Priest Daniil Sysoev:
"Do you know why the Jews will be speechless before the judgment of God?
Because the prophets directly and clearly say that the Messiah must come during the time of the SECOND temple, not the third..."
"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.
And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined." (Dan. 9:25-26)
Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov)
Introduction to Orthodox Theology
§ 77. Prophecies Determining the Time of the Messiah's Coming
Belonging here are:
a) Daniel's prophecy of the seventy weeks, or more precisely, the prophecy uttered by the Archangel Gabriel to Daniel, and
b) The prophecies of Haggai and Malachi about the glory of the second Jerusalem Temple, into which the Messiah was to come.
("For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,' says the Lord of hosts. 'The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,' says the Lord of hosts. 'The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,' says the Lord of hosts. 'And in this place I will give peace,' says the Lord of hosts." (Hag. 2:6-9)
"Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,' says the Lord of hosts." (Mal. 3:1))
§ 78. a) Daniel's Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks
I. This prophecy, as well as the circumstances under which it was uttered, are set forth in the 9th chapter of the book of the Prophet Daniel.
Being in the Babylonian captivity together with his compatriots, and learning from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah that God had appointed seventy years for this captivity, which were already nearing their end, St. Daniel once gave himself over to the most fervent prayer. He confessed before the Almighty that the Jews, because of their sins, were fully deserving of His wrath and the calamities with which He had struck them; but at the same time, he implored Him to show His face upon the sanctuary, now desolate in Jerusalem, and to spare the city and the people, upon whom His holy name was called. It was at that very moment, while St. Daniel was still praying, that the Archangel Gabriel suddenly appeared before him and said: "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision: Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate." (Dan. 9:22-27)
It is evident that the Archangel's speech is a speech about future events, and fully corresponds to Daniel's prayer. Daniel prayed for the holy temple in Jerusalem, for Jerusalem itself, and for the entire Jewish people: behold, the Archangel reveals to the Prophet, on God's behalf, their entire future destiny; but with this he inseparably connects speech about the coming of the Messiah, about His death, and about the fruits of this death. The meaning of the prophecy is precisely this: "for the Jewish people and for the Holy City, seventy weeks are determined, i.e., four hundred and ninety years, until the Most Holy comes, blots out iniquities, brings in everlasting righteousness, and fulfills all prophecies in Himself. The beginning of these weeks will be the issuance of the decree concerning the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, the end—the new destruction of both. In the order of events, these weeks will be arranged as follows: during the first seven weeks (i.e., 49 years), Jerusalem and the temple will be rebuilt, amidst very trying circumstances; after the subsequent sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be put to death, and put to death not for Himself; during the last week, the New Covenant will be confirmed for many, and in the middle of this week, sacrifices will cease, and in the sanctuary there will be the abomination of desolation. Then a people, led by a prince, will come, destroy the holy city and the temple, and they will be given over to desolation until the end of time."
II. Keeping in view this general thought of the prophecy, we, in accordance with our particular purpose, will try to show that it indeed –
1. refers to the Messiah,
2. determines the time of His coming, and
3. was fulfilled precisely in Christ the Savior.
4. The validity of the first proposition is evident from the very content of the prophecy. It speaks –
a) First, indefinitely: about a certain person who is to come, who will blot out transgressions, purge iniquities, and bring everlasting righteousness to earth. But all these are actions which, according to the teaching of the Old Testament (see, for example, Is. 61:1; Zech. 3:8; Mal. ch. 3–4), only the coming Messiah was to accomplish, so that the holy Apostle Peter did not hesitate to say: "To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins." (Acts 10:43)
b) Then—much more clearly: this person is called the Most Holy, who will be anointed, and on whom all prophecies will be fulfilled or sealed. But the Most Holy, i.e., the Holiest, could be called preeminently, and indeed is called (Ex. 12:6; Ps. 16:10), only the Messiah [179]; it was predicted of Him that, according to His humanity, He would indeed be anointed with the Holy Spirit (Is. 61:1; Ps. 45:7), and on Him alone could all Old Testament prophecies be fulfilled, ended, and sealed: since He was their chief subject and goal (Rom. 10:4).
c) Finally—with complete clarity: this Most Holy is directly called Messiah the Prince or Leader, who will be cut off not for Himself, and will confirm the New Covenant. The name Christ or Anointed One, although in Holy Scripture sometimes attributed to other persons, was always appropriated preeminently by the Jews to the Messiah, as belonging exclusively to Him. "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ?" (John 1:25), the Pharisees asked John the Baptist, in whom they at first thought to see the Messiah. "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ) (John 4:25), the Samaritan woman said to the Savior. "You are the Christ," St. Peter the Apostle also said to Him (Mark 8:29), wishing to confess Him as the promised Messiah. And the Messiah, indeed, was to taste death, according to ancient prophecies, not for Himself, but for the sins of the people (Is. ch. 53), and by His death to establish on earth the New Covenant (Is. 42:6; 49:8), which is why He is called the Messenger of the covenant (Mal. 3:1).
It must be added that all the features of the prophecy we have examined must be taken not each separately and not outside the context of the speech, but all together and in accordance with the flow of the speech: in that case, no one will point out to us a person in all the history of mankind to whom these features could fully apply, except for the Messiah alone.
The same is reinforced by the agreement of the ancient Jewish synagogue, which we can see in the testimonies of the rabbis. One of them (Manasseh) clearly admits that his compatriots referred Daniel's prophecy of the weeks to the Messiah, and that this certainty was shared by all those Jews who, in the days of Vespasian and Titus, took up arms against the Romans [180]. Another (Mordecai) expresses that the Messiah is the one to whose coming the weeks of Daniel lead [181]. Some assert that the Messiah must bring everlasting righteousness, that He Himself is everlasting righteousness, is the Most Holy, obviously borrowing these expressions from Daniel's prophecy [182]. Still others recount an incident, that Jonathan ben Uzziel, who wrote a paraphrase on the Prophets, was forbidden from above to write a similar paraphrase on the Hagiographa (among which the Jews include the book of the Prophet Daniel), precisely because here the time of the Messiah's coming is determined [183].
1. From these testimonies, the validity of the second proposition is already partly evident, according to which Daniel's prophecy, referring to the Messiah, specifically determines the time of His coming. But the truth of this is even more clearly seen:
a) From the very content of the prophecy. Here it speaks very definitely about a period of time comprising seventy weeks; this period is divided into three equally definite parts: seven weeks, sixty-two weeks, and one week, subdivided into two halves. Moreover, it even indicates the limit from which the counting of the weeks should begin, and another limit with which they should end.
b) From the context of the speech. Daniel, it is narrated in the 9th chapter of his book, having learned from Jeremiah's prophecy that God had appointed seventy years for the Babylonian captivity and seeing their end approaching, began to pray fervently to God for mercy on the Jews, for their return to their homeland, for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple. Gabriel, appearing to Daniel at that time, reveals to him that the Jews will be shown mercy, and for them, as well as for the existence of their Holy City, seventy weeks are appointed by God. Is there not an obvious correspondence here to the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, a thought with which Daniel was occupied during his prayer? If these seventy years, without any doubt, signified a definite time, as Daniel himself understood them; then it would be strange to suppose that the seventy weeks signify some indefinite period.
1. Finally, to show the validity of the third proposition, it is necessary, first, to clarify how to understand Daniel's weeks, secondly, from what time to begin their counting, and then apply the prophecy to events, from which it will be revealed that it was fulfilled in Christ the Savior.
a) Among the Jews, two kinds of weeks were known: weeks of days (Dan. 10:2) and weeks of years (Lev. 25:8). Moreover, modern rabbis assert that in Daniel one must understand weeks of seven-year periods, each of which concluded with a jubilee year, and contained 49 years each, or even weeks of centuries. But we cannot admit either that Daniel's prophecy meant weeks of days or simple weeks, nor that it meant weeks of seven-year periods or jubilees, let alone weeks of centuries.
We cannot admit the first: for in that case, seventy weeks would comprise only 490 days; and in such a time, the events that were to occur according to the prophecy during the weeks could in no way have taken place; in particular, Jerusalem and the temple, for the rebuilding of which seven weeks are appointed, and that amidst trying circumstances, would have had to rise from the ruins within 49 days—which is not at all confirmed by history. It is also noteworthy that throughout the book of the Prophet Daniel, whenever a week is called a week, the word days is added to it (Dan. 10:2–3); but in the prophecy we are considering, this addition is absent.
We cannot admit the second either: in that case, the Jews would have had to spend either 343 years on the construction of the temple, if we mean weeks of jubilees, or 4900 years, if we accept weeks of centuries—sums equally refuted by history. Furthermore: the Archangel Gabriel, when communicating the prophecy to Daniel, spoke, of course, so that Daniel would understand him; and Daniel, conveying the received prophecy to the Jews, certainly wished that they also would understand him, and subsequently prepare themselves properly for the reception of the Messiah at the appointed time. But, obviously, neither the Jews would have understood Daniel, nor Daniel would have understood Gabriel, if by weeks one meant either weeks of jubilees or centuries, weeks not at all used among the Jews; and both Daniel and the Jews would have been led into error by the Archangel: they would have begun to expect soon an event that was to occur much later, after several centuries or millennia.
It remains to agree that by weeks we must understand weeks of years; these weeks were known to the Jews, according to the prescription of the law: "And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years" (Lev. 25:8), and indeed represent such a period of time (490 years) in which the events foretold in the prophecy could have occurred. Thus, we know from the book of Ezra and the history of Josephus that the neighboring peoples hindered the construction of the New Jerusalem temple in every possible way, sometimes by slander and intrigues at the Persian court, sometimes even by armed force; and therefore it is not surprising that the construction of the temple lasted 49 years, or seven weeks, corresponding to the prophecy.
b) The limit from which the counting of the weeks should begin is indicated in the prophecy by the words: "from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem." But of the four decrees given after Daniel's prophecy by the Persian kings in favor of the Jews, we cannot understand here:
aa) neither the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 6:3): for it permitted the Jews not to rebuild Jerusalem, but only to create the temple; and it is known that the Jews who returned from captivity at that time lived in their own cities, not in Jerusalem, where they gathered only for sacrifices (Ezra 3:1 and following);
bb) nor the decree of Darius Hystaspes (Ezra 6:1), which merely repeated Cyrus's decree about the creation of the temple;
cc) nor the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus in the name of Ezra (Ezra 7:12): this decree commanded no more than to visit Judah and Jerusalem, and to give royal gifts to the temple (Ezra 7:14–15). Rather, we should understand the second decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus, given already in the name of Nehemiah (Neh. 2:5–6): here it directly speaks of the rebuilding of Jerusalem, its walls and houses (Neh. 2:8), which was not said in any of the previous decrees, and Nehemiah, upon returning to Jerusalem, found that until that time "the wall of Jerusalem was broken down, and its gates were burned with fire" (Neh. 2:13) and Jerusalem itself was desolate (v. 17).
This second decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus was given in the twentieth year of his reign [184], as Nehemiah himself testifies (Neh. 2:1). But Artaxerxes ascended the throne in the 3rd year of the 76th Olympiad [185], which, according to our chronology, corresponds to the year 473 BC [186]. And consequently, the 20th year of Artaxerxes' reign, according to Greek chronology, is the 3rd year of the 81st Olympiad, according to Roman chronology—the 299th year from the founding of Rome [187], according to our chronology—the year 453 BC. From this point, the counting of the weeks must begin. Let us now make this counting and the application of the weeks to the events.
c) In the prophecy, from the beginning of the weeks until the appearance of Messiah the Prince, besides the 7 weeks set apart for the building of Jerusalem, another 62 weeks are appointed, a total of 69 weeks, i.e., 483 years. The end of the 69th week must refer not to the birth of the Messiah (because in the following, 70th week, His death is already placed), but to His baptism and public appearance in the office of Messiah. His death is placed after the 69th week, consequently, during the last, i.e., the 70th week, and specifically—in the middle of this week, when the cessation of Old Testament sacrifices was to occur, which could only be accomplished by the sacrifice of the Messiah Himself (Heb. 10:4–10). In general, the entire last week is determined for the confirmation of the New Covenant.
Now, by whichever chronology we count the weeks, we will everywhere arrive at the same result. If by Greek chronology, i.e., we take the 3rd year of the 81st Olympiad as the beginning of the weeks; then, converting 69 weeks or 483 years into Olympiads (which gives 120 Olympiads and 3 years), and adding these new Olympiads to the given ones, we obtain the 2nd year of the 202nd Olympiad: and this is precisely the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Jesus Christ was baptized by John (Luke 3:1 and 21), and appeared before the people in the capacity of Messiah. If by Roman chronology, i.e., we take the 299th year from the founding of Rome as the beginning of the weeks; then, adding to these years 69 weeks or 483 years, we obtain the 782nd year from the founding of Rome: again the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, and consequently, the year of the Savior's baptism and appearance in the office of Messiah. Finally, if we count the weeks according to our chronology, i.e., from 453 BC, then the last year of the 69th week, or the year 483, falls on the 30th year of the Savior's earthly life: thus, also at the time of His baptism and appearance in the office of Messiah (Luke 3:23). In the middle of the 70th week, the Anointed One was to be cut off and abolish sacrifices: and Christ died on the cross three and a half years after His entry into the office of public Teacher, i.e., in the middle of the week. And the entire 70th week was to confirm a covenant with many. And Christ spent the first half of this week Himself on confirming His New covenant with many in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria; and in the three and a half years after His death and resurrection, the Gospel was proclaimed by the Apostles everywhere, wherever the scattered sheep of the house of Israel were found.
To all this, let us add two more general observations. The first is that the time of the Messiah's coming, determined in Daniel's prophecy, without any doubt, has long since passed: for immediately following the death of the Messiah, the prophecy foretells the destruction of the Jewish people's independence, the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by means of a foreign people, coming under the leadership of their ruler, and causing desolation, which will last until the end of times. But everyone knows that about eighteen hundred years have already passed since Titus with the Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem and the temple to the ground, and put an end to the Jewish kingdom. The second observation is that the time of the Messiah's coming, indicated by Daniel, undeniably falls in the period when Christ was born, lived, and tasted death: for, on the one hand, Daniel's weeks lead precisely to this time; and on the other hand, Titus destroyed Jerusalem together with the temple, and put an end to the Jewish kingdom, about forty years after the death of the Savior; and these events, according to the prophecy, were to follow soon after the death of the Messiah.
§ 79. b) The Prophecies of Haggai and Malachi about the Glory of the Second Jerusalem Temple, into which the Messiah was to Come
1. We combine both these prophecies because they have one subject and explain one another.
Saint Haggai began to prophesy at the time when the Jews, who had returned from the Babylonian captivity under the leadership of Zerubbabel, set about building the second Jerusalem temple. Having soon encountered numerous obstacles, they completely abandoned the work they had begun, comforting themselves that, surely, the time to build the Lord's house had not yet come (Hag. 1:2). Therefore, God raised up Haggai, who tried by all means to arouse his compatriots to finish what they had started: sometimes he asked them whether it was fitting for them themselves to live in paneled houses, while God's house lay in ruins (v. 4); sometimes he assured them that the renewal of the temple would attract God's favor upon them (v. 8); sometimes he threatened punishments for opposition and negligence in this matter (vv. 10–11); sometimes he encouraged them with the thought that God Himself was constantly present among them with His almighty power (Hag. 2:5–6). Finally, to act even more strongly upon them, Haggai utters a prophecy to them about the glory of this temple: "Yet now be strong... for I am with you,' says the Lord of hosts. 'According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit stands among you; do not fear!' For thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,' says the Lord of hosts. 'The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,' says the Lord of hosts. 'The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,' says the Lord of hosts. 'And in this place I will give peace,' says the Lord of hosts..." (Hag. 2:4–9).
St. Malachi, the last of the Prophets, uttered his prophecy concerning the Messiah a few years after Haggai, in the following words: "Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,' says the Lord of hosts." (Mal. 3:1)
1. It is not difficult to be convinced that the person whose coming the prophets here foretell is none other than the Messiah.
a) In Haggai's prophecy, this person is called the Desire or Expectation of all nations—a name by which the Messiah was called already in the prediction of the patriarch Jacob (Gen. 49), and which, according to other also most ancient promises of God and prophecies (Gen. 22:18 et al.; Is. 11:10; 49:6), can be fitting only for the Messiah. The consequence of this person's coming is said to be the glory of the second temple, and moreover such glory as will surpass the glory of the first temple: what other person, besides the Messiah, could, in the understanding of the Jews, be so great as by His mere coming to bestow the greatest glory—and upon what? upon the very temple of God? And that, indeed, this glory of the second temple is made dependent on the coming into it of the Expectation of nations, and not on anything else, is shown by the very flow of the speech: no sooner had the Prophet said on God's behalf: "Once more I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations," than he immediately adds directly: "and I will fill this temple with glory." Besides, not admitting such a thought, we would be unable to show the fulfillment of the prophecy in the event. It is known that the second temple did not possess much of what constituted the glory and advantage of the first temple, such as: it did not have the ark of the covenant, Aaron's rod, the tablets of the law, the pot of manna, the Urim and Thummim. Likewise, in external wealth and beauty it was far inferior to the first temple, so that the Jewish elders, who remembered the glory of the first temple, shed tears looking at the poverty of the second (Ezra 3:12). The sole advantage of this temple over the first, its sole glory, consisted precisely in this: that it was deemed worthy of a visit by the Messiah Himself, the King of glory (Ps. 24:7–8), the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8).
b) The indications of the Messiah in Malachi's prophecy are even clearer. Here the person in question is directly called the Lord and the Messenger of the covenant—names which, according to the spirit of the entire Old Testament, cannot be fitting for anyone but the Messiah. It is said that this Lord will come to His temple: this cannot be said of anyone except God and the Messiah. Finally, this Lord and Messenger of the covenant is called the expectation of the Jews, whom they desire and seek: who, if not the Messiah, was for the sons of Israel at all times the object of the most ardent desires and expectations?
c) The Jews themselves, both ancient and many of the moderns, referred and refer these prophecies to the Messiah. Among the ancients, Rabbi Sira, who was famous even before the destruction of the second temple, is especially notable here [188]; among the moderns, we can point to rabbis Rashi [189], Akiva, Manasseh [190], and others [191].
1. One cannot fail to see also that in both these prophecies, Haggai's and Malachi's, the time of the Messiah's coming is determined, although not with such precision as in Daniel's prophecy of the weeks. According to both these predictions, the Messiah is to come into the second temple, consequently—at the time when this temple still existed, and by no means after. The invention of some modern rabbis, that here it predicts a greater glory not of the second temple compared to the first, but of a third compared to the second (a third, which the Messiah Himself will supposedly create, upon His coming), is completely refuted by the flow of speech and the content of Haggai's prophecy. We have already noted that the very occasion on which this prophecy was uttered was given by the rebuilding of the temple by the Jews who returned from the Babylonian captivity under Zerubbabel, and that Haggai revealed to them the future glory of this temple in order to more strongly urge them to finish the building they had started (see Haggai chapters 1 and 2). "Speak now," God commanded the prophet, "to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying: 'Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing? Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,' says the Lord; 'and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,' says the Lord, 'and work; for I am with you,' says the Lord of hosts. 'According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit stands among you; do not fear!' For thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,' says the Lord of hosts. 'The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,' says the Lord of hosts. 'The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,' says the Lord of hosts. 'And in this place I will give peace,' says the Lord of hosts, 'and peace of soul as a provision for everyone who builds, to raise up this temple.'" (Hag. 2:2–9). Is it not obvious that it speaks here about that very temple, to the construction of which the Prophet is urging his contemporaries, and which was before the eyes of both them and the Prophet? Several times he points: this temple, this house. Does it not even directly speak here about the glory of precisely the second temple before the first, and not a third before the second: "The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former" (Hag. 2:9)?
2. And that both these prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus Christ is evident from the fact that He, indeed, came to earth while the second temple was still standing, and visited this temple more than once. This feature, seemingly, is common: because others who lived at that time also visited the Jerusalem temple; but, in distinction from all these others, the prophecies also indicated special features of the Messiah, which were realized only in one Jesus Christ and in the circumstances of His coming and life. He alone of all who came to the second temple could rightly be called the Lord of this temple and the Messenger of the covenant, also the expectation of Gentiles and Jews; He alone, by His coming to this temple, procured for it a greater glory than the first temple had. According to Malachi's prophecy, the Messiah was to have a forerunner: and Christ the Savior had John the Baptist as His forerunner. According to Haggai's words, God promised at the time of the Messiah's manifestation to shake heaven and earth and shake all nations: in the circumstances of the birth and death of our Savior, this feature was also fulfilled.
In general, it must be said that the time of the Messiah's coming, indicated in the prophecies of Haggai and Malachi, has long passed, and that, consequently, the Jews have until now waited for their Messiah in vain. Everyone knows that about eighteen centuries have flowed by since the second Jerusalem temple was destroyed to the ground, and that all efforts to restore it have remained fruitless.
Bibliography:
179 Whether we even accept the current Hebrew reading of this place: "and he shall anoint the Most Holy," we will obtain the same thought. The Holy of Holies was in the Jewish temple the innermost part, in which God dwelt preeminently: the Messiah, in a mystical sense, could most appropriately be called by such a name: for it was predicted of Him that the Spirit of God would rest upon Him and fill Him with all His gifts (Is. 11:2–3), that He would even be called Emmanuel, which is translated, "God with us" (Matt. 1:23), and in Him, indeed, as the Apostle expresses it, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9). The Archangel, predicting to Daniel that the visible temple of Jerusalem, as well as its Holy of Holies, would be destroyed, could by contrast naturally point to a new, mystical Holy of Holies, which would be anointed and become the dwelling place of God, i.e., to the Messiah.
180 Rab. Manass. lib. de termino vitae pag. 175. The latter thought about the Jews who took up arms under Vespasian and Titus is also confirmed by Josephus Flavius. De bello Jud. IV, c. 6, § 2; conf. Arch. X, cap. 11, § 7.
181 Mardachai, Scemen Amischa Aftarà 1, fol. 12.
182 See, apud R. Martinum – Pugio Fidei, par. II, cap. 3, § 16; also apud Schoettgenium – Horae Hebraicae, Dresdae, 1742, tom. II, lib. 2, pag. 264 ff.
183 Talmud – Meghillah. fol. 3, 1. "Why did heaven forbid Jonathan the translation of the Hagiographa?" Answer: "because in them the time of the Messiah's coming is revealed." Rashi notes there: "this time is determined in the book of the Prophet Daniel." Vid. apud Schoettgenium – Horae Hebr. tom. II, lib. 2, pag. 264.
184 This year is accepted as the beginning of the weeks by: St. John Chrysostom (Against the Jews, Discourse V, 16, in Russian transl. St. Petersburg 1850), also Julius Africanus, Blessed Theodoret, Zonaras, Bede, and many others. See Tirini Chron. Sacr. pag. 29.
185 This is evident from the following considerations: a) Thucydides says that Themistocles fled to the Persians, shortly after the accession of Artaxerxes Longimanus (Thucid. lib. 1), and Eusebius dates Themistocles' flight to the 4th year of the 76th Olympiad (Chron. ex vers. Ieron.); b) Diodorus Siculus testifies that Cimon, son of Miltiades, defeated the Persians in the 3rd year of the 77th Olympiad (Diod. Sicul. lib. XI), and according to Eusebius, this victory was in the 4th year of Artaxerxes' reign (Chronic.); c) It is known that Xerxes attacked the Greeks in the 1st year of the 75th Olympiad, and in the 6th year after this he made Artaxerxes Longimanus his co-regent.
186 This year is obtained by multiplying 75 Olympiads by 4, i.e., by the number of years in each Olympiad, and subtracting the product, with the addition of the 3 years of the 76th Olympiad, from 776, as the time elapsed from the beginning of the Olympiads to our era.
187 The 1st year of the 7th Olympiad is the 1st year from the founding of Rome. Consequently, the 3rd year of the 81st Olympiad is the 299th year from the founding of Rome.
188 In Talmude tract. Sanhedrin cap. XI.
189 In citat. Sanhedrin fol. 95.
190 Conciliator, par. III, pag. 184.
191 Devarim rabba sect. 1, fol. 250. Conf. Raym. Martin. Pug. fidei, pag. 176–383.
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