2 Chronicles 36:21

“To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, etc.] That is, the Jews were so long servants in Babylon, as in the preceding verse, to accomplish Jeremiah’s prophecy of it, (<142512>2 Chronicles 25:12 27:7 29:10) until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths; the sabbatical years, or seventh year sabbaths, which, according to the law of the land, was to rest from being tilled, (<032504>Leviticus 25:4), which law had been neglected by the Jews, and now, whether they would or not, the land should have rest for want of persons to till it: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years; as threatened in (<032634>Leviticus 26:34,35) on which text Jarchi…”

“until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths--The return of every seventh was to be held as a sabbatic year, a season of rest to all classes, even to the land itself, which was to be fallow. This divine institution, however, was neglected--how soon and how long, appears from the prophecy of Moses (see on Lev 26:34), and of Jeremiah in this passage (see Jer 25:9-12), which told that for divine retribution it was now to remain desolate seventy years. As the Assyrian conquerors usually colonized their conquered provinces, so remarkable a deviation in Palestine from their customary policy must be ascribed to the overruling providence of God.”

“See the marginal references. The 70 years of desolation prophesied by Jeremiah, commenced in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 25:1, Jeremiah 25:12; compare Daniel 1:1), or 605 B.C.; and should therefore have terminated, if they were fully complete, in 536 B.C. As, however, the historical date of the taking of Babylon by Cyrus is 538 B.C., or two years earlier, it has been usual to suppose that the Jews reckoned “the reign of the kingdom of Persia” as commencing two years after the capture of Babylon, on the death or supersession of “Darius the Mede.” But the term “seventy” may be taken as a round number, and the prophecy as sufficiently fulfilled by a desolation which lasted 68 years.…”

“Sabbaths - Had rested from the labour of the husbandman in plowing and harrowing it; the people that should have managed it being destroyed. Many a time had they ploughed and sowed their land in the seventh year, when it should have rested: and now it lay unploughed and unsown for ten times seven years. Yet even this might encourage them to hope, that they should in due time return to it again. Had others come and taken possession of it, they might have despaired of ever recovering it. But while it lay desolate, it, as it were, waited for them, and refused to acknowledge any other owners. Next: Ezra Chapter 1”

“36:21 The length of the captivity had been predicted by Jeremiah (Jer 25:11-12; 29:10; see study note on Ezra 6:15). • The land finally enjoyed its Sabbath rest: See Lev 26:34-35, 43, where the punishment for disobedience is exile; the land is left unused for all the Sabbaths of which it had been deprived. The land’s time of rest was also a preparation for the time of restoration. • the prophet: That is, Jeremiah.”

“To fulfil: Jer 25:9, Jer 25:12, Jer 26:6, Jer 26:7, Jer 27:12, Jer 27:13, Jer 29:10; Dan 9:2; Zac 1:4-6 until the land: Lev 25:4-6, Lev 26:34, Lev 26:35, Lev 26:43; Zac 1:12 2 Chronicles 36:22”