Sheshbazzar

The leader of the Jews who returned to Judea from Babylon at the instigation of Cyrus, King of Persia in 536 BC is stated many times in Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah to have been Zerubbabel, mentioned also in 1 Chronicles 3 (v.19) and by Luke and Matthew as a link in the royal line from David to Christ. In two instances, however, Ezra 1.8‑11 and 5.14‑16, the leader is said to have been one Sheshbazzar, named nowhere else in the Bible. It is sometimes asked: who was this Sheshbazzar?

Most commentators content themselves with saying this was another name for Zerubbabel. Occasionally it is suggested that he was Shenazar, listed as fourth son of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) in 1 Chron.3 (v 18) appointed to the duty because he was of the royal line (the International Critical Commentary makes this suggestion); that he died soon after reaching Judea and was replaced by Zerubbabel. There is no foundation whatever for this hypothesis and some very good arguments against it.

The narrative in Ezra makes clear that Zerubbabel was appointed by Cyrus to lead the Return and superintend the building of the Temple. Haggai and Zechariah confirm this. What is said of Sheshbazzar in Ezra 1 and 5 is also said of Zerubbabel throughout Ezra. There is no doubt that both names refer to the same person.

The explanation is that Sheshbazzar was the Persian name of Zerubbabel, which was his native name. It appears to be the Persian Shish‑ba‑utsur, which means "resplendent before the king". He was evidently known to and enjoyed the confidence of Cyrus to have been appointed to this important office. His native name Zerubbabel, Zeru‑ba‑babel, means "stranger in Babylon" and would have been conferred by his father, Pedaiah of the godly line of Nathan.

There are several reasons militating against Shenazar being Sheshbazzar and the first leader of the Return. In the first place he was never, as was Zerubbabel, "prince of Judah", i.e. recognised as the one in whom the royal title resided. It is known that Jehoiachin had five sons born to him in Babylon of whom Shenazar was one, but the Divine edict was that none of his natural sons should ever succeed to the kingly title. After Jehoiachin the kingly line in him came to an end. Salathiel, reputed father of Zerubbabel and reputed son of Jehoiachin, was born of the line of Nathan, Solomon's younger brother, by Levirate marriage and so both Salathiel and Zerubbabel, and their descendants, although the legal "princes of Judah" owed their blood descent from Nathan. Shenazar is not mentioned in any of the genealogies as in the royal line and cannot thus be admitted.

He would also have been too old. Jehoiachin's five true sons, including Shenazar, were born before 592 BC, the year in which Babylonian records referring to them are dated. He was probably born about 594 and this would make him 58 years old at the Return under Cyrus, and 74 at the Temple building under Darius, altogether too old for so arduous a responsibility. Zerubbabel could not have been born before about 563, and so would be 23 years old at the Return and 39 in the 2nd year of Darius which accords much more with the relevant narratives. It is possible that in Ezra 1 and 5, Ezra is quoting from official Persian documents in which the Persian name of Zerubbabel was used; in the rest of the narrative he uses the Hebrew name much as in the Book of Daniel that prophet's Babylonian name Belteshazzar (Balit‑sarru‑utsur) "Beltis defend the king" (Beltis was the goddess also known as Ishtar and, to the Greeks, Venus) is used in some places and his native name Daniel in others.

AOH