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Isaiah 45:1 calls King Cyrus of Persia “G-d’s Messiah” among other references to him:

כֹּֽה־אָמַ֣ר יְהוָה֮ לִמְשִׁיחוֹ֮ לְכ֣וֹרֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־הֶֽחֱזַ֣קְתִּי בִֽימִינ֗וֹ לְרַד־לְפָנָיו֙ גּוֹיִ֔ם וּמָתְנֵ֥י מְלָכִ֖ים אֲפַתֵּ֑חַ לִפְתֹּ֤חַ לְפָנָיו֙ דְּלָתַ֔יִם וּשְׁעָרִ֖ים לֹ֥א יִסָּגֵֽרוּ׃

Thus saith the Hashem to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and to loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and that the gates may not be shut.

Scholars date Isaiah to have lived around the mid-eighth century BCE, but Cyrus lived around 529 BCE (after Isaiah’s death). How could Isaiah know about him?

Inspired by this question.

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Jonathan
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    This is basically the same question as the one you linked. How could a prophet know about a future figure? Answer: That's the point of him being a prophet - he knows future stuff. A secular POV would probably claim that Isaiah was edited after the rise of Cyrus, and the original text featured a nameless messiah, but this site isn't a secular site. Biblical Hermeneutics might give you the latter answer. – Harel13 Apr 02 '20 at 08:46
  • Either it's prophetic or it's a later addition (by the Anshei Kenesset hagedolah who edited various neviim) or it's a different koresh. How are we supposed to know which? – Double AA Apr 02 '20 at 11:55
  • @Harel religious pov (at least a traditional Jewish one) also comes to a conclusion like that. No other prophet names people centuries out, and barely even names contemporaries. That's not the way our God does prophecy. Maybe you're thinking of modern fantasy literature? – Double AA Apr 02 '20 at 11:57
  • @DoubleAA not at all. Nevuah has several aspects, one of them seeing the future in detail, as the Rambam states in his Hakdamot. That's the only way to prove a prophet is a prophet. I quickly checked through several classic commentaries and none found anything odd about the mentioning of Cyrus's actual name in Isaiah. – Harel13 Apr 02 '20 at 12:16
  • @harel surely a given Navi might theoretically know any given detail as God desires, but a either God doesn't desire they know names basically ever or neviim know to be careful not to record that stuff before it happens. That's what I meant by "the way God does prophecy". There are dozens of places nevuot could have been clearer by just stating a name of course, but that's clearly not how this works. It's also leads to bizarre time travel paradoxes https://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/15215/759 which might be why God chooses not to. – Double AA Apr 02 '20 at 12:17
  • @Harel I'm not bothered by it either. Only an academic is since they are trying to work out the history of the text. From a rabbinic perspective it doesn't matter who edited it or not since we assume this text is what we should be learning. – Double AA Apr 02 '20 at 12:20
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    @DoubleAA you're giving an answer to "Why did Isaiah know about King Cyrus of Persia?". But the question is "How could Isaiah know about King Cyrus of Persia?" which doesn't start from a religious perspective. – Heshy Apr 02 '20 at 12:29
  • @DoubleAA there might be a nafka mina from who edited it https://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/108290/11532 – Heshy Apr 02 '20 at 12:31
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    @heshy only if the editors weren't also neviim. But AKG were מאה ועשרים זקנים ומהם שמונים וכמה נביאים – Double AA Apr 02 '20 at 12:33
  • related https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/31318/how-does-jewish-position-on-the-book-of-isaiah-is-indeed-written-by-isaiah-150-y but that question appears to have been deleted – rosends Apr 02 '20 at 12:44

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