Taking the historical background into account, it was evidently written somewhere between the destruction of Jerusalem (586 BC) and the release of King Jehoiachin (ca 562 BC; cf. 2 Kings 25:27–30). When the despairing tone of the last chapter is considered, it seems that the writer did not know about King Jehoiachin’s release from prison. Some scholars also surmise that Jeremiah’s prophecies of the restoration of Israel (Jeremiah 30:1–33:26) were unknown at the time of writing.1
1 How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave.