The verse is part of the list in Ezra 1 and 2 of those who responded to Cyrus's decree and went up to Jerusalem. That return was with Zerubbabel in the first year of Cyrus, to the number of 42,360 persons. Those who went up were distinct both from the many Jews who still remained in Babylon and from the large company who afterward went up with Ezra. The wider list in Ezra 2:1-65 shows that nearly fifty thousand accepted Cyrus's offer, ending the captivity in the sense that all were free to leave, though many remained behind.
The list stands in the history of Ezra 1 to Ezra 6 that belongs to the same time as Haggai and gives the setting for the building of the temple at Jerusalem. At that time the city was in a dilapidated condition and the temple building was languishing about B.C. 520, fifteen years after the foundations were laid. The people had departed from the Lord and had become discouraged under Darius Hystaspes, with Zerubbabel as governor of Judea and Haggai and Zechariah prophesying. The verse belongs to the account of the temple's beginning under the decree of Cyrus, for the temple did not first begin in 457 B.C., which marks the later commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
The verse belongs to the biblical record of the period of Ezra and Nehemiah. The historical setting of that period is considered alongside archaeological discoveries in lands neighboring Israel. The account of the return and building then is typical of the work of God now.
The verse is part of the list in Ezra 1 and 2 of those who responded to Cyrus's decree and went up to Jerusalem. That return was with Zerubbabel in the first year of Cyrus, to the number of 42,360 persons. Those who went up were distinct both from the many Jews who still remained in Babylon and from the large company who afterward went up with Ezra. The wider list in Ezra 2:1-65 shows that nearly fifty thousand accepted Cyrus's offer, ending the captivity in the sense that all were free to leave, though many remained behind.
The list stands in the history of Ezra 1 to Ezra 6 that belongs to the same time as Haggai and gives the setting for the building of the temple at Jerusalem. At that time the city was in a dilapidated condition and the temple building was languishing about B.C. 520, fifteen years after the foundations were laid. The people had departed from the Lord and had become discouraged under Darius Hystaspes, with Zerubbabel as governor of Judea and Haggai and Zechariah prophesying. The verse belongs to the account of the temple's beginning under the decree of Cyrus, for the temple did not first begin in 457 B.C., which marks the later commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
The verse belongs to the biblical record of the period of Ezra and Nehemiah. The historical setting of that period is considered alongside archaeological discoveries in lands neighboring Israel. The account of the return and building then is typical of the work of God now.