[[2 Chron-36]] Prev: [[Prophecies in 2 Chron-35]] | Next: [[Prophecies in Ezr-01]] --- ### to fulfill Yahweh's word by Jeremiah's mouth, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. As long as it lay desolate, it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. *Type*: fulfillment *Summary*: The Babylonian exile of the Jewish people is presented as the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy that the period of captivity and desolation would last exactly seventy years. *Historical context*: [[Jer-25#v11|Jeremiah 25:11]] and 29:10 explicitly predicted a seventy-year period of Babylonian dominion. Historically, the period from the first deportation in 605 BCE to the decree of Cyrus in 538 BCE, or from the destruction of the Temple in 586 BCE to its rededication in 516 BCE, is widely recognized as fulfilling this timeframe. *Related to*: [[Jer-25#v11|Jeremiah 25:11]]-12; [[Jer-29#v10|Jeremiah 29:10]] ### until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. As long as it lay desolate, it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. *Type*: fulfillment *Summary*: The land of Judah remained desolate and uncultivated during the exile, which the text interprets as the land finally receiving the 'Sabbath rests' that the people had failed to observe for centuries. *Historical context*: This fulfills a specific warning in [[Lev-26#v34|Leviticus 26:34]]-35, which stated that if the Israelites failed to observe the sabbatical years (resting the land every seventh year), God would exile them so the land could 'enjoy its sabbaths.' Scholars often calculate that 70 missed sabbaths over approximately 490 years of disobedience necessitated a 70-year exile. *Related to*: [[Lev-26#v34|Leviticus 26:34]]-35; [[Lev-26#v43|Leviticus 26:43]] ### Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that Yahweh's word by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 'Cyrus king of Persia says, "Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given all the kingdoms of the earth to me; and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah."' *Type*: fulfillment *Summary*: Cyrus the Great of Persia issued a decree authorizing the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple, fulfilling prophecies regarding the end of the exile and the specific role of a Persian ruler. *Historical context*: The Cyrus Cylinder, an ancient Babylonian clay record from 539 BCE, confirms Cyrus's historical policy of allowing captured peoples to return to their homelands and restore their religious sanctuaries. This event fulfills Jeremiah's promise of a return after 70 years and Isaiah's remarkable 150-year-old prophecy that specifically named Cyrus as the one who would rebuild Jerusalem. *Related to*: [[Isa-44#v28|Isaiah 44:28]]; [[Isa-45#v1|Isaiah 45:1]]; [[Jer-29#v10|Jeremiah 29:10]] --- #ai_prophecy