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Darius in Place of Cyrus: The First Edition of Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah 40.1-52.12) in 521 bce

Evangelisch-Theologische Fakultät, Alttestamentliches Seminar, Westf. Wilhelms-Universität, Universitätsstr. 13-17, D-48143 Münster, Germany

It can be called a scholarly consensus that the salvific king announced in Deutero-Isaiah is to be identified with the Persian emperor Cyrus. According to this opinion most of the book emerged before Cyrus’ victory over the Neo-Babylonian empire in 539 bce. But a closer reading reveals that only one of the royal oracles names Cyrus explicitly (Isa. 44.24-45.7), whereas three remain anonymous (45.5-7; 45.11-13^*; 48.12-15). Recent studies on the redactional history of the book agreed that its first edition was written around 520 bce. The present article points out that such an edition can be understood much better if we apply the anonymous oracles to Darius, who usurped the Persian throne in 522 and captured the revolting city of Babylon in winter 522 and summer 521 bce.

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