Chelsea,

You had written:

"Our predecessor, the prophet Daniel, had correctly calculated the end of the captivity of 70 years in Babylon.

And he was slightly wrong. Daniel was very close."

Daniel 9:2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

Daniel read about the 70 years captivity in books of the scriptures, similar to us.

How do we know about the 70 years? In addition to Daniel 9:2, we have read:

II Chronicles 36:21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

Jeremiah 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

 12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

Jeremiah 27:7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.

Jeremiah 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

Zechariah 7:5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?

Daniel didn't calculate "seventy", and neither do we, it was already written as "seventy" in the scriptures.

Daniel was not slightly wrong.

The scriptures, for sure, are not slightly wrong.

What some have been unclear about, was whether the seventy began with the first carrying away to Babylon, the second, or the third.

There was a number of years between the first, and the third.

Most of the captivity had been taken by the first two, and only a smaller number were taken in the third.

The temple remained after the first two, but was finally destroyed at the time of the third carrying away.

Possibly Daniel, also, thus, didn't know when the seventy began, therefore he wouldn't have known when it would end, exactly, either.

So he would then have known, only for sure, that it was real close.

Gino