The Temple in Persian Period Prophetic Texts

Abstract

Persian period prophetic texts do not suggest that prophets during this era were any more in the service of the temple system than were their pre-exilic predecessors. Rather than suggesting a change in the prophets' roles, these texts attest to the new realities of post-exilic Judah and to the new meanings of the second temple, which was not, as was the first temple, the chapel of a nation state. Just as prophets of the monarchic era addressed issues that grew out of the specific social and religious issues of that time, so too prophets of the second temple period addressed issues specific to that time, e.g., issues of status and power in the second temple Judean community. A new form of community with a new temple involved the prophets in new topics, e.g., eligibility to participate in temple worship, as well as old, e.g., veneration of false gods.