The WT's starting date of the Seventy Years

by Doug Mason 4 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Doug Mason

  The WT starts its Seventy Years with the moment that Jews entered Egypt following the murder of Governor Gedaliah. The WT guesses that the destruction and the murder of Gedaliah took place in the same year. However, the events listed in the Bible as taking place from the time of the city's destruction until the entry in Egypt require far more than two months. The period from the destruction to the entry into Egypt was likely 2, 3 or even 4 years long.

  A discussion in Italian on the subject can be seen at:

  http://www.infotdgeova.it/storia/quando70.php

  The PDF file is available at:

  http://www.infotdgeova.it/downloads/70anni.pdf

  Doug
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  Larsinger58

  Thanks, Doug. A very good point.

  Zechariah 7 dates 70 years past the destruction/denunciation of Jerusalem to year 2 of Darius the Mede. The 70th year of mourning over Gedaliah in the 7th month is dated to year 4 of Darius the Mede. If we presume the fasting/mourning for Gedaliah in the 7th month began the year following his death then the Bible confirms a 2-year gap between the mourning in the 7th month and the destruction of Jerusalem. This means Gedaliah, indeed, did not die within 2 months of the fall of Jerusalem, but instead the following year in the 7th month, year 20. Jerusalem fell in the 19th year.

  Since Josephus confirms the 70-year fulfillment by Jeremiah began with the last deportation and that deportation was of those survivors from Egypt, it wasn't until after a 6-year rule of Darius the Mede that the 1st of Cyrus began at which point the Jews were released. Thus the Jews were still in exile during the entire 6-year rule of Darius the Mede.

  Good point! But we don't have to guess the years involved thanks to Zechariah 1 and 7.

  Thanks, again, Doug, for shedding light on this detail.

  LS
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  ScenicViewer

  Sounds very interesting, but I'm going to wait for the English version.
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  Doug Mason

  ScenicViewer,

  Have a look at the Italian site; there is at least one English passage that is directly cited.

  I touch on the subject (in English) at pages 22 to 24 of my study at:

  http://www.jwstudies.com/Onscreen_Critique__October_Watchtower__Jerusalem_Destroyed.pdf

  The problem is for the WTS to PROVE that the Jews exited Judah in the same year when Jerusalem was destroyed. There is no agreement on the time from the destruction to the entry into Egypt. For example, the Jewish Encyclopedia acknowledges the range of views, from two months (tradition only) to 4 years:

  "The rule of Gedaliah lasted, according to tradition, only two months, although Grätz argues that it continued more than four years." http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6548-gedallah

  The WT cannot prove the year when the Jews entered Egypt and they cannot PROVE the year that the first exiles returned to the site of the destroyed temple at Jerusalem. They cannot prove that it happened in 537; because there is no positive evidence, there is a wide range of views, as can be seen by Googling:

  jews return 538

  jews return 536

  jews return 535

  Doug
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  Aussie Oz

  This is one subject i would pay to see debated publicly!

  you know...Russellesq style!

  sad it will never happen. The WT is so haughty now that they feel above debate of any nature.

  oz