Bible Dictionary
SEVENTY YEARS
The seventy years were the period Jeremiah assigned to Judah’s Babylonian exile. The period is associated with the deportation of Judah and the later decree of Cyrus permitting the exiles to return.
Definition
The seventy years were the period Jeremiah assigned for Judah’s exile in Babylon. The period is associated with the deportation of Judah and with the decree of Cyrus that permitted the exiles to return.
Biblical Usage
Jeremiah’s prophecy gives the duration of the Babylonian exile as seventy years. The period is also recalled in Chronicles, Ezra, and Daniel.
Historical Background
When reckoned from the first deportation in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, dated here to 606 BC, to Cyrus’s decree in 536 BC, the period is said to fulfill the prediction to the year.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>The period assigned by Jeremiah for the duration of the Jewish exile in Babylon (Jer 25:11,12; 29:10; compare 2Ch 36:21; Ezr 1:1; Da 9:2). If the period be reckoned from the date of the first deportation in the 4th year of Jehoiakim (2Ki 24:1; 2Ch 36:6; Da 1:1 by another reckoning calls it the 3rd year), i.e. 606 BC, till the decree of Cyrus, 536 BC, the prediction was fulfilled to a year.</p><p>See CAPTIVITY.</p>