The prophets Haggai and Zechariah, near contemporaries, were active at a critical period in Israel's history. The recently restored Jerusalem community had come through national downfall and exile. Its religious and sociopolitical identity in the Persian Empire had to be established. This volume offers a thematic study of the prophetic response to that situation. The prophets, their status and their styles of prophecy are compared with those of their predecessors, as are their attitudes towards Israel's religious traditions. Their theological understanding of proper leadership, divine judgment, and Israel's relationship to other nations is compared with the developing theology of the classical prophets. The purpose is to discover whether Haggai, Zechariah and their tradents demonstrate continuity with, or divergence from, the prophetic traditions in which they stood. This study concludes that Haggai is a traditionalist, while Zechariah emerges as an innovative and radical theologian ahead of his time.

This book is an investigation of innovative uses of the Hebrew tradition in the early Persian period as represented by the prophetic corpora of Haggai and Zechariah 1-8.

Haggai and Zechariah 1-8, Volume 25B in the acclaimed Anchor Bible part of the Scripture known as the Minor Prophets, were written during a critical period in Israel's history, the momentous return of the Jews from Babylonian exile. Following the conquest of Babylon by the Persian Empire, the Israelites sought to reestablish their ethnic and religious legacy in Judah. This was a time of profound turmoil and uncertainty, and Haggai and Zechariah provided a crucial measure of support and inspiration. They rallied Israel's energies and exhorted their fellow countrymen to heed the word of God. Under their guidance the Jews restored the Temple at Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar. Together the two prophets guided Israel through an important transitional epoch, and reconciled the influences of Persia's dominion with the sacred traditions of the Hebrew people. In this illuminating new translation and commentary, Carol and Eric Meyers consider the Book of Haggai and the first eight chapters of the Book of Zechariah in a linguistic, social, and historical context. They underscore the literary artistry, the political acumen, and the prophetic authority of these fascinating volumes that proved so vital to the survival of Israel and the preservation of the Jewish faith.

Haggai and Zechariah 1-8--Volume 25B in the acclaimed Anchor Yale Bible part of the Scripture known as the Minor Prophets--were written during a critical period in Israel's history, the momentous return of the Jews from Babylonian exile. Following the conquest of Babylon by the Persian Empire, the Israelites sought to reestablish their ethnic and religious legacy in Judah. This was a time of profound turmoil and uncertainty, and Haggai and Zechariah provided a crucial measure of support and inspiration. They rallied Israel's energies and exhorted their fellow countrymen to heed the word of God. under their guidance the Jews restored the Temple at Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar. Together the two prophets guided Israel through an important transitional epoch and reconciled the influences of Persia's dominion with the sacred traditions of the Hebrew people. In this illuminating new translation and commentary, Carol and Eric Meyers consider the Book of Haggai and the first eight chapters of the Book of Zechariah in a linguistic, social, and historical context. They underscore the literary artistry, the political acumen, and the prophetic authority of these fascination volumes that proved so vital to the survival of Israel and the preservation of the Jewish faith.

In the first half of this Guide the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah (chs. 1-8) is placed within its historical setting of Persian rule and within the history of prophetism. The latter part of the book explores how the two parts of the book of Zechariah are related, and investigates problems in Zechariah 9-14, with its special importance for the background of the New Testament, and Malachi.

In Deuteronomy and the Judaean Diaspora Ernest Nicholson challenges the widely accepted view that Deuteronomy was the 'book of the law' described in 2 Kings 22-3 as the basis of king Josiah's cultic reformation in 621 BCE. He argues that the notice in this narrative that Josiah abolished the rural, local altars throughout Judah and supposedly relocated their priests to Jerusalem is based upon a misreading. Rather, he contends, Deuteronomy derived from thinkers and writers who lived among the Judaean exiles in Babylonia in the sixth century, and in significant ways represents a break with pre-exilic Israelite religion occasioned by the urgent need to confront the challenges to national identity and cultural survival of the Judaean Diaspora community. Leading features of the book such as its zealous monolatry, its self-presentation as 'scripture', its concept of the relationship with God as covenanted choice, its pervasive fear of religious encroachment, its character as 'oppositional' literature—these and other themes of the book suggest such a provenance. Issues arising include, for example, information from Babylonian sources, some of it new, about the Judaean exiles, how Israel is characterised in the book, kingship, evidence of the emergence of a body of prophetic 'scripture'. Two final chapters examine the 'Deuteronomistic History' (Joshua-2 Kings) and show that (contrary to some interpretations) it is not 'historiography' such as is represented by, for example, Herodotus' Histories, and that theodicy rather than an interest in the past as a field of critical study best describes its genre.