=3. Such heathen intermarriages= among the members of the tribes would, after 185 years, be less objected to than among the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and would naturally be followed by not only indifference to any return, but also by forgetfulness of the land and of the history of their origin, and it is not surprising that when the tribes of Judah and Benjamin accepted the permission granted by Cyrus, the king of Babylon, to return to Palestine, the ten tribes, as a whole, remained in Assyria and never returned, but probably became lost by being absorbed into the nations with whom they associated. CONDITION DURING THE CAPTIVITY. =4. During the captivity= the Jews in Assyria and Babylonia were allowed great privileges. They were considered more in the light of colonists than of slaves, and from the histories, both sacred and secular, we learn that, as stated in the books of Nehemiah, Esther, and Daniel, they were occasionally employed in high positions in the state and at court. Nehemiah, though born at Babylon during the captivity, was a Jew of the tribe of Judah, but was cup-bearer to the Persian king, Artaxerxes Longimanus, at Susa. Ezra also enjoyed great consideration at the Persian court during the reigns of several of the kings of Persia. And from the book of Esther it is evident that the Jews prospered greatly during the reign of Xerxes. =5. The prophets=, during the captivity of Judah, were earnest in their endeavors to preserve the integrity and reverence of the people, and it was largely due to them that many of the observances of the Mosaic law, and a loving remembrance of the Temple and of Jerusalem, prevailed so far as it did in spite of the idolatries of the people by whom they were surrounded. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, with Obadiah, were the prophets of the captivities. PROPHETS DURING THE CAPTIVITY. =6. Before the captivity Jeremiah=[105] had foretold the captivity of Judah, for seventy years, in Babylon, Jer. 25:8‒12, and also the fall of Babylon (verses 13‒38). His faithfulness endangered his life, and when Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem he found Jeremiah in prison and released him, offering him a residence in Babylon. The prophet, however, chose to remain with the remnant of Judah who were not carried away, and when this remnant fled to Egypt, for fear of Nebuchadnezzar, they took Jeremiah with them. See the account in Jer. 43:6.