A Note on the Decree of Cyrus

The celebrated "Decree of Cyrus" in which the Persian king gave a mandate for the return of the Jews to their own land and so ended the "Babylonian Captivity" in the year 536 B.C. has often been quoted as evidence that Cyrus recognised the hand of God in his advancement to world dominion. The decree as quoted in Ezra 1:2‑3 certainly reads that way. "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. Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him, and let him go up..." There is no reason to suppose that the decree as thus stated is in any way fictitious; the Jews have always claimed that their restoration was due to Cyrus’ conviction that he was called of God to restore them to their own land and they point to the prophecy in Isaiah 45 where Cyrus is even mentioned by name, nearly two centuries before the event, as proof that he was foreordained to fulfil this task.

It does seem, however, that in actual practice Cyrus was a bit of a diplomat in his dealings with the gods of antiquity. Whatever his feelings may have been as to the God of Israel, he was able to express himself in very similar terms with respect to other gods of other nations. On bricks used in his day for the restoration of the Temple of Sin, the moon god, at Ur of the Chaldees, he had the following inscription impressed; some of the bricks remain to this day.

"Sin, the illuminator of heaven and earth, with his favourite sign delivered into my hand the four quarters of the world, and I returned the gods to their shrines. The great gods have delivered all the lands into my hands; the land have I caused to dwell in a peaceful habitation."

It seems that Cyrus was not above giving the credit for his victories to each of the gods in turn, playing for safety, perhaps, on the principle that upon this basis he could hardly fail to be right. More likely there was a hint of political expediency. He had just conquered the empire of Babylon and added it to his own, any means of conciliating the varied races and peoples now under his rule would be useful. When dealing with Israel he gave the praise to the God of Israel. When dealing with the people of Ur he gave it to their own special god, Sin, the moon‑god. In each case he gave orders for the rebuilding of the national Temple.

None the less Cyrus was definitely a tool in the hand of a higher power. God truly had given him all the kingdoms of the world. More than a century before his birth the Lord through Isaiah had said of him "he is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built; and to the temple, thy foundation shall be laid." And the Lord went on to say "I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me." (Isa.44:28;45:4). That passage in Isaiah is a noteworthy example of the prophetic foresight of God, but no more remarkable than his prediction through the prophet Jeremiah, who promised Israel that their captivity to Babylon would endure for seventy years and then they would be restored to their own land, all of which came to pass exactly as foretold. It is a fascinating conjecture, and a highly probable one, that Daniel showed Cyrus these prophecies and fired him with the ambition to play the part so foretold of him.

AOH