Investigation: From Babylon to Cyrus

Nebuchadnezzar II, who destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC, died in 562. Within seven years three kings followed; in 556 Nabonidus took the throne. He favored the moon god Sin and spent about ten years at the oasis of Tema in Arabia, leaving his son Belshazzar in Babylon; the New Year festival lapsed. Meanwhile Cyrus of Anshan defeated the Medes (about 550) and Lydia (about 547).

In 539 Cyrus defeated the Babylonian army at Opis on the Tigris. According to the Nabonidus Chronicle, Sippar fell without battle; on 16 Tashritu (October 12) his general Ugbaru entered Babylon "without battle"; on 3 Arahsamnu (October 29) Cyrus himself entered, and "peace was established in the city." Herodotus (1.191) and Xenophon tell, a century and more later, of the Euphrates being diverted while the city feasted (compare Daniel 5).

The Cyrus Cylinder, written for Babylon soon after, presents Nabonidus as impious and Cyrus as Marduk's chosen king who restored the gods of cities east of the Tigris to their sanctuaries and "gathered all their people and returned them to their settlements." Ezra 1:1–4 (in Hebrew) and 6:3–5 (an Aramaic memorandum) say Cyrus in his first year ordered the Jerusalem temple rebuilt.

Four ways to explain a named king

(1) Long-range prediction: Isaiah son of Amoz, in the 8th century, was given Cyrus's name about 150 years ahead (compare 1 Kings 13:2); held by traditional Jewish and Christian readers, by Josephus (who says Cyrus read the prophecy, Antiquities 11.5–7), and by scholars such as O. T. Allis, J. A. Motyer and J. N. Oswalt. (2) Composition in the 540s: a prophet among the exiles (often called Second Isaiah or Deutero-Isaiah) saw Cyrus's rise and announced Babylon's fall and the return as God's plan; the majority scholarly view. Its strongest arguments: the chapters treat Cyrus's early victories as known (41:2–3; 45:1), address an audience in Babylon, and predict things that did not happen in 539 (46:1–2; 47), which suggests they were written before the event, not after it. (3) Editorial insertion: some scholars think an anonymous oracle was later made explicit by adding Cyrus's name in 44:28 and 45:1 (R. G. Kratz and others propose layers). (4) Literary unity: readers who focus on the final book (B. S. Childs; C. R. Seitz) read 40–48 as part of a deliberately unified Isaiah, whatever its history.

Not equal kinds of support

The four explanations are presented together, but they are not the same kind of claim and do not have the same kind of support. Model 2 (composition in the 540s) rests on observations anyone can check in the text and the sources: the chapters address an audience in Babylon, treat Cyrus's first victories as known, and predict details of Babylon's fall that did not occur in 539. That is why it is the majority view among historians. Model 1 (long-range prediction) is a theological claim: it is consistent with the manuscripts and is held by many careful scholars, but it depends on a commitment about prophecy that historical evidence can neither confirm nor refute. Model 3 (a later insertion of Cyrus's name) is a historical hypothesis with little direct support: no manuscript or translation lacks the name. Model 4 (literary unity) is a way of reading the final book, compatible with either 1 or 2, not a rival account of when the words were written. The site respects the traditional reading as faith and does not present it as a historical finding, nor the majority view as a disproof of faith.

What each kind of evidence can show

Babylonian chronicles and inscriptions establish the sequence of events and the empire's own propaganda. Literary analysis can show what audience and situation a text assumes. Manuscripts show that the whole 66-chapter book, including the Cyrus texts, existed by the 2nd century BC (the Great Isaiah Scroll; Cyrus's name is present in 44:28 and 45:1 there and in 1QIsa-b). None of these can prove or disprove that God revealed the future. The site states the evidence and leaves that judgment to faith and reason.

Limits of the Cyrus Cylinder

The Cylinder is a Babylonian building inscription written to legitimize Cyrus in Babylon, in Marduk's name. It does not mention Judah, Jerusalem or the Judeans, and its list of returned gods covers cities east and north of Babylon. It shows a policy of restoring local cults that makes Ezra's report plausible; it is not a copy of the Jerusalem decree. The modern description of it as "the first charter of human rights" (popularized in 1971) reads modern ideas into an ancient royal text. See the Echo "Kings who restored temples."