Chaps

The Prophecy of Seventy Septets (or literally 'seventy times seven') appears in the angel Gabriel's reply to Daniel, beginning with verse 22 and ending with verse 27 in the ninth chapter of the Book of Daniel, a work included in both the Jewish Tanakh and the Christian Bible. The prophecy is part of both the Jewish account of history and Christian eschatology.

Text

In chapter nine, Daniel records that an Angel appears to him in response to his prayer and makes a proclamation regarding the timing of important events in the future of the People of Israel.

Mesorah Heritage Foundation translation

The Mesorah Heritage Foundation translation from Hebrew is as follows: Gabriel clarifies

22 He made me understand and spoke with me. He said: Daniel, I have gone forth now to teach you understanding.

23 At the beginning of your supplications a word went forth, and I have come to relate it, for you are beloved. Contemplate this matter and gain understanding in the vision.

24 Seventy septets have been decreed upon your people and upon your holy city to terminate transgression, to end sin, to wipe away iniquity, to bring everlasting righteousness, to confirm the visions and the prophets, and to anoint the Holy of Holies.

25 Know and comprehend: From the emergence of the word to return and to rebuild Jerusalem until the anointment of the prince will be seven septets, and for sixty-two septets it will be rebuilt, street and moat, but in troubled times.

26 Then, after the sixty-two septets, the anointed one will be cut off and will exist no longer; the people of the prince will come will destroy the city and the Sanctuary; but his end will be [to be to be swept away as ] in a flood. Then, until the end of the war, desolation is decreed.

27 He will forge a strong covenant with the great ones for one septet; but for half of that septet he will abolish sacrifice and meal-offering, and the mute abominations will be upon soaring heights, until extermination as decreed will pour down upon the mute [abomination].

American Standard Version translation

The American Standard Version reads as follows:

24 Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.

25 Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times.

26 And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined.

27 And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate.

Literary structure

William H. Shea notes that verses 25-27 form a chiasm (also explained here):

A. Daniel 9:25a (ASV)

Jerusalem Construction:

Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem

B. Daniel 9:25b

Messiah:

unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks:

C. Daniel 9:25c

Jerusalem Construction:

it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times.

D. Daniel 9:26a

Messiah:

And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing:

C'. Daniel 9:26b

Jerusalem Destroyed:

and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined.

B'. Daniel 9:27a

Messiah:

And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease;

A'. Daniel 9:27b

Jerusalem Destroyed:

and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate.

Context

According to the Book of Daniel (9:1), the vision takes place soon after Darius (who may or may not be the same person as Cyrus II, the Persian who controlled Babylon either at the time of the prophecy or shortly later) began his rulership over Babylon. Prior to this, Babylon had been ruled over by Belshazzar, and prior to him Nebuchadnezzar, who had besieged Jerusalem while Daniel was a youth. At the beginning of the scene (Daniel 9:2), Daniel relates that he had read the prophecy foretold by the prophet Jeremiah. The oracle was that after the holy city of Jerusalem, considered God's home by Jews, lay in desolation for 70 years and Judah had endured 70 years of captivity, the king of Babylon would be punished and the Jews would return to Jerusalem (Jer 25:11–12, 29:10 , strictly speaking, are two separate prophecies both of which speak of the same 70 years of Babylonian captivity).

Daniel, being aware of this writing and believing that the fulfillment was near at hand describes how he prayed for the Kingdom of Israel, asking God to have mercy on His rebellious people. Chapter 9 verses 20–23 describe an encounter in which the angel Gabriel came to share the vision.

There are several interpretations which could constitute the 70 years period mentioned in Jeremiah 25 and 29. There are several events that may signify the beginning of "desolation" as well.

The following are three separate starting points in the captivities of Judah.

• The 1st captivity of Judah started around 605 BC. In the aftermath of the Battle of Carchemish Nebuchadnezzar takes a party of Jews captive, signaling the beginning of the destruction of Jerusalem. This is the captivity mentioned in Daniel 1:1 when Daniel and his companions were taken captive.
• The 2nd captivity of Judah started in 597 BC. Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem, but leaves it standing, taking only certain groups of people captive after the Judeans refuse to pay taxes or tribute to Babylonia and then he appoints Zedekiah, the previous king's uncle, as the governor, signaling the beginning of Babylonian control over Judea. This 2nd captivity started the period of Ezekiel's captivity. (Ezekiel. 40:1)
• The 3rd captivity of Judah started in about 587 BC, when Jerusalem and the Temple were burned down by Nebuchadnezzar's army, leaving them in complete desolation. Only a few of the poor were left in Jerusalem at this time. This destruction took place in the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar. (Jeremiah 52:12-16)

There are several periods of 70 years during this captivity time frame. Only one likely fulfills the criteria of Jeremiah 25 & 29. That fulfillment is the 70 years period of time between the 1st captivity of Judah and the release of the Judean captives by Cyrus of Persia. (2 Chronicles 36:22; Ezra 1:1, 7; 3:7; 4:3, 5; 5:13, 17; 6:3, 14; Isaiah 44:28; 45:1;)

• This 70 years counts from the Battle of Carchemish (1st captivity of Judah) until Jerusalem was allowed to be reconstructed by the Decree of Cyrus around 537 BC. To make up for the several years' difference (605 to 537 is 68 years) some propose adjusting of the chronology slightly, or count 70 lunar years (lunar years being slightly shorter than solar years), or propose that 70 was a rounded number under inclusive reckoning. Others shift the termination event until the rebuilding actually began, one or two years later.

• Some other 70 year periods are as follows:

1. From the destruction of Jerusalem in the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar until the Temple was fully rebuilt in the sixth year of Darius I, producing a time frame of 586-516 BC or 70 years. (Jer. 52;12-14; Ezra 6:15)
2. The 70 year period of Divine indignation mentioned in Zechariah 1:12. This period of 70 years ended in the 2nd year of Darius I (Hystaspes) 520 B.C. This Divine anger began when the glory of God left the Temple and Jerusalem. According to Ezekiel 8-10 this took place in the 6th year and 6th month of his captivity or the 2nd captivity of Judah, which would have been the year 590 B.C.

Meaning of "weeks"

One principal debate regarding the words in the prophecy deals with the meaning of Weeks. The Hebrew word shevu`ah (שבועה) or "week" is based on the Hebrew word sheva` (שבע), meaning "seven." Secondly, in this instance the Hebrew word is in the male gender when normally the female version is used. There are three interpretations.

1. A large majority of theologians believe each seven represents seven years. Amilennialists who hold this believe the final fulfillment to have already happened; some premillennialists hold that an anacoluthon exists between the first 69 weeks and the last week (widely believed to be the Tribulation period also mentioned in Revelation). Some believe that the gap is over now that the nation of Israel has gained Jerusalem as its capital.
2. Scholars like J. A. Montgomery also consider the seven to be seven years, but place the fulfillment of the prophecy in the person of Antiochus Epiphanes and consider the book of Daniel to have been written during that time in an effort to engender resistance against the oppression of Antiochus.
3. Various commentators (e.g., some conservative amillennialists, Orthodox Jews) believe that the seventy weeks represent, to one degree or another, an indefinite time scale that cannot be used for definite prediction. Some Orthodox Jews hold the fulfillment to be in the 70 AD destruction of the temple. Philip Mauro believed the first 69 weeks to be 69 sevens of years, but the last to be an indefinite period.
4. Few hold that the weeks in question are sets of 7 days. Some Christians have proposed such theories, but no such theory has gained any degree of acceptance.

Timing of the decree

One aspect of the 70 weeks prophecy is that it specifies a specific starting point in history before the countdown, as it were, begins. In this case it is an edict to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple in Jerusalem. Five edicts concerning reconstruction in Judaea are recorded in the Bible.

• A decree permitting rebuilding of the 2nd Temple (Ezra 1:2-4) issued by Cyrus in the first year of his reign (539-536 BC, depending on reckoning system)
• A decree restarting the construction of the 2nd Temple after a lull and confirming Cyrus' earlier decree (Ezra 6:3-12) granted by Darius in his second year (520-518 BC for Darius Hystaspes, 422-420 BC for Darius Nothus)
• A decree authorizing the use of certain articles for the temple rites and giving certain rights to Ezra and the Jews (Ezra 7:12-26) issued by an "Artaxerxes" in his seventh year. (459-457 BC for Artaxerxes Longimanus, 398-397 BC for Artaxerxes Memnon)
• A decree authorizing the reconstruction of the city of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:4-9), granted by an “Artaxerxes” in his 20th year. (446-444 BC for Artaxerxes Longimanus, 385-384 BC for Artaxerxes Memnon)
• A divine decree issued by God in the 2nd year of Darius I (Hystaspes) commanding Joshua and Zerubabbel to restart construction on the Temple and Jerusalem. These divine commands were witnessed by the two prophets Haggai and Zechariah. (Ezra 6:14, Zechariah 1:16)

Many Christian interpreters, following Sir Robert Anderson and/or Harold W. Hoehner, have held that only the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus explicitly allows for the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem. However, this particular idea does not actually have strong scriptural support. The Bible itself is arguably more directly supportive of the decree of Cyrus or Darius being the key initiating edict (see Isa. 44:28;45:13 Zech.1:16, Ezra 6:14), with many Jews adhering to this same belief.

Other authors have speculated the decree, in a divine prophecy, could be a divine command, which God's responses to Ezra's (several months after his decree was issued) or Nehemiah's prayer (in the month of Kislev the year before his decree was issued) would presumably represent. Jeremiah's prophecies of desolation at the fall of Jerusalem are also supplied as an opening date. Here it is said that the first seven weeks end at the Cyrus decree (exactly 49 years after the Fall of Jerusalem).

Division between the periods

In the prophecy the 69 weeks prior to the last are separated into a set of seven sevens and another set of sixty-two sevens. There is little description in the prophecy to enlighten one as to why the division is there in the first place. Some, such as Edward Young, suggest that the first set of 49 years represents the gap between one decree and another. His viewpoint is that the first decree by Cyrus represents the beginning of the prophecy, and the decree by Darius is represented by the second part of the prophecy (admittedly, this would force 49 years to lie between 538 BC and 520 BC, but Young does not hold that the years are definite measures of time)...

Another viewpoint is that the first seven set of seven years represents the time it took to clean out Jerusalem and restore the city. This is John Walvoord's supposition, but he does not consider it particularly important in the grand scheme of things.

A composite interpretation involves the identification of the Ezra decree's progenitor with Artaxerxes. Then, there are 49 years between Nehemiah's decree and Ezra's decree. Since Nehemiah's decree was followed by a start to rebuilding and Ezra's decree was followed by the end of the temple building and the dedication of the new temple, the two events can also stand as the endpoints of the restoration period.

Fulfillment

A variety of opinion is present as to possible fulfillment of the prophecy.

Jewish viewpoints

Rashi explains that this scripture passage refers to the 70 years of exile that have passed from the destruction of the First Temple until this vision, and the entire 420 year period of the Second Temple. Rashi believes it refers to Agrippa II (whom he believes to have died at the time of the Temple's destruction.) There is an opinion that the "anointed" here is actually Joshua ben Jozadak, the High Priest who was one of the first Jews to return from Babylon to Israel and restore the sacrificial service in the Temple. Others say that the "anointed" is Zerubabel, who led the return to Israel. As he was of royal pedigree, he is called "anointed" (every Jewish king was anointed). Rabbi Saadia Gaon understands it as a reference to the Temple service of Kohanim that will come to an end with the destruction of the Second Temple.

According to Rabbi Shishler, the sixty-two weeks mentioned in Daniel 9:25 are correctly separated in the original Hebrew from the seven weeks by the punctuation mark 'atnach which is omitted in the King James Version. By creating a sixty-nine week period, which is not divided into two separate periods of seven weeks and sixty-two weeks respectively, Christians reach an incorrect conclusion, i.e., that the Messiah will come 483 years after the destruction of the First Temple. The 'atnach is the appropriate equivalent of the semicolon in the modern system of punctuation. It thus has the effect of separating the seven weeks from the sixty-two weeks: ". . . until an anointed one, a prince, shall be seven weeks; then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again . . ." (9:25). Hence, two anointed ones are spoken of in Daniel 9, one of whom comes after seven weeks, and the other after a further period of sixty-two weeks.... The first "anointed" is Cyrus(Isaiah 45:1) whose decree to rebuild Jerusalem comes forty-nine years after the destruction of the city and the Temple, which is the time when an "anointed one" (Daniel 9:25) is to come to fulfill the prophecy(586-49=537 B.C.E). The second segment of the Seventy Weeks period, sixty-two weeks in length, covered by verse 26, culminates in 103 B.C.E. (586-49-434=103 B.C.E.). Verse 26 indicates that "after sixty-two weeks an anointed one shall be cut off." This "anointed one" is the High Priest Alexander Yannai(103-76 B.C.E.) who came to power just at the end of the sixty-two week period in 103 B.C.E. and was the last of the important Hasmonean leaders. The phrase "after sixty-two weeks" indicates the time frame during which the "anointed one shall be cut off," that is, suffer karet, "excision." The penalty accompanying karet is here aptly described as "to have nothing," or "be no more." This punishment is given to Alexander Yannai infamous for his unjust, tyrannical, and bloody rule. He is notorious for his open violent animosity against the Pharisees and his brazen rejection of the Oral Law. For example, Josephus records that Alexander Yannai fought against the Pharisees for six years, "and . . . slew no fewer than fifty thousand of them" (Jewish Antiquities XIII. 13. 5. [373]). He also "ordered some eight hundred of the Jews to be crucified, and slaughtered their children and wives before the eyes of the still living wretches" (Jewish Antiquities XIII. 14. 2. [380]).

Scholarly viewpoint

Coin of Antiochus Epiphanes. Reverse shows Apollo on an omphalos. The inscription ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ means ("of Antiochus, God Manifest, Bearer of Victory").

The majority of modern scholarly commentaries on the Book of Daniel and some Evangelical scholars(Vanderwaal, Goldingay, Ernest Lucas) hold that the prophecy was fulfilled in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. In this view, the "cutting off" of an anointed one may refer to the murder of the high priest Onias in 170 BC; the destruction of the city refers to the sacking of Jerusalem in 168 BC; the "strong covenant" refers to a treaty between apostate Jews and Antiochus; the "cessation of sacrifice and offering" refers to the decree of Antiochus suspending temple offerings in 167 BC; and the "desolating sacrilege" refers to the altar of Zeus which Antiocus set up in the temple. An account of these events is found in the intertestamental book of 1 Maccabees.

Christian viewpoints

Christians believe that the 69th week reaches its fulfillment during the life of Jesus Christ, although there is little consensus regarding whether it points to his birth, baptism, transfiguration, triumphal entry, crucifixion, or some combination of these events. There are three schools of thought on how the 70th week should be interpreted. Historicists hold that the 70th week was fulfilled in the ministry and death of Jesus while Preterists believe that the 70th week was fulfilled in the Destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. By contrast, the Futurist school places a large time gap of nearly 2000 years between the 69th and 70th week(the 7 year tribulation period).

One traditional chronology of the 69 weeks has been done from Ezra's decree in 458 BC to AD 26, the alleged date of Christ's baptism, a span of 483 solar years. Some have used other methods to determine the chronology, some exact to the day.

Sir Robert Anderson used lunar data to fix the date of the first day of the first month of the twentieth year of Artaxerxes (the day implied in Nehemiah) to March 14, 445 BC. He showed that, based on various apparent references to the Great Tribulation both as three and a half years and also as 1260 days, 360 days could be fixed as the length of what he called a "prophetic year". He fixed the end date to April 6, 32, which he offered as the date of the Triumphal Entry. Alva McClain and others have since concurred with this viewpoint. There have been objections raised to some of Anderson's calculations. For instance, later calculations have confirmed that Anderson was off by one day, as the opening date was a Friday, but the closing date a Sunday, something that could not happen in a whole number of seven-time periods (keeping in mind that in any given whole seven-time period, the closing date will always be shifted by one day from the opening date [for example, counting seven complete days from Noon on a Tuesday will end on Noon on a Wednesday]). Also, Babylonian records appear to show a leap month in 445 BC (so Nisan 1, the date of the decree, should be one month later on April 13). Moreover, Sunday, April 6 was almost certainly not Nisan 10, and more likely Nisan 6, with Passover eight days later on Monday the 14th. Furthermore, even if we took Anderson's start and end day to be correct, it has been proven that his calculations are incorrect by 3 days due to his lack of understanding in regards to Julian and Gregorian dates.

Harold Hoehner set forth revisions to Anderson and gave an opening date of March 4, 444 BC (the one year shift being due to a different accession date of Artaxerxes) with the end of the 69 weeks on March 30, 33. The same errors with Anderson's calculations also plague Hoehner's, for he miscalculated the length of a year. The leap month means that Nisan 1 probably occurred on April 3 or 4. Ron Bigalke Jr. set forth revisions to Anderson and Hoehner based on the year of Artaxerxes succession as August 465 BC which Hoehner timed as December 465 BC. According to Bigalke, the end of the 69 weeks may be March 26, 33. However, this event loses its significance as the Triumphal Entry, for it does not occur on Sunday as church tradition dictates, nor on Monday as some new interpretations report. Bigalke did indicate the problem of a 26 March date since it would be too soon before Jesus' arrival in Bethany and the Passover. He stated that Hoehner did admit the possibility that Artaxerxes may have given permission to Nehemiah later than 1 Nisan. Bigalke's conclusion was if the starting date was 5 Nisan (which Hoehner left possible) then the number of days would be an exact 173,880 days.

The 19th century theologian Nathaniel West offered a completely different Christian solution and utilized internal biblical evidence to begin the prophecy with the decree of Cyrus (see Isa. 44:28, 45:13) and end the 69th week with the birth of Jesus' rather than with Jesus' Triumphal Entry. This solution has recently been further developed and defended by T.T. Schlegel.

Historicist School

Seventh-day Adventist interpretation

Beginning of 70 Weeks: The third decree in 457 BC marks beginning of 70 weeks. King reigns were counted from New Year to New Year following an 'Accession Year'. The Persian New Year began in Nisan (March-April). The Jewish civil New Year began in Tishri (September-October).

File:27AD.jpg

Ending of 70 Weeks: Tiberius Caesar began ruling in the Fall of 13 AD. His 15th year began in the Fall of 27 AD, which also marks the end of the 69 weeks and the baptism of Jesus. The Gospel went to "My people" for 490 years, then it went to the Gentiles also.

The 2300 day prophecy time line.

Coming out of the 19th century Millerite movement, Seventh-day Adventists (SDAs) placed strong emphasis on the prophecies of the 70 weeks and the 2300 days.

The beginning of the 70 weeks prophecy started with the decree by Artaxerxes that allowed for Jerusalem to be restored and rebuilt. Two previous decrees only dealt with the construction of the Temple. The beginning of the 70 weeks occurred in 457 BC during Artaxerxes' 7th year as counted by the Jewish civil calendar.

The length of the prophetic 69 weeks is 483 prophetic days. Citing other prophecies where a prophetic day represents a literal year, SDAs set the 483 prophetic days to 483 literal years. The ending year of the 69 weeks is calculated: -457 BC + 483 yrs + 1 yr (for switch from BC to AD) = 27 AD.

Jesus began his ministry after his baptism by John. John began baptizing in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar which was, according to history, in 27 AD. Daniel 9:25 states that the Anointed One, the Messiah, would come at the end of the 69 weeks. The 69 weeks ended in 27 AD. The ministry of Jesus began in 27 AD.

After the 69 weeks the "Anointed One will be cut off." In 31 AD, after the end of the 69 weeks, Jesus died on the cross confirming the first Biblical covenant--"He will confirm a covenant with many for one seven."

Jesus was baptized in the Fall of 27 AD and died in the Spring (Easter) of 31 AD -- 3 1/2 years later. Daniel 9:27 says "In the middle of the seven he will put an end to sacrifice and offering." At the time of Jesus' death the 4 inch (10 cm) thick curtain between the Holy and Most Holy Places in the temple was ripped from top to bottom signifying the end of the earthly temple's sacrificial system. Type had met anti-type.

The stoning of Stephen and the conversion of Saul marked the beginning of the gospel to the Gentiles. The 70 weeks were for "My people", i.e., the Jewish nation. At the end of the 70th week in 35 AD, the gospel also went to the Gentiles.

Besides being concerned with the Anointed One, the 70 week prophecy also talks about the restoration of Jerusalem and it's destruction again. In about 538 BC, the first returning Jewish exiles began work on reconstructing the Temple. But it was not until about 520 BC that work began in earnest. It was finished in 515 BC. The city was somewhat restored, but it wasn't until 444 BC that the walls were completed by Nehemiah.

Not long after the Messiah was cut off and the gospel also went to the Gentiles, Jerusalem and the Temple were made a desolation, completely destroyed by the Roman armies in 70 AD. Horrors and atrocities were perpetrated upon the Jewish nation as part of the war against the Jews. The Temple was burned to the ground for the last time. As Jesus had said, 'not one stone would stand on another,' the massive foundation stones were pried apart by soldiers to get melted Temple gold that had run down the cracks.

In this way, all of the 70-weeks prophecy is fulfilled.

According to SDA eschatology, the 70 weeks were "decreed" (actually "cut off") for the Jewish people from the 2300-day prophecy of Daniel 8:14. The 70 weeks, therefore, marks the first part of the 2300-day prophecy.

Jehovah's Witnesses interpretation

Jehovah's Witnesses have traditionally placed strong emphasis on the prophecy of 70 weeks. They believe that the beginning of the seventy weeks occurred in 455 BC (the decree of Artaxerxes in his 20th year for Nehemiah). Using James Ussher and Diodorus Siculus to believe Artaxerxes began in 474 BC when Xerxes ended 21 years from his coregency of 495-486 BC. The final week thus begins in 29 AD (the baptism of Jesus), the middle of the week corresponds to Jesus' execution, and the end of the week marks the announcement of the gospel to the Gentiles in 36 CE. Lunar dates are confirmed if the reigns of Xerxes Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes used the Persian calendar 5 days behind the Egyptian calendar (their Epagum 1 on Egyptian Thoth 1, and their Thoth 1 renamed as Zoroastrian Deh 1 falling on Egyptian Thoth 6). In 388 BC according to THE BOOK OF CALENDARS the Gatha days (epagum) were moved to Koyak 1 so that the new year fell on Koyak 6 and the month Koyak was renamed Furvurdeen. This caused Deh and Bahman and Aspendadmad to fall on the same exact 30 days as Thoth and Phaophi and Hathyr (the other 9 months still remaining 5 days ahead of the Egyptian calendar).

In 33 AD, 3.5 years (midway) into the 70th week of years, the Messiah died on the stake confirming the first Biblical covenant and ending the temple's typical sacrificial system. The 4 inch (10 cm) thick curtain between the Holy and Most Holy Places in the temple was ripped from top to bottom at the time of the Messiah's death signifying the end of the temple's sacrificial system.

Much research has gone into the dating of the Jehovah's Witness dating of the reigns of Artaxerxes and Xerxes. The best summary of their belief is in 'Insight on the Scriptures'. However, there are problems. For example, the dated Babylonian tablets which substantiate the longer reign of Artaxerxes, according to the original study, were redated closer to the conservative date and suspiciously there is no tablet dated between the extended final years of Artaxerxes and the more conservative date of the end of his reign. But in no way does this distract from the validity of the prophecy. The words 'from the going forth of the word' could mean when Ezra's word reached Jerusalem.

One site says (apologies for the somewhat antagonistic tone): "But either the Watch Tower Society conceals the real facts about these two tablets, or they have done very poor research on the matter. The first tablet, designated "A. 124" by Thompson in his Catalogue from 1927, is not dated in the accession-year of Xerxes (486/485), as Thompson indicated. This was a copying error by Thompson. The tablet is actually dated in the first year of Xerxes (485/484 BC). This was pointed out as far back as in 1941 by George G. Cameron in The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literature, Vol. LVIII, p. 320, ftn. 33. Thus there was no "overlapping" of the two reigns.

The second tablet, "VAT 4397", published as No. 634 by M. San Nicolo and A. Ungnad in their work from 1934, was dated by them to the fifth month ("Ab"). It should be noted, however, that the authors put a question mark after the month name. The sign of the month on the tablet is damaged and may be reconstructed in several ways. In the more recent work by Parker and Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology, published in 1956, where the same tablet is designated "VAS VI 177", the authors point out that the tablet "has the month sign damaged. It might be IX [9] but more probably is XII [12]." (Page 17) The original guess by Nicolo and Ungnad is dropped altogether. As Darius died in the 7th month, a tablet dated to the 9th or 12th month in the accession-year of his successor is quite all right."

Futurist School

Dispensationalist interpretation

See also: Great Tribulation and Futurism (Christian eschatology)

Dispensationalists typically hold that a 'hiatus', which some refer to a 'biblical parenthesis', occurred between the 69th and 70th week of the prophecy, into which the "church age" is inserted (this is also known as the "gap theory" of Daniel 9). The seventieth week of the prophecy is expected to commence after the rapture of the church, and will include the setup of an economic system utilizing the number '666', the reign of the beast, who is commonly known as the Antichrist, the false religious system known as the harlot, the Great Tribulation and the Campaign of Armageddon.

Controversy over the antecedent of he in Daniel 9:27 rages on in prophetic circles - many within the ranks of Premillennialism do not affirm the "confirmation of the covenant" is made by Jesus Christ (as do many Amillennarians) but the antecedent of "he" in vs. 27 refers back to vs. 26 ("the prince who is to come"--i.e., the Antichrist). Antichrist will make a future "treaty" as the Prince of the Covenant (i.e., "the prince who is to come") with Israel's future leadership at the commencement of the Seventieth Week of Daniel's prophecy but in the midst of the week he, the Antichrist, will break the treaty and commence persecution against a regathered Israel. (Please see Doug Krieger, "Unsealing the End of Days...The Visions and Prophecy of Zechariah" (E-Book). Also: Sir Robert Anderson, The Coming Prince (ISBN 0-8254-2115-2). The 70th Week Prophecy of Daniel is affirmed by nearly all brands or derivations of dispensationalism to refer to the Jewish people, not exclusively to the Church - these dispensationalists infer that those Christian eschatologies which attempt to replace the initial remarks in Daniel 9:24 with today's Church, violate the biblical literalism of the Scripture and distort the hermeneutics of the passage:

"Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city" (Daniel 9:24a).

By appropriating the Seventy Week Prophecy of Daniel to the Church (i.e., the "New Israel of God") dispensationalists see a clear attempt at supersessionism on the part those eschatologies which assert that National Israel plays no future prophetic role.

The attribution of Jesus Christ as the "he" in Daniel 9:27 who "breaks covenant" with the Jewish people is seen by dispensationalists as a most critical piece of Bible prophecy. Some claim that such a designation borders on heresy in that "Jesus Christ does the work of Antichrist?"

They claim that to assign the breaking of this future covenant to be made by Antichrist with the Jews to history past (i.e., to the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ) distorts the chronological order of the text, and denigrates the person and work of Jesus Christ (i.e., Jesus Christ does the work of Antichrist).

Progressive dispensationalism Interpretations

The continuity of the 69th and the 70th week are purposefully separated - just as the first and second comings of Christ are separated by a period of time ("Until Messiah the Prince" in Daniel 9:25 refers to the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and presentation of His Messiahship to Israel; whereas in Daniel 9:26, after 69 Weeks, "Messiah shall be cut off" refers to the crucifixion of Jesus four days after Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem). These two events (the Triumphal Entry and the Crucifixion of Jesus) are appropriately sequenced in Daniel 9:24 and 9:25; and then the final 70th Week of Daniel's prophecy takes place after 70 AD ("the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary" (Dan. 9:26) (Note: These premillenarians affirm that Titus in 70 AD destroyed the city and the sanctuary; however, it is "the people" of the "coming prince" - i.e., the Romans who destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD; however, the "coming prince" refers to the "he" as in "Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week" in Daniel 9:27.). These Premillenarians (e.g., Dallas Theological Seminary) affirm that the entire 70th Week of Daniel's prophecy is yet future, and that Antichrist will inaugurate its commencement.

Progressive dispensationalism does not hold that the rapture of the Church occurs before the commencement of the 70th Week, yet future, but at the terminus of the 70th Week. The chronologies or time lines in Daniel - particularly Daniel 8:13-14 - which mentions (according to these premillenarians) the length in days (not years) from the "future commencement" within the context of a future 70th Week of Daniel of both (1) "the daily sacrifices" or the commencement of the sacerdotal rites of a new Jewish Temple within the 70th Week of Daniel; and (2) "the transgression (i.e., abomination) of desolation" wherein "both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot" (Daniel 8:13) take place . . . is precisely a period mentioned in Daniel 8:14: "For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed." Prophetic items dealing with the future Sanctuary of the Jews are cast into a time yet future--the Seventieth Week of Daniel.

Progressive dispensationalists do not accord exclusive rights to the 2,300 days to either the time frames around the time of Antiochus Epiphanes nor assign them the designations as "day-years". Both dispensationalists and progressive dispensationalists (as well as nearly all other mainline evangelicals) do not accord any eschatological credibility to the so-called Investigative Judgment. The 2,300 days commence on the 250th day of the 70th Week of Daniel (wherein the sacerdotal rites of the Jewish Third Temple commence) and are terminated at the mid-point of the future 70th Week or at the end of the first 1,260 days of the future 70th Week (i.e., 1,010 days the sacerdotal rites will be maintained). Then, for the next 1,290 days or up through the 2,300 days, "desolations" will persist (i.e., 1,010 days + 1,290 days = 2,300 days); to wit:

"'How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?' And he said to me, 'For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed'" (Daniel 8:13b-14).

"And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days" (Daniel 12:11).

The "daily sacrifice is taken away" in the midst of the 70th Week - also known as the "Abomination of Desolation" mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 and by the Apostle Paul in his allusions to the "Man of Sin" - the "Son of Perdition" - the "Lawless One" - in II Thessalonians 2:1-12:

"...and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God" (II Thess. 2:3-4).

The terminus of the 70th Week is at the close of the second set of 1,260 days or the period also known as the "42 months" (Revelation 11:2) or of "time, times and half a time" (Daniel 12:7; Revelation 12:14) or the time of the "Great Tribulation" or the final 3.5 days (as 3.5 years) or the latter half (again) of the 70th Week of Daniel (Revelation 11:9, 11). The first 1,260 days demonstrate the prevailing testimony of the Two Witnesses(Revelation 11:3-6); whereas the last half of Daniel's 70th Week represents the persecution by the Beast and the trampling underfoot of the Gentiles of these Two Witnesses (Revelation 11:2, 7-8; 12:17).

The 1,290th day (Daniel 12:11) is 30 days beyond the close of the second half of the 70th Week or 30 days beyond the 1,260 days or the 1,290th day. It is during this time frame (30 days) that the Wrath of God/Wrath of the Lamb and the climax of Armageddon takes place (Revelation 14:17-20; 16:16). Also, it is at the terminus of the 70th Week on the final 1,260th day that the resurrection/rapture of the saints takes place--prior to God's Wrath (Revelation 14:10) being poured out.

The Second Coming of Christ will take place on the 1,290th Day - at the close of the "desolations" and/or 2,300 days from the time the Jews commence their sacerdotal rites in their Third Temple until the final day of the desolations. The final 35 days (Daniel 12:12: "Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days") is the period of time wherein Jesus shall be revealed to National Israel as Messiah (Zechariah 12:10-14; Matthew 23:39; Romans 11:25-29) and the "judgment of the nations" (Matthew 25:31-34) will take place prior to the commencement of the 1,000-year "literal" Millennium period on the earth.

Other interpretations

Perhaps the most convincing of the alternatives to the "mainstream" interpretations is that presented in R.C. Newman et al., "Public theology and prophecy data: Factual evidence that counts for the biblical world view," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 46/1 March 2003, 79–110. This paper interprets the "seventy sevens" in the Daniel 9:24–26 prophecy to be seventy shemittot (or Sabbatical) Cycles. Sabbatical years begin on 1 Tishri (and not 1 Nisan) of every seventh year; with the Jubilee year also beginning on 1 Tishri and being completed every (49 + 1 =) 50 years (b. Nedarim 61a; b. Rosh Hashannah 9b). As such, the decree to rebuild Jerusalem during the twentieth year of Artaxerxes I would have occurred in the first of these "seventy sevens"; and the Messiah would have been "cut off" in the sixth-ninth of these "sevens." For a list of in what span of years these Sabbatical Cycles occurred in Jewish history, see Benedict Zuckermann, Jahresbericht des jüdisch-theologischen Seminars, Breslau, Germany. 1857.

However, some scholars still believe that no intelligible specific fulfillment exists. Among these are J.A. Montgomery and Edward Young.

See also

• 2300 day prophecy
• Armageddon
• Apocalypse
• Book of Daniel
• Nebuchadnezzar's statue vision in Daniel 2
• Daniel's Vision of Chapter 7
• Daniel's Vision of Chapter 8
• Daniel Prophecy Literary Parallels
• Book of Revelation
• Christian eschatology
• Dispensationalism - which posits a "parenthesis" between weeks 69 and 70 in the historic fulfilment.
• Post Tribulation
• The Two Witnesses
• Olivet discourse

Bibliography

• Sir Robert Anderson, The Coming Prince (ISBN 0-8254-2115-2)
• Ron J. Bigalke Jr., "Government of the Future," in One World (ISBN 0-9749811-8-4)
• Harold W. Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ (ISBN 0-310-26211-9)
• Clarence Larkin, The Book of Daniel (ISBN 0-7661-8573-7)
• Holbrook, Frank. ed., The Seventy Weeks, Leviticus, and the Nature of Prophecy 1986, (ISBN-10: 0-9256-7502-4)
• T. T. Schlegel, Know Therefore and Understand: A Biblical Explication of the First 69 Weeks of Daniel 9 (ISBN 0-9704330-9-3)
• John F. Walvoord, Daniel: The Key To Prophetic Revelation (ISBN 0-8024-1753-1)
• Nathaniel West, The Thousand Year Reign of Christ (ISBN 0-8254-4000-9)

External links

• The 70 Weeks and 457 B.C.
• When Did the Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9:24 Begin?
• A discussion of Jewish thought on the endtimes
• Historicist views on 70 Weeks
• Antichrist: Reflections on the Desolator - Chapters 25 and 27
• The Prophetic Sequence - Parts XVII, XVIII, XIX, XXIV and XXV
• 70 weeks : 455 BC to 36 AD (french)
• Daniel's Seventy Weeks - A Divine Command to Restore and Build Jerusalem
• A Critical Examination of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy