Hebrew word · H3566

כּ֫וֹרֶשׁ

koresh

Cyrus

The personal name of Cyrus II ('the Great') of the Achaemenid Persian dynasty (reigned c. 559–530 BC): Old Persian Kuruš, Akkadian Kuraš, Greek Kyros.

Appears 15 times in 13 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 2Ch.36.22;

son of: Gedaliah (H1436H)

Also named: ko.resh (כּ֫וֹרֶשׁ "Cyrus" H3567)

§ Cyrus = "posses thou the furnace"

the king of Persia and conqueror of Babylon; first ruler of Persia to make a decree allowing the Israelite exiles to return to Jerusalem

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 44:28

Range of meaning

The personal name of Cyrus II ('the Great') of the Achaemenid Persian dynasty (reigned c. 559–530 BC): Old Persian Kuruš, Akkadian Kuraš, Greek Kyros.

Against the English

No drift. English readers may simply not know who he was, or that he conquered Babylon in 539 BC.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 45:1; 2 Chronicles 36:22–23; Ezra 1:1–8; 3:7; 4:3–5; 5:13–17; 6:3, 14; Daniel 1:21; 6:28; 10:1. Outside the Bible: the Cyrus Cylinder, the Nabonidus Chronicle, Herodotus book 1 and Xenophon's Cyropaedia.

From the study of Isaiah 45:1

Range of meaning

A proper name: the Hebrew form of Old Persian Kuruš, Cyrus II (reigned c. 559–530 BC), king of Anshan. He went on to conquer Media (c. 550), Lydia (c. 547/546) and Babylon (539) and founded the Achaemenid Persian Empire.

Against the English

Every English version gives "Cyrus". The issue is not translation but how shocking the name is: Isaiah names a specific, living foreign emperor as God's agent.

Used elsewhere in the period

Cyrus is named in Isa 44:28 and 45:1, and in Ezra 1:1–8, 2 Chr 36:22–23 and Dan 1:21; 6:28; 10:1. Outside the Bible he appears in the Cyrus Cylinder (Babylon, 539/538 BC), the Nabonidus Chronicle, Herodotus (Histories book 1) and Xenophon's Cyropaedia. Josephus (Antiquities 11.1.1–2) claims Cyrus read his own name in Isaiah and was moved to free the Jews.

From the study of Ezra 1:1

Range of meaning

Proper name: Cyrus II of Persia (reigned c. 559–530 BC). Old Persian Kuruš, Babylonian Kuraš. The meaning of the name is uncertain.

Against the English

'Cyrus' comes through Greek Kyros and Latin Cyrus. There is no drift.

Used elsewhere in the period

Cyrus is known from his own clay Cyrus Cylinder (Babylon, 539/538 BC), from the Nabonidus Chronicle, and from Herodotus and Xenophon. In the Bible, Isaiah 44:28 calls him YHWH's 'shepherd' and 45:1 calls him YHWH's 'anointed' (mashiach), the only foreign king given that title.

Where it appears

2 Chronicles · 3

  1. 2 Chronicles 36:22 לְכ֙וֹרֶשׁ֙ כּ֣וֹרֶשׁ of Cyrus, Cyrus

    In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:

    Here: The 'of' (le-) is the ordinary way of dating by a reign: the year 'belonging to' Cyrus. Cyrus II, Old Persian Kūruš, founded the Achaemenid Persian Empire.

  2. 2 Chronicles 36:23 כּ֣וֹרֶשׁ׀ Cyrus

    “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah. Whoever among you belongs to His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and may he go up.’”

Ezra · 8

  1. Ezra 1:1 לְכ֙וֹרֶשׁ֙ כֹּ֣רֶשׁ of Cyrus, Cyrus

    In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:

    Here: Cyrus II, 'the Great', founder of the Persian (Achaemenid) Empire. The 'of' (le-) is the usual way of dating by a king's reign.

  2. Ezra 1:2 כֹּ֚רֶשׁ Cyrus

    “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah.

    Here: Cyrus II, 'the Great', founder of the Achaemenid Persian empire. Hebrew renders the Old Persian name Kuruš.

  3. Ezra 1:7 כּ֔וֹרֶשׁ Cyrus

    King Cyrus also brought out the articles belonging to the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the temple of his gods.

  4. Ezra 1:8 כּ֚וֹרֶשׁ Cyrus

    Cyrus king of Persia had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.

  5. Ezra 3:7 כּ֥וֹרֶשׁ Cyrus

    They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.

  6. Ezra 4:3 כּ֥וֹרֶשׁ Cyrus

    But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of the families of Israel replied, “You have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone must build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as Cyrus king of Persia has commanded us.”

  7. Ezra 4:5 כּ֚וֹרֶשׁ Cyrus

    They hired counselors against them to frustrate their plans throughout the reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 44:28 לְכ֙וֹרֶשׁ֙ of Cyrus

    who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd will fulfill all that I desire,’ who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Let its foundation be laid.’”

    Here: Cyrus II of Persia, called Kuruš in his own Old Persian. The little word 'lᵉ' can mean 'to' (God speaking to Cyrus) or 'of, concerning' (God speaking about him). Naming him outright is the climax of the whole chain.

  2. Isaiah 45:1 לְכ֣וֹרֶשׁ to Cyrus

    This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut:

    Here: "To Cyrus". This is the Hebrew form of the Persian name Kuruš: Cyrus II, "the Great", founder of the Persian Empire. The name stands right beside "his anointed" and identifies who the anointed is, which is the shocking pairing at the centre of the verse.

Daniel · 2

  1. Daniel 1:21 לְכ֥וֹרֶשׁ of Cyrus

    And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.

  2. Daniel 10:1 לְכ֙וֹרֶשׁ֙ of Cyrus

    In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, and it concerned a great conflict. And the understanding of the message was given to him in a vision.

    Here: Cyrus II, the Persian conqueror of Babylon in 539 BC. The book already looked ahead to his reign in 1:21 and 6:28, and Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1 call him the LORD's chosen agent.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.