Chizuk Emunah Under the Microscope: Chapter 42

“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
Daniel 9:24-27

Daniel 9 is a common battleground between the church and the rabbis. There is no coherent timeframe which can be assigned as a "week." Even Tovia Singer admitted that his construal of the weeks has a completely arbitrary starting point.

Troki argues that this cannot be about Jesus. He describes the punishment as the exile to Babylon. Troki asserts that according to Chapter 8, Daniel labored under the idea that the state of banishment would last for 2,300 days, which is just over 6 years. The prophecy shall be sealed up, which means it will finally be confirmed, and the epoch of restoration will restore the boon of prophecy.

Troki then connects the prophecies, stating that Cyrus is the anointed one in this passage, who will bring back Israel from exile. He also thinks that the subject of verse 26 is Herod Agrippa II.

The issue here is the conditions that must be fulfilled. Within seventy weeks, there needs to be an end to sin and transgression, an atonement, and the bringing of everlasting righteousness. The starting point appears to be the decree of Cyrus to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. How do we know when the seventy weeks are over? When the city and sanctuary are destroyed, and a flood, war, and desolation come to Jerusalem. This means that the weeks of Daniel's prophecy are over, and that all the conditions have been fulfilled.

The Jerusalem Temple has been destroyed by the armies of Titus in the year 70. This means we have to look in the pre-70 era of history in order to figure out what these prophecies mean. Hebrew has no indefinite article, so a more literal interpretation would state: Messiah (מָשִׁיחַ) will be cut off. The same word is used to describe the prince, and mere priests are not princes. Instead, this anointed one is royalty, and it also looks like the same anointed one as in the previous verse. If so, then it cannot be Cyrus. Besides, Cyrus ascended to the throne years before the decree, and yet the anointed one is supposed to come after it.

Herod Agrippa lived between the years 27 and 100, meaning that he died 30 years after the destruction of the Second Temple. Furthermore, he was not cut off in any meaningful sense of the word during the events of the year 70. Herod Agrippa sided with the Romans, and although being wounded in the Siege of Gamala, he was not cut off from anything. His side prevailed, and Herod Agrippa was rewarded accordingly. So neither of these proposed anointed ones can be the subject of Daniel 9.

Jesus, on the other hand, strongly fits the subject of this passage. He was killed before the destruction of the temple, and yet brought the greatest change the world has ever seen. His sacrifice brought the possibility of regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. More importantly, he brought an atonement for sin.

Think about it: anyone who believes in the book of Daniel is committed to the truth that God has already put an end to sin, sealed a vision and a prophet, atoned for iniquity, anointed a holy place, and brought about everlasting righteousness. If Messiah has not already come, what is there for Messiah to do but put the final comparatively insignificant touches on God's master plan?