THE JEWS IN EXILE

1. Captivity was common in Old Testament times. It was the usual practice to carry away, not only the soldiers taken prisoners, but the women and children of a conquered people. The Assyrians especially thus removed a large part of those whom they subdued. Very often extreme cruelties were practised upon those captured. It would be difficult to imagine anything more intensely cruel than the treatment of the enemy by the Assyrians as shown on their monuments. The Babylonians were probably not much less severe. Long before the fall of Jerusalem, Israelites from the northern kingdom and men of Judah had been taken as captives. Frequently the prophets foretell a future when the captives of God's people should be restored. When Samaria had been taken by the Assyrians, other peoples were brought into the land of Israel to establish colonies in it. It was not so in the case of Judah. The land was left practically without inhabitants until the Jews returned. The chief purpose of removing a people from their own land seems to have been in the case of the Assyrians to have them become by union with Assyrians assimilated to this people, so that they would no longer show hostility to the power of the conquering king. At times they were allowed to remain distinct in the place to which they were taken, but by changing their location they would no longer be a source of danger.

2. Though Babylon maintained its supremacy in Mesopotamia about sixty - five years only, it was a considerable power. The city itself was made magnificent by Nebuchadnezzar; the country was defended by walls and canals; provision was made so that the river bed could be laid bare, or a large part of the country about Babylon could be flooded in case of an invasion. Most of the building was of brick, The wall of the city of Babylon was high and broad, and within this were two others around the king's palaces. The learning of the Babylonians was extensive; they were especially advanced in astronomical studies and in literature, This country had been peopled by the Accadians before the Shemites had predominated there, and this ancient people, though supplanted by their successors perhaps four thousand years before Christ, already had a most remarkable literature, which continued to be studied as a dead language by the help of grammars and lexicons by the Shemites. The extensive literature of Assyria was chiefly Babylonian. There is evidence of advanced commercial activities among the Babylonians at the time the Jews were there. It is claimed that banking was carried on by one firm to which all the financial business of the court was intrusted, and which perhaps consisted of Jews. It was among such a people that the Jews were taken.

3. There is but little definite information about the condition of the Jews while in captivity. While some of the leaders of those taken captive were probably kept as prisoners, or were persecuted by their captors, there is no evidence that the people generally were. Though at first compelled to stay there, when they had the opportunity to return to their own land many of them preferred to remain. Some of them had come to occupy positions of prominence, even positions of influence in the government. They were probably in colonies by themselves; they could assemble to hear the words of the prophets. Their religious beliefs were not interfered with.

4. There were two prophets especially active among the Jews in exile, Ezekiel and Daniel. The prophecies of Ezekiel, though delivered to the captives among whom he was living, and many of them before the final fall of Jerusalem, seem to have been intended not so much for his hearers as for the nation as a whole. His great work was to show them that they were to be punished by the destruction of their kingdom, and after the fall of Jerusalem to show that they were to be restored as a people to their own land. Thus he gives both warning and comfort. Daniel showed the Jews that their subjection to their enemies was to be but temporary; that the kingdom of God would yet prevail over all the world - powers that might oppose.

5. The religion of the Babylonians was polytheistic. They had many magnificent temples built for the worship of their gods. At first different gods had been worshiped at different places; afterward they were arranged in one system where some of them held higher rank than others. Images of these were placed in their temples, and a body of priests officiated at the sacrifices. The leaders in religious matters were divided into classes, skilled in soothsaying and in magic. The religious practices of the Babylonians were not so debasing as were those of the peoples surrounding Canaan, but their beliefs were far below the elevating ideas that had been taught to the Israelites.

6. Nebuchadnezzar was the most important king of Babylon; he reigned until 561 B. C. His son, Evil-Merodach, released Jehoiachin from prison when he became king, but reigned only about a year. The last Babylonian king was Nabonidus, who surrendered to Cyrus when he conquered Babylon, 538 B. C. Though Cyrus is usually called the Persian, he was an Elamite. He had conquered Media, then marched against Lydia and conquered Cresus, and continued his victorious career until he entered Babylon, overcoming all opposition. Belshazzar, son of the king of Babylon, was slain in defending the citadel. Cyrus seems to have been gladly welcomed by most of the inhabitants of Babylonia, and probably by none so gladly as by the Jews, who regarded him as their deliverer,

7. The events recorded in the book of Esther, though belonging to the period after the first return of the Jews from captivity, are useful in showing how the Jews were scattered throughout the various provinces of the Persian dominion; how many there were that did not return to their own land; and what an influence they were exerting among other peoples. The book is especially intended to show how God was caring for his people; how his providence guarded them from destruction. The king Ahasuerus named is identified with Xerxes the Great. His character given in the biblical account is in harmony with what is known of him from other sources.

Objections are advanced by some against the historical trustworthiness of Esther, but there is not sufficient ground for rejecting it. There is no need of discrediting a book simply because it records remarkable dealings of God with his people. It may seem romantic; so is very much besides that happened to the people of God at other times in their history.

8. The effect of the captivity upon the Jews can be traced to some extent in their subsequent conduct. They had not wandered so far from Jehovah as to be unable to understand the significance of the affliction that was sent upon them. They did not fall into the sin of idolatry again after the exile. They had come to see that the temple itself was not inviolable; that their land could be given up to devastation by enemies; that Jehovah would not tolerate wickedness among the Israelites because of the fact that they were his chosen people; that sacrifices were useless unless they truly symbolized the thoughts of the offerer. It is uncertain to what extent the religious ideas of the Jews were modified by their contact with the Babylonians and Persians. It is not very probable that they received any religious ideas of value from the Babylonians. The religion of the Persians was more exalted, and it is not impossible that ideas of immortality, of heaven, and of angelic beings held by these modified to some extent the thinking of the Jews, but the evidence is not clear.

It would seem to be the opinion of some that nearly all the principal doctrines held by the Jews that are of permanent worth were obtained by them from other peoples with whom they came in contact. Of course there can be no possible objection to the view that others besides the Israelites possessed some truths, but there is no necessity for supposing that the Israelites had to go to these peoples to get the truth. The fact that certain doctrines are held more clearly by the Jews in their later history does not prove that they had to wait to receive them from other nations.¹

SUMMARY.

1. Captivity common; Assyrian cruelty; no others brought into Judah. Purpose of removing conquered peoples.

2. The Babylonian power; literature of the Accadians; banking.

3. Condition of the Jews in exile; little persecution; some of them prominent; living by themselves.

4. Two prophets, Ezekiel and Daniel; special work of each.

5. Religious beliefs and practices of the Babylonians; polytheistic and idolatrous; not so debased as Canaanites.

6. Conquest of Babylon by Cyrus; Nabonidus king; Belshazzar, his son, killed.

7. Book of Esther of interest; Jews widely dispersed; Xerxes king; God's providence taught. Objections to the book not valid.

8. Effect of captivity upon the Jews; not again idolatrous; better estimation of temple and sacrifices; Babylonian and Persian views perhaps not of much effect. Jews did not have to get their religious views from other peoples.

1) See “Bampton Lectures,” 1889.