Was the Babylonian Captivity a Literal Seventy Years?
“These nations will be enslaved to the king of Babylon for seventy years. But when the seventy years are over, I shall punish the king of Babylon and that nation, Yahweh declares”—Jeremiah 25:11,12 NJB
“For Yahweh says this: When the seventy years granted to Babylon are over, I shall intervene on your behalf and fulfill my promise to you and bring you back to this place”—Jeremiah 29:10 NJB
The prophetic expression describing the time of Judah’s captivity as “seventy years” (Jeremiah 25:11,12; 29:10) has prompted speculation throughout the history of Biblical interpretation. The “seventy years” that Jeremiah predicted involved Judah and other nations being “enslaved to the king of Babylon,” and Judah being ‘brought back to its homeland’ after the “seventy years” were complete.