Friday, September 7, 2012

Wacholder versus Zuckermann: Sabbatical Scholars


If you’ve read Daniel's Seventy Weeks: a six part series, you know I favor Wacholder.  To see why, click the link to Sabbatical Cycles on the sidebar.

There are those who favor Zuckermann and I’m sure he too was a very scholarly historian.  In fact, there are some who would have you believe that the first 69 weeks of the Ezra based interpretation of Daniel’s Messianic prophecy correspond precisely with Zuckermann’s table of sabbatical cycles.  However, I beg to differ.

When determining a specific year in the reign of a king, there is accession year reckoning and non-accession year reckoning.  For example, when a king dies, an heir apparent becomes his successor.  Most often that occurs in the middle of a calendar year.  Some count that partial year as the new king's accession year and the next calendar year as his first regnal year.  Others count that partial year as his first regnal year.

The Persian king, Artaxerxes, reigned from 465-424 BC.  Now it is a documented fact that he commissioned Ezra to return to Jerusalem in his seventh regnal year.  That year was 458/457 BC according to accession year reckoning based on Judah's civil calendar which celebrated an autumn new year.  Because there was no year zero, 483 years later (69 weeks x 7 years), we arrive at the time of Christ in 25/26 AD.  In a nutshell, that summarizes the first 69 weeks of the Ezra based interpretation of Daniel's prophecy which considers "the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem," in Daniel 9:25, to be Artaxerxes' decree that sent Ezra to Jerusalem.

A sabbatical cycle can be defined as a week of years.  A sabbatical cycle ran from year one to year seven which was called a sabbatical year.  For Daniel’s 69 weeks to match up perfectly with a string of Zuckermann’s sabbatical cycles, the string of sabbatical cycles would have to begin in year one of the first cycle and end in year seven of the 69th cycle.  The string of sabbatical cycles that qualified ran from 457/456 BC to 26/27 AD.  However, Artaxerxes' decree that sent Ezra to Jerusalem was proclaimed in 458/457 BC which was one year too early to give us a perfect match.

Therefore, the first 69 weeks of the Ezra based interpretation of Daniel’s Messianic prophecy do not correspond precisely with Zuckermann's table of sabbatical cycles.

Special Note: While Ezra brought several hundred exiles and an offering for the temple with him from Babylon, his ministry was one of spiritual reform and not rebuilding Jerusalem.

4 comments:

  1. Judah’s civil calendar celebrated New Year’s Day on Tishri 1. The first day of Tishri fell in late September or early October on the Gregorian calendar. Hence Tishri 1 can be equated with October 1 on our modern calendar.

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  2. Artaxerxes accession was between October 1, 465 BC and October 1, 464 BC. Consequently 464/463 BC was his first regnal year.

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  3. There were exactly 483 years between October 1, 458 BC & September 30, 26 AD. Ergo, 458/457 BC represents the first year & 25/26 AD represents the 483rd year of Daniel’s 69 weeks according to the Ezra based interpretation of Daniel’s Messianic prophecy.

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  4. Table of Sabbatical Cycles: Google "when were the sabbatical years." Select Pickle Publishing. Under Introduction, click "table" in the last sentence. ZM = Zuckermann; WH = Wacholder

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