Cyrus the Great

King of Persia, reigned c. 559–530 BCdied 530 BCAlso: Cyrus II

Founder of the Persian empire. He took Babylon in 539 BC and allowed the Judean exiles to return and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.

Cyrus, king of Anshan in Persia, overthrew Astyages, king of the Medes (Herodotus, Histories 1.127–130), and Croesus of Lydia (Herodotus, Histories 1.84–86), and in 539 BC took Babylon, which his army entered without a battle (Nabonidus Chronicle ii.1–4, 15; iii.12–18). In his own inscription he says that he restored gods and peoples to their homes (Cyrus Cylinder lines 30–34). Herodotus says that he fell in battle against the Massagetae after a reign of twenty-nine years (Herodotus, Histories 1.214).

The Bible remembers him for the decree that ended the exile (Ezra 1:1–4). Isaiah 45 calls him the Lord’s anointed (Isaiah 45:1).

In the timeline

about 550 BC to 539 BC, estimated date
The Prophecy of Comfort and the Suffering Servant
Isaiah 40–55 tells the exiles that their punishment is over, names Cyrus as the Lord’s anointed who will send them home, and speaks of a servant who suffers for the sins of many.
12 October 539 BC, firm date
Cyrus Takes Babylon
The army of Cyrus of Persia enters Babylon without a battle in October 539 BC, and the Babylonian empire passes to Persia. The Judean exiles come under a king who lets displaced peoples go home.
538 BC, estimated date
The Edict of Cyrus and the First Return
Cyrus of Persia, having taken Babylon, allows the Judean exiles to go home and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, and hands back the temple vessels. A first group returns.

Links open the passage in the NRSVUE at BibleGateway.

Herodotus · c. 430–420 BC · Greek

Copy of the 3rd–2nd century BC; covers 556–539 BC · Akkadian · British Museum, London (BM 35382)

Issued in the name of Cyrus II · Shortly after 539 BC · Akkadian · British Museum, London (BM 90920)