 Since Zimmermann did not renounce his millenarian views, he and his family were exiled from Wurttemberg in February 1686.After spending time in Nuremberg, Frankfurt on Main, Amsterdam, and Heidelberg, the Zimmermanns settled in Hamburg, where Johann Jacob made a living as a writer and teacher.In this setting, he wrote his "Scriptura Sacra Copernizans", which defended the astrological theories of Nicolaus Copernicus.