Ezra 6:1-2

Ezra 6:1-2

[1] Then  Darius  the king  made  a decree,  and search  was made in the house  of the rolls,  where  the treasures  were laid up  in Babylon.  [2] And there was found  at Achmetha,  in the palace  that is in the province  of the Medes,  a  roll,  and therein  was a record  thus  written: 

What does Ezra 6:1-2 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Darius looked for Cyrus" edict in Babylon first. That was where Cyrus stayed for a while following his overthrow of that city in539 B.C. He found nothing there. However, someone did discover a memorandum in one of Cyrus" files when they searched his summer capital, Ecbatana (modern Hamadan). According to the Greek historian Xenophon, Cyrus lived in Babylon during the winter, in Susa during the spring, and in Ecbatana in the summer. [1] This memorandum was not the same as the edict (cf. Ezra 1:2-4). Nonetheless, it confirmed the edict and provided instructions for the royal treasurer, making a way for him to implement the edict.