Kingdom of Judah

The Kingdom of Judah (Hebrew: מַמְלֶכֶת יְהוּדָה‎, Mamléḵeṯ Yehudāh; Akkadian: 𒅀𒌑𒁕𒀀𒀀 Ya'uda; Aramaic: 𐤁‬𐤉‬𐤕‬𐤃𐤅‬𐤃‎ Bēyt Dāwīḏ) was an Iron Age kingdom of the Southern Levant. The Hebrew Bible depicts it as the successor to the United Monarchy, a term denoting the Kingdom of Israel under biblical kings Saul, David and Solomon and covering the territory of two historical kingdoms, Judah and Israel. However, some scholars, including Israel Finkelstein and Alexander Fantalkin, believe that the existent archaeological evidence for an extensive Kingdom of Judah before the late 8th century BCE is too weak and that the methodology used to obtain the evidence is flawed.[5][6] The Tel Dan Stele shows that the kingdom, in some semblance, existed by at least the mid-9th century BCE,[7][8][9] but it does little to show to what extent.

"Kingdom of Judea" redirects here. For the Judean polity of the 1st and 2nd centuries BCE, see Hasmonean dynasty.
Judea is a term used for the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel.
Kingdom of Judah

𐤉‬𐤄𐤃𐤄‬
930 BCE[1]–587/586 BCE
LMLK seal (700–586 BCE)
Map of the region in the 9th century BCE, The Northern Kingdom is in blue, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah is in yellow.
CapitalHebron [2]
Jerusalem
Common languagesHebrew
Religion
Monotheistic Yahwism/Judaism
Canaanite polytheism
Mesopotamian polytheism
Folk religion[3]
GovernmentMonarchy
Historical eraLevantine Iron Age
• Established
930 BCE[4]
587/586 BCE
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Kingdom of Israel
Neo-Babylonian Empire
Yehud (Babylonian province)
Today part ofIsrael
Palestine

In the 10th and early 9th centuries BCE, the territory of Judah appears to have been sparsely populated, limited to small rural settlements, most of them unfortified.[10] Jerusalem, the kingdom's capital, likely did not emerge as a significant administrative centre until the end of the 8th century. Before then, the archaeological evidence suggests its population was too small to sustain a viable kingdom.[11] In the 7th century its population increased greatly, prospering under Assyrian vassalage (despite Hezekiah's revolt against the Assyrian king Sennacherib),[12] but in 605 the Assyrian Empire was defeated, and the ensuing competition between the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt and the Neo-Babylonian Empire for control of the Eastern Mediterranean led to the destruction of the kingdom in a series of campaigns between 597 and 582, the deportation of the elite of the community, and the incorporation of Judah into a province of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

Archaeological record
See also: Biblical archaeology, Biblical archaeology school, and The Bible and history
Mesha Stele c. 850 BCE – earliest mention of a kingdom of Jerusalem.[13]

The legendary history of David and Solomon in the 10th century BCE tells little about the origins of Judah.[14] The Tel Dan Stele shows an historical "House of David" ruled a kingdom south of the lands of Samaria in the 9th century BC,[15] and attestations of several Judean kings from the 8th century BC have been discovered,[16] but they do little to indicate how developed the state actually was. Nimrud Tablet K.3751, dated c. 733 BCE, is the earliest known record of the name "Judah" (written in Assyrian cuneiform as Ya'uda or KUR.ia-ú-da-a-a).[17]

The status of Jerusalem in the 10th century BCE is a major subject of debate.[10] The oldest part of Jerusalem and its original urban core are the City of David, which does not show evidence of significant Israelite residential activity until the 9th century.[18] However, unique administrative structures such as the Stepped Stone Structure and the Large Stone Structure, which originally formed one structure, contain material culture dated to Iron I.[10] On account of the apparent lack of settlement activity in the 10th century BCE, Israel Finkelstein argues that Jerusalem was then a small country village in the Judean hills, not a national capital, and Ussishkin argues that the city was entirely uninhabited. Amihai Mazar contends that if the Iron I/Iron IIa dating of administrative structures in the City of David are correct, which he believes to be the case, "Jerusalem was a rather small town with a mighty citadel, which could have been a center of a substantial regional polity."[10]

A collection of military orders found in the ruins of a military fortress in the Negev dating to the period of the Kingdom of Judah indicates widespread literacy, based on the inscriptions, the ability to read and write extended throughout the chain of command from commanders to petty officers. According to Professor Eliezer Piasetsky, who participated in analyzing the texts, "Literacy existed at all levels of the administrative, military and priestly systems of Judah. Reading and writing were not limited to a tiny elite." That indicates the presence of a substantial educational infrastructure in Judah at the time.[19]

Biblical and historical narrative

Partition of United Kingdom of Israel
See also: History of ancient Israel and Judah
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According to the Hebrew Bible, the Kingdom of Judah resulted from the break-up of the United Kingdom of Israel (1020 to about 930 BCE) after the northern tribes refused to accept Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, as their king. At first, only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the House of David, but the tribe of Benjamin soon joined Judah. Both kingdoms, Judah in the south and Israel in the north, co-existed uneasily after the split until the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel by Assyria in c. 722/721.

The major theme of the Hebrew Bible's narrative is the loyalty of Judah, especially its kings, to Yahweh, which it states is the God of Israel. Accordingly, all of the kings of Israel and many of the kings of Judah were "bad" in terms of the biblical narrative by failing to enforce monotheism. Of the "good" kings, Hezekiah (727–698 BCE) is noted for his efforts at stamping out idolatry (in his case, the worship of Baal and Asherah, among other traditional Near Eastern divinities),[20] but his successors, Manasseh of Judah (698–642 BCE) and Amon (642–640 BCE), revived idolatry, which drew down on the kingdom the anger of Yahweh. King Josiah (640–609 BCE) returned to the worship of Yahweh alone, but his efforts were too late, and Israel's unfaithfulness caused God to permit the kingdom's destruction by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in the Siege of Jerusalem (587/586 BCE).

However, it is now fairly well established among academic scholars that the Books of Kings is not an accurate reflection of religious views in Judah or particularly Israel of the period.[21][22]

Relations with Northern Kingdom

For the first 60 years, the kings of Judah tried to re-establish their authority over the northern kingdom, and there was perpetual war between them. Israel and Judah were in a state of war throughout Rehoboam's 17-year reign. Rehoboam built elaborate defenses and strongholds, along with fortified cities. In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, Shishak, pharaoh of Egypt, brought a huge army and took many cities. In the sack of Jerusalem (10th century BCE), Rehoboam gave them all of the treasures out of the temple as a tribute and Judah became a vassal state of Egypt.

Rehoboam's son and successor, Abijah of Judah, continued his father's efforts to bring Israel under his control. He fought the Battle of Mount Zemaraim against Jeroboam of Israel and was victorious with a heavy loss of life on the Israel side. According to the Books of Chronicles, Abijah and his people defeated them with a great slaughter, so that 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain,[23] and Jeroboam posed little threat to Judah for the rest of his reign, and the border of the tribe of Benjamin was restored to the original tribal border.[24]

Abijah's son and successor, Asa of Judah, maintained peace for the first 35 years of his reign,[25] and he revamped and reinforced the fortresses originally built by his grandfather, Rehoboam. 2 Chronicles states that at the Battle of Zephath, the Egyptian-backed chieftain Zerah the Ethiopian and his million men and 300 chariots were defeated by Asa's 580,000 men in the Valley of Zephath near Maresha.[26] The Bible does not state whether Zerah was a pharaoh or a general of the army. The Ethiopians were pursued all the way to Gerar, in the coastal plain, where they stopped out of sheer exhaustion. The resulting peace kept Judah free from Egyptian incursions until the time of Josiah, some centuries later.

In his 36th year, Asa was confronted by Baasha of Israel,[25] who built a fortress at Ramah on the border, less than ten miles from Jerusalem. The capital became under pressure, and the military situation was precarious. Asa took gold and silver from the Temple and sent them to Ben-Hadad I, the king of Aram-Damascus, in exchange for the Damascene king cancelling his peace treaty with Baasha. Ben-Hadad attacked Ijon, Dan and many important cities of the tribe of Naphtali, and Baasha was forced to withdraw from Ramah.[27] Asa tore down the unfinished fortress and used its raw materials to fortify Geba and Mizpah in Benjamin on his side of the border.[28]

Asa's successor, Jehoshaphat, changed the policy towards Israel and instead pursued alliances and co-operation with the northern kingdom. The alliance with Ahab was based on marriage. The alliance led to disaster for the kingdom with the Battle of Ramoth-Gilead.[29] He then entered into an alliance with Ahaziah of Israel for the purpose of carrying on maritime commerce with Ophir. However, the fleet that was then equipped at Ezion-Geber was immediately wrecked. A new fleet was fitted out without the co-operation of the king of Israel. Although it was successful, the trade was not prosecuted.[30][31] He joined Jehoram of Israel in a war against the Moabites, who were under tribute to Israel. This war was successful, and the Moabites were subdued. However, on seeing Mesha's act of offering his own son in a human sacrifice on the walls of Kir-haresheth filled Jehoshaphat with horror, and he withdrew and returned to his own land.[32]

Jehoshaphat's successor, Jehoram of Judah, formed an alliance with Israel by marrying Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab. Despite the alliance with the stronger northern kingdom, Jehoram's rule of Judah was shaky. Edom revolted, and he was forced to acknowledge its independence. A raid by Philistines, Arabs and Ethiopians looted the king's house and carried off all of his family except for his youngest son, Ahaziah of Judah.

Clash of empires
Stamped bulla of a servant of King Hezekiah that was used to seal a papyrus document

After Hezekiah became the sole ruler in c. 715 BCE, he formed alliances with Ashkelon and Egypt and made a stand against Assyria by refusing to pay tribute.[33] (Isaiah 30–31; 36:6–9) In response, Sennacherib of Assyria attacked the fortified cities of Judah. (2 Kings 18:13) Hezekiah paid three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold to Assyria, which required him to empty the temple and royal treasury of silver and strip the gold from the doorposts of Solomon's Temple. (2 Kings 18:14–16)[33] However, Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem[34] (2 Kings 18:17) in 701 BCE though the city was never taken.

During the long reign of Manasseh (c. 687/686 – 643/642 BCE),[35] Judah was a vassal of Assyrian rulers: Sennacherib and his successors, Esarhaddon[36] and Ashurbanipal after 669 BCE. Manasseh is listed as being required to provide materials for Esarhaddon's building projects and as one of a number of vassals who assisted Ashurbanipal's campaign against Egypt.[36]

When Josiah became king of Judah in c. 641/640 BCE,[35] the international situation was in flux. To the east, the Neo-Assyrian Empire was beginning to disintegrate, the Neo-Babylonian Empire had not yet risen to replace it and Egypt to the west was still recovering from Assyrian rule. In the power vacuum, Judah could govern itself for the time being without foreign intervention. However, in the spring of 609 BCE, Pharaoh Necho II personally led a sizable army up to the Euphrates to aid the Assyrians.[37] Taking the coastal route into Syria at the head of a large army, Necho passed the low tracts of Philistia and Sharon. However, the passage over the ridge of hills, which shuts in on the south the great Jezreel Valley, was blocked by the Judean army, led by Josiah, who may have considered that the Assyrians and the Egyptians were weakened by the death of Pharaoh Psamtik I only a year earlier (610 BCE).[37] Presumably in an attempt to help the Babylonians, Josiah attempted to block the advance at Megiddo, where a fierce battle was fought and Josiah was killed.[38] Necho then joined forces with the Assyrian Ashur-uballit II, and they crossed the Euphrates and lay siege to Harran. The combined forces failed to capture the city, and Necho retreated back to northern Syria. The event also marked the disintegration of the Assyrian Empire.

On his return march to Egypt in 608 BCE, Necho found that Jehoahaz had been selected to succeed his father, Josiah.[39] Necho deposed Jehoahaz, who had been king for only three months, and replaced him with his older brother, Jehoiakim. Necho imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver (about 3​3⁄4 tons or about 3.4 metric tons) and a talent of gold (about 34 kilograms (75 lb)). Necho then took Jehoahaz back to Egypt as his prisoner,[40] never to return.

Jehoiakim ruled originally as a vassal of the Egyptians by paying a heavy tribute. However, when the Egyptians were defeated by the Babylonians at Carchemish in 605 BCE, Jehoiakim changed allegiances to pay tribute to Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. In 601 BCE, in the fourth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar attempted to invade Egypt but was repulsed with heavy losses. The failure led to numerous rebellions among the states of the Levant that owed allegiance to Babylon. Jehoiakim also stopped paying tribute to Nebuchadnezzar[41] and took a pro-Egyptian position. Nebuchadnezzar soon dealt with the rebellions. According to the Babylonian Chronicles, after invading "the land of Hatti (Syria/Palestine)"[42][43] in 599 BCE, he laid siege to Jerusalem. Jehoiakim died in 598 BCE[44] during the siege and was succeeded by his son Jeconiah at an age of either eight or eighteen.[45] The city fell about three months later,[46][47] on 2 Adar (March 16) 597 BCE. Nebuchadnezzar pillaged both Jerusalem and the Temple and carted all of his spoils to Babylon. Jeconiah and his court and other prominent citizens and craftsmen, along with a sizable portion of the Jewish population of Judah, numbering about 10,000[48] were deported from the land and dispersed throughout the Babylonian Empire (2 Kings 24:14). Among them was Ezekiel. Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah, Jehoiakim's brother, the king of the reduced kingdom, who was made a tributary of Babylon.

Destruction and dispersion

Despite the strong remonstrances of Jeremiah and others, Zedekiah revolted against Nebuchadnezzar by ceasing to pay tribute to him and entered an alliance with Pharaoh Hophra. In 589 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar II returned to Judah and again besieged Jerusalem. Many Jews fled to surrounding Moab, Ammon, Edom and other countries to seek refuge.[49] The city fell after a siege, which lasted either eighteen or thirty months,[50] and Nebuchadnezzar again pillaged both Jerusalem and the Temple[51] and then destroyed both.[52] After killing all of Zedekiah's sons, Nebuchadnezzar took Zedekiah to Babylon[53] and so put an end to the independent Kingdom of Judah. According to the Book of Jeremiah, in addition to those killed during the siege, some 4,600 people were deported after the fall of Judah.[54] By 586 BCE, much of Judah had been devastated, and the former kingdom had suffered a steep decline of both its economy and its population.[55]

Aftermath

Babylonian Yehud

Jerusalem apparently remained uninhabited for much of the 6th century,[55] and the centre of gravity shifted to Benjamin, the relatively unscathed northern section of the kingdom, where the town of Mizpah became the capital of the new Babylonian province of Yehud for the remnant of the Jewish population in a part of the former kingdom.[56] That was standard Babylonian practice. When the Philistine city of Ashkelon was conquered in 604 BCE, the political, religious and economic elite (but not the bulk of the population) was banished and the administrative centre shifted to a new location.[57]

Gedaliah was appointed governor of the Yehud province, supported by a Babylonian guard. The administrative centre of the province was Mizpah in Benjamin,[58] not Jerusalem. On hearing of the appointment, many of the Judeans who had taken refuge in surrounding countries were persuaded to return to Judah.[59] However, Gedaliah was soon assassinated by a member of the royal house, and the Chaldean soldiers killed. The population that was left in the land and those who had returned fled to Egypt for fear a Babylonian reprisal, under the leadership of Yohanan ben Kareah. They ignored the urging of the prophet Jeremiah against the move. (2 Kings 25:26, Jeremiah 43:5–7) In Egypt, the refugees settled in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Noph and Pathros, (Jeremiah 44:1) and Jeremiah went with them as a moral guardian.

Exile of elites to Babylon
Further information: Babylonian captivity

The numbers that were deported to Babylon and that made their way to Egypt and the remnant that remained in the land and in surrounding countries are subject to academic debate. The Book of Jeremiah reports that 4,600 were exiled to Babylonia.[54] The Books of Kings suggest that it was 10,000 and later 8,000.

Yehud under Persian rule
Main article: Yehud Medinata

In 539 BCE, the Achaemenid Empire conquered Babylonia and allowed the exiles to return to Yehud Medinata and to rebuild the Temple, which was completed in the sixth year of Darius (515 BCE) (Ezra 6:15) under Zerubbabel, the grandson of the second to last king of Judah, Jeconiah. Yehud Medinata was a peaceful part of the Achaemenid Empire until its fall in c. 333 BCE to Alexander the Great.

Governance and economy
Further information: LMLK seal

LMLK seals are ancient Hebrew seals stamped on the handles of large storage jars dating from reign of King Hezekiah (circa 700 BCE) discovered mostly in and around Jerusalem. Several complete jars were found in situ buried under a destruction layer caused by Sennacherib at Lachish.[60] None of the original seals has been found, but some 2,000 impressions made by at least 21 seal types have been published.[61]

LMLK stamp

LMLK stands for the Hebrew letters lamedh mem lamedh kaph (vocalized, lamelekh; Phoenician lāmed mēm lāmed kāp – 𐤋𐤌𐤋𐤊), which can be translated as:

  • "[belonging] to the king" [of Judah]
  • "[belonging] to King" (name of a person or deity)
  • "[belonging] to the government" [of Judah]
  • "[to be sent] to the King"

See also

References

Citations
  1. Pioske, Daniel (2015-02-11). "4: David's Jerusalem: The Early 10th Century BCE Part I: An Agrarian Community". David's Jerusalem: Between Memory and History. Routledge Studies in Religion. 45. Routledge (published 2015). p. 180. ISBN 9781317548911. Retrieved 2016-09-17. [...] the reading of bytdwd as "House of David" has been challenged by those unconvinced of the inscription's allusion to an eponymous David or the kingdom of Judah.
  2. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-ml-abrahams-city-timeline-112908-2008nov29-story.html
  3. Finkelstein, Israel; Silberman, Neil Asher (2001). The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Sacred Texts. The Free Press. pp. 240–243. ISBN 978-0743223386.
  4. Pioske, Daniel (2015-02-11). "4: David's Jerusalem: The Early 10th Century BCE Part I: An Agrarian Community". David's Jerusalem: Between Memory and History. Routledge Studies in Religion. 45. Routledge (published 2015). p. 180. ISBN 9781317548911. Retrieved 2016-09-17. [...] the reading of bytdwd as "House of David" has been challenged by those unconvinced of the inscription's allusion to an eponymous David or the kingdom of Judah.
  5. Garfinkel, Yossi; Ganor, Sa'ar; Hasel, Michael (19 April 2012). "Journal 124: Khirbat Qeiyafa preliminary report". Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel. Israel Antiquities Authority. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  6. Finkelstein, Israel; Fantalkin, Alexander (May 2012). "Khirbet Qeiyafa: an unsensational archaeological and historical interpretation" (PDF). Tel Aviv. 39: 38–63. doi:10.1179/033443512x13226621280507. S2CID 161627736. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  7. Grabbe, Lester L. (2007-04-28). Ahab Agonistes: The Rise and Fall of the Omri Dynasty. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9780567251718. The Tel Dan inscription generated a good deal of debate and a flurry of articles when it first appeared, but it is now widely regarded (a) as genuine and (b) as referring to the Davidic dynasty and the Aramaic kingdom of Damascus.
  8. Cline, Eric H. (2009-09-28). Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199711628. Today, after much further discussion in academic journals, it is accepted by most archaeologists that the inscription is not only genuine but that the reference is indeed to the House of David, thus representing the first allusion found anywhere outside the Bible to the biblical David.
  9. Mykytiuk, Lawrence J. (2004-01-01). Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200-539 B.C.E. Society of Biblical Lit. ISBN 9781589830622. Some unfounded accusations of forgery have had little or no effect on the scholarly acceptance of this inscription as genuine.
  10. Mazar, Amihai. "Archaeology and the Biblical Narrative: The Case of the United Monarchy". One God – One Cult – One Nation. Archaeological and Biblical Perspectives, Edited by Reinhard G. Kratz and Hermann Spieckermann in Collaboration with Björn Corzilius and Tanja Pilger, (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 405). Berlin/ New York: 29–58. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  11. Moore & Kelle 2011, p. 302.
  12. Ben-Sasson, Haim Hillel, ed. (1976). A History of the Jewish People. Harvard University Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0674397316. Retrieved 12 October 2018. Sargon's heir, Sennacherib (705–681), could not deal with Hezekiah's revolt until he gained control of Babylon in 702.
  13. Rollston, Chris A. (2010). Writing and Literacy in the World of Ancient Israel: Epigraphic Evidence from the Iron Age. Society of Biblical Literature. pp. 53–54. ISBN 978-1589831070. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  14. Katz 2015, p. 27.
  15. Pioske 2015, p. 180.
  16. Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals. N. Avigad and B. Sass. Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1997, nos. 4 and 3 respectively; Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200–539 B.C.E. Lawrence J. Mykytiuk. SBL Academia Biblica 12. Atlanta, 2004, 153-59, 219.
  17. Holloway, Steven W.; Handy, Lowell K., eds. (1995). The Pitcher is Broken: Memorial Essays for Gösta W. Ahlström. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0567636713. Retrieved 12 October 2018. For Israel, the description of the battle of Qarqar in the Kurkh Monolith of Shalmaneser III (mid-ninth century) and for Judah, a Tiglath-pileser III text mentioning (Jeho-) Ahaz of Judah (IIR67 = K. 3751), dated 734–733, are the earliest published to date.
  18. Moore, Megan Bishop; Kelle, Brad E. (2011). Biblical History and Israel's Past: The Changing Study of the Bible and History. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 978-0802862600. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  19. Pileggi, Tamar (12 April 2016). "New Look at Ancient Shards Suggests Bible Even Older than Thought." Times of Israel. Retrieved from TimesofIsrael.com, 30 January 2019.
  20. Borowski, Oded. "Hezekiah's Reforms and the Revolt against Assyria". Archived from the original on 23 July 1997. Retrieved 12 October 2018., Emory University, 1997
  21. Handy, Lowell K. (1995). "The Appearance of Pantheon in Judah". In Edelman, Diana Vikander (ed.). The Triumph of Elohim. Grand Rapids, Michigan: W. B. Eerdmans. p. 27. Retrieved 13 January 2020 – via Internet Archive. It is fairly well established by now that the narrative of the book of Kings cannot be taken as an accurate reflection of the religious world of the nations of Judah and Israel.1{...}1 The historicity of certain sections of the narrative has been questioned for a long time within scholarly circles, even though the majority of the text is accepted to be historically trustworthy; this is particularly true of aspects of the depiction of the northern kingdom, Israel.
  22. James Alan Montgomery (1951). A Critical and Exegetical Commentary of the Book of Kings. T. & T. Clark. p. 41 – via Internet Archive. The remaining Prophetical Stories of the North are midrash in the current sense of the word, of dubious historical value.
  23. 2 Chronicles 13:17
  24. 2 Chronicles 13:20
  25. 2 Chronicles 16:1
  26. 2 Chronicles 14:9–15
  27. 2 Chronicles 16:2–6
  28. 2 Chronicles 16:1–7
  29. 1 Kings 22:1–33
  30. 2 Kings 20:35–37
  31. 1 Kings 22:48–49
  32. 2 Kings 3:4–27
  33. Leithart, Peter J. (2006). 1 & 2 Kings (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible). Baker Publishing Group. pp. 255–256. ISBN 9781441235602. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  34. James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Related to the Old Testament (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965) 287–88.
  35. Thiele, Edwin (1951). The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings (1st ed.). New York: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-8254-3825-7.
  36. Bright, John (2000). A History of Israel. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 311. ISBN 9780664220686. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  37. 2Kings 23:29
  38. 2 Kings 23:29, 2 Chronicles 35:20–24
  39. 2 Kings 23:31
  40. 2 Chronicles 36:1–4
  41. Dr. Shirley Rollinson. "The Divided Monarchy – ca. 931–586 BC". Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  42. No 24 WA21946, The Babylonian Chronicles, The British Museum
  43. Wigoder, Geoffrey (2006). The Illustrated Dictionary & Concordance of the Bible. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
  44. Cohn-Sherbok, Dan (1996). The Hebrew Bible. Continuum International. p. x. ISBN 978-0-304-33703-3.
  45. Vincent, Robert Benn, Sr. "Daniel and the Captivity of Israel". Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  46. King, Philip J. (1993). Jeremiah: An Archaeological Companion. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 23.
  47. 2 Chronicles 36:9
  48. Coogan, Michael D., ed. (1999). The Oxford History of the Biblical World. Oxford University Press. p. 350.
  49. Jeremiah 40:11–12
  50. Malamat, Abraham (1968). "The Last Kings of Judah and the Fall of Jerusalem: An Historical – Chronological Study". Israel Exploration Journal. 18 (3): 137–156. JSTOR 27925138. The discrepancy between the length of the siege according to the regnal years of Zedekiah (years 9–11), on the one hand, and its length according to Jehoiachin's exile (years 9–12), on the other, can be cancelled out only by supposing the former to have been reckoned on a Tishri basis, and the latter on a Nisan basis. The difference of one year between the two is accounted for by the fact that the termination of the siege fell in the summer, between Nisan and Tishri, already in the 12th year according to the reckoning in Ezekiel, but still in Zedekiah's 11th year which was to end only in Tishri.
  51. Ezra 5:14
  52. Jeremiah 52:10–13
  53. Jeremiah 52:10–11
  54. Jeremiah 52:29–30
  55. Grabbe, Lester L. (2004). A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period. T&T Clark International. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-567-08998-4.
  56. Davies, Philip R. (2009). "The Origin of Biblical Israel". Journal of Hebrew Scriptures. 9 (47). Archived from the original on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  57. Lipschitz, Oded (2005). The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem. Eisenbrauns. p. 48. ISBN 9781575060958.
  58. 2 Kings 25:22–24, Jeremiah 40:6–8
  59. Sweeney, Marvin A. (2010). The Prophetic Literature: Interpreting Biblical Texts Series. Abingdon Press. ISBN 9781426730030.
  60. Ussishkin (2004), The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lachish, p. 89 ("As the work of the renewed excavations developed it became clear that the destruction of Level III must be assigned to Sennacherib's attack in 701 BCE.").
  61. LMLK Research website

Bibliography
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