Kingdom, Temple and Exile

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Israelite tribes became a kingdom under Saul, David and Solomon, and Solomon built the First Temple in Jerusalem. After Solomon, the kingdom split into Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Assyria destroyed the northern kingdom in 722 BCE, and in 586 BCE the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II captured Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple and deported many Judeans to Babylon. The exile was a crisis that could have ended the religion; instead, scholars believe it deepened it.

Without Temple or king, exiles emphasized scripture, Sabbath, dietary laws and communal prayer, and prophets interpreted disaster as part of a covenant relationship rather than proof of God's defeat. When Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BCE, he allowed exiles to return, and the Second Temple was completed around 516 BCE. This pattern of loss and renewal became a lasting theme in Jewish history.