Liberator, Not Conqueror

(February 8)

This lecture is about the Persian Jerusalem, during the period of 539-333 BCE. We learned that King Cyrus of Persia gave the people of Jerusalem money in order for them to rebuild their temple. He wants to gain trust from these people, instead of using the scare tactic, so that they will not rebel against him. The Persians believed it would be more beneficial for them if the Jews actually liked them, unlike the Assyrians and Babylonians. In addition, King Cyrus made an announcement to the Jews through the "Cyrus Cylinder." It was an announcement for a general return to a person's homelands. He did not want to directly exile them because as I said before, he wanted the Jews to like Persia. Therefore, he subtly did it through this text. He wanted to appear as a "Liberator" rather than a "Conqueror" as part of this appeal. In addition, King Cyrus was also called the Jewish Messiah because of how he approached everything and because of his appeal. I believe he made a wise choice when he decided that he would rather have the Jews like him than fear him because it appears to be more effective. I believe if these people liked him, King Cyrus would have less of a chance of them rebelling because they would appreciate the relationship they are in. However, if these people feared them, they might conspire to do something to overtake him.


In addition, the Edict of Cyrus has two different accounts: the biblical account and the "Cyrus Cylinder." According to the biblical account, King Cyrus references the Hebrew God, YHWH, and says that He called out to him to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem and to have the people of Judea travel back to their homeland to begin this construction of the temple. According to the "Cyrus Cylinder," the lord of Babylon, Marduk, told him to Cyrus to battle his own people. It basically states that the city of Babylon fell to King Cyrus when he entered.