Step still to come (one reading among others)
Elam: the broken bow, then the return of the captives "in the latter days" (Jer 49:34-39)
? Not yet happened, no date
See the full entry: sources, objections, answersIn short
The announcement. The prophet Jeremiah, in the book of Jeremiah, around 597 BC, announces the ruin of Elam and the scattering of its people, then promises: "in the latter days, I will bring back the captives of Elam".
What happened. Elam disappears in the 6th century BC and becomes a province of the Persian empire; Susa even becomes a Persian capital. For the return of the captives, the text gives no date. Already fulfilled, under way, or still to come? Readings differ: it is up to you to judge.
What is still debated. Elam is only one region of present-day Iran, and applying this promise to all of Iran, or to conversions, is one reading. Jeremiah also makes the same promise to Moab and to Ammon, two other neighboring peoples.
Main objection (in French for now)
Les versets 35 à 37 sont lus comme accomplis : Élam, conquis par les Assyriens puis absorbé par l’empire perse, a disparu comme peuple. « Je placerai mon trône dans Élam » peut viser Suse, capitale perse, où Daniel situe l’une de ses visions (Dn 8:2).
The text (World English Bible)
The LORD’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, “The LORD of Armies says: ‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. I will bring on Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them toward all those winds. There will be no nation where the outcasts of Elam will not come. I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life. I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger,’ says the LORD; ‘and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them. I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from there king and…
Jer 49:34-39