![[the captives in Babylon]](ncd00951.jpg "??kb jpg illustration by Harold Copping, 1908, of the 'Captives in Babylon'; please do not write to ask about the image")
The 70 years of exile (606-536 B.C.) of the inhabitants of Judea in Babylonia.
Three invasions of Judea by Nabuchodonosor are recorded (4 Kings, 24 and 25; 2 Par., 36).
After each of these a large portion of the population of Jerusalem and of other Judean cities was carried away to the banks of the Euphrates.
There the exiles seem to have enjoyed a considerable amount of liberty.
They preserved their old clan relations (1 Esdras 2); had their own judges and magistrates (Jeremiah 29; Daniel 13); and some rose to positions of honor and responsibility (Daniel 1; Jeremiah 52; Esther 2).
Cyrus gave permission for the exiles to return to Palestine to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, and a large number (42,360 Jews and 7,357 servants) availed themselves of it (1 Esdras 2).
Other expeditions followed under Esdras and Nehemias (1 Esdras 7-10; 2 Esdras 1-13).
New Catholic Dictionary
