250 TRANSLATION, NOTES, AND COMMENTSwas 73 years; from the Battle of Carchemesh (605 B.C. -Nebuchadrezzar's first
year; cf. 25:1) to Babylon's capture by Cyrus (539 B.c.) was 66 years; and from
the actual end of the Assyrian Empire (609/8 B.c.) to Babylon's capture by
Cyrus and the return of the exiles (539 B.c.) was almost precisely 70 years. The
LXX here reads "and they [presumably Judah's inhabitants] shall serve among
the nations seventy years." While this statement is true, the MT reading is still
preferable (pace Schwally 1888: 181; Cornill; Holladay). Not only Judah but
all nations would be under Babylonian suzerainty for 70 years.- And it will happen when seventy years are fulfilled, I will reckon against
the king of Babylon and against that nation-oracle of Yahweh-their iniquity;
also against the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it desolations forever.
Many commentators take all or part of this verse as secondary, some omitting
(with LXX) the Babylonian references so as to leave a prophecy only against
Judah (Bright; McKane), others omitting the entire verse for this reason and
others; e.g., it is assumed that phrases in the verse have been quarried from
29:10; 51:26, and 62 (Rudolph; Weiser; Holladay). Older commentators, for an
even greater assortment of reasons, took all or most all of vv 11-14 as secondary
(Graf; Giesebrecht; Duhm; Cornill; Peake; Streane; S. R. Driver; Volz). Be-
sides a stated preference for the shorter LXX text, these scholars argued that an
oracle against Babylon was out of place in the present context. Many, it should
be added, also denied Jeremianic authorship for a Babylon oracle, a position
taken similarly with regard to the Babylon oracles in chaps. 50-51 (see Rheto-
ric and Composition for 46:1 and 50:1-3). Of the two LXX omissions in the
present verse, 1) "against the king of Babylon and" and 2) "oracle of Yahwehe
-their iniquity; also against the land of the Chaldeans," the former can be at-
tributed to haplography (whole-word: <1 ... <l). As far as Jeremianic authorship
of a Babylon oracle is concerned, the conclusion reached in chaps. 50-51 is
that Jeremiah has authored most of these oracles, which makes it unnecessary
to deny Jeremianic authorship to the Babylon oracle here. This oracle needs
only to be dated after the fourth year of Jehoiakim, which would mean that it
postdates the two oracles preceding. But it need not be later than Zedekiah's
middle years, i.e., 594/3 B.C. (see Rhetoric and Composition). The anticipa-
tion of a 70-year Babylonian rule restates what is said in v 11 b, with the one dif-
ference that now judgment is said to await Babylon at the end of this period.
Babylon's 70-year rule is anticipated also in 29: 10, except that there, in place of
an eventual judgment for Babylon, a promise of eventual salvation for Yah-
weh's covenant people is given.
and I will make it desolations forever. Hebrew weiamtf >oto lesimmot <8lam.
The expression "desolations forever" occurs also in 51:26, 62; and Ezek 35:9,
where in each case the plural form is an intensive plural (see Note for 51:26).
Compare the singular semama <ad-<olam in 49:33. This strong imprecation is
more prophetic exaggeration, comparable to what the prophet predicts for
eThe LXX text of Ziegler omits the messenger formula; the Rahlfs LXX text has phesin kurios
("said the Lord"). The formula is lacking in GBs, but other LXX MSS have it.