The pious and the enthusiasts among the Babylonian Judæans did not fail to recognise in these events favourable signs for themselves. They appear to have entreated Nabonad to free them from captivity, and permit them to return to Judæa. They must have been encouraged to hope for the realisation of their wishes by the fact that Merbal, a noble Phœnician exile of the royal house, had been permitted by Nabonad to return to and rule over his own country, and after his death, his brother Hiram was allowed to succeed him. It was not improbable, therefore, that Nabonad would confer the same favour upon his Judæan subjects. Shealtiel, the son of King Jehoiachin, probably urged this request upon the usurper, and doubtless the Judæan favourites at the Babylonian court warmly espoused his cause. But Nabonad was as loth to let the exiles leave his country as Pharaoh had been of old to dismiss the Israelites from Egypt. This frustration of their hope, or rather this discrimination against them, enkindled in the patriotic exiles a burning hatred of Babylonia and its monarch. The old wounds burst open anew. Babylon was loathed as Edom had been in former ages. Such violent hatred was probably not controlled, but found expression in speech and action. The speedy downfall of this sinful country, teeming with idolatry and immorality, seemed certain to the Judæans. They followed with intense interest the warlike progress of the hero Cyrus, because they foresaw that a conflict was imminent between the Medo-Persian empire and Babylonia. Cyrus had directed his weapons against the Lydian kingdom of Crœsus, who had made an offensive and defensive alliance with Nabonad of Babylonia, and Amasis, king of Egypt. Well aware that they, in turn, would be attacked, these monarchs tried to gain strength by alliance. But this served only to incite the Persian conqueror to destroy the sooner the independence of Babylonia. Did any of the Judæan favourites at the Babylonian court, or any of the converted heathens open secret negotiations with Cyrus? The kindness shown later on to the Judæans by the Persian warrior, and their persecution by Nabonad, lead to the supposition that such was the case. Nabonad's persecutions were first directed against the patriotic and pious exiles; severe punishments were decreed against them, which were cruelly put into execution. It seemed as if the staunchest of the nation were to be proved and tried, as Job had been, by suffering. Upon some, heavy labour was imposed, from which even the aged were not exempt. Others were shut up in dungeons, or were whipped, beaten, and insulted. Those who dared speak of their speedy deliverance through Cyrus were doomed to a martyr's death, to which they submitted fearlessly.