2 Tawarikh 36:21

36:21 This took place to fulfill the Lord’s message delivered through Jeremiah. ¹  The land experienced ²  its sabbatical years; ³  it remained desolate for seventy years, ⁴  as prophesied. ⁵ 

Yesaya 6:12

6:12 and the Lord has sent the people off to a distant place,

and the very heart of the land is completely abandoned. ⁶ 

Yesaya 27:10

27:10 For the fortified city ⁷  is left alone;

it is a deserted settlement

and abandoned like the desert.

Calves ⁸  graze there;

they lie down there

and eat its branches bare. ⁹ 

[36:21]  ¹ tn Heb “to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah.”

[36:21]  ² tn Or “accepted.”

[36:21]  ³ sn According to Lev 25:4, the land was to remain uncultivated every seventh year. Lev 26:33-35 warns that the land would experience a succession of such sabbatical rests if the people disobeyed God, for he would send them away into exile.

[36:21]  ⁴ sn Concerning the seventy years see Jer 25:11.

[36:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “all the days of the desolation it rested to fulfill the seventy years.”

[36:21]  sn Cyrus’ edict (see vv. 22-23) occurred about fifty years after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c., which is most naturally understood as the beginning point of the “days of desolation” mentioned in v. 21. The number “seventy” is probably used in a metaphorical sense, indicating a typical lifetime and suggesting a thorough or complete judgment that would not be lifted until an entirely new generation emerged.

[6:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “and great is the abandonment in the midst of the land.”

[27:10]  ⁷ sn The identity of this city is uncertain. The context suggests that an Israelite city, perhaps Samaria or Jerusalem, is in view. For discussions of interpretive options see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:496-97, and Paul L. Redditt, “Once Again, the City in Isaiah 24-27,” HAR 10 (1986), 332.

[27:10]  ⁸ tn The singular form in the text is probably collective.

[27:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “and destroy her branches.” The city is the antecedent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix. Apparently the city is here compared to a tree. See also v. 11.