Scion of the House of David. Leader of the returning Jewish exiles from Babylon (537 BCE), he was appointed governor of Judah by the king of Persia (Haggai 1:1).
Together with Jeshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest, he led the first group of Jews returning to Eretz Israel (Ezra 2:2). In the first year after their return, the two leaders erected an altar and renewed the practice of sacrifice, and in the second year they laid the foundations of the Temple (Ezra 3:10). Around 516 BCE, the new Temple, occasionally referred to as "Zerubbabel's Temple," was dedicated. Details of Zerubbabel's activities and how his life ended are obscure. According to some, he attempted to become an independent monarch but was killed by the Persian rulers. According to a later tradition he returned to Babylon.
Zerubbabel was the last of the House of David to rule and a prophecy of the redemption of Israel was ascribed to him at the beginning of the Middle Ages. This prophecy is known as the Book of Zerubabbel and was written in the seventh century. Followers of the false Messiah, Shabbetai Tzevi, wrote certain additions to it in 1673. The play, Zerubbabel, written by M. L. Lilienblum and translated by David Yellin, was popular during the period of the First Aliyah.
