Persia

Biblical References

• 2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4: "In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia," Cyrus commands the people of Judah to return to Jerusalem and build the temple. This proclamation is commonly called the "Edict of Cyrus."
• Ezra 4-7: The rebuilding of the temple meets opposition and is halted, then completed in the reign of King Darius. Later, in the reign of King Artaxerxes, Ezra returns to Jerusalem.
• Nehemiah 1-2: Nehemiah, cupbearer to King Artaxerxes in the palace at Shushan, receives the king's permission and rebuilds the walls of Jerusalem.
• Esther: The book is set at the court of King Ahasuerus. Esther 1:3 names "Persia and Media" together.
• Daniel: Daniel 5:28 interprets the writing on the wall to mean that the kingdom of Belshazzar is "given to the Medes and Persians." Chapter 6 refers to "the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not," and 8:20 identifies the ram with two horns as the kings of Media and Persia. Daniel 10:13 and 10:20 mention "the prince of the kingdom of Persia."
• Ezekiel 27:10; 38:5: Persia is listed alongside other nations.

Background

The Hebrew name Paras derives from the Old Persian Pārsa. It originally referred to a region in southwestern Iran and to its people.

Cyrus, known to historians as Cyrus II, brought Media under his rule in the mid-sixth century BC and captured Babylon in 539 BC, establishing a vast empire. He is known for a policy of allowing conquered peoples to return to their homelands and restore their temples, and the return of the Judean exiles is understood within this context. The empire fell to Alexander the Great in the 330s BC. Shushan (Susa) and Achmetha (Ezra 6:2), both mentioned in the Bible, were cities where the empire's royal palaces stood.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Isaiah 45:1 calls the foreign king Cyrus the Lord's "anointed." For this reason Persia is associated with the theme that God rules even over Gentile nations as He fulfills His promises. The return from exile after the Babylonian captivity, the rebuilding of the temple (Haggai, Zechariah), and the restoration of a community ordered by the Law all took place during the Persian period.

The name Persia does not appear in the New Testament. However, the Parthians, Medes, and Elamites of Acts 2:9 were Jews from the territory of the former Persian Empire.

Interpretations and Debated Issues

• Identity of the kings: Ahasuerus is commonly identified with Xerxes I, though other views exist. Scholars disagree about the identity of "Darius the Median" in the book of Daniel.
• "The prince of the kingdom of Persia": Some interpret this figure as a spiritual being (an evil spirit), while others take it to be a human ruler.
• The Magi: The Gospel of Matthew says only that the wise men came "from the east." The identification of them as Persians is a tradition based on the association of the word translated "wise men" (magos) with a priestly class of Persian origin; the text itself does not say so.

In the Korean Church

In Korean church preaching, Persia appears chiefly as the setting of passages from Esther and Nehemiah. Esther's words "if I perish, I perish" (Esther 4:16) and the account of Nehemiah's rebuilding of the walls are frequently preached against the backdrop of the Persian court.