Meaning
Some identify him with Zerubbabel as the King James Version margin in Esdras 6:18: "Z., which is also Sanabassar the ruler." This view appears to be favored by the order of the words here, where, in case of two persons, one might expect "Sanabassar the ruler" to come first. Zerubbabel appears as "governor of Judea" also in Esdras 6:27-29. Ezr 3:10 speaks of the foundation of the temple under Zerubbabel and 5:16 as under Sheshbazzar. There is further the analogy of Esdras 5:40, where Nehemias and Attharias refer to the same person. Against this identification: Zerubbabel is not styled ruler or governor either in Nehemiah or Ezra, but in Hag 1:14, Hag 2:2, Hag 2:21 he is pechah or governor of Judah; no explanation is given of the double name, as in the case of e.g. Daniel, Belteshazzar; the language of Ezr 5:14 f seems to refer to work commenced under a different person than Zerubbabel. Nor is there any reason against supposing a first return under Sheshbazzar (Sanabassar) and a foundation of the temple previous to the time of Zerubbabel-an undertaking into which the Jews did not enter heartily, perhaps because Sanabassar may have been a foreigner (though it is uncertain whether he was a Babylonian, a Persian, or a Jew). A later proposal is to identify Sanabassar with Shenazzar, the uncle of Zerubbabel in 1Ch 3:18. but either of these identifications must remain doubtful.
See SHENAZZAR, ZERUBBABEL.
S. Angus
