Disillusioned JW
Regarding comments about servitude versus exile, which have been made in this topic forum, I ask where did the servitude of Jews to Babylon take place? Did it take place in Judah or did it take it place in Babylon, or did it take place in both locations, or did it take place elsewhere? I see no contradiction when people say the servitude of Jews to Babylon took place in Babylon. Likewise I see no contradiction when people say the servitude of Jews to Babylon took place in Judah. I think the servitude to Babylon took place in both locations. However, I have not done much reading about this in the Bible, and my memory of what I read about it is weak. I do know that the book of Daniel (whether historical or not) makes the claim of Daniel being in servitude to the king of Babylon while in Babylon. I also know that the King of Babylon appointed a Jew to be king in Jerusalem (before Jerusalem was destroyed) and thus that particular king in Jerusalem served the king of Babylon and thus was in servitude to Babylon. Note that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_captivity says the following.
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There is much to unpack here and methinks you are overcomplicating the matter and thus getting mired down. Just apply the KISS principle until you understand the subject fully.
Servitude equates with Exile like two halves of the same coin in broad terms but under Neb Judah experience deportations which are identified, vassalage to Neb which can be identified and the Exile proper identified fully as the 70 years- a period of exile-serving Babylon fully leaving a vacant, desolated Land. It is just that simple identifiable key historical events which can be marked chronologically.
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Note that a deportation to Babylon and exile in Babylon for some began in 597 BCE, and note that 597 BCE to 537 BCE is 60 years, and that 60 years is half way in length between 50 years (which many non-Jws claim is the length of the exile) and 70 years (which many JWs claim was the length of the exile). also note that were multiple deportations.
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Wrong. The dates you select are of your own choosing. Our chronology shows that it was 617 BCE thus for some exiled Jews their exile was longer but the Bible only gives an exilic figure of 70 years thus the exile proper could only have begun in 607 BCE and ended 70 years later in 537 BCE.
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Regarding the claim (made in this topic thread) that "... that the Land of Judah was desolate during the Exile of 70 years ..." the above mentioned Wikipedia article says the following. "Archaeological studies have revealed that, although the city of Jerusalem was utterly destroyed, other parts of Judah continued to be inhabited during the period of the exile." Note that modern science conclusively shows that parts of Judah were inhabited during the exile.
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It is smarter and wiser to accept the Bible's account of matters as its authors were physically present, unlike the archaeologists who arrived with their spade some 2500 years after the event.
scholar JW