Author: Rabbi B

Read Part One Here. Read Part Two Here.   The Seventieth Week  Daniel 9:27   Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.  And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate. This “week” constitutes the seven of the 490 years, which were still left to be accounted for after the arrival of “Messiah, the Prince.”  It is clear that an indefinite interval interrupts the...

Read Part One Here. The Seven Weeks, and the Sixty and Two Weeks In verse 25 a continuous stretch of 69 of the 70 sevens of years is marked off, amounting to 483 years.  A division of 7 plus 62 sevens of years is indicated.  It is significant that 49 years (360 days to the year – i.e. the lunar year) will span the time exactly from 445 BC, when the decree was issued, to the close of Jewish prophecy in Malachi. The further 62 weeks of years terminate upon the first advent of the Messiah.  The terms “Messiah,...

Rabbinic Perspective: All of the commentators, especially Ibn Ezra, interpret the expression to mean 490 years: seventy weeks of years.  The Sages hold that these 490 years commenced with the destruction of the First Temple in the year 3338 from Creation.  The beginning of the restoration of the Temple in the second year of Darius the Persian took place 70 years later in 3408.  The Second Temple stood 420 years (cf. Yoma 9a, Avodah Zarah 9a, Arachin 12b).  This adds up to  total of 490 years with the destruction of the Second Temple taking place in the year 3828. It follows that...