Historical and Archaeological Study of the Exile of Judah

.INTRODUCTION

            “How lonely sits the city, that once was full of people. How like a widow she has become,

she that was great among the nations. She that was a princess among the provinces has become a

vassal. She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no

one to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her

enemies. Judah had gone into exile with suffering and hard servitude; she lives now among the

nations, and finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress”

Lamentations 1: 1-3.

Anything that affects Israel affects the nations and the world. God has a program for the

Jews and the Gentiles alike, and because of this anything that happens to them is relevant to all of

us. Studying the events of the Bible in light of archaeological finds opens our eyes to the full reality

of the Bible as history. We are able to look at the character of God through his dealings with his

people, and get a wider view of his truth.

We are going to look at their journey through disobedience and subsequently exile to

Babylonia through the eyes of archaeologists. They look at the lives of people through the things

they have created. “The results of all of these excavations and surveys clearly affirm that

Judah was almost destroyed and that its Jewish population disappeared from most of the kingdoms

territory (except, perhaps, for the area of Benjamin).[1] Archaeology has not proved every detail in

the Bible, but it has substantiated many parts of it. “The Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem is, no

doubt, an important historical event. For scholars, this date usually marks the end of the period of

the Monarchy or even the end of the Iron Age and the beginning of the exilic period.”[2]

THE COVENANT AND THE PROPHETS

            The people of Israel were in covenant with God. A covenant is similar to a contract, and  

it is always a good idea to read a contract completely. You need to be fully aware of what you

have agreed to, and penalties that will be applied if the terms are not followed. The covenant

promised blessing if the people maintained their contractual duty which was, “You shall have no

other Gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image.” In fact the Ten

Commandments (Deuteronomy5:6-22). It was laid out in detail with all the blessings and curses

in Deuteronomy 28. “They would be blessed coming in and going out. They would be the head

and not the tail. They would be above only and not beneath, but disobedience would bring

judgment and exile.” Continuing in apostasy and idolatry would seal the judgment. God gives us

choices, but advises us to “choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

PROPHETS WARNINGS

            God began to send warnings by his prophets a century and a half before the judgment

fell. Micah warned the people to change their ways. “Be in pain, and labor to bring

forth, O daughter of Zion, Like a woman in birth pangs. For now you shall go forth from the city,

You shall dwell in the field, And to Babylon you shall go. There you shall be delivered; There

the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemy” (Micah 4:10).The Lord may give the

warning, and bring judgment, but he does not leave his people without hope.

ISAIAH

            Isaiah would also give warnings. Isaiah 1:3 says, “The ox knows its owner, and the

donkey its masters crib; But Israel does not know, my people do not consider.” Judah was like a

rebellious child. Isaiah called heaven and earth to witness. God had cared for them, and

nourished them and yet they would rebel. Even an ox and a donkey know who feeds them, and

does not rebel against their owner. “In Isaiah 44:9-20 the idolaters are ridiculed. Not the idol but

the worshippers are the object of laughter. They are emptiness, who see nothing and know

nothing. They are shamed, less than human (v 11), a mind deceived.”[3]Man will take a log and

burn half of it to keep warm and cook his food, and the other half he carves into an object that he

bows down to worship. It is a sad portrayal of uselessness and hopelessness. Isaiah 44:24-28

gives hope. God never leaves them hopeless.

JEREMIAH

            Jeremiah felt very deeply his call to be a prophet. He anguishes over the message he must

take to the people. His was a message of judgment, but not without hope. “Jeremiah was deeply

conscious of the covenant ratified at Mount Sinai between God and Israel and succinctly

summarized in the formula, “ I will be your God, and you will be my people” (Jeremiah

7:23; 11:4; 24:27). Painfully aware that Israel and Judah had broken that covenant, Jeremiah

looked forward to a new covenant that would mark the restoration of Israel to divine favor.”[4]

EZEKIEL

            Ezekiel was in Babylon where he was taken captive with Jehoiachin and other Hebrews

in 593-571 B.C. He was giving God’s message in Babylon at the same time Jeremiah was

proclaiming God’s message in Jerusalem. God had his prophets in the places he needed them to

proclaim his message of judgment and of hope. He instructed them to settle in for the long haul,

and to marry and produce children, so their population would grow and not decrease. They were

to have gardens, and be a positive force where they were. Jeremiah told them that they would be

seventy years in exile, but God also had him give them hope. They would be returned home one

day. God would deliver them out of the hands of their enemy.

            Ezekiel lived and prophesied in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chebar. “Now it

came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was

among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw a vision of God”

(Ezekiel 1:1). Archaeological excavations have determined that the river Chebar is the canal

Kabar in central Babylonia It runs between Babylon and Nippu. It would seem that in the

cuneiform the word that indicates river can also indicate canal.

            There was an expedition in 1880-1900 that unearthed several thousand clay tablets.

Peters, Hayes and Hilprecht headed the expedition. It is unclear how close the exiles were to this

area. Ezekiel was in Tel Abib.” Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the river

Chebar; and I sat where they sat, and remained there among them astonished seven days”

(Ezekiel 3:15). This area is thought to be the modern Tel Aviv.

Daniel

            Daniel’s writings affirm the majesty of God, and the fact the he is overall. He is in

control of the nations of the world, and works out his purpose among them. He raises and brings

low as he will, and he never forgets his people. History would continue on until God judged the

Gentile nations, and set up his kingdom. He preserves and restores his people. God used Daniel

in the midst of the pagan rulers. Daniel remained a servant of the Most High God through several

rulers. God always places a light even in the darkest places.

Habakkuk

            Habakkuk condemns three central ideas of the Babylonian creed: “The king rules by

divine fiat; that the one way flow of material wealth and captives into Babylonia results from the

recognition of Babylon’s greatness by subject peoples; and that the king honors his deities by

building projects. Habakkuk’s assessment: The king is actually a blasphemous fool; he is a looter

who violently dislocates populations without regard for their well-being; and he is the author of

building projects that he thinks please his God, but which only emphasize his corruption.”[5]  God

still remains sovereign, “But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before

him” (Habakkuk 2:20).

            Habakkuk questions God on the reason evil goes unpunished, and then how God who is

righteous can allow the wicked to punish his people? God does answer him. God will hold all

nations and people accountable for their actions. He will set up his kingdom, and the righteous

will find rest.

SEVENTH CENTURY B.C.E.

            Judah prospered during the late seventh century although it was a time of political unrest.

Archaeologists have found biblical and non-biblical texts from this time period which make it

possible to create a vivid picture of the historical and political back ground. Archaeological

discoveries from sites in the 1970’s have provided artifacts from the late seventh century. One

important text is the Antiquities of the Jews written by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.

Other non-biblical text that have been found are Egyptian Historical Text, Assyrian Annals, and

Babylonian Chronicles. “Despite some gaps, the Chronicles provide precise dates for events

pertaining to the Neo Babylonian Empire (625-539). Donald Wiseman has made an invaluable

contribution to biblical history by deciphering and translating several of these Babylonian texts.

Other contemporary written materials consist of bullae (seals impressions) from Jerusalem and

elsewhere as well as ostraca (inscribed potsherds) from the fortified town of Lachish and the

border fortress of Arad. The inscriptions illuminate the political, social, economic, and religious

situation in Judah in the late seventh and early sixth century.”[6]       

            Jerusalem was not destroyed, and continued to prosper in the seventh century as did the

Judean Desert and Negev. The majority of the settlement of Jerusalem was during this period.

“The common view among archaeologists is that the Babylonian conquest was a significant

event that led to a collapse and left the area in desolation. King and Stager wrote about the

Babylonian “scorched-earth policy” (2001, 251-58), and added, “clearly the population of Judah

was severely diminished. West of the Jordon it is difficult not only to find a settlement site that

continues to be occupied during the period (586-525 B.C.E.), but also to point to individual

artifacts to fill the gap.”[7]

            I would like to clarify the full impact of the scorched-earth policy. It is a military strategy

that is used to devastate the enemy. It can be used when advancing or withdrawing from an area.

Any assets that could be useful to the enemy are destroyed. It would include things like food,

water, transportation, etc. Stalin used it in the Second World War as did Sherman and many

others through the centuries. It has been banned by the Geneva Convention, but is still a common

practice. “It is difficult to speak of continuity and prosperity after the Babylonian campaign.”[8]

The prosperity that had been enjoyed in the seventh century B.C.E. ended with the Babylonian

invasion of 586 B.C.E. The area of Benjamin appeared to sustain a lesser amount of destruction.

“The Babylonians had no interest in supervising the local economies, or in potential benefits to

be derived from direct management of them. They were interested in receiving tribute, but

apparently periodic (initially annual) campaigning ensured this, not a systematic bureaucratic

presence.”[9]     

The devastation of 586 B.C.E. ended the Iron Age II. This date has been challenged by

Gabriel Barkay who feels that a material culture would not end that abruptly. “He claims that

biblical descriptions of the destruction and its impact strongly influenced archaeological thinking

and hence, historic periodization….the process by which the Iron Age material culture changed

was much slower, and hence the point in time when the traditional Iron Age assemblages ended

should be later.”[10]

SIXTH CENTURY B.C.E.

            There would appear to be two schools of thought on the period after the Babylonian

campaign. One school of thought was that it was an ‘empty land’. The Babylonians used the

scorched earth policy which is total devastation, but the Babylonians would have targeted the

fortress cities. They would have destroyed as they passed through the smaller more

rural areas. The problem with this theory is that there were at least three deportations, and still

people living in the area. Gedaliah was left in charge by the Babylonians. This would have been

in 586 B.C.E. Archaeologists are unable to find a difference between the late seventh century and

the early and mid sixth century’s material cultures. 

            The second school of thought would be that the area continued as it did before. They

believe in the theory of continuity. There was a lack of Greek pottery which would imply that

there was little or no trade between the Mediterranean and Judah during the sixth century, so it

would appear a middle ground was actually where the area of Judah was. There were people

living there, but they were not as prosperous as before.

THE FIRST DEPORTATION

            The first deportation would have been in 605B.C.E. This is the one in which Daniel and

others were carried to Babylon. “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah,

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it (Daniel 1:1). It was at this

point in time that Daniel and other young men of the king’s descendants and nobles were taken.

(Daniel 1:3).

Scholars do not question the second and third deportation, but are skeptical about

the deportation of 605B.C.E. The book of Kings does not have anything to say about this, and so

it leaves it open for debate. There are certain Babylonian records that would make this seem very

possible. There was a Babylonian priest by the name of Berossus who wrote of this time period,

and spoke of such a campaign. Josephus quotes him. “Nabuchodonosor, as soon as he had

received intelligence of his father’s death, set in order the affairs of Egypt and the other

countries, and committed to some of his faithful officers the captives he had taken from the Jews,

Phoenicians, and Syrians, and other nations belonging to Egypt, that they might conduct them

with that part of the forces which had heavy armor, together with the rest of his baggage, to

Babylonia:[11] The Babylonians did not deport the people living in an area, and then send other

people into the area to replace them. They would place them in Babylonia.

SECOND AND THIRD DEPORTATIONS

            “At the site of Tell ed-Duweir, generally identified with ancient Lachish, twenty-two

inscribed ostraca were found belonging to the last years of Judah (see Text XVI). Apparently

dated before Nebuchadnezzar’s actual invasion, some refer to the preparation for battle, the use

of fire signals, the employment of codes for communicating between towns, the sending of a 

delegation to Egypt, concern for the harvest, difference of opinion between the population over

strategy and the forth coming conflict, and the presence of prophets.”[12]

Nebuchadnezzar and his servants besieged Jerusalem. This was the eighth year of his

reign. Jehoiachin was reigning, and Jeremiah 22:24 was fulfilled as the king and his family were

taken to Babylon. “And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord and

the treasures of the king’s house, and he cut in pieces all the articles of gold which Solomon king

of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said.” (II Kings 24:13) This would

be the siege of 597 B.C.E. Daniel 1:2 says that part of the treasures from the house of God were

removed in the first deportation. 

            II Kings 24:14-16 says, “And also he carried into exile all Jerusalem: all the captains and

the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained

except the poorest people of the land…All the valiant men, seven thousand, and craftsmen and

smiths, one thousand, all who were strong and fit for war, these the king of  Babylon brought

captive to Babylon.” He placed Mattaniah on Judah’s throne changing his name to Zedekiah.

            “Archaeological excavations of Judean sites show evidence of destruction which scholars

have related to Nebuchadnezzar’s campaigns. Evidence for destruction extends from Tell ed-

Duweir (Lachish) in the west, to Arad in the south, to En-gedi in the east. This is not to suggest

that every city was left in ruins. Primarily those cities which served as fortress towns would have

been the most likely targets for the Babylonians.”[13] With their leader gone and the men of war

exiled one is forced to assume the worst. Their possessions would have become the spoils of war.

There would have been little left. They had been concerned about the harvest. There would have

been a shortage of all the things necessary for life. This would have been the second military

invasion. There would not only have been the lose of the necessities of life, but of life itself.  

They would have had to bury the dead. It would have been an impossible situation. War brings

famine and epidemics.

It is amazing how resilient people can be. They survived, and they begin to

prosper to some extent under Zedekiah, but he rebelled against the king of Babylon,  Zedekiah

reigned until 586 B.C.E. He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah where he was forced to

watch his sons be killed and his eyes were put out, and he was taken to Babylon in fetters. (II

Kings 25: 1-7)

Nebuzaradan was sent to Jerusalem to destroy it in the nineteenth year of

Nebuchadnezzar’s reigned. Jerusalem’s walls would lay in ruin for a century and a half.

He carried off the rest of the treasures, and took the priests and city officials to Nebuchadnezzar

at Riblah where they were killed. There would be less chance of more rebellions with all of the

officials gone both religious and civil.  “Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away

captive the rest of the people who remained in the city and the defectors who had deserted to the

king of Babylon, with the rest of the multitude. But the captain of the guard left some of the poor

of the land as vinedressers and farmers (II Kings 25:11-12). Jehoiakim’s rebellion was put down

in 602 B.C.E. Jehoiachin was exiled in 597 B.C.E., and Zedekiah’s rebellion was put down and

Jerusalem destroyed in 586 B.C.E.

            “Some people remained in Judah after 582, and there are consequently some

archaeological materials from this period, as Barstad has reiterated. “There is, however, a

significant occupational gap at many sites that the Babylonians had destroyed, as even a

cursory survey of those sites indicates.”[14] The area of Benjamin would appear to have had less

destruction in it. In fact Gedaliah’s headquarters were in Mizpah which was in the territory of

Benjamin. It would appear that there was a Babylonian presence in that area however small.

“The m(w)sh impressions are potentially of interest for assessing the problem of Judah’s status in

the mid sixth century. Thirty of the forty-two exemplars of this stamp type come from Tell en-

Nasbeh…If these stamps reflect economic activity in the region during the Babylonian period, it

is noteworthy that their distribution is confined to a very limited radius.”[15]This would keep them

within the territory of Benjamin.

LIFE OF THE PEOPLE

            The people commonly lived in four room houses. Burial was carried out in a specific

way. It was the way their society flowed. “Both marker of life and death, however, disappear

from the archaeological record during the sixth century .In the early phases after the destruction

there is evidence that some of the few who remained clung to these habits (i.e., using such tombs

and houses), but as time progressed these habits became meaningless without the entire social

system they were a part of, and therefore ceased to be practiced.”[16] The idealogy of the family

would have taken a blow, and probably did not exist as it had before. Many had died, and other

exiled, and the families were split, and no longer functioned as a whole.

              

LIFE IN EXILE IN BABYLONIA

            The Babylonians took the people they had captured to the heartland of their country.

“This explains the phenomenon whereby settlements, especially in the vicinity of Nippur, were

named after the ethnicon or place of origin of the exiles settled in them.”[17] According to Ezekiel

and Isaiah the people lived in the city of Babylon and in its countryside. The people were placed

in undeveloped areas around newly dug canals according to Ezekiel who also was exiled there.

            Jeremiah gave them favorable word from God, “Build houses

and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce; take wives and have sons and daughters;

take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and

daughters; multiply there and do not decrease. And seek the peace of the city where I have

caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have

peace”(Jeremiah 29:5-7). It would appear that they followed Gods instructions, because many of

them had prospered, and were unwilling to leave when the door opened for their return.

             “Archaeological evidence demonstrates the favorable conditions that God promised

Judah’s inhabitants in Babylon. ‘In 1933, E.F. Weidner, the Assyriologist, took in hand to look

through the tablets and shreds in the basement rooms of the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum…Among

the dull administrative rubbish Weidner suddenly found some priceless relics of red tape in the

ancient world. On four different receipts for stores issued, among them best quality sesame oil,

he came upon a familiar biblical name:  ‘Ja’-u-kinu’nJehoiachin! There was no possibility of his

name being mistaken, because Jehoiachin was given his full title: king of the land of

Judah’…Jehoiachin, the deposed king of Judah, lived with his family and retinue in the palace of

Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. We may conclude from Weidner’s discovery that the biblical

account in Second Book of Kings may be supplemented: ‘And for his diet, there was a continual

diet given him from the king of Babylona, everyday a portion, until the day of his death, all the

days of his life’ (Jeremiah 52:34)” (Werner, The Bible as History, 1980, pp. 303-304).”[18]

            Their exile to Babylonia was not the terrible time that they had in Egypt. They were

given some freedom even if they were not completely free, and they were an enterprising people.

They built a life in the land of exile, and some prospered there. “As clay tablets of commercial

documents in the fifth century B.C. show, even after the end of the exile, the Babylonian banks

were firmly in the hands of the Jews. There was one Jewish banker whose firm, Bank of

Marashu & Sons, had greatly expanded into real estate business. Its headquarters in nearby

Nippur, and approximately 200 branches throughout the country!” (Babylon, quoted in Editorial

EDAF, 1980, p70).”[19]

PRESENT DAY INTERESTS

            There are many conflicts that are focused on the Holy Land. The focus for many is the

Holy City, Jerusalem, the center of the world. There are archaeologist that consider themselves

to be in a national fight. Their goal is to prove that the Davidic Kingdom existed. They have been

searching for decades. “The excavations in the “City Of David” (Called in propaganda terms)

have been handed over to Ateret Cohanim, an ultra-nationalistic religious society, building in the

provocative parts of the town. Also Israeli archaeologists protest against the way of research-

only subject is to find proofs supporting the claim for the temple mount. On the other hand

Palestinians see themselves and their history pushed away and ignored.” [20]

CONCLUSION

            The nation of Israel is important to the world. It is the place our eyes are always turned

even today. It can never be any different it was through that nation, the nation of God’s chosen

people that salvation came. God has his hand on them even as he has on the Gentiles as he works

out his plan for the world as a whole. We can look at their journey through the eyes of the Bible

and archaeology and find hope. God never left his children without hope. He was with them

every step of the way. He even opened opportunities for them in some of their darkest times.

Jeremiahs instructions to them in 29:5-7. We need to occupy until he returns, and using Christ as

an example we should “be about our Father’s work”. We are to further his kingdom here, and to

do so we must walk close to him. We must always keep our eyes on him, and never turn away.

            We can look at the failings of his people, and learn from their mistakes. We can also

learn from the things they did right. We can look at our own country through the eyes of God and

his prophets, and bow a knee before him. We must pray that the eye of the people will be opened

and hearts prepared to receive before we also find that it is too late, and we have gone beyond

our ability to change and return to the God of our youth.

                                                         BIBLIOGRAPHY

Faust,Avraham. Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period: The Archeology of Desolation. Atlanta, GA. The Society of Biblical Literature. 2012.

Feldbacher, Rainer. 2013.”Area of Conflict Archaeology and its implication in the Holy Land” Journal of the World of Archeology Congress. 10.1007/s11759-013-9221-8. Accessed: April 10, 2014. http://link.springer.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/article/10.1007/s117…

Finkelstein, Israel and Neil Asher Silberman. The Bible Unearthed. New York. Simon and Schuster. 2001.

Hare, John Bruno, “Internet Sacred Text Archive” 2010. Accessed: May 1, 2014. www.sacred-text.com

King, Philip J. Jeremiah: An Archaeological Companion. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/John Knox Press.1993

Miller J. Maxwell and John H. Hayes. A History of Ancient Israel and Judah. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press.1986.

Seiglie, Mario, “The Downfall of Judah: Exile to Babylon” United Church of God, An International Association. 1999-2014. Accessed:  April 22, 2014. www.churhofgodtwincities.org/lit/gn/gno2o/downfall.html

Stern, Ephraim. 2004. “The Babylonian Gap: The Archaeological Reality, “Journal for Study of the Old Testament.28, no 3. Accessed April 8, 2014.

Vanderhooft, David Stephen. The Neo-Babylonian Empire and Babylon in the Later Prophets. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press.1999.

[1]               Ephraim Stern, “The Babylonian Gap: The Archaeological Reality,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 28, no. 3 (2004): 276.                                                                                                          

[2]               Avraham Faust, Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period: The Archaeology of Desolation (GA: The Society of Biblical Literature, 2012), 1.

[3]               John D.W.Watts, Word Biblical Commentary: Isaiah 34-66 (Texas: Word Books, Publisher, 1987), Vol. 25, 145.

[4]               Philip J. King, Jeremiah: An Archaeological Companion (Kentucky: Westminster and John Knox Press, 1993), 10.

[5]               David Stephen Vanderhooft, The Neo-Babylonian Empire and Babylon in the Latter Prophets (Georgia: Scholars Press, 1999), 163.

[6]               Philip J. King, Jeremiah: An Archeological Companion (Kentucky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993), 15.

[7]               Avraham Faust, Judah in Neo-Babylonian Period: The Archaeology of Desolation (Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature, 2012), 9.

[8] Ibid., 166.

[9]               David Stephen Vanderhooft, The Neo-Babylonian Empire and Babylon in the Latter Prophets (Georgia: Scholars Press, 1999), 111.

[10] Ibid.,11.

[11]             John Bruno Hare, Internet Sacred Text Archive. 2010. www.sacred-texts.com.

[12]             J. Maxwell Miller and John H. Hayes, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1986), 417.

[13]             J. Maxwell Miller and John H. Hayes, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1986), 416-417.

[14]             David Stephen Vanderhooft,The Neo-Babylonian Empire and Babylon in the Latter Prophets (Geogia: Scholars Press, 1999), 106.

[15] Ibid., 107-108.

[16]             Avraham Faust, Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period: The Archaeology of Desolation (Georgia: Society of Biblical Literature, 2012), 245.

[17]             David Stephen Vanderhooft, The Neo-Babylonian Empire and Babylon in the Latter Prophets(Georgia: Scholars Press, 1999), 110.

[18]              Mario Seiglie, The Downfall of Judah: Exile to Babylon. 1999-2014 United Church of God, An International Association. www.churchofgodtwincities.org/lit/gn/gnoso/downfall.html

[19] Ibid,. 5.

[20]             Rainer Feldbacher, “Area of Conflict: Archaeology and its Implication in the Holy Land” Journal of the World of Archaeology Congress. 10.1007/s11759-013-9221-8. http://link.springer.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu2048/article/10.1007/s117... 16.