Jeremiah 25:13

"“It will happen, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,” says the LORD, “for their iniquity. I will make the land of the Chaldeans desolate forever."

Key Reflection

The people of Judah would have recognized Jeremiah's prophecy as a fulfillment of earlier warnings from God regarding Babylon’s iniquity and impending judgment. The reference to seventy years aligns with Daniel 9:2, setting a specific timeframe for when the desolation of Babylon would begin. For the original audience, this verse underscored that despite their current suffering under Babylonian rule, divine justice was at work, promising eventual retribution and the ultimate destruction of Babylon’s dominion, leading to its permanent desolation.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

The Septuagint places a full stop after “book,” and take the rest as a title “what Jeremiah prophesied against the nations,” which series there immediately follows. In the Masoretic Text, this series is deferred to the end Jer. 46–49, and with Jer. 50–51, forms one entire series. Other reasons make it probable that the Septuagint has preserved for us an earlier text, in which all direct mention of the king of Babylon is omitted and the 70 years are given as the duration of Judah’s captivity, and not of the Babylonian empire.

More from Jeremiah 25

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