IV. =The Condition of the Captives in Chal-de'a= was far better than we
are apt to suppose.
1. They received =kind treatment=; were regarded not as slaves or
prisoners, but as colonists. At a later captivity by the Ro'mans the
Jews were sold as slaves and dispersed throughout the empire. Such
wholesale enslavement was common after a conquest. For some reason the
Chal-de'ans did not enslave the Jews at the time of their conquest, but
colonized them as free people. This may have been because the captives
as a class were of the "Chal-de'an party" among the Jews, and hence were
treated in a measure as friends. The letter of Jer-e-mi'ah to the exiles
(Jer. 29. 1-7) shows that they were kindly dealt with in Chal-de'a. Some
of them were received at the court and rose to high station in the realm
(Dan. 1. 1-6).
2. =Their organization was maintained.= The exiles were not merged into
the mass of the people where they were living, but retained their own
system and were recognized as a separate colony. Their dethroned kings
had a semi-royal state and at death an honorable burial (Jer. 52. 31-34;
34. 4, 5). The captives were governed by elders, rulers of their own
nation (Ezek. 8. 1; 14. 1; 20. 1). There was a "prince of Ju'dah" at the
close of the captivity (Ezra 1. 8). This fact of national organization
was a fortunate one for the exiles. If they had been dispersed as slaves
throughout the empire, or even had been scattered as individuals, they
would soon have been merged among the Gen'tiles, and would have lost
their identity as a people. But being maintained as a separate race, and
in Jew'ish communities, they were readily gathered for a return to their
own land when the opportunity came.
3. =Their law and worship were observed.= There were no sacrifices, for
these could be offered only at Je-ru'sa-lem in the temple. But the
people gathered for worship and for the study of the law far more
faithfully than before the exile; for adversity is a school of religious
character far more than prosperity. The exile would naturally exert an
influence in the direction of religion. While the irreligious and
idolatrous among the captives would soon drop out of the nation and be
lost among the Gen'tiles, the earnest, the spiritual, and the
God-fearing would grow more intense in their devotion.
4. =They were instructed by prophets and teachers.= Jer-e-mi'ah lived
for some time after the beginning of the captivity, made a visit to
Bab'y-lon, and wrote at least one letter to the exiles (Jer. 13. 4-7;
29. 1-3). Dan'iel lived during the captivity, and, though in the court,
maintained a deep interest in his people, and comforted them by his
prophecies. E-ze'ki-el was himself one of the captives, and all his
teachings were addressed to them (Ezek. 1. 1-3). Many evangelical and
eminent Bible scholars are of the opinion that the latter part of
I-sa'iah, from the fortieth chapter to the end, was given by a "later
I-sa'iah" during the exile; but whether written at that time or earlier,
it must have circulated among the captives and given them new hope and
inspiration. The radical change in the character of the Jews which took
place during this period shows that a great revival swept over the
captive people and brought them back to the earnest religion of their
noblest ancestors.
5. =Their literature was preserved and enlarged.= Internal evidence
shows that the books of the Kings were finished and the books of the
Chronicles written at this time or soon afterward; the teachings of
Dan'iel, E-ze'ki-el, Ha-bak'kuk, and other of the minor prophets were
given; and a number of the best psalms were composed during this epoch,
as such poems are likely to be written in periods of trial and sorrow.
Out of many psalms we cite Psa. 124, 126, 129, 130, 137, as manifestly
written during the captivity. The exile was an age of life and vigor to
He'brew literature.
V. =The Results of the Captivity.= In the year B. C. 536 the city of
Bab'y-lon was taken by Cy'rus, king of the combined Medes and Per'sians.
One of his first acts was to issue an edict permitting the exiled Jews
to return to their own country and rebuild their city. Not all the Jews
availed themselves of this privilege, for many were already rooted in
their new homes, where they had been for two generations. But a large
number returned (Ezra 2. 64), and reestablished the city and state of
the Jews. The captivity, however, left its impress upon the people down
to the end of their national history, and even to the present time.
1. =There was a change in language=, from He'brew to Ar-a-ma'ic, or
Chal-da'ic. The books of the Old Testament written after the restoration
are in a different dialect from the earlier writings. After the
captivity the Jews needed an interpreter in order to understand their
own earlier Scriptures. Allusion to this fact is given in Neh. 8. 7. The
Chal'dee of Bab'y-lon and the He'brew were sufficiently alike to cause
the people during two generations to glide imperceptibly from one to the
other, until the knowledge of their ancient tongue was lost to all
except the scholars.
2. =There was a change in habits.= Before the captivity the Jews were a
secluded people, having scarcely any relation with the world. The
captivity brought them into contact with other nations, and greatly
modified their manner of living. Hitherto they had been mostly farmers,
living on their own fields; now they became merchants and traders, and
filled the world with their commerce. Rarely now do we find a Jew who
cultivates the ground for his support. They are in the cities, buying
and selling. This tendency began with the Bab-y-lo'ni-an captivity, and
has since been strengthened by the varied experiences, especially by the
persecutions, of the Jews during the centuries.
3. =There was a change in character.= This was the most radical of
all. Before the captivity the crying sin of Ju'dah, as well as of
Is'ra-el, was its tendency to idolatry. Every prophet had warned against
it and rebuked it, reformers had risen up, kings had endeavored to
extirpate it; but all in vain--the worshipers of God were the few; the
worshipers of idols were the many. After the captivity there was a
wonderful transformation. From that time we never read of a Jew bowing
his knee before an idol. The entire nation was a unit in the service of
Je-ho'vah. Among all the warnings of the later prophets, and the reforms
of Ez'ra and Ne-he-mi'ah, there is no allusion to idolatry. That crime
was utterly and forever eradicated; from the captivity until to-day the
Jews have been the people of the one, invisible God, and intense in
their hatred of idols.
4. =There were new institutions= as the result of the captivity. Two
great institutions arose during the captivity:
1.) The _synagogue_, which grew up among the exiles, was carried back to
Pal'es-tine, and was established throughout the Jew'ish world. This was
a meeting of Jews for worship, for reading the law, and for religious
instruction. It had far greater influence than the temple after the
captivity; for while there was but one temple in all the Jewish world,
there was a synagogue in every city and village where Jews lived; and
while the temple was the seat of a priestly and ritualistic service, the
synagogue promoted freedom of religious thought and utterance. Out of
the synagogue, far more than the temple, grew the Christian church.
2.) _The order of scribes_ was also a result of the captivity. The days
of direct inspiration through prophets were passing away, and those of
the written Scripture, with a class of men to study and interpret it,
came in their place. During the captivity the devout Jews studied the
books of their literature, the law, the psalms, the histories, and the
prophets. After the captivity arose a series of scholars who were the
expounders of the Scriptures. Their founder was Ez'ra, at once a priest,
a scribe, and a prophet (Ezra 7. 1-10), who arranged the books and in a
measure completed the canon of Old Testament Scripture.
5. =There was a new hope, that of a Mes-si'ah.= From the time of the
captivity the Jew'ish people looked forward with eager expectation to
the coming of a Deliverer, the Consolation of Is'ra-el, the "Anointed
One" (the word Mes-si'ah means "anointed"), who should lift up his
people from the dust, exalt the throne of Da'vid, and establish an
empire over all the nations. This had been promised by prophets for
centuries before the exile, but only then did it begin to shine as the
great hope of the people. It grew brighter with each generation, and
finally appeared in the coming of Je'sus Christ, the King of Is'ra-el.
6. From the captivity there =were two parts of the Jew'ish people=: the
Jews of Pal'es-tine, and the Jews of the dispersion, 1.) The Jews of
Pal'es-tine, sometimes called He'brews (Acts 6. 1), were the lesser in
number, who lived in their own land and maintained the Jew'ish state.
2.) The Jews of the dispersion were the descendants of those who did not
return after the decree of Cy'rus (Ezra 1. 1), but remained in foreign
lands and gradually formed Jew'ish "quarters" in all the cities of the
ancient world. They were the larger in number, and later were called
"Gre'cian Jews," or Hellenists, from the language which they used (Acts
6. 1). Between these two bodies there was a close relation. The Jews of
the dispersion had synagogues in every city (Acts 15. 6), were devoted
to the law, made constant pilgrimages to Je-ru'sa-lem, and were
recognized as having one hope with the Jews of Pal'es-tine. The traits
of the two bodies were different, but each contributed its own elements
toward the making of a great people.