Reference: Exile
Easton
(1.) Of the kingdom of Israel. In the time of Pekah, Tiglath-pileser II. carried away captive into Assyria (2Ki 15:29; comp. Isa 10:5-6) a part of the inhabitants of Galilee and of Gilead (B.C. 741).
After the destruction of Samaria (B.C. 720) by Shalmaneser and Sargon (q.v.), there was a general deportation of the Israelites into Mesopotamia and Media (2Ki 17:6; 18:9; 1Ch 5:26). (See Israel, Kingdom of.)
(2.) Of the kingdom of the two tribes, the kingdom of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Jer 25:1), invaded Judah, and carried away some royal youths, including Daniel and his companions (B.C. 606), together with the sacred vessels of the temple (2Ch 36:7; Da 1:2). In B.C. 598 (Jer 52:28; 2Ki 24:12), in the beginning of Jehoiachin's reign (2Ki 24:8), Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive 3,023 eminent Jews, including the king (2Ch 36:10), with his family and officers (2Ki 24:12), and a large number of warriors (16), with very many persons of note (14), and artisans (16), leaving behind only those who were poor and helpless. This was the first general deportation to Babylon.
In B.C. 588, after the revolt of Zedekiah (q.v.), there was a second general deportation of Jews by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 52:29; 2Ki 25:8), including 832 more of the principal men of the kingdom. He carried away also the rest of the sacred vessels (2Ch 36:18). From this period, when the temple was destroyed (2Ki 25:9), to the complete restoration, B.C. 517 (Ezr 6:15), is the period of the "seventy years."
In B.C. 582 occurred the last and final deportation. The entire number Nebuchadnezzar carried captive was 4,600 heads of families with their wives and children and dependants (Jer 52:30; 43:5-7; 2Ch 36:20, etc.). Thus the exiles formed a very considerable community in Babylon.
When Cyrus granted permission to the Jews to return to their own land (Ezr 1:5; 7:13), only a comparatively small number at first availed themselves of the privilege. It cannot be questioned that many belonging to the kingdom of Israel ultimately joined the Jews under Ezra, Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah, and returned along with them to Jerusalem (Jer 50:4-5,17-20,33-35).
Large numbers had, however, settled in the land of Babylon, and formed numerous colonies in different parts of the kingdom. Their descendants very probably have spread far into Eastern lands and become absorbed in the general population. (See Judah, Kingdom of; Captivity.)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried the people captive to Assyria.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried the Israelites away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes.
In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it.
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began his three-month reign in Jerusalem. His mother was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
Jehoiachin king of Judah surrendered to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, princes, and palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign.
He burned the house of the Lord, the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down.
Nebuchadnezzar also took some of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his temple or palace there.
In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and made Zedekiah the [boy's] brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.
And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the Lord's house, of the king, and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon.
Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites, with all those whose spirits God had stirred up, to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord in Jerusalem.
And this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
I make a decree that all of the people of Israel and of their priests and Levites in my realm, who offer freely to go up to Jerusalem, may go with you.
Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of My anger, the staff in whose hand is My indignation and fury [against Israel's disobedience]! I send [the Assyrian] against a hypocritical and godless nation and against the people of My wrath; I command him to take the spoil and to seize the prey and to tread them down like the mire in the streets.
The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah -- "which was the first year of the reign of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon -- "
But Johanan son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to dwell in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven -- " Even men, women, and children, the king's daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan; also he took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah. read more. So they came into the land of Egypt -- "for they obeyed not the voice of the Lord. And they came to Tahpanhes.
In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall come up weeping as they come and seek the Lord their God [inquiring for and of Him and requiring Him, both by right of necessity and of the promises of God's Word]. They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces in that direction, saying, Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.
Israel is a hunted and scattered sheep [driven hither and thither and preyed upon by savage beasts]; the lions have chased him. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has broken and gnawed his bones. Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will visit and punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I visited and punished the king of Assyria. read more. And I will bring Israel [home] again to his fold and pasturage, and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan [in the most fertile districts both west and east], and his soul will be satisfied upon the hills of Ephraim and Gilead. In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel will be sought, but there will be none, and the sins of Judah [will be sought], but none will be found, for I will pardon those whom I cause to remain as a remnant (the preserved ones who come forth after a long tribulation).
Thus says the Lord of hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; all who took them captive have held them fast; they refuse to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is His name. He will surely and thoroughly plead their case and defend their cause, that He may give rest to [the land of Israel and to the Babylonian-enslaved nations of] the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon. read more. A sword upon the Chaldeans, says the Lord -- "upon the inhabitants of Babylon and upon her princes (rulers in civic matters) and upon her wise men (the astrologers and rulers in religious affairs)!
This is the number of people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar, he carried away captive from Jerusalem 832 persons; read more. In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the [Babylonian] guard carried away captive of the Jews 745 persons. All the persons were 4,600.
And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with a part of the vessels of the house of God; and he carried them into the land of Shinar [Babylonia] to the house of his god and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god.