Commentaria in I Esdrae
Why Cyrus or a king is compared to the sun, I have fittingly shown through eighteen analogies on Isaias chapter 45, verse 1. Hence they say that Cyrus saw in his dreams the sun standing at his feet, and when Cyrus wished to seize it, the sun fled away, and this three times: the diviners, asked what this portended, replied that it portended that Cyrus would reign for thirty years. Cyrus therefore shone among the kings of the nations and among the Persians like the sun, in wisdom, in justice, in temperance, in magnanimity, in liberality, and so “was an example of all royal virtues,” says Xenophon. Hear Cicero, book 1 On Divination, from Dionysius the Persian: “When, as he (Cyrus) slept, the sun had been seen at his feet, he writes that three times he vainly reached for it with his hands, while the sun, rolling itself up, slipped away and departed; the magi (which was reckoned a class of wise and learned men among the Persians) said that from the threefold reaching for the sun it was portended that Cyrus would reign thirty years; which so came to pass, for he reached the seventieth year, having begun to reign when forty years old.”
Moreover, Cyrus in Hebrew is the same as “as it were heir,” heir of the kingdoms and wealth of Babylon and of the world, from the root yaras, that is, “he inherited”; for the initial Caph is a sign of likeness, signifying: as, as it were. Or Cyrus is the same as “as it were poor,” from the root ras, that is, poor; because of himself he was poor, but was made rich by God. Again, killed in death by Tomyris, he became poor. Then Cyrus became Irus, indeed poorer than Irus. So Pagninus in the Hebrew Names.
In Greek, however, Cyrus is the same as one powerful by authority, lord, ruler, lawgiver; for kyros is authority, the power of a principate, will, dominion; and kyroo is to authenticate, make valid, confirm, ratify, obtain, add force and weight, establish, decree.
Finally, Cyrus was two hundred years earlier than Alexander the Great, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle; for “under Cyrus flourished Thales, the teacher of Anaximander, he of Anaximenes, he of Anaxagoras, he of Pericles; and in the times of Anaxagoras were Xenophanes and Pythagoras,” says Eusebius, book 10 On the Preparation, at the end.
The genuine etymology of Cyrus, therefore, is Persian, signifying the sun, says Brissonius, book 1 On the Kingdom of the Persians, whom others follow.
Ctesias asserts the same; for writing of the wife of Darius Nothus he says: “The queen bore him another son, and the name Cyrus was given him from the sun.” Scaliger refutes this, book 6 On the Emendation of Times, because, he says, Cyrus is written in Hebrew Cores, and the sun is called in Persian [. . .]; but Cores in Persian signifies food and nourishment. But the ancients Plutarch and Ctesias, who received it from the first Persians, are rather to be believed than one modern, Scaliger, especially because Cores seems to be a Persian word taken from the Hebrew Cheres, that is, sun. Add that Cores is the same as Coresed, the last letter D being dropped. Add also that [Cy] is the same as prince, head; for ros in Hebrew and Chaldaic is head; ku in Persian is prince; hence Cyaxares is so called, as if to say prince Ares. So Scaliger, book 6. So Mithri (whence Mithridates) is derived from Mither, in the comparative degree, that is, “greater,” or major (for in Hebrew yathar signifies to remain over, to excel, to be greater), and is taken for a Dynast or Lord. Hence they called the sun Mithra, that is, Lord, Prince. So Scaliger in the same place.
Allegorically, Cyrus was a type of Christ, who is the sun of justice. Tropologically, Cyrus is a king, prelate, teacher, and any wise and holy man, who like the sun shines with wisdom and virtue over the whole world.
The Lord stirred up the spirit (that is, the heart, mind, will) of Cyrus the king, and he caused a proclamation (of a herald) to be made in all his kingdom, and also by writing—namely by letters written and sent everywhere. As if to say: God roused the affection and will of Cyrus towards the liberation of the Jews and the restoration of Jerusalem and the temple, by setting before his mind the kingdoms and benefits bestowed on him by the God of the Hebrews, the oracles pronounced about him, and other signs of the divinity, from which Cyrus recognised the true God, and by infusing into his will pious inclinations to carry out in fact this morally good and pious work of building, so that in this way the true Church of God in Israel might be preserved through him, and according to the former custom might grow strong in the public worship of God in his temple. This God worked inwardly in the mind of Cyrus, but outwardly he roused him greatly by the oracle published by Isaias concerning Cyrus, in chapter 44, last verse, etc.; chapter 45, verse 4, where he also names Cyrus, and calls him his Christ, and promises him that he will subdue nations to him, and make him rich and powerful. Hear Isaias: “Who say to Cyrus: Thou art my shepherd, and thou shalt perform all my pleasure. Who say to Jerusalem: Thou shalt be built; and to the temple: Thy foundations shall be laid.” And again chapter 45, verse 1: “Thus saith the Lord to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue nations before his face, and to turn the backs of kings, and I will go before thee, and will humble the great ones of the earth. And I will give thee hidden treasures, etc., that thou mayest know that I am the Lord, who call thee by thy name, the God of Israel, for the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my elect,” namely that thou, O Cyrus, mayest do good to the Jews and Israelites, my faithful, the descendants of Jacob, and rebuild the temple. This prophecy the Jews, especially the prophet Daniel, who was a familiar, indeed a table-companion, both of Cyrus and of Darius the Mede, showed to Cyrus; and so he drew him to acknowledge and revere the God of Israel and to do good to Israel, as Josephus teaches, especially because Isaias had foretold these things of Cyrus two hundred years before the birth of Cyrus. That this is so is plain from the letter of Cyrus, which Esdras here subjoins.
2. The Lord hath given to me all the kingdoms of the earth.—Cyrus in this letter confesses that he acknowledges the true God of Israel, and refers to him all his kingdoms as received. Besides, he asserts that the same God commanded him to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem; wherefore he orders it to be rebuilt, and exhorts and urges all, both Israelites and others subject to him, to further its construction. See here fulfilled in Cyrus that of Proverbs 21:1: “The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord: whithersoever he will he shall turn it.”