In 586 BC,Judah itself ceased to be an independent kingdom, and the earlierdeportees found themselves without a homeland, without a state, andwithout a nation. This period, which actually begins in 597 but istraditionally dated at 586, is called the Exile in Jewish history;it ends with an accident in 538 when the Persians overthrow theBabylonians. Nebuchadnezzar, now the king, returned to Judah in597, and, according to the Babylonian Chronicles, “captured thecity and seized its king. He appointed in it a king of his liking[Zedekiah], took heavy booty from it and sent it to Babylon.

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