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Osmo Alho

A New Interpretation of the Prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27

Basic Principles of the Interpretation

The vocalization of the Hebrew word ùáòéí

This word in unvocalized Hebrew, which is the original Biblical Hebrew, can be vocalized in three different ways:
  1. ùÑÄáÀòÄéí [shiv`im] = seventy
  2. ùÑÈáËòÄéí [shavu`im] = weeks = periods of 7 days
  3. ùÑÀáËòÇéÄí [shvu`a´yim] = two weeks = period or periods of 14 days
The third vocalization has been used in Leviticus 12:5 (5 åé÷øà éá) so that it is, too, included in the vocabulary of the Hebrew Bible. In this new interpretation the third vocalization has been used two times in verses Daniel 9:24 and 25, even if in contradiction to the Masoretic vocalization.

The principle of éåí ìùðä

The principle of éåÉí ìÇùÌÑÈðÈä [yom lashshana(h)], which is that one day means one year, given in Numbers 14:34 (34áîãáø éã), has been often used in the Hebrew Bible, e.g. in Ezekiel 4:5 (5 éçæ÷àì ã). Thus, one week means period of seven years, two weeks means period or periods of fourteen years and half a week means half a period of seven years. This principle has been generally used also in the interpretations of the prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27.

The time definitions in Daniel 9:24-27

According to these two principles presented above the following time definitions can be found in Daniel 9:24-27.

Verse 24

The Masoretic vocalization:

ùÑÈáËòÄéí ùÑÄáÀòÄéí [shavu`im shiv`im] = seventy periods of seven years = 70 x 7 years = 490 years. This time interval does not fit in with any historical events. It has been used as one of the bases in Seder Olam chronology, but "a large error emerges in the Seder Olam author's calculation of the Persian period" (Encyclopaedia Judaica, CD-ROM edition, article CHRONOLOGY, chapter In the Talmud).

The new vocalization:

ùÑÀáËòÇéÄí ùÑÄáÀòÄéí [shvu`a´yim shiv`im] = seventy periods of fourteen years = 70 x 14 years = 980 years. This time interval will give a very accurate fulfilment of the prophecy, as can be seen later.

Verse 25

The Masoretic vocalization:

ùÑÈáËòÄéí ùÑÄáÀòÈä åÀùÑÈáËòÄéí ùÑÄùÌÑÄéí åÌùÑÀðÇéÄí [shavu`im shiv`a(h) veshavu`im shishshim ushna´yim] = seven periods of seven years and sixty-two periods of seven years = 7 x 7 years + 62 x 7 years = (49 + 434) years = 483 years. This time definition is illogical. If the meaning is really 483 years we can ask why it has not been said ùÑÈáËòÄéí ùÑÄùÌÑÄéí åÀúÄùÑÀòÈä [shavu`im shishshim vethish`a(h)] = 69 x 7 years = 483 years. In addition, this time interval does not fit in with any clear historical events. The new vocalization:

ùÑÀáËòÇéÄí ùÑÄáÀòÈä åÀùÑÈáËòÄéí ùÑÄùÌÑÄéí åÌùÑÀðÇéÄí [shvu`a´yim shiv`a(h) veshavu`im shishshim ushna´yim] = seven periods of fourteen years and sixty-two periods of seven years = 7 x 14 years + 62 x 7 years = (98 + 434) years = 532 years. This time interval will give again a very accurate fulfilment of the prophecy.

Verse 26

The Masoretic vocalization:

àÇçÂøÅé äÇùÌÑÈáËòÄí ùÑÄùÌÑÄéí åÌùÑÀðÇéÄí [acharei hashshavu`im shishshim ushna´yim] = after the sixty-two periods of seven years. No new time definition, but a reference to some undefined times after the time defined in the previous verse.

No new vocalization.

Verse 27

The Masoretic vocalization: Two different time definitions:
  1. ùÑÈáåÌòÇ àæçÈã [shavu´a` 'echadh] = one period of seven years = 7 years.
  2. çÂöÄé äÇùÌÑÈáåÌòÇ [chatzi hashshavu´a`] = half the period of seven years = 3 ½ years.
No new vocalization.

A New Translation of the Text in Daniel 9:24-27

24. Seventy periods of fourteen years have been decreed upon your people and upon your holy city to terminate the transgression and to end sin and to atone iniquity and to bring everlasting righteousness and to seal vision and prophet and to anoint holy of holies.

25. And you should know and you should understand: From going forth of word to restore and to build Jerusalem until Messiah, Prince [will be] seven periods of fourteen years and sixty-two periods of seven years. It (= Jerusalem) will be restored and will be built, [even] square and trench, but in times of distress.

26. And after the sixty-two periods of seven years Messiah will be cut off, but not for Himself. The people of a prince who is to come will destroy the city and the Sanctuary, but its end (= the end of the destroying people) [will be] in a flood. And until end of war desolations are decreed.

27. It (= the destroying people) will \ strengthen / defeat \ an alliance of many [during] one period of seven years and [during] half the period of seven years. It (= the destroying people) will cease sacrifice and offering, and on wing of abominations (= in consequence of the idolatry) [will be] appalments, and [that will continue] until complete destruction as decreed will be poured upon desolator.

Comments and Explanations

Verse 24

The logical beginning point of the defined time of 980 years is the moment when Jerusalem became the holy city, which occurred when the Divine Presence (ùÑÀëÄéðÈä [Shekhina(h)]) filled the First Temple during the dedication of Solomon's Temple. That year can be calculated as follows:
David's conquest of Jerusalem (generally accepted year e.g. in Jerusalem's 3000 years celebration brochures) 1005 B.C.E.
David as king in Jerusalem (I Kings 2:11) 33 years
David's death 972 B.C.E.
David and Solomon as kings jointly (I Kings 1 and 2) c. 2 years
The 1st year of Solomon as king c. 974 B.C.E.
The 4th year of Solomon as king, the beginning of the constructing of the Temple building (I Kings 6:1) c. 971 B.C.E.
The constructing of the Temple building (I Kings 6:38) 7 years
The 11th year of Solomon as king, the Temple building ready (I Kings 6:38) c. 964 B.C.E.
The constructing of Solomon's palace and the making, transporting and installing of all the furnishings and vessels of the Temple (I Kings 7) 13 years
The Temple ready for the dedication c. 951 B.C.E.
The preparations for the dedication feast, like making of a temporary altar in the outer Temple court, distributing of invitations, gathering of the people etc. (I Kings 8) c. 1 year
The dedication of the Temple c. 950 B.C.E.

Because of the approximations of the time intervals not given in the Bible a time error is of course possible, and the time tolerance can be estimated as ± 2 years. The year of the dedication of the First Temple can so be written in the form 950 B.C.E. ± 2 years, which means one of the years 952, 951, 950, 949 or 948 B.C.E.

The calculation of the terminating point of the defined time of 980 years can be presented graphically in the following diagram, where the time point A is the beginning moment of the Christian Era, which is in the Roman calendar the midnight moment between the 31st of December and the 1st of Ianuarius in the year 753 ab urbe condita. In the diagram it has been supposed that the beginning point of the defined time is exactly 950 B.C.E. 

                           A
<-- B.C.E. |950|       | 1 | 1 |       | 31| C.E. -->
             |<--------->|<->|<--------->|
               949 years 1 year 30 years
             |<------------------------->|
                      980 years
Taking into account the time tolerance of ± 2 years, the final result is 31 C.E. ± 2 years, which means one of the years 29, 30, 31, 32 or 33 C.E.

Inside these years are most of the estimations concerning the year of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ (= îÈùÑÄéçÇ éÀùÑåÌòÇ [Mashi´ach Yeshu´a`]), in old commentaries generally 33 C.E. (e.g. the Scofield Reference Bible) and in new commentaries generally 30 C.E. (e.g. Encyclopaedia Judaica, CD-ROM edition, article JESUS). So this interpretation of the verse Daniel 9:24 gives very accurately the year of Jesus' death.

According to the New Covenant Scriptures (ñôøé äáøéú äçãùä) the death of Jesus as the Lamb of God is the atonement of all transgressions, sins and iniquities. This atonement gives everlasting righteousness to everyone who accepts it personally.

In the same year also the holy congregation of the holies (= the believers in Jesus), which is the living Temple of the New Covenant, was anointed by the Holy Spirit during the Shavu`oth feast as has been described in Acts 2 (îòùé äùìéçéí á). This very accurate fulfilling of the prophecy is also sealing Daniel's vision and his service as a prophet.

Verse 25

The translation of the Hebrew words îÈùÑÄéçÇ ðÈâÄéã [mashi´ach naghidh] as "Messiah, Prince" has been criticized because in the Hebrew text there is no definite article äÇÎ [ha-], and therefore these words have been rendered e.g. in the ArtScroll Tanach Series translation as "an anointed prince".

According to the Hebrew word order, however, "an anointed prince" is in Hebrew ðÈâÄéã îÈùÑÄéçÇ [naghidh mashi´ach], like e.g. in Leviticus 4:3 (3 åé÷øà ã) the Hebrew expression äÇëÌÉäÅï äÇîÌÈùÑÄéçÇ [hakkohen hammashi´ach] means plainly "the anointed priest" and not "the Priest, the Messiah", even if there is now, according to the Hebrew usage, the definite article äÇÎ [ha-] in both of the Hebrew words. Thus, the word order is in such expressions clearly more important than the definite article to show the real meaning of the expression.

The word to restore and to build Jerusalem is logically "the Cyrus Declaration" (Ezra 1:1-4, II Chronicles 36:22-23 and Josephus: Antiquities, Book XI, Chapter I:1-2). This word gave the permission to rebuild both the Temple and the city, as can be seen from Haggai 1:1-4. Concerning Cyrus' word there is also a very accurate prophecy in Isaiah 44:28. The generally accepted year of "the Cyrus Declaration" is 538 B.C.E. (e.g. Encyclopaedia Judaica, CD-ROM edition, article PERSIA, chapter Pre-Islamic Persia).

Beginning from this time point the following calculation can be made:
The Cyrus Declaration 538 B.C.E.
The defined time in Daniel 9:25 532 years
The terminating point of this defined time 6 B.C.E.

If we take again the time tolerance of ± 2 years, the final result can be written 6 B.C.E. ± 2 years, which means one of the years 8, 7, 6, 5 or 4 B.C.E.

Inside these years are all realistic estimations concerning the birthyear of Jesus Christ. As described in the New Covenant Scriptures, verses Matthew 2:1 and 22 (22 ,1 îúé á) Jesus was born during the reign of king Herod the Great, the father of Archelaus, and therefore the birthyear of Jesus cannot be after 4 B.C.E., which is the year when Herod the Great died (e.g. Encyclopaedia Judaica, CD-ROM edition, article HEROD I). So this new interpretation gives again a very accurate fulfilling of Daniel's prophecy.

Verse 26

As has been said before, no new time definition has been given in this verse. The time reference to the latter part of the time definition in verse 25 means only that all the events mentioned in this verse 26 will occur after Jesus' birth. The year of Jesus' death was already defined in verse 24 and the year of the destruction of the city (= Jerusalem) and the Sanctuary (= the Second Temple) has not been given in this prophecy. Not depending of any time calculations, however, according to this verse the first advent of the Messiah has been clearly occurred already before the destruction of the Second Temple. The coming prince was the Roman military commander and later emperor Titus, the destroying people was the ancient Roman people, in practice its army, and the flood was the Great Migration of barbarian peoples, which ended the existence of the ancient Roman people. Every war means always desolations until the end of war.

Verse 27

Taking into account all what has been said above, the meanings of the two time periods in this verse are logically the following:
  1. The Jewish War in 66-73 C.E., which lasted 7 years (e.g. Encyclopaedia Judaica, CD-ROM edition, article HISTORY: SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD, chapter The Revolt (First Roman War)).
  2. The Bar Kokhba Revolt in 132-135 C.E., which "apparently lasted about three and a half years" (Encyclopaedia Judaica, CD-ROM edition, article BAR KOKHBA, chapter Bar Kokhba Revolt).
The attacking Roman army strengthened the mutual alliance of Jews especially in Gamla and in Masada (= îöãä [Metzadha(h)]) and defeated it especially in Jerusalem, thus fulfilling the both opposite interpretations of the Hebrew expression. The conquest of Jerusalem by the Roman army caused to cease the sacrifice and offering and brought along also the Roman idolatry with its abominations and appalments. That continued until the Byzantine period, which began in Jerusalem in 324 C.E. and during which the Roman idolatry was completely destroyed (e.g. Encyclopaedia Judaica, CD-ROM edition, article JERUSALEM, chapter Byzantine Jerusalem). So this new interpretation fulfils very accurately also this part of the prophecy.

Conclusion

In this article a new interpretation of the prophecy given in Daniel 9:24-27 has been presented. Concerning two time definitions in Daniel's text a new vocalization has been used instead of the Masoretic vocalization, but without changing the original unvocalized consonant text. As a consequence, a more logical and reliable interpretation has been formed, which is giving a very accurate and realistic fulfilment of the whole prophecy.

Karstula, Finland, March 2004

Osmo Alho

Appendix. Bibliography.

  1. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. The 4th edition. Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. Stuttgart 1990.
  2. úð''ê, The Holy Scriptures Hebrew and English. The Society for Distributing Hebrew Scriptures. Cambridge.
  3. Abraham Even-Shoshan: A New Concordance of the Bible. "Kirjat Sefer" Publishing House Ltd. Jerusalem 1992.
  4. Solomon Mandelkern: Veteris Testamenti Concordantiae. Impressio duodecima. Schocken Publishing House Ltd. Jerusalem-Tel Aviv 1986.
  5. Ernest Klein: A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language. Carta Jerusalem Ltd.-The University of Haifa. Jerusalem 1987.
  6. Reuben Alcalay: The Complete Hebrew-English Dictionary. New Enlarged Edition.Massada Ltd. Jerusalem 1990.
  7. Marcus Jastrow: Dictionary of the Talmud. Reprint of the edition 1903. "çåøá". Jerusalem.
  8. Wilhelm Gesenius-Frants Buhl: Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament. Neudruck der 17. Auflage 1915. Springer-Verlag. Berlin-Göttingen-Heidelberg 1962.
  9. Emanuel Tov: Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. Fortress Press-Van Gorcum. Assen-Maastricht 1992.
  10. Septuaginta. Edition by Alfred Rahlfs. Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. Stuttgart 1979.
  11. The Holy Scriptures. The J.P.S. Translation 1917. The Jewish Publication Society of America. Philadelphia 1956.
  12. Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures. The New J.P.S. Translation 1985. The Jewish Publication Society. Philadelphia-Jerusalem 1985.
  13. ArtScroll Tanach Series: Daniel. A New Translation with a Commentary Anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic Sources. Mesorah Publications Ltd. New York 1979.
  14. Nestle-Aland: Novum Testamentum Graece. The 27th edition. Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. Stuttgart 1993.
  15. The New Covenant. Aramaic Peshitta Text with Hebrew Translation. The Bible Society in Israel. Jerusalem 1986.
  16. äáøéú äçãùä, The New Covenant Hebrew and Russian. Hebrew Translation by Franz Delitzsch. The Society for Distributing the Holy Scriptures to the Jews. Norwich 1979.
  17. C.I. Scofield: The Scofield Reference Bible. Reprint of the edition 1917. English translation: King James Version (1611), with comments and references. Oxford University Press. New York.
  18. Flavius Josephus: The Complete Works of Josephus. Edition 1960. Kregel Publications. Grand Rapids, Michigan.
  19. Encyclopaedia Judaica. CD-ROM Edition. Judaica Multimedia (Israel) Ltd.
In addition many other Bible translations, concordances and commentaries as well as dictionaries and grammars in several languages.