Ezra 1

First off, me being the odd-ball and liking to do translation and paraphrasing, I thought I'd start off here with my rendition of Chapter 1 of Ezra. I've added notes and commentary where appropriate:

1

During the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia’s reign, the LORD moved the king’s spirit, causing Cyrus to issue a proclamation (in writing, as well) throughout his entire kingdom (so that the prophecy of Jeremiah might be fulfilled):

²Cyrus, the King of Persia, says:

The LORD God of heaven has given all the kingdoms in the world to me – and He has commanded me to build Him a temple in Jerusalem (which is in Judah).

³Therefore, those of you who are His people and who are called by Him: go to Jerusalem (in Judah) and build the temple of the LORD God of Israel and of Jerusalem*.

* The text here is uncertain. Various translations render this as “… and build the temple of the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem.” The King James Version favors this translation, while others, such as the Message and the Good News Bible favor the rendered translation. Non-English versions also differ – The French Louis Segond favors the rendered translation, while the French Darby Bible favors the King James’ rendition. Among the older Bibles, both the Bishops and the Geneva translations favor the rendered version.

⁴To those who choose to remain: help those who choose to go with silver and gold, with food and supplies, and with animals. Also give them a freewill offering for the temple of God in Jerusalem.*

* I find it humorous here that the King is ordering those that stay behind to give a freewill offering to the temple efforts. Isn’t the whole point of a freewill offering to be an offering given willingly? An edict of this nature pretty much nukes any thought of not giving an offering, however willing the individual was in the giving.

⁵When the leaders_a of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, as well as the priests and the Levites, heard this, those that were moved by God to go, rose up and went to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem. ⁶Those that remained helped those that went by giving vessels of silver, and gold, food and supplies, animals, and precious things, in addition to all that was freely offered.

a: (or: chiefs or principals)

^7,8King Cyrus also delivered, via Treasurer Mithredath, the vessels from the temple of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem (and had subsequently stored in his own god’s temple) to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. ^9-11He delivered thirty platters_b of gold, a thousand platters of silver, twenty-nine knives, thirty basins of gold, four hundred and ten silver basin duplicates*, and one thousand other utensils. Together, all the gold and silver vessels totaled five thousand and four hundred items. Sheshbazzar took all of these vessels from Babylon to Jerusalem.

b: (or: chargers)

* The original has “four hundred and ten silver basins of the second order.” According to Strong’s, the Hebrew word used here (mishneh, H4932) can be used to mean a copy or duplicate of an item. It can also be used to indicate a doubling of an amount, but in this context, duplicate or copy seems more apt.

My Commentary

In verse 1, the language indicates that God stirred or moved Cyrus to issue the proclamation that began the rebuilding of the temple. Given that we know God never forces anyone to do anything, this must mean that Cyrus had, at some point, given consideration to this idea, and God just helped him along into action. Had Cyrus been unwilling to rebuild the temple, he would not have issued the edict, regardless of the prodding of God's Spirit.

    I think that this can speak volumes to us today, as well - our action, or inaction, can result in many things, both intended and unintended, and God can prod all He wants, but only if we are attentive and willing can great things be accomplished through us.

    In verses 3 and 4, the king is clearly separating out those who wish to return to Jerusalem, and those who wish to remain in Babylon. Remember - Cyrus is talking to a people in exile - they had been forcibly removed, in disgrace, from Jerusalem many years prior. Even so, some had managed to build a life in Babylon - and so Cyrus is not ordering all the Jews to return - only those who felt led by God. Even so, the king does order those who remain to help those who are going - even to the point of indicating that they should give a freewill offering to the temple. I for one am going to give something - willingly or not - if the king tells me to do so, so I find the "willingness" of the offering somewhat funny.

    Finally in the remaining verses (7 - 11), Cyrus is making right the thievery of a predecessor - that is, he returns the spoils of war taken by Nebuchadnezzar when the prior temple was raided. To me this shows not only respect, but a willingness to help the effort along as best as he could.