The Gentile Times Reconsidered Chronology Christ

The Seventy Years for Babylon 207
Thus Berossus gives support to Daniel’s statement that Jewish
captives were brought to Babylon in the year of Nebuchadnezzar’s
accession. This confirmation of Daniel 1:1 is important because, as
was shown in Chapter three, Berossus derived his information
from the Babylonian chronicles, or sources close to those
documents, originally written during the Neo-Babylonian era
itself. 23
A-5: The servitude as reflected in Jeremiah, chapters 27,
28, and 35
That the servitude of “these nations” (Jer. 25:11) began long
before the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C.E. is also clear from
Jeremiah, chapters 27, 28, and 35.
In chapter 27, as discussed earlier, Jeremiah urges Zedekiah not
to revolt, but to bring his neck under the yoke of the king of
Babylon and serve him. The context shows this occurred in the
fourth year of Zedekiah, that is, in 595/94 B.C.E. 24 The
background of this “word . . . from Jehovah” was, according to
verse 2, that messengers had come to Zedekiah from Edom, Moab,
Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon, apparently in order to enlist him in an
extensive revolt against the Babylonian yoke. Obviously all these
nations were vassals to Babylon at this time, as was Judah.
The revolt plans aroused unfounded hopes and enthusiasm
among the people, and the prophet Hananiah even foretold that
the Babylonian yoke would be broken within two years:
23 Berossus’ account of these events has been the subject of criticism, but was
accepted by historians such as Hugo Winkler, Edgar Goodspeed, James H.
Breasted and Friedrich Delitzsch. See “The Third Year of Jehoiakim,” by Albertus
Pieters, in From the Pyramids to Paul, edited by Lewis Gaston Leary (New York:
Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1935), p. 191. The discovery of the Babylonian
Chronicle B.M. 21946 has given additional support to Berossus’ description of
Nebuchadnezzar’s conquests after the battle at Carchemish. D. J. Wiseman, the
first translator of this chronicle, says that Berossus’ account of these events “rings
true” (The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. III:2, J. Boardman et al [eds.],
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991, pp. 230–231.) On Berossus’
description of Pharaoh Necho as a rebellious satrap Dr. Menahem Stem says:
“From the point of view of those who regarded the neo-Babylonian empire as a
continuation of the Assyrian, the conquest of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia by the
Egyptian ruler might be interpreted as the rape of Babylonian territory.”—M. Stem,
Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism, Vol. 1 (Jerusalem 1974), p.59.
24 In verse 1 of chapter 27 this message is dated to the beginning of the reign of
“Jehoiakim,” but a comparison with verses 3 and 12 shows that the original
reading most probably was “Zedekiah.” This is also confirmed by the next chapter,
Jeremiah 28, dated in verse 1 to “the same year,” which is explained to be “in the
beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year” (NASB), that
is, in 595/94 B.C.E.