Ninth Study.
THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH.
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.
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW.
From what earlier captivity must that of Judah be distinguished?
What were the dates of these two captivities?
By whom was each nation taken captive?
Where was each nation carried captive?
What followed the captivity in each nation?
What were the three captivities of Judah?
What were the events of the first captivity of Judah?
Who were carried away at this time?
What date is connected with this captivity?
What were the events of the second captivity of Judah?
Who were then taken away?
What were the events of the third captivity?
How long was Jerusalem left in ruins?
By whom, and when, were the Jews permitted to return from captivity?
What causes may be assigned for the carrying away of the Jews?
What were the customs of ancient Oriental conquerors?
How did the conduct of the kings of Judah bring on the captivity?
What rivalry between nations was a cause of the captivity?
What were the two parties in the kingdom of Judah?
How was the carrying away of the Jews a political necessity?
What was the moral cause of the captivity?
How were the captive Jews treated?
What evidences show that their national organization was continued during the captivity?
Why was this fact a fortunate one for the exiles?
What customs of the Jews were observed during the captivity?
What instructors did the Jews have during this period?
What was the condition of Jewish literature during the captivity?
What events followed the decree of Cyrus?
Did all the exiles of the Jews return?
What change in language was wrought by the captivity?
What change in habits followed the captivity?
What great change in religion came as the result of the captivity?
How can that change be accounted for?
What two institutions arose during the captivity?
What new hope arose at this time?
How were the Jews divided after the captivity?
Subjects for Special Papers.
The Great Oriental Empires.
The City of Babylon.
The Prophets of the Captivity.
The Psalms of the Captivity.
The Reign of Nebuchadnezzar.
The Fall of Babylon.