THE 70 WEEKS OF DANIEL: A SURVEY OF THE INTERPRETIVE VIEWS
SUBMITTED TO DR. GARY E. YATES AS PARTIAL REQUIREMENT OF “OLD TESTAMENT ORIENTATION II” - OBST592_397_200920 LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
BY ELKE B. SPELIOPOULOS
SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2009 DOWNINGTOWN, PA
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOCUS ---------------------------------------------------------- 1 INTRODUCTION ---------------------------------------------------- 1 THE SEVENTY SEVENS ------------------------------------------------ 4 INVESTIGATING INTERPRETIVE VIEWS OF DANIEL’S 70 WEEKS ---------------------- 5 Jewish vs. Early Christian Interpretative View ----------------------------------------------------6 Messianic vs. Non-Messianic Interpretative View ------------------------------------------------8 Traditional (or Historicist) vs. Dispensationalist View -------------------------------------------9 Sabbatical Year View ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12 Key Considerations in Attempting to Interpret the Prophecy ---------------------------------- 13 To Whom Was Gabriel Addressing This Prophecy? ------------------------------------------- 14 Six Restoration Goals ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 14 Terminus a Quo ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 Terminus Ad Quem --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 Time of Daniel’s Writing -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 Extant Texts and TranslationDifficulties of Daniel --------------------------------------------- 23 Hebrew Text Difficulties and Grammatical Considerations ----------------------------------- 24 CONCLUSION ----------------------------------------------------- 28 BIBLIOGRAPHY --------------------------------------------------III
ii
FOCUS As Bible scholars can attest, prophetic
Bibliography: Baldwin, Joyce. Daniel: An Introduction & Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1978. Barton, George A. “The Composition of the Book of Daniel.” Journal of Biblical Literature 17, no. 1 (1898). Campbell, Donald K. Daniel: Decoder of Dreams. Wheaton, IL: SP Publications, Inc., 1977. Chisholm, Robert B. Handbook on the Prophets. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007. Fairbarn, Donald. “Contemporary Milennial/Tribulational Debates: Which Side Was the Early Church On?”. In A Case for Historic Premillenialism: An Alternative to”Left Behind”Eschatology. Edited by Blomberg, Craig L., and Sung Wook Chung. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009. Ford, Desmond. In the Heart of Daniel: An Exposition of Daniel 9:24-27. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2007. Hoehner, Harold W. Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: The Zondervan Corporation, 1977. The Holy Bible : English Standard Version, Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001. Jones, Floyd Nolen. The Chronology of the Old Testament. 1993. Reprint, Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2007. Keil, Carl Friedrich, and Franz Delitzsch. Commentary on the Old Testament. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002. Longman III, Tremper, and David E. Garland. The Expositor 's Bible Commentary: Daniel Malachi. 8th ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008. Lucas, Ernest C. "A statue, a fiery furnace and a dismal swamp: a reflection on some issues in biblical hermeneutics." Evangelical Quarterly 77, no. 4 (October 2005): 291307. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed March 25, 2009). ________. "Daniel," (Apollos Old Testament Commentary 2; Downers Grove, Il.: InterVarsity Press, 2002), quoted in Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, The Expositor 's Bible Commentary: Daniel - Malachi, 8th ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 170. iii McComiskey, Thomas Edward. “The Seventy 'Weeks ' of Daniel against the Background of Ancient Near Eastern Literature.” Westminster Theological Journal 47, no. 1 (Spring, 1985). Meadowcroft, Tim. “Exploring the Dismal Swamp: The Identity of the Anointed One in Daniel 9:24-27.” Journal of Biblical Literature 120, no. 3 (Autumn, 2001). http://wwwjstor.org/stable/3267901 (accessed March 3, 2009). Miller, Stephen R. Vol. 18, Daniel, Includes Indexes., electronic ed., Logos Library System; The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001, c1994. The NET Bible, New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 1996. Newman, Robert C. “Daniel 's Seventy Weeks and the Old Testament Sabbath-Year Cycle.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 16, no. 1 (Winter 1973). Payne, J. Barton. “The Goal of Daniel 's Seventy Weeks.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 21, no. 1 (March 1978). Pentecost, J. Dwight. Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1958. Price, J. Randall. “Seventy Weeks of Daniel in Dispensational Interpretation.” World of the Bible.http://www.worldofthebible.com/Bible%20Studies/SEVENTY%20WEEKS%20 OF%20DANIEL%20IN%20DISPENSATIONAL%20INTERPRETATION.pdf (accessed March 28, 2009). Price, J. Randall and Thomas Ice. “Seventy Weeks of Daniel”. In The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy, eds. Edward Hindson and Tim LaHaye Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House, 2004. Robertson, O. Palmer. The Christ of the Prophets. Philippsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2008. Showers, Renald E. The Most High God. Bellmawr, NJ: The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, Inc., 1982. Tanner, J. Paul. “Is Daniel 's Seventy-Weeks Prophecy Messianic?: Part 1.”Bibliotheca Sacra 166, no. 661 (April - June 2009). Lucas, Ernest C. “Daniel”. In Theological Interpretation of the Old Testament: A Book-byBook Survey. Edited by Vanhoozer, Kevin J., Craig G. Bartholomew, and Daniel J. Treier. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House Company, 2005, 2008. iv Walvoord, John F. Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation. Chicago: The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, 1971. ________. “Is the Seventy Weeks of Daniel Future?”. In Dallas Theological Seminary, Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 101. Dallas Theological Seminary, 1944; 2002. ________. Major Bible Prophecies: 37 Crucial Prophecies that Affect You Today. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991. ________. The Prophecy Knowledge Handbook: All the Prophecies of Scripture Explained in One Volume. Wheaton, IL: SP Publications, Inc., 1990. Wood, Leon. A Commentary on Daniel. Grand Rapids, MI: The Zondervan Corporation, 1973. v