Seventy Weeks

The Seventy Weeks (Hebrew shivim shavuim, 'seventy sevens') is the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27, revealed by the angel Gabriel in response to Daniel's prayer concerning Jeremiah's predicted seventy-year captivity (Jer. 25:11-12). Gabriel declares that 'seventy sevens' are decreed for Daniel's people and his holy city to accomplish six purposes: finish transgression, put an end to sin, atone for wickedness, bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up vision and prophecy, and anoint the Most Holy Place. The 'seventy sevens' are divided into three periods: seven sevens + sixty-two sevens (sixty-nine total, leading to 'the Anointed One, the ruler') and a final one seven during which a covenant is confirmed, then broken mid-week by an 'abomination that causes desolation.'

Four major interpretive traditions exist. (1) The preterist-critical view sees the prophecy fulfilled in the Maccabean crisis (167-164 BC), with the 'anointed one cut off' referring to the high priest Onias III. (2) The traditional-historical view interprets the sixty-nine 'weeks' as 483 years (taking each 'week' as 7 years) leading to Christ's ministry or crucifixion (c. AD 26-33). (3) The dispensationalist view proposes a 'gap' between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks, with the seventieth week describing a future Great Tribulation. (4) The covenant-historical view sees the seventieth week fulfilled in Christ's confirmation of the new covenant and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. Jesus's citation of 'the abomination of desolation spoken of through the prophet Daniel' (Matt. 24:15) indicates his own expectation of the prophecy's eschatological significance, making Daniel 9 central to any NT theology of end-times events.