Calculating the Timeline

The prophecy divides these seventy weeks into three periods: seven weeks (49 years), then sixty-two weeks (434 years), then one final week (7 years). The starting point is "the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem."

So when did that happen? Scholars have proposed three main candidates:

First, there's Cyrus's decree in 538 BC, when the Persian king allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. Second, there's Artaxerxes's decree to Ezra in 458 BC, giving him authority and resources to restore proper worship in Jerusalem. Third, there's Artaxerxes's decree to Nehemiah in 445 or 444 BC, specifically authorizing the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls.

Many Christian interpreters favor that last date—445/444 BC—because of where it leads. If you start there and count forward sixty-nine weeks (that's 483 years), you land right around AD 30-33. Which is exactly when Jesus was crucified.

The "anointed one" who would be "cut off and shall have nothing."