25:11, 12 seventy years. See 29:10. This period may be counted in round figures from 605 b.c. (v. 1; Dan. 1:1) to 538 b.c., when the exiles began to return home following Cyrus’s decree (2 Chr. 36:20–23). The seventy years allow the Lord’s word of judgment to have full effect before new salvation can be experienced.

punish the king of Babylon. This prophecy is developed further in chs. 50; 51. The agent of punishment is in turn punished for her own sins (50:18; cf. Is. 10:5–7, 12).