7 thoughts on “The 70 Weeks Prophecy Quiz”

1. Hanoch February 11, 2014 at 4:39 am

   b”h

   Shalom. Nice quiz.

   I think the questions you raise at your site about the Ezra-Nehemiah chronology are very important. I have just started looking into this “apparent” discrepancy myself. Yesterday I copied many pages from Finegan’s benchmark book on biblical chronology, and the only thing he would say about E-N is that one person named Ezra was a scribe and another different Ezra was a cohen-priest. Shocka. A veteran scholar delving deeply into chronology simply breezes-by a crucial question. You might want to look at his book in any case, if you haven’t, as it does have plenty of useful info.

   I wondered if you’d had a look at the work of Floyd Jones. I haven’t yet found him mentioned here.

   http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books%20II/Jones%20-%20Chronology%20of%20the%20OT.pdf

   Best wishes

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   1. William Struse Post authorFebruary 11, 2014 at 3:20 pm

      Good morning Hanoch,

      It’s encouraging to see others willing to search out these answers.

      It is very difficult to find any scholars who are willing to address the Ezra-Nehemiah chronology. I recently had correspondence with one of the most well know prophecy teachers today. An prolific author of over 20 books of Bible prophecy. He could not give me any Biblical evidence for his Artaxerxes assumption. As far back as Ussher they have just glossed over the issue. In truth I believe the root of this problem stems from Daniel 9 and the necessity to prove the prophecies fulfillment in Yeshua. Truly an amazing power Daniel 9 has had on our understanding of the Bible.

      Regarding Dr. Jones, he is one of the few scholars that I know of who has tried to address the issue of Ezra and Nehemiah. I wrote to him several years ago and we discussed the subject briefly. He was sick at the time and we never got into an in-depth discussion. I must say of all the living chronologists/scholars I have talked to Dr. Jones was by far the most knowledgeable and gracious.

      The bottom line is he adjusts the chronology of Longimanus in order to make the prophecy of Daniel 9 work. In his book Chronology of the Old Testament he acknowledges many of the challenges such as I have raised on my blog but fails to provide a solution for which he seems completely satisfied.

      Here is a quick quote from Dr. Jones footnotes in the PDF above. Note how he acknowledges the “and”/”even” discrepancy of Ezra 6:14 but his final conclusion is, “upon consulting over twenty version of Ezra 6:14, not one translator or team of translators rendered the “waw” at the beginning of the Hebrew word for Artaxerxes as “even”. The problem with this statement is in order to make the “waw” a conjunction “and” you had to ignore the proceeding context of Ezra 4-6 which only shows two Persian kings who helped complete the temple by the 6th year of Darius. Context excludes any additional “Artaxerxes”. Therefore the “waw” must be translated as hendiadys showing “Darius even Artaxerxes”. The simple fact is Ezra 6:14 is fatal to most all accepted interpretations of Daniel 9 because it proves Darius was the “Artaxerxes” of Ezra and Nehemiah.

      If you haven’t already read my articles on the subject you will find more information here:

      More Articles related to the prophecy of 70 Weeks and 2nd temple era chronology:
      The “Artaxerxes” Assumption – The best kept secret of Old Testament chronology.
      The Fifth Command – Why do prophecy teachers ignore it?
      Ezra: Priest & Scribe – Part I – Defining “Artaxerxes” in the context of Ezra.
      Ezra: Priest & Scribe – Part II – Ezra, Darius even “Artaxerxes”.
      Nehemiah: The Governor– Nehemiah’s place in the 2nd temple chronology

      I know I don’t have all the answers but we can’t just keep ignoring the chronology of Ezra and Nehemiah. If our foundation is built upon sand it will not stand. I look forward to discussing this with you further. Got to go to work now.

      Warm Regards,
      Bill

      Page 5-6 from Chronology of the Old Testament: A Return to the Basics by Floyd Nolen Jones

      Exile & Return, 1988, pp. 142-145). Contending that this identification is the key to the correct understanding and
      unification of the Book(s) of Ezra-Nehemiah (Darius also being the “Artaxerxes” in Nehemiah), elsewhere among his
      writings he again attributes this determination as having been possible only by utilization of the computer.

      However, Martin Anstey made the same identification also resting the entire interpretation on changing “and” to “even” in
      AD 1913, long before the development of the computer (The Romance of Bible Chronology, Vol. I, 1913, p. 244; 269-270.).
      Having consulted a Hebraist, such construction admittedly is possible but it is noted that upon consulting over twenty
      versions at Ezra 6:14, not one translator or team of translators rendered the “waw” (vau) at the beginning of the Hebrew
      word for Artaxerxes as “even”.

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2. Hanoch February 11, 2014 at 7:48 pm

   b”h

   Yes Wm., I am also finding myself shocked that this issue which is so worthy of faithful scholarship has been treated so shabbily. I very much believe in the integrity of Scripture, and IMHO Daniel 9 is yet a further revelation given to Daniel to add to the previous visions that speak of the great in-breaking of the Almighty’s holy kingdom into earth, redeeming Israel and the nations. So I am quite inclined to view the Messiah of Daniel 9 as a further description of what had already been given Daniel in Dan 7:13-14, which Yeshua applied directly to himself under the High Priest’s oath. The chronology of E-N is crucial, and I think I agree with you that an overly agressive desire for the seventy sevens of Dan 9 to “work” pushes some people to overlook these questions. I do remain convinced that the seventy sevens “work” as intended by the Almighty, but currently I don’t see how, in light of the questions in E-N. I’ve already read a number of your articles and you’ve laid the issues out quite well IMHO. I definitely see the logic in Ezra 6:14 of Darius = Artaxerxes. I will have to look into that more carefully.

   Best wishes.

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3. Celeste Fiddes July 28, 2014 at 10:27 pm

   Great Quiz! Just offhand I wanted to take it to see how I did, an Apprentice Berrean with 13 right. Not great but not bad without studying at all. Keep up the amazing inspiring work! Love your blog and all that you post. Blessings and shalom!

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   1. William Struse Post authorJuly 31, 2014 at 4:19 am

      Hi Celeste,

      You actually did really well. They are tough questions. Thanks for giving it a try.

      Thanks for the encouragement.
      Warm regards, Bill

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4. Lawrence January 26, 2016 at 2:44 pm

   Seems to be comprehensive quiz. I would rely on Gene for the answers. http://biblechronologybooks.com/exile.html

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   1. Lawrence January 26, 2016 at 3:03 pm

      Googled “Jones Anstey Faulstich” to find https://books.google.com/books?id=AvVPlyYjX7YC&pg=PA268&lpg=PA268&dq=jones+anstey+faulstich&source=bl&ots=CZu1dZ45W7&sig=QNkWxUhinaWz-Ntcm9Qvf3F4HM8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiRrdSc38fKAhWKQSYKHf2sCTgQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=jones%20anstey%20faulstich&f=false Think it shows Gene agrees with you about Ezra Nehemiah.

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