1. Ezra 3:7 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What did the people receive from Cyrus?

Ezra 3:7 (ESV)

7 So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

Some English translations, like the ESV, refer to a grant that the people received from Cyrus. This creates the idea that Cyrus gave the trees of Lebanon as a grant/payment to help the construction of the temple. This, however, is not what happened. The people of Israel were allowed to purchase wood from Lebanon because Cyrus gave them permission to do so. Cyrus granted permission for wood to be taken from his forest in Lebanon.1