Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
Read Chapter 1
Athanasius the Apostolic
AD 373
[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. In the first book, he relates how the charge of organizing the return was in the hand of Josue the son of Josedec, and of Ezra, Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah, a Jewish eunuch. The return was occasioned as follows: three soldiers who guarded the king, one of whom was Zerubbabel, were engaged in a competition regarding a certain question, and a promise had been made that the winner should ask the king for whatever he wanted. When the first soldier had said that wine was stronger, and the second that the king was stronger, Zerubbabel contended that women were stronger, and that truth excelled over all things. Because Zerubbabel spoke these things, he won. When he was told to ask what he wanted, he asked for the captives to be released and for Jerusalem to be rebuilt. And it was done as he as...
The holy prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah clearly foretold that all these events would thus come to pass. Jeremiah even predicted the number of years in which they would be held captive in Babylonia and when they would be brought back to their homeland, whereas Isaiah, without any of the obscurities of prophetic speech, even revealed the name of King Cyrus, by whom they were to be freed from slavery, brought back to their homeland, and by whose permission they would restore the temple. For Jeremiah says: Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, to all that I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them. For thus says the Lord of Hosts, when the seventy years have begun to be fulfilled in Babylon, I will come to you and raise up my voice over you and bring you back to that place. And Isaiah says: This is what the Lord says, your Redeemer and Maker from the womb: 'I am the Lord, who make all things;' and a little farther on: / who say to the deep: 'Be ...
In. Hebrew, "And (Calmet) or But in "as 2 Paralipomenon xxxvi. 22. (Haydock)
Thus the historical works are connected. Spinosa infers, from this book being inserted after Daniel in the Hebrew Bible, that the same author wrote both. But the order of the books in the Septuagint and Vulgate is far more natural, (Calmet) and this has often varied in Hebrew (Kennicott) See 2 Paralipomenon xxxvi. 23. (Haydock)
First. The design was only put in execution the following year. (The year of the world 3468.)
Cyrus (Hebrew coresh, (Haydock) or Koresch) means "the sun "according to Ctesias and Plutarch. Josephus ( xi. 1.) informs us that this prince became a friend of the Jews, in consequence of having seen the prediction of Isaias (xliv. 28., and xlv. 1.) fulfilled in his own person. He took Babylon, the year of the world 3466, and established the Persian empire, which was subverted by Alexander. (Calmet)
He had before ruled over Persia 27 years, and only reigned three as sole monarch at Babylon...
Whether it may be more difficult to do or not to do what you have requested, I have not yet established. For it is also not my desire to refuse your commands, and the greatness of weight imposed thus press upon the neck, so that before a falling under the bundle, there might rather be a lightening (of the load). The efforts of the envious agree with this, who consider all that I write reproof, with conscience occasionally fighting against them, publicly tearing apart what they read secretly, to such a degree that I am compelled to cry out and to say: "O Lord, free my soul from crooked lips and a false tongue" (Ps 119.2). It is the third year that you always write and write again, that I might translate the book of Ezra for you from Hebrew, as though you do not have the Greek and Latin scrolls, or whatever it is which is translated by us might not be something immediately spat upon by all. As a certain person says, "For to strive without effort, and not to seek anything by wearying exce...
