And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
Seventy years - (Jeremiah 27:7). The exact number of years of Sabbaths in 490 years, the period from Saul to the Babylonian captivity; righteous retribution for their violation of the Sabbath (Leviticus 26:34-35; 2 Chronicles 36:21). The 70 years probably begin from the 4th year of Jehoiakim, when Jerusalem was first captured, and many captives, as well as the treasure of the temple, were carried away: they end with the first year of Cyrus, who, on taking Babylon, issued an edict for the restoration of the Jews (Ezra 1:1). Daniel's 70 prophetic weeks are based on the seventy years of the captivity (cf. Daniel 9:2; Daniel 9:24).