Bible Timeline · 586 to 538 BC

Seventy Years in Babylon

After Jerusalem fell, God's people lived as exiles in Babylon. Ezekiel saw the valley of dry bones, Jeremiah wrote that God had plans to give them a future and a hope, and Daniel read the writing on the wall the night Babylon fell.

Read it in the Bible: Ezekiel 1 Ezekiel 37:1-14 Jeremiah 29:4-14 Daniel 5 Daniel 9 Psalm 137

The Babylonian exile was the time when the people of Judah lived as captives in Babylon, far from their land and their temple. The biggest wave came after Jerusalem fell in 586 BC, and the exile ended when Cyrus of Persia let them go home in 538 BC. Counting from the first captives in 605 BC, it lasted about seventy years, just as Jeremiah had said. It was the hardest season in Israel's history, and also one of the most important. God's people learned they could find Him even in a foreign land.

Why Is the Exile Called Seventy Years?

Jeremiah gave the number before it happened in Jeremiah 25:11 and again in his letter to the exiles.

For this is what Yahweh says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place. Jeremiah 29:10

There are two common ways to count it. From the first exile in 605 BC to the first return around 538 to 536 BC is about seventy years. From the burning of the temple in 586 BC to the new temple finished in 516 or 515 BC is also about seventy. Either way, God kept His word right on time.

What Was Life Like for the Exiles in Babylon?

It was not a prison camp. Most exiles were settled in farm towns along the canals of southern Babylonia. Jeremiah told them to build houses, plant gardens, marry, and pray for the city where they lived.

Seek the prosperity of the city to which I have sent you as exiles. Pray to Yahweh on its behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 29:7

Archaeology backs this up. Hundreds of clay tablets from a town called Al Yahudu, which means the town of Judah, record everyday business deals of Jewish families in Babylonia from about 572 BC onward. Many of the people have Hebrew names built on God's name, like names ending in yahu. Other tablets list food rations for King Jehoiachin of Judah and his sons, which fits 2 Kings 25:27 to 30.

Some exiles did well. Daniel rose to high office. Many families did so well that they never went back. That is one reason a large Jewish community stayed in Babylon for centuries.

What Is Jeremiah 29:11 Really About?

Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible. It shows up on a lot of coffee mugs.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares Yahweh, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

In context, it was written to people who had just lost everything, and God told them the rescue would take seventy years. Most of the adults hearing it would not live to see it. So it is not a promise that everything will go your way this week. It is a promise that God has not given up on His people and that His long plan is good. That is actually a deeper comfort.

What Did Ezekiel See in Babylon?

Ezekiel was a priest who was taken to Babylon in 597 BC. Beside the River Kebar, he saw visions of God. The exiles thought God was stuck in Jerusalem. Ezekiel saw God's glory on a throne with wheels, coming to them in Babylon.

Later he saw that glory leave the temple in Jerusalem before it was destroyed, in Ezekiel 10. Then came his most famous vision, a valley full of dry bones.

Then He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones come to life?” “O Lord Yahweh,” I replied, “only You know.” And He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and tell them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh! This is what the Lord Yahweh says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will come to life. Ezekiel 37:3 to 5

The bones came together, grew flesh, and stood up as a living army. God explained that the bones were Israel, saying their hope was gone. God promised to put His Spirit in them, bring them home and give them new hearts, Ezekiel 36:26.

What Was the Writing on the Wall?

In October 539 BC, the Persian army was closing in on Babylon. Inside, King Belshazzar threw a huge party and drank from the gold cups stolen from God's temple. Suddenly the fingers of a human hand wrote on the plaster wall. They called old Daniel to read it.

Now this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN. And this is the interpretation of the message: MENE means that God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. TEKEL means that you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. PERES means that your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.” Daniel 5:25 to 28

That very night Belshazzar was killed and the kingdom passed to the Medes and Persians. The phrase the writing on the wall still means a sign that the end is near. Babylonian records say the city fell to Cyrus with little fighting. For years critics doubted Belshazzar had ever existed. Then cuneiform texts showed he was the son of the last king, Nabonidus, and ruled in Babylon while his father was away.

What Are Daniel's Seventy Weeks?

In the first year of the new Persian rule, Daniel read Jeremiah's prophecy and realized the seventy years were nearly up. He fasted and prayed, confessing the sins of his people.

O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.” Daniel 9:19

The angel Gabriel answered with a new prophecy of seventy weeks, or seventy sevens.

Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. Daniel 9:24

Most readers take this as seventy sevens of years, which is 490 years. Many Christians count from a Persian decree to rebuild Jerusalem, in 458 or 445 BC, and arrive at the time of Jesus' ministry and death. Others, especially those who date Daniel in the 160s BC, see it fulfilled in the days of Antiochus IV. Some see a gap before the last seven. It is one of the most debated passages in the Bible, and The Owner's Manual's notes in Daniel walk through the main views.

Did Synagogues Begin in the Exile?

Many scholars think so, though we cannot prove it. With no temple, the exiles needed somewhere to gather, pray and hear the Law. Ezekiel's elders often sat with him to hear God's word, Ezekiel 8:1. God said He had been a little sanctuary for them in the lands where they were scattered, Ezekiel 11:16. The first clear evidence of synagogues comes a few centuries later, but the habits of the exile likely gave birth to them. Many think the exile was also when much of the Old Testament was gathered and copied with new care.

What Does the Exile Mean for You Today?

The exile taught God's people that God is not limited to one building or one country. He met them by a river in Babylon. Peter later called Christians exiles and foreigners in 1 Peter 2:11, because this world is not fully home yet.

The exile also set the stage for Jesus. It ended with a return, but the prophets said a bigger restoration was coming, with a new covenant and God's Spirit inside His people. Jesus is the one who brings that true homecoming. The dry bones are still coming to life every time someone is born again.

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Questions People Ask

How long was the Babylonian exile?

The Bible calls it seventy years. From the first exile in 605 BC to the return around 538 to 536 BC is about seventy years. From the temple's destruction in 586 BC to the new temple in 516 or 515 BC is also about seventy.

What does Jeremiah 29:11 mean in context?

Jeremiah 29:11 was written to exiles in Babylon who were told the rescue would take seventy years. It promises that God had good long term plans to restore His people. It is a promise of God's faithfulness, not a guarantee of quick success.

What does mene mene tekel parsin mean?

Daniel explained that mene meant God had numbered the days of Belshazzar's kingdom, tekel meant he was weighed and found lacking, and peres meant his kingdom was divided and given to the Medes and Persians. Babylon fell that night in 539 BC.

What is the meaning of the valley of dry bones?

In Ezekiel 37, the dry bones stand for Israel in exile, feeling dead and hopeless. God promised to bring them back to life, give them His Spirit and return them to their land. Many Christians also see it as a picture of new life in Christ and the future resurrection.

Sources

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