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The '''Fall of [[Jerusalem]]''' (588 BC according to [[James Ussher|Ussher]]<ref name=Ussher>[[James Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World]]'', [[Larry Pierce]], ed., Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2003 (ISBN 0890513600), pghh. 847-51</ref>, or 586 BC according to [[Edwin R. Thiele|Thiele]]<ref name=Wood>Leon J. Wood, ''A Survey of Israel's History'', rev. ed. David O'Brien, Grand Rapids, MI: Academie Books, 1986 (ISBN 031034770X), pp. 319-20</ref>) was the final military event in the conquest of the [[Southern Kingdom]] of [[Israel]] by [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], King of [[Babylonia]]. It marked the end of the history of the Southern Kingdom after twenty-two years of decline and, according to [[Ezekiel (prophet)|Ezekiel]], three hundred ninety years of "iniquity" on the part of the children of Israel.
== Background ==
One hundred thirty-four years earlier<ref name=Ussher/> (or 137 years earlier according to [[Edwin R. Thiele|Thiele]]), the [[Assyria]]n Empire under [[Shalmaneser V]] had wiped out the [[Northern Kingdom]]. Shalmaneser's successor [[Sennacherib]] had then tried to take over the [[Southern Kingdom]], but had to withdraw after sustaining 185,000 casualties in a single night.
The last truly great king of Assyria was [[Esarhaddon]]. After his death, his successors [[Assur-bani-pal]] and [[Ashur-etil-ilani]] presided over a steadily weakening empire. [[Egypt]] under [[Pharaoh]] [[Psammtik I]] broke away from Assyria during Assur-bani-pal's kingship.
In 626 BC, the [[Babylonia]]n leader [[Nabopolassar]] contracted a military alliance with [[Astyages]] of the Medes. Together they attacked [[Nineveh]], the capital of [[Assyria]], and reduced it to a ruin. Nabopolassar was now in command, and [[Ashur-etil-ilani]] was now dead. His successor (likely [[Ashur-uballit II]]) commanded a shadow of what Assyria had recently been.<ref name=Ussher2>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 740-41</ref>
In 610 or 609 BC, Pharaoh [[Necho II]] now made a bid to prop up the Assyrians against the rising power of Babylonia. He marched his army through Southern Kingdom territory, killed King [[Josiah]] (and probably Josiah's first-born son) at [[Megiddo]], and marched on to capture [[Carchemish]].<ref name=Ussher3>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 754-55</ref> Necho then returned to [[Jerusalem]], where he removed Josiah's successor [[Jehoahaz II]] from the throne, installed Jehoahaz' elder brother Eliakim or [[Jehoiakim]] in his place, and took Jehoahaz back with him to Egypt.<ref name=Ussher4>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 761</ref><ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=23|verses=31-34|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=II_Chronicles|chap=36|verses=1-4|version=NASB}}</ref>
Three years later [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], now [[viceroy]] of [[Babylonia]], marched westward toward [[Carchemish]], where he cut off Necho's forces, recaptured the city, and chased Necho all the way back to Egypt. Along the way, Nebuchadnezzar visited Jerusalem and demanded a promise of fealty from Jehoiakim. Thus would begin a nineteen-year period of frustration for Nebuchadnezzar, and slow death for the Southern Kingdom. At this time Nebuchadnezzar asked his overseer of [[eunuch]]s to seek out the best and brightest of the young men in the land for deportation to [[Babylon]]. Nebuchadnezzar intended to train these men for positions in his administration. Among them were the young prophet [[Daniel]] and his friends [[Hananiah]], [[Mishael]], and [[Azariah]].<ref name=Ussher5>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 769-70, 774-7</ref>
Nebuchadnezzar marched on and captured all the lands from the valley of the [[Nile]] to the [[Euphrates]] over which Egypt had once held sway. Then in 605 BC, Nabopolassar died, and Nebuchadnezzar then had to return to [[Babylon]] to secure his throne. Toward the end of this year, according to Ussher, Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.<ref name=Ussher9>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 782, 783, 785</ref> In reply, Nebuchadnezzar assembled a coalition of [[Syria]]ns ("Arameans"), [[Chaldea]]ns, [[Moab]]ites and [[Ammon]]ites and sent them against the Southern Kingdom. They attacked Jehoiakim's forces and pillaged virtually the entire kingdom.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=24|verses=2|version=NASB}}</ref> While this was happening, Nebuchadnezzar was apparently leading his main force against Necho II for the last time, in a battle that he nearly lost.<ref name=Wood2>Wood, ''op. cit.'', pp. 317</ref><ref name=Pratt>A.K. Grayson, ''Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles , vol. 5 of Texts from Cuneiform Sources'', eds. A.L. Oppenheim, et al. (New York: Augustun, 1975) p. 100. Quoted by [http://www.johnpratt.com/jpp.html John P. Pratt] in "[http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/meridian/2000/lehi6apr.html Lehi's 600-year Prophecy of the Birth of Christ]," ''[http://www.meridianmagazine.com/articles/000331sixhundred.html Meridian Magazine]'', March 31, 2000. Retrieved April 12, 2007.</ref> Necho lost, and died either in action or shortly afterward. His son [[Psammtik II]] reigned for six years.<ref name=Ussher6>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 790</ref>
Nebuchadnezzar had to retire to regain his strength, but in due course he was back at the walls of [[Jerusalem]]. There and then (599 BC), [[Jehoiakim]] died, under circumstances that remain a subject of some [[Jehoiakim#The Manner of Jehoiakim's Death|controversy]]. Nebuchadnezzar accepted his son [[Jehoiachin]] as the next king, but 100 days later, he removed him as well,<ref name=surrender>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=24|verses=12|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=HSI>Anonymous, "[http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/biblediscovery/jehoiachin.asp Jehoiachin]", ''Holy Spirit Interactive'', 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2007.</ref>and deported a total of ten thousand captives, including seven thousand soldiers, a thousand skilled craftsmen, and two thousand other prisoners also of military age. He also deported Jehoiachin himself, and Jehoiachin's mother [[Nehushta]], and Jehoiachin's unnamed wives, and the magistrates, in addition to appropriating a large amount of treasure from the palace and from the [[Temple of Jerusalem]].<ref name=deport>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=24|verses=13-16|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher7>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 795-7</ref><ref name=Britannica>Anonymous, [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9043490 Jehoiachin], ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' online, 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2007.</ref><ref name=KingsofIsrael>Anonymous, King Jehoiachin: [http://www.geocities.com/thekingsofisrael/biography_Jehoiachin.html Biography] and [http://www.geocities.com/thekingsofisrael/judgment_Jehoiachin.html God's Judgment], retrieved April 13, 2007 from the Kings of Israel site.</ref><ref name=Infoplease>"[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0826121.html Jehoiachin]". ''[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/.html. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia]''. © 1994, 2000-2006, on Infoplease. © 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease. Retrieved
13 April 2007.</ref><ref name=WebBible>Matthew G. Easton and Paul S. Taylor, "[http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/jehoiachin.html Jehoiachin]", ''[http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/home.html The Web Bible Encyclopedia]'', 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2007.</ref><ref name=HSI/>
After leaving only the poorest of the poor in the land, and selecting Jehoiakim's younger brother [[Zedekiah]] to rule the land as his vassal, Nebuchadnezzar might have thought that he finally had a king that he could work with. But Zedekiah would prove as rebellious as his brother and nephew had been, though not immediately.
During Zedekiah's reign, the second Psammtik died.<ref name=Ussher8>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 824</ref> The accession of his son [[Apries]], or ''Hophra'', would convince Zedekiah that he might be able to rebel successfully against Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah could not have been more wrong.
== Sources ==
The putative primary sources for the full story of the Fall of Jerusalem include:
# The author of the Books of the Kings.
# The Chronicler (though the account in [[II Chronicles]] is very sparse).
# The [[prophet]] [[Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah]].
# The [[prophet]] [[Ezekiel (prophet)|Ezekiel]].
In addition, [[Flavius Josephus]] and [[James Ussher]] are the chief secondary sources.
== The Last Years of Jerusalem ==
=== The First Year of Zedekiah ===
Jeremiah had already received baleful prophecies about the [[Southern Kingdom]]. In the year that [[Jehoiachin]] was taken prisoner and deported to [[Babylon]], Jeremiah received from [[God]] the word that [[Zedekiah]] would come to a sad end and that the remainder of the people, or at least those having any influence, would in turn be deported as well. This was the "vision of the two baskets of [[fig]]s," one of good figs and one of bad.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=24|verses=1-2,8-9|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher10>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 808</ref> Jeremiah similarly warned against Zedekiah's attempts to broker an anti-[[Babylonia]]n alliance with the kings of [[Edom]], [[Moab]], [[Ammon]], [[Tyre]], and [[Sidon]]. Furthermore, Jeremiah advised all the deportees to become part of the Babylonian economy and society, if not necessarily part of the culture, and that they ''would'' eventually return, after seventy years had elapsed since the first deportation (in the fourth year of [[Jehoiakim]]).<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=39|verses=1-18|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher11>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 810-11</ref>
The high priest [[Seraiah]] and his second-in-command [[Zephaniah (priest)|Zephaniah]] did not appreciate such advice and denouced Jeremiah in writing to Zedekiah. Jeremiah, in turn, said that those two priests would themselves come to sad ends.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=30|verses=1-31,40|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher11>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 812</ref>
=== The Fourth Year of Zedekiah ===
In this year, [[Hananiah]] made a false prophecy that the exile would end within two years. Jeremiah disputed that account and foretold that Hananiah would die--which Hananiah did before this year of Zedekiah was out.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=28|verses=1-14|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher13>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 814-6</ref>
=== The Fifth Year of Zedekiah ===
In this year, [[Ezekiel (prophet)|Ezekiel]] had his first vision, in which God instructed him to draw a plan of the siege of Jerusalem, and then to lie on his side for three hundred ninety days. This was the symbol, both of the duration of the siege (390 days) and the time of the iniquity of the children of Israel (390 years).<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=Ezekiel|chap=4|verses=1-17|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher14>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 823</ref>
=== The Sixth Year ===
In this year, [[Psammtik II]] died and [[Apries]], or '''Hophra''', succeeded him as [[Pharaoh]] of [[Egypt]]. Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar in this year.<ref name=Ussher8/> But Ezekiel received a direct vision of the idolatries that the residents of [[Jerusalem]] were practicing, and the devastation that was to result. Ezekiel received a further prediction that Zedekiah would flee the city by night, but would be captured anyway, brought before Nebuchadnezzar, blinded, and deported.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Ezekiel|chap=8|verses=1|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=Ezekiel|chap=9|verses=1-11|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=Ezekiel|chap=10|verses=1-22|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=Ezekiel|chap=11|verses=1-25|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher15>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 826</ref>
=== The Ninth Year ===
In this year, which was a sabbatical, the law required the residents of [[Jerusalem]] to set their slaves free. [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] came in force and captured all but three cities: [[Lachish]], [[Azekah]], and [[Jerusalem]] itself. Nebuchadnezzar then came to Jerusalem itself and built a ring of siege towers all around it.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=25|verses=1|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=39|verses=1|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=52|verses=4|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher16>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 832</ref>
Ezekiel received a vision of the coming total destruction of Jerusalem. Ezekiel's wife died, and God instructed Ezekiel not to mourn her, as a symbol that this destruction would be too sad an event to mourn. Jeremiah, for his part, advised Zedekiah of the destruction to come, and Zedekiah imprisoned him.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Ezekiel|chap=24|verses=1-27|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher17>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 833</ref>
In this year, Apries attacked Nebuchadnezzar's siege ring from the outside. Nebuchadnezzar then had to break off his siege, engage Apries directly, and chase him away. In the process, Nebuchadnezzar took 832 prisoners and sent them back to Babylon.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=37|verses=3-10|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher18>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 836</ref>
Zedekiah drew a false confidence from this event, as did his people, who took back the slaves they had earlier set free. Jeremiah warned that Nebuchadnezzar would be back--and that God would not be pleased with this breaking of the sabbatical law.<ref name=Ussher18/>
== The Last 390 Days ==
As Ezekiel predicted, [[Nebuchadnezzar II|Nebuchadnezzar]] dealt handily with [[Apries]]. He then returned and resumed his siege of [[Jerusalem]]. This occurred on the fifteenth day of the third month, and on this date Ezekiel's 390-day countdown began. Before it was over, the people of Jerusalem ran out of food. Jeremiah was thrown into the mud-hole during this time. Zedekiah consulted him repeatedly but never once listened to Jeremiah's simple message: that Nebuchadnezzar would win, and the people ought to submit to him.<ref name=Ussher18>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 841</ref>
Finally, on the ninth day of the fourth month, near the end (according to the civil calendar) of Zedekiah's last year, Nebuchadnezzar's armies broke through the city walls. Zedekiah and all his soldiers fled by night.<ref name=Ussher/> The Chaldeans gave chase and captured them--though Josephus<ref name=Josephus>[[Flavius Josephus]], ''The Antiquities of the Jews'', 10.8.137-8, in ''The Works of Josephus'', William Whiston, trans., Peabody, [[Massachusetts]]: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987</ref> says that most of Zedekiah's soldiers deserted him before this happened.
The Chaldeans brought Zedekiah to Nebuchadnezzar's camp at [[Riblah]]. There Nebuchadnezzar pronounced a short and bitter judgment: that Zedekiah was a traitor, a [[covenant]] breaker, and an ingrate.<ref name=Josephus2>Josephus, ''Antiquities, op. cit.'', 10.8.138-40</ref> Nebuchadnezzar then had Zedekiah's children executed before his eyes, and then he had Zedekiah blinded, chained, and taken to Babylon.<ref name=Ussher/> There, according to Josephus, Nebuchadnezzar kept Zedekiah in prison until he died (though how many years this lasted, Josephus does not say) and then gave him an honorable burial.<ref name=Josephus3>Josephus, ''Antiquities, op. cit.'', 10.8.154</ref>
== The Burning of Jerusalem ==
On the seventh day of the fifth month (or about twenty-five days after the Babylonians breached the city), Nebuchadnezzar's general [[Nebuzaradan]] received his orders to enter Jerusalem. Three days later he entered. He burned the [[Temple of Jerusalem]] and the royal palace to the ground, together with every nobleman's house, and completely leveled the walls. He then carried away all the remaining Temple furnishings, which Nebuchadnezzar dedicated to the temple he was building to his god, [[Marduk]].<ref name=Ussher/> Nebuzaradan also removed every person of consequence from the city, leaving only a population of vine dressers and simple farmers. He brought the two priests [[Seraiah]] and [[Zephaniah (priest)|Zephaniah]] to Nebuchadnezzar, who had them executed as well.<ref name=Ussher19>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 853</ref> Seraiah's son [[Jehozadak]], who inherited the high priesthood from his father, was deported to Babylon.<ref name=Ussher19/>
== The First Governor of Judah ==
The [[Southern Kingdom]] was no more, and from that time forward it was, in essence, a province of whichever regional or intercontinental superpower was dominant in the region. [[Babylonia]] became the first in a long line of superpowers that had the old Southern Kingdom as a province.
General Nebuzaradan appointed [[Gedaliah]], a man of that same country but probably not of the royal family, to act as the first provincial governor. Gedaliah set up his provincial capital at [[Mizpah]], a [[Benjamin (tribe)|Benjamite]] city.<ref name=Ussher20>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 852</ref> There Jeremiah went to live after Nebuchadnezzar's generals granted him leave.<ref name=Ussher21>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 854</ref>
Unhappily, Gedaliah's governorship would not last long. [[Ishmael (prince)|Ishmael]], a minor prince of the [[House of David]], took a sizeable bribe from King [[Baalis]] of [[Ammon]] to kill Gedaliah. Ishmael recruited ten associates and led them all to Mizpah, where Gedaliah received them graciously. Jeremiah warned Gedaliah that Ishmael was plotting murder, but Gedaliah did not listen. Ishmael killed Gedaliah and every Jew or Chaldean he found in Mizpah (though presumably Jeremiah escaped him).<ref name=Ussher22>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 856-7</ref>
Ishmael and his associates took several female hostages and ran away to [[Ammon]]. But another Jewish general, named [[Johanan]], accosted Ishmael and freed his prisoners. Ishmael, and the eight associates he now had left, continued their flight to Ammon.<ref name=Ussher23>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 858</ref>
Johanan, for his part, led his company to Egypt, in fear of Babylonian retaliation. Jeremiah tried to warn him that, if they fled to Egypt, every one of them would die before his time, but Johanan and most of his company did not listen.<ref name=Ussher24>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 859</ref>
== The Final Deportation ==
Three years after the final taking of Jerusalem, Nebuzaradan brought another 745 Jews and Israelites to Babylon. This occurred forty years after [[Huldah]]'s prophecy of the destruction of the Southern Kingdom, given to [[Josiah]] when he celebrated his solemn [[Passover]].<ref name=Ussher25>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 867</ref>
== First use of the term "Jew" ==
The term ''Jew'' dates from the last years of Jerusalem, and means any person who descends from the tribes of [[Judah (tribe)|Judah]], [[Benjamin (tribe)|Benjamin]], or [[Levi (tribe)|Levi]]. No Levite had remained in the [[Northern Kingdom]] since the reign of Kings [[Asa]] in the South, and [[Baasha]] in the North.
== Chronological Placement ==
Ezekiel's three hundred ninety years, according to [[James Ussher|Ussher]], include three hundred eighty-eight full years and two partial years, beginning in 975 BC with the division of the [[United Kingdom]] of [[Israel]] into [[Northern Kingdom|Northern]] and [[Southern Kingdom|Southern]] halves. [[Edwin R. Thiele|Thiele]], of course, assumes that the division of the kingdoms was forty-five years more recent than Ussher (and [[Flavius Josephus|Josephus]]) calculate, in which case Ezekiel's 390 years are now supposed to have included ''the last five years of the reign of King [[David]] and the entirety of the reign of King [[Solomon]]''.
== Dual-user Provenance ==
This is a dual submission of a work of sole authorship. I am the same person as User:Temlakos on CreationWiki and this article is based on [http://creationwiki.org/index.php?title=Fall_of_Jerusalem&oldid=90593 this version] of the CreationWiki article, which is entirely my work.
== References ==
<references/>
== See Also ==
* [[Josiah]]
* [[Jehoahaz II]]
* [[Jehoiakim]]
* [[Jehoiachin]]
* [[Zedekiah]]
* [[Jeremiah (prophet)]]
* [[Ezekiel (prophet)]]
* [[Nebuchadnezzar II]]
* [[Gedaliah]]
* [[Northern Kingdom]]
* [[Southern Kingdom]]
* [[Biblical chronology dispute]]
[[Category:Bible]]
[[Category:Bible character]]
[[Category:History]]
[[Category:Israel]]
== Background ==
One hundred thirty-four years earlier<ref name=Ussher/> (or 137 years earlier according to [[Edwin R. Thiele|Thiele]]), the [[Assyria]]n Empire under [[Shalmaneser V]] had wiped out the [[Northern Kingdom]]. Shalmaneser's successor [[Sennacherib]] had then tried to take over the [[Southern Kingdom]], but had to withdraw after sustaining 185,000 casualties in a single night.
The last truly great king of Assyria was [[Esarhaddon]]. After his death, his successors [[Assur-bani-pal]] and [[Ashur-etil-ilani]] presided over a steadily weakening empire. [[Egypt]] under [[Pharaoh]] [[Psammtik I]] broke away from Assyria during Assur-bani-pal's kingship.
In 626 BC, the [[Babylonia]]n leader [[Nabopolassar]] contracted a military alliance with [[Astyages]] of the Medes. Together they attacked [[Nineveh]], the capital of [[Assyria]], and reduced it to a ruin. Nabopolassar was now in command, and [[Ashur-etil-ilani]] was now dead. His successor (likely [[Ashur-uballit II]]) commanded a shadow of what Assyria had recently been.<ref name=Ussher2>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 740-41</ref>
In 610 or 609 BC, Pharaoh [[Necho II]] now made a bid to prop up the Assyrians against the rising power of Babylonia. He marched his army through Southern Kingdom territory, killed King [[Josiah]] (and probably Josiah's first-born son) at [[Megiddo]], and marched on to capture [[Carchemish]].<ref name=Ussher3>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 754-55</ref> Necho then returned to [[Jerusalem]], where he removed Josiah's successor [[Jehoahaz II]] from the throne, installed Jehoahaz' elder brother Eliakim or [[Jehoiakim]] in his place, and took Jehoahaz back with him to Egypt.<ref name=Ussher4>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 761</ref><ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=23|verses=31-34|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=II_Chronicles|chap=36|verses=1-4|version=NASB}}</ref>
Three years later [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], now [[viceroy]] of [[Babylonia]], marched westward toward [[Carchemish]], where he cut off Necho's forces, recaptured the city, and chased Necho all the way back to Egypt. Along the way, Nebuchadnezzar visited Jerusalem and demanded a promise of fealty from Jehoiakim. Thus would begin a nineteen-year period of frustration for Nebuchadnezzar, and slow death for the Southern Kingdom. At this time Nebuchadnezzar asked his overseer of [[eunuch]]s to seek out the best and brightest of the young men in the land for deportation to [[Babylon]]. Nebuchadnezzar intended to train these men for positions in his administration. Among them were the young prophet [[Daniel]] and his friends [[Hananiah]], [[Mishael]], and [[Azariah]].<ref name=Ussher5>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 769-70, 774-7</ref>
Nebuchadnezzar marched on and captured all the lands from the valley of the [[Nile]] to the [[Euphrates]] over which Egypt had once held sway. Then in 605 BC, Nabopolassar died, and Nebuchadnezzar then had to return to [[Babylon]] to secure his throne. Toward the end of this year, according to Ussher, Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.<ref name=Ussher9>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 782, 783, 785</ref> In reply, Nebuchadnezzar assembled a coalition of [[Syria]]ns ("Arameans"), [[Chaldea]]ns, [[Moab]]ites and [[Ammon]]ites and sent them against the Southern Kingdom. They attacked Jehoiakim's forces and pillaged virtually the entire kingdom.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=24|verses=2|version=NASB}}</ref> While this was happening, Nebuchadnezzar was apparently leading his main force against Necho II for the last time, in a battle that he nearly lost.<ref name=Wood2>Wood, ''op. cit.'', pp. 317</ref><ref name=Pratt>A.K. Grayson, ''Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles , vol. 5 of Texts from Cuneiform Sources'', eds. A.L. Oppenheim, et al. (New York: Augustun, 1975) p. 100. Quoted by [http://www.johnpratt.com/jpp.html John P. Pratt] in "[http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/meridian/2000/lehi6apr.html Lehi's 600-year Prophecy of the Birth of Christ]," ''[http://www.meridianmagazine.com/articles/000331sixhundred.html Meridian Magazine]'', March 31, 2000. Retrieved April 12, 2007.</ref> Necho lost, and died either in action or shortly afterward. His son [[Psammtik II]] reigned for six years.<ref name=Ussher6>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 790</ref>
Nebuchadnezzar had to retire to regain his strength, but in due course he was back at the walls of [[Jerusalem]]. There and then (599 BC), [[Jehoiakim]] died, under circumstances that remain a subject of some [[Jehoiakim#The Manner of Jehoiakim's Death|controversy]]. Nebuchadnezzar accepted his son [[Jehoiachin]] as the next king, but 100 days later, he removed him as well,<ref name=surrender>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=24|verses=12|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=HSI>Anonymous, "[http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/biblediscovery/jehoiachin.asp Jehoiachin]", ''Holy Spirit Interactive'', 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2007.</ref>and deported a total of ten thousand captives, including seven thousand soldiers, a thousand skilled craftsmen, and two thousand other prisoners also of military age. He also deported Jehoiachin himself, and Jehoiachin's mother [[Nehushta]], and Jehoiachin's unnamed wives, and the magistrates, in addition to appropriating a large amount of treasure from the palace and from the [[Temple of Jerusalem]].<ref name=deport>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=24|verses=13-16|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher7>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 795-7</ref><ref name=Britannica>Anonymous, [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9043490 Jehoiachin], ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' online, 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2007.</ref><ref name=KingsofIsrael>Anonymous, King Jehoiachin: [http://www.geocities.com/thekingsofisrael/biography_Jehoiachin.html Biography] and [http://www.geocities.com/thekingsofisrael/judgment_Jehoiachin.html God's Judgment], retrieved April 13, 2007 from the Kings of Israel site.</ref><ref name=Infoplease>"[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0826121.html Jehoiachin]". ''[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/.html. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia]''. © 1994, 2000-2006, on Infoplease. © 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease. Retrieved
13 April 2007.</ref><ref name=WebBible>Matthew G. Easton and Paul S. Taylor, "[http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/jehoiachin.html Jehoiachin]", ''[http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/home.html The Web Bible Encyclopedia]'', 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2007.</ref><ref name=HSI/>
After leaving only the poorest of the poor in the land, and selecting Jehoiakim's younger brother [[Zedekiah]] to rule the land as his vassal, Nebuchadnezzar might have thought that he finally had a king that he could work with. But Zedekiah would prove as rebellious as his brother and nephew had been, though not immediately.
During Zedekiah's reign, the second Psammtik died.<ref name=Ussher8>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 824</ref> The accession of his son [[Apries]], or ''Hophra'', would convince Zedekiah that he might be able to rebel successfully against Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah could not have been more wrong.
== Sources ==
The putative primary sources for the full story of the Fall of Jerusalem include:
# The author of the Books of the Kings.
# The Chronicler (though the account in [[II Chronicles]] is very sparse).
# The [[prophet]] [[Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah]].
# The [[prophet]] [[Ezekiel (prophet)|Ezekiel]].
In addition, [[Flavius Josephus]] and [[James Ussher]] are the chief secondary sources.
== The Last Years of Jerusalem ==
=== The First Year of Zedekiah ===
Jeremiah had already received baleful prophecies about the [[Southern Kingdom]]. In the year that [[Jehoiachin]] was taken prisoner and deported to [[Babylon]], Jeremiah received from [[God]] the word that [[Zedekiah]] would come to a sad end and that the remainder of the people, or at least those having any influence, would in turn be deported as well. This was the "vision of the two baskets of [[fig]]s," one of good figs and one of bad.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=24|verses=1-2,8-9|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher10>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 808</ref> Jeremiah similarly warned against Zedekiah's attempts to broker an anti-[[Babylonia]]n alliance with the kings of [[Edom]], [[Moab]], [[Ammon]], [[Tyre]], and [[Sidon]]. Furthermore, Jeremiah advised all the deportees to become part of the Babylonian economy and society, if not necessarily part of the culture, and that they ''would'' eventually return, after seventy years had elapsed since the first deportation (in the fourth year of [[Jehoiakim]]).<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=39|verses=1-18|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher11>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 810-11</ref>
The high priest [[Seraiah]] and his second-in-command [[Zephaniah (priest)|Zephaniah]] did not appreciate such advice and denouced Jeremiah in writing to Zedekiah. Jeremiah, in turn, said that those two priests would themselves come to sad ends.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=30|verses=1-31,40|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher11>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 812</ref>
=== The Fourth Year of Zedekiah ===
In this year, [[Hananiah]] made a false prophecy that the exile would end within two years. Jeremiah disputed that account and foretold that Hananiah would die--which Hananiah did before this year of Zedekiah was out.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=28|verses=1-14|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher13>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 814-6</ref>
=== The Fifth Year of Zedekiah ===
In this year, [[Ezekiel (prophet)|Ezekiel]] had his first vision, in which God instructed him to draw a plan of the siege of Jerusalem, and then to lie on his side for three hundred ninety days. This was the symbol, both of the duration of the siege (390 days) and the time of the iniquity of the children of Israel (390 years).<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=Ezekiel|chap=4|verses=1-17|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher14>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 823</ref>
=== The Sixth Year ===
In this year, [[Psammtik II]] died and [[Apries]], or '''Hophra''', succeeded him as [[Pharaoh]] of [[Egypt]]. Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar in this year.<ref name=Ussher8/> But Ezekiel received a direct vision of the idolatries that the residents of [[Jerusalem]] were practicing, and the devastation that was to result. Ezekiel received a further prediction that Zedekiah would flee the city by night, but would be captured anyway, brought before Nebuchadnezzar, blinded, and deported.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Ezekiel|chap=8|verses=1|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=Ezekiel|chap=9|verses=1-11|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=Ezekiel|chap=10|verses=1-22|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=Ezekiel|chap=11|verses=1-25|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher15>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 826</ref>
=== The Ninth Year ===
In this year, which was a sabbatical, the law required the residents of [[Jerusalem]] to set their slaves free. [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] came in force and captured all but three cities: [[Lachish]], [[Azekah]], and [[Jerusalem]] itself. Nebuchadnezzar then came to Jerusalem itself and built a ring of siege towers all around it.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=25|verses=1|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=39|verses=1|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=52|verses=4|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher16>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 832</ref>
Ezekiel received a vision of the coming total destruction of Jerusalem. Ezekiel's wife died, and God instructed Ezekiel not to mourn her, as a symbol that this destruction would be too sad an event to mourn. Jeremiah, for his part, advised Zedekiah of the destruction to come, and Zedekiah imprisoned him.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Ezekiel|chap=24|verses=1-27|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher17>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 833</ref>
In this year, Apries attacked Nebuchadnezzar's siege ring from the outside. Nebuchadnezzar then had to break off his siege, engage Apries directly, and chase him away. In the process, Nebuchadnezzar took 832 prisoners and sent them back to Babylon.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=37|verses=3-10|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher18>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 836</ref>
Zedekiah drew a false confidence from this event, as did his people, who took back the slaves they had earlier set free. Jeremiah warned that Nebuchadnezzar would be back--and that God would not be pleased with this breaking of the sabbatical law.<ref name=Ussher18/>
== The Last 390 Days ==
As Ezekiel predicted, [[Nebuchadnezzar II|Nebuchadnezzar]] dealt handily with [[Apries]]. He then returned and resumed his siege of [[Jerusalem]]. This occurred on the fifteenth day of the third month, and on this date Ezekiel's 390-day countdown began. Before it was over, the people of Jerusalem ran out of food. Jeremiah was thrown into the mud-hole during this time. Zedekiah consulted him repeatedly but never once listened to Jeremiah's simple message: that Nebuchadnezzar would win, and the people ought to submit to him.<ref name=Ussher18>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 841</ref>
Finally, on the ninth day of the fourth month, near the end (according to the civil calendar) of Zedekiah's last year, Nebuchadnezzar's armies broke through the city walls. Zedekiah and all his soldiers fled by night.<ref name=Ussher/> The Chaldeans gave chase and captured them--though Josephus<ref name=Josephus>[[Flavius Josephus]], ''The Antiquities of the Jews'', 10.8.137-8, in ''The Works of Josephus'', William Whiston, trans., Peabody, [[Massachusetts]]: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987</ref> says that most of Zedekiah's soldiers deserted him before this happened.
The Chaldeans brought Zedekiah to Nebuchadnezzar's camp at [[Riblah]]. There Nebuchadnezzar pronounced a short and bitter judgment: that Zedekiah was a traitor, a [[covenant]] breaker, and an ingrate.<ref name=Josephus2>Josephus, ''Antiquities, op. cit.'', 10.8.138-40</ref> Nebuchadnezzar then had Zedekiah's children executed before his eyes, and then he had Zedekiah blinded, chained, and taken to Babylon.<ref name=Ussher/> There, according to Josephus, Nebuchadnezzar kept Zedekiah in prison until he died (though how many years this lasted, Josephus does not say) and then gave him an honorable burial.<ref name=Josephus3>Josephus, ''Antiquities, op. cit.'', 10.8.154</ref>
== The Burning of Jerusalem ==
On the seventh day of the fifth month (or about twenty-five days after the Babylonians breached the city), Nebuchadnezzar's general [[Nebuzaradan]] received his orders to enter Jerusalem. Three days later he entered. He burned the [[Temple of Jerusalem]] and the royal palace to the ground, together with every nobleman's house, and completely leveled the walls. He then carried away all the remaining Temple furnishings, which Nebuchadnezzar dedicated to the temple he was building to his god, [[Marduk]].<ref name=Ussher/> Nebuzaradan also removed every person of consequence from the city, leaving only a population of vine dressers and simple farmers. He brought the two priests [[Seraiah]] and [[Zephaniah (priest)|Zephaniah]] to Nebuchadnezzar, who had them executed as well.<ref name=Ussher19>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 853</ref> Seraiah's son [[Jehozadak]], who inherited the high priesthood from his father, was deported to Babylon.<ref name=Ussher19/>
== The First Governor of Judah ==
The [[Southern Kingdom]] was no more, and from that time forward it was, in essence, a province of whichever regional or intercontinental superpower was dominant in the region. [[Babylonia]] became the first in a long line of superpowers that had the old Southern Kingdom as a province.
General Nebuzaradan appointed [[Gedaliah]], a man of that same country but probably not of the royal family, to act as the first provincial governor. Gedaliah set up his provincial capital at [[Mizpah]], a [[Benjamin (tribe)|Benjamite]] city.<ref name=Ussher20>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 852</ref> There Jeremiah went to live after Nebuchadnezzar's generals granted him leave.<ref name=Ussher21>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 854</ref>
Unhappily, Gedaliah's governorship would not last long. [[Ishmael (prince)|Ishmael]], a minor prince of the [[House of David]], took a sizeable bribe from King [[Baalis]] of [[Ammon]] to kill Gedaliah. Ishmael recruited ten associates and led them all to Mizpah, where Gedaliah received them graciously. Jeremiah warned Gedaliah that Ishmael was plotting murder, but Gedaliah did not listen. Ishmael killed Gedaliah and every Jew or Chaldean he found in Mizpah (though presumably Jeremiah escaped him).<ref name=Ussher22>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pghh. 856-7</ref>
Ishmael and his associates took several female hostages and ran away to [[Ammon]]. But another Jewish general, named [[Johanan]], accosted Ishmael and freed his prisoners. Ishmael, and the eight associates he now had left, continued their flight to Ammon.<ref name=Ussher23>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 858</ref>
Johanan, for his part, led his company to Egypt, in fear of Babylonian retaliation. Jeremiah tried to warn him that, if they fled to Egypt, every one of them would die before his time, but Johanan and most of his company did not listen.<ref name=Ussher24>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 859</ref>
== The Final Deportation ==
Three years after the final taking of Jerusalem, Nebuzaradan brought another 745 Jews and Israelites to Babylon. This occurred forty years after [[Huldah]]'s prophecy of the destruction of the Southern Kingdom, given to [[Josiah]] when he celebrated his solemn [[Passover]].<ref name=Ussher25>[[James Ussher|Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World|op. cit.]]'', pgh. 867</ref>
== First use of the term "Jew" ==
The term ''Jew'' dates from the last years of Jerusalem, and means any person who descends from the tribes of [[Judah (tribe)|Judah]], [[Benjamin (tribe)|Benjamin]], or [[Levi (tribe)|Levi]]. No Levite had remained in the [[Northern Kingdom]] since the reign of Kings [[Asa]] in the South, and [[Baasha]] in the North.
== Chronological Placement ==
Ezekiel's three hundred ninety years, according to [[James Ussher|Ussher]], include three hundred eighty-eight full years and two partial years, beginning in 975 BC with the division of the [[United Kingdom]] of [[Israel]] into [[Northern Kingdom|Northern]] and [[Southern Kingdom|Southern]] halves. [[Edwin R. Thiele|Thiele]], of course, assumes that the division of the kingdoms was forty-five years more recent than Ussher (and [[Flavius Josephus|Josephus]]) calculate, in which case Ezekiel's 390 years are now supposed to have included ''the last five years of the reign of King [[David]] and the entirety of the reign of King [[Solomon]]''.
== Dual-user Provenance ==
This is a dual submission of a work of sole authorship. I am the same person as User:Temlakos on CreationWiki and this article is based on [http://creationwiki.org/index.php?title=Fall_of_Jerusalem&oldid=90593 this version] of the CreationWiki article, which is entirely my work.
== References ==
<references/>
== See Also ==
* [[Josiah]]
* [[Jehoahaz II]]
* [[Jehoiakim]]
* [[Jehoiachin]]
* [[Zedekiah]]
* [[Jeremiah (prophet)]]
* [[Ezekiel (prophet)]]
* [[Nebuchadnezzar II]]
* [[Gedaliah]]
* [[Northern Kingdom]]
* [[Southern Kingdom]]
* [[Biblical chronology dispute]]
[[Category:Bible]]
[[Category:Bible character]]
[[Category:History]]
[[Category:Israel]]