Babylonian Captivity, the forced detention ofJews inBabylonia following theNeo-Babylonian Empire’s conquest of the kingdom ofJudah in 598/7 and 587/6bce. The captivity formally ended in 538bce, when the Persian conqueror ofBabylonia,Cyrus the Great, gave the Jews permission to return toPalestine. Historians agree that several deportations took place (each the result of uprisings in Palestine), that not all Jews were forced to leave their homeland, that returning Jews left Babylonia at various times, and that some Jews chose to remain in Babylonia—thusconstituting the first of numerous Jewishcommunities living permanently in theDiaspora.

Many scholars cite 597bce as the date of the first deportation, for in that year KingJehoiachin was deposed and apparently sent into exile with his family, his court, and thousands of workers. Others say the first deportation followed the destruction ofJerusalem byNebuchadrezzar in 586; if so, the Jews were held in Babylonian captivity for 48 years. Among those who accept a tradition (Jeremiah 29:10) that the exile lasted 70 years, some choose the dates 608 to 538, others 586 to about 516 (the year when the rebuiltTemple was dedicated in Jerusalem).

Although the Jews suffered greatly and faced powerful cultural pressures in a foreign land, they maintained their national spirit and religious identity. Elders supervised the Jewish communities, andEzekiel was one of several prophets who kept alive the hope of one day returning home. This was possibly also the period whensynagogues were first established, for the Jews observed the Sabbath and religious holidays, practicedcircumcision, and substituted prayers for former ritual sacrifices in the Temple. The degree to which the Jews looked upon Cyrus the Great as theirbenefactor and a servant of their God is reflected at several points in the Hebrew Bible—e.g., at Isaiah 45:1–3, where he is actually called God’s anointed.

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biblical literature: The Babylonian Exile and the restoration