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The Bible and the translation · Claim record

The reading of Jeremiah 29:10 is load-bearing for the organisation's date of 607 BCE for Jerusalem's destruction: if the seventy years are Babylon's period of supremacy rather than Judah's period of exile, the calculation that places the destruction seventy years before 537 BCE does not follow.

Claim ID claim-bible-jer-29-10-load-bearingConcerns 1 October 2011Context
Context · 1 October 2011 Verified

The reading of Jeremiah 29:10 is load-bearing for the organisation's date of 607 BCE for Jerusalem's destruction: if the seventy years are Babylon's period of supremacy rather than Judah's period of exile, the calculation that places the destruction seventy years before 537 BCE does not follow. The Watchtower, 1 October 2011The Watchtower, 1 November 2011

The organisation’s position or later explanation: The organisation states: “Since the Bible explicitly says that the exile lasted for 70 years, it must have begun in 607 B.C.E.” It argues that the Babylonian chronicles are incomplete and that astronomical tablet VAT 4956 can be read to support 588 BCE as Nebuchadnezzar's 37th year, while conceding in a footnote that “None of the secular experts quoted in this article hold that Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 B.C.E.”.

Show the evidence (2 sources)
Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed?—Part One”

1 October 2011 · pp.26-31 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

“Instead of saying 70 years “at Babylon,” many translations read “for Babylon.” (NIV) Some historians therefore claim that this 70-year period applies to the Babylonian Empire. … The Bible, however, shows that the 70 years were to be a period of severe punishment from God—aimed specifically at the people of Judah and Jerusalem, who were in a covenant to obey him.”

The organisation's own acknowledgement that most translations read 'for Babylon', and its answer: that the context of Jeremiah requires the seventy years to be a period of exile for Judah rather than a period of Babylonian supremacy. This article and its sequel are the fullest published defence of the 607 BCE date.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Article opened in full on wol.jw.org on 19 September 2026; page marker 27 read from the page-number span within the passage quoted, and the article's own header gives 'w11 10/1 pp. 26-31'.

Corroborated by. src-nwtv-w11-1101-70years

Notes. This is the organisation's best counter-argument on Jeremiah 29:10 and must be quoted in full alongside the philological point.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-nwtv-w11-1001-70years

Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed?—Part Two”

1 November 2011 · pp.22-28 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

“At present, the majority of secular historians believe that Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 B.C.E. However, the Bible writers Jeremiah and Daniel clearly state that the Jews were in exile for 70 years, not 50 years. … Since the Bible explicitly says that the exile lasted for 70 years, it must have begun in 607 B.C.E.”

The second article argues that the Babylonian chronicles are incomplete and that astronomical tablet VAT 4956 can be read to support 588 BCE as Nebuchadnezzar's 37th year. A footnote states plainly: 'None of the secular experts quoted in this article hold that Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 B.C.E.'

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Article opened in full on wol.jw.org on 19 September 2026; the footnote and the quoted paragraphs read directly. Page marker 23 read from the page-number span; the article header gives 'w11 11/1 pp. 22-28'.

Corroborated by. src-nwtv-w11-1001-70years

Notes. The footnote conceding that none of the cited experts hold 607 BCE is an important and fair-minded detail that the site should quote.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-nwtv-w11-1101-70years

Claim page

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-bible-jer-29-10-load-bearing/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.