Rashi on TanakhEzra 1

And in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia This book is arranged as a continuation of the Book of Daniel, as is explained in Baba Bathra (15a), and the word [וּבְשְׁנַת] refers back from this [book] to that one, for it is stated in Daniel (9:2): “In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, contemplated the calculations of the number of the years that the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah the prophet from the destruction of Jerusalem, seventy years.” And so the entire chapter proceeds to relate [the story] of the destruction of the Temple, the time of the Babylonian exile, and his confession, in which he confessed Israel’s sin. The beginning of this book is as follows: After Belshazzar was assassinated, Darius the Mede reigned, as it says (Dan. 6:1): “And Darius the Mede received the kingdom etc.” and after Darius’ death, this Cyrus, the king of Persia, reigned, and in the first year of his reign, the seventy years for the remembrance of the Babylonian exile, [counting] from the day that Jehoiakim was exiled, were completed, as it says (Jer. 29:10): “At the completion of seventy years of Babylon, I will remember you etc.” When Israel returned from the Babylonian exile to the land of Israel, in that year, in the first year of Cyrus, Israel laid the foundation of the Temple, and the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin slandered them to Cyrus, the king of Persia, and he commanded [them] to curtail the work, no longer to build the edifice of the Temple; and the Israelites were idle, for they did not build the Temple during the entire reign of Cyrus and Ahasuerus, who succeeded him, until the second year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, the king of Persia, who was Darius, the son of Esther. And in the second year of his reign, they began building the Temple until the building was completed. And from the first year of Cyrus until the second year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus the king of Persia, in whose days the Temple was built, were eighteen years, to fulfill what was said (Dan. 9:2): “from the destruction of Jerusalem, seventy years etc.” And now, in the second year of Darius, seventy years had elapsed since the destruction of Jerusalem; [i.e.,] the destruction of the Temple, when Zedekiah was exiled. From the exile of Jehoiakim until the exile of Zedekiah, when the Temple was destroyed, were eighteen years, and now in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, seventy years since the exile of Jehoiakim, when Israel was exiled to Babylon, were completed, and thereby the verse that states (Jer. 29:10): “for at the completion of seventy years of Babylon I will remember you etc.” was fulfilled. And this is the remembrance, that Israel returned to their soil and built the foundation of the building of the Temple, although it was not yet completed. We find that there were fifty-two years from the exile of Zedekiah, when the Temple was destroyed, until the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia; and eighteen years after the first year of Cyrus, which is the second year of Darius, when Israel commenced to build the edifice, and they completed it. This is proven in Seder Olam (ch. 29), in Tractate Megillah (11b) and in this book, as I explained.

at the completion of the word of the Lord from the mouth of Jeremiah at the time that the word of the Holy One, blessed be He, which Jeremiah spoke, was completed, as it says (Jer. 29:10): “for at the completion of seventy years of Babylon etc.”

the Lord aroused the spirit the will.

a proclamation He proclaimed a proclamation throughout his kingdom.

and also in writing And he also sent his letter throughout his kingdom about this matter.

saying And so he said to them in his proclamation that he proclaimed and in his epistle that he sent throughout his kingdom.

So said Cyrus, the king of Persia...delivered to me that I am the king and ruler over all the kingdoms.

and He commanded me He commanded me through Isaiah the prophet to build for Him the Temple in Jerusalem, as it says in the Book of Isaiah (44:28): “Who says to Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, and all My desire he shall fulfill,’ and to say to Jerusalem, ‘It shall be built, and the Temple shall be founded.’” (ibid. 45:1): “So said the Lord to His anointed one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I held....” And this prophecy was already stated by lsaiah.

in Jerusalem, which is in Judea whch is in the province of Judea.

Who is among you So did he announce and write to all the kingdoms, “Who is among you of all His people,” [i.e., of the people] of the Holy One, blessed be He, may the Holy One, blessed be He, be at his assistance, and let him ascend to build His house that is in Jerusalem.

And whoever remains and every Jew who remains in his place, who cannot ascend because he has no money.

shall help him I command the people of his place to provide him and help him with silver, gold, possessions and cattle, in order that he be able to ascend to Jerusalem with the donation that the people of his place will donate for the building of the Temple, for also among the nations there were some who contributed donations to the building of the Temple.

to the House of God, which is in Jerusalem From “So said Cyrus” until here is the proclamation and the message of the written epistle.

of Judah and Benjamin the heads of the families of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

all whom... inspired They ascended to Jerusalem to build the Temple with all those whom God inspired to ascend and to build the Temple.

And all those around them And all the nations who were Israel’s neighbors assisted and strengthened the hands of the Jews with gold and silver and all these gifts in order that they be able to ascend to Jerusalem.

besides all that was donated All this the neighbors of the Jews did, besides what they [the Jews] themselves donated for the building of the Temple.

and had placed them in the temple of his god that Nebuchadnezzar had placed in the temple of his pagan deity.

by the hand of Mithderath the treasurer such was the name of Cyrus’s treasurer, and Cyrus commanded [him] to take them out.

and he counted them out This treasurer counted them and delivered them to Sheshbazzar, so that he would carry them and transport them to Jerusalem. Our Rabbis said: “Sheshbazzar is identical with Daniel, and why was he called Sheshbazzar? Because he endured six troubles (שֵּׁשּׁ צָרוֹת) .”

the prince of Judah He is the prince of the tribe of Judah.

their number of the vessels of the House of the Lord.

basins Heb. אֲגַרְטְלֵי. They are kinds of vessels.

knives Heb. מַחֲלָפִים. They are knives, and this expression refers to the chamber of the knives (בֵּית הַחֲלִיפוֹת). Because they would deposit the knives therein, it was called the chamber of the depository of the knives (לִשְּׁכַּת בֵּית הַחֲלִיפוֹת).

bowls Heb. כְּפוֹרֵי, bowls, and they were called כְּפוֹרֵי from an expression of wiping, like (Bava Mezia 24b): “who wiped (דְּכָפַר) his hands on his neighbor’s cloak,” because the one who would receive the blood in a bowl would wipe the squirtings of the blood that splattered on his hand on the rim of the bowl.

secondary Heb. מִשְּׁנִים, secondary ones, other vessels of another kind.

All the vessels Now he totals the sum of those counted and those who were not counted all into one number, but the important ones he counts.

when the exiles were brought up Heb. הֵעָלוֹת, [a passive] expression.