Seventy

How Nave’s arranged it

• The senate of the Israilites composed of seventy eldersExodus 24:1Exodus 24:9Numbers 11:16Numbers 11:24Numbers 11:25
• The seventy disciples sent forth by Jesus (though the best Greek mss. have "seventy-two")Luke 10:1–17
• The Jews in captivity in Babylon for seventy yearsJeremiah 25:11Jeremiah 25:12Jeremiah 29:10Daniel 9:2Zechariah 1:12Zechariah 7:5
• See Israel
• 70 Weeks in the vision of DanielDaniel 9:24

The passages, in Bible order (13)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 13 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Exodus 24:1

   Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Exodus 24:9

   Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,

   ›Commentary on Exodus 24:92 voices

   “Nadab, and Abihu--the two oldest sons of Aaron [Ex 6:23]. seventy of the elders--a select number; what was the principle of selection is not said; but they were the chief representatives, the most conspicuous for official rank and station, as well as for their probity and weight of character in their respective tribes.

   “It would appear that Moses, Aaron with his two sons, and seventy of the elders Exo 19:7 went a short distance up the mountain to eat the meal of the covenant (compare Gen 31:43-47), which must have consisted of the flesh of the peace offerings Exo 24:5. Joshua accompanied Moses as his servant Exo 24:13.

   Everything gathered on Exodus 24:9→

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3. Numbers 11:16

   Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them stand there with you.

   ›Commentary on Numbers 11:161 voice

   “But the Lord also says to Moses, "Choose for yourself presbyters whom you yourself know to be presbyters." Let us examine very carefully the word of the Lord. What does that addition appear to mean, which says, "Whom you yourself know to be presbyters"? Was it not obvious to the eyes of all that he was a presbyter, that is, old, who was bearing old age in his body?

   Everything gathered on Numbers 11:16→

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4. Numbers 11:24

   So Moses went out and relayed to the people the words of the LORD, and he gathered seventy of the elders of the people and had them stand around the tent.

   ›Commentary on Numbers 11:241 voice

   “Moses went out - Out of the tabernacle, into which he entered to receive God's answers from the mercy-seat. The seventy men - They are called seventy from the stated number, though two of them were lacking, as the Apostles are called the twelve, Matt. xxvi, 20, when one of that number was absent.

   Everything gathered on Numbers 11:24→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Numbers 11:25

   Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but they never did so again.

   ›Commentary on Numbers 11:252 voices

   “This Spirit descended upon the seventy elders in Moses' day. My object is to prove that he knew all things and worked according to his will. The seventy elders were chosen: "The Lord then came down in the cloud, and taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, he bestowed it on the seventy elders." It was not that the Spirit was divided, but his gifts were distributed according to the vessels and the capacity of the recipients. Now there were sixty-eight present, and they prophesied. Eldad and Medad were not present.

   “Rested on them - Not only moved them for a time, but took up his settled abode with them, because the use and end of this gift was perpetual. They prophesied - Discoursed of the word and works of God in a marvelous manner, as the prophets did. So this word is used, 1 Sam. x, 5, 6 Joel ii, 28;

   Everything gathered on Numbers 11:25→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Jeremiah 25:11

   And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

   ›Commentary on Jeremiah 25:112 voices

   “And this whole land shall be a desolation,.... Not only the city of Jerusalem, but all Judea, without inhabitants, or very few, and shall be uncultivated, and become barren and unfruitful: and an astonishment; to all other nations, and to all persons that pass through, beholding the desolations of it: and other nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years; both the Jews, and other nations of Egypt, reckoning from the date of this prophecy, the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign, when Daniel and others were carried captive, Dan 1:1; to the first year of Cyrus.

   “Seventy years - The duration of the Babylonian empire was really a little short of this period. But the 70 years are usually calculated down to the time when the Jews were permitted to return to their country (compare Jer 29:10).

   Everything gathered on Jeremiah 25:11→

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7. Jeremiah 25:12

   But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.

   ›Commentary on Jeremiah 25:122 voices

   “Accomplished - Counted from the time that the Jews were carried away in the time of Jeconiah or Jehoiakim, 2 Kings xxiv, 15, 16. Desolations - This was fulfilled by Darius, the king of Persia, Dan. iv, 31, of these seventy Nebuchadnezzar reigned thirty six, 2 Kings xxv, 27.

   “And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished,.... Which were accomplished in the first year of Cyrus: they began with the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, who reigned two years and two months with his father Nabopolassar; after that forty three years by himself; Evilmerodach two years: Neriglissar four years; Belshazzar or Nabonadius seventeen years; and Darius the Median two years; which all make sixty nine years and two months; and if ten months more be added to complete the said seventy years, it will carry the end of them to the first year of Cyrus (g).

   Everything gathered on Jeremiah 25:12→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Jeremiah 29:10

   For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place.

   ›Commentary on Jeremiah 29:102 voices

   “This proves that the seventy years date from Jeconiah's captivity, not from the last captivity. The specification of time was to curb the impatience of the Jews lest they should hasten before God's time. good word--promise of a return.

   “[Daniel 9:2] "I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years concerning which the word of the Lord had come to the prophet Jeremiah, that seventy years would be accomplished for the desolation of Jerusalem." Jeremiah had predicted seventy years for the desolation of the Temple (Jeremiah 29:1-10), at the end of which the people would again return to Judaea and build the Temple and the city of Jerusalem. But this fact did not render Daniel careless, but rather encouraged him to pray that God might through his supplications fulfil that which He had graciously promised.

   Everything gathered on Jeremiah 29:10→

   Verse page →Original language →

9. Daniel 9:2

   in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the sacred books, according to the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.

   ›Commentary on Daniel 9:22 voices

   “Verse 2. "I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years concerning which the word of the Lord had come to the prophet Jeremiah, that seventy years would be accomplished for the desolation of Jerusalem." Jeremiah had predicted seventy years for the desolation of the Temple (Jeremiah 29:1-10), at the end of which the people would again return to Judaea and build the Temple and the city of Jerusalem. But this fact did not render Daniel careless, but rather encouraged him to pray that God might through his supplications fulfil that which He had graciously promised.

   “I Daniel understood by books - The prophecy referred to here is found Jer 25:12; Jer 29:10. The people must have been satisfied of the Divine inspiration of Jeremiah, or his prophecies would not have been so speedily collected nor so carefully preserved. It appears that there was a copy of them then in Daniel’s hands.

   Everything gathered on Daniel 9:2→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. Daniel 9:24

    Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.

    ›Commentary on Daniel 9:242 voices

    “Verses 24-27. "'Seventy weeks are shortened upon thy people and upon thy holy city, that transgression may be finished, and sin may have an end, and iniquity may be abolished, and everlasting justice may be brought to bear, and that the vision and prophecy may be fulfilled that the Holy One of the saints may be anointed. Know therefore and take note that from the going forth of the word to build up Jerusalem again, unto Christ the prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, and the street shall be built again, and the walls, in distressing times.

    “Seventy weeks are determined - This is a most important prophecy, and has given rise to a variety of opinions relative to the proper mode of explanation; but the chief difficulty, if not the only one, is to find out the time from which these seventy weeks should be dated. What is here said by the angel is not a direct answer to Daniel’s prayer. He prays to know when the seventy weeks of the captivity are to end.

    Everything gathered on Daniel 9:24→

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Zechariah 1:12

    Then the angel of the LORD said, “How long, O LORD of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?”

    ›Commentary on Zechariah 1:122 voices

    “Re 6:10, "How long," &c. Heretofore it was vain to pray, but now that the divinely appointed "threescore and ten years" (Jer 25:11; 29:10) are elapsed, it is time to pray to Thee for the fulfilment of Thy promise, seeing that Thy grace is not yet fully manifested, nor Thy promise fulfilled.

    “Then the angel of the Lord - He who was among the myrtles - the Lord Jesus. O Lord of hosts, how long - Jesus Christ was not only the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,” but was always the sole Mediator and intercessor between God and man. These threescore and ten years? - This cannot mean the duration of the captivity for that was nearly twenty years past. It must mean simply the time that had elapsed from the destruction of the temple to the time in which the angel spoke.

    Everything gathered on Zechariah 1:12→

    Verse page →Original language →

12. Zechariah 7:5

    “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted?

    ›Commentary on Zechariah 7:52 voices

    “AFTER the Jewish people had been thoroughly cured of their idolatrous tendencies by their seventy years of captivity, they fell into another evil—they became superstitiously regardful of ceremonies but they lost the life and spirit of devotion and neglected the weightier matters of the Law. Phariseeism, in the spirit of it, had commenced, in the time of Zechariah. Great attention was paid to the formalities and externals of worship, but the vitality of godliness was unknown. The mint, the anise, the cummin of religion—these were all strictly tithed. But truth, mercy, charity, justice, were trod under foot.

    “Unto all the people - By their messengers. And seventh - For the murder of Gedaliah, slain by Ishmael. Even to me - You pleased yourselves in it, not me; you wept more for the inconveniences of the thing than the sinfulness of it.

    Everything gathered on Zechariah 7:5→

    Verse page →Original language →

13. Luke 10:1–17

    After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place He was about to visit.

    ›Commentary on Luke 10:1–172 voices

    “God had made known by the Prophets that the preaching of the Gospel of salvation was to embrace not only Israel, but also the Gentile nations; and therefore after the twelve Apostles, there were other seventy-two (Vulg. septuaginta duos.) also appointed by Christ, as it is said, After these things the Lord appointed other seventy-two also. An outline of this ordinance also was set forth in the words of Moses, who at the command of God chose out seventy, upon whom God poured out His Spirit.

    “After these things - After the appointment of the twelve apostles, and the transactions recorded in the previous chapters. Other seventy - Seventy others besides the apostles. They were appointed for a different purpose from the apostles. The apostles were to be with him; to hear his instructions; to be witnesses of his miracles, his sufferings, his death, his resurrection and ascension, that they might “then” go and proclaim all these things to the world. The seventy were sent out to preach immediately, and chiefly where he himself was about to come. They were appointed for a temporary object.

    Everything gathered on Luke 10:1–17→

    Verse page →Original language →