After the overthrow of the northern kingdom, this national Messianic ideal naturally included the restoration of its scattered captives to their native land. The Samaritan captivity seemed to the prophets to be designed by Jahveh as a destruction of the fatal system of dualism which had undermined Israel’s strength. Henceforth the Israelites were to be one people, with Jerusalem as their centre and capital. When the kingdom of Judah, too, was conquered, and its chief classes also carried away into captivity, of course the restoration of exiles became the most important part of the Messiah’s mission. But even before this, the prophets of Judah, warned by the fate of Samaria, and aware of the customs of the Assyrian and Chaldean empires, foresaw and predicted the great captivity, and, in consequence, included a subsequent restoration in their Messianic dreams. Thus by nearly all the prophets the restoration of the captives to their country was regarded as the prelude to the events of the Messianic period, either to be accomplished by the Messiah personally, or to be immediately followed by his appearance. In so confidently predicting the restoration, the prophets were only giving expression to the national hopefulness, but they might have based their expectation on stronger grounds. The cohesive influence of their religion was sure to prevent the Jewish exiles from being lost in the peoples among whom they were placed; and if they managed to preserve their nationality, it was likely that, sooner or later, they would be restored to Judæa. The absence of this influence was probably the reason why no restoration followed the captivity of the kingdom of Samaria. The religion of Jahveh was never so strong in it as in the kingdom of Judah, and must have been then too weak to serve as a national support. When the second captivity occurred, Judaism was able to meet it and to save the nationality it was designed to destroy. After the restoration had taken place, fulfilling the predictions of the prophets under circumstances very different from those which they had expected, the Messianic ideal had, of course, to be disconnected from it. Sufficient ground still existed for looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. Israel was only semi-independent, a small state at the mercy of Gentile masters. But the disappointment of the Messianic expectations which had been connected with the restoration must have given a blow to the spirit of prediction. During the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the voices of the prophets grew faint and feeble; and after the restoration was complete, only one broke the silence. The Jews had to fall back on faith in the ultimate fulfilment of earlier prophecies, regarding the establishment of Judaism as the religion of all Israel, as the beginning of the reconciliation of Jahveh and his people which should finally secure their prosperity.