Persia

How Nave’s arranged it

• An empire which extended from India to Ethiopia, comprising one-hundred and twenty-seven provincesEsther 1:1Daniel 6:1
• Government of, restricted by constitutional limitationsEsther 8:8Daniel 6:8–12
• Municipal governments in, provided with dual governorsNehemiah 3:9Nehemiah 3:12Nehemiah 3:16–18
• The princes were advisors in matters of administrationDaniel 6:1–7
• Status of women in; queen sat on the throne with the kingNehemiah 2:6
• Vashti was divorced for refusing to appear before the king's courtiersEsther 1:10–22Esther 2:4
• Israel captive in2 Chronicles 36:20
• Captivity foretoldHosea 13:16
• Men of, in the Tyrian armyEzekiel 27:10
• Rulers of
• AhasuerusEsther 1:3
• DariusDaniel 5:31Daniel 6Daniel 9:1

The passages, in Bible order (51)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. 2 Chronicles 36:20

   Those who escaped the sword were carried by Nebuchadnezzar into exile in Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.

   ›Commentary on 2 Chronicles 36:202 voices

   “And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away captive,.... The king of Babylon, or his general by his orders, excepting some poor persons left to till the land, see Jer 52:15, where they were servants to him and his sons; his son Evilmerodach, and his grandson Belshazzar; see Gill on Jer 27:7, until the reign of the kingdom of Persia; until that monarchy began, as it did upon the taking of Babylon by Cyrus king of Persia. This is the first place we meet with this name of Persia in Scripture.

   “Servants - Or, “slaves.” They were probably employed by Nebuchadnezzar in the forced labor which his great works necessitated. His sons - The word probably includes all Nebuchadnezzars successors in the independent sovereignty of Babylon.

   Everything gathered on 2 Chronicles 36:20→

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2. 2 Chronicles 36:22

   In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:

   ›Commentary on 2 Chronicles 36:222 voices

   “Now in the first year of Cyrus - This and the following verse are supposed to have been written by mistake from the book of Ezra, which begins in the same way. The book of the Chronicles, properly speaking, does close with the twenty-first verse, as then the Babylonish captivity commences, and these two verses speak of the transactions of a period seventy years after. This was in the first year of the reign of Cyrus over the empire of the East which is reckoned to be A.M. 34

   “The L ORD his God be with him, and let him go up. These last two verses of this book have a double aspect. They look back to the prophecy of Jeremiah, and show how that was accomplished,

   Everything gathered on 2 Chronicles 36:22→

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3. 2 Chronicles 36:23

   “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah. Whoever among you belongs to His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and may he go up.’”

   ›Commentary on 2 Chronicles 36:231 voice

   “The Lord his God be with him - “Let the Word of the Lord be his helper, and let him go up.” - Targum. See the notes on the beginning of Ezra. Thus ends the history of a people the most fickle, the most ungrateful, and perhaps on the whole the most sinful, that ever existed on the face of the earth. But what a display does all this give of the power, justice, mercy, and long-suffering of the Lord! There was no people like this people, and no God like their God.

   Everything gathered on 2 Chronicles 36:23→

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4. Ezra 1:1

   In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:

   ›Commentary on Ezra 1:11 voice

   “Now in the first year - This is word for word with the two last verses of the preceding book; which stand here in their proper place and connection, but there are entirely destitute of chronological connection and reference. Cyrus - This prince, so eminent in antiquity, is said to have been the son of Cambyses king of Persia, and Mandane, daughter of Astyages king of the Medes; and was born about six hundred years before Christ.

   Everything gathered on Ezra 1:1→

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5. Ezra 3:7

   They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.

   ›Commentary on Ezra 3:72 voices

   “Or rather let them learn of you, who are so well instructed in such histories, how that Jeshua the son of Josedek the priest, and his brother, and Zerubbabel the wise, the son of Salathiel, and Ezra the priest and scribe of the law, as the temple was being built after the captivity, the feast of tabernacles being at hand (which was a great feast and time of assembly and prayer in Israel), gathered the people together with one accord in the great court within the first gate, which is toward the east, and prepared the altar to God, and there offered their gifts and kept the feast.

   “According to the grant - i. e., in accordance with the permission granted them by Cyrus to rebuild their temple Ezr 1:1-4.

   Everything gathered on Ezra 3:7→

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6. Ezra 4:3

   But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of the families of Israel replied, “You have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone must build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as Cyrus king of Persia has commanded us.”

   ›Commentary on Ezra 4:32 voices

   “Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God--This refusal to co-operate with the Samaritans, from whatever motives it sprang, was overruled by Providence for ultimate good; for, had the two peoples worked together, familiar acquaintanceship and intermarriage would have ensued, and the result might have been a relapse of the Jews into idolatry.

   “Ye have nothing to do with us - Because the Samaritans had united idolatrous rites with the worship of Yahweh 2Ki 17:29-41. To have allowed them a share in restoring the temple would have been destructive of all purity of religion. As king Cyrus ... commanded us - The exact words of the edict gave the right of building exclusively to those who should “go up” from Babylonia to Judaea Ezr 1:3.

   Everything gathered on Ezra 4:3→

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7. Ezra 4:7–24

   And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. It was written in Aramaic and then translated.

   ›Commentary on Ezra 4:7–241 voice

   “Artaxerxes - Gomates, the Pseudo-Smerdis. He succeeded Cambyses (521 B.C.), and reigned for seven months, when he was deposed and executed by Darius Hystaspis. Written in the Syrian tongue ... - Or, “written in Syriac characters and translated into Syriac.” On the use of this tongue as a medium of communication between the Jews and their Eastern neighbors, see 2Ki 18:26 note.

   Everything gathered on Ezra 4:7–24→

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8. Ezra 5:13

   In his first year, however, Cyrus king of Babylon issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.

   ›Commentary on Ezra 5:132 voices

   “Cyrus the king . . . made a decree--The Jews were perfectly warranted according to the principles of the Persian government to proceed with the building in virtue of Cyrus' edict. For everywhere a public decree is considered as remaining in force until it is revoked but the "laws of the Medes and Persians changed not" [Da 6:8, 12, 15].

   “But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon,.... That is, the first year he was king of Babylon, having taken it, otherwise he was king of Persia many years before: the same King Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God; see Ezr 1:1.

   Everything gathered on Ezra 5:13→

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9. Ezra 5:14

   He also removed from the temple of Babylon the gold and silver articles belonging to the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken and carried there from the temple in Jerusalem. King Cyrus gave these articles to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he appointed governor

   Verse page →Original language →

10. Ezra 5:17

    Now, therefore, if it pleases the king, let a search be made of the royal archives in Babylon to see if King Cyrus did indeed issue a decree to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.

    ›Commentary on Ezra 5:172 voices

    “Let there be search made ... at Babylon - They perhaps doubted whether proof of the decree of Cyrus remained in the archives. The Pseudo-Smerdis had had the records in his power for seven months; and, when he reversed the policy of his predecessors, might have been expected to destroy their edicts. The decree was not found at Babylon, the most natural place for it, but in the provincial capital of Ecbatana, which Tatnai and his friends had not asked Darius to have searched (see Ezr 6:2).

    “We have reason to think that if Artaxerxes, in the foregoing chapter, had had the Jews' cause as fairly represented to him as it was here to Darius, he would not have ordered the work to be hindered.

    Everything gathered on Ezra 5:17→

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Ezra 6:3

    In the first year of King Cyrus, he issued a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem: Let the house be rebuilt as a place for offering sacrifices, and let its foundations be firmly laid. It is to be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide,

    ›Commentary on Ezra 6:32 voices

    “Cubits - Those proportions differ from those of Solomon's temple, which was but thirty cubits high, only the porch was a hundred and twenty cubits high, and but twenty cubits in breadth. Either therefore Solomon's cubits were sacred cubits, which were larger than the other, and these but common cubits. Or, the sixty cubits of height are meant only for the porch.

    “It is difficult to reconcile the dimentions here with expressions in Zechariah Zec 4:10, Haggai Hag 2:3, and even Ezra Ezr 3:12, which imply that the second temple was smaller than the first (compare 1Ki 6:2). Perhaps the dimensions here are those which Cyrus required the Jews not to exceed.

    Everything gathered on Ezra 6:3→

    Verse page →Original language →

12. Ezra 7:1

    Many years later, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,

    ›Commentary on Ezra 7:12 voices

    “After these words, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, etc. Josephus (Antiq. XIII, 5) considers this Artaxerxes, under whom Ezra ascended from Babylon to Jerusalem, to be Xerxes, the son of Darius, who reigned after him. Furthermore, the books of Chronicles believe that …

    “Now after these things,.... The finishing of the temple, and the dedication of it, and keeping the passover: in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia; in the seventh year of his reign, Ezr 7:7, who is the same with Darius in the preceding chapter; so Jarchi and Aben Ezra; See Gill on Ezr 6:

    Everything gathered on Ezra 7:1→

    Verse page →Original language →

13. Ezra 7:25

    And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which you possess, are to appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people west of the Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach these laws to anyone who does not know them.

    Verse page →Original language →

14. Nehemiah 2:1

    Now in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence,

    ›Commentary on Nehemiah 2:12 voices

    “The reasons for so long a delay cannot be ascertained. I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king--XENOPHON has particularly remarked about the polished and graceful manner in which the cupbearers of the Median, and consequently the Persian, monarchs performed their duty of presenting the wine to their royal master.

    “Nisan was the name given by the Persian Jews to the month previously called “Abib,” the first month of the Jewish year, or that which followed the vernal equinox. It fell four months after Chisleu Neh 1:1. The twentieth year - As Artaxerxes ascended the throne in 465 B.C., his 20th year would correspond to 445-444 B.C.

    Everything gathered on Nehemiah 2:1→

    Verse page →Original language →

15. Nehemiah 2:6

    Then the king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set a time.

    ›Commentary on Nehemiah 2:62 voices

    “The queen - Which is here noted, as an unusual thing; for commonly the kings of Persia dined alone, and perhaps because the queen expressed some kindness to him, and promoted his request. How long - This question shewed the king's affection to him, and that he was not willing to want his attendance longer than was necessary.

    “I set him a time--Considering the great despatch made in raising the walls, it is probable that this leave of absence was limited at first to a year or six months, after which he returned to his duties in Shushan.

    Everything gathered on Nehemiah 2:6→

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16. Nehemiah 3:9

    Next to them, Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of a half-district of Jerusalem, made repairs;

    ›Commentary on Nehemiah 3:91 voice

    “Ruler of the half part of Jerusalem - Probably the city was divided into two parts; one for Judah, and the other for Benjamin, each having its proper governor. Rephaiah mentioned here was one of these governors, and Shallum, mentioned Neh 3:12, was the other. There were other rulers or governors of particular country or village districts.

    Everything gathered on Nehemiah 3:9→

    Verse page →Original language →