CYRUS – List of Contents page

A) Messiahship and Messiahs in the Tanakh 6

B) The historic setting 12

C) The forming of the Persian Empire 13

1) Zarathustra’s impact 14

2) The Achaemenians 15

D) Cyrus’ personality and feats

1) Cyrus’ birth and miraculous survival 16

2) Zarathustra and the possibility of his influence 18

3) Cyrus’ name and Divine call 18

4) Cyrus’ kingship 18

5) The Medes’ turning against Babylon 19

E) Babylon’s fall

1) The New Babylonian Empire 21

2) Belshazzar’s banquet 22

3) Cyrus’ edict to the Babylonians 23

4) Cyrus vis-a-vis the Jewish captives in Babylon 25

F) Cyrus’ Edict

1) Its text 29

2) Its brilliant formulation 30

3) The Edict’s arrangement for restitutions 32

4) Cyrus’ attitude beyond tolerance 33

5) Confirmation of the Edict by successor kings 33

6) A message throughout the ages 34

7) Objections to Cyrus’ messiahship refuted 35

G) More reflections on Cyrus’ unique personality and politics 36

H) Opposing forces in the Persian Court 39

I) The Samaritans’ rivalry 40

K) Haman’s plot – the Story of Purim 44

L) The Persian Kings and the Temple 52

M) The period of the Second Temple 52

N) The Jewish Community vis-a-vis Persia 54

1) A Jewish king during the period of the Second Temple? 55

2) A challenge 57

3) Direction of prayer 58

4) Compilation of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) 59

5) Translations of the Tanakh 59

6) Israel and the nations

O) The Fifth Century B.C.E. 62

P) Zechariah’s vision of the Menorah – reflected in symbol of the State of Israel 63

Q) Ezra’s celebration of Succoth and its far-reaching prophetic impact 68

R) Cyrus’ Tomb. Its inscription and bequest 69

S) Cyrus, Messiah of the Lord, and Alexander the Great 70

T) King Cyrus in the Koran 71

U) Some more reflections 72

V) Addendum 73

Notes 81