Prophecy of Seventy Weeks

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; as well as the Septuagint. 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.

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.

Interpretations

Verse	(Judaica Press translation with Rashi commentary)	ASV	KJV	NIV
Dan 9:24	and to anoint the ' Holy of Holies.' It is claimed by Christians that this refers to the anointing of Jesus but this is disputed by Jewish and modern scholars since the English translations omit the word "place" or "Holy of Holies" (Mesorah Heritage Translation)	and to anoint the most holy.	and to anoint the most Holy.	and to anoint the most holy.
Dan 9:25	until the anointed king. It is claimed by Jews for Judaism that it does not read "the Messiah the Prince," but, having no article, it is to be rendered "a mashiach ["anointed one," "messiah"], a prince," and that the word mashiach is nowhere used in the Jewish Scriptures as a proper name, but as a title of authority of a king or a high priest. The Judaica Press translation [2] translates it as "the anointed king." מָשִׁיחַ נָגִיד "mashiyah-nagid" in Daniel 9:25 translates to "anointed prince" with no article (e.g. "the" messiah prince). Christians claim that both Messiah and Prince are titles not names. The anointed one according to them is both Messiah and Prince.	unto the anointed one, the prince	unto the Messiah the Prince	until the Anointed One, the ruler
Dan 9:25	until the anointed king [shall be] seven weeks, and [in] sixty-two weeks it will return and be built street and moat, but in troubled times. Unlike modern English, the earliest Hebrew text, as reflected in the Dead Sea scrolls, was not written with punctuation. It used syntactic markers to structure discourse. One such marker is the conjunction waw which indicates consecutive order of events. So 7 weeks is followed by 62 weeks. 7 wks + 62 wks + 1 wk = 70 wks. (When the Masoretic text was developed, the scribes included punctuation marks to help underline the syntactic structure of Hebrew discourse.) Rashi, (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki), (February 22, 1040 – July 13, 1105), was a medieval French rabbi famed for his commentary on the Jewish Bible, wrote of Daniel 9:25 that the first messiah was Cyrus: "Time will be given from the day of the destruction until the coming of Cyrus, king of Persia, about whom the Holy One, blessed be He, said that he would return and build His city, and He called him His anointed and His king, as it says (Isa. 45:1): “So said the Lord to His anointed one, to Cyrus etc.” (verse 13): “He shall build My city and free My exiles, etc.”	And after the sixty-two weeks, the anointed one will be cut off, and he will be no more	unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: The Hebrew text makes explicit that "seven weeks" and "sixty-two weeks" are separate durations. The first referring back to the time from the word to restore till the anointed prince, while the second refers to the time Jerusalem will remain rebuilt. This is how the earliest editions of the King James Version (1611–1785) represent the text. The Masoretic text makes the same meaning explicit through punctuating the verse so there can be no doubt. However, in 1785, an annotated edition appeared which added an explanatory note to the verse suggesting that "a colon should be placed at the end of this sentence", that is after the seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. The motivation for this note was that the prophecy is then "justly allowed to be one of the noblest…in the Old Testament, as it is one of the strongest proofs against the Jews, in favour of Christianity… since it determines the very time Christ was to come into the world, enter into his ministry, and be cut off for the sins of the people." 13 years later in 1798 the suggested emendation moved out of the explanatory note and into the text. Rashi wrote that "the anointed one will be cut off: Agrippa, the king of Judea, who was ruling at the time of the destruction, will be slain."
Dan 9:27	And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week; and for half of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and upon the wing of detestable things shall be that which causeth appalment; SDA historicists argue that the "he" refers to the "anointed one" in verse 26. Biblical scholars of the Daniel & Revelation Committee argue that both Hebrew grammar and common chiasmic literary structure together indicate which he is which. Rashi wrote that " לָרַבִּים, for the princes, like “and all the officers of (רַבֵּי) the king,” in the Book of Jeremiah (39:13)." Dispensationalists and other Christian scholars dispute this interpretation. According to Arnold Fruchtenbaum, a Christian minister and founder of Ariel Ministries,the rules of the Hebrew grammar indicates that a pronoun must go back to its nearest antecedent. The nearest antecedent to the pronoun "he" in verse 27 is "the prince who shall come" in verse 26. So the "prince who shall come" is the same as the "he" who makes the covenant.	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 he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate,	He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation

Literary structure

See also: Book_of_Daniel § Literary_structure

Historicist William H. Shea notes that verses 25-27 form a chiasm:

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

Anointed one:

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

Anointed one:

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

Anointed one:

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.

Meaning of "weeks"

One concern 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."

1. A large majority of theologians, including Millennialists, believe each seven represents seven years. Some base this on the day-year principle, as seen in Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6. Amillennialists who hold to the seven-year meaning 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).
2. Philip Mauro believed the first 69 weeks to be 69 sevens of years, but the last to be an indefinite period.
3. Few hold that the weeks in question are sets of 7 literal days, for the fulfillment of the prophecy with its many events would take more than 70 literal weeks. Some Christians have proposed such theories, but no such theory has gained any degree of acceptance.

Interpretations

Mainstream scholarship

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

Mainstream academic scholarship apply the seventy weeks to the period between the exile and death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 164 BCE. This view is supported by the Jewish Encyclopedia, the Jewish Publication Society study bible, the Catholic New American Bible commentary and some Evangelical Christian scholars (Vanderwaal, Goldingay, Lucas). It is considered an ex eventu prophecy fulfilled in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes who is interpreted as "the prince" in Daniel 9:26. The "anointed," mentioned after the first seven times seven units, must be Cyrus, who is called the anointed of the Lord in Isa. xlv. 1 also. He concluded the first seven weeks of years by issuing the decree of liberation, and the time that elapsed between the Chaldean destruction of Jerusalem (586) and the year 538 was just about forty-nine years. The duration of the sixty-two times seven units (434 years) does not correspond with the time 538-171 (367 years); but the chronological knowledge of that age and the historical knowledge of the author was not very exact. This is all the more evident as the last period of seven units must include the seven years 170-164. This week of years began with the "cutting off of an anointed one" (9:26)— referring to the murder of the legitimate high priest Onias III (compare Lev. iv. 3 et seq. on the anointing of the priest) in 170 BC; the "destruction of the city" (9:26) refers to the destruction of Jerusalem and the desolation of the Temple in 168 BC by the forces of Antiochus (1 Macc 1:29–39); the "unto the end of the war" (9:26) refers to the end of the Sixth Syrian War when Antiochus vented his anger on Jerusalem after suffering a humiliating defeat against Egypt (cf Daniel 11:30); the "strong covenant" (9:27) refers to a treaty between apostate Jews and Antiochus; the "cessation of sacrifice and offering" (9:27) refers to the decree of Antiochus suspending temple offerings in 167 BC; the "abomination that causes desolation" (9:27) refers to the altar of Zeus which Antiochus set up in the temple; and the anointing of the Holy of Holies (9:24) refers to the reconsecration of the Temple in 164 BC.

Jewish viewpoints

According to Jews for Judaism, 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 Anointed one 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 BC). The second segment of the Seventy Weeks period, sixty-two weeks long, covered by verse 26, culminates in 103 BC (586-49-434=103 BC). 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 BC) who came to power just at the end of the sixty-two week period in 103 BC 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]).

Christian viewpoints

Sir Isaac Newton called the seventy weeks the foundation of the Christian religion. Many Christian commentators hold that the 69th week reached 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.

Futurist school

Dispensationalist interpretation

See also: Great Tribulation and Futurism (Christian eschatology)

Dispensationalists typically hold that a 'hiatus', which some refer to as a 'biblical parenthesis', occurred between the 69th and 70th week of the prophecy, into which the "church age" is inserted (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, which will incorporate the establishment of an economic system using the number '666', the reign of the beast (the Antichrist), the false religious system (the harlot), the Great Tribulation and Armageddon.

Controversy exists regarding the antecedent of he in Daniel 9:27. Many within the ranks of premillennialism do not affirm the "confirmation of the covenant" is made by Jesus Christ (as do many Amillennarians) but that 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 "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; in the midst of the week, the Antichrist will break the treaty and commence persecution against a regathered Israel.

Historicist school

Main article: Historicism (Christianity)

Jehovah's Witnesses interpretation

Jehovah's Witnesses place 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).

Carl Olof Jonsson, a former Witness, states:

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."

Rolf Furuli—one of Jehovah's Witnesses—reviewed data from about 7,000 business tablets from the New Babylonian Empire, concluding that just over half of the evidence that Parker and Dubberstein uses has no real value. He stated that "A comparison of 1450 cuneiform tablets dated in the reigns of the Persian kings reveals tablets for most of the kings that contradict P&D's scheme." He goes on to say:

The most trustworthy cuneiform evidence consists of dated business tablets. ... A comparison of these tablets suggests a different chronology compared with the one advocated by P&D. The business tablets demand that Bardiya (Gaumata, who probably is the "Artaxerxes" of Ezra 4:23) ruled for 18 months between Cambyses and Darius I. Thus the accession year of Darius I is pushed one year forward. There are strong reasons to believe that Xerxes was co-regent with Darius I for 11 years. (Evidence: 1) Tablets are dated to the accession year of Xerxes before the last tablets of the 36th year of Darius I, 2) drawings and inscriptions make the two equal and give them the same titles, 3) different titles used by Xerxes after his 11th year, 4) the pattern of intercalary months is the same in the last 11 years of Darius and the first 11 years of Xerxes). The reign of Xerxes is pushed back 10 years (11 years of the co-regency minus the 1 year of Bardiya). Thus the accession year of Artaxerxes I is taken as 475 B.C.E., ten years before 465, which is advocated by P&D. This means that the 20th year of Artaxerxes (Neh. 2:1) is 455 B.C.E. The business tablets may indicate that Artaxerxes I ruled 51 years or even through his 51st year and a few days into his 52nd year. Thus the reign of Darius II is pushed forward one year (Xerxes II/Sogdianos may have ruled a short time between Artaxerxes I and Darius II).

Seventh-day Adventist interpretation

Beginning of the 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).

Ending of the 70 Weeks: Tiberius Caesar began ruling in the Fall of 13 AD. Thus his 15th year began in the Fall of 27 AD which also marks the baptism of Jesus. This is precisely 69 weeks (i.e. 483 years) after 457 BC fulfilling the prophecy to the very year. 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 placed strong emphasis on understanding the historical fulfillment of the 70 weeks and the 2300 day prophecies.

The 70 weeks prophecy starts with the decree (by Artaxerxes in his 7th year) that allowed for Jerusalem to be restored and rebuilt. Two previous decrees only dealt with the construction of the Temple, Artaxerxes' 7th year began in 457 BC 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, Seventh Day Adventists, following the Millerite lead, set the 483 prophetic days to 483 literal years. Thus, the ending year of the 69 weeks is calculated as 457 BC plus 483 years, to arrive at 27 AD.

Daniel 9:25 states that the Anointed One, the Messiah, would come at the end of the 69 weeks which ended in 27 AD. In Luke's narrative, Jesus began his ministry after his baptism by John. John began baptizing in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, which began in 27 AD. Thus the ministry of Jesus began in 27 AD precisely at the end of the 69 weeks.

After the 69 weeks the "Anointed One will be cut off." 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."

Daniel 9:27 says "In the middle of the seven he will put an end to sacrifice and offering." Jesus was baptized in the Fall of 27 AD and died in the Spring (Easter) of 31 AD—3½ years later. 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 34 AD, Paul began taking the gospel to the Gentiles also.

Besides being concerned with the Anointed One, the 70 week prophecy also talks about the restoration of Jerusalem and its destruction again. In about 536 BC, the first returning Jewish exiles began work on reconstructing the Temple. After much opposition by local governments, the work began in earnest in about 520 BC. It was finished in 515 BC. The city was somewhat restored, but it was not until 444 BC that the walls were completed by Nehemiah amidst raids by opposition parties.

In 70 AD, not long after Jesus' crucifixion and the Gospel going also to the Gentiles, the Temple was burned down and Jerusalem destroyed by Roman armies under the leadership of future Emperor Titus son of Emperor Vespasian (the people of the prince to come). As Jesus predicted, 'not one stone would stand on another,' the massive Temple foundation stones were pried apart by soldiers to get melted Temple gold that had run down cracks.

According to Seventh Day Adventist eschatology, the 70 weeks were decreed (or cut off, Heb. chathak) 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.

The 2300 days are said to end in 1844, calculated from the same starting point as the 70 weeks: 457 BC plus 2300 years to yield 1844 AD. Although the Millerites originally thought that 1844 represented the end of the world, those who later became Seventh Day Adventists reached the conclusion that 1844 marked the beginning of a divine pre-advent judgment called "the cleansing of the sanctuary".

Other interpretations

An alternative to the "mainstream" interpretations is presented by R.C. Newman 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."

See also

Book of Daniel Daniel 2 - Image prophecy Daniel 3 - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego Daniel 5 - The writing on the wall Daniel 7 - Prophecy of the beasts Daniel 8 - Prophecy of goat/ram/horn Daniel 11 - Prophecy of Kings Literary parallels in the Book of Daniel Abomination of Desolation 2300 day prophecy

Apocalypse Armageddon Book of Revelation Christian eschatology Dispensationalism, which posits a "parenthesis" between weeks 69 and 70 in the historic fulfillment. Olivet discourse Post Tribulation Rapture Progressive dispensationalism The Two Witnesses Year-day principle

Further reading

• Ron J. Bigalke Jr., "Government of the Future," in One World (ISBN 0-9749811-8-4)
• Harold Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ (ISBN 0-310-26211-9)
• Clarence Larkin, The Book of Daniel (ISBN 0-7661-8573-7)
• 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

• Daniel 9 The Seventy Weeks, Jews for Judaism audio file
• True Messiah - Properly Anointed; False Messiah - Smeared with Ointment, Virtual Yeshiva article by UriYosef
• The 9th chapter of Daniyyel by Mordochai ben Tziyyon, former Professor of Jewish Bible Studies at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
• The 70 Weeks and 457 B.C.
• When Did the Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9:24 Begin?
• A Critical Examination of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy