The Eclipse of Kingship in the Second Temple Period In general, the Second Temple period is characterized by a transfer of focus away from the monarchy and aspirations to independence, and toward the priesthood and the cult. The process can be illustrated from the books of Haggai and Zechariah.27 Haggai hailed Zerubbabel as a ‘signet ring’, the authorized representative of the Lord (Hag 2:21–24), and Zechariah refers to him as ‘the branch’ (Zech 3:8; צמח), a common Near Eastern metaphor for the
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