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eleven and a fourth makes a three-month period. The four hundred and seventy-five years, therefore, become fifty-nine octaeterides and three years, and as a three-month intercalary period occurs in the octaeteris, they become fifteen years, lacking a few days. And these, with the four hundred and seventy-five years, the seventy weeks are completed.” 8.2.55 So much, then, for Africanus. But if I must also bring forward my own interpretation of these passages, I say that the word did not make the division of the seventy weeks in vain or at random. For having divided them into a first seven, then another sixty-two, and after saying very many things in between, adding the one, thus he has defined the number of the seventy weeks. 8.2.56 He says, then: “and you shall know and understand that from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem until Christ the leader there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.” Then, having introduced certain other things in between, he adds the last, saying: “And he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week.” 8.2.57 But that these things have not been devised in vain nor without divine inspiration, I think that any one whatsoever of those who pay attention to them as the very words of God will agree. 8.2.58 This, then, it seemed good to us first to note, and to leave to our readers the exact solution of what was sought. But if I must not conceal what comes to mind, I say that according to another sense or interpretation, the “Christ the leader” indicated in the present scripture, according to the phrase “from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem until Christ the leader,” is none other than from the list of the high priests who led the people after the prophecy and the return from Babylon, whom it is the custom of Scripture to call anointed ones. 8.2.59 For we have received that these alone led the nation, beginning from Jesus son of Josedech the great priest, after the return from Babylon and up to the times of the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. 8.2.60 I think, therefore, that the time between their leadership, during which they led, is indicated by “from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem until Christ the leader there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks,” and that the weeks of years, adding up to four hundred and eighty-three years, extend from the reign of Cyrus to the rule of the Romans, during which Pompey, the Roman general, having come upon Jerusalem, took the city by siege, and subjected the entire nation as slaves to the Romans, so that from that time they paid tribute and obeyed the decrees of the Romans. 8.2.61 To this time, then, the number of four hundred and eighty-three years is limited, at which time also those who, according to the law of Moses, had received the leadership of the nation and the priesthood by succession from their fathers came to an end, whom I suppose the divine Scripture in the present passage calls “Christ the leader.” 8.2.62 And if it is necessary to set forth the list of the succession of the high priests who lived in the indicated intervening time, there is no objection to doing this for the demonstration of the truth of what has been said. First, then, after the prophecy of Daniel, in the reign of Cyrus, king of the Persians, after the return from Babylon, Jesus the son of Josedech, who was named “the great priest,” comes up from captivity with Zerubbabel, and lays the foundations of the temple, but since the work was hindered by the neighbors, the first seven weeks of years indicated by the prophet are completed, during which the work of the building of the temple remained unfinished. 8.2.63 Wherefore the divine word separates the first seven from the connection of the remaining weeks, saying “seven weeks,” and then next, with a pause, adding “and sixty-two weeks.” Therefore, from Cyrus and up to the completion of the building of the temple, seven weeks of years are found. 8.2.64

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ἕνδεκα καὶ τέταρτον ποιεῖ τρίμηνον. τὰ τοίνυν τετρακόσια ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε ἔτη ὀκταετηρίδες γίνονται πεντήκοντα ἐννέα καὶ ἔτη τρία, ὡς τριμήνου δὲ ἐμβολίμου τῇ ὀκταετίᾳ γινομένης, ἔτη πεντεκαίδεκα ὀλίγων ἡμερῶν ἀποδέοντα γίγνονται. ταῦτα δὲ πρὸς τοῖς τετρακοσίοις ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε ἔτεσιν, αἱ ἑβδομήκοντα ἑβδομάδες συντελοῦνται.» 8.2.55 Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν Ἀφρικανός. εἰ δὲ χρὴ καὶ ἡμᾶς οἰκείαν εἰς τοὺς τόπους ἀπόδοσιν εἰς μέσον ἀγαγεῖν, φημὶ μὴ μάτην μηδ' ὡς ἔτυχεν τὴν διαίρεσιν πεποιῆσθαι τὸν λόγον τῶν ἑβδομήκοντα ἑβδομάδων. διελὼν γὰρ αὐτὰς εἰς πρώτας ἑπτά, ἔπειθ' ἑτέρας ἑξήκοντα δύο, καὶ μετὰ πλεῖστα τὰ μεταξὺ ἐπιλεγόμενα τὴν μίαν ἐπιθείς, οὕτω τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν ἑβδομήκοντα ἑβδομάδων ἀφωρίσατο. 8.2.56 λέγει δ' οὖν· «καὶ γνώσῃ καὶ συνήσεις ἀπὸ ἐξόδου λόγου τοῦ ἀποκριθῆναι καὶ τοῦ οἰκοδομῆσαι Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἕως χριστοῦ ἡγουμένου ἑβδομάδες ἑπτὰ καὶ ἑβδομάδες ἑξήκοντα δύο». εἶθ' ἕτερά τινα μεταξὺ ἐπαγαγὼν τὴν τελευταίαν προστίθησιν, φήσας· «καὶ δυναμώσει διαθήκην πολλοῖς ἑβδομὰς μία». 8.2.57 ταῦτα δὲ ὅτι μὴ μάτην μηδ' ἄνευ θείας ἐπιπνοίας ἐσχεδίασται, πάνθ' ὅντιν' οὖν τῶν ὡς θεοῦ ῥήμασιν αὐτοῖς προσεχόντων ὁμολογήσειν ἡγοῦμαι. 8.2.58 τοῦτο μὲν οὖν πρῶτον ἡμῖν καλῶς ἔδοξεν ἐπισημήνασθαι καταλιπεῖν τε τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι τὴν τοῦ ζητηθέντος ἀκριβῆ λύσιν. εἰ δὲ χρὴ καὶ ἡμᾶς τὸ ἐπεισιὸν μὴ ἀποκρύψασθαι, φημὶ καθ' ἑτέραν διάνοιαν ἤτοι ἐκδοχὴν τὸν ἐν τῇ προκειμένῃ γραφῇ δηλούμενον «χριστὸν ἡγούμενον», κατὰ τὸ «ἀπὸ ἐξόδου λόγου τοῦ ἀποκριθῆναι καὶ τοῦ οἰκοδομῆσαι Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἕως χριστοῦ ἡγουμένου», οὐκ ἄλλον εἶναι τοῦ καταλόγου τῶν μετὰ τὴν προφητείαν καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος ἐπάνοδον ἡγησαμένων τοῦ λαοῦ ἀρχιερέων, οὓς χριστοὺς ἔθος ἀποκαλεῖν τῇ γραφῇ. 8.2.59 μόνους γὰρ τούτους καθηγήσασθαι τοῦ ἔθνους, ἀρξαμένους ἀπὸ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Ἰωσεδὲκ τοῦ ἱερέως τοῦ μεγάλου, μετὰ τὴν ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος ἐπάνοδον καὶ μέχρι τῶν χρόνων τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας παρειλήφαμεν. 8.2.60 Οἶμαι γοῦν τὸν μεταξὺ χρόνον τῆς τούτων προστασίας, καθ' ὃν ἡγήσαντο, δηλοῦσθαι διὰ τοῦ «ἀπὸ ἐξόδου λόγου τοῦ ἀποκριθῆναι καὶ τοῦ οἰκοδομῆσαι Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἕως χριστοῦ ἡγουμένου ἑβδομάδες ἑπτὰ καὶ ἑβδομάδες ἑξήκοντα δύο», τῶν ἐτῶν δὲ τὰς ἑβδομάδας, συναγομένας εἰς ἔτη τετρακόσια ὀγδοήκοντα τρία, ἀπὸ τῆς Κύρου βασιλείας ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων παρεκτείνεσθαι ἀρχήν, καθ' ἣν Πομπήιος Ῥωμαίων στρατηγὸς ἐπιστὰς τοῖς Ἱεροσολύμοις εἷλε μὲν πολιορκίᾳ τὴν πόλιν, τὸ δὲ πᾶν ἔθνος δοῦλον Ῥωμαίοις κατεστήσατο, ὡς καὶ φόρους ἐξ ἐκείνου τελεῖν καὶ τοῖς Ῥωμαίων πειθαρχεῖν ἐπιτάγμασιν. 8.2.61 ἐπὶ τοῦτον γοῦν τὸν χρόνον ὁ τῶν τετρακοσίων ὀγδοήκοντα τριῶν ἐτῶν περιορίζεται ἀριθμός, ἐφ' ὃν καὶ κατέληξαν οἱ κατὰ τὸν Μωσέως νόμον ἐκ πατέρων διαδοχῆς τὴν προστασίαν τοῦ ἔθνους καὶ τὴν ἱερωσύνην διειληφότες, οὓς «χριστὸν ἡγούμενον» τὴν θείαν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος γραφὴν ὀνομάζειν ὑπολαμβάνω. 8.2.62 εἰ δὲ χρὴ καὶ τὸν κατάλογον ἐκθέσθαι τῆς τῶν ἀρχιερέων διαδοχῆς, τῶν ἐν τῷ δηλουμένῳ μεταξὺ χρόνῳ διαγενομένων, καὶ τοῦτο οὐδεὶς φθόνος εἰς παράστασιν τῆς τῶν εἰρημένων ἀληθείας ποιήσασθαι. πρῶτος τοίνυν μετὰ τὴν τοῦ ∆ανιὴλ προφητείαν, ἐπὶ Κύρου τοῦ βασιλέως Περσῶν, μετὰ τὴν ἀπὸ Βαβυλῶνος ἐπάνοδον, Ἰησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ἰωσεδέκ, «ὁ ἱερεὺς ὁ μέγας» χρηματίσας, ἅμα Ζοροβάβελ ἄνεισιν ἀπὸ τῆς αἰχμαλωσίας, καὶ θεμελίους καταβάλλεται τοῦ ἱεροῦ, ἀλλ' ἐπισχεθέντος τοῦ ἔργου ὑπὸ τῶν περιοίκων, αἱ πρῶται ἑπτὰ ἑβδομάδες τῶν ἐτῶν αἱ διὰ τοῦ προφήτου δηλούμεναι συμπεραιοῦνται, καθ' ἃς ἀτελὲς διέμενε τὸ ἔργον τῆς τοῦ ναοῦ οἰκοδομῆς. 8.2.63 διόπερ ὁ θεῖος λόγος τῆς συναφῆς τῶν λοιπῶν ἑβδομάδων ἀφορίζει τὰς πρώτας ἑπτά, εἰπὼν «ἑβδομάδας ἑπτά», ἔπειθ' ἑξῆς μετὰ διαστολῆς ἐπαγαγὼν «καὶ ἑβδομάδες ἑξήκοντα δύο». ἑπτὰ γοῦν ἀπὸ Κύρου καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν συμπλήρωσιν τῆς τοῦ ἱεροῦ οἰκοδομῆς ἑβδομάδες ἐτῶν εὑρίσκονται. 8.2.64