JCannon
Get a life
The 70 years of devastation--as revealed by the Bible
by AddaGirl 73 Replies latest watchtower bible
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JCanon
JCannon
Get a life
ROFL! This is my life! Exposing fake pseudo-Biblical propaganda. "It's a dirty job...but someone has to do it." JC
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AddaGirl
It is my understanding that after the destruction of the temple, those that were not removed fled to Egypt....Jerusalem was desolate. Nebuchadnezzar then advanced on Egypt and brought those Jews to Babylon.
2Kings 25:22-26 As for the people left behind in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had left behind, he now appointed over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan. When all the chiefs of the miliatry forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, they immediately came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, that is Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and Johaman the son of Kareah and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Nethophathite and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. Then Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them: "Do not be afraid of [being] servants to the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and all wll go well with you." And it came about in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama of th royal offspring came, and also ten men with him, and they got to strike down Gedaliah, so that he died, and also the Jews and Chaldeans that happened to be with him in Mizpah. After that all the people, from small to great, and the chiefs of the military forces rose up and came to Egypt; for they had beome afraid of the Chaldeans.
As for Josephus, his writings confirm both the servitude and the desolation of 70 years:
Antiquites of the Jews X, Chapter 7, Paragraph 3 But Jeremiah came among them, and prophsied what contradicted those predictions, and what proved to be true, that they did ill, and deluded the king; that the Eqyptians would be of no advantage to them, but that the king of Babylon would renew the war against Jerusalem, and besiege it again, an would destroy the people by famine, and carry away those that remained into captivity, and would take away what they had as spoils and would carry off those riches that were in the temple; nay, that, besides this, he would burn it, and utterly overthrow the city, and that they should serve him and his posterity seventy years; that then the Perians and the Medes should put an end to their servitude, and overthrow the Babylonians;"'and that we shall be dismissed, and returned to this land, and rebuild the temple, and restore Jerusalem"
Jeremiah 25:12 And it must occur that when seventy years have been fulfilled I shall call to account the king of Babylon and against that nation, is the utterance of Jehovah, their error, even against the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it desolate wastes to time indefinite.
With the fall of the Babylonian empire in 539 BCE the 70 years of servitude to Babylon has been completed.
Jeremiah 27:6-7 And now I myself have given all these lands into the hand of Nubuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and even the wild beasts of the field I have given him to serve him. And all the nations must serve even him and his son and his grandson until the time even of his own land comes, and many nation and great kings must exploit him as a servant.
Nabonidus is Nebuchdnezzar's son-in-law, Belshazzar his grandson.
Antiquities of the Jews X, Chapter 9, Paragraph 7 ....placed no other nation in their country, by which means all Judea and Jerusalem, and the temple, continued to be a desert for seventy years; but the entire interval of time which passed from captivity of the Israelites, to the carrying away of the two tribes, proved to be a hundred thirty years, six months.....
716 Israel falls to the Assyrians, 586 Temple is destroyed. The interval is 130 years.
Against Apion #19...Nabolassar, who was king of Babylon, and of the Chaldeans. And when he was relating the act of this king, he describes to us how he set hi son Nabuchodonosor againt Egypt,and against our land, wih a great army, upon his being informed that they had revolted from him; and how, by that means, he subdued them all, and set our temple that was at Jerusalem on fire; nay, and removed our people entirely out of their own country, and transferred them to Babylon; when it so happened that our city was desolate during the interval of seventy years, until the days of Cyrus king of Persia.
The temple destruction in 586 BCE is confirmed above. Cyrus released the Jews in 537 BCE. At this point Jerusalem had been desolate for 50 years.
Against Apion #21 These accounts agree with the true hitories in or boks; fo in tm it is written that Nebuchadnezzar, i the eighteenth year of his reig, laid our temple desolate, and so it lay in that state of obscurity for fifty years; but that in the second year of the reign of Cyrus its foundations were laid, and it was finshed in the second year of Darius.
In Darius' second year, 520 BCE, temple reconstruction was resumed and finished in the 6th year of his reign 516 BCE. This ended the 70 years of devastation for Jerusalem
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Ireneus Against Heresies, BookIV, Paragraph 4 If any one, however, advocating the cause of the Jews, do maintain that this new covenant consisted in the rearing of the temple which was built under Zerubbabel after the emigration to Babylon, and in the departure of the people from thence after the lapse of seventy years, let him know that the temple constructed of stone was indeed rebuilt....
Daniel 9:2 In the first year of his reigning I myself, Daniel, discerned by the books the number of years concerning which the word of Jehovah had occurrd to Jeremiah the prophet, for fulfilling the devastations of Jerusam, [namely] seventy years.
The first year of Darius was 521 BCE. Daniel had never returned to Jerusalem
The temple was completed in the 6th year of Darius, 516 BCE. The period of devastation confirmed with Josephus was 586 BCE - 516 BCE
Excuse any typos. My keyboard is freezing on me.....time to reboot
AddaGirl
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JCanon
Thanks for your reply Addagirl...
when it so happened that our city was desolate during the interval of seventy years, until the days of Cyrus king of Persia.
The temple destruction in 586 BCE is confirmed above. Cyrus released the Jews in 537 BCE. At this point Jerusalem had been desolate for 50 years.
This is a direct contradictio. This says the CITY WAS DESOLATE for an interval of 70 years, until Cyrus, which means that the 70 years ended when Cyrus came to the throne. You state this same period is 50 years. So was the desolation just 50 years or 70?
Per the BIBLE, the land must be desolate for 70 years to fulfill the sabbaths of desolation. So Josephus is agreeing with the scriptures regarding the LAND being desolated for 70 years.
Further, Antiquities 11.1.1 clearly shows that the end of servitude of 70 years of those last deported ends in the 1st of Cyrus.
But thanks for sharing this, it explains why you maintain these conclusions in spite of the direct reference. Thus this would be my response in direct support of the 70 years not beginning until the 23rd of Nebuchadnezzar. It is the references at Zechariah 1 and 7. You see, 70 years expire after the desolation of Jerusalem in the 2nd year of Darius, and 70 years expire of mourning for Gedaliah in the 4th year of Darius. Thus there is a two-year gap in the period for mourning over Gedaliah and the destruction of Jerusalem, in the 4th and 2nd year of Darius, respectively. However, in each of these cases the Jews are still in exile. Thus this would confirm Josephus' reference that 70 years of desolation and/or servitude of those last deported would not have ended until 74 years after the fall of Jerusalem, and thus not until the 6th year of Darius. Here are those references:
Zech 1:7 " 12 So the angel of Jehovah answered and said: “O Jehovah of armies, how long will you yourself not show mercy to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah, whom you have denounced these seventy years?”
This is a period when the cities of Judah and Jerusalem had not been "shown mercy". What would be interpret this reference of not having shown mercy to these cities and Jerusalem mean? Obviously, they were not rebuilt yet and still desolated. Thus Jerusalem was still desolated in the 2nd year of Darius.
1 Furthermore, it came about that in the fourth year of Da·ri´us the king the word of Jehovah occurred to Zech·a·ri´ah, on the fourth [day] of the ninth month, [that is,] in Chis´lev.
4 And the word of Jehovah of armies continued to occur to me, saying: 5 “Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When YOU fasted and there was a wailing in the fifth [month] and in the seventh [month], and this for seventy years, did YOU really fast to me, even me? 6 And when YOU would eat and when YOU would drink, were not YOU the ones doing the eating, and were not YOU the ones doing the drinking? 7 [Should YOU ] not [obey] the words that Jehovah called out by means of the former prophets, while Jerusalem happened to be inhabited, and at ease, with her cities all around her, and [while] the Neg´eb and the She·phe´lah were inhabited?’”
13 “‘And so it occurred that, just as he called and they did not listen, so they would call and I would not listen,’ Jehovah of armies has said. 14 ‘And I proceeded tempestuously to hurl them throughout all the nations that they had not known; and the land itself has been left desolate behind them, with no one passing through and with no one returning; and they proceeded to make the desirable land an object of astonishment.’”
Note this is the 4th year of Darius and the context ends 70 years of mourning for Gedaliah in the 7th month. Yet Jerusalem is still not inhabited. It is still desolated. It is still "left desolate behind them" and this is the 4th year of Darius!!! How can this be? It is easily the case if we interpret Josephus' reference to the 70 years as not beginning until those last deported in year 23 began their 70 years of servitude. Meaning? Meaning, it would not be until a full 74 years after the fall of Jerusalem that the Jews would return in the 1st of Cyrus. Therefore, if the 2nd year of Darius was only 70 years from the fall of Jerusalem and the mourning for Gedaliah was 72 years after the fall of Jerusalem, the Jews still should have been in exile and the land still desolated. This is precisely the context of Zechariah here; that mercy had not yet been shown to Jerusalem nor its cities, still desolated. But then, it was not yet time since 70 years for those last deported would not be over until the 6th year of Darius.
Therefore, the references in Zechariah are not to "Darius I" as you have applied but to Darius the Mede. The Bible clearly shows Darius the Mede began to rule in Babylon immediately after he and Cyrus conquered it. But never is there any mention that the Jews left exile during the reign of Darius the Mede, only when the 1st of Cyrus begins. Cyrus began his rule over Babylon and thus the entire Persian empire only after a 6-year rule by Darius the Mede.
This is consistent with the description of the Ram who represents Medo-Persia and it's two horns: Daniel 8: 3 "When I raised my eyes, then I saw, and, look! a ram standing before the watercourse, and it had two horns. And the two horns were tall, but the one was taller than the other, and the taller was the one that came up afterward."
The Ram represented the Medo-Persian empire, with one horn being the Medes and the other the Persians. But one horn would dominate the other at one point, but the larger horn would dominate after the two horns had become established. Therefore, this simply means that at one point the kingdoms were fairly even but at one point one of the kingdoms would dominate the other. This was when Darius the Mede abdictated his throne over Babylon to Cyrus and thus Cyrus became king over all of Persia and the territory of Babylon as well. This established a brand new royal kingship for both the Medes and the Persians and Cyrus began to count his rulership years over again with year #1. It is during this 1st year that Cyrus released the Jews and others to return to their homeland; 70 years after the last deportation, and 74 years after the fall of Jerusalem, and after a 6-year rule by Darius the Mede who ruled while the Jews were still in exile.
The Bible of course, separates these two rulerships and places the rule of Darius before that of Cyrus. This contradicts the WTS and others who have tried to assert that Darius and Cyrus began ruling at the same time, or even as Olof Jonsson tries to suggest, that Darius and Cyrus were actually the same person!
Daniel 6: 28 And as for this Daniel, he prospered in the kingdom of Da·ri´us and in the kingdom of Cyrus the Persian.
But this gives us insight into another point. That is, why the Bible calls Darius, Darius the MEDE. It is not a formal title. It parallels calling Cyrus, Cyrus the PERSIAN. That's because it was not when Babylon was first conquered that the Jews would be released, but only when Cyrus the PERSIAN began to rule. Thus if we recheck 2 Chronicles we can see that the Jews were not to be released until the ROYALTY OF PERSIA began to rule. That is distinctly not the royalty of the Medes, and thus does not include Darius the Mede.
20 Furthermore, he carried off those remaining from the sword captive to Babylon, and they came to be servants to him and his sons until the royalty of Persia began to reign;
This is why the Bible is very specific in calling Darius, Darius the Mede, and Cyrus, Cyrus the Persian. Darius belonged to the "royalty of the Medes" and Cyrus to the "royalty of the Persia." Thus only when Cyrus began to rule over Babylon after a six-year rule by Darius the Mede did the Jewish 70 years end.
On that note, as well, since the Jews were to serve Nebuchadnezzar and his "sons" we learn that Darius the Mede was actually the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, though his father was a Mede. Further Nabonidus was apparently still at large in Borsippa during the 6-year rule of Darius. That means the Babylonian kingship still continued through Nabonidus as well as Darius the Mede and did not officially end until Cyrus the Persian began to rule.
IN SUMMARY, regardless of how many other relevant or irrelevant 70-year intervals you can pick out, the Bible establishes a 70-year period from the last deportation until the 1st of Cyrus that includes a 6-year rule of Darius the Mede after the fall of Babylon. This is also the traditional history provided by Josephus in Antiquities.
There is some confusion though when Josephus mentions a 50-year period of desolation in connection with Cyrus at Against Apion 1.21. But this does not change the 70-year reference of desolation, since in the same work in the previous paragraph of 1:19 he notes the 70-year period again. Thus as was customary with the Bible, the co-rulership of a king is not often distinguished from his sole rulership, or two different kingship dates are often referenced. In this case, we know that Cyrus ruled for 20 years over Persia before becoming king over Babylon as well. So in the period of 70 years of desolation, a period of 50 years ends when Cyrus becomes king in Persia; thus the 50-year reference is for that period. This does not contradict the 70-year period that ends after Cyrus has ruled for 20 years. Thus you can express periods of desolation in terms of the 1st of Cyrus which can either be 50 years or 70 years, because Cyrus had two separate rulerships. 50 years of desolation ends when Cyrus first becomes king over Persia excluding Babylon, and 70 years end when he becomes king over Babylon and Persia as well. So Josephus is not contradicting himself when he mentions a 50-year period of desolation in 1:21 and a 70-year period of desolation in 1:19 of Against Apion.
Thanks, again, Addagirl, for posting your information about the 70 years. It helps to understand why some come to various conclusions.
JC
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Narkissos
Hi AddaGirl,
I very much agree on the principle of distinguishing between two main views of the "70 years" in Bible texts, one (A) which starts before Jerusalem's last fall to Nebuchadnezzar and ends with Cyrus' conquest of Babylon (Jeremiah 29) and another (B) which starts with Jerusalem's fall and continues into the Persian period (Zechariah). I would, however, suggest (1) that we are always dealing with approximative periods, since no precise terminus a quo is suggested for (A), and no precise terminus ad quem for (B); and (2) that there is a third (historically inaccurate) view which identifies the 70 years as the duration of the exile from the beginning of (B) to the end of (A): this is found in 2 Chronicles 36, mixed with (A) in the redaction of Jeremiah 25:11f, and provides the standard for Josephus' presentation when he doesn't quote Berossus.
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AddaGirl
Darius the Mede did not rule in Babylon. After Cyrus conquered Babylon, he ruled for 9 years from 538 BCE to 529 BCE. Cambyses ruled from 529 BCE to 521 BCE. Darius the king did not begin his rule until 521 BCE and ruled for 36 years until 486 BCE.
In Darius first year Daniel discerned the 70 years. In his second year the temple construction resumed. In his 6th year the temple was complete. His 6th year being 516 BCE. The desolation of Judah was the lack of a temple for 70 years...there was no house of Jehovah.
Zechariah 1:16 clearly states therefore this is what Jehovah of armies has said. "I shall certainly return to Jerusalem with mercies. My own house will be built in her,' is the utterance of Jehovah of armies, "and a measuring line itself will be stretched out over Jerusalem."
Ezra 6:15 And they completed this house by the third day of the lunar month Adar, that is, in the 6th year of the reign of Darius the king.
If you refer back to 1Kings 9:3-9 And Jehovah went on to say to him: "I have heard your prayer and your request for favor with which you requested favor before me. I have sanctified this house that you have built by putting my name there to time indefinite; and my eyes and my heart will certainly prove to be there always. And you, if you will walk before me, just as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and with uprightness by doing according to all that I have commanded you, and you will keep my regulations and my judicial decisions, I also shall indeed establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel to time indefinite, just as I promised David your father, saying not a man of yours will be cut off from [sitting] upon the throne of Israel. If You yourselves and Your sons should definitely turn back from following me and not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have put before you men, and you actually go and serve other gods and bow down to them, I will also cut Israel off from upon the surface of the ground that I have given to them; and the house I have sanctified to my name I shall throw away from before me, and Israel will indeed become a proverbial saying and a taunt among the peoples. And this house itself will become heaps of ruins. Everyone passing by it will stare in amazement and will certainly whistle and say "For what reason did Jehovah do like that to this land and to this house? And they will have to say, "For the reason that they left Jehovah their God who had brought their forefathers out from the land of Egypt, and they proceeded to take hold of other gods and bow down to them. This is why Jehovah brought upon them all this calamity.
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scholar
AddaGirl
Post 5
I have downloaded your treatise on chronology and will print it out for a more detailed appraisal later meanwhile I offer the following points that may be of assistance to you. As a suggestion why do you not post the Society's replies to your question as I am sure that the Society would have given you a complete and satisfactory answer as has always been their normal practice.
For starters, there is only one definite fixed historic period of 'seventy years based upon the prophecy of Jeremiah and later by Zechariah, observed by Daniel and later referrred to by Ezra. Josephus also speaks of a sole seventy year period which included a fifty year period of obscurity running from the Fall of Jerusalem and the Return from Exile. Celebrated WT scholars using a simple Bible chronology proven by biblical and secular history places these events from 607 BCE until 537 BCE. This gives a fixed period of seventy years.
There being multiple 'seventy years' is impossible for this only confuses the subjects and using other dates such as 605 BCE or 609 BCE are also impossible for the beginning of the period is also impossible. Further, the ending of the period in 539 BCE is also sadly impossible.
In short, the only way that all of the data in scripture can be harmonized is to view the seventy years as one definite period of desolation of the land, exile in Babylon and in servitude to Babylon so the seventy years is characterized by three elements: DESOLATION-SERVITUDE-EXILE which is exactly how Josephus viewed the matter.
I have spent many decades studying this subject and have read numerous commentaries and scholarly journals on the subject so this well accord's with the view of the FDS.
scholar JW
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AddaGirl
2 Chronicles 36:21-23 to fulfill Jehovah's word by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had paid off its sabbaths. All the days lying desolated it kept sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. And in the first year of Cyrus the king of Persia, that Jehovah's word by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, Jehovah roused the spirit of Cysrus the king of Persia, so that he caused a cry to pass through his knigdom, also in writing saying: This is what Cyrus the king of Persia has said, 'All the kingdoms of the earth Jehovah the God of the heavens has given me, and he himself has commissioned me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, Jehovah his God be with him. So let him go up.'
50 years of desolation at the time Cyrus released the Jews. The foundation was laid and there was a 16 period where no construction was done on the temple. In the 2nd year of Darius, the construction began again and in 516 BCE the temple was complete.
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bennyk
JCanon writes:
Thanks for your reply Addagirl...
when it so happened that our city was desolate during the interval of seventy years, until the days of Cyrus king of Persia.
The temple destruction in 586 BCE is confirmed above. Cyrus released the Jews in 537 BCE. At this point Jerusalem had been desolate for 50 years.
This is a direct contradictio. This says the CITY WAS DESOLATE for an interval of 70 years, until Cyrus, which means that the 70 years ended when Cyrus came to the throne.
No. It is not a contradiction: The text does NOT state that the city was desolate "for" an interval of 70 years -- "during" does not mean "for". The accounts in Josephus indicate that the temple (and Jerusalem) lay desolate FIFTY years (Apion 1:21), which fifty years were a part of the SEVENTY years of SERVITUDE (Antiquities 11:1:1). Apion 1:19 does NOT contradict this; it confirms that the fifty year's period of desolation occurred "during the interval of seventy years". The prophecies in Jeremiah do not indicate seventy years of "desolation", nor of "deportation" or 'captivity' (whether of a specific group, or viewed in the aggregate), but of servitude, i.e. "vassalage". Note that the prophecies as recorded in Jeremiah do not even require deportation and exile at all: pls cf. Jer. 27:7,8,11-13,17; 38:17,18.
The SEVENTY years of SERVITUDE (Antiquities 11:1:1) run from 609 B.C.E. (following the Assyrian Empire's crushing defeat at Haran and the subsequent vassalage of Judea to Babylon) until 539 B.C.E. (when Babylon itself was defeated). The FIFTY years of DESOLATION for the Temple (Apion 1:21) run from 587 B.C.E. (when Jerusalem and its Temple were destroyed) until 537 B.C.E. (when the foundations of the Temple were laid [second year of Cyrus]). The several deportations occurred at various times during the seventy years, but the SERVITUDE of Judea as a nation need not begin with any of the deportations as recorded in the Bible.
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JCanon
In Darius first year Daniel discerned the 70 years. In his second year the temple construction resumed. In his 6th year the temple was complete. His 6th year being 516 BCE. The desolation of Judah was the lack of a temple for 70 years...there was no house of Jehovah.
Your position is noted but I was not saying it contradicts Josephus and certain concepts found in the Bible or that might persuade some of teh anointed. Let me share this with you.
The 390 years of error for Israel and 40 years of error for Judah makes sense when each tribe has a 39-year resposibility except for Judah, which kingdom ruled longer. Thus there is the concept of a collective error of 430 years that is corrected by the 70 years of desolation of the land while it lie uncultivated. This works out to 70 years when you divide 430 years by the two kinds of agricultural sabbaths required; the 7-year and the 50-year. Note.
430 divided by 7 is 61.4
430 divided by 50 is 8.6
61.4 plus 8.6 = 70
So it is surmised by some that if you double 430 to reflect the error of not having kept sabbaths and add the 70 years of make-up time, it will push history back all the way to the Exodus. That is 430 x 2 = 860 years plus 70 is 930 years. 19 jubilees is 931 years which means the Exodus was the first jubilee year representing release from bondage. The Exodus is 931 years from the return of the Jews from Babylon. If this is the case then the seventy years of the land lying desolate without any work or harvests is correctly understood when we read 2 Chronicles which notes the land would be desolated for 70 years to "pay back its sabbaths." So there is a need for a scenario where the LAND actually is desolate for 70 years to fulfill these missed sabbaths.
In Darius first year Daniel discerned the 70 years. In his second year the temple construction resumed. In his 6th year the temple was complete. His 6th year being 516 BCE. The desolation of Judah was the lack of a temple for 70 years...there was no house of Jehovah.
This is a clue that you probably don't understand your reference. That's because you do not distinguish between Darius the Mede and Darius I. To simply read the above, if Darius I is the Darius referred to in all instances, then the temple would be built in just six short years. That is not the usual historical reference which is 22 years from the time of the return until the temple was finished. So you'd have to clarify that you understand this.
Again, Josephus specifically considers there was a 70-year period between when the "people went off their land" until the 1st of Cyrus. THE FIRST OF CYRUS ends a 70-year reference. The 1st of Cyrus ends 70 years. Allow me to quote directly again. Antiquities 11:1:1
IN the first year of the reign of CYRUS which was the seventieth from the day that our people were removed out of their own land into Babylon....
The first year of Cyrus is the 70th year after the people were removed out of the land. It's a very direct statement. The people were removed out of the land at the time of the LAST DEPORTATION, which was year 23 of Nebuchadnezzar.
So it is not about how many other 70-year scenarios we can come up with that happen to work out. It's about this specific reference of a 70-year period from the last deportation to the 1st of Cyrus.
Depending on how you interpret the Bible, though, this reference works when the 70 years after the destruction of Jerusalem and 70 years after mourning over Gedaliah in the 7th month fall in the 2nd and 4th years of Darius the Mede, rather than Darius I.
So please note, we have 70 years ending in the 2nd of Darius, 70 years ending in the 4th of Darius, and 70 years ending in the 1st of Cyrus. So none of these 70-year references are the same. The devastations per Josephus is the 70 years that end in the 1st of Cyrus and coorespond to 70 years of the land paying back its sabbaths.
Here's another scriptural reference, though, that we see that harmonizes with the LAST DEPORTATION:
20 Furthermore, he carried off those remaining from the sword captive to Babylon, and they came to be servants to him and his sons until the royalty of Persia began to reign..
"Those remaining from the sword" is a reference to the Jews who escaped Nebuchadnezzar's sword who were in Egypt.
Jer 44: 14 And there will come to be no escapee or survivor for the remnant of Judah who are entering in to reside there as aliens, in the land of Egypt, even to return to the land of Judah to which they are lifting up their soul[ful desire] to return in order to dwell; for they will not return, except some escaped ones.’”
Jer 44: 28 And as for the ones escaping from the sword, they will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all those of the remnant of Judah, who are coming into the land of Egypt to reside there as aliens, will certainly know whose word comes true, that from me or that from them.”’”
This combination of scriptures are used to directly support Josephus' reference that those deported in year 23 were from Egypt. They are called the "escaped ones" because Jehovah prophesied Nebuchadnezzar would come down and kill off most of them with only a few remaining who would return to Judah. Apparently for only a brief time, perhaps only a few months, since they were deported the same year.
Therefore, it is these ones from Egypt who serve the 70 years per the Bible. In order to encompass your position that the 70 years that end in the 1st of Cyrus includes the total years of "servitude" of all the people ever deported, you have to ignore the direct reference here that those serving the 70 years were specifically the ones deported from Egypt in the context of the traditional Jewish history by Josephus that reflects the precise same thing. That is, these verses can be used to directly confirm Josephus historical position that those deported from Egypt were not only the last deportees of year 23 but that they represented the last ones removed out of the land for 70 years that ended in the 1st of Cyrus.
Your position would try to ignore Josephus AND include all those deported much earlier even though they are not implied here. That's too much of a stretch for some of us, I'm afraid.
But I respect that at least you have worked out scenarios for the 70 years that don't compromise the precise timing, even though, 607 BCE, exactly 70 years prior to 537 BCE is not the accession year of Nebuchadnezzar. His accession year per the current chronology would only be 606 BCE. So technically I suppose it doesn't really work, but even so. People have their own interpretations. I just wanted to share the concepts connected with the 70 years as per Josephus.
Thanks, again, for your post!
JC