| The Babylonian Exile The second great dividing point in Hebrew history was the Babylonian Exile. After a long succession of separate and quarreling kingdoms in the north (Israel) and the south (Judah), the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians in 721 B.C. Jerusalem, in the south, fell to the Babylonians in 597 and again in 586 B.C. when thousands of the leaders were exported in captivity to Babylon for nearly 50 years. |