2 Chronicles 1

Chap. I. Ver. 1—11. Cyrus issues a proclamation for re-building the temple, and for the return of the Jews to their own land.— The prophecy of Jeremiah, ((2 Chronicles 25:12).; xxix. 10.) that the Jews (that is, the inhabitants of Judah) should return to their own land, after seventy years captivity, had prepared them for such a happy change; and, if it be true (as Josephus reports) that the prophecy of Isaiah had been shown to him, in which he had been spoken of by name, ((Isaiah 44:28). and xlv. 1.) it might be the means of rendering him more favourable to that object. Providence, however, is never at a loss for means or instruments, to bring about the divine decrees; and when the hand of prophecy points to any period or event, all human opposition is in vain, as we shall find demonstrated in the history now before us.

No sooner does Cyrus issue his proclamation than the chief of the fathers of Benjamin and Judah are stirred up by a divine influence to accept the offer and prosecute the The liberality of Cyrus was also worthy of his character, in returning so many thousand vessels of gold and silver, which his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar had brought away from Jerusalem, and presented to his idols: and the manner in which he speaks of the great Jehovah, “He is the God!” seems to Chap. 1 ver. 7. Cyrus.—[Cyrus is said to have been the son of Cambyses king of Persia, and Mandane, daughter of Astyages king of Media: he was born about 600 years before Christ, and died at the age of 70, after a reign of 30 years. He was mentioned by name, and his conquests foretold, by the prophet Isaiah, above a seventy years before his birth; and Josephus accounts for the partiality he evinced towards the Jews, from the circumstance of these prophecies being shown him, probably by Daniel.]

|—Bagster. Ver. 2. All the kingdoms.—| According to the testimony of ancient writers, Cyrus, at this time, reigned over the Medes, Persians, Hyrcanians, Syrians, Assyrians, Indians, &c., and all lesser Asia. |— Bagster.. Ver. 9. Nine and twenty knives.—These were doubtless the knives employed in circumcision or sacrifice, and by their being carried away, and returned among the gold and silver vessels, were doubtless of elegant and costly structure, perhaps with blades of flint. (See (Joshua 5:2).): Ver. 11. All the vessels, 5400.—[Instead of 5400, the enumeration of the articles in ver. 9, 10, only amounts to 2199; but in the parallel account, Esdras, which they accomplish in the sixth year of his reign; the departure of Ezra from Babylon, with a commission from Artaxerxes Longimanus; his retinue and arrival at Jerusalem; his prayer on account of the intermixture of the Jews with heathen nations; the reformation effected by him.]—Bagster.

7 | Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nehemiah, Mizpar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. indicate a mind half convinced of the unity of the divine Being, and ‘‘almost persuaded to be’—a Jew. It is observable that, in various instances, when the Almighty has designed to introduce any important moral revolution into the world, the way has been prepared by the creation of some vast and paramount empire, which gave facility to the design. Thus in the person of Cyrus was now united, not only the kingdoms of the Medes and Persians, but also the vast Assyrian and Babylonian empires; so that his decree effectually protected them during his lifetime; and even afterwards, when its authenticity was ascertained.

(See (2 Chronicles 6:1), &c.) In like manner, the magnitude of the Roman empire favoured the introduction of Christianity: and may it not be hoped, that the present prodigious extent of the British dominions may favour the spread of Christianity in every quarter of the globe.