a renewal of the monarchy. Since the king was anointed, he was a māšîyaḥ, a messiah, Hebrew for “anointed one.” In the next century, the Jewish Nehemiah was sent by the Persian crown to be governor of Judah, to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, and to institute certain reforms, especially ones that supported the temple’s operations and the observance of the Sabbath (his initial trip occurred in 445 BCE). Around the same time (perhaps 458 BCE, perhaps later), Ezra, another Jew well trusted by the Persians,