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28 Daniel’s “Seventy Weeks”

Daniel’s “Seventy Weeks” --When Do

They Begin and End?

Because many have relied on the chronology of Archbishop
Ussher, a date in the reign of the Persian King Artaxerxes has
been chosen as the starting point for Daniel’s 70 Weeks Proph-
ecy. However, when we realize that Ussher’s chronology is
based on the erroneous chronology of Ptolemy -- which in turn
is based on the guesses of Erathosthenes -- the commandment
to restore and build Jerusalem can be placed in its correct
time-frame -- that of the decree of Cyrus the Great!

John D. Keyser

A lmost all commentaries are agreed that the message given to Daniel by the Archangel Gabriel
gives the measure of years, from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Je-
rusalem unto Messiah the Prince, as sixty-nine sevens of years -- that is, 483 years. However,
there is a tremendous amount of disagreement as to:

1/. What decree it was from which the time began to run, and

2/. What event it was in the lifetime of Yeshua the Messiah to which the 483 years brings us.

It is clear that, unless these two points in time (the beginning and the ending of the 483
years) can be established with absolute certainty, we simply cannot determine with accuracy the
chronology down to the death and resurrection of the Messiah.

A careful study of the Bible will, however, reveal that both events are marked and dated
with unusual exactitude. Furthermore, as we progress in this article, we will realize that the differ-
ences in opinion are a result of the fact that some of the expositors and chronologers have adopted
the mistaken estimates of Ptolemy as the foundation of their systems of dating -- instead of ground-
ing themselves in the chronology of the Bible. So, having committed themselves to a chronological
scheme which makes the era of the Persian Empire about 80 years too long, they have been com-
pelled to force the statements of the Bible into the framework of this erroneous chronology. As a re-
sult, the measure of 483 years from the first year of Cyrus comes short -- by many years -- of any
event in the lifetime of the Messiah. This results in only two possible options -- either abandon Ptol-
emy’s table or search for a decree of a Persian king -- many years nearer the Messiah -- to serve as
the starting point of the seventy weeks.

The fact is, therefore, that there is not any uncertainty in the Bible -- the problem is that the
expositors and chronologers have turned aside from YEHOVAH’s Word and have accepted (for the
500 years immediately preceding the time of the Messiah) a defective chronology based on pagan
traditions.

The Berean Voice March-April 2003