Commentary on Daniel, Chapter 9 · Doctrines 1 · Question 49
Quest. 49. That the 70. weekes must ende at the passion of Christ.
Here there are two opinions. 1. Some will hauehave the 70. weekes ende 3. yeares and an halfe after the passion of Christ, which time is allowed for the preaching of the gospel; and so they beginne the last weeke at the baptisme of Christ. 2. Others thinke that the 70. weekes must precisely ende at the passion and death of the Messiah.
1. Of the first opinion are Theodoret, and Zonaras 1. tem. Annal. which beginne at the 20. yearo of Artaxerxes Longimanus, and end the 62. weekes at the death of Hyrcanus, from whence to Christs baptisme, they count 7. weekes more: and then in the middes of the last weeke, the Messiah was slaine: so there remained afterward 3. yeares and an halfe for the preaching of the Gospel: Eusebius beginneth the 69. weekes in the 6. yeare of Darius Hystaspis, and endeth 69. of them in the first of Herod, about the death of Hyrcanus, the 70. weeke he beginneth at the baptisme of Christ, and endeth 3. yeares and an halfe after: Ioannes Lucidus lib. 7. de emendat. tempor. beginneth at the 20. yeare of Artaxerxes, and endeth fowre yeares after Christs passion, so also before him Lyranus: Pererius concurreth with them, who maketh the 69. weekes to ende at the baptisme of Christ, beginning at the 20. of Artaxerxes Longimanus, and the seuenth weeke then to beginne, which was finished 3. yeares and an halfe after Christs passion: so also M. Lydyat in his booke de emendat. tempor. pag. 75. and 173. But Osiander goeth beyond all these, and will hauehave the 70. weeke beginne after Christs passion. Pererius reason is this, because 69. weekes must be counted vntounto Messiah, which ende in Christs baptisme, when he was declared to be the sonne of God from heauen, whereas he liued before a priuate life, therefore from thence the last weeke must beginne. And the better to vphold his opinion of his so beginning and ending these 70. weekes, he vse…h these three helpes. 1. he counteth these 70. weekes after the yeares of the Moone, which consist of 12. moneths and no more, whereof 490. make but 475: yeares of the Sunne, wherein 13. moneths goe to the yeare. 2. these 70. weekes are so called, though there want halfe a weeke to the passion of Christ, to make vp a round number, the odde yeares are omitted, as the like is to be seene in other places of Scripture, as Gen. 15. the Lord telleth Ahraham his seed should soiorne 400. yeares, which were indeede 405. from Isaaks birth till their comming out of Egypt. Iunius also in his first edition vponupon this place, thinketh the odde yeares to be omitted, to make the 70. weekes answerable in proportion to the 70. yeares of captiuitie. 3. his third euasion is, that whereas from the 20. of Artaxerxes are found to be 477. sunne yeares, which exceede the 490. moone years more by then two; he saith there are two kinds of numbring, inclusiuely, when as the numbers, where the account beginneth and endeth are included, and exclusiuely, when as they are excluded: as Matthew saying that after sixe dayes Christ was transfigured, c. 17. and Luke after eight dayes, c. 9. the first numbreth exclusiuely, not reckoning the dayes where the account beginneth and endeth, the other includeth both.
Contra. First, the Angel expoundeth himselfe how the 69. weeke must be vnderstood: vntill the Messiah should be slaine in the last week: they determine then not at his Baptisme, but at the weeke wherein he should be slaine.
Secondly, concerning his cautels. 1. the Scripture vseth not to count according to the moone yeares, but according to the course of the Sunne: otherwise by this reason the 70. yeares of the captiuitie must likewise be cutt short: see before, quest. 17. 2. in great numbers sometime odde yeaes are omitted, but so it is not here, because these seuentie weekes are said to be cut our, that is, precisely they shall fall out to be so many weekes of yeares.
3. That distinction hath no place here: for seeing the account is made by weekes, if any part thereof should be reckoned inclusiuely, or exclusiuely, it must be done by weekes of yeares, not by single yeares, as M. Liuely well obserueth, pag. 187.
2. It remaineth then that these yeares must take their ende precisely at the time of the death and passion of Christ: as Iulius, Africanus, Beda, Ruperius, Bullinger, H. Br. doe determine them: and then whereas it is said, in the middes or halfe weeke the sacrifice shall cease, the sense is, that Christ by the sacrifice of himselfe in the latter halfe of the weeke, shall abolish all other sacrifices in right: and whereas it is said, he shall confirme the couenant in one weeke, the meaning is, not that all the last weeke this couenant should be in confirming: but the couenant shall be confirmed first by the preaching, and then by the death of Christ, in the last weeke, which was done in the last middle or halfe part thereof, Bulling. Now for this precise determining of these weekes in the verie passion of the Messiah, the reasons are these.
1. The last weeke endeth at the confirmation of the couenant or Testament, as the Prophet saith, he shall confirme the couenant with many in one weeke: the weeke then must end with that confirmation, for not the beginning, but the ende is counted for the weeke. But the Testament was ratified by the death of Christ, Hebr. 9. 17. the Testament is confirmed when men be dead, therefore this last weeke endeth in Christs death, Bulling. 2. The death of Christ was to fall out in a yeare of Iubile, that the bodie may answer vntounto the figure, therefore it is called the acceptable yeare of the Lord, Isay. 6102. the great yeare of remission of sinnes, and of the redemption of prisoners and captiues: And so the yeare wherein Christ died, was a Iubile yeare; beeing the 28. Iubile by iust computation from the 8. yeare of Iosuah, when the first Iubile was kept, for so many Iubilies fall but in 1400. yeares. It is most probable then, that Daniels 70. weekes should ende with the last Iubile, H. Br. in 9. Daniel. 3. M. Liuely though he ende not the 70. weekes in the passion of the Messiah, yet he holdeth so many weekes preeisely, gathering so much by the Hobrewe phrase, Sexentie weekes is cut out, where a verbe of the singular number beeing put to a word of the plurall, sheweth, that euerie one of the weekes particularly from the first to the last, shall be precisely and absolutely complete, Persian Mon. pag. 159. 4. If any of these weekes should be extended beyond Christs death, it is more like they should reach to the destruction and desolation of the di…ie, which is by name expressed: for there is no other cause to extend them further: the preaching of the Gospell continued longer then three yeare and a halfe after Christ: therefore in that regard, the halfe weeke is not to be extended beyond Christs death. 5. Burgens. alleadgeth this reason,Burgens. addit. 3. in 9. cap. Daniel. to shewe that the last ende of these weekes must concurre with the passion of Christ, nam deletie iniquitatis, consummatio praevaricationis, &c. the taking away of iniquitie, and the finishing of transgression, which are propounded by the Angel, in his first speach, are the proper effects of Christs passion, &c. vponupon this reason Burgens. is so confident, that he concludeth, the ende then of these weekes, est nobis notus de fide, is knowne vntounto vsus, as of faith (that is) certainely. Thus then the argument may be framed: the finishing of iniquitie and taking away of sinne, were accomplished in the passion of Christ: but seuentie weekes are determined for the finishing of iniquitie: therefore 70. weekes are determined at the passion of Christ. 6. Mel…ncthon addeth further, that the 70. weekes must not extend beyond Christs passion, because the Iewes reiecting of him, were no longer his people, neither tooke he protection of them.
Thus hauing the beginning of these 70. weekes at Cyrus, and the ende at the passion of Christ, it remaineth then to be shewed, how by a iust computation these 70. weekes may be brought from Cyrus vntounto Christ.