The period after the return from exile was one of deep confusion for Israel. For while she had indeed been set free from captivity, the deliverance was partial at best. The Persians remained the sovereign political and military power in the region (later replaced by a series of empires beginning with Alexander the Great and...
Tag: what is a messiah
Understanding the Bible 07: David & the Monarchy
David is a central protagonist in the biblical story. And though his triumph over Goliath and his moral failings with Bathsheba are the stuff of great art, it is his establishment of the monarchy in Israel that both shapes and foreshadows future events. David is born in Bethlehem (c. 1040 BCE). He spends his childhood...