Details of Interest Regarding the 9th Chapter of Daniel

We cannot too strongly deprecate the attempt to fill up the interval with greater precision than
Scripture warrants. There are definite events to be fulfilled, but no one may dogmatize respecting the
time or manner of their fulfillment. Sir Robert Anderson, 1881
Dan 9:1

In the first year1 of Darius the son of Ahasuerus2, of the

seed of the Medes3, which was made king over the
realm of the Chaldeans;

1) 538 B.C., Darius the Mede was made king

over the realm of the Chaldeans (Babylonia)
by Cyrus the Great.
2) Ezr 4:6, Est 1:1
3) This is NOT Darius the Persian (Ezr
4:5,24,6:14, Neh 12:22)

Dan 9:2

In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by

books the number of the years, whereof the word of the
LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would
accomplish seventy years in the desolations4 of
Jerusalem.

4) Jer 25:11-12
The desolations began on the tenth day of
Tebeth (see last page for Jewish months) in
th
th
589 B.C. (Zedekiahs 9 year, Nebs 18 year:
th
2 Ki 25:1, 8-9), in the 18 year of the servitude
(see below), and ended when the foundation of
th
the second temple was laid on the 24 day of
th
nd
the 9 month (Kislev) in the 2 year of Darius
the Persian (Hag 2:10, 18), 520 B.C.
This is a period of 25,200 days, which is exactly
seventy (prophetic) years of 360 days.*
st

- The servitude began in 606 B.C. (Nebs 1

year: Jer 25:1, Dan 1:1), and ended with the
decree of Cyrus in 536 B.C. (Ezr 5:13,6:3, 70
years total) to build (only) the temple.
- There was also a captivity in 598 B.C. (Nebs
th
8 year: 2 Ki 24:12, Jer 29:1)

Dan 9:3

And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer

and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and
ashes:

Dan 9:4

And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my

confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful
God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love
him, and to them that keep his commandments;

Dan 9:5

We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have

done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing
from thy precepts and from thy judgments:

Dan 9:6

Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the

prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our
princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the
land.

Dan 9:7

O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us

confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah,
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all
Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the

countries whither thou hast driven them, because of

their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
Dan 9:8

O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings,

to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have
sinned against thee.

Dan 9:9

To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses,

though we have rebelled against him;

Dan 9:10

Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our

God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his
servants the prophets.

Dan 9:11

Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by

departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore
the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written
in the law of Moses the servant of God5, because we
have sinned against him.

Dan 9:12

And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake

against us, and against our judges that judged us, by
bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole
heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon
Jerusalem.

Dan 9:13

As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come

upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD
our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and
understand thy truth.

Dan 9:14

Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and

brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in
all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his
voice.

Dan 9:15

And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people
forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and
hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have
sinned, we have done wickedly.

Dan 9:16

O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech

thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from
thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our
sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and
thy people are become a reproach to all that are about
us6.

Dan 9:17

Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy

servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to
shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's
sake.

Dan 9:18

O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes,

and behold our desolations, and the city which is called
by thy name: for we do not present our supplications
before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great
mercies.

5) Deu 29:24-29

6) Psa 79:4

Dan 9:19

Reminiscent of Solomons temple dedication (1

O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do;
defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and Ki 8:30 & 2 Ch 6:21)
thy people are called by thy name.

Dan 9:20

And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing

my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting
my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy
mountain of my God;

Dan 9:21

7) In all of Scripture, Gabriel only appeared to

Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man
7
Daniel (8:16 and here), Zacharias (Luk 1:19)
Gabriel , whom I had seen in the vision at the
and
Mary (Luk 1:26)
beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about
the time of the evening oblation.

Dan 9:22

And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O

Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and
understanding.

Dan 9:23

At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment

came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for
thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the
matter, and consider the vision.

Dan 9:24

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and

upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to
make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for
iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and
to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the
most Holy.

Dan 9:25

Know therefore and understand, that from the going

forth of the commandment to restore and to build
Jerusalem8 unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven
weeks, and threescore and two weeks9: the street shall
be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

8) The command to restore the City (not the

temple) was given in the twentieth year of
st
Artaxerxes the king (Neh 2:1-6) on the 1 of
Nisan 445 B.C.**
9) 7+3(20)+2=69 weeks of years, or 483 years
st
(of 360 days each), from the 1 of Nisan 445
th
B.C., to the day, closes on the 10 Nisan A.D.
32.***
This clarifies the following statements of Jesus:
If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this
thy day, the things which belong unto thy
peace! (Luk 19:42)
Also mine hour/time is not yet come (Jhn 2:4,
7:6, 7:8, 7:30, 8:20)

Dan 9:26

10) Isa 53:8

And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be
cut off, but not for himself10: and the people of the prince 11) Mat 24:2
that shall come shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary11; and the end thereof shall be with a flood,
and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

Dan 9:27

And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one

week12: and in the midst of the week13 he14 shall cause
the sacrifice and the oblation to cease15, and for the
overspreading of abominations he shall
make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that
determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

12) A week of years, or 7*360=2520 days

13) 3.5 years, or 3.5*360=1260 days

14) That is, the prince that shall come in the

previous verse.
15) Dan 12:11

The following excerpts are taken from Sir Robert Andersons book The Coming Prince (also here),
originally published in 1881.
* Now both the "Servitude" and the "Captivity," ended with the decree of Cyrus in B.C. 536,

permitting the return of the exiles. But as the language of Daniel 9:2 so plainly states, it was the
seventy years of "The Desolations" that were the basis of the prophecy of the seventy weeks. And
the epoch of that seventy years was the day on which Jerusalem was invested the tenth Tebeth in
the ninth year of Zedekiah a day that has ever since been observed as a fast by the Jews in every
land. (2 Kings 25:1) Daniel and Revelation definitely indicate that the prophetic year is one of 360
days. Such moreover was the sacred year of the Jewish calendar; and, as is well known, such was
the ancient year of Eastern nations. Now seventy years of 360 days contains exactly 25,200 days;
and as the Jewish New Year's day depended on the equinoctial moon, we can assign the 13th
December as "the Julian date" of tenth Tebeth 589. And 25,200 days measured from that date ended
on the 17th December 520, which was the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month in the second year
of Darius of Persia -the very day on which the foundation of the second Temple was laid. (Haggai
2:18)
** The

Persian edict which restored the autonomy of Judah was issued in the Jewish month of Nisan.
It may in fact have been dated the 1st of Nisan, but no other day being named, the prophetic period
must be reckoned, according to a practice common with the Jews, from the Jewish New Year's
Day.[1] The seventy weeks are therefore to be computed from the 1st of Nisan B.C. 445.[2]

1. "On the 1st of Nisan is a new year for the computation of the reign of kings, and for festivals." Mishna,
treatise "Rosh Hash."
2. The wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days" (Nehemiah 6:
l5). Now fifty-two days, measured back from the 25th Elul, brings us to the 3rd Ab. Therefore Nehemiah
must have arrived not later than 1st Ab, and apparently some days earlier (Nehemiah 2:11). Compare this
with Ezra's journey thirteen years before. "For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from
Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month (Ab) came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of
his God upon him" (Ezra 7:9). I infer therefore that Nehemiah also set out early in the first month.
*** No

student of the Gospel narrative can fail to see that the Lord's last visit to Jerusalem was not
only in fact, but in the purpose of it, the crisis of His ministry, the goal towards which it had been
directed. After the first tokens had been given that the nation would reject His Messianic claims, He
had shunned all public recognition of them. But now the twofold testimony of His words and His
works had been fully rendered, and His entry into the Holy City was to proclaim His Messiahship
and to receive His doom. Again and again His apostles even had been charged that they should not
make Him known. But now He accepted the acclamations of "the whole multitude of the disciples,"
and silenced the remonstrance of the Pharisees with the indignant rebuke, "I tell you if these should
hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." (Luke 19:39, 40)
The full significance of the words which follow in the Gospel of St. Luke is concealed by a slight
interpolation in the text. As the shouts broke forth from His disciples, "Hosanna to the Son of
David! blessed is the king of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord!" He looked off toward the
Holy City and exclaimed, "If thou also hadst known, even on this day , the things which belong to
thy peace; but now they are hid from thine eyes!" The time of Jerusalem's visitation had come, and
she knew it not. Long ere then the nation had rejected Him, but this was the predestined day when
their choice must be irrevocable, the day so distinctly signalized in Scripture as the fulfillment of

Zechariah's prophecy, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! behold
thy King cometh unto thee !" (Zechariah 9:9) Of all the days of the ministry of Christ on earth, no
other will satisfy so well the angel's words, unto Messiah the Prince."
And the date of it can be ascertained. In accordance with the Jewish custom, the Lord went up to
Jerusalem upon the 8th Nisan, "six days before the Passover."[5] But as the 14th, on which the
Paschal Supper was eaten, fell that year upon a Thursday, the 8th was the preceding Friday. He
must have spent the Sabbath, therefore, at Bethany; and on the evening of the 9th, after the Sabbath
had ended, the Supper took place in Martha's house. Upon the following day, the 10th Nisan, He
entered Jerusalem as recorded in the Gospels.[6]
5. "When the people were come in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread on the eighth day of the
month Xanthicus," i. e., Nisan (Josephus, Wars, 6. 5, 3). "And the Jews' Passover was nigh at hand, and
many went out of the country up to Jerusalem, before the Passover, to purify themselvesThen Jesus, six
days before the Passover, came to Bethany" (John 11:55; 12:1).
6. Lewin, Fasti Sacri, p. 230.

The Julian date of that 10th Nisan was Sunday the 6th April, A.D. 32. What then was the length of
the period intervening between the issuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the public advent
of "Messiah the Prince," between the 14th March, B.C. 445, and the 6th April, A.D. 32? THE
INTERVAL CONTAINED EXACTLY AND TO THE VERY DAY 173, 880 DAYS, OR SEVEN
TIMES SIXTY-NINE PROPHETIC YEARS OF 360 DAYS, the first sixty-nine weeks of Gabriel's
prophecy.[7]
7. The 1st Nisan in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes (the edict to rebuild Jerusalem) was 14th March, B. C.

445. The 10th Nisan in Passion Week (Christ's entry into Jerusalem) was 6th April, A. D. 32. The
intervening period was 476 years and 24 days (the days being reckoned inclusively, as required by the
language of the prophecy, and in accordance with the Jewish practice).
But 476 x 365= 173, 740 days
Add (14 March to 6th April, both inclusive) 24 days
Add for leap years 116 days
Equals a total of 173,880 days (see note at very end for NASA calculation)
And 69 weeks of prophetic years of 360 days (or 69 x 7 x 360) = 173, 880 days.
It may be well to offer here two explanatory remarks:
First; in reckoning years from B. C. to A. D., one year must always be omitted; for it is obvious, ex. gr.,
that from B. C. 1 to A. D. I was not two years, but one year. B. C. 1 ought to be described as B. C. 0, and it
is so reckoned by astronomers, who would describe the historical date B. C. 445, as 444. And secondly, the
Julian year is 11m. 10 46s., or about the 129th part of a day, longer than the mean solar year.
The Julian calendar, therefore, contains three leap years too many in four centuries, an error which had
amounted to eleven days in A. D. 1752 when our English calendar was corrected by declaring the 3rd
September to be the 14th September, and by introducing the Gregorian reform which reckons three secular
years out of four as common years; ex. gr., 1700, 1800 and 1900 are common years, and 2000 is a leap
year. "Old Christmas day" is still marked in our calendars, and observed in some localities, on the 6th
January; and to this day the calendar remains uncorrected in Russia.

The Jewish calendar contains the following months:

Hebrew

English

Number

Length

Civil Equivalent

Nissan

30 days

March-April

Iyar

29 days

April-May

Sivan

30 days

May-June

Tammuz

29 days

June-July

Av

30 days

July-August

Elul

29 days

August-September

Tishri

30 days

September-October

Cheshvan

29 or 30 days October-November

Kislev

30 or 29 days November-December

Tevet

10

29 days

December-January

Shevat

11

30 days

January-February

Adar I (leap years only)

12

30 days

February-March

Adar
(called Adar Beit in leap years)

12
(13 in leap years)

29 days

February-March

More info on the Jewish calendar can be found HERE

The NASA website calculates 173882 days between 14th March, B. C. 445 and 6th April, A. D. 32
(Julian).
Today, Hebrew dating places the creation of the world near the end of "Year One" and afterwards the first
year of Adam's life as "Year Two". However, Seder Olam Rabba shows that the Hebrew dating originally
counted the first year of Adam's life as "Year Zero". This may mean that the Hebrew dating has shifted in
the course of history such that traditional dating of ancient events appears two years earlier than the
modern Hebrew dating would be (Edgar Frank, Talmudic and Rabbinic Chronology, 1956).
In any case, history does not record any other than Jesus proclaiming himself King in Jerusalem during
this period in the beginning of April, 32AD. (see also Zec 9:9, Mat 21:5).