1. =There was a change in language=, from Hebrew to Aramaic or Chaldaic. The books of the Old Testament written after the restoration are in a different language from the earlier writings. After the captivity the Jews needed an interpreter in order to understand their own earlier Scriptures. Allusion to this fact is given in Neh. 8. 7. The Chaldee of Babylon and the Hebrew were sufficiently alike to cause the people during two generations to glide imperceptibly from one to the other, until the knowledge of their ancient tongue was lost to all but the scholars. 2. =There was a change in habits.= Before the captivity the Jews were a secluded people, having scarcely any relation with the world. The captivity brought them into contact with other nations, and greatly modified their manner of living. Hitherto they had been mostly farmers, living on their own fields; now they became merchants and traders, and filled the world with their commerce. Rarely now do we find a Jew who cultivates the ground for his support. They are in the cities, buying and selling. This tendency began with the Babylonian captivity, and has since been strengthened by the varied experiences, especially by the persecutions of the Jews during the centuries. 3. =There was a change in character.= This was the most radical of all. Before the captivity the crying sin of Judah, as well as of Israel, was its tendency to idolatry. Every prophet had warned against it and rebuked it; reformers had risen up; kings had endeavored to extirpate, but all in vain; the worshipers of God were the few, the worshipers of idols were the many. After the captivity there was a wonderful transformation. From that time we never read of a Jew bowing his knee before an idol. The entire nation was a unit in the service of Jehovah. Among all the warnings of the later prophets, and the reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah, there is no allusion to idolatry. That crime was utterly and forever eradicated; from the captivity until to-day the Jews have been the people of the one, invisible God, and intense in their hatred of idols. We may not know all the causes of this change, but some of them were: 1.) The fact that the idolatrous element largely perished, and the spiritual element formed the bulk of the captives. 2.) The idol-worshipers among the captives would naturally be less loyal to the national ideas, and would more readily assimilate with the heathen; while the religious among the exiles would grow all the more devoted to their religion as their only hope in trial. 3.) The most ardent lovers of their country and their religion would be the most eager to return after the exile; hence, the new state was founded by zealous Jews, who gave it religious spirit. So in modern times the spirit of the Pilgrims and the Puritans gave tone to New England, and through New England to America. 4. =There were new institutions= as the result of the captivity. Two great institutions arose during the captivity: