himself safe behind the thick walls of Jerusalem, relying besides on the support of Egypt in the event of a siege. Nebuchadnezzar, therefore, sent some of his generals to besiege Jerusalem. Jehoiachin had no time to think of repentance, for the besiegers were gaining on him, and the distress in the city was great. He therefore commenced to arrange conditions of surrender with the generals, when Nebuchadnezzar came to the camp, and was entreated by the king, the queen-mother and her court, to be merciful. The victor, however, showed no mercy, but imposed hard conditions. Jehoiachin had to relinquish his throne, and go, together with his mother, his wives, his kindred, and eunuchs, into exile in Babylonia. He had occupied the throne of David for only one hundred days. It was surprising that Nebuchadnezzar spared his life, and indeed, that he refrained altogether from bloodshed. He only banished ten thousand of the warriors and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, taken indiscriminately from the various families that lived in the capital, and transplanted them to Babylonia. Among them he also carried off a thousand mechanics who were skilled in forging arms and building fortifications. Of the Judæans who lived in the country he also took three thousand and twenty-three to Babylon as prisoners. That Nebuchadnezzar took possession of the treasures of the palace and the Temple was not an act of especial violence, but was justified by the military laws of those days. But he left the commonwealth intact, spared the city and its walls, and left the Temple uninjured. The first foreign conqueror Jerusalem had had after an existence of five hundred years showed greater mercy than many of the conquerors of later ages. Nebuchadnezzar likewise refrained from disestablishing David's throne, and placed on it the youngest son of Josiah, Mattaniah, who called himself Zedekiah. He was of a gentle, unwarlike and pliable character. The Babylonian conqueror thought that these qualities would be guarantees of peace and submission. In order, however, to make sure of Zedekiah's loyalty, Nebuchadnezzar entered into a solemn treaty with him, and bound him by an oath of fealty. The land of Judah was of extreme importance to him as a bulwark against Egypt, in the subjection of which he was continually engaged. For this reason he had sent into banishment the noble families and the princes of Judah, thus removing the daring and foolhardy men who might urge the king to ambitious schemes and rebellion. His object was to render Judah a weak, insignificant and dependent state, deriving its strength from him.