The Seventy Weeks of Daniel

(Dan. 9:24–27)—an expression found only in this remarkable prophecy, which embraces a succession of majestic events. The source interprets Daniel as foretelling, 490 years beforehand, the appearance of the Savior, His death upon the cross, the subsequent destruction of Jerusalem, and the cessation of the sacrifices of the Old Covenant. “Seventy weeks,” says the prophet—that is, 490 years—“are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy” (Dan. 9:24).