Why were the people of judah taken captive?

Answer 1

Another answer from our community:

As the Jews were warned in advance, by jeremiah that they would be taken as slaves by the Babylonians if they kept disobeying god, they rebelled against the Babylonians and were taken into slavery by their king.

Answer 2

Throughout the seventh century BCE, the Levant was of strategic importance in the conflicts between and Assyria and Babylon on the one hand, and Egypt on the other. Genuine independence was not an option for the tiny enclave of Judah, but its rulers could try to influence events surrounding it.

In 605 BCE Nabuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, defeated the Egyptian army at Carchemish (north of Syria) then took over the former Assyrian provinces and vassall territories in the west. King Jehoiakim of Judah entered into a vassalage with Babylon and was permitted to reinforce his southern border against Egypt.

Then, in 600 BCE, Judah rebelled, in anticipation of Egyptian assistance.

In 597 BCE, Judah again rebelled and Jerusalem was captured and thousands were deported.

In 587 BCE, a further revolt occurred and in 586 BCE Jerusalem was recaptured and sacked, with the majority of survivors fleeing to the hills. Other cities and villages of Judah were also destroyed. The Babylonians had become tired of constant rebellion by one of its smallest vassal states, and a substantial part of the remaining population of Jerusalem.were exiled to Babylon, in an attempt to eliminate the thorn in its side.

Soon afterwards, Gedaliah, the Babylonian administrator of Jerusalem was assassinated, along with some Babylonians in the court. A further 745 Judahites were deported.

In summary, Judah had engaged in a prolonged and futile campaign of resistance against Babylon, without any apparent hope of assistance from its only potential ally, Egypt. Since domination by either Babylon or Egypt was inevitable, nothing could have been gained by this ill-advised resistance. It merely resulted in the loss of lives and liberty, with an eventual decision by Babylon to destroy Judah. Just as the Israelites had disappeared from history over a century earlier, the Jewish identity would have been annihilated had the Persians not conquered Babylon just a few decades later.

Answer 3

1) The general spiritual reason was that God found the people of Judah to be below the spiritual level that was a requisite for having His presence among them. The prophets had warned them (Jeremiah 7:25) but were not sufficiently heeded (2 Chronicles 36:16). Once God's presence no longer felt welcome in the Holy Temple, its destruction was just a matter of time (Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 31a, and midrash Eichah Rabbah 1:43).
A more specific spiritual reason was the egregious sins of Menasheh, king of Judah (2 Kings 21:11-13 and 24:3).

2) The temporal circumstance was the fact that King Yehoiakim, after having been obedient to Nevuchadnezzar (king of Babylonia), became insubordinate (2 Kings 24:1); and Nevuchadnezzar responded by conquering the land of Judah, destroying the First Temple and exiling the populace.

3) Some positive results: the false prophets, at long last, were silenced forever. They had predicted that Judah would remain independent of Babylonia (Jeremiah ch.27) and no Destruction would take place.
Also, the lure of idolatry finally weakened, since the Destruction and Exile happened exactly as predicted by the true Prophets, who were the same ones who had spoken ceaselessly against dabbling in idolatry.