This book explores the Second Temple period, proposing it as the formative era for the current five books of Torah and other prophetic literature. It suggests these texts resulted from political rifts and religious divisions of the time. The author examines why prophets from different eras present conflicting claims and prophecies, all seemingly originating in this period. It is argued that the authors of Jeremiah, Amos, Zephaniah, and Ezekiel supported Ezra and Nehemiah, while Haggai and Zechariah’s authors backed the anti-Ezra faction, Zerubbabel. This dispute led to the murder of Prophet Zechariah son of Iddo, as mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew.

The study highlights the Second Temple period’s significance, challenging traditional chronologies and interpretations. It questions the credibility of prophetic literature, using internal evidence from historical books like Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. The book discusses the influence of Persian governors of Jewish origin on biblical literature, driven by priestly differences.

Key questions include errors in Jeremiah’s captivity period, Ezekiel’s visions’ relevance, the Davidic dynasty’s roots, and the political motivations woven into Messianic ideas in biblical literature. The book also examines how political agendas of Nehemiah and Ezra influenced Torah and the factors behind the Samaritan schism. Overall, it reveals how political and religious conflicts of the era influenced the Bible, leading to a corpus of conflicting prophecies and ideas used later by Jews and Christians to interpret the Messiah concept.