2.5 Leaving Babylon III: The Enigma of Zerubbabel and Joshua
History in the Bible
Garry Stevens
4.6 • 693 Ratings
🗓️ 17 September 2017
⏱️ 31 minutes
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Summary
After Sheshbazzar's failure, the second wave of returnees are led by the enigmatic figures of the supposed Davidic king Zerubbabel and the high-priest Joshua. Those returning spurn those who stayed behind, implying that the only real Jews are those who were exiled. Zerubbabel inexplicably disappears from the narrative at the moment of his triumph. The book of Esdras Alpha rehabilitates him.
The prophets Haggai and Zechariah are sources for the period. Zechariah writes the first apocalypse. I finish with the puny prophet Joel, who turns plowshares into swords, and pruning hooks into spears.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Gide. I'm Gary Stevens. |
| 0:08.0 | And welcome to the second series of the History in the Bible podcast. |
| 0:13.1 | More of the history in more of the books in all the Bibles. |
| 0:20.3 | Episode 2.5, Leaving Babylon Part 3 |
| 0:24.8 | The Enigma of Zerebabel and Joshua |
| 0:28.3 | In the last episode of the history in the Bible, we left the first wave of returnees under |
| 0:36.0 | the hapless Sheshbazar, unable to accomplish the simplest of tasks. |
| 0:41.8 | The joy expressed in Second Isaiah, squashed by the harsh realities of life in the tiny province of Yehoud. |
| 0:50.6 | Having done nothing but lay the temple's foundations, |
| 0:55.0 | Sheshpazar vanishes from the narrative in short order. |
| 0:59.0 | The next 18 years are a blank until the time of the heroes of the second wave of returnees, |
| 1:07.0 | Governor Zerebabel and High Priest Joshua, around 520 BC. |
| 1:12.6 | For a short time, our major sources of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah are supplemented by the two prophets Haggai and Zechariah. |
| 1:23.6 | Haggai and Zechariah. |
| 1:26.6 | At two chapters, Haggai is one of the shortest and least popular books of the Bible. |
| 1:33.3 | Zechariah is rather longer at 14 chapters. |
| 1:38.3 | Both the prophets, books cover a brief five years or so |
| 1:43.3 | during the time that the temple was rebuilding |
| 1:47.0 | under Zerebabel and Joshua. All our sources are insistent that the priority in this period |
| 1:54.0 | was the rebuilding of the temple, not repopulating the land. The prophets are livid, that since the decree of Cyrus and the first wave of returnees, |
| 2:06.9 | little has been done to further that holy goal. |
| 2:10.5 | Quote, |
... |
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