Ezra 6 · a question people ask
Is the scroll the same decree as the one in Ezra 1?
The book gives two writings from Cyrus's first year, in two languages and with different contents, and doesn't explain the difference. Ezra 1 gives a proclamation Cyrus made "throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing" (Ezra 1:1), in Hebrew: the LORD "has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem" (Ezra 1:2), "let him go up to Jerusalem" (Ezra 1:3), and "let the men of his place help him with silver, with gold, with goods, and with animals" (Ezra 1:4). The scroll of Ezra 6, in Aramaic, is what was "written for a record" (6:2). It gives the house's place, foundations and size (6:3), its stones and timber, and "Let the expenses be given out of the king’s house" (6:4), and it has the vessels "restored and brought again to the temple which is at Jerusalem" (6:5). It doesn't mention going up or the gifts of neighbours, and Ezra 1's proclamation doesn't mention the size of the house or the king's money. Both give the same year, "the first year of Cyrus" (Ezra 1:1; 6:3). Ezra doesn't say whether they are two copies of one decree or two writings, and these notes don't try to decide or to fit them together.