SEVENTY WEEKS - Chapter Three

"Seventy shabuwa are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city,

1. to finish the transgression, and
2. to make an end of sins, and
3. to make reconciliation for iniquity, and
4. to bring in everlasting righteousness, and
5. to seal up the vision and prophecy, and
6. to anoint the most Holy." (Daniel 9:24)

In this segment we will examine the first item on the above list:

"to finish the transgression"

First; we will see that this is NOT what ALL of our Bibles say.

"to finish the transgression" King James Version (KJV)
"To finish the transgression" New King James Version (NKJV)
"to finish* transgression" New International Version (NIV)

"to finish the transgression" English Standard Version (ESV)
"to finish the transgression" New American Standard (NASB)
"to finish the transgression" Revised Standard Version (RSV)
"to finish transgression" American Standard Version (ASV)
"to shut up the transgression" Young's Literal Version (YNG)
"to close the transgression" John Darby Version (DBY)
"to finish the transgression" Webster's Version (WEB)
"to finish disobedience" Hebrew Names Version (HNV)

I'm only interested in one word here. Transgression is understood.

Today, the word 'finish' is typically understood to mean in the way that you can see the Darby version translates it; close, or in the way you see Young's Literal version translates it shut up. It demonstrates how the meanings of words can change with time. That being the case here, let's turn to the original language, Hebrew.

The Biblical Usage of the Hebrew word (#3607) kala, is given in the Strong's Concordance as: to restrict, restrain, withhold, shut up, keep back, refrain, forbid. The primary Biblical usage of this word is the one that is first on this list: to restrict. The word is only used 18 times in the entire Old Testament. That's not a lot.

Two other Hebrew words are much more commonly used to convey the idea we get when we read the word finish in the Old Testament. In Genesis 6:16 we find one of them, a word that is translated as finish; a Hebrew word (#3615) that occurs 206 times in the Bible. In Zechariah 4:9 we find the other one (#1214). It occurs 16 times.

The meanings of these two words convey the idea of completion and termination, whereas the Hebrew word in Daniel 9:24 conveys the idea of containment and restraint. It is more than possible, it is probable that the intended meaning of the phrase; to finish the transgression' is to hold back or restrain sin. What happens if we read the first item on the list of what God was going to accomplish, keeping in mind that restraint or containment is in view? We get: "to hold back the transgression" or "to restrain the transgression"

This restraint of transgression happened at the cross of Christ.

Now, just so you know. This is not a new thought, nor is it my own. If you doubt what I have written in this segment, and if you want the opinion of someone who has been trained in a seminary, check with your pastor. This is the position taken by many great teachers.

Summary: One of the things that God was going to accomplish during the Seventy

shabuwa was the restraint of sin.