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— years. And the Christians, specifically, face another refutation: what the prophet — peace be upon him — mentioned in his passage of the seventy weeks.
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Our interpretation is that they total four hundred and ninety: forty-nine of them from when the people went into exile until the beginning of the construction of the Second Temple — as it says: "Know and understand: from the going forth of the word to restore and build Jerusalem until an anointed leader — seven weeks."
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And 434 of them are the duration of the Temple's standing — during part of which there would be interruption, disruption, and breakage of the building — as it says: "And for sixty-two weeks it will be restored and built, with plaza and moat, but in a time of distress."
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This is what we mentioned in the passage of "Then the work on the House of God ceased." The last week — part of it is a truce between the nation and certain kings, and part of it is a rupture and war between all of them — as it says: "And he will make a strong covenant with many for one week; and for half of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering."
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And the city will be devastated and many of its inhabitants will flee — as it says: "And upon the wing of abominations comes desolation, until a decreed end is poured out on the desolator."
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This period of seventy weeks encompasses blessing and well-being and also the ending of kingdom, priesthood, and prophecy — for he sets at its beginning: "To finish transgression, to make an end of sins, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint the most holy."
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This is like someone saying: I spent fifty days in poverty, illness, and business — days of good and evil combined — and then he elaborates. And he informed us that at the end of this period every anointed priest will be cut off and none found — as it says: "And after sixty-two weeks an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing."
But this verse does not mean a single specific individual —
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— rather, it means any anointed priest, as the Torah uses it: "If the anointed priest," "And the anointed priest shall bring," "And the anointed priest in his place" — and similar usages.
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And the high priesthood was cut off from the nation after this period — as our Lord, mighty and exalted, informed us.
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These people claim that "an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing" refers to one specific individual. This is invalid for several reasons: one of them is that the term "anointed" does not refer to one specific person but applies to every priest and king.
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And also: when the term "cut off" means killing — it is only used of one who is killed deservedly — as it says: "All who eat it shall be cut off."
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And also: this event is paired with the destruction of the Temple — as it connects to it: "And the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed by the prince who comes, and his end comes with a flood."
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It is clear from all this that from the time this was said to Daniel until the time they claim would be 285 years — while the total is 490: 70 of them before the Second Temple's construction, and 420 during its standing.
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I found that their only resort was to fabricate additions to the historical record — claiming that the Persian kingdom ruled the Levant for approximately three hundred years before the Greek kingdom, and that the number of their kings during this period was seventeen.
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I refuted them from the text of Daniel itself — that no more than four kings of Persia over the Levant can come between the Babylonian and the Greek kingdoms — based on the angel's words to Daniel, peace be upon him: "And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, stood up to be his supporter and protector. And now I will tell you the truth: Behold, three more kings will stand for Persia"
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"— and the fourth will become far richer than all of them; and when he has grown strong through his wealth, he will stir up all against the kingdom of Greece." This passage refutes that claim from every angle.
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These are the refutations directed at them — beyond what they face regarding the abrogation of the Law, and beyond what they face in the chapter on divine unity, and beyond other matters that it is not appropriate to raise in this book.
The Eighth Maamar is complete.