“After the sixty-two weeks,
An anointed one
Shall be cut off.
He shall have nothing.
The troops
Of the prince,
Who is to come,
Shall destroy
The city.
He shall destroy
The sanctuary.
Its end shall come
With a flood.
To the end,
There shall be war.
Desolations are decreed.
He shall make
A strong covenant
With many
For one week.
For half
Of the week,
He shall make
Sacrifices cease.
He shall make
Offerings cease.
In their places,
There shall be an abomination
That desolates,
Until the decreed end
Is poured out
On the desolator.”
Well, that was a simple explanation by Gabriel! After 62 weeks, the anointed one would be cut off. In fact, there is some agreement that this anointed one was the high priest Onias III, who was deposed in 175 BCE. The prince coming to destroy him was probably King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who came to destroy the city of Jerusalem and the sanctuary. It is unclear what the flood was about. Obviously, there was a war and the Maccabees uprising. The covenant for one week might mean 7 years, and ½ a week might mean 3 ½ years, the time when the sacrifices and offerings ceased in the Temple. Instead, they had the terrible abominations and desolations of the false idols. Finally, this all came to an end.