2 Chronicles 36:21

36:21 This took place to fulfill the Lord’s message delivered through Jeremiah. ¹  The land experienced ²  its sabbatical years; ³  it remained desolate for seventy years, ⁴  as prophesied. ⁵ 

Jeremiah 25:11-12

25:11 This whole area ⁶  will become a desolate wasteland. These nations will be subject to the king of Babylon for seventy years.’ ⁷ 

25:12 “‘But when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation ⁸  for their sins. I will make the land of Babylon ⁹  an everlasting ruin. ¹⁰  I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 27:7

27:7 All nations must serve him and his son and grandson ¹²  until the time comes for his own nation to fall. ¹³  Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 29:10

29:10 “For the Lord says, ‘Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule ¹⁵  are over will I again take up consideration for you. ¹⁶  Then I will fulfill my gracious promise to you and restore ¹⁷  you to your homeland. ¹⁸ 

Zechariah 7:5

7:5 “Speak to all the people and priests of the land as follows: ‘When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh ¹⁹  months through all these seventy years, did you truly fast for me – for me, indeed?

[36:21]  ¹ tn Heb “to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah.”

[36:21]  ² tn Or “accepted.”

[36:21]  ³ sn According to Lev 25:4, the land was to remain uncultivated every seventh year. Lev 26:33-35 warns that the land would experience a succession of such sabbatical rests if the people disobeyed God, for he would send them away into exile.

[36:21]  ⁴ sn Concerning the seventy years see Jer 25:11.

[36:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “all the days of the desolation it rested to fulfill the seventy years.”

[25:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “All this land.”

[25:11]  ⁷ sn It should be noted that the text says that the nations will be subject to the king of Babylon for seventy years, not that they will lie desolate for seventy years. Though several proposals have been made for dating this period, many ignore this fact. This most likely refers to the period beginning with Nebuchadnezzar’s defeat of Pharaoh Necho at Carchemish in 605 b.c. and the beginning of his rule over Babylon. At this time Babylon became the dominant force in the area and continued to be so until the fall of Babylon in 538 b.c. More particularly Judah became a vassal state (cf. Jer 46:2; 2 Kgs 24:1) in 605 b.c. and was allowed to return to her homeland in 538 when Cyrus issued his edict allowing all the nations exiled by Babylon to return to their homelands. (See 2 Chr 36:21 and Ezra 1:2-4; the application there is made to Judah but the decree of Cyrus was broader.)

[25:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “that nation.”

[25:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for the use of the term “Chaldeans.”

[25:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will visit upon the king of Babylon and upon that nation, oracle of the Lord, their iniquity even upon the land of the Chaldeans and I will make it everlasting ruins.” The sentence has been restructured to avoid ambiguity and to conform the style more to contemporary English.

[25:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[27:7]  ¹² sn This is a figure that emphasizes that they will serve for a long time but not for an unlimited duration. The kingdom of Babylon lasted a relatively short time by ancient standards. It lasted from 605 b.c. when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Necho at Carchemish until the fall of Babylon in 538 b.c. There were only four rulers. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son, Evil Merodach (cf. 52:31), and two other rulers who were not descended from him.

[27:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “until the time of his land, even his, comes.” The independent pronoun is placed here for emphasis on the possessive pronoun. The word “time” is used by substitution for the things that are done in it (compare in the NT John 2:4; 7:30; 8:20 “his hour had not yet come”).

[27:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “him.” This is a good example of the figure of substitution where the person is put for his descendants or the nation or subject he rules. (See Gen 28:13-14 for another good example and Acts 22:7 in the NT.)

[29:10]  ¹⁵ sn See the study note on Jer 25:11 for the reckoning of the seventy years.

[29:10]  ¹⁶ tn See the translator’s note on Jer 27:22 for this term.

[29:10]  ¹⁷ tn Verse 10 is all one long sentence in the Hebrew original: “According to the fullness of Babylon seventy years I will take thought of you and I will establish my gracious word to you by bringing you back to this place.” The sentence has been broken up to conform better to contemporary English style.

[29:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “this place.” The text has probably been influenced by the parallel passage in 27:22. The term appears fifteen times in Jeremiah and is invariably a reference to Jerusalem or Judah.

[7:5]  ¹⁹ tn The seventh month apparently refers to the anniversary of the assassination of Gedaliah, governor of Judah (Jer 40:13-14; 41:1), in approximately 581 b.c.