The Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks in Daniel 9

Among the most precise prophecies in Scripture is the revelation given to the prophet Daniel concerning “seventy weeks” in Daniel 9. This passage, delivered by the angel Gabriel, gives a timeline leading to the first advent of the Messiah, the destruction of Jerusalem, and, in the futurist reading followed here, foretells a future period of intense tribulation. The prophecy bears on God’s sovereign plan for Israel and the world.

The Context and Divine Revelation

The prophecy of the seventy weeks came while Daniel was praying. He had been studying the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the seventy years of desolation for Jerusalem (Jeremiah 25:11-12; Jeremiah 29:10). As these seventy years were nearing their end, Daniel earnestly sought the Lord, confessing the sins of his people and pleading for God’s mercy upon Jerusalem and His sanctuary.

And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God; Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

Daniel 9:20-23
KJV

In response to Daniel’s prayer, Gabriel reveals a period of 490 years, far longer than the 70 years of Babylonian captivity, specifically “determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city.” The purpose of these seventy weeks is sixfold, as outlined in Daniel 9:24:

  • To finish the transgression
  • To make an end of sins
  • To make reconciliation for iniquity
  • To bring in everlasting righteousness
  • To seal up the vision and prophecy
  • To anoint the most Holy

These six objectives find their ultimate fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ, particularly His first advent and the culmination of His second coming.

Understanding the “Weeks”

The Hebrew word translated “weeks” is שָׁבֻעִים (shavu’im), which literally means “sevens.” In this context each “week” is a week of years, seven years: the seventy years of Jeremiah were the land’s sabbaths (2 Chronicles 36:21), and Matthew Henry reads the seventy weeks as “seventy times seven years, which makes just 490 years.” Therefore, “seventy weeks” equates to 70 x 7 = 490 prophetic years. This interpretation is consistent with other biblical patterns, such as the Sabbath year (Leviticus 25:3-4) where every seventh year was a year of rest for the land.

The Starting Point: The Commandment to Rebuild Jerusalem

The prophecy provides a precise starting point:

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
KJV

Several decrees were issued by Persian kings concerning the Jews, and interpreters differ on where the weeks begin: Matthew Henry inclines to the edict of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1). The reading followed here counts from the one decree that specifically authorized the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls and streets, not just the Temple: the decree given by Artaxerxes I Longimanus to Nehemiah in the 20th year of his reign (Nehemiah 2:1-8), which historians place in 445 B.C. On this reckoning that date anchors the timeline.

The First Sixty-Nine Weeks (483 Years)

Gabriel divides the 69 weeks into two segments:

  • Seven Weeks (49 Years): This period, from the decree in 445 B.C., covers the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall and street “in troublous times” (Daniel 9:25), as the Book of Nehemiah records. On this reading, the rebuilding of the city under Nehemiah fills these forty-nine years.
  • Threescore and Two Weeks (62 Weeks = 434 Years): Following the initial 7 weeks, this longer period leads directly to the “Messiah the Prince.” Adding these two segments (7 weeks + 62 weeks = 69 weeks) gives a total of 483 years (69 x 7 years).

Counting 483 prophetic years of 360 days each (the year of twelve thirty-day months, as in Revelation 11:2-3, where “forty and two months” are “a thousand two hundred and threescore days”) from Artaxerxes’ decree in 445 B.C. gives about 476 solar years, and (adjusting for the absence of a year zero in the calendar) brings us to approximately 32-33 A.D. This calculation aligns with the time of Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, just days before His crucifixion, when He presented Himself to Israel as King and Messiah.

The Messiah Cut Off and the Destruction of the City

The prophecy then shifts focus to events that occur after the 69 weeks, but before the commencement of the final 70th week:

And after 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.

Daniel 9:26
KJV

The phrase “Messiah be cut off” (Hebrew: כָּרַת, karath) means to cut off or destroy, and here it speaks of a violent death, like that of the Servant who “was cut off out of the land of the living” (Isaiah 53:8). The declaration “but not for himself” points directly to the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of humanity, not for His own. This verse is a clear prophecy of the crucifixion of Jesus, which followed His triumphal entry into Jerusalem and marked the end of the 69 weeks.

Gabriel next foretells the destruction of the city: “and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” This refers to the Roman armies, led by General Titus, who besieged and utterly destroyed Jerusalem and its magnificent Temple in 70 A.D. This catastrophic event, approximately 37 years after Christ’s crucifixion, falls after the sixty-ninth week and, in the futurist reading, shows a gap before the seventieth. Matthew Henry takes “the people of the prince that shall come” to be the Roman armies, the prince being Christ, whose instruments of judgment they were (Matthew 22:7). The futurist reading takes “the prince that shall come” to be the Antichrist, whose people (the Romans) destroyed Jerusalem, indicating a connection between the Antichrist and the Roman Empire, or a revived form of it; Hippolytus (c. 235) likewise set the last week at the end of the world, in the time of Antichrist.

The Final Week: The 70th Week of Daniel

The final “week” of the seventy is described in Daniel 9:27:

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.

Daniel 9:27
KJV

In the futurist reading, this verse describes a future seven-year period, distinct from the preceding 69 weeks, and the “he” is the “prince that shall come” from Daniel 9:26, the Antichrist. He will make a “covenant with many,” presumably with Israel, for a period of one week (seven years), likely a false peace agreement designed to bring temporary security. Matthew Henry and Bede read the verse of Christ instead: it is He who confirms the covenant with many.

On this reading, “in the midst of the week” (after 3.5 years), the Antichrist will break this covenant. He will “cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,” implying that a Jewish temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem, where sacrifices are reinstituted. He will then set up the “overspreading of abominations,” the “abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet” to which Jesus points in Matthew 24:15. In this reading Paul’s man of sin, who “sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4), is the same figure. This event marks the beginning of the Great Tribulation, a period of unparalleled distress for Israel and the world.

In the dispensational reading, the gap between the 69th and 70th week is called the “Church Age.” During this time, God’s prophetic clock concerning Israel is paused, and His focus shifts to the Church, comprised of both Jews and Gentiles. In the pre-tribulational view, once the Church is removed (at the rapture), the prophetic clock for Israel resumes with the commencement of the 70th week, which is the future Tribulation period. This final week concludes with the pouring out of God’s determined judgment upon the desolate, culminating in the second coming of Christ and, in the premillennial view, the establishment of His righteous kingdom on earth.

Conclusion

The prophecy of the seventy weeks in Daniel 9 testifies to the divine inspiration and accuracy of God’s Word. Its precise fulfillment regarding the timing of the Messiah’s first advent and the destruction of Jerusalem provides a solid foundation for faith. In the futurist reading followed here, the remaining 70th week, yet to be fulfilled, points to future events that will usher in the return of Jesus Christ and the consummation of God’s redemptive plan. As believers, understanding this prophecy enables us to recognize the signs of the times, to live with urgency, and to trust in the sovereign God who declares the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done (Isaiah 46:10).