Read this if you…
- curious about the Apocrypha and the books that didn't make the Protestant canon
- like the "Debate of the Three Guards" (three soldiers argue what's strongest in the world)
- want an alternative account of Judah's return from Babylonian exile
Skip this if you…
- don't want to read explicitly religious/Christian texts
Why It Matters
The standout bit is the Debate of the Three Guards, an argument over whether wine, the king, or women is strongest, with truth winning out in the end. Medieval writers loved it, and it became a go-to model for the rhetorical-contest story.
Depicted in Art
Bacchus hands King Darius a goblet while his concubine Apame slaps the king's cheek, lifts his crown off his head, and places it on her own; personified Fame looks on.
Hendrik Goltzius, 1614
The young Zerubbabel stands gesturing before the enthroned Darius in a torchlit Persian court, arguing the Three Bodyguards contest that wins him the king's favor.
Nicolaes Knüpfer, 1644
Zerubbabel sits with his family in one of the ancestral lunettes above the Sistine windows, set among the genealogy of Christ.
Michelangelo, 1512
A standing portrait of Zerubbabel in 19th-century Italian Nazarene-style fresco, robed and holding the attributes of his rebuilding mission.
Alessandro Franchi, 1874
Recommended Editions
King James Version
Oxford University Press · 1611
The most influential and commonly quoted translation in English. The prose rhythm everyone else is responding to, even modern translations.
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Deep Dive
What It's About
This summary gives away plot details.
Notable Quotes
“Great is Truth, and mighty above all things.”
“The first wrote, Wine is the strongest. The second wrote, The king is strongest. The third wrote, Women are strongest: but above all things Truth beareth away the victory.”
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