Darius' search 6:1-2 - Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

Resource > Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable) > Ezra > Exposition > I. THE FIRST RETURN UNDER SHESHBAZZAR chs. 1--6 > B. The Rebuilding of the Temple chs. 3-6 > 4. The completion of construction ch. 6 > Darius' search 6:1-2

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Darius looked for Cyrus' edict in Babylon first. That was where Cyrus stayed for a while following his overthrow of that city in 539 B.C. He found nothing there. However someone did discover a memorandum in one of Cyrus' files when they searched his summer capital, Ecbatana (modern Hamadan).⁸⁹This memorandum was not the same as the edict (cf. 1:2-4). Nonetheless it confirmed the edict and provided instructions for the royal treasurer so he could implement the edict.