Why?
I answer that question by turning the clock backwards and focusing on – not the Babylonian Empire, but the Assyrian Empire.
(If you’re interested you can find a more complete history in the New Interpreter’s Bible that we have in the church library: Volume 6, Pg. 1076 and following.)
Assyria began perhaps as early as 2500 B.C.E. and became an enduring civilization in the Fertile Cresent. While it had its ups and downs, around 900 B.C.E. it began what would become a significant and sustained expansion under the leadership of Adad-nirari II. By the eighth century the small kingdoms at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea -Judah, Israel, Ammon, Moab, and Edom- were all under threat. With the exception of Judah they all fell. Judah alone survived because Jotham, Judah’s king at the time, refused to join with the kings of Israel and Damascus when they formed a last-ditch coalition against the Assyrians. However, while Judah technically remained independent, it became a vassal state to the Assyrians and began paying heavy tribute.
Under the reign of King Hezekiah (715-687 B.C.E.) Judah rebelled and attempted to escape Assyrian rule. In 701 however, Assyrian leader Sennacherib quelled Judah’s rebellion and laid siege to Jerusalem. While the Bible says Sennacherib was forced to abandon his siege when his army was decimated by “the messenger of the Lord” (2 Kings 19:35), in the Assyrian records Sennacherib boasts of imprisoning Hezekiah in his city “like a bird in a cage” and of extracting enormous tribute. (Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3rd ed. 1969)
So, while Judah wasn’t exactly destroyed, it remained a vassal state of Assyria. By the 7th century B.C.E. Assyria had expanded to such an extent that it controlled most of the Middle East, plus Egypt. But late in that century Egypt mounted a successful revolt. Babylonia (forerunner of the Babylonian Empire) also successfully revolted. That meant that the southern and eastern extremities of the Assyrian Empire had broken free. Assyrian power began to wane. It was in this time that Judean king Josiah began to exert national independence as well. He successfully expanded the territory and launched a series of religious and political reforms. (It was during this time that the prophet Jeremiah began his ministry.)
As Assyria waned the Babylonians began to expand their power; and at an alarming rate. Egypt realized enormous threat posed by Babylon. They decided to join forces with the Assyrians despite being former foes. They hoped their combined forces could keep Babylon contained. But in Judah king Josiah felt that a joint Egyptian/Assyrian force was a serious threat to his own nation. Keep in mind that Judah lay between the territories of Egypt and Assyria. In order for the Egyptians to come to the aid of the Assyrians they had to move their armies right through Judah’s territory. In the year 609 Josiah decided to attack the Egyptians as they were passing through. Quite possibly Josiah saw the Babylonians as potential allies against the Assyrians. Unfortunately, Josiah was killed in the battle.
The combined forces of Egypt and Assyria proved incapable of stopping the Babylonians. The almost 2000-year-old Assyrian civilization was effectively destroyed. The Egyptians retreated and hoped that distance alone would protect their homeland from Babylon. Judah was hardly independent now though. As the Egyptian army passed back through Judah they removed king Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, and appointed Jehoiakim to rule in his place. While Jehoiakim was also a son of Josiah, it was clear that the Egyptians were in charge of who ruled. Judah had now become a vassal state of Egypt - a geographic buffer between Egypt and Babylon.
Four years later, in 605 B.C.E., Babylonian influence was pressing hard on the Egyptian buffer territories. They had defeated the Egyptian army in a battle at Carchemish. Judean king Jehoiakim reluctantly swapped loyalties from Egypt to Babylon. Jehoiakim had been hoping Egypt would grow in strength, but four years later still, in 601, the Babylonians moved their forces through Judah to the very edge of Egypt. An enormous battle ensued between Egypt and Babylon. Both sides suffered severe casualties. Neither came out victorious. The Egyptians breathed a sigh of relief. The Babylonians returned home to reorganize. King Jehoiakim, probably hoping for Egyptian backup, decided the time was right to revolt against Babylon.
The Babylonians were not immediately able to crush this revolt, but they were able to deploy troops already in region to unsettle the area until larger forces could return. In 597 Babylonian king Nebuchadrezzar (sometimes spelled Nebuchadnezzar) mounted a campaign against Judah. They took firm control of all the territory of Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem. In March 597 Judean king Jehoiachin surrendered. (Yes, the names of many of the kings of Judah are very similar in spelling!) He and his household, along with other Judean leaders, craftsmen, and smiths, were forced into exile in Babylon.
Nebuchadrezzar appointed Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah as a puppet king. Zedekiah proved to be a weak and vacillating leader. At first he fulfilled his obligations to the Babylonians. Later he decided to rebel (Jeremiah 27-28). And like King Jehoiakim before him, he probably hoped for help from Egypt… help that never came. The rebellion quickly failed. Zedekiah traveled to Babylon to show Judah’s submission.
But then in 589/88 he rebelled again. This time the Babylonians responded immediately and decisively. The land of Judah was decimated. Jerusalem was besieged. It held out for a while but was eventually conquered. The Babylonians destroyed it completely, including the temple built by Solomon. Zedekiah tried to flee but the Babylonians caught him. They then killed his children right in front of him, and then gouged his eyes out. The Babylonians executed many. They took many more to exile in Babylon.
The prophet Ezekiel was taken to Babylon in the 597 deportation. The prophet Jeremiah remained through that, and remained again after the 587 destruction. Jeremiah eventually moved to Egypt along with a band of other Judeans.
Judah’s territory was a crossroads for the early empires that emerged in the middle east. For the most part Judah was a vassal state to one of those empires. Its loyalties changed as the empires rose and fell. Babylon’s power didn’t last long. It collapsed even more quickly than it began. By late in the 6th century B.C.E. Judah was under Persian rule. The Persians allowed the Jews to rebuild. The pattern of being a semi-independent vassal state began anew!
As Assyria waned the Babylonians began to expand their power; and at an alarming rate. Egypt realized enormous threat posed by Babylon. They decided to join forces with the Assyrians despite being former foes. They hoped their combined forces could keep Babylon contained. But in Judah king Josiah felt that a joint Egyptian/Assyrian force was a serious threat to his own nation. Keep in mind that Judah lay between the territories of Egypt and Assyria. In order for the Egyptians to come to the aid of the Assyrians they had to move their armies right through Judah’s territory. In the year 609 Josiah decided to attack the Egyptians as they were passing through. Quite possibly Josiah saw the Babylonians as potential allies against the Assyrians. Unfortunately, Josiah was killed in the battle.
The combined forces of Egypt and Assyria proved incapable of stopping the Babylonians. The almost 2000-year-old Assyrian civilization was effectively destroyed. The Egyptians retreated and hoped that distance alone would protect their homeland from Babylon. Judah was hardly independent now though. As the Egyptian army passed back through Judah they removed king Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, and appointed Jehoiakim to rule in his place. While Jehoiakim was also a son of Josiah, it was clear that the Egyptians were in charge of who ruled. Judah had now become a vassal state of Egypt - a geographic buffer between Egypt and Babylon.
Four years later, in 605 B.C.E., Babylonian influence was pressing hard on the Egyptian buffer territories. They had defeated the Egyptian army in a battle at Carchemish. Judean king Jehoiakim reluctantly swapped loyalties from Egypt to Babylon. Jehoiakim had been hoping Egypt would grow in strength, but four years later still, in 601, the Babylonians moved their forces through Judah to the very edge of Egypt. An enormous battle ensued between Egypt and Babylon. Both sides suffered severe casualties. Neither came out victorious. The Egyptians breathed a sigh of relief. The Babylonians returned home to reorganize. King Jehoiakim, probably hoping for Egyptian backup, decided the time was right to revolt against Babylon.
The Babylonians were not immediately able to crush this revolt, but they were able to deploy troops already in region to unsettle the area until larger forces could return. In 597 Babylonian king Nebuchadrezzar (sometimes spelled Nebuchadnezzar) mounted a campaign against Judah. They took firm control of all the territory of Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem. In March 597 Judean king Jehoiachin surrendered. (Yes, the names of many of the kings of Judah are very similar in spelling!) He and his household, along with other Judean leaders, craftsmen, and smiths, were forced into exile in Babylon.
Nebuchadrezzar appointed Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah as a puppet king. Zedekiah proved to be a weak and vacillating leader. At first he fulfilled his obligations to the Babylonians. Later he decided to rebel (Jeremiah 27-28). And like King Jehoiakim before him, he probably hoped for help from Egypt… help that never came. The rebellion quickly failed. Zedekiah traveled to Babylon to show Judah’s submission.
But then in 589/88 he rebelled again. This time the Babylonians responded immediately and decisively. The land of Judah was decimated. Jerusalem was besieged. It held out for a while but was eventually conquered. The Babylonians destroyed it completely, including the temple built by Solomon. Zedekiah tried to flee but the Babylonians caught him. They then killed his children right in front of him, and then gouged his eyes out. The Babylonians executed many. They took many more to exile in Babylon.
The prophet Ezekiel was taken to Babylon in the 597 deportation. The prophet Jeremiah remained through that, and remained again after the 587 destruction. Jeremiah eventually moved to Egypt along with a band of other Judeans.
Judah’s territory was a crossroads for the early empires that emerged in the middle east. For the most part Judah was a vassal state to one of those empires. Its loyalties changed as the empires rose and fell. Babylon’s power didn’t last long. It collapsed even more quickly than it began. By late in the 6th century B.C.E. Judah was under Persian rule. The Persians allowed the Jews to rebuild. The pattern of being a semi-independent vassal state began anew!
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