History goes like in 601 BC, in the fourthyear of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon,unsuccessfully attempted to invade Egypt and was repulsed withheavy losses. This failure led to numerous rebellions among thestates of the Levant which owed allegiance to Babylon, includingJudah, where the king, Jehoiakim, stopped paying tribute toNebuchadnezzar and took a pro-Egyptian position. According to theHebrew Bible, there were three deportations of Jews to Babylon: theexile of King Jeconiah, his court and many others inNebuchadnezzar’s eighth year; Jeconiah’s successor Zedekiah and therest of the people in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year; and a laterdeportation in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year. These areattributed to c. 597 BCE, c. 587 BCE, and c. 582 BCE, respectively.Keep that in mind, there were three exiles.

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