Editing Zerubbabel (section)

===Son of Shealtiel or Pedaiah===
{{anchor|SonOfWhom}}[[File:Zerubbabel.jpg|thumb|200px|Zerubbabel from [[Guillaume Rouillé]]'s ''[[Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum]]'' (1553)]]
The Hebrew Bible has conflicting texts regarding whether Zerubbabel is the son of Shealtiel or of Pedaiah. Several texts (that are thought to be more or less contemporaneous) explicitly call "Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel" ({{bibleverse|Ezra|3:2,8;5:2|NIV}}, {{bibleverse|Nehemiah|12:1|NIV}}, {{bibleverse|Haggai|1:1,12,14|NIV}}). In addition, the genealogy given in the [[Septuagint]] text of 1 Chronicles supports that position,<ref name= SJ/> as does the [[Seder Olam Zutta]]. In contrast, the [[Masoretic text]] of {{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|3:17–19|NIV}} makes Zerubbabel a nephew of Shealtiel: King Jeconiah is the father of Shealtiel and Pedaiah, then Pedaiah is the father of Zerubbabel.<ref name= SJ/>

The text which identifies Zerubbabel as a son of Pedaiah could be a scribal error. It occurs in a part of the text where the Hebrew seems incongruent and possibly garbled ({{bibleverse|1 Chronicles|3:16–21|NIV}}).<ref>"Zerubbabel", ''Jewish Encyclopedia'' 1908.</ref> The expected mention of Shealtiel being a father seems accidentally omitted, and thus his children became confused with Pedaiah's. There may be other problems with these verses as well.

In any case, those texts that call Zerubbabel "son of Shealtiel" have a context that is overtly political and seems to emphasize Zerubbabel's potential royal claim to the throne of the Davidic Dynasty by being Shealtiel's successor. Zerubbabel is understood as the legal successor of Shealtiel, with Zerubbabel's title paralleling the High Priest [[Joshua the High Priest|Jeshua]]'s title, "son of Jozadak", that emphasizes Joshua's rightful claim to the dynasty of high priests, descending from [[Aaron]]. Therefore, with one descending from David and the other from Aaron, these two officials have the divine authority to rebuild the Temple.