Now 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,
Ver. 1. Now] Heb. And; for the former history, recorded in the Chronicles, is continued by Ezra, that ready scribe, and perfect in the law, Ezra 7:6. Yet not so prompt or perfect can I deem him, as that he should, by memory, restore the Bible that was burnt, together with the temple, by the Babylonians. And yet that was the opinion of many ancients, grounded upon some passages in that Apocryphal Esdras (Irenae., Tertull., Clem. Alex., Jerome, Aug., Euseb.). We read also of one Johannes Gatius Ciphaleditanus, who, out of the vain confidence of his learning and memory, was wont to give out, that if the Holy Scripture should be lost out of the world, he would not doubt, by God's grace, to restore it whole again. Of Cranmer indeed (a far better man, and a profounder divine) it is storied, that he had memorised most of the New Testament by heart. And of Beza, that, being more than eighty years of age, he could say perfectly, without the book, any Greek chapter in St Paul's Epistles (Mr Leigh, Annot. on Joh 5:39).
In the first year] Heb. In the one year. The Hebrews oft use one for first. So do also the apostles in Greek, Matthew 28:1,20 : John 20:1; John 20:19 1 Corinthians 16:1,24 : 2 Kings 6:1; one being the first number; neither was it without a mystery that Pythagoras bade his scholars ever to have respect, εις μοναδα; as Moses also his, saying, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord," Deuteronomy 6:4 .
Of Cyrus] Heb. Coresh, so named by God more than a hundred years before he was born, Isaiah 40:28, and so honoured by the Persians (as the founder of their monarchy) that they liked the better of all that were hawk-nosed, like unto him. See the like of Josiah, 1 Kings 13:2. The Persian word signifieth a lord, or great prince, as Hen. Stephanus noteth; and thence the Greeks have their κυρος, authority, κυριος, lord; and we our word sir, as some will have it. Plutarch, in Artaxerxes, saith that the Persians call the sun Cyrus. And it may very well be so, for the Hebrews also call the sun הרס Cheres, from its glistering brightness.
King of Persia] So he had been more than twenty years before this, and done many great exploits; but this was the first year of his empire, of his cosmocraty Ruler of the world, of the monarchy translated from the Babylonians to the Persians. The greatest kingdoms have their times and their turns, their rise and their ruin, when they shall live by fame only. Persia, having oft changed her masters since Cyrus, remaineth a flourishing kingdom to this day; but wholly Mahometan. Which abominable superstition the Turks received from them when, in the year 1030, they won that country under their Sultan Tangrolipix. Where it is hard to say, saith mine author, whether nation lost more, the Persians, by the loss of so great a kingdom, or the Turks, by embracing so great a vanity. To this day they acknowledge the Persians better Mahometans than themselves, which maketh the Turks far better soldiers upon the Christian than upon the Persian.
That the word of the Lord] For it was he that spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, Luke 1:70, and his word cannot be broken, John 10:35, for he is the God of Amen, as the prophet David calleth him, Psalms 31:5; and all his promises are the issue of a most faithful and right will, void of all insincerity and falsehood, Proverbs 8:8 .
By the mouth of Jeremiah] That admirable preacher (as Keckerman calleth him), that most eminent prophet (as another), with whose writings, about this very restoration, Daniel consulted, and therehence collected, that the time was come, Daniel 9:2, which put him upon that heavenly prayer; for he knew that God's promises must be put in suit; and it was to him that the angel afterwards said, I came for thy word, Daniel 10:14. God will come, according to his promise, but he will have his people's prayers lead him. This liberty here granted to the Jews, after so long captivity, was the fruit of many prayers, founded upon the promise, Jeremiah 25:12; Jeremiah 29:10 .
Might be fulfilled] As indeed it was exactly by the death of Belshazzar, slain by Cyrus, who succeeded him: Daniel 5:30, "In that night was Belshazzar slain," because then exactly the seventy years were ended. So, for the same reason it is noted, Exodus 12:40,41, that at midnight the firstborn of Egypt were slain, because just then the four hundred or four hundred and thirty years foretold were expired. So punctual is God in keeping his word. It is not here, as with men, A day breaketh no square, &c., for he never faileth at his time.
The Lord stirred up the spirit] It was the mighty and immediate work of God (in whose hand are the hearts of all, both kings and captives, lords and lowlies) to bring this wise and great prince, in the very first entrance into his monarchy, before things were fully settled, to dismiss so great and so united a people, in respect of their custom and religion, and so given to insurrection (as was generally held) into their own country, with such a fair and full patent. This was the Lord's own work, and it was justly marvellous in the eyes of his people; who could hardly believe their own eyes, but were for a while like those who dream. Then was their mouth filled with laughter, and their tongue with singing, &c., Psalms 126:1,2. Then was the great power and goodness of God, in stirring up Cyrus to do this, acknowledged. Then also was the king's clemency and courtesy no less cried up and magnified than was that of Flaminius, the Roman general, at Athens, where, for delivering them from servitude, he was little less than deified; or that of our Queen Elizabeth, who, for her merciful returning home certain Italians that were taken prisoners in the eighty-eight invasion, was termed St. Elizabeth by some at Venice; whereof one told the Lord Carleton (afterwards Viscount Dorchester), being there ambassador, that although he was a Papist, yet he would never pray to any other saint but that St. Elizabeth.
That he made proclamation] Heb. He caused a voice to pass, sc. by his messengers and ministers. The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, Esther 3:15, even those Angarii. The Lord Christ also proclaiming liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, Isaiah 61:1, causeth his word to run and to be glorified, to spread like a sunbeam, as Eusebius saith the gospel did at first; to be carried as on eagles' wings, or on angels' wings, as it was through all Christendom, when Luther first sent forth his book, De Captivitate Babylonica, of the Babylonish Captivity.
And put it also in writing] That it might be posted up, and everywhere published. Vox audita perit: littera scripta manet. Christ hath written for us also the great things of his law; and should they, then, be counted a strange thing? Hosea 8:12. See Trapp on " Hos 8:12 " His Gospel likewise he hath written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God, 1 John 5:13, and ponder his passion especially, which is, therefore, so particularly set down by four faithful witnesses, that men may get it written, not on the nails of their hands (as one once did), but upon the tables of their hearts, there to abide as a perpetual picture; Non scripta solum, sedet sculpta, as he said; that we therein beholding, as in a glass, the love of our Lord, might be changed into the same image, till our hearts became a very lump of love to him who "loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made us kings and priests unto God and his Father," Revelation 1:5,6 .