In order to consider the prophecy of the 70 weeks recorded in Dan. 9:24-27, it is helpful to begin by looking at the context, both the immediate Biblical context in which the prophecy was given to Daniel and the broader context related to Israel's situation at that time. In 607 BCE the nation was taken captive in Babylon as a result of their unfaithfulness to God. After a period of desolation that lasted 70 years, Babylon was conquered by Cyrus king of Persia, and the Jews were allowed to return to their land (see the lecture on Bible chronology timeline). Daniel receives the prophecy of 70 weeks after Babylon had been conquered (Dan. 6:28, 9:1), but before the edict of the release of the Jews from captivity. When he learns from Jeremiah's prophecy that the time of 70 years has come to an end and Israel is still in bondage, he turns to God with a fervent prayer in which he recalls the sins of his people that led them into captivity, and at the same time begs God for mercy and the possibility of Israel's return to their home (Dan. 9:1-23).
The prophecy of 70 weeks is the answer to this prayer. On the one hand, it is an assurance that the prophecy will be fulfilled and Israel will not only return, but also rebuild the ruined Jerusalem. On the other hand, however, it will not be an unconditional blessing. "Seventy weeks are decreed as to your people and as to your holy city", during which all Israel must repent and accept the Messiah who will appear at the beginning of the 70th week. Daniel 9:24 lists a total of seven conditions that must be met at that time. Failure to fulfill them will result in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple again, as well as the surrender of the land to the gentile nations. The prophecy is therefore a kind of warning to the returning Jews: God has specific expectations of them as his people bound by the covenant. Ignoring them will bring Israel to relive the history of 607 BCE, but this time with much more severe consequences.
Daniel's 70 weeks in chronological perspective
Daniel's prophecy is a chronological prophecy in which the period of 70 weeks has its beginning and end clearly marked. The entire period was divided into three sub-periods of 7 weeks, 62 weeks and 1 week. The prophecy does not say that the first period is separated from the second by any significant event, so in the rest of the commentary we will speak of one period of 69 weeks. Regarding its cut-off dates, we read that "from the going out of the command to restore and to build Jerusalem, to Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks. The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in times of affliction" (Dan. 9:25).
Crucial to the chronological interpretation of the prophecy is the correct timing of the "command to restore and to build Jerusalem." First of all, it is necessary to separate the reconstruction of the temple from the reconstruction of the city. The temple was to be rebuilt based on the decree of Cyrus in 538 BCE, although its execution was set in motion by order of king Darius of Persia in the second year of his reign (Ez. 1:2,3, 4:24, 5:13, 6:1-16). Cyrus' decree did not concern the rebuilding of the city, however, and it was on this matter that Nehemiah appeared before king Artaxerxes. Just as Zerubbabel was the chief commander of the rebuilding of the temple, Nehemiah became the chief commander of the rebuilding of the city wall (Neh. 2:1-8, 16-18, 7:1). It remains to be determined in what year Artaxerxes gave the order to rebuild the city. In Neh. 2:1 we find that this took place in the twentieth year of the king's reign. Artaxerxes, meanwhile, ascended the throne in 475 BCE, making the twentieth year of his reign in 455 BCE1) and this date marks the beginning of the 70-week period.
When, then, did the 70 weeks marked in the prophecy come to an end? The literal 70 weeks is just over a year, so far too little to fulfill the prophecy - the Messiah would have to appear during Nehemiah's lifetime, which of course did not happen. Evidently, this is not a literal calculation but a symbolic one, according to the Scriptural principle "a day for a year" (Num. 14:34; Ez. 4:6). Seventy weeks include 70 x 7 = 490 days, or 490 years in the symbolic reckoning. Thus, the first period of 69 weeks ended in 29 CE. Similarly, the seventieth week falls on the years 29-36 CE.
Discussing the chronological aspect, however, it is worth noting one problem that arises in the whole calculation. Namely, in Dn 9:27 we read that "in the midst of the week he [the Messiah] shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease." If, as will be shown, these words refer to Jesus' sacrifice, we know that it took place on Nissan 14th, i.e. in April (Mt. 26:17,20,31). In April, Nehemiah also received orders from the king to rebuild Jerusalem. If so, the two events cannot be separated by 69.5 symbolic weeks because this period corresponds to a period of 486.5 years. These six months mean that one of the events must have taken place not in the spring, but in the autumn. How can this contradiction be resolved? Apparently, the phrase "the going out of the command" does not mean issuing an order, but its execution. This is also indicated by the fact that the completion of the construction of the city wall took place on the 25th day of the month of Elul, i.e. around mid-September of the same year 455 ("in fifty-two days"; Neh. 6:15).
Experiences of the Messiah
Although the prophecy of 70 weeks primarily concerns 'your people and your holy city', there are several elements related to the appearance and activity of the Messiah. This information, however, is not digressive, but an integral part of the prophecy, as will become evident from the examination of the seven conditions described in Dan. 9:24. First of all, the prophecy situates the appearance of the Messiah at the end of the 69th week, that is, in the autumn of 29 CE. This is not the date of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem because at that time he had not yet become the Messiah. Messiah in Hebrew or Christ in Greek means the anointed one. Jesus was anointed by God - anointed with holy spirit - at his baptism in the Jordan (Mt. 3:16; Acts 10:37,38). This information also makes it possible to ascertain with a great deal of accuracy the time of birth of our Lord, who was at least thirty years of age according to the Law in the autumn of 29 CE (Num. 4:3; 1 Chr. 23:3; Lk. 3:23). Therefore, he must have been born in the autumn - not in the winter - of 2 BCE.
Another account of the Messiah is found in Dan. 9:26 - "And after sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself." Here we find a foreshadowing of our Lord's death, but also a rather mysterious phrase that it will take place "not for himself." In the footnote to the Good News Bible we read that Hebrew in this passage is unclear at this point, and that "one ancient translation" provides: 'unjustly'. So on the one hand there is a suggestion that Messiah's death was to be somehow beneficial - it was not "for himself", but (maybe) for someone else (?). On the other hand, it was inflicted 'unjustly', so without any blame on the part of the Messiah. All this does remind one of the New Testament, which teaches in a number of passages that Jesus was without sin and that the death he suffered was part of the sacrifice for sin (Mt. 20:28; Rom. 5:18,19; 1 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15, 7:26).
However, the prophet Daniel not only speaks about the necessity of Messiah's death, but also gives the time when it was to happen. In Dan. 9:26 we read that Christ was to die "after sixty-two weeks." Since the 62-week period followed the 7-week period, the phrase "after sixty-two weeks" in fact means "after 69 weeks", i.e. after the 29th year. While this statement is not very precise in itself, the next verse goes on to say that it was to take place "in the midst of the week," that is in the spring of 33 CE. The prophecy says that at that time "he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease." The sin-offerings under the Law did not cease physically after Christ's crucifixion, and continued until the destruction of the temple. But they were no longer needed and required of God, for our Lord had provided one efficacious sacrifice for the sins of all Israel and the whole world. Hence the Law and its sacrifices 'vanished away' at that point (Heb. 8:13, 9:11,12,24-28; 1 Jn. 2:2).
Seven conditions
The prophecy of 70 weeks is not only about chonology and the events related to the passage of each period, but also what was to happen before the end of the entire prophetic period: "Seventy weeks are decreed as to your people and as to your holy city, to finish the transgression and to make an end of sins, and to make atonement for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy" (Dan. 9:24). Each of the seven conditions given to Daniel concerned 'your people and your holy city,' so it was in some way related to Israel. Moreover, Daniel's prayer, which preceded his receipt of the prophecy, was a plea for mercy for the chosen people, who had sinned by grievous infidelity and had been taken prisoner for it. The seven conditions that Daniel hears, then, point to the need for moral renewal; it is a warning announcing a much heavier punishment in the absence of internal reform (Dan. 9:27).
In the lecture on the New creation and transformation of the inward man, I proposed a scheme according to which the New Testament describes the reform of the character of the elect. An indispensable condition for transformation is repentance – a change of thinking that leads to a re-evaluation of views and attitudes. The elect who do so receive as a gift God's love of truth, which leads to the begettal of the new creation (the new mind developed by the knowledge of the truth). The image of the truth held by the new creature is gradually reflected in character. The Bible speaks of sealing in this case, which is almost a literal description of the process, since the seal transfers the image it has onto the plastic material, just as consciousness shapes the plastic structure of the character. If the change involves the whole personality — the whole person — then the Word of God speaks of birth of the spirit, and consequently of the anointing of the spirit or baptism of the spirit.
The conditions given to Daniel in Dan. 9:24 fit exactly into the above pattern. The first three conditions describe repentance, which must cover every kind of offense, from the smallest, ignorant ones ("to finish the transgression"), through deliberate violations ("to make an end of sins"), to the most serious crimes for which amends must be made ("to make atonement for iniquity"). The Hebrew language evidently indicates a gradation of transgressions. While pe-sha ('transgression') means to go beyond established boundaries, and hha-ta means sin (missing the mark), a-won ('iniquity') is a conscious and serious offense. The 'atonement for iniquity' referred to in the Modern Kinf James Version originally includes the idea of covering. This is an interesting detail because the instructions of conduct actually formed in the subconscious do not disappear just because the consciousness repents; they do not disappear, but are gradually 'overwritten' by new instructions shaped by the new creation.
The fourth condition is 'bringing in everlasting righteousness', and the structure of the phrase suggests not so much that the Jew introduces justice outwards, but that he enters the state of righteousness himself, a change of heart and mind. Justice is an ethical category based on the ability to apply universal principles. Its basis, therefore, must be the knowledge of what we call the truth. The instrument for its knowledge is the divine love agape, which is in the elect the source of the birth of a new man: the spirit of the mind and the body of character. Entering eternal righteousness of the elect thus describes spirit-generation as a reform of personality, a comprehensive development of man in the knowledge and practice of the truth.
The process by which the image of the truth possessed by the spirit is impressed upon the character is called sealing in the New Testament, and we find this term in Dan. 9:24. The mention of a vision and a prophet (naw-bee' H5030) is interesting in this context. If it is as most translations say, then the prophet and the vision are sealed separately. However, I see a certain difficulty in this because while in relation to a person the Biblical sense of sealing is as I have given above, sealing the information (prophecy, book) means securing it from being made available, not being able to understand it (Is. 29:11; Dan. 12:4). The breaking of the seals will mean the revealing of the contents, and in the case of prophecies, their fulfillment, as shown in the book of Revelation by the breaking of the seven seals. If indeed Daniel writes about the sealing of visions that Israel would perform during the 70 weeks, such interpretation does not seem to have any basis in the Biblical context.
Daniel's term 'prophet' means God's spokesman. In the New Testament every one who has received the spirit of the new birth is in this role as a representative of the Gospel (2 Cor. 5:18-20; cf. Num. 11:29). In Rev. 19:10 we read that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." The condition of sealing the prophet does not apply to the particular representatives of Israel, but to the entire nation, whose duty it was to repent and accept Jesus Christ. The sealing tool is the truth, and in my opinion, Daniel also speaks about this tool when he evokes a vision. The condition, therefore, is not to seal the vision and the prophet, but to seal the prophet with the vision. Thus Daniel's prophecy describes a process that the New Testament refers to as baptism in the spirit or anointing. This is a step further than being born of the spirit - baptism literally means 'immersion'. The elect who are experiencing the new birth are at the right point in their calling journey to begin their "plunge" into the depths of the advanced teachings of God's Word. In doing so, according to Rev. 19:10, they testify of their regeneration in Christ and their hope with Him in the glory.
Fulfillment of the conditions vs. events of the last week
Some Bible students understand that all of the conditions described above must have been fully fulfilled within 70 weeks. Since all of them were not fulfilled in the first century, this means that the last week has not yet been fulfilled and will not begin until the future. Such an argument does not seem to be justified. If the interpretation presented in the previous subheading is correct, then all the conditions could be fulfilled within the prescribed time. Moreover, they were all fulfilled in relation to the Jews who accepted Jesus Christ.
The correctness of this conclusion becomes clear if we look back at what was happening in Israel at the end of the 69th week: "In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Mt. 3:1,2). That was the one step that every Israelite had to take, coming to John, confessing his sins and receiving the baptism of repentance. Although many did take this step, it did not have the dimension of a national conversion. In this regard, the prophet Daniel writes that the Messiah "shall confirm a covenant with many for one week" (Dan. 9:27). Since John's mission did not accomplish the goal of Israel's national conversion, Jesus Christ delivered the same message, thus extending the time given to the Jews for repentance (Mk. 1:14,15). The last week is therefore the time when the Messiah, the son of God, calls Israel to conversion. But the time of grace given to this nation to fulfill this basic condition is inevitably coming to an end.
At this point, the aspect of the warning mentioned in the introduction to the commentary becomes apparent. Daniel's seventy weeks are also referred to in Bible literature as 70 weeks of grace. It was a time when Israel had to react - turn to God and accept Jesus. In this context, John's activity was a kind of alarm bell informing that the last week of grace was beginning, in which it would be possible to accept their national conversion by God. This time was extended with Jesus' ministry, but by the middle of the week it was clear that this one condition would not be met, and therefore "your house is left to you desolate" (Mt. 23:37-39). Leaving Israel without God's protection would result in the invasion and desolation foretold in Daniel's prophecy. But if this was already known in the middle of this week, why does Daniel say that the covenant will be in force for a week?
It is important to remember that the Law Covenant is not merely a promise of earthly prosperity and protection from enemies. In Ex. 19:5,6, God made a special promise to Israel to become a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation," but only on the condition of absolute obedience, which also included accepting Jesus (Jn. 5:39, 6:29). Jesus' ministry was directed exclusively to Israel, but he himself foretold that the opportunity to become a "kingdom of priests" would be extended to the Gentiles (Mt. 8:11,12, 15:24). This happened at the moment of Cornelius' baptism, as we read in Acts 10. And this was the moment when Israel's special monopoly related to the calling to the 'royal priesthood' ended (1 Pet. 2:9,10; Rom. 11:16-24). The completion of the 70th week in 36 CE seems to indicate the special time when the Gospel and the privilege of the calling were made available to the Gentiles.
"On a corner of the altar desolating abominations"
Israel experienced no national conversion either in John's day or during Jesus' ministry. Moreover, our Lord's death was a consequence of the actions of those who were to receive him. Hence, when the special time of favor drew to a close, Israel not only lost the opportunity to become "kingdom of priests," but was also deprived of protection and exposed to their enemies, with the severe consequences of which the prophet Daniel writes: "And the people of the ruler who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. And the end of it shall be with the flood, and ruins are determined, until the end shall be war ... And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease, and on a corner of the altar desolating abominations, even until the end. And that which was decreed shall be poured on the desolator" (Dan. 9:26,27).
Analogy with the events of 607 BCE seems to be clear. Just as Nebuchadnezzar's invasion then desolated the land, so now the invasion of "the ruler" commanding a Gentilian army ("desolating [army] abominations [Gentilian]") will sweep through Judea like a flood, desolating it and 'polluting' the city and the temple. In 70 CE Jerusalem was besieged by Roman troops led by Titus. The city was conquered and completely destroyed along with the temple. Also this time the desolation was to have its limits, "even until the end". The devastation of the Babylonian captivity lasted 70 years, this time it was to be a much longer, but also a limited period.
It is worth mentioning at the end of the analysis of the 70 weeks prophecy that Dan. 9:27 is rendered by translators in two different ways in the part concerning desolation. Some suggest that abomination would result in desolation, some quite to the contrary, that desolation would lead to abomination. King James Version is a surprising example. Modern King James Version in the phrase "desolating abominations" suggests that abomination came first, then came desolation as a result. King James Version, on the other hand, reads that "for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate". So first came desolation, which lead to overspreading abominations.
Abomination is a translation of the Hebrew shiqqûts shiqqûts, which also means idolatry. The destruction of Jerusalem marked the end of Israel's statehood, even if limited under the wings of Rome, and placed control of Palestine in the hands of the Gentile nations for nearly two thousand years. So Titus' invasion was to have far more severe consequences for Israel than Nebuchadnezzar's, not only in terms of the length of the period of desolation, but also in terms of the lease of the promised land. During the Babylonian captivity, the land was indeed desolate, with no inhabitants. Now it was to be not only destroyed by warfare, but also given over to the pagan nations and defiled by their worship, but only "until the end". That time is also over. Israel has already returned to its homeland, although it has still not fulfilled the condition of repentance. But we are assured by prophecy that this too will take place in God's due time (Zech. 12:10-12; Lk. 13:34,35).
1) See Dating the reigns of Xerxes and Artaxerxes by Gerard Gertoux