Jeremiah 29:10
in Jeremiah 29For 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thus saith Jehovah, 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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Jeremiah 29
Commentary
4 notes on this verse[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.
This site's exposition
after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon
on Jeremiah 29:10-11
The promise is dated rather than open-ended, 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, the same seventy years named at 25:11-12. Verse 11 follows as the letter's best-known line, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end, and the setting matters: it is comfort given with a date attached to a specific generation in exile, not a private promise detached from its context. The older commentators caution against lifting the verse away from the seventy years it sits inside, comfort of a particular kind rather than a general guarantee for any reader in any circumstance.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
The words behind it
22 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כֹה֙ | khoh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כִּ֠י | ki | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לְפִ֞י | lefi | to [the] mouth | H6310 → | 498 times |
| מְלֹ֧את | melot | <of> will be completed | H4390 → | 249 times |
| לְבָבֶ֛ל | levavel | for Babylon | H894 → | 262 times |
| שִׁבְעִ֥ים | shivim | seventy | H7657 → | 91 times |
| שָׁנָ֖ה | shanah | year[s] | H8141 → | 877 times |
| אֶפְקֹ֣ד | ʾefkod | I will give attention to | H6485 → | 303 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֑ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וַהֲקִמֹתִ֤י | vahakimoti | and I will carry out | H6965 → | 628 times |
| עֲלֵיכֶם֙ | ʾaleikhem | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דְּבָרִ֣י | devari | word my | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הַטּ֔וֹב | hatov | <the> good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| לְהָשִׁ֣יב | lehashiv | by bringing back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֔ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמָּק֖וֹם | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| הַזֶּֽה׃ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
כֹה֙thus
khohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כִּ֠יif
kiH3588 →4482 times
לְפִ֞יto [the] mouth
lefiH6310 →498 times
מְלֹ֧את<of> will be completed
melotH4390 →249 times
לְבָבֶ֛לfor Babylon
levavelH894 →262 times
שִׁבְעִ֥יםseventy
shivimH7657 →91 times
שָׁנָ֖הyear[s]
shanahH8141 →877 times
אֶפְקֹ֣דI will give attention to
ʾefkodH6485 →303 times
אֶתְכֶ֑ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
וַהֲקִמֹתִ֤יand I will carry out
vahakimotiH6965 →628 times
עֲלֵיכֶם֙on you
ʾaleikhemH5921 →5755 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דְּבָרִ֣יword my
devariH1697 →1440 times
הַטּ֔וֹב<the> good
hatovH2896 →538 times
לְהָשִׁ֣יבby bringing back
lehashivH7725 →1056 times
אֶתְכֶ֔ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמָּק֖וֹםthe place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
הַזֶּֽה׃<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Daniel 9:2in 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.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 25:11–12
And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
- 2 Chronicles 36:21
So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD through Jeremiah.
- 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?
- Revelation 1:3
Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and obey what is written in it, because the time is near.
- 2 Peter 1:19–21
We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day…
- Jeremiah 25:11–12
Through
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?
it leads to
- 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?”
- Isaiah 58:4–6
You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice be heard on high.
- Zechariah 1:12
Through
Jeremiah 25:12But 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…
it leads to
- Isaiah 13:19
And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 13:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Jeremiah

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER NINE and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
