The destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem and the Babylonian Exile were a great catastrophe in the history of the Jewish Nation. What really happened during that dark, fateful age, and how did new opportunities arise from the ashes?
Introduction to Week 3
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From the course by Tel Aviv University
The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem
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From the lesson
The Days of the Destruction of Jerusalem
This module deals with Zedekiah's rebellion and the destruction of Judah.You are invited to watch the following units and learn about the Egyptian intervention, the reasons for Zedekiah's revolt, and the history of the destruction of Judah.
Meet the Instructors
Professor Oded Lipschits, Ph.D.Director, Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology
Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Near Eastern Cultures
Welcome back.
In this part of the course, I will reconstruct the historical events
that led to the fall of Jerusalem after the revolt of King Zedekiah,
as stated in II Book of Kings 24:20.
[FOREIGN] Already in this introduction,
I would like to make it clear that in order to understand these events,
one should not think only in terms of cold political decisions,
signing treaties in the right geopolitical timing, and
entering into an alliance with strong allies after rational consideration.
One of the main reasons for
the decisions made in Jerusalem at the eve of the revolt and
during the period before the destruction of Jerusalem were not called irrational,
but part of what I may describe as theological madness, the belief that
Jerusalem will never be conquered because of God's promise to Israel.
These ideas probably started to develop in Judah already after the destruction of
Samaria in 722 to 720 BCE when the small kingdom of Judah survived after
the Assyrian campaign of 701 BCE when Judah suffered heavy destructions.
But Jerusalem was not conquered due to what was interpreted as a miracle.
These voices became stronger and clearer.
And the idea that God chose his city, his temple, and
his dynasty forever as an eternal promise became stronger,
especially among the elite of the nation and the people in Jerusalem.
These ideas mark the main line of the Deuteronomistic historiography from
the end of its first emperor period.
It was probably one of the main reasons that led ministers and
kings to Zedekiah's government not to hesitate when they decided to revolt.
We know about it, since on the other sides to Jeremiah,
probably with a small camp of supporters among them,
the family of Shaphan the scribe, family that we'll meet very soon.
Jeremiah tried to fight against what he interpreted as dangerous
theological ideas, something that after a short period when Jerusalem and the temple
had been actually destroyed was understood as a wise and right observation.
But it was already too late.
Jeremiah lived in Jerusalem among the local Judahites.
He spoke the same language as the other Jeruselamites, and
was deeply influenced by the ideas of the eternal promise that the God of
Israel gave to his people concerning his city, his temple, and the dynasty.
But Jeremiah understood that this is a conditional promise,
a promise that was stipulated by two conditions.
The people of Judah, and especially the leaders of the nation,
should obey the laws of God, and they should also understand that this promise
will not protect them from wrong and mistaken political decisions.
They also should not trust this promise and
make foolish political decisions, trusting God to protect them.
In Jeremiah 7, for example, the prophet warns the people of Judah that only if
they will amend their ways and doings only then God will let them dwell in the land,
only then God will let them dwell in the land that he gave to the fathers forever.
In verses 3 and 4 the prophet is saying,
[Hebrew]
In verses
8 to 11,
the prophet
is warning them.
[Hebrew] Jeremiah is sending
the people to a concrete
historical precedent,
the tent of the covenant in
Shiloh, Shiloh that
was destroyed because
of the people's sin.
In verses 12 to 15,
he's warning them that the destruction of Jerusalem might come as well.
[Hebrew]
Jeremiah's views
didn't get much
attention and
he didn't
succeed in his
attempt to prevent
the destruction
of Jerusalem.
From our historical analysis, the events that led to the revolt and
the destruction are already clear.
The continued instability in the southern part of Hattu-land together with
the increasing threat by Egypt, forced Nebuchadnezzar to invest
massive resources to maintain continued rule in the region.
The events surrounding the beginning of Hophra's ruling,
589 BCE, caused Nebuchadnezzar to modify his policy.
He decided to conquer the small vassal kingdoms
that remained close to the border with Egypt, and to annex them and
rule over them directly as Babylonian provinces.
The consequence of this new Babylonian policy was destructive
because Nebuchadnezzar created a buffer zone between Babylon and
Egypt that consisted of devastated, diminished provinces.
There is no evidence that the Babylonians invested any kind of effort
in economic development of the provinces in the region.
Furthermore, Nebuchadnezzar used the destruction of the region as a lever for
rebuilding those parts of Babylonia that had been damaged during the long years of
war, devastation and deportation caused by the Assyrians.
Large groups of exiles from the ruling, economic, and
religious elite of the local kingdoms were sent to Babylonia and
settled in the devastated areas in order to develop them.
It is against this backdrop that we must understand the destruction of
Jerusalem and the transformation of Judah into a Babylonian province.
Despite the unequivocal impression given by the historigraphical descriptions
in the Bible, as well as the prophetic literature and
the lamentation over the destruction of Jerusalem,
the Babylonian reaction to Zedekiah's revolt should not be viewed as a total act
of vindictiveness against Judah nor an impulsive punishment for the revolt.
It was a carefully calculated act with political aims and
was the first expression of the changed Babylonian policy in Hattu-land.
The intent was to remove the defeated dynasty from power after it had proved
itself disloyal time and again, and to destroy Jerusalem, which had
shown itself repeatedly to be the center of resistance to Babylonian rule.
The Babylonians wished to establish a province in Judah whose center would not
be Jerusalem and which would be headed by a person not from the Davidic line.
In the Biblical description, as well as in the archaeological findings,
there is no evidence of a destruction of all the kingdom's territories, or
deportation of the population in its entirety.
It seemed that the Babylonian action was focused on the heart of the kingdom,
Jerusalem.
Total devastation would have also been against the Babylonian interest,
because they needed the population of Judah as the human nucleus for
the new province they had established.
They also required the continued existence of the settlement and agricultural areas
in order to collect the annual tribute, and provision the Babylonian troops
stationed in the country, destruction in the periphery of the kingdom.
The Negev, the Jordan Valley and the Shephelah was apparently the side effect
of the collapse of the central system.
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