![]() His eyes were then put out, and he was taken in chains to Babylon. Here he witnessed the death of his sons, who were murdered in his presence. The retinue were dispersed, while Zedekiah was captured and brought before Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah. An attempt at flight by Zedekiah and his retinue was frustrated he and his armed followers being intercepted before they could cross the Jordan. The Egyptians, however, were beaten and the siege began anew, and was continued until July 9, 586, when the beleaguerers penetrated into the city through a breach made in the protective wall built in the days of Hezekiah (II Chron. The approaching army of Hophra now compelled the Babylonians temporarily to abandon the siege and stand battle. As the city, partly because of its inaccessible position, and partly because of its strong fortifications, was almost impregnable to assault, Nebuchadnezzar endeavored to starve out the inhabitants by encircling Jerusalem with a wall. 10, 587, and lasted for a year and a half. Nebuchadnezzar was now compelled to step in, and repaired to Riblah on the Orontes, in order to conduct a campaign against Jerusalem directly from his headquarters. 59 et seq.), it soon thereafter became possible for the Egyptian king Hophra to tempt Zedekiah into a breach of faith. ![]() Although peace still reigned in Syria, and Zedekiah himself appeared before Nebuchadnezzar to vindicate his good faith (Jer. (594-588), the new king of Egypt, was probably the soul of the undertaking. But as early as 593 he had planned an insurrection against Nebuchadnezzar, to which end he had summoned the ambassadors of the disaffected Syrian states tributary to Babylon namely, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon. The new king, Zedekiah, a son of Josiah, whose original name was Mattaniah, had taken the oath of fealty to the Babylonian sovereign (Ezek. Another deportation took place upon the downfall of the kingdom of Judah (586 B.C.). Thus began the Babylonian Exile (597), from which year the prophet Ezekiel, who was among the captives, dates his calculations. As soon as Jehoiachin or Jaconiah, who had meanwhile succeeded his father, Jehoiakim, as king, had, after a short defense, surrendered to the leaders of the Babylonian army, Nebuchadnezzar ordered him, together with the most distinguished men of the land, and the most valuable treasures of the Temple and the palace, to be sent to Babylonia (II Kings xxiv. On that occasion Nebuchadnezzar appeared before the walls of Jerusalem with his army for the purpose of punishing Josiah's son Jehoiakim, because the latter, relying upon the assistance of Egypt, had renounced his allegiance to Babylonia. The first of these took place in the year 597 in connection with the first conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. The inhabitants of the southern kingdom, Judea, were in their turn subjected to two deportations.
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