Ancestors of Christ - Zerubbabel with parents and a brother
1509: Cappella Sistina, Vatican
When Cyrus, after the conquest of Babylon, adopted the wise political policy of allowing the Jews to return to their own land, he appointed the prince of Judah, whose name Sheshbazzar was perhaps the name given to Zerubbabel by the Babylonians and used when he was acting as representative of Cyrus, to be governor of the colony (Ezra 1: 8, 11; 5:14). The returning exiles were led by Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua, with other princes (Ezra 2: 1-64; Neh. 7: 5-7; 12:1-9), and reached Jerusalem in 538 B.C.E. Arriving at the ruined city, Joshua as head of the priesthood and Zerubbabel as head of the civil administration, acting together, reared an altar and restored the worship (Ezra 3: 1-9). Sheshbazzar next laid the foundations of the Temple as Persian governor, acting in his official name. Adversaries, failing to make Zerubbabel stop proceedings, appealed to successive Persian kings, so that building operations ceased until 520 B.C.E, the 2cd year of Darius Hystaspis. In this year, urged by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, Zerubbabel, now Persian governor under Darius, and Joshua resumed the work; and under the constant encouragement of the prophets brought the building to completion in the early spring of 515 B.C.E. (Ezra 6: 14-15; Hag., chs 1; 2; Zech., ch. 4). From the office Zerubbabel held when the 2cd temple was built, and the personal interest he took in its erection, it is often called Zerubbabel's Temple. His governorship continued at least til 515 B.C.E. How much longer it lasted is unknown. Zerubbabel was in his day the representative of the Davidic monarchy (Hag. 2: 20-23). He was also in the direct line of ancestry Christ (Matt. 12: 12-13; Luke 3: 27).
