How were the 70 weeks in Daniel 9 determined from Daniel 8?

Eugene Shubert

How were the 70 weeks in Daniel 9 determined from Daniel 8?

The answer is manifestly obvious. Just look at the big picture.

The earlier prophetic chapters (Daniel 2 & 7) set the general outline of the future in terms of four successive kingdoms that were to dominate the world. (You're on the right track if you identify these as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome). In Daniel 2, almost nothing is said of the second and third world-kingdoms (2:29). They are the focus of Daniel 8 (vss. 3-8,21-23).

Daniel 8 is a more detailed account of the future but its scope is mysteriously limited to the second and third world kingdoms. Special attention is given to the four-fold division of the third power and the climax of the vision revolves around the nefarious acts of some enigmatic king that rides on the wing of abominations, bringing complete desolation (9:27). The time is that of the Christ event; the last scene of the vision is the destruction of Jerusalem. Surprisingly, the vision (8:2-12) ends abruptly; It reveals but a fragment of the whole picture given earlier.

This strange feature of the prophecy is completely explained by Daniel's attending angel. Daniel 9:24 is the key text. This time period, we are told, is "cut off." This remarkable verse is a declaration by God for the end of sin within a definite period of time. Unfortunately the appointed time passes without the cooperation necessary from God's covenant people. The Jews fail to respond to the divine summons. Consequently, they and their city and sanctuary are destroyed. This is the essence of Daniel 8: (The people of God as transgressors who have run their full course, their rebellion, God's indignation, and the outworking of divine wrath). Hence, the abruptness of the vision has meaning. God would reject the Jewish nation. So they are no longer mentioned. They are given over to be trampled till the end of time, the terminus of the reign of the fourth beast.

The possibility that time could be shortened and that this was God's intent, was well expressed by the seemingly abbreviated vision of Daniel 8. And a closer look at the word translated "decreed" in Daniel 9:24 supports this interpretation. The word occurs just this once in the Hebrew Bible. To ascertain its meaning, we are left to depend on post-Biblical Hebrew and early translations. If we do this, we find a perfect endorsement of our thesis. The common meanings are: "to determine," "to decree," "to cut," "to cut off." And in the range of early translations, LXX has krino, "to decide," "to judge," etc. Theodotion’s version has suntemno, "to shorten," "to abbreviate," etc. and this same meaning is reflected in the Vulgate reading abbreviare.

Daniel 11-12 presents another scenario, a more hopeful possibility. Here, the world is portrayed as actually ending soon after the appointed time. The contrast, just like in the covenant promise, teaches that the future outcome of world history depends on the response of the people of God. It is the faithfulness of God's people as illustrated in this scenario (11:32,33,35; 12:2,3,10) that ushers in the Messianic kingdom. The contrast clearly shows the existence of focal points in history where time may end or fail to end. This alternative, in particular, corresponds to the fact that the world was to end, or might have ended, in the first century.