This video is part of a series that provides a brief outline of the Old Testament history and the major landmarks of the development of the Pentateuch, according to the Contemporary Biblical Scholarship. Here, we'll discuss the era surrounding the Babylonian captivity.

Excerpt:
While in exile, the Old Testament community of the faithful never lost its faith and kept looking back at its own past with repentance. The prophets, with Ezekiel among them, who died ca. 570 BC, helped their faith stay alive. It was during this period, at a time when there was a rapid increase in literacy among the Judean population, that much of the oral tradition from earlier periods in Israel's history was actually written down.

After the Persians captured Babylon, the Jews got permission to go back to their homeland. Yet only part of the people returned. The first group who returned from exile was headed by high priest Joshua and Prince Zerubbabel.

A marked shift took place about 540 BC, when the Persian king, Cyrus II, began to loom as a threat to Babylon, which produced a strident hope for liberation in the Judean exiles. This was the time when one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament was writing and prophesying.
His prophesies are filled with hope and promise that the Lord will clear a way in the wilderness for the Judeans to return to their home in Judah. These prophecies would mean nothing to to the Judeans who were safe and sound in Jerusalem during Isaiah of Amoz's day. As a later follower of Isaiah, his anonymous writings became part of prophet Isaiah's book. In biblical scholarship, this herald of salvation and the minstrel of the suffering Servant of God (Messiah) is referred to as Deutero-Isaiah. He wrote chapters 40-55 of the book of Isaiah, where the name Isaiah disappears from the text. Chapters 56-66 strike a different tone and appear to be written by other later followers of Isaiah. This is also true of some chapters in the earlier part of the book (chapters 13-14; 21:1-10; 34-35).

Ezra summoned a general assembly in Jerusalem and made the people take an oath to keep faithfully the laws of the Torah. From this point on, the process of the Jewish isolationism began. As a response to Ezra's extremes, came the books of Ruth and Jonah, targeted against the ethos of national isolationism.

Theology Academy is an EdTech organization dedicated to enhancing religious literacy through accessible media and outreach. Learn more about Theology Academy at: https://www.theology-academy.org

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