The Babylonian exile thus marks, in every respect, a turning-point in Hebrew history. It not only signifies the end of the national inde pendence of the Hebrews, but also the beginning of the movement which led to the creation of a religious community having as its fundamental principle the recognition of a single divine power; but as a corollary to this principle was the ac knowledgment of the divine law as revealed through Moses. In the Babylonian exile the the ory was perfected which underlies the 'tradition al' history of the Hebrews, as in the exile the first steps were taken which ultimately led to a sacred collection of books, recognized by authori tative bodies, such as the Old Testament accord ing to the Jewish and Christian canon.
The overthrow- of the Babylonian kingdom by Cyrus in B.C. 53S was followed by an event which appeared to prove that the era of divine wrath was past. Cyrus, consistently with his policy of conciliation, gave permission to the exiles to return to Palestine and rebuild the temple at Jerusalem—the only legitimate centre of Yahweh worship recognized by Deuteronomy. and by all the codes subsequently produced. While the con dition of the Hebrews in Babylonia during the exilic period was, on the whole, a favorable one, and they developed into prosperous communities, to the religious section the absence of a place where Yahweh could be worshiped was a serious misfortune. The edict of Cyrus raised high the hopes of the zealous devotees of Yah weh, and an era of glory was enthusiastically pre dicted. The number. however. who at once availed
themselves of the permission to return was not large, and for a time the work of rebuilding the temple. in which those who had never quitted Jerusalem assisted, languished. Obstacles of various kinds were interposed, not the least of which was the opposition of those settled around Samaria—remnants of the old northern tribes— claimed for the sanctuary at Shechem the sanctity which the Babylonian exiles were anxious to attach exclusively to the temple at Jerusalem. It was not until B.C. 516 that the temple was completed.
More important than the rebuilding of the temple was the definite constitution of the Hebrew community at Jerusalem as a religious body by the promulgation and adoption of the code known as the 'Priestly Code,' brought by Ezra from Babylonia, where it was produced about B.C. 500, and through Ezra and Nehemiah formally presented to the community in B.C. 444. This code, embodied in the hooks of Leviticus and Numbers, represents the final elaboration of the religious principles of the pre-exilic and exilic prophets and Yahweh devotees. It constitutes the Hebrews an essentially religious body; it creates a Jewish State on a theocratic basis. Everything is made to hinge upon the cult and the law-, so that the adoption of this code may be said to mark the real beginning of Jewish history, to which the Babylonian exile and the first attempts at a restoration of the community (i.e. 586-445 n.c.) form the prelude.