Who’s Who in the Exile

1. Jehoiachin. Exiled from Jerusalem at 18, having ruled 3 months.

1. Daniel. Taken to Babylon in the first deportation, in 605 BC — eight years before Jehoiachin. Selected for training to serve in the royal court of Babylon. Daniel rose to become head of the royal advisers. Later in the exile he was put in charge of all the Empire’s governors. Some traditions say he returned to Jerusalem at the end of the exile.

1. Ezekiel. Exiled with King Jehoiachin, in 597 BC. He prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, and later that the exiles would return to Jerusalem with its rebuilt temple. Probably died before the end of the exile.

1. Esther and Mordecai. Esther became queen to Xerxes, the Persian emperor, not long before the return of Nehemiah to Jerusalem. With her cousin Mordecai, she prevented the persecution of Jews throughout the Persian Empire. Mordecai became a powerful figure in Xerxes’ court.

1. Jeremiah. Forced to go to Egypt at the start of Judah’s exile by a group who fled after killing the Babylonian governor of Judah. He spent the rest of his life in Egypt (Jeremiah 43).

1. Ezra. A high official in the Persian Empire — ‘minister for Jewish affairs.’ Emperor Artaxerxes I sent him to Jerusalem to reform the people there in accordance with Jewish Law. He led a return in 458 BC (Ezra 7).

1. Nehemiah. Cupbearer to Artaxerxes I, Nehemiah was sent by the emperor in 445 BC to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He came in 445 BC, thirteen years after Ezra (Nehemiah 1).

1. Ordinary people. Many Jews in the exile became prosperous (see Ezra 2:68–69). Living in ghettos in Babylon and other places, they stayed together. But despite their wealth they despaired at the loss of their land and heritage. Psalm 137 expresses their feelings.