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, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he deported them to Assyria.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria. And he placed them in Halah, and in Habor by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
And it happened in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, the seventh year 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 to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.
And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother, and his servants, and his leaders, and his eunuchs. And the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
And he burned the house of Jehovah, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem. And every great one's house he burned with fire.
And Nebuchadnezzar carried away some of the vessels of the house of Jehovah to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.
And when the year had ended, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the valuable vessels of the house of Jehovah. And he made his brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.
And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king, and of his rulers, he brought all these to Babylon.
And the chiefs of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, and all whose spirit God had raised, rose up to go up to build the house of Jehovah which is in Jerusalem.
And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
From me was made a decree that everyone of the people of Israel, and their priests and Levites in my kingdom, who desire of their own free will to go up to Jerusalem, go with you;
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger! And the staff in their hand is My fury. I will send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people of My wrath. I will command him to take the plunder, and to strip off the spoil, and to trample them like the mud of the streets.
The Word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah. It was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon;
But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations (where they had been driven) to dwell in the land of Judah; men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the chief of the executioners had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah. read more. So they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of JehovahORD. So they came to Tahpanhes.
In those days, and at that time, says Jehovah, the sons of Israel shall come, they and the sons of Judah together, going and weeping. They shall go and seek Jehovah their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces there, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to Jehovah in an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten.
Israel is a scattered sheep, driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon crunched his bones. So Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says this: Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. read more. And I will again bring Israel to his home, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead. In those days, and at that time, says Jehovah, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and it shall not be found; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.
So says Jehovah of Hosts: The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah were oppressed together. And all who captured them held them fast; they refused to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah of Hosts, is His name. He shall thoroughly plead their cause, so that he may give rest to the land, and give trouble to the people of Babylon. read more. A sword is on the Chaldeans, says Jehovah, and on the people of Babylon, and on her rulers, and on her wise men.
This is the people whom Nebuchadnezzar exiled: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Jews; in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he exiled from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty-two persons; read more. in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the chief of the executioners exiled seven hundred and forty-five persons of the Jews. All the persons were four thousand and six hundred.
And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god. And he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.