Seventy weeks prophecy

Scripture

(Daniel 9:24-27 [KJV])
 [24] Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
 [25] Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
 [26] And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
 [27] And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Mainstream interpretation

The mainstream interpretation of Daniels 70 weeks prophecy is that it is talking about 70 x 7 years from the time of the Babylon captivity.

They then believe that after 69 weeks (69x7 years) Jesus was killed and therefore a gap was created of 2000 years. They call this gap the church age. They then believe that the last week, the 70th week (the last 7 years) will be the time of the book of Revelation. They then believe that the midpoint of the 70th week is when the abomination that causes desolation is set up in the temple by the antichrist.

My interpretation

Daniel is a sealed book so we can only speculate what is the true interpretation of it. There is a prophecy of the 70 weeks in Daniel 9:24.

It says seventy weeks are determined upon thy people in the king james bible. I believe these seventy weeks started during the Babylon captivity and ended at the stoning of Stephen. I believe the midpoint of the 70th week was when Jesus Christ was crucified.

I believe the mainstream interpretation to be wrong. I believe that the mainstream interpretation would make Daniel a false prophet, since he then did not see the gap of almost 2000 years between the 69th weeks and the 70th week.

So I believe when it said 70 weeks are determined upon thy people, they were talking about Daniels people which are the Jews and at the stoning of Stephen the gospel went to the gentiles so that was the end of the time determined for the Jews. That is when the 70th week ended.

Dan 9:24 King James Bible
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

Some might say that this stuff about Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people ending at the stoning of Stephen is not biblical because there is only one fold for the sheep. But Jesus says there is more than one fold for the sheep.

(John 10:16 [KJV]) And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

So I think that this can be the way that the bible should be interpreted.

Hebrew interpretation

There exists another interpretation of this which is based on the assumption that the first two words in Daniel 9:24 are not seventy weeks but rather seventy seventy.

Dan 9:24 Julia E. Smith Parker Translation
24 Seventy seventy were divided upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to close the transgression, and to seal up sins, and to expiate iniquity, and to bring in eternal justice, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the holy of holies.

Dan 9:24 Hebrew
שָֽׁבֻעִ֨ים שִׁבְעִ֜ים נֶחְתַּ֥ךְ עַל־עַמְּךָ֣ | וְעַל־עִ֣יר
קָדְשֶׁ֗ךָ לְכַלֵּ֨א הַפֶּ֜שַׁע וּלְהָתֵ֚ם (כתיב וּלְחָתֵ֚ם) חַטָּאוֹת֙
וּלְכַפֵּ֣ר עָו‍ֹ֔ן וּלְהָבִ֖יא צֶ֣דֶק עֹֽלָמִ֑ים וְלַחְתֹּם֙ חָז֣וֹן וְנָבִ֔יא
וְלִמְשֹׁ֖חַ קֹ֥דֶשׁ קָֽדָשִֽׁים:

This is based on that the first two words in Daniel 9:24 were really the same words early in bible history but were later changed to two different words. They are very similar.

שִׁבְעִ֜ים (shiv·'im = seventy)
שָׁבֻעִ֨ים (sha·vu·'im = week)

Notice that the hebrew letters are almost exactly the same for shivim and shavuim. The idea is that originally the same word was written twice. That is in the original hebrew manuscript that the same word was written twice. The difference is only the direction of the sign above the Ayin (ע). It is in different directions (עִ֨ עִ֜). Possibly also the sign below the shin letter שׁ is different (שִׁשָׁ).

If it is so that they are talking about seventy seventy then that is 70x70=4900 years. Lets say its prophetic years that have 360 days instead of 365 days. Then we have to substract (4900*5)/365 = 67 years. So it becomes 4833 years. That doesnt fit with history.

Assuming then that the first seventy is talking about 490 years ending with the stoning of Stephen and the second seventy is talking about 70 years of the Mt24 end times.

(Matthew 24:32-34 [KJV])
 [32] Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
 [33] So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
 [34] Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Notice that it says this generation shall not pass, that could mean 70 years. But this interpretation seems inconsistent since the first 70 was 490 years and then the last 70 is 70 years.

Summary

So I believe a more likely interpretation of Daniel 9:24 is that it is talking about the time from the Babylon captivity to the stoning of Stephen being 70 x 7 years, that is 70 weeks that is 490 years and that the prophecy was not talking about the end times but rather about this period of time ending with the stoning of Stephen.

See also

• 2000 years prophecy