Day of His Appearing – Part Three
by Shawn Henry Potter and Lois Carol Potter
renatuspress@gmail.com
In our discussion entitled Day of His Appearing – Part One, we noted that the messianic prophecy recorded in Gen 49:10 said the scepter would remain among the descendants of Judah until the appearance of the Messiah. We also noted that descendants of Judah, serving as kings and high priests, ruled Judea until the Idumean Herod the Great ascended the throne in 36 BC.[1] See Day of His Appearing – Part One and Scepter of Judah.
In our discussion entitled Day of His Appearing – Part Two, we examined two interpretations of Dan 9:25, noting that no one other than Jesus could fulfill this messianic prophecy. See Day of His Appearing – Part Two.
In this discussion, we consider the next verse in the messianic prophecy recorded by Daniel. The King James Version of Dan 9:26 reads:
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.
The language of prophecy can be difficult to understand. Events in the future, involving people who are not yet born and nations that have not come into existence, seem to defy description. This presents a special challenge for those who translate the original text into another language. So, we decided to examine this passage in three early manuscripts recorded in three biblical languages.
Codex Leningradensis (Hebrew Masoretic Text)
Codex Leningradensis (AD 1008), folio 445, verso, column 2, lines 2-7 (Dan 9:26)
Codex Leningradensis (AD 1008), the earliest and best-preserved complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible (folio 445, verso, column 2, lines 2-7) reads:[2]
וְאַחֲרֵ֤י הַשָּׁבֻעִים֙ שִׁשִּׁ֣ים וּשְׁנַ֔יִם יִכָּרֵ֥ת מָשִׁ֖יחַ וְאֵ֣ין ל֑וֹ וְהָעִ֙יר וְהַקֹּ֜דֶשׁ יַ֠שְׁחִית עַ֣ם נָגִ֤יד הַבָּא֙ וְקִצּ֣וֹ בַשֶּׁ֔טֶף וְעַד֙ קֵ֣ץ מִלְחָמָ֔ה נֶחֱרֶ֖צֶת שֹׁמֵמֽוֹת׃
An English translation reads:
And after the sixty-two sevens, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people and prince to come will destroy the city and sanctuary, and they [the city and sanctuary] will be cut off with a flood, and desolate wastes will be destroyed until the end of the war.
Codex Amiatinus (Latin Vulgate Text)
Codex Amiatinus (AD 700), folio 645, verso, column 1, lines 27-35 (Dan 9:26)
Codex Amiatinus (AD 700), the earliest and best-preserved complete manuscript of the Latin Vulgate (folio 645, verso, column 1, lines 27-35) reads:[3]
Et post hebdomades sexaginta duas occidetur christus: et non erit ejus populus qui eum negaturus est. Et civitatem et sanctuarium dissipabit populus cum duce venturo: et finis ejus vastitas, et post finem belli statuta desolatio.
An English translation reads:
And after sixty-two weeks shall Christ be slain: and there shall be none of his people that shall deny him. And the people and the prince to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary: and the end thereof shall be wasteness, and after the end of the war shall be desolation.
Codex Alexandrinus (Greek Septuagint Text)
Codex Alexandrinus (AD 400), folio 414, column 1, lines 1-10 (Dan 9:26)
Codex Alexandrinus (AD 400), one of the four earliest and best-preserved complete manuscripts of the Bible (folio 414, column 1, lines 1-10) reads:[4]
καὶ μετὰ τὰς ἑβδομάδας τὰς ἑξήκοντα δύο, ἐξολεθρευθήσεται χρῖσμα, καὶ κρίμα οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ·καὶ τὴν πόλιν, καὶ τὸ ἅγιον διαφθερεῖ σὺν τῷ ἡγουμένῳ τῷ ἐρχομένῳ, καὶ ἐκκοπήσονται ἐν κατακλυσμῷ, καὶ ἕως τέλους πολέμου συντετμημένου τάξει, ἀφανισμοῖς.
An English translation reads:
And after the sixty-two weeks, the anointing will be destroyed, and there will be no judgment in it; and the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, and they [the city and sanctuary] will be cut off with a flood, and destruction will be until the end of the war.
Codex Vaticanus (c. AD 350), another one of the four earliest and best-preserved complete manuscripts of the Bible (folio 1227, column 3, lines 6-18) preserves this same reading.[5]
After the Sixty-two Sevens
Some struggle to identify the starting and ending points associated with the English phrase “after threescore and two weeks” in this passage. They assume that the phrase refers to an additional period of time that follows the previous period of time mentioned in Dan 9:25. That is how we initially read the verse. However, as we considered this verse in context, we realized that this phrase is a mere repetition of the previous phrase. It is not a separate period of time.
How do we know this is a correct understanding of the phrase? This phrase cannot refer to a separate period of time, because the Messiah was cut off (crucified) only four days after his appearance (triumphal entry). There was no opportunity for “threescore and two weeks” between his appearance and crucifixion.
Furthermore, the Hebrew definite article (הַ) in Codex Leningradensis
וְאַחֲרֵ֤י הַשָּׁבֻעִים֙ שִׁשִּׁ֣ים וּשְׁנַ֔יִם
(after the sixty-two sevens) and the Greek definite article (τὰς) in Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Vaticanus
μετὰ τὰς ἑβδομάδας τὰς ἑξήκοντα δύο
(after the sixty-two weeks) clearly refer back to the previous phrase. Therefore, these Hebrew and Greek manuscripts reveal that the angel Gabriel said something like: “And after the [aforementioned] sixty-two sevens shall Messiah be cut off.”
Does Codex Amiatinus also include a definite article in this phrase? Latin does not make use of definite articles. So, Codex Amiatinus is silent on this matter.
The Crucifixion
Witness of the Early Church Fathers
From our discussion of Dan 9:25 in Day of His Appearing – Part Two, we discovered that the angel Gabriel foretold the very day that the Messiah would appear. The message recorded in Dan 9:26 further revealed that the Messiah would be “cut off” and the prince to come would destroy the city and sanctuary of Jerusalem. These revelations must have been difficult for some Judeans to accept. They envisioned, and hoped for, a Messiah who would lead the nation of Israel to eternal victory, security, and peace.[6] At the same time, other Judeans understood that the prophets also had described the Messiah as a suffering servant who would bear our iniquities and restore our relationship with God through his death and resurrection.[7] We wondered what the early Church Fathers wrote about this prophecy.
- Tertullian (c. AD 155-aft. 220), Christian author, wrote: “A second time, in fact, let us show that Christ is already come, (as foretold) through the prophets, and has suffered, and is already received back in the heavens, and thence is to come accordingly as the predictions prophesied. For, after His advent, we read, according to Daniel, that the city itself had to be exterminated; and we recognize that so it has befallen. For the Scripture says thus, that the city and the holy place are simultaneously exterminated together with the leader, – undoubtedly (that Leader) who was to proceed from Bethlehem, and from the tribe of Judah.”[8]
- St. Aphrahat the Persian (c. AD 280-345), Bishop of the Monastery of Mar Mattai, wrote: “You expect and hope that, at the coming of Christ, Israel shall be gathered together from all regions, and Jerusalem shall be built up and inhabited. But Daniel testifies that, when Christ comes and is slain, Jerusalem shall be destroyed, and shall continue in desolation until the accomplishment of the things which are determined, forever.”[9]
- St. Athanasius (c. AD 296-373), Bishop of Alexandria, wrote: “So, the Jews are trifling, and the time in question, which they refer to the future, is actually come. For when did prophet and vision cease from Israel, save when Christ came, the Holy of Holies? For it is a sign, and an important proof, of the coming of the Word of God, that Jerusalem no longer stands, nor is any prophet raised up nor vision revealed to them – and that very naturally.”[10]
- St. Augustine (AD 354-430), Bishop of Hippo, wrote: “With the Jews, who look to Christ for salvation as we do, but deny that He has come and suffered, we can argue from actual events. Besides the conversion of the heathen, now so universal, as prophesied of Christ in their own Scriptures, there are the events in the history of the Jews themselves. Their holy place is thrown down, the sacrifice has ceased, and the priest, and the ancient anointing; which was all clearly foretold by Daniel when he prophesied of the anointing of the Most Holy.”[11]
The early Church Fathers understood this messianic prophecy to say that the Messiah would be slain, the anointing of Jewish high priests would cease, the Jewish system of sacrifice would cease, and the prince to come would destroy the city and sanctuary of Jerusalem.
The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem
The early Church Fathers were able to consider this messianic prophecy with the benefit of hindsight – they had seen, and their predecessors had lived through, the fulfillment of Gabriel’s message. They knew:
- Jesus was crucified on 3 Apr AD 33 – four days after his triumphal entry of Jerusalem as foretold in Dan 9:25,[12]
- Romans under Titus Caesar Vespasianus (AD 39-81), future emperor and son of Emperor Titus Flavius Vespasianus (AD 9-79), laid siege to Jerusalem on 14 Apr AD 70,[13]
- daily temple sacrifice ceased, “for want of men to offer it,” on 14 Jul AD 70,[14] and
- Romans under Titus Caesar Vespasianus destroyed the city and sanctuary of Jerusalem on 2 Sep AD 70.[15]
Destruction Foretold and Explained
The writings of the contemporary historian Josephus provides insight into the thoughts of some Judeans about the destruction of the city and sanctuary of Jerusalem. Reflecting on the cause of the destruction of Jerusalem, Josephus wrote: “Yet did these prophets foretell many things concerning virtue, and vice, which when these zealots violated, they occasioned the fulfilling of those very prophecies belonging to their own country. For there was a certain ancient oracle of those men, that ‘The city should then be taken, and the sanctuary burnt, by right of war, when a sedition should invade the Jews: and their own hands should pollute the temple of God.’ Now while these zealots did not disbelieve these predictions, they made themselves the instruments of their accomplishment.”[16]
We wonder if Josephus was thinking of the messianic prophecy in Dan 9:26 when he mentioned “a certain ancient oracle of those men, ‘That city should be taken, and the sanctuary burnt, by right of war.’” We also wonder if Josephus was aware of another prophecy that described a new covenant between God and his people that replaced the former sacrificial system. For the prophet Jeremiah foretold: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jer 31:31-34)
Did Jesus foretell and explain the cause of the coming destruction of the city and sanctuary of Jerusalem? Yes, the Gospel of Luke recounts events associated with the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as follows: “And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’” (Luke 19:41-44)
The author of Hebrews further explains that Jesus “does away with the first order” of sacrifice “to establish a second. And by that will we [all people from every nation] have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Heb 10:9-10)
The Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem
Conclusion
In Gen 49:10, God foretold that the scepter would not depart from Judah until the Messiah comes. The first non-descendant of Judah to become king of Judea was the Idumean Herod the Great, who ascended the throne in 36 BC, and during whose reign Jesus was born. See Day of His Appearing – Part One and Scepter of Judah.
In Dan 9:25, we read that, in 522 BC, the angel Gabriel revealed to the Judean exile Daniel that the Messiah would appear 483 years after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy on 10 Mar AD 33. See Day of His Appearing – Part Two.
Then, in Dan 9:26, we read that Gabriel further explained that the Messiah would be “cut off,” and “the people and prince to come” would destroy the city walls and temple of Jerusalem. Jesus was crucified on 3 Apr AD 33; and the Romans under Titus Caesar Vespasianus destroyed the city walls and temple of Jerusalem on 2 Sep AD 70.
Taken together, these three prophecies reveal that the Messiah would appear:
- after the accession of Herod the Great to the throne of Judea in 36 BC,
- on the very date of Jesus’ triumphal entry of Jerusalem – 20 Mar AD 33, and
- before the destruction of the city and sanctuary of Jerusalem in AD 70.
These prophecies identify Jesus, and no other, as the Messiah. God foretold who the Messiah would be and when he would appear so that we might recognize the Lamb of God and respond to his free gift of salvation. May we forever remember and praise our God for his love and mercy.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Ps 119:105)
Please contact us with questions or comments here https://renatuspress.com/contact-us/
_____________________
[1] W. E. Filmer, “The Chronology of the Reign of Herod the Great” in Journal of Theological Studies, New Series, Vol. 17, No. 2, (October 1966), 283-298. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23958200
See also Gerard Gertoux, Herod the Great and Jesus: Chronological, Historical, and Archaeological Evidence (Morrisville, NC: Lulu.com, 2016), https://www.amazon.com/dp/1329698169/
[2] Codex Leningradensis, folio 445, verso, column 2, lines 2-7, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Codex_Leningradensis&filefrom=Leningrad+Codex+Folio+400b.jpg#mw-category-media
[3] Codex Amiatinus, folio 645, verso, column 1, lines 17-26, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_20150/?sp=1289&st=image
[4] Codex Alexandrinus, folio 414, column 1, lines 1-10, https://archive.org/details/codex-alexandrinus/page/n31/mode/2up
[5] Codex Leningradensis, folio 445, verso, column 1, line 23 to column 2, line 2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Codex_Leningradensis&filefrom=Leningrad+Codex+Folio+400b.jpg#mw-category-media
Note: The book of Daniel has been lost from Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, the other two earliest and best-preserved manuscripts of the Bible.
[6] Dan 7:13-14. “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”
See also Isa 9:6-7. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”
[7] Isa 53. See also Ps 22.
[8] Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0308.htm
[9] St. Aphrahat the Persian, Demonstrations, Demonstration XVII, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/370117.htm
[10] St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2802.htm
[11] St. Augustine, Contra Faustam, Book XII, para 44, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/140612.htm
[12] Colin Humphreys, “The Jewish Calendar, A Lunar Eclipse and the Date of Christ’s Crucifixion,” in Tindale Bulletin, November 1992.
[13] Flavious Josephus, translated by William Whiston, The Works of Josephus (Carol Stream, IL: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987), War of the Jews, Book V, Chapter 7, paragraph 2. Josephus wrote that the 15th day of the siege was the 7th day of Iyar, so eight days earlier was 17 Nisan 3830, or 14 Apr AD 70.
[14] Flavious Josephus, translated by William Whiston, The Works of Josephus (Carol Stream, IL: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987), War of the Jews, Book VI, Chapter 2, paragraph 1. Josephus wrote that daily sacrifice failed “for want of men to offer it” on the 17th day of Tamuz, or 15 Jul AD 70.
[15] Flavious Josephus, translated by William Whiston, The Works of Josephus (Carol Stream, IL: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987), War of the Jews, Book VI, Chapter 10, paragraph 1. Josephus wrote that Jerusalem was taken on the 8th day of Elul, or 2 Sep AD 70.
[16] Flavious Josephus, translated by William Whiston, The Works of Josephus (Carol Stream, IL: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987), War of the Jews, Book IV, Chapter 6, paragraph 3. Josephus wrote that Jerusalem was taken on the 8th day of Elul, or 2 Sep AD 70.