Page 276 - Daniel

excursis at the end of the chapter). It is customary for the Jews to have
twelve months of 360 days each and then to insert a thirteenth month
occasionally when necessary to correct the calendar. The use of the 360-
day year is confirmed by the forty-two months of the great tribulation
(Rev. 11:2; 13:5) being equated with 1,260 days (Rev. 11:3; 12:6). While

the details of Anderson’s arguments may be debated, the plausibility of a
literal interpretation, which begins the period in 445 B.C. and culminates
just before the death of Christ, makes this view very attractive.

The principal difficulty is Anderson’s conclusion that the death of
Christ occurred in A.D. 32. While there has been uncertainty as to the
precise year of Christ’s death based upon present evidence, most New
Testament chronologers move it one or two years earlier, and plausible

attempts have been made to adjust Anderson’s chronology to A.D. 30. 57
But no one has been able dogmatically to declare that Anderson’s
computations are impossible. Accordingly, the best end point for the
sixty-nine sevens is shortly before Christ’s death anticipated in Daniel
9:26 as following the sixty-ninth seven. Practically all expositors agree
that the crucifixion occurred after the sixty-ninth seven.

More recently, Dr. Harold Hoehner refined and updated the
calculations of Anderson, based on additional historical information. 58
He validated the basic methodology employed by Anderson while
resolving some issues in Anderson’s chronology that he saw as

problematic. Based on his revision, he believes the dates for the sixty-
nine weeks of Daniel 9:25 extended from the first of Nisan (March 5)
444 B.C. to the tenth of Nisan (March 30) A.D. 33. (See the following

chart for specific details.)