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Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Jul. 5, 2025
Update	: Jul. 5, 2025
Parts	: 13

Synopsis:



Continuing our discussion from part two, it is important to point out that when it comes to the names of kings, places, ancestors and descendants, and even historical dates, there can be a certain level of confusion, because while we have a lot of historical records in the form of parchments, clay tablets, cylinders, etc., simply due to the passage of time and other reasons, these records are not always complete. In some cases, all we have are partial fragments, or maybe a partial tablet, which may tell only half of a particular story. To add to this challenge of acquiring an accurate understanding of ancient history, historians and scholars do not agree on every single point, for the very reasons which I just mentioned to you.

For this reason, the names given and the dates provided may vary. For example, even as I have written this series, I've seen how historical dates between different scholars often vary by as much as one to three years. Furthermore, while one scholar may utilize one name for a particular king or historical figure, another scholar could use a different name. This is not to say that either one of them is wrong. It is simply that different conquerors, emperors and kings were known by different names, depending on who is talking about them, and what specific language is being used.

A good case in point is the Bible itself which uses Hebrew names, even though regular historical records use secular names. Let me give you one example. Many of my readers will no doubt be familiar with King Ahasuerus who is mentioned in the Book of Esther. Well, in the secular world, the king is known as Artaxerxes I or Artaxerxes Longimanus, due to his right hand supposedly being longer than his left hand. He was the son of Xerxes I. For his part, Artaxerxes I had five progeny, two of whom were Xerxes II and Darius II. It is said that Xerxes II only ruled for a very brief period of forty-five days in 424 BC, at which time he was murdered by his half-brother Sogdianus. However, six months later, Sogdianus was murdered by Darius II, who then ruled as the King of Kings of the Achaemenid -- or Medo-Persian -- Empire from 424 BC to 404 BC. Darius II was succeeded by his eldest son, Artaxerxes II, who ruled from about 404 BC to 358 BC.

To make matters even more difficult, as you can see by the previous paragraph, some of the historical figures had the same name -- or a very similar name -- as someone else. In fact, as you'll learn in the next part of our series, there were four rulers by the name of Darius, two rulers with the name of Xerxes, and four rulers with the name of Artaxerxes. The Darius who came to power in 522 BC, or about eight years after the end of Cyrus the Great's reign, was Darius I, who was also known as Darius the Great. The information below is from an unpublished work called "Compendium of World History" by Dr. Herman Hoeh. It may help to clarify this issue to some degree. Or may confuse you even more. Note that when he says "Cyrus the Persian", he is actually referring to Cyrus the Great:

----- Begin Quote -----

"Here are the Median kings according to Ctesias' record from the Persian archives.

"House of Arbaces, Median Kings After Overthrow of Assyrians at Rehoboth.

Arbaces	816-788 B.C.
His son Mandauces	788-768
Sosarmus	768-738
Artycas	738-708
Arbianes	708-686
Artaeus	686-646
Artynes	646-624
Astibaras	624-584
Aspadas (called Astyigas	584-549
or Astyages)	(584-546)

"The successor of Aspadas was Darius the Mede, mentioned in Dan. 5:31 and 9:1. The Hebrews called Aspadas 'Ahasuerus'. The Greeks called Darius the Mede Cyaxeres II.

"Historians have completely misunderstood the events surrounding the end of Median independence. The reason is this. There were two Median kings reigning at the same time with the same name --- Astyages, or similar spelling. One was the grandfather of Cyrus the Persian; the other, Aspadas called Astyigas, was father of Darius the Mede. Before explaining any more details, it is necessary to introduce the second Median royal house and the second Astyages.

"In the year 700-699, following the death of Shalmaneser III, the Medes successfully completed a second revolt against the Assyrians. Not until this year were all the Medes completely free from Assyrian dominion. Herodotus preserves the names of these Median kings who ascended the throne in 699.

"House of Deioces: Median Kings Following Revolt in 700-699.

Deioces	699-646
Phraortes	646-624
Cyaxeres I	624-584
Astyages, Grandfather of Cyrus	584-549

"Certain late Greek and Roman writers used figures other than those given by Herodotus and Ctesias. The preceding are the original and true figures. The variants may have risen from otherwise unknown events occurring in the Median realm, or from joint reigns.

"In 549 Astyages was overthrown by his grandson, Cyrus the Persian. Cyrus had come to the Persian throne, which he shared with his father in the year 558. He reigned altogether 29 years (558-529).

"The chronological evidence from Ctesias and Herodotus indicates the last three kings of each Median line shared the throne jointly. Each was succeeded by a son in 646, 624 and 584. An exception occurred in the case of Astyages, son of Cyaxeres I. This man, declared Herodotus, had no son, only a daughter. He ruled with a harsh hand. His daughter he gave in marriage to the king of Persia, Cambyses, who became the father of Cyrus. By contrast, Josephus stated that Astyages had a son -- Darius the Mede. Historians have -- for no justifiable reason -- assumed the testimony of Josephus and Herodotus were irreconcilable. A little thought would have made it plain that each writer was discussing a different Astyages. Josephus, and Daniel too, wrote of the Astyages or Aspadas who was of the house of Arbaces. Herodotus' account was of Astyages of the house of Deioces.

"The confederation of Persians and Medes, often stressed in the Bible, resulted from a political union of the house of Arbaces, which began in 816, with the young Persian monarch Cyrus. Cyrus could never have come to power had there not been strife between the two Median royal families."

----- End Of Quote -----

Another important point worth mentioning here is that while Cyrus was of Persian descent, in the Bible he is referred to once as "the king of Babylon". Artaxerxes is likewise referred to as "king of Babylon". This may simply be due to the fact that, because of its grandeur -- and possibly because of other geographical or political considerations -- some of the Medo-Persian kings chose to rule the empire from captured Babylon, while others chose to rule it from Achmetha.

In like manner, while Darius the Mede took over Babylon in the Book of Daniel, in the Book of Ezra we find a ruler who is referred to as "Darius king of Persia". This may possibly be because he ruled over the Medo-Persian Empire, or because of the mixed marriages between the two families of Cyrus and Darius. However, the most plausible explanation is that they are referring to two different kings of the same name as I mentioned previously. Thus, we find what appear at first to be conflicting verses such as the following. However, once we understand all of this properly, we see that there is no conflict. It is just different historical naming conventions:

"Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia."


"But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God."


"But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem: for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king:"


"So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian."


"The Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, were recorded chief of the fathers: also the priests, to the reign of Darius the Persian."


"In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;"


Despite these sometimes confusing spots in the historical record, we should not lose sight of the overall picture in Bible prophecy. From a Scriptural perspective, one of the most significant events which occurred during the time of the Medo-Persian Empire, was that in accordance with the prophecies of Jeremiah, the Jews were permitted to return to Jerusalem, and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, after having served their Seventy Years of Captivity under the various kings of Babylon. This was made possible by Cyrus the Great, and those Persian kings who succeeded him.

As some of my older readers will probably already know, the modern Iranians are actually descended from the Persians. Furthermore, before being renamed as the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979 following the dreadful Islamic Revolution which plunged the country into a period of darkness and extreme religious oppression, the country was simply referred to as Iran. However, even before that, due to the Persians being one of the major ethnic groups in the country for centuries, Iran was known as Persia up until 1935. It was at that time, that due to a variety of political reasons, the Shah of Iran -- Reza Shah Pahlavi -- requested that from that point and forward, his country be known as Iran by the international community.

Before returning to our main discussion regarding Daniel's Seventy Weeks Prophecy, let me share one more interesting point with you. While as I write this article a major war has erupted between Israel and Iran, with both countries currently dropping bombs on each other's cities, it might surprise you to know that Israel and Iran were at one time strong allies. One reason for this association is that just as the Jews are kind of a sore thumb surrounded by the much larger Arab world, in similar fashion, prior to the Islamic Revolution, while not exactly the same, Iran found itself in a somewhat relatable situation. While today the Iranians practice Islam -- and have done so for more than a thousand years -- nevertheless, they aren't ethnically Arabs either.

As I said a moment ago, the Iranians are actually Persians. The religion of the Persians before the Arab/Muslim conquest of Iran during the seventh century was Zoroastrianism. Going even further back, before Zoroastrianism became the dominant religion, the Iranians practiced a form of Vedic religion. This was an ancient form of Hinduism which, as you may know, is the primary religion of India today. The Iranians and the people of India are in fact distantly and culturally related to each other, and are both known as Indo-Iranian people. On a final note, the official language of Iran is Farsi, which is Persian. At any rate, after pro-Western Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was ousted from power during the Islamic Revolution, relations between Israel and Iran quickly deteriorated to the current state of constant competition and hostility.

So, with this background information, it will now become a lot easier for you to understand the Seventy Weeks Prophecy. Regarding Cyrus the Great, one notable thing about him was that during his reign, he was quite tolerant of the customs and religions of the people within his empire over whom he ruled. This, of course, included the many thousands of Jews who still remained within Babylon, but who long desired to return to what was now the Achaemenid Empire's province of Judah. And thus we arrive at the following point in this well-known prophecy:

Phrase:

"from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem"

Explanation:

As had been prophesied, Cyrus the Great signed the "Edict of Reconciliation" -- also known as the "Edict of Restoration" or the "Edict of Cyrus" -- in the first year of his reign. While the historical record places this proclamation having been made in 539 BC, as I mentioned earlier, it's important for us to remember that the Biblical record is written from a Jewish perspective. You will recall that I informed you that immediately following the capital city of Babylon being taken by Darius the Mede, he remained viceroy of Babylon for a period of two years while Cyrus was away still putting down resistance in other areas of the empire.

Easton's Bible Dictionary states that Babylon fell in 538 BC and not in 539 BC. Remember again how I told you that it all depends on which historical source you're reading. I tend to agree with the 538 BC date, and you will see why this is so important in a moment. So, accepting the 538 BC date, that means that Cyrus entered Babylon two years later in 536 BC, at which time he was proclaimed the king of Babylon, and all of its provinces. This would include the province of Judah, or Judea. So, when the Bible speaks of "the first year of Cyrus king of Persia", from the Jewish perspective, that would be 536 BC when the province of Judah officially came under Cyrus' authority, and NOT 539 BC according to secular historical records.

At any rate, the "Edict of Restoration" -- or the "Edict of Cyrus" -- authorized and encouraged the Jews to return to Jerusalem, and thereupon to rebuild the House of God -- that is to say, Solomon's temple -- which had been fully destroyed by the armies of Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II some five decades earlier in 587 BC. This great construction project would eventually become known as the Second Temple, and would initiate the Second Temple Period. We find Cyrus' royal edict mentioned in the Books of 2 Chronicles and Ezra, as we see by the following group of Bible verses:

"Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up."


"Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem. Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered. Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods; Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. And this is the number of them: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine and twenty knives, Thirty basons of gold, silver basons of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels a thousand. All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem."


"But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God. And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one, whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; And said unto him, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in his place. Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished. Now therefore, if it seem good to the king, let there be search made in the king’s treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter."


"Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon. And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written: In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits; With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king’s house: And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and place them in the house of God."


"And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king."


It is interesting to note that while Gabriel's prophecy says "from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem", a close inspection of Cyrus' actual edict, as well as an examination of the actual activities in which the returning Jews engaged, reveals something worthy of our attention. That is the fact that Cyrus' decree concentrated on the rebuilding of the temple itself. In other words, we see no specific mention in it regarding rebuilding the city itself, or repairing the perimeter walls which surrounded the city. I believe this point has some significance, as I will be explaining to you later on in this same series.

This is not to diminish Cyrus' edict by any means. After all, his proclamation is very important, being as it is what got the ball rolling so that Gabriel's prophecy could begin to be fulfilled. In other words, it had to begin with allowing the Jews to return to Israel. I am convinced that this occurred in 536 BC when Cyrus first set foot in Babylon, after Darius the Mede had served as his viceroy there for a period of two years. It was at that time that Cyrus was publicly proclaimed the king of Babylon, and it was at that time that he made his famous proclamation. Now according to Jeremiah's warnings and prophecies, the Jews would serve a seventy-year sentence in Babylon due to their sins. So the question is this: When did this seventy-year period begin, and when did it end?

At first glance, it might appear to some people that in the Lord's eyes, maybe the captivity began in 597 BC. Why that particular year? Because it was during that year that the second Babylonian siege occurred, during which Jehoiachin -- who was also known as Jeconiah and Coniah, and who was the son and successor of King Jehoiakim, and the grandson of King Josiah -- was taken as a prisoner to Babylon, along with his mother, wives, officers, servants and thousands of others. Consider the following set of verses as proof of this point:

"And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the kings house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon."


Based on the previous verses, this would certainly seem like when the Seventy Years of Captivity began. After all, both the king, and his entire household, and thousands of others. were shipped off to Babylon. However, when we do the math, we discover that it does not add up to the required period of seventy years in captivity. Allow me explain. According to historical records, King Nebuchadnezzar reigned from 605 BC to 562 BC. In the previous verses, we see that it was in the eighth year of King Nebuchadnezzar's reign that he took King Jehoiachin and the rest of the Jews to Babylon. Using simple math, this means that this event would have occurred in 597 BC, which perfectly aligns with the historical fact that the Jewish king only reigned for three months between 598 BC and 597 BC. So, upon doing the math, we arrive at the following:

597 BC minus 536 BC = 61 years.

Well, there is another possibility that we can try to see if it will add up to the required seventy years in Babylonian captivity. We learned in part one of this same series that it was in the "the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah" that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came "unto Jerusalem, and besieged it." This would have been the first of the three Babylonian sieges against Jerusalem. It was during this first siege that Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego, as well as many other Israelite children, were taken to Babylon, in order to be taught in the ways of the Babylonians. The plan was to nourish them for three years, so that they could then be brought before the king. It was during that same time that Jehoiakim remained a subject of Babylon until he chose to rebel.

According to the historical record, Jehoiakim reigned from 609 BC to 598 BC, at which time Jehoiachin briefly became the new king, as we have already seen. So, that means that if Daniel and friends were carried to Babylon in the third year of Jehoiakim's reign, as the Scriptures state, then it would have occurred in 606 BC. So let's do the math and see what happens:

606 BC minus 536 BC = 70 years.

Well look at that, my friends! That equation gives us EXACTLY the seventy years that we need! It precisely matches with the date for Cyrus the Great's "Edict of Restoration" in the year 536 BC when he first entered Babylon and was declared king of Babylon. It gives us the full seventy years that they were in Babylonian captivity. Furthermore, where the Prophet Daniel mentions in Daniel 9:1-2 that he received his prophecy from the Angel Gabriel during "the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes", it must therefore be dated at 536 BC as well. Furthermore, according to the Book of Ezra, the Jews laid the foundation for the Second Temple in the second year of their return from Babylon -- in other words, in 534 BC-- as we see by the following group of Bible verses:

"Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD. Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off."


As we saw earlier, in Daniel 9:1-2, Daniel came to understand the Prophet Jeremiah's Seventy Weeks Prophecy, and then what did he do? We are told that he began to pray for God's mercy upon his people. Why would Daniel even do that, unless he had come to the conclusion that the seventy-year period had been completed by that time, meaning in 536 BC? So it seems that no matter how we approach this issue, and what method we use, we still come up with 536 BC as being when the Seventy Years of Captivity were completed. In other words, my dear friends, Daniel himself was God's chosen marker to signify the actual beginning of the Seventy Years of Babylonian Captivity. Is it not appropriate then that it would likewise be to Daniel that the Angel Gabriel would reveal that the Seventy Years had now been accomplished? It makes perfect sense to me.

While there may be a small disagreement between the secular historical record, and the Biblical record, there are two remaining points which are worthy of our consideration in my view. When it comes to setting historical dates, we need to remember that doing so sometimes does require making certain approximations, depending on the amount of clear information that is available to us. Furthermore, we also need to realize that depending on in what month of the year some particular event occurred, it could affect both the beginning and the ending dates. This could result in a year being shaved off of or added to each date. Now, regardless of whether or not we can precisely determine the exact dates for when the Jewish captivity began and ended, I remain convinced that the Word of the Lord was fulfilled to the very letter. I do not have any doubts about that.

Let me remind you again that if you conduct your own online research, you will quickly discover that there is a lot of scholarly debate concerning not only these dates, but the precise significance of the Seventy Weeks Prophecy itself. In other words, different scholars apply different dates and different meanings to different parts of the prophecy. Some of them view the prophecy as being about Jesus Christ, while others view it differently. As a Bible-believing Christian, I personally adopt the view that it is indeed regarding the arrival, and the eventual Crucifixion, of Jesus Christ.

Please go to part four for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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