Two main approaches have been adopted in recent scholarly literature towards the centre of debate within the post-exilic Jerusalem community. The first is advanced by Plöger in his monograph: Theokratie und Eschatologie. On this view, there were radical differences of opinion on the attitude that should be taken towards the hopes of restoration. What Plöger terms ‘die offizielle Linie innerhalb der Theokratie’ (p. 135) was represented in P and Chr. (including Ezr.-Neh.). The primary purpose of these works was to demonstrate the unique legitimacy of the Jerusalem temple in which were fully realized the aspirations and expectations of earlier generations.

The Priestly Writing, regarded as an independent document, is said to show that ordinances originally applicable to all men (such as Sabbath-keeping and the prohibition to eat blood) were fulfilled in the cultic community of Israel as constituted at Sinai. Beyond this, no historical development is possible: ‘Israel, in der Form der durch den rntf-Begriff charakterisierten Kultgemeinde, ist nach der Auffassung der Priesterschrift das Ziel der Wege Gottes mit der Menschheit’ (p. 44). The post-exilic community, no longer a nation, but now developing into a religious community, would be expected to identify itself with the ‘dh, whose establishment at Sinai marked the culmination of God's dealings with his creation, ‘önd iiber dieses Ziel hinaus mit einer grundlegenden Veranderung nicht mehr zu rechnen ist’ (p. 53).

The situation is similar in the case of Chr., concerning which Plöger adopts von Rad's analysis of Israel outlined above (pp. 87f).