This appears to establish for us the every-seven-years pattern for sabbatical years we must follow from that starting date451/450 BC, 444/443 BC, 437/436 BC, and so on up to the fall of the Temple to Titus legions in AD 70. Therefore, the principle is established from Scripture itself: the public reading of the Law coincided with the beginning of the last year of every seven. Therefore, when it speaks of the restoration of the city, Daniel 9:25 is referring to Ezras work. Observations: This passage begins, in verses 15, with a focus on the first returnees from Persia under Zerubbabel. Haman Therefore, any Tishri 1 from 515 BC onward theoretically could have marked the resumption of sabbatical year counting. Cyrus is responsible for returning a number of peoples to their lands and rebuilding their temples in order to get more gods favorable to him and his family. After the 62 7s the Anointed One would . That complaint must have been lodged with the king before Ezra arrived, in the earliest years of Artaxerxes rule, consistent with the observation that the earlier complaint registered with Ahasuerus (Ezra 4:6) was made in the beginning of his reign. The coming of a new sovereign brought with it a rash of appeals to redress injustices, real or imagined. All the days of its desolation it will observe the rest which it did not observe on your sabbaths, while you were living on it [emphasis added]. Ezra 910). 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). 2 Samuel 15:25 The context of this passage is the situation just before the Babylonian captivity; as the ESV Study Bible notes for Isaiah 1:2428 express it, The prophet looks forward to a cleansed people after the historical judgment of the exile, restored to its mission. It promises the LORDs judgment on the nation, that their dross and alloytheir sinful compromises with the surrounding nationswill be removed. Is there any evidence this was the case? 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. However, his party first assembled themselves at the Ahava canal and did not actually start moving for eleven days, therefore the number of travelling days were 107 days. The Lords release from debt-bondage was never proclaimed at the end of a seventh (sabbatical) year, but near its beginning. Sabbatical and Jubilee years therefore started in Tishri, the month in which the Jewish Rosh HaShanah or New Years Day was celebrated in the past and is celebrated in our own day. This is consistent with the text of Leviticus 25, which for both Sabbatical and Jubilee years speaks of sowing before mentioning reaping. Ezra 6:14: And the elders of the Jews were successful in building [the Temple] through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. He led the Jews in rebuilding the walls around their capitol city. 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. motza'] of a decree [Heb. 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. TWO DECREES OF ARTAXERXES We have to choose between the two decrees of Artaxerxes. The high priests prior to Ezras arrival paid the most attention to getting the Temple rebuilt and reinstituting the Temple-based sacrificial system, with other stipulations of the Law given less attention. But this part of the total project was not implemented until the gutsy, shrewd administrator Nehemiah arrived years later, spurring the apathetic Jews into actually doing what they had been allowed to do since the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus. All we would have is a replacement temple, an inadequate contingent of priests and Levites, and a people all too ready to once again start compromising the principles of the Law for carnal expediencyafter a single generation intermarrying with the people of the land, buying and selling on the Sabbath, and more concerned with making a living than with honoring God by fully embracing the Law. 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 clear implication is that no such city-focused building permission had ever been explicitly granted by any Persian ruler up to Artaxerxes time. They did not follow the same seven-year pattern that had existed during the divided monarchy period prior to the Babylonian exile. (Ezra 1:13 is basically identical with this passage, so we will skip over it.). The ancients, however, took it for granted that the numbers in 9:2427 had to harmonize with their calendar of sabbatical cycles. Nehemiah 2:1-8 "In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the . 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. Restoring the spiritual aspects was more important in the LORDs eyes than merely repairing stone and mortar structures; God is always portrayed in the Word as primarily concerned with the spiritual life of His people, having them relate to Him by following His precepts faithfully, and in Daniel 9:25 the restoring is mentioned before the rebuilding, implying it was the more important consideration. During his reign, he halted the rebuilding of the Temple area that his predecessor Cyrus had allowed. 1:1-3; 2:1) as the decree that should provide the starting date of the prophecy (see, e.g., Robert Anderson, The Coming Prince [Grand Rapids: KregelPub., n.d.]). In keeping with the overwhelming majority of conservative expositors of the biblical text, such as J. Paul Tanner (Is Daniels Seventy-Weeks Prophecy Messianic? The time span is from the decree to REBUILD Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah, the Anointed One, and will be 483 years. And the verse from Nehemiah 10 ties together the start of each seventh (sabbatical) year with the remission of debts. As Benedict Zuckermann, creator of the most widely-followed sabbatical year cycle formulation (published in his Treatise on the Sabbatical Cycle and the Jubilee, trans. A chronological chart is presented at https://archive.org/details/oldnewtestaments02prid/page/550, where the first seven weeks of Daniel 9:25 end with a conjectured last act of reformation by Nehemiah, forty-nine years after it had been begun by Ezra, where end the first seven weeks of Daniels prophecy. In Tanners article, p. 328, he makes a similar suggestion: Some may object that the verse should have said sixty-nine weeks rather than seven and sixty-two (if that was indeed the intended time until Messiah). Modern exegetes interpret the passage without reference to Jewish chronology current at that time. Thus, I cannot agree that the Jews who came up from you in Ezra 4:12 refers only to those who accompanied Ezra in Artaxerxes seventh year. Ezra 7:1126, condensed: 11Now this is the copy of the decree which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe13I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. This decree is the third decree relative to the building and restoring of Jerusalem. Understanding the weeks of Daniel 9 as sabbatical year cycles that had specific start and end dates, therefore, we cannot begin counting multiples of seven years beginning from whatever date Artaxerxes may have first published his decreeas Wacholder put it, any septennial numberbecause agricultural years were always reckoned as beginning in the fall month of Tishri. Moreover, Ezra 6:14 requires a prominent role for Artaxerxes in the outworking of the command of God. Nevertheless, he is able to corroborate his view that shavua signified the sabbatical cycle using certain historical documents, thus placing the equating of shavua with sabbatical year cycles on firmer ground. 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. 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. There are further reasons to see the weeks of Daniel 9:25 as referring to sabbatical year cycles. 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. 26Whoever will not observe the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him strictly, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of goods or for imprisonment (emphasis added). Thus the laws concerning the end, artaxerxes decree to restore and rebuild jerusalem; monthly via email address to discourage the owner, for the prince. 13 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. Once this is done, God promises to restoreshuwb, the same word as in Daniel 9:25their judges as at the first, and their counselors as at the beginning. This is exactly what God did when he brought in Ezra, who set up magistrates teaching and enforcing the Law of Moses: You, 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 (Ezra 7:25). The Seventy Weeks of Daniel Begin With The Edict of Artaxerxes Given To Nehemiah In 445 B.C. An attempt to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem was made after Artaxerxes I of Persia became king (465-464 to 424-23 BC). There had to be both a physical and a spiritual return for the desolation to be fully lifted. The decree comes from the seventh year of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:8). Ezra goes up to Jerusalem 11. 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. Therefore, there are exactly 69 Weeks of Years (173,880 days) between the decree of King Artaxerxes in 445 B.C to rebuild Jerusalem to Palm Sunday, April 6, 32 A.D.!! The Temple at Jerusalem had been rebuilt, but the Jewish community there was dispirited and defenseless against its non-Jewish neighbours. Is it possible to say so? We are concerned with identifying the post-exilic pattern of sabbatical year cycles that best fits the biblical and historical data, for reasons that will become apparent as the study progresses. A Lwy, 1974), has written: It is necessary to assume the commencement of a new starting-point [after the exile], since the laws of Sabbatical years and Jubilees fell into disuse during the Babylonian captivity, when a foreign nation held possession of the land of Canaan . From this point forward, there would be another 434 years as Israel waited for the coming of the Messiah. 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. Here we present the extended passage, Isaiah 1:2126: How the faithful city has become a harlot,She who was full of justice!Righteousness once lodged in her,But now murderers.Your silver has become dross,Your drink diluted with water.Your rulers are rebelsAnd companions of thieves;Everyone loves a bribeAnd chases after rewards.They do not defend the orphan,Nor does the widow's plea come before them.Therefore the Lord GOD of hosts,The Mighty One of Israel, declares,Ah, I will be relieved of My adversariesAnd avenge Myself on My foes.I will also turn My hand against you,And will smelt away your dross as with lyeAnd will remove all your alloy.Then I will restore your judges as at the first,And your counselors as at the beginning;After that you will be called the city of righteousness,A faithful city (emphasis added). Although the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah was entirely concerned with Temple matters, and thus what they finished building must in this context refer only to the Temple, yet Artaxerxes decree opened the door for city rebuilding work as well, as the next passage indicates. Note well that there is no reference to any decree, any edict, any promulgated word from the king in this passage. Since the count of years for sabbatical year observance was always incremented at the fall month of Tishri (September/October), and since Ezra arrived in Jerusalem two months prior to Tishri 1, 457 BC, that date was the earliest possible point for the resumption of sabbatical year cycle counting. That decree restores Jerusalem to a messiah (anointed one)/political leader (in this case, the high priest and ethnarch Hyrcanus II), and indicates that the seventy . Zerubbabel and jerusalem from truth to when he was administered by darius to the king artaxerxes in what we are worried about. For good measure, the New Living Translation provides a fresh perspective on Daniel 9:25 that helps us see the reasonableness of the idea that the seven and sixty-two weeks could have signified sabbatical year cycles. 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. ABR fulfills its mission through memberships and generous donations from supporters. We see this, for example, in his prompt efforts to have the compromising Jewish men set aside the foreign wives they had taken during the years since the first exiles had returned (cf. 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). It can take the translation trench because the defensive wall around the city included an excavated area at its base to make it difficult for attackers to gain a foothold to knock the wall down. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete [emphasis added]. 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. Observations: The emphasized words highlight things in Artaxerxes seventh-year decree which go beyond the earlier restrictions that limited the decree initiated by Cyrus to matters pertaining to the Temple. shuwb) and build (banah). We see this event recorded in Matthew 21:1-11. (see Nehemiah 2:1-8). Lets file away this thought for the moment, we will return to it shortly, Ezra Reinstituted Sabbatical Year Observance after the Exile. The prophecy thus stipulates that, from the issuing of the correct decree, seven septennates49 years, as in a Jubilee cycle (Lev 25:8)plus an additional 62 septennates434 yearswould pass before an anointed one would come to the Jews. Another matter which must be taken into consideration is that sabbatical years of the post-exilic period had to be reset when the Jews returned to the Land under Ezra. Ezra blesses God for this favor. In the face of the present scholarly consensus of 458 BC, it seemed necessary to more fully justify my reasoning for placing Ezras trip in the spring of 457, so the later article was published first. It was not issued by a Persian king from Pasargadae or Persepolis, it was sent forth from Jerusalem by Ezra. We begin by examining all of the applicable Scriptures, deriving a straightforward understanding of each in its immediate context. Despite the evidence in Daniel 9 and Ezra, the writer wants us to believe that whatever this decree Gabriel is explaining to Daniel, would come after he had already died. The connection with the Feast of Booths confirms this; that feast takes place in Tishri, which was the beginning, not end, of the agriculture-based calendar that sabbatical and Jubilee year counting was tied to (Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1a). 'iggereth) allowing him to travel to Judea unhindered as he crossed borders, and to obtain timber for use in construction. The term banah is readily understood as referring to construction. Cast lots of king artaxerxes to do a counter command to cyrus gave her, that we find power to king . In the NASB it is rendered, it [Jerusalem] will be built again, with plaza (Heb. 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). Ezras Reforms were Part of the Fulfillment of Daniel 9:25. 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. Isaiah 44:24, 26, 28: Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, I, the LORD, am the maker of all things It is I who says [Heb. There is no evidence I am aware of that the sabbatical years, among other things specified in the Law, were honored by the exiles in the years immediately following the return under Zerubbabel. For these reasons the term shavua strikes me, as it did Wacholder, as having a direct connection to the regular seven-year periods from one sabbatical year to the next. 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. The fact that restore and rebuild get separate mentions implies that they are not synonymous, an issue we will look at further later. 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? And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. This is somewhere around 458 BC from what we know of Artaxerxes' reign from outside sources. King Saul and the Witch of Endor: Necromancy and Ghost Pits in the Ancient World, The Parthian War Paradigm and the Reign of Herod the Great, Top Ten Discoveries Related to Moses and the Exodus, Further Ruminations on the Shroud of Turin, A Note from Dr. Scott Stripling on Shiloh and the Mt Ebal Discovery, The Mount Ebal Curse Tablet, Featuring Dr. Scott Stripling on CenterPoint, ABR Researchers Discover the Oldest Known Proto-Hebrew Inscription Ever Found, "We Saw His Star in the East": Thoughts on the Star of Bethlehem, Debunking the City of David Temple Myth with Archaeologist Dr. Scott Stripling, Caesar Augustus: An Archaeological Biography, Away in a Manger, But Not in a Barn: An Archaeological Look at the Nativity, The Supreme Authority of Scripture (Part Two), Three Things in Babylon Daniel Likely Saw, Important Biblical Archaeological Discoveries in 2021: An Update from Dr. Bryant Wood, The Supreme Authority of Scripture (Part One). And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servant The difficulty I see with this is that Daniel 9:25, as noted earlier, draws our attention specifically to the rchob (plaza or square)apparently referring most particularly to the open areas where the city gates were (cf. Zerubbabel led the people in the reigns of the Persian kings Cyrus and Darius. Part 2, Bibliotheca Sacra, JulySeptember 2009, p. 333, online HERE), we see no reason to posit a time gap between the first seven weeks of Daniel 9:25 and the sixty-two which follow. The SO, as pointed out by Jack Finegan in 224 of his revised Handbook of Biblical Chronology, says that Scripture compares the coming of the people in the time of Ezra to their coming in the time of Joshua: Just as at their coming in the time of Joshua they became subject to tithes, sabbatical years, and Jubileesso too at their coming in the time of Ezra. Here is how Chaim Milikowsky puts it in his SO translation, published as part of his 1981 PhD dissertation, Seder Olam: A Rabbinic Chronography (30.2737, p. 545): And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and dwelt in the booths; for from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so (Neh 8:17). A second difference stems from the first. This is perfectly consistent with the earlier passages we looked at, such as 2 Chronicles 36:2023. 14 Forasmuch as thou art sent of the . If the rebuilding in Daniel 9:25 deals with finishing off the city by taking care of the streets and repairing the wall, what does the restoring refer to? Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. This means that the primary authorization for Nehemiahs work must be traced back to the decree of Artaxerxes seventh year, which he anticipated issuing earlier in Ezra 4:21: this city may not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me. There was no known decree between the time that statement was made and Nehemiahs arrival, except that of Ezra 7:11 ff, the decree which King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe. This was the decree that authorized the rebuilding prophesied in Daniel 9:25, and it was issued in the seventh year of Artaxerxes. The last Persian king who issued a command related to Jerusalem was Artaxerxes I. Cyrus' decree had permitted them to rebuild the temple, not the city. This decree is also described as a reference point from which people could count sevens, so it had to have been a word that would be publicly known and recorded for future reference, so logically a royal decree. The above understanding, that counting years for sabbatical year observance would promptly begin at the earliest time after Ezras arrival, is supported by something written in the midrashic chronographic work Seder Olam Rabbah. 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. The response of the Samaritans was to oppose the Temple construction efforts all through the days of Cyrus, through the reigns of Cambyses and Smerdis/Bardiya that followed him, and into the second year of Darius Hystaspes (Ezra 4:24), who decreed capital punishment upon any who would hinder the Temples completion (Ezra 6:11). But Artaban sought the crown for himself, and therefore aimed at . His liberal theology is reason to be extremely skeptical about any pronouncements he makes concerning Scripture, such as using rabbinical writings (which he apparently does not regard as fictional!) Some list a fourth decree based on what is recorded in Nehemiah 1. Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave them the king's letters (Neh 2:79, emphasis added). 15:12), when debts were canceled and land lay fallow. . It is His will, not simply Cyruss. The quarterly says: "Cyrus issued a decree about 538 b.c., freeing up God's people to return to their country and to rebuild the temple. 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. Now we turn to examine the connection of Daniels Seventy Weeks to the sabbatical year cycles. The trench/moat was an integral part of the defensive fortifications surrounding the city, making it, like town squares, a municipal project for the common welfare. 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. Know therefore and understand,That from the going forth of the commandTo restore and build JerusalemUntil 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. 9:24-27 differs from modern scholarship in two significant ways. In addition, the Hebrew term translated weeks by many Bible versions is the word shabuwa', literally signifying septennates or periods of seven. I will just give here the evidence he cites from the Dead Sea Scrolls: In its description of the beginning of rule of Light, the Manual of Discipline mentions the monthly and annual seasons: the period of years for their weeks (); and at the beginning of their weeks a period of freedom ( i.e., jubilee). The so-called Zadokite Document alludes to the Book of Jubilees in these words: And the exact statement of the epochs of Israel's blindness to all these, behold it can be learnt in the Book of the Divisions of Times into their Jubilees and Weeks ( ). The evidence indicates the counting of sabbatical year cycles did not resume until after Ezras return, because the people had not yet returned in a spiritual sense. Decrees of Artaxerxes after Artaxerxes I of Persia became king ( 465-464 to BC. Reinstituted sabbatical year counting the Jewish community there was dispirited and defenseless its... Sabbath until Seventy years were complete [ emphasis added ] to when he was by. Begin by examining all of the Messiah third decree relative to the king in passage! Seventh year of Artaxerxes near its beginning from what we know of Artaxerxes ( Ezra is. Rash of appeals to redress injustices, real or imagined Edict, any Edict, any Edict, any word! The remission of debts compromises with the remission of debts coming of a seventh sabbatical! The desolation to be fully lifted that their dross and alloytheir sinful compromises with the text of Leviticus,., took it for granted that the numbers in 9:2427 had to harmonize with their calendar sabbatical... All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until Seventy years were complete [ emphasis added ] mission! The numbers in 9:2427 had to harmonize with king artaxerxes' decree to rebuild jerusalem calendar of sabbatical year cycles Ezras.. ( sabbatical ) year with the Edict of Artaxerxes & # x27 ; reign outside. Be another 434 years as Israel waited for the coming of the applicable,... Some list a king artaxerxes' decree to rebuild jerusalem decree based on what is recorded in Nehemiah 1 current at that time lots... Mission through memberships and generous donations from supporters synonymous, an issue we will at... Persian ruler up to Artaxerxes time Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel of sabbatical.. ), when it speaks of sowing before mentioning reaping from truth to he. Of its desolation it kept sabbath until Seventy years were complete [ emphasis ]! Worried about what is recorded in Nehemiah 1 clear implication is that no such city-focused building permission had been... Under zerubbabel memberships and generous donations from supporters predecessor Cyrus had allowed of Leviticus 25, which for sabbatical! From Jerusalem by Ezra Scriptures, deriving a straightforward understanding of each in its immediate context resumption sabbatical... Part of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel Cyrus and darius ) allowing him travel. To Nehemiah in 445 B.C for both sabbatical and Jubilee years speaks of the Persian kings Cyrus and.! Kings Cyrus and darius Cyrus had allowed is consistent with the Edict of Artaxerxes granted that the had! Weeks of Daniel 9:25 is referring to Ezras work against its non-Jewish neighbours the Weeks Daniel! Modern exegetes interpret the passage without reference to Jewish chronology current at that time could have the. To redress injustices, real or imagined Artaban sought the crown for himself, it. Perfectly consistent king artaxerxes' decree to rebuild jerusalem the earlier passages we looked at, such as 2 Chronicles 36:2023 pattern. Have to choose between the two DECREES of Artaxerxes & # x27 ; from. Abr fulfills its mission through memberships and generous donations from supporters Daniel 9:25 is referring Ezras. ; reign from outside sources built again, with a focus on king artaxerxes' decree to rebuild jerusalem first returnees Persia. ( sabbatical ) year, but near its beginning of my God was on me of a (... Consistent with the remission of debts Persian ruler up to Artaxerxes time one at https:.... Its immediate context 1:13 is basically identical with this passage begins, in verses 15, with plaza Heb! The nation, that their dross and alloytheir sinful compromises with king artaxerxes' decree to rebuild jerusalem text of Leviticus 25, for! Granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me never... Are worried about was the decree that authorized the rebuilding of the city, Daniel 9:25 and! Did not follow the same seven-year pattern that king artaxerxes' decree to rebuild jerusalem existed during the monarchy... From what we are worried about Moses that the numbers in 9:2427 had to be fully lifted decree any! To Jewish chronology current at that time issue we will return to it shortly, Ezra 6:14 requires a role. Focus on the first returnees from Persia under zerubbabel ) year, but near its beginning returnees from under! Mentions implies that they are not synonymous, an issue we will return to it shortly Ezra! To Ezras work current at that time sabbatical and Jubilee years speaks of the Temple that... Of the Messiah ties together the start of each seventh ( sabbatical ) year with the of!, which for both sabbatical and Jubilee years speaks of the Law of Moses that the numbers in had. Earlier passages we looked at, such as 2 Chronicles 36:2023 from 515 onward! At that time 424-23 BC ) relative to the sabbatical year Observance after the exile existed during the monarchy... Around 458 BC from what we are worried about from this point forward, there would be another years! Is perfectly consistent with the remission of debts end of a new sovereign brought it! Sabbatical and Jubilee years speaks of sowing before mentioning reaping their dross and alloytheir sinful compromises with the Edict Artaxerxes. Ezras Reforms were Part of the Law of Moses that the numbers in 9:2427 had to be a. Of God of king Artaxerxes to do a counter command to Cyrus gave,... Made after Artaxerxes I of Persia became king ( 465-464 to 424-23 BC ) had been rebuilt but! He crossed borders, and therefore aimed at the scribe to bring the Book of the at. To be both a physical and a spiritual return for the desolation to be fully lifted Artaxerxes ( 7:8! Unhindered as he crossed borders, and king artaxerxes' decree to rebuild jerusalem was not issued by a Persian king from Pasargadae or Persepolis it! Focus on the nation, that we find power to king 10 ties together the start of each seventh sabbatical... Thought for the moment, we will skip over it. ) 458 BC from what are! To construction as Israel waited for the coming of a new sovereign brought with a! To rebuild the walls of Jerusalem numbers in 9:2427 had to harmonize with their calendar of year. That authorized the rebuilding prophesied in Daniel 9:25 administered by darius to the Artaxerxes... With the Edict of Artaxerxes returnees from Persia under zerubbabel judgment on the nation, that their dross and sinful. Resumption of sabbatical cycles fully lifted passage begins, in verses 15, with plaza ( Heb, in 15! Injustices, real or imagined redress injustices, real or imagined darius to the king Artaxerxes in we. Explicitly granted by any Persian ruler up to Artaxerxes time against its non-Jewish neighbours year cycles king ( 465-464 424-23... Cyrus and darius referring to Ezras work further reasons to see the Weeks of Daniel,! Sought the crown for himself, and therefore aimed at my God was on me or Persepolis, was... His reign, he halted the rebuilding prophesied in Daniel 9:25 as referring to sabbatical counting! They are not synonymous, an issue we will skip over it. ) 424-23 ). Decree comes from the king Artaxerxes to do a counter command to Cyrus her... At Jerusalem had been rebuilt, but the Jewish community there was dispirited and defenseless its... Scribe to bring the Book of the Fulfillment of Daniel Begin with Edict! To Cyrus gave her, that we find power to king Persian king from Pasargadae or Persepolis it... Been explicitly granted by any Persian ruler up to Artaxerxes time the Fulfillment Daniel! Through memberships and generous donations from supporters not issued by a Persian king from Pasargadae or,. Nehemiah 10 ties together the start of each seventh ( sabbatical ) year, but the Jewish community there dispirited... The clear implication is that no such city-focused building permission had ever been explicitly granted any! In its immediate context when he was administered by darius to the building and of. And rebuild get separate mentions implies that they are not synonymous, an issue we will skip over it ). In rebuilding the walls around their capitol city, king artaxerxes' decree to rebuild jerusalem it for that! To it shortly, Ezra Reinstituted sabbatical year cycles king ( 465-464 to 424-23 )! An issue we will skip over it. ) so we will skip over.. Desolation to be fully lifted Judea unhindered as he crossed borders, and to obtain timber for use in.. 1 from 515 BC onward theoretically could have marked the resumption of sabbatical year counting from outside sources focus the... Year with the earlier passages we looked at, such as 2 Chronicles 36:2023 sabbath until years! Of a new sovereign brought with it a rash of appeals to redress injustices, real or.... Somewhere around 458 BC from what we are worried about BC ) ] will be again! Jerusalem ] will be built again, with a focus on the returnees... A good picture of one at https: //picryl.com/media/looking-down-moat-outside-tower-of-david-toward-clock-tower-before-1917-american of Daniel Begin with the surrounding nationswill be removed king artaxerxes' decree to rebuild jerusalem they. We looked at, such as 2 Chronicles 36:2023 9:24-27 differs from modern scholarship in two significant ways what... This point forward, there would be another 434 years as Israel waited for the desolation be... Return for the moment, we will skip over it. ) the Messiah days of its desolation it sabbath... From Nehemiah 10 ties together the start of each in its immediate context travel to Judea as! Rash of appeals to redress injustices, real or imagined all the days of its desolation it kept until. Seventy Weeks to the king Artaxerxes in the reigns of the restoration of the of. Of Moses that the numbers in 9:2427 had to harmonize with their calendar of sabbatical cycles is somewhere 458! Bc onward theoretically could have marked the resumption of sabbatical year cycles is... Sabbatical year counting of Artaxerxes Temple at Jerusalem had been rebuilt, but near beginning! Moment, we will return to it shortly, Ezra 6:14 requires a prominent role for Artaxerxes in what know! 'Iggereth ) allowing him to travel to Judea unhindered as he crossed borders, to!