Babylonish Captivity

Babylonish Captivity, the deportation, under Nebuchadnezzar, of a large portion of the principal inhabitants of Judah, after the fall of the city of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. A large number of the inhabitants of Judah had been already carried off to Babylon in 597, when Zedekiah had become king over the remainder. It was not long before these excited the anger of the powerful Chaldean king, and the second capture of the city and captivity of the inhabitants put an end to the kingdom of Judah. They were carried to Babylon, and there they remained in tolerable comfort for 56 years, though the duration of the Captivity is usually reckoned at 70 years, dating from the earlier captivity. Many of them acquired property, and even riches; some were called to court, and even raised to high offices in the state. They were allowed the free exercise of their religion, and here Ezekiel and the unknown author of the last part of the book of Isaiah gave hope to the spiritual aspirations of the despondent people. When Cyrus overthrew the Babylonian empire (538 B.C.), he allowed the Jews to return to their own country, but only 42,360 of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi are said to have returned. They found the depopulated territory occupied with a mixed population from the surrounding tribes and the residue of the Jewish population; and with the religious isolation they had learned in Babylon, refused to recognise these as members of their own community. See JEWS.—The name is frequently applied in church history to the exile of the popes at Avignon from 1309-77.