I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ezra 1-2.

I started out intending to focus on Cyrus, but noticed an interesting person I had never noticed before, Sheshbazzar.  He is only mentioned once in the Bible, although there is a Shenazzar listed in 1 Chronicles 3:18.  Shenazzar is a son of King Jehoiachin, who was taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar.  There are numerous variant spellings of Shenazzar in the manuscripts of 1 Chronicles, making it not unlikely that Sheshbazzar is another variation on that name.  While the New Living Translation translates the passage as saying that Sheshbazzar was the leader of the returning exiles, the literal translation says that he was the prince of Judah.  Sheshbazzar is not mentioned again after we are told that Cyrus gave him the items taken from the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar.  It seems entirely likely to me that Sheshbazzar was the son (or perhaps grandson) of Jehoiachin and thus the prince of Judah, but that he never joined the returning exiles.

Now on to Cyrus: Cyrus was never a worshiper of God, or, at least, if he was he also worshiped many other gods as well.  Nevertheless, God used Cyrus to bring about a restoration of His people.   It was Cyrus who issued the order which led to the rebuilding of the Temple and the reestablishment of God’s worship in Jerusalem.  We can learn a lot about what God views as a good political leader from what the Bible says about Cyrus.  The writers of the Bible viewed Cyrus as a true servant of God, even though they never viewed him as one of them, as one of the Believers.