The Kings of the Judean Captivity

The captivity of the Kingdom of Judah or the Southern Kingdom can be said to begin in about 606 BC when Daniel and many other young men of the Jewish royal families were carried into Babylon. The captivity continues through the capture of Jerusalem in 587 BC and finally ends with with the decree of Cyrus of Persia releasing the Jews from captivity in 537 BC.

As mentioned during our class discussions, only a minority of those carried into captivity ever returned to Israel.

During this time, a number of pagan rulers had great influence, usually negative, on the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

Nebuchadnezzar or Nabu-kudur-usur. Nebo, protect the crown! (or, the landmark). The great king of Babylon (604–561 B.C.), son of Nabopolassar, the founder of the empire (see Assyria and Babylonia); defeats Necho, king of Egypt, at Carchemish and drives the Egyptians from Syria (Jer. 46:2–12); subdues Judah (2 Kgs. 24:1); besieges Jerusalem (24:10–11), and takes it, carrying away the king and people (25:1, 8, 22; 1 Chr. 6:15; 2 Chr. 36; Ezra 1:7; 2:1; 5:12, 14; 6:5; Neh. 7:6; Esth. 2:6; Jer. 27:6, 8, 20; 28:3, 11, 14; 29:1, 3; 34:1; 39:5). For his relations with Daniel, by whom his dreams were interpreted, see Dan. 1–5. He was for a time smitten with madness, and on his recovery acknowledged God’s power and goodness. (Bible Dictionary)

Darius. (1) The Mede, king of Babylon after the death of Belshazzar (Dan. 5:31; 6:9, 25–28; 9:1; 11:1). (Bible Dictionary)

Cyrus. Formerly king of Elam. He captured Babylon and overthrew the Chaldean dynasty (of which Nabonidus was the last king, with Belshazzar his son as commander-in-chief). He issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to the land of Judah and rebuild the temple, possibly as a token of gratitude for assistance given to him in his conquest (2 Chr. 36:22; Ezra 1; 3:7; Isa. 44:28; 45:1; Dan. 1:21; 6:28; 10:1).

Ahasuerus is the Persian king that Esther marries. The Bible Dictionary dates him at 529 BC, after Cyrus frees the Jews. Ahasuerus was almost certainly the successor of Cyrus. (See Ezra 4:6)

The fact that many of the Jews remained in foreign lands after the fall of Jerusalem would have a benefit for the missionaries of the New Testament. This scattering is often called the diaspora or the dispersion.

From the Bible Dictionary:

Dispersion. A title applied to all Israelites who remained settled in foreign countries subsequent to the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1). The Epistle of James is addressed to them (James 1:1; cf. John 7:35). One result of this dispersion was the existence in many different parts of the world of Jewish synagogues, which became of great service to the spread of Christianity (Acts 2:5–11; 6:9; 13:43–45; 14:1–2, 19; 16:3; 17:1, 10–13; 18:2, 12, 19; 19:13–17, 33; 28:17–29). All Jews, wherever they might be, regarded the temple at Jerusalem as the center of their worship, and contributed the usual half-shekel toward its maintenance (Matt. 17:24). The Jews of Babylonia spoke an Aramaic dialect similar to that spoken in Palestine. The Jews of Syria, Egypt, and Italy adopted the Greek language and along with it many Greek ideas. For their use, the Greek translation of the O.T. known as the Septuagint was made. See also Diaspora; Septuagint.