Why is the Babylonian captivity important to understand?
The Babylonian captivity matters because it explains a commonly overlooked historical fact: conquering empires emptied Israel of most Jews and moved them east to Babylon. When Cyrus later permitted return and Temple rebuilding, only 44,000 of several million went back, leaving many Jews dispersed before New Testament times.
Les explains that the Babylonian captivity is important because it points up a fact of history most people totally overlook. In 606 B.C., shortly after the Temple had been built about 400 years earlier, Nebuchadnezzar came in, and the Babylonian Empire destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem, and Israel went into captivity. Les notes that conquering empires commonly emptied the land of Israel of most of the Jews and took them east to Babylon. Then 70 years later, the Medes and Persians, under King Cyrus, decreed that the Jews were free to return to their homeland and Jerusalem and to rebuild their Temple. However, most Jews in Babylon did not return; only 44,000 out of several million went back, and this history is picked up in the New Testament.