Page 91 - Biblical Backgrounds

Babylon. It can be seen from here that Cyrus’ humane acts were a strategic move to remove any
possible irritations, such as revolts, from among his subject peoples. In this respect, it is interesting to
see Cyrus serving God’s purpose while acting freely with his own motivations.

Administratively, Cyrus chose to rule his subjects in their respective lands through his appointed
governor instead of subordinate kings. While these were to maintain loyalty to him, he did not require
them to be Persian. From Ezra 1:8, 11, it appears that Sheshbazzar, a Jew, was appointed by Cyrus as
governor over Judah. Other examples, such as Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, can be cited. In appointing
non-Persian trustees to govern territories on his behalf, Cyrus’ aim was to lead his subjects (Medes,
Babylonians, Jews, among others) to accept him as their appointed ruler. Many narratives indicate that
Cyrus died in one of his conquests in the East around 530 BCE.

Cyrus had two sons when he died: Cambyses and Bardiya or Smerdis. Cambyses ascended the throne
but ruled only from 529 to 522 BCE. While he was leading a military conquest in Egypt, his brother
Bardiya led a revolt in the homeland. As Cambyses journeyed back home to address the crisis, he fatally
injured himself with his sword. Meanwhile, one of the prominent governors, Darius, assassinated
Bardiya and rose to the throne.

Under Darius, the empire reached its fullest extent. In the first years of his reign, he devoted himself to
addressing all the internal revolts that escalated from the death of Cambyses. After successfully uniting
the empire, Darius focused on conquests and the expansion of his territory. He built an empire
extending from the Indus River in the East to the Aegean Sea and on into Greece in the West, and
through Syria, Palestine, and Egypt to Libya in the southwest.

Administratively, Darius divided his kingdom into 20 satrapies. Not to be confused with the 127
provinces in Esther 1:1 or the 120 of Daniel 6:1, these were collections of several “provinces or districts.”
Vos. H.F. notes that “Many of these satrapies encompassed several peoples, with one of them serving as
a nucleus (governing center). 131 For example, Palestine was placed in the fifth satrapy, along with
Phoenicia, Syria, and Cyprus. These satrapies were placed under governors, and they were set up to
replicate the governing system of the day. Satraps normally carried out both civil and military
responsibilities. They collected tribute, raised military levies, and provided for justice and security. They
modeled their courts and protocol after that of the king. According to Daniel 6:2, Daniel was one of the
top three officials to whom the satraps (governors of satrapies) reported.

In another quest to mold his empire, Darius made Aramaic the official language of the vastly expanded
empire (though it had already been present in the Persian and Babylonian empires [Kings 18:26]). He
also introduced a common weights and measurement system and opened many trade routes. (To be
discussed more under trade and economics).

Darius played a key role in the second stage of the restoration of the Jews, namely, the completion of
the temple. In the second year of the Jews’ return to Palestine, the foundation of the temple was laid.
However, due to intense opposition from local groups of people (Ezra 4:1–5), the work was forced to
stop and was abandoned. While the prophets in Jerusalem encouraged the people to resume the work
(Haggai 1:1; Zechariah 1:1; Ezra 5:1–2), the Jewish leaders consulted with Darius concerning Cyrus’
previous decree, which allowed the Jews to rebuild the Temple. “As previously mentioned, they located

131 Ibid., p. 326.

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