The 70 Weeks of Daniel

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.—Romans 5:6

David Stein

The plan of God revolves around Messiah. So it makes sense that God, in his written revelation, would make sure that a significant portion of the Bible is devoted to identifying Messiah. There are hundreds of prophecies, types, symbols and shadows that all contribute to identifying Messiah as Jesus of Nazareth.

One of the most interesting prophecies is found in Daniel chapter 9. Its charm and power come from the fact that it is a clock counting down to the appearance of Messiah:

"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."—Daniel 9:25

The prophecy calls our particular attention to what follows. The imperative "Know . . . and understand" emphasizes its importance. When God tells us to "know and understand," we do well to obey.

Next we have a span of time defined. The starting event is a somewhat vague reference to the giving of a commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem. The scale of the command makes it clear that only a king could give such an instruction. Not surprisingly, we find a record of the giving of this command in Scripture:

"And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been before-time sad in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, and said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. and I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it. and the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? And when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time."—Nehemiah 2:1–6

God’s word gives us everything we need to identify the starting of the clock of this prophecy. The king is Artaxerxes and the time of the command is given as his twentieth year. This is all explicit and clear. But what year exactly was the king’s twentieth year? Unfortunately, there is a significant difference of opinion among historians. a typical interpretation of the year can be found in Unger’s Bible Dictionary:

"2. Longimanus, who reigned over Persia forty years, BC 465–425. In the seventh year of his reign he commissioned Ezra to return to Jerusalem, granting large privileges to him and those accompanying him (Ezra 7:1), BC 457. about thirteen years later (BC 445) he granted permission to Nehemiah to assume control of the civil affairs at Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:1–8)."—"Artaxerxes," page 94.

This source identifies Artaxerxes’ twentieth year as 445 BC as do the margins of many Bibles. But there is reason to question this date. From ancient history, there has been a dispute regarding the length of the reign of Xerxes1, Artaxerxes’ father. While there is general agreement that Xerxes reign began in 485 BC, many historians ascribed a much longer reign for Xerxes than others.2 However, a strong and consistent argument can be made for an earlier date based on an interesting account about a Greek general named Themistocles.

General Themistocles

Themistocles was a contemporary of Xerxes and Artaxerxes. He was an able soldier, defeating Xerxes himself in major battles. However, it seems that sometime later he was accused of treason and fled the country, traveling to the Persian capital for safety. This flight is recorded in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Thucidides who lived during the reign of Artaxerxes. Thucidides wrote that when Themistocles arrived in Asia, Artaxerxes "had just succeeded to the throne."3

Add to this the testimony of two other historians of antiquity. Nepos, a Roman historian of the first century BC wrote:

"I know that most historians have related that Themistocles went over into Asia in the reign of Xerxes, but I give credence to Thucydides in preference to others, because he, of all who have left records of that period, was nearest in point of time to Themistocles, and was of the same city. Thucydides says that he went to Artaxerxes."4

Plutarch, a Greek biographer of the first century, wrote:

"Thucydides, and Charon of Lampsacus, say that Xerxes was dead, and that Themistocles has an interview with his son Artaxerxes; but Ephorus, Dinon, Clitarchus, Herclided and many others, write that he came to Xerxes. The chronological tables better agree with the account of Thucydides."5

If we are to accept the accounts of these ancient historians, especially Thucydides, then the flight of Themistocles occurred probably within a year or so after the ascension of Arta-xerxes to the Persian throne. The date of Themistocles’ flight is important because it gives us pivotal evidence on which to date the ascension of Artaxerxes. According to Jerome’s Eusebius, the date for the flight is in the fourth year of the 76th Olympiad (four-year periods beginning in 776 BC) which would be 473/472 BC. That means Artaxerxes must have come to the throne in the previous year, 474 BC, which in turn makes his 20th year 455 BC.6

Having reasonably established the 20th year of Artaxerxes as 455 BC which would be the starting point of the 69 weeks of Daniel 9:25, we can calculate the end point at which Messiah appears. A week is seven days; 69 weeks is 483 days or about 1 years. Did the Messiah appear 1 years later in 453 BC? No, he did not. It is clear that the application of this prophecy to a chronological period requires further interpretation.

The most frequent time symbol is the day. Often a day in Scripture is used to represent a literal year. In the prophecy of Ezekiel, God uses Ezekiel to act out a judgment period by lying on his side for 40 days. Each day of this drama represents a year, for God explicitly says: "Lie again on thy right side and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year." (Ezekiel 4:6)

If we apply this Scripturally-founded formula to the 69 weeks and convert them to 69 weeks of years (483 literal years), the period ends in AD 29:

From 455 BC to 1 BC 454 years From 1 BC to AD 1 1 year From AD 1 to AD 29 28 years Total: 483 years The year when Daniel indicates Messiah should appear is AD 29, a date generally accepted by students of the Bible as the year when Jesus began his ministry by being baptized by John in the Jordan.

The prophecy of Daniel 9:25 furnishes us with remarkable evidence of the planning and overruling of God to make clear the identification of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. This exhibition of God’s power and foreknowledge should inspire those who are endeavoring to follow the example of Jesus. This same powerful God has drawn us and called us to walk in Jesus’ footsteps. If faithful to this call, we will have the privilege of knowing the Father and glorifying his name throughout all eternity.

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1. Xerxes was evidently the same as Ahasuerus in the book of Esther. This may explain the favor both Ezra and Nehemiah found before the king.

2. Ptolomy’s Canon gives Xerxes a 21-year reign, but this period is not fixed astronomically. Morton Edgar deduces from ancient historians that Xerxes’ reign must have been 11 years. (Editor’s Note: There is, however, the following contrary evidence: 1) Lunar eclipses occur in 18-year cycles and one tablet (LBaRT 1419) specifically mentions year 3 of Xerxes and year 21 of Xerxes. This affirms the existence of the 21st year of Xerxes, and relates the matter to astronomy because of the 18-year eclipse cycle. 2) There are extant tables from years 12, 14, 16, 17, and 18 of the reign of Xerxes. 3) The author acknowledges that Xerxes is the Ahasuerus of Esther, but Esther 3:7,12 requires at least 13 years of his reign. Therefore he must have reigned more than 11 years.)

3. Book 1, Chapter 137. It is noteworthy that several later writers say Themistocles fled to Xerxes. But this can be simply explained by considering that it was Xerxes to whom Themistocles intended to flee. We might also consider that the names, Xerxes and Artaxerxes, are very similar and it may be an error of one mistaken for the other. The writings of Aristotle and Ctesias contain examples of this kind of error.

4. Nepos, Themistocles, chapter 9.

5. Plutarch, Themistocles, chapter 27.

6. Another Greek historian by the name of Diodorus the Sicilian who lived during the first century BC places the date of Themistocles’ death in 471 BC. This harmonizes well with the previously mentioned chronology since it gives Themistocles about two years in Persia before his death.