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 king of Persia,....

   “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

   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 1:12 voices

   “[Synopsis on Ezra] These two books were written by the man whose name they bear as a title. This Ezra, being a priest and a scribe, recounted the return of the children of Israel from Persia to Jerusalem.

   “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia,....

   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.

   “However, they gave money to the stonecutters and the builders, etc. The stonecutters are hewers of stones. Hence it is written in the book of Chronicles: And David commanded that all proselytes from the land of Israel be assembled, and appointed some of them as …

   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

   “It is not for you or us to build a house for our God. Heretics are not to build the house of the Lord, which is the Church, from which they themselves are proved to be strangers; but only those who, adhering to Christ the …

   “But Zerubbabel, and Joshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers, said unto them,....

   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 4:7–242 voices

   “And in the days of Artaxerxes,....

   “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

   “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.

   “Note, (1.) The temple of God among men is to be built by prophecy, not by secular force (that often hinders it, but seldom furthers it), but by the word of God. As the weapons of our warfare, so the instruments of our building, are not carnal, but spiritual, and they are the ministers of the gospel that are the master-builders.

   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

   ›Commentary on Ezra 5:142 voices

   “Of which, and of what is said concerning them, and particularly of the delivery of them to Sheshbazzar, whom Cyrus made governor of Judah, and ordered him to carry them to Jerusalem, and build the temple there, and put them in it, see Ezr 1:7.

   “Note, (1.) The temple of God among men is to be built by prophecy, not by secular force (that often hinders it, but seldom furthers it), but by the word of God. As the weapons of our warfare, so the instruments of our building, are not carnal, but spiritual, and they are the ministers of the gospel that are the master-builders.

   Everything gathered on Ezra 5:14→

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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

    “Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let there be search made in the king's treasure house, which is there at Babylon,....

    “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).

    Everything gathered on Ezra 5:17→

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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

    “And as for laying the supporting foundations, etc., it is not for us to explain; because neither in the earlier building of the temple nor in the later one is any of these measurements or such work found. Hence it is inferred that Cyrus uttered …

    “In the first year of Cyrus the king; the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be builded,....

    Everything gathered on Ezra 6:3→

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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

    “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:

    “After these things - The words mark an interval of 57 years; if, with most commentators, we take Artaxerxes to be Longimanus. See the introduction to the Book of Ezra. Three kings named Artaxerxes, the Greek rendering of the Hebrew Artakhshasta, and the Persian Artakhshatra, ruled over Persia, namely,: Longimanus, Mnemon, and Ochus. The evidence is in favor of the first being meant here: he was the grandson of Darius Hystaspis, Jeshua’s contemporary. The genealogy of Ezra here is incomplete.

    Everything gathered on Ezra 7:1→

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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.

    ›Commentary on Ezra 7:252 voices

    “But you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God, etc. The king repeats the word he had spoken and confirms the truth he had recognized with a repeated statement. For previously, he had said that the law of that very God was in the …

    “And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand,....

    Everything gathered on Ezra 7:25→

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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

    “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.

    “Now it happened in the month of Nisan, etc. Nisan is the first month of the year according to the Hebrews, in which they always used to celebrate Passover, which we call April. Therefore, what was said above, that he mourned, fasted, and prayed for …

    Everything gathered on Nehemiah 2:1→

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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

    “And the king said unto me, the queen also sitting by him,....

    “The queen also sitting by him - Who probably forwarded his suit. This was not Esther, as Dean Prideaux supposes, nor perhaps the same Artaxerxes who had taken her to be queen; nor does שגל shegal signify queen, but rather harlot or concubine, she who was chief favourite. The Septuagint translate it παλλακη, harlot; and properly too. See the introduction.

    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 3:92 voices

    “And next unto them repaired Rephaiah, the son of Hur, the ruler of the half part of Jerusalem. That city belonging partly to the tribe of Judah, and partly to the tribe of Benjamin; one part of it was under a governor that was of the tribe of Judah, as this man seems to be; and the other part under one of the tribe of Benjamin; see Neh 3:12.

    “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→

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