2 Chronicles 36:21

21 And so what the Lord had foretold through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "The land will lie desolate for seventy years, to make up for the Sabbath rest that has not been observed." 1

2 Chronicles 36:21 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 36:21

To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah
That is, the Jews were so long servants in Babylon, as in the preceding verse, to accomplish Jeremiah's prophecy of it, ( 2 Chronicles 25:12 ) ( 27:7 ) ( 29:10 )

until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths;
the sabbatical years, or seventh year sabbaths, which, according to the law of the land, was to rest from being tilled, ( Leviticus 25:4 ) , which law had been neglected by the Jews, and now, whether they would or not, the land should have rest for want of persons to till it:

for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore
and ten years;
as threatened in ( Leviticus 26:34 Leviticus 26:35 ) on which text Jarchi observes, that at the destruction of the first temple the law concerning the sabbath, or rest of the land had been neglected four hundred and thirty years, in which space were sixty nine sabbatical years; and, according to Maimonides F4, it was at the end of a sabbatic year that the city and temple were destroyed, and so just seventy years had been neglected, and the land was tilled in them as in other years, and now it had rest that exact number of years; but of this we cannot be certain, though it is probable.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 Hilchot Shemitah Veyobel, c. 10. sect. 3.

2 Chronicles 36:21 In-Context

19 He burned down the Temple and the city, with all its palaces and its wealth, and broke down the city wall.
20 He took all the survivors to Babylonia, where they served him and his descendants as slaves until the rise of the Persian Empire.
21 And so what the Lord had foretold through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "The land will lie desolate for seventy years, to make up for the Sabbath rest that has not been observed."
22 In the first year that Cyrus of Persia was emperor, the Lord made what he had said through the prophet Jeremiah come true. He prompted Cyrus to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his empire:
23 "This is the command of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia. The Lord, the God of Heaven, has made me ruler over the whole world and has given me the responsibility of building a temple for him in Jerusalem in Judah. Now, all of you who are God's people, go there, and may the Lord your God be with you."

Cross References 1

  • 1. 36.21Jeremiah 25.11; 29.10.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. sabbath rest: [A reference to the requirement of the Law that every seventh year the land was not to be farmed (see Lv 25.1-7).]
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.