CHAPTER 2

From Daniel.

How after the Period of Seven Times Seventy Years, or 490 Years, the Christ having appeared to Men, the Jewish Prophets and their surpassing Temple Worship will be dissolved, and They Themselves will be taken by Mutual Sieges as by a Flood, and their Holy Temple undergo its Final Desolation.

[Passage quoted, Dan. ix. 20-27.] (Given in full on account of wide divergence from S.)

(c) "20. AND while I yet spake and prayed and confessed my sins and the sins of my people Israel, and casting my misery before the holy Mount of my God, 21. and while I yet spake in prayer, behold the man Gabriel, whom I had seen at the beginning came flying, and he touched me about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22. And he instructed me and spake with me, saying, O (d) Daniel, 23. I am now come forth to impart to thee understanding. At the beginning of thy supplication the word came forth, and I am come to tell thee, for thou art a man greatly beloved: therefore consider the matter, understand the vision, for thou art a man greatly beloved. 24. Seventy weeks have been decided on for thy people, and for the holy city, for sin to be ended, and to seal up transgressions, and to blot out iniquities, and to make atonement for iniquities, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. 25. And - 117 - thou shalt know and understand, that from the going forth of the command for the answer and for the building of Jerusalem until Christ the Prince shall be seven (382) weeks, and sixty-two weeks; and then it shall return, and the street shall be built, and the wall, and the times shall be exhausted. 26. And after the sixty-two weeks, the Anointing shall be destroyed, and there is no judgment in him, and he shall destroy the city and the sanctuary together with the coming prince; they shall be cut off in a flood, and, to the end of the war which is rapidly completed, in desolations. 27. And one week shall establish the covenant with many: and in the midst of the week my sacrifice and drink-offering shall be taken away: and on the temple shall be an (b) abomination of desolations: and at the end of time shall an end be put to the desolation.

When the captivity of the Jewish people at Babylon was near its end, the Archangel Gabriel, one of the holy ministers of God, appeared to Daniel as he prayed, and told him that the restoration of Jerusalem was to follow without the slightest delay, and he defines the period after the restoration by numbering the years, and foretells that after the predetermined time it will again be destroyed, and that after the second capture and siege it will no longer have (c) God for its guardian, but will remain desolate, with the worship of the Mosaic Law taken away from it, and another new Covenant with humanity introduced in its place. This was what the Angel Gabriel revealed to the prophet as by secret oracles. So then he says to Daniel:

"I am now come forth to impart to thee understanding, at the beginning of thy supplication the word came forth, and I am come to tell thee, for thou art a man greatly beloved. Consider the matter, understand the vision"; (d) 

clearly urging him to a deeper consideration and understanding of the meaning of his words. He calls it then a vision from its involving deeper consideration, and more - 118 - than common understanding: wherefore we, too, if we call on Him who gives understanding, and pray that the eyes of our understanding may be enlightened, should trust confidently in the vision of this passage:

"Seven times seventy weeks," he says, "have been decided on for this people and for thy holy city, for sin to be ended, and to seal up transgression, and to blot out iniquities, and to make atonement for iniquities, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal the vision and the people, and to anoint the most holy."

(383) It is quite clear that seven times seventy weeks reckoned in years amounts to 490. That was therefore the period determined for Daniel's people, which limited the total length of the Jewish nation's existence. And he no longer calls them here "God's people," but Daniel's, saying, "thy people." Just as when they sinned and worshipped idols in the wilderness, God called them no more His people, but Moses', saying, "Go, descend, for thy people has sinned." (b) In the same way here too he explains why the definite limit of time is determined for them. It was that they might know they were no longer worthy to be called the people of God. And he adds, "And for thy holy city": where we hear again the unusual "thy," for he says, "for thy people, and for thy holy city," as much as to say, "the city you think to be holy." The original Hebrew and the other translators (c) agree in the addition of "thy" both to the people and the city. For Aquila has, "On thy people, and on thy sacred city"; and Symmachus, "Against thy people, and thy holy city": wherefore in accurate codices of the Septuagint "thy" is added with an asterisk. For since Daniel had often called the people "the people of God "in the words of his prayer, and the place of the city "the holy place of (d) God," the One who answers in contrast says that neither people nor city are God's, but "thine," who hast prayed and spoken thus of the people and the place and the city. Daniel's words run thus: "16. Let thy anger be turned away, even thy anger from Jerusalem thy city, thy holy mountain." And, "Thy people is a source of ridicule to all that are round about them." And again, "17. Shew thy face upon the desolation of thy sanctuary." And once more, "18. Behold the ruin of thy city, which is called by thy - 119 - name," followed by, "19. That thy name may be named upon thy city, and upon thy people." After this prayer he adds: "20. And while I was yet speaking and praying, behold Gabriel, whom I saw in my vision, came flying, and touched me, and said what is written above." (384)

The prophet then clearly called the city not a city pure and simple but "God's city," and the sanctuary, "God's sanctuary," and the people "God's people," from his feeling for the people. But Gabriel does not describe them in this way; on the contrary, he says, "for thy people," and "for thy holy city," shewing in so many words that city, people, and sanctuary were unworthy to be called God's.

So, then, he first defines the length of time determined (b) for the people, and then for the city. And it is seen to be the period from the restoration of Jerusalem, which was in the reign of Darius, King of Persia, until the reign of Augustus, Emperor of Rome, and of Herod the foreign King of the Jews, in whose times our Saviour's Birth is recorded, as the prophecy goes on to shew. And he adds next:

"For sin to be ended, and to seal up transgressions, and to blot out iniquities, and to make atonement for (c) iniquities, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal the vision and the prophet, and to anoint the most holy."

Instead of, "For sin to be ended, and to seal up transgressions," Aquila translated, "For ending disobedience, and for completing transgression." I think that our Saviour's words to the Jews, "Ye have filled up the measure of your fathers," are parallel to this. For the transgression of the Jewish nation culminated in the plot they dared to make against Him, and what Aquila calls their "disobedience "to God reached its end. For many times of old the long-suffering of God had borne with their transgressions before the Saviour came, as is shewn by the prophet's words: but just as in the case of the ancient (d) foreign inhabitants of the land of promise it was said to Abraham, "The sins of the Amorites are not yet fulfilled," and if they were not yet fulfilled they could not yet be driven from their native land, but when they were fulfilled, they were then destroyed by Joshua, the successor of Moses: so also you will understand in the case of the - 120 - before-mentioned people. For while their sins were not fulfilled, the patience and long-suffering of God bore with them, calling them many times to repentance by the prophets. (385) But when, as our Saviour said, they had filled up the measure of their fathers, then the whole collected weight worked their destruction at one time, as our Lord taught again when He said:

"All the blood poured forth from the foundation of the world, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias, shall come upon this generation." 

For presuming last of all to lay their hands on the Son of God they completed their disobedience and completed their sins, according to Aquila's translation, or according to the Septuagint, "Their sin was bound and sealed." But since He came not only for the falling but for the rising again of many in Israel, as is said of Him, "Behold, he is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel," Daniel rightly proceeds to add, "And for the blotting out of (c)  transgressions and for making atonement for iniquities." For since it was impossible for the blood of bulls and of goats to take away sins, and the whole race of mankind needed a living and true offering, of which the Mosaically designed propitiation was a type, and our Lord and Saviour was this Lamb of God, as it was said of Him, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world; and again, "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for those of the whole world "; He brings redemption (d) also, according to Paul's words, "Who is become wisdom to us from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption"—he naturally teaches that His coining is at once the fulfilment and the completion of the sin of those who have sinned against Him, at the same time as it is the blotting out and purification of sins, and the propitiation for the transgressions of them that believe in Him.

And Aquila to the words, "For the fulfilling of their disobedience and the completion of their sin," added, "For the propitiation of their transgression," clearly suggesting that He would be the propitiation for all transgressions of old time done in ignorance. Next to this comes, "For the bringing in of everlasting righteousness." The Word of - 121 - God is in truth Himself eternal Righteousness, Who is made unto us by God Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption, in the words of the Apostle. But further by His own Presence also He shared Righteousness with all men, shewing by His works that God is not only the God of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles: for (386) there is one God, Who will judge the Circumcision from their faith, and the Uncircumcision by faith. Wherefore Peter wondering at those with Cornelius being thought worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit says, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness is accepted with him." And Paul also says that the Gospel is of righteousness, saying, "For it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. For the righteousness of God is revealed in it." And it is said of Christ in the Psalms: (b) "In His days shall arise righteousness, and abundance of peace." And His coming shewed clearly the righteousness of God, who reckoned the whole of mankind worthy of the calling of God. Such was not the Mosaic dispensation, which was given to the Jews only: wherefore having appeared for a time it has passed away. But the (c) righteousness proclaimed by our Saviour is fitly called eternal righteousness, as Gabriel said, "And to bring in eternal righteousness."

Instead of "Seal the vision and the prophet,'' Aquila gives, I think, a more suitable rendering, viz. "And for fulfilling vision and prophet." For our Lord Jesus Christ did not come as it were to seal up the visions of the prophets, for He rather opened and explained those that were of old obscure and sealed, tearing away so to say the seals impressed on them, and taught His disciples the meaning of the Holy Scriptures. Hence He says, "Behold, (d) the lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed, and he has opened the seals that were set on the book," in John's Apocalypse. What are these seals but the obscurities of the prophets? Isaiah knew them well and definitely says too: "And these words shall be as the words of the sealed book." The Christ of God did not come then to shut up the vision and the prophet, but rather to open them and bring them to the light. Hence I prefer Aquila's rendering, - 122 - (387) "For fulfilling the vision and the prophet." And it agrees also with our Saviour's words, "I have not come to destroy the law or the prophets, I have not come to destroy but to fulfil." "For the end of the law is Christ," and all the prophecies concerning Him we know remained unfulfilled and uncompleted, until He came and brought fulfilment to the prophecies about Himself. It is possible, too, for the version of the Septuagint, "To seal up the vision and the prophet," to bear this meaning: "For the Law and the prophets continued until John," and from his day the ancient inspiration of the Jewish race has ceased, and its predictions of the Christ, and they who in the Holy (b) Scriptures saw genuine visions have come to an end, as if divine grace were shut up and bound with seals: and so it is the case that from that day there has been no activity of prophet or seer among them; this has altogether ceased from the time named till our own day.

He proceeds, "And to anoint the Most Holy"; and this also is plain for the same reason, that until the time of our Saviour the Most Holy, the High Priests were anointed (c) following the ritual performed according to the Mosaic Law, but from that date they have ceased to be, as the prophecy foretells. So too the words of Jacob to Judah foretold the cessation of the princes and rulers of the Jewish nation, as I have already stated. Now since the prophets' and priests' primacy of the people was very much later than that of the kings, the oracle in the prophecy first quoted foretells the destruction of the princes and governors of the Jewish nation, while the one we are considering predicts (d) the cessation of the prophets and priests as well, who were of old their chief ornament, which the Coming of our Saviour actually fulfilled. And as Aquila translates, "For the anointing the most consecrated," it might be thought that the ancient Jewish High Priest was meant, since many of the inferior priests were called "holy," but only the High Priest "Most Holy." And this idea at first sight is tempting. For up to the times of our Saviour the High Priests in continuous line at the same time ruled the people, (388) as they continuously performed the service of God according to the ritual ordained by Moses; but from our Saviour's times their order was first thrown into confusion, and shortly afterwards altogether abolished. But as I find - 123 - nowhere in the Holy Scriptures the High Priest called "Most Holy," I am of opinion that in this passage only the Only-begotten Word of God is meant, who is properly and truly worthy of that name. For if men excel and reach all attainable virtue they should be content to be called "holy," sharing and participating in the character of Him Who said, "Be ye holy, for I the Lord am Holy." But what human being could rightly be called "Most Holy," except the one Beloved Son of the Father, called Holy of holies as also King of kings and Lord of lords? For to Him only, as excelling whoever of Moses' ordaining that were anointed with earthly and manufactured oil, was it said, "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity, therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness beyond thy fellows."

Being anointed wherewith, He says in His own Person in Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me." Since, then, it is evident that our Saviour was anointed uniquely beyond all that ever were with the excellent spiritual, or rather divine unction, He is rightly called "Holy of holies," as one might say, "High Priest of high priests," and "Sanctified of the sanctified" according to the oracle of Gabriel. (d)

And all these things were fulfilled when the seventy weeks were completed at the date of our Saviour's Coming. So when the aforesaid Angel had given this summary prediction to the prophet, he again returns to the subject of the seventy weeks, explaining accurately and in detail at what point the weeks must begin to be counted, and what will happen at the time said. He therefore says: "And thou shalt know and understand, that from the going forth of the command for the answer and for the building of Jerusalem shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, and then it shall return, and the street and wall shall be built." (389) And with regard to this I think it right not to leave unknown the studies of a predecessor on this subject, but to quote from them as suitable to my readers. For it is a good saying that "the goods of friends are common." ¹ And as it is right to use what others have expressed well in a right spirit, and not to deprive fathers of their children, - 124 - or the first begetters of their own offspring, I will quote his exact words. This extract from Africanus is to be found in the Fifth Book of his Chronography, and it runs as follows:

(b) "The section thus expressed gives much strange information. But here I will make the necessary examination of the times and the matters connected with them. It is clear, then, that the coming of the Christ is foretold as to occur after seventy weeks. For in the time of our Saviour, or after His time, sins are done away and transgressions ended. And by this remission iniquities are blotted out (c) by a propitiation together with unrighteousness, eternal righteousness is published beyond that of the law, visions and prophecies (last) until John, and the Holy of holies is anointed. For these things existed in expectation only before our Saviour's Coming. And the angel explains we must count the numbers, that is to say the seventy weeks, which are 490 years, from the going forth of the word of answer and from the building of Jerusalem. This took place in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, King of Persia. For Nehemiah his cup-bearer made the request, (d) and received the answer that Jerusalem should be rebuilt, and the order went forth to carry it out. For till that date the city lay desolate. For when Cyrus after the seventieth year of the Captivity spontaneously allowed every one who wished to return, those with Joshua the High Priest and Zerubbabel went back, and those afterwards with Ezra, and were at first prevented from building the Temple, and the wall of the City, as no order had been given for it; and so - 125 - there was a delay until Nehemiah and the reign of Artaxerxes and the one hundred and fifteenth year of the Persian Empire. And this was 185 years from the taking of Jerusalem. It was then that King Artaxerxes gave the order (390) for it to be built. And Nehemiah was sent to take charge of the work, and the street and wall were built, as it had been prophesied. And from that date to the coming of Christ is seventy weeks. For if we begin to count from any other point but this, not only the dates will not agree, but many absurdities arise. If, for instance, we begin counting the seventy weeks from Cyrus and the first Mission, the period will be too long by more than a century, if from (b) the day the angel prophesied to Daniel still longer, and longer still if we start from the beginning of the Captivity. For we find the length of the Persian Empire to be 230 years, and of the Macedonian 300, and from then to the sixteenth year of Tiberius Caesar 60 years. And from Artaxerxes to the time of Christ seventy weeks are (c) completed according to Jewish reckoning. For from Nehemiah, who was sent by Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem, in the one hundred and fifteenth year of the Persian Empire, and in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, and in the fourth year of the eighty-third Olympiad up to that date, which was the second year of the two hundred and second Olympiad, and the sixteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, there are 475 years, or 490 according to Hebrew reckoning. For they reckon years by the course of the moon, I ought to (d) tell you, counting 354 days, while the course of the sun is 365 ¼ days, twelve lunar revolutions, being exceeded by one solar by 11¼ days. Therefore the Greeks and the Jews add three intercalary months to every eighth year. For eight times 11¼ days makes three months. So then 465 years, in eight-year cycles, makes fifty-nine years and three months. Since adding the three intercalary months every eighth year, we have a few days short of fifteen years. And these added (391) to the 475 years complete the seventy weeks."

This, then, is from Africanus. And if I may make an apposite comment myself on the passage, I would say that the prophecy does not make the division of the seventy weeks without an object or haphazard. For having divided them into the first seven, and another sixty-two, it adds the - 126 - last one after a quantity of intermediate matter, and thus (b) determines the number of seventy weeks. And so it says, "And thou shalt know and understand from the going out of the word of answering and of building Jerusalem until Christ the governor there are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks." Then having interposed other matter, it adds the last saying, "And He shall make a covenant with many one week." I do not think that any one who regards these as the words of God, can suppose that these statements have no object, or are scattered without the divine intention. I thought it was right first to draw attention to this, and then to give a more (c) elaborate solution of the problem to my readers. And if I must reveal what is in my mind, I would say that according to another meaning or interpretation, he that is called in the preceding extract "Christ the governor" (viz. "From the going forth of the word of answering and the building of Jerusalem until Christ the governor"), is none other than the roll of the high priests who governed the people after (d) the prophecy and the Return from Babylon, whom Scripture commonly calls Christs. For I have shewn that they were the only governors of the nation, beginning with Joshua, son of Josedec, the Great Priest, after the return from Babylon, and up to the date of the Coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. For I think that the fact that the intermediate period of their primacy, during which they governed, is meant, is shewn by the words, "From the going forth of the answering and the building of Jerusalem, until Christ the governor, is seven weeks and sixty-two weeks." And the weeks of years make 483 years added together from the reign of Cyrus up to the Roman Empire, when Pompeius (392) the Roman general attacked Jerusalem and took the city by siege, and the whole city became subject to Rome, so that thenceforward it paid taxes, and obeyed the Roman enactments.

At this period, then, is concluded the 483 years, when they came to an end who held, according to the Mosaic Law, the primacy of the nation, and the priesthood, whom I understand the Holy Scriptures to call here "Christ the governor." And if it be necessary to publish a roll of the succession of the high priests who held office during this (b) intermediate period, I have no objection so to do in - 127 - confirmation of my statements. First, then, after Daniel's prophecy, in the reign of Cyrus, King of Persia, after the Return from Babylon, came Joshua son of Josedec, called the Great Priest, with Zerubbabel from captivity, and laid the foundations of the Temple, but since he was hindered in the work by the neighbours, the first seven weeks of years named by the prophet came to an end, during which the building of the Temple remained unfinished. This is why (c) the divine word separates the first seven from the remaining weeks, saying seven weeks, and then after an interval adding, and sixty-two weeks. For from Cyrus to the completion of the building of the Temple are seven weeks of years. Hence the Jews attacking our Saviour said, "Forty and six years was this Temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days?'' These men, you say, said that the Temple was built in forty-six years. So they reckoned (d) from the reign of Cyrus first, who first permitted those of the Jews who wished to go up to their own land, to the sixth year of King Darius, in whose reign the Temple was finally completed. But Josephus, a Jewish author, says that three more years were spent in completing the surrounding outside buildings, so that it seems probable that the seven first weeks were divided in the prophet's words into nine years and forty years, and that the remaining sixty-two were counted from the reign of Darius, in whose time Joshua, son of Josedec, and Zerubbabel, son of Salathiel, who were still alive, were both at the head of the rebuilding of the (393) Temple, when Haggai and Zechariah were prophets, after whom Ezra and Nehemiah, who also came up from Babylon, built the wall of the city, when Joiachim was high priest. He was son of Joshua, son of Josedec, and Eliashib succeeded him in the high-priesthood, then Joiada, after him Jonathan, and after him Jaddua. The books of Ezra record them, saying, "And Jeshua begat Joiakim, Joiakim begat (b) Eliashib, and Eliashib begat Joiada, and Joiada begat Jonathan, and Jonathan begat Jaddua."

In the time of this Jaddua, Alexander of Macedon conquered Alexandria, and, as Josephus relates,² came to Jerusalem and worshipped God. And Alexander died at the beginning of the 114th Olympiad, 236 years after - 128 - (c) Cyrus, who began to rule over the Persians in the first year of the fifty-fifth Olympiad.

Now after the death of Alexander of Macedon, and after the said High Priest, Onias ruled the nation, also enjoying the high-priestly office: in whose day Seleucus conquered Babylon and put on the crown of Asia, twelve years after Alexander's death, and the whole period from him to Cyrus is 248 years From that point the Book of Maccabees begins to count the years of the Hellenic Empire. And after Onias, the High Priest Eleazar ruled the Jews, in whose time the Seventy translated the Holy Scriptures and deposited (d) them in the Library of Alexandria. And after him a second Onias, followed by Simon, in whose day flourished Jesus, son of Sirach, who wrote the excellent book called Wisdom. After him a third Onias ruled, in whose time Antiochus besieged the Jews and compelled them to hellenize. After whom Judas, called the Maccabee, was at the head of the State, and cleansed the land of the unholy, being succeeded by his brother Jonathan. And then Simon, to whose death the First Book of Maccabees reckons 177 years from the beginning of the Syrian rule, and ends its history at that date. So that the period from (394) the first year of Cyrus and the Persian Empire up to the end of the record of the Maccabees and the death of Simon is 425 years. And then Jonathan held the high-priesthood, according to Josephus, for twenty-nine years.³ After him Aristobulus ruled for a year, who was the first to assume the royal diadem ⁴ besides the high-priesthood after - 129 - the return from Babylon. Alexander succeeded him, as both king and high priest, and was at the head of the State for twenty-seven years. To whose date is comprised in all, (b) from the first year of the reign of Cyrus and from the return of the Jews from Babylon, 482 years, in which period the high priests ruled, who I believe are called in the prophecy "Christs and governors." After whom, when the last of them the High Priest Alexander died, the State of the Jews was left without king or leader, so that the kingdom came to a woman. And when her two sons, Aristobulus nnd Hyrcanus, were quarrelling with each other, Pompey, the (c) Roman general, attacked Jerusalem, and took the city by siege, denied its holy places, and even entered the Holiest of all. And this came to pass in the first year of the 179th Olympiad, 495 years after the empire of Cyrus, who began to rule in the fifty-fifth Olympiad. And Pompey, then, having taken Jerusalem by force, sent the before-named Aristobulus a prisoner to Rome, bestowing the High-Priesthood on his brother Hyrcanus, and the whole nation was from that date subject to Rome. Then after this, Herod, (d) the son of Antipater, destroyed Hyrcanus, and was entrusted with the Jewish kingdom by the Roman senate, being the first ruler of a foreign stock, and he destroyed the order of the Mosaic High-Priesthood. For the divine Law ordained that the most high high-priest should hold office for life; but Herod preferred to the office men who were not of the priestly tribe nor otherwise suitable, who were alien and strange to the priestly line of succession, and he gave the position not even to them for life, but only for a short and limited time, sometimes to one, sometimes to another; so (395) that the first seven weeks must be reckoned from Cyrus to Darius, and the remaining sixty-two from Darius to Pompey the Roman general.

And if you reckon the period of the seven and sixty-two weeks in another way a third time, they will comprise 483 years, up to Augustus and Herod, the first king of foreign (b) stock, in whose reign the Birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ is recorded to have occurred, if you begin to reckon from Darius and the completion of the Temple. For the prophet - 130 - Zechariah shews that the seventy years of the Desolation of Jerusalem were completed in the second year of Darius, when he says: "On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh (c) month (this is the Sabbath), in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah son of Barachiah." And then he adds, "And the Angel of the Lord answered, and said, O Almighty Lord, how long wilt thou not pity Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, which thou hast despised these seventy years past?"

This, then, was the very time that Daniel, inspired by the divine spirit, marked when he said, "I Daniel understood in the books the number of the years, what was the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, for the fulfilment of the desolation of Jerusalem seventy years, and I turned my face to the Lord my God, to present my prayer and petition." Then after his prayer the Angel prophesied to (d) him of the seventy weeks, and told him at what point to begin to reckon the time, saying, "And thou shalt know and understand from the going forth of the word of answering and from the building of Jerusalem until Christ the governor." The first answer allowing Jerusalem to be rebuilt was of course that of Cyrus, but it did not take effect, because the neighbours interfered. But when Darius gave his order afierwards, and the building of the Temple was also completed in his reign, from that date began to be fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel, which said, "From the going forth of the word of answering and from the building (396) of Jerusalem," and that which said, "I Daniel understood in the books the number of the years, which was the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, for the fulfilment of the desolation of Jerusalem seventy years." The completion of the period of seventy years is therefore shewn to have been reached in the second year of Darius, so that we must anyway reckon the seventy weeks from the sixty-sixth Olympiad, and from the second year of Darius, in which the building was completed. And if you reckon the succeeding (b) period from that date up to King Herod and the Roman Emperor Augustus, in whose times our Saviour was born on earth, you will find it amounts to 483 years, which are the seven and sixty-two weeks of the prophecy of Daniel. - 131 - From the sixty-sixth Olympiad to the 186th Olympiad there are 121 Olympiads, or 484 years, an Olympiad consisting of four years, during which time Augustus the Roman Emperor, in the fifteenth year of his reign, gained the (c) kingdom of Egypt and of the whole world, under whom Herod was the first foreigner to ascend the Jewish throne, and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was born, the time of His birth synchronizing with the fulfilment of the seven and sixty-two weeks of Daniel's prophecy.

And afterwards comes the one remaining week, separated from them and divided by a long interval, during which occurred all the other events that are predicted in between, all of which being foretold in the middle of the oracle were fulfilled; they run in the following way: "After the seven (d) and sixty-two weeks the Unction shall be cast out, and there is no judgment in it. And he will destroy the city and the Holy Place with the leader that cometh, and they shall be cut off as by a flood, and until the end of the completion of the war by destructions."

And this was evidently fulfilled in the time of Augustus and Herod, at whose day I say the seven weeks foretold were summed up. The regular and orderly Unction of the High Priest continued uninterrupted until the time of Herod and Augustus, and the ancient line of the High-Priesthood was ended with Alexander, the Father of Hyr-canus; and Herod, after murdering Hyrcanus, is said to (397) have conferred the office no longer on members of the ancestral line, but on obscure and unknown men. This the oracle foresaw and predicted, when it said, "And after the seven and sixty-two weeks, the Unction shall be cast out, and judgment shall not be in it." And this is made clear by the other translators: for Aquila says, "And after the seven weeks and the sixty-two, he that is anointed shall be cast out, and there is no place for him." And Sym-machus, "And after the weeks the seven and sixty-two the Christ shall be cut off, and shall not belong to him:" which (b) seems strong confirmation of my interpretation of "Christ the Governor."

It says then that Christ shall be cast out after the completion of the said weeks. Who can this be but the - 132 - governor and ruler of the high-priestly line? He remained therefore until the weeks were fulfilled; and when they came to an end, the ruler of the nation in the line of succession (c) was cut off as the prophecy foretold. And this was Hyrcanus, whom Herod murdered, and seized the kingdom on which he had no special claim, and he was its first king of alien stock. And moreover Hyrcanus was not only personally cut off as the last anointed successor of the ancient high-priests, but the line as well which descended from those ancient high-priests was itself cut off, and the Legal Unction was no longer used according to judgment, but in a confused and disorderly way not according to the Mosaic enactments. And these events happened concurrently and fulfilled the prediction, "The Unction shall (d) be cast out, and there is no judgment in it." Josephus, himself a Hebrew, is sufficient evidence of this, giving the history of those times in the Eighteenth Book of the Archaeology of the Jews:⁵

"Herod was then made king by the Romans, but did no longer appoint High-Priests out of the family of Asamonaeus, and these were called Maccabeans, but made certain men to be so that were of no eminent families, but only of the Hebrew race, excepting that he gave that dignity to Aristobulus; for he made this Aristobulus, the son of Hyrcanus, high priest, and took his sister Mariamne to wife, aiming at winning the goodwill of the people through their memory of Hyrcanus. Yet did he afterwards, out of his fear lest they should (398) all bend their inclinations to Aristobulus, put him to death in Jericho, and that by contriving to have him suffocated while swimming, as I have already related. But after this man he never entrusted the High Priesthood to the descendants of Hyrcanus. Archelaus also acted like his father Herod in the appointment of the High-Priests, as did also the Romans, who took the government over the Jews into their hands afterwards."⁶ - 133 - 

And again in another place he says of them: (b)

"But when Herod came to be king he rebuilt this tower, which was very conveniently situated, in a magnificent manner, and called it Antonia, and he took the high-priestly vestments, which he found lying there, and kept them, believing that while he had them the people would not revolt against him. And Herod's example was followed by Archelaus his son, who was made king after him, after whom the Romans when they entered on the government took possession of the high-priestly vestments, and had them laid up in a stone chamber under a seal."⁷

I think it must be clear to all that this was the fulfilment (c) of the oracle, which said, "And after the seven and sixty-two weeks the Unction shall be cast out, and there is no judgment in it."

And you may see better the meaning of the words, "And there is no judgment in it," if you consider the haphazard appointments of the high-priests after Herod's time and in the time of our Saviour. For whereas by the divine Law (d) it was ordained that a high-priest should hold office all his life and be succeeded by his legitimate son, in the period in question, when the Unction had been cast out as the prophecy foretold, Herod first, and after him the Romans, appointed what high-priests they liked haphazard or not according to the Law, bestowing the dignity on common and unknown men, selling and peddling the office, giving it now to one now to another for a year. And the Evangelist St. Luke seems to imply this, where he says, "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod, Philip and Lysanias being tetrarchs, Annas and Caiaphas being high-priests." For how could they both be high-priest at the same time unless the rules of the high-priesthood were disregarded? "In witness whereof Josephus writes: (399)

⁸ "Valerius Gratus the Roman General, after closing the high-priesthood of Ananus, appointed Ismael the son of Pheba, and removing him shortly afterwards appointed Eleazar son of Ananus the high-priest. A year later he removed him, and gave the office to - 134 - Simon son of Gathimus. He did not remain high priest more than a year, when Josephus, son of Caiaphas, took his place."⁹

(b) I was obliged to give this quotation because of the words "The Unction shall be cast out, and there is no judgment in it,'' which seem to me proved by it beyond any doubt.

After this the prophecy says, "And the city, and the holy place, he will destroy, with the governor that cometh." Here again I understand the rulers of foreign stock who succeeded him to be meant. For as above he named the High-Priests, Christs and Governors, saying, "Until Christ the Governor," in the same way after their time and after their abolition there was no other ruler to come but the (c) same Herod of foreign stock, and the others ruled the nation in order after them, in whose company and by whose aid, using them as his agents, that hateful bane of good men is said to have destroyed the city and the Holy Place. And indeed he destroyed of a truth the whole nation, now upsetting the established order of the priesthood, now perverting the whole people, and encouraging the city (which (d) stands metaphorically for its people) in impiety. And Aquila agrees with my interpretation of the passage, translating thus, "And the people of the governor that cometh will destroy the city and the holy place." Meaning that the city and the Holy Place arc not only to be ruined by the leader to come, whom I have identified in my interpretation, but also by his people. And you would not be far wrong in saying, too, that the Roman general and his army arc meant by the words before us, where I think the camps of the Roman rulers are meant, who governed the nation from that time, and who destroyed the city of Jerusalem itself, and its ancient venerable Temple. For they were cut off by them as by a flood, and were at once involved in destruction until the war was concluded, so that the prophecy was fulfilled and they suffered utter desolation (400) after their plot against our Saviour, which was followed by their extreme sufferings during the siege. You will find an accurate account of it in the history of Josephus.

But after the prophecy of the events that happened to the Jewish nation in the intermediate period between the - 135 -  seven and sixty-two weeks, there follows the prophecy of the new Covenant announced by our Saviour. So when all the intermediate matter between the seven and the sixty-two weeks is finished, there is added, "And he will confirm (b) a Covenant with many one week," and in half the week the sacrifice and the libation shall be taken away, and on the Holy Place shall come the abomination of desolation, and until the fullness of time fullness shall be given to the desolation. Let us consider how this was fulfilled.

Now the whole period of our Saviour's Teaching and working of Miracles is said to have been three-and-a-half years, which is half a week. John the Evangelist, in his Gospel, makes this clear to the attentive. One week of years therefore would be represented by the whole period of His association with the Apostles, both the time before His Passion, and the time after His Resurrection. For it is written that before His Passion He shewed Himself for the space of three-and-a-half years to His disciples and also to those who were not His disciples: while by teaching and miracles He revealed the powers of His Godhead to all equally whether Greeks or Jews. But after His Resurrection He was most likely with His disciples a period equal - 136 - to the years, being seen of them forty days, and eating with them, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God, as the Acts of the Apostles tells us. So that this would be the prophet's week of years, during which He "confirmed a covenant with many," confirming that is to say the new Covenant of the Gospel Preaching. And who were the many to whom He confirmed it, but His own disciples and Apostles, and such of the Hebrews who believed in Him? And moreover, half through this week, during which He confirmed the said Covenant with many, the (401) sacrifice and libation was taken away, and the abomination of desolation began, for in the middle of this week after the three-and-a-half days of His Teaching, at the time when He suffered, the Veil of the Temple was torn asunder from the top to the bottom, so that in effect from that time sacrifice and libation were taken away, and the abomination of desolation stood in the holy place, inasmuch as the Being had left them desolate, Who had been from time immemorial till (b) that day the guardian and protector of the place. For it is fitting to believe that up to the Saviour's Passion there was some Divine Power guarding the Temple and the Holy of Holies. For He could not have attended with the multitude at the Temple to keep the Feasts according to the laws, if He had not known that it still remained a place worthy of God. Therefore there were in the Temple also some that prophesied up to that time, as Anna the (c) Prophetess, daughter of Phanuel, and Simeon, who took Him into his arms when He was an infant, whose prophecies are handed down in Scripture. Nor could our Lord have said to the leper, "Go, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded for a testimony unto thee," if He had not considered it right for the legal observances to be carried out there as in a holy place worthy of God. Nor would He have thrust out those who bought and sold, saying, "Take these things hence, and make not - 137 - my Father's House a house of merchandise," if He had not thought that the Temple was still to be reckoned sacred. But it was when the hour of their extreme wickedness drew near, that He explained all when He said, "Behold your house is left unto you desolate," which also was fulfilled, when at his Passion the Veil of the Temple was wholly rent in twain, and from that moment the sacrifice and libation well pleasing to God according to the ordinance of the Law was in effect taken away, and when it was removed, the abomination of desolation, as the prophecy before us says, appeared in its place. And if it be said that the worship of the Sanctuary appeared to continue for a time, yet it was not pleasing to God, being offered without judgment and not according to the Law. For as before of (402) old when the Unction was abolished, and the lawful line of High Priests ceased after the death of Hyrcanus, they who held the office afterwards seemed to perform disordered and illegal rites, since they were breaking the fitting Laws, of whom the prophecy said, "The Unction shall be cast out, and there is no judgment in it," referring to its illegality and lack of judgment; so here you will rightly say it has happened to the offering and libation, which were rightly and (b) lawfully offered before our Saviour's Passion, while the Power still guarded the Holy Places, but which were taken away directly after the perfect and supreme Sacrifice which He offered, when He offered Himself for our sins, being the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world, which sacrifice having been delivered to all men in the new Sacraments of the new Covenant, the Sacrifices of the old are taken away. For concurrently with the fulfilment of the oracle which says, "And he shall confirm a covenant (c) with many one week," all that is connected with the old Covenant is abolished. And when was the new Covenant confirmed, but when our Lord and Saviour, about to consummate the great Mystery of His delivery to death, on the night in which He was betrayed, delivered to His disciples the symbols of the unspeakable words of the new Covenant referring to Him? For concurrently with this celebration, (d) the old Covenant of Moses was abolished, which was shewn by the veil of the Temple being rent at the very time. Sacrifice and libation being from that time abolished and ceasing in effect and truth, any sacrifices that were - 138 - afterwards thought to be offered there were celebrated in a profane place by profane and unhallowed men. Hear the witness of Josephus about this:

"On the day of Pentecost, the priests going by night into the Temple, as was their custom, for the services, said that they were first conscious of a quaking and a sound, and afterwards of a sudden voice which said, Let us depart hence."

And he records this to have taken place after the Passion of our Saviour.¹⁰ And the same writer says elsewhere: (403) "Pilate the Governor "(meaning the Pilate of our Saviour's time) "brought the images of Caesar into the Temple by night, which was unlawful, and caused a great outburst of tumult and disorder among the Jews." ¹¹ Which Philo ¹² confirms, saying:

"Pilate laid up in the Temple by night the imperial emblems, and from that time the Jews were involved in rebellion and mutual troubles."

And from that time a succession of all kinds of troubles afflicted the whole nation and their city until the last war against them, and the final siege, in which destruction (b) rushed on them like a flood with all kinds of misery of famine, plague and sword, and all who had conspired against the Saviour in their youth were cut off; then, too, the abomination of desolation stood in the Temple, and it has remained there even till to-day, while they have daily reached deeper depths of desolation. And perhaps this will be so until the end of the world, according to the limit set by the prophet when he said, "And unto the consummation of time a fulfilment shall be given to the desolation." (c) These words our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ sealed, when He said, "When ye shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, standing in the Holy Place, then ye shall know that her desolation draws near."

And if the Jews are hard to persuade of this, they must be convicted not only of a shameless opposition to truth - 139 - and clear evidence, but also of misrepresenting, so far as they can, the predictions as falsehoods, if it is to be thought that in the seventy weeks of years some of them include all the time, while they prophesy of what is to happen in the intermediate period, while others, though we are now nearly a thousand years from the date of the prophecy, admit no (d) sign of the fulfilment of what was written, although their Unction has been abolished, as the divine prediction foretold, and their sanctuary, and the former inhabitants destroyed and utterly brought to naught in the flood of the completed war, and strangest thing of all even now to be seen, I mean, the abomination of desolation still standing in the one holy place, concerning which our Lord and Saviour said what I have quoted.

As this is before our eyes even now, it is extraordinary (404) that the Jews are not only so daring as to refuse to see what is clear, but so blind and dark in their minds as well as not to be able to see the clear and evident fulfilment of the Holy Scriptures. But they are in the state now that Isaiah prophesied they should come to, and his words are fulfilled:

"Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see and not perceive. For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at (b) any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."

But since it was said of old of the nations that believe in Christ, "To whom it has not been announced concerning Him, they shall see, and they who have not heard, shall understand," I also by His grace and that of the Father that sent Him have given as full an interpretation as I could of this passage, and have quoted also the critical conclusions of Africanus, my predecessor, as germane and accurate, and therefore to be made use of as satisfactory. (c)