See note Jer. 21:2^1a. Shortly after Nebuchadnezzar came into power as king of Babylon, he attacked Judah, carried away some of the vessels in the temple, and captured a number of the people (2 Chron. 36:6-7; Dan. 1:1-6). In his prophecy, Jeremiah told the people of the evils, the calamities, that were coming upon them, and he advised them to repent and return to God.

This word and that in 29:10-14 were a comfort to Jeremiah, assuring him that the captivity of Israel would last only seventy years. Some of the captured ones, such as Daniel, would still be alive at the expiration of the seventy years (Dan. 1:21; 6:28). Just as God gave the people up to captivity, He would bring them back, not as captives but as triumphant warriors.

I.e., Babylon (cf. Jer. 51:41).

According to the Septuagint and some Hebrew MSS (cf. Jer. 46:16; 50:16); others read, fierceness of the oppressor.