Babylonian Captivity

Biblical Account

The fall of Judah and the deportation of its people are recorded in 2 Kings 24–25, 2 Chronicles 36, and Jeremiah 39 and 52. During the reign of King Jehoiachin, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, carried away the king, the nobles, and the craftsmen (2 Kings 24:10-16). Later, when Zedekiah rebelled, Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem, burned the Temple in Jerusalem, and deported the people again (2 Kings 25:8-11). Daniel 1 reports that some had already been taken away earlier, during the reign of Jehoiakim. Jeremiah 52:28-30 records the number of people taken in three separate deportations. Life in exile is depicted in Ezekiel, Daniel, and Psalm 137, and the account of the return is found in Ezra and Nehemiah.

Background

The first large-scale deportation took place in 597 BC. The fall of Jerusalem is dated to either 587 or 586 BC; scholars differ on the year. In 539 BC, Cyrus, king of Persia, conquered Babylon, and the Bible records that he permitted the Jews to return and rebuild the Temple (Ezra 1:1-4; 2 Chronicles 36:22-23). The northern kingdom of Israel had fallen earlier to Assyria (fall of the northern kingdom of Israel), and that event should be distinguished from this one. The Sino-Korean term yusu (幽囚), used in the event's alternative Korean name, means "to be seized and confined." Ezra and other books refer to the community carried into exile by the Hebrew term golah ("those taken captive").

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The prophetic and historical books explain the exile as judgment for forsaking the covenant (2 Chronicles 36:15-16). At the same time, they promise restoration after seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11; 29:10). Daniel held fast to this prophecy in prayer (Daniel 9:1-3). The New Covenant of Jeremiah 31 and the vision of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37 are promises of restoration given in the midst of the exile, and hope for the surviving people (the remnant) is likewise emphasized in this period. In the New Testament, Matthew 1:11-17 uses this event as a dividing point in the genealogy of Jesus. 1 Peter addresses believers as "strangers scattered" (1:1) and mentions "the church that is at Babylon" (5:13). Babylon in Revelation 18 is read as a symbol of the powers opposed to God, although interpretations differ on what that Babylon specifically represents.

Interpretations and Debates

• Calculating the seventy years: One view counts from the first deportation (Daniel 1) to Cyrus's decree permitting the return; another counts from the destruction of the Temple to the completion of its rebuilding. Others take seventy as a symbolic number signifying completeness.
• Date of composition: Conservative scholars regard the whole of Isaiah and the Book of Daniel as the work of the prophets whose names they bear, and they read Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1, which mention Cyrus by name, as prophecy given in advance. Critical scholars hold that Isaiah 40 onward was written by a different author around the time of the exile and that Daniel was composed at a later date.
• Extrabiblical traditions: The Bible does not say what became of the Ark of the Covenant, and the Ark is absent from the list of Temple articles carried off by the Babylonians (2 Kings 25:13-17). The story that Jeremiah hid the Ark comes from a tradition preserved in 2 Maccabees 2 in the Apocrypha. Protestants do not include the Apocrypha in the canon, whereas the Roman Catholic Church accepts this book as deuterocanonical. Some hold that the synagogue originated during the exile, but Scripture contains no direct record of this.

In the Korean Church

Jeremiah 29:7, "seek the peace of the city," is frequently cited in sermons on the social responsibility of Christians. Jeremiah 29:11, "thoughts of peace, and not of evil," is widely used as a word of encouragement (Jeremiah 29:4-14). The stories of Daniel and his three friends (the fiery furnace and the lions' den) are favorite passages in Sunday school teaching.