Exile and Return

TIMELINE 2B

Exile and Return

586 to 332 BCE

The exiles keep their faith by the rivers of Babylon. Persia conquers Babylon and lets them go home. They rebuild the Temple and the walls of Jerusalem, and the Torah becomes the law of the people.

TURNING POINTS

586 BCE Babylon destroys the First Temple. Judah’s leaders and craftsmen are taken to Babylon.

c. 582 BCE Gedaliah is murdered. The governor appointed by Babylon is killed, and many Judeans flee to Egypt.

539 BCE Cyrus lets the exiles return. The Persian king conquers Babylon and allows the Jews to go home and rebuild.

c. 515 BCE The Second Temple is completed. It stands on the site of the first, in the Persian province of Yehud.

c. 458 BCE Ezra arrives from Babylon. He teaches the Torah and leads a renewal of the covenant.

c. 445 BCE Nehemiah rebuilds the walls. A governor sent by the Persian king restores the walls of Jerusalem, by tradition in 52 days.

c. 400 BCE The Hebrew Bible takes shape. Scribes under Persian rule gather the Torah, the prophets and the histories.

332 BCE Alexander the Great conquers the land. Persian rule ends and Greek rule begins.

ALSO IN THIS PERIOD

c. 571 BCE Ezekiel prophesies among the exiles in Babylon.

562 BCE King Jehoiachin of Judah is released from prison in Babylon.

c. 545 BCE The prophecies of comfort in the later chapters of Isaiah console the exiles.

538 BCE The first exiles return under Sheshbazzar.

520 BCE The prophets Haggai and Zechariah urge the rebuilding of the Temple.

c. 520 BCE Zerubbabel, of the house of David, governs Judea.

c. 480 BCE The story of Esther is set at the Persian court of Xerxes.

c. 450 BCE The Samaritans build a temple on Mount Gerizim, according to excavations.

c. 440 BCE Malachi, the last of the prophets, preaches in Jerusalem.

407 BCE Jews of Elephantine in Egypt write to the governor of Judea to rebuild their temple.

c. 350 BCE Silver coins stamped Yehud are minted in Judea.

c. 350 BCE A Jewish revolt against Persia is put down.