Jer 25:11 | TNotes | STEP | 25:11 seventy years: This is the first instance of a specific time period assigned to the Exile. The prediction was fulfilled either from 605 BC (the first exile to Babylon) to around 538 BC (when Cyrus allowed the exiles to return to Judea), or from 586 BC (the destruction of the Temple) to 515 BC (the dedication of the Second Temple). Or, the number can be seen as symbolic: God’s judgment on Jerusalem would last a perfect lifetime, and for the exact length of time that God had determined.

‏ Jeremiah 25:11

25:11 ^a seventy years: This is the first instance of a specific time period assigned to the Exile. The prediction was fulfilled either from 605 BC (the first exile to Babylon) to around 538 BC (when Cyrus allowed the exiles to return to Judea), or from 586 BC (the destruction of the Temple) to 515 BC (the dedication of the Second Temple). Or, the number can be seen as symbolic: God’s judgment on Jerusalem would last a perfect lifetime, and for the exact length of time that God had determined.