How to calculate the dates associated with the 70 weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

Sir Robert Anderson brings to our attention that the day the command was given to rebuild the temple was March 14, 445 BC* and the date that Jesus rode into Jerusalem was April 6, 32 AD. Let us see how these two dates fit into the calculating of the seventy weeks.

 

* Some have come up with 444BC as the year that the command was given, but they insert a year 0 BC. This then does not affect the calculations.

 

Two rules to keep in mind when working with Jewish dates and times.

1.       – The Jewish people used lunar years and figured them as 360 days each.

Though this is not an exact lunar year, it is how the Jews figured.

2.                 - The Jews reckoned any part of a day month or year was a whole.

So they figured inclusively, in other words they included both the first and last.

 

Daniel’s prophecy is a Jewish prophecy and the years were lunar years

7 weeks of years =          49 years

62 weeks of years =        434 years

          Total  69 weeks of years =        483 Lunar years

                            

          To change our years from lunar Jewish years to solar Gregorian years

 

483 years x 360 days       =      173,880 days

 

173,880 days / 365.25      =      476.057494866530000 Gregorian years OR

 

476 years               21.0000000000825 days 

 

Add                       2 Days                   year 0 and year 400 are not leap years

 

 Add                      1 Day                    Jewish reckoning is inclusive –  1st & last

 

 476 years              24 days                 With adjustments   - Gregorian

 

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          -445                                         If we subtract the year the command was given 445BC

 

            31 years     24 days                 We come up with 31 years and 24 days or 31AD and 24 Days

 

  +1                                          Add 1 year to change from BC to AD **

 

                    32 years      24 days                 Brings us to 32 AD and 24 days after March 14.

 

Including March 14 in our figuring 24 days take us to April 6, the very day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem.

 

 

 

**      To figure the actual date, you must add 1 when you pass from BC to AD.

 

Example: To figure the date of the year 5 years after 3 BC (5 years - 3BC = 2AD + 1 = 3AD)

 

Year 0        1       2    /\    3       4        5

/   3BC  /   2BC  /  1BC        1AD  \  2AD   \  3AD    \   

/  - - - - - BC - - - - -  /\  - - - - - AD - - - - - - \

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 70 weeks

   |       P a s t             |   P r e s e n t   |         F u t u r e       |

445 BC                       32 AD            2000(+?) AD              2000(+?) +7 AD

   | 7 weeks |    42 weeks     |       Daniel      |         1 week            |

   | - - - - | - - - - - - - - |        9:26       | - - - - - - - - - - - - - |

   |49 years |   434 years     |      fits here    |         7 years           |

   |                           |                   |                           |

   |        483 years          |                   |                           |