Ezra 6:2

2 But it was in the city of Ecbatana in the province of Media that a scroll was found, containing the following record:

Ezra 6:2 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 6:2

And there was found at Achmetha
Which Jarchi and Aben Ezra take to be the name of a vessel in which letters and writings were put for safety; but it was no doubt the name of a place; the Vulgate Latin version has it Ecbatana; and so Josephus F19; which was the name of a city in Media, where the kings of that country had their residence in the summer time F20; for it has its name from heat F21; the Persian kings dwelt at Shushan in the winter, and at Ecbatana in the summer {w}; hence they are compared by Aelian F24 to cranes, birds of passage, because of their going to and from the above places:

in the palace that is in the province of the Medes,
here was found

a roll;
which was the decree of Cyrus, which perhaps he took with him when he went thither:

and therein was a record thus written;
as follows.


FOOTNOTES:

F19 Antiqu. l. 11. c. 4. sect. 6.
F20 Curtius, l. 5. c. 8. Vid. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 3. c. 6.
F21 Hiller. Onomastic. Sacr. p. 618.
F23 Athen. Deipnosophist, l. 12. c. 1.
F24 De Animal. l. 3. c. 13.

Ezra 6:2 In-Context

1 So Emperor Darius issued orders for a search to be made in the royal records that were kept in Babylon.
2 But it was in the city of Ecbatana in the province of Media that a scroll was found, containing the following record:
3 "In the first year of his reign Emperor Cyrus commanded that the Temple in Jerusalem be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are made and offerings are burned. The Temple is to be ninety feet high and ninety feet wide.
4 The walls are to be built with one layer of wood on top of each three layers of stone. All expenses are to be paid by the royal treasury.
5 Also the gold and silver utensils which King Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babylon from the Temple in Jerusalem are to be returned to their proper place in the Jerusalem Temple."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.