Review: Jewish Messiahs in a Christian Empire: A History of the Book of Zerubbabel, by Martha Himmelfarb

Abstract

Martha Himmelfarb, Jewish Messiahs in a Christian Empire: A History of the Book of Zerubbabel . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2017. 232 pp. ISBN 9780674057623. $39.95. In Martha Himmelfarb's most capable hands, the late antique text Sefer Zerubbabel (hereafter SZ ) may finally escape obscurity and receive the attention it deserves. Himmelfarb and others have published about SZ before, but this is the first full monograph to treat and contextualize SZ , an early seventh-century work that recounts a vivid and powerful vision of the end times. The text, translated and annotated by Himmelfarb in an appendix, opens with Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, praying to God to grant him a vision of the future. God transports him to the capitol of the Roman Empire, where he meets a despised and severely wounded man who introduces himself as the Lord's anointed one. The angel Michael/Metatron then alights on the scene and affirms that this lowly-looking man is the messiah son of David, Menahem ben Ammiel, who has been hidden in exile until the end time. The angel explains further that the eschaton will begin with the arrival of Hephzibah, the mother of the messiah, “armed with a miraculous staff” (2). Only after her successes in battles will another messianic figure come out of hiding, Nehemiah ben Hushiel, a descendant of Joseph who will gather all of Israel in Jerusalem to resume the sacrificial cult. After forty years, Nehemiah will be killed by the Jews’ archenemy Armilos, the spawn of Satan and the statue of a virgin. At this point, the messiah Menahem will himself come out of hiding with Elijah the prophet, and together they will resurrect Nehemiah. After witnessing this miracle, all of Israel will believe in Menahem's messianic status, Hephzibah will hand over her staff to her son, and unity will prevail as Menahem, Nehemiah, and Elijah preside over the general resurrection. Finally, Menhaem will slay Armilos, God himself will participate in battle alongside the other …