CAPTIVITY
God frequently punished the sins of the Jews through servitude or captivity (Deut. 28).
However, the captivity from which Moses delivered them should be regarded as a providential means of demonstrating to them the value of freedom and the power of Jehovah in their redemption from Egyptian slavery (Deut. 4:37; 9:29).
In the time of the judges there were six subjugations of the Israelite people. But the most notable captivities or expatriations were under the kings. A part of the tribes of the northern kingdom were deported by Tiglath-pileser in the year 740 BC. (2 Kings 15:29).
The tribes east of the Jordan, with elements of Naphtali and Zebulun, were the first to suffer (1 Chron. 5:26; Is. 9:1).
Twenty years later Shalmaneser took the rest of Israel (2 Kings 17:6), placing them in several Assyrian cities, probably near the Caspian Sea, his own land being populated with Persian and Babylonian settlers (2 Kings 17:6- 24).
There is no evidence that any of the ten tribes returned to Palestine.
Three captivities are recognized for Judah:
(a) Under Jehoiakim, in the year 606 BC, when Daniel and his companions were deported to Babylon (2 Kings 24:1, 2; Dan. 1:1).
(b) In 598 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar deported more than 3,000 Jews (2 Kings 24:12; Jer. 52:28).
(c) Under Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, when Jerusalem was destroyed and all the treasures taken to Babylon, about 132 years after the deportation of the ten tribes.
The 70 years of the Babylonian captivity should probably be counted from the beginning of the first captivity in 606 B.C. (2 Kings 2:5; 2 Chron. 36).
During these 70 years the Jews were treated with benevolence, more like settlers than captives. They were allowed to decide court cases according to their own laws.
Several of them, such as Daniel, Esther, and Nehemiah, held high positions in the government. At the same time, the language and customs of the Jews underwent notable changes during their long stay abroad.
During this period they were completely cured of idolatry, developed an excessive zeal for keeping the Sabbath and began to give great importance to the traditions of the rabbis, among whom the Pharisees stood out.
The last captivity and total dispersion of the Jews among the Gentiles occurred with the taking of Jerusalem by the Roman general Titus. During the siege, according to Josephus, more than a million of the people perished.