Category:Sheshbazzar (subject)

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Sheshbazzar, of the House of David, was the (hostage) king of Judah in Babylon. He was the son of his predecessor Jehoiachin, and the uncle of his successor Zerubbabel.

Davidic Kings: ... -> Jehoiachin -> Sheshbazzar -> Zerubbabel

Overview

Sheshbazzar is very likely to be identified with "Shenazzar, the son of Jeconiah the captive" (1 Chr 3:17-18). He was the hostage king of Judah at the court of Babylon, when Cyrus took power in 539 BCE. To him, the Persian King returned "the vessels of the house of Yhwh that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods (Ezra 1:7) and allowed him to go back to Jerusalem, as governor of Judah (5:14). It was Sheshbazzar who "laid the foundation of the house of God in Jerusalem" (Ezra 5:16; 1 Esdr 6:20; Ant 11:93). The local population of Judah and Benjamin and "all their neighbors" enthusiastically welcomed the returned king and "aided" the projects of construction "with silver vessels, with gold, with good, with animals, and with valuable gifts, besides all that was freely offered" (Ezra 1:5-6).

However, Sheshbazzar's restoration of the pre-exilic order was never completed, under Cyrus and Cambyses II. When 18 years later, under Darius, a new wave of returnees left Babylon, this time they would be under the dual leadership of the Davidic Zerubbabel and the Zadokite Joshua ben Jehozadak.