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The Exile

The Exile. Dr K. Southwood. Pictures of the period. Attack on Jerusalem 597BCE ( 2 Kgs 24–5; 2 Chr. 36; Jer . 39 ). Flee to Egypt ( 2 Kgs 25: 26 ). “people of the land” ( הארץ עם ) “people of the exile” ( הגולה בני ). Biblical accounts.

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The Exile

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  1. The Exile Dr K. Southwood

  2. Pictures of the period Attack on Jerusalem 597BCE (2 Kgs 24–5; 2 Chr. 36; Jer. 39). Flee to Egypt (2 Kgs 25: 26). “people of the land” (הארץעם) “people of the exile” (הגולהבני)

  3. Biblical accounts • 2 Kings 23-25: Nebuchadnezzar and army camp around Jerusalem from 9th – 11th year of Zedekiah; famine in Jerusalem; Zedekiah flees but is captured; Babylonians murder Zedekiah’s sons in front of him and put out his eyes; temple and houses in Jerusalem burnt ; • 2 Deportations – forced exile. • everyone except the poor taken away into exile

  4. Biblical accounts • Jeremiah 39-43: Similar to account in 2 Kings 25, but hardly any mention of the temple. Role of Gedeliah. • Egyptian exile – not forced • Jeremiah 52: Lists of exiles. • An extra deportation in 582 of 745 Jews

  5. Biblical accounts • 2 Chronicles 36: Zedekiah rebels against Nebuchadnezzar. House of the Lord polluted by the actions of the priests and people. The exile as a Sabbath. • 3 Deportations • Entire population taken into exile, empty land. • A result of sin

  6. Impact? • Very little: • Hans BartstadMyth of the Empty Land, (2 Chr 36:21) • Great: • Avram Faust Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period

  7. External sources of evidence • Babylonian Chronicle: In the seventh month (of Nebuchadnezzar-599 BC.) in the month Chislev the king of Babylon assembled his army, and after he had invaded the land of Hatti (Syria/Palestine) he laid siege to the city of Judah. On the second day of the month of Adara ( 16th of March) he conquered the city and took the king (Jehoiachin) prisoner. He installed in his place a king (Zedekiah) of his own choice, and after he had received rich tribute, he sent (them) forth to Babylon.

  8. External sources of evidence • Archaeology: Destruction of various cities. Interestingly, not northern settlements such as Mizpah, Gibeon, Bethel, Gibeah. • Cuneiform text 498: URU ya-a-hu-du Place name in Babylonia: ‘The City of Judah’ • Scattered evidence of Jewish names on Neo-Babylonian tablets: Pockets of exiled communities, not just a single group.

  9. Life in exile? • I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Abib near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days—overwhelmed (Ezek. 3:15) • The following came up from the towns of Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Kerub, Addon and Immer (Ezra 2:59) • Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Intermarry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.(Jer 29:5-6).

  10. Biblical accounts of life in exile • Psalm 137: Homesickness, desire for revenge • Ezekiel 11:15; 33:24 Bitterness towards those left behind. Ezekiel 18: Repentance to escape the guilt of parents • Organisation according to genealogical groups (בית אבות; ‘Father’s House’). Ethnic solidarity, defined ethnic and religious identity. • Religious ceremonies and organization: Circumcision. Dietary laws. Sabbath. • Deutero-Isaiah: The emergence of monotheism (the belief in the existence of only one God).

  11. Later external evidence for life in exile • Murashû (464-404) Yahwistic theophoric names (An example of a Yahwistic Theophoric name: אליהוEli-yahu) names occur. Yahwists appear to be smallholders, petty officials, tax-collectors, or to figure as witnesses. Some were employed by Murashû and his sons, who managed agricultural land held as estates, loaned out money, equipment, and animals, and collected taxes and rents. (Problem dual names, nicknames, different family names etc). • Elephantine 4th Century: Yahwisticcommunity (worshipping the God Yahu) , who exist side by side with an Egyptian religious community who worship Khnum. Temples side by side. Not strict monotheism as found in the later Persian period and in Deutero Isaiah. • Josephus’s account (later – 1st Century).

  12. Ezekiel • Had God withdrawn his promise to David? Was this a permanent or temporary setback? If/when Jerusalem fell, what were the implications for the theology of election and inviolability? Would the fall of the city mean that the Babylonian gods were more powerful than Yahweh? • The first deportation raised serious questions about the nature of Israel. What was the status of the exiles? • The first deportation provoked a major crisis in relation to the prophetic office itself. As a result of the political conditions of the times, prophets started to make conflicting claims about the reasons for the deportations and the length of the exile.

  13. Deutero Isaiah • God is all powerful (Is 40:1–9 and 55:6–11) • He will give mercy and forgiveness. • God will do ‘new things’ never done before (Isa 42:9) • There will be a new exodus (42:1–11; 43:9–10; 43:16–2 1) • Yahweh is the redeemer of Israel, Cyrus is his shepherd • There will be a new creation(40:12–31; 43:16–21; 45:7–9). • Yahweh will restore Zion and will make it once again the centre of the world.

  14. Continuing reflections on exile • Halverson-Taylor The Metaphorization of Exile in the Hebrew Bible. • Later hope in post biblical Jewish theology for restoration through • a return of the dispersed; • the appearance of a Davidic heir or Messiah figure to throw off the shackles of foreign domination and restore Israel’s sovereignty; • the gathering of one people around a new and glorified temple.

  15. Exile as a defining experience • Exile as a dominant metaphor in the Hebrew Bible and in Apocalyptic literature (such as Daniel 9, or Enoch. • Exile as a context for later stories: Daniel 1-6; Tobit (Assyrian exile); Judith. • The ongoing effects of exile in the postexilic period: • Theodicy • Law and nationalism (cf. Goodblatt. D., Elements of Jewish Nationalism). • Ezra-Nehemiah: Ethnicity and the ‘foreign homeland’ (בני הגולה).

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