| Kings’ Reigns and Years Applied to 70 Years Prophecy | |||
| Jewish King | Years | Application | 70 Years Prophecy |
| Jehoiakim | He was 25 years old when he began to reign; and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem (2Kings 23:36). | He became a servant to Babylon during his 4th year (Jeremiah 46:2; Daniel 1:1).[1] He reigned 3 yrs., & rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (2Kings 24:1; cp. Jeremiah 25:1-12). | The last 8 yrs. of his reign represent the first 8 years of the 70 years. |
| Jehoiachin | reigned in Jerusalem 3 months (2Kings 24:8) | He rebelled against the Lord, and was removed in the 8th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (2Kings 24:11-12). | Jehoiakim’s 11th year was finished out in the 3 months of Jehoiachin’s reign. Nebuchadnezzar’s 8th year, then is also, the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign. So, 11 years of Zedekiah is 19 (11+8 = 19) for Nebuchadnezzar. |
| Zedekiah | was 21 years old when he began to reign; he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem (2Kings 24:18) | Jerusalem was under siege from the 9th year of Zedekiah until the 11th year. The Jews were brought to Babylon & the Temple & Jerusalem were destroyed in the 19th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (2Kings 25:1-9, 21; Jeremiah 52:5) | Add the years of the reign of Zedekiah to those of Jehoiakim and there are 19 years of the 70 years completed. |
| Jehoiachin | In the 37th year of his captivity Evil-Merodach released him from prison and gave him a place at the kings table (2Kings 25:27; Jeremiah 52:31) | Jehoiachin was released from prison in the 1st year of Evil- Merodach’s reign. This is the first year after Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. | 8 years reign of Jehoiakim/3 months of Jehoiachin’s plus the 37 years of his captivity, and there is 45 years of the 70 years completed. |
| Jehoiachin | Ezekiel’s vision of God (Ezekiel 1:1-2). | The vision occurred in the 5th yr. of Jehoiachin’s captivity. This is also the 5th year of Zedekiah’s reign and 6 years prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. | |
| The 30th year of the Jew’s service to Babylon cannot be the 5th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, because the 5th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity would also be the 5th year of Zedekiah’s reign or 6 years prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. The 30th year of service would put the vision past the time of the destruction of Jerusalem (8 years of Jehoiakim’s reign plus the 11 years of Zedekiah makes 19 years). So, what does Ezekiel mean by saying: “Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year…” (Ezekiel 1:1)? I believe he is referring to his age. The vision came in his 30th year, which according to the scriptures is the year, when the Levites were permitted to enter the service of the Tabernacle (Numbers 4:3). It was the year that Jesus began his public ministry (Luke 3:23). Later, Ezekiel mentions the 25th year of the Jehoiachin’s captivity, which would have been the 33rd year of Judah’s servitude to Babylon. He says that this was the 14th year after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (Ezekiel 40:1). If we add 14 years to the 19 years of the reigns of Judah’s last three kings we come to 33 years, so the prophet is in agreement with the timeline. | |||
| Babylonian King | Years | Application | 70 Years Prophecy |
| Evil-Merodach | The Babylonian form of the name is Amēl Marduk (“man of Marduk”). | After two years as king, he was assassinated, probably by his brother-in-law Nergal-šar-uṣur (Nergal Sarezer), who succeeded him on the throne (Jer. 39:3, 13). | Adding 2 years to the 45 above and we get 47 years of servitude and captivity. |
| Evil-Merodach succeeded his father, Nebuchadnezzar, making Nebuchadnezzar’s reign cir. 40 plus years as ruler of Babylon. If we also add 8 years of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (2Kings 24:11-12; Jeremiah 25:1) to the 37 years of Jehoiachin’s captivity (2Kings 25:27; Jeremiah 52:31) we get 45 years for the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. | |||
| Babylonian King | Years | Application | 70 Years Prophecy |
| Neriglissar | reigned 4 years in Babylon | Usurped the throne after the murder/death of Evil-Merodach. | Adding his 4 years to the 47 above the total comes to 51 years of Judah’s servitude to Babylon |
| After the death of Neriglissar, it isn’t clear how the reigns of the next two kings, Nabonidus, and Belshazzar, fit into Jeremiah’s prophecy as far as the years of their reigns are concerned. The reigns of Nabonidus and Belshazzar aren’t clear, due to their co-regency When did it occur and for how long? Moreover, what about the self-imposed exile of Nabonidus? How long was his exile? Did he return? How long was it before he met his death etc. In any case, according to Daniel, Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled with the coming of “Darius” the Median. However, if we adhere to the number of years of Neriglissar’s reign (which includes his exile and his co-regency with his son, because both end in the same year), then we have 16-17 more years to add to the total above, bringing it to 67/68 years, when Babylon was overthrown. So, we have an error of 2 to 3 years in secular history, according to the Bible. | |||
| Darius the Median (Daniel 5:31) is actually an appellative, like Caesar. Darius is not the name of the king, who was co-regent with Cyrus (cp. Daniel 6:28). The name by which he is known in history is conjectural, but I believe him to be Astyages. In the first year of his reign over Babylon, which was also the first year of the reign of Cyrus,[2] Daniel knew the Prophecy of Jeremiah was complete (Daniel 9:1-2), and, in fulfillment of that prophecy, Cyrus released the Jews, who wished to return to their homeland to rebuild both Jerusalem and the Temple, to do so (Ezra 1:1-8). | |||
[1] The difference in the time of Jehoiakim’s reign has to do with counting the ascendency year as the first year of his reign (Judah) or not (Babylon).
[2] Although Cyrus, King of Persia defeated Astyages, the last king of the Kingdom of the Medes, it seems clear that Media occupied a very respectable place within the Persian Empire (Daniel 5:26-28, 31; 6:1, 28; 8:20; cp. Esther 1:14).
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