Calendar Discrepancy
Question
I have a question. I don’t understand 2 things. First, why did the Jews begin the 490 years countdown of Daniel 9:24-27 when the first temple was destroyed (Jewish calendar 424/422BC or Gentile date 586 BC) instead of the “decree” of say Cyrus or another figure in Daniel’s immediate future to rebuild (536 BC or so)? Is there something in the Hebrew I’m missing? Secondly, I don’t understand why or how the Jewish calendar for the date of the destruction of the Temple is so different in the Jewish calendar than the Gentile one – a difference of 164 years or so. I understand that there is roughly 490 years from the destruction of the first temple to the second in AD 70 based on the Jewish calendar (and that is how you understand the 490 years), but I don’t understand why the 490 years begins at the destruction of the first temple and not with Cyrus, and I don’t understand why the Jewish calendar is 165 years off from the other. Any help would be appreciated.
Answers
The destruction of the Temple is the most logical place to begin the count because until the Temple is destroyed there is no absolute proof that the prophecy will come to fruition.
There is a discrepancy between Greek historians and Jewish historians. The Greeks maintain that in Jewish history a number of Persian kings were left out of our history and their total years of ruling add up to about 165 years. The Jewish historians maintain, that the people the Greeks count as kings were actually only Dukes or Princes and that they ruled concurrently. The fact they were known as kings and not as “king of kings” is evidence of this. The Jews lived in Babylon and Persian for over 1000 years, the Greeks sent scribes to gather historical knowledge. I believe, therefore, that our history is accurate and Greek history mistaken – we have first-hand knowledge of Persia and are therefore more reliable.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team