Biblical references
Text: World English Bible (public domain). The ESV and NKJV are the preferred study translations and are referenced, not reproduced.
20 While I was speaking, 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— 21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer—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 offering. 22 He instructed me and talked with me, and said, “Daniel, I have now come to give you wisdom and understanding. 23 At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved. Therefore consider the matter and understand the vision.
Biblical account
Layer: Biblical text
While Daniel is still praying, Gabriel comes in swift flight about the time of the evening offering, says that a word went out at the beginning of Daniel's supplications because he is greatly loved, and gives him the word of the seventy weeks (recorded separately as a prophecy).
Historical overview
Layer: Historical reconstruction · Period: As the prayer (same day)
The "evening offering" names a time of day in a period when, on the text's setting, the Temple lay in ruins; Jerome takes it to show that Daniel prayed from the morning to the evening sacrifice.[1]
Date and chronology derivation
Ranges are computed by the project's deterministic chronology engine from the biblical statements and each model's reign anchors. They are reconstructions, not independent dates.
539 BC – 536 BC
Model-independent (applies under every chronology model) · precision: undated
How this range was derived
Earliest bound
- Synchronism: Fall of Babylon: 16 Tašrītu, Nabonidus year 17 (ABC 7) — independently dated between 12 Oct 539 BC and 13 Oct 539 BC (Babylonian day date converted with Parker & Dubberstein (1942) tables) (Daniel 5:30–31)[2, 3, 4]Assumption: 16 Tašrītu year 17 = 13 Oct 539 (Parker & Dubberstein 1942, p. 11; month VII began 28 Sep). Many modern works give 12 Oct; the one-day spread reflects day-boundary and month-start conventions. Window 12–13 Oct. The chronicle year is lost on the tablet; the 17th year of Nabonidus is fixed by context and the Babylonian king-list chronology (Parker & Dubberstein).
- “your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians … In that night Belshazzar … was slain. Darius the Mede received the kingdom” — Belshazzar slain; Darius the Mede receives the kingdom (Dan 5:30–31) days later Fall of Babylon to Cyrus (October 539 BC) (Daniel 5:28–31)[2]Assumption: Daniel does not date "that night" or name the capture; this constraint assumes it is the night Babylon was entered (16 Tašrītu). Babylonian sources do not record Belshazzar's death; if he died elsewhere or earlier, this constraint does not hold.
- “Darius … who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans” — Daniel reads Jeremiah's seventy years and prays (Dan 9:1–19) after Belshazzar slain; Darius the Mede receives the kingdom (Dan 5:30–31) (Daniel 9:1)
- “While I was speaking … about the time of the evening offering” — Gabriel comes at the evening offering with the word of the seventy weeks (Dan 9:20–27) days later Daniel reads Jeremiah's seventy years and prays (Dan 9:1–19) (Daniel 9:20–21)
Latest bound
- Synchronism: Fall of Babylon: 16 Tašrītu, Nabonidus year 17 (ABC 7) — independently dated between 12 Oct 539 BC and 13 Oct 539 BC (Babylonian day date converted with Parker & Dubberstein (1942) tables) (Daniel 5:30–31)[2, 3, 4]Assumption: 16 Tašrītu year 17 = 13 Oct 539 (Parker & Dubberstein 1942, p. 11; month VII began 28 Sep). Many modern works give 12 Oct; the one-day spread reflects day-boundary and month-start conventions. Window 12–13 Oct. The chronicle year is lost on the tablet; the 17th year of Nabonidus is fixed by context and the Babylonian king-list chronology (Parker & Dubberstein).
- “your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians … In that night Belshazzar … was slain. Darius the Mede received the kingdom” — Belshazzar slain; Darius the Mede receives the kingdom (Dan 5:30–31) days later Fall of Babylon to Cyrus (October 539 BC) (Daniel 5:28–31)[2]Assumption: Daniel does not date "that night" or name the capture; this constraint assumes it is the night Babylon was entered (16 Tašrītu). Babylonian sources do not record Belshazzar's death; if he died elsewhere or earlier, this constraint does not hold.
- “In the first year of Darius … in the first year of his reign” — Daniel reads Jeremiah's seventy years and prays (Dan 9:1–19) years later Belshazzar slain; Darius the Mede receives the kingdom (Dan 5:30–31) (Daniel 9:1–2)Assumption: Darius's first year is counted from his receiving the kingdom at Belshazzar's death (Dan 5:31), whatever his identity. The 0–2 year margin covers counting the accession year or the first full year. No identification of Darius the Mede is assumed; the identity question remains under review from Daniel 5.
- “While I was speaking … about the time of the evening offering” — Gabriel comes at the evening offering with the word of the seventy weeks (Dan 9:20–27) days later Daniel reads Jeremiah's seventy years and prays (Dan 9:1–19) (Daniel 9:20–21)
What else was happening? (model-independent)
- Daniel's refusal of the king's food and the ten-day test (Dan 1:8–16): 606 BC – ?
- Nebuchadnezzar's golden image on the plain of Dura (Dan 3:1–7): 603 BC – ?
- Nebuchadnezzar's decree honouring the God of the three Judeans (Dan 3:28–30): 603 BC – ?
- The refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace (Dan 3:8–27): 603 BC – ?
- Belshazzar slain; Darius the Mede receives the kingdom (Dan 5:30–31): 539 BC
- Belshazzar's feast and the writing on the wall (Dan 5:1–29): 539 BC
- Fall of Babylon to Cyrus (October 539 BC): 539 BC
- Daniel continues until the first year of King Cyrus (Dan 1:21): 538 BC – 537 BC
- Cyrus II (the Great) (reign): 539 BC – 530 BC
- Nabonidus (reign): 556 BC – 539 BC
- The thirty-day decree and Daniel in the lions' den (Dan 6:4–23): 539 BC – ?
- Darius appoints 120 satraps and three chief officials (Dan 6:1–3, 28): 539 BC – ?
- The accusers punished; Darius's decree honouring the God of Daniel (Dan 6:24–27): 539 BC – ?
- Daniel's night vision of the four beasts and its interpretation (Dan 7): ? – 539 BC
- Daniel's vision of the ram and the goat at Susa (Dan 8): ? – 539 BC
- Cyrus's proclamation permitting the return and the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra 1; 6:3–5): 538 BC – 537 BC
- Daniel reads Jeremiah's seventy years and prays (Dan 9:1–19): 539 BC – 536 BC
- Daniel's vision by the Tigris in the third year of Cyrus (Dan 10:1–11:1): 536 BC – 535 BC
- The closing dialogue by the river: the oath, the numbers and Daniel's dismissal (Dan 12:5–13): 536 BC – 535 BC
- Gedaliah governs from Mizpah and is assassinated (2 Kgs 25:22–26): 589 BC – ?
- Cyrus returns the Temple vessels to Sheshbazzar; the first return (Ezra 1:5–11): 538 BC – 530 BC
- The altar rebuilt in Jerusalem and the Feast of Booths kept (Ezra 3:1–7): 538 BC – 530 BC
- The return of the exiles with Zerubbabel and Jeshua; the list of returnees (Ezra 2): 538 BC – 531 BC
- The foundation of the Second Temple laid (Ezra 3:8–13): 537 BC – 530 BC
- Opposition from the people of the land; the Temple work ceases until Darius's second year (Ezra 4:1–5, 24): 537 BC – 519 BC
- Accusations to Ahasuerus and the Rehum–Shimshai letter to Artaxerxes; the city's rebuilding stopped (Ezra 4:6–23): 537 BC – ?
Claims, evidence and classifications
Each claim is classified on its own. A classification describes the evidence for that specific claim, not for the event as a whole.
Gabriel appeared to Daniel at the time of the evening offering.
An angelic appearance cannot be assessed historically. This is not a theological verdict.
Research date 2026-10-13
Evidence by type
The same evidence regrouped by kind of source. Each item names the claims it bears on.
Archaeological evidence
None recorded for this event.
Scientific findings
None recorded for this event.
Ancient documents
None recorded for this event.
Modern news and announcements
None recorded for this event.
Reference works and summaries
None recorded for this event.
Related passages and events
| From | Relationship | To | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| this event | Preceded byhigh · Biblical text | Daniel's vision of the ram and the goat at Susa (Dan 8) | Gabriel "whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning" (9:21; 8:16). |
| The seventy weeks (Dan 9:24–27) | Thematic parallelmedium · Interpretation | 2,300 evenings and mornings until the sanctuary is cleansed (Dan 8:13–14, 26) | Montgomery equates the half-week with the 2,300 evenings and mornings (1,150 days); Clement (per Jerome) added the 2,300 days to the 490 years.[1, 6] |
| The seventy weeks (Dan 9:24–27) | Thematic parallelmedium · Interpretation | The little horn and the king of fierce face (Dan 8:9–12, 23–25) | In the Maccabean reading the one who stops the sacrifice is the same king as the little horn of ch. 8.[5] |
| The seventy weeks (Dan 9:24–27) | Thematic parallelhigh · Biblical text | Matthew 24:15 | Jesus cites "the abomination of desolation, spoken of through Daniel the prophet". |
| The seventy weeks (Dan 9:24–27) | Thematic parallelhigh · Biblical text | Daniel 11:31 | The continual burnt offering removed and "the abomination that makes desolate" set up. |
| The seventy weeks (Dan 9:24–27) | Thematic parallelmedium · Biblical text | Leviticus 25:8 | Seven sabbaths of years (49) — the jubilee pattern behind "seven weeks" (Newton).[7] |
| this event | Thematic parallelhigh · Biblical text | Luke 1:19 | Gabriel reappears in Luke 1:19, 26. |
Prophetic relationships
- The seventy weeks (Dan 9:24–27) → Proposed fulfillment → Cyrus II (the Great)Preterist reading, proposed by Driver (Graetz and Bevan: Jeshua instead) · medium · Interpretation"An anointed one, a prince" (9:25) is Cyrus, called the LORD's anointed in Isa 45:1.[5]
- The seventy weeks (Dan 9:24–27) → Proposed fulfillment → Onias IIIPreterist reading, proposed by Driver; Montgomery · medium · Interpretation"An anointed one … cut off" (9:26) is the murdered high priest Onias III.[5, 6]
- The seventy weeks (Dan 9:24–27) → Proposed fulfillment → Antiochus IV EpiphanesPreterist reading, proposed by Driver; Montgomery · medium · Interpretation"The prince who comes" and the one who stops the sacrifice (9:26–27) is Antiochus IV.[5, 6]
- The seventy weeks (Dan 9:24–27) → Proposed fulfillment → Rome (Republic and Empire)Mixed reading, proposed by Newton; Guzik; Eusebius and "the Hebrews" (per Jerome) · medium · Interpretation"The people of the prince who comes" who destroy city and sanctuary (9:26) are the Romans (AD 70).[1, 7, 8]
- The seventy weeks (Dan 9:24–27) → Proposed fulfillment → Luke 19:37–40Futurist reading, proposed by Anderson; Guzik · medium · InterpretationThe sixty-nine weeks end "unto Messiah the Prince" at Jesus' entry into Jerusalem (6 April AD 32 in Anderson's reckoning).[8, 9]
- The seventy weeks (Dan 9:24–27) → Proposed fulfillment → Luke 23:44–46Mixed reading, proposed by Newton; Africanus (per Jerome); Miller · medium · Interpretation"The Anointed One will be cut off" (9:26) is the crucifixion of Jesus.[1, 7, 10]
- The seventy weeks (Dan 9:24–27) → Prophecy reference → Cyrus's proclamation permitting the return and the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra 1; 6:3–5)Preterist reading, proposed by Driver (as the 7-week mark); Eusebius, Clement (per Jerome) · medium · InterpretationCyrus's decree as the "going out of the word" or as the end of the first seven weeks.[1, 5]
- The seventy weeks (Dan 9:24–27) → Prophecy reference → Artaxerxes' decree to Ezra in his seventh year (Ezra 7)Historicist reading, proposed by Newton; Miller · medium · InterpretationArtaxerxes' decree to Ezra (458/457) as the start of the 490 years.[7, 10]
- The seventy weeks (Dan 9:24–27) → Prophecy reference → Artaxerxes sends Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem, Nisan of his twentieth year (Neh 2:1–8)Futurist reading, proposed by Africanus (per Jerome); Anderson; Guzik · medium · InterpretationArtaxerxes' commission to Nehemiah (445/444) as the start of the 69 weeks.[1, 8, 9]
- Jeremiah's seventy years (Jer 25:11–12; 29:10; read in Dan 9:2) → Proposed fulfillment → Fall of Babylon to Cyrus (October 539 BC)Preterist reading, proposed by Driver; Guzik · medium · InterpretationJeremiah's seventy years end with Babylon's fall (Jer 25:12).[5, 8]
- Jeremiah's seventy years (Jer 25:11–12; 29:10; read in Dan 9:2) → Proposed fulfillment → Cyrus's proclamation permitting the return and the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra 1; 6:3–5)Preterist reading, proposed by 2 Chronicles 36:22; Ezra 1:1 (text); Driver · medium · InterpretationCyrus's first-year proclamation accomplishes Jeremiah's word.[5]
- Jeremiah's seventy years (Jer 25:11–12; 29:10; read in Dan 9:2) → Proposed fulfillment → The rebuilt Temple completed on 3 Adar of Darius's sixth year (Ezra 6:15)Preterist reading, proposed by Zechariah 1:12 (text); Jerome · medium · InterpretationThe seventy years of the Temple's desolation end with its completion in Darius's sixth year.[1]
Vision content and interpretations
The symbolic content of a vision is not a historical occurrence. Identifications the text itself makes are marked as such. Every other reading is an interpretation, attributed to its proponents and labelled by approach. Proposed fulfillments await owner review and are never presented as established fact.
The little horn and the king of fierce face (Dan 8:9–12, 23–25) (Daniel 8:23–25)
From one of the four kingdoms a fierce, cunning king arises who destroys the holy people, removes the continual offering, opposes the prince of princes, and is broken without human hand.
In the text: The little horn is a king arising "in the latter time of their kingdom" (8:23) — i.e. of the four kingdoms of Greece. He is not named.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
PreteristAncient Jewish, patristic and criticalMachine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: Josephus (Ant. 12.7.6: the desolation "according to the prophecy of Daniel"); Jerome (on 8:23); S. R. Driver (1900): "admitted on all hands"; J. A. Montgomery (1927); D. Guzik (near fulfillment)
Textual reasoning: the horn comes from one of the four Greek kingdoms; it removes the continual offering and desolates the sanctuary, which 1 Maccabees records under Antiochus (1:54) until the rededication (4:52). Objection (Newton): a horn signifies a kingdom, not one man, and Antiochus's kingdom was not "exceedingly great". Acceptance: Driver says it is "admitted on all hands"; even Jerome, who resists Antiochus for ch. 7, accepts him here.[5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14]
Little horn / king of fierce face → Antiochus IV Epiphanes · Removal of the continual offering → Desecration of 15 Chislev 145 SE (1 Macc 1:54)
Antiochus as a type of the future Antichrist (dual fulfillment)
MixedPatristic majority (per Jerome); modern dispensationalProponents: "Most of our commentators" (reported by Jerome); D. Guzik
Because the vision concerns "the time of the end" (8:17, 19), the near fulfillment in Antiochus prefigures a final Antichrist. The future part is not a claim of historical fulfillment; the Antiochus part is recorded separately.[12, 13]
King of fierce face → Antiochus as type; the Antichrist as antitype
Rome (historicist)
HistoricistProtestant historicistMachine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: I. Newton (1733)
The little horn of the goat is a new kingdom that arose out of one of the four — Rome, which conquered Macedonia and the East and later continued as the Greek empire. Newton rejects Antiochus "not very judiciously" identified. Objection (Driver): the horn grows "out of one of them", i.e. from a Greek kingdom, and its deeds match Antiochus's.[5, 7]
Little horn → Rome
2,300 evenings and mornings until the sanctuary is cleansed (Dan 8:13–14, 26) (Daniel 8:13–14)
The desolation of the sanctuary and suspension of the continual offering will last 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be cleansed.
In the text: The text gives the number and says the vision is "true" and for "many days to come" (8:26); it does not say whether the unit is a day or a single offering.
1,150 days (2,300 offerings) of the interrupted sacrifice under Antiochus
PreteristHistorical-criticalMachine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: S. R. Driver (1900): "so most commentators"; P. Newell (cited by Guzik)
The continual offering was made morning and evening, so 2,300 offerings = 1,150 days, a little under the 3 years 10 days between the desecration (15 Chislev 145) and the rededication (25 Chislev 148). Objection (Driver himself): the figure does "not agree precisely with the event".[5, 13, 14]
2,300 evenings and mornings → 1,150 days, 168/167–165/164 BC
2,300 days ending with the cleansing of the Temple
PreteristPatristic and modern conservativeMachine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: Jerome (six years and three months from year 143); D. Guzik (from 171 BC, Menelaus's high priesthood, to the cleansing)
Evening-morning = a full day (cf. Gen 1:5), so 2,300 days ≈ 6⅓ years ending with Judas Maccabaeus's rededication. The starting point differs between proponents; Driver lists further variants (e.g. Dec 168 to the defeat of Nicanor, 161).[5, 12, 13]
2,300 evenings and mornings → 2,300 days ending with the rededication
2,300 years from 457 BC to AD 1843 (year-day)
HistoricistMillerite (19th-century American Adventism)Machine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: W. Miller (1842)
A prophetic day equals a year; the period begins with Artaxerxes' decree to Ezra (457 BC, the start of the seventy weeks of Dan 9) and ends in AD 1843 with the cleansing of the sanctuary at Christ's return. Objection (Guzik): Daniel's vision concerns Antiochus and the Temple cleansing commemorated in John 10:22; Miller's reckoning is rejected. Later Adventist reinterpretations (1844) were not researched from primary sources.[10, 13]
2,300 evenings and mornings → 2,300 years, 457 BC – AD 1843
Jeremiah's seventy years (Jer 25:11–12; 29:10; read in Dan 9:2) (Jeremiah 25:11–12)
The nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years; when they are completed Babylon will be punished (Jer 25:11–12) and the exiles visited and returned (29:10). Daniel reads it as seventy years "for the desolations of Jerusalem" (Dan 9:2).
In the text: Later biblical texts apply it differently: 2 Chr 36:21–22 to the land's sabbath rest until the kingdom of Persia and Cyrus's first year; Zech 1:12 (Darius's second year) to "these seventy years" of indignation against Jerusalem; Dan 9:24 extends it to seventy weeks.
Babylonian supremacy: c. 609/605 to 539/538 BC
PreteristHistorical-critical and conservativeMachine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: S. R. Driver (1900): "the 70 years of the Chaldaean supremacy"; D. Guzik (counting from 605, the first deportation)
Textual reasoning: Jer 25:11 speaks of the nations serving the king of Babylon; 25:12 ends the period with Babylon's punishment. Historical evidence: Babylon fell in Oct 539 (Nabonidus Chronicle) and Cyrus's first Babylonian year began Nisan 538. Objection: 605–539 is 66 years, so "seventy" is taken as round or the end point moved later (Guzik: the period still had "three or four years" to run at Dan 9).[5, 8]
Seventy years → From Babylon's rise over Judah to its fall
Desolation of the Temple: 587/586 to 516/515 BC
PreteristInner-biblical reading (Zechariah); patristicMachine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: Zechariah 1:12; 7:5 (text, in Darius I's 2nd and 4th years); Jerome ("seventy years for the desolation of the Temple")
Textual reasoning: in Darius I's second year (Zech 1:7, 12) the angel still speaks of "these seventy years" of indignation against Jerusalem, and the Temple was finished in Darius's sixth year (Ezra 6:15). From the destruction (587/586) to the completion (Adar 515) is about 70 years (operator arithmetic). Objection: Jeremiah's own wording is about serving Babylon, not the Temple.[1, 3]
Seventy years → From the Temple's destruction to its rebuilding
The land's sabbaths, ended by Cyrus's decree (Chronicler)
PreteristInner-biblical reading (Chronicles)Machine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: 2 Chronicles 36:20–22 (text); S. R. Driver (on Dan 9:2 and 9:24); D. Guzik (2 Chronicles 36)
The Chronicler joins Jeremiah's seventy years to the land enjoying its sabbaths (Lev 26:34–35) "until the reign of the kingdom of Persia", and dates Cyrus's proclamation to his first year "that the LORD's word by Jeremiah's mouth might be accomplished". Driver notes that Dan 9:24 develops this sabbatical reading into seventy weeks of years. Guzik: about 490 years of neglected sabbath years left the land owing seventy, collected in the exile; he gives no start or end year.[5, 15]
Seventy years → The land's sabbath rest until Cyrus
The seventy weeks (Dan 9:24–27) (Daniel 9:24–27)
Seventy weeks are decreed on Daniel's people and city: seven weeks from a word to rebuild Jerusalem to an anointed prince; sixty-two weeks of rebuilding in troubled times; then an anointed one is cut off, a coming prince's people destroy city and sanctuary, a covenant is made for one week, and in its middle sacrifice ceases and an abomination makes desolate. Jerome already found the passage argued "in various ways by men of greatest learning"; Driver calls it the most discussed passage of the Old Testament. Origen (as reported by Jerome) only urged that the years from Darius's first year to Christ be ascertained.
In the text: The text gives the divisions 7 + 62 + 1 (= 70) weeks and the events attached to them. It does not define a "week", name the decree, the anointed one(s), the prince who comes, or the subject of "he will make a firm covenant", and gives no calendar.
Maccabean: 587 BC to Cyrus, to the murder of Onias III (171), to Antiochus IV (164)
PreteristHistorical-criticalMachine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: S. R. Driver (1900); J. A. Montgomery (1927); Bevan, Cornill, Schürer (cited by Driver)
Textual reasoning: the "word" is Jeremiah's promise of rebuilding (Jer 30–31, c. 587); seven weeks (49 years) bring "an anointed one, a prince" — Cyrus (Isa 45:1), 538 (Graetz and Bevan: Jeshua); the "anointed one cut off" after 62 more weeks is the high priest Onias III (2 Macc 4:33–35, c. 171); the coming prince is Antiochus IV, whose suspension of sacrifice for half a week matches 167–164. Historical evidence: 1–2 Maccabees. Objections: 538 to 171 is 367 years, not 434 — "too large by 67" (Driver); defenders explain it as a mistaken chronology, citing similar over-estimates by Demetrius and Josephus (Schürer). Acceptance: Driver adopts it as the principal alternative to the traditional view; Montgomery says no period "so neatly fits".[5, 6, 16]
Anointed one, a prince (9:25) → Cyrus (or Jeshua) · Anointed one cut off (9:26) → Onias III · Prince who comes; he who causes sacrifice to cease → Antiochus IV · Last week → 171–164 BC
Maccabean variant: overlapping weeks from Jer 25 (605 BC)
PreteristHistorical-criticalMachine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: A. Hilgenfeld; G. Behrmann (both as reported by Driver)
The word is Jer 25 (606/605); the seven weeks end c. 558 while the 62 weeks run concurrently from the same point to 171; the last week ends 164. Objection (Driver): Jer 25 contains a rebuilding promise only implicitly, and the text gives no hint that the 62 weeks do not follow the 7.[5]
Seventy weeks → Overlapping periods from 605 to 164 BC
Messianic, continuous: from Artaxerxes' seventh year (Ezra 7) to Christ
HistoricistTraditional Protestant; historicistMachine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: I. Newton (1733); W. Miller (1842); Auberlen and Pusey (as reported by Driver)
Textual reasoning: 490 years run from Ezra's commission (Artaxerxes I year 7; Newton: Julian Period 4257, 458/457 BC) to Christ's death, which "made reconciliation"; Newton counts the 62 weeks separately from Nehemiah's wall (28th year? — Newton) to Christ's birth and applies the seven weeks to the second coming; Miller counts 457 BC + 490 = AD 33. Objections (Driver): Ezra 7 says nothing of rebuilding Jerusalem; the RV punctuation separates the 7 and 62 weeks; Christ's ministry lasted about 3½ years, not a week; the destruction of AD 70 falls outside the 490 years.[5, 7, 10]
Going out of the word → Artaxerxes I's decree to Ezra (Ezra 7) · Anointed one cut off → The crucifixion of Jesus · People of the prince who comes → The Roman army (AD 70)
Messianic with a gap: 69 weeks from Artaxerxes' twentieth year to the triumphal entry; the 70th week future
FuturistDispensational premillennialMachine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: Sir Robert Anderson, The Coming Prince (1881); D. Guzik (also citing Walvoord and Ironside)
Textual reasoning: only Neh 2 commands the city and wall to be built; 69 weeks of 360-day "prophetic years" (173,880 days) run from 1 Nisan of Artaxerxes' 20th year, which Anderson fixes at 14 March 445 BC from an astronomical new moon supplied by the Astronomer Royal, to 6 April AD 32, Jesus' entry into Jerusalem; after the 69th week comes "a gap or parenthesis" and the 70th week is future, with the coming prince as Antichrist. Objections: Guzik himself notes AD 32 is controversial (most chronologists prefer AD 30 or 33); Driver insists the weeks run consecutively and have the same value; Parker & Dubberstein's Babylonian table puts 1 Nisan of Artaxerxes' 20th year on 13 April, not 14 March, 445 (operator comparison — the Judean calendar may have differed). Acceptance: widely held in dispensational circles (not quantified in sources read). Arithmetic (operator check): in Julian reckoning the stated dates are 173,882 days apart; Anderson's 173,880 applies a Gregorian leap-year correction to Julian dates (his own note).[3, 5, 8, 9]
Going out of the word → Artaxerxes I's commission to Nehemiah (Neh 2) · Anointed one, the prince → Jesus at the triumphal entry · He who makes a firm covenant → A future Antichrist · 70th week → A future seven years
Africanus: Artaxerxes' 20th year to Christ in lunar years (reported by Jerome)
PreteristPatristic (3rd century)Machine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: Julius Africanus, Chronographiae book 5 (quoted by Jerome)
Counts from Artaxerxes' 20th year (Ol. 83.4) to the 15th year of Tiberius (Ol. 202.2): 475 solar years, which, reckoned in Hebrew lunar years with intercalation, make 490. Reckoning from Cyrus or from Daniel's vision falls short; from the start of the captivity it overshoots.[1]
Seventy weeks → From Nehemiah's commission to Christ's passion
Eusebius (1): the anointed are the high priests from Jeshua to Alexander Jannaeus (reported by Jerome)
PreteristPatristic (4th century)Machine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: Eusebius of Caesarea (quoted by Jerome)
From Cyrus, 7 weeks cover the long-delayed rebuilding of the Temple; 62 weeks (483 years in all) run through the succession of anointed high priests to the death of Alexander Jannaeus, after which civil strife, Pompey and Herod ended the legitimate line.[1]
Anointed one(s) → The high priests · Going out of the word → Cyrus's decree
Eusebius (2): from Darius's sixth year to Herod; the half-week is Christ's ministry (reported by Jerome)
PreteristPatristic (4th century)Machine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: Eusebius of Caesarea (Chronicle; reported by Jerome)
69 weeks run from the completion of the Temple in Darius's sixth year to Herod's seizure of Judaea and the murder of Hyrcanus; Christ preached 3½ years and after his passion sacrifice ceased "in the middle of the week". Eusebius also reports a view that the last week was seventy years (Nero to Trajan), which Jerome finds inconsistent.[1]
Anointed one cut off → Hyrcanus II · Middle of the week → Christ's passion
Hippolytus: 62 weeks to Christ's birth; the last week at the end of the world (reported by Jerome)
FuturistPatristic (3rd century)Machine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: Hippolytus (reported by Jerome)
Seven weeks precede the return from Babylon, sixty-two run to Christ's birth, and the final week is divided between Elijah and the Antichrist at the end of the age. Jerome objects that the Persian and Macedonian periods give about 560 years, not 483.[1]
Last week → Elijah and the Antichrist at the end of the world
Apollinaris of Laodicea: from Christ's birth; a future rebuilding and Antichrist (reported by Jerome)
FuturistPatristic (4th century)Proponents: Apollinaris of Laodicea (quoted by Jerome)
Counts from the "going forth of the Word" at Christ's birth: 7 weeks to the eighth year of Claudius, then 62 weeks (434 years), after which Jerusalem would be rebuilt in the last week, Elijah would come and the Antichrist sit in the Temple. Jerome warns that later generations would have to convict him of error if the dates failed; no historical fulfillment is claimed here.[1]
Seventy weeks → Christ's birth to a future end
Clement of Alexandria: Cyrus to Vespasian and Titus (reported by Jerome)
PreteristPatristic (c. AD 200)Machine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: Clement of Alexandria (reported by Jerome)
The seventy weeks span the Persian, Macedonian and Roman ages from Cyrus to the destruction of the Temple under Vespasian and Titus. Jerome objects that this interval is about 630 years.[1]
Destruction of city and sanctuary → AD 70
Tertullian: from Darius's first year to Christ's birth (62½ weeks) and to Vespasian (70 weeks) (reported by Jerome)
PreteristPatristic (c. AD 200), Adversus IudaeosMachine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: Tertullian, Against the Jews (quoted by Jerome)
Begins at the first year of Darius, when the vision was given; Persian, Macedonian and Ptolemaic reigns total 437½ years to Christ's birth in Augustus's 41st year; adding the emperors to Vespasian's capture of Jerusalem completes the seventy weeks. The regnal figures are Tertullian's own and do not match modern chronology.[1]
Anointed (Saint of saints) → Christ · End of the seventy weeks → The Roman capture of Jerusalem
"The Hebrews": from Darius the Mede to the destructions under Vespasian and Hadrian (reported by Jerome)
PreteristJewish interpretation of Jerome's day (as reported by a Christian author)Machine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: Jewish teachers reported by Jerome
From the first year of Darius (who slew Belshazzar), the city and Temple are rebuilt; the 62 weeks run to the perpetual desolation under Vespasian, and the single week is split between Vespasian (3½ years of peace) and Hadrian's final war. Jerome objects that the interval is 696 years. This is a hostile witness's paraphrase; rabbinic sources were not read directly.[1]
People of the prince who comes → The Romans under Vespasian · Last week → Vespasian and Hadrian
Symbolic weeks: from Cyrus's word to Christ, the age of the church, and the last enemy
MixedSymbolic (non-chronological) reading; conservative Lutheran, amillennial-type (Keil after Kliefoth and Leyrer)Machine-proposedIn owner review queueProponents: C. F. Keil (1872); Th. Kliefoth and Leyrer (as followed by Keil); J. Baldwin ("symbolic and not arithmetical", as quoted by Guzik)
Textual reasoning: šābûaʿ means "a period of sevens" without fixing the unit, while Daniel elsewhere uses exact measures (8:14 evenings-mornings; 12:11 days); the answer to Daniel's question about seventy years is a divine measure, not a calendar. The seven sevens run from the word to rebuild (Isa 44:28, Cyrus) to the Messiah; the sixty-two are the building of God's city in troubled times; the last seven is the final enemy's rule and judgment. Every chronological reckoning, Keil argues, does violence to the text or fails arithmetically; the times of the end are reserved to God (Acts 1:7; Mark 13:32). Objections: Guzik criticises commentators who ignore the numbers; Driver requires weeks of equal value in order; preterist and dispensational readers both treat the numbers as calendrical.[5, 8, 17]
Seven weeks → From Cyrus's word to the coming of Christ · Sixty-two weeks → The age of the Messiah's kingdom in troubled times · Last week → The final enemy and the consummation
Commentary references
Layer: Interpretation. This is commentary, not historical evidence.
Guzik notes that the answer was sent at the beginning of the prayer and that Gabriel came at the hour of the evening sacrifice.[8]
Unanswered questions and research gaps
Research process
2 logged searches
| Date | Query | Where | Useful |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-13 | Enduring Word Daniel 9 | web fetch | 1 |
| 2026-10-13 | Jerome on Daniel 9 (local text): catalogue of seventy-weeks interpretations | local text | 1 |
Sources
- 1.Jerome, Archer, Gleason L. (trans.). Jerome, Commentary on Daniel (trans. Gleason L. Archer, 1958) — chapter 9. tertullian.org (transcribed by Roger Pearse). www.tertullian.orgClaim checkedAncient primary textVerification log
- 2.Lendering, Jona (ed.). ABC 7 (Nabonidus Chronicle) — English translation on Livius.org. Livius.org. www.livius.orgClaim checkedAncient primary textFull translation page read. The page gives no museum number and no Julian dates.Verification log
- 3.Parker, Richard A., Dubberstein, Waldo H.. Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C.–A.D. 45 (SAOC 24). University of Chicago Press (Oriental Institute). archive.orgClaim checkedAcademic monographRead through the Internet Archive OCR text of the Oriental Institute PDF; OCR has digit errors (e.g. "589" for 539) checked against context. The 1956 revised edition was not consulted.Verification log
- 4.Cogan, Mordechai (trans., COS 2003), Schaudig, Hanspeter (edition), van der Spek, R. J.. Cyrus Cylinder — English translation on Livius.org. Livius.org. www.livius.orgClaim checkedAncient primary textPage states only that the cylinder is in the British Museum.Verification log
- 5.Driver, S. R.. The Book of Daniel (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges). Cambridge University Press. archive.orgClaim checkedScholarly commentaryRead through the Internet Archive OCR text (Google scan).Verification log
- 6.Montgomery, James A.. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (ICC). T. & T. Clark. archive.orgClaim checkedScholarly commentaryRead through the Internet Archive OCR text (University of Toronto copy).Verification log
- 7.Newton, Isaac. Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John. Project Gutenberg #16878 (first published 1733). www.gutenberg.orgClaim checkedTheological commentaryRead through the Gutenberg text (pglaf mirror), Part I chs. 4–8.Verification log
- 8.Guzik, David. Daniel 9 — Enduring Word Bible Commentary. Enduring Word. enduringword.comClaim checkedTheological commentaryInterpretive resource — not historical corroboration.Verification log
- 9.Anderson, Sir Robert. The Coming Prince, or the Seventy Weeks of Daniel (11th edition). Pickering & Inglis (Glasgow), n.d. (first ed. 1881). archive.orgClaim checkedTheological commentaryRead through the Internet Archive OCR text (eleventh edition). Archive metadata gives 1900; the volume itself is undated.Verification log
- 10.Miller, William. Evidence from Scripture and History of the Second Coming of Christ, about the Year 1843. Joshua V. Himes (Boston), 1842. archive.orgClaim checkedTheological commentaryRead through the Internet Archive OCR text, Lecture III.Verification log
- 11.Josephus, Whiston, William (trans.). Josephus, Antiquities 12.7.6–7 (trans. W. Whiston). Project Gutenberg #2848. www.gutenberg.orgClaim checkedAncient primary textVerification log
- 12.Jerome, Archer, Gleason L. (trans.). Jerome, Commentary on Daniel (trans. Gleason L. Archer, 1958) — chapter 8. tertullian.org (transcribed by Roger Pearse). www.tertullian.orgClaim checkedAncient primary textVerification log
- 13.Guzik, David. Daniel 8 — Enduring Word Bible Commentary. Enduring Word. enduringword.comClaim checkedTheological commentaryInterpretive resource — not historical corroboration.Verification log
- 14.World English Bible. World English Bible — Apocrypha/Deuterocanon (1 Maccabees; 2 Esdras). eBible.org (eng-web USFM). ebible.orgClaim checkedAncient primary textWEB footnotes giving "circa B.C." dates are editorial and were not used as chronological evidence.Verification log
- 15.Guzik, David. 2 Chronicles 36 — Enduring Word Bible Commentary. Enduring Word. enduringword.comClaim checkedTheological commentaryInterpretive resource — not historical corroboration.Verification log
- 16.World English Bible contributors. World English Bible — Apocrypha/Deuterocanon (2 Maccabees 4). eBible.org (eng-web USFM). ebible.orgClaim checkedAncient primary textVerification log
- 17.Keil, C. F., Easton, M. G. (trans.). Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament). T. & T. Clark (Edinburgh), 1872. archive.orgClaim checkedTheological commentaryRead through the Internet Archive OCR text.Verification log