Niewola babilońska

Abstract

The period of Babylonian captivity is an important period in the history of Israel. It does not find proper reflection in historical books, which describe in a detailed way the events preceding the captivity and resume the description of the situation after the command of Cyrus. The situation of the exiles was reflected, however, in wisdom and prophecy books written mostly after the captivity had finished. The most telling evidence of the experiences of the nation forced to stay in Babylon is Psalm 137, which shows terrible fate of those captured, deprived of all support and made to entertain their captors by singing the songs it was improper to sing in a foreign land so as not to desecrate the memories of Zion. The period of captivity is shown in a similar vein in the Book of Baruch, in the Book of Nehemiah and in the Book of Daniel. Captivity is a fair punishment inflicted by the justice God and its burden should contribute to conversion; the only pledge to change the nation's fate. The Letter of Jeremiah points to another aspect of captivity. It was a meeting with the images of pagan gods which influenced the imagination of people. This temptation required the realisation of the nonentity of pagan idols, which did not exist and were therefore unable to harm. The confrontation with pagan worship should confirm the conviction of the existence of a single God, who is and who created the world. A review of the Biblical texts which refer to Babylonian Captivity and are in a literary sense a description of the conditions encountered by the exiles allows us to observe that this description, frequently created several centuries later, refers to a certain vision of captivity verified in the first phase of staying in Babylon, but later affected by a change. Historically, therefore, the descriptions do not render the whole truth about this stage of the history of Israel though their role in religious interpretation is unquestionable. They are a great warning for the descendants. The truth is that the Israeli nation was spiritually transformed and enriched after this period. Could it have been the case if the fate of the captives had always been that of slaves entirely dependent on their master and forced to do his will? Writing required a certain amount of freedom and new ideas had to be born in the midst of animated discussions, which could not have taken place under a whip of an administrator supervising the disputants' slave work. A possibility of making money by some representatives of the nation confirms once more their relatively free social status. On the basis of these observations it can be said without hesitation that the Babylonian Captivity was a compulsory settlement in a designated territory rather than imprisonment. Therefore, some people prefer the term Babylonian Exile or Babylonian Scattering to Babylonian Captivity. The Babylonians put the captives in large settlements and did not repress those who resided within their territories. It was easy then for the deported to gather, maintain their national attachment and remain in unity with Jehoiachin, regarded as the lawful king. Leadership was in the hands of the elders of Israel, and priests, deprived of the offering functions in the temple, devoted themselves to the gathering and protecting national traditions. In this situation the staying in Babylon cannot be imagined just as a period of bitter lament over the lost homeland. The memories of it were connected with settling down in the new abode, but also with the prayer and deepening of religious and national traditions. Synagogues – whose beginnings many scientists relate to the period of Babylonian Captivity – probably served this purpose, All this made it possible for a reborn community of Israel to return from Babylon in the changed political situation, after the victory of Cyrus, to restore the settlement in their own land.