At Jeremiah 29:10 the New World Translation reads “When 70 years at Babylon are fulfilled”. The Hebrew is לְבָבֶל (lə-ḇā-ḇel), with the prefixed preposition lamed. Most modern versions, including the Jewish Publication Society's own Tanakh, render it “for Babylon”; the King James and New King James Versions read “at Babylon”.
Claim ID claim-bible-jer-29-10-lamedConcerns 2013Explicit statement
The organisation’s position or later explanation: The Watchtower of 1 October 2011 states: “Instead of saying 70 years ‘at Babylon,’ many translations read ‘for Babylon.’ (NIV) Some historians therefore claim that this 70-year period applies to the Babylonian Empire.” It answers that the context of Jeremiah makes the seventy years a period of punishment for Judah, not a period of Babylonian supremacy.
“לְפִ֞י lə-p̄î | after | Prep-l | N-msc; מְלֹ֧את mə-lōṯ | are completed | V-Qal-Inf; לְבָבֶ֛ל lə-ḇā-ḇel | for Babylon | Prep-l | N-proper-fs; שִׁבְעִ֥ים šiḇ-‘îm | seventy | Number-cp; שָׁנָ֖ה šā-nāh | years | N-fs”
The Hebrew is לְבָבֶל, lə-Ḇāḇel: the prefixed preposition is lamed (ל), whose ordinary senses are 'to', 'for' or 'belonging to'. The preposition meaning 'in' or 'at' is bet (ב), which is not what stands here.
Provenance and verification note for Bible Hub Hebrew text analysis, Jeremiah 29:10, word-by-word Hebrew with morphology
Confidence note. Word-by-word Hebrew analysis page opened on 19 September 2026 and the consonantal text, pointing and morphological tag 'Prep-l' read directly from the page.
2013 · Jeremiah 29:10 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
““For this is what Jehovah says, ‘When 70 years at Babylon are fulfilled, I will turn my attention to you, and I will make good my promise by bringing you back to this place.’”
The 2013 rendering. The 1984 Reference Bible read 'In accord with the fulfilling of seventy years at Babylon I shall turn my attention to YOU people'. Neither edition carries a study note or footnote on the preposition. The page marker [[p971]] appears just above the verse in the 1984 edition.
Provenance and verification note for New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), Jeremiah 29:10
Confidence note. Both chapter pages opened on wol.jw.org on 19 September 2026 and the verse read in each; the absence of any study note on this verse confirmed by reading the whole study-note block for Jeremiah 29:10, which contains only marginal references and an index.
19 September 2026 · Bible Hub (reproducing the named copyright translations)
“'For Babylon': New International Version “When seventy years are completed for Babylon”; English Standard Version “When seventy years are completed for Babylon”; New American Standard Bible “When seventy years have been completed for Babylon”; American Standard Version “After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon”; JPS Tanakh 1917 “After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon”; New Revised Standard Version “Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed”; NET Bible “Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule are over”. 'At Babylon': King James Bible “after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon”; New King James Version “After seventy years are completed at Babylon”; Brenton Septuagint Translation “When seventy years shall be on the point of being accomplished at Babylon”.”
The great majority of modern versions, including the Jewish Publication Society's own Tanakh, read 'for Babylon' — that is, seventy years belonging to Babylon. The King James Version and the New King James Version read 'at Babylon', so the New World Translation's rendering is shared with them.
Notes. This quote field compiles renderings quoted separately from one Bible Hub parallel page; it is not a continuous passage. Each rendering was checked word for word against the page, which carries over forty versions.
Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID.src-nwtv-bh-jer-29-10
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