The Seventy Weeks Prophecy

By Doug Peterson

In this article I focus on the Seventy Weeks prophecy found in the book of Daniel. Here is the Seventy Weeks prophecy as recorded in the KJV:

[24] Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. [25] Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. [26] And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: 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 unto the end of the war desolations are determined. [27] 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, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel 9:24-27)

I believe Daniel’s seventy weeks prophecy, when interpreted from a Christian perspective, foretold not only the time of Christ’s crucifixion but also his later appearances to the disciples after his resurrection. My interpretation of the prophecy is relatively straightforward. However, it requires one major assumption—namely that Christ was reincarnated after his crucifixion and appeared years later to his disciples. Daniel’s prophecy implies such a result because of the strange and rather awkward language found in the prophecy. If I told you that an individual would be killed, and after he was killed he would confirm a covenant with many people for seven years, you would likely conclude that the person had been reincarnated. Of course this reincarnation theory is a radical departure from mainstream Christianity. However, the evidence from the prophecy itself clearly supports it.

Verse 25 specifies that the intervals begin from “the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.” The books of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Old Testament contain historical details of the Jews efforts to rebuild Jerusalem following the Babylonian captivity. The books were written well before 165 B.C. They specify four possible decrees or commandments:

1) the decree from Cyrus, king of Persia, issued in about 538 B.C. (Ezra 1:1-4);

2) Darius’ decree that confirmed Cyrus’ decree issued in 520 B.C. (Ezra 6:6-12);

3) Artaxerxes’ decree issued to Ezra in 458-7 B.C. (Ezra 7:11-26); and

4) Artaxerxes’ decree issued to Nehemiah in 445-4 B.C. (Neh. 2:1-6).

Many Christian scholars have argued that decree #3 was the starting point for the Seventy Weeks prophecy. (1) Without repeating the various arguments supporting this theory I contend decree #3 is the correct starting point.

The seventy weeks set forth in the prophecy are likely seventy weeks of years (490 total years). They are seventy Sabbatical-year cycles that began with decree #3. The first seven weeks denote a Jubilee, a period of forty-nine years at which time the year of Jubilee was celebrated. The year of Jubilee is described in Leviticus 25:8-11:

And thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which growth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.

The strongest argument that Daniel’s prophecy envisioned a reincarnated Christ is based on Daniel 9:26-27. The prophecy stated that the Messiah would be “cut off” (or killed) after the 62 weeks. The final seven years must follow the 62 weeks. However in verse 27 Daniel indicates that “he” would confirm a covenant with many for one week (or seven years) and in the midst of that week he would cause sacrificing and oblation to cease. Daniel likely wanted the reader to ask if this statement applied to the Messiah. If so, then the statement clearly implies the Messiah must somehow return from the dead to fulfill the final seven years. Daniel 9:27 clearly could apply to Christ since the gospels indicate he did return from the dead. Yet the term “cut off” suggests the Messiah must be reincarnated in order to fulfill the final seven years. One could argue Christ did fulfill Daniel 9:27. Christ rendered the sacrificial system obsolete with his one-time sacrifice (Hebrews 9:25-27). Most scholars interpret the term “cut off” to mean Christ’s crucifixion. So, shortly after the 62 weeks expired Christ was killed in AD 30. Then he was reincarnated.

Some claim the pronoun "he" in 9:27 does not refer to the Messiah but rather the prince mentioned in 9:26. Here is my interpretation: the prince mentioned in 9:25-6 is likely a different person from the Messiah. The phrase "Messiah the Prince" in 9:25 might actually denote two distinct individuals-- the Messiah and a prince. The author didn't include the conjunction "and" between Messiah and prince because the reader might have erroneously concluded the seven weeks led to one of the men and the 62 weeks led to the other. Note that in 9:26 the "Messiah" is not called a prince-- only the Messiah. Both the Messiah and the prince were alive at the expiration of the 62 weeks. The prince became a ruler of the Roman Empire. This prince was Vespasian-- the emperor at the time Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70. He was 19 years old in AD 28 and died in AD 79. Like Christ he confirmed a covenant with many for seven years and in the midst of that seven years caused sacrificing to cease when the temple was destroyed in AD 70. That seven-year period would have been the time from AD 64-70. Both Christ and Vespasian were alive at the end of their respective seven-year periods. But Vespasian’s seven years didn’t immediately follow the expiration of the previous 62 weeks as in Christ’s case.

At the time Jesus and John the Baptist began their ministries, Luke 3:15 states that “the people were in expectations, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ.” The people were likely in expectation because the 62 weeks of Daniel’s prophecy had just expired. If Christ was to be killed after the 62 weeks, then how was it possible for him to confirm a covenant for seven years? Biblical scholars believe Christ’s ministry lasted at best only two or three years. Yet, the prophecy implies Christ would still be living seven years after he first appeared as the Messiah.

The chart below reflects the timeline for the seventy weeks of years:

At the end of the seventy weeks, Christ first appeared to Mary when she went to visit his tomb years after his crucifixion as described in Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20. The purpose of her visitation to the tomb was to anoint Jesus’ body as described in Mark 16:1. I believe she intended to anoint him because the seventy weeks prophecy stated that “seventy weeks [were] determined… to anoint the most Holy.” Mary then was attempting to anoint Jesus as the “most Holy” in accordance with the prophecy. The seventy weeks had just expired.

One issue is when Sabbatical years were observed during this era. The two recognized authorities for dating Sabbatical years in this era are Benedict Zuckermann and Ben Zion Wacholder. Both have published tables of Sabbatical years for the second temple period. (2) Wacholder also published a table of Jubilees where he speculated which Sabbatical years might have been designated as Jubilees during this era. His table of Jubilees follows a 49-year cycle in accordance with my interpretation of the Daniel prophecy.

Zuckermann places a Sabbatical in the year that began with Tishri 1, 458 B.C. Wacholder places a Sabbatical in the year that began with Tishri 1, 457 B.C. (3) Coincidentally, decree #3 was likely issued in a Sabbatical year. This would render convenient computations for the seventy weeks prophecy. The year immediately following the decree would be the first year in a seven-year Sabbatical cycle. The last year in the 490 years would likewise be a Sabbatical.

If Wacholder’s dates are correct then Tishri 1, A.D. 34 began the 70th Sabbatical year from decree 3. At the expiration of that Sabbatical year Jesus appeared again to his disciples after the crucifixion (he was actually reincarnated on the third day after the crucifixion). The 69th Sabbatical year began with Tishri 1, AD 27. At the expiration of that Sabbatical year Jesus began his ministry in accordance with Luke 3:15. (4) In short, the Seventy Weeks prophecy really only makes sense if Christ was indeed alive at the end of the seventy weeks. Yet he must have been killed after the 62 weeks and during the final week. This could only be true if he was reincarnated.

With this interpretation another issue arises concerning Daniel 9:27. We are told that the Messiah would cause sacrificing and oblation to cease “in the midst of the [final] week.” Many claim this implies the final week is divided in half, with Christ’s crucifixion at the midpoint. However, my timeline reflects that Christ’s crucifixion actually occurs only about 1½ years into the final week. I contend “in the midst” merely means part-way through the final week. I believe a strong parallel exists between Daniel 9:27 and Daniel 8:11-14. In the latter passage a prophetic period of 2,300 days is mentioned. This period equates to just over 6 years in the Jewish calendar. More likely readers would have realized that the strange interval of 2,300 days is a large portion of a seven-year period. So, the phrase “in the midst” of seven years would have likewise denoted two unequal intervals, one large portion and the other much smaller. Here is the passage concerning the 2,300 days:

Yea, he (the little horn) magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered. Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. (Daniel 8:11-14)

One interesting possibility is that Daniel 9:27 is a clarification of the prophecy found in Daniel 8:11-14 above. In the above passage Daniel discusses a “little horn” and the “prince of the host.” Some have argued that the little horn represented the Roman Empire. Arguably the “prince of the host” might have signified Christ. The prophecy can be paraphrased to mean that the daily sacrifice was taken away when Christ was crucified. Possibly the statement that the “place of the sanctuary was cast down” is not to be interpreted literally. Rather, it is in reference to the fact that when Christ was crucified or “cut off” the temple was destroyed or cast down. This is based on Jesus’ statement that the temple (i.e., his body) would be destroyed when he was crucified and raised up three days later (John 2:19-21). He was handed over to the little horn (i.e., the Romans) the day before his crucifixion. Moreover, Christ died by reason of transgression—i.e., for the sins of mankind. The 2,300 days represent the period from Christ’s arrest until the day of Pentecost when Christ’s disciples received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2). At Pentecost the “sanctuary” was cleansed because the disciples’ bodies became the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

In certain cases 2,300 days could elapse between Passover and a Pentecost festival six years later. In the Jewish calendar either 74 or 75 lunar months elapse during a six-year period. A lunar month is 29.53 days long. In some cases Passover was celebrated a month late in the month of Iyar (2 Chronicles 30). The contemporary Christian Church celebrates Pentecost 50 days after the first Sabbath following Passover. The computations could yield the following result: 75 × (29.53 days) + 30 days + 56 days = 2,300 days.

Of course the argument bolsters the reincarnation theory. If Christ was crucified on Friday, April 7, AD 30, then the events of Acts 2 occurred at Pentecost in AD 36—the first Pentecost following Jesus’ appearance to the disciples. According to my computations this date would have been Sunday, July 22, AD 36-- 2,300 days after Christ was handed over to the Romans. Since Pentecost fulfilled a time-specific prophecy this explains why Acts 2:1 contains this cryptic introductory statement before the events of Pentecost were described: “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come…” The Greek term for “fully” comes from a term used to denote the fulfillment of some time (Mark 1:15). In other words, the arrival of Pentecost itself fulfilled a period of time.

The following objection could be raised about this interpretation: If the 2,300-day prophecy was fulfilled at Pentecost, then why didn’t any New Testament writer state this? My response to this objection is that Acts 1:5-8 might indirectly indicate that the 2,300 days were fulfilled at Pentecost. In that passage Jesus was speaking to his disciples. I have included language in brackets to reflect my interpretation of certain key phrases:

For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time [when they are baptized with the Holy Ghost] restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:5-8)

Some claim the disciples were asking Jesus if he was going to restore the kingdom at that present time, i.e., when Jesus spoke these words. This interpretation makes no sense because Jesus’ response clearly implies they were discussing a future event. Why would Jesus tell them they didn’t know the times that God had fixed to fulfill events if they were discussing an event that might occur that very day? They could have merely waited until the end of the day to see if the kingdom was restored. I contend the statement concerning the restoration of “the kingdom to Israel” is a reference to Daniel 8:14, which spoke of the restoration of the sanctuary following the 2,300 days. Jesus indicates that they were not to know the times of when prophesied events will occur before they occur. The phrase "times or the seasons" was used in Daniel to describe a time specific prophecy (Daniel 7:25). In short, Jesus was saying that the disciples would receive power at Pentecost, but no man can know in advance whether that date would fulfill a time-specific prophecy.

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(1) Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology (rev. ed.; Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1999), pages 128-129.

(2) Ben Zion Wacholder, “The Calendar of Sabbatical Cycles During the Second Temple and the Early Rabbinic Period,” Hebrew Union College Annual 44 (1973), pages 153-196. Benedict Zuckermann, A Treatise on the Sabbatical Cycle and the Jubilee: A Contribution to the Archaeology and Chronology of the Time Anterior and Subsequent to the Captivity (trans. A. Lowy; London: Chronological Institute, 1866; repr. New York: Sepher Hermon Press, 1974).