How long were the Jews held captive in Babylon before Cyrus released those who wished to return to Jerusalem? The word of God tells us that the Jews would be the servants of the king of Babylon for 70 years (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10; Daniel 9:1-2). However, this doesn’t mean that the 70 years began with the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem. The evidence shows that Jeremiah’s 70-Year Prophecy began earlier than the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple. Consider the fact that Nebuchadnezzar made war with Egypt and took all Pharoah had from the Nile to the Euphrates (2Kings 24:7). This thing occurred in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 46:2). At the same time, Nebuchadnezzar took some of the vessels of God from the Temple (Daniel 1:1-2), as well as members of the royal family, making them hostages to serve the King of Babylon (Daniel 1:3).[1]
Therefore, the seventy years of the Jews servitude to Babylon began at the time Nebuchadnezzar conquered Egypt in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, which was also the first year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (Jeremiah 25:1).
As we begin our study of the Book of Daniel, we are told that Nebuchadnezzar came and laid siege to Jerusalem and this was after Jehoiakim, king of Judah had served the king of Babylon for three years (2Kings 24:1), which makes the rebellion occur during Jehoiakim’s seventh year as king of Judah (years 4, 5, and 6 he served Babylon), and this was also Nebuchadnezzar’s fourth year as king of Babylon (cp. Jeremiah 25:1). The war lasted until Nebuchadnezzar’s eighth year as king (2Kings 25:12), at which time Jehoiakim died or was slain in battle (2Kings 24:6),[2] and three months later, Nebuchadnezzar made Zedekiah, son of Josiah, king of Judah. Zedekiah reigned 11 years in Jerusalem (2Kings 24:8:10-18). Thus, Judah’s service to Babylon began in the fourth year of Jehoiakim and continued 19 years to the end of the reign of Zedekiah.
Upon their arrival at Babylon, some members of the royal family were made eunuchs according to the word of the Lord (Isaiah 39:7) and placed under the authority of Ashpenaz the prince of the eunuchs. These were the elite of Judah, who showed they were wise and knowledgeable and had an understanding of what was considered science in that day (Daniel 1:3-4). The idea was to teach these men the Chaldean language, so they could stand before the king, for the purpose of serving him.
Among the eunuchs of the royal family of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. In preparation for the time, when they would appear before Nebuchadnezzar to serve him, the king gave portions of food and wine from the king’s table to all the eunuchs who were chosen out of the royal families of the nations that once served Egypt (Daniel 1:5-6). Among these eunuchs were Daniel and his three brethren. Therefore, in keeping with the custom of the Babylonians, the prince of the eunuchs renamed the four young men from the land of Judah. Daniel became Belteshazzar, and Hananiah became Shadrach, Mishael was Meshach and Azariah was Abednego (Daniel 1:7).
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[1] The difference in years, vis-à-vis the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim (Daniel 1:1) v/s the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 46:2) is resolved in the fact that the first year of the kings of Judah used the year of their ascendency to the throne as their first year of reign, but Babylon didn’t observe the year of ascendency in numbering the years of its kings.
[2] Most, scholars put Nebuchadnezzar’s victory over Jehoiakim at about BC 607. Yet, this is some 80 years off the mark, if the word of God is to be taken seriously. I’ll go into greater detail later, when we come to Daniel 9 and the 70-Weeks Prophecy, but the 70-Years Prophecy of Jeremiah could not have begun prior to BC 527 culminating in BC 457. This is the context I’m working with, and I’ll explain it in more detail later in this study.
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