So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. Thus understood, the Jewish group referred to is not the small coterie that accompanied Ezra (about 1,775 men, cf. Because Daniel 9:25 informs us that God did not merely intend to rebuild the city but also to restore it, we must include the arrival of Ezra in Jerusalem and the initiation of his religious reforms as an integral part of the going forth of Cyrus decree. They did not follow the same seven-year pattern that had existed during the divided monarchy period prior to the Babylonian exile. 20 Gifts You Can Give Your Boss if They Love Decree To Rebuild Jerusalem Artaxerxes Kidron valley was an amazing bible software for jerusalem artaxerxes to king decree rebuild. Cast lots of king artaxerxes to do a counter command to cyrus gave her, that we find power to king . Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave them the king's letters (Neh 2:79, emphasis added). 2 i s-a gsit la Ahmeta, ca Artaxerxes had to face a revolt in Egypt in 460-454 BC led by Inaros II, who was the son of a Libyan prince named Psamtik, presumably descended from the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt. At that point, Nehemiah led the charge to reinforce the gates of the temple and to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, which took 49 years and equates to the first 7-week period. This is an old section of the wall of. Therefore, any Tishri 1 from 515 BC onward theoretically could have marked the resumption of sabbatical year counting. The counting must commence with Tishri 1 of some year, in accordance with Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1a: On the first of Tishrei is the New Year forthe Shemittah (sabbatical year) and the Yoveil (Jubilee) count (http://www.emishnah.com/moed2/Rosh_HaShanah/1.pdf). Observations: Here we have a statement by God that in some sense Cyrus will receive credit for building Jerusalem, notwithstanding that the archived copy of Cyrus decree recovered by Darius (Ezra 6:25, see below) only addresses rebuilding the Temple and letting the Jewish exiles return from Persia. Then the king sent an answer issue a decree to make these men stop work, that this city may not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me. Then work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia (emphasis added). appearing before Artaxerxes. Artaxerxes' decree played a part in this process, however, for it led to the return of Ezra, who gave that more specific word. King Cyrus and the Temple. There was a time gap between the physical return of the people and the true end of the desolation of the Land, because their spiritual returnthe restoring of Daniel 9:25was delayed. THE TIME OF CHRIST. Since the decree of Artaxerxes seventh year included the spiritual reforms of Ezra, this is further evidence it was the decree referred to in Daniel 9:25. We have two to choose from, that of either Ben Zion Wacholder or Benedict Zuckermann, and our choice will boil down to which has the best biblical and historical support. Modern exegetes interpret the passage without reference to Jewish chronology current at that time. Hence I believe we can be confident, based on the information derived from the above Scriptures, that the decree referred to in Daniel 9:25 had to be that issued by Artaxerxes I Longimanus shortly before Ezras departure for Jerusalem in the spring of 457 BC. Daniel 9:25 states that the 'seventy weeks' (generally interpreted as 490 years according to the day-year principle) is to begin "from the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem," which is when the Persian king Artaxerxes I, gave the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to Ezra, so the 490 years point to the . We will now move on to an examination of how the sabbatical year cycles tie in with how the Seventy Weeks prophecy of Daniel 9 should be interpreted. The command of God and the decree of the three Persian rulers is the same Aramaic word, teem, and singular in both cases, indicating this is likely an example of a waw explicativumthe command of God, even the decree of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, as A. Philip Brown II suggested (see my previous article). Observations: This passage begins, in verses 15, with a focus on the first returnees from Persia under Zerubbabel. If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free. And how can we speak of the spiritual significance of the city being restored apart from the reforms spearheaded by Ezra to fully reintegrate the prescriptions of the Law back into Jewish daily life? Artaxerxes was the second son of Xerxes, who was murdered in the summer of 465 by his all-powerful vizir Artaban. Nehemiah 10:31 (NIV): Every seventh year we will forgo working the land [observe a sabbatical year] and will cancel all debts [which caused indentured servitude] (brackets added). Note well that the last two passages make an explicit connection between the Jews neglect of sabbatical year observance and their exile to Babylon for seventy yearsthe equivalent of ten sabbatical year cycles. As Nehemiah 8:12, 8 records: And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. On pp. The Commandment to Restore and to Build Jerusalem John. The problem with this idea is that we know Artaxerxes had earlier told the Samaritans to stop the building of the city until a decree was issued by him, Artaxerxes, authorizing it. Then the land will enjoy its sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies land; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. The clear implication is that no such city-focused building permission had ever been explicitly granted by any Persian ruler up to Artaxerxes time. Jerusalem is called in Scripture one of the two places where God would cause His name to dwell (Dt 12:11, Ezra 6:12, Neh 1:9; the other was Shiloh, Jer 7:12), even the city of the great king (Ps 48:2, Mt 5:35). Notice that when the people signed the document (Neh 9:38) covenanting to honor sabbatical years and other stipulations of the Law (Neh 10:31), it was in the context of the public reading of the Law. qowl, voice] throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. In Notions of Exile, Subjugation and Return in Rabbinic Literature, in James M. Scott, ed., Exile: Old Testament, Jewish, and Christian Conceptions (Leiden: Brill, 1997), 265296 (online at https://www.academia.edu/36273997/Chaim_Milikowsky_Notions_of_Exile_Subjugation_and_Return_in_Rabbinic_Literature_in_James_M._Scott_ed._Exile_Old_Testament_Jewish_and_Christian_Conceptions_Leiden_Brill_1997_265-296), the above translation is quoted with this comment: The main thrust of the passage is to compare the second entry into the Land, in the time of Ezra, to the first entry into the Land, in the time of Joshua. He put Cyrus decree in its final form. It can only be said to be Artaxerxes in an indirect and oblique sense. It is my conviction, which I hope to demonstrate to the readers satisfaction, that Daniel 9:25 informs us that a total of sixty-nine sabbatical year cycles would completely elapse between the issuing of the key decree and the manifestation of the Messiah: a total of 483 years bookended by the implementation of a specific decree at its beginning, and by the Messiahs appearing at its end. From this point forward, there would be another 434 years as Israel waited for the coming of the Messiah. In turn, this means that the counting leading up to that seventh year had begun six years previouslyTishri 1, 457 BCwhich, not coincidentally, was the earliest possible date sabbatical cycle counting could have started after Ezras arrival. You, however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste. They were occupied specifically with Temple construction, and the leaders of the exiles made it quite clear to their opponents that this kind of building was explicitly authorized by Cyrus. It was in this time frame, specifically in 457 B.C., the seventh year of Artaxerxes (see verses 7-8) that the king gave permission to Ezra to lead a band of exiles back to Jerusalem. Thus the going forth of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem in Dan 9:25 was Ezras word, not the decree of Artaxerxes. , These two men prophesied to the Jews in Jerusalem and encouraged them to rebuild the the house of God (E 5:1). From this we may tentatively conclude that sabbatical year counting in the post-exilic period began on Tishri 1, 457 BC. The passage even refers to this rebuilding taking place in times of distress, which is a perfect description of the period of opposition by the Samaritans that began years before Nehemiah arrived. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!, Observations: This was a royal decreea fact confirmed because it was also written downthat was issued, but so far as the scriptural record is concerned, the only thing it addressed was the rebuilding of the Temple, not the city of Jerusalem: He has appointed me to build Him a house, i.e., a temple, and only a temple. Exodus 23:1011: You shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. Besides, if the creditor had waited until the end of the seventh year, the debtor would have given him seven years of service, not six! And this intent is clearly expressed by Artaxerxes' decree when he proclaimed: "I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee. There is a good picture of one at https://picryl.com/media/looking-down-moat-outside-tower-of-david-toward-clock-tower-before-1917-american. That the first division of Daniels seventy weeks was likewise forty-nine years long implies that each septennate period was not just some arbitrary period of seven years, but specifically a sabbatical year cycle. Which king, after finding the decree of Cyrus giving Jews permission to return and build the Temple, ordered the end of opposition to the Temple construction and began to support the project from the king's treasury? Zerubbabel led the people in the reigns of the Persian kings Cyrus and Darius. For instance, on pp. As Jacob Myers points out in the Anchor Yale Bible Commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah on this verse, the LXX in Codex Vaticanus renders from you as from Cyrus, consistent with the view adopted here, so this interpretation is of long standing. We therefore cannot agree with chronologists who assume an unbroken continuity of septennial Sabbaths and Jubilees (Zuckermann, Treatise, 31, brackets added). Now we will dig a bit more deeply into Daniel 9:25, for there is additional light we can derive from that verse which gives a more complete understanding of its implications. Though the second entry into the Land was not completed until Ezra got there with his necessary contingent of priests and Levites (just as the exile took place in stages as well), once they arrived there should not have been any further delay in starting to count sabbatical years. (see Nehemiah 2:1-8). The decree comes from the seventh year of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:8). It was not issued by a Persian king from Pasargadae or Persepolis, it was sent forth from Jerusalem by Ezra. So I think another solution is necessary to explain why the seven was set apart from the sixty-two.. 201218 (online at http://www.jstor.org/stable/23506873), Ben Zion Wacholder discussed evidence that the sevens of Daniel 9:25 must be understood as referring to sabbatical year cycles. King is represented in babylon to rebuild jerusalem when to king artaxerxes decree did speedily on. If, then, Tishri 1, 444 BC marked the start of a sabbatical year, it follows that the preceding sabbatical year, seven years earlier, began on Tishri 1, 451 BC. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times (emphasis added). Again, it seems more likely that the rebuilding referred to in the letter was done by those who returned with Ezra in the days of Artaxerxes I. Artaxerxes' decree to Ezra had said nothing specific about rebuilding the wall or city (see 7:12-26). For the following reasons, it is proposed that the 458/7-decree is the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem: (1) It fits the time of Christ and (2) It "restored" Jerusalem to the Jews. Nehemiah 8:1, there was a square before the Water Gate)and the charuwts (moat or trench), an integral part of Jerusalems defensive walls, the completed repair of which the book of Nehemiah tells us was celebrated in 444 BC, not 409 BC. We will look at the latter term first. In short, no decree was ever issued in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes. If this is indeed the case, then what Daniel 9:25 says can be paraphrased thus, basically following the NIV: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed one, a ruler, comes, there will be seven sabbatical year cycles (one Jubilee) plus sixty-two sabbatical year cycles. The Weeks of Daniel 9:25 were Sabbatical Year Cycles. This understanding would require us to believe that no efforts were made, from the completion of the Temple in 515 BC until after Ezras arrival in 457 BC, to shore up the foundations and repair the gaps in the defensive walls around the citysome 58 years of doing nothing to remedy this shortcoming. Ezra and Nehemiah were leaders in the reign of Artaxerxes. Then the angel said that after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One would come there would be 7 7s and 62 7s. 18Whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do according to the will of your God. 25You, Ezraappoint magistrates and judges that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the River, even all those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who is ignorant of them. It goes without saying that the many people who were part of this first returning group would necessarily have also built private homes, but such construction would have been an individual matter and not necessarily within the city limits, in contrast with municipal projects, such as repairing town squares and city walls (plazas and moats, Dan 9:25), for the welfare of the urban populace. If all that was needed was the physical repairing of the city, Ezra could just as well have stayed home! To dispel this false notion, we need to read the text of Nehemiah carefully and look at what tools Artaxerxes placed at Nehemiahs disposal to accomplish his task: And I [Nehemiah] said to the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go. And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me. The ancient exegetes, it will be shown, understood shavua to refer to the seven-year cycle, the last year of which was the year of the Lord (Lev. In an article entitled Chronomessianism: The Timing of Messianic Movements and the Calendar of Sabbatical Cycles in Hebrew Union College Annual 46 (1975) pp. It seems to me that the completion of the wall and gates in 444 BC clearly delineated the city limits and effectively amounted to the completion of the city. In addition, the Hebrew term translated weeks by many Bible versions is the word shabuwa', literally signifying septennates or periods of seven. Cyrus' decree had permitted them to rebuild the temple, not the city. And then King Cyrus came along, conquered the Babylonians, and decreed that people conquered by Babylon could return to their rightful lands - and that included the nation of Israel. He was governor of Persian Judea under Artaxerxes I of Persia (465-424 BC). From the vantage point of an historians hindsight, Ezra (or the compiler of the combined Hebrew book of Ezra-Nehemiah) then looked ahead, in the temporally-displaced Ezra 4:623 sidebar discussed in the Seraiah Assumption article and its sequel, to note that the Samaritan resistance also expressed its opposition by writing some unspecified accusation against the Jews near the start of the reign of Xerxes. It amounted to God dropping us a hint as to how to interpret the prophecy. How to Sell Decree To Rebuild Jerusalem Artaxerxes to a Skeptic. The time span is from the decree to REBUILD Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah, the Anointed One, and will be 483 years. This is consistent with the text of Leviticus 25, which for both Sabbatical and Jubilee years speaks of sowing before mentioning reaping. The response of Artaxerxes to the Samaritans included the expectation of a forthcoming decree (Ezra 4:21) to address rebuilding the city. In order to fully elucidate the meaning of Daniel 9:25, we must thus appreciate the significance of the words translated restore (Heb. This view is promoted on pp. For this reason it appears Shea is mistaken here. TWO DECREES OF ARTAXERXES We have to choose between the two decrees of Artaxerxes. Nehemiah rebuilding Jerusalem, illustration by Adolf Hult, 1919 Nehemiah is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. William Shea, who has offered many valuable insights on the book of Daniel, nevertheless drew a conclusion bearing on the above discussion that I must disagree with. In these verses the LORD reiterated what He first set forth in Exodus 23, adding that this stipulation would apply when the people were in the Promised Landit was moot as long as they were not living there. Concerning Sanballat, and Manasseh, and the temple which they built in mount gerizzim; as also how Alexander made his entry into the city Jerusalem; and what benefits he bestowed on the Jews. One was that the initial seven weeks signified forty-nine years spent rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. Having a functioning Temple and priesthood in place had not been sufficient to either prevent this problem from arising or deal with it before Ezra came, so why should we think the first returned exiles would have paid any attention to enforcing sabbatical year observance? Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard (emphasis added). Is it possible to say so? The Lords release from debt-bondage was never proclaimed at the end of a seventh (sabbatical) year, but near its beginning. Bear with me for a moment while I make a seeming digression. Together they represent a continuous period of sixty-nine weeks, spanning 483 years. shuwb) and build (banah). Due to this contextual connection with the repairs of the wall of Jerusalem, some exegetes have unfortunately, and in my opinion mistakenly, viewed that wall-related rebuilding work as reason to suppose that the motza' (going forth) of the dabar in Daniel 9:25a must be placed at Nehemiahs arrival in 444 BC, the twentieth year of Artaxerxes I Longimanus. Ezras Reforms were Part of the Fulfillment of Daniel 9:25. The Seventy Weeks of Daniel Begin With The Edict of Artaxerxes Given To Nehemiah In 445 B.C. Desiring to let the Scriptures speak plainly and govern our understanding, several passages will first be set forth that teach the principle of sabbatical year observance. The decree to rebuild Jerusalem in verse 25 may refer to King Artaxerxes authorizing Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem in March of 445 BC That is when the count. It remained for Darius and Artaxerxes Longimanus to, in effect, add codicils to that decree to force completion of the Temple and expand the original decrees scope to include, by providing funds not earmarked specifically for Temple use (Ezra 7:18) and granting authority to set up the magisterial functions of self-government (Ezra 7:2526), implicit permission to pursue municipal building projects. To neglect them carried a severe penalty: Leviticus 26:1415, 3235: But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments, if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenantI will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled over it. 1516 in a Radio Bible Class publication, The Daniel Papers (online at http://web001.rbc.org/pdf/discovery-series/the-daniel-papers.pdf), where it draws on material from the seventeenth-century churchman Humphrey Prideaux. The Jews were in exile. Exodus 21:2 is self-explanatory. How can we speak of the restoration of Jerusalem without taking account of its spiritual aspects? Some quickly dismiss this Decree on the same grounds as the previous two, namely that it simply concerned the Temple. With a few exceptions, all medieval and recent commentators translate the key-word shavua (supposedly following the LXX) as heptomad or a week, seven years. 2 Chronicles 36:2023: Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persiain order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiahthe LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation [Heb. Therefore, we are justified in saying that the decree permitting the rebuilding of the streets and walls of Jerusalem was issued in 457 BC. Once that is done, we will look at the big picture and see how each passage sheds light on the others and guides how we should interpret them as a whole. Year counting added ) Zerubbabel led the people in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes Given to Nehemiah 445... 5:1 ) was the second son of Xerxes, who was murdered in the post-exilic period began on Tishri,... 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