Babylonians
The empire that destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC and took many of its people into exile.
What the sources say, and how sure we are
- The text says
Nebuchadnezzar takes Jerusalem in 597 BC and destroys it in 586 BC. Jeremiah’s list counts about 4,600 exiles in three deportations, and Jeremiah tells the exiles to build homes in Babylon. King Jehoiachin is released from prison in 561 BC.2 Kgs 24:10–17; 2 Kgs 25:8–12; Jer 29:5–7; Jer 52:28–30; 2 Kgs 25:27–30
- Outside evidence
The Babylonian Chronicle records the capture of Jerusalem in 597 BC. Ration tablets from Babylon list oil for Jehoiachin, king of Judah. The Lachish letters, written as Babylon attacked, describe the last days of Judah. Excavations in Jerusalem show burned buildings from 586 BC.Babylonian Chronicle (ABC 5); Babylonian ration tablets; Lachish Letters
- Debated
Scholars debate the numbers deported, and how empty the land was afterwards. Many hold that most people stayed in Judah. Jeremiah’s “seventy years” is read as the time from 605 to 539 BC, or from 586 to 516 BC.Jer 25:11–12; Jer 29:10