Texts in Conversation
The Chronicler’s use of the seventy-year exile period in 2 Chronicles reframes Jeremiah’s prophecy by shifting the focus from the people's removal to the land’s rest. While Jeremiah portrays the seventy years as a punishment through exile, the Chronicler emphasizes the land able to observe its sabbatical rest.
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2 Chronicles 36:21
Hebrew Bible
19 They burned down God’s temple and tore down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned all its fortified buildings and destroyed all its valuable items. 20 He deported to Babylon all who escaped the sword. They served him and his sons until the Persian kingdom rose to power. 21 This took place to fulfill the Lord’s message spoken through Jeremiah and lasted until the land experienced its sabbatical years. All the time of its desolation the land rested in order to fulfill the seventy years. 22 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in fulfillment of the Lord’s message spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord motivated King Cyrus of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his kingdom and also to put it in writing. It read:
Date: 4th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Jeremiah 25:11
Hebrew Bible
10 I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and the glad celebration of brides and grooms in these lands. I will put an end to the sound of people grinding meal. I will put an end to lamps shining in their houses. 11 This whole area will become a desolate wasteland. These nations will be subject to the king of Babylon for 70 years.’ 12 “‘But when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation for their sins. I will make the land of Babylon an everlasting ruin. I, the Lord, affirm it! 13 I will bring on that land everything that I said I would. I will bring on it everything that is written in this book. I will bring on it everything that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Several writings in the Hebrew Bible also show an interest in the number seventy for the structuring of time. Well known is the reference in Jeremiah to “seventy years” as the period of duration for the Babylonian exile (Jeremiah 25:11–12; 29:10). Similarly, in Zechariah 1:12–17 a duration of seventy years is applied to the Temple’s ruined state (compare also Zechariah 7:5), with the text adding that after this the Temple will be rebuilt (Zechariah 1:16). Seventy years are also mentioned in 2 Chronicles 36:21, though there they are referred to as “seventy years of rest” in the land. Thus the Jeremianic prophecy that focuses on the exile from the land and the Chronicler’s emphasis on rest in the land stand at odds ..."
Stuckenbruck, Loren T.
"The Apocalypse of Weeks: Periodization and Tradition-Historical Context" in Perrin, Andrew B., and Loren T. Stuckenbruck (eds.) Four Kingdom Motifs before and beyond the Book of Daniel
(pp. 81-95) Brill, 2021
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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