Yehoyachin rules for 11 years, wavering between allegiance to Egypt and to Babylon - the two superpowers now fighting over the remains of what Assyria has left behind. By the time the Yehoicahim became the 21st and practically the last king of Judah, at either the age of eight or eighteen - Jerusalem is doomed. Three months after he is crowned, Babylon is at the gates, with Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty and feared king, at the head of the army.
Babylon did not employ the same population relocation strategy as the Assyrians but they did deport the elites, making sure that Jerusalem is empty of its power and wealth. At this early phase of the Babylonian takeover the temple remains and with a puppet king and priestly authorities - some semblance of normalcy is retained, for the time being.
“He deported Jehoiachin to Babylon; and the king’s mother and wives and officers and the notables of the land were brought as exiles from Jerusalem to Babylon.
All the able men, to the number of seven thousand—all of them warriors, trained for battle—and a thousand craftsmen and smiths were brought to Babylon as exiles by the king of Babylon.”
The Queen Mother, Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem, is a scion of the oldest nobility. The queens’ names are not listed anymore. Among the exiles is Ezekiel, the priest who will become a prophet by the rivers of Babylon. Among them is also a child named Mordechai, from the people of Benjamin, who will one day become that guy who co-stars in the Scroll of Esther.
The mention of the ‘craftsmen and smiths’ is especially interesting, and this first phase of the Judean exile will be known hence as the ‘exile of the craftsmen and smiths’. The industrial workforce, along with the aristocracy and wealthy elites were wanted by Babylon - not only to weaken power in Judah but also to make Babylon great.
In some of Jeremaiah’s prophecies, dated from this same dark period, there seems to still be hope that this is just a temporary situation. The temple, though looted by Babylon for all the good stuff - still continued to serve those who remained. The royal family still had representation in Jerusalem, as Babylon installed a puppet king and changed his name - from Matania to Zedekiah. 21 years old, this son of Josiah and Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, is placed on the diminished throne.
So why does Zedekiah rebel against the mighty Babylon? It isn’t clear but this chapter, one before the last in this epic Book of Kings ends with the last king of Jerusalem trying to assert his power, perhaps as a desperate attempt to go out in style?
“From the book of Jeremiah, from Ezekiel, and from extra-biblical sources, we know that there were sharp divisions within the kingdom of Judah between a pro-Egyptian faction and a pro-Babylonian faction. Zedekiah at this moment, counting on Egyptian support, joined an alliance of trans-Jordanian kingdoms plotting to overthrow Babylonian rule. In the event, Egypt did not provide support, and the rebellion failed to materialize. The consequence was Nebuchadnezzar’s assault on Jerusalem and the destruction of the kingdom of Judah. “
Prepare to say farewell to the Books of Kings and to five centuries or so of living, somehow, on the land.
Image: Exile in Toronto, photo by Amichai Lau-Lavie, 2023
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