Jeremiah 29:10-14 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

After seventy years be accomplished at Babylon Hebrews, לפי מלאת שׁבעים שׁנה, literally, At the mouth of the accomplishment of seventy years. “And as the mouth of a river, metaphorically, denotes the extremity of its course, where it discharges its waters into the sea; so, by a farther metaphor drawn from hence, לפי seems to denote being at the full end of a certain period or limited course of time, where it is just going to lose itself in, and mix with, the ocean of eternity. Here therefore we are to understand that, ‘at the very instant of, or immediately upon, the completion of seventy years,' the restoration of the Jews should take place.” Blaney. These seventy years of the captivity, it appears, are to be computed from the fourth year of Jehoiakim, which, in the Scripture account, is the first year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign: see note on Jeremiah 25:1. I will visit you and perform my good word My promise, in causing, rather, of causing you to return, &c. There were but few, comparatively speaking, of those captives that returned in person into their own country, Ezra 3:12. Therefore, this promise was chiefly fulfilled in their posterity; and it is common in Scripture to speak of blessings bestowed upon the children, as if they had been actually fulfilled to their progenitors. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you And God's works agree exactly with his thoughts; for he doeth all things according to the counsel of his own will. Thoughts of peace, or good, and not of evil Even that which seems evil is designed for good, and will at last appear to have actually wrought for good: to give you an expected end Hebrew, אחרית ותקוה, literally, to give you an end and expectation, or, as Blaney translates it, to make your latter end even an object of hope: see chap. Jeremiah 31:17. Then shall ye call upon me That is, when you place your hope in me only, and that with assurance, and not wavering; and I will hearken unto you A sure token of God's favour Jeremiah 33:3, as his rejecting men, and casting them off, is expressed by his hiding his face and refusing to hear their prayers, Jeremiah 14:12; Lamentations 3:8; Lamentations 3:44. And ye shall seek me and find me According to my promises made Leviticus 26:40-45; Deuteronomy 30:2-3; Psalms 32:6. When ye shall search for me with all your heart Observe, reader, in seeking God, we must search for him, that we may find him; must search for directions in seeking him, &c., for encouragements to our faith and hope: we must continue, and take pains in seeking him, namely, in seeking his favour, his image, and communion with him; and this we must do with our heart That is, in sincerity and uprightness, and with all our heart, that is with vigour and fervency, putting forth all that is within us in prayer: and those who thus seek God shall find him, and know, by experience, that he is their bountiful rewarder, Hebrews 11:6, for he never said to such, Seek ye me in vain.