The day-year principle or year-for-a-day principle is a method of interpretation of Bible prophecy in which the word day in prophecy is considered to be symbolic of a year of actual time. It was the method used by most of the Reformers, and is used principally by the historicist school of prophetic interpretation. It is actively taught by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Christadelphians, though the understanding is not unique to these Christian denominations; since for example, it is implied in the Prophecy of Seventy Weeks. The day-year principle is also used by the Baháʼí Faith, as well by most astrologers who employ the "Secondary Progression" theory, aka the day-for-a-year theory, wherein the planets are moved forwards in the table of planetary motion (known as an ephemeris) a day for each year of life or fraction thereof. The astrologers say that the four seasons of the year are directly spiritually, phenomenologically like the four "seasons" of the day.
Biblical basis Proponents of the principle, such as the Seventh-day Adventists, claim that it has three primary precedents in Scripture: . The Israelites will wander for 40 years in the wilderness, one year for every day spent by the spies in Canaan. . The prophet Ezekiel is commanded to lie on his left side for 390 days, followed by his right side for 40 days, to symbolize the equivalent number of years of punishment on Israel and Judah respectively. . This is known as the Prophecy of Seventy Weeks. The majority of scholars understand the passage to refer to 70 "sevens" or "septets" of years—that is, a total of 490 years. While not listed as primary precedent by the proponents, some supporters cite a direct reference to the day-for-a-year concept is made in Genesis. . Laban requires an additional seven years of work in contract for Rachel's hand in marriage, calling it a week.
Jon Paulien has defended the principle from a systematic theology perspective, not strictly from the Bible.Jon Paulien, "A New Look at the Year-Day Principle", talk at the 2008 Evangelical Theological Society meetings.
History The day-year principle was partially employed by Jews as seen in Daniel 9:24–27, Ezekiel 4:4-7 and in the early church. It was first used in Christian exposition in 380 AD by Ticonius, who interpreted the three and a half days of Revelation 11:9 as three and a half years, writing 'three days and a half; that is, three years and six months' ('dies tres et dimidium; id est annos tres et menses sex'). In the 5th century Faustus of Riez gave the same interpretation of Revelation 11:9, writing 'three and a half days which correspond to three years and six months' ('Tres et dimidius dies tribus annis et sex mensibus respondent), and in c. 550 Primasius also gave the same interpretation, writing 'it is possible to understand the three days and a half as three years and six months' ('Tres dies et dimidium possumus intelligere tres annos et sex menses'). The same interpretation of Revelation 11:9 was given by later expositors like Anspert, Haymo, and Berengaudus (all of the ninth century). Primasius appears to have been the first to appeal directly to previous Biblical passages in order to substantiate the principle, referring to Numbers 14:34 in support of his interpretation of the three and a half days of Revelation 11:9. Haymo and Bruno Astensis "justify it by the parallel case of Ezekiel lying on his side 390 days, to signify 390 years; — i. e. a day for a year. — ". Protestant Reformers were well established on the day/year principle and it was also accepted by many Christian groups, ministers, and theologians.
Others who expounded the Historicist interpretation are John Wycliffe, John Knox, William Tyndale, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, Philip Melanchthon, Isaac Newton, Jan Hus, John Foxe, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Charles Finney, C. H. Spurgeon, Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke, Albert Barnes, and Bishop Thomas Newton.S. Gregg, "Revelation: Four Views," Nashville: Thomas Nelson Pub, 1997, p. 34.
Christian historicist application 70 weeks or 490-year prophecy Daniel 9 contains the Prophecy of Seventy Weeks. Biblical scholars have interpreted the 70 weeks vision in the historical methodology for nearly two millennia as illustrated in the following table.
List of Biblical Expositors of the Early Church Period: 100-457 ADAfter table in NameDate70 WeeksLast WeekCrossTertullian c. 240From PersiaTo Christ70th weekClement of Alexandriac. 220To AdventDuringHippolytusd. 236490 yrsSeparatedSextus Julius Africanusc. 240490 yrsTo ChristEusebius Pamphilic. 340490 yrsTo ChristMidstAthanasius373To CrossCyril of Jerusalem386Wks. of Yrs.Polychronis430490 yrs7 yrsmidstJerome420490 yrsTheodoret457490 yrsBiblical Expositors of the Early Medieval Period: 400-1200 ADAfter table in NameDate70 WeeksLast WeekCrossAugustined. 430to CrossSargis d'Aberga7th century69 wks to ChristVenerable Beded. 735457 solar yrsBap. midstat endSaadiad. 942490 yrs from exileJehoram10th centuryYearsYefet ben Ali10th centurySabbatical Yrs to TitusRashid. 1105490 yrsAbraham bar Hiyyad. 1136Wks of Sabbatical yrs.Abraham ibn Ezrad. 1167490 yrsThomas Aquinasd. 1274475 Solar yrsAt EndArnold of Villanova1292Yrs to ChristFall of JerusalemPierre Jen d'Olivid. 1298Wks. of Yrs.Biblical Expositors of the Reformation Era: 1522-1614 ADNameDate70 WeeksLast WeekCrossMartin Luther1522Yrs. (2d Darius)34-41 ADBeginPhilipp Melanchthon1543Yrs. (2dn Artax.)MidstJohann Funck1558457 BC - 34 AD to 34EndNikolaus Selnecker1579Yrs. (2d Artax)Georg Nigrinus1570456 BC - 34 ADEndJohann Oecolampadius1530YearsLong PeriodHeinrich Bullinger1557457 BC to 34 AD to 34 ADEndGeorge Joye1545Cyrus, yrsJohn Napier1593490 yrsBiblical Expositors of the Post-Reformation Era—Europe: 1600-1800 ADNameDate70 WeeksLast WeekCrossJoseph Mede1631417 BC - 74 AD(33) ADHenry More1664490 yrsJohn Tillinghast1655Ends 34 AD34 ADWilliam Sherwin1670 490 yrsThomas Beverly1684Yrs to ChristJohannes Cocceius1701490 yrs.(33) ADRobert Fleming Jr.1701490 yrs.Sir Isaac Newton1727457 BC - 34 AD34 ADWilliam Lowth1700YearsWilliam Whiston1706445 BC - 32+ AD33 ADHeinrich Horch1712490 yrsMidstBerienberg Bible1743Yrs. to ChristMidstJohann Al Bengal1740Yrs to ChristMidstJohann Ph. Petri1768453 BC to 37 ADMidstHans Wood1787420 BC - 70 ADChristian G. Thube1789 - 37 AD30 ADBiblical Expositors of the Post-Reformation Era—America: 1600-1800 ADNameDate70 WeeksLast WeekCrossEph. Huit1644490 yrsThomas Parker1646490 yrsJohn Davenport1653Yrs to ChristWilliam Burnet1724490 yrsJoshua Bellamy1758490 yrsAaron Burr1757490 yrsSamuel Langdon1774490 yrsSamuel Gatchet1781490 yrsSamuel Osgood1794490 (Art.)Biblical expositors of the 19th-century Advent Awakening: 1800-1845 ADNameDate70 WeeksLast WeekCrossWilliam Hales180327/31/34 ADGeorge Stanley Faber1804458 BC -Thomas Scott18057th yr of Artax.Adam Clarke18107th yr of Artax.W. C. Davis1818453 BC - 37 ADArch. Mason1820457 BC - 33 ADJno A. Brown1823457 BC - 34 ADJno. Bayford1820YearsLewis Way1818YearsHenry Drummond1830To 1st AdventJohn Fry1822457 BC - 33 ADThomas White1828457 BC - 33 ADEdward Cooper1825457 BC - 33 ADThomas Keyworth1828457 BC - 33 ADAlfred Addis1829457 BC - 33 ADJno. Hooper1829490 yrsWilliam W. Pym1829453 BC - 37 ADEdward N. Hoare1830457 BC - 33 ADWilliam Digby1831457 Bc - 33 ADBp Dave Wilson1836453 BC - 37 ADAlex Keith18287th of ArtaxCrossJohn Cog1832YearsMatt Habershon1834457 BC - 33 ADEd Bickersteih1836457 BC - 34 ADLouis Gaussen1837457 BC - 34 AD
The vision of the 70 weeks is interpreted as dealing with the Jewish nation from about the middle of the 5th century BCE until not long after the death of Jesus in the 1st century CE and so is not concerned with current or future history. Historicists consider Antiochus Epiphanes irrelevant to the fulfillment of the prophecy.
Historicist interpretation of the Prophecy of Seventy Weeks was that it foretells with great specificity information about Jesus as the Messiah, not some lowlevel official or antichrist figure. Daniel 9:25 states that the 'seventy weeks' (generally interpreted as 490 years according to the day-year principle) is to begin "from the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem," which is when the Persian king Artaxerxes I, gave the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to Ezra, so the 490 years point to the time of Christ's anointing.
In the 21st century this interpretation (emphasized by the 19th-century Millerite movement) is still held by Seventh-day Adventists and other groups.
Seventh-day Adventists The Seventh-day Adventist interpretation of Daniel chapter 9 presents the 490 years as an uninterrupted period. Like others before them they equate the beginning of the 70 weeks "from the time the word goes out to rebuild and restore Jerusalem," of Daniel 9:25 with the decree by Artaxerxes I in 458/7 BC which provided money for rebuilding the temple and Jerusalem and allowed for restoration of a Jewish administration. "With this money be sure to buy ... offerings, and sacrifice them on the altar of the temple of your God in Jerusalem ... then do whatever seems best with the rest of the silver and gold ... anything else needed for the temple of your God that you are responsible to supply ... appoint magistrates and judges to administer justice to all the people of Trans-Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God." It ends 3½ years after the crucifixion. The appearance of "Messiah the Prince" at the end of the 69 weeks (483 years) is aligned with Jesus' baptism in 27 CE, in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar. The 'cutting off' of the "anointed one" refers to the crucifixion 3½ years after the end of the 483 years, bringing "atonement for iniquity" and "everlasting righteousness". Jesus is said to 'confirm' the "covenant" between God and mankind by his death on the cross in the Spring (about Easter time) of 31 CE "in the midst of" the last seven years. At the moment of his death the 4 inch (10 cm) thick curtain between the Holy and Most Holy Places in the Temple ripped from top to bottom, marking the end of the Temple's sacrificial system. The last week ends 3½ years after the crucifixion (i.e., in 34 AD) when the gospel was redirected from only the Jews to all peoples.
Some of the representative voices among exegetes of the last 150 years are E. W. Hengstenberg,E.W. Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament (reprint; McDill AFB, FL, 1973), pp. 803-930 J. N. Andrews,J.N. Andrews, The Commandment to Restore and to Rebuild Jerusalem (Battle Creek, MI 1865) E. B. Pusey,E.B. Pusey, Daniel the Prophet, 2nd ed. (New York 1885), pp. 184-269 J. Raska,J. Raska, Zur Berechnung der Siebzig Wochen Daniels, Theologisch-Praktische Quartal-schrift 54 (1904), pp. 13-27 J. Hontheim,J. Hontheim, Das Todesjahr Christi und die Danielische Wochenprophetie, Katholik 34 (1906): 12-36, 96-128, 176-88, 254-81 Boutflower,Boutflower, In and Around the Book of Daniel, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, 1963), pp. 168-211 Uriah Smith, O. Gerhardt.O. Gerhardt, Die messianische Weissagung Daniel 9:24-27, NKZ 38 (1927): 561-87 and Ellis Skolfield.