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Daniel’s 70 Weeks Decoded

Eli Kittim

Daniel 9:24–26:

“Seventy weeks are determined for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. So you are to know and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. … Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.”

A common misconception is to assume that the starting point of this prophecy began after the Hebrews returned from the Babylonian exile in the 500s B.C.E. However, Daniel’s prophecy actually refers to the end of all visions and revelations, an end-time period that will in effect “seal up vision and prophecy” (Dan. 9:24). The fact that John of Patmos continued to furnish us with additional visions and revelations proves that the first century C.E. cannot possibly be the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy. John MacArthur, in describing Dan. 9:24, was once quoted as saying: “It’s got to be a final thing cause everything is a final. … Boy, that’s final stuff, isn’t it? The end, the finish, the seal, seal it up, close it up, that’s the way it is!” If it is “final stuff,” then the prophecy cannot possibly be referring to the time of Antiquity but rather to the time of the end! Notice that fulfillment of this prophecy requires the end of all transgression and sin, and the beginning of everlasting righteousness, which is reminiscent of the end-times in Rev 10:7 when “the mystery of God will be fulfilled.”

Isaac Newton—in his Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel (published 1733)—notes that we should not combine the seven and sixty two weeks as if they were one number. If the authorial intent was to impress upon us the notion that the numbers seven and sixty-two must be combined, using the same measurements, the author would have simply written sixty nine weeks. The fact that two sets of numbers are given in the text suggests that they are distinct. What is more—in stark contrast to the mainstream view—Newton also mentions in the aforesaid book that Daniel’s seventy weeks prophecy should not be confined to the time of Antiquity, but must be applicable to Christ’s eschatological coming. Just as in Rev 12:3-4 and verse 9 in which Satan’s final empire is contemporaneous with Christ—(i.e. “a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns … stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born”)—so in Dan. 9:26 the two princes of Daniel’s prophecy are juxtaposed to suggest that they are contemporaries:

“After the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing, and the troops of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.”

According to the text, there does not appear to be a two-thousand-year gap separating these two figures or events. Moreover, the Old Greek Daniel form of the Septuagint (LXX) says in Daniel 9:27, ἕως καιροῦ συντελείας, (i.e. “until the time of the end”; cf. Dan. 12:4 LXX), indicating that the context of this verse is clearly eschatological. The traditional Christian interpretation, however, breaks up the prophecy into two parts: one part fulfilled during the time of Antiquity, the other referring to the last week of the great tribulation. However, there is no indication of a long time-gap between these weeks.

Similar to Daniel’s 70 Weeks prophecy, Christ’s prophecy (in Matt. 24:34) is also about a future seventy-year generation. Jesus indicates that it will take one generation “until all these things take place” (Matt. 24:34; cf. 1 Thess. 4:15). But one generation from when? Answer: from the timing of the birth of the Messiah in the fullness of time (Gal. 4:4; Rev 12:5)! Astoundingly, Matthew’s gospel imparts a clue pertaining to the future birth of the Messiah that hardly anyone knows about. Specifically, the ancestry of Christ, as recorded in Matthew’s gospel, is actually a mathematical riddle whose solution reveals the precise year of his birth! The key to solving this puzzle can be found in chapter 1 and verse 17. Notice that there is a constant repetition of 14 generations throughout the foregoing lineage. We also know from Scripture that a generation is equal to 70 years (Ps. 90:10). One final clue: the calculation does not begin from the time of Abraham but from the time of David who alone represents the Messiah! So, let’s work out the calculation. Matthew tells us that there were 14 generations from David to Babylon. Each generation is equal to 70 years. Thus, 14 x 70 = 980 years from David to Babylon. And there were 14 generations from the exile to the Messiah. Therefore, 14 x 70 = 980 years. So, from David to the exile are 980 years, and from the exile to the Messiah are another 980 years. Hence 980 (+) 980 = 1960, the year of the Messiah’s birth! Mind you, this is not a historical but rather an apocalyptic rendering, which contains a clue concerning the year of Jesus’ birth. Therefore, in Matt. 24:34, the birth of the Messiah becomes the preeminent sign as regards the end of days.

Returning to Dan. 9:24-26, the starting point of the 70 weeks prophecy is therefore the birth of the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 8:2; Rev 11:19), namely, the Messiah, which occurred in 1960 (cf. Isa. 9:6). It also forecasts the atoning sacrifice of a forthcoming Messiah, an event which, according to the Danielic text, has not yet occurred. Furthermore, Dan. 9:26 informs us that the Messiah will be “cut off,” which in Biblical parlance means slain (cf. Ps. 37:9; Prov. 2:22; Isa. 53:8). In working out these calculations, one comes to realize the approximate date signifying the epoch of the forthcoming Messiah. So, if we apply Jesus’ prophecy (i.e. “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place”; Matt. 24:34) to Jeremiah’s seventy-year time frame (Dan. 9:1-3; cf. Ps. 90:10), we get one generation of approximately seventy years after the birth of the Messiah (1960), which would bring us to 2030 C.E., when all will be fulfilled!

In the Bible, a prophetic year is often equal to a prophetic month. This interpretation is based on the mention of 3 and a half years (e.g. “time, times, and half a time") in some verses, and 42 months in other verses in Daniel and Revelation. In other words, the Bible sometimes uses months and years interchangeably (cf. Dan. 7:25; 12:7; Rev 11.2; 12.6, 14; 13.5). Moreover, the use of the sabbatical (seventh) month to count “weeks” as a cyclical series of sevens would be in line with the Hebrew calendar. Accordingly, the seven weeks in Dan. 9:25 seemingly represent seven weeks of months (seven times seven months), which equal to forty nine months or approximately four years, while the sixty two weeks apparently represent sixty two solar years. Taken together, they amount to approximately sixty six years on a 365-day Gregorian calendar. But on a Hebrew lunar calendar, which is a 360-day calendar, the seven weeks and sixty two weeks seem to represent roughly 65 years. Compare Gen. 5:21: “Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah.” Therefore, from a Biblical standpoint, the year of the Messiah is 2025! It equals to sixty-five years after the birth of the Messiah, which is signified by God’s command to send his son into the world in the fullness of time (τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου), or in the last days (see Dan. 9:27 LXX; Gal. 4:4; Eph. 1:9-10; Heb. 1:2; 1 Pet. 1:20; Rev 12:5). Based on other factors as well, such as the month of the Messiah’s birth, which I have written about elsewhere, it seems as though the Messiah will appear in the summer of 2025. Compare the parable of the fig tree in Matt. 24:32-34:

“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near; so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”

Apparently, the year 2025 also seems to coincide with the start of the great tribulation (Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21), which will follow close on the heels of Christ’s appearance. But “then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off” (Dan. 9:26). That’s his death! That’s Jesus’ sacrifice “to make atonement for iniquity,” mentioned in Dan. 9:24 (cf. Heb. 9:26b). So, after 2025, the Messiah will be killed (cf. Isa. 53:3-5; Zeph. 1:7; Heb. 9:26b; Rev 12:4). And by 2030, the 70 Weeks prophecy will be fulfilled, which includes the rapture and the resurrection of the dead (Dan. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 15:22-26; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Heb. 9:28).

How can “weeks” be interpreted as years rather than heptads or seven-year periods? The first reason is that Gabriel himself imparts a cryptic clue which, in effect, equates the “seventy weeks” of Daniel (Dan. 9:2) with the “seventy-year” oracle revealed to Jeremiah (Jer. 29:10). The second reason why weeks can be interpreted as years has to do with the meaning of the Hebrew term for “weeks” (Heb. שָׁבֻעִ֨ים šā·ḇu·‘îm) in Dan. 9:24. This term comes from the Hebrew term “shabua,” which typically means a period of seven (days, years), heptad, week, etc. But it can also refer to a Feast of weeks (Shavuot), otherwise known as Pentecost (cf. Exod. 34:22; Num. 28:26; Deut. 16:10, 16; 2 Chr 8:13). Interestingly enough, a Shavuot occurs once per year. So, using this definition of one “week��� or one Shavuot per year would give us “62 weeks” or 62 Shavuots in 62 years.

To sum up, in contrast to the historical starting points of Daniel’s 70-weeks prophecy that have been traditionally proposed, I have presented an alternative futurist-eschatological model, and one that is actually more faithful to the text’s grammar, canonical context, and authorial intent. Here’s a case in point. By way of allusion, Dan. 12:1 is almost certainly employing the messianic terminology of “an anointed prince” (Dan. 9:25; cf. 10:21; Isa. 9:6) to signify the Messiah’s death and resurrection at the time of the end. In the following verse (12:2), Daniel goes on to describe the general resurrection of the dead that will occur during the same time period. This time period is elsewhere referred to as καιροῦ συντελείας (Dan. 12:4 LXX), which is translated as “the end of time” in Daniel 9:27 LXX (cf. Dan. 12:9, 13 LXX). Despite the fact that we don’t know the precise date, nevertheless Daniel’s 70-Weeks prophecy strongly suggests that the messiah is right around the corner: “right at the door” (Matt. 24:33)! In fact, according to Matt. 24:34, the last generation that sees the end-times signs will also see all things fulfilled.

So how did I arrive at this conclusion? Answer: “by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (cf. Gal. 1:11-12). The reason why the calculation works is because I already knew the answer. I knew the year. So I started with the known outcome and then worked backwards to figure out how the Danielic equation fits. And it does! Here’s what I found out. The 7 weeks and 62 weeks are separated to show they have different values. The 7 weeks represent months, whereas the 62 weeks represent years. Israel (1948) doesn’t fit as the starting point of Daniel’s 70 Weeks prophecy. Nor does Jerusalem (1967). Rather, its starting point is the birth of the messiah (the heavenly Jerusalem)! And, as noted earlier, the year of the Messiah’s coming is 2025, a prophecy which is symbolically represented (in Acts 2:1, 14-21) as taking place on the day of Pentecost (or on the 5), given that the Greek word for Pentecost is πεντηκοστή, derived from πεντήκοντα, which is a multiplicative of πέντε (5)!