Text: Zechariah 1:12
OT Text Referred to: Jeremiah 29:10
Subject: Seventy years (* see seventy years network)
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): Promise-Fulfillment
Significance: Zechariah 1:12's seventy-year reference connects to Jeremiah 29:10's promise to the exiles: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good promise to bring you back to this place." Jeremiah 29:10 is the most hopeful formulation of the seventy-year prophecy, emphasizing God's פָּקַד (paqad, "visiting/attending to") His people. The angel of the LORD in Zechariah invokes this timeframe precisely because the seventy years are now expiring, and the promise of divine visitation should be coming to fruition. God's response — "kind and comforting words" (1:13) followed by a declaration of jealousy for Jerusalem (1:14) — signals that Jeremiah's promised visitation is beginning, even if the full restoration remains in progress.