John Trapp on Ezra 1:2

Ver. 2. The Lord God of heaven hath given me] This good language Cyrus might well learn of Daniel, who flouriſhed under his reign, Dan. 6.28. & probably acquainted him with the propheſies that went before of him, Iſa. 44.28. and 45.1. Jaddus the High-Prieſt did the like (many years after) to Alexander the Great: who not only thereupon ſpared the Jewes, but highly honoured them, as Joſephus relateth. Here then we ſee this Potentate of the earth giveth unto the Lord the glory due unto his Name, Pſal. 29.1, 2. acknowledging him the bleſſed and onely Potentate, 1 Tim. 6.16. One that both is in the heavens, and alſo doeth whatſoever he pleaſeth, both in heaven and in earth, Pſal. 115.3. and 135.6. The God of heaven, ſaith He, hath given me all the Kingdomes of the earth. This was farre better then that of Alexander the Great, whom when Lyſippus had pictured looking up to heaven with this Poſie, Iuppiter aſſerui terram mihi, tu aſſere coelum, &c. Alexander was ſo delighted with it, that he proclaimed that none ſhould take his picture but Lyſippus. Plin. lib. 6. cap. 16.

All the Kingdomes of the earth] i. e. Many of them, ſo that he was [non-Latin text not transcribed] a mighty Monarch, an abſolute Emperour. But to be [non-Latin text not transcribed] ſole Lord of the whole world, was never yet granted to any: though the great Cham of Cataia is reported to cauſe his Trumpets to be founded, every day aſſoone as he hath dined,Heyl. Geog. in token that he giveth leave to other Princes of the earth (whom he ſuppoſeth to be his vaſſals) to go to dinner. And the proud Spaniard (who affecteth to be Catholick Monarch) was well laughed at by Sir Francis Drake and his company,Camd. Eliſ. for his device of a Pegaſus flying out of a Globe of the earth ſet up in the Indies with this Motto —totus non ſufficit orbis. But he affecteth an univerſal Monarchy: and ſo perhaps did Cyrus, which maketh him here ſpeak ſo largely.

And he hath charged me] Et ipſe commiſit mihi, ſo Junius rendereth it. The word ſignifieth to viſit one, either for the better or the worſe. But according to the Chaldee and Syriack uſe, it ſignifieth to charge or command, as it is here, and 2 Chon. 36.22. fitly rendered. But how knew Cyrus this charge of Almighty God; otherwiſe then by books? Like as Daniel (who probably ſhewed him thoſe Propheſies of Eſay concerning him) underſtood by Jeremy 25.12. and 29.10. that the ſeventy years captivity were accompliſhed: and by Ezekiel, chap. 31.1, 2, 3. &c. (which he had read, likely, and revolved) he was the better able to give a right interpretation of Nebuchadnezzars dreame, Dan. 4.

To build him an houſe at Jeruſalem] i. e. To rebuild that which had beene once built by Solomon (whence Hegeſippus, not having the Hebrew tongue, will have Hieruſalem ſo named quaſi [non-Latin text not transcribed] Solomons Temple) a ſtately houſe indeed, and one of the ſeven wonders of the world. For albeit it was but one hundred and twenty foot long, and fourty foot broad; whereas the Temple at Epheſus was two hundred fourty and five foot long, and two hundred and twenty foot broad: Yet for coſtly and choyce materials, for curious and exact workmanſhip, for ſpiritual employment, and for myſtical ſignification, never was there the like edifice in the world. And happy had it beene for Cyrus, if laying aſide all his warlike expeditions and atchievements, he had wholly applyed himſelf to the building of this holy houſe, and to the ſtudy of thoſe things, that there he might have learned for his ſouls health.

Jeruſalem which is in Judah] Jeruſalem was part of it in Judah, and part in the tribe of Benjamin. The houſe here mentioned (viz. the Temple) ſtood in Benjamin, as was foretold it ſhould by Moſes, four hundred and fourty years before it was firſt built by Solomon, Deut. 33.12. And of Benjamin he ſaid, The beloved of the Lord, that is, Benjamin his darling, ſhall dwell in ſafety by him, and the Lord ſhall cover him all the day long, and he ſhall dwell betweene his ſhoulders, that is, betwixt thoſe two mountains, Moriah and Sion, wherein the Temple was built. Now becauſe Benjamin was the leaſt of all the tribes of Iſrael, and becauſe ſo much of it as lay within Judah (Joſh: 19.1, 9.) was comprized under Judah (1 Kings 11.13.) therefore is the Temple here ſaid to be in Jeruſalem which is in Judah. Hereby alſo this Jeruſalem in Judah is diſtinguiſhed from any other Jeruſalem, if there were any place in the world ſo called beſides. We reade of Pope Sylveſter the ſecond (who ſold his ſoul to the Devil for the Popedome) that ſaying Maſſe in a certaine Church in Rome, Funcc. Chronol. Jacob. Reu. pag. 109. called Jeruſalem, he fell ſuddenly into a Fever, whereof he died, the Devil claiming his owne: For the bargaine betwixt them was, that he ſhould continue Pope, till he ſang Maſſe in Jeruſalem: and now intellexit ſe à Diabolo amphiboliâ vocis circumventum: little dreamt the Pope of any other Jeruſalem but this in Judah, and this coſt him his life,Lib. 5. cap. 17. Anno Dom. 1003. Euſebius telleth us that Montanus the Haereſiarch called his Pepuza and Tymium (two pelting pariſhes in Phrygia) Jeruſalem; as if they had beene the only Churches in the world. Hiſt. David. George. p. 3. Hofman the Anabaptiſt had the like conceit of Straſburg in Germany; and Becold of Munſter; both which places they called the new Jeruſalem.