In Search of the Seventy ‘Weeks’ of Daniel 9

Abstract

A new suggestion for interpreting the seventy ‘weeks’ in Daniel 9 is offered here. By dismissing unwarranted assumptions that are often smuggled into interpretation, an alternative is pursued which sees the three periods within the seventy ‘weeks’ as not entirely sequential. Rather, the first seven ‘weeks’ are seen to overlap with the sixty-two ‘weeks’. Through this technique, the author of Daniel manages to fit a schema of seventy ‘weeks’ (490 years) into an actual period of 441 years. This schema fits accurately with the overall narrative of Daniel, and its theological concern to re-evaluate the meaning of ‘exile.' It also provides a window onto the transmission history of the book.