Taken by Nebuchadnezzar

Taken by Nebuchadnezzar.

In the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made his first invasion into Palestine. There is no trace of a siege of Jerusalem at this time; but some of the Temple vessels were carried off (ib. xxxvi. 7). In 597 B.C., however, an encircling wall was built by the invaders, and the city invested. At the time of Jehoiachin (Jer. lii. 6) famine raged in the city. The rebellion of Zedekiah caused a second invasion in 587; and after a siege of a year and a half Jerusalem was taken on the ninth day of the fourth month (Ab), 586. The beauty and the strength of the city were destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar's general, Nebuzar-adan, burned the Temple, carrying away all the brass and the vessels; he burned also the king's palace and the larger houses of the city. The walls were razed, and a large number of the inhabitants (10,000, according to II Kings xxiv. 14) were deported and settled in various parts of Babylon; a number probably at Nippur, to judge from the names found by Hilprecht in the business documents of that city ("P. E. F. S." 1898, pp. 54, 137; Batten, "Ezra and Nehemiah," p. 57, in "S. B. O. T."). Even before this the city must have been depleted through the flight of many to Egypt (Jer. xlii. et seq.). The seat of government was removed to Mizpah (II Kings xxv. 23; Jer. xli. 1 et seq.).

Jerusalem