Turned the heart of the king of Assyria - I am of Calmet's mind, that king of Assyria is here put for king of Persia. Cyrus and his successors possessed all the rights and estates of the ancient kings of Assyria, and therefore the same monarch may be styled king of Assyria as well as king of Persia.
Darius had a very high character, as a wise, just, and merciful prince. To strengthen his title to the crown, he married two of the daughters of Cyrus, and, no doubt, to show his affection to this family, he the more cheerfully confirmed the edict which Cyrus had made in favor of the Jews.
The king of Assyria - i. e., Darius. Assyria had so long been the great monarchy of western Asia that the sacred writers continue the title to those who had inherited the old Assyrian power, as first to the Babylonians 2 Kings 23:29, and secondly to the Persians. With similar inexactness we find Herodotus calling Cyrus “king of the Medes.”
Let them remember that the sentiments which appear in the Review are as if they were proclaimed upon the housetop. The matter contained in the paper is to strengthen the hands of the workers, and to teach them how to fight the good fight courageously.... PM 225.3
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