Zedekiah listens to Jeremiah

In about 600 BC, King Jehoiakim of Judah, who had originally been a vassal of Egypt, but had switched allegiances to Babylon after the Egyptian defeat at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC, once again changed sides and allied himself with Egypt against Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon brought his army to Jerusalem, and placed the city under siege. During the siege, King Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiakin came to the throne, and reigned for 3 months before Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in March, 597 BC.

Nebuchanezzar plundered Jerusalem, including the Temple, but did not destroy the city. He deported King Jehoiakin to Babylon, where he was kept prisoner, evidently in comfort, until after Nebuchadnezzar's death. He also deported much of the upper class stratum of Judahite society, including many artisans and other prominent people, totalling as many as 10,000. Included in this group was Ezekiel and other people who became famous in later Biblical history.

In Jehoiakin's place as King of Judah, Nebuchanezzar installed Zedekiah, the youngest son of King Josiah and the uncle of the unfortunate Jehoiakin. Zedekiah swore to be a loyal vassal of Nebuchadnezzar, and for some years, he was.

But Zedekiah was not content to remain a Babylonian vassal, and entered a conspiracy between Pharaoh Wahibre of Egypt, and the kings of Ammon, Moab, Edom, Sidon and Tyre to revolt against Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar reacted as might have been expected. He brought his army to Judah and, in 589 BC, laid siege to Jerusalem. The city fell in 587 BC. This time, Nebuchanezzar was far less merciful. He had Zedekiah's sons executed in front of their father's eyes, and then had the king blinded. He was taken to Babylon in chains, where he died under unclear circumstances. Jerusalem was plundered and destroyed, the Temple was leveled, and most of the remaining population was deported.

The Prophet Jeremiah, and many others, had attempted to persuade King Zedekiah to remain loyal to Babylon. What if he had listened, and his successors also continue as loyal vassals? He and his successors continue to rule in Judah, first as vassals of Babylon, then of Persia. Some possible consequences...

--Judah survives, albeit as a tributary kingdom of the Babylonian Empire. The House of David remains on the throne.
--The First Temple survives.
--The number of Jews involved in the Babylonian Captivity only includes the 10,000 taken in 597 BC and their descendants. There is no second deportation.

Some interesting questions...

--How does the survival of the First Temple affect later Yahwism (I call it this because Judaism, as we know it, will likely not develop in the ATL)? Does rabbinical/synagogue based worship get started among the Jews in Babylon, even though the Temple at Jerusalem still exists?
--Assuming the Jews of the Captivity still develop the beginnings of rabinnical/synagogue worship, how does the Temple establishment react when they bring this back to Judah, following the fall of Babylon in 539 BC?
--It might be interesting if the Jews in Babylon, in an effort to preserve their culture, became more "Jewish" while in Captivity, rejecting all Babylonian cultural influence, while the Kings of Judah, more concerned with the survival of their kingdom and dynasty, accomodate more and more to Babylonian influence. This could lead to some very interesting conflicts when the Captives return.
--Could we see, possibly, instead of a Hasmonean kingdom in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, a resurgent Davidic kingdom which has thrown off the yoke of the Seleucids? Or would the Davidic Kings be among the Hellenizing faction among the Jews?
--How would they fare when Rome comes in? Could a surviving Davidic Dynasty prevent the Jewish revolts which so devastated the Jewish people in the 1st Century AD?
 
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I just stumbled over this interesting thread. Though it was buried somewhat deep in the
archive, I find it worth discussing ...

Does rabbinical/synagogue based worship get started among the Jews in Babylon, even though the Temple at Jerusalem still exists?

Synagogues are (mostly) a development of Hellenistic Judaism, Rabbis are younger.
Rabbinic Judaism builds on being bereft of "everything but YHWH and his law".
This was the state after the Second Temple destruction, so Judaism as we know it may develop if they have to face the Romans as we know them.

However, there is still a lot of time until their arrival, so it is hard to speculate.


The most complicate issue might be the following: Some scholars argue that
many central aspects of Judaism only developped during captivity and after it (thus based on it);
some even count strict existential monotheism in. Unfortunately, it is hard to tell
whether such theories are right, and thus even more so the effects of a change.

Anyway, the scriptures kingdom of Judah and the captives would have in common
would be: The Psalms, the first four books of Moses excepting the priestly source
passages, most of "historic books" tradition, of course in different form, composition, and scope.

As another remark, a sharp rivalry conflict between the "collaborators" and the captives
is likely to take place, and probably only one of these groups would have the opportunity
to _define_ Judaism.
 
You could also see the extinction of the Hebrew language. It was only through its association with the Judaic religion that allowed it to survive in exile, nonpriests tended to adopt Aramaic and other languages of the Babylon Empire which made the Rabbis/priests preserve the language as the jewish language. If you remove the exile it is possible that the priests translate their books into their vernacular. This may result in several groups claiming to be the True Hebrews.

It's also psssible that the samaritan religion is considered the standard - they are after all the "Jews left behind in Judah" after the Temple's destruction.
 
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