The Jews, in order to save face, made up various reasons for eliminating the death penalty. For example, the Talmud (Bab., Aboda Zarah, or Of Idolatry, fol. 8, recto.) states, "The members of the Sanhedrin, having noticed that the number of murderers had increased to such an extent in Israel that it became impossible to condemn them all to death, they concluded among themselves [and said], 'It will be advantageous for us to change our ordinary place of meeting for another, so that we may avoid the passing of capital sentences.' To this, Maimonides adds in the Const. Sanhedrin, Chap. 14, that "forty years before the destruction of the second Temple was still standing. This was due to the fact that the members of the Sanhedrin quitted the Hall of Hewn Stones and held their sessions there no longer."
Lightfoot, in Evangelium Matthaei, horoe hebraicoe, p. 275,276, Cambridge, 1658, adds that "the members of the Sanhedrin...had taken the resolution not to pass capital sentences as long as the land of Israel remained under the government of the Romans, and the lives of the children of Israel were menaced by them. To condemn to death a son of Abraham at a time when Judea was invaded on all sides, and is trembling under the march of the Roman legions, would it not be to insult the ancient blood of the patriarchs? Is not the least of the Israelites, by the very fact that he is a descendant of Abraham, a superior being to the Gentiles? Let us, therefore, quit the hall of hewn stones, outside of which no one can be condemned to death, and in protestation of which let us show by our voluntary exile and by the silence of justice that Rome, although ruling the world, is nevertheless mistress over neither the lives nor the laws of Judea."
The Talmud (Bab., Sanhedrin, Chap. 4, fol. 51b) says, "Since the Sanhedrin no longer had jurisdiction in capital offenses, there is no practical utility in this ruling, which can become effective only in the days of the Messiah."
Once the judicial power was suppressed, the Sanhedrin ceased to be. Yes, the scepter was removed and Judah lost its royal or legal power. And the Jews knew it themselves! "Woe unto us, for the scepter has been taken from Judah, and the Messiah has not appeared!" (Talmud, Bab., Sanhedrin, Chap. 4, fol. 37, recto.). Little did they realize their Messiah was a young Nazarene walking in the midst of them.
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE
"...And the LORD, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple..."
Malachi 3:1
This verse, along with four others (Psalms 118:26; Daniel 9:26; Zechariah 11:13; Haggai 2:7-9), demands that the Messiah come while the temple at Jerusalem is still standing. This is of great significance when we realize that the temple was destroyed in 70 AD and has not since been rebuilt!
"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..."
Daniel 9:26
This is a remarkable statement! Chronologically:
1. Messiah comes (assumed).
2. Messiah cut off (dies).
3. Destruction of city (Jerusalem) and sanctuary (the temple). The temple and city were destroyed by Titus and his army in 70 AD; therefore, either Messiah had already come or this prophecy was a lie.
Fulfilled Prophecy
In Daniel 9:24-27, a prophecy is given in three specific parts concerning the Messiah. The first part states that at the end of 69 weeks, the Messiah will come to Jerusalem. (The 7 and 62 weeks are understood as 69 seven-year periods.) The starting point of the 69 weeks is the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
The second part states that after the Messiah comes, He will be cut off (idiom for His death). Then the prince to come will destroy Jerusalem and the temple.
All of the above, according to Daniel 9:24-26, takes place after the 69 weeks of years. But Daniel 9:24 mentions 70 weeks (7+62+1), not just 69. The final week is described in 9:27. Many scholars believe 9:27 discusses a different person and time than that of 9:26. Even though the author refers to the prince, the reference is probably to another prince who is to come later in history. (Double references are somewhat common in prophecy. For example, a reference may refer to King David and also later to Christ.) This is supported by their actions: The prince in 9:27 forces Jewish temple practices to stop, but the prince in 9:26 has just destroyed the temple! So probably this prince comes later after the temple is rebuilt, which has yet to occur. Anyway, no matter which way one interprets the 70th week (the last seven years of the prophecy), the first two parts of the prophecy still can be examined historically. For further study on this prophecy in Daniel, see Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ.
THE TEXT
"Seventy weeks have been decreed 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 discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
"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. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
"And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."
Daniel 9:24-27
INTERPRETATION OF THE PROPHECY
Main features of this prophecy
(Taken from Dr. James Rosscup's class notes, Talbot Theological Seminary, California)
Concerns Daniel's people, Israel, and Daniel's city, Jerusalem (v.24)
Two princes mentioned:
1. Messiah (v.25)
2. Prince to come (v.26)
Time period of 70 weeks (v.24)
1. As a unit (v.24)
2. As a division of three periods: 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and 1 week (vs. 25,27)
Specified beginning of the 70 weeks (v.25)
Messiah appears at end of 69 weeks (v.25)
Destruction of city and sanctuary by people of prince to come (v.26)
covenant made between Israel and the coming prince at the beginning of last week (v.27); this covenant is broken mid-week (v.27)
At end of the 70 weeks, Israel will have everlasting righteousness (v.24)
Time measure indicated by 70 weeks:
Jewish concept of week
1. The Hebrew word for "week" is shabua and literally means a "seven." (We should disassociate any English concept of week with the concept intended by Gabriel.) The, in Hebrew, the idea of 70 weeks is "seventy sevens."
2. The Jews were familiar with a "seven" of both days and years. "It was, in certain respects, even more important."
3. Leviticus 25:2-4 illustrates the above face. Leviticus 25:8 shows that there was a multiple of a week of years.
Remembering what has been said previously,there are several reasons for believing that the 70 weeks mentioned in Daniel are 70 sevens of years.
1. Daniel had been thinking in terms of years and multiples of seven earlier in the chapter (Daniel 9:1,2).
2. Daniel knew that the Babylonian captivity was based on violation of the Sabbatic year, and since they were in captivity for 70 years, evidently the Sabbatic year was violated 490 years (Leviticus 26:32-35; II Chronicles 36:21 and Daniel 9:24).
3. The context is consistent and makes sense when we understand the 70 weeks as years.
4. Sahbua is found in Daniel 10:2,3. Context demands it to mean "weeks" of days. It is literally "three sevens of days." If Daniel meant days in 9:24-27, why don't we find the same form of expression as that in chapter 10? Obviously, years are meant in chapter 9.
Length of prophetic year
The calendar year used in the Scriptures must be determined from the Scriptures themselves.
1. Historically - Compare Genesis 7:11 with Genesis 8:4, and the two of these with Genesis 7:24 and Genesis 8:3.
2. Prophetically - Many Scriptures refer to the great tribulation under various terms, but all have a common denominator of a 360-day year.
Daniel 9:27 - "Midst" of the 70th week (obviously 3 1/2 years) (KJV)
Daniel 7:24,25 - "a time and times and the dividing of time" (KJV) (literally 3 1/2 times)
Revelation 13:4-7 - "forty and two months" (3 1/2 years) (KJV)
Revelation 12:6 - "a thousand two hundred and three score days" (KJV) (1,260 days or 3 1/2 years)
Lightfoot, in Evangelium Matthaei, horoe hebraicoe, p. 275,276, Cambridge, 1658, adds that "the members of the Sanhedrin...had taken the resolution not to pass capital sentences as long as the land of Israel remained under the government of the Romans, and the lives of the children of Israel were menaced by them. To condemn to death a son of Abraham at a time when Judea was invaded on all sides, and is trembling under the march of the Roman legions, would it not be to insult the ancient blood of the patriarchs? Is not the least of the Israelites, by the very fact that he is a descendant of Abraham, a superior being to the Gentiles? Let us, therefore, quit the hall of hewn stones, outside of which no one can be condemned to death, and in protestation of which let us show by our voluntary exile and by the silence of justice that Rome, although ruling the world, is nevertheless mistress over neither the lives nor the laws of Judea."
The Talmud (Bab., Sanhedrin, Chap. 4, fol. 51b) says, "Since the Sanhedrin no longer had jurisdiction in capital offenses, there is no practical utility in this ruling, which can become effective only in the days of the Messiah."
Once the judicial power was suppressed, the Sanhedrin ceased to be. Yes, the scepter was removed and Judah lost its royal or legal power. And the Jews knew it themselves! "Woe unto us, for the scepter has been taken from Judah, and the Messiah has not appeared!" (Talmud, Bab., Sanhedrin, Chap. 4, fol. 37, recto.). Little did they realize their Messiah was a young Nazarene walking in the midst of them.
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE
"...And the LORD, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple..."
Malachi 3:1
This verse, along with four others (Psalms 118:26; Daniel 9:26; Zechariah 11:13; Haggai 2:7-9), demands that the Messiah come while the temple at Jerusalem is still standing. This is of great significance when we realize that the temple was destroyed in 70 AD and has not since been rebuilt!
"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..."
Daniel 9:26
This is a remarkable statement! Chronologically:
1. Messiah comes (assumed).
2. Messiah cut off (dies).
3. Destruction of city (Jerusalem) and sanctuary (the temple). The temple and city were destroyed by Titus and his army in 70 AD; therefore, either Messiah had already come or this prophecy was a lie.
Fulfilled Prophecy
In Daniel 9:24-27, a prophecy is given in three specific parts concerning the Messiah. The first part states that at the end of 69 weeks, the Messiah will come to Jerusalem. (The 7 and 62 weeks are understood as 69 seven-year periods.) The starting point of the 69 weeks is the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
The second part states that after the Messiah comes, He will be cut off (idiom for His death). Then the prince to come will destroy Jerusalem and the temple.
All of the above, according to Daniel 9:24-26, takes place after the 69 weeks of years. But Daniel 9:24 mentions 70 weeks (7+62+1), not just 69. The final week is described in 9:27. Many scholars believe 9:27 discusses a different person and time than that of 9:26. Even though the author refers to the prince, the reference is probably to another prince who is to come later in history. (Double references are somewhat common in prophecy. For example, a reference may refer to King David and also later to Christ.) This is supported by their actions: The prince in 9:27 forces Jewish temple practices to stop, but the prince in 9:26 has just destroyed the temple! So probably this prince comes later after the temple is rebuilt, which has yet to occur. Anyway, no matter which way one interprets the 70th week (the last seven years of the prophecy), the first two parts of the prophecy still can be examined historically. For further study on this prophecy in Daniel, see Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ.
THE TEXT
"Seventy weeks have been decreed 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 discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
"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. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
"And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."
Daniel 9:24-27
INTERPRETATION OF THE PROPHECY
Main features of this prophecy
(Taken from Dr. James Rosscup's class notes, Talbot Theological Seminary, California)
Concerns Daniel's people, Israel, and Daniel's city, Jerusalem (v.24)
Two princes mentioned:
1. Messiah (v.25)
2. Prince to come (v.26)
Time period of 70 weeks (v.24)
1. As a unit (v.24)
2. As a division of three periods: 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and 1 week (vs. 25,27)
Specified beginning of the 70 weeks (v.25)
Messiah appears at end of 69 weeks (v.25)
Destruction of city and sanctuary by people of prince to come (v.26)
covenant made between Israel and the coming prince at the beginning of last week (v.27); this covenant is broken mid-week (v.27)
At end of the 70 weeks, Israel will have everlasting righteousness (v.24)
Time measure indicated by 70 weeks:
Jewish concept of week
1. The Hebrew word for "week" is shabua and literally means a "seven." (We should disassociate any English concept of week with the concept intended by Gabriel.) The, in Hebrew, the idea of 70 weeks is "seventy sevens."
2. The Jews were familiar with a "seven" of both days and years. "It was, in certain respects, even more important."
3. Leviticus 25:2-4 illustrates the above face. Leviticus 25:8 shows that there was a multiple of a week of years.
Remembering what has been said previously,there are several reasons for believing that the 70 weeks mentioned in Daniel are 70 sevens of years.
1. Daniel had been thinking in terms of years and multiples of seven earlier in the chapter (Daniel 9:1,2).
2. Daniel knew that the Babylonian captivity was based on violation of the Sabbatic year, and since they were in captivity for 70 years, evidently the Sabbatic year was violated 490 years (Leviticus 26:32-35; II Chronicles 36:21 and Daniel 9:24).
3. The context is consistent and makes sense when we understand the 70 weeks as years.
4. Sahbua is found in Daniel 10:2,3. Context demands it to mean "weeks" of days. It is literally "three sevens of days." If Daniel meant days in 9:24-27, why don't we find the same form of expression as that in chapter 10? Obviously, years are meant in chapter 9.
Length of prophetic year
The calendar year used in the Scriptures must be determined from the Scriptures themselves.
1. Historically - Compare Genesis 7:11 with Genesis 8:4, and the two of these with Genesis 7:24 and Genesis 8:3.
2. Prophetically - Many Scriptures refer to the great tribulation under various terms, but all have a common denominator of a 360-day year.
Daniel 9:27 - "Midst" of the 70th week (obviously 3 1/2 years) (KJV)
Daniel 7:24,25 - "a time and times and the dividing of time" (KJV) (literally 3 1/2 times)
Revelation 13:4-7 - "forty and two months" (3 1/2 years) (KJV)
Revelation 12:6 - "a thousand two hundred and three score days" (KJV) (1,260 days or 3 1/2 years)