DAN 9:24. The above seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety years, are divided, in verse 25, into three distinct periods, to each of which particular events are assigned. The three periods are:— - Seven weeks, that is, forty-nine years.
- Sixty-two weeks, that is, four hundred and thirty-four years.
- One week, that is, seven years.
To the first period of seven weeks the restoration and repairing of Jerusalem are referred; and so long were Ezra and Nehemiah employed in restoring the sacred constitutions and civil establishments of the Jews; for their work lasted forty-nine years after the commission was given by Artaxerxes. From the above period of seven weeks the second period of sixty-two weeks, or four hundred and thirty-four years more, commences, at the end of which the prophecy says Messiah the Prince should come, that is, seven weeks, or forty-nine years, should be allowed for the restoration of the Jewish state; from which time till the public entrance of the Messiah on the work of the ministry should be sixty-two weeks, or four hundred and thirty-four years, in all four hundred and eighty-three years. Chap. 12:4. Many shall run to and fro. Many shall endeavor to search out the sense; and knowledge shall be increased by these means; though the meaning shall not be fully known till the events take place. THEN the seal shall be broken, and the sense become plain. This seems to be the meaning of this verse though another has been put on it, viz.: “Many shall run to and fro, preaching the gospel of Christ, and therefore religious knowledge and true wisdom shall be increased.” This is true in itself, but it is not the meaning of the prophet’s words.