The siege of Jerusalem (597 BC) was a military campaign carried out by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of the
Neo-Babylonian Empire
The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC and bei ...
, in which he besieged Jerusalem, then capital of the
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah ( he, , ''Yəhūdā''; akk, 𒅀𒌑𒁕𒀀𒀀 ''Ya'údâ'' 'ia-ú-da-a-a'' arc, 𐤁𐤉𐤕𐤃𐤅𐤃 ''Bēyt Dāwīḏ'', " House of David") was an Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. C ...
. The city surrendered, with king
Jeconiah
Jeconiah ( he, יְכָנְיָה ''Yəḵonəyā'' , meaning "Yah has established"; el, Ιεχονιας; la, Iechonias, Jechonias), also known as Coniah and as Jehoiachin ( he, יְהוֹיָכִין ''Yəhōyāḵīn'' ; la, Ioachin, Joach ...
of Judah deported to Babylon and replaced by his Babylonian-appointed uncle,
Zedekiah
Zedekiah (), was the 20th and last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. His birth name was Mattaniah/Mattanyahu ( he, מַתַּנְיָהוּ, ''Mattanyāhū'', "Gift of God"; el, Μαθ ...
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
and was repulsed with heavy losses.
Jehoiakim
Jehoiakim, also sometimes spelled Jehoikim; la, Joakim was the eighteenth and antepenultimate king of Judah from 609 to 598 BC. He was the second son of king Josiah () and Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. His birth name was Eliakim.; ...
king of Judah seized the opportunity to revolt against Babylonian rule, taking a pro-Egyptian position, despite the strong remonstrances of the prophet
Jeremiah
Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewi ...
. Jehoiakim died for reasons unclear, and was succeeded by his young son, Jeconiah.
The Babylonians besieged Jerusalem, and in March 597 BC the city surrendered. Jeconiah, his court and other prominent citizens and craftsmen, were deported to Babylon. This event is considered to be the start of Babylonian captivity and of the
Jewish Diaspora
The Jewish diaspora ( he, תְּפוּצָה, təfūṣā) or exile (Hebrew: ; Yiddish: ) is the dispersion of Israelites or Jews out of their ancient ancestral homeland (the Land of Israel) and their subsequent settlement in other parts of th ...
. Jeconiah's uncle, Zedekiah, was installed as vassal king of Judah.
A decade later, Zedekiah launched another rebellion against the Babylonians, which was brutally crushed by Nebuchadnezzar. In 587 BC, a second siege of Jerusalem culminated in the destruction of the city and First Temple, bringing an end to the Kingdom of Judah.
Dating
The Babylonian Chronicles, which were published by Donald Wiseman in 1956, establish that Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem the first time on March 16, 597 BC. Before Wiseman's publication, E. R. Thiele had determined from the biblical texts that Nebuchadnezzar's initial capture of Jerusalem occurred in the spring of 597 BC, but other scholars, including William F. Albright, more frequently dated the event to 598 BC.
Siege
To avoid the destruction of Jerusalem, King
Jehoiakim
Jehoiakim, also sometimes spelled Jehoikim; la, Joakim was the eighteenth and antepenultimate king of Judah from 609 to 598 BC. He was the second son of king Josiah () and Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. His birth name was Eliakim.; ...
of Judah, in his third year, changed his allegiance from Egypt to Babylon. He paid tribute from the treasury in Jerusalem, and Nebuchadnezzar took some temple artifacts and some of the royal family and nobility as hostages. In 601 BC, during the fourth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar unsuccessfully attempted to invade
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
and was repulsed with heavy losses. The failure led to numerous rebellions among the states of the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
which owed allegiance to Babylon, including Judah, where King Jehoiakim stopped paying tribute to NebuchadnezzarThe Divided Monarchy c. 931–586 BC /ref> and took a pro-Egyptian position.
Nebuchadnezzar soon dealt with these rebellions. According to the Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle, he laid siege to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, which eventually fell in 597 BC. The Chronicle states:
In the seventh year f Nebuchadnezzar, 598 BCin the month Chislev ovember/Decemberthe 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 Adar
6 March
Events Pre-1600
*12 BCE – The Roman emperor Augustus is named Pontifex Maximus, incorporating the position into that of the emperor.
* 632 – The Farewell Sermon (Khutbah, Khutbatul Wada') of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
* 845 &n ...
he conquered the city and took the king econiahprisoner. He installed in his place a king edekiahof his own choice, and after he had received rich tribute, he sent forth to Babylon.
Jehoiakim died during the siege, possibly on December 10, 598 BC, or during the months of
Kislev
Kislev or Chislev (Hebrew: כִּסְלֵו, Standard ''Kīslev'' Tiberian ''Kīslēw''), also 'Chisleu' in the King James (authorized English) Bible, is the third month of the civil year and the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year on the H ...
, or
Tevet
Tevet ( he, טֵבֵת, ''Ṭevet''; ; from Akkadian ) is the fourth month of the civil year and the tenth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It follows Kislev and precedes Shevat. It is a month of 29 days. Tevet usually occ ...
. Nebuchadnezzar pillaged the city and its
Temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
, and the new king
Jeconiah
Jeconiah ( he, יְכָנְיָה ''Yəḵonəyā'' , meaning "Yah has established"; el, Ιεχονιας; la, Iechonias, Jechonias), also known as Coniah and as Jehoiachin ( he, יְהוֹיָכִין ''Yəhōyāḵīn'' ; la, Ioachin, Joach ...
, who was either 8 or 18, and his court and other prominent citizens and craftsmen, were deported to Babylon.''The Oxford History of the Biblical World'', ed. by Michael D Coogan. Published by Oxford University Press, 1999. pg 350 The deportation occurred prior to Nisan of 597 BC, and dates in the
Book of Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Tanakh and one of the major prophetic books, following Isaiah and Jeremiah. According to the book itself, it records six visions of the prophet Ezekiel, exiled in Babylon, during ...
are counted from that event.
Nebuchadnezzar installed Jeconiah's uncle,
Zedekiah
Zedekiah (), was the 20th and last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. His birth name was Mattaniah/Mattanyahu ( he, מַתַּנְיָהוּ, ''Mattanyāhū'', "Gift of God"; el, Μαθ ...
as puppet-king of Judah, and Jeconiah was compelled to remain in Babylon. The start of Zedekiah's reign has been variously dated within a few weeks before, or after the start of Nisan 597 BC.
The Book of Kings records that 10,000 people were exiled during this time, also adding 7,000 craftsmen and 1,000 "smiths", bringing the total to 18,000. Comparatively, the Book of Jeremiah mentions 3,023 people taken into captivity. Some scholars have argued whether this number includes only men. If this is true, perhaps as many as 15,000 to 30,000 Judeans were exiled.