Daniel 9 - Introduction

Daniel 9. This is one of the most puzzling Chapter s in the Bible, and no little ingenuity has been expended upon its interpretation. Jeremiah had spoken of a punishment which was to befall the king of Babylon when seventy years are accomplished (Jeremiah 25:12). Daniel, puzzled by the prophecy, inquires of God what the seventy years signified. The answer given is that the seventy years refers to seventy weeks of years, i.e. 490 years, and is divided into three periods of 49, 434, and 7 years respectively. The first period will be the interval between the utterance of the prophecy and the commencement of the work of restoring the city and the advent of the anointed one. The second period of 434 years covers the time of restoration, and at the end of it an anointed one would be cut off, and a time of desolation would ensue. During the last period of seven years, persecutions would arise, and for half the time the sacrifices would be suspended. No interpretation has yet been suggested which entirely meets the facts. The two most popular explanations are as follows:

(1) The Modern View. Following the analogy of the interpretation of the other prophetic elements in Daniel, most modern scholars think that the 490 years are to be found in the period which begins with the date of Jeremiah's prophecy (587 B.C.) and ends with the death of Antiochus Epiphanes in 164 B.C. Many of the details of the narrative fit this explanation, e.g. the cessation of the sacrifices under Antiochus for 3½ years (Daniel 9:27). The most serious difficulty lies in the fact that the period 587 B.C. to 164 covers only 423 years and not 490, so that there are 67 years unaccounted for. The only possible reply is to argue that the mistake is due to the writer's lack of sufficient chronological data. Josephus makes similar mistakes, and the Hellenistic writer, Demetrius, over-estimates a similar stretch of history by about the same amount (73 years); see Driver, p. 147.

(2) The Traditional View maintains that the passage contains a prediction of the advent and the death of Christ, the abolition of the Levitical sacrifices, and the fall of Jerusalem. The reading of the AV affords some support for the theory. Phrases like unto the Messiah the Prince, Messiah shall be cut off, naturally suggest to the ordinary reader the birth and death of Christ. But when we look more closely into the passage, it becomes clear that this interpretation will not bear examination. (a) It is extremely doubtful whether the term Messiah really represents the meaning of the original. The RV translates the anointed one, and if we adopt its punctuation there are two anointed ones, the one appearing at the end of the 49th year, the other cut off at the end of the 483rd year. (b) Upon this reasoning the period would commence (see Driver, p. 144) at 458 B.C., the date of Ezra's mission, which would form a good beginning, though it does not seem to be definitely connected with the rebuilding of the city, but there is no event at 409 to mark the break between the first two epochs. (c) It is impossible to explain the phrase in Daniel 9:27 which states that the anointed one made a covenant for one week (seven years). The ministry of Jesus lasted only for three years. (d) The narrative implies that the sacrifices were only suspended for 3½ years. The interpretation implies their complete and total abolition. (e) There is no hint that a period of 40 years, the time between the Crucifixion and the destruction of Jerusalem, is to intervene between the Messiah's overthrow and the final dé nouement. The date of the destruction of Jerusalem falls completely outside the range of the 490 years. For these reasons the traditional view is now generally abandoned by modern scholarship, and the first theory almost universally adopted.