(yeter hāʿām) of Judah after the earlier exile (597 B.C.) and the devastations of 588–586 (2 K. 25:11; 2 Chr. 36:20; Jer. 52:15); only some of the “poorest of the land” (middallat hāʾāreṣ) were left behind to tend the vineyards and olive groves. Of the few that were left, many fled to Egypt in the wake of the assassination of Gedaliah, the governor installed by the Babylonians.13 Archeology confirms the complete devastation of the land, particularly the major population centers like Jerusalem