John Chrysostom, Against the Jews

Pay attention with accuracy; for the whole question is here. Seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks, four hundred and eighty-three years; for here he speaks not of weeks of days, nor of months, but of weeks of years. For from Cyrus to Antiochus Epiphanes and that captivity, is three hundred and ninety-four years. Therefore, showing that he is not speaking of that desolation of the temple, but the one after it, the one under Pompey, and Vespasian, and Titus, extending the time further, then teaching us from where we ought to count, he shows that it is not from the day of the return; but from where? From the going forth of the word, to answer, and 48.899 to build Jerusalem. But it was not built in the time of Cyrus, but in the time of Artaxerxes Longimanus. For after the return came Cambyses, then the magi, and after them Darius the son of Hystaspes, then Xerxes the son of Darius, and after him Artabanus; then after Artabanus, Artaxerxes Longimanus, who was king of Persia; and during his reign, in the twentieth year of his reign, Nehemiah went up and restored the city. And Ezra has narrated these things to us accurately. If, therefore, we count four hundred and eighty-three years from then, we will surely arrive at this destruction. For this reason he says, The street shall be built again, and the wall. When, therefore, he says, it is restored and receives its proper form, from that time count the seventy weeks, and you will see this captivity having no end. And showing this very thing more clearly, that the evils holding them will have no resolution, he speaks thus: After the seventy weeks anointing shall be destroyed, and there will be no judgment in it, and the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed together with the coming ruler, and they shall be cut off as in a flood; nor will there be a remnant left, nor a root sprouting again, and until the end of a war determined, desolations. And again speaking of this captivity he says: Incense and libation shall be taken away; and upon this, upon the sanctuary, the abomination of desolation, and until the consummation of time, a consummation shall be given upon the desolation. When you hear, O Jew, "consummation," what else do you expect? And upon this. What is "Upon this"? That is, in addition to these things that have been said, to the removal of sacrifice and libation, there will be another, greater evil. What then is this? Upon the sanctuary the abomination of desolation; calling the temple the "sanctuary," and the "abomination of desolation" the statue which the one who destroyed the city set up inside the temple. And until the consummation, he says, desolation. For this reason Christ, having come in the flesh after Antiochus Epiphanes, and announcing beforehand the captivity that was to come, and showing that Daniel had prophesied about it, says: When you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place; let the reader understand. For since every idol, and every image of a man was called an abomination by the Jews, enigmatically indicating that statue, he also announced beforehand both when and by whom the captivity would be. But that these things were said about the Romans, Josephus has also said, as we have shown before. What argument, then, is left for you, when the prophets are seen to have spoken of the other captivities with definite times, but for this one have set no time, but have even said the opposite, that the desolation will be until the consummation? And that what has been said is not false, come, let us also provide the testimony from the events themselves. For if they had not attempted to build the temple, they would be able to say that, "If we had wanted to attempt and to undertake the building, we certainly would have been able and would have completed it;" but now I show that they not 48.900 once, nor twice, but even three times attempted and were broken, just as in the Olympic games, so that the crown of the Church is indisputable.

μετὰ ἀκριβείας προσέχετε· τὸ γὰρ πᾶν ζήτημα ἐνταῦθά ἐστιν. Ἑβδομάδες ἑπτὰ, καὶ ἑβδομάδες ἑξήκοντα δύο τετρακόσια ὀγδοηκοντατρία ἔτη· ἑβδομάδας γὰρ ἐνταῦθα οὐχ ἡμερῶν φησιν, οὐδὲ μηνῶν, ἀλλ' ἑβδομάδας ἐνιαυτῶν. Ἀπὸ γὰρ Κύρου ἐπὶ Ἀντίοχον τὸν Ἐπιφανῆ καὶ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν ἐκείνην, τριακόσια ἐνενήκοντα τέσσαρά ἐστιν ἔτη. ∆ηλῶν τοίνυν, ὅτι οὐκ ἐκείνην λέγει τὴν ἐρήμωσιν τοῦ ναοῦ, ἀλλὰ τὴν μετ' ἐκείνην, τὴν ἐπὶ Πομπηΐου, καὶ Οὐεσπασιανοῦ, καὶ Τίτου, περαιτέρω προάγων τὸν χρόνον, εἶτα διδάσκων ἡμᾶς πόθεν ἀριθμεῖν χρὴ, δείκνυσιν ὅτι οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς ἡμέρας τῆς ἐπανόδου· ἀλλὰ πόθεν; Ἀπὸ ἐξόδου λόγου, τοῦ ἀποκριθῆναι, καὶ 48.899 τοῦ οἰκοδομῆσαι Ἱερουσαλήμ. Οὐκ ἐπὶ Κύρου δὲ ᾠκοδομήθη, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἀρταξέρξου τοῦ Μακρόχειρος. Μετὰ γὰρ τὴν κάθοδον ἐπανῆλθε Καμβύσης, εἶτα οἱ μάγοι, καὶ μετ' ἐκείνους ∆αρεῖος ὁ Ὑστάσπου, εἶτα ὁ Ξέρξης ὁ ∆αρείου, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον Ἀρταβάνης· εἶτα μετὰ Ἀρταβάνην Ἀρταξέρξης ὁ Μακρόχειρ, ὃς ἐβασίλευσε τῆς Περσίδος· καὶ τούτου βασιλεύοντος, εἰκοστοῦ ἔτους τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ, Νεεμίας ἀνελθὼν τὴν πόλιν ἀνέστησεν. Καὶ ταῦτα ὁ Ἔσδρας ἡμῖν ἀκριβῶς διηγήσατο. Ἂν τοίνυν ἐντεῦθεν τετρακόσια καὶ ὀγδοήκοντα τρία ἔτη ἀριθμήσωμεν, πάντως ἥξομεν ἐπὶ τὴν κατασκαφὴν ταύτην. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησιν, Οἰκοδομηθήσεται πλατεῖα καὶ περίτειχος. Ἐπειδὰν οὖν, φησὶν, ἀναστῇ, καὶ τὸ οἰκεῖον ἀπολάβῃ σχῆμα, ἀπ' ἐκείνου τὰς ἑβδομάδας τὰς ἑβδομήκοντα ἀρίθμει, καὶ ὄψει τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν ταύτην οὐκέτι τέλος ἔχουσαν. Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ αὐτὸ δηλῶν σαφέστερον, ὅτι οὐχ ἕξει τινὰ λύσιν τὰ κατέχοντα αὐτοὺς κακὰ, οὕτω φησί· Μετὰ τὰς ἑβδομάδας τὰς ἑβδομήκοντα ἐξολοθρευθήσεται χρῖσμα, καὶ κρῖμα οὐκ ἔσται ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ τὴν πόλιν δὲ καὶ τὸ ἅγιον συνδιαφθαρεῖ σὺν τῷ ἡγουμένῳ τῷ ἐρχομένῳ, καὶ συγκοπήσονται ὡς ἐν κατακλυσμῷ· οὐδὲ λείψανον ἔσται λοιπὸν, οὐδὲ ῥίζα πάλιν ἀναβλαστάνουσα, καὶ ἕως τέλους πολέμου συντετμημένου ἀφανισμοῖς. Καὶ πάλιν λέγων τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν ταύτην φησίν· Ἀρθήσεται θυμίαμα καὶ σπονδή· καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερὸν βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως, καὶ ἕως συντελείας καιροῦ συντέλεια δοθήσεται ἐπὶ τὴν ἐρήμωσιν. Ὅταν δὲ ἀκούσῃς, ὦ Ἰουδαῖε, συντέλειαν, τί λοιπὸν ἕτερον προσδοκᾷς; Καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις. Τί δέ ἐστιν, Ἐπὶ τούτοις; Τουτέστι, πρὸς τούτοις τοῖς εἰρημένοις, τῇ τῆς θυσίας ἀναιρέσει καὶ τῆς σπονδῆς, ἕτερον ἔσται τι μεῖζον κακόν. Ποῖον δὴ τοῦτο; Ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερὸν βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως· ἱερὸν τὸν ναὸν καλῶν, βδέλυγμα δὲ ἐρημώσεως τὸν ἀνδριάντα, ὃν ἔστησεν ὁ τὴν πόλιν καθελὼν ἔνδον ἐν τῷ ναῷ. Καὶ ἕως συντελείας, φησὶν, ἐρήμωσις. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησιν ὁ Χριστὸς, μετὰ Ἀντίοχον τὸν Ἐπιφανῆ παραγενόμενος τὸ κατὰ σάρκα, καὶ προαναφωνῶν τὴν μέλλουσαν ἔσεσθαι αἰχμαλωσίαν, καὶ δεικνὺς ὅτι περὶ αὐτῆς ὁ ∆ανιὴλ προεφήτευσε, φησίν· Ὅταν ἴδητε τὸ βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως, ὃ εἶπε ∆ανιὴλ ὁ προφήτης, ἑστὼς ἐν τόπῳ ἁγίῳ· ὁ ἀναγινώσκων νοείτω. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἅπαν εἴδωλον, καὶ πᾶν τύπωμα ἀνθρώπου παρὰ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις βδέλυγμα ἐκαλεῖτο, αἰνιγματωδῶς ἐμφαίνων τὸν ἀνδριάντα ἐκεῖνον, ὁμοῦ καὶ πότε καὶ ὑπὸ τίνος ἡ αἰχμαλωσία ἔσται, προανεφώνησεν. Ὅτι δὲ περὶ Ῥωμαίων ταῦτα εἴρηται, καὶ ὁ Ἰώσηππος, καθάπερ ἔμπροσθεν ἀπεδείξαμεν εἴρηκεν. Τίς οὖν ὑμῖν λοιπὸν ὑπολέλειπται λόγος, ὅταν τὰς μὲν ἄλλας φαίνωνται αἰχμαλωσίας οἱ προφῆται μετὰ διωρισμένων χρόνων εἰπόντες, ταύτῃ δὲ μηδένα χρόνον ὁρίσαντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἐναντίον προσειπόντες, ὅτι ἕως συντελείας ἔσται ἡ ἐρήμωσις; Καὶ ὅτι οὐ ψεῦδος τὰ εἰρημένα, φέρε καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν πραγμάτων αὐτῶν παράσχωμεν μαρτυρίαν. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ μὴ ἐπεχείρησαν οἰκοδομῆσαι τὸν ναὸν, εἶχον ἂν λέγειν, ὅτι Εἴ γε ἠβουλήθημεν ἐπιχειρῆσαι καὶ τῆς οἰκοδομῆς ἅψασθαι, πάντως ἂν ἰσχύσαμεν καὶ ἠνύσαμεν· νυνὶ δὲ αὐτοὺς δείκνυμι οὐχ 48.900 ἅπαξ, οὐδὲ δὶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τρὶς ἐπιχειρήσαντας καὶ ῥαγέντας, καθάπερ ἐν τοῖς Ὀλυμπιακοῖς ἀγῶσιν, ὥστε ἀναμφισβήτητον εἶναι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας τὸν στέφανον.