Jeremiah 52:30

The third group, of 745 people (presumably adult males), went to Babylon under Nebuzaradan’s authority in 581 B.C. This may have happened as the result of a punitive raid conducted after the assassination of Gedaliah. The total number of exiles counted here was 4,600 persons. This was a very small number of people.

"Perhaps the editor wanted to make the point that Yahweh could build a new future out of a mere handful of people." [Note: Thompson, p. 783.]

The first group of exiles really went to Babylon in 605 B.C. (2 Kings 24:1; 2 Chronicles 36:6-7; Daniel 1:1-7). Why did the writer not mention that group? Perhaps he wanted to record only three deportations, and not four, since three signified a complete work of God to the Israelites. [Note: See Feinberg, "Jeremiah," p. 690, and Dyer, "Jeremiah," pp. 1205-6, for other explanations.]

The total number of Jews who returned to Judah from Babylon at the end of the Exile, in three companies, amounted to about 97,000. About 50,000 returned in 536 B.C., about 5,000 in 458 B.C., and about 42,000 in 444 B.C.