22In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:
23“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you—may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.’”
22–23 The death of Nebuchadnezzar in 562 BC set in motion the rapid downfall of the Babylonian Empire. Nebuchadnezzar’s son Amel-Marduk (Evil-Merodach) was assassinated after two years, and the next two Babylonian kings only reigned for about five years before Nabonidus assumed the throne.
Nabonidus ruled Babylon from 556–539 BC, but his interest in the moon god Sin (rather than the expected Marduk, head of the Mesopotamian pantheon) caused political and religious friction. After a few years, Nabonidus departed for the Arabian oasis city of Tema (some five hundred miles from Babylon) and appointed his son Belshazzar to rule in his stead (cf. ANET, 562–63; 305–7). Meanwhile, the Persian Empire (539–533 BC) continued to gain strength, and by 546 BC Persia was controlling much of the southern region of Babylonia and closing in on Babylon. In 539 BC Cyrus the Persian (559–30 BC), contrary to Nabonidus, presented himself as a loyal worshiper of Marduk and liberator of the Babylonian people. As a result, Cyrus was able to conquer Babylon with hardly a fight.
By conquering the Babylonian Empire Cyrus inherited rule over the various people groups who had been exiled to Babylon (including Judeans). Within his first year he reversed the policy of the Babylonians and allowed deported peoples to return to their homeland. This proclamation (the Decree of Cyrus) is summarized in the closing verses of 2 Chronicles as well as the opening verses of Ezra. In addition, the Decree of Cyrus is preserved in at least two ancient monumental inscriptions (cf. ANET, 315–16; COS, 2:124). It is directly connected with the outworking of Jeremiah’s prophetic oracle (v.22). See Jer 29:12–14 and comments on vv.20–21; see R. de Vaux, “The Decrees of Cyrus and Darius on the Rebuilding of the Temple,” in The Bible and the Ancient Near East (trans. D. McHugh; London: Darton, Longman, and Todd, 1972), 63–96.
In addition to allowing exiled people groups to return to their homeland, Cyrus also sought to placate the gods of the conquered nations by allowing freedom of worship, as reflected in his respect of Marduk and his reverential words acknowledging Yahweh’s sovereignty (v.23). Regardless of the sincerity of Cyrus, Yahweh is clearly using him to advance the divine plan (v.22; cf. Isa 44:28; 45:13), which included not only the return of the Judean people from exile, but also the return of the consecrated items from the temple from exile, and even the Persian funding of the rebuilding of Yahweh’s temple (cf. Ezr 1:2–8; 6:1–12).
The final phrase of the Chronicler’s work—“Let him go up”—leaves the reader with a sense of anticipation of what will happen next and the realization that they (the Chronicler’s audience) are the ones who will finish this story! Thus the Chronicler ends his work with his sustained message of the hope and possibility that comes with faithfulness, as also expressed by God through Jeremiah:
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.’” (Jer 29:11–13)