Meet the Prophets of the Return

Following the Babylonian captivity, Cyrus decreed that the enslaved Jews would be permitted to return to their homelands, rebuild the temple and reinstitute their religious practices.

The five prophets who oversaw that return, and who authored the final portions of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) are:

• Ezra ben Seraiah (aka Azariah, Azaryah, Esdras, עֶזְרָא)
• Haggai (aka Aggeus, Chaggai, Hagai, חַגַּי)
• Malachi (aka Malachy, Mal'akhi, מַלְאָכִי)
• Nehemiah ben Hachaliah (aka Nechemia, Nechemyah, נְחֶמְיָה)
• Zechariah ben Berechiah (aka Zachariah, Zacharias, Zachary, Zekaryah, Zekharyah, זְכַרְיָה)

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Image: Detail from 'Zechariah,' Sistine fresco by Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, c. 1509