The Cyrus Cylinder in Biblical Scholarship

Abstract

This article outlines and evaluates the scholarly interaction with the Cyrus Cylinder. It argues that, due to significant differences in terms of content and focus, it is unlikely that the Cyrus Cylinder as a text has yielded any form of direct influence upon the biblical material. Whereas the Cyrus Cylinder emphasises how Cyrus restores the Babylonian deities to their rightful place in Babylon, the edicts in Ezra stress the return of the exiles and the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem. The differences are both a matter of entities (gods versus peoples) and geography (Babylon versus Yehud). Further, whereas the Cyrus Cylinder focuses on Cyrus’s excellence and military might, Isa 40–48 emphasises YHWH’s role in world history. Instead, the article maintains that Cyrus’s action in history influenced the writings of both Isa 40–48 and Ezra 1–6. Both texts stress YHWH’s supremacy over the rulers and deities of the surrounding cultures. Isa 40–48 declares how Cyrus is YHWH’s tool, who serves YHWH’s purpose to destroy Israel’s enemies, and Ezra 1–6 proclaims how Cyrus fulfils YHWH’s purposes by bringing the exiles back home and allowing them to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.