Captivity

God often punished the sins of the Jews be captivities or servitudes, according to his threatenings, De 28:1-68. Their first captivity, however, from which Moses delivered them, should be considered rather as a permission of Providence, than as a punishment for sin. There were six subjugations of the twelve tribes during the period of the judges. But the most remarkable captivities, or rather expatriations of the Hebrews, were whose of Israel and Judah under the regal government. Israel was first carried away in part about B. C. 740, by Tiglath-pileser, 2 Kings 15:29. The tribes east of the Jordan, with parts of Zebulun and Naphtali, Isaiah 9:1, were the first sufferers. Twenty years later, Shalmanezer carried away the remainder, 2 Kings 17:6-24. Aside from certain prophecies, Isaiah 11:12,13 Jeremiah 31:7-9,16-20 49:2 Eze 37:16 Hosea 11:11 Am 9:14 Obadiah 1:18,19, etc., which are variously interpreter to mean a past or a future return, a physical or a spiritual restoration, there is no evidence that the ten tribes as a body ever returned to Palestine.

To Judah are generally reckoned three captivities: 1. Under Jehoiakim, in his third year, B. C. 606, when Daniel and others were carried to Babylon, 2 Kings 24:1,2 Daniel 1:1 2. In the last year of Jehoiakim, when Nebuchadnezzar carried 3,023 Jews to Babylon; or rather, under Jehoiachin, when this prince also was sent to Babylon, that is, in the seventh and eighth years of Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 598, 2 Kings 24:2,12 2 Chronicles 36:8,10 Jeremiah 52:34 3. Under Zedekiah, B. C. 588, when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, and most that was valuable among the people and their treasures was carried to Babylon, 2 Kings 25:1-30 2 Chronicles 36:1-23. The seventy years during which they were to remain in captivity, Jeremiah 25:11 29:10, are reckoned probably from the date of the first captivity, B. C. 606. While at Babylon the Jews had judges and elders who governed them, and decided matters in dispute juridically according to their laws. The book of Daniel shows us a Jew in a high position at court, and the book of Esther celebrates their numbers and power in the Persian empire. The prophets labored, not in vain, to keep alive the flame of the true religion.

At length the seventy years were fulfilled, and Cyrus, in the first year of his reign at Babylon, B. C. 536, made a proclamation throughout his empire permitting the people of God to return to their country, and rebuild the temple, Ezra 1:11. Nearly 50,000 accepted the invitation, Ezra 2:2 Nehemiah 7:7. This company laid the foundation of the second temple, which was completed in the sixth year of Darius, B. C. 516. Fifty-eight years after, Ezra led a small company of 7,000 from Babylon to Judea. He was succeeded as governor by Nehemiah, who labored faithfully and successfully to reform the people, and many of the good fruits of his labors remained until the time of Christ.

Probably none among the posterity of Jacob can now prove from which of his twelve sons they are descended. Both Judah and Israel being removed from "the lot of their inheritance" in Canaan, and dispersed among strangers, the various tribes would naturally amalgamate with each other, the envy of Judah and Ephraim would depart, and the memory of Abraham, Moses, and David would revive, Ezra 6:16,17 8:35 Ezekiel 37:26-28.

The last captivity of the Jews, A. D. 71, after they had filled up the measure of their iniquity by rejecting Christ and the gospel, was a terrible one. According to Josephus, 1,100,000 perished at the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, and nearly 100,000 captives were scattered among the provinces to perish in gladiatorial shows, doomed to toil as public slaves, or sold into private bondage. The cut represents the medal of the emperor Vespasian, A. D. 71, in memory of the capture of Jerusalem. Under the emperor Hadrian, A. D. 133, a similar crushing blow fell on the Jews who had again assembled in Judea; and at this day they are scattered all over the world, yet distinct from the people among whom they dwell, suffering under the woe which unbelief has brought upon their fathers and themselves, and awaiting the time when Christ "shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob," Romans 11:25,26.

(1.) Of Israel. The kingdom of the ten tribes was successively invaded by several Assyrian kings. Pul (q.v.) imposed a tribute on Menahem of a thousand talents of silver (2 Kings 15:19, 20; 1 Chronicles 5:26) (B.C. 762), and Tiglath-pileser, in the days of Pekah (B.C. 738), carried away the trans-Jordanic tribes and the inhabitants of Galilee into Assyria (2 Kings 15:29; Isaiah 9:1). Subsequently Shalmaneser invaded Israel and laid siege to Samaria, the capital of the kingdom. During the siege he died, and was succeeded by Sargon, who took the city, and transported the great mass of the people into Assyria (B.C. 721), placing them in Halah and in Habor, and in the cities of the Medes (2 Kings 17:3, 5). Samaria was never again inhabited by the Israelites. The families thus removed were carried to distant cities, many of them not far from the Caspian Sea, and their place was supplied by colonists from Babylon and Cuthah, etc. (2 Kings 17:24). Thus terminated the kingdom of the ten tribes, after a separate duration of two hundred and fifty-five years (B.C. 975-721).

Many speculations have been indulged in with reference to these ten tribes. But we believe that all, except the number that probably allied themselves with Judah and shared in their restoration under Cyrus, are finally lost.

"Like the dew on the mountain, Like the foam on the river, Like the bubble on the fountain, They are gone, and for ever."

(2.) Of Judah. In the third year of Jehoiachim, the eighteenth king of Judah (B.C. 605), Nebuchadnezzar having overcome the Egyptians at Carchemish, advanced to Jerusalem with a great army. After a brief siege he took that city, and carried away the vessels of the sanctuary to Babylon, and dedicated them in the Temple of Belus (2 Kings 24:1; 2 Chronicles 36:6, 7; Dan. 1:1, 2). He also carried away the treasures of the king, whom he made his vassal. At this time, from which is dated the "seventy years" of captivity (Jeremiah 25; Dan. 9:1, 2), Daniel and his companions were carried to Babylon, there to be brought up at the court and trained in all the learning of the Chaldeans. After this, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, a great national fast was appointed (Jeremiah 36:9), during which the king, to show his defiance, cut up the leaves of the book of Jeremiah's prophecies as they were read to him in his winter palace, and threw them into the fire. In the same spirit he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:1), who again a second time (B.C. 598) marched against Jerusalem, and put Jehoiachim to death, placing his son Jehoiachin on the throne in his stead. But Jehoiachin's counsellors displeasing Nebuchadnezzar, he again a third time turned his army against Jerusalem, and carried away to Babylon a second detachment of Jews as captives, to the number of 10,000 (2 Kings 24:13; Jeremiah 24:1; 2 Chronicles 36:10), among whom were the king, with his mother and all his princes and officers, also Ezekiel, who with many of his companions were settled on the banks of the river Chebar (q.v.). He also carried away all the remaining treasures of the temple and the palace, and the golden vessels of the sanctuary.

Mattaniah, the uncle of Jehoiachin, was now made king over what remained of the kingdom of Judah, under the name of Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17; 2 Chronicles 36:10). After a troubled reign of eleven years his kingdom came to an end (2 Chronicles 36:11). Nebuchadnezzar, with a powerful army, besieged Jerusalem, and Zedekiah became a prisoner in Babylon. His eyes were put out, and he was kept in close confinement till his death (2 Kings 25:7). The city was spoiled of all that was of value, and then given up to the flames. The temple and palaces were consumed, and the walls of the city were levelled with the ground (B.C. 586), and all that remained of the people, except a number of the poorest class who were left to till the ground and dress the vineyards, were carried away captives to Babylon. This was the third and last deportation of Jewish captives. The land was now utterly desolate, and was abondoned to anarchy.

In the first year of his reign as king of Babylon (B.C. 536), Cyrus issued a decree liberating the Jewish captives, and permitting them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and the temple (2 Chronicles 36:22, 23; Ezra 1; 2). The number of the people forming the first caravan, under Zerubbabel, amounted in all to 42,360 (Ezra 2:64, 65), besides 7,337 men-servants and maid-servants. A considerable number, 12,000 probably, from the ten tribes who had been carried away into Assyria no doubt combined with this band of liberated captives.

At a later period other bands of the Jews returned (1) under Ezra (7:7) (B.C. 458), and (2) Nehemiah (7:66) (B.C. 445). But the great mass of the people remained still in the land to which they had been carried, and became a portion of the Jews of the "dispersion" (John 7:35; 1 Peter 1:1). The whole number of the exiles that chose to remain was probably about six times the number of those who returned.

1. (n.) The state of being a captive or a prisoner.

2. (n.) A state of being under control; subjection of the will or affections; bondage.

CAPTIVITY

kap-tiv'-i-ti (galah, galuth, shebhuth, shibhyah; metoikesia):

I. OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM (THE WORK OF ASSYRIA)

1. Western Campaigns of Shalmaneser II, 860-825 B.C.

2. Of Rimmon-nirari III, 810-781 B.C.

3. Of Tiglath-pileser III, 745-727 B.C.

4. Of Shalmaneser IV, 727-722 B.C.-Siege of Samaria

5. Samaria Captured by Sargon, 722 B.C.

6. Depopulation and Repopulation of Samaria

7. The Ten Tribes in Captivity

II. OF JUDAH (THE WORK OF THE CHALDAEAN POWER)

Southern Kingdom and House of David

1. Break-up of Assyria

2. Downfall of Nineveh, 606 B.C.

3. Pharaoh Necoh's Revolt

4. Defeat at Carchemish, 604 B.C.

5. The New Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadrezzar, 604-562 B.C.

The Mission of Jeremiah, 626-580 B.C.

6. Revolt and Punishment of Jehoiakim, 608-597 B.C.

7. Siege and Surrender of Jerusalem under Jehoiachin, 597 B.C.

8. First Deportation, 597 B.C.

The Baskets of Figs

9. The Ministry of Ezekiel, 592-570 B.C.

10. Jeremiah's Ministry in Jerusalem, 597-588 B.C.

11. Zedekiah's Rebellion and Siege of Jerusalem, 588-586 B.C.

Jeremiah "Falling Away to the Chaldeans"

12. Destruction of Jerusalem, 586 B.C.

Flight, Capture, and Punishment of Zedekiah

13. Second Deportation of Inhabitants, 586 B.C.

14. Third Deportation, 581 B.C.

(1) Number and Quality of Exiles

(2) The Residue Left

15. Gedaliah, Governor of Judah

(1) Jeremiah and the Flight to Egypt

(2) Descendants of the Fugitives, 471-411 B.C.

16. The Exiles in Babylon: Their Social Condition, 464-405 B.C.

17. The Rise and Development of Judaism

18. The Return by Permission of Cyrus, 538 B.C.

19. Rebuilding of the Temple, 536 B.C.

Completed 515 B.C.

20. Reforms and Labors of Ezra and Nehemiah, 445 B.C.

21. Modern Theories of the Return

22. Importance of the Period of Ezra-Nehemiah

LITERATURE

I. Of the Northern Kingdom (The Work of Assyria).

1. Western Campaigns of Shalmaneser II, 860-825 B.C.:

The captivity of the Northern Kingdom was the work of the great Assyrian power having its seat at Nineveh on the Tigris. The empire of Assyria, rounded nearly 2000 B.C., had a long history behind it when its annals begin to take notice of the kingdom of Israel and Judah. The reign of Shalmaneser II (860-825 B.C.) marks the first contact between these powers. This is not the Shalmaneser mentioned in 2 Kings 17 and 18, who is the fourth of the name and flourished more than a century later. Shalmaneser II was contemporary during his long reign with Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah and Joash, kings of Judah; with Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram and Jehu, kings of Israel; with Hazael and Benhadad II, kings of Syria at Damascus, and with Mesha, king of Moab. The Assyrian authorities for his reign are an inscription engraved by himself on the rocks of Armenia; the Black Obelisk brought by Layard from Nimroud, now in the British Museum; and the texts engraved on the bronze gates of Balawat, discovered by Hormuzd Rassam in 1878, and recognized as the swinging gates of Shalmaneser's palace. From these authorities we learn that in his 6th year he encountered the combined forces of Damascus, Hamath, Israel, and other states which had united to oppose his progress westward, and completely routed them in the battle of Karkar (854 B.C.). The danger which threatened the western states in common had brought Syria and Israel together; and this is in accord with the Scripture narrative which tells of a covenant, denounced by God's prophet, between Ahab and Benhadad (1 Kings 20:34), and mentions a period of three years when there was no war between Syria and Israel. The defeat of the allies seems, however, to have broken up the confederacy, for, soon after, Ahab is found, with the aid of Jehoshaphat of Judah, attempting unsuccessfully, and with fatal result to himself, to recover from the weakened power of Syria the city of Ramoth-gilead (1 Kings 22). In another campaign to the West, which likewise finds no record in Scripture, Shalmaneser received the tribute of Tyre and Sidon, and of "Yahua of Khumri," that is, of Jehu, of the land of Omri, as Israel is called on the monuments.

2. Of Rimmon-nirari III, 810-781 B.C.:

The next Assyrian monarch who turned his arms against the West was Rimmon-nirari III (810-781 B.C.), grandson of Shalmaneser II. Although he is not mentioned by name in Scripture, his presence and activity had their influence upon contemporary events recorded in 2 Ki. He caused Syria to let go her hold of Israel; and although he brought Israel into subjection, the people of the Northern Kingdom would rather have a ruler exercising a nominal sovereignty over them in distant Nineveh than a king oppressing them in Damascus. Hence, Rimmon-nirari has been taken for the saviour whom God gave to Israel, "so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians" (2 Kings 13:5; compare 2 Kings 13:23).

With the death of Rimmon-nirari in 781 B.C., the power of Assyria received a temporary check, and on the other hand the kingdom of Judah under Uzziah and the kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam II reached the zenith of their political prosperity. In 745 B.C., however, a usurper, Pul, or Pulu, ascended the throne of Assyria, and reigned as Tiglath-pileser III. It is by the former name that he is first mentioned in the Scripture narrative (2 Kings 15:19 1 Chronicles 5:26), and by the latter that he is mentioned on the monuments. That the two names belong to one man is now held to be certain (Schrader, COT, I, 230).

3. Of Tiglath-pileser III, 745-727 B.C.:

Tiglath-pileser was one of the greatest monarchs of antiquity. He was the first to attempt to consolidate an empire in the manner to which the world has become accustomed since Roman times. He was not content to receive tribute from the kings and rulers of the states which he conquered. The countries which he conquered became subject provinces of his empire, governed by Assyrian satraps and contributing to the imperial treasury. Not long after he had seated himself on the throne, Tiglath-pileser, like his predecessors, turned his attention to the West. After the siege of Arpad, northward of Aleppo, the Assyrian forces made their way into Syria, and putting into operation the Assyrian method of deportation and repopulation, the conqueror annexed Hamath which had sought the alliance and assistance of Azariah, that is Uzziah, king of Judah. Whether he then refrained from molesting Judah, or whether her prestige was broken by this campaign of the Assyrian king, it is not easy to say. In another campaign he certainly subjected Menahem of Israel with other kings to tribute. What is stated in a word or two in the Annals of Tiglath-pileser is recorded at length in the Bible history (2 Kings 15:19): "There came against the land Pul the king of Assyria; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand. And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man 50 shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria tamed back, and stayed not there in the land." In the reign of Pekah, under his proper name of Tiglath-pileser, he is recorded to have raided the northern parts of Israel, and carried the inhabitants away into the land of Assyria (2 Kings 15:29). We next hear of Ahaz, king of Judah, appealing to the Assyrians for help against "these two tails of smoking firebrands," Rezin of Syria and Pekah, the son of Remaliah (Isaiah 7:4). To secure this help he took the silver and gold of the house of the Lord, and sent it as a present to the king of Assyria (2 Kings 16:8). Meanwhile Tiglath-pileser was setting out on a new campaign to the West. He carried fire and sword through Syria and the neighboring lands as far as Gaza, and on his return he captured Samaria, without, however, razing it to the ground. Pekah having been slain by his own people, the Assyrian monarch left Hoshea, the leader of the conspiracy, on the throne of Israel as the vassal of Assyria.

4. Of Shalmaneser IV, 727-722 B.C.-Seige of Samaria:

In 727 B.C. Tiglath-pileser III died and was succeeded by Shalmaneser IV. His reign was short and no annals of it have come to light. In 2 Kings 17 and 18, however, we read that Hoshea, relying upon help from the king of Egypt, thought the death of Tiglath-pileser a good opportunity for striking a blow for independence. It was a vain endeavor, for the end of the kingdom of Israel was at hand. The people were grievously given over to oppression and wickedness, which the prophets Amos and Hosea vigorously denounced. Hosea, in particular, was "the prophet of Israel's decline and fall." Prophesying at this very time he says: "As for Samaria, her king is cut off, as foam upon the water. The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us" (Hosea 10:7, 8; compare Hosea 10:14, 15). No less stern are the predictions by Isaiah and Micah of the doom that is to overtake Samaria: "Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley of them that are overcome with wine" (Isaiah 28:1). "For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria?. Therefore I will make Samaria as a heap of the field, and as places for planting vineyards" (Micah 1:5, 6). No help came from Egypt. With the unaided and enfeebled resources of his kingdom Hoshea had to face the chastising forces of his sovereign. He was made prisoner outside Samaria and was most likely carried away to Nineveh. Meanwhile the land was over-run and the capital doomed to destruction, as the prophets had declared.

5. Samaria Captured by Sargon, 722 B.C.:

Not without a stubborn resistance on the part of her defenders did "the fortress cease from Ephraim" (Isaiah 17:3). It was only after a three years' siege that the Assyrians captured the city (2 Kings 17:5). If we had only the record of the Hebrew historian we should suppose that Shalmaneser was the monarch to whom fell the rewards and honors of the capture. Before the surrender of the city Shalmaneser had abdicated or died, and Sargon, only once mentioned in Scripture (Isaiah 20:1), but one of the greatest of Assyrian monarchs, had ascended the throne. From his numerous inscriptions, recovered from the ruins of Khorsabad, we learn that he, and not Shalmaneser, was the king who completed the conquest of the revolted kingdom and deported the inhabitants to Assyria. "In the beginning (of my reign)," says Sargon in his Annals, "the city Samaria (I took) with the help of Shamash, who secures victory to me (. 27,290 people inhabiters of it) I took away captive; 50 chariots the property of my royalty, which were in it I appropriated. (. the city) I restored, and more than before I caused it to be inhabited; people of the lands conquered by my hand in it (I caused to dwell. My governor over them I appointed, and tribute) and imposts just as upon the Assyrians I laid upon them." The Assyrian Annals and the Scripture history support and supplement each other at this point. The sacred historian describes the deportation as follows: "The king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. because they obeyed not the voice of Yahweh their God, but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses, the servant of Yahweh, commanded, and would not hear it, nor do it" (2 Kings 17:6, 7; 2 Kings 18:11, 12).

6. Depopulation and Repopulation of Samaria:

The repopulation of the conquered territory is also described by the sacred historian: "And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof" (2 Kings 17:24). The fact that Sargon introduced foreign settlers taken in war into Samaria is attested by inscriptions. That there were various episodes of deportation and repopulation in connection with the captivity of the Northern Kingdom appears to be certain. We have seen already that Tiglath-pileser III deported the population of the northern tribes to Assyria and placed over the depopulated country governors of his own. And at a time considerably later, we learn that Sargon's grandson Esarhaddon, and his great-grandson Ashur-bani-pal, "the great and noble Osnappar," imported to the region of Samaria settlers of nations conquered by them in the East (Ezra 4:2, 10). Of the original settlers, whom a priest, carried away by the king of Assyria but brought back to Bethel, taught "the law of the god of the land," it is said that "they feared Yahweh, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away" (2 Kings 17:33). The hybrid stock descended from those settlers is known to us in later history and in the Gospels as the Samaritans.

7. The Ten Tribes in Captivity:

We must not suppose that a clean sweep was made Of the inhabitants of the Northern Kingdom. No doubt, as in the Babylonian captivity, "the poorest of the land were left to be vinedressers and husbandmen" (2 Kings 25:12). The numbers actually deported were but a moiety of the whole population. But the kingdom of the Ten Tribes was now at an end. Israel had become an Assyrian province, with a governor established in Samaria. As regards the Golah-the captives of Israel in the cities of the Medes-it must not be supposed that they became wholly absorbed in the population among whom they were settled. We can well believe that they preserved their Israelite traditions and usages with sufficient clearness and tenacity, and that they became part of the Jewish dispersion so widespread throughout the East. It is quite possible that at length they blended with the exiles of Judah carried off by Nebuchadrezzar, and that then Judah and Ephraim became one nation as never before. The name Jew, therefore, naturally came to include members of what had earlier been the Northern Confederacy of Israel as well as those of the Southern Kingdom to which it properly belonged, so that in the post-exilic period, Jehudi, or Jew, means an adherent of Judaism without regard to local nationality.

II. Of Judah (The Work of the Chaldean Power).

Southern Kingdom and House of David

The captivity of Judah was the work of the great Chaldean power seated at Babylon on the Euphrates. While the Northern Kingdom had new dynasties to rule it in quick succession, Judah and Jerusalem remained true to the House of David to the end. The Southern Kingdom rested on a firmer foundation, and Jerusalem with its temple and priesthood secured the throne against the enemies who overthrew Samaria for nearly a century and a half longer.

1. Break-up of Assyria:

Sargon, who captured Samaria in 722 B.C., was followed by monarchs with a great name as conquerors and builders and patrons of literature, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Ashurbanipal. When Ashurbanipal died in 625 B.C., the dissolution of the Assyrian Empire was not far off. Its hold over the West had greatly slackened, and the tributary peoples were breaking out into revolt. Bands of Scythians, a nomad Aryan race, from the region between the Caucasus and the Caspian, were sweeping through the Assyrian Empire as far as Palestine and Egypt, and the prophecies of Jeremiah and Zephaniah reflect their methods of warfare and fierce characteristics. They were driven back, however, at the frontier of Egypt, and appear to have returned to the North without invading Judah.

2. Downfall of Nineveh, 606 B.C.:

From the North these hordes were closing in upon Nineveh, and on all sides the Assyrian power was being weakened. In the "Burden of Nineveh," the prophet Nahum foreshadows the joy of the kingdom of Judah at the tidings of its approaching downfall: "Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah, perform thy vows; for the wicked one shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off" (Nahum 1:15; compare Nahum 3:8-11). The Medes regained their independence and under their king, Cyaxares, formed an alliance with the Chaldeans, who soon afterward revolted under the leadership of Nabopolassar, viceroy of Babylon. Rallying these various elements to his standard Nabopolassar laid siege to the Assyrian capital, and in 606 B.C., Nineveh, which had been the capital city of great conquerors, and had "multiplied (her) merchants above the stars of heaven" (Nahum 3:16), fell before the combined forces of the Medes and Chaldeans, fell suddenly and finally, to rise no more. Of the new Babylonian Empire upon which the Chaldeans now entered, Nebuchadrezzar, whose father Nabopolassar had associated him with him on the throne, was the first and most eminent ruler.

3. Pharaoh Necoh's Revolt:

That the people of Judah should exult in the overthrow of Nineveh and the empire for which it stood we can well understand. Jerusalem herself had by God's mercy remained unconquered when Sennacherib nearly a century before had carried off from the surrounding country 200,150 people and had devastated the towns and fortresses near. But the hateful Assyrian yoke had rested upon Judah to the end, and not upon Judah only but even upon Egypt and the valley of the Nile. In 608 B.C. Pharaoh Necoh revolted from his Assyrian suzerain and resolved upon an eastern campaign. He had no desire to quarrel with Josiah of Judah, through whose territory he must pass; but in loyalty to his Assyrian suzerain Josiah threw himself across the path of the Egyptian invader and perished in the battle of Megiddo. The Pharaoh seems to have returned to Egypt, taking Jehoahaz the son of Josiah with him, and to have appointed his brother Jehoiakim king of Judah, and to have exacted a heavy tribute from the land.

4. Defeat at Carchemish, 604 B.C.:

But he did not desist from his purpose to win an eastern empire. Accordingly he pressed forward till he reached the Euphrates, where he was completely routed by the Babylonian army under Nebuchadrezzar in the decisive battle of Carchemish, 604 B.C. The battle left the Chaldeans undisputed masters of Western Asia, and Judah exchanged the yoke of Assyria for that of Babylon.

5. The New Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadrezzar, 604-562 B.C.:

So far as cruelty was concerned, there was little to choose between the new tyrants and the old oppressors. Of the Chaldeans Habakkuk, who flourished at the commencement of the new Empire, says: "They are terrible and dreadful.. Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves; and their horsemen spread themselves: yea, their horsemen come from far; they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour" (Habakkuk 1:7, 8 the American Revised Version, margin). Over Western Asia, including Judah, Nebuchadrezzar since the battle of Carchemish was supreme. It was vain for Judah to coquet with Egypt when Nebuchadrezzar had a long and powerful arm with which to inflict chastisement upon his disloyal subjects.

The Mission of Jeremiah, 626-580 B.C.

The mission of Jeremiah the prophet in this crisis of the history of Judah was to preach obedience and loyalty to the king of Babylon, and moral reformation as the only means of escaping the Divine vengeance impending upon land and people. He tells them in the name of God of the great judgment that was to come at the hand of the Chaldeans on Jerusalem and surrounding peoples. He even predicts the period of their subjection to Chaldean domination: "And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years" (Jeremiah 25:11). This preaching was unpalatable to the partisans of Egypt and to those who believed in the inviolability of Jerusalem. But with stern rebuke and with symbolic action he proclaims the doom of Jerusalem, and in the face of persecution and at the risk of his life, the prophet fulfills his ministry.

6. Revolt and Punishment of Jehoiakim, 608-597 B.C.:

Jehoiakim, who was first the vassal of Pharaoh Necoh, and then of Nebuchadrezzar, was in corruption and wickedness too faithful a representative of the people. Jeremiah charges him with covetousness, the shedding of innocent blood, oppression and violence (Jeremiah 22:13-19). The fourth year of Jehoiakim was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar, who, fresh from the victory of Carchemish, was making his sovereignty felt in the western world. The despicable king of Judah became Nebuchadrezzar's vassal and continued in his allegiance three years, after which he turned and rebelled against him. But he received neither encouragement nor help from the neighboring peoples. "Yahweh sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Yahweh, which he spake by his servants the prophets" (2 Kings 24:2). The history of the latter part of Jehoiakim's reign is obscure. The Hebrew historian says that after a reign of eleven years he slept with his fathers, from which we infer that he died a natural death. From Daniel we learn that in the third year of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadrezzar came up against Jerusalem and besieged it, and carried off, along with vessels of the house of God, members of the seed royal, and of the nobility of Judah, among whom was Daniel the prophet. That Jehoiakim was included in what seems to be a first installment of the captivity of Judah is expressly affirmed by the Chronicler who says: "Against him (Jehoiakim) came up Nebuchadnezzar. and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon" (2 Chronicles 36:6). However the facts really stand, the historian adds to the record of the death of Jehoiakim and of the succession of Jehoiachin the significant comment: "And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of this land; for the king of Babylon had taken, from the brook of Egypt unto the river Euphrates, all that pertained to the king of Egypt" (2 Kings 24:7).

7. Siege and Surrender of Jerusalem under Jehoiachin, 597 B.C.:

Jehoiachin who succeeded Jehoiakim reigned only three months, the same length of time as his unfortunate predecessor Jehoahaz (2 Kings 23:31). The captivity of Jehoahaz in Egypt and the captivity of Jehoiachin in Babylon are lamented in a striking elegy by Ezekiel, who compares them to young lions, the offspring of the mother lioness Israel, which learned to catch and their prey and devoured men, but were taken in the pit of the nations and put in rings, so that their roar was no more heard in the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 19:1-9). Nebuchadrezzar came in person while his servants were besieging Jerusalem, and Jehoiachin surrendered at discretion. So the king and his mother and his servants and his princes and his officers were carried off with the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives. `None remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. He carried out thence all the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold, which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of Yahweh, as Yahweh had said.

8. First Deportation, 597 B.C.:

And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's father's brother, king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah' (2 Kings 24:10-17). From Jehoiachin dates the carrying away into Babylon, the year being 597 B.C. The unfortunate monarch lived in exile in Babylon 38 years, and seems to have retained the respect and loyalty of the exiles among whom he dwelt.

The Baskets of Figs:

It was with reference to the deportation of the princes and craftsmen and smiths that Jeremiah had his vision of the baskets of figs-one containing figs very good, like the first ripe figs; the other very bad, so bad they could not be eaten (Jeremiah 24:1-3). The good figs were the captives of Judah carried away into the land of the Chaldeans for good; the bad figs were the king Zedekiah and his princes and the residue of Jerusalem, upon whom severe judgments were yet to fall till they were consumed from off the land (Jeremiah 24:4-10).

9. The Ministry of Ezekiel, 592-570 B.C.:

Among the captives thus carried to Babylon and placed on the banks of the Chebar was the priest-prophet Ezekiel. Five years after the captivity he began to have his wonderful "visions" of God, and to declare their import to the exiles by the rivers of Babylon. To the desponding captives who were engrossed with thoughts of the kingdom of Judah, not yet dissolved, and of the Holy City, not yet burned up with fire, Ezekiel could only proclaim by symbol and allegory the destruction of city and nation, till the day when the distressing tidings reached them of its complete overthrow. Then to the crushed and despairing captives he utters no lamentations like those of Jeremiah, but rather joyful predictions of a rebuilt city, of a reconstituted kingdom, and of a renovated and glorious temple.

10. Jeremiah's Ministry in Jerusalem, 597-588 B.C.:

Although the flower of the population had been carried away into Babylon and the Temple had been despoiled of its treasures, Jerusalem and the Temple still stood. To the inhabitants who were left behind, and to the captives in Babylon, Jeremiah had a message. To the latter he offered counsels of submission and contentment, assured that the hateful and repulsive idolatries around them would throw them back upon the law of their God, and thus promote the work of moral and spiritual regeneration within them. `Thus saith Yahweh, I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Yahweh: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart' (Jeremiah 24:5, 7). To "the residue of Jerus" his counsels and predictions were distasteful, and exposed him to the suspicion of disloyalty to his people and his God. None of his warnings was more impressive than that symbolically proclaimed by the bands and bars which the prophet was to put upon his neck to send to the kings of Edom and Moab and Ammon and Tyre and Sidon, who seem to have had ideas of forming an alliance against Nebuchadrezzar. Zedekiah was also urged to submit, but still entertained hopes that the king of Babylon would allow the captives of Judah to return. He even himself went to Babylon, perhaps summoned thither by his suzerain (Jeremiah 51:59). With an Egyptian party in Jerusalem urging an alliance with Egypt, and with a young and warlike Pharaoh on the throne, Hophra (Apries), Zedekiah deemed the opportunity favorable for achieving independence, and entered into an intrigue with the Egyptian king. So Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon (2 Kings 24:20).

11. Zedekiah's Rebellion and the Siege of Jerusalem, 588-586 B.C.:

It was a bold throw, but Nebuchadrezzar would brook no such disloyalty from his vassals. He marched at once to the West, and committed to Nebuzaradan the task of capturing Jerusalem, while he himself established his headquarters at Riblah, in Syria, on the Orontes. Meanwhile the Pharaoh with his army crossed the frontier to the help of his allies, and compelled the Chaldeans to raise the siege of Jerusalem and meet him in the field (Jeremiah 37:5). But here his courage failed him, and he retired in haste without offering battle. Nebuzaradan now led back his army and the siege became closer than before.

Jeremiah "Falling Away to the Chaldeans"

During the breathing-space afforded by the withdrawal of the Chaldeans, Jeremiah was going out of the city to his native Anathoth, some 4 miles to the Northeast across the ridge, on family business (Jeremiah 37:11-15). His departure was observed, and he was charged with falling away to the Chaldeans, and cast into an improvised dungeon in the house of Jonathan the scribe. While there the king sent for him and asked, "Is there any word from Yahweh?" And Jeremiah answered fearlessly, "There is. Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon." For a time Jeremiah, by the favor of Zedekiah, enjoyed after this a greater measure of freedom; but as he continued to urge in hearing of all the people the duty of surrender, his enemies vowed that he should be put to death, and had him cast into a foul empty cistern, where he ran the risk of being choked or starved to death. Once again the king sought an interview with the prophet, giving him private assurance that he would not put him to death nor allow his enemies to do so. Again the prophet counseled surrender, and again he was allowed a measure of freedom.

12. Destruction of Jerusalem, 586 B.C.:

Flight, Capture, and Punishment of Zedekiah

But the end of the doomed city was at hand. In the 11th year of Zedekiah, 586 B.C., in the 4th month, the 9th day of the month, a breach was made in the city (Jeremiah 39:1, 2), and the final assault completed the work that had been done by months of famine and want.

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BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY

See CAPTIVITY.

CAPTIVITY EPISTLES

See PHILEMON.

EPISTLES, CAPTIVITY

See PHILEMON, EPISTLE TO.

161. aichmalosia -- captivity
... captivity. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: aichmalosia Phonetic
Spelling: (aheekh-mal-o-see'-ah) Short Definition: captivity Definition ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/161.htm - 6k

163. aichmalotizo -- to take or lead captive
... lead away captive, bring into captivity. From aichmalotos; to make captive --
lead away captive, bring into captivity. see GREEK aichmalotos. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/163.htm - 6k

1889. Epaphras -- Epaphras, a Christian
... Epaphras Phonetic Spelling: (ep-af-ras') Short Definition: Epaphras Definition:
Epaphras, Epaphroditus, a Colossian Christian, in captivity with Paul in Rome. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1889.htm - 6k

1891. Epaphroditos -- Epaphroditus, a Christian
... Phonetic Spelling: (ep-af-rod'-ee-tos) Short Definition: Epaphroditus Definition:
Epaphras, Epaphroditus, a Colossian Christian, in captivity with Paul in Rome ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1891.htm - 6k

7622. shebuth -- captivity, captives
... 7621, 7622. shebuth or shebith. 7623 . captivity, captives. Transliteration:
shebuth or shebith Phonetic Spelling: (sheb-ooth') Short Definition: fortunes. ...
/hebrew/7622.htm - 6k

7870. shibah -- captivity
... 7869, 7870. shibah. 7871 . captivity. Transliteration: shibah Phonetic
Spelling: (shee-baw') Short Definition: captivity. ... captivity ...
/hebrew/7870.htm - 5k

7628b. shebi -- captivity, captives
... 7628a, 7628b. shebi. 7629 . captivity, captives. Transliteration: shebi
Short Definition: captivity. Word Origin from shabah Definition ...
/hebrew/7628b.htm - 5k

7633. shibyah -- captivity, captives
... 7632, 7633. shibyah. 7634 . captivity, captives. Transliteration: shibyah
Phonetic Spelling: (shib-yaw') Short Definition: captives. ...
/hebrew/7633.htm - 6k

3443. Yeshua -- a high priest after the Bab. captivity
... a high priest after the Bab. captivity. Transliteration: Yeshua Phonetic Spelling:
(yay-shoo'-ah) Short Definition: Jeshua. ... captivity NASB Word Usage Jeshua (1). ...
/hebrew/3443.htm - 6k

1540. galah -- to uncover, remove
... root Definition to uncover, remove NASB Word Usage away into exile (2), banished
(1), betray (1), captives (1), captivity (1), carried (1), carried and away (1 ...
/hebrew/1540.htm - 7k

2925. taltelah -- a hurling
... Word Origin from tul Definition a hurling NASB Word Usage headlong (1). captivity.
From tuwl; overthrow or rejection -- captivity. see HEBREW tuwl. 2924, 2925 ...
/hebrew/2925.htm - 6k

1547. galuth -- an exile
... captivity. (Aramaic) corresponding to galuwth -- captivity. see HEBREW galuwth.
1546, 1547. galuth or galu. 1548 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/1547.htm - 6k

7628. shbiy -- captive
... shbiy. 7628a . captive. Transliteration: shbiy Phonetic Spelling: (sheb-ee') Short
Definition: captive. captivity, prisoners, take away, that was taken ...
/hebrew/7628.htm - 5k

1546. galuth -- an exile
... they that are carried away captives. Feminine from galah; captivity; concretely,
exiles (collectively) -- (they that are carried away) captives(-ity). ...
/hebrew/1546.htm - 6k

Of the Babylonish Captivity, and the Things Signified Thereby.
... Chapter 21."Of the Babylonish Captivity, and the Things Signified Thereby.
37. "Howbeit, after the lapse of some generations, another ...
/.../chapter 21 of the babylonish captivity.htm

The Captivity of Judah.
... Chapter XV. The Captivity of Judah. Eze., Dan., Lam. ... Sargon, in an inscription found
at Ninevah, said that he carried away into captivity 27,290. ...
/.../tidwell/the bible period by period/chapter xv the captivity of.htm

The Captivity.
... THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. LESSON X. THE CAPTIVITY. "Is this the city that men call the
perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?""Larn. ii.15. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/yonge/the chosen people/lesson x the captivity.htm

The Kingdom in Captivity
... VI THE KINGDOM IN CAPTIVITY. Jeremiah Page Lamentations Page. Daniel Page. JEREMIAH.
I. Class. II.:Commission: 1:4-10 and 18; 17:19 and 20. ...
/.../palmer/a birds-eye view of the bible/vi the kingdom in captivity.htm

The Epistles of the Captivity.
... The Epistles of the Captivity. ... The traditional view dates the four Epistles from
the Roman captivity, and there is no good reason to depart from it. ...
/.../schaff/history of the christian church volume i/section 93 the epistles of.htm

On the Babylonish Captivity of the Church on the Babylonish ...
... CONCERNING CHRISTIAN LIBERTY III ON THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY OF THE CHURCH ON THE
BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY OF THE CHURCH. Jesus. Martin Luther, of the Order of St. ...
/.../luther/first principles of the reformation/iii on the babylonish captivity.htm

The Assyrian Captivity
... Prophets of the Northern Kingdom Chapter 23 The Assyrian Captivity. The closing
years of the ill-fated kingdom of Israel were marked ...
/.../white/the story of prophets and kings/chapter 23 the assyrian captivity.htm

The Times of the Captivity have Been Rendered Illustrious by the ...
... Book II. Chapter I. The times of the captivity have been rendered illustrious
by the predictions and deeds of? The times of the ...
/.../severus/life and writings of sulpitius severus /chapter i the times of.htm

From Saul to the Captivity.
... Theophilus to Autolycus: Book III. Chapter XXV."From Saul to the Captivity.
And after the judges they had kings, the first named ...
/.../theophilus/theophilus to autolycus/chapter xxv from saul to the.htm

November 2. "Bringing into Captivity Every Thought to the ...
... NOVEMBER 2. "Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ"
(II. ... "Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (II. ...
/.../simpson/days of heaven upon earth /november 2 bringing into captivity.htm

Captivity (141 Occurrences)
... At this time, from which is dated the "seventy years" of captivity (Jeremiah
25; Dan. ... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. CAPTIVITY. ...
/c/captivity.htm - 79k

Fortunes (30 Occurrences)
... When God brings back his people from captivity, then Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel
shall be glad. (See RSV NIV). Psalms 85:1 For the Chief Musician. ...
/f/fortunes.htm - 15k

Exiles (46 Occurrences)
... hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when they of the captivity were
brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem. (See NAS RSV NIV). ...
/e/exiles.htm - 20k

Destined (25 Occurrences)
... But her child was caught up to God and His throne, (WEY). Revelation
13:10 If anyone has captivity, he will go into captivity. If ...
/d/destined.htm - 14k

Captive's (5 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 21:13 and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and
shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month ...
/c/captive's.htm - 8k

Captives (69 Occurrences)
... thou art undone, O people of Chemosh; he hath given his sons as fugitives, and his
daughters into captivity, unto Sihon king of the Amorites. (See RSV NIV). ...
/c/captives.htm - 29k

Nebuchadnez'zar (55 Occurrences)
... (See RSV). 1 Chronicles 6:15 and Jehozadak went into captivity, when the LORD carried
away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. (See RSV). ...
/n/nebuchadnez'zar.htm - 24k

Jehozadak (8 Occurrences)
... He was carried into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, and probably died in Babylon. He
was the father of Jeshua, or Joshua, who returned with Zerubbabel. Int. ...
/j/jehozadak.htm - 10k

Furnish (8 Occurrences)
... King James Version; Proverbs 9:2); `asah keli, "to make a vessel for containing
things" (Jeremiah 46:19, "Furnish thyself to go into captivity," the Revised ...
/f/furnish.htm - 11k

Exiled (14 Occurrences)
... and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter
from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity to Kir ...
/e/exiled.htm - 11k

What does “how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news” mean in Isaiah 52:7? | GotQuestions.org

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Captivity: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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