What are the seventy sevens in Daniel 9:24-27?

The literal translation of the term "seventy weeks" is "seventy-sevens." Now, this word "sevens" translated "weeks" may mean "days" and it may mean "years." What then is meant here, seventy times seven days or seventy times seven years? It is evident that the "sevens" mean year weeks, seven years to each prophetic week. Daniel was occupied in reading the books and in prayer with the seventy years of Babylonian captivity. And now Gabriel is going to reveal to him something which will take place in "seventy-sevens," which means seventy times seven years. The proof that such is the case is furnished by the fulfillment of the prophecy itself Now seventy-seven years makes 490 years. What is to be accomplished. Verse 24 gives the great things which are to be accomplished during these seventy-year weeks or 490 years. They are the following:

Gabriel was commissioned to reveal to Daniel the prophecy of the 'seventy weeks'; the word week here indicating a period of seven, it may be of days, or as here it clearly is, of years. We have just seen Daniel stirred to confession and prayer by the discovery of the fact that the seventy years of the desolations had nearly run their course; he is now to learn that seventy years, multiplied by seven, were to pass when according to the Divine reckoning, full release and blessing would be reached, as indicated in verse 24.

The contents of this verse must be carefully noted. In the first place, the time indicated is determined upon 'thy people and upon thy holy city', and not upon the world in general; though doubtless what transpires upon Israel and Jerusalem will have great effect upon the world in general. Then, in the second place, the end that is to be reached is the establishment of full millennial blessedness. Then it is that the sad story of transgression and sin will be dosed; then 'the righteousness of the ages' (New Trans.), will be brought in; then the vision and the prophecy will be sealed up, since all is accomplished: then 'the most holy' or, 'the holy of holies' will be anointed, and set apart for God, as is also predicted in such a passage as Ezekiel 43:12. The end of the seventy years of desolations would only be a very faint and imperfect forecast of this.

The seventy weeks, or 490 years, were, however, to be divided into three parts, and they were to start when the commandment was issued to restore and to build Jerusalem as a city. The opening verses of Ezra give us the edict of Cyrus to rebuild the temple: the edict to rebuild the city was that of Artaxerxes, as recorded in Nehemiah 2. This latter was the start of the seventy weeks, predicted here. The first part — seven weeks, or 49 years, — were to be occupied with the rebuilding, and the re-establishment of Israel in the city and land: that is, about up to the time of Malachi. Then were to come the 62 weeks, or 434 years, completing the period 'to the Messiah the Prince'.

Daniel 9:24-27 gives exact indications on the point of time of the Messiah’s appearing. After “70 weeks” that is periods of each seven years (= year weeks, compare with Lev. 25:8) there shall be made an end of sins and everlasting righteousness shall be brought in and a most holy place shall be anointed. The 70 year weeks fall into three periods: seven weeks (= 49 years), 62 weeks (= 434 years) and one week (= 7 years), 490 years in total.

The starting point for counting these 490 years is the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. This happened in the year 445 BC in Artaxerxes’ 20 th year ( Neh. 2)*. To begin with follow the seven weeks, that is 49 years, in which Jerusalem was rebuilt under great threat from within and from without. This is partly described in the book of Nehemiah. Then follow the 62 weeks or 434 years leading up to the Messiah. But after the 69 weeks, that is 483 years, the Messiah would be cut off and have nothing.

What, then, are we to understand by the "seventy weeks"? Do they mean literally seventy weeks of seven days, or four hundred and ninety days? Verses 25 and 26 forbid such a thought. The commencement of the seventy weeks is clearly stated, and we are told that at the end of sixty-nine of the weeks certain events would take place that evidently did not take place at the end of four hundred and eighty three days. All difficulty is removed when we see that the word "weeks" merely means "periods of seven." The Jew reckoned by periods of seven years, or septenates, as we reckon by periods of ten years, or decades. The seventy weeks, then, are seventy periods of seven years, or four hundred and ninety years.

In the verses just quoted from Matt. 24 it will be observed that our Lord makes pointed reference to the prophecy of Daniel. The parts of that prophecy which principally relate to the subject are in the 9th and 12th chapters. Daniel 9:24-27 gives the celebrated prophecy of the "seventy weeks," viz., "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. 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. And after the 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. 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."

The weeks here, it is almost unnecessary to explain, are hebdomads of years, not of days. This prophecy is introduced by the exhortation, "Understand the matter, and consider the vision" (Daniel 9:23). Then it says, "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city." These seventy weeks, then, relate to Daniel's people, and to Jerusalem. The church-period, therefore, in which we now are, is no part of those weeks. As a matter of fact it is a gap between Daniel 9:26 and Daniel 9:27, and this harmonises with what has already been shown, namely, that the church-period is a hiatus between God's past dealings with Israel, and those yet to come. A careful reading indicates that the "seventy weeks" are divided into three parcels, viz., seven, sixty-two, and one. The seven, plus the sixty-two, i.e. sixty-nine, bring us (see Daniel 9:25) to Messiah the Prince — leaving one week of the seventy unaccomplished, and this, the last week, is in ver. 27. But several events, the cutting off of Messiah, and the destruction of Jerusalem, are subsequent to the sixty-nine weeks, and yet before the seventieth, of ver. 27, clearly showing the broken currency of the weeks, broken between the sixty-ninth and the seventieth, so that the whole of the present period, from the cutting off of Messiah, to the appearance of the Roman prince who will confirm covenant with the many, is a gap or interval forming no part of the seventy weeks. For our purposes in considering these weeks we need not go further back than ver. 26, for there we get a clear point of time in the cutting off of Messiah. That event is stated to be "after the three score and two weeks" (virtually, after the sixty-ninth, i.e. seven plus sixty-two).

An important error exists in ver. 26 as given in the Authorised Version. It reads, "Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself." The correct translation is, "Messiah shall be cut off and have nothing." That is, the Messiah did not take the kingdom, though it was His by right. Being rejected and crucified, He could only have taken it by judgment in power; and His then mission was not one of judgment but of salvation (John 3:17). So He was "cut off," and went back to heaven with "nothing." There are also some minor errors in the Authorised Version, but the following is a correct rendering of vers. 26, 27, with which we have now to do, viz., "And after the sixty-two weeks shall Messiah be cut off and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come, shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with an overflow, and unto the end, war — the desolations determined. And he shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and because of the protection of abominations [there shall be] a desolator, even until that the consumption and what is determined shall be poured out upon the desolate [one]." The first item in this prophecy — the cutting off of Messiah, has been already explained. Next, there is the destruction of the city and the sanctuary — not, mark, by the prince that shall come, but by the people of that prince. We know that the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple was by the Romans; and though a Roman prince, Titus Vespasianus, was with the Roman hosts at the time, the destruction of the temple was emphatically by them, not by their prince. It was contrary to his express commands, and he exerted himself to his utmost power to prevent the destruction of the temple. (See Milman's History of the Jews, pp. 408, 409, 2nd Ed.; and Josephus, Wars, 6. ch. 4, pp. 5, 7). But here we have an intimation that that important personage, "the prince that shall come," and who is referred to in the next verse as "confirming a covenant with the many," will be of the same nationality as the people who destroyed the city and the sanctuary — the Romans.

And first of all you will notice that in the 24th verse you have the entire period. 'Seventy weeks are determined;' which is to say, that from the mass of time God was pleased to cut out a certain portion for a special object; but whether the portion or portions set apart, or cut out, for the object in question — seventy weeks — were to be all in consecutive order, or whether there was to be a gap or breach between them, remains to be seen. But the first object conveyed is, '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 a Holy of holies.'

It is the Jews then who are called, not 'My people,' but 'thy people' — Daniel's people. 'Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city.' Jerusalem, doubtless, is still called a holy city; but it is no longer as God's own city: it is 'thy' — Daniel's — holy city. All this tends to make the great object of the Seventy Weeks perfectly plain. It is not Christianity or the Church that is contemplated, but Jerusalem — Daniel's holy city, and Daniel's people, the Jews.

The Seventy Weeks therefore, it will be seen from the very words with which they open, are bound up in the clearest possible manner with the Jewish people. '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.' Of the aim one cannot doubt when we look at these expressions as a whole; though we might perhaps have a question if we took up an isolated one. For instance, 'to finish the transgression' is, literally, to restrain it. But if one might have a little question about its meaning alone, when he adds, 'to make an end of sins' or, literally, to seal up sins, 'and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness,' these words make the bearing perfectly plain. The seventy weeks were determined upon Daniel's people and Daniel's holy city to bring in the blessed time of which the prophet spoke — to fulfil the promises that God from the beginning held out to Israel. This, clearly, is the object; and accordingly we have it both in respect of sins, to close them, and in respect of righteousness, to bring it in, and not only so but to bring it in everlastingly (that is, righteousness not only given but also secured for ever). There could be no just question, therefore, that what Daniel was intended to gather, and what faith did gather, from Gabriel's communication was this, that at the end of these seventy weeks of years the long-promised blessing would be made good to Israel.

In the former part of this paper, dealing with verse 24, we saw that Daniel was first instructed by the angel Gabriel, that a period of time, called seventy weeks (heptads, or hebdomads), had been marked off in the calendar of future history, in which important events bearing upon Daniel's people would occur. The expiration of this period would see the fulfilment of the divinely-founded hopes of the people, an end being made of sins, and everlasting righteousness being established in connection with the kingdom of Israel set up with Jerusalem as its centre. After giving, in this preliminary statement, the general scope of this particular prophecy, the angel added certain details which would serve as landmarks of the highest importance in the understanding of the coming events.

After the introductory statement, three sub-divisions of the period of seventy weeks were enumerated. Gabriel explained that the whole span of this allotted time would consist of the following portions:— (1) Seven weeks; (2) Threescore and two weeks; (3) One week; making a total of four hundred and ninety years, or seventy heptads.

Regarding this prophetic era of seventy weeks (heptads) as consisting of seventy sevens of years (70 sabbatical years, Ex. 23:10-11), then the intervening portions would be:— (1) 49 years; (2) 434 years; (3) 7 years; making a total of four hundred and ninety years, corresponding with the seventy heptads (see also p. 10, section: 'Seventy Weeks of Years').

Taking then verse 24, we have the statement that seventy weeks (490 years) 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" (or, the holy of holies). All these expressions look plainly onward to the full reestablishment of Daniel's people and city in blessing. The transgression will be ended, the transgression for which they have been scattered, Jerusalem having now "received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins," their iniquity will be pardoned (Isaiah 40:2), everlasting righteousness, God's righteousness, will be brought in (Isaiah 51:4-8), visions and prophecies will be closed up for ever (see Zechariah 13), and the holy of holies will once more be set apart, sanctified according to the requirements of the glory of Him who will again dwell there (see Exodus 40:9).

In the next verse (25th) the period of seventy weeks is divided: "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." The seventy weeks are thus divided into three portions — seven weeks, threescore and two weeks, and one week. The first portion undoubtedly comprises the period occupied in rebuilding Jerusalem and the wall, for the end of the verse expressly speaks of the "troublous," or "strait of," times during which this was performed. In the book of Nehemiah some account is given of the obstacles and opposition which Nehemiah and his builders had to encounter.

Next we have sixty-two weeks, which reach "unto" the Messiah, the Prince. That is, adding the forty-nine years occupied in the restoration of the city, there would be four hundred and eighty-three years until Christ. It must be carefully observed that the expression is general, that neither the birth of Christ, His anointing for His mission, nor His death is specified. It simply says, "unto" Messiah, the Prince. Some. taking the date of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem as 454 or 455 B.C., calculate that the 483 years, included in the sixty-nine weeks, terminated with the death of Christ.* Had the Messiah been received, the Jewish nation would, as we know, have been at once established in the kingdom; and even had He been received by the nation after the crucifixion, the times of refreshing, as Peter distinctly declares, would have come from the presence of the Lord; and He would have sent Jesus Christ to His people (Acts 3:9-21). But God foreknew all, and hence, after naming the sixty-two weeks, says, "And after† three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and [marginal rendering] shall have nothing" (v. 26). It should be noticed that it does not say immediately after, only "after," leaving room, we cannot doubt, for the half week of the Lord's ministry.

The 24th verse in Daniel 9 is the prophecy stated in a general way. "Seventy weeks are apportioned out upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to close the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make expiation for iniquity, and to bring in the righteousness of ages, and to seal the vision and the prophet, and to anoint the Holy of Holies." Seventy sevens, as it is in the Hebrew, make 490. This space of time is, so Gabriel declared, apportioned out, for the people of Israel and Jerusalem, and at the close of it the full blessing of Israel will come to pass; the righteousness of ages, undoubtedly refers to the kingdom age, the millennium. So in a general way the whole prophecy of seventy-year weeks is given and what shall be accomplished in them and at the close of them for the people Israel and for Jerusalem. But now as we read on we find a division of these seventy weeks. First: Seven weeks; secondly: Sixty-two weeks; thirdly: One week. What does this division mean? We are not left to speculation, for the Word makes it plain. "Know, therefore, and understand: From the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince, are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. The street and the moat shall be built again, even in troublesome times. And after sixty-two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with an overflow, and unto the end war, the desolation determined (verses 25-26)." The first seven weeks, that is 49 years, is the period of time which elapsed from the giving of the command to rebuild Jerusalem and its walls till this was accomplished. The commission to restore and build Jerusalem was given to Nehemiah by Artaxerxes in his twentieth year. The sixty-two weeks is the period of time from the complete restoration of the city and the walls till Messiah is cut off, that is the death of Christ, and there is nothing for Him. His own people reject Him and then in consequence of that rejection, the city and the sanctuary is to be destroyed by the people of the prince, that shall come. Wars and desolations, persecutions and troubles, bloodshed and sufferings, was to be the lot of the Jewish people after the rejection of the Messiah, a prophecy stated not only here but throughout the prophetic Word and so solemnly come true for well nigh two thousand years. The people who destroyed the city and the sanctuary were Romans. But now we have one week left. Of this last week we read in the last verse of Daniel 9, the verse in which the abomination is mentioned, to which our Lord and the Holy Spirit calls attention. This week, or seven years, is the end. It is a week, a period of time still future. With the 69th week Messiah was cut off, He had nothing; His people had rejected Him and the offered kingdom; an indefinite period follows, during which the Jews are outcasts, scattered into the corners of the earth, Jerusalem trodden down by the Gentiles. It is the present age in which we live, in which God's gracious offer of free and full salvation for the gathering out of a people for His Name (the church) is preached. How soon this may end no one knows. It will end at some time and then Jewish history from a prophetic standpoint will be resumed, the Jewish age will close to be followed by the kingdom or millennial age, when the righteousness of the ages will come in.