| Siege of Jerusalem | |||||||||
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| Part of theJewish–Babylonian War | |||||||||
_(14783032815).jpg) Jerusalem is on fire (The Art Bible, 1896) | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Kingdom of Judah | Neo-Babylonian Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Zedekiah  | Nebuchadnezzar II | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Many slain, 4,200 others taken to captivity | Unknown | ||||||||
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Jerusalem was besieged from 589–587 BC, marking the final phase ofJudah's revolts against Babylon.Nebuchadnezzar II, king of theNeo-Babylonian Empire, besieged Judah's capital city for approximately 30 months. The city ultimately fell in the summer of 587 BC, after which the Babylonians systematically destroyed Jerusalem and razedSolomon's Temple.[1][2] The kingdom was dissolved, and a large segment of the population was exiled toBabylonia.
During the late 7th century BC, Judah became avassal kingdom of Babylon. In 601 BC,Jehoiakim, king of Judah, revolted against Babylonian rule despite the strong remonstrances of the prophetJeremiah.[2][3] Jehoiakim died for reasons unclear, and was succeeded by his son,Jeconiah.[4][5] In 597 BC, the Babyloniansbesieged Jerusalem, and the city surrendered.[2][6] Nebuchadnezzar pillaged Jerusalem and deported Jeconiah and other prominent citizens to Babylon; Jeconiah's uncle,Zedekiah, was installed as king.[2][7] Later, encouraged by the Egyptians, Zedekiah launched a second revolt, and a Babylonian army was sent to retake Jerusalem.[2]
OnTisha B'Av, July 587 or 586 BC, the Babylonians took Jerusalem, destroyed the First Temple and burned down the city.[1][2][8] The small settlements surrounding the city, and those close to the western border of the kingdom, were destroyed as well.[8] According to the Bible, Zedekiah attempted to escape, but was captured nearJericho. He was forced to watch the execution of his sons inRiblah, and his eyes were then put out.[9]
The destruction of Jerusalem and its temple triggered a profound religious, political, and cultural crisis. It left a lasting imprint on biblical literature, notably on prophetic writings.[9][8] The Kingdom of Judah was abolished andannexed as a Babylonian province with its center inMizpah.[2][9][8] The Judean elite, including theDavidic dynasty, were exiled to Babylon.[8] AfterBabylon had fallen toCyrus the Great, founder of thePersian Achaemenid Empire, in 539 BC, he allowed the exiled Judeans toreturn to Zion and rebuild Jerusalem. TheSecond Temple was completed in 516 BC under the leadership ofZerubbabel. Centuries later, the city and the temple would againface destruction—this time by theRomans during theFirst Jewish Revolt in 70 AD.
Following the destruction and fall of the northernKingdom of Israel by theAssyrian Empire in 732 and 720 BC, Judah lost its sibling Israelite kingdom. Judah had already become a vassal of the Assyrians in 734 BC, when KingAhaz of Judah appealed toTiglath-Pileser III for military assistance.[10] By accepting Assyrian dominance, Judah retained its monarchy and local administration, surviving as one of the few kingdoms to endure the Assyrian conquest of the Levant in the late 8th century BC.[10]
With the decline of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the late seventh century BC, the Kingdom of Judah found itself caught between two rival powers:Egypt, then under theTwenty-sixth Dynasty, and the rising Neo-Babylonian Empire.[11] The Egyptians filled the vaccum and briefly dominated the region until the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II defeated Egypt at theBattle of Carchemish in 605 BC.[11] Between 604 and 603 BC, Nebuchadnezzar conquered the entire Levant, and Judah, which had previously been a vassal of Assyria and then Egypt, became a vassal state of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.[12]
Whereas theNebuchadnezzar Chronicle provides information about thesiege of Jerusalem in 597 BC, the only known records of the siege that culminated in Jerusalem's destruction in 587 BC are found in theHebrew Bible.[13]
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In 601 BC, during the fourth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar II unsuccessfully attempted to invadeEgypt and was repulsed with heavy losses.[9] The failure led to numerous rebellions among the Kingdoms of theLevant which owed allegiance to Babylon, including theKingdom of Judah, where KingJehoiakim stopped paying tribute to Nebuchadnezzar II and took a pro-Egyptian position.
In 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II laidsiege to Jerusalem.[9] Jehoiakim died during the siege and was succeeded by his sonJeconiah at an age of either eight or eighteen. The city fell about three months later, on 2Adar (March 16) 597 BC. Nebuchadnezzar II pillaged both Jerusalem and theTemple and carted all of his spoils to Babylon.Jeconiah and his court and other prominent citizens and craftsmen, along with a sizable portion of the Jewish population of Judah. According to the Book of Kings, about 10,000 were deported from the land anddispersed throughout theBabylonian Empire.[9]
Nebuchadnezzar II installed Jeconiah's uncle,Zedekiah asvassal king of Judah, at the age of 21.[9] However, despite the strong remonstrances ofJeremiah and others, Zedekiah revolted against Nebuchadnezzar II by ceasing to pay tribute to him and entered an alliance with PharaohHophra. Nebuchadnezzar II returned to Judah, aiming to capture Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:1).
Nebuchadnezzar began a siege of Jerusalem in January 589 BC.[14][15] Many Jews fled to surroundingMoab,Ammon,Edom and other kingdoms to seek refuge.[16] The Bible describes the city as enduring horrible deprivation during the siege (2 Kings 25:3;Lamentations 4:4,5,9). The city fell after a siege, which lasted either eighteen or thirty months.[15] In the eleventh year of Zedekiah's reign (2 Kings 25:2;Jeremiah 39:2), Nebuchadnezzar broke through Jerusalem's walls, conquering the city. Zedekiah and his followers attempted to escape but were captured on the plains ofJericho and taken toRiblah.[9] There, Zedekiah's followers, including his own sons, were executed. After being forced to watch their executions, Zedekiah had his eyes gouged out and was taken captive to Babylon (2 Kings 25:1–7;2 Chronicles 36:12;Jeremiah 32:4–5;34:2–3;39:1–7;52:4–11), where he remained a prisoner until his death.[9]
According to the Bible, following the fall of Jerusalem, the Babylonian generalNebuzaradan was sent to complete its destruction. The city andSolomon's Temple were plundered and destroyed, and most of the Judeans were taken by Nebuzaradan intocaptivity in Babylon, with only a few people permitted to remain to tend to the land (Jeremiah 52:16). Archaeological evidence confirms that the city was systematically destroyed by fire.[1][8] Archeological evidence also indicates that towns close to the kingdom's western border and small villages in Jerusalem's near vicinity were destroyed.[8]
Gedaliah, a Judean, was made governor of the remnant of Judah, theYehud Province, with aChaldean guard stationed atMizpah (2 Kings 25:22–24;Jeremiah 40:6–8). The Bible reports that, on hearing this news, Jews who had fled toMoab,Ammon,Edom, and in other countries returned to Judah (Jeremiah 40:11–12). Gedaliah was assassinated byIshmael son of Nethaniah two months later, and the population that had remained and those who had returned then fled to Egypt for safety (2 Kings 25:25–26,Jeremiah 43:5–7). In Egypt, they settled inMigdol (it is uncertain where the Bible is referring to here, probably somewhere in theNile Delta),Tahpanhes,Memphis (called Noph), andPathros in the vicinity ofThebes (Jeremiah 44:1).
In Babylonia, the exiles from Judah retained a strong sense of identity and, while integrating into the local society, continued to be recognized as "the people from Judah"—the Jews.[17]
There has been some debate as to when Nebuchadnezzar's second siege of Jerusalem took place. According to the Hebrew Bible, the city fell in the fourth month of Zedekiah's eleventh year. It is agreed that Jerusalem fell the second time in the summer month ofTammuz (as recorded inJeremiah 52:6). However, scholars disagree as to whether this dates to 586 BC or 587 BC.William F. Albright dated the end of Zedekiah's reign and the fall of Jerusalem to 587 BC whereasEdwin R. Thiele offered 586 BC.[18] In 2004, Rodger Young published an analysis in which he identified 587 BC for the end of the siege, based on details from the Bible and neo-Babylonian sources for related events.[19]
Thiele's reckoning is based on the presentation of Zedekiah's reign on an accession basis, which he asserts was occasionally used for the kings of Judah. In that case, the year that Zedekiah came to the throne would be hiszeroth year; his first full year would be 597/596 BC, and his eleventh year, the year that Jerusalem fell, would be 587/586 BC. Since Judah's regnal years were counted fromTishri in autumn, that would place the end of his reign and the capture of Jerusalem in the summer of 586 BC.[18][20]
TheNebuchadnezzar Chronicle (BM 21946), published in 1956, indicates that Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem the first time putting an end to the reign ofJehoaichin, on 2 Adar (16 March) 597 BC, in Nebuchadnezzar's seventh year.[21]Jeremiah 52:28–29 gives the relative periods for the end of the two sieges as Nebuchadnezzar's seventh and eighteenth years, respectively. (The same events are described at2 Kings 24:12 and2 Kings 25:8 as occurring in Nebuchadnezzar's eighth and nineteenth years, including his accession year.) Identification of Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year for the end of the siege places the event in the summer of 587 BC, which is consistent with all three relevant biblical sources—Jeremiah,Ezekiel, and 2 Kings.[19][22]
Archaeological evidence supports the biblical account that Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 or 586 BC.[23][8] Archaeological research has shown that the Babylonians systematically destroyed the city with fire and that the city wall was pulled down.[1][8][24]
The remains of three residential structures excavated in theCity of David (the Burnt Room, House of Ahiel, and House of Bullae) contain burned wooden beams from a fire started by the Babylonians in the early 6th century BC.[25] Ash and burnt wood beams were also discovered at several structures in theGivati Parking Lot, which the archeologists associated with the traditional dating of the city's destruction in 586 BC. Arrowheads of the socketed bronze trilobate type, associated with the destruction of cities in the Assyrian heartland by the Babylonians and theMedes, likewise first appear in theSouthern Levant in the burnt layers associated with Nebuchadnezzar II's destruction of the city.[26] Samples of soil and fragments of a plaster floor recovered from one of the structures indicate that it was exposed to a temperature of at least 600°C.[27] A number of wine jars were found to contain remains ofvanilla, indicating that the spice was used by the Jerusalemite elite before destruction of the city.[27]
Archaeological investigations and surveys have also revealed that, about the time the Babylonians came to besiege Jerusalem, the majority of towns surrounding Jerusalem and along the kingdom's western frontier were also completely destroyed. However, it is unclear if the array of outlying communities to the east and south of the kingdom were destroyed at that time or if it was a continuous process that occurred after the collapse of the administrative structure of the kingdom and the loss of its military force.[8]
The region ofBenjamin, located in the northernJudean hill country was mostly unaffected by the invasion and became the center of the Babylonian province ofYehud, withMizpah as its administrative center.[8]
In Babylon, the Jewish exiles were settled in various communities in theNippur Valley, in modernIraq.[28] They were not slaves in chains but rather deported populations expected to live as ordinary residents under Babylonian authority, albeit far from their homeland. Evidence from Babylonian texts, theAl-Yahudu Tablets, indicates that some Jewish communities were established in villages named after their place of origin, sometimes referred to as the "city of Judah" or "city of the Jews," and individuals with Yahwistic names appear in legal and economic records, suggesting they were integrated into broader Babylonian society while preserving their heritage.[29] Many exiles participated in agriculture and held minor administrative roles, which likely reduced the need for return.[29]
Archaeological anddocumentary evidence from the diaspora community at theElephantine colony in Egypt indicates similar patterns: exiled Jews maintained their religious traditions (including the construction of their own temple), participated in local economic activities, held property, and sought to observePassover.[30]
The period of Babylonian rule lasted about 48 years. In 539 BC, the Babylonian Empire fell toCyrus the Great, founder of theAchaemenid Persian Empire. Cyrus issued a decree allowing exiled peoples to return to their homelands.[31] Accordingly, groups of Jewish exiles, now subjects of the Persian Empire, were permitted to return to Jerusalem and Judah beginning in 538 BC. Under the leadership of figures such asZerubbabel, a descendant of David appointed governor of Judah, and the High Priest Joshua, they rebuilt Jerusalem on a modest scale and reconstructed the Second Temple on the site of the first, completing it by 516 BC.[32] Thus, the First Temple period, which had ended with the destruction in 587/6, gave way to theSecond Temple period inJewish history. Judah remained a small client entity under Persian andHellenistic overlords, and it would not see an independent kingdom again until the rise of theHasmoneans many centuries later.
The destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC was a defining moment in the development ofJudaism, shaping religious thought for generations.[33] It introduced the view that national disaster stemmed from collective sin and divine judgment—faithfulness to God brought security, while disobedience led to exile. Nevertheless, the prophets upheld that God's covenant endured, and that repentance could lead to restoration. This hope seemed fulfilled when the exiled Jews were allowed to return and rebuild the Temple under Persian rule. The trauma of 587 BC, and the theological responses it inspired, became deeply rooted in Jewish tradition, influencing later understandings of suffering, exile, and return.[34]
Centuries later, this theological model helped shape Jewish responses to thedestruction of Jerusalem by theRomans in 70 AD.[35] The Jewish historianJosephus, writing in the aftermath of theFirst Jewish–Roman War, draws on the memory of the Babylonian conquest.[36] In a speech he claims to have delivered before the city's walls during the siege, he depicts the Romans as divinely appointed rulers, likening them to the Babylonians of earlier times. He presents himself as a new Jeremiah, urging surrender and framing the Roman victory as part of God's will.[36]
Intensive excavations throughout Jerusalem have shown that the city was indeed systematically destroyed by the Babylonians. The conflagration seems to have been general. When activity on the ridge of the City of David resumed in the Persian period, the-new suburbs on the western hill that had flourished since at least the time of Hezekiah were not reoccupied.
The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians (586 B.C.) is the most traumatic event described in biblical historiography, and in its shadow the history of the people of Israel was reshaped. The harsh impression of the destruction left its mark on the prophetic literature also, and particular force is retained in the laments over the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in its midst. [...] most of Judah's inhabitants remained there after the destruction of Jerusalem. They concentrated chiefly in the Benjamin region and the northern Judean hill country. This area was hardly affected by the destruction, and became the centre of the Babylonian province with its capital at Mizpah. [...] The archaeological data reinforce the biblical account, and they indicate that Jerusalem and its close environs suffered a severe blow. Most of the small settlements near the city were destroyed, the city wall was demolished, and the buildings within were put to the torch. Excavation and survey data show that the western border of the kingdom also sustained a grave onslaught, seemingly at the time when the Babylonians went to besiege Jerusalem.
It is so easy to forget that 587 BC is exclusively a biblical date.
The first date is taken from Ezek 24:1, where it is said that the final siege of Jerusalem began in the tenth month of the "ninth year." ... The tenth month of that year corresponds roughly to January 589 BC.
The discrepancy between the length of the siege according to the regnal years of Zedekiah (years 9–11), on the one hand, and its length according to Jehoiachin's exile (years 9–12), on the other, can be cancelled out only by supposing the former to have been reckoned on a Tishri basis, and the latter on a Nisan basis. The difference of one year between the two is accounted for by the fact that the termination of the siege fell in the summer, between Nisan and Tishri, already in the 12th year according to the reckoning in Ezekiel, but still in Zedekiah's 11th year which was to end only in Tishri.
The conclusions from the analysis are as follows. (1) Jerusalem fell in the fourth month (Tammuz) of 587 BC. All sources which bear on the question—Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and 2 Kings—are consistent in dating the event in that year.
Simply put, the erroneous date of 586 B.C.E. stems from the biblical dating of the breaking down of the walls of Jerusalem and the exile of its populace "on the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar." ... The correct date of 587 B.C.E. for the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem may be further substantiated by examination of the end of the exile of Jehoiachin.
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