Notes on Jeremiah’s Prophecy of the 70 weeks 

"Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Because you have not obeyed My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,' declares the LORD, 'and {I will send} to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 'Moreover, I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 'This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 'Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,' declares the LORD, 'for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation.                                                                                                                                                                  Jer 25:8-12 NASB

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans-- in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was {revealed as} the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, {namely,} seventy years. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek {Him by} prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.                                                                                     Dan 9:1-3 NASB

There are 3 different interpretations of this prophecy.

1. The 70 years of Babylon

2. The 70 years that the temple was destroyed

3. The 70 years that Israel was out of the land

The 70 years of Babylon.

     The Empire of Babylon defeated the Empire of Assyria in 612 BC however the Assyrian king Ashur-uballit II fled the capital with much of his army & did not die until 609 BC so most historians date the Babylon empire from 609 BC. In 539 BC Babylon was destroyed by Cyrus the King of the Persians. If you subtract 539 BC from 609 BC you get 70 years that Babylon was an empire. 

The 70 years that the temple was destroyed

     The first Temple, the one built by Solomon was destroyed in 586 by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The construction on the Second temple was started in 536 BC by Sheshbazzar Governor of Judea but the construction stopped & started again for the next 20 years & was not completed until 516 BC by Zerubbabel governor of Judah. Subtracting 516 BC from 586 BC gives a span of exactly 70 years.

The 70 years that Israel was out of the land

     There were three deportations of the Jews from Israel by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The first of these took place in 605 BC & include the best families in Israel including the prophet Daniel. There were also three repatriations or returns of Jews back to Israel following the defeat of Babylon by Persia. The first of these took place in 535 BC when King Cyrus of Persia decreed that the Jews could return to their land. Once again, if you subtract 535 BC from 605 BC to arrive at a 70 year span in which part of Israel was exiled from their land. 

     So which of these 3 theories is the correct one? I believe that all three are correct & are covered by Jeremiah’s prophecy. Jeremiah said the Land would be “a desolation & horror”, the biggest “Desolation & horror” for the Jews was their temple now in ruins for 70 years. Next Jeremiah says “these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years” this meant that Israel would be in exile as slaves to Babylon & not free men for 70 years. Finally Jeremiah states “'Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation” which would mean that God would destroy the Empire of Babylon after 70 years of rule. So you see, all three theories could have been prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah. 

     Just as a side note from the passage in Daniel above, when the NASb uses the word “books” it is the Hebrew wordשפר  = cepher {say'-fer} which means “missive, document, writing, book, scroll, written order, commission, request, written decree, legal document” & is singular in form so it should read “Book” not “Books”. Daniel was referring to his reading in “THE BOOK” or as the NIV correctly translates it THE SCRIPTURES”, or the Old Testament as it existed in his day. Notice it was considered one book even in 537 BC

NASB New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. All rights reserved. Used by permission.