Exile

The Exile refers primarily to the Babylonian captivity (586-538 BC), when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, deporting Judah's population to Babylon. The northern kingdom had already been exiled by Assyria in 722 BC. The prophets warned it was coming as judgment for covenant unfaithfulness. The Exile reshaped Jewish identity — synagogues, the written Torah, and messianic hope all intensified during this period. Return from exile became a metaphor for salvation itself.