END OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH.
Effects of Josiah's Foreign
Policy--Jehoahaz--Jehoiakim--Egyptian Idolatry introduced--The
Prophets--Uriah the Son of Shemaiah--Jeremiah's renewed
Labours--Fall of Assyria--Nebuchadnezzar--Baruch reads
Jeremiah's Scroll--Submission of Jehoiakim--His Rebellion
and Death--Jehoiachin--Zedekiah--Siege of Jerusalem by
Nebuchadnezzar--The Siege raised owing to the Intervention of
Egypt--Defeat of the Egyptians--Renewal of the Siege--Capture
of Jerusalem--Zedekiah in Babylon--Destruction of the
Capital--Jeremiah's Lamentations.
608-586 B. C. E.
Josiah had expected to secure the independence of Judah, by calling
a halt to the interference of Egypt in the affairs of other lands,
but this policy led to the subjection of his own people to Egypt. In
Jerusalem, where the king's death was bitterly mourned, no further
steps were taken till the election of a new king had been decided
on. Josiah had left three sons; the first-born was Eliakim, and the
two younger sons, Shallum and Mattaniah. The father appears to have
named Shallum, the son of his favourite wife, as his successor. In
order to do honour to their deeply-mourned king, the people confirmed
Josiah's choice, though Shallum was two years younger than Eliakim. On
his accession he, according to custom, took a different name--that of
Jehoahaz.
Matters had, however, come to such a pass that the will of the nation
could no longer establish their king firmly, nor could the holy oil
render his person sacred: the decisive word lay with another power. The
king of Egypt, to whom the country had become subject by the victory at
Megiddo, had decided otherwise. Apparently, without troubling himself
about Judæa, Necho had reached the district of the Euphrates by
forced marches; had obtained possession of the territories of Aram or
Syria, belonging to Assyria, and had taken up his residence in Riblah.
Jehoahaz repaired thither to meet Necho, to have his election confirmed
by him, and at the same time to receive the land of Judæa from him as a
tributary state. But the newly-elected king found no favour in the eyes
of the Egyptian sovereign, who caused him to be put into chains and
carried off to Egypt. He then named Eliakim king of Judah. Jehoahaz had
only reigned three months.
Eliakim, or, as he was called after his accession, Jehoiakim (607-596),
had to perform an unpleasant duty at the very commencement of his
reign. Necho had imposed on the land a heavy and humiliating tribute
of 100 khikars of silver and one khikar of gold, as a punishment to
Josiah for having hindered his march through the country. There was
no treasure at that time in the palace or the Temple. Jehoiakim,
therefore, taxed all the wealthy according to their wealth, and caused
these imposts to be forcibly collected by his servants. Added to
this humiliation there arose another evil. The moral and religious
improvement brought about by Josiah was, according to the predictions
contained in the law lately discovered, to bring happier times in its
wake, and now the people found themselves sorely disappointed. The
God-fearing king had fallen on the battle-field, and had been brought
back dying to the capital; the flower of the Israelitish army had been
cut down, a royal prince lay in fetters, and the country had fallen
into disgraceful bondage.
This change occasioned a turn in the tide of opinion; a relapse set
in. The nation, including the more enlightened amongst them, began to
doubt the power of God, who had not fulfilled, or could not fulfil,
the promises He had made to them. They cherished the delusion that by
resuming the foreign idolatrous practices which had existed during
so long a period under Manasseh, they would better their fortunes.
They therefore returned to their evil ways, erected altars and high
places on every hill and under every green tree. In Judah there were
as many gods as there were towns. They paid special homage to the
Egyptian goddess Neïth, the Queen of Heaven, who was most zealously
adored in Sais, the capital of King Necho; for had not this goddess
assisted the Egyptian king in the victory he had obtained? Images of
gold and silver, of wood and stone, were again erected in the houses.
The Temple itself was, as in Manasseh's time, once more desecrated by
hideous idols. The most disgraceful feature of the change was that
the sacrifice of children again prevailed, as in the days of Ahaz
and Manasseh. In the beautiful Valley of Hinnom an altar was again
erected, and moaning children were ruthlessly offered up to Moloch, the
first-born especially being selected for the sacrifice.
These idolatrous and immoral practices were accompanied by the vices
and crimes of debauchery, adultery, oppression of strangers, widows
and orphans, by corruption of justice, untruth, dishonesty, usury and
cruelty towards impecunious debtors, and murder. There was certainly
a class which upheld the law, and which regretted the horrors of
these crimes. But amongst the masses who gave themselves up to the
aberrations of idolatry and immorality, it was difficult for those who
desired better things to give practical effect to their views. False
prophets advocated wrong-doing and crime. King Jehoiakim, although he
did not actually encourage the revival of idolatry, permitted it, and
either from weakness, or from sympathy with them, did nothing to check
the moral decadence. The stern warnings of the prophets were unheeded
by the king, his monitors being persecuted or slain.
The prophets of God had a heavy task in this time of degeneracy; they
had to be prepared for persecution and ill-treatment. But they paid
little heed to the dangers they incurred; they felt impelled to oppose
fearlessly the moral and religious ruin which was impending. At no
period did there arise so many prophets as in the last two decades
before the destruction of the Jewish kingdom. They addressed the
nation, the princes, and the king almost daily, at every opportunity;
they warned, roused and threatened them, and prophesied their
destruction, if the prevailing wickedness did not cease. The names
of only four of these prophets have been preserved: Jeremiah, Uriah,
Habakkuk, and Ezekiel. But the prophecies of others, who fought the
battle against idolatry, have remained, though their names have not
been recorded.
Of Uriah, son of Shemaiah, from the Forest City (Kirjath-Jearim),
nothing is known, except his tragical death. At the commencement of
the reign of King Jehoiakim (between 607-604) he had prophesied the
destruction of Jerusalem and of the whole land, if the people did not
give up their evil ways. When Jehoiakim was informed of this prophecy
of evil, he dispatched messengers to seize and kill its author.
Meanwhile Uriah, having been secretly warned of his danger, fled to
Egypt. Jehoiakim, however, was so enraged against him, that he sent one
of his nobles to Egypt to demand his surrender. He was brought back
to Jerusalem and beheaded, his body being cast on the burial-place of
the common people. This murder of the prophet, instead of intimidating
Jeremiah, seems to have confirmed him in his energetic action. With the
accession of Jehoiakim and the relapse of the nation into its former
state of sin, he began anew his work as a prophet, which had been
in abeyance during the reign of Josiah. Jeremiah now, for the first
time, comprehended the meaning of the words which had been addressed
to him as a disciple in the first hours of his prophetic calling. "I
have made thee a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls
against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes
thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the
land." He was to remain firm and unmoved, and to meet fearlessly the
impending persecutions. Acting on this idea, he prepared to announce
the inevitable destruction, though his tender heart bled, and he often
had to seek fresh courage in order that he might not grow faint in
his task of prophesying evil. Jeremiah, meanwhile, had grown to man's
estate; but he took no wife. He could not devote himself to household
joys whilst the shadow of approaching troubles darkened his soul. He
went forth alone and in sadness. He could take no part in convivial
pleasures, because the sins of the nation crushed in him all feelings
of gladness.
Through one of his first addresses in Jehoiakim's reign he drew on
himself the hatred of all zealous idolaters, and especially of the
priests and false prophets. When the populace, at one of the festivals,
had assembled to offer up sacrifices, he called to them,
"Thus saith the Lord God of Hosts: Amend your ways and your
doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.... Is this
house, which is called by my name, to be a den of robbers?
Behold even I have seen it, saith the Lord.... And now, because
ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto
you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not, and I
called you and ye answered not, therefore will I do unto this
house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto
the place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done
unto Shiloh." (JEREM. ch. vii.)
Hardly had Jeremiah finished these words when the priests and false
prophets seized him, and said, "Thou shalt die--as thou hast prophesied
that this Temple will become as that of Shiloh." A tumult arose in the
courts of the Temple, and some of the bystanders supported Jeremiah.
This tumult induced some of the princes to repair from the palace to
the Temple--amongst these was Ahikam, son of Shaphan--and others who
belonged to the prophet's party. The princes immediately formed a court
of justice at one of the gates of the Temple, and heard the accusation
and the defence. The priests and the false prophets said, "This man
deserves death, for he has prophesied destruction to the city and the
Temple." A few of the elders spoke in favour of Jeremiah. Then the
princes said to the angry priests and the false prophets, "This man
does not deserve death, for he has spoken to us in the name of our
God." Through the exertions of his friends, and especially of Ahikam,
Jeremiah was set free for the time. But the hatred of the priests
and the false prophets towards him raged the more fiercely, and they
watched for an opportunity to attack him.
Meanwhile the doom of the Assyrian empire had been fulfilled. It fell
ignominiously, through the united exertions of Cyaxares of Media and
Nabopolassar of Babylon. Nineveh, the giant city, fell after a long
siege (605). The last king of Assyria, Sardanapalus, burnt himself
in his citadel. In consequence of the downfall of Assyria, important
changes occurred on the central scene of passing events. Media became
the chief heir of the Assyrian possessions--Cyaxares took the lion's
share, and gave to his ally, Nabopolassar, Babylonia, Elymais, and
the privilege of conquering the countries on the western side of the
Euphrates. King Nabopolassar did not long survive his victory. He was
succeeded by Nebuchadnezzar--a great warrior (604-561), and a wise,
far-seeing statesman. He was by no means cruel, and only punished
his enemies as severely as was necessary to render them harmless.
Nebuchadnezzar strengthened his now enlarged kingdom internally,
erected gigantic buildings, and established a system of navigation by
means of canals. He then undertook a more extensive expedition of
conquest. Aramæan Assyria, or Syria, which was split up into small
districts, was subdued without much opposition. Next Phœnicia fell, and
its king, Ithobal (Ethbaal) II., also became Nebuchadnezzar's vassal.
The mighty conqueror then offered Jehoiakim the alternative to pay
him allegiance or to be crushed. On the other hand, the king of Egypt
counselled him to resist firmly, and promised that he would send help.
Judah fell into a condition similar to that in the days of Hezekiah,
and became the battle-field for the contest between two great powers.
A policy had to be resolved on, but whilst awaiting aid from Egypt, or
a miracle, Jehoiakim and his counsellors delayed coming to a decision
from day to day.
Amidst the general alarm a fast was proclaimed; in the ninth month,
in the winter of 600, the whole nation was summoned to Jerusalem, and
there it entreated the Lord to avert the impending evil from the land.
The nation, in great excitement and fear as to what the future might
bring on it, crowded to the Temple as though it would find security
there. Jeremiah meanwhile commanded his faithful disciple, Baruch, to
write down the prophetic exhortation which he had uttered some years
before, and in which he had predicted that Judah herself, as well as
all the nations around her, would be reduced to subjection to the
young Chaldæan empire. After Baruch had inscribed this address on a
roll, Jeremiah commanded him to read it in front of the Temple, in the
presence of all the inhabitants of the capital and the entire country.
The prophet himself was from some cause prevented from being present,
and therefore Baruch was to represent him. Baruch, though not without
hesitation, undertook this task. In an open hall, in the upper court
of the Temple, he read the contents of the scroll to the whole nation.
The address made a deep impression on the people, confronted as they
were with the impending danger of an attack from Nebuchadnezzar's
army, which now lay but a short distance from Jerusalem. A young man,
Michaiah, son of Gemariah, hastened to the princes who had assembled
in one of the halls of the palace, and there, agitated as he was, he
communicated to them what he had heard. The alarmed princes invited
Baruch to read again, in their presence, Jeremiah's scroll. Each word
fell heavily on their hearts, and they were seized with terror. They,
therefore, determined to inform the king of what they had heard,
hoping that he, too, would be moved and convinced that he must give
up all opposition to Nebuchadnezzar. For a moment they hoped for the
best, when Jehoiakim commanded that the scroll be brought and read to
him. But as each leaf was read, it was, by the king's order, handed
to him, and he threw it into the fire. The princes witnessed this
act of defiance with dismay, and entreated the king not to draw down
destruction on them. He, however, paid no heed to them, and continued
to throw the pages into the fire until the whole scroll was consumed.
Jehoiakim then issued an order that the prophet of evil and his
disciple be sought, in order that they might be killed as Uriah had
been. Happily, the anxious princes had previously made arrangements to
save Jeremiah and Baruch by hiding them in a secure place.
It was, doubtless, a day of intense excitement for Jerusalem. The
entire nation that had assembled for the fast departed without having
gained its end. The reading of the scroll had, however, one effect:
it brought about a division in the council of the princes. Those who
were convinced by Jeremiah's prophecies, and had been instrumental
in saving him, were determined to submit to Nebuchadnezzar. Amongst
them was the Keeper of the Lists (Sopher), Elishama, who directed
the war arrangements. He and other men of note being opposed to war,
Jehoiakim could not undertake war, or his throne might be endangered.
He therefore made peace with Nebuchadnezzar, paid the tribute imposed,
promised him military aid, and assumed all the duties which in those
days were imposed on a vassal. This was the commencement of the
Chaldæan vassalage of Judah (600). Jeremiah, it appears, could now
leave his hiding-place. Incensed as the king was against him, he
dared not touch a hair of his head, for the princes who had saved him
continued to protect him.
Jehoiakim, however, bore the Chaldæan yoke with great reluctance;
he could no longer give reins to his passion. The king of Egypt, no
doubt, continued to urge Jehoiakim to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar.
When, therefore, Ethbaal II. of Phœnicia withdrew his allegiance
(598), Jehoiakim, with incomprehensible blindness, likewise refused
to pay tribute, and allied himself with Egypt, and probably also with
Phœnicia. Nebuchadnezzar, consequently, had to collect all his forces
against Phœnicia. He commenced the siege of Tyre, which lasted thirteen
years. He was, therefore, for the time being, prevented from chastising
the rebellious king of Judah, and the latter might flatter himself
with the belief that he had lastingly secured his independence. But
though Nebuchadnezzar could not send a great army out against him, he
nevertheless distressed the country by predatory inroads. Idumæan,
Moabitish and Ammonitish hordes also overran the land and devastated
it. At this critical period, Jehoiakim died (697). His successor was
his young son Jehoiachin (Jeconiah, shortened into Coniah), or rather
the reins of government were taken in hand by his mother, Nehushta.
Jehoiachin also cherished the idea that he could oppose Nebuchadnezzar,
and, therefore, did not pay him homage. He also continued to practise
the horrors of idolatry and immorality as his father had done. But
this blindness of Jehoiachin and his mother lasted only a short time.
Nebuchadnezzar at length was enabled to withdraw, from the siege of
Tyre, a great portion of his army, with which he proceeded against
Egypt. This Chaldæan army easily subdued the entire country south of
Phœnicia as far as the Egyptian river (Rhinokolura). The whole of Judah
was also taken, with the exception of a few fortified towns in the
south. Those who fell into the hands of the enemy were made prisoners.
Notwithstanding this, Jehoiachin continued his opposition, thinking
himself safe behind the thick walls of Jerusalem, relying besides on
the support of Egypt in the event of a siege.
Nebuchadnezzar, therefore, sent some of his generals to besiege
Jerusalem. Jehoiachin had no time to think of repentance, for the
besiegers were gaining on him, and the distress in the city was great.
He therefore commenced to arrange conditions of surrender with the
generals, when Nebuchadnezzar came to the camp, and was entreated by
the king, the queen-mother and her court, to be merciful. The victor,
however, showed no mercy, but imposed hard conditions. Jehoiachin
had to relinquish his throne, and go, together with his mother,
his wives, his kindred, and eunuchs, into exile in Babylonia. He
had occupied the throne of David for only one hundred days. It was
surprising that Nebuchadnezzar spared his life, and indeed, that he
refrained altogether from bloodshed. He only banished ten thousand of
the warriors and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, taken indiscriminately
from the various families that lived in the capital, and transplanted
them to Babylonia. Among them he also carried off a thousand mechanics
who were skilled in forging arms and building fortifications. Of
the Judæans who lived in the country he also took three thousand
and twenty-three to Babylon as prisoners. That Nebuchadnezzar took
possession of the treasures of the palace and the Temple was not an
act of especial violence, but was justified by the military laws of
those days. But he left the commonwealth intact, spared the city and
its walls, and left the Temple uninjured. The first foreign conqueror
Jerusalem had had after an existence of five hundred years showed
greater mercy than many of the conquerors of later ages.
Nebuchadnezzar likewise refrained from disestablishing David's
throne, and placed on it the youngest son of Josiah, Mattaniah, who
called himself Zedekiah. He was of a gentle, unwarlike and pliable
character. The Babylonian conqueror thought that these qualities
would be guarantees of peace and submission. In order, however, to
make sure of Zedekiah's loyalty, Nebuchadnezzar entered into a solemn
treaty with him, and bound him by an oath of fealty. The land of Judah
was of extreme importance to him as a bulwark against Egypt, in the
subjection of which he was continually engaged. For this reason he
had sent into banishment the noble families and the princes of Judah,
thus removing the daring and foolhardy men who might urge the king to
ambitious schemes and rebellion. His object was to render Judah a weak,
insignificant and dependent state, deriving its strength from him.
Judah might, in fact, have continued to exist as a modest appendage of
Babylon. It would soon have recovered from the severe blows inflicted
on it. Though the banishment of so many noble families, the flower of
the army and of the nation, was a severe blow; and though the capital
and the country were filled with sorrow in consequence of their
subjection, the remnant of the people nevertheless recovered themselves
with wonderful rapidity, and again attained to a prosperous condition.
The nobles, however, were not satisfied with their modest condition;
they wished for wider spheres of activity. It was the curse of the
country during the last century that the nobles of the capital not
only governed the people, but also the court. The kings were but
of little account, for, in imitation of the custom of kings like
Sardanapalus, they lived in the harem of their palaces, and occupied
their time with trifles. These nobles could now the more easily assert
themselves, as their king, Zedekiah, was swayed by a most unkinglike
weakness and indolence, and had not the courage to withstand them.
He was, however, personally well-disposed. He does not seem to have
particularly favoured idolatry, but rather to have lamented the
national evils when they were brought under his notice, and to have
given ear to the prophets. But he did not possess the power to oppose
the nobles and their actions. Zedekiah may have intended to remain
faithful to the oath of fealty which he had taken to his liege lord
Nebuchadnezzar; but he had not the strength of will to adhere to his
resolution. Rebellious schemes were secretly formed, which he, in the
seclusion of his palace, did not find out, or, if cognisant of them,
was incapable of opposing. This weakness on the part of the king, and
foolhardiness on the part of the nobles, led to the fall of Judah.
The nobles appear to have been seized with madness. Suggestions were
made, in various quarters, of rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar. Egypt,
ever false and deceitful, was continually goading the Judæans on by
making brilliant promises of alliance which it seldom kept. On the
other side, King Ethbaal of Tyre urged upon Judah and the neighbouring
countries a war against Nebuchadnezzar. And by a third party, Judah was
urged to revolt against Babylon, namely, by the banished Judæans, who
stood in constant communication with their native land by letters and
messengers. They clamoured for war, because they cherished the vague
hope that Nebuchadnezzar's army would be defeated, and they would, in
one way or another, regain their freedom and return to their country.
In the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign (593), the ambassadors from the
countries which were simultaneously urging Zedekiah to break his word
and faith, arrived in Jerusalem: from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and
Zidon. They employed all the artifices of eloquence, and made promises
and suggestions in order to bring the wavering monarch to a decision.
Judah might have felt proud to be thus sought after and courted, to be
considered, indeed, as the centre of political events.
It is not known what reply Zedekiah sent through the ambassadors.
His weak character surely made a definite decision an impossibility.
Jeremiah opposed the universal frenzy, and it required no little
courage on his part to do so. His prophetic spirit perceived that
Nebuchadnezzar was destined to hurry through a course of victories,
and to subjugate many nations to his sceptre. He, therefore, warned
King Zedekiah, the nation and the priests, not to give themselves up
to flattering hopes, but to submit to the Babylonian rule, or they
would be crushed by the mighty conqueror. Jeremiah considered it as his
prophetic calling to warn the deluded exiles in Babylon. He directed a
message to them, telling them:
"Build ye houses and dwell in them; and plant gardens and eat
the fruit of them; take ye wives and beget sons and daughters,
and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to
husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply
ye there and be not diminished. And seek ye the peace of the
city whither I have caused you to be carried away captive,
and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall
ye have peace. For thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of
Israel: Let not your prophets that be in the midst of you, and
your diviners deceive you, neither hearken ye to your dreams
which ye cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely to
you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord. For
thus saith the Lord, After seventy years be accomplished for
Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you,
in causing you to return to this place." (JEREMIAH xxix. 4-8.)
But Zedekiah could not long resist the distracting voices of the false
prophets, the pressure from without, from Egypt and the neighbouring
countries, and the impetuosity of Judah's ambitious nobles. He
permitted himself to be carried along with the stream, refused to
pay the tribute to Nebuchadnezzar, and thus, unmindful of his oath,
renounced Judah's allegiance to Babylonia (591). Thus the die was
cast which was to decide the future of the nation. Nebuchadnezzar,
who for some time, however, remained passive, proceeded with his army
to chastise the rebellious people like disobedient slaves. It appears
that the surrounding nations who had urged the revolt were the first
to submit. Judah was left entirely dependent on the assistance of
Egypt, but even Egypt was afraid to deal an effective blow. It was,
therefore, easy for Nebuchadnezzar to subdue the land of Judah and even
to occupy its fortresses. In the south-west only, Lachish and Azeka
offered opposition. The Chaldæan army, however, left them unmolested,
and proceeded against Jerusalem on the 10th day of the 10th month (at
the end of 588, or the beginning of 587). The capital of Judah had
meanwhile been fortified, and supplied with provisions and water for a
long siege, but the inhabitants of the country, having, at the approach
of the enemy, fled into the city with their children and herds, had
increased the number of consumers. Zedekiah or his palace-officers,
courtiers, and nobles having refused to obey the summons to surrender,
Nebuchadnezzar commenced a regular siege. The men of Jerusalem must
have defended themselves bravely, for the siege lasted, with little
interruption, for nearly a year and a half (from January, 587, to June,
586). The leader of the besieged party was a eunuch in the service of
King Zedekiah. The king himself played a passive part. He was neither
commander of the troops, nor leader of the movement. His irresolution
and weakness were clearly shown in this time of trouble.
The siege of Jerusalem had made the task of Jeremiah a painful one.
Though prevented by his advanced age from taking part in the defence
and the war, yet his patriotism and his sympathy with the people
impelled him to inspire the warriors with courage. His prophetic
calling and power of foresight, on the other hand, compelled him to
announce that the contest was in vain, and that the destruction of
the city was decreed, on account of the blood which had been shed
and the sins which had been committed. Freedom of speech could not
at this period be denied him, as his name as a true prophet had been
established by the events which had occurred. The nations of the north
had set up their throne at the gates of Jerusalem, and had prepared a
great chastisement.
When the siege of Jerusalem had lasted nearly a year, during which
there had been many engagements with varying success, a change suddenly
took place. King Apries (Hophra) of Egypt at length determined
to fulfil his oft-repeated promise, and sent an army against
Nebuchadnezzar. This Egyptian army must have been a mighty one, for the
Chaldæans, hearing of its approach, raised the siege of Jerusalem, and
marched to oppose it (February or March, 586). The joy in Jerusalem
was unbounded; as the gates were at length opened, after being so long
closed, the inhabitants hurried out to enjoy a sense of freedom. Hardly
had the terrors of the siege abated, when many of the nobility and the
opulent returned to their former wickedness. The slaves who had been
recently released were, notwithstanding a solemn covenant and oath,
compelled to return to their former bondage and former degradation.
Jeremiah was deeply angered at this cruelty and selfishness; he
delivered a scathing address to the nobles and the king, in which he
reproached them with their perjury, and announced that the Chaldæans
would return and capture Jerusalem; and that fire, war, hunger, and
pestilence would rage amongst the people.
The princes of Judah had been greatly incensed against Jeremiah for his
former opposition; but his last address excited a deadly hatred against
him. As he was one day leaving the city to go to his birthplace,
Anathoth, he was seized by a sentinel under the pretext that he was
deserting to the Chaldæans. In spite of his assurance that he had no
thought of flight, he was delivered up to the princes. Glad of an
opportunity to revenge themselves on him, they treated him as a traitor
and spy, beat him, and put him into a cistern (Adar, 586) in the house
of Jonathan, the Keeper of the Lists (Sopher), a hard, heartless
man who was made his jailor. In this narrow, dirty, unhealthy place
Jeremiah remained for many days.
The frenzied joy did not last long in Jerusalem. The Chaldæan army,
which had marched against the Egyptian forces, under Apries, utterly
routed the enemy and put them to flight. The power of Egypt was
broken, and Judah was now again left entirely to its own resources.
The Chaldæans returned to the siege of Jerusalem, and surrounded it
more closely than before, so as to bring the siege to a speedy end. The
courage of those who were shut up in the capital now began to fail.
Many, anxious for their own safety, left the besieged city at unguarded
places, and went over to the Chaldæans, or fled to Egypt. King Zedekiah
himself was fearful about the result, and saw too late that he had
been guilty of folly in attempting to cope with the Babylonian power,
without the support of a liberty-loving people.
Not alone had the war killed off many, but famine and pestilence now
increased the number of deaths. The number of warriors continued to
decrease, and at last so few remained that they were unable to defend
the walls. At length the last hour of Jerusalem struck, of that city
which even the heathen had considered impregnable. On the 9th of Tamuz
(June, 586) there was no more bread in the city, and in consequence
of the utter exhaustion of the garrison, the Chaldæans succeeded in
making a wide breach in the wall, by which they penetrated into the
city. Nebuchadnezzar was not present; he was at Riblah, in Syria. His
generals and the elders of the Magi proceeded to the very heart of
Jerusalem unmolested, in order to pass judgment on the inhabitants. The
Chaldæan warriors probably met with no opposition, as the inhabitants,
enfeebled by famine, could scarcely drag themselves along. They overran
all parts of the city, killing youths and men who appeared capable of
resistance, making prisoners of others and loading them with chains.
The barbarous soldiers, rendered savage by the long siege, violated
women and maidens irrespective of age. They also entered the Temple
and massacred the Aaronides and prophets who had sought safety in
the Sanctuary, amidst cries of rage, as if they wished to wage war
with the God of Israel. The Chaldæans were accompanied by many of the
neighbouring nations, the Philistines, Idumæans, and Moabites, who had
joined Nebuchadnezzar. They stole the treasures and desecrated the
Sanctuary.
Zedekiah, with the remnant of the defenders, meanwhile succeeded in
escaping at night through the royal gardens and by a subterranean
passage in the north-eastern part of the city. He sought in haste to
reach the Jordan, but Chaldæan horsemen hurried after the fugitives,
and blocked their way in the narrow passes. Weakened as they were,
crawling along rather than walking, they could be easily overtaken and
made captive. In the city, the only dignitaries whom the troops found
were the High Priest (Seraiah), the Captain of the Temple (Zephaniah),
the Eunuch who had conducted the war, the Keeper of the Lists (Sopher),
the confidants of the king, the door-keepers, and about sixty others.
They were all taken to Riblah, and there beheaded at Nebuchadnezzar's
command. No one could remain in Jerusalem or its neighbourhood, as
the air was rendered pestilential by the numerous corpses which lay
unburied. Amongst the prisoners was the prophet Jeremiah. He was found
in the court Mattara, in the king's palace, and the Chaldæan soldiers,
believing him to be a servant of the palace, made him prisoner. His
disciple Baruch no doubt shared his fate. The generals appointed
Gedaliah, a Judæan of noble birth, son of Ahikam, of the family of
Shaphan, as overseer of the prisoners and fugitives.
The last hope left the unfortunate remnant of the nation when the news
reached them that the king was captured. Zedekiah and his followers
were overtaken near Jericho by the Chaldæan horsemen. The warriors who
were with him scattered at the approach of the enemy, and crossed the
Jordan or took refuge in some hiding-place, but Zedekiah, his sons, and
some of his nobles were taken prisoners by the Chaldæans, and led to
Riblah, before Nebuchadnezzar. The latter poured out all his justified
anger on the king for his faithlessness and perjury, and the punishment
he decreed upon him was terrible. Nebuchadnezzar caused all the sons
and relations of Zedekiah to be executed before his eyes, and then had
him blinded. Deprived of his sight and loaded with chains, he was taken
to Babylon. He did not long survive his sufferings.
What was to be done with the city of Jerusalem? She had become a
charnel-house, but was still standing. The generals who had captured
her had no instructions as to her fate. Nebuchadnezzar himself
appears at first to have been undecided about it, but at last he sent
Nebuzaradan, the chief of his guard, with orders to destroy the city.
The Idumæan nobles, filled with hate, immediately sought to make him
complete the destruction without mercy (Psalm cxxxvii. 7). Nebuzaradan
gave orders to raze the walls, to burn the Temple, palace, and all
the beautiful houses, and this order was conscientiously fulfilled
(10th Ab--August, 586). The treasures still remaining in the Temple,
the artistically worked brazen pillars, the molten sea, the lavers of
brass, the gold and silver bowls and the musical instruments, were all
broken to pieces or conveyed to Babylon.
Jerusalem had become a heap of ruins, the Temple-mount a wilderness,
but not one of the great capitals which fell from the height of glory
into the dust has been so honoured in its destruction as Jerusalem.
Poetry recorded her mournful fate in lamentations, psalms and prayers,
in such touching tones that every tender heart must feel compassion
with her even at this day. Poetry has wound about her head a martyr's
crown, which has become transformed into a halo.
Jeremiah and probably two or three other poets composed four
lamentations corresponding to the four stages of the trouble which
befell the city. The first lamentation was written immediately after
the capture of Jerusalem. The city still stood, the walls, palaces, and
Temple were not yet destroyed, but it was deprived of its inhabitants
and its joys. This lamentation chiefly deplores the friendlessness of
Jerusalem; her greatest sorrow lies in the faithlessness of her allies,
who now delight in her fall. The second lamentation deplores the
destruction of the city and its walls, and especially the fall of the
Sanctuary. The third lamentation bemoans the destruction of all that
was noble by the lingering famine, and the despair which fell upon the
survivors on the capture of the king. The fourth lamentation describes
the utter desolation of Jerusalem after its complete destruction by the
enemy.