Zerubbabel (; ,
Zorovavel; ) was a governor of the Persian Province of
Yehud Medinata and the grandson of
Jehoiachin, penultimate
king of Judah. Zerubbabel led the first group of Jews, numbering 42,360, who returned from the
Babylonian Captivity in the first year of
Cyrus, King of Persia (
Ezra). The date is generally thought to have been between 538 and 520 BC. Zerubbabel also laid the foundation of the
Second Temple in
Jerusalem soon after.