And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
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Aquinas Study Bible
AD 2017
This one week/seven years, is the period of time beginning with the baptism of Jesus to that of the holy Apostles teaching in Jersualem after the Resurrection. The Lord preached for about 3 and a half years, and strengthened His disciples. But after the Resurrection, Ascension into Heaven, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles spent the rest of the three and half years preaching in Jerusalem, working wonders and guiding many thousands, and they imparted the new covenant and caused them to enjoy the grace of baptism.
The abomination of desolations is to be understood as something that took place and continues to take place even until the end of time. It is not to be understood as a one time event in the past or future. Pilate was responsible for such an offense according to Josephus (Ant. 18.55-59) and Eusbeius (Hist. eccel. 2.6.3-4).
And he shall confirm the covenant with many, in one week: The new covenant will be given to the believers in this week, and He will fill the...
The weeks are actually to be understood as a sabbatical measure of time in the Jewish calendar, which means that each week is a 7 year cycle (compare to Genesis 29:26-28 ). Of all the explanations about this passage, Theodoret of Cyrus in my view gives the best interpretation. I will present a summary of his interpretation.
The 70 weeks begins at the year of Artaxerxes somewhere around 465BC.
The 62nd week marked the time period around when the high priests were being appointed illegally and the death of John Hyrcanus II around 31BC. The calculation does not start here exactly at the death of Hyrcanus, but in this time period, so an exact calculation would be around 22BC.
The 69th week brings us to the Baptism of Jesus around 27AD.
The 70th week is broken up into two 3 and a half year periods. The first half is the 3 and half year ministry of Jesus until His Passion around 30AD, and the second half being the 3 and half year period of the Apostles establishing the Church st...
Many. Christ seems to allude to this passage, Matthew xxvi. 28. He died for all; but several of the Jews particularly, would not receive the proffered grace. (Calmet)
Of the week, or in the middle of the week Because Christ preached three years and a half: and then, by his sacrifice upon the cross, abolished all the sacrifices of the law. (Challoner)
Temple. Hebrew, "the wing "(Calmet) or pinnacle, (Haydock) the highest part of the temple. (Calmet)
Desolation. Some understand this of the profanation of the temple by the crimes of the Jews, and by the bloody faction of the zealots. Others, of the bringing in thither the ensigns and standard of the pagan Romans. Others, in fine, distinguish three different times of desolation: viz. that under Antiochus; that when the temple was destroyed by the Romans; and the last near the end of the world, under antichrist. To all which, as they suppose, this prophecy may have a relation. (Challoner)
Protestants, "For the overspreading of abominati...
