Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 29:10
For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
10. After seventy years ] See on Jer 25:11.
for Babylon ] The announcement has respect to the duration of the empire of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors, and only secondarily to the consequent limitation of the captivity.
my good word ] My gracious promise. See Jer 24:4-7.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
10 14. Not till after seventy years shall they return.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
After seventy years – literally, according to the measure of the fulfillment of 70 years for Babylon. The 70 years (Jer 25:11 note) are primarily the length of the Babylonian empire, and only in a secondary sense that of the Jewish exile.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 10. For thus saith the Lord] It has been supposed that a very serious transposition of verses has taken place here; and it has been proposed to read after Jer 29:9 the sixteenth to the nineteenth inclusive; then the tenth, and on to the fourteenth inclusive; then the twentieth, the fifteenth, the twenty-first, and the rest regularly to the end.
That after seventy years be accomplished] lephi meloth, “at the mouth of the accomplishment,” or “fill to the mouth.” Seventy years is the measure which must be filled; – fill this to the brim; – complete this measure, and then you shall be visited and released. The whole seventy must be completed; expect no enlargement before that time.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
From this text appears that the seventy years captivity was to be accounted from the first carrying into captivity in the time of Jehoiachin, so that eleven years of it were elapsed before Zedekiah was carried away. Whatever, saith the prophet, these dreamers tell you, you must abide seventy years in Babylon, accounted from your first going thither; it is therefore your wisdom to acquiesce in the will of God, and to compose yourselves; and, to encourage you, the Lord by me assureth you, that after those seventy years shall be expired, as he hath now visited you with evil, so he will visit you for good, and fulfill the promise he hath made to you, and you shall return again to Jerusalem. We have the fulfilling of this recorded in 2Ch 36:21,22; Ezr 1:1. The promise was before, Jer 25:12; 27:22. Daniel understood it from the words of this prophecy, Dan 9:2, which put him upon prayer at the expiration of that time.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. (See on Jer25:11; Jer 25:12; Dan 9:2).This proves that the seventy years date from Jeconiah’s captivity,not from the last captivity. The specification of time was to curbthe impatience of the Jews lest they should hasten before God’s time.
good wordpromise of areturn.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For thus saith the Lord, that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon,…. These seventy years are not to be reckoned from the last captivity under Zedekiah; nor from the precise present time; nor from the first of Jeconiah’s captivity; but the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and the first of Nebuchadnezzar, when he first came up against Jerusalem; see Jer 25:1;
I will visit you; in a way of mercy, by stirring up Cyrus king of Persia to grant them their liberty:
and perform my good word towards you, in causing you to return to this place; meaning the promise of return from their captivity to their own land; which was a good word of promise, a promise of good things; which was good news to them, and of which there was no doubt of its performance, since God is faithful who has promised, and is able also to perform. It was from hence, and Jer 25:11; that Daniel learned the time of the captivity, and the return from it, Da 9:2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In order to expose the dreams by which the false prophets had inebriated the people, he again repeats what he had said, that the end of their exile could not be expected until the end of seventy years. And this way of teaching ought to be particularly observed, for the truth of God will ever avail to dissipate all the mists in which Satan never ceases to envelop the pure truth. As then we have before seen, that when the people are imbued with any error, it ought to be boldly resisted; so now we see with what weapons all God’s servants ought to fight, in order to expose all those fallacies by which pure doctrine is assailed, even by setting in opposition to them the word of God: for this is the way which Jeremiah points out to us by his own example. He had spoken of the false prophets, he warned the people not to believe them; but as the minds of many were still vacillating, he confirms what he had said that they were not sent by God, because God never varies in his purpose, and never changes, and is never inconsistent with himself: “Now he has prefixed seventy years for your exile; whoever, then, tries to impugn that truth, is a professed and an open enemy to God.” We now perceive the object of the Prophet; When seventy years then shall be fulfilled, etc (212)
The Prophet here puts a restraint on the Jews, that they might not hasten before the time; and then he gives them the hope of a return, provided they quietly rested until the end fixed on by God. There are then two things in this verse, — that the people would ill consult their own good, if they hastened and promised to themselves a return before the end of seventy years, — and that when that time was completed, the hope of a return would be certain, for God had so promised.
He adds, And I will raise up my good word towards you By good word he means what might bring joy to the Jews. Though God’s word is fatal to the unbelieving, yet it never changes its nature; it ever remains good. And hence Paul says that the Gospel is a fatal odor to many, but that it is, nevertheless, a sweet odor before God, (2Co 2:16😉 for it ought to be imputed to the fault of those who perish, that they receive not the doctrine of the Gospel to their own salvation. The word of God is then always good: but this commendation is to be referred to experience, that is, when God really shews that he is propitious to us. And a shorter definition cannot be given, than that the good word denotes the promises, by which God testifies his paternal favor. But we have seen elsewhere that threatenings are called an evil word: why so? This character cannot, indeed, as it has been just said, be suitably applied to God’s word; yet God’s word which threatens destruction is called evil, as it is said,
“
I am he who create good and evil,” (Isa 45:7)
but it is so according to our apprehension of its effects. And all this reasoning seems nearly superfluous, when we understand that God by the word of evil strikes the unbelieving with fear, but that the Prophet now means no other thing than to bear testimony to God’s favor to the Jews: and hence he says, that they would find by experience, that God had not in vain promised what he had before mentioned.
But he is said to rouse up (213) his good word, that is, when it produced its effects before their eyes; for when God only speaks, and the thing itself does not yet appear, his word seems in a manner to he dormant and to be useless. And for seventy years the Jews could perceive no other thing than that God was displeased with them, and thus they were continually in fear; for the promise continued as it were dormant, as its effects were not as yet visible. God then is said to rouse up his word, when he proves that he has not promised anything in vain. The meaning is, that the prophecy which Jeremiah had related would not be fruitless; but if the people did not soon know this, yet God, when the time came, would really prove that he deceives not his people, nor allures them when he promises anything, by vain hopes.
And the Prophet explains himself, for he says that God would restore them to their own country: for this was the good word, the promise of deliverance, as the word, according to what the people felt, was evil, and bitter, and bad, when God had threatened that he would cast away the reprobate. But it is an accidental thing, as I have said, that men find God’s word to be evil for them or adverse to them; for it proceeds from their own fault, and not from the nature of the word. It follows —
(212) The words literally are, “When at the mouth (or extremity) of fillings (or, of fulfilments) in Babylon shall be seventy years,” etc., that is, when seventy years shall be completed, the whole number or measure being filled up. Blayney’s version is, “Surely when seventy years have been completed at Babylon.” But כי here is not rendered “surely,” but “when,” by the Targ. and the ancient versions. — Ed
(213) The Vulg. is the same, “ suscitabo — I will awaken,” etc.; and so the Sept. and the Targ.; but the Syr. is, “I will ratify,” or confirm. The primary meaning of קם is to rise, and in Hiphil, as here, to cause to rise, that is, to rouse, to awaken; its secondary meaning is, to stand, and in Hiphil, to cause to stand, that is, to ratify or confirm. The first idea is the most striking: the word of promise was as it were lying down and dormant for seventy years, and now it was to be roused up: “I will rouse up for you the very word of mine, the good.” This is the literal rendering, except we take the secondary meaning of the verb, which is also very suitable, “I will ratify for you,” etc. — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
10. Seventy years See Jer 25:11.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
YHWH Promises That Once Seventy Years Have Passed His People Will Have The Opportunity To Return To Their Own Land ( Jer 29:10-14 ).
Jer 29:10
“For thus says YHWH, After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word towards you, in causing you to return to this place.”
For the true situation was that Babylon had been granted seventy years of rule by YHWH, and that time had to be accomplished (Jer 25:11-12). However, once that seventy years was accomplished, and only then, He would visit them again, and fulfil His promise to them that they would return to ‘this place’ (Jerusalem, Judah). He would perform ‘His good word’ (the word that promised what they sought, the word of hope) towards them.
We should note that ‘seventy years’ was not only to be seen as a time note, but also as an indication that it would happen within YHWH’s ‘divinely perfect time’ (seven intensified). Everything would happen within God’s chosen timing. It would not come to an end on the basis of the calendar, but on the basis of God’s purposes. It was not a prognosticator’s forecast, but YHWH’s determination.
In the event we may see it as beginning in c. 605 BC, when Egypt were decisively beaten by Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar gained control of Palestine (or 609 BC when the Assyrian yoke was broken and Babylon finally ruled an empire) and ending in 539 BC when Cyrus conquered Babylon, or a year or two later when the exiles actually began to return. As the period covered both the period of Babylonian supremacy (609 BC to 539 BC) and the period of exile (605 BC for the first exiles, to a year or two after 539 BC) it has to be seen as flexible.
Jer 29:11
“For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, the word of YHWH, thoughts of wellbeing, and not of evil, to give you hope and a latter end (a future).”
But the important implication was of what it revealed about YHWH’s purpose towards them. His thoughts towards them (and this was on the sure word of YHWH) were thoughts of wellbeing (shalom – peace, wellbeing) and not of evil. His aim was to give them ‘hope and a latter end’, that is, once they had passed through the sufficient period of their captivity, and had truly repented.
Jer 29:12
“And you will call on me, and you will go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”
And then they would ‘call on Him, and go, and pray to Him’ (the common threefold pattern) and He would listen to them’. Note that there could be no return without repentance and a seeking of His face as a repentant people, which were essential elements in their return.
(How different was the return of Jews to Israel in 20th century AD. Then it was in the arrogance of nationhood, not in repentance and seeking after God. It was of a nation still in unbelief. It was man-determined, not God-determined. It was the very opposite of what is in mind here).
Jer 29:13
“And you will seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.”
For one purpose of their exile was so that they might learn to ‘seek Him, and find Him, and search for Him with all their hearts’. All idolatry would be thrust away. All rivals to His complete pre-eminence would be cast aside. All hindrances to His supremacy would be dealt with. He would be all in all to them. These were all pre-conditions to their return.
Jer 29:14
“And I will be found of you, the word of YHWH, and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, the word of YHWH, and I will bring you again to the place from which I caused you to be carried away captive.”
Then He would be found of them (the guaranteed word of YHWH) and He would restore their captivity, and would gather them from all nations, and from all the place where He had driven them, (the guaranteed word of YHWH), and He would bring them again to the place from which He had caused them to be carried away captive. (Compare Deu 30:2-3)
So the order is clear. First exile, then repentance, then a seeking of Him with all their hearts, then a return in belief and obedience, and this not only for those in Babylon but for those around the world. And this was undoubtedly what happened during the inter-testamental years, for by the time of Jesus people of all tribes (and of none) had returned to Palestine and settled once again in the land, both north and south, Galilee and Judea. We know only a little of the history of that return, mainly as portrayed in Ezra-Nehemiah, and the later prophets, but that was only a small part of the future, the initial movement. It was like the seed growing secretly. Through the years those of His people who had been purged and who believed came from all parts and were once again planted in the land. Judah/Israel was restored, and at one time even became an independent nation.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
I pray the Reader to pause over these gracious expressions of the Lord. They are suited to the Lord’s exercised family, in all ages, at all times, and under all the sorrows of their estate. Mark how many the promises are, and let them be to you for a token of God’s faithfulness.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
Ver. 10. For thus saith the Lord. ] Or, But this hath the Lord said, whatever these impostors say to the contrary. Set truth against falsehood, and it will silence it, like as if a lamp be hanged over a ditch where frogs are croaking, they are forthwith hushed and made quiet.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 29:10-14
10For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’
Jer 29:10 When seventy years have been completed for Babylon This same round number is mentioned in Jer 25:11-12. Some see the time span
1. from the fall of Nineveh, the capital of Syria in 612 B.C. to the fall of the capital of Babylon in 539 B.C.
2. from the destruction of the first temple in 586 B.C. to the construction of the second temple in 516 B.C.
3. from Nebuchadnezzar becoming king in 605 B.C. to the fall of Babylon in 539 B.C.
The truth of the matter is that there is no literal seventy-year period about which scholars are unanimous. This seems to be a round number which refers to several generations or the normal life span of one individual. See Special Topic: Symbolic Numbers in Scripture at Jer 15:9.
I will visit you This visit may be the vision of Ezekiel 1, 10. YHWH leaves the temple because of its idolatry (Ezekiel 8) and comes to the exiles.
fulfill My good This is described later in Jer 29:10 as restoration to the land of promise (cf. Jer 24:6-7).
Jer 29:11-14 This beautiful passage is an affirmation that the covenant has not been totally revoked. God would fulfill His Deuteronomic agreement with His people after this period of judgment (cf. Deuteronomy 27-28, 30; Leviticus 26). The emphasis here is that His people must return to Him. Only a spiritually renewed remnant will return and be blessed.
Notice the conditions of blessing.
1. you call upon Me – BDB 894, KB 1128, Qal PERFECT
2. come to Me – BDB 229, KB 246, Qal PERFECT, cf. Jer 33:3; Isa 55:6
3. pray to Me – BDB 813, KB 933, Hithpael PERFECT
4. seek me – BDB 134, KB 152, Piel PERFECT, cf. Deu 4:29
5. search for Me with all your heart – BDB 205, KB 233, Qal IMPERFECT, cf. Deu 4:29; Jer 24:7
All of these denote a worship experience that has become a lifestyle relationship.
Notice how YHWH responds (possible allusion to Deu 30:3-5).
1. I will listen to you, Jer 29:12 – BDB 1033, KB 1570, Qal PERFECT, cf. Jer 33:3
2. you will find Me, Jer 29:13 – BDB 592, KB 619, Qal PERFECT, cf. Deu 4:29
3. I will be found by you, Jer 29:14 – BDB 592, KB 619, Niphal PERFECT
4. I will restore your fortunes – BDB 996, KB 1427, Qal PERFECT (term often used of repenting)
5. I will gather you from all the nations – BDB 867, KB 1062, Piel PERFECT, cf. Jer 23:3; Jer 31:8
6. I will bring you back (i.e., to Palestine) – BDB 996, KB 1427 (see #4), Hiphil PERFECT
Jer 29:11 The PRONOUN I (, BDB 59) is repeated twice for emphasis. YHWH will bring about His plans and purposes for His people (see Special Topic: YHWH’s Eternal Redemptive Plan ).
YHWH’s plan of restoration is clarified
1. for welfare (BDB 1022, see Special Topic: Peace [shalom] )
2. not for calamity (BDB 449, such a common word in Jeremiah)
3. give you a future
a. the people’s existence
b. posterity, cf. Pro 23:18; esp. Pro 24:14
4. give you a hope, cf. Pro 23:18; Pro 24:14; Eze 37:11
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
seventy years. See special note on 2Ch 36:21.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
after: Jer 25:12, Jer 27:7, Jer 27:22, 2Ch 36:21-23, Ezr 1:1, Ezr 1:2, Dan 9:2, Zec 7:5
I will: Jer 24:6, Jer 24:7, Jer 32:42-44, Zep 2:7
Reciprocal: 1Ki 8:20 – hath performed 2Ch 36:22 – that the word Ecc 3:17 – for Isa 23:15 – Tyre shall Isa 23:17 – visit Isa 49:25 – Even Jer 29:5 – General Jer 29:32 – behold Jer 33:14 – General Eze 29:11 – forty Eze 36:4 – a prey Dan 9:3 – I set Hab 3:2 – in wrath Zec 1:12 – thou hast Zec 1:13 – with good
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 29:10. The exact length of the captivity was predicted here as it had been done in Jer 25:12. History shows It began B.C. 606 and ended B.C. 536. I will visit you is a prediction of the Influence God would exert on the governments concerned, which would cause them to release the Jews so that they could return to their own land of Palestine. That history is in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah for the Biblical account, and the secular history may be seen in the comments on Isa 14:1, volume 3 of this Commentary.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 29:10-14. After seventy years be accomplished at Babylon Hebrews, , literally, At the mouth of the accomplishment of seventy years. And as the mouth of a river, metaphorically, denotes the extremity of its course, where it discharges its waters into the sea; so, by a farther metaphor drawn from hence, seems to denote being at the full end of a certain period or limited course of time, where it is just going to lose itself in, and mix with, the ocean of eternity. Here therefore we are to understand that, at the very instant of, or immediately upon, the completion of seventy years, the restoration of the Jews should take place. Blaney. These seventy years of the captivity, it appears, are to be computed from the fourth year of Jehoiakim, which, in the Scripture account, is the first year of Nebuchadnezzars reign: see note on Jer 25:1. I will visit you and perform my good word My promise, in causing, rather, of causing you to return, &c. There were but few, comparatively speaking, of those captives that returned in person into their own country, Ezr 3:12. Therefore, this promise was chiefly fulfilled in their posterity; and it is common in Scripture to speak of blessings bestowed upon the children, as if they had been actually fulfilled to their progenitors. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you And Gods works agree exactly with his thoughts; for he doeth all things according to the counsel of his own will. Thoughts of peace, or good, and not of evil Even that which seems evil is designed for good, and will at last appear to have actually wrought for good: to give you an expected end Hebrew, , literally, to give you an end and expectation, or, as Blaney translates it, to make your latter end even an object of hope: see chap. Jer 31:17. Then shall ye call upon me That is, when you place your hope in me only, and that with assurance, and not wavering; and I will hearken unto you A sure token of Gods favour Jer 33:3, as his rejecting men, and casting them off, is expressed by his hiding his face and refusing to hear their prayers, Jer 14:12; Lam 3:8; Lam 3:44. And ye shall seek me and find me According to my promises made Lev 26:40-45; Deu 30:2-3; Psa 32:6. When ye shall search for me with all your heart Observe, reader, in seeking God, we must search for him, that we may find him; must search for directions in seeking him, &c., for encouragements to our faith and hope: we must continue, and take pains in seeking him, namely, in seeking his favour, his image, and communion with him; and this we must do with our heart That is, in sincerity and uprightness, and with all our heart, that is with vigour and fervency, putting forth all that is within us in prayer: and those who thus seek God shall find him, and know, by experience, that he is their bountiful rewarder, Heb 11:6, for he never said to such, Seek ye me in vain.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The captivity would last 70 years (cf. Jer 25:11-12).
"It is remarkable that Jeremiah was able to propose that the power of Babylon would last so brief a time." [Note: Thompson, p. 547.]
At the end of that time, the Lord would again intervene in their affairs, fulfill His promise to them, and bring them back to the Promised Land. This is one indication that God wanted the exiles to return at the end of the captivity. Those who chose to remain in Babylon afterwards were acting contrary to God’s will for them (cf. Jer 50:8; Jer 51:6; Deu 30:1-5; Isa 48:20).