I. We must distinguish between the =CAPTIVITY OF ISRAEL=, or the ten
tribes, and =THAT OF JUDAH=.
1. The captivity of Israel took place B. C. 721, that of Judah B. C.
587. The southern kingdom lasted one hundred and thirty-four years
longer than the northern.
2. Israel was taken captive by the Assyrians under Sargon; Judah by the
Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar.
3. Israel was taken to the lands south of the Caspian Sea (2 Kings 17.
6); Judah to Chaldea, by the river Euphrates (Psa. 137. 1).
4. Israel never returned from its captivity, which was the end of its
history; but Judah was brought back from its captivity and again became
a flourishing state, though subject to foreign nations during most of
its after history.
II. There were =THREE CAPTIVITIES= of Judah, all in one generation and
all under one Chaldean king, Nebuchadnezzar:
1. =Jehoiakim's captivity.= (B. C. 607.) Jehoiakim was the son of
Josiah, placed upon the throne after the battle of Megiddo, in which
Josiah perished (2 Kings 23. 34). In the war between Pharaoh-nechoh of
Egypt and Nebuchadnezzar (then joint king of Babylon with his father
Nabopolassar) Jehoiakim, as a vassal of Nechoh, aided the Egyptians.
After the defeat of Nechoh, Nebuchadnezzar marched to punish Jehoiakim.
He was called away from the siege of Jerusalem by the death of his
father and the necessity of hastening to Babylon to assume the
government. Jehoiakim was spared, but a number of the nobles of Judah
were taken to Babylon, perhaps as hostages for the king's good conduct.
For three years Jehoiakim obeyed Nebuchadnezzar; then he rebelled, but
was speedily reduced to subjection, and many of the leading people
among the Jews were carried captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24. 1, 2). Among
these captives was Daniel the prophet (Dan. 1. 1-6). From this event the
_seventy years_ of the captivity were dated (Jer. 27. 22; 29. 10),
though the kingdom of Judah remained for twenty years longer. Jehoiakim,
the king, was not taken away, though bound in chains for that purpose (2
Chron. 36. 6); he reigned several years after this event, but under
suspicion of the Chaldeans, and his end was ignoble (Jer. 22. 18, 19;
36. 30).
2. =Jehoiachin's captivity.= (B. C. 598.) Jehoiachin was the son of
Jehoiakim (called Jeconiah, 1 Chron 3. 16; Jer. 24. 1; and Coniah, Jer.
22. 24). He reigned only three months, and was then deposed by
Nebuchadnezzar and carried to Babylon. With the young king and the royal
family were taken thousands of the people of the middle classes, whom
the land could ill spare (2 Kings 24. 8-16). Among these captives was
Ezekiel, the prophet-priest (Ezek. 1. 1-3).
3. =Zedekiah's captivity.= (B. C. 587.) He was the uncle of Jehoiachin,
and the son of the good Josiah (2 Kings 24. 17), and had been made king
by Nebuchadnezzar. But he too rebelled against his master, to whom he
had taken a solemn oath of fidelity (2 Chron. 36. 13). The Chaldeans
were greatly incensed by these frequent insurrections, and determined
upon a final destruction of the rebellious city. After a long siege
Jerusalem was taken, and the king was captured while attempting flight.
He was blinded and carried away to Babylon, the city was destroyed, and
nearly all the people left alive were also taken to the land of Chaldea
(2 Kings 25. 1-11). After this captivity the city lay desolate for fifty
years, until the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus (B. C. 536).
III. Let us ascertain the =CAUSES OF THE CAPTIVITY=; why the Jews were
taken up bodily from their own land and deported to a distant country.
1. Such deportations were a frequent =policy of Oriental conquerors=.
The Orientals had three ways of dealing with a conquered people: that
of extermination or wholesale butchery, which is frequently described
upon the Assyrian monuments; that of leaving them in the land under
tribute, as subjects of the conqueror; and that of deporting them _en
masse_ to a distant land. Frequently, when the interests of the empire
would be served by changing the population of a province, this plan was
carried out. Thus the ten tribes were carried to a land near the Caspian
Sea, and other people were brought to Samaria in their place (2 Kings
17. 6, 24). A similar plan with respect to Judah was proposed by
Sennacherib (2 Kings 18. 31, 32), but was thwarted by the destruction of
the Assyrian host.
2. We have already noticed another cause of the captivity in the
frequent =rebellions of the kings of Judah= against the authority of
Babylon. The old spirit of independence, which had made Judah the leader
of the twelve tribes, was still strong, and it was fostered by the hope
of universal rule, which had been predicted through centuries, even
while the kingdom was declining. The prophets, however, favored
submission to Babylon; but the nobles urged rebellion and independence.
Their policy was pursued, and the unequal strife was taken up more than
once. The rebellions always failed; but after several attempts the
patience of Nebuchadnezzar was exhausted, and the destruction of the
rebellious city and the deportation of the population was ordered.
3. But underneath was another and a deeper cause--in =the rivalry of
Egypt and Babylon=. Whenever in history one nation has been dominant
there has been another nation, next in strength, as its rival to check
its supremacy. Thus Greece stood in the way of Persia, Carthage in the
way of republican Rome, and Parthia in the way of imperial Rome. In the
earlier days Assyria (and after Assyria Babylon) was the controlling
power in the East; but it was always opposed by Egypt, which, though
less powerful, was yet strong enough to be dangerous to Assyrian or
Chaldean supremacy. Palestine stood on the border of the Assyrian
Empire toward Egypt; and in Palestine there were two parties, the
Assyrian and the Egyptian; one counseling submission to Assyria, the
other seeking alliance with Egypt against Assyria (Isa. 31. 1-3; 37. 6).
After Babylon took the place of Nineveh the Chaldean party took the
place of the Assyrian, as the Chaldean Empire was the successor of the
Assyrian Empire. The prophets, led by Jeremiah, always counseled
submission to Babylon, and warned against trusting to Egypt, which had
never given any thing more than promises; but the nobles were of the
Egyptian party, and constantly influenced the kings to renounce the yoke
of Babylon, and to strike for independence by the aid of Egypt. Under
Egyptian influence the later kings of Judah made attempt after attempt
to rebel against the Chaldean Empire. But the expected help from Egypt
never came, and Judah was left again and again to suffer the wrath of
Babylon (Jer. 37. 5-9). The necessity of making the frontier of the
Chaldean Empire safe on the side toward Egypt was the political cause
for the deportation of the tribe of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar dared not to
leave a people on the soil who would constantly endanger the entrance to
his dominions by plotting with the Egyptians. He therefore took up the
Jews bodily, placed them in the center of his empire, and turned the
land of Judah into a desolation.
4. There was underlying all these political reasons a moral cause in
=the divine purpose to discipline the nation=. The captivity was a
weeding-out process, to separate the precious from the vile, the false
from the true, the "remnant" from the mass. There had always been two
distinct elements in Israel and Judah--the spiritual, God-fearing few,
and the worldly, idol-worshiping many. The worldly and irreligious took
part in the resistance to the King of Babylon; and the worshipers of
Jehovah, led by the prophets, urged submission. As a result, the nobles
and the warriors, for the most part, perished; while the better part,
the strength and hope of the nation, were carried away captive. Notice
that the captives were mainly of the middle class, the working element
(2 Kings 24. 14-16). Those who had submitted to the Chaldeans were also
taken away (2 Kings 25. 11). The prophet expressed greater hope for
those taken away than for those left behind (Jer. 24. 1-10). The
captives were the root of Judah, out of which in due time a new nation
should rise.
IV. =THE CONDITION OF THE CAPTIVES IN CHALDEA= 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 Romans the Jews
were sold as slaves and dispersed throughout the empire. Such wholesale
enslavement was common after a conquest. For some reason the Chaldeans
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 "Chaldean party" among the Jews, and hence were treated in a
measure as friends. The letter of Jeremiah to the exiles (Jer. 29. 1-7)
shows that they were kindly dealt with in Chaldea. 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). Such a system is still pursued in
the East, where the government is according to race as well as according
to locality; that is, the different races in one province will each have
separate rulers. There was a "prince of Judah" at the close of the
captivity (Ezra 1. 8). This fact of a 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 Gentiles, and would have lost
their identity as a people. But maintaining as a separate race, and in
Jewish 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 Jerusalem 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
Gentiles, the earnest, the spiritual, and the God-fearing would grow
more intense in their devotion. The institutions which date from the
captivity (noticed below, under "Results of Captivity") are an evidence
of this fact.
4. =They were instructed by prophets and teachers.= Jeremiah lived for
some time after the beginning of the captivity, made a visit to Babylon,
and wrote at least one letter to the exiles (Jer. 13. 4-7; 29. 1-3).
Daniel lived during the captivity, and, though in the court, maintained
a deep interest in his people, and comforted them by his prophecies.
Ezekiel 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 Isaiah, from the
fortieth chapter to the end, was given by a "later Isaiah" 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 Books of Daniel,
Ezekiel, Habakkuk, 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 the many
psalms we cite Psalms 124, 126, 129, 130, 137, as manifestly written
during the captivity. The exile was an age of life and vigor to Hebrew
literature.
V. =THE RESULTS OF THE CAPTIVITY.= In the year 536 B. C. the city of
Babylon was taken by Cyrus, King of the combined Medes and Persians. 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 the 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 re-established 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 Hebrew to Aramaic or Chaldaic.
The books of the Old Testament written after the restoration are in a
different language 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 Chaldee of
Babylon and the Hebrew 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 but 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 Babylonian 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 Judah, as well as of Israel, was
its tendency to idolatry. Every prophet had warned against it and
rebuked it; reformers had risen up; kings had endeavored to extirpate,
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 Jehovah.
Among all the warnings of the later prophets, and the reforms of Ezra
and Nehemiah, 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. We may not know all the causes of this change, but some of
them were: 1.) The fact that the idolatrous element largely perished,
and the spiritual element formed the bulk of the captives. 2.) The
idol-worshipers among the captives would naturally be less loyal to the
national ideas, and would more readily assimilate with the heathen;
while the religious among the exiles would grow all the more devoted to
their religion as their only hope in trial. 3.) The most ardent lovers
of their country and their religion would be the most eager to return
after the exile; hence, the new state was founded by zealous Jews, who
gave it religious spirit. So in modern times the spirit of the Pilgrims
and the Puritans gave tone to New England, and through New England to
America.
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
Palestine, and was established throughout the Jewish 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 Ezra, 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 Messiah.= From the time of the
captivity the Jewish people looked forward with eager expectation to the
coming of a Deliverer, the Consolation of Israel, the "Anointed One"
(the word Messiah means "anointed"), who should lift up his people from
the dust, exalt the throne of David, 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 Jesus Christ, the King of Israel.
6. From the captivity there =were two parts of the Jewish people=; the
Jews of Palestine, and the Jews of the dispersion. 1.) The Jews of
Palestine, sometimes called Hebrews (Acts 6. 1), were the lesser in
number, who lived in their own land and maintained the Jewish state. 2.)
The Jews of the dispersion were the descendants of those who did not
return after the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1. 1), but remained in foreign
lands and gradually formed Jewish "quarters" in all the cities of the
ancient world. They were the larger in number, and later were called
"Grecian 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. 1), were devoted
to the law, made constant pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and were recognized
as having one hope with the Jews of Palestine. The traits of the two
bodies were different, but each contributed its own element toward the
making of a great people.
Blackboard Outline.
=I. Cap. Isr. Jud.= 1. Isr. 721. Jud. 587. 2. Ass. Sar.--Chal. Neb.
3. Cas. Sea.--Riv. Eup. 4. Nev. ret.--Bro. b.
=II. Thr. Cap. Jud.= 1. Jeh. cap. 607. 2. Jehn. cap. 598. 3. Zed.
cap. 587.
=III. Caus. Cap.= 1. Pol. Or. conq. 2. Reb. kgs. Jud. 3. Riv. Eg.
Bab. 4. Div. pur. dis.
=IV. Con. Cap.= 1. Kin. tre. 2. Org. main. 3. La. wor. obs. 4. Ins.
pro. tea. 5. Lit. pre. enl.
=V. Res. Cap.= 1. Ch. lan. 2. Ch. hab. 3. Ch. char. 4. Ne. ins.
(syn. scr.) 5. Hop. Mess. 6. Two. par. peo.