Page 244 - History of The Quranic Text | Kalamullah.Com

224 THE HISTORY OF THE QUR'ANIC TEXT

to Babylon and left none behind but the poorest of the land."
Zedekiah (598-587 n.c.) whose original name was Mattaniah, the
last ruler of Judah, was himself appointed by Nebuchadnezzar as a
puppet king; after nine years of subservience he unwisely revolted
through Egyptian encouragement, precipitating a Babylonian attack.75

ii. The Destruction of the First Temple (586 B.C.)
and the Babylonian Exile (586-538 B.C.)

Pressing their siege ofJerusalem until the city surrendered in August 586 B.C.,
the Babylonian army tore down the city walls and destroyed the Temple.

Perhaps fifty thousandJudaeans, including women and children, had
been transported to Babyloniain twodeportations of Nebuchaclnezzar.
These, with the exception of a few political leaders, were settled in
colonies, in which they were permitted to have housesof their own, to
visitone another freely, and to engage in business."

iii. The Restoration ofJerusalem and the
Establishment of the Second Temple (515 B.C.)

A generation after the Exile, Babylon fell under Persian control;Jews were
permitted to return to their homeland and a small number accepted the
offer, establishing the Second Temple in Jerusalem by 515 B.C. 77 It was
during these Second Temple times that the prophet Ezra first began his
ceremonial reading of the Torah publicly (c. 449 B.C.). More of a religious
than a political figure, he became the founder of legalJudaism and remained
highly influential in Jewish thought throughout the ensuing centuriea."

u: The Hellenistic rule (333-168 B.C.) and the
Maccahaean Revolt (168-135 B.C.)

With Alexander the Great's successful conquest of Palestine in 331 B.C.,
the Jews soon assimilated into Hellenistic culture.

74 Hlho's Who, i:188-190. Seealso2 Kings Ch. 24.
75 Jt'ho's Who, i:388; Dictionary if the Bible, pp. 1054-5.
76 Dictionary if the Bible, p.440. Seealso]acob Neusner, The Wqy if Torah, Wadsworth
Publishing Co., California, 4th edition, 1988, p. xiii.
77 Neusner, The Wqy if Torah, pp. xiii, xxi.
78 Dictionary if the Bible, p. 441. Seealso Nehemiah8.