Sometime since, I addressed the following to one of the best Hebrew scholars in Rochester, N. Y.:— "Is it Cyrus, or the Most High, who, in Isa. xliv, 28 says to Jerusalem, 'Thou shalt be built?' Does the Hebrew determine this question more definitely than the English? Be kind enough to examine this point." The following was his reply:— "The word rendered 'even' in the phrase 'even saying,' is the ordinary Hebrew conjunction, which may be translated either 'even' or 'and.' There is just enough ambiguity in the Hebrew to have given rise among critics, to the question whether it is Jehovah or Cyrus who speaks in the last clause of the verse. Gesenius, who thirty years ago was the greatest authority in Hebrew interpretation, understood Cyrus to be the speaker; but all the best of latest authorities refer the words to Jehovah. This is the view of Ewald (the highest authority) as also of Alexander. It seems to me the connection requires us to understand the Lord as saying that Jerusalem shall be built. Thus: 'That saith to Cyrus, My shepherd and all my pleasure will he accomplish: and saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and to the temple, Thou shalt be founded.'"