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Fall of Jerusalem (586 BC)

Illustration of Fall of Jerusalem (586 BC)

The Fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC occurred when Babylonian forces under King Nebuchadnezzar II breached the city's walls after an 18-month siege, leading to the destruction of Solomon's Temple and the razing of much of the capital. This conquest took place during the reign of Judah's last king, Zedekiah, amid the broader Babylonian campaigns against rebellious vassal states in the Levant. In Scripture, the event is depicted as divine judgment for Judah's covenant unfaithfulness, idolatry, and rejection of prophetic warnings from Jeremiah and others. Its lasting significance lies in ending the independent Davidic monarchy, initiating the Babylonian exile, and establishing central biblical themes of judgment, repentance, and future restoration.

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Details

Era
Exile & Return
Category
Exile
Participants
Babylon vs. Judah
Outcome
Jerusalem destroyed, temple burned, Judah exiled
Divine Intervention
No

Key Passages

The Fall

2 Kings 25:1-12

A1nd it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.

2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. 4 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the kingโ€™s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain. 5 And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him. 6 So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him. 7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon. 8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: 9 And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the kingโ€™s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great manโ€™s house burnt he with fire. 10 And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. 11 Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away. 12 But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.

Did You Know?

1

The siege lasted 18 months. Famine became so severe that people resorted to cannibalism.

2

Jeremiah had warned of this destruction for 40 years. He was ignored and imprisoned for it.

3

The Temple treasures were carried to Babylon. Some were later used at Belshazzar's feast.