Bible Dictionary: Captivity

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ATS Bible Dictionary

Captivity

God often punished the sins of the Jews be captivities or servitudes, according to his threatenings, De 28:1-68. Their first captivity, however, from which Moses delivered them, should be considered rather as a permission of Providence, than as a punishment for sin. There were six subjugations of the twelve tribes during the period of the judges. But the most remarkable captivities, or rather expatriations of the Hebrews, were whose of Israel and Judah under the regal government. Israel was first carried away in part about B. C. 740, by Tiglath-pileser, 2 Kings 15:29. The tribes east of the Jordan, with parts of Zebulun and Naphtali, Isaiah 9:1, were the first sufferers. Twenty years later, Shalmanezer carried away the remainder, 2 Kings 17:6-24. Aside from certain prophecies, Isaiah 11:12,13 Jeremiah 31:7-9,16-20 49:2 Eze 37:16 Hosea 11:11 Am 9:14 Obadiah 1:18,19, etc., which are variously interpreter to mean a past or a future return, a physical or a spiritual restoration, there is no evidence that the ten tribes as a body ever returned to Palestine.

To Judah are generally reckoned three captivities: 1. Under Jehoiakim, in his third year, B. C. 606, when Daniel and others were carried to Babylon, 2 Kings 24:1,2 Daniel 1:1 2. In the last year of Jehoiakim, when Nebuchadnezzar carried 3,023 Jews to Babylon; or rather, under Jehoiachin, when this prince also was sent to Babylon, that is, in the seventh and eighth years of Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 598, 2 Kings 24:2,12 2 Chronicles 36:8,10 Jeremiah 52:34 3. Under Zedekiah, B. C. 588, when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, and most that was valuable among the people and their treasures was carried to Babylon, 2 Kings 25:1-30 2 Chronicles 36:1-23. The seventy years during which they were to remain in captivity, Jeremiah 25:11 29:10, are reckoned probably from the date of the first captivity, B. C. 606. While at Babylon the Jews had judges and elders who governed them, and decided matters in dispute juridically according to their laws. The book of Daniel shows us a Jew in a high position at court, and the book of Esther celebrates their numbers and power in the Persian empire. The prophets labored, not in vain, to keep alive the flame of the true religion.

At length the seventy years were fulfilled, and Cyrus, in the first year of his reign at Babylon, B. C. 536, made a proclamation throughout his empire permitting the people of God to return to their country, and rebuild the temple, Ezra 1:11. Nearly 50,000 accepted the invitation, Ezra 2:2 Nehemiah 7:7. This company laid the foundation of the second temple, which was completed in the sixth year of Darius, B. C. 516. Fifty-eight years after, Ezra led a small company of 7,000 from Babylon to Judea. He was succeeded as governor by Nehemiah, who labored faithfully and successfully to reform the people, and many of the good fruits of his labors remained until the time of Christ.

Probably none among the posterity of Jacob can now prove from which of his twelve sons they are descended. Both Judah and Israel being removed from "the lot of their inheritance" in Canaan, and dispersed among strangers, the various tribes would naturally amalgamate with each other, the envy of Judah and Ephraim would depart, and the memory of Abraham, Moses, and David would revive, Ezra 6:16,17 8:35 Ezekiel 37:26-28.

The last captivity of the Jews, A. D. 71, after they had filled up the measure of their iniquity by rejecting Christ and the gospel, was a terrible one. According to Josephus, 1,100,000 perished at the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, and nearly 100,000 captives were scattered among the provinces to perish in gladiatorial shows, doomed to toil as public slaves, or sold into private bondage. The cut represents the medal of the emperor Vespasian, A. D. 71, in memory of the capture of Jerusalem. Under the emperor Hadrian, A. D. 133, a similar crushing blow fell on the Jews who had again assembled in Judea; and at this day they are scattered all over the world, yet distinct from the people among whom they dwell, suffering under the woe which unbelief has brought upon their fathers and themselves, and awaiting the time when Christ "shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob," Romans 11:25,26.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(1.) Of Israel. The kingdom of the ten tribes was successively invaded by several Assyrian kings. Pul (q.v.) imposed a tribute on Menahem of a thousand talents of silver (2 Kings 15:19, 20; 1 Chronicles 5:26) (B.C. 762), and Tiglath-pileser, in the days of Pekah (B.C. 738), carried away the trans-Jordanic tribes and the inhabitants of Galilee into Assyria (2 Kings 15:29; Isaiah 9:1). Subsequently Shalmaneser invaded Israel and laid siege to Samaria, the capital of the kingdom. During the siege he died, and was succeeded by Sargon, who took the city, and transported the great mass of the people into Assyria (B.C. 721), placing them in Halah and in Habor, and in the cities of the Medes (2 Kings 17:3, 5). Samaria was never again inhabited by the Israelites. The families thus removed were carried to distant cities, many of them not far from the Caspian Sea, and their place was supplied by colonists from Babylon and Cuthah, etc. (2 Kings 17:24). Thus terminated the kingdom of the ten tribes, after a separate duration of two hundred and fifty-five years (B.C. 975-721).

Many speculations have been indulged in with reference to these ten tribes. But we believe that all, except the number that probably allied themselves with Judah and shared in their restoration under Cyrus, are finally lost.

"Like the dew on the mountain, Like the foam on the river, Like the bubble on the fountain, They are gone, and for ever."

(2.) Of Judah. In the third year of Jehoiachim, the eighteenth king of Judah (B.C. 605), Nebuchadnezzar having overcome the Egyptians at Carchemish, advanced to Jerusalem with a great army. After a brief siege he took that city, and carried away the vessels of the sanctuary to Babylon, and dedicated them in the Temple of Belus (2 Kings 24:1; 2 Chronicles 36:6, 7; Dan. 1:1, 2). He also carried away the treasures of the king, whom he made his vassal. At this time, from which is dated the "seventy years" of captivity (Jeremiah 25; Dan. 9:1, 2), Daniel and his companions were carried to Babylon, there to be brought up at the court and trained in all the learning of the Chaldeans. After this, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, a great national fast was appointed (Jeremiah 36:9), during which the king, to show his defiance, cut up the leaves of the book of Jeremiah's prophecies as they were read to him in his winter palace, and threw them into the fire. In the same spirit he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:1), who again a second time (B.C. 598) marched against Jerusalem, and put Jehoiachim to death, placing his son Jehoiachin on the throne in his stead. But Jehoiachin's counsellors displeasing Nebuchadnezzar, he again a third time turned his army against Jerusalem, and carried away to Babylon a second detachment of Jews as captives, to the number of 10,000 (2 Kings 24:13; Jeremiah 24:1; 2 Chronicles 36:10), among whom were the king, with his mother and all his princes and officers, also Ezekiel, who with many of his companions were settled on the banks of the river Chebar (q.v.). He also carried away all the remaining treasures of the temple and the palace, and the golden vessels of the sanctuary.

Mattaniah, the uncle of Jehoiachin, was now made king over what remained of the kingdom of Judah, under the name of Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17; 2 Chronicles 36:10). After a troubled reign of eleven years his kingdom came to an end (2 Chronicles 36:11). Nebuchadnezzar, with a powerful army, besieged Jerusalem, and Zedekiah became a prisoner in Babylon. His eyes were put out, and he was kept in close confinement till his death (2 Kings 25:7). The city was spoiled of all that was of value, and then given up to the flames. The temple and palaces were consumed, and the walls of the city were levelled with the ground (B.C. 586), and all that remained of the people, except a number of the poorest class who were left to till the ground and dress the vineyards, were carried away captives to Babylon. This was the third and last deportation of Jewish captives. The land was now utterly desolate, and was abondoned to anarchy.

In the first year of his reign as king of Babylon (B.C. 536), Cyrus issued a decree liberating the Jewish captives, and permitting them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and the temple (2 Chronicles 36:22, 23; Ezra 1; 2). The number of the people forming the first caravan, under Zerubbabel, amounted in all to 42,360 (Ezra 2:64, 65), besides 7,337 men-servants and maid-servants. A considerable number, 12,000 probably, from the ten tribes who had been carried away into Assyria no doubt combined with this band of liberated captives.

At a later period other bands of the Jews returned (1) under Ezra (7:7) (B.C. 458), and (2) Nehemiah (7:66) (B.C. 445). But the great mass of the people remained still in the land to which they had been carried, and became a portion of the Jews of the "dispersion" (John 7:35; 1 Peter 1:1). The whole number of the exiles that chose to remain was probably about six times the number of those who returned.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) The state of being a captive or a prisoner.

2. (n.) A state of being under control; subjection of the will or affections; bondage.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

CAPTIVITY

kap-tiv'-i-ti (galah, galuth, shebhuth, shibhyah; metoikesia):

I. OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM (THE WORK OF ASSYRIA)

1. Western Campaigns of Shalmaneser II, 860-825 B.C.

2. Of Rimmon-nirari III, 810-781 B.C.

3. Of Tiglath-pileser III, 745-727 B.C.

4. Of Shalmaneser IV, 727-722 B.C.-Siege of Samaria

5. Samaria Captured by Sargon, 722 B.C.

6. Depopulation and Repopulation of Samaria

7. The Ten Tribes in Captivity

II. OF JUDAH (THE WORK OF THE CHALDAEAN POWER)

Southern Kingdom and House of David

1. Break-up of Assyria

2. Downfall of Nineveh, 606 B.C.

3. Pharaoh Necoh's Revolt

4. Defeat at Carchemish, 604 B.C.

5. The New Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadrezzar, 604-562 B.C.

The Mission of Jeremiah, 626-580 B.C.

6. Revolt and Punishment of Jehoiakim, 608-597 B.C.

7. Siege and Surrender of Jerusalem under Jehoiachin, 597 B.C.

8. First Deportation, 597 B.C.

The Baskets of Figs

9. The Ministry of Ezekiel, 592-570 B.C.

10. Jeremiah's Ministry in Jerusalem, 597-588 B.C.

11. Zedekiah's Rebellion and Siege of Jerusalem, 588-586 B.C.

Jeremiah "Falling Away to the Chaldeans"

12. Destruction of Jerusalem, 586 B.C.

Flight, Capture, and Punishment of Zedekiah

13. Second Deportation of Inhabitants, 586 B.C.

14. Third Deportation, 581 B.C.

(1) Number and Quality of Exiles

(2) The Residue Left

15. Gedaliah, Governor of Judah

(1) Jeremiah and the Flight to Egypt

(2) Descendants of the Fugitives, 471-411 B.C.

16. The Exiles in Babylon: Their Social Condition, 464-405 B.C.

17. The Rise and Development of Judaism

18. The Return by Permission of Cyrus, 538 B.C.

19. Rebuilding of the Temple, 536 B.C.

Completed 515 B.C.

20. Reforms and Labors of Ezra and Nehemiah, 445 B.C.

21. Modern Theories of the Return

22. Importance of the Period of Ezra-Nehemiah

LITERATURE

I. Of the Northern Kingdom (The Work of Assyria).

1. Western Campaigns of Shalmaneser II, 860-825 B.C.:

The captivity of the Northern Kingdom was the work of the great Assyrian power having its seat at Nineveh on the Tigris. The empire of Assyria, rounded nearly 2000 B.C., had a long history behind it when its annals begin to take notice of the kingdom of Israel and Judah. The reign of Shalmaneser II (860-825 B.C.) marks the first contact between these powers. This is not the Shalmaneser mentioned in 2 Kings 17 and 18, who is the fourth of the name and flourished more than a century later. Shalmaneser II was contemporary during his long reign with Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah and Joash, kings of Judah; with Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram and Jehu, kings of Israel; with Hazael and Benhadad II, kings of Syria at Damascus, and with Mesha, king of Moab. The Assyrian authorities for his reign are an inscription engraved by himself on the rocks of Armenia; the Black Obelisk brought by Layard from Nimroud, now in the British Museum; and the texts engraved on the bronze gates of Balawat, discovered by Hormuzd Rassam in 1878, and recognized as the swinging gates of Shalmaneser's palace. From these authorities we learn that in his 6th year he encountered the combined forces of Damascus, Hamath, Israel, and other states which had united to oppose his progress westward, and completely routed them in the battle of Karkar (854 B.C.). The danger which threatened the western states in common had brought Syria and Israel together; and this is in accord with the Scripture narrative which tells of a covenant, denounced by God's prophet, between Ahab and Benhadad (1 Kings 20:34), and mentions a period of three years when there was no war between Syria and Israel. The defeat of the allies seems, however, to have broken up the confederacy, for, soon after, Ahab is found, with the aid of Jehoshaphat of Judah, attempting unsuccessfully, and with fatal result to himself, to recover from the weakened power of Syria the city of Ramoth-gilead (1 Kings 22). In another campaign to the West, which likewise finds no record in Scripture, Shalmaneser received the tribute of Tyre and Sidon, and of "Yahua of Khumri," that is, of Jehu, of the land of Omri, as Israel is called on the monuments.

2. Of Rimmon-nirari III, 810-781 B.C.:

The next Assyrian monarch who turned his arms against the West was Rimmon-nirari III (810-781 B.C.), grandson of Shalmaneser II. Although he is not mentioned by name in Scripture, his presence and activity had their influence upon contemporary events recorded in 2 Ki. He caused Syria to let go her hold of Israel; and although he brought Israel into subjection, the people of the Northern Kingdom would rather have a ruler exercising a nominal sovereignty over them in distant Nineveh than a king oppressing them in Damascus. Hence, Rimmon-nirari has been taken for the saviour whom God gave to Israel, "so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians" (2 Kings 13:5; compare 2 Kings 13:23).

With the death of Rimmon-nirari in 781 B.C., the power of Assyria received a temporary check, and on the other hand the kingdom of Judah under Uzziah and the kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam II reached the zenith of their political prosperity. In 745 B.C., however, a usurper, Pul, or Pulu, ascended the throne of Assyria, and reigned as Tiglath-pileser III. It is by the former name that he is first mentioned in the Scripture narrative (2 Kings 15:19 1 Chronicles 5:26), and by the latter that he is mentioned on the monuments. That the two names belong to one man is now held to be certain (Schrader, COT, I, 230).

3. Of Tiglath-pileser III, 745-727 B.C.:

Tiglath-pileser was one of the greatest monarchs of antiquity. He was the first to attempt to consolidate an empire in the manner to which the world has become accustomed since Roman times. He was not content to receive tribute from the kings and rulers of the states which he conquered. The countries which he conquered became subject provinces of his empire, governed by Assyrian satraps and contributing to the imperial treasury. Not long after he had seated himself on the throne, Tiglath-pileser, like his predecessors, turned his attention to the West. After the siege of Arpad, northward of Aleppo, the Assyrian forces made their way into Syria, and putting into operation the Assyrian method of deportation and repopulation, the conqueror annexed Hamath which had sought the alliance and assistance of Azariah, that is Uzziah, king of Judah. Whether he then refrained from molesting Judah, or whether her prestige was broken by this campaign of the Assyrian king, it is not easy to say. In another campaign he certainly subjected Menahem of Israel with other kings to tribute. What is stated in a word or two in the Annals of Tiglath-pileser is recorded at length in the Bible history (2 Kings 15:19): "There came against the land Pul the king of Assyria; and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand. And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man 50 shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria tamed back, and stayed not there in the land." In the reign of Pekah, under his proper name of Tiglath-pileser, he is recorded to have raided the northern parts of Israel, and carried the inhabitants away into the land of Assyria (2 Kings 15:29). We next hear of Ahaz, king of Judah, appealing to the Assyrians for help against "these two tails of smoking firebrands," Rezin of Syria and Pekah, the son of Remaliah (Isaiah 7:4). To secure this help he took the silver and gold of the house of the Lord, and sent it as a present to the king of Assyria (2 Kings 16:8). Meanwhile Tiglath-pileser was setting out on a new campaign to the West. He carried fire and sword through Syria and the neighboring lands as far as Gaza, and on his return he captured Samaria, without, however, razing it to the ground. Pekah having been slain by his own people, the Assyrian monarch left Hoshea, the leader of the conspiracy, on the throne of Israel as the vassal of Assyria.

4. Of Shalmaneser IV, 727-722 B.C.-Seige of Samaria:

In 727 B.C. Tiglath-pileser III died and was succeeded by Shalmaneser IV. His reign was short and no annals of it have come to light. In 2 Kings 17 and 18, however, we read that Hoshea, relying upon help from the king of Egypt, thought the death of Tiglath-pileser a good opportunity for striking a blow for independence. It was a vain endeavor, for the end of the kingdom of Israel was at hand. The people were grievously given over to oppression and wickedness, which the prophets Amos and Hosea vigorously denounced. Hosea, in particular, was "the prophet of Israel's decline and fall." Prophesying at this very time he says: "As for Samaria, her king is cut off, as foam upon the water. The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us" (Hosea 10:7, 8; compare Hosea 10:14, 15). No less stern are the predictions by Isaiah and Micah of the doom that is to overtake Samaria: "Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley of them that are overcome with wine" (Isaiah 28:1). "For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria?. Therefore I will make Samaria as a heap of the field, and as places for planting vineyards" (Micah 1:5, 6). No help came from Egypt. With the unaided and enfeebled resources of his kingdom Hoshea had to face the chastising forces of his sovereign. He was made prisoner outside Samaria and was most likely carried away to Nineveh. Meanwhile the land was over-run and the capital doomed to destruction, as the prophets had declared.

5. Samaria Captured by Sargon, 722 B.C.:

Not without a stubborn resistance on the part of her defenders did "the fortress cease from Ephraim" (Isaiah 17:3). It was only after a three years' siege that the Assyrians captured the city (2 Kings 17:5). If we had only the record of the Hebrew historian we should suppose that Shalmaneser was the monarch to whom fell the rewards and honors of the capture. Before the surrender of the city Shalmaneser had abdicated or died, and Sargon, only once mentioned in Scripture (Isaiah 20:1), but one of the greatest of Assyrian monarchs, had ascended the throne. From his numerous inscriptions, recovered from the ruins of Khorsabad, we learn that he, and not Shalmaneser, was the king who completed the conquest of the revolted kingdom and deported the inhabitants to Assyria. "In the beginning (of my reign)," says Sargon in his Annals, "the city Samaria (I took) with the help of Shamash, who secures victory to me (. 27,290 people inhabiters of it) I took away captive; 50 chariots the property of my royalty, which were in it I appropriated. (. the city) I restored, and more than before I caused it to be inhabited; people of the lands conquered by my hand in it (I caused to dwell. My governor over them I appointed, and tribute) and imposts just as upon the Assyrians I laid upon them." The Assyrian Annals and the Scripture history support and supplement each other at this point. The sacred historian describes the deportation as follows: "The king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. because they obeyed not the voice of Yahweh their God, but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses, the servant of Yahweh, commanded, and would not hear it, nor do it" (2 Kings 17:6, 7; 2 Kings 18:11, 12).

6. Depopulation and Repopulation of Samaria:

The repopulation of the conquered territory is also described by the sacred historian: "And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof" (2 Kings 17:24). The fact that Sargon introduced foreign settlers taken in war into Samaria is attested by inscriptions. That there were various episodes of deportation and repopulation in connection with the captivity of the Northern Kingdom appears to be certain. We have seen already that Tiglath-pileser III deported the population of the northern tribes to Assyria and placed over the depopulated country governors of his own. And at a time considerably later, we learn that Sargon's grandson Esarhaddon, and his great-grandson Ashur-bani-pal, "the great and noble Osnappar," imported to the region of Samaria settlers of nations conquered by them in the East (Ezra 4:2, 10). Of the original settlers, whom a priest, carried away by the king of Assyria but brought back to Bethel, taught "the law of the god of the land," it is said that "they feared Yahweh, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away" (2 Kings 17:33). The hybrid stock descended from those settlers is known to us in later history and in the Gospels as the Samaritans.

7. The Ten Tribes in Captivity:

We must not suppose that a clean sweep was made Of the inhabitants of the Northern Kingdom. No doubt, as in the Babylonian captivity, "the poorest of the land were left to be vinedressers and husbandmen" (2 Kings 25:12). The numbers actually deported were but a moiety of the whole population. But the kingdom of the Ten Tribes was now at an end. Israel had become an Assyrian province, with a governor established in Samaria. As regards the Golah-the captives of Israel in the cities of the Medes-it must not be supposed that they became wholly absorbed in the population among whom they were settled. We can well believe that they preserved their Israelite traditions and usages with sufficient clearness and tenacity, and that they became part of the Jewish dispersion so widespread throughout the East. It is quite possible that at length they blended with the exiles of Judah carried off by Nebuchadrezzar, and that then Judah and Ephraim became one nation as never before. The name Jew, therefore, naturally came to include members of what had earlier been the Northern Confederacy of Israel as well as those of the Southern Kingdom to which it properly belonged, so that in the post-exilic period, Jehudi, or Jew, means an adherent of Judaism without regard to local nationality.

II. Of Judah (The Work of the Chaldean Power).

Southern Kingdom and House of David

The captivity of Judah was the work of the great Chaldean power seated at Babylon on the Euphrates. While the Northern Kingdom had new dynasties to rule it in quick succession, Judah and Jerusalem remained true to the House of David to the end. The Southern Kingdom rested on a firmer foundation, and Jerusalem with its temple and priesthood secured the throne against the enemies who overthrew Samaria for nearly a century and a half longer.

1. Break-up of Assyria:

Sargon, who captured Samaria in 722 B.C., was followed by monarchs with a great name as conquerors and builders and patrons of literature, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Ashurbanipal. When Ashurbanipal died in 625 B.C., the dissolution of the Assyrian Empire was not far off. Its hold over the West had greatly slackened, and the tributary peoples were breaking out into revolt. Bands of Scythians, a nomad Aryan race, from the region between the Caucasus and the Caspian, were sweeping through the Assyrian Empire as far as Palestine and Egypt, and the prophecies of Jeremiah and Zephaniah reflect their methods of warfare and fierce characteristics. They were driven back, however, at the frontier of Egypt, and appear to have returned to the North without invading Judah.

2. Downfall of Nineveh, 606 B.C.:

From the North these hordes were closing in upon Nineveh, and on all sides the Assyrian power was being weakened. In the "Burden of Nineveh," the prophet Nahum foreshadows the joy of the kingdom of Judah at the tidings of its approaching downfall: "Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah, perform thy vows; for the wicked one shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off" (Nahum 1:15; compare Nahum 3:8-11). The Medes regained their independence and under their king, Cyaxares, formed an alliance with the Chaldeans, who soon afterward revolted under the leadership of Nabopolassar, viceroy of Babylon. Rallying these various elements to his standard Nabopolassar laid siege to the Assyrian capital, and in 606 B.C., Nineveh, which had been the capital city of great conquerors, and had "multiplied (her) merchants above the stars of heaven" (Nahum 3:16), fell before the combined forces of the Medes and Chaldeans, fell suddenly and finally, to rise no more. Of the new Babylonian Empire upon which the Chaldeans now entered, Nebuchadrezzar, whose father Nabopolassar had associated him with him on the throne, was the first and most eminent ruler.

3. Pharaoh Necoh's Revolt:

That the people of Judah should exult in the overthrow of Nineveh and the empire for which it stood we can well understand. Jerusalem herself had by God's mercy remained unconquered when Sennacherib nearly a century before had carried off from the surrounding country 200,150 people and had devastated the towns and fortresses near. But the hateful Assyrian yoke had rested upon Judah to the end, and not upon Judah only but even upon Egypt and the valley of the Nile. In 608 B.C. Pharaoh Necoh revolted from his Assyrian suzerain and resolved upon an eastern campaign. He had no desire to quarrel with Josiah of Judah, through whose territory he must pass; but in loyalty to his Assyrian suzerain Josiah threw himself across the path of the Egyptian invader and perished in the battle of Megiddo. The Pharaoh seems to have returned to Egypt, taking Jehoahaz the son of Josiah with him, and to have appointed his brother Jehoiakim king of Judah, and to have exacted a heavy tribute from the land.

4. Defeat at Carchemish, 604 B.C.:

But he did not desist from his purpose to win an eastern empire. Accordingly he pressed forward till he reached the Euphrates, where he was completely routed by the Babylonian army under Nebuchadrezzar in the decisive battle of Carchemish, 604 B.C. The battle left the Chaldeans undisputed masters of Western Asia, and Judah exchanged the yoke of Assyria for that of Babylon.

5. The New Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadrezzar, 604-562 B.C.:

So far as cruelty was concerned, there was little to choose between the new tyrants and the old oppressors. Of the Chaldeans Habakkuk, who flourished at the commencement of the new Empire, says: "They are terrible and dreadful.. Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves; and their horsemen spread themselves: yea, their horsemen come from far; they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour" (Habakkuk 1:7, 8 the American Revised Version, margin). Over Western Asia, including Judah, Nebuchadrezzar since the battle of Carchemish was supreme. It was vain for Judah to coquet with Egypt when Nebuchadrezzar had a long and powerful arm with which to inflict chastisement upon his disloyal subjects.

The Mission of Jeremiah, 626-580 B.C.

The mission of Jeremiah the prophet in this crisis of the history of Judah was to preach obedience and loyalty to the king of Babylon, and moral reformation as the only means of escaping the Divine vengeance impending upon land and people. He tells them in the name of God of the great judgment that was to come at the hand of the Chaldeans on Jerusalem and surrounding peoples. He even predicts the period of their subjection to Chaldean domination: "And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years" (Jeremiah 25:11). This preaching was unpalatable to the partisans of Egypt and to those who believed in the inviolability of Jerusalem. But with stern rebuke and with symbolic action he proclaims the doom of Jerusalem, and in the face of persecution and at the risk of his life, the prophet fulfills his ministry.

6. Revolt and Punishment of Jehoiakim, 608-597 B.C.:

Jehoiakim, who was first the vassal of Pharaoh Necoh, and then of Nebuchadrezzar, was in corruption and wickedness too faithful a representative of the people. Jeremiah charges him with covetousness, the shedding of innocent blood, oppression and violence (Jeremiah 22:13-19). The fourth year of Jehoiakim was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar, who, fresh from the victory of Carchemish, was making his sovereignty felt in the western world. The despicable king of Judah became Nebuchadrezzar's vassal and continued in his allegiance three years, after which he turned and rebelled against him. But he received neither encouragement nor help from the neighboring peoples. "Yahweh sent against him bands of the Chaldeans, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of Yahweh, which he spake by his servants the prophets" (2 Kings 24:2). The history of the latter part of Jehoiakim's reign is obscure. The Hebrew historian says that after a reign of eleven years he slept with his fathers, from which we infer that he died a natural death. From Daniel we learn that in the third year of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadrezzar came up against Jerusalem and besieged it, and carried off, along with vessels of the house of God, members of the seed royal, and of the nobility of Judah, among whom was Daniel the prophet. That Jehoiakim was included in what seems to be a first installment of the captivity of Judah is expressly affirmed by the Chronicler who says: "Against him (Jehoiakim) came up Nebuchadnezzar. and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon" (2 Chronicles 36:6). However the facts really stand, the historian adds to the record of the death of Jehoiakim and of the succession of Jehoiachin the significant comment: "And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of this land; for the king of Babylon had taken, from the brook of Egypt unto the river Euphrates, all that pertained to the king of Egypt" (2 Kings 24:7).

7. Siege and Surrender of Jerusalem under Jehoiachin, 597 B.C.:

Jehoiachin who succeeded Jehoiakim reigned only three months, the same length of time as his unfortunate predecessor Jehoahaz (2 Kings 23:31). The captivity of Jehoahaz in Egypt and the captivity of Jehoiachin in Babylon are lamented in a striking elegy by Ezekiel, who compares them to young lions, the offspring of the mother lioness Israel, which learned to catch and their prey and devoured men, but were taken in the pit of the nations and put in rings, so that their roar was no more heard in the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 19:1-9). Nebuchadrezzar came in person while his servants were besieging Jerusalem, and Jehoiachin surrendered at discretion. So the king and his mother and his servants and his princes and his officers were carried off with the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives. `None remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. He carried out thence all the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold, which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of Yahweh, as Yahweh had said.

8. First Deportation, 597 B.C.:

And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon. And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's father's brother, king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah' (2 Kings 24:10-17). From Jehoiachin dates the carrying away into Babylon, the year being 597 B.C. The unfortunate monarch lived in exile in Babylon 38 years, and seems to have retained the respect and loyalty of the exiles among whom he dwelt.

The Baskets of Figs:

It was with reference to the deportation of the princes and craftsmen and smiths that Jeremiah had his vision of the baskets of figs-one containing figs very good, like the first ripe figs; the other very bad, so bad they could not be eaten (Jeremiah 24:1-3). The good figs were the captives of Judah carried away into the land of the Chaldeans for good; the bad figs were the king Zedekiah and his princes and the residue of Jerusalem, upon whom severe judgments were yet to fall till they were consumed from off the land (Jeremiah 24:4-10).

9. The Ministry of Ezekiel, 592-570 B.C.:

Among the captives thus carried to Babylon and placed on the banks of the Chebar was the priest-prophet Ezekiel. Five years after the captivity he began to have his wonderful "visions" of God, and to declare their import to the exiles by the rivers of Babylon. To the desponding captives who were engrossed with thoughts of the kingdom of Judah, not yet dissolved, and of the Holy City, not yet burned up with fire, Ezekiel could only proclaim by symbol and allegory the destruction of city and nation, till the day when the distressing tidings reached them of its complete overthrow. Then to the crushed and despairing captives he utters no lamentations like those of Jeremiah, but rather joyful predictions of a rebuilt city, of a reconstituted kingdom, and of a renovated and glorious temple.

10. Jeremiah's Ministry in Jerusalem, 597-588 B.C.:

Although the flower of the population had been carried away into Babylon and the Temple had been despoiled of its treasures, Jerusalem and the Temple still stood. To the inhabitants who were left behind, and to the captives in Babylon, Jeremiah had a message. To the latter he offered counsels of submission and contentment, assured that the hateful and repulsive idolatries around them would throw them back upon the law of their God, and thus promote the work of moral and spiritual regeneration within them. `Thus saith Yahweh, I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Yahweh: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart' (Jeremiah 24:5, 7). To "the residue of Jerus" his counsels and predictions were distasteful, and exposed him to the suspicion of disloyalty to his people and his God. None of his warnings was more impressive than that symbolically proclaimed by the bands and bars which the prophet was to put upon his neck to send to the kings of Edom and Moab and Ammon and Tyre and Sidon, who seem to have had ideas of forming an alliance against Nebuchadrezzar. Zedekiah was also urged to submit, but still entertained hopes that the king of Babylon would allow the captives of Judah to return. He even himself went to Babylon, perhaps summoned thither by his suzerain (Jeremiah 51:59). With an Egyptian party in Jerusalem urging an alliance with Egypt, and with a young and warlike Pharaoh on the throne, Hophra (Apries), Zedekiah deemed the opportunity favorable for achieving independence, and entered into an intrigue with the Egyptian king. So Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon (2 Kings 24:20).

11. Zedekiah's Rebellion and the Siege of Jerusalem, 588-586 B.C.:

It was a bold throw, but Nebuchadrezzar would brook no such disloyalty from his vassals. He marched at once to the West, and committed to Nebuzaradan the task of capturing Jerusalem, while he himself established his headquarters at Riblah, in Syria, on the Orontes. Meanwhile the Pharaoh with his army crossed the frontier to the help of his allies, and compelled the Chaldeans to raise the siege of Jerusalem and meet him in the field (Jeremiah 37:5). But here his courage failed him, and he retired in haste without offering battle. Nebuzaradan now led back his army and the siege became closer than before.

Jeremiah "Falling Away to the Chaldeans"

During the breathing-space afforded by the withdrawal of the Chaldeans, Jeremiah was going out of the city to his native Anathoth, some 4 miles to the Northeast across the ridge, on family business (Jeremiah 37:11-15). His departure was observed, and he was charged with falling away to the Chaldeans, and cast into an improvised dungeon in the house of Jonathan the scribe. While there the king sent for him and asked, "Is there any word from Yahweh?" And Jeremiah answered fearlessly, "There is. Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon." For a time Jeremiah, by the favor of Zedekiah, enjoyed after this a greater measure of freedom; but as he continued to urge in hearing of all the people the duty of surrender, his enemies vowed that he should be put to death, and had him cast into a foul empty cistern, where he ran the risk of being choked or starved to death. Once again the king sought an interview with the prophet, giving him private assurance that he would not put him to death nor allow his enemies to do so. Again the prophet counseled surrender, and again he was allowed a measure of freedom.

12. Destruction of Jerusalem, 586 B.C.:

Flight, Capture, and Punishment of Zedekiah

But the end of the doomed city was at hand. In the 11th year of Zedekiah, 586 B.C., in the 4th month, the 9th day of the month, a breach was made in the city (Jeremiah 39:1, 2), and the final assault completed the work that had been done by months of famine and want.

Read Complete Article...

BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY

See CAPTIVITY.

CAPTIVITY EPISTLES

See PHILEMON.

EPISTLES, CAPTIVITY

See PHILEMON, EPISTLE TO.

Greek

161. aichmalosia -- captivity
... captivity. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: aichmalosia Phonetic
Spelling: (aheekh-mal-o-see'-ah) Short Definition: captivity Definition ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/161.htm - 6k

163. aichmalotizo -- to take or lead captive
... lead away captive, bring into captivity. From aichmalotos; to make captive --
lead away captive, bring into captivity. see GREEK aichmalotos. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/163.htm - 6k

1889. Epaphras -- Epaphras, a Christian
... Epaphras Phonetic Spelling: (ep-af-ras') Short Definition: Epaphras Definition:
Epaphras, Epaphroditus, a Colossian Christian, in captivity with Paul in Rome. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1889.htm - 6k

1891. Epaphroditos -- Epaphroditus, a Christian
... Phonetic Spelling: (ep-af-rod'-ee-tos) Short Definition: Epaphroditus Definition:
Epaphras, Epaphroditus, a Colossian Christian, in captivity with Paul in Rome ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1891.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

7622. shebuth -- captivity, captives
... 7621, 7622. shebuth or shebith. 7623 . captivity, captives. Transliteration:
shebuth or shebith Phonetic Spelling: (sheb-ooth') Short Definition: fortunes. ...
/hebrew/7622.htm - 6k

7870. shibah -- captivity
... 7869, 7870. shibah. 7871 . captivity. Transliteration: shibah Phonetic
Spelling: (shee-baw') Short Definition: captivity. ... captivity ...
/hebrew/7870.htm - 5k

7628b. shebi -- captivity, captives
... 7628a, 7628b. shebi. 7629 . captivity, captives. Transliteration: shebi
Short Definition: captivity. Word Origin from shabah Definition ...
/hebrew/7628b.htm - 5k

7633. shibyah -- captivity, captives
... 7632, 7633. shibyah. 7634 . captivity, captives. Transliteration: shibyah
Phonetic Spelling: (shib-yaw') Short Definition: captives. ...
/hebrew/7633.htm - 6k

3443. Yeshua -- a high priest after the Bab. captivity
... a high priest after the Bab. captivity. Transliteration: Yeshua Phonetic Spelling:
(yay-shoo'-ah) Short Definition: Jeshua. ... captivity NASB Word Usage Jeshua (1). ...
/hebrew/3443.htm - 6k

1540. galah -- to uncover, remove
... root Definition to uncover, remove NASB Word Usage away into exile (2), banished
(1), betray (1), captives (1), captivity (1), carried (1), carried and away (1 ...
/hebrew/1540.htm - 7k

2925. taltelah -- a hurling
... Word Origin from tul Definition a hurling NASB Word Usage headlong (1). captivity.
From tuwl; overthrow or rejection -- captivity. see HEBREW tuwl. 2924, 2925 ...
/hebrew/2925.htm - 6k

1547. galuth -- an exile
... captivity. (Aramaic) corresponding to galuwth -- captivity. see HEBREW galuwth.
1546, 1547. galuth or galu. 1548 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/1547.htm - 6k

7628. shbiy -- captive
... shbiy. 7628a . captive. Transliteration: shbiy Phonetic Spelling: (sheb-ee') Short
Definition: captive. captivity, prisoners, take away, that was taken ...
/hebrew/7628.htm - 5k

1546. galuth -- an exile
... they that are carried away captives. Feminine from galah; captivity; concretely,
exiles (collectively) -- (they that are carried away) captives(-ity). ...
/hebrew/1546.htm - 6k

Library

Of the Babylonish Captivity, and the Things Signified Thereby.
... Chapter 21."Of the Babylonish Captivity, and the Things Signified Thereby.
37. "Howbeit, after the lapse of some generations, another ...
/.../chapter 21 of the babylonish captivity.htm

The Captivity of Judah.
... Chapter XV. The Captivity of Judah. Eze., Dan., Lam. ... Sargon, in an inscription found
at Ninevah, said that he carried away into captivity 27,290. ...
/.../tidwell/the bible period by period/chapter xv the captivity of.htm

The Captivity.
... THE CHOSEN PEOPLE. LESSON X. THE CAPTIVITY. "Is this the city that men call the
perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?""Larn. ii.15. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/yonge/the chosen people/lesson x the captivity.htm

The Kingdom in Captivity
... VI THE KINGDOM IN CAPTIVITY. Jeremiah Page Lamentations Page. Daniel Page. JEREMIAH.
I. Class. II.:Commission: 1:4-10 and 18; 17:19 and 20. ...
/.../palmer/a birds-eye view of the bible/vi the kingdom in captivity.htm

The Epistles of the Captivity.
... The Epistles of the Captivity. ... The traditional view dates the four Epistles from
the Roman captivity, and there is no good reason to depart from it. ...
/.../schaff/history of the christian church volume i/section 93 the epistles of.htm

On the Babylonish Captivity of the Church on the Babylonish ...
... CONCERNING CHRISTIAN LIBERTY III ON THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY OF THE CHURCH ON THE
BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY OF THE CHURCH. Jesus. Martin Luther, of the Order of St. ...
/.../luther/first principles of the reformation/iii on the babylonish captivity.htm

The Assyrian Captivity
... Prophets of the Northern Kingdom Chapter 23 The Assyrian Captivity. The closing
years of the ill-fated kingdom of Israel were marked ...
/.../white/the story of prophets and kings/chapter 23 the assyrian captivity.htm

The Times of the Captivity have Been Rendered Illustrious by the ...
... Book II. Chapter I. The times of the captivity have been rendered illustrious
by the predictions and deeds of� The times of the ...
/.../severus/life and writings of sulpitius severus /chapter i the times of.htm

From Saul to the Captivity.
... Theophilus to Autolycus: Book III. Chapter XXV."From Saul to the Captivity.
And after the judges they had kings, the first named ...
/.../theophilus/theophilus to autolycus/chapter xxv from saul to the.htm

November 2. "Bringing into Captivity Every Thought to the ...
... NOVEMBER 2. "Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ"
(II. ... "Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (II. ...
/.../simpson/days of heaven upon earth /november 2 bringing into captivity.htm

Thesaurus

Captivity (141 Occurrences)
... At this time, from which is dated the "seventy years" of captivity (Jeremiah
25; Dan. ... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. CAPTIVITY. ...
/c/captivity.htm - 79k

Fortunes (30 Occurrences)
... When God brings back his people from captivity, then Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel
shall be glad. (See RSV NIV). Psalms 85:1 For the Chief Musician. ...
/f/fortunes.htm - 15k

Exiles (46 Occurrences)
... hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when they of the captivity were
brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem. (See NAS RSV NIV). ...
/e/exiles.htm - 20k

Destined (25 Occurrences)
... But her child was caught up to God and His throne, (WEY). Revelation
13:10 If anyone has captivity, he will go into captivity. If ...
/d/destined.htm - 14k

Captive's (5 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 21:13 and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and
shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month ...
/c/captive's.htm - 8k

Captives (69 Occurrences)
... thou art undone, O people of Chemosh; he hath given his sons as fugitives, and his
daughters into captivity, unto Sihon king of the Amorites. (See RSV NIV). ...
/c/captives.htm - 29k

Nebuchadnez'zar (55 Occurrences)
... (See RSV). 1 Chronicles 6:15 and Jehozadak went into captivity, when the LORD carried
away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. (See RSV). ...
/n/nebuchadnez'zar.htm - 24k

Jehozadak (8 Occurrences)
... He was carried into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, and probably died in Babylon. He
was the father of Jeshua, or Joshua, who returned with Zerubbabel. Int. ...
/j/jehozadak.htm - 10k

Furnish (8 Occurrences)
... King James Version; Proverbs 9:2); `asah keli, "to make a vessel for containing
things" (Jeremiah 46:19, "Furnish thyself to go into captivity," the Revised ...
/f/furnish.htm - 11k

Exiled (14 Occurrences)
... and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter
from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity to Kir ...
/e/exiled.htm - 11k

Bible Concordance

Captivity (141 Occurrences)

Romans 7:23 but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT)

2 Corinthians 10:5 throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ;
(WEB KJV ASV WBS YLT)

Ephesians 4:8 Therefore he says, "When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men."
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Revelation 13:10 If anyone has captivity, he will go into captivity. If anyone is with the sword, he must be killed. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 21:29 Woe to you, Moab! You are undone, people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon king of the Amorites.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Deuteronomy 21:10 When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God hath given them into thy hand, and thou hast taken captive its captivity,
(YLT)

Deuteronomy 21:11 and hast seen in the captivity a woman of fair form, and hast delighted in her, and hast taken to thee for a wife,
(YLT)

Deuteronomy 21:13 and she shall put the clothing of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in your house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that you shall go in to her, and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Deuteronomy 28:41 You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 30:3 that then Yahweh your God will turn your captivity, and have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples, where Yahweh your God has scattered you.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Judges 5:12 Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.
(KJV JPS WBS YLT)

Judges 18:30 The children of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

1 Kings 8:46 When they sin against Thee (for there is not a man who sinneth not), and Thou hast been angry with them, and hast given them up before an enemy, and they have taken captive their captivity unto the land of the enemy far off or near;
(YLT)

2 Kings 24:15 He carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon; and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the chief men of the land, carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS RSV)

2 Kings 25:21 And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.
(See NIV)

2 Kings 25:27 It happened in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS)

1 Chronicles 5:22 For there fell many slain, because the war was of God. They lived in their place until the captivity.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS)

1 Chronicles 6:15 Jehozadak went into captivity, when Yahweh carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS)

2 Chronicles 6:37 yet if they shall repent themselves in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done perversely, and have dealt wickedly;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Chronicles 6:38 if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have carried them captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, and the city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name:
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Chronicles 28:5 And Jehovah his God giveth him into the hand of the king of Aram, and they smite him, and take captive from him a great captivity, and bring 'them' in to Damascus, and also into the hand of the king of Israel he hath been given, and he smiteth him -- a great smiting.
(YLT)

2 Chronicles 28:17 and again the Edomites have come, and smite in Judah, and take captive a captivity.
(YLT)

2 Chronicles 29:9 For, behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Ezra 1:11 All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when they of the captivity were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS)

Ezra 2:1 Now these are the children of the province, who went up out of the captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Judah, everyone to his city;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Ezra 3:8 Now in the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those who were come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of the house of Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Ezra 4:1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Ezra 6:16 The children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Ezra 6:19 The children of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Ezra 6:20 For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were pure: and they killed the Passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brothers the priests, and for themselves.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Ezra 6:21 The children of Israel who had come again out of the captivity, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the nations of the land, to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, ate,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Ezra 8:35 The children of the captivity, who had come out of exile, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering to Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Ezra 9:4 Then were assembled to me everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the trespass of them of the captivity; and I sat confounded until the evening offering.
(WEB JPS ASV)

Ezra 9:7 Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty to this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to plunder, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Ezra 10:6 Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came there, he ate no bread, nor drank water; for he mourned because of the trespass of them of the captivity.
(WEB JPS ASV)

Ezra 10:7 They made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together to Jerusalem;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS)

Ezra 10:8 and that whoever didn't come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the assembly of the captivity.
(WEB JPS ASV)

Ezra 10:16 The children of the captivity did so. Ezra the priest, with certain heads of fathers' houses, after their fathers' houses, and all of them by their names, were set apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS)

Nehemiah 1:2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Nehemiah 1:3 They said to me, The remnant who are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Nehemiah 4:4 Hear, our God; for we are despised: and turn back their reproach on their own head, and give them up for a spoil in a land of captivity;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Nehemiah 7:6 These are the children of the province, who went up out of the captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and who returned to Jerusalem and to Judah, everyone to his city;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Nehemiah 8:17 All the assembly of those who were come again out of the captivity made booths, and lived in the booths; for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the children of Israel had not done so. There was very great gladness.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Esther 2:6 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
(KJV WBS)

Job 42:10 Yahweh turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends. Yahweh gave Job twice as much as he had before.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Psalms 14:7 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Psalms 53:6 Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When God brings back his people from captivity, then Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Psalms 68:18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.
(KJV JPS DBY WBS YLT)

Psalms 78:61 and delivered his strength into captivity, his glory into the adversary's hand.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 85:1 Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.
(KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Psalms 126:1 When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
(KJV DBY WBS YLT)

Psalms 126:4 Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south.
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS)

Psalms 144:14 Our oxen are well weighted down; our cows give birth safely; there is no going out, and there is no cry of sorrow in our open places.
(See NIV)

Isaiah 1:27 Zion in judgment is redeemed, And her captivity in righteousness.
(YLT)

Isaiah 5:13 Therefore my people go into captivity for lack of knowledge. Their honorable men are famished, and their multitudes are parched with thirst.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS)

Isaiah 22:17 Behold, the LORD will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee.
(KJV WBS)

Isaiah 45:13 I have stirred him up in righteousness, And all his ways I make straight, He doth build My city, and My captivity doth send out, Not for price, nor for bribe, said Jehovah of Hosts.
(YLT)

Isaiah 46:2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 1:3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
(See RSV)

Jeremiah 13:17 And if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because Jehovah's flock is gone into captivity.
(DBY)

Jeremiah 15:2 It shall happen, when they tell you, Where shall we go forth? Then you shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 20:6 You, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house shall go into captivity; and you shall come to Babylon, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you, and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Jeremiah 22:22 The wind shall feed all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity: surely then you will be ashamed and confounded for all your wickedness.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Jeremiah 28:6 even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: Yahweh do so; Yahweh perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of Yahweh's house, and all them of the captivity, from Babylon to this place.
(WEB ASV DBY)

Jeremiah 29:1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon,
(WEB JPS ASV DBY)

Jeremiah 29:4 Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, to all the captivity, whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon:
(WEB JPS ASV DBY)

Jeremiah 29:14 I will be found by you, says Yahweh, and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says Yahweh; and I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NIV)

Jeremiah 29:16 thus says Yahweh concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who haven't gone forth with you into captivity;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS)

Jeremiah 29:20 Hear therefore the word of Yahweh, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Jeremiah 29:22 And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
(KJV JPS DBY WBS)

Jeremiah 29:28 because he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, The captivity is long: build houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them?
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS)

Jeremiah 29:31 Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus says Yahweh concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn't send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS)

Jeremiah 30:3 For, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, says Yahweh; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NIV)

Jeremiah 30:10 Therefore don't you be afraid, O Jacob my servant, says Yahweh; neither be dismayed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Jeremiah 30:16 Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, everyone of them, shall go into captivity; and those who despoil you shall be a spoil, and all who prey on you will I give for a prey.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Jeremiah 30:18 Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places; and the city shall be built on its own hill, and the palace shall be inhabited after its own manner.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Jeremiah 31:23 Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I shall bring again their captivity: Yahweh bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NIV)

Jeremiah 32:44 Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe the deeds, and seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South: for I will cause their captivity to return, says Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Jeremiah 33:7 I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NIV)

Jeremiah 33:11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, Give thanks to Yahweh of Armies, for Yahweh is good, for his loving kindness endures forever; and of them who bring sacrifices of thanksgiving into the house of Yahweh. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first, says Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Jeremiah 40:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him, being bound in chains, among all the captivity of Jerusalem and Judah, that were carried away captive to Babylon.
(DBY)

Jeremiah 43:11 He shall come, and shall strike the land of Egypt; such as are for death shall be given to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 46:19 You daughter who dwells in Egypt, furnish yourself to go into captivity; for Memphis shall become a desolation, and shall be burnt up, without inhabitant.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV WBS)

Jeremiah 46:27 But don't you be afraid, Jacob my servant, neither be dismayed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Jeremiah 48:7 For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you also shall be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his princes together.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS)

Jeremiah 48:11 Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Jeremiah 48:46 Woe to you, O Moab! the people of Chemosh is undone; for your sons are taken away captive, and your daughters into captivity.
(WEB JPS ASV DBY YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Jeremiah 48:47 Yet will I bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days, says Yahweh. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Jeremiah 49:3 Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste; cry, you daughters of Rabbah, dress yourself in sackcloth: lament, and run back and forth among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Jeremiah 49:6 But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon, says Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Jeremiah 49:39 But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam, says Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Jeremiah 52:27 And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.
(See NIV)

Jeremiah 52:31 It happened in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison;
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS RSV)

Lamentations 1:3 Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude; she dwells among the nations, she finds no rest: all her persecutors overtook her within the straits.
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS)

Lamentations 1:5 Her adversaries are become the head, her enemies prosper; for Yahweh has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her young children are gone into captivity before the adversary.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS)

Lamentations 1:18 Yahweh is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: Please hear all you peoples, and see my sorrow: My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Lamentations 2:14 Your prophets have seen for you false and foolish visions; They have not uncovered your iniquity, to bring back your captivity, but have seen for you false oracles and causes of banishment.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV)

Lamentations 4:22 The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, daughter of Zion; he will no more carry you away into captivity: He will visit your iniquity, daughter of Edom; he will uncover your sins.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS)

Ezekiel 1:2 In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS)

Ezekiel 3:11 Go to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS)

Subtopics

Captivities of the Jews

Captivity

Captivity Epistles

Captivity of Judah in Babylon, Prophecy of

Captivity of the Israelites Foretold

Captivity of the Ten Tribes

Captivity: "Captivity Led Captive"

Captivity: As a Judgment

Captivity: Figurative

Captivity: Fulfilled

Captivity: Israelites In, Promises To