Zerubbabel 3rd Exilarch / זרובבל

• 1 Chronicles 3:19-20.
• Wikipedia: Zerubbabel & זרובבל בן שאלתיאל.
• Jewish Encyclopedia (1906): Zerubbabel.

This is Zerubbabel, Governor of Judah. Do not confuse him with the Zerubbabel, ancestor of Jesus (Luke) who was named in the Gospel of Luke.

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Luke 3:23–38 lists the genealogy of Jesus, and has Zerubbabel as the 20th generation ancestor of Jesus. That source has a VERY different lineage for the ancestry of Zerubbabel, as the descendant of Nathan, son of King David. Traditionally these are the same person, BUT there is NO way to reconcile the two very different genealogies. As such we preferred having BOTH versions represented in the tree. As noted the "other" Zerubbabel is here ( Zerubbabel, ancestor of Jesus (Luke) ). Luke's version, through Nathan, son of King David, would make Jesus completely irrelevant to Throne of King David. In this version, on the other hand, as the great-grandson of Jehoiachin, next-to-last King of Judah, Zerubbabel has a direct and immediate claim to this throne. So this version makes a lot more historical sense. As such, the rest of Luke's lineage to Jesus, is continued HERE, through Zerubbabel's son, Rhesa.

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Ibn Ezra (Shemot 2:10, Haggai 1:1) says that Zerubavel was the son of Pediyah, based on a verse in Divrei haYamim. Zerubavel is generally identified as a son of Shealtiel, because Shealtiel was Pediyah's brother, and Shealtiel raised Zerubavel. Biologically, Zerubavel is the son of Pediyah, Pediyah turn the child to Sheltiel to be raised as an heir to a sterile father.

The position of ibn Ezra is strengthened by the text "Yashir Moshe"; the Dayan of Aleppo Family Tree which provides the same explanation as presented by ibn Ezra.

Further, Rabbi David Kimhi (the Radak) (Melachim II 8:26, Yechezkel 21:32) says that this was the family line: Yechanyah-Shelatiel-Pediyah-Zerubavel. Shealtiel may have been listed as the father because he was more well-known and respected than Pediyah.

Ibn Ezra (Chaggai 2:22, Daniel 6:29, Ezra 1:8) also mentions that Zerubavel was also known as Sheshbatzar. He takes "Sheshbatzar" to be a Babylonian variant to "Zerubavel."

Avot deRabbi Nathan says Zerubavel was born circumcised. This seems to be learned from Gd's reference to Zerubavel as "Avdi," "my slave," in Chaggai 2:23.

Also mentioned in Abarbanel family scroll as son of Pedaya – undated handwritten manuscript from the collection of the late Rabbi Shmuel Gorr, held by Chaim Freedman. Reference was made to “Elef Margaliot” 1993, Meir Wunder.

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Ezra 3:2

Zorobabel was the 23rd generation in male line descent from King David (No. 1). He was the accepted heir. The details of his ancestry and the solution of the two fathers listed for him being Shealtiel and Pediah (1Chron. 3:19) are explained under the Levirate laws and the explanation is in the paper The Genealogy of the Messiah (No. 119).

Zorobabel was the royal Jewish heir and 3rd Exilarch at Babylon ca 545 BCE. He was 8th Governor of Judea ca 537-536 BCE. He was Prince of Judah ca. 515 BCE and was recalled and imprisoned 513 BCE and executed 510 BCE.

He married three wives. The first wife was Amytis a Babylonian Princess, who was called a foreign wife. She bore him Shazrezzar, which is a Babylonian name. He was the ancestor of a major Davidic line.

Zorobabel’s second wife was Rhodah who was a Persian princess who later remarried a Persian prince and was also called a foreign wife. She bore him Reza (a Persian Name). He was allegedly the half brother through his mother of Darius, king of Persia. It is this line that is referred to in the ancestry of Mariam if we accept that the line of Zorobabel was in fact through Nathan and the adopted son of Jeconiah, namely Shealtiel who was the actual son of Neri(ah). The Crown Princess Tamar was the means of the change in lineage. This is another incident of a Princess Tamar being used to transfer the kingship. We will examine this further below.

Thirdly, Zorobabel married Esthra, who was a Jewish princess and from whom the line of the current royal family is descended.

The prophecy concerning the throne and the place of Zorobabel in the process is seen to be part of the process of the birthright promises of the last days.

Remember that the father of Zorobabel was Shealtiel/Pediah and the father of Shealtiel was not actually Jeconiah. He was the adopted son of Jeconiah and was his acknowledged heir (Mat. 1:12). He was the son of the wife of King Jehoiakin or Jeconiah by a former husband of Princess Tamar, namely Prince Neri(ah). See also Luke 3:27. Now this fact gives another rise to the issue of from whom the lineage of Zorobabel was actually descended.

Zerubbabel (Hebrew: זְרֻבָּבֶל‎, Zərubbāvel; Greek: ζοροβαβελ, Zŏrobabel) was a governor of Judah (Haggai 1:1) and the great-grandson of Jehoiachin, next-to-last King of Judah. Led the first band of Jews, numbering 42,360, who returned from the Babylonian Captivity in the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia. He also laid the foundation of the Second Temple in Jerusalem the next year. The Seder Olam Zutta lists him as the Exilarch in Babylon to succeed Shealtiel. The texts are conflicting as to whether Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel or his nephew. His son Meshullam succeeded him as Exilarch, and was followed by another son Hananiah. Muslim historian Ya'qubi attributed the recovery of the Torah and the Books of the Prophets to him instead of Ezra.