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Section Introduction

The year is now 539 BC, 67 years since Daniel taken into exile in 605 BC. Daniel is now a very old man, aged about 80 years. Chronologically, this chapter comes shortly after Belshazzar’s feast (chapter 5), when Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians, but before Daniel was thrown into the den of lions (chapter 6). For more on the discussion over the identity of Darius the Mede, see the Introduction to the Book of Daniel. The most likely person was Cyaxares II, king of the Medes, and father-in-law of Cyrus.

Introduction (v1-2)

Daniel was led to pray a prayer of repentance after reading Jeremiah’s prediction of a seventy-year desolation of Jerusalem (v2). There are two passages in which Jeremiah predicted a seventy year exile, which Daniel may have been reading: "This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, ... for their iniquity ..." (Jer 25:11-12), and "Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfil to you my promise and bring you back to this place" (Jer 29:10).

How long was the exile?

Daniel was praying in the first year of King Darius in 539 BC. He evidently expected the seventy years to be nearing their end, so he began to pray for restoration. From the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC to the prayer of Daniel in 539 BC, there is a period of forty-seven years, which falls rather short of seventy years.

However, Jeremiah made his prediction of seventy years in the fourth year of Jehoiakim and first year of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 25:1), which was 605 BC. This was the year of the Battle of Carchemish, as a result of which Babylon became the major power in the ancient Near East. Judah became a Babylonian vassal state, and Daniel was taken to Babylon (Dan 1:1). According to the Babylonian dating system, this was the third year of Jehoiakim, as stated in Dan 1:1. From 605 to 539 are sixty-six years, which is a nearer approximation to seventy years. It should be noted that Jeremiah did state in his prophecy that they will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years (Jer 25:11), rather than that Jerusalem will be destroyed for seventy years. He also described the seventy years as Babylon’s seventy years (Jer 29:10). So an alternative would be to date the years of Babylon’s power as the seventy-three years from the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC.

It appears that it is impossible to identify an exact period of seventy years for the exile in Babylon, whichever starting and finishing dates are chosen, so we should question whether Daniel understood it as an exact length of time. Seventy years is often used in the Bible to describe a lifetime, the expected human life-span (Ps 91:10), and the lifetime of a king of Tyre (Is 23:15). Later Jeremiah predicted that the nations will serve Nebuchadnezzar, his son (Nabonidus) and grandson (Belshazzar) (Jer 27:7), which was an accurate prediction, but did not give such a specific chronology. Writing in the second year of Darius (519 BC), Zechariah noted that the Lord had been angry with Jerusalem and Judah for seventy years (Zech 1:7,12). He said this twenty years after the fall of Babylon and the decree of Cyrus allowing the Jews to return, which also suggests that the seventy years was not intended to be an exact period of time. The Hebrew writers of Scripture seem to be less concerned with exact chronologies than we are today, with our expectation to be able to interpret any numbers absolutely literally.

The Sabbath year law is seen as the basis for the seventy-year exile. The writer of Chronicles stated that the exile will last until the land had made up for its Sabbaths, fulfilling the word through Jeremiah, lying desolate to fulfil seventy years, "to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had made up for its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfil seventy years." (2 Chr 36:21). This fulfilled the warning given when the Sabbath year law was originally instituted, that the land will enjoy the Sabbath rest that it did not have while the Israelites were living on it (Lev 26:34-35). Every seventh year, the land was to be left fallow (Lev 25:1-7), but this law had not been obeyed, and seventy Sabbath years had been missed. During the exile, the land will be given consecutively all the Sabbath years that were missed. When God restored his people to the land, it showed that their punishment was complete. They had served their term and paid their penalty (Is 40:2) for neglecting the Sabbath rule. They were now forgiven and able to make a new beginning.

Daniel's Prayer (v3-19)

Even though a prediction had been given setting the time-span of the exile, Daniel still saw a need to pray. There was no hint of fatalism, of merely waiting for God to fulfil his promise. Instead, there is a dynamic interaction between God’s sovereign prediction and human accountability before God, which we observe consistently throughout Scripture. After reading that the time of exile was nearly complete, Daniel engaged with God in fasting, confessing the sins of the nation, and a heartfelt prayer of repentance and intercession for his people and the city of Jerusalem (v3). Daniel identifies himself with the sins of the people, even though he was righteous. Daniel was not personally responsible for these sins, most of which happened before he was born, but he stood before God as an intercessor, representing the Jews before God, as a member of the nation of Israel. Daniel is primarily praying for two things: the people, and the city of Jerusalem. So some of the significant repeated words in the prayer are: 'your people', 'my people Israel', and 'Jerusalem', 'your city Jerusalem', 'your holy city'. The prayer is rooted in and infused with the wording of the original covenant made through Moses. The people have broken the covenant, refused to listen to the warnings brought by the prophets, and therefore deserve the exile that they have received as their punishment. However, the covenant also included a promise of forgiveness and restoration to the land if the people repented (Deut 30:1-10).

We have not listened to the prophets (v4b-6)

He begins with praise to God, remembering his faithfulness to the covenant, and his steadfast love (Heb: 'hesed') to those who love him and keep his commandments (v4). He confesses the persistent sin of the people, who continually turned away from God’s commandments and ordinances (v5). As proof of God’s faithfulness to the covenant, throughout the history of Israel and Judah he sent prophets to bring warnings of judgement and calls to repentance. These prophets brought God’s Word to kings, princes and Daniel’s ancestors in the land, repeating the warnings from the covenant and calling the people to repentance, but again and again these prophets were ignored.

Shame falls on us because we have sinned (v7-10)

Daniel contrasts the righteousness of God and the shame of God’s people. God continually remained faithful to his covenant, keeping the covenant promises, as well as the warnings and judgements. But God’s people in Israel and in Judah, and in exile, have persistently disobeyed and rebelled against God, broken the commands in the covenant and therefore deserve the punishment that he delivered by causing them to lose the land and be driven into exile. The people had rebelled against God, and ignored the words of the prophets who were the ones who spoke the words of God, but Daniel knows that God is also a God of mercy and forgiveness, so there is still hope.

All Israel sinned and received the curse of the law (v11-14)

The exile was the final punishment for the disobedience and rebellion of God’s people. An important part of the covenant, particularly in Deuteronomy, was the section of blessings and cursings (Deut 28), blessings for obedience, and cursings for disobedience. Daniel can see that the great calamity of the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile was the just punishment for their disobedience, and the outworking of the curses written in the law of Moses (v11). The people failed to be faithful to the covenant, repeatedly and continually disobeying the law throughout the 700 years since the time of Moses, and failed to turn back and repent (v13), but God remained faithful, even to bringing the threatened judgements. God was right, but the people were disobedient (v14). Throughout the Scriptures we see that God is merciful and very reluctant to judge, and will wait for his people to repent. All through the history of Israel and Judah, he continually sent his prophets, calling his people to repentance. Whenever there were times when the nation turned back to God, like during the reigns of Hezekiah and Josiah, the threatened judgement was delayed. Much to Jonah’s annoyance, God’s threatened judgement on Nineveh was averted because they repented (Jonah 3:10 - 4:1). Jonah complained that, "I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing" (Jonah 4:2). According to Peter, the reason that Jesus has not yet returned is that God is waiting for people to repent (2 Pet 3:8-10). In the Book of Genesis, Enoch had a son who he named Methuselah, whose name means something like 'when he dies, it is sent' (Gen 5:21). Methuselah lived for 969 years, longer than anyone else, and in the year he died, the flood came, so even the meaning of his name showed God’s mercy and reluctance to judge. However, ultimately God’s cup of wrath will be filled, as judgement is stored up and will ultimately be poured out.

Let your anger turn away from Jerusalem (v15-19)

Daniel concludes his prayer with intercession, imploring God to let his anger and wrath turn away from his city Jerusalem and its desolated sanctuary, and from his people (v16). He begs God for forgiveness on the basis of his mercy, and not on the basis on their own righteousness (v18). Again, this is based on the covenant, as in Deuteronomy God promised that even once in exile, if they return to God and obey him, then he will restore their fortunes, gather his people from the nations where they are exiled, and return them to the possess the land (Deut 30:1-5). God had showed his great name and power among the nations through the original exile from Egypt, but through their sin, Jerusalem and his people had become a disgrace among the nations (v15). Daniel prays that God would act and deliver his people for his own sake and for the same of his name and renown among the nations. God had intended that Israel would be a light to the nations, giving the Gentile nations a revelation of the One True God through his powerful acts in creating Israel and them living according to his ways as shown in the law, but through their disobedience they had become despised by the nations and were a negative witness to God. Daniel prays that their return to the land would bring glory to God and his name among the nations.

The prayer is answered (v20-23)

While Daniel was praying, the angel Gabriel came to him. It was the same Gabriel who had appeared to Daniel in a previous vision (v21, 8:17). Gabriel brought the answer to his prayers, explaining what is going to happen to the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem. As soon as he started to pray, God answered his prayers, and sent his messenger (v23). His message is that seventy weeks are decreed for your people (the Jews) and your holy city (Jerusalem) (v24), which is what Daniel has been praying about (v20). He had been reading about the seventy years that Jerusalem has been desolate (v2), and then praying for the restoration of Jerusalem after reading in Jeremiah 25:11-12 that the city will be rebuilt. So the context is Daniel seeking God for his people and his city.

The seventy weeks (v24-27)

This is probably one of the most difficult passages in the whole Bible. There are many different viewpoints, and much disagreement over these four verses. It is ironic that three times Daniel is told understand the vision (v22,23,25).

Daniel’s seventy weeks have been frequently used to make calculations of the date of the second coming. William Miller, the founder of the Seventh Day Adventists, made several predictions of the date of the second coming. His first date, 1843, was calculated from the 2300 days (Dan 8:14) and the seventy weeks (Dan 9:24). He claimed that the 2300 days represented 2300 years, which started with Ezra’s return in 457 BC, which he determined by counting 490 years before the crucifixion, which he dated in AD 33. Daniel’s seventy weeks form the foundation of the Dispensational view of end-times, in which the sixty-ninth week ended with the crucifixion of Christ. Because the Jews rejected their Messiah, the seventieth week is postponed, to be expected as a future seven-year tribulation, before which the church will be raptured. The tribulation will be marked by the rise of Antichrist who will make and then break a covenant with Israel. Most popular books on end-time prophecy are based on this view-point. However, in most of these books, little or no mention is ever made of any alternative interpretations of the seventy weeks.

Should the seventy weeks be interpreted symbolically?

Because it is so difficult to identify an exact period of seventy years to fulfil Jeremiah’s prediction of the exile, many commentators have suggested that this period should be understood to mean a long period of time, a lifetime, rather than exactly seventy years. Then, because the foundation of Daniel’s seventy weeks was Jeremiah’s prophecy, they also question whether the purpose of Daniel chapter 9 should be understood as giving a precise chronology.

Daniel was told that the seventy weeks will be divided into three periods, seven weeks, then sixty-two weeks, then one week (9:25-27). This would indicate that he should expect three periods of God’s working with the Jews and Jerusalem, ending with the coming of the Messiah. The first is the restoration to the land under an anointed leader following the Babylonian exile (the first week). The second is the period of living in the land during a troubled time, the inter-testamental period (the sixty-two weeks). The third is the time of the coming of the Messiah as the fulfilment of the Jewish hopes for redemption and dealing the with the deeper problem of sin (the seventieth week).

Summary of three basic approaches

Among those who attempt the seventy weeks literally, there are three different approaches. Each understands each week to represent seven years, making a total of 490 years, and seeks to fit this length of time into history starting from the time of Daniel and the Babylonian exile.

It is significant that similar language is used in the instructions for the Year of Jubilee, "You shall count off seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the period of seven weeks of years gives forty-nine years" (Lev 25:8). Based on this, it is a fairly safe assumption that seventy weeks of years is means seventy times seven years, making a total of 490 years.

1. The traditional view

This view makes the seventy weeks end with the ministry of Christ in the first century. The 490 years began with either the edict of Artaxerxes to send Ezra back to Jerusalem (458 BC), or with the decree of Cyrus (538 BC). Beginning in 458 BC, the seventy weeks would be last approximately to the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry. The seventieth week would begin with Christ’s baptism, and would end with him being 'cut off' 3½ years later. Some see the end of the seventy weeks being the Fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, marking the end of God’s dealing with Israel, so the troops of the prince destroying the city (v26) are the Roman armies under Titus who destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70. The advantage with this view is that it is focussed on Jesus, who certainly did atone for iniquity and bring in everlasting righteousness, thereby achieving the purpose of the seventy weeks.

2. Critical or Maccabean view

Interpreters who support a late date for the writing of Daniel, in the second century BC, tend to support this view. Instead of predicting the future, they say that Daniel is looking back over the 300 years of history before his time, so the passage is pseudo-predictive. The seventy weeks began with the decree of Cyrus (538 BC), and ended with the removal of Onias III, the last Aaronic high priest, from office in 175 BC by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and his death 3½ years later in 172 BC. The problem with this view is that the period is far too short, being only around 360 years, instead of 490. Supporters of this view say that the short-fall in the number of years is because of the vague historical knowledge of the writer.

Another version lengthens the period to 423 years, so that the first seven weeks represented the years between the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC to the edict to restore Jerusalem in 538 BC. Then the final seven weeks were the years between the death of Onias III in 171 BC, through the desolating sacrilege committed by Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 BC, and ending with the cleansing of the temple in 164 BC.

This view has the advantage that many of the historical events of the time of the persecution of the Jews under Antiochus Epiphanes do fit this description, including the mention of the abomination that desolates (9:27b). This event is predicted even more clearly in Daniel’s following vision (11:31). However, the weakness of this view is that the events of 167 - 164 BC did not put an end to sin and atoning for iniquity, nor did they conclude God’s plan for his people and city (9:24).

3. Dispensational view

The difference in this view compared with the other views, is that instead of there being 490 continuous years, there has been a 'gap' between the end of the sixty-ninth and the start of the seventieth week. Because the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah, God suspended the 'prophetic clock'. The seventieth week will be postponed for an indefinite period of time during which God focuses on dealing with the Gentiles rather than the Jews. Thus, the Age of the Church becomes a 'great parenthesis' in God’s prophetic plan. A fundamental premiss of Dispensationalism is a rigid separation of God’s plan for Israel and for the church. The consequence of this view is that the church becomes a secondary part of God’s plan, almost like an after-thought, being less important than God’s plan for national Israel. This runs in contradiction to clear and consistent teaching in the New Testament of the importance of the church in God’s plan, where Christ is made head over all things for the church (Eph 1:22-23).

The seventy weeks began with the decree of Artaxerxes (458 BC), and the sixth-ninth week ended with the crucifixion. The long gap after the sixth-ninth week represents the age of the Gentiles, which will end with the rapture, when Christ will come for his church. The seventieth week represents the seven-year tribulation, when the Antichrist rules on earth, which will end with the second coming of Christ and the establishment of his millennial rule. In this view, the 'Prince to come' (v26), and the 'He' (v27) is the Antichrist, in contrast to others who think 'He' refers to the Messiah. During the seven-year tribulation, the Antichrist will make a firm Covenant with Israel allowing a resumption of temple worship, which is then broken after 3½ years. We should notice however that there is no mention of anyone breaking the covenant in this passage. In this view the Jerusalem temple needs to be rebuilt in end-times, and the sacrifices restarted. Supporters of this view say that sin will only be totally put to an end, and righteousness only completely brought in with the establishment of Christ’s millennial reign following the final seven years.

The problem with this view is that there is not the slightest hint of a gap in the description of the seventy weeks in Daniel chapter 9. So far, the gap has lasted for nearly 2000 years, over four times the total time period represented by the seventy weeks. It would be equally logical to have a gap between the seven and the sixty-two weeks. Also I find it extremely difficult to believe that God would want the sacrifices restarted, after it is made so clear in the Book of Hebrews that Jesus was the once and for all sacrifice, never to be repeated.

The end of the seventy weeks

The greatest difference between the three views described above is when the seventy weeks is considered to end. The traditional view ends the seventy weeks with the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. The critical view ends them with the re-dedication of the temple in 164 BC, and the dispensational view ends them with the establishment of Christ’s millennial rule following his second coming.

In response to Jeremiah’s prediction of a seventy year exile, Daniel had been praying for God’s people and for God’s holy city Jerusalem (9:20), confessing their sins (v6,15), recognising that the calamity of the exile was as a result of their continued rebellion against God, and for disobeying his law (v9). He prayed that God would turn his anger away from them and their city (v16), and asked for God’s mercy and forgiveness (v9,19). The reply from the angel was that seventy weeks are decreed for God’s people and his holy city (v24).

Daniel was told that by the end of the seventy weeks, God will do six things, three concerning sin, and three concerning salvation (v24). The first three concerning sin (to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity), were exactly what Daniel was praying about when he confessed the sins of the nation (9:5), and asked God to forgive their sin and iniquity (v16). The implication is that by the end of the seventy weeks God will deal finally with the problem of human sin, which according to the New Testament was achieved with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The three things concerning salvation are to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. The third, 'to anoint the most holy', is difficult to translate, with three possible meanings. In the footnote in the NRSV it says, 'or thing or one'. The most holy place could mean the temple, the most holy thing is uncertain, and the most holy one would be the Messiah.

Some issues with interpretation

When a thorough study is made of this difficult passage, several questions of interpretation arise, some of which appear to be impossible to answer with any certainty. These questions demonstrate why there are so many different views on this passage. Because there are so many uncertainties, great caution should be exercised in coming to conclusions about this passage. This would also imply that it is very dangerous to use such a difficult passage as the foundation for an eschatological framework, when there are many biblical passages which give a far clearer teaching on eschatology. The irony is that the angel Gabriel came with instructions to ensure that Daniel understood the vision, and this call to understand is mentioned three times (v22,23,25).

The following are just a few of the uncertainties:

1. Does the 'anointed prince' come after seven weeks or after sixty-nine weeks? (v25)
There are differences between the various English translations. The NRSV expects the anointed prince after seven weeks, whereas the KJV and NIV expect him after sixty-nine weeks. This will obviously make a big difference to the way this verse is interpreted. If the anointed prince came after seven weeks, he would be some person during the exilic period, like Zerubbabel or Joshua the high priest. If he came after sixty-nine weeks, then it probably refers to the Messiah. We should note that the Hebrew used for the 'anointed one' is a general term applied elsewhere to Cyrus the Persian, to the Davidic king, and to the Levitical priests, and did not necessarily signify the Messiah , even though the KJV translates it 'Messiah'.

2. What is the antecedent of the pronoun "he" in 9:27?
It is not at all easy to determine from the text whether the 'he' who makes a strong covenant refers to 'the anointed one' (v26a), or 'the coming prince' (26b). The immediate antecedent is the prince who is to come, but many interpreters claim that the 'he' is the anointed one who is cut off. This results in two completely opposite interpretations. If the 'he' is the prince who is to come, then this verse refers to the antichrist, which is the dispensational interpretation. From this, they claim that the antichrist will make a covenant with Israel during the great tribulation, which he will later break. However, if the 'he' is the anointed one, then this verse refers to the new covenant made by Jesus through his death on the cross, when he was 'cut off', but which will never be broken.

3. What exactly happens during the seventieth week?
The description of the seventieth week appears to be rather vague. It is not even certain whether it is meant to be a distinct period of time. It is not clear in the text whether the troops of the prince destroy the city (v26b) at the beginning of the sixty-ninth week, or during the seventieth week, or whether the sacrifice and offering cease for the first or the second half week of the seventieth week.

4. Does a 'week' mean seven years?
The normal Hebrew word for week is not used here, but one that means 'heptad' or 'units or periods of seven'. However the same idea is expressed in the institution of the Sabbath law where seven weeks of years is the same as forty-nine years (Lev 25:8), so it is probably safe to assume that 490 years is meant here.

Another possibility is that because the seventy-year exile was based on the missed Sabbath years (2 Chr 36:21), each of the 'weeks' should be understood as Sabbath year cycle, consisting of six years, followed by a Sabbath year. If this the case, then the seventy weeks should begin with the edict of Artaxerxes allowing Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem in 445 BC. This fell in the Sabbath cycle 449-442 BC, so the sixty-ninth cycle was AD 28-35, the seven-year period which included the public ministry of Jesus, when the Messiah was 'cut off'.

5. When is the starting date?
The period of the seventy weeks begins with the word going out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (9:25). However, there are three official decrees, so three different starting dates are possible. The first was the decree of Cyrus (538 BC) allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem under the leadership of Zerubbabel, and to rebuild the temple (1 Chr 36:22f, Ezra 1:2-4). 490 years from 538 BC would end in 48 BC, which is rather early. The second was the return of Ezra with a larger group of exiles in the seventh year of Artaxerxes (457 BC) to teach the law to Israel (Ezra 7:7). It was Ezra who restored the people spiritually and led the people in a renewal of the covenant (Neh 9). 490 years from 457 BC would end in AD 33, which is around the time of the ministry of Jesus. The third was the decree of Artaxerxes (444 BC) allowing Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem as governor to rebuild the walls of the city (Neh 2:1-8). 490 years from 444 BC would end around AD 44, which is rather late. It seems that different commentators tend choose the date to give them the best fit for their chronology, depending on the way they interpret the seventy years. However, there is no definite way of deciding which start date to choose. However, it should be noted that Daniel was given this vision in the first year of Darius, 539 BC (9:1), immediately preceding the decree of Cyrus, allowing the Jews to return, so the first date of 539 BC would probably be intended. However, there was no significant event happening in 48 BC, 490 years after 538 BC, that would mark the end of the seventy years. Dispensational interpreters tend use the middle date of the return of Ezra as it makes the end come in the early first century around the time of Christ.

Conclusion

There are some major interpretative problems in this passage, which explains why there is so little consensus, even amongst evangelical scholars, on how this passage should be interpreted, leading to a wide variety of opinions on its meaning. Because of this, I believe that it has only limited value in determining the events and timing of end-times, and it is dangerous to base whole eschatological systems on the seventy weeks of Daniel. We should be very careful not to be at all dogmatic on its interpretation.

The angelic answer to Daniel’s prayer

If the seventy weeks of years is intended to be taken a literal length of time, then within 490 years, the Messiah will come, as the ultimate answer to Daniel’s prayer for his city and his people. It will be the Messiah who will bring forgiveness of sin, and a much greater future for his people than Daniel could ever imagine, because God will deal with the root cause of all the peoples’ problems, the deeper problem of sin and rebellion against God.

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