Smoodock's Blog

As we continue in our study of the Book of Ezra, there are a few things we need to keep in mind, if we are to understand what the Bible claims about itself. First, the Bible, itself, gives us a chronology of the books: Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. It claims, no matter how many kings reigned in Persia, the Bible is concerned only with the first four: Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius Hystaspes and Hystaspes’ son, Xerxes (Daniel 11:2). In other studies, I had shown there is very good reason to question the historical chronology of the kings of Babylon and Persia, which is based upon “Ptolemy’s Canon of Kings.” Astronomers question whether Claudius Ptolemy, a second century AD astronomer, used astronomy at all to establish his table of kings. If not, then science has proved wrong, the historical account based upon his works. Therefore, unless proved otherwise, Daniel 11:2 is a valid chronology for the books mentioned above.

For clarity, it may be of interest to show where they are mentioned in the three books that pertain to these times:

According to the text, Darius, the king (Xerxes), made a decree and a search was made for the decree of Cyrus in the house of rolls, where the king’s treasures were stored (Ezra 6:1). The house of rolls seems to be a small room within the palace, a kind of library, where the kings’ records were kept. According to Xenophon[1] Cyrus lived in the capital city of Babylon during the winter months, but during the spring he lived in the city of Susa or Sushan, which is the capital of Elam, and during the summer months, he lived in the city of Ecbatana (Achmetha in the text), which is the capital city of the Province of the Media. It was here, in Ecbantana (Achmetha), that a document was found that supported the testimony of the Jews at Jerusalem (Ezra 6:2).

The roll found in Achmetha shows us that, evidently, the decree of Cyrus was made during the summer months of the first year of his reign as king of Persia over Babylon, because, according to Xenophon’s testimony, Achmetha (Ecbatana) was his summer residence. According to the text, what was found was a record (H1799), or a memorandum. This was not the decree of Cyrus recorded in Ezra 1:1-4. Nevertheless, the roll did mention that Cyrus made a decree in the first year of his reign, saying that he permitted the Jews to rebuild the Temple of God, and even described its dimensions and its large foundation stones, and that it would be financed out of the king’s treasury (Ezra 6:3-4). Moreover, all the golden and silver vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple and brought to Babylon, would be restored and delivered to the House of God at Jerusalem (Ezra 6:5).

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[1] Xenophon was, among other things, an ancient Greek historian (cir. 430-354 BC). See his Cyropaedia, 8.6.22,