Matthias Henze
Heptadic Chronologies
The book of Daniel shows a clear awareness of things chronological. To
contextualize the events of the book in terms of world history and to provide
a comprehensive time frame, the author devised his own chronological
scheme, the periodization of history into four kingdoms. The succession of
the four world empires is the main theme of chaps. 2 and 7, but it also under
lies the visions in chaps. 8 and 11. The chronological remarks found in the
chapter headings, specifically in the superscriptions of the vision reports
(Dan 1:1; 2:1; 7:1; 8:1; 9:1; and 10:1,4), follow the same model and provide spe
cific dates for specific episodes. The four-kingdom scheme is concerned ex
clusively with the end of history, not with its beginning, which is never con
sidered in Daniel. Its aim, as is made very clear in 7:1-8, is not merely to
divide history into four equal parts but to argue that the ruler of the fourth
empire, who rules at the time of the author, is significantly worse than any
previous world ruler. The promise that the ruthless tyrant will soon be
stripped of his power and dominion will be handed over to Israel (Dan 7:27)
gives Daniel's message an eschatological urgency. The four-kingdom model
is not intended to function as a full-fledged calendar. Instead, it focuses at
tention on the end-time, which is thought to be imminent.
A chronological system of a different sort is found in 9:24-27, Daniel's
interpretation of Jeremiah's prophecy already mentioned above. Here the
author does not follow a quarter system, but a heptadic system. Similar chro
nologies that measure history or periods thereof in sabbatical weeks and ju
bilees are found in a number of texts written around the time of the
Maccabean revolt, including the Enochic Apocalypse of Weeks, the Animal
Apocalypse, several texts from Qumran, and of course, both Daniel and Ju
bilees.^27 The roots of these chronologies are biblical, reaching back to the
Torah. The most explicit treatment of an ancient calendar based on units of
seven years is found in Lev 25, which contains instructions for the sabbatical
and the jubilee years. The chapter begins by calling for a rest for the land ev
ery seven years (the sabbatical year) and moves on to legislate that every fif
tieth year (the jubilee year) all property that had changed hands had to be
returned to its original owner. Also, every Hebrew who had sold himself into
- J. C. VanderKam, "Sabbatical Chronologies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related
Literature," in The Dead Sea Scrolls in Their Historical Context, 159-78; C. Berner, Jahre,
Jahrwochen und Jubilaen. Heptadische Geschichtskonzeptionen im Antiken Judentum, BZAW
363 (Berlin and New York: De Gruyter, 2006).