Page "History of ancient Israel and Judah" Paragraph 37

According to the theology of the Deuteronomists the terms of the treaty with Yahweh were that he would preserve both the city and the king in return for their worship and obedience to the law-code.

The destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, and the Davidic dynasty by Babylon in 587 / 586 BCE was therefore a deeply traumatic event, and led to much theological reflection on the meaning of the national tragedy.

The solution, set out in the series of history books from Joshua and Judges to Samuel and Kings, was to interpret the Babylonian destruction as divinely-ordained punishment for the failure of the kings to worship Yahweh alone.