Seventy Weeks - Word of Jeremiah
SYNOPSIS - Daniel began to inquire into the promised end to the Babylonian Captivity that was recorded in the book of Jeremiah - Daniel 9:1-2.
- (Daniel 9:1-2) - In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerusˎ of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans: in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel perceived by the scroll the number of the years as to which the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, to accomplish the desolations of Jerusalem, seventy years.”
The chapter begins with Daniel studying a
scroll that contained the book of Jeremiah with the passage that promised
the end of the Babylonian captivity after seventy years. There are several
verbal links between the two passages:
- (Jeremiah 25:8-13) - “And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment; and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And when seventy years are accomplished, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation for their iniquity…I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this scroll that Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations.”
For Daniel, the “desolation” of the
kingdom of Judah began with the subjugation
of Jerusalem by Babylon in 605 B.C.,
the first year of king Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. The prophecy from Jeremiah is dated to the same year:
- (Daniel 1:1) – “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged it.”
- (Jeremiah 25:1) – “The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, the same was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
For
Daniel, the captivity had reached its prophesied end. He understood from the “writings”
the number of the years that Yahweh required “to accomplish the desolations
of Jerusalem, seventy years.”
“Writing” is a translation
of the Hebrew term sepher - (Strong’s - #H5612), that is, “scroll.”
“Accomplish” is a rendering of the Hebrew verb mala,
meaning “complete” - (Strong’s - #H4390), and “desolations” represents
the noun horbah - (Strong’s - #H2723). The terms “desolation”
and “accomplish” are prominent in the prophecy from the book of Jeremiah:
- “This whole land shall be desolation (horbah) and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years…And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished (mala)…”
Daniel calls the prophecy from Jeremiah
the “word of Yahweh,” that is, the dabar
- (Strong’s #H1697). The
term occurs again in verse 25 of chapter 9 - “The going forth of the word (‘dabar’) to
return and to build Jerusalem.” In fact, the prophecy by the prophet Jeremiah
is the text on which Chapter 9 builds its interpretation of events and the
prophecy of the “seventy weeks” – The “going forth of the word to
return and build Jerusalem.”
The prophecy of Jeremiah is dated to the
“fourth year of Jehoiakim” and the “first year of Nebuchadnezzar”
- The same year cited at the opening of the book of Daniel. A related word
by Jeremiah set the conditions for the release of Judah, which now forms the
basis for Daniel’s subsequent supplication:
- (Jeremiah 29:10-14) - “For thus says Yahweh, After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you in causing you to return to this place…You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart…and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you.”
Yahweh promised to release Israel after
seventy years but only if she repented, an act Daniel proceeded to do as the
representative of his nation. For him, the Babylonian Captivity began with the
first attack against Jerusalem in 605 B.C. The decree of Cyrus to release the
exiles was issued in 536 B.C., that is, seventy years after the deportation of
Daniel and his companions to Babylon. Thus, in Daniel’s understanding, the time
of release was at hand.
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