Dear rosenkrantz,
From the sources I consulted, I came to the following results:
1. The case of adultery that caused the "banishment" of the Tribe of
Judah was a symbolic one. That means, no actual adultery of actual men
and women is meant, but symbolic adultery: The Tribe of Judah,
"married" to Jehovah like a wife, committed adultery by turning to
pagan dieties.
2. The symbolic "camp" the Tribe of Judah was banished from was the
community of God and His peoples, the Covenant.
3. The "banishment" of the Tribe of Judah, if one wants to set a
historic mark, began in the years 605 BC, 598/597 BC, and 587/586 BC.
In those years, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II invaded the
kingdom of Judah three times, finally destroyed Jerusalem and the
Temple, and took the House of Judah into captivity in Babylon (not the
whole Tribe of Judah; but the nation was now decapitated, its
religious institutions and the community-creating sanctuary destroyed,
so one could say that Judah ceased to exist). This was regarded the
punishment for the "adultery" of religious misbehavior.
4. The "banishment from the camp" ended in in 539 BC, when Persian
king Kyros II conquered Babylon and allowed the members of the House
of Judah to return home to Judaea and to rebuild the city and the
Temple of Jerusalem. One could also argue that the banishment never
ended since God never formally forgave Judah; but that would be a
theological discussion far, far beyond the scope of Google Answers.
The main basis for my conclusions was the Old Testament, Jeremiah 3:
"The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king: Hast thou
seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon
every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played
the harlot. And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou
unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw
it. And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel
committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of
divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and
played the harlot also. And it came to pass through the lightness of
her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with
stones and with stocks. And yet for all this her treacherous sister
Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly,
saith the LORD. And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath
justified herself more than treacherous Judah."
We know the time when king Josiah ruled Judah and its capital,
Jerusalem: He was born ca. 650 BC, and was king 639-609 BC.
Approximately one century earlier, Assyria had invaded the countries
north of Juda and defeated the 10 Tribes of Israel that lived there.
With the Assyrians as neighbors, pagan religious ideas found their way
into Judah. King Josiah tried to restore the monotheistic pureness of
Judaism by religious reforms; but after his death, pagan teachings and
cults gained popularity again. The prophet Jeremiah predicted God's
punishment for this, and he lived to see how his prophecies became
true in three Babylonian invasions, ending in the destruction of
Judah. The victorious Babylonians did not touch Jeremiah, he stayed in
the ruins of Jerusalem and later wrote that God had not forgotten
about His Covenant with Judah and that they would return. If one takes
Jeremiah's prophecies to explain the "adultery" and the "banishment
from the camp", one might also accept the return of Judah, which he
also predicted, as the end of the "banishment", the restoration of the
connection between Jehovah and Judah.
No other part of the bible would fit your description.
I mainly used the following sources:
The New International Vision Study Bible. Published by Zondervan,
1995. ISBN 0-310-92588-6
For my research, Jeremiah 3:1 - 4:3 and 31, together with the
accompanying comments (p. 1117-1119; p. 1169-1171) proved most
helpful.
Robin Lane Fox: Die Geheimnisse der Bibel richtig entschlüsselt.
Published by Bechtermünz, 2000. ISBN 3-8289-4856-1
Biographisch-Bibliograhisches Kirchenlexikon - JEREMIAS, Sohn Hilkias
(in German!)
http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/j/Jeremia_h.shtml
House of Israel and House of Judah? by Randy Kelly
http://www.geocities.com/randykelli/watch/israel/
Hope this answers your question!
Best regards,
Scriptor |
