An Atheist's Guide to the Bible

Fall of the kingdom of Judah

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The political situation surrounding the last days of the small state of Judah was as follows. For two centuries its kings had survived as rulers of a buffer state between empires, playing off the Assyrians to the north against the Egyptians to the south. Judah was one among many small states in the region, involved in shifting alliances and petty wars, sometimes paying tribute as needed to escape destruction. Their neighbours included Israel, Edom, Moab and Damascus.

By the end of the seventh century their situation had worsened. Many of Judah's neighbouring states had already been swallowed up by Assyria, including Israel, whom the people of Judah regarded as their brothers.

Then in 612 BCE the Assyrian empire was taken over by a new dynasty, the Babylonians. They continued to expand their power and, gradually getting the better of the Egyptians, sought to control the whole of Palestine.

According to the account in 2 Kings (chs. 23 - 24), the Egyptians mounted a coup in Jerusalem and installed their own ruler, Jehoiakim. But he quickly succumbed to the superior military might of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. It seems that Judah remained rebellious and the Babylonians took successive steps to bring them into line.

Nebuchadnezzar first sent allied troops against the rebellious vassal, then marched on Jerusalem himself, capturing it and deporting part of its population. After yet further rebellion he repeated his action more severely in 586 BCE, destroying the Temple and carrying out further deportations.

Last kings of Judah

The first king to mention is Josiah. He reigned until his death in battle with the Pharaoh Necho - this expedition of Necho's can be fixed from Egyptian sources as taking place in 609 BCE. Josiah is significant because of the religious reforms he carried out, effectively attempting to institute new monolatrous practices - i.e the worship of Yahweh alone.

After Josiah the Egyptians placed Jehoiakim on the throne - but he found that the growing power of the Babylonians instead dictated his actions. One can imagine that the political situation in Jerusalem was rather fraught, as this small state was in danger of being crushed by two empires.

The next king was Jehoiachin, who was deported by Nebuchadnezzar in his first conquest of Jerusalem.

Finally there is Zedekiah, who presided over the disastrous years leading up to Nebuchadnezzar's second conquest of Jerusalem in 586 BCE.

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