For thus saith the Lord, that after seventy years be
accomplished at Babylon
These seventy years are not to be reckoned from the last captivity under Zedekiah; nor from the precise present time; nor from the first of Jeconiah's captivity; but the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and the first of Nebuchadnezzar, when he first came up against Jerusalem; see ( Jeremiah 25:1 Jeremiah 25:2 Jeremiah 25:11 ) ; I will visit you;
in a way of mercy, by stirring up Cyrus king of Persia to grant them their liberty: and perform my good word towards you, in causing you to return to this
place;
meaning the promise of return from their captivity to their own land; which was a good word of promise, a promise of good things; which was good news to them, and of which there was no doubt of its performance, since God is faithful who has promised, and is able also to perform. It was from hence, and ( Jeremiah 25:11 Jeremiah 25:19 ) ; that Daniel learned the time of the captivity, and the return from it, ( Daniel 9:2 ) .