Judd - Chapter 22; The Fall of Judah and the Exile

By around 600 BCE, Babylon, with the help of the Medes, had recently conquered what mighty empire?

assyrian

Despite political and prophetic warnings of the repercussions of rebelling against Babylon, Judah formed an alliance with whom?

egypt

Despite political and prophetic warnings of the repercussions of rebelling against Babylon, Judah formed an alliance and the results were disastrous and Judah paid a steep price; Who conquered the land?

babylon

Despite political and prophetic warnings of the repercussions of rebelling against Babylon, Judah formed an alliance and The results were disastrous and Judah paid a steep price; What happened to Jewish elites?

deported

Despite political and prophetic warnings of the repercussions of rebelling against Babylon, Judah formed an alliance and The results were disastrous and Judah paid a steep price; Eventually what two things were destroyed?

jerusalem and temple

Despite political and prophetic warnings of the repercussions of rebelling against Babylon, Judah formed an alliance and The results were disastrous and Judah paid a steep price; This defeat was a major crisis for the Jewish people, who had to deal with what three issues?

1. How to worship God away from covenant land of Israel. 2. How to carry out the law of Moses without a temple 3. How to reorganize jewish leadershpi within the babylonian empire

Babylon and Judah, 597 BCE

When Egypt was defeated at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE, it looked as though Babylon would take over not only Syria and Canaan, but also what region?

egypt

After the death of Josiah (at the Battle of Megiddo in 609 BCE), his son Jehoiakim had been installed as a vassal king to whom?

necho

After Egypt’s defeat (at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE), Jehoiakim switched his allegiance and became a vassal to whom?

babylonians

When Babylon decided to not to invade Egypt, what did Jehoiakim do? Did Egyptian help ever materialize?

really with the egyptians. no

When the Babylonians forced the surrender of Jerusalem in 597 BCE they were exiled to Babylon the king of Judah and other elites, including what prophet? This is called the deportation.

ezekiel. first

After this initial defeat and deportation, who did Nebuchadnezzar install a new vassal king of Judah?

zedekiah

According to 2 Kings 24;10-17, the Babylonians carried away into Babylon many Judean elites (wealthy or skilled, such as; royalty, officials, warriors, artisans, smiths), but what class of people remained in the land?

poor

Jeremiah

What was Jeremiah’s lineage (i.e. priestly or non-priestly)? Jeremiah was a prophet starting from what king of Judah? …until ending with what king of Judah?

priestly. Josiah to zedekiah

In the Book of Jeremiah and later texts associated with Jeremiah, counsel is given for those in exile in Babylon to avoid the idolatry of their neighbors, while also doing what?

building up strong communities in their new lands

The Fall of Jerusalem, 586 BC

Before the first deportation of 597 BCE the Judahites had always considered the Jerusalem temple as what? …especially after they had survived what a century earlier?

invulnerable. Assyrian siege on jerusalem

After the first deportation in 597, Jeremiah increasingly warned against participating in alliances with whom? Did King Zedekiah follow Isaiah’s counsel?

egypt. no

Babylon’s response was quick and strong, invading southern Judah and besieging what two Judahite cities? …in a campaign similar to that which who had undertaken a century earlier?

azekah and lachish. Sennacherib the assyrian ruler

Once the Babylonians secured the southern part of Judah, what city became the primary target?

jerusalem

King Zedekiah tried to flee from Jerusalem, but what happened to him when he was caught?

forced to watch sons executed, blinded, carried to babylon.

Jerusalem finally fell in what year?

586

When Jerusalem fell in 586, What happened to more elites?

executed or exiled in babylon

When Jerusalem fell in 586, What were the religious and political uncertainties that faced the people of Judah at this crucial time?

promises of their fathers? Repair covenant relationship with God? Rule over sacred lands again?

The Lachish Ostraca

What are ostraca?

pottery with writings

The Lachish Ostraca/Letters date to the Babylonian campaign in Judah, not long before what?

the fall of jerusalem in 586

Near what location at Lachish were the ostraca found? There is evidence they were written where?

the city gate. Somewhere outside the city

Lachish Ostraca IV indicates the writer was in a place where it was possible to see what? From what two locations?

signal fires from lachish and azekah

What does the writer say about the signal fires at Azekah? …possibly meaning what?

no longer visible. Had fallen. And that lachish was next

What were probably the last two Judahite cities to fall before the siege of Jerusalem?

azekah and lachish

Evidence of Babylonian Siege

In the City of David’s Area G, some homes built on top of an earlier stone structure were probably built during the period of what?

refugee influx from israel during the earlier assyrian invasion

In the City of David’s Area G, The “Burnt Room” includes a destruction layer from the Babylonian period with a large number of what?

arrowheads and charred remains of furniture

Most documents of importance in Judah were written on what material?

papyrus

Important documents in Judah when archived or sent, were folded and then sealed with what?

lumps of clay impressed with a seal carved with semipreciosu stone

The seal on Important documents in Judah would usually bear whose name?

the sender or proprietor

Is it more common to find ancient seals or ancient clay impressions?

clay impressions

What are ancient clay impressions for seals called?

bullae

Among the seal impressions discovered in the Area G, are names of persons noted in what Bible book?

jeremiah

The Biblical Account of the Destruction of Jerusalem

According to the account of the fall of Jerusalem in 2 Kings 25, the Babylonians carried many people (mostly elites) into exile but left the poorest people of the land for what purpose?

vinedressers and tillers of the soil

The Province of Yehud

Because of the political upheaval following the destruction of Jerusalem, many Jews fled toward where?

toward egypt

Because of the political upheaval following the destruction of Jerusalem, many Jews fled and the people left behind in the province of Yehud began to be known as what?

people of the land

Because of the political upheaval following the destruction of Jerusalem, many Jews fled and the people who were taken to Babylon who were known as what?

people of the exile

Because it was the mostly the elite who were deported to Babylon, how did they feel toward the people who had been left in the province of Yehud?

superior

Unlike the earlier Assyrians, what did the Babylonians not do in their deportations?

import other people to replace deported people

Because of the political and population vacuum in southern Judah, what group moved into that region? They later became known as what? What happened to them during the Hasmonean period? Whose family was from this group?

edomites. Idumeans. Forcibly converted to judaism. herod

The Samaritans

The Samaritans were a mixed group, resulting from intermarriages between what two groups of people?

imported assyrians and left over israelites.

Their intermarriages proved difficult in the relationships between the Jews and the Samaritans, because the Samaritans considered themselves what? …but the Jews considered them what?

folloewers of the mosaic law. Impure and apostate

The rift between the two groups was magnified when the returning Jews did what? …and the Jewish Hasmoneans under John Hyrcanus did what?

spurned the samaritans help to rebuild the temple. Destroyed the samaritan temple

Life in Exile

When given the chance to return to the province of Yehud decades later, many of the Judahite elite in Babylon decided to do what?

stay.

A significant Babylonian Jewish community remained in Mesopotamia for centuries, as evidence by a separate collection of Jewish traditions and laws known as what?

the babylonian talmud

What do the book of Jeremiah (and 2 Kings 25) and a Babylonian text (found near the Ishtar gates) both mention about the Judahite king while in Babylon?

treatment was good for him.

Some of the (non-royal) Jewish exiles were property owners with what?

slaves and plantations

In the Murashu tablets (Babylonian financial records on cuneiform tablets), what is true of none of the documents containing Hebrew names? …thereby indicating what?

none were signed on the sabbath or festival days. Ability to maintain unique customs and stay faithful

References to Jews with higher-status jobs in Babylon confirms biblical accounts that mention what about exilic Jews?

enough wealth to contribute to the building of the temple

Which book of the Bible records challenges that Jews in Babylon faced regarding dietary issues, prayer, revelation, and idolatry?

daniel

In his letter to the exiles, what does Jeremiah encourage exiles to do? Why?

set up a good life in babylon. 70 years before they could return

Jewish Exile in Egypt

The majority of the Judahite exiles were taken to what place? But some fled instead to what place? Those who fled also dragged along what reluctant refugee? Once there, what did Jeremiah prophesy to the Jews? Presumably, what happened to Jeremiah?

babyloina. Fled to egypt. Jeremiah. Nebuchadneszzar would conquer the region and many killed or taken. Died in egypt.

Some Jews in Egypt established a garrison on Elephantine Island in the Nile River and built what? …and practiced what?

temple for Yahweh. Sacrifices and ritual worship.

By the time of Jesus, there were probably about a million Jews living in each of what three locations?

egypt palestine babylonia

Ezekiel

What was Ezekiel’s lineage (i.e. priestly or non-priestly)?

priestly

During which deportation was Ezekiel taken to Babylon?

first

The Effects of the Exile on Later Judaism

It is during the Exile that we first start calling the people of Judah what? …rather than what?

jews vs. juahites

Because Judah came to realize that it had broken its covenant with God, resulting in the loss of their temple and their land, what did not seem to affect later Jews as it had their ancestors?

idolatry

Although future claimants to the throne would arise, Davidic descendants would never do what again?

independently rule again

Were the Hasmoneans of the century BCE of Davidic descent?

no

As a result of the Exile, what became a common language among the Jews?

aramaic

As Ezra and Nehemiah determined who should belong within their post-exilic Jewish community, they eschewed (renounced) what? …and rejected what?

intermarriages. The helping hands of samaritans.

Even though Jews were at first forced to live away from Canaan, many Jews in foreign lands freely chose to do what? This willingness contributed to the mentality that a Jew could, in fact, do what? Remain in foregin lands. Live religion in the diaspora

What does the word Diaspora mean?

dispersion