First Sixty-Nine Weeks
Next, the angel briefly describes the first sixty-nine “weeks” of the prophecy. As he declared, “seventy weeks are divided upon your people and upon your holy city.” After presenting the redemption that will be realized by the end of the period, he explains its three subdivisions of “seven weeks,” “sixty-two weeks,” and finally, “one week.”
The threefold division corresponds to the three
divisions of time allotted to the “little horn” - “Time” (“seven
weeks”), “times” (“sixty-two weeks”), and “part of a time”
(“one week”) – (Daniel 7:25).
This is one of several verbal links between
the “seventy weeks” prophecy and the vision of the “fourth beast”
with its “little horn” in chapter 7, and the vision of the Ram and the Goat
in chapter 8.
- (Daniel 9:25) - “Know, then, and understand; from the going forth of the word to return and to build Jerusalem until an anointed one, the leader, will be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks the broad place and the ditch will again be built, even in troublesome times.”
FIRST SEVEN WEEKS
At the end of the first subdivision of “seven
weeks,” an “anointed one, a leader” will appear. Precisely who this figure is remains unclear at this point. No further information about
his identity or activities is provided.
The start of the “seventy weeks” is
the “word to return and to build Jerusalem,” a reference to the prophecy
of Jeremiah that Daniel was contemplating at the start of chapter 9 – (Jeremiah
25:1-14, Daniel 9:1-2).
The “anointed one” appears only
after the first “seven weeks,” presumably, at the end of the first 49
years. The syntax of the Hebrew clause makes this clear. It reads, “from the
going forth of the word to return…until an anointed one, a leader – seven weeks.”
The Hebrew preposition rendered “from”
is prefixed to the term translated “going forth”; likewise, the
preposition for “until” is prefixed to the noun “anointed.”
Neither preposition can be applied to any other part of the sentence except to
the word to which it is prefixed.
In the Hebrew clause, there is no “the”
or definite article with the noun rendered “anointed one.” In Daniel’s
time, “messiah” was not used in an absolute sense for the future king who
would sit on the throne of David. Both
kings and high priests were called “anointed ones.” Without further
evidence from the passage, it is precarious to assume this refers to THE
Messiah - (Leviticus 4:3-5, 6:22, 1 Samuel 12:3, Psalm 18:50).
The Hebrew term rendered “leader,”
or nagid, is generic and refers to one who leads, a “ruler, captain, leader.”
Most often in the Hebrew Bible, it is applied to military and civil leaders - (1
Samuel 9:16, 1 Chronicles 9:20, Nehemiah 11:11, Jeremiah 20:1).
Whoever this figure is, he cannot be identical to the “anointed one” who appears in the final or “seventieth week” of the prophecy.
The two figures are separated by several centuries, assuming
each “week” represents a period of seven years. If he can be identified
from history depends on the “start date” that the interpreter selects for the “seventy
weeks.”
If the seventy “weeks” began
hundreds of years before his birth, then this “anointed one” cannot be
Jesus. Whoever he is, according to Daniel, he appears at the end of the
first segment of “seven sevens,” regardless of how long that period is.
SIXTY-TWO WEEKS
The second subdivision consists of “sixty-two
weeks,” presumably, a total of 434 years (7 x 62). During this period, Jerusalem
is “built again, with street and moat, even in troublesome times.”
The rebuilding process began with the
arrival of the first exiles around 538 B.C., but this was a gradual process
that continued sporadically for decades, and it took several centuries before
the city once again began to resemble its former grandeur and position in the
Near East - (Ezra 4:1-5).
The “broad place” refers to a
central square or plaza typical of ancient near eastern cities, and not to a specific
street name. Typically, the place where the marketplace was located. Most
likely, in the context of Jerusalem, it refers to the wide space located before
the gate of the temple - (Ezra 10:9, Nehemiah 8:16).
The word rendered “ditch” occurs
only here in the Hebrew Bible. Some English versions render it as “moat.”
However, Jerusalem did not have any moats. The noun is derived from a verbal
root that has the sense of “cut, sharpen, mutilate” (haruts), and abstractly,
“to decide, determine, judge.” The verbal form is the same word that is rendered
“determined” in verses 26-27.
The word translated as “ditch” does NOT
mean “wall” - it does not refer to the city’s walls. Most likely, it refers to
the narrower streets of the city. Thus, “broad place” and “ditch”
provide a contrast between the wide and narrow spaces of the city. Used
together, they portray a rebuilt and economically viable city.
The term “troublesome” translates a Hebrew
noun that means “pressure, distress, constraint” - (tsoq - Proverbs
1:27, Isaiah 30:6, Isaiah 8:22). In the context of Daniel, it may refer
to the “time of TROUBLE such as never was since there was a nation.”
Regardless, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah attest to the
struggles Judea experienced while rebuilding the city – (Daniel 12:1-4).
Again, the passage provides minimal
information about the first sixty-nine “weeks.” The climax of the prophecy
is the final or “seventieth week” described in verses 26-27. The events
of the first two subdivisions are preparatory for that “week.”
Additionally, the first sixty-nine “weeks” provide chronological and
historical contexts for the prophecy.
A relevant question is whether the first two
subdivisions run consecutively or concurrently. Do both begin with the “word
to restore and rebuild Jerusalem,” or does the second subdivision commence
when the first one ends? At this point, this remains unclear.