Exile and Return
Babylon deports Judah’s elite and burns the temple. Persia lets the exiles return, the temple is rebuilt, and Ezra and Nehemiah reshape the community around the law.
The exile is the great break in the Old Testament story. It is also one of the best documented periods: Babylonian chronicles, ration tablets and the Cyrus Cylinder stand beside Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Ezra. Out of the loss of king and temple came a faith centred on Scripture and a sharpened hope for restoration.
Events of this era
- about 605 BC to 536 BC, traditional dateDaniel at the Babylonian Court
The book of Daniel tells of a young Judean taken to Babylon who serves its kings and stays loyal to his God through the furnace and the lions’ den, and who sees “one like a son of man” receive an everlasting kingdom.
- 16 March 597 BC, firm dateThe First Deportation to Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar takes Jerusalem, deports the young king Jehoiachin with thousands of Judah’s leading people, and puts Zedekiah on the throne. Babylon’s own chronicle dates the capture to the day.
- 593 BC to 571 BC, estimated dateEzekiel’s Visions among the Exiles
Among the deported Judeans in Babylonia the priest Ezekiel sees the glory of God, announces the fall of Jerusalem and then its restoration, in the visions of the dry bones and of a new temple.
- 587/586 BC, estimated dateThe Fall of Jerusalem and the Destruction of the Temple
After a long siege the Babylonian army breaches Jerusalem, burns Solomon’s temple and the city, and deports most of the remaining people. The kingdom of Judah comes to an end.
- about 550 BC to 539 BC, estimated dateThe Prophecy of Comfort and the Suffering Servant
Isaiah 40–55 tells the exiles that their punishment is over, names Cyrus as the Lord’s anointed who will send them home, and speaks of a servant who suffers for the sins of many.
- 12 October 539 BC, firm dateCyrus Takes Babylon
The army of Cyrus of Persia enters Babylon without a battle in October 539 BC, and the Babylonian empire passes to Persia. The Judean exiles come under a king who lets displaced peoples go home.
- 538 BC, estimated dateThe Edict of Cyrus and the First Return
Cyrus of Persia, having taken Babylon, allows the Judean exiles to go home and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, and hands back the temple vessels. A first group returns.
- March 515 BC, estimated dateThe Second Temple Is Completed
After years of delay the returned exiles, urged on by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah and backed by a decree of Darius, finish rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. It is dedicated in the spring of 515 BC.
- 483 BC to 473 BC, traditional dateEsther and the Origin of Purim
The book of Esther tells how a Jewish queen of Persia and her cousin Mordecai turned back a decree to destroy the Jews of the empire. The feast of Purim keeps the memory of that deliverance.
- 458 BC, estimated dateEzra Brings the Law to Jerusalem
The priest and scribe Ezra comes from Babylon with a commission from the Persian king, confronts marriages with foreign wives, and reads the law of Moses aloud to the assembled people, who bind themselves to keep it.
- 445 BC, estimated dateNehemiah Rebuilds the Walls of Jerusalem
Nehemiah, cupbearer to the Persian king, is sent to Judah as governor and rebuilds the ruined walls of Jerusalem in fifty-two days against the opposition of Sanballat of Samaria. He then reforms the city’s debts, Sabbath and temple.
- about 435 BC, estimated dateMalachi and the Close of the Prophets
The last book of the Twelve Prophets rebukes the priests and people of rebuilt Jerusalem and promises a messenger who will prepare the Lord’s way, and the return of Elijah. The Gospels apply both to John the Baptist.
- 410 BC to 407 BC, firm dateThe Judean Temple at Elephantine
Papyri from an island on Egypt’s southern border show a garrison of Judeans with a temple of their own. Egyptian priests and the local commander destroy it in 410 BC, and in 407 BC the community asks the governor of Judah to back its rebuilding.