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Dan.9:1. In the first summer of Darius, the son of Assuir from the tribe of Midsk, who reigned in the kingdom of Chaldeistem. Dan.9:2. In the first year of his kingdom, I Daniel understood the number of years in books, about “he came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the Prophet, at the end of the desolation of Jerusalem for seventy years.” And from here it is clear that one is the kingdom of Darius the son of Assuir, and the other is Cyrus of Persia; In accordance with what was said above, what has now been read. The Prophet called Darius not just a Mede, but “from the tribe of Midsk,” so that it would be clear that he is not a Mede on both sides, that is, with his father and mother. However, he reigned in the kingdom of the Chaldeans, after Belshazzar died at night for wickedness, struck by God's punishment: and it seems to me that this Darius reigned not for a very long time; “because” seeing that a certain time has finally been fulfilled and having calculated the number of seventy years, which the God of all spoke through the Prophet Jeremiah, blessed Daniel begins to bring his prayer to the Lord for the people. And this time was fulfilled under the Persian king Cyrus, as blessed Ezra says. For at the very beginning of his writing, after the introduction, briefly mentioning the capture of Jerusalem, about the enslavement of the fatherland, and about the resettlement of the captives to Babylon; summer, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah" (2 Ezra 1, 57, 58. 2, 1). And the most divine Jeremiah says this: “Behold, I will send and take away all the tribes of Seversk, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant: and I will bring him to this land, and to its abodes, and to all the nations around it, and I will kill them, and I will make them a terror, and a punishment, and an everlasting reproach. And I will destroy from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the fragrance of the world, and the light of the lamp. And the whole earth shall fall into desolation and terror, and these shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years among the nations. And when the seventy years are fulfilled, upon the king of Babylon, and upon the tongue.” he, says the Lord, will destroy their iniquities even on the land of the Chaldeans, and I will lay it in eternal desolation (Jer. 25, 9 – 12). Thus, blessed Jeremiah made it clear that the time of captivity would be fulfilled with the destruction of the Chaldean kingdom; and Ezra made this more clear by making a mention of Cyrus. However, we find that the divine Zechariah calculates this time in another way. For when, after the death of Cyrus and his son Cambyses, Darius, the son of Istaslov, the Prophet, took over the Persian state, mentioning the time (for he says: “in the twenty-fourth of the first ten months, this is the month of Shebat, in the second summer under Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah Barahinn the son of Addov, the prophet” Zech. 1, 7), in a few words added: and “the Angel of the Lord answered and said: Lord Almighty, until you have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, which you have despised during this seventieth year” (12)? Some of those who are ill with unbelief think that the holy Prophets disagree; but nourished by sacred words, enlightened by divine grace, they seek agreement from the holy Prophets. Therefore, having asked for a ray of this grace for ourselves, let us try to make this consent obvious to the ignorant. The time of captivity is determined by everyone, the divine Jeremiah, the godly Zechariah, and the blessed Ezra; because everyone sets the number seventy years old. But, not starting to count this time from the same year, they argued that this number would come to an end; some - under Cyrus, and others - under Darius. Blessed Jeremiah and Ezra, counting from the beginning of the first captivity, rightly count seventy years, until the Persian king Cyrus. And the divine Zechariah, counting from the last siege, in which the Jews suffered final destruction, says that the number of seventy years was fulfilled under the Persian king Darius; because a divine church was actually built under him. Because the people of God were taken into captivity three times - the first time under Joachim, the son of King Josiah of Judah; - in the second under Jeconiah, son of Joachim, and in the third under Zedekiah, brother of Joachim, and uncle of Jeconiah; then it was necessary and the return was threefold. First, Cyrus the Persian released them, then Darius, the son of Istaslov, and Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes, settled there, when he first sent Ezra, and after him Nehemiah, to recreate the walls of Jerusalem. Therefore, for those who were the first captives, the period of seventy years is fulfilled under Cyrus the Persian; and the same continuation of the desolation of the church ends in the second year of Darius, the son of Istaslov, so that both the prophecies of Jeremiah and Zechariah, as well as the writing of Ezra, are not false and true. Having understood this time, having counted it and finding it approaching the end, blessed Daniel says: I gave my face to the Lord God to seek prayers and petitions in fasting and in sackcloth and ashes. I did not just expect, says the Prophet, deliverance from captivity, but brought a prayer to the Lord, asking for the release of my fellow tribesmen. For if God repeats the promises of good things a thousand times, but we make ourselves unworthy of the gift, then we will serve as an obstacle to God’s generosity. This is what God says through the Prophet Jeremiah: “Finally I will flood the tongue and the kingdom, that I may build and plant.” And it will happen, if that tongue turns “to create the evil one,” I will not bring upon it all the “good things that are said” (Jer. 18:9, 10). Having been taught this, blessed Daniel, having winged the prayer with fasting, sackcloth and ashes, brings it to God. Dan.9:4. And pray to the Lord my God, says the Prophet, “and we confessed and died: O Lord my great and wonderful God, keep the covenant,” and “mercy to those who love Thee and keep Thy commandments.” The prophet calls God great and wonderful, as being able to do great and wonderful things; because divine men love to use Divine names, borrowed from the manifestation of powers in action. He said that God keeps covenant and mercy to those who love Him, remembering the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And when composing the prayer, he will make it clear with all accuracy that he “keeps” not just, but “those who love Him and keep His commandments”; but if anyone transgresses Your commandments, then he makes himself unworthy of Your promises. And this has come true for us. Dan.9:5. We have sinned, we have been lawless, we have been dishonest, we have strayed from Your commandments and from Your judgments. Having used these venerable and wonderful names about God, the Prophet very It was proper for him to use exactly the opposite names about his fellow tribesmen. I did not consider it sufficient to say: “I have sinned,” but I added: “I am lawless, dishonest,” becoming ungrateful to Your good deeds. “Dishonest”, preferring other gods to You, inanimate, insensitive, without any power. Then, showing both God’s incessantly continuing care for them and the great insensitivity of the people, he added: Dan.9:6. And the servant of Thy Prophets did not obey, who spoke in Thy name to our kings, and to our princes, and to our father, and to all the people of the earth. Thy mercy did not cease to look upon us, and through the Prophets to converse, now with kings and princes, now with priests and teachers (Daniel called them fathers), and many times with all the people; but despite all this we continued to argue. Therefore, the Prophet rightly added: Dan.9:7. You, O Lord, are true, but we are ashamed of our faces, like this day, the man of Judah, and those who live in Jerusalem, and all Israel, both near and far. in “all the earth, where I have scattered there, to their rejection, who have rejected You, Lord.” What You have done, O Lord, preaches Your righteousness; and we, due to our great iniquity, being in shame, blame ourselves for our own lack of gratitude. No harm has come to you from our wickedness; and we have gathered the fruits of our seeds and the fruits of sorrow. The prophet, accusing his fellow tribesmen, adds himself to the number of those who transgressed God's law. he says, “a shame on the face of both our king, and our prince, and our father, who have sinned against you.” Each of these expressions is enough to bend even the most cruel to mercy, not only the meekest and most philanthropic. For the Prophet shows with these words that not only the insignificant and ignorant among the people are filled with shame, but also the very kings, and princes, and priests; for he called them fathers. And showing the justice of the punishment, he added: “those who have sinned against You.” But we have borne fruits worthy of lawlessness. Dan.9:9. To the Lord our God there is generosity and purification. For it is fitting for You, who are truly meek and loving of mankind, to deal with us graciously and mercifully. And continuing to accuse of iniquity (for he heard that God speaks through another Prophet: “Thou hast said thy iniquities first, that thou shalt be justified” (Isa. 43:26)), the Prophet appropriates to himself the iniquity of the people, and pronounces an accusation against them, proclaiming God’s mercy. says the Prophet, (10). “And disobedient to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws which He gave before us, by the hand of the servants of His prophets.” Enlightened by the Prophets and guided to what should be done, we continued to contradict all the time. Dan.9:11. And all Israel have transgressed Thy law, and have turned away from listening to Thy voice. For if some transgressed the law, and others were faithful guardians of Your laws; then everyone would not have been exposed to this disaster. But, since everyone in general has dared to commit lawlessness, the Prophet rightly says: “The curse and curse inscribed in the law of Moses of the servant of God has come upon us, because we have sinned against Him. “The curse” is meant by the Prophet spoken by God in Deuteronomy; for he says: “I will lift up My hand into heaven, and I will swear by My right hand, and I will live forever. For I will sharpen My sword like lightning, and My hand will receive judgment, and I will exact vengeance on My enemies, and I will repay those who hate Me. My arrows will pierce the blood, and My sword will cut off the flesh from the blood of plagues and captivity, from the heads of the princes of the pagans” (Deut. 32, 40-42). And a little before this he also says: “Reh: I will scatter them, I will remove their memory from men” (26). And the “oath” the Prophet means was pronounced by the six tribes on Mount Ebal. Therefore, says Daniel, this curse and the oath depicted in the Law of Moses were fulfilled on us. Dan.9:12. And set forth Your words, even the verb, against us, and against our judges, who judge us, to bring great evil upon us. And showing the excessiveness of the evils, the Prophet continues: There are no Jacobs under all heaven, according to those who were in Jerusalem. I don’t even find an example for our misfortunes, says Daniel. Then, proving that the Divine prophecy is not false, he continues: Dan.9:13. As it is written in the Law of Moses. And presenting the justice of the punishment, he also says: All this evil has come upon us; and let us not pray to the face of the Lord our God, to turn away from our iniquities, and to understand all Thy truth, O Lord. Even when so many grave disasters befell us, we did not want to resort to repentance, to abandon our previous lawlessness and please You by keeping the laws. That is why the Prophet says: Dan.9:14. Awake the Lord God to our malice, and bring it upon us. Like a certain dream, putting aside long-suffering, God imposed on us a punishment worthy of our life; because, says the Prophet, The Lord our God is holy in all His deeds, and He did not obey His voice. He is innocent and does not deserve any reproach for what He has done; and we, who live in wickedness and wickedness, have brought upon ourselves punishment. So, having finished the accusation of lawlessness, the Prophet finally begins to pray and asks for philanthropy. Dan.9:15. And now, O Lord our God, thou hast brought forth thy people from the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and thou hast made for thyself a name like this day, the sinners of lawlessness. Dan.9:16. Lord, by all Your mercy, may Your wrath be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, from Your holy mountain. The Prophet remembers previous good deeds, attracting mercy with grateful remembrance, and says: It is not difficult for You, Master, to grant us liberation. For, having performed many miracles and executions over the Egyptians, You have already freed Your people from this bitter slavery, so that the glory of the miracles performed spread everywhere, and Your power became clear to all people. And since we ourselves have sinned and proven ourselves unworthy of Your love for mankind; then we beg you to grant Thy mercy to Thy city and that mountain, which by Thy appearance thereon Thou hast made holy. And, continuing the prayer for hail, the Prophet says: in our sins, “and through our iniquities, both our father Jerusalem and your people were reproached all around us.” For our iniquities, for the sins of our fathers, we became a laughing stock for neighboring nations, and the famous and glorious city was desolated. Dan.9:17. And now, O Lord our God, hear the prayer of Thy servant and his petition, and show Thy face in Thy deserted sanctuary. Accept, O Master, says Daniel, the petition of Thy servant, and look at Thy desolation of the sanctified place, and again fulfill it with Thy grace. And because the people were not worthy to accept it; then the Prophet added quite decently: Master, do what is right for You, and think not about our iniquities, but about the inexhaustible sources of Your love for mankind. And continuing to pray, the Prophet says: Dan.9:18. Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes, and see our consumption and Your city. And appropriating the city even more to God, he said: In him I called upon Your name. And what is said: “incline Your ear and open Your eyes” means: do not turn away from my petition, but listen to my prayer with favor. For the Prophet knew that the Divine is incorporeal, but as a man, he did not know how to talk with God any other way. Since every person sees with his eyes and hears with his ears, he used these sayings about the incorporeal God, calling God’s powers that way. And to this he adds: For it is not because of our righteousness that we present our prayer before You, but because of Your many mercies, O Lord. . Not placing our hope in our truths, we ask for Your love for mankind, but trusting in Your mercy, we dare to beg. Dan.9:19. Hear, Lord, cleanse, Lord, attend, Lord, and do not obstinate for Your sake, my God. The order in what has been said is surprising; The prophet begs God to first hear the prayer and not reject the request, then, having heard it, become lenient, and having become lenient, listen with favor, and having shown His favor, do and fulfill what is asked. To this he added: “do not become stubborn,” that is, do not delay the fulfillment of the request itself until another time, but immediately grant us Your coming. And the end of the prayer is worthy of Daniel’s humility. “For your sake, my God,” says the Prophet. I am not worthy to accept this mercy; but provide it. For Thy name has been called in Thy city and among Thy people. So the Prophet asked, with such zeal he brought prayer for his fellow tribesmen, begged God not to delay, and immediately accepted God’s answer; for he says: Dan.9:20. Again I speak, and I pray, and I confess my iniquities, and the sins of my people Israel, and I fall down with my prayer before the Lord my God; Dan.9:21. And while I was still speaking in prayer, behold the man Gabriel, whom I saw in my vision at the beginning, was floating. Offering this prayer and accusing our common iniquity, without finishing the prayer yet, says Daniel, I see Gabriel hovering towards me and hastening; I found out who he was, having already seen him in a dream; He also found out his name, hearing then how the Lord called and commanded him: “Tell Gabriel the vision to him” (Dan. 8:6). The Prophet called him a husband, giving this name in appearance; because in the mentioned dream he says: “Behold, a hundred are before me, like the image of a man” (15). Therefore, here he says: “Behold the man Gabriel, whom I saw in my vision at the beginning, soaring.” He said that Gabriel was soaring, seeing that he was cutting through the air with speed, and hurried to the Prophet. And touching me, like at the hour of the evening sacrifice, that is, touched during the evening service, or touched for as long as the evening service lasts. Dan.9:22. And the verb to me, and the speech: Daniel, now I have expired to build your mind. Dan.9:23. At the beginning of your prayer, a word came out, and I came to tell you that you are a man of desires, think about words, and understand in appearance. Soon after you began to pray, our common Lord, having accepted your prayer and seeing your good desire, sent me to reveal the future to you; and you carefully listen to what is being said. What will be told to you will be much deeper than how much a person can penetrate; This is what the words mean: “understand in the phenomenon,” that is, it will be called allegorically, and you must carefully delve into it in order to understand this. The Divine is sometimes said and written allegorically, so that what is clearly communicated in revelation to the saints would not be obvious to everyone; because it could easily be neglected if it became equally known to everyone. Gabriel calls the Prophet a man of desires, either as one who gave himself up to fasting and exhaustion and courageously struggling with carnal lusts, or as one who desired visions and wanted to know what would happen to the people of God, or also because Daniel, shining with the rays of virtue, attracted love to himself, and love in the highest degree. Thus, the divine Archangel, having aroused the Prophet to understand what will be said to him, offers a teaching. Dan.9:24. Seventy weeks were shortened for your people and for your holy city, until “sin is promised, and sin will end, and sins will be sealed, and iniquities will be cleansed, and iniquities will be blotted out, and eternal truth will be brought in, and the vision and the Prophet will be sealed, and the Holy of Holies will be anointed.” First of all, it should be noted that, since the Prophet, in prayer to God about the people of God and Jerusalem, says: “Thy people, Thy city, Thy holy place;” then God, turning the speech, says to Daniel: “Seventy weeks have been shortened for your people and for your holy city,” as if not deigning to call His own both the people who were anciently called His people, and the city that was also anciently called His city. This is what God did under the great Moses. When, having drained the calf, they gave him divine honor, God said to the Prophet: “Go quickly, come down from here, for your people are lawless, whom you brought out of Egypt” (Ex. 32:7). So, through the Archangel, God says to the Prophet: Having accepted your request, I will allow Jerusalem to be built, and I will command that your people be returned to their fatherland. After the conquest of Jerusalem, the Jews will live under the law for four hundred and ninety years. For so much time is seventy weeks, if each day is taken to be a year. Because God determined the continuation of their captivity to be seventy years; then, turning this time back on itself seven times, determines the continuation of their residence according to the law. “Seventy weeks have been shortened,” that is, determined and awarded; for this is how some of the interpreters translated it. About Your people, and about Your holy city, until “sin is promised, and sin ends,” that is, until their evil insolence increases and sin reaches its end. The Prophet calls the cross, which their audacity prepared for the Lord, a sin that ends and a sin that is promised, or that has grown and reached its extreme limit. For before this, daring to commit thousands of bad deeds, although they were punished and suffered for their crimes, having received forgiveness, they were again rewarded with God’s love for mankind. But, after the frantic uprising against the Master, according to the daring plan of the cross, there was no restoration for them, as the deeds themselves cry out, but, after more than four hundred and forty years, they remain scattered and exiles in the universe. Therefore, the holy Archangel says to blessed Daniel: “Seventy weeks have been shortened for your people and for your holy city,” until “sin is promised, and sin ends.” And because the Lord Christ had to grant forgiveness of sins to those who believed in Him, just as blessed John cried out, saying: Behold, “Lamb of God, take away the sin of the world” (John. 1, 20); then the Archangel appropriately added: “and sins will be sealed, and iniquities will be cleansed, and iniquities will be blotted out;” because Christ atoned for the iniquities of those who believed in Him, “blotting out our handwriting,” as blessed Paul says (Col. 2:14). He sealed sins, abolishing residence under the law, and bestowing the grace of the Spirit, with the assistance of which those living spiritually overcome passions. To this the Archangel added: “and eternal truth will be brought forth.” And eternal truth, in the proper sense, is the Lord Christ himself, because Blessed Paul says about Him, “we received wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and deliverance” (1 Cor. 1.30); and in the Epistle to the Romans he said about the Gospel that “the righteousness of God appears in it” (Rom. 1:17). Therefore, Christ, in His generosity, gave the truth to those who believed in Him, leading into eternal life, and commanded them to ask for this truth in prayer, saying: “seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33); then Saint Gabriel, of necessity, said: “and eternal truth will be brought in.” He added: “and the vision and the Prophet will be sealed,” that is, an end will be put to all prophecies “(for the end of the law is Christ in righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:4.)), and the prophetic grace will finally recede from the Jewish people. If the Lord Christ had not suffered when he came and did not do what the Prophets predicted; then the truth of the Prophets would not have been revealed. Therefore, he fulfills, and, as it were, seals and confirms what was predicted by the prophets, accomplishing and enduring what was prophesied by them. To this the Archangel added: “and the Holy of Holies will be anointed.” Who is this Holy of Holies? Let the Jews speak. If they do not know, then let them learn from us that He is the Lord Christ, Who foreshadows through the mouth of Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, and for His sake the Lord anoints Me (Is. 61:1), and about Whom David testifies that “he loved righteousness, and hated iniquity, for this sake” he was anointed with “oil” “more joyful than the partaker” of Him (Psalm 44:8); blessed Peter, the chief of the Apostles, also testifies, saying: “Jesus, who is from Nazareth, because God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, Who I passed through doing good and healing all those who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38). So the blessed Prophet Daniel is informed that God has deigned to give Jerusalem, for a period of four hundred and ninety years, to use divine gifts according to custom, until he dares to undertake this wicked and terrible deed, I mean the cross prepared for him. The Savior, who, being called the Holy of Holies, as the source of holiness, is anointed by the Holy Spirit according to humanity, seals and confirms the ancient prophecies, fulfilling everything they predicted, and grants remission of sins to those who believe in Him. Then the divine Archangel teaches where to begin the counting of the seventy weeks and says: Dan.9:25. And thou shalt weigh and understand from the exodus the word to answer, and to build up Jerusalem, even unto Christ the Elder, seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks. Some believe that the beginning of the construction of the church, laid under Cyrus, is the beginning of the calculation of weeks; others begin counting from the sixth year of the reign of Darius, the son of Istaslov; because then the construction of the church came to a proper end, while in the time that had elapsed until now there were obstacles to the construction of the church from the neighboring inhabitants, due to their hostility towards the Jews, and Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, deceived by them, forbade the construction. But both calculations are unfair. For, firstly, if someone wants to start counting from the indicated times, then the number of years will turn out to be large. Then it is impossible to find that under anyone else the atonement of sins, the abandonment of untruths, the granting of eternal righteousness, the fulfillment of prophetic prophecies, the anointing of the Holy of Holies took place, except the one Lord Christ. If this is really so, and those who command to begin counting the weeks from the indicated times agree in this; then let them count four hundred and ninety years from bottom to top. For if, starting to count from the appearance on the Jordan, when our Savior and Lord began to preach, teach and perform miracles, we will go to the top; then we will find that this number does not reach not only Cyrus, but also Darius, which was fulfilled in the twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes, while Nehemiah, the cupbearer of this king, having received jealousy, having prayed to God and having been granted help from above, begs the king to allow him to build the fences of Jerusalem, and having received the favorable permission of the king, returns to his fatherland, with all his zeal he completes what was lacking in the church of God, erects city walls, and, having strengthened it everywhere with towers, builds gates, and having raised up priests, the city, which had no inhabitants, fills it with inhabitants. Making this clear, the divine Archangel said: “And you will weigh and understand from the outcome of the word that you will answer, and that you will build Jerusalem, even to Christ the Elder of seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks.” And he will return and collect the hundred and take 10. Having begun the counting, says the Archangel, from the building of the city, when it took on its walls, and began to accommodate a multitude of inhabitants, so that, due to the multitude of inhabitants, it became vast, you will find “until Christ the Elder there were seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks,” but by Christ the Elder he calls the same one whom he called the Holy of Holies, just as blessed Peter said in his speech to the Jews: “But you killed the author of life: whom God raised from the dead” (Acts 3:15), “having resolved the diseases of mortals” (2:24). “He is our Elder according to humanity, as “the firstborn of all creation” (Col. 1:15), that is, new (for it is said: “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17)), and as “the firstborn from the dead, so that he will be,” according to Pavlov, “in all He is preeminent” (Col. 1:18). That is why Saint Gabriel called Him Christ the Elder. So, from the building of Jerusalem to Him there were “seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks.” And so that others do not think that we are asserting this without foundation, we will propose a calculation of the years themselves. From the twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes, son of Xerxes, when Nehemiah, having come to Jerusalem, began to erect the walls of the city, to Darius the son of Arsam, whom Alexander the Great killed, destroying the kingdom of Persia, one hundred and fourteen years; from the sixth year of Alexander, in which Darius was killed, to Caius Julius Caesar, the first autocrat of Rome, all the years of the kingdom of Macedon were two hundred and eighty-two years: and from the beginning of the reign of Julius Caesar until the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, when John the Baptist came to the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance, and crying: “Behold Agney of God, take away the sin of the world,” seventy-three years. These numbers added together make up the number four hundred and sixty-nine; and this number of years is four hundred and eighty-three Jewish years; but the same number was seven and sixty-two weeks. You must know that the Jews, calculating the year by the course of the moon, make eleven extra days, which we call additional; because the course of the moon takes place in twenty-nine days and six hours. Counting in this way, the Jews consider the year to be three hundred and fifty-four days. So, therefore, the holy Archangel, talking with blessed Daniel, the Jew, and revealing to him the number of years, no doubt understood the usual number for him; then it is necessary to add years, consisting of additional days. And when they are applied, there will be eighty-three years in excess of four hundred years. Seven and sixty-two weeks give the same number of years. Not without intention, the Archangel divided the weeks, but foretelling the changes of some things. For from the building of Jerusalem, which was under Nehemiah and Ezra, until Hyrcanus, the last high priest of the Asmoneans, whom Herod killed, the number of sixty-two weeks is fulfilled; and from the murder of Hyrcanus until the coming of our Savior and the appearance on the Jordan, the remaining seven weeks expire. At this time, that is, after the murder of Hyrcanus before the coming of our Savior, high priests were already appointed illegally. The law commanded the high priests to serve as priests until the end of their lives and to receive a successor upon death. But Herod, and after him the Romans, having made the high priesthood corrupt, made the succession of high priests frequent; others, who did not even come from a priestly family, were appointed high priests. Narrating about this, the Jewish writer Joseph says this: “Herod, elevated to the kingdom by the Romans, appoints high priests not from the family of Asmoneans (and these were the so-called Maccabees), but from humble people, if only they were Jews by origin. And after a few words he also says this: “in considering the appointment of the Jewish high priests, his son Archelaus acted like Herod, and after him the Romans who arrogated power to themselves. And in another place he says: “The Roman military leader Valerius Gratus, having removed Ananus from the high priesthood, made Ismail the son of Favi high priest; and after a short time after this, dismissing this too, he proclaimed Eleazar, the son of the high priest Anan, high priest; and after a year, having dismissed Eleazar as well, he transfers the high priesthood to Simon, the son of Kaphim, but he remained in this rank for no more than a year, when Joseph, who is also Caiaphas, became his successor.” Speaking about this, blessed Luke says: “in the fifth and tenth year of Tuberius Caesar under the bishops Annas and Caiaphas” (Luke 3:1.2). But we did not learn from anywhere that according to the law there were two high priests at one time. Predicting this, Saint Gabriel says: Dan.9:26. And after sixty-two weeks the anointing will be required, and judgment will not be in it. Thus, it becomes clear that the Archangel placed the sixty-two weeks first, and after those seven weeks in which, he says, “the anointing will be required,” that is, the grace that acted in the high priests. And because those who were appointed illegally were called high priests; then Gabriel rightly added: “and there will be no judgment in it.” Although they are anointed, says the Archangel, they are anointed not by right; they dare to do this illegally. Yes, and above he made it clear that he put the seven weeks last, saying: “before Christ the Elder there are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.” For the Archangel set seven weeks, with which the other weeks that flowed before Christ the Elder, were completed, at the very mention of Him, so that we might know that if we want to count from Christ upward, we will first find seven weeks, and then sixty-two weeks. And bringing this into greater clarity, he says: “it will return, and the haystacks will be piled up, and the years will be exhausted,” that is, the time before construction: “and after sixty-two weeks the anointing will be required;” did not say: by sevens, but by “sixty-two,” followed by seven, during which “anointing will be required, and judgment will not be in it:” because the foreigner Herod reigned, by father Ascalonian, by mother Idumea, and those called high priests were not anointed according to the law, but appointed by foreign rulers, Herod, Archelaus, Roman military leaders. Then the Archangel speaks about the final destruction that will befall both the city, and this very alien royal power, and the illegal high priesthood. Then, making it known that the Jews would suffer disasters much greater than before, the Archangel added: And they will be consumed in the flood, that is, they will undergo the final destruction that people suffered in ancient times when the flood covered the whole earth. And showing that there will be no restoration or relief for the Jews, he also says: And until the end the army was reduced by death. For they will be subjected to complete destruction, given up as a sacrifice to war, as if to some kind of flood, and will be completely crushed by these disasters, and will never receive any restoration. Having thus predicted the final destruction of the Jews, the Archangel returns again to the number of seventy weeks, adds the rest to sixty-nine, and says: Dan.9:27. And one week will confirm the covenant among many: and in half the week the sacrifice and the drink offering will be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate will be taken away from the sanctuary, and even until the end of time, the end will be given to desolation. That there will be sixty-two weeks in the continuation of seven weeks, this, says the Archangel, I said before; you must know what will happen in the next week. For during this time a new covenant will be given to the believers, and it will fulfill them with all power. In half of this week, “the sacrifice and the drink offering will be taken away,” that is, the legal sacrifice will cease; because the true sacrifice of the spotless Lamb, who takes away the sin of the world, has been offered. After this sacrifice is made, the legal sacrifice will come to an end. Therefore, after this sacrifice was completed, when the Savior gave up the ghost, “the veil of the church was torn from the highest to the lowest” (Matthew 27:51), making what was previously inconceivable visible to everyone, making the inviolable and inaccessible accessible to everyone. Since the curtain separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place, in which there was a purgatory, cherubim and an ark, the curtain, torn from edge to edge, actually showed that the grace within had receded, and that which was accessible only to the high priest had become unholy. And this happened as soon as the sacrifice was made for the whole world. If anyone wants to know exactly the time itself; then from the Gospel of John he learns that for about three and a half years the Lord preached and confirmed His holy disciples both by teaching and miracles. And then he suffered. And after the cross and death, after the resurrection and ascension into heaven, and after the descent of the Holy Spirit, during the rest of the week, the holy Apostles, preaching and working miracles in Jerusalem, instructing many thousands of people in the gospel teaching, made them worthy of the new covenant, and prepared them to receive the grace of all-holy baptism. Then, after the atrocity committed by the Jews against Saint Stephen, the others scattered throughout the cities of Judea, and the divine Apostles, after not staying long in Jerusalem, passed through Samaria, Caesarea, Lydda and Joppa, and hastened to communicate saving dogmas to all people. Therefore, the divine Archangel says to blessed Daniel that “he will confirm the covenant with many in one week,” adding together both the time of the Lord’s crucifixion and the time when the holy Apostles, after the resurrection of the Savior, preached the teaching in Jerusalem. Then he divides the week in half and says: “And in half the week the sacrifice and the drink offering will be taken away.” because with the offering of a true sacrifice the legal canopy will come to an end. And besides this he also says: “And in the sanctuary is the abomination that makes desolate;” because for the sake of the sacrifice of the cross, not only will the sacrifice under the law cease, but also the abomination of desolation will be given to the sanctuary, that is, having previously been revered and brought into awe, it will become desolate. A sign of desolation will be some images prohibited by law and brought into the sanctuary. Pilate will do this in the church of God, contrary to God’s law, by bringing in royal images at night. The Lord predicted this to His holy disciples in the Holy Gospel: “When you see the abomination of desolation, spoken by Daniel the Prophet, understand that desolation is drawing near” to Jerusalem. “Then those who exist” in “Let the Jews flee to the mountains. And let him not come down to take what is in his house” (Matthew 24:15–17; Luke 21:20). The Lord said this, making it clear that their final destruction would soon befall them. And a little earlier He said: “In Jerusalem, Jerusalem, having beaten the Prophets and stoned those sent to you, when your fellow children desired, as if they gathered their chicks under their wings, and did not desire.” Therefore I tell you: “your house is left to you empty” (Matthew 23:37-38). St. Gabriel predicted this, after foretelling the cessation of the legal services of God, and added about this: “and in the sanctuary the abomination of desolation.” And so that the Jews would not think that the divine church would again assume its former splendor and glory, the Archangel added: “and even before the end of time, the end will be desolation;” because until the end of the age, he says, desolation will remain without any change. Blessed David also said this: “they will die in wrath, and they will not: and the ends of the earth will know that God rules over Jacob” (Ps. 58:14). They will see when they see “the sign of the Son of man in heaven: then all the tribes will mourn” (Matthew 24:30); then “they will look upon Him, His blood is broken” (John 19:37). If he understands this prophecy differently; then, since the number of four hundred and ninety years has passed, and in addition more than four hundred and forty years have passed, let them show under whom the prophecy of the Archangel came to fulfillment under the Maccabees? But before them from Darius, even from Cyrus, the first king of Persia, there are not four hundred and ninety years; because from Cyrus to Antiochus Epiphanes, under whom the Maccabees, being jealous, entered into the affairs of government, is about three hundred and seventy-two years. Moreover, which of them is called the Holy of Holies? Judas, or Jonathan, Simon, or whoever comes after these? However, neither the patriarch Abraham, nor the legislator Moses, nor the greatest of the Prophets. Elijah was never called the Holy of Holies. So, both the time and the names clearly foretold to us the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom, having believed and awaiting His second coming, we will pray that on the day of judgment we may be counted worthy of His love for mankind; May we all receive it, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. Greek text: ο ικοδομηθ ἠ σεται πλατεία καἱ περἰτειχος can be translated: extensive and surrounded by walls. Blessed Theodoret also understands this.