Ezra 5:13

13 In the first year of his reign, however, Cyrus king of Babylon issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.

Ezra 5:13 Meaning and Commentary

Ezra 5:13

But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon
That is, the first year he was king of Babylon, having taken it, otherwise he was king of Persia many years before:

the same King Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God;
see ( Ezra 1:1-4 ) .

Ezra 5:13 In-Context

11 And this is the answer they returned: “We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and completed.

12 But since our fathers angered the God of heaven, He delivered them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean who destroyed this temple and carried away the people to Babylon.

13 In the first year of his reign, however, Cyrus king of Babylon issued a decree to rebuild this house of God.

14 He also removed from the temple of Babylon the gold and silver articles belonging to the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken and carried there from the temple in Jerusalem. King Cyrus gave these articles to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he appointed governor

15 and instructed, ‘Take these articles, put them in the temple in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its original site.’