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Questions From Readers

▪ Since it was the two-tribe kingdom of Judah that was taken captive to Babylon in 607 B.C.E., how was it that members of all 12 tribes of Israel returned from Babylon 70 years later?

It appears that there are two primary reasons for this. First, at the time of the splitting of the kingdom of Israel and the subsequent withdrawal of 10 tribes, representatives of all 12 tribes evidently remained in Judah’s territory. And second, prior to 740 B.C.E., it is likely that some from all the ten tribes fled to Judah’s territory to escape Israel’s idolatry.

The division of the united kingdom of Israel took place when Jehovah became displeased with Solomon “because his heart had inclined away from Jehovah.” God informed him: “I shall without fail rip the kingdom away from off you, and I shall certainly give it to your servant. . . . Out of the hand of your son I shall rip it away. . . . One tribe I shall give to your son.” (1 Kings 11:9-13) Solomon’s son Rehoboam, who was of the tribe of Judah, was given the tribe of Benjamin, thus forming the two-tribe southern kingdom.

Although Rehoboam ruled over only two tribes, he continued to reign over some of “the sons of Israel [that is, members of the northern ten tribes] that were dwelling in the cities of Judah.” (1 Kings 12:17; see also 2 Chronicles 10:17.) Additionally, when King Jeroboam of the northern kingdom established calf worship and put in office his own priests, the priests of Jehovah and the Levites who lived in the territory of that kingdom sided with Rehoboam. We read: “The Levites left their pasture grounds and their possession and then came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had discharged them from acting as priests to Jehovah.” At that time, representatives from “all the tribes of Israel” joined the priests and Levites and went to Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 11:13-17) Further desertions by members of various ones of the ten tribes are reported in the reign of King Asa.​—2 Chronicles 15:9, 10.

In 740 B.C.E., when the Assyrians overthrew the northern capital city of Samaria, they applied their policy of transplanting populations of conquered areas to reduce the possibility of uprisings. (1 Chronicles 5:6, 26) Thus the northern kingdom of Israel ceased to exist. However, this did not affect those members of the ten tribes who were by then living in the southern kingdom of Judah. These individuals were among those taken captive to Babylon when Judah fell in 607 B.C.E. And some of their descendants would have returned at the time of the restoration in 537 B.C.E. Perhaps even some descendants of those exiled by the Assyrians in 740 B.C.E. also returned at that time.

Interestingly, Ezekiel, in the book bearing his name, mentioned “the house of Israel” far more often than he referred to “the house of Judah,” despite his being a prophet to Judah while in captivity in Babylon. Moreover, his prophecy indicated that the two ‘houses’ would be reunited as one. (Ezekiel 37:19-28; see also Jeremiah 3:18; Hosea 1:11.) With good reason, then, no distinction is made between the two after the Babylonian captivity.

Hence, the ripping away of the ten tribes in 740 B.C.E. did not result in the loss of their identity. They were accounted for in the return from captivity in 537 B.C.E. And regarding the inauguration of the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, the priest Ezra stated: “The sons of Israel, the priests and the Levites and the rest of the former exiles held the inauguration of this house of God with joy. And they presented . . . as a sin offering for all Israel twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.” (Ezra 6:16, 17) Also indicating that the returning remnant included representatives of all tribes of Israel, not merely Judah and Benjamin, Isaiah wrote: “For although your people, O Israel, would prove to be like the grains of sand of the sea, a mere remnant among them will return.” (Isaiah 10:22) Hence, among the returnees were representatives of all the tribes of Israel.