There follows an account of the number of exiles taken to Babylon on three different occasions. The first was after the Babylonian invasion in 597 BC, the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, when Jehoiachin and has family were taken. The total number of exiles on this occasion is said to be 3023. This is very different to the number given in 2 Kings 24:14, 16 where the total is recorded as 10 000. One possible reason for this difference is that the number in Jeremiah includes men only while 2 Kings 24:1–20 includes women and children.1 The second group of exiles was taken in 587 BC when Jerusalem fell and the number was 832, which probably also only includes the men. The third and final group taken into exile numbered 745 people, again probably only counting the men. This group was taken in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign which is 582 BC. This may have been a delayed response to the assassination of Gedaliah which would have been seen as an act of rebellion against Babylon.
The total number of exiles taken on all three occasions is 4600. Even if this only represents the men, making the total number of people around 20,000 at most, it would seem to be a surprisingly small number.2 However, one of the main themes of Jeremiah’s message is that the hope of restoration lay with these exiles and not with those who remained in the land. Jeremiah had described the exiles as the good figs
and those who remained as the bad figs
(see Jeremiah 24:1–10). This was in total contradiction to the false prophets who assured those who remained in the land that the Lord was still committed to them as his covenant people, that the exiles would soon return and all would be well. Jeremiah’s message was that restoration could never happen through a simple continuation of the old covenant. Restoration would only happen because the Lord would bring about a new covenant in which he would write his law on the hearts of his people (see Jeremiah 31:31–34). This restoration involved a process of renewal and repentance that the Lord would bring about in those who experienced a prolonged exile in Babylon. Being in exile was part of the process and those who remained in the land where not included. So, the exiles numbered in Jeremiah 52:28–30, no matter how small, represents the future restoration of Judah that would come about because of the Lord’s grace.
28 This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, 3,023 Judeans;