4 - Israel in Urban Babylon

Summary

Not all deportees from Jerusalem were resettled in rural Babylonia. Some, including King Jehoiachin and his sons, were taken to the empire’s urban centre, the city of Babylon. As soon as this is noted, the dearth of biblical literature written overtly from the perspective of these deportees is striking. From the perspective of involuntary migration research, however, it is unsurprising: migrants who resettle in urban contexts tend to adopt much more pragmatic, accommodationist approaches to their ethnic identities. Key identity markers are retained, but urban involuntary migrants pursue integration with host cultures and communities to a degree deemed abhorrent, even dangerous, by those resettled in isolated camps. Integrated marriages, commercial transactions, and the adoption of hosts’ legal conventions are especially prominent axes of integration in these circumstances.