Hi Doug,
Your theory works! It seems reasonable, IF that were actually what the Bible was pointing to. But let's say that interpretation works just for the sake of argument of the 70-year reference. Fine.
The PROBLEM is that Josephus, the Jewish historian, mentions Jeremiah's prophecy about the 70 years and applies that to those of the last deportation. Therefore, even if there was, indeed, a potentially relevant fulfillment of the 70 years in relation to the total time interaction between Judah and Babylon, that would not nullify the 70 years of "servitude" served by the last deportees to Nebuchadnezzar. And that could be done without the entire land being desolate; after all, other peoples had been brought in to repopulate the northern kingdom area before this.
So at this point, you have your interpretation of the 70 years you're impressed with, and Josephus has his. The question is, not whether or not your 70 years checks out Biblically, since obviously it meets your standards for doing so. Even I can accept it. BUT, the real chronology question is whether or not there were also a 70-year period from the last deportation until the 1st of Cyrus, as Josephus claims, based on secular chronology or the Bible.
The Bible is thought to support that the last deportation began the 70-year period ending the 1st of Cyrus because of Zechariah 1:7 which notes:
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, that is, the month She´bat, in the second year of Da·ri´us...
12 So the angel of Jehovah answered and said: “O Jehovah of armies, how long will you yourself not show mercy to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah, whom you have denounced these seventy years?”
What have we here? We have 70 years after the "denouncement of Jerusalem and the cities of Judah" ending in the second year of Darius. The denouncement of the cities and Jerusalem certainly could/would reference their destruction. We also notice that that denouncement had as yet been reversed. They are asking when will God show "mercy" to these cities and Jerusalem? Thus, Jerusalem and these cities were still desolated from 70 years before. Now that works IF the 70 years did not begin until the 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar. Because then the exile of the Jews still had 4 years to go before those last exilees had fulfilled their 70 years. So there is no conflict here as to why the Jews are still in exile and while Jerusalem and the cities of Judah are still uninhabited in the 2nd year of Darius.
This, of course, means that the Darius here in reference, is the king of Babylon who began to rule immediately after he and Cyrus overthrew Babylon, apparently 3 years earlier . This would also mean that the Jews were not released in the first year of Darius or the second. The Jews would not be released until Cyrus became king of Babylon, which would follow a 6-year rule of Darius the Mede. Thus the Bible speaks of the Jews being released in the 1st of Cyrus, not the 1st of Darius, and we find the context of the Jews still in exile during the reign of Darius, the Mede.
But doesn't that contradict scripture? Wasn't the 70 years supposed to end when Babylon fell? when the MEDES and Persians took over Babylon? No. 1 Chronicles is very specific making sure it identifies Darius as Darius THE MDE and Cyrus as Cyrus THE PERSIAN. That's because it was not when the royalty of the Medes began to rule at Babylon that the Jews would be released but only when the "royalty of PERSIA" began to rule. The royalty of Persia is a reference to when Cyrus began to rule, which was after a 6-year rule of Darius the Mede:
2 Chronicles 36: 20 Furthermore, he carried off those remaining from the sword captive to Babylon, and they came to be servants to him and his sons until the royalty of Persia began to reign; 21 to fulfill Jehovah’s word by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had paid off its sabbaths. All the days of lying desolated it kept sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
Above is a wonderful scripture:
1) "Those remaining from the sword" would serve Nebuchadnezzar and his sons for 70 years. This is a term used to describe those who were left by Nebuchadnezzar when he went down to Egypt and killed off most of the rebel Jews. This confirms Josephus' reference that those deported in year 23 of Nebuchadnezzar were deported by Egypt, those being those who had not been killed by Nebuchadnezzar. So Josephus is representing precisely what the Bible says about those who were deported from Egypt serving these full 70 years.
2) The royalty of Persia: This is not a reference to Darius the MEDE, but when the Persian royalty would become the royal family for both the Medes and the Persians. That is, when Darius the Mede abdicates his title of "king" and assumes the title of "governor" as all the other kings, and Cyrus and his line become the absolute royal family over both the Medes and the Persians. This happens 7 years after the fall of Babylon and after a 6-year rule by Darius the Mede while the Jews are still in exile. As noted, this is confirmed by Zechariah 1 where it shows the Jews still in exile and wondering when will God sow mercy to the cities of Judah and Jerusalem even though it was 70 years since the destruction of Jerusalem.
So in SUMMARY: There are lots of 70-year references to deal with. An interpretation that there is an implied 70 years of servitude to Babylon based upon those first put under subjugation to Babylon could be a valid interpretation. But it wouldn't affect the 70 years of servitude assigned to the last deportees. 70 years from the fall of Jerusalem expired in the 2nd of Darius. 70 years from the mourning for Gedaliah in the 7th month expired in year 4 of Darius. The Jews were still in exile. Cyrus had not yet begun to rule over Babylon. Of course, another 70 years expired from the time of the last deportation, completing 70 years of servitude by those last deportees to Nebuchadnezzar and his sons, his grandson including Darius the Mede (who was the son of the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar).
RELATIVE CHRONOLOGY OF 70 YEARS AND THE VAT4956: Just wanted to add that at this point there is a definite contradiction between the "relative chronology" of Josephus who introduces 70 years from year 23 of Nebuchadnezzar to the 1st of Cyrus compared to current secular history which is 26 years shorter. (From year 19 to the 1st of Cyrus is 74 years. From 586 to 538BCE is 48 years. 74 minus 48 is 26 years shorter). However, if we presume the two matched references in the VAT4956 were hidden references to what the original chronology was, where it dates year 511 BCE to year 37 of Nebuchadnezzar. Then the 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar would fall in 525 BCE, which means 70 years later the 1st of Cyrus would fall in 455 BCE. Thus the RELATIVE CHRONOLOGY from the VAT4956 works out perfectly for the 23rd of Nebuchadnezzar being 70 years before the 1st of Cyrus. 455 BCE must fulfill the 70 weeks prophecy for the year the word goes forth to rebuild Jerusalem, which occurred in the 1st of Cyrus.
Thus Josephus, the Bible and the VAT4956 not only represent the same RELATIVE chronology but also the same ABSOLUTE chronology. Of course, the double-dating in the VAT4956 in the presence of all the 568 BCE references means that the 568 BCE references are fake. That in turn dismisses every other astronomical text that dates year 37 of Nebuchadnezzar to 568 BCE or the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, or any that date the fall of Babylon to 539 BCE. That's why the VAT4956 is so important, it proves there was revisionism and manipulation of the astronomical texts during the Seleucid Period, even though hidden references to the original chronology were also included. We can effectively dismiss the false chronology and at the same time get a new "pivotal date" for the rule of Nebuchadnezzar that gives us absolute chronology for the fall of Jerusalem as well as back to the 1st of Cyrus.
JCanon
