Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 07:2 (May 1945)
Article: The Interpretation Of The Seventy Weeks Of Daniel In The Early Fathers
Author: Louis E. Knowles

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WTJ 7:2 (May 1945) p. 136

The Interpretation Of The Seventy Weeks Of Daniel In The Early Fathers

Louis E. Knowles

MORE than one writer has observed that the outstanding morass of Old Testament interpretation is to be found in the history of the multitudinous and equally various expositions of Daniel’s prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. This is certainly as true of the state of affairs in the early patristic writers as in any other period. Moreover, the confusion is often increased here due to two factors. First, the early fathers had a very corrupt text of Daniel upon which to work. None of them manifests any knowledge of the Hebrew of this passage although some of the later writers were acquainted with the language. The second factor lies in the lack of scientific chronology. Few of the fathers had any idea of when the first year of Cyrus took place. It must be stated, however, that the later we follow the development the more accurate becomes the knowledge of the historical dates.

Our attempt here shall be first to formulate the expositions to be found in the writings of the early fathers. This is not always an easy task in view of the large volume of material that came from their pens, material that must be searched for incidental references to our subject. Our second task will be to classify these expositions with a view to distinguishing trends and dependencies. In our survey which will carry us through Augustine, we shall be able to mark the progress of two main schools of interpretation, the eschatological and the historical. The former we can trace through Irenaeus and Hippolytus who are undoubtedly the forerunners of the modern dispensational interpreters of the Seventy Weeks. To the latter school belong most of the other writers of this period. The significance of the terms, eschatological school and historical school, will become apparent, I trust, as we proceed in our examination of the views of the fathers.

WTJ 7:2 (May 1945) p. 137

I. The Epistle Of Barnabas

The earliest reference to the prophecy of Daniel ix that we find in the writings of the fathers is in the words of the Epistle of Barnabas: γέγραπται γάρ· Καὶ ἔσται, τῆς ἑβδομάδος συντελουμένης οἰκοδομηθήσεται ναὸς θεοῦ ἐνδόξως ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι κυρίου (16:6). The reference to Daniel ix:24–27 is quite clear, although it is certainly a very free quotation. The writer of the Epistle of Barnabas has used words that occur in the Greek version of Daniel, but without any attempt to reproduce any actual sentence of Daniel. It is unlikely that this quotation represents a variant reading. It is mos...

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