36:22 Cyrus king of Persia. The last two verses of the Chronicles (II Chronicles 36:22-23) are essentially the same as the first three verses of Ezra (Ezra 1:1-3). Quite possibly, this could have been a device used by Ezra to tie the two books together. Although it cannot be proved definitely, the consensus of conservative Old Testament scholars is that Ezra was indeed the author of Chronicles.