The destruction of Jerusalem and its temple led to a religious, spiritual and political crisis, which left its mark in prophetic literature and biblical tradition. The Kingdom of Judah was abolished and annexed as a Babylonian province with its center in Mizpah. The Judean elite, including the Davidic dynasty, were exiled to Babylon. After Babylon had fallen to Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, in 539 BCE, he allowed the exiled Judeans to return to Zion and rebuild Jerusalem. The Second Temple was completed in 516 BCE.

The author has comprehended all these things in seven books, and has left no occasion for complaint or accusation to such as have been acquainted with this war. These have been written down for the sake of those that love truth, but not for those that please themselves [with fictitious relations].