Babylonian Exile
The Babylonian captivity, or Babylonian exile, is the name generally given to the deportation and exile of the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.
The deportations
The Babylonian exile is distinguished from the earlier exile of citizens of the northern Kingdom of Israel to Assyria around 722 B.C.E.
The inhabitants of the southern kingdom, Judah, faced at least two deportations. The first occurred in 597 B.C.E., as a result of the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II. The purpose of this action was to punish King Josiah's son Jehoiakim for allying with Egypt and rebelling against Babylonian rule. Jehoiakim died during the seige and his son Jehoiachin, also called Jeconiah, continued to resist until he was forced to surrender after a reign of only three months. Nebuchadnezzar order him and the elite citizens of Judah deported, together with the most valuable treasures of the Temple and the palace. (II Kings 24 1-16). Among the captives was prophet Ezekiel, though not Jeremiah, who remained in Jerusalem, where he counseled cooperation with Babylon, while other prophets urged resistance.
When Jeremiah's advice was not heeded, another more general deportation took place in 586 B.C.E. The new king, Zedekiah, had taken the oath as a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek. 17:13), but rebelled. Nebuchadnezzar began the siege of Jerusalem in January 587. He was soon forced to abandon the seige in order to face Zedekiah's Egtyptian allies. After defeating them in battle the Babylonian forces renewed their assult on Jerusalem, finally breaching its walls in July, 586. Zedekiah and his court attempted to flee, but were captured. As punishment, he was forced to witness the death of his sons and then blinded. After this, he was taken in chains to Babylon. On or about August 7 of the same year, Nebuchadnezzar's captain, Nebuzaradan, supervised the destruction and burding of the Temple of Jerusalem, the royal palace, and virtually the entire city. The surviving inhabitants were deported to Babylon. Another 70-80 leading citizens, including the high priest Seraiah, were put to death (2 Kings 25, Jer. 34). A nobable exception was the prophet Jeremiah, who was rightly viewed by the Babylonian as a vocal opponent of the rebellion. Later, a third deportation was ordered by Nebuchadnezzar when yet another rebellion broke out around n 582-581 B.C.E. A number of Judeans, including Jeremiah, succeeded in escaping to Egypt during this time.
Numbers and conditions
According to the Book of Jeremiah (52:28-30), 3,023 Jews were deported in the first wave, 832 in the second, and 745 in the third, making 4,600 in all. However, it is likely that only the men were counted. Including women and children it is estimated that 14,000 to 18,000 people is the full number. A larger estimate is given in 2 Kings 24 14-16, which refers only to the first deportation 597 B.C.E. Verse 14 gives the numbers as 10,000 men, while verse 16 puts the number at 8,000, an estimate rought double that of Jeremiahs for all three deportations. Scholars tend to accept Jeremiah's figures as more accurate. In either case, since scholars estimate the total populartion of the [[Kingdom of Judah}} during this time at between 120,000 and 150,000, less than one quarter of the population was actually taken into exile. However, since this included a high percentage of court officials, the priesthood, skill craftsmen, and other wealthy citizens, the exiles constituted majority of the cultural elite of nation.
Those who had been deported in 597 had hoped for a speedy return to their homes. They were encouraged in this hope by certain prophets among them, against whom Jeremiah and Ezekiel worked in vain (Jer. 29-29; Ezek. 18, 22). Although most lived in the environs of the great city of Babylon, it is not known whether they formed a close knit community or were scattered throughout the area. One of their places of dwelling was called Tel Aviv (Ezek. 1:3).
As exiles under royal protection, the deportees enjoyed special prerogatives in their new home. Indeed their personal fortunes were undoubtedly better than those who remained behind. Jeremiah's communications with them indicate that (24 5-7; compare Ezek. xiii. 2 et seq., xiv. 9-11), that the exiles were permitted to engage in farming, marry and raise families, buy property, and accumulate wealth. Aside from the issue of sacrifices, which could only be properly offered at the Temple of Jerusalem, they were apparently undisturbed in the exercise of their religion. No bloody persecutions are reported <Exceptions may be noted in the Book of Daniel and Esther, the historicity of which is questioned.>.
Nevertheless, it is clear from the writings of the Psalms and latter prophets, that that many of the exiles indeed felt themselve imprisoned and ill-treated. Isaiah particularly expresses a sense of Israel's degradation as a result of her exile. He describes the nation as a helpless worm (Isa. xli. 14), and speaks of her suffering in chains and bondage (ib. xlii. 20-24). These sufferings, however are not to be understood literally. Rather, they are figurative of the condition of homelessness and servitude to foreign rule, while the territory formerly promised by God and the holy city itself lay in ruins. Meanwhile, pagans and idolaters could scofff and point to the fall of Jerusalem and its Temple evidence of the weakness of Israel's God (Isa. lii. 3).
The Return
After the overthrow of Babylonia by the Persians, Cyrus gave the Jews permission to return to their native land (537 B.C.E.), and more than 40,000 are said to have availed themselves of the privilege. (See Jehoiakim; Ezra; Nehemiah and Jews.) Previously, the northern tribes had been taken captive by Assyria and never returned; survivors of the Babylonian exile were all that remained of the Children of Israel. The Persians had a different political philosophy of managing conquered territories than the Babylonians or Assyrians: under the Persians, local personages were put into power to govern the local populace.
When the Israelites returned home, they found a mixture of peoples practicing a religion very similar, but not identical, to their own. Hostility grew between the returning Jews and the Samaritans, the mixed-blood people of the region, and has continued to this day. According to the Bible, the Samaritans were foreign people settled into the area by the kings of Assyria and who had partially adopted the Israelite religion. Although there are many other conflicting theories about the Samaritans' origins, many of them may have simply been Israelites who remained behind and thus had no part in the sweeping changes of the Israelite religion brought about among the captives. Alternatively, perhaps the fierce purity of the Jewish religion and cultural identity of the Babylonian Jews returning from exile, seventy years after their deportation, completely eclipsed the partial fate of the mixed group of Israelite survivors, who had practised paganism for hundreds of years in Israel (including the worship of a golden bull), and who had inter-married with the peoples sent into the territory by the Assyrians (a practice strictly forbidden by Mosaic Laws, and punished by Nehemiah).
Impact upon the Jewish philosophy of the time
The Babylonian Captivity and the subsequent return to Israel were seen as one of the pivotal events in the drama between God and His people, Israel. Just as they had been predestined for, and saved from, slavery in Egypt, the Israelites were predestined to be punished by God through the Babylonians, and then saved once more. The Babylonian Captivity had a number of serious effects on Judaism and the Jewish culture. For example, the current Hebrew script was adopted during this period, replacing the traditional Israelite script.
Impact upon Jewish history
This period saw the last high-point of Biblical prophecy in the person of Ezekiel, followed by the emergence of the central role of the Torah in Jewish life; according to many historical-critical scholars, it was edited and redacted during this time, and saw the beginning of the canonization of the Bible, which provided a central text for Jews. This process coincided with the emergence of scribes and sages as Jewish leaders (see Ezra and the Pharisees). Prior to exile, the people of Israel had been organized according to tribe; afterwards, they were organized by clans, only the tribe of Levi continuing in its 'special role'. After this time, there were always sizable numbers of Jews living outside Eretz Israel; thus, it also marks the beginning of the "Jewish diaspora," unless this is considered to have begun with the Assyrian Captivity of Israel.
The above section incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, and may be adapted from the original.
In Rabbinic literature, Babylon is a metaphor for the current Jewish diaspora.
Other resources
- Yohanan Aharoni & Michael Avi-Yonah, "The MacMillan Bible Atlas," Revised Edition, pp. 96-106 (1968 & 1977 by Carta Ltd).
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