Dear Karl,I agree with you that this text poses many questions and that it is difficult at first sight to understand. I do feel encouraged though by how we currently approach the text. It use to be that history dominated this field of study, now it is linguistics or a text oriented approach that is beginning to dominate the field; as you have previously indicated, linguistics questions many of the previous assumptions.
…Just for context the 70 week time period comes as a response to Daniel's conundrum as the 70 years of Jeremiah were coming to an end and there was no indication that the city would be restored or that they would be able to go back to Jerusalem as promised ( Dan 9:2, 19, 20).
Now from a strictly textual standpoint this is what I understand Dan 9:24-27 to be saying regarding the anointed one:First, I understand the text in Dan 9:25 to say that the Messiah prince would come not after the seven weeks, but after the seven weeks and 62 weeks (a total of 69 weeks).
Secondly, the text indicates that the Messiah would come and die between the rebuilding of the walls and streets and the destruction of the temple and the city (Dan 9:25, 26).
Lastly, verse 27 describes that he would make a covenant with many and in the middle of the last week put an end to sacrifice and grain offering, which in my understanding is also thematically related to a string of infinitives found in verse 24 "to finish transgression, make an end of sin, make atonement for iniquity, bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up vision and prophecy and anoint the most holy place."
Samuel Nunez
Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.