Commencement of the Seventy Weeks

The start of the “seventy weeks” is linked to the prophecy by Jeremiah on the Babylonian Captivity – Daniel 9:1-2. 

The prophecy of the “seventy weeks” is one of the most perplexing and disputed passages in the Hebrew Bible. One of the few aspects on which there is a general agreement is the length of the period – the “seventy-sevens” equate to a period of 490 years. Beyond that, interpretations diverge on every aspect of the prophecy.

The critical issue that must be addressed before there is any hope of unraveling the passage is the “start date” of the 490-year period. What historical event marked the commencement of the “seventy weeks”?

The passage itself pegs the starting point to the “going forth of the words to return and to build Jerusalem.” One common approach is the assumption that this refers to an edict by a Persian king for the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem. At least four dates with possible corresponding edicts have been proposed:

1. 538 B.C. - Cyrus the Great issued a decree for the Jews to return to Judea - (2 Chronicles 36:22-23, Ezra 1:1-4, 6:1-5).
2. 517 B.C. - King Darius confirmed the decree of Cyrus - (Ezra 6:6-12).
3. 458 B.C. – King Artaxerxes authorized Ezra to lead a contingent of Jewish exiles to Jerusalem - (Ezra 7:11-26).
4. 445-444 B.C. - Artaxerxes authorized Nehemiah to repair the walls of Jerusalem - (Nehemiah 1:3; 2:4-8).

But nowhere does the book of Daniel indicate or even suggest that the “word to return and build Jerusalem” refers to any edict by a Persian ruler. Moreover, basic to the theology of the book is the belief that Yahweh rules over the kingdoms of the earth. He installs and removes rulers according to His pleasure, and He uses pagan rulers to accomplish His plans. However, He issues His decrees through His prophets – (Daniel 2:20-21, 2:46-49).

Gabriel instructed Daniel to “know and discern that from the going forth of the WORD (dabar) to return (shub) and to build (banah) Jerusalem.” The Hebrew noun dabar means “word.” It is the same term used numerous times in the Hebrew Bible for the “word of Yahweh” (Strong’s - #H1697). It does NOT mean “command,” “decree” or “edict.”

The noun shub is used in the Hebrew Bible for “repent” or “return,” and not for “rebuild” - (Strong’s - #H7725). In this context, it refers to the “return” of Israel from captivity to build the city. The second infinitive banah means “to build” - (Strong’s - #H1129). The opening paragraph of chapter 9 identifies this “word of Yahweh” by name:

• (Daniel 9:1-2) - “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the scrolls the number of the years whereof the word (dabar) of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet for the accomplishing (malé) of the desolations (horbah) of Jerusalem, even seventy years.”

In verse 25, the “word” or dabar of Yahweh has a definite article or “the” prefixed to it. This refers to a specific and known “word.” The only such “word” in the entire context is the “word of Yahweh” referenced in verse 2, the “word” found in the “scroll of Jeremiah” concerning the “seventy years.” Daniel was contemplating that original prediction:

• (Jeremiah 25:10-14) – “The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the same was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon…the whole land shall be a desolation (horbah) and shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years…when the seventy years are accomplished (malé) I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation.”

For Daniel, the “desolation” of Judah began with the subjugation of Jerusalem by Babylon in the first year of king Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, 605 B.C. The prophecy in Jeremiah is dated to that same year:

• (Daniel 1:1) – “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged it.”
• (Jeremiah 25:1) – “The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, the same was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”

With the overthrow of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the Captivity of Judah had reached its termination point. Daniel understood this from the “scrolls,” the years that Yahweh had required “to accomplish the desolations of Jerusalem, seventy years” had run their course.

“Scrolls” translates the Hebrew term sepher (Strong’s - #H5612). “Accomplish” is a rendering of the Hebrew verb mala or “accomplish, complete” (Strong’s - #H4390). “Desolations” represents the noun horbah (Strong’s - #H2723). The terms “desolation” and “accomplish” are prominent in Jeremiah’s prophecy:

• “This whole land shall be desolation (horbah) and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years…And it shall come to pass when seventy years are accomplished (malé)…”

Daniel labels the prophecy from Jeremiah the “word of Yahweh,” the dabar (Strong’s #H1697). The term occurs again in verse 25, “the going forth of the word (‘dabar’) to return and to build Jerusalem.” The prophecy by Jeremiah IS the passage that marks the start of the “seventy weeks” prophetic period, the “going forth of the word to return and build Jerusalem.”

The prophecy of Jeremiah is dated to the “first year of Nebuchadrezzar,” the same year described in the opening of Daniel. A related word by Jeremiah sets the conditions for the release of the Jewish exiles:

• (Jeremiah 29:10-14) - “For thus says Yahweh, After seventy years, are accomplished (malé) for Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you in causing you to return (shub)to this place…You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart…and I will return (shub) your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you.”

The verbal links between the passage in Daniel and the prophecies of Jeremiah are telling, and Daniel’s prayer of contrition is precisely what the prophecy from Jeremiah required before the “return” of the exiles to Jerusalem (“And you shall seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you”).

Yahweh promised to release Israel after seventy years but only if she repented, an act Daniel proceeded to do as the representative of his nation. For him, the Babylonian Captivity began with the first attack against Jerusalem in the “first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign.” The decree of Cyrus to release the exiles was issued seventy years later in 538 B.C. Thus, for Daniel, the prophesied time of release was at hand “in the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus.”

In short, the “word” that marked the beginning of the “seventy weeks” was the “word of Yahweh” given by the prophet Jeremiah, not any edict by a later Persian king, and that “word” was given in the first year of king Nebuchadnezzar.

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