The Pulpit Commentary — Daniel — Section 311

clcnr (for <letnil, see tho histories, Rrcular anrl sacre,1): 1. Ee/ore 17,e t,:rne-.w:tioll of /nm· hundred and ninety years. Eiahty years from the time of Danid's prayer to "the restorntion," the moment whenc~ the four hundred and ninety arc to be reck,me•l. Hern the principul ovcnts uro: Jerusalem a desolation; the first migration at the ,lecree of Cyrus; the buildini: o[ tho temple only; interruption; J eahua and Zcrubbahel. finished in eighteen years, n.o. 531-516. 'fhen fi[ty-ei;;ht years, o[ whir,h history i; silent. 'l'ho tcmplo strrndinir, but no wa.11; no city. 2. Commencement of the Jonr hundred a.nd ninety (n.o. 457). The coming of Ezra, the restoration and rebnil,lin"' of tho city. "From the going forth of Lhe word to restore," etc. 3. The forty-;;,·ine years. "Ilebdomads seven and," etc. These are made up thus: Ezra at work alone nbout twelve or thirteen years; first visit of Nehemiah about twelve years; N eherniah's return to Persia, and second visit to the time of Joiada becoming high priest (his fotber, Eliashib, died in n.c. 413), about nineteen or twenty years. This accounts for forty-five out of the forty nine. 'l'he other four may be reckoned to the death of N eheruiab, but the date of his death is Jost. 4. The/our hundred and thirty-four years. "Hebdomads sixty and two.'' This period extends to the baptism of Jesus; i.e. to the public manifestation of "Messiah-Prince." '!'his could be none other than the Redeemer. (Prove this_ in detail.) 5. The seven years. Three and a half to the Crucifixion; three and a half to establishment of Christianity and the Church. III. Tim ARGUMENT FROM CHRONOLOGY FOR THE DIVINITY OF THE OOSPEL. 1. Its place. Strange that both sceptic and Christian should object to this kind of evidence. '!'he sceptic: "Faith cannot depend on chronology." The Christian : '' Questions of nents and times do not become the spiritually minded." But the evidences for reve- lation arc not all of one kind, nor all for the same class of mind (see Heng~tenberg's 'Christology,' vol. iii. 199, Clark's edit.). 2. Its value. On this we had better quote Preiswerk: "We ought not, considering the uncertainty of ancient chronology, to lay much stress in calculating the ea;act year. For, though the calculation be very success- ful, yet so soon as another interpreter follows, another chronological system, what has been so laboriously reared up is apparently thrown down. But if we grant, from the outset, that· ancient chronology is uncertain, and be content to point out a general coin- cidence of the historical with the prophetical time; if we show that possibly even a minute coincidence took place, and at least that no one can prove the contrary, we shall have done enough to prove the truth of the ancient prophecy, and our work cannot be overthrown by others.'' 3. Its availabi1ity; i.e. to ordinary readers of Scripture. Before Christ, the Jews knew about when to reckon f,om, and so when to expect Messiah, And now, though learned chronolo[!;ical arguments m:1y not be within reach of the many, yet plain people may come to that simple knowledge of history which shall teach that propqecy has been fulfilled in Christ.-R. Vers. 26, 27.-The close of the Jewish economy. "And after three score and two weeks," etc. (vers, 26, 27). The angel passed from the restoration of the city to the coming of Messiah and the close of the Judaic dispensation. '!'his is the manner of prophecy to seize on the great epochs in the history of the Divine dealings with man. I. THE DEATH OF THE CHRIST, 1. It was to be violent. "Messiah was to be cut off," An ominous and portentous phrase to every Jewish mind. Ever used of the close of the career of the wicked (Exod. xxxi. 14; Ps. xxxvii. 9; Prov. ii. 21, 22). 'l'he phrase implies a supernatural agent too; so in this case (Acts ii. 23). 2. With- out cause. In Hebrew, literally, "There is nothing to him." 'l'he Septuagint gives the meaning doubtless : Kul Kplp.u ouK tn111 iv, ub-rri, "In him was no sin;" he "did no sin ; " he "knew no sin." Pilate's verdict: "I find in him no fault at all." II. 'l'm;: DESTRUCTION OF THE JEWISH POLITY. 1. The instruments. "And the people of a prince that shall come shall de,troy the city and the sanctuary." That the prince is not the Christ iH evident: (1) Because of his designation-simply "a prince." (2) He is to "come" clearly from i:,ithout the Jewish state. (3) His invasion was to be after the death of Messiah. So the context indicates. History shows that the prince wus 'l'itus. 2. The mode. "And its end with inuudation, and to the end, war; decree of desolations." The foreign army should sweep everything before it. '1.'he war was to be exterminating. No intermission of calamity until no city was left on which calamity could foll. 3. The reason. Note the inner connection uf the 284 TRE BOOK OF t>ANI'ltL. [clt. IX, 1-27