"It is not strange according to the Semitic style to start a book with a waw [1], especially when the author intended to write a continuation of the history of his people. He connects the history which he wants to write with the already-written history of his people by using the conjunction "and."" [2][source]
One of Cyrus" first official acts after capturing Babylon was to allow the Jews to return to their land. This took place in his "first year" ( Ezra 1:1), that Isaiah , as king over all Medo-Persia including Babylonia (i.e, 538 B.C.). The writer of Ezra regarded539 B.C. as the beginning of Cyrus" reign probably because when Cyrus defeated Babylonia he gained authority over Palestine that had until then been under Babylonian sovereignty. [source][source][source]
Chronology of Ezra 1-6539Cyrus conquered Babylon and took over the Babylonian Empire.538Cyrus" first year. He issued his decree ( Ezra 1:1).537Sheshbazzar returned with almost50 ,000 Jews ( Ezra 2).The returnees rebuilt the altar in Jerusalem, offered sacrifices, and celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles ( Ezra 3:2). [3] 536The returnees laid the temple foundation ( Ezra 3:8-10).Reconstruction ceased due to opposition ( Ezra 4:1-5; Ezra 4:24).535534533532531530Cyrus died and Cambyses II began reigning.529528527526525Cambyses conquered Egypt.524523522Cambyses died and Darius I (Hystaspes) began reigning.521520Haggai urged the people to resume temple construction, and they did so.Darius confirmed Cyrus" decree.Zechariah began ministering.519518517516515The people completed temple construction and celebrated the feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread ( Ezra 6:15). [source][source][source]
About150 years earlier, Jeremiah had prophesied that the Babylonian captivity would last70 years ( Jeremiah 25:12; Jeremiah 29:10). Cyrus proclaimed his edict67 years after the first Babylonian deportation from Judah (605 B.C.). Important matters were put in writing in the ancient Near East. [4][source]Ezra 1:2 reads as though Cyrus was a believer in Yahweh. However, Isaiah presented him as an unbeliever ( Isaiah 45:4-5). Evidently he was a polytheist and worshipped several gods. [5] On the "Cyrus Cylinder," the clay cylinder on which Cyrus recorded his capture of Babylon, the king gave credit to Marduk for his success. He said he hoped the people under his authority would pray for him to Bel and Nebo. [6] Probably Cyrus gave lip service to all the gods his people worshipped, but the evidence suggests that he did not believe that Yahweh was the only true God. [source][source][source]
Apparently Cyrus knew about Isaiah"s prophecies concerning himself ( Ezra 1:2; cf. Isaiah 41:2; Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah 45:1; Isaiah 45:4-5; Isaiah 45:12-13). [source][source][source]
He ". . . read this, and . . . an earnest desire and ambition seized upon him to fulfill what was so written." [7][source]
The "house in Jerusalem" ( Ezra 1:2) was, of course, the house of Yahweh, the temple. Cyrus not only gave permission for the Jews to return to Jerusalem ( Ezra 1:3), but he encouraged them to rebuild the temple ( Ezra 1:3). He also urged their neighbors to support this project financially ( Ezra 1:4). [source][source][source]
"The Holy City and the house of God are both prominent subjects in Ezra -Nehemiah. Jerusalem occurs eighty-six times, and the phrases "temple," "house of the Lord," and "house of God" appear fifty-three times." [8][source]
"Although they are neither great literature nor important historical sources, the Murashu documents do provide a significant glimpse into the social and commercial life of a Babylonian city [9] under Persian rule, and thus help to augment our knowledge of the onomastic practices, occupations and circumstances of the Diaspora. Like their contemporaries at Elephantine [6]1, by the fifth century B.C. the exiles at Nippur had become fully integrated into the economic life of their society, fulfilling the injunctions of Jeremiah 29:5 ff. Perhaps even more thoroughly than the prophet had intended!" [11][source]
"Onomastic" means relating to, connected with, or explaining names. [source][source][source]