Ezra 1:1

End of The Babylonian Captivity

1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord ^aby the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, ^bso that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:
All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has ^acommanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.

3 Who 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 the Lord God of Israel ^a(He is God), which is in Jerusalem.

4 And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.

5 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits ^aGod had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.

6 And all those who were around them¹ encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was ^awillingly offered.

7 ^aKing Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, ^bwhich Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the¹ temple of his gods;

8 and Cyrus king of Persia brought them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and counted them out to ^aSheshbazzar the prince of Judah.

9 This is the number of them: thirty gold platters, one thousand silver platters, twenty-nine knives,

10 thirty gold basins, four hundred and ten silver basins of a similar kind, and one thousand other articles.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?

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What Does Ezra 1:1 Mean?

God is superintending events on this earth. When He wants something done through a man, He interfaces with him, perhaps inserting thoughts into the person's mind without awareness. This occurred when the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, motivating him to issue the proclamation. Cyrus was not aware God was stirring him. He may have thought the idea came from himself or an advisor. Somehow Cyrus concluded it was in the national interest of Medo-Persia to relocate a small portion of the Jews and give them opportunity to restore the Temple, as he did for other conquered peoples. God inspired it without removing Cyrus' free moral agency.

Ezra 1:1

This says clearly that God was able to stir the spirit of Cyrus. There is no indication that Cyrus was aware that God was stirring him up. He just somehow was motivated to issue this proclamation. He may have thought the idea really came from him or from one of his advisors. But for some reason, all of a sudden, he had an inclination to give the Jews the opportunity to go back to their own homeland.

This verse also suggests that our spirit can be communicated with without our being aware of it happening. Understand, however, that we will not always be blind to this or insensitive to it. It is God's intention that we become very sensitive to the fact that something or someone is trying to communicate with us on a level that is not discernable by the eye or the ear. Nonetheless, our spirit can be stirred to go in a certain direction for good or for bad. We need to begin to realize that we may or may not be aware that our spirit is being communicated with.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Satan (Part 3)

Ezra 1:1-4

God is superintending or managing events on this earth. When He wants something done through a man, He interfaces with him. Perhaps without the person even being aware of it, God can insert thoughts into the person's mind to do what He wants him to do.

The event related here is Jeremiah's Seventy Years Prophecy. This verse does not tell us what political, military, social, or economic events God may have manipulated to get Cyrus to consider and finally to choose to issue this edict. It would be beyond belief to think that Cyrus thought of it on his own, out of the blue. Nations act in their national interest. Somehow, Cyrus concluded that it was in the national interest of Medo-Persia to relocate a small portion of the Jews, and he also gave them the opportunity to restore the Temple in Jerusalem. This particular occasion was not unique: Cyrus did this for other peoples that the Medo-Persians had conquered, perhaps to curry the favor of their gods or as a carrot to dissuade them from rebelling.

However it occurred, God inspired it without removing Cyrus' free moral agency. Some modern translations translate the phrase "stirred up the spirit of Cyrus" as "God moved Cyrus' heart."

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Holy Spirit and the Trinity (Part Three)

**Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Ezra 1:1:**

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