540/539 BC
Complete person record
Cyrus · Persia
life, dates, and events
This record brings together the lifespan, dates, Scripture, and every dated event assigned to Cyrus · Persia.
Life record
Birth, lifespan, and death
Creation years 3384–3393
Reference under review · 531/530 BC
Reference library
Look up Cyrus in the study works
These links search five public-domain reference works for this person. An author’s definition or conclusion is a study aid—not Scripture—and should be examined against the KJV text.
Public-domain referenceEaston’s Bible Dictionary
Dictionary and historical background
Find Cyrus →Public-domain referenceSmith’s Bible DictionaryPeople, places, customs, and history
Find Cyrus →Public-domain referenceHitchcock’s Bible NamesThe name and its traditional meaning
Find Cyrus →Public-domain referenceNave’s Topical BibleRelated KJV passages arranged by subject
Find Cyrus →Public-domain referenceTorrey’s Topical TextbookRelated biblical subjects and references
Find Cyrus →Dated record
Events involving Cyrus · Persia
Creation year 3384540/539 BC
Cyrus takes Babylon
The contemporary Nabonidus Chronicle records Cyrus’s forces defeating Babylonia and entering Babylon in October 539 BC. Scripture names Darius the Median as the immediate recipient of the kingdom; the relationship between that title and Cyrus’s administration remains a separate study question.
Daniel 5:30–31 · KJV
“In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.”
Babylonian Chronicle · Nabonidus Chronicle
The Nabonidus Chronicle is the principal contemporary chronological record for the Persian capture of Babylon in 539 BC.
Read the linked source ↗Creation year 3385539/538 BC
Cyrus decrees the return
Ezra and Chronicles both place the written proclamation in Cyrus’s first year. Creation year 3385 is a provisional placement from the conventional 538 BC date; because Scripture gives no month, it overlaps Nisan years 938–939 and remains under review.
Ezra 1:1–4; 2 Chronicles 36:22–23 · KJV
“Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
Cyrus Cylinder context
The Cyrus Cylinder describes Cyrus restoring sanctuaries and returning displaced cult images and peoples in other regions. It does not name Judah, Jerusalem, or the Jewish return, so Ezra and Chronicles remain the direct sources for this decree.
Read the linked source ↗