know therefore and understand

Foreword 

Introduction

1. The Context of Daniel 9

2. Historical Interpretations of the Terminus a Quo of Daniel's 70 Sevens

3. Isaiah 44:28, 45:13, Ezra 4, and Haggai 1:4: Re-Examining the Terminus a Quo

4. Interpreting the 69 Weeks of Dan. 9:24-26 with the 538 BC Decree of Cyrus

5. The First Seven Weeks: Enter Ezra and Nehemiah

6. The 62 Sevens and the Terminus ad Quem\Key Events That Fulfilled Dan. 9:25-26

7. Daniel 9:26 - After the 62 Sevens, Messiah Shall Be Cut Off Prima Facie Limitations

Summary

Appendix: Answering Objections from Rabbinical Judaism

Endnotes

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after sixty-two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (Dan. 9:25-26)

The interpretation of Dan. 9:25-26 has challenged biblical scholars for centuries. Because of this prophecy's significance for identifying "Messiah Prince" continues to be a source of debate

Christians and Jews. [1, 2]t In addition, Jews often disagree with their fellow Jews, and Christians with their fellow Christians, about the best way to interpret these passages. 

Within Christendom itself, most contemporary commentators have followed either Sir Robert Anderson |3] or Dr. Harold W. Hoehner |4] in asserting that the terminus a quo, or "beginning point, of the 70 "weeks" (literally shavuim, "sevens") occurred in either 445 BC [3, 5-10] or 444 BC [4, 11-14], respectively. A few of today's popular Christian authors are especially exuberant about one or the other of these favored points of view. For example, Tim LaHaye states:

"Sir Robert Anderson's masterful book, The Coming Prince, shows that Christ coming into Jerusalem the Sunday before his crucifixion occurred in exactly the right year. To my knowledge, his book has never been refuted." [6] 

In another essay, LaHaye's co-writer, Thomas Ice, states even more exuberantly: 

"Hoehner has put together an airtight case for his understanding of the beginning and ending of the first 69 weeks of Daniel's prophecy. . . .  To date, no one has been able to challenge the work done by Hoehner. It is fully supportive of the literal interpretation of Daniel's prophecy and is the only approach that has been demonstrated, thus far, to make the numbers work out." [12]

The purpose of this work, Know Therefore and Understand, is twofold. First, key scriptures will be discussed that call into question a 444 or 445 BC (or 458 or 457 BC) date for the terminus a quo of Daniel's 70 shavuim. Second, an alternative solution for the fulfillment of Dan. 9:25-26 will be put forward as biblically more defensible. The 19th century Christian theologian Dr. Nathaniel West may have been the first to formulate this alternative solution, at least in raw form. [15] This work therefore owes a great debt to Dr. West's original scholarship and insight.

† Bracketed numerals are reference notes, corresponding to the References section at the end of the text. Unbracketed, superscripted numbers refer to End Notes, which begin on p. 45.