Judah Exile In Babylon

However, not all Jewish people from Judah were deported from their homeland, those who were returned occasionally and, by choice. Even though Jewish people were deported it is clear that some preferred their lives in Babylon, adapting to their new ways of life and finding dealing with different religions in one area. Because of this exile the Jewish people had a new chance to start their lives in Babylon, bringing along their Jewish identities, communities, families and religious input. Because of this deportation, it is arguable that these Jewish people were better off being deported and settling into new land and a new way of living. The Jews of Babylon had little to complain of. The various governments treated them well and rarely interfered

According to ‘C.C. Torrey (1910), the exile was small, insignificant event; accounts of Babylonian captivity are exaggerating.’ Whereas W.F. Albright (1963): exile was large and traumatic, wreaked havoc on Judah; Judah and Jerusalem virtually bare’. Another source P.R Akroyd (1970) ‘Exile was traumatic, but not all were exiled, and those that remained continued in their lives; those that went get all the attention, because they were the elite.’ Because of this unknown extent of the exile, it is hard to understand the precise extent throughout this period. However, for Judah it is obvious that the extent of the exile completely destroyed the land and temple. It is clear that the land of Judah was demolished. The size of Judah decreased massively and the temple was ransacked. The significance of the Babylonian exile to Judah was outrageous and had many factors such as geographical, social, political and religious. The religious factor is one of the major extents that occurred throughout the exile. For Judeans being deported was a big deal as they were taken from their lives in Judah however, the main loss was their religious factors. These Judeans had just lost their temple, rituals, religious leaders and were now being forced to live among ‘unclean people’. This is a large extent for Jewish people as their lives are based on religious beliefs and traditions. Another major extent was the separation of families and language barrier. These extents caused by the exile were the reason for the decrease in Judah. The majority of the people were moved and few remained on the ruined land. The ransack of the temple plays a large role in the extent of the exile.

For Babylon the extent of its own exile was extreme. First of all the Jewish people who were exiled were being sent to concentration camps however they were settled on the canals of Mesopotamia where they were made to take care