Can knowledge of Hebrew help clarify Daniel's 70 "weeks"?
May 15, 2022 1:10:32 GMT -8
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Post by rakovsky on May 15, 2022 1:10:32 GMT -8
One major issue in discussions of the prophecy of the 70 weeks of years in Daniel 9 is whether and how to break up the sets of weeks among the predicted periods in Verse 25.
The NKJV has for Daniel 9:
I have seen some "non-Messianic" explanations of this prophecy try to say that the seven weeks (49) years in verse 25 are about the coming of the Messiah the Prince, so that this "Messiah" is not the Davidic Messiah (Yeshua), but some anointed ancient ruler like one of the High Priests in Jerusalem. That is, they break up verse 25 this way:
Personally, I don't find this non-Messianic interpretation to be persuasive. The phrase "And sixty-two weeks the street shall be built again" sounds bad grammatically in English, but I don't know about Hebrew. In English, one could either say:
(A) "From the going forth of the command to restore Jerusalem until 'Messiah the Prince' there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. The street will be built again..." And then go on to explain why the 70 weeks are divided into 7 weeks and 62 weeks.
Or one could say
(B) "And for sixty-two weeks, the street shall be built again..." (The necessary word "for" is not found in the verse here, though.)
But one can't say correct:
(C) "And sixty-two weeks, the street shall be built again..."
This doesn't sound correct grammatically.
Granted, Daniel's story is apocalyptic, so it might not need to follow normal grammar rules, but it does seem that grammar should be a key guide and starting point in understanding verses, instead of trying to force Daniel's prophecy to fit a non-Messianic exegesis.
The Hebrew for Daniel 9:25 (Leningrad Codex) runs:
This says word for word:
Therefore know and understand
From the going forth of the command to restore and to build Jerusalem until Moshiach Prince
weeks seven and weeks sixty and two
again and shall be built the street and the wall
and even in troublesome times
However, Hebrew word order can be different than in English.
The Dead Sea Scrolls' copy of Daniel 9 is missing the key part of the text here.
Theodotion was a Jewish (or Nazarene?) translator in the 2nd century AD who translated Daniel into Greek, and his translation ended up as the most common one that Christians use for the LXX. I compared Theodotion's translation with the previous "Old Greek" version, which seems so sloppy for this verse that it's not very reliable.
With the Old Greek version being so sloppy, it makes sense that Theodotion's translation became more popular.
J.J. Collins in A Commentary on the Book of Daniel, notes:
The Masoretic version however adds in a punctuation mark called an atnah that separates the seven weeks from the sixty two weeks in the sentence, which would seem to me to move the 62 weeks out of the sentence dealing with "Messiah Prince." Collins theorizes:
Collins uses the atnah to translate it this way:
I don't agree with Collins that there is no doubt that the MT is correct. One reason for dividing the period into seven and sixty two weeks could be to ascribe the rebuilding period to the seven weeks. Further, Theodotion made his translation before the writings of Hippolytus and Clement, and the Church used Theodotion's translation into Greek as their main Greek version.
Maimonides considers Daniel to have made a prophecy calculating the date for the arrival of the Messiah. Maimonides wrote:
The 1984 rabbinical JPT Tanakh translation gives this wording:
The NRSV agrees with the JPT about separating the 62 weeks from the statement about the "Messiah Prince", and has:
The Russian Orthodox synodal translation agrees with the NKJV and puts the 62 weeks with the statement about the Messiah:
The NKJV has for Daniel 9:
24. “Seventy [e]weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
[f]To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint [g]the Most Holy.
25. “Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The [h]street shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times.
26. “And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall [j]be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27. Then he shall confirm a [k]covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the [l]desolate.”
Daniel 9:24 The Most Holy Place
Daniel 9:25 Or open square
Daniel 9:25 Or moat
Daniel 9:26 Suffer the death penalty
Daniel 9:27 Or treaty
Daniel 9:27 Or desolator
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
[f]To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint [g]the Most Holy.
25. “Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The [h]street shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times.
26. “And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall [j]be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27. Then he shall confirm a [k]covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the [l]desolate.”
Daniel 9:24 The Most Holy Place
Daniel 9:25 Or open square
Daniel 9:25 Or moat
Daniel 9:26 Suffer the death penalty
Daniel 9:27 Or treaty
Daniel 9:27 Or desolator
I have seen some "non-Messianic" explanations of this prophecy try to say that the seven weeks (49) years in verse 25 are about the coming of the Messiah the Prince, so that this "Messiah" is not the Davidic Messiah (Yeshua), but some anointed ancient ruler like one of the High Priests in Jerusalem. That is, they break up verse 25 this way:
Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks.
And sixty-two weeks the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.
And sixty-two weeks the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.
(A) "From the going forth of the command to restore Jerusalem until 'Messiah the Prince' there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. The street will be built again..." And then go on to explain why the 70 weeks are divided into 7 weeks and 62 weeks.
Or one could say
(B) "And for sixty-two weeks, the street shall be built again..." (The necessary word "for" is not found in the verse here, though.)
But one can't say correct:
(C) "And sixty-two weeks, the street shall be built again..."
This doesn't sound correct grammatically.
Granted, Daniel's story is apocalyptic, so it might not need to follow normal grammar rules, but it does seem that grammar should be a key guide and starting point in understanding verses, instead of trying to force Daniel's prophecy to fit a non-Messianic exegesis.
The Hebrew for Daniel 9:25 (Leningrad Codex) runs:
וְתֵדַ֨ע וְתַשְׂכֵּ֜ל מִן־מֹצָ֣א דָבָ֗ר לְהָשִׁיב֙ וְלִבְנֹ֤ות יְרֽוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙ עַד־מָשִׁ֣יחַ נָגִ֔יד שָׁבֻעִ֖ים שִׁבְעָ֑ה וְשָׁבֻעִ֞ים שִׁשִּׁ֣ים וּשְׁנַ֗יִם תָּשׁוּב֙ וְנִבְנְתָה֙ רְחֹ֣וב וְחָר֔וּץ וּבְצֹ֖וק הָעִתִּֽים׃
Therefore know and understand
From the going forth of the command to restore and to build Jerusalem until Moshiach Prince
weeks seven and weeks sixty and two
again and shall be built the street and the wall
and even in troublesome times
However, Hebrew word order can be different than in English.
The Dead Sea Scrolls' copy of Daniel 9 is missing the key part of the text here.
Theodotion was a Jewish (or Nazarene?) translator in the 2nd century AD who translated Daniel into Greek, and his translation ended up as the most common one that Christians use for the LXX. I compared Theodotion's translation with the previous "Old Greek" version, which seems so sloppy for this verse that it's not very reliable.
With the Old Greek version being so sloppy, it makes sense that Theodotion's translation became more popular.
J.J. Collins in A Commentary on the Book of Daniel, notes:
Theodotion, however, reads "seven and sixty-two weeks," so that sixty-nine weeks would elapse before the coming of the anointed prince. This understanding of the passage was followed by Jerome, and became a mainstay of the messianic interpretation, as it allowed the identification of the anointed one of v 25 to with the one in v 26.
The Masoretic version however adds in a punctuation mark called an atnah that separates the seven weeks from the sixty two weeks in the sentence, which would seem to me to move the 62 weeks out of the sentence dealing with "Messiah Prince." Collins theorizes:
There can be no doubt that the MT punctuation is correct. There is no other reason for dividing the period into seven and sixty-two. The MT understanding of the passage is well attested in early Christianity before Jerome [e.g. Hippolytus, Clement], as well as in Jewish tradition [Seder ʿOlam Rabbah].
You shall know and understand that from the going forth of the word to restore and build Jerusalem until there is an anointed ruler will be seven weeks. For sixty-two weeks it will be built again with square and moat, but in distressful times.
I don't agree with Collins that there is no doubt that the MT is correct. One reason for dividing the period into seven and sixty two weeks could be to ascribe the rebuilding period to the seven weeks. Further, Theodotion made his translation before the writings of Hippolytus and Clement, and the Church used Theodotion's translation into Greek as their main Greek version.
Maimonides considers Daniel to have made a prophecy calculating the date for the arrival of the Messiah. Maimonides wrote:
Your letter mentions the calculations that Rabbeinu Saadiah Gaon made for the date of the coming of Mashiach. You should be aware that no human being will ever be able to determine the exact date [of Mashiach's coming], as Daniel stated, "For these words are secret and sealed to the time of the end" (Daniel12:9). Nevertheless, many theories were suggested by a few scholars who thought that they had discovered the date. This was predicted by Daniel, "Many will run far and wide and opinions will increase" (Daniel 12:4). In other words, there will be much speculation about it. Furthermore, Hashem informed us through His prophets that many people will calculate the time of the coming of Mashiach; the date will pass and nothing will happen. We are warned against yielding to doubt and misgivings because of these miscalculations.
...
Daniel declared the date of the final redemption a deep secret. Our Sages have discouraged the calculation of the time of the coming of Mashiach. They feared that the masses may be confused and led astray when the predicted time arrives and Mashiach does not come. This led our Sages to say, "May the people that calculate the final redemption meet with adversity" (Sanhedrin 97b). Although making calculations of the time of redemption is forbidden, we must judge Rabbeinu Saadiah Gaon favorably. The Jews of his time were influenced by many distorted ideologies. If not for [Rabbeinu Saadiah's] work of explaining the perplexing portions of the
and strengthening their faltering faith with the power of his word and his pen, they would have abandoned the altogether.
SOURCE:
The Essential Maimonides: Translations of the Rambam, edited by Avraham Yaakov Finkel
...
Daniel declared the date of the final redemption a deep secret. Our Sages have discouraged the calculation of the time of the coming of Mashiach. They feared that the masses may be confused and led astray when the predicted time arrives and Mashiach does not come. This led our Sages to say, "May the people that calculate the final redemption meet with adversity" (Sanhedrin 97b). Although making calculations of the time of redemption is forbidden, we must judge Rabbeinu Saadiah Gaon favorably. The Jews of his time were influenced by many distorted ideologies. If not for [Rabbeinu Saadiah's] work of explaining the perplexing portions of the
and strengthening their faltering faith with the power of his word and his pen, they would have abandoned the altogether.SOURCE:
The Essential Maimonides: Translations of the Rambam, edited by Avraham Yaakov Finkel
The 1984 rabbinical JPT Tanakh translation gives this wording:
And you shall know and understand that from the emergence of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed king [shall be] seven weeks, and [for] sixty-two weeks it will return and be built street and moat, but in troubled times.
The NRSV agrees with the JPT about separating the 62 weeks from the statement about the "Messiah Prince", and has:
Know therefore and understand: from the time that the word went out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the time of an anointed prince, there shall be seven weeks, and for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with streets and moat, but in a troubled time.
Итак знай и разумей: с того времени, как выйдет повеление о восстановлении Иерусалима, до Христа Владыки семь седмин и шестьдесят две седмины; и возвратится [народ] и обстроятся улицы и стены, но в трудные времена.
(My translation into English of the Russian Synodal translation: "And so know and understand: from that time as a decree will go out about the restoration of Jerusalem, until Christ the Ruler are seven sevens and sixty two sevens (ie. weeks); and it (the people) will return and streets and walls will be built about, but in difficult times.")
(My translation into English of the Russian Synodal translation: "And so know and understand: from that time as a decree will go out about the restoration of Jerusalem, until Christ the Ruler are seven sevens and sixty two sevens (ie. weeks); and it (the people) will return and streets and walls will be built about, but in difficult times.")
- there are 70 faces to 
