Difference between revisions of "Captivity"

<li> Of Judah. In the third year of Jehoiachim, the eighteenth king of Judah (B.C. 605), Nebuchadnezzar having overcome the [[Egyptians]] at Carchemish, advanced to Jerusalem with a great army. After a brief siege he took that city, and carried away the vessels of the sanctuary to Babylon, and dedicated them in the [[Temple]] of [[Belus]] (&nbsp;2 Kings 24:1; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 36:6,7; &nbsp;Daniel 1:1,2 ). He also carried away the treasures of the king, whom he made his vassal. At this time, from which is dated the "seventy years" of captivity (&nbsp;Jeremiah 25; &nbsp;Daniel 9:1,2 ), Daniel and his companions were carried to Babylon, there to be brought up at the court and trained in all the learning of the Chaldeans. After this, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, a great national fast was appointed (&nbsp;Jeremiah 36:9 ), during which the king, to show his defiance, cut up the leaves of the book of Jeremiah's prophecies as they were read to him in his winter palace, and threw them into the fire. In the same spirit he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (&nbsp;2 Kings 24:1 ), who again a second time (B.C. 598) marched against Jerusalem, and put Jehoiachim to death, placing his son [[Jehoiachin]] on the throne in his stead. But Jehoiachin's counsellors displeasing Nebuchadnezzar, he again a third time turned his army against Jerusalem, and carried away to Babylon a second detachment of Jews as captives, to the number of 10,000 (&nbsp;2 Kings 24:13; &nbsp;Jeremiah 24:1; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 36:10 ), among whom were the king, with his mother and all his princes and officers, also Ezekiel, who with many of his companions were settled on the banks of the river [[Chebar]] (q.v.). He also carried away all the remaining treasures of the temple and the palace, and the golden vessels of the sanctuary. <p> Mattaniah, the uncle of Jehoiachin, was now made king over what remained of the kingdom of Judah, under the name of Zedekiah (&nbsp;2 Kings 24:17; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 36:10 ). After a troubled reign of eleven years his kingdom came to an end (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 36:11 ). Nebuchadnezzar, with a powerful army, besieged Jerusalem, and Zedekiah became a prisoner in Babylon. His eyes were put out, and he was kept in close confinement till his death (&nbsp;2 Kings 25:7 ). The city was spoiled of all that was of value, and then given up to the flames. The temple and palaces were consumed, and the walls of the city were levelled with the ground (B.C. 586), and all that remained of the people, except a number of the poorest class who were left to till the ground and dress the vineyards, were carried away captives to Babylon. This was the third and last deportation of Jewish captives. The land was now utterly desolate, and was abondoned to anarchy. </p> <p> In the first year of his reign as king of Babylon (B.C. 536), [[Cyrus]] issued a decree liberating the Jewish captives, and permitting them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and the temple (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 36:22,23; &nbsp;Ezra 1; &nbsp;2 ). The number of the people forming the first caravan, under Zerubbabel, amounted in all to 42,360 (&nbsp;Ezra 2:64,65 ), besides 7,337 men-servants and maid-servants. A considerable number, 12,000 probably, from the ten tribes who had been carried away into Assyria no doubt combined with this band of liberated captives. </p> <p> At a later period other bands of the Jews returned (1) under (&nbsp;Ezra 7:7 ) (B.C. 458), and (2) (&nbsp;Nehemiah 7:66 ) (B.C. 445). But the great mass of the people remained still in the land to which they had been carried, and became a portion of the Jews of the "dispersion" (&nbsp;John 7:35; &nbsp;1 Peter 1:1 ). The whole number of the exiles that chose to remain was probably about six times the number of those who returned. </p> <div> <p> '''Copyright Statement''' These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by [[Thomas]] Nelson, 1897. Public Domain. </p> <p> '''Bibliography Information''' Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Captivity'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/c/captivity.html. 1897. </p> </div> </li>

<p> CAPTIVITY, n. </p> 1. The state of being a prisoner, or of being in the power of an enemy by force or the fate of war. 2. [[Subjection]] to love. 3. Subjection a state of being under control. <p> [[Bringing]] into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. &nbsp;2 Corinthians 10 . </p> 4. Subjection servitude slavery. <p> But I see another law in my members--bringing me into captivity to the law of sin. &nbsp;Romans 7 . </p> <p> To lead captivity captive, in scripture, is to subdue those who have held others in slavery, or captivity. &nbsp;Psalms 98 . </p>

<p> <strong> [[Captivity]] </strong> . See Israel, <strong> I. 23 </strong> . </p>