Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Chronicles 36:21

"to fulfil the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths: [for] as long as it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years." — 2 Chronicles 36:21 (ASV)

To fulfil. — lĕmalûth (an Aramaized form).

The word ... Jeremiah. — The seventy years of Babylonian exile are predicted in Jeremiah 25:11-12. (Compare also to Jeremiah 29:10: Thus saith the Lord, After seventy years be accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you.)

Until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths. — “Enjoyed” is râṣĕthâh, which Gesenius renders persolvit, “made good,” “discharged,” as a debt. The meaning is that during the long years of the exile, the land would enjoy that rest of which it had been defrauded by the neglect of the law concerning the sabbatical years (Leviticus 25:1–7). The following words, as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath (literally, all the days of the desolation she rested) are taken from Leviticus 26:34-35.

To fulfil threescore and ten years. — i.e., in order to fulfil the seventy years of exile foretold by Jeremiah.

We have no right whatever to press the words of the sacred writer, in the sense of assuming that he means to say that when Jerusalem was taken by the Chaldeans exactly seventy sabbatical years had been neglected—that is, that the law in this respect had not been observed for 490 years (70×7), or ever since the institution of monarchy in Israel (490 + 588 = 1,078).

The seventy years are reckoned from the 4th year of Jehoiakim, when the prophecy was uttered (Jeremiah 25:1; Jeremiah 25:12), to the first year of Cyrus, and the return under Zerubbabel, 536 B.C.

THE EDICT OF CYRUS, AUTHORIZING THE RETURN (2 Chronicles 36:22–23). (Ezra 3:0; Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah chapters 45-47)

Now in the first year of Cyrus. — This verse is the same as Ezra 1:1, except that it has “by the mouth” instead of “from the mouth.” The latter is probably correct. (Compare to 2 Chronicles 36:12, mentioned above.) Some manuscripts also read this way here.

That the word ... Jeremiah. — Concerning the seventy years.

Stirred up the spirit. — 1 Chronicles 5:26; 2 Chronicles 21:16.

That he made a proclamation. — And he made a voice pass (2 Chronicles 30:5).

Throughout all his kingdom ... and put it also in writing. — Into all ... and also into a writing.

Writing. — Miktâb (2 Chronicles 35:4).

The Lord. — Yahweh. Instead of this, Ezra 1:3 has, Yehi, “Be;” so also 1 Esdras 2:5. “The Lord—with him!” (Yahweh ‘immô) is a frequent formula in the chronicle, and is probably correct here. (Some Hebrew manuscripts and the Vulgate unite the readings.)

And let him go up. — To where? The sentence is abruptly broken off here, but continued in Ezra 1:3. As to the relation between Chronicles and Ezra, see the Introduction.

Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia. — Compare to the words of Darius Hystaspes on the famous Behistun Inscription, which begins, “I am Darius, the great king, the king of kings, the king of Persia;” while every paragraph opens with, “Saith Darius the king.”

All the kingdoms ... given me. — Compare to the words of Darius: “Saith Darius the king:—By the grace of Ormazd I am king; Ormazd has granted me the empire.”

The Lord God of heaven. — Jehovah, the God of heaven. “The god of heaven” was a title of Ormazd or Ahuramazda, the Supreme Being according to Persian belief, which was Zoroastrianism. It is not at all surprising that Cyrus should have identified the God of Israel with his own deity, especially if he had heard of the prophecies in Isaiah 44:28 and following. Such a politic syncretism was the settled practice of the Roman empire in a later age.