Babylon’s Exile of the Jewish Southern Tribes

A turning point for the Southern Kingdom of Judah occurs in the reign of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah. When he sets up idols for his people and “seduce[s] them to do more evil than did the nations whom Jehovah destroyed before the people of Israel” (2 Kings 21:9), Jehovah declares he will make them “a prey and a spoil to all their enemies” (2 Kings 21:14). He will “cause them to be removed to all kingdoms on the earth because of Manasseh,” who “shed innocent blood” in Jerusalem “from one end to the other” (2 Kings 21:16; Jeremiah 15:4). Other misfortunes that happen in Judah, too, are blamed on “the sins of Manasseh” (2 Kings 24:1–4).

Judah’s fall occurs during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at the height of Neo-Babylonian expansion. In 597 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar lays siege to Jerusalem and takes its king, leading citizens, and craftsmen captive to Babylon. He pillages the temple of treasures accumulated from the time of King Solomon and installs Zedekiah as his vassal (2 Kings 24:10–17). In spite of warnings by Jeremiah to remain loyal to Nebuchadnezzar, after nine years Zedekiah rebels, leading to another siege of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:1–2; Jeremiah 27:12–13; 38:17–18). In 586 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar takes the city and deports all but its poor to Babylon.

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