How many times was Jerusalem destroy?
During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed
twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.
Timeline of Jerusalem - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Timeline_of_Jerusalem
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Who destroyed Jerusalem first?
On Tisha B'Av, 25 August 587 BCE or 18 July 586 BCE,
the Babylonians took Jerusalem, destroyed the First Temple and burned down the city. The small settlements surrounding the city, and those close to the western border of the kingdom, were destroyed as well.
Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC) - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Siege_of_Jerusalem_(58.
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Josephus wrote that
1.1 million people were killed during the siege, of which a majority were Jewish. Josephus attributes this to the celebration of Passover which he uses as rationale for the vast number of people present among the death toll.
Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE) - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Siege_of_Jerusalem_(70…
The
Babylonian exile (or
Babylonian captivity) is the name generally given to the deportation and exile of the
Jews of the ancient
Kingdom of Judah to
Babylon by
Nebuchadrezzar II. The Babylonian exile is distinguished from the earlier exile of citizens of the northern
Kingdom of Israel to Assyria around 722 B.C.E. The exile in Babylon—which directly affected mainly those of the upper class of society—occurred in three waves from 597 to 581 B.C.E. as a result of Judean rebellions against Babylonian rule. The Bible portrays the internal cause of the captivity as the sins of Judah in failing to rid herself of
idolatry and refusing to heed
prophetic warnings not to rebel against Babylon.
While the
Jews in Babylon did not suffer greatly in the physical sense, the siege and later sack of
Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E., including the destruction of its sacred
Temple, left many of the exiles deeply repentant and determined to keep their faith pure. After
Cyrus the Great of
Persia conquered Babylon, he allowed the exiles to return in 537 B.C.E. They came to Jerusalem with a tradition refined by the rise of the scribal profession, deeply committed to ethnic purity centering on the rebuilt Temple, and yet enriched by universalistic
monotheistic values.
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Babylonian_Exile
- I don’t find figures for the first destruction of Jerusalem!
- But a big part of the city was destroyed!
- And the siege lasted two years!
In 586 BC the Babylonian military, led by King Nebuchadnezzar, succeeded in breaking a two-year-long siege and destroyed much of the city of Jerusalem; her walls, palaces, and most devastatingly, the Temple of Solomon.
“
He burned the Lord’s temple, the king’s palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem; he burned down all the great houses.”
When Judah rebelled once again under King Zedekiah, Nebuchadnezzar must not have been feeling very charitable. The Bible mentions that the siege lasted two years. This military maneuver sees the invading army set up camp all around the target city, cutting off supply lines, and killing or taking prisoner anyone who would try to come or go.
https://biblediscoverytv.com/history/2020/586-bc-the-fall-of-jerusalem/