Babylonian Exile and Return of Judeans

• Judah was a vassal kingdom of Babylon
• In 601 BCE, Jehoiakim, king of Judah, revolted against Babylonian rule despite the strong remonstrances of the prophet Jeremiah
• Jehoiakim died for reasons unclear, and was succeeded by his son, Jeconiah
• In 597 BCE, the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem, and the city surrendered
• Nebuchadnezzar pillaged Jerusalem and deported Jeconiah and other prominent citizens to Babylon; Jeconiah's uncle, Zedekiah, was installed as king
• Later, encouraged by the Egyptians, Zedekiah launched a second revolt, and a Babylonian army was sent to retake Jerusalem
• After Babylon had fallen to Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, in 539 BCE, he allowed the exiled Judeans to return to Zion and rebuild Jerusalem
• The Second Temple was completed in 516 BCE.

Test your knowledge about the Babylonian exile and return of the Judeans, including key events and figures such as Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, Zedekiah, and the construction of the Second Temple.