Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 33:3 (Sep 1990)
Article: A New Interpretation Of Daniel’s “Sevens” And The Chronology Of The Seventy “Sevens”
Author: David H. Lurie

JETS 33:3 (September 1990) p. 303

A New Interpretation Of Daniel’s “Sevens”
And The Chronology Of The Seventy “Sevens”

David H. Lurie*

In 538 B.C., the year that followed Cyrus’ conquest of Babylon, Daniel prayed for the restoration of Israel and received his answer in the form of the prophecy of the seventy “sevens” as set forth in Dan 9:24–27. This prophecy has been subject to a great variety of different interpretations, almost all of which assume that Daniel’s “sevens” are periods of seven years. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that the conventional interpretation of Daniel’s “sevens” is too restrictive. An analysis of the Hebrew word s̆ābuʿîm, based on earlier work by E. J. Young, leads to the conclusion that the “sevens” can be any integer multiple of seven years.

This hitherto overlooked possibility opens up a new perspective on the chronology of the seventy “sevens.” I will show that the 532 years that elapsed between the decree of Cyrus and the birth of Christ are a mathematically exact fulfillment of the “seven ‘sevens’ and sixty-two ‘sevens’” that, according to Dan 9:25, were to elapse between the “command to restore and build Jerusalem” and the advent of “Messiah the Prince.” This reinterpretation has two advantages.

(1) It explains why the prophecy is worded as it is, with its implied distinction between the seven “sevens” and the sixty-two “sevens.” Had there been no distinction between these two groups of “sevens” one would have expected the prophecy to simply refer to the total, to sixty-nine “sevens.” In our reinterpretation the distinction between the seven “sevens” and the sixty-two “sevens” becomes explicit. The lengths of the “sevens” in the two groups are different integer multiples of seven years: Those in the first group are fourteen years long, while those in the second group are the usual seven years long.

(2) It permits a consistent identification of the “decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem” of Dan 9:25 with the decree of Cyrus in 538 B.C. Several writers have felt that Cyrus’ decree is the logical terminus a quo of the seventy “sevens” owing to its obvious importance in Biblical history.1 It was the decree that put an end to the Babylonian captivity and, moreover, it was issued in the very same year that a decree to “restore

* David Lurie, a theoretical physicist engaged in a writing and lecturing ministry, lives in Coral Gables, Florida.

JETS