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The Hebrew version of Ezra describes finding Cyrus’s lost decree in the citadel of Ecbatana, the Persian capital in Media. The Greek translator did not recognize the place name so translated it with the generic “in the city”, dropping its real location.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Ezra 6:2
Hebrew Bible
1 So Darius the king issued orders, and they searched in the archives of the treasury which were deposited there in Babylon. 2 A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana which is in the province of Media, and it was inscribed as follows:“Memorandum: 3 In the first year of his reign, King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: ‘Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be set in place. Its height is to be 90 feet and its width 90 feet,
LXX Ezra 6:2
Septuagint
1 Then King Darius gave a decision and searched in the library where the treasure is stored in Babylon. 2 And one volume was found in the city, in the bastion, and this was written in it: “A record: 3 In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus gave a decision concerning the holy house of God, which is in Jerusalem, and the place where they sacrifice sacrifices; and he made a foundation sixty cubits in height,
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Notes and References
... Achmeta; the Septuagint did not recognize the place name and translated it with ἐν πόλει, 'in a city'; the Vulgate in Ecbathanis indicates that the Hebrew place name was construed as referring to the summer residence of the Persians. Ecbatana - Old Persian: Hangmatana; Greek: Ἀγβάτανα, in Aeschylus and Herodotus, elsewhere: Ἐκβάτανα. The place name means 'the place of meeting'. The town was located at the foot of Mount Alvand in present day Iran. Cyrus the Great had conquered the city in 549. Except in Ezra 6:2, the city is also mentioned in Tobit 7:1; 14:12 and 2 Maccabees 9:3. ...
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