Early Christian Interpretation of Daniel’s Seventy Weeks

The dominant interpretation of Daniel’s Seventy Weeks (Dan. 9:24–27) among the early church fathers was the messianic-historical position, concluding that the entire 490-year prophecy found fulfillment in the first century AD, culminating in the ministry of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AA. Though a few placed the final “week” in the end times, the dominant patristic tradition identified Jesus as the covenant-maker and Rome as the desolator.

Fulfillment in Christ and Jerusalem’s Fall
Figures supporting this complete fulfillment include Barnabas, who held that the final week established the "spiritual temple" of the Church; Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian, who identified the final week with the destruction of the Temple by Vespasian; Eusebius and Basil of Seleucia, who asserted that the times were fulfilled by the appearance and crucifixion of Christ and the desolation of Jerusalem; and Athanasius and Augustine, who consistently taught that the prophecy was complete at Christ's first advent, leading to the cessation of prophecy and the Old Covenant. Cyril of Jerusalem and Cyril of Alexandria defined the end of the 69 weeks (483 years) by the coming of Herod, a foreign king, signaling the arrival of the Messiah. Meanwhile, Ephraim and Aphrahat emphasized that Christ confirmed the covenant during the final week, resulting in the abolition of sacrifices. Polychronius and Eusebius explicitly divided the final week, identifying the first half (3.5 years) with Christ’s teaching and confirming the covenant, while Theodoret of Cyrus likewise connected the covenant confirmation to the offering of the true sacrifice

In contrast to all messianic views, Julius Hilarianus was the sole patristic figure known to adopt the non-Messianic Maccabean interpretation, claiming the 70 weeks ended with Antiochus IV Epiphanes

A crucial minority view, labeled as messianic/eschatological, was held by Irenaeus, Hippolytus, and Apollinaris. These chiliasts were the only known early writers to place the seventieth week in the future, postulating a significant gap between the 69th and 70th weeks. They associated this final week with the 3.5-year tyranny of the Antichrist, who would wage war against the saints and set up the abomination of desolation in the rebuilt temple before the Second Advent. Origen, although generally holding a historical view, alluded to a futuristic reading of Daniel 9:27 concerning the Antichrist, while Commodianus portrayed an apocalyptic seven-year period involving a tyrannical Latin conqueror. This later eschatological extension influenced some Byzantine and Latin commentators, who spoke of a “double fulfillment”—first in Christ and Jerusalem, then in the Antichrist and final judgment. Yet even these admitted that “the times were fulfilled in the days of Augustus, when the foretold Christ came to His people, was crucified, and fulfilled all that was written.”

The Epistle of Barnabas (100 AD)

The Epistle of Barnabas presents the view that Daniel’s seventieth week had already been fulfilled by 70 AD, culminating in the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and the establishment of a “spiritual temple” (cf. Haggai 2:7–9). The author interprets Daniel’s prophecy as finding its fulfillment in the first advent of Christ.

“For it is written, ‘And it shall come to pass, when the week is completed, the temple of God shall be built… in the name of the Lord.’ I find… that a temple does exist. Having received the forgiveness of sin… in our habitation God dwells in us… This is the spiritual temple built for the Lord.”
(Epistle of Barnabas 16:6)

Barnabas assumes his audience will recognize that the events of “the week” culminated in the formation of the Church, which he identifies as the true dwelling place of God.

“He (Barnabas) assumes his readers will agree that the events of ‘the week’ led to the building of the Church.”
(David B. Currie, Rapture: The End-Times Error That Leaves the Bible Behind, p. 422)

Justin Martyr (150–165 AD)

He did not say much about Daniel’s prophecy, but he did have a focus on the dominion and ascendancy of Christ and the Church. He emphasized that Christ would subdue His enemies, until the number of the virtuous was complete.

“He (Christ) should be believed on by men of every race, and how God calls Him His Son, and has declared that He will subdue all His enemies under Him, and how the devils, as much as they can, strive to escape the power of God, the Father, the Lord of all, and the power of Christ Himself; and how God calls all to repentance before the Day of Judgment comes.”
(First Apology, c. 150 AD)
...
“And that God the Father of all would bring Christ to heaven after He had raised him from the dead, and would keep him there until he had subdued His enemies the devils, and until the number of those who are foreknown by Him as good and virtuous is complete, on whose account He has delayed the consummation.”
(First Apology XLV, c. 150 AD)

In his Dialogue with Trypho, Justin clarified that Christ, seated at the right hand of the Father, continues to subdue His enemies from the time of His ascension until the consummation of all things, which is seen as a refrence to the book of Daniel:

“The Father of all, has brought Him (Christ) again from the earth, setting Him at His own right hand, until he makes His enemies a footstool for His feet, which indeed happens from the time that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, after His resurrection from the dead, the times now running into their consummation.”
(Dialogue with Trypho, c. 155 AD)

Finally, Justin engaged directly with Daniel’s prophecy of the “time, times, and a half,” critiquing miscalculations of its duration:

“And he whom Daniel foretells would have dominion for a time, and times, and an half, is even already at the door, about to speak blasphemous and daring things against the Most High. But you, being ignorant of how long he will have dominion, hold another opinion. For you interpret the 'time' as being a hundred years. But if this is so, the man of sin must, at the shortest, reign three hundred and fifty years, in order that we may compute that which is said by the holy Daniel—'and times'—to be two times only. All this I have said to you in digression, in order that you at length may be persuaded of what has been declared against you by God.”

Justin’s interpretation demonstrates an early Christian reading of Daniel as pointing to Christ’s ongoing victory and the eschatological completion of God’s righteous plan, rather than a strictly chronological calculation of years.

Clement of Alexandria (150–215 AD)

Clement, a presbyter and head of the catechetical school in Alexandria, was the first Christian writer known to attempt a chronological calculation of Daniel’s seventy weeks. He interpreted the prophecy as marking the end of biblical Judaism, with the final week fulfilled in the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. Clement associated the first half of the week with Nero’s reign, and the second half with the rise of Vespasian.

“Vespasian rose to the supreme power (Emperor of Rome) and destroyed Jerusalem, and desolated the holy place.”
(Stromata 1.21.142–143)

Clement also offered extensive chronological calculations, tracing biblical and post-exilic history in relation to Daniel’s prophecy:

“Cyrus had, by proclamation, previously enjoined the restoration of the Hebrews. And his promise being accomplished in the time of Darius, the feast of the dedication was held, as also the feast of tabernacles. There were in all, taking in the duration of the captivity down to the restoration of the people, from the birth of Moses, one thousand one hundred and fifty-five years, six months, and ten days; and from the reign of David, according to some, four hundred and fifty-two; more correctly, five hundred and seventy-two years, six months, and ten days.”
(Stromata 1.21)

Citing Daniel directly, Clement interpreted the rebuilding of Jerusalem as occurring within the first seven weeks, followed by sixty-two weeks of peace under which Christ came, “the Holy of Holies.” He then tied the destruction of the Temple to the final week. Crucially, while Clement narrates the weeks as continuous, his scheme actually places the end of the 62 weeks with Christ’s coming (ca. 26–30 AD), while the 70th week falls in the 60s–70 AD with Nero and Vespasian. This creates a clear gap of nearly 40 years between the 69th and 70th weeks, even if Clement does not explicitly acknowledge it.

_“From the captivity at Babylon, which took place in the time of Jeremiah the prophet, was fulfilled what was spoken by Daniel the prophet as follows: "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to seal sins, and to wipe out and make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal the vision and the prophet, and to anoint the Holy of Holies. Know therefore, and understand, that from the going forth of the word commanding an answer to be given, and Jerusalem to be built, to Christ the Prince, are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; and the street shall be again built, and the wall; and the times shall be expended. And after the sixty-two weeks the anointing shall be overthrown, and judgment shall not be in him; and he shall destroy the city and the sanctuary along with the coming Prince. And they shall be destroyed in a flood, and to the end of the war shall be cut off by: desolations. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week; and in the middle of the week the sacrifice and oblation shall be taken away; and in the holy place shall be the abomination of desolations, and until the consummation of time shall the consummation be assigned for desolation. And in the midst of the week shall he make the incense of sacrifice cease, and of the wing of destruction, even till the consummation, like the destruction of the oblation." That the temple accordingly was built in seven weeks, is evident; for it is written in Esdras. And thus Christ became King of the Jews, reigning in Jerusalem in the fulfilment of the seven weeks. And in the sixty and two weeks the whole of Judaea was quiet, and without wars. And Christ our Lord, "the Holy of Holies," having come and fulfilled the vision and the prophecy, was anointed in His flesh by the Holy Spirit of His Father. In those "sixty and two weeks," as the prophet said, and "in the one week," was He Lord. The half of the week Nero held sway, and in the holy city Jerusalem placed the abomination; and in the half of the week he was taken away, and Otho, and Galba, and Vitellius. And Vespasian rose to the supreme power, and destroyed Jerusalem, and desolated the holy place. And that such are the facts of the case, is clear to him that is able to understand, as the prophet said. On the completion, then, of the eleventh year, in the beginning of the following, in the reign of Joachim, occurred the carrying away captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar the king, in the seventh year of his reign over the Assyrians, in the second year of the reign of Vaphres over the Egyptians, in the archonship of Philip at Athens, in the first year of the forty-eighth Olympiad. The captivity lasted for seventy years, and ended in the second year of Darius Hystaspes, who had become king of the Persians, Assyrians, and Egyptians; in whose reign, as I said above, Haggai and Zechariah and the angel of the twelve prophesied. And the high priest was Joshua the son of Josedec. And in the second year of the reign of Darius, who, Herodotus says, destroyed the power of the Magi, Zorobabel the son of Salathiel was dispatched to raise and adorn the temple at Jerusalem. The times of the Persians are accordingly summed up thus: Cyrus reigned thirty years; Cambyses, nineteen; Darius, forty six; Xerxes, twenty-six; Artaxerxes, forty-one; Darius, eight; Artaxerxes, forty-two; Ochus or Arses, three. The sum total of the years of the Persian monarchy is two hundred and thirty five years.
(Stromata 1.21)

Clement’s interpretation firmly connected the seventieth week with the Jewish–Roman War, making him an early witness to a preterist reading of Daniel 9. He also believed that Jesus’ Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21) was fulfilled in the same first-century events.
Clement also drew from Daniel 12 and interpreted the 1,290 days and 1,335 days as spanning the Jewish War and declared that peace returned at the completion of the 1,335 days:

“Daniel the prophet says, ‘Blessed is he that cometh to the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.’ For up to that time wars continued. But from this time, peace arose.” (Stromata 1.21)

Tertullian (160 – 225 AD)

Tertullian, writing around 203 AD in his Answer to the Jews, offered one of the earliest Latin Christian interpretations of Daniel 9, presenting the seventy weeks as fulfilled by the destruction of Jerusalem under Vespasian in 70 AD. He sought a continuous chronology from the first year of Darius to the fall of the Temple, but to reconcile the prophecy with both the advent of Christ and the Roman destruction, he introduced an idiosyncratic division of the weeks. Instead of the canonical 7 + 62 + 1, he recalculated the period as 62½ weeks leading to the birth of Christ, followed by 7½ weeks culminating in His passion and the ruin of Jerusalem.

Daniel’s Text (as cited by Tertullian)

Tertullian quotes Daniel 9 almost verbatim in his Answer to the Jews VIII, framing it around the destruction of Jerusalem:

“Seventy hebdomads have been abridged upon thy commonalty, and upon the holy city, until delinquency be made inveterate, and sins sealed, and righteousness obtained by entreaty, and righteousness eternal introduced; and in order that vision and prophet may be sealed, and an holy one of holy ones anointed. And thou shalt know, and thoroughly see, and understand, from the going forth of a word for restoring and rebuilding Jerusalem unto the Christ, the Leader, hebdomads (seven and an half, and) lxii and an half... And after these lxii hebdomads shall the anointing be exterminated, and shall not be; and the city and the holy place shall he exterminate together with the Leader, who is making His advent...” (An Answer to the Jews, VIII)

Tertullian thus reads Daniel’s weeks as continuous units, but the half-week division is not present in the Hebrew or Greek texts; nstead, Tertullian Instead, he appears to follow a Greek (Theodotion) text in which “hebdomad” (ἑβδομάς) is used for a seven-year unitrcs.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl. In his Latin translation (or through copyist notes) Daniel 9:25–26 comes out reading “seven and a half, and sixty-two and a half” weeks. Whether this was in his manuscript or his own insertion is uncertain. No other early Christian writer reads it this way. Some scholars speculate he could have been influenced by Jewish chronologists (even later commentators like Rashi mention a 62½/7½ split)paultanner.org, but the evidence is inconclusive.

Chronology from Darius to Christ

Tertullian undertakes a meticulous year-by-year reckoning of Persian, Macedonian, and Egyptian rulers to reach Christ’s birth:

“For Darius reigned nineteen years. After him Artaxerxes reigned forty-one years. Then King Ochus (who is also called Cyrus) reigned twenty-four years. Then Argus, one year. And another Darius, who is also named Melas, reigned twenty-one years. Alexander the Macedonian, twelve years. Then, after him, Soter reigned thirty-five years. Then Philadelphus, thirty-eight years. Euergetes, twenty-five years. Philopator, seventeen years. Epiphanes, twenty-four years. Another Euergetes, twenty-nine years. Another Soter, thirty-eight years. Ptolemy, thirty-seven years. Cleopatra, twenty years and five months. Yet again Cleopatra reigned jointly with Augustus, thirteen years. After Cleopatra, Augustus reigned other forty-three years. For all the years of the empire of Augustus were fifty-six. But from the death of Cleopatra, under whom the reign of the Egyptians ceased, he reigned other forty-three years. For all these kings from Darius up to Augustus, the years are made up four hundred and thirty-seven years and five months. For Cleopatra reigned twenty years and five months; and Cleopatra reigned thirteen years with Augustus. There are, then, made up four hundred and thirty-seven years and five months: whence are filled up sixty-two hebdomads and an half. For the hebdomad contains seven years. Whence are fulfilled four hundred and thirty-seven years and six months, which make sixty-two hebdomads and an half. On the day of the birth of Christ, therefore, there are fulfilled sixty-two hebdomads and an half.” (An Answer to the Jews, VIII)

He explicitly ties the birth of Christ to the completion of the 62½ weeks, counting 437 years and 6 months from Darius to Augustus. At this point, he asserts, Daniel’s prophecy reached its first fulfillment in the advent of Christ.

The Passion and the Final Weeks

Tertullian then extends the remaining 7½ weeks to include Christ’s ministry, passion, and the destruction of Jerusalem:

“But what follows of the prophecy? ‘And after the hebdomads anointing shall be exterminated, and shall not be.’ ‘Anointing shall be exterminated:’ that is, Christ shall be cut off. ‘And shall not be:’ that is, He shall not be in that former state in which He was in the flesh. And what follows? ‘And the holy city shall He exterminate together with the Leader who is to come, and they shall be cut off as in a deluge, even until the consummation of times shall the extermination be set forth.’ For indeed He who was to come is the very Leader who was to be cut off—Christ. But the city and the holy place is exterminated together with the Leader: for, after Christ’s passion, there came the Romans, and exterminated both the city and the Temple, and the people, until the consummation of times—that is, until the end of the world.” (An Answer to the Jews, VIII)

Here, Tertullian identifies Christ as both the one “cut off” and the coming prince, linking His passion to the subsequent Roman judgment on Jerusalem.

The Fulfillment under Vespasian

Finally, Tertullian ties the destruction of Jerusalem under Vespasian to the completion of the seventy weeks:

“For, again, in the fiftieth year of the empire of Augustus, Christ suffered, being about thirty years of age when He suffered. For Augustus, in the forty-first year of his empire, begat Tiberius, and Tiberius reigned twenty-two years, six months, and twenty-six days. In the fifteenth year of the empire of Tiberius, Christ suffered, being about thirty years of age when He suffered. And, in the first year of Vespasian, the Jews were subjugated, and Jerusalem exterminated. For so had Daniel foretold: ‘And the holy city shall be exterminated together with the Leader who is to come; and they shall be cut off as in a deluge, even until the consummation of times shall the extermination be set forth.’ Thus, in the day of their storming, the Jews fulfilled the seventy hebdomads predicted in Daniel.
Therefore, when these times also were completed, and the Jews subdued, there afterwards ceased in that place “libations and sacrifices,” which thenceforward have not been able to be in that place celebrated; for “the unction,” too, was “exterminated” in that place after the passion of Christ. For it had been predicted that the unction should be exterminated in that place; as in the Psalms it is prophesied, “They exterminated my hands and feet.” And the suffering of this “extermination” was perfected within the times of the lxx hebdomads, under Tiberius Cæsar, in the consulate of Rubellius Geminus and Fufius Geminus, in the month of March, at the times of the passover, on the eighth day before the calends of April, on the first day of unleavened bread, on which they slew the lamb at even, just as had been enjoined by Moses. Accordingly, all the synagogue of Israel did slay Him, saying to Pilate, when he was desirous to dismiss Him, “His blood be upon us, and upon our children;” and, “If thou dismiss him, thou art not a friend of Cæsar;” in order that all things might be fulfilled which had been written of Him."” (An Answer to the Jews, VIII)

Tertullian (A.D. 203), by making certain calculation errors, was able to include both Jesus Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem in the 490 years without a gap. He “mistakenly assumed” some dates (equating two Darii, omitting rulers like Xerxes, Claudius, etc.), so the chronology is flawed. Poot likewise notes “the reasons why he does this is unclear.” Scholars point out these computations overshoot actual history (for example 52½ years before AD 70 is AD 17, not Christ’s birth)academia.edu, but Tertullian holds to his framework.

Julius Africanus (c. 160 – after 232 AD)

Julius Africanus, writing after 232 AD, offered a highly detailed Christian chronology of Daniel 9. He calculated the seventy weeks (490 years) as beginning with the 20th year of Artaxerxes I (c. 444 BC), corresponding to Nehemiah’s commission to rebuild Jerusalem, and ending with Christ’s baptism and the start of His public ministry (c. 28–29 AD). To reconcile the 475 solar years from Artaxerxes to Christ with the 490-year prophecy, he employed a “Hebrew numeration” system, interpreting the years as lunar rather than solar, with each year approximately 354 days long.

Starting Point: Artaxerxes and Nehemiah

Africanus emphasizes that the seventy weeks must begin from the decree of Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem, rather than any other historical marker:

“And the beginning of the numbers, that is, of the seventy weeks which make up 490 years, the angel instructs us to take from the going forth of the commandment to answer and to build Jerusalem. And this happened in the twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia.” (The Extant Fragments of the Five Books of the Chronography of Julius Africanus, 16.1)

He explicitly rejects other potential starting points, noting that they lead to chronological inconsistencies:

“It [the city] remained in this position, accordingly, until Nehemiah and the reign of Artaxerxes, and the 115th year of the sovereignty of the Persians.… And reckoning from that point, we make up seventy weeks to the time of Christ. For if we begin to reckon from any other point, and not from this, the periods will not correspond, and very many odd results will meet us. For if we begin the calculation of the seventy weeks from Cyrus and the first restoration, there will be upwards of one hundred years too many, and there will be a larger number if we begin from the day on which the angel gave the prophecy to Daniel, and a much larger number still if we begin from the commencement of the captivity.” (The Extant Fragments, 16.2)

Use of Lunar Years

To reconcile the solar chronology with the prophetic 490 years, Africanus employed lunar reckoning, noting the difference between lunar and solar years:

“Hence the Greeks and the Jews insert three intercalary months every eight years. For eight times 11 1/4 days makes up 3 months.” (The Extant Fragments, 6:135)

This allowed him to calculate 475 solar years as equivalent to 490 lunar years, matching the seventy weeks of Daniel. He explicitly describes the conversion method, showing careful attention to the intercalation system used in Jewish and Greek calendars.

Summary of Chronology

Africanus’s chronology proceeds as follows:

1. Decree to rebuild Jerusalem – 20th year of Artaxerxes (Nehemiah)

2. Duration from Artaxerxes to Christ – 475 solar years, converted to 490 lunar years

3. End of prophecy – Christ’s baptism and public ministry (c. 28–29 AD)

“This passage, therefore, as it stands thus, touches on many marvellous things. At present, however, I shall speak only of those things in it which bear upon chronology… For from Nehemiah, who was despatched by Artaxerxes to build Jerusalem in the 115th year of the Persian empire, and the 4th year of the 83rd Olympiad, and the 20th year of the reign of Artaxerxes himself, up to this date, which was the second year of the 202nd Olympiad, and the 16th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, there are reckoned 475 years, which make 490 according to the Hebrew numeration, as they measure the years by the course of the moon; so that, as is easy to show, their year consists of 354 days, while the solar year has 365¼ days. For the latter exceeds the period of twelve months, according to the moon's course, by 11¼ days…” (The Extant Fragments, 220 AD)

Africanus’s careful conversion of solar to lunar years allowed him to maintain a literal fulfillment of Daniel’s seventy weeks in Christ’s lifetime without invoking gaps, unusual divisions, or post-biblical reinterpretation. His approach reflects both a meticulous attention to historical detail and a theological commitment to seeing Christ’s ministry as the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy.

Origen (c. 185–254 AD)

Origen, a student of Clement of Alexandria, interpreted Daniel’s seventy weeks as fulfilled in the time of Christ and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, marking the end of the Jewish Age.He also suggested a highly allegorical interpretation where the "weeks" were "weeks of decades," extending the timeline from Adam to the consummation of the last week—effectively 4,900 years.

Fulfillment in Christ

Origen repeatedly affirms that Daniel’s prophecy reached its historical fulfillment in Christ’s leadership:

“The weeks of years up to the time of Christ the leader that Daniel the prophet predicted were fulfilled” (TPR, IV:1:5)
“The weeks of years, also, which the prophet Daniel had predicted, extending to the leadership of Christ, have been fulfilled” (Principles, 4:1:5)
“And according to Daniel, seventy weeks were fulfilled until (the coming of) Christ the Ruler” (De principiis 4.1.5)

He emphasizes the connection between the seventy weeks and Christ’s advent, tying historical events to prophetic chronology:

“We must quite carefully ascertain the amount of time between the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, and the advent of Christ, and discover how many years were involved, and what events are said to have occurred during them. Then we must see whether we can fit these data in with the time of the Lord’s coming” (Stromata, vol. 10, cited by Jerome).

Allegorical and Eschatological Reading

Origen frequently blends literal chronology with a theological and allegorical understanding, highlighting the eschatological completion of prophecy and God’s judgment:

“The end of the world, then, the final consummation, will take place when everyone (the wicked) will be subject for the punishment of their sins. A time when only God knows, that he will bestow on each one what he deserves…even his enemies being conquered and subdued. For thus says holy Scripture 'The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.' And if the prophet's language here be less than clear, we may ascertain it from the apostle Paul, who speaks more openly, thus, 'For Christ must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet'” (On First Principles, 240 AD).

He underscores the ultimate triumph of Christ and the destruction of all other forms of worship:

“For every form of worship must be destroyed except the religion of Christ, which alone will prevail. And it indeed will one day triumph, as its principles take possession of the minds of men more and more every day” (Against Celsus, 240 AD).

The Abomination and Desolation

Origen also addresses the eschatological elements of Daniel, particularly the abomination of desolation and the end of the prophetic timeline:

“What is stated by Paul in the words quoted from him…is in Daniel referred to in the following fashion: 'And on the temple shall be the abomination of desolations, and at the end of the time an end shall be put to the desolation'” (Contra Celsum, book 6, chap. 46, 4:594–95).

In Origen’s reading, Christ’s advent fulfills the seventy weeks historically, while the broader “weeks of decades” framework provides a cosmic and moral horizon, connecting Adam to the final consummation, highlighting divine justice, and demonstrating the ultimate victory of Christ over sin and idolatry.

Commodianus (c. 240 AD)

Commodianus, a Christian poet and moralist writing around 240 AD, presents a highly apocalyptic and symbolic interpretation of prophetic time. In Chapter 41, titled "Of the Time of Antichrist," he describes a seven-year period of global turmoil, divided into two halves; emphasizing the dual occupancy of this time by Elijah and Nero:

“For seven years the earth will tremble. But Elijah shall occupy for one half, Nero will occupy the other half...the Latin conqueror shall say 'I am Christ, whom you always pray to'...” (Instructions of Commodianus, 240 AD)

Commodianus portrays the defeat of evil and the vindication of the righteous in vivid apocalyptic imagery. The false prophet and the wicked are seized and cast into Gehenna, while the just remain unharmed:

“Moreover, when the tyrant shall dash himself against the army of God, his soldiery are overthrown by the celestial terror; the false prophet himself is seized with the wicked one, and by the decree of the Lord, are thrown into Gehenna...The trumpet gives the sign in heaven, the lion being taken away, and suddenly there is darkness with the din of heaven...In the flame of fire the Lord will judge the wicked. But the fire will not touch the just, but shall all means lick up (the wicked)...From heaven will descend the city in the first resurrection; this is what we may tell of such celestial fabric. We shall arise again to Him, who have been devoted to Him.” (Instructions of Commodianus, 240 AD)

Eusebius (c. 260/265 – 339/340 AD)

Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea and the “father of church history,” offered a careful historical-theological reading of Daniel’s seventy weeks. He generally held that the prophecy had been fulfilled by the first century, with the final week completed in the time of Christ. In his interpretation, the first half of the 70th week corresponds to Jesus’ three-and-a-half-year public ministry, during which the sacrificial system effectively ceased at His death, while the second half represents the post-resurrection period leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Fulfillment of the 70th Week

“The Holy Scriptures foretell that there will be unmistakable signs of the Coming of Christ. Now there were among the Hebrews three outstanding offices of dignity, which made the nation famous, firstly the kingship, secondly that of prophet, and lastly the high priesthood. The prophecies said that the abolition and complete destruction of all these three together would be the sign of the (b) presence of the Christ. And that the proofs that the times had come, would lie in the ceasing of the Mosaic worship, the desolation of Jerusalem and its Temple, and the subjection of the whole Jewish race to its enemies.  The holy oracles foretold that all these changes, which had (c) not been made in the days of the prophets of old, would take place at the coming of the Christ, which I will presently shew to have been fulfilled as never before in accordance with the predictions.”

Eusebius explicitly links the cessation of sacrifice and the abomination of desolation to Christ’s ministry:

“So when all the intermediate matter between the seven and the sixty-two weeks is finished, there is added, ‘And he will confirm a Covenant with many one week,’ and in half the week the sacrifice and the libation shall be taken away, and on the Holy Place shall come the abomination of desolation…Let us consider how this was fulfilled.” (The Proof of the Gospel, chapter 2)

He clarifies the duration of Christ’s ministry:

“The whole time of our Savior’s teaching and working miracles was three years and a half, which is half a week…” (The Proof of the Gospel, chapter 2)

Eusebius emphasizes that following Christ’s passion, divine judgment fell upon the Jewish nation through war, famine, and the destruction of the Temple:

“And from that time a succession of all kinds of troubles afflicted the whole nation and their city until the last war against them, and the final siege…Then, too, the abomination of desolation stood in the Temple…These words our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ sealed, when he said, ‘When ye shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, standing in the Holy Place, then ye shall know that her desolation draws near.’” (The Proof of the Gospel, chapter 2)

He affirms that the prophecies of Daniel were historically realized, providing evidence that Christ had indeed come as the promised King:

“And when those that believed in Christ had come thither [out] from Jerusalem…then the judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrages against Christ and his apostles, and totally destroyed that generation of impious men…surely we must also agree that the King who was prophesied, the Christ of God, has come, since the signs of His coming have been shewn in each instance I have treated to have been clearly fulfilled.” (Proof of the Gospel, Book VIII)

Athanasius ( 296/298 – 373 AD)

Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296/298 – 373 AD) was a leading Church Father and theologian, renowned for his defense of Nicene Christianity and his writings on the incarnation of Christ. Athanasius consistently taught that the seventy weeks of Daniel culminated and the Jewish Age ended in AD 70. He argued that Jerusalem and the Temple were permitted to stand until Messiah's first advent, after which "all prophecy is sealed and the city and Temple taken,".

Athanasius argued that Jerusalem and the Temple were permitted to stand until the coming of the Messiah

“Jerusalem is to stand till His coming (Daniel’s reference to Messiah’s appearing in His First Advent), and thenceforth, prophet and vision cease in Israel (the end of the Old Covenant or Jewish Age). This is why Jerusalem stood till then. . . that they might be exercised in the types as a preparation for the reality. . . but from that time forth all prophecy is sealed and the city and Temple taken.” (INC, XXXIX:3-XV:8)
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Things to be done, which belonged to Jerusalem beneath. . . were fulfilled, and those which belonged to the shadows had passed away.” (FEL, IV:3-4)

Athanasius emphasized that Daniel’s prophecy provides a precise chronological marker:

39. Do you look for another? But Daniel foretells the exact time. Objections to this removed.

1. But perhaps, being unable, even they, to fight continually against plain facts, they will, without denying what is written, maintain that they are looking for these things, and that the Word of God is not yet come. For this it is on which they are for ever harping, not blushing to brazen it out in the face of plain facts.
2. But on this one point, above all, they shall be all the more refuted, not at our hands, but at those of the most wise Daniel, who marks both the actual date, and the divine sojourn of the Saviour, saying: Seventy weeks are cut short upon your people, and upon the holy city, for a full end to be made of sin, and for sins to be sealed up, and to blot out iniquities, and to make atonement for iniquities, and to bring everlasting righteousness, and to seal vision and prophet, and to anoint a Holy of Holies; and you shall know and understand from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Christ the Prince
3. Perhaps with regard to the other (prophecies) they may be able even to find excuses and to put off what is written to a future time. But what can they say to this, or can they face it at all? Where not only is the Christ referred to, but He that is to be anointed is declared to be not man simply, but Holy of Holies; and Jerusalem is to stand till His coming, and thenceforth, prophet and vision cease in Israel.
4. David was anointed of old, and Solomon and Ezechias; but then, nevertheless, Jerusalem and the place stood, and prophets were prophesying: God and Asaph and Nathan; and, later, Esaias and Osee and Amos and others. And again, the actual men that were anointed were called holy, and not Holy of Holies.
5. But if they shield themselves with the captivity, and say that because of it Jerusalem was not, what can they say about the prophets too? For in fact when first the people went down to Babylon, Daniel and Jeremy were there, and Ezechiel and Aggæus and Zachary were prophesying.

40. Argument (1) from the withdrawal of prophecyand destruction of Jerusalem, (2) from the conversion of the Gentiles, and that to the God of Moses. What more remains for the Messiah to do, that Christ has not done?

1. So the Jews are trifling, and the time in question, which they refer to the future, is actually come. For when did prophet and vision cease from Israel, save when Christ came, the Holy of Holies? For it is a sign, and an important proof, of the coming of the Word of God, that Jerusalem no longer stands, nor is any prophet raised up nor vision revealed to them — and that very naturally.
2. For when He that was signified had come, what need was there any longer of any to signify Him? When the truth was there, what need any more of the shadow? For this was the reason of their prophesying at all — namely, till the true Righteousness should come, and He that was to ransom the sins of all. And this was why Jerusalem stood till then — namely, that there they might be exercised in the types as a preparation for the reality.

He further argued that prophecy and vision ceased because Christ, the “Holy of Holies,” had come:

3. So when the Holy of Holies had come, naturally vision and prophecy were sealed and the kingdom of Jerusalem ceased. For kings were to be anointed among them only until the Holy of Holies should have been anointed; and Jacob prophesies that the kingdom of the Jews should be established until Him, as follows:— The ruler Genesis 49:10 shall not fail from Juda, nor the Prince from his loins, until that which is laid up for him shall come; and he is the expectation of the nations.
4. Whence the Saviour also Himself cried aloud and said: The law and the prophets prophesied until John. If then there is now among the Jews king or prophet or vision, they do well to deny the Christ that has come. But if there is neither king nor vision, but from that time forth all prophecy is sealed and the city and temple taken, why are they so irreligious and so perverse as to see what has happened, and yet to deny Christ, Who has brought it all to pass? Or why, when they see even heathens deserting their idols, and placing their hope, through Christ, on the God of Israel, do they deny Christ, Who was born of the root of Jesse after the flesh and henceforth is King? For if the nations were worshipping some other God, and not confessing the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses, then, once more, they would be doing well in alleging that God had not come.
5. But if the Gentiles are honouring the same God that gave the law to Moses and made the promise to Abraham, and Whose word the Jews dishonoured — why are they ignorant, or rather why do they choose to ignore, that the Lord foretold by the Scriptures has shone forth upon the world, and appeared to it in bodily form, as the Scripture said: The Lord God has shined upon us; and again: He sent His Word and healed them; and again: Not a messenger, not an angel, but the Lord Himself saved them?
6. Their state may be compared to that of one out of his right mind, who sees the earth illumined by the sun, but denies the sun that illumines it. For what more is there for him whom they expect to do, when he has come? To call the heathen? But they are called already. To make prophecy, and king, and vision to cease? This too has already come to pass. To expose the godlessness of idolatry? It is already exposed and condemned. Or to destroy death? He is already destroyed.
7. What then has not come to pass, that the Christ must do? What is left unfulfilled, that the Jews should now disbelieve with impunity? For if, I say — which is just what we actually see — there is no longer king nor prophet nor Jerusalem nor sacrifice nor vision among them, but even the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of God, and Gentiles, leaving their godlessness, are now taking refuge with the God of Abraham, through the Word, even our Lord Jesus Christ, then it must be plain, even to those who are exceedingly obstinate, that the Christ has come, and that He has illumined absolutely all with His light, and given them the true and divine teaching concerning His Father.
8. So one can fairly refute the Jews by these and by other arguments from the Divine Scriptures.

Ephraim & Aphrahat (345 AD)

Ephraim the Syrian and Aphrahat interpret the seventy weeks of encompassing the history of Jerusalem from the Babylonian exile to its final destruction by the Romans.

Cyril of Jerusalem (313–386 AD)

Cyril followed the view presented by Eusebius, which calculated the first 69 weeks as extending from the sixth year of Darius until the time of King Herod.

In Catechetical Lecture 12, Cyril explains Daniel’s 70 Weeks prophecy as proof of Christs coming.

19. But we seek still more clearly the proof of the time of His coming. For man being hard to persuade, unless he gets the very years for a clear calculation, does not believe what is stated. What then is the season, and what the manner of the time? It is when, on the failure of the kings descended from Judah, Herod a foreigner succeeds to the kingdom? The Angel, therefore, who converses with Daniel says, and do thou now mark the words, And you shall know and understand: From the going forth of the word for making answer , and for the building of Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince are seven weeks and three score and two weeks. Daniel 9:25 Now three score and nine weeks of years contain four hundred and eighty-three years. He said, therefore, that after the building of Jerusalem, four hundred and eighty-three years having passed, and the rulers having failed, then comes a certain king of another race, in whose time the Christ is to be born. Now Darius the Mede built the city in the sixth year of his own reign, and first year of the 66th Olympiad according to the Greeks. Olympiad is the name among the Greeks of the games celebrated after four years, because of the day which in every four years of the sun's courses is made up of the three (supernumerary) hours in each year. And Herod is king in the 186th Olympiad, in the 4th year thereof. Now from the 66th to the 186th Olympiad there are 120 Olympiads intervening, and a little over. So then the 120 Olympiads make up 480 years: for the other three years remaining are perhaps taken up in the interval between the first and fourth years. And there you have the proof according to the Scripture which says, From the going forth of the word that Jerusalem be restored and built until Messiah the Prince are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. Of the times, therefore, you have for the present this proof, although there are also other different interpretations concerning the aforesaid weeks of years in Daniel.

Cyril does not mention the last week here, but see the 483 fulfilled in the birth of Christ. He views a foreign king reigning on the thron as fulfillment of the condition implied in Genesis 49:10: the legitimate kingship ceases, signaling the time for the Messiah.
It should be noted that he identifed Darius Medus with Darius Hystaspis;

Basil of Seleucia (Orat., 38 in t. 85 of Migne‘s Patrol.), (380 AD)

who calculates the first sixty-nine weeks from the completion of the walls of Jerusalem in the twenty-eighth
year of Xerxes (!) to the resurrection of Christ, and identifies the seventieth week with the first seven years after the resurrection, while he declares the abomination of desolation erected in the middle of that week to have been the familiar attempt of Caligula to erect his image in the temple.

Julius Hilarianus (397 AD)

Julius Hilarianus was a 4th-century Latin Christian writer and chronographer, known for his eschatological treatise Chronologia sive Libellus de Mundi Duratione. He was the first known patristic writer to adopt a non-Messianic interpretation of the 70 Weeks, advocating for the Maccabean view. Writing in the late 300s AD, Hilarianus sought to construct a biblical timeline of world history, culminating in the anticipated return of Christ around the year 498 AD. He claimed the 70 weeks ended with the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the second century BC, with the pollution of the temple by Antiochus marking the middle of the week.
Julius Hilarianus thinks the seventy weeks start from the 1st year of Darius to the end of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, thus no connection with Christ.

“Which weeks are 49 years, which years pertain to the body of the 70 years of the captivity of Jerusalem… completed in Babylon, to fulfill the vision and prophecy of Jeremiah”.

“These 62 weeks are 434 years, which were completed during the times of the Maccabees in the 141st year of the Greek kingdom”.
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“Antiochus… tried to make one people and one sacrilegious nation under his rule… he desired to defile [the Temple] with idle spectacles”.
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“In the middle of the week… the sacrifice is taken away from the holy place, and the holy place itself is defiled… the abomination of desolation is set up on the altar”.

He assigns 434 years to the interval between the return of the Jews under Zerubbabel and the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, while the period between B.C. 536 and B.C. 175 really amounts to but 361 years. He continues to calculate from creation to Christ’s death, 5,530 years.

“From the creation of the world up to the Passion of Christ our Saviour, there are 5530 years”.

To complete the 6,000-year history of the world, 470 years remain—mirroring the 470 years from Abraham to the Law. This symmetry marks the Christian age and anticipates the resurrection.

“Just as the children of Israel receive the promised land 470 years after the promise… we Christians will also have the first resurrection after the same number of years”.

Quotes taken from an audio transcript here (dn721601.ca.archive.org/0/items/little-book-on-the-duration-of-the-world/Little_Book_on_the_Duration_of_the_World.mp3) the Latin can be found here: Patrologiae cursus completus

Jerome ( 347–419 AD)

Jerome, the great biblical scholar and translator of the Latin Vulgate, wrote his Commentary on Daniel in 407 AD. Unlike many earlier church fathers, Jerome refrained from committing himself to a single interpretation of the seventy weeks. Instead, he functioned as a surveyor of tradition, preserving for later generations a valuable record of earlier Christian views.

Jerome summarized the interpretations of Julius Africanus, Eusebius, Hippolytus, Apollinaris, Clement, Origen, and Tertullian, often noting their differences and the historical problems within their systems. He was particularly critical of Irenaeus’s chronological scheme, pointing out that the years proposed by Irenaeus did not align with the historical events they were meant to explain.

“If by any chance those of future generations should not see these predictions of his (Irenaeus) fulfilled at the time he set, then they will be forced to seek for some other solution and to convict the teacher himself (Irenaeus) of erroneous interpretation.”
(Commentary on Daniel, c. 407 AD)

Sulpicius Severus (c. 363–425 AD)

Sulpicius Severus, a Christian historian best known for his Sacred History (c. 403 AD), offered a straightforward chronological interpretation of Daniel’s seventy weeks. He calculated that 483 years elapsed from the restoration of the Temple until its final destruction by Titus under Vespasian. For Severus, the prophecy found its fulfillment not in a distant future but in the decisive first-century events surrounding Christ and the fall of Jerusalem.

“But from the restoration of the temple to its destruction, which was completed by Titus under Vespasian, when Augustus was consul, there was a period of four hundred and eighty-three years. That was formerly predicted by Daniel, who announced that from the restoration of the temple to its overthrow there would elapse seventy and nine weeks. Now, from the date of the captivity of the Jews until the time of the restoration of the city, there were two hundred and sixty years.”
(Sacred History, Book 2, ch. 11, p. 254)

The phrase “seventy and nine weeks” is best understood not as 79 weeks, but as a textual or translational oddity, since Severus’ own calculation (483 years) clearly reflects the traditional 69-week scheme (69 × 7 = 483). It should be important to note, he did not include the final week

Augustine (354–430 AD)

Augustine, without detailing the chronological periods, stated that the entire prophecy of the Seventy Weeks was fulfilled at Christ’s first advent, meaning the events should not be expected to recur at the Second Advent.

Cyril of Alexandria (420 AD)

Cyril of Alexandria explicitly connected Daniel’s prophecy of the “seven weeks and sixty-two weeks” with the timing of Christ’s birth. In his Catechetical Lectures (XII.19), he explained:

Cyril identifies this “king of another race” as Herod the Great, a non-Jewish ruler, under whose reign the Messiah would arrive. His interpretation rests firmly on the 483-year (69 weeks) calculation, but he does not extend his analysis into a seventieth week.

Polychronius (374-430 AD)

Polychronius, bishop of Apamea in Syria and brother of Theodore of Mopsuestia, was notably influenced by the writings of the pagan critic Porphyry.He divided the prophecy into its three component parts:

• The first seven weeks (49 years): From the reign of Darius the Mede to the sixth year of Darius Hystaspes, culminating in the completion of Zerubbabel’s temple.

• The sixty-two weeks (483 years): Beginning after a gap, running from the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes I to the thirty-second year of Herod, which he calculated as the period from the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls to the advent of Christ.

• The final week (7 years): Commencing with Christ’s ministry, with the death of Christ falling in the “midst of the week,” when He confirmed the covenant.

Theodoret of Cyrus (433 AD)

Theodoret of Cyrus, a prominent biblical commentator of the early fifth century calculated the seventy weeks as two consecutive periods: sixty-two weeks followed by seven weeks, with the latter forty-nine years culminating in the beginning of Christ’s public ministry. According to Theodoret, the seventy weeks should not be counted from the beginning of the temple reconstruction under Cyrus or from the completion of the temple under Darius Hystaspes. Instead, he argued that the proper method is to work backwards from the ministry of Jesus at the Jordan. Using this reverse calculation, Theodoret determined that the sixty-two weeks lead up to the onset of Christ’s ministry, while the final seven weeks correspond to the period in which the new covenant is inaugurated, sacrifice ceases, and the temple veil is torn at the crucifixion (Matt. 27:51). He emphasized that the “anointed leader” mentioned by the archangel Gabriel is uniquely fulfilled in Christ, as no other figure—including Abraham, Moses, or the prophets—receives the title “holy of holies” or inaugurates the fulfillment of all prophetic oracles. He see the see's the the destruction of the city is an insert that takes place after the 70 weeks.

His commentary is very detailed, you can read it below.

Alternate View of the Church

A minority view in the early Church, held by Irenaeus, his pupil Hippolytus, and Apollinaris, interpreted Daniel’s seventieth week as a still-future event. These three Christian theologians predicted Jesus would return in the around the year 500. One prediction was based on the dimensions of Noah's Ark.[1|1]: 35  In Hippolytus' Commentary on Daniel, he writes that six thousand years must pass, since the creation of the world, and he believes it was created 5500 years before Christ.

Irenaeus and Hippolytus are the only known early Church writers to place the seventieth week at the end of the gospel age, postulating a significant gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks. In this framework, the final half-week was associated with the literal 3.5-year tyranny of the Antichrist, who would set up his throne in the Jerusalem temple immediately preceding the Second Advent. However, their efforts to predict a specific date for Christ’s return, as well as other historical details, have long been proven incorrect, casting doubt on the reliability of their interpretations.

The futurist view of the seventieth week was never widely accepted. St. Jerome specifically criticized the chronological discrepancies in Irenaeus’s calculations:

“If by any chance those of future generations should not see these predictions of his [Irenaeus] fulfilled at the time he set, then they will be forced to seek for some other solution and to convict the teacher himself of erroneous interpretation.”

Irenaeus (c. 130–202 AD)

Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, interpreted Daniel’s prophecy with a futurist lens. He emphasized that the final half-week would witness the Antichrist’s 3.5-year reign and the persecution of the saints, marking a clear gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks:

“And then he [Daniel] points out the time that his [Antichrist’s] tyranny shall last, during which the saints shall be put to flight, they who offer a pure sacrifice unto God: ‘And in the midst of the week,’ he says, ‘the sacrifice and the libation shall be taken away, and the abomination of desolation [shall be brought] into the temple: even unto the consummation of the time shall the desolation be complete.’ Now three years and six months constitute the half-week.”
(Against Heresies 5.25.4)

Irenaeus also connected Daniel’s prophecy to the end of the fourth kingdom (the Roman Empire) and the advent of the kingdom of God, represented by the stone cut without hands. Additionally, he refuted the Valentinian claim—based on Luke’s Gospel—that Christ preached for only one year after His baptism, arguing instead that Christ was over fifty years old at His death, according to the testimony of elders acquainted with John the disciple.

“As a point of history, the views of Irenaeus did give seed to premillennialism. But the early fathers of the Church strongly and universally denounced this concept. The early Church understood the presumptuous-parenthesis theory that rapturists employ… but they resoundingly rejected it.”
(David B. Currie, Rapture, p. 425)

Hippolytus (c. 170 – 235 AD)

Hippolytus, a pupil of Irenaeus, wrote the first known commentary on Daniel and supported the futurist interpretation. He sought to demonstrate that the seventy weeks prophecy culminated in Christ while also providing a typological framework connecting the Old Testament priesthood and the return from Babylon to the coming of the Messiah.

Division of the Seventy Weeks

Hippolytus divides the seventy weeks into two main segments. He identifies the first seven weeks (49 years) as beginning with Daniel’s vision in Babylon and corresponding to the seventy years of exile prophesied by Jeremiah:

“Having mentioned therefore seventy weeks, and having divided them into two parts, in order that what was spoken by him to the prophet might be better understood, he proceeds thus, 'Unto Christ the Prince shall be seven weeks,' which make forty-nine years. It was in the twenty-first year that Daniel saw these things in Babylon. Hence, the forty-nine years added to the twenty-one, make up the seventy years, of which the blessed Jeremiah spake: 'The sanctuary shall be desolate seventy years from the captivity that befell them under Nebuchadnezzar; and after these things the people will return, and sacrifice and offering will be presented, when Christ is their Prince.’”

He explicitly connects this period with the priestly and royal anointings of the time:

“Now of what Christ does he speak, but of Jesus the son of Josedech, who returned at that time along with the people, and offered sacrifice according to the law, in the seventieth year, when the sanctuary was built? For all the kings and priests were styled Christs, because they were anointed with the holy oil… presenting the image until the perfect King and Priest appeared from heaven, who alone did the will of the Father…”

The remaining sixty-two weeks (434 years) extend from the post-exilic period under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Joshua the high priest, to the advent of Christ, marking the full fulfillment of prophecy:

“In order, then, to show the time when He is to come whom the blessed Daniel desired to see, he says, 'And after seven weeks there are other threescore and two weeks,' which period embraces the space of 434 years… for after the return of the people from Babylon under the leadership of Jesus the son of Josedech, and Ezra the scribe, and Zerubbabel the son of Salathiel… there were 434 years unto the coming of Christ, in order that the Priest of priests might be manifested in the world, and that He who taketh away the sins of the world might be evidently set forth…'”

Theological Interpretation: Sin, Anointing, and Sealing

Hippolytus emphasizes the theological significance of the prophecy, particularly the blotting out of sins and the sealing of unbelief:

“And whosoever believed on the heavenly Priest, were cleansed by that same Priest, and their sins were blotted out. And whosoever believed not on Him… had their sins sealed, as those which could not be taken away; whence the angel, foreseeing that not all should believe on Him, said, 'To finish sins, and to seal up sins.' For as many as continued to disbelieve Him… had their sins not finished, but sealed to be kept for judgment. As many as will believe… have their sins blotted out. Wherefore he says: 'And to seal up vision and prophet.’”

He interprets Christ as the ultimate fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, with His advent opening what was previously “sealed” to the faithful:

“For when He came who is the fulfilling of the law and of the prophets (for the law and the prophets were till John), it was necessary that the things spoken by them should be confirmed (sealed), in order that at the coming of the Lord all things loosed should be brought to light… The things… which of old were sealed, are now by the grace of God the Lord all open to the saints.”

Final Week and Eschatological Expectation

Hippolytus sees the final, seventieth week as partially fulfilled in Christ’s ministry and partially prophetic, pointing forward to future eschatological events:

“After threescore and two weeks the times will be fulfilled, and one week will make a covenant with many; and in the midst (half) of the week sacrifice and oblation will be removed, and in the temple will be the abomination of desolation. For when the threescore and two weeks are fulfilled, and Christ is come… there will remain only one week, the last, in which Elias will appear, and Enoch, and in the midst of it the abomination of desolation will be manifested, viz., Antichrist, announcing desolation to the world. And when he comes, the sacrifice and oblation will be removed, which now are offered to God in every place by the nations.”

Apollinaris of Laodicea (310–390 AD)

Apollinaris, bishop of Laodicea (c. 310–390 AD) viewed the Seventy Weeks as a sequential prophetic timeline beginning with the advent of Christ Himself. Unlike other early interpreters who set the start of the prophecy at a historical decree to rebuild Jerusalem, Apollinaris places the commencement at the incarnation.

"On the other hand Apollinarius of Laodicea in his investigation of the problem breaks away from the stream of the past and directs his longing desires towards the future, very unsafely venturing an opinion concerning matters so obscure. And if by any chance those of future generations should not see these predictions of his fulfilled at the time he set, then they will be forced to seek for some other solution and to convict the teacher himself of erroneous interpretation. And so, in order to avoid the appearance of slandering a man as having made a statement he never made, he makes the following assertion ---- and I translate him word for word: "To the period of four hundred and ninety years the wicked deeds are to be confined (690) as well as all the crimes which shall ensue from those deeds. After these shall come the times of blessing, and the world is to be reconciled unto God at the advent of Christ, His Son. For from the coming forth of the Word, when Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, to the forty-ninth year, that is, the end of the seven weeks, [God] waited for Israel to repent. Thereafter, indeed, from the eighth year of Claudius Caesar [i.e., 48 A.D.] onward, the Romans took up arms against the Jews. For it was in His thirtieth year, according to the Evangelist Luke, that the Lord incarnate began His preaching of the Gospel (Luke 1) [sic!]. According to the Evangelist John (John 2 and 11), Christ completed two years over a period of three passovers. The years of Tiberius' reign from that point onward are to be reckoned at six; then there were the four years of the reign of Gaius Caesar, surnamed Caligula, and eight more years in the reign of Claudius. This makes a total of forty-nine years, or the equivalent of seven weeks of years. But when four hundred thirty-four years shall have elapsed after that date, that is to say, the sixty-two weeks, then [i.e. in 482 A.D.] Jerusalem and the Temple shall be rebuilt during three and a half years within the final week, beginning with the advent of Elias, who according to the dictum of our Lord and Savior (Luke 1) [sic!] is going to come and turn back the hearts of the fathers towards their children. And then the Antichrist shall come, and according to the Apostle [reading apostolum for apostolorum] he is going to sit in the |105 temple of God (II Thess. 2) and be slain by the breath of our Lord and Savior after he has waged war against the saints. And thus it shall come to pass that the middle of the week shall mark the confirmation of God's covenant with the saints, and the middle of the week in turn shall mark the issuing of the decree under the authority of Antichrist that no more sacrifices be offered. For the Antichrist shall set up the abomination of desolation, that is, an idol or statue of his own god, within the Temple. Then shall ensue the final devastation and the condemnation of the Jewish people, who after their rejection of Christ's truth shall embrace the lie of the Antichrist. Moreover this same Apollinarius asserts that he conceived this idea about the proper dating from the fact that Africanus, (p. 549) the author of the Tempora [Chronology], whose explanation I have inserted above, affirms that the final week will occur at the end of the world. Yet, says Apollinarius, it is impossible that periods so linked together be wrenched apart, but rather the time-segments must all be joined together in conformity with Daniel's prophecy.

For Apollinaris:

1. Weeks 1–7 (49 years): Begin at Christ’s birth; a period of waiting for Israel to repent.
2. Weeks 8–69 (434 years): Historical events unfold, including Roman actions against the Jews.
3. Week 70 (final week): Eschatological period at the end of the world, including the appearance of Elijah, the rise of the Antichrist, and the abomination of desolation in the rebuilt Temple.
4. He stresses that the periods of the prophecy are continuous and cannot be separated