CYRUS

(Cyʹrus).

Darius the Mede, successor to the kingdom of the Chaldean king Belshazzar following the conquest of Babylon by the forces of Cyrus the Persian, at which time Darius was about 62 years of age. (Da 5:30, 31)

Some scholars present Cambyses (II) as being made “King of Babylon” by his father Cyrus soon after the conquest of Babylon.

Later, Herodotus (I, 188) refers to Cyrus the Persian as fighting against the son of Labynetus and Nitocris.

In turn, the “son” of Nitocris and Nabonidus (Labynetus), mentioned by Herodotus, is thought to be Belshazzar, against whom Cyrus did indeed fight.

The reign of Nebuchadnezzar’s father Nabopolassar marked the start of what is called the Neo-Babylonian Empire; it ended with the reigns of Nabonidus and his son Belshazzar and the overthrow of Babylon by Cyrus the Persian.

This tablet contains the following astronomical information for the seventh year of Cambyses II son of Cyrus II: “Year 7, Tammuz, night of the 14th, 1 2⁄3 double hours [three hours and twenty minutes] after night came, a lunar eclipse; visible in its full course; it reached over the northern half disc [of the moon].

One of these families produced the Achaemenian dynasty of kings, the royal line from which came the founder of the Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great.

Cyrus, who, according to Herodotus and Xenophon, was born of a Persian father and a Median mother, united the Persians under his leadership. (Herodotus, I, 107, 108; Cyropaedia, I, ii, 1)

Cyrus: 1:566

Cyrus Cylinder: 1:566, 568-569; 2:328, 332

Greek historians Herodotus (I, 107, 108) and Xenophon (Cyropaedia, I, ii, 1) both relate that Cyaxares’ successor Astyages (called Ishtumegu in the cuneiform texts) had given his daughter Mandane in marriage to Persian ruler Cambyses, resulting in the birth of Cyrus (II).

Cyrus, upon becoming king of Anshan, a Persian province, united the Persian forces in an effort to throw off the Median yoke.

In such glory it continued as the capital of the third world power until the night of October 5, 539 B.C.E. (Gregorian calendar), when Babylon fell before the invading Medo-Persian armies under the command of Cyrus the Great.

The men of Cyrus’ army were not sleeping in their encampment around Babylon’s seemingly impregnable walls.

Those who would credit the book to more than one writer do not feel that it was possible for Isaiah to have foretold nearly two centuries in advance that a ruler named Cyrus would liberate the exiled Jews; consequently they speculate that this was written at a later time, at least after Cyrus began his conquests. (Isa 44:28; 45:1)

Ezra begins by relating the decree of Cyrus for the restoration of the Jews from Babylon.

It was in the first year of Cyrus that this Persian king issued a restoration proclamation. (Ezr 1:1)

Persian King Cyrus II took it from Median King Astyages, after which the Medes and Persians joined forces under Cyrus.

As foretold by Jehovah’s prophet Isaiah, God raised up Cyrus king of Persia as a liberator of Israel from the power of Babylon. (Isa 45:1)

In Cyrus’ decree he ordered: “As for anyone that is left from all the places where he is residing as an alien, let the men of his place assist him with silver and with gold and with goods and with domestic animals along with the voluntary offering for the house of the true God, which was in Jerusalem.” (Ezr 1:1-4)

Even before the end of the 70 years of exile, Babylon fell, in 539 B.C.E., to the invading armies of Persian King Cyrus.

Then, during his first year as ruler of Babylon, Cyrus issued a decree opening the way for the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem. (Ezr 1:1-4)

Shortly after Babylon’s fall, Persian King Cyrus decreed that the formerly captive Jews could return to their homeland and rebuild Jehovah’s temple. (Ezr 1:2-4)

Also at Babylon, at the site of the temple of Marduk, a clay cylinder about King Cyrus the conqueror of Babylon was found.

This cylinder tells about the ease with which Cyrus captured the city and also outlines his policy of restoring to their native lands the captive peoples residing in Babylon, thus harmonizing with the Biblical account of Cyrus as the prophesied conqueror of Babylon and of the restoration of the Jews to Palestine during Cyrus’ reign.​—Isa 44:28; 45:1; 2Ch 36:23.

Babylon was then menaced by the besieging forces of Cyrus the Persian and his ally Darius the Mede.

Belshazzar did not live out the night, being killed as the city fell during the night of October 5, 539 B.C.E., when, according to the Nabonidus Chronicle, “the army of Cyrus (II) entered Babylon without a battle.” (Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles, pp. 109, 110; see also Da 5:30.)

A more unusual example is where the term is applied to the Persian king Cyrus.

Before his birth, the prophecy of Isaiah (45:1-3) declared: “This is what Jehovah has said to his anointed one [LXX, khri·stoiʹ], to Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of.”

Moreover, the statement of Cyrus’ decree found at the end of Second Chronicles is given in full in the book of Ezra, indicating that the writer closed the book of Chronicles with the intention of writing another book (Ezra) that would deal with the decree and its execution more fully.

Aside from the genealogical lists that run from Adam, the Chronicles cover the period from the death of King Saul to the carrying away of exiles to Babylon, with a conclusion telling of Cyrus’ decree at the end of the 70-year exile.

Whether they lived to hold this position until Babylon’s fall is not stated, but Daniel did; and after this he was in the Persian court until at least the third year of Cyrus.​—Da 10:1.

During the third year of Cyrus (536 B.C.E.), Daniel was given a vision by an angel who, in his mission to visit Daniel, had to contend with the prince of Persia.

An appointee of King Cyrus over the first exiles returning from Babylon.

Some modern scholars, in attempting to identify Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel as separate individuals, say that Cyrus first appointed Sheshbazzar as governor but that later Sheshbazzar was succeeded by Zerubbabel during the reign of Darius, and therefore the building of the temple is credited to Zerubbabel.

The rise of the Medo-Persian Empire under Cyrus (who conquered Babylon in 539 B.C.E.) posed a threat to Greece.

Cyrus had already conquered Asia Minor, including Greek colonies there.

Whatever the immediate effects on Elam from the Assyrian collapse, the Persians evidently succeeded in taking from Elam the region called Anshan, as Persian rulers Teispes, Cyrus I, Cambyses, and Cyrus II were all respectively called by the title “King of Anshan.”

The statement by archaeologist Conder that “the history of the ruined city remains a blank until Cyrus” is true not only of Jerusalem but also of the entire realm of the kingdom of Judah.

In “the first year” (evidently as ruler over Babylon) of Cyrus the Persian (538 B.C.E.) the royal decree went forth freeing the exiled Jews to “go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of Jehovah the God of Israel.” (Ezr 1:1-4)

These include Esau and Jacob (mentioned earlier), the Pharaoh of the Exodus, Samson, Solomon, Josiah, Jeremiah, Cyrus, John the Baptizer, Judas Iscariot, and God’s own Son Jesus.

Similarly, Jehovah foretold nearly two centuries beforehand that he would use a conqueror named Cyrus to effect the release of the Jews from Babylon. (Isa 44:26-28; 45:1-6)

Another case in point is the Persian king Cyrus, whom Isaiah had foretold that Jehovah would use as His anointed. (Isa 45:1)

Cyrus was not actually anointed with oil by one of Jehovah’s representatives, but because he was appointed by Jehovah to do a certain work, he could be said to be anointed.

While it cannot be proved or disproved that Cyrus the Great adhered to the teachings of Zoroaster, from the time of Darius I the inscriptions of the monarchs repeatedly refer to Ahura Mazda, the principal deity of Zoroastrianism.

Although he may have been a Zoroastrian, King Cyrus was named in Bible prophecy as the one appointed by Jehovah to overthrow Babylon and bring about the release of the Jewish captives. (Isa 44:26–45:7; compare Pr 21:1.)

The Ahasuerus of Ezra 4:6, in the beginning of whose reign an accusation was written against the Jews by their enemies, may have been Cambyses, the successor of Cyrus the conqueror of Babylon and liberator of the Jews.

Xerxes I also appears to be the “fourth [king]” mentioned at Daniel 11:2, the three preceding ones being Cyrus the Great, Cambyses II, and Darius Hystaspis.

On October 5, 539 B.C.E., in one night, Babylon was taken by Cyrus the Great, whom Jehovah had foretold by name.

At Isaiah 46:11, Cyrus, the Persian king, is spoken of as coming from “the east” (KJ), or “the sunrising” (NW).

In the book of Revelation back-reference is made to Darius and Cyrus as prophetic of “the kings from the rising of the sun,” in connection with the drying up of the symbolic Euphrates in the time of Babylon the Great’s judgment.​—Re 16:12, 19.

Similarly, in return for Cyrus’ overthrow of Babylon and his liberation of the Jews from their exiled state, Jehovah gave “Egypt as a ransom [form of koʹpher] for [his people], Ethiopia and Seba” in their place.

When Jehovah repurchased the Israelites exiled in Babylon, Cyrus willingly liberated them, without tangible compensation in his lifetime.

Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai and his colleagues wrote to the king reporting on the activities in Jerusalem and stating that the temple builders had referred to an order of authorization that had been put through by Cyrus the king.

Darius’ reply acknowledged Cyrus’ unchangeable decree and not only ordered Shethar-bozenai and his comrades to ‘keep their distance’ from Jerusalem but also demanded, under severe penalty, that material support be provided from the royal treasury for the Jews so that their temple building and services could continue.

The Jews appealed to Cyrus’ original decree; so Tattenai wrote to Darius asking if such a decree had been issued, as the Jews contended.

The answer received confirmed Cyrus’ decree and the validity of the temple work, and it warned Tattenai not to interfere but to render material assistance to the Jews.

Between the reigns of Cyrus the Great, who allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem (537 B.C.E.), and of Darius the Great, who in 520 B.C.E. removed the ban imposed on the temple construction, possibly three kings ruled: Cambyses II, his brother Bardiya (or possibly a Magian known as Gaumata who is said to have pretended to be Bardiya and ruled for seven months), and Nidintu-Bel (who was defeated and killed by Darius after just two months).

This generous contribution may explain why Artaxerxes is included along with Cyrus and Darius at Ezra 6:14 as one of those whose orders contributed to the ‘building and finishing’ of the temple, although the actual construction had been completed 47 years previously, in 515 B.C.E.

As the governor appointed by King Cyrus, Zerubbabel had been entrusted with sacred gold and silver vessels that had years earlier been taken from the temple by Nebuchadnezzar. (Ezr 5:14, 15)

Recognizing the bad motive of the non-Jews who asked to have a share in the rebuilding work, Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the heads of the paternal houses stated: “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God, for we ourselves shall together build to Jehovah the God of Israel, just as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”​—Ezr 4:1-3.

On the Cyrus Cylinder, Babylon’s conqueror takes over the title “King of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad.”

This return of a small remnant took place in 537 B.C.E. when King Cyrus of Persia issued a decree liberating them from Babylon after an exile of 70 years.​—2Ch 36:22, 23; Ezr 1:1; 2:1, 2.

It is likely that Ammonite exiles, along with those of other nations, were allowed to return to their homeland by Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon, in fulfillment of Jeremiah 49:6.

In the account King Cyrus requires of Daniel that he worship an idol of the god Bel.

King Cyrus of Persia was not literally anointed by a representative of God but was figuratively spoken of as Jehovah’s anointed one because of his appointment to conquer Babylon and to release God’s people. (Isa 45:1)