Jeremiah 25:8-9

Therefore, because ye have not heard That is, because ye have not hearkened to, nor obeyed my words, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, &c. All those kings whose territories lie northward of Judea, and particularly Nebuchadnezzar, who, in this work, shall be my servant; and will bring them against this land, &c. I will lead, as commander in chief, them and their armies up against this people; and I will deprive you of all hopes of safety from your alliances with other nations, for the king of Babylon shall first subdue them. See 2 Kings 24:7. And will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment Will make these countries, and their inhabitants, the objects of men's scorn and reproach. See note on Jeremiah 24:9. And a perpetual desolation It is often observed, that the Hebrew word עולם, here rendered perpetual, does not always imply eternity, or perpetuity, in a strict sense; but is sometimes taken for such a duration as had a remarkable period to conclude it. Thus it is said of a servant, in a certain case, Exodus 21:6, That he shall serve his master for ever Which the Jews interpret as meaning, “till the next jubilee.” So here the sense of the word is to be restrained to the period of seventy years, mentioned Jeremiah 25:11.