The math behind Daniel's 70th Week

Ok guys, so I have spent the past hour or so trying to do the math behind Daniel's 70th Week and I think I MIGHT have gotten it right! This has been bothering me for some time, and I've never gotten the numbers to line up until just today. I used my own Bible including both the actual text and notes as well as some outside sources online (even wikipedia) to help me with some of the dates and conversions.

Please feel free to point out any errors that I might have made, I only took 2 math classes in college so it's been a while!

Without further babbling, here we go!

Daniel 24-26 KJV: 24Seventy 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. 25 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. 26 And after threescore and 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.

So according to scripture, the commandment to restore the city appears to be Neh 2:1-8, which states that it occurs in the 20th year in the rule of Artaxerxes. Wikipedia tells me his rule started in 465, putting this at 445. My bible in the notes actually lists this as specifically taking place in 444 B.C., in the month of March. Next, we are looking at the Crucifixion (Messiah cut off) taking place in 33 A.D. My Bible actually says, 32 A.D but the math seems to make it seem like 33 A.D. I'm not sure, but as of now I'm doing 444 B.C. to 33 A.D. seems to work. Maybe its actually 445 B.C. to 32 A.D. Whatever, it works either way. In short, we have the 69 weeks going from 444 B.C. until 33 A.D. Also significant, is that it appears the decree of Artaxerxes took place in March of 444 B.C and Jesus's death and resurrections took place in April 33 A.D. (as in, the months seem to matter a bit).

Ok, on to the math. I've listed this in steps, mostly because I kept getting lost if it didn't break it down this way.

Step 1:

March of 444 B.C. to April 33 A.D. = 476 Gregorian years aka what we use today

Step 2:

1 Gregorian year = 365.24219879 days
1 Biblical year = 360 days

Daniel is referencing biblical years, while we use gregorian years so some conversion must take place.

Step 3:

1 Gregorian Yr (365.24219879 days) divided by 1 Biblical Yr (360 days) gives us 1.0145616331 Biblical Yrs per Gregorian Yr

476 * 1.0145616331 = 482.931351733 Biblical Yrs.

Step 4:

482.931351733 * 360 = 173,855.286624 days

Step 5:

Working backwards, we know that Daniel's prophecy is 490 biblical years in total. Daniel 9:27 talks about the final week, thus meaning the first 69 weeks is 483 biblical years. 483 biblical years is equal to 173,880 days (483*360).

So we take 173,880 - 173,855.286624 = 24.713376 extra days, which seems to account for the extra time from March to April.

Thus we have 483 biblical years or 173,880 days from Artaxerxes's decree in 444 B.C. to Jesus's death in 33 A.D. Maybe its actually 445 and 32 - that's fine it works either way. The numbers lining up obviously matters more then being off a year one way or another. I'm pretty excited about this, as I've previously just thought "I trust that the numbers all work out" but this seems to be further confirmation of the unbelievable accuracy of scripture. That final 7 weeks is still in the future and we can bet if the first 69 weeks happened exactly as stated that final week will happen exactly as stated in both Daniel and Revelation.

Before I get too excited here, does anyone see any errors in this or have a different interpretation/understanding of this?
 

daygo

Well-Known Member
Ok guys, so I have spent the past hour or so trying to do the math behind Daniel's 70th Week and I think I MIGHT have gotten it right! This has been bothering me for some time, and I've never gotten the numbers to line up until just today. I used my own Bible including both the actual text and notes as well as some outside sources online (even wikipedia) to help me with some of the dates and conversions.

Please feel free to point out any errors that I might have made, I only took 2 math classes in college so it's been a while!

Without further babbling, here we go!

Daniel 24-26 KJV: 24Seventy 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. 25 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. 26 And after threescore and 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.

So according to scripture, the commandment to restore the city appears to be Neh 2:1-8, which states that it occurs in the 20th year in the rule of Artaxerxes. Wikipedia tells me his rule started in 465, putting this at 445. My bible in the notes actually lists this as specifically taking place in 444 B.C., in the month of March. Next, we are looking at the Crucifixion (Messiah cut off) taking place in 33 A.D. My Bible actually says, 32 A.D but the math seems to make it seem like 33 A.D. I'm not sure, but as of now I'm doing 444 B.C. to 33 A.D. seems to work. Maybe its actually 445 B.C. to 32 A.D. Whatever, it works either way. In short, we have the 69 weeks going from 444 B.C. until 33 A.D. Also significant, is that it appears the decree of Artaxerxes took place in March of 444 B.C and Jesus's death and resurrections took place in April 33 A.D. (as in, the months seem to matter a bit).

Ok, on to the math. I've listed this in steps, mostly because I kept getting lost if it didn't break it down this way.

Step 1:

March of 444 B.C. to April 33 A.D. = 476 Gregorian years aka what we use today

Step 2:

1 Gregorian year = 365.24219879 days
1 Biblical year = 360 days

Daniel is referencing biblical years, while we use gregorian years so some conversion must take place.

Step 3:

1 Gregorian Yr (365.24219879 days) divided by 1 Biblical Yr (360 days) gives us 1.0145616331 Biblical Yrs per Gregorian Yr

476 * 1.0145616331 = 482.931351733 Biblical Yrs.

Step 4:

482.931351733 * 360 = 173,855.286624 days

Step 5:

Working backwards, we know that Daniel's prophecy is 490 biblical years in total. Daniel 9:27 talks about the final week, thus meaning the first 69 weeks is 483 biblical years. 483 biblical years is equal to 173,880 days (483*360).

So we take 173,880 - 173,855.286624 = 24.713376 extra days, which seems to account for the extra time from March to April.

Thus we have 483 biblical years or 173,880 days from Artaxerxes's decree in 444 B.C. to Jesus's death in 33 A.D. Maybe its actually 445 and 32 - that's fine it works either way. The numbers lining up obviously matters more then being off a year one way or another. I'm pretty excited about this, as I've previously just thought "I trust that the numbers all work out" but this seems to be further confirmation of the unbelievable accuracy of scripture. That final 7 weeks is still in the future and we can bet if the first 69 weeks happened exactly as stated that final week will happen exactly as stated in both Daniel and Revelation.

Before I get too excited here, does anyone see any errors in this or have a different interpretation/understanding of this?
You could have saved all the bother just read Jack Kelley articles, no offence.
 

athenasius

Well-Known Member
I was going to suggest Sir Robert Anderson's book "The Coming Prince" but Jack Kelley pointed it out already. That is pretty much exactly his calculations.

I've seen different dates for the decree from Ataxerxes but most agree with 444 BC
So according to scripture, the commandment to restore the city appears to be Neh 2:1-8, which states that it occurs in the 20th year in the rule of Artaxerxes. Wikipedia tells me his rule started in 465, putting this at 445. My bible in the notes actually lists this as specifically taking place in 444 B.C., in the month of March.
The problem with Wiki is they readjust dates according to who is checking the data and the sources they are happy with. There is a lot of revisionist history going on. Stuff that was generally accepted by the older guys a century ago is pretty safe from historical tampering.

There was a recent popular bout of date setting for the Rapture last fall (not here thankfully), which came and went, and that guy REALLY massaged that date of the decree from Ataxerxes to make it all come out for his special day. He was 16 or 18 years off by my figures when I fact checked his claims. He had a previous attempt at a Rapture date, so he's a false prophet x 2 now, and I expect he will try again. People like that don't learn.


HOWEVER don't forget about the zero year. The switch from BC to AD. It often gets counted leading to 33 AD instead of 32.
 
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DanLMP

Well-Known Member
HOWEVER don't forget about the zero year. The switch from BC to AD. It often gets counted leading to 33 AD instead of 32.

If you are referring to the year of the crucifixion it seems the debate is between 31, 32 and 33 AD.

The Essenes expected it to occur in 32, per the investigation of Dr. Ken Johnson.
Others obviously think 33.
31 is low man on the pole.

Do I care? Currently, not really, unless someone gives me a logical reason that I should.

I'm more interested in the result and not so much in the date.
 

athenasius

Well-Known Member
If you are referring to the year of the crucifixion it seems the debate is between 31, 32 and 33 AD.

The Essenes expected it to occur in 32, per the investigation of Dr. Ken Johnson.
Others obviously think 33.
31 is low man on the pole.

Do I care? Currently, not really, unless someone gives me a logical reason that I should.

I'm more interested in the result and not so much in the date.
No I was just responding to the OP here, and I should have hit reply on this bit in his post below to be more clear.
So according to scripture, the commandment to restore the city appears to be Neh 2:1-8, which states that it occurs in the 20th year in the rule of Artaxerxes. Wikipedia tells me his rule started in 465, putting this at 445. My bible in the notes actually lists this as specifically taking place in 444 B.C., in the month of March. Next, we are looking at the Crucifixion (Messiah cut off) taking place in 33 A.D. My Bible actually says, 32 A.D but the math seems to make it seem like 33 A.D. I'm not sure, but as of now I'm doing 444 B.C. to 33 A.D. seems to work. Maybe its actually 445 B.C. to 32 A.D. Whatever, it works either way. In short, we have the 69 weeks going from 444 B.C. until 33 A.D. Also significant, is that it appears the decree of Artaxerxes took place in March of 444 B.C and Jesus's death and resurrections took place in April 33 A.D. (as in, the months seem to matter a bit).
and that was why I put this bit in here
HOWEVER don't forget about the zero year. The switch from BC to AD. It often gets counted leading to 33 AD instead of 32.
I think it most probably is 32AD but like you I've heard good arguments for 33AD -- Randy Nettles often argues for the 33 AD date in his writings on Pete Garcia's website. I think most of them land more in 32AD. I've been following Ken Johnson and it's an interesting corroboration of 32AD but nothing is definitive enough to say for sure which. It's not anything I worry about either, like you the result of the Cross is the important thing.

If the OP adjusts for the switch from BC to AD as a 0, then his year count might add up more comfortably whichever way he ends up.

I honestly can't remember if Sir Robert came out to 32 AD or 33. The fact you can calculate out the Lords arrival in Jerusalem is one more witnessing tool.
 

Bethlehem57

Well-Known Member
I was going to suggest Sir Robert Anderson's book "The Coming Prince" but Jack Kelley pointed it out already. That is pretty much exactly his calculations.

I've seen different dates for the decree from Ataxerxes but most agree with 444 BC

The problem with Wiki is they readjust dates according to who is checking the data and the sources they are happy with. There is a lot of revisionist history going on. Stuff that was generally accepted by the older guys a century ago is pretty safe from historical tampering.

There was a recent popular bout of date setting for the Rapture last fall (not here thankfully), which came and went, and that guy REALLY massaged that date of the decree from Ataxerxes to make it all come out for his special day. He was 16 or 18 years off by my figures when I fact checked his claims. He had a previous attempt at a Rapture date, so he's a false prophet x 2 now, and I expect he will try again. People like that don't learn.


HOWEVER don't forget about the zero year. The switch from BC to AD. It often gets counted leading to 33 AD instead of 32.
Our Pastor brought up this very thing today. It’s a formula from Sir Robert Anderson’s book, entitled in your post. Very interesting stuff!
 

athenasius

Well-Known Member
Matthew 24:3. Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” Matthew 24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
I think you didn’t read this thread before replying because that is NOT what is being discussed.

If the Son of God who is one with God does not know when He will be commanded by The Father to return, why do people think that they can somehow discover what God has hidden. The 7th Day Adventists have been trying for quite some time using the prophecy/s of Daniel to determine when Christ will return. Since God is not going to reveal this to anyone, it is a fruitless enterprise. I do not wish to insult, offend, or demean any denomination or individual, but it is clear that no one but the Father knows & He is not only not sharing, but wields the power to block anyone from knowing that which He wills them not to know. There is a good reason God does the things He does. It is not for us to question Him, or to attempt meddle in His affairs. Look at the Tower of Babel. What was the result?
And again that is NOT what this thread is about.

It’s easy to make a mistake and we all do that from time to time but before this goes further I want to make it clear what we were discussing and I am sure you will feel better.

We are discussing Daniel’s prophecy of the 70 weeks and how the 69 weeks added up to a very specific date

FOR JESUS ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM ON PALM SUNDAY BEFORE HIS CRUCIFIXION.

Date setting for the Rapture is strictly forbidden here and we are NOT doing that.

I think everyone here agrees that after the Cross, the divine stopwatch is paused in it’s ticking down time while the Church Age is happening in the interlude.

That final 7 years remains and it doesn’t start until the Antichrist signs that deal with Israel.

We are raptured BEFORE the AC shows up, but the stopwatch countdown starts ticking off the final 7 when the covenant with the AC is signed.

The angel who gave Daniel the 70 weeks prophecy told Daniel exactly when the Messiah would come THE FIRST TIME.

It’s one reason why Jesus was so grieved that they didn’t know the time of their visitation.

THEY SHOULD HAVE BECAUSE OF THIS VERY CALCULATION,

I hope that clears up the misunderstanding. Welcome and I hope you don’t feel bad,

——like I said it’s easy to misread things if we don’t take care and we all do it from time to time.
 
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