrus not only permitted the return but commanded that those who stayed behind support the exiles with silver, gold, goods, and animals.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill emphasises that God sovereignly moved Cyrus to issue the decree, fulfilling Jeremiah's prophecy. He notes that Cyrus acknowledged the Lord of heaven had given him his vast empire and charged him with rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem, attributing his success entirely to God.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
jfb highlights that Cyrus's proclamation directly echoes Isaiah's prophecies naming him two centuries before his birth, which Cyrus likely knew through Daniel. This explains why the Persian king acknowledges the Lord God of heaven and takes on the duty of rebuilding the temple. The proclamation, however, did not take effect until the following year.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch argues that Cyrus’s edict is historically reliable, not a later invention. They note the king used the personal name Yahweh, not a generic title, showing he consciously served the God of Israel. The decree’s form matches Persian royal inscriptions, but its specifically Israelite content confirms divine purpose.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange sees the decree of Cyrus as a turning point where God uses a heathen king, not to punish Israel but to restore them. The small and unpromising beginnings of the return test faith, showing that God works quietly through unlikely instruments to fulfill His promises of redemption.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry sees the return from exile as a bittersweet restoration: the Jewish church lives again, but only as a servant, freed from Babylon yet still bearing the scars. Kings are gone, prophecy will soon fall silent, and the whole recovery is a dim preview of a greater deliverance yet to come.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley calculates that the captivity's seventy years foretold by Jeremiah were exactly fulfilled through three Babylonian kings: Nebuchadnezzar's forty-five years, Evil-merodach's twenty-three, and Belshazzar's three. He then notes that Cyrus credited the great God with giving him the empire, likely because the Jews showed him Isaiah's prophecy naming him over a century before he was born.