World Religions › The Axial Age › Second Temple Judaism
Babylonian exile and fall of the First Temple
586–538 BC· Event· Judaism, Christianity & Islam
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
Babylon's conquest of Judah, destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, and deportation of Judah's elite, ending when Persia let them return.
See it on the World Religions map →What it is
King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon took Jerusalem in 597 BC and deported King Jehoiachin and thousands of leaders. After a revolt, his army destroyed the city and Solomon's Temple in 586 BC and deported more. The exiles settled in Babylonia, by canals near Nippur. In 539 BC Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon and let them return. Some went back and rebuilt the Temple, finished around 516 BC; many stayed.
Why it matters
Without king, land or Temple, the exiles rebuilt their faith around scripture, Sabbath and law. This turned Israelite religion into Judaism and began the Jewish diaspora.
Sources and history
The Babylonian Chronicles record the 597 BC capture; ration tablets from Babylon name King Jehoiachin; the Al-Yahudu tablets document exiles' lives; burn layers in Jerusalem; the Cyrus Cylinder.
Questions and debates
Numbers are uncertain: biblical figures range from 4,600 to 10,000 deportees, and many farmers stayed, so how empty Judah became is debated.
Inside this (1)
Connections (5)
▸Mesopotamian religion (Sumer, Babylon, Assyria) surrounded the Jewish exiles during Babylonian exile and fall of the First TempleHistorical record
The connection
Deported Judeans lived among Babylon's temples, festivals and gods, above all Marduk, whose New Year procession displayed imperial power. The prophets mocked such idols, yet contact left marks: the Jewish calendar still uses Babylonian month names like Nisan and Tishri, and exile may have shaped the Bible's creation and flood stories.
When and where
Babylonia, 597–538 BC and after; exiles settled in towns like Al-Yahudu ('Judahtown') near Nippur, as clay tablets show.
Historical evidence
The Jerusalem Talmud says the month names 'came up with them from Babylon'; Isaiah 44 satirizes idol-making; Babylonian tablets record Judean exiles' names and business deals.
Questions and debates
How much the exiles absorbed versus resisted Babylonian culture, and whether Genesis's creation and flood stories took final shape in response, is debated.
▸Solomon's Temple (First Temple) was destroyed in Babylonian exile and fall of the First TempleHistorical record
The connection
When Judah rebelled again, Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem for about 18 months. In 586 BC it burned the Temple, tore down the city walls and carried off the Temple's bronze and treasures. The loss of God's house was the defining catastrophe of the exile.
When and where
Jerusalem, summer of 586 BC (some say 587); Nebuchadnezzar's commander Nebuzaradan led the destruction, according to 2 Kings 25.
Historical evidence
Burn layers, arrowheads and collapsed houses in Jerusalem date to this time; Babylonian chronicles confirm the 597 BC capture, though records for 586 are lost; the Bible and Lamentations describe the fall.
Questions and debates
Whether the year was 587 or 586 BC, and what became of the Ark of the Covenant, which vanishes from the record.
▸Cyrus the Great of Persia ended Babylonian exile and fall of the First TempleHistorical record
The connection
When Cyrus captured Babylon in 539 BC, he reversed Babylon's policy of deporting conquered peoples. According to the Book of Ezra, in his first year he decreed that Judeans could return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple, and he handed back the sacred vessels Nebuchadnezzar had taken. The first returnees set out around 538 BC.
When and where
Babylon, 539–538 BC. Returnees were led by Sheshbazzar and later Zerubbabel; many Judeans stayed, founding Babylonia's long-lived Jewish community.
Historical evidence
The Cyrus Cylinder describes him returning gods and peoples to their homelands, matching the policy in Ezra 1 and 6, though it does not name the Judeans.
Questions and debates
Whether the decree quoted in Ezra is authentic or later editing is debated, and the first wave of returnees was probably small.
▸Babylonian exile and fall of the First Temple spurred compilation of The Torah (Five Books of Moses)Debated by scholars
The connection
Cut off from Temple and land, exiled priests and scribes had strong reason to collect and edit Israel's traditions. Many scholars think much of the Torah was compiled during or soon after the exile, as a portable homeland: law, history and identity that did not depend on a king or a building.
When and where
Babylon and Persian-ruled Jerusalem, c. 586–400 BC; the Bible credits Ezra the scribe with publicly reading 'the book of the law of Moses' around 450 BC.
How do we know?
Inferred from the text: themes of exile, Babylonian parallels and late language in parts of the Torah. No manuscript survives from this period.
Questions and debates
How much was written before the exile, perhaps under King Josiah, and how much after; some scholars put final edits in the Persian or even Hellenistic period.
▸Babylonian exile and fall of the First Temple reshaped Israelite faith into Second Temple JudaismMostly agreed by scholars
The connection
Losing Temple, king and land in 586 BC forced a rethink. In Babylon, priests and scribes gathered and edited traditions into scripture, and portable practices such as the Sabbath, circumcision and food laws became markers of identity. Returning exiles built a community centered on the Torah and a rebuilt Temple, and belief in one God became explicit.
When and where
Babylon, 586–538 BC, then Judea after the return; the Second Temple was finished in 516 BC under the governor Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua.
How do we know?
Babylonian tablets record food rations for Judah's exiled king Jehoiachin; the Al-Yahudu tablets document Judean villages in Babylonia; biblical books of the period reflect the crisis.
Questions and debates
How much of the Bible was written or edited in exile, and how sharp the break with earlier Israelite religion was, are still debated.