🧵Debunking Christian apologists on the “70 weeks” of Daniel 9 as prophesying the “death” of Jesus 🔥🔥
One of the most popular alleged “prophecies” about Jesus in the “Old Testament”, as propounded by Christians, is Daniel 9:26.
One of the most popular alleged “prophecies” about Jesus in the “Old Testament”, as propounded by Christians, is Daniel 9:26.
It should be noted that the “70 weeks” represent 70 “sevens” (i.e., a total of seventy [70] seven-year [7] periods; 70 x 7 years = 490 years). So, it is talking about a 490-year period, which will culminate in the death of an "anointed one" & the “destruction” of the temple.
The prophecy divides the “70 weeks” into 3 major stages (see the picture below). This is CRITICAL!
Some apologists may claim that the first “7 weeks” are actually part of the “62 weeks”. But this is inaccurate for 2 reasons:
1. The Hebrew text says “7 weeks AND 62 weeks”, which means it must be 69 weeks. It does not say the 7 weeks are part of the 62 weeks.
2. The text would be incoherent, as after mentioning 70 total weeks, it would ONLY account for 63 weeks (62 + the final week in v. 27).
2. The text would be incoherent, as after mentioning 70 total weeks, it would ONLY account for 63 weeks (62 + the final week in v. 27).
Christians maintain that the “anointed one” who is “cut off” (v. 26) is Jesus at the crucifixion & that the
final week refers to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE.
final week refers to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE.
Through some fanciful calculations and mental gymnastics, they are able to convince themselves that Daniel 9:24-27 contains amazing prophecies. But this is not the case!
The 1st problem with this argument is that Christians have no idea from what year to even begin calculating!
The 1st problem with this argument is that Christians have no idea from what year to even begin calculating!
The “70 weeks” start from “the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem” (v.25), but Christians have no idea when that was! Different dates have been given for the decree. Some people say it refers to Cyrus’ decree to all the Jews to return to Palestine.
But even that date is not known for certain. It could have been anywhere from as early as 538 BCE to as late as 536 BCE, though the former seems more likely.
Others say its about Artaxerxes’ decree to Ezra (Ezra 7) which is usually assumed to be around the years 458-457 BCE.
Others say its about Artaxerxes’ decree to Ezra (Ezra 7) which is usually assumed to be around the years 458-457 BCE.
Let's consider both scenarios. If the “word” mentioned in Daniel 9:25 refers to Cyrus’ order in 538 BCE, if we subtract 69 “weeks” (i.e., 483 years), that would bring us to after the year 55 BCE for the death of the “anointed one”. Clearly, that cannot be about Jesus.
To make things worse, Christians do not even know the exact year of Jesus’ crucifixion (anywhere from 30 CE to 33 CE are suggested)!
If the “word” in v25 refers to Artaxerxes’ order in c. 458-457 BCE, if we subtract 483 years, we come to ~26 CE. For obvious reasons, Christians prefer to use Artaxerxes’ order as the starting point (without any proof) because it brings them closer to the time of Jesus.
However, this leads to other obvious problems! The prophecy states that after the 62 weeks (plus 7 weeks = 69 weeks), the “anointed one” will be killed. And then in the FINAL week, Jerusalem will be “destroyed”.
Since the FINAL week necessarily follows the previous 69 weeks, that means that the death of the “anointed one” AND the destruction of the city had to occur within the same SEVEN (7)-year period!
Remember, each “week” represents 7 years. Since the death of the “anointed one” has to happen AFTER 69 weeks, that ONLY leaves the final week as the time for his death. This must ALSO be the time for the “destruction” of Jerusalem.
Yet as we know from history, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 CE, anywhere from 37-40 YEARS (depending on the year of the crucifixion) after Jesus! This contradicts the prophecy! It did NOT occur in the same 7-year period as the anointed one’s death!
So, if Dan 9:26 refers to Jesus’ alleged “death”, then within a few years of his “death”, Jerusalem & the temple should have been destroyed (v.27) . That should have been by the 30s CE!
In fact, since the Christian calculations bring us to the year 26 CE, both Jesus’ “death” & the destruction of the temple should have occurred by 33 CE & no later! The conclusion is that either it is a false prophecy or it’s not about Jesus in the first place.
A final note before closing. If we grant the interpretation that the 1st 7 weeks are part of the 62 weeks, & we also grant that the beginning of the 70 weeks is from 457 BCE, then the calculation would be like this: 457 BCE - (62x7 years = 434 years) = 23 BCE.
This would mean that to account for the last 8 weeks/56 years (to make 70 total weeks), the death of the anointed one AND the destruction of Jerusalem had to occur by 33 CE (23 BCE + 56 years)! Once again, it just doesn’t work!
But as stated already, that interpretation cannot be granted in the first place for the reasons given above. So either way, Christians and their loony mathematics are stuck! And Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) knows best!
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