Josiah to Zedekiah, Jeremiah and his circle, and the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel in Babylon.
Jeremiah's call came in Josiah's thirteenth year, and he later praises Josiah's justice in contrast to Jehoiakim. Chronicles says Jeremiah composed a lament for Josiah.
Sources: Jer 1:2 · Jer 22:15-16 · 2 Chr 35:25
Three sons of Josiah reigned after him: Jehoahaz (Shallum), Jehoiakim (Eliakim) and Zedekiah (Mattaniah); Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin also reigned. Pharaoh Necho and Nebuchadnezzar renamed or installed them as vassals.
Sources: 2 Kgs 23:30-34 · 2 Kgs 24:17 · 1 Chr 3:15-16
Baruch son of Neriah wrote Jeremiah's dictated words and read them in the temple. Jehoiakim burned the scroll, and Baruch rewrote it. Baruch was also involved in Jeremiah's land purchase and went with him to Egypt.
Sources: Jer 36:4 · Jer 36:21-28 · Jer 32:12-13 · Jer 43:6
Jeremiah denounced Jehoiakim's building programme funded by unpaid labour and predicted a dishonourable burial; the king burned the scroll and pursued the prophet. The prophet Uriah son of Shemaiah was executed for similar words.
Sources: Jer 22:13-19 · Jer 36:23-26 · Jer 26:20-23
Zedekiah consulted Jeremiah secretly yet yielded to officials who imprisoned him in a cistern. Jeremiah urged surrender to Babylon; Ebed-melech rescued him. Jeremiah remained in the guard court until Jerusalem fell.
Sources: Jer 37:16-17 · Jer 38:4-6 · Jer 38:17-18 · Jer 39:11-14
Nebuchadnezzar made Mattaniah king as Zedekiah after exiling Jehoiachin. Zedekiah rebelled, the city fell after an eighteen-month siege, and Zedekiah was blinded after watching his sons killed.
Sources: 2 Kgs 24:17-20 · 2 Kgs 25:1-7
Shaphan the scribe, who read the law to Josiah, had a son Ahikam who protected Jeremiah from execution, and a grandson Gedaliah whom Babylon appointed governor of Judah. Gedaliah also received Jeremiah; his murder ended the remnant community.
Sources: 2 Kgs 22:3 · Jer 26:24 · 2 Kgs 25:22-25 · Jer 40:5-6
Hananiah son of Azzur said in the temple that the exile would end within two years and broke Jeremiah's yoke. Jeremiah replied that prophecies are known by fulfilment and that Hananiah would die that year, which happened.
Sources: Jer 28:1-4 · Jer 28:10-11 · Jer 28:15-17 · Deut 18:21-22
Jeremiah is called son of Hilkiah, one of the priests in Anathoth. Some identify this Hilkiah with the high priest who found the law book under Josiah; the text never says so, and Anathoth was the town of Abiathar's exiled line.
Sources: Jer 1:1 · 2 Kgs 22:8 · 1 Kgs 2:26
Ezekiel, a priest, was deported with Jehoiachin in 597 BC and received his call by the Chebar canal. His dating system counts years from Jehoiachin's exile, showing how the exiles regarded him as the legitimate king.
Sources: Ezek 1:1-3 · Ezek 1:2 · 2 Kgs 24:14-15
Jeremiah remained in Jerusalem and Egypt while Ezekiel prophesied in Babylon, both warning that Jerusalem would fall and later promising restoration (a new covenant in Jer 31, a new heart and spirit in Ezek 36). Their words may have circulated between Judah and the exiles via Jeremiah's letter.
Sources: Jer 29:1-7 · Jer 31:31-34 · Ezek 36:26-27
Both lived in Babylon at the same time, Daniel at court from 605 BC, Ezekiel among the deportees from 597 BC. Ezekiel names "Daniel" alongside Noah and Job as a model of righteousness and of wisdom. Whether that is the same Daniel is debated.
Sources: Ezek 14:14 · Ezek 14:20 · Ezek 28:3 · Dan 1:1-6
Taken to Babylon as a youth, Daniel was trained in the king's service, interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dreams of the statue and the tree, and was promoted. Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4 praises the God of heaven after his humbling.
Sources: Dan 1:3-6 · Dan 2:46-49 · Dan 4:24-27 · Dan 4:34-37
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were taken together, renamed Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and supported each other in refusing the king's food and (for the three) the golden image. Daniel asked his friends to pray about the dream.
Sources: Dan 1:6-7 · Dan 2:17-18 · Dan 3:12-28
Daniel 5 calls Nebuchadnezzar Belshazzar's "father" and Belshazzar his "son". Babylonian records show Belshazzar as the son of Nabonidus and co-ruler, so "father" is usually read as predecessor or ancestor. Nabonidus's wife may have been related to Nebuchadnezzar.
Sources: Dan 5:2 · Dan 5:18 · Dan 5:30
At Belshazzar's feast Daniel, summoned by the queen, read the inscription: mene, mene, tekel, parsin. Belshazzar promoted Daniel as third ruler; that night he was killed and Darius the Mede received the kingdom.
Sources: Dan 5:10-12 · Dan 5:25-28 · Dan 5:29-31
Darius the Mede, son of Ahasuerus, organised 120 satraps and set Daniel over them; officials tricked Darius into a decree that put Daniel in the lions' den. Who Darius the Mede was is debated.
Sources: Dan 5:31 · Dan 6:1-3 · Dan 6:16-23 · Dan 9:1
Daniel's career is said to have continued to the third year of Cyrus, when he received his last vision. The decree allowing the exiles to return (Ezra 1) fell in Cyrus's first year, and Daniel 9 shows him praying about the seventy years just before.
Sources: Dan 1:21 · Dan 6:28 · Dan 10:1 · Dan 9:2
In the thirty-seventh year of exile Evil-merodach of Babylon freed Jehoiachin and gave him a seat above other kings; the account ends 2 Kings on a note of hope for the Davidic line.
Sources: 2 Kgs 25:27-30 · Jer 52:31-34
Isaiah 44-45 names Cyrus as the LORD's "shepherd" and "anointed" who will release the exiles. Whether the prophecy was written before Cyrus (about 150 years after Isaiah) or by a later prophet in the exile is a major dispute.
Sources: Isa 44:28 · Isa 45:1 · Ezra 1:1-2
Drafted with AI assistance from the biblical text and named historical sources, and labelled by how firmly each link is supported. Family links also draw on STEPBible’s TIPNR data (CC BY 4.0). Where tradition or hypothesis is involved, read the cited verses and judge for yourself.