What Scripture says
Cyrus: Isaiah names a Persian king as the one who would rebuild Jerusalem: God “says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid’” (Isaiah 44:28, ESV; also 45:1–4).
The temple: Jesus, looking at the temple, said, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down” (Mark 13:2). He warned that Jerusalem would be “surrounded by armies” and its people “led captive among all nations” (Luke 21:20–24).
Other examples often cited:
- Tyre would be scraped “like the top of a rock” and become “a place for the spreading of nets” (Ezekiel 26:4–5, 14).
- Nineveh, capital of Assyria, would be destroyed (Nahum 1–3), which happened in 612 BC.
- Jeremiah predicted the exile would last seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11–12, 29:10).
What the evidence says
History
Cyrus
Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon in 539 BC and allowed exiled peoples, including the Jews, to return home and rebuild their temples (Ezra 1:1–4). The Cyrus Cylinder, found in Babylon in 1879 and now in the British Museum, records his policy of returning peoples and restoring their sanctuaries. So the event is historical. The question is when Isaiah 44–45 was written.
| View | Date of Isaiah 40–55 | Implication |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional | 8th century BC, by Isaiah of Jerusalem | Cyrus named about 150 years before his birth |
| Critical | c. 540 BC, by an anonymous prophet in exile (“Second Isaiah”) | Written during Cyrus’s rise, so not a long-range prediction |
Critics point to the change in setting: chapters 40–55 address exiles in Babylon, and assume the fall of Jerusalem has already happened. Defenders note that the Great Isaiah Scroll treats the book as one, with no break, that the New Testament quotes passages from both halves as “Isaiah” (John 12:38–41), and that predictive prophecy is the point of Isaiah 44–45: God names Cyrus to show that he alone declares the future (Isaiah 44:24–28, 46:9–10).
The temple’s fall
In AD 70, Roman forces under Titus besieged and destroyed Jerusalem and burned the temple, as Josephus describes in detail. The temple has never been rebuilt.
| View | When Mark and Luke were written | Implication |
|---|---|---|
| Many critical scholars | After AD 70 (Luke) or around 70 (Mark) | The prediction may reflect the event |
| Earlier dating | Before AD 70 (see 4.4) | A genuine prediction |
Critics often date the Gospels after AD 70 partly because they contain this prediction, which defenders call circular reasoning. Even some critical scholars accept that Jesus spoke against the temple, since it was part of the charge against him at his trial (Mark 14:58).
Tyre
Nebuchadnezzar besieged mainland Tyre for 13 years (585–572 BC). Alexander the Great later built a causeway from the ruins of the mainland city to capture the island city in 332 BC. Critics point out that Tyre was rebuilt and remains a city today. Defenders reply that the prophecy may refer to the ancient mainland city, or that Ezekiel uses typical prophetic hyperbole.
Context
Dating is the key fight
In almost every case, the debate turns on when the prophecy was written. If a text was written after the event, it isn’t predictive. Critics generally date texts after the events, while defenders argue those late dates often assume prophecy is impossible.
Where they meet
Isaiah names Cyrus as Jerusalem’s rebuilder (44:28), and Jesus predicted the temple’s fall (Mark 13:2), fulfilled in AD 70. Critics respond by dating the texts after the events, so dating is the key fight.
What’s still open
The dates of Isaiah 40–55 and of the Gospels.
Bottom line
Isaiah names Cyrus as Jerusalem’s rebuilder (44:28), and Jesus predicted the temple’s fall (Mark 13:2), fulfilled in AD 70. Critics respond by dating the texts after the events, so dating is the key fight. This is rated Debated.