Daniel 9:24-27 is perhaps the most mathematically precise messianic prophecy in Scripture. Gabriel tells Daniel that 'seventy weeks' (literally seventy sevens, 490 years) are determined for Israel to accomplish six goals: finish transgression, make an end of sins, make reconciliation for iniquity, bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up vision and prophecy, and anoint the most Holy. The countdown begins 'from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem,' and after 'threescore and two weeks' plus 'seven weeks' (69 weeks, or 483 years), 'shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.'
The critical question is which decree begins the countdown. Four Persian decrees affected Jerusalem: (1) Cyrus's decree in 538 BC to rebuild the Temple (Ezra 1); (2) Darius's confirmation c. 520 BC (Ezra 6); (3) Artaxerxes' decree to Ezra in 458 BC (Ezra 7); and (4) Artaxerxes' decree to Nehemiah in 445 BC (Nehemiah 2), specifically to rebuild the city and walls. Most conservative scholars favor the Nehemiah decree (445 BC) because Daniel's text emphasizes rebuilding 'the city,' while the earlier decrees focused on the Temple.
Sir Robert Anderson's calculation in 'The Coming Prince' (1894) used prophetic years of 360 days: 483 years × 360 days = 173,880 days from March 14, 445 BC (Nisan 1 in Artaxerxes' 20th year) lands on April 6, AD 32—identified by Anderson as Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Harold Hoehner refined this in 'Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ' (1977), recalculating to March 30, AD 33. While specific day-precision depends on calendrical assumptions, any reasonable calculation from 445 BC reaches Jesus's ministry window.
Even using the Ezra decree (458 BC) with solar years, 483 years lands in AD 26—the commencement of Jesus's ministry (Luke 3:1). The 'cutting off' of Messiah occurred within a week or two of the terminus of the 69th week. Daniel further predicts that 'the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary,' fulfilled in AD 70 when Titus's Roman armies destroyed the Second Temple. No other figure in history meets these timing requirements: Messiah must have come, been 'cut off,' and seen the Temple destroyed within the prophetic window. Jesus is the only viable candidate.
Jewish responses historically have varied. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 97b-98a, Nazir 32b) recognizes that the messianic era should have come around the 1st century AD and expresses bewilderment that Messiah did not arrive. Rashi (11th century) identifies the 'cut off' messiah as Agrippa II, requiring significant textual gymnastics. The Artscroll Daniel applies portions to Herod Agrippa and others, but no interpretation matches the text as cleanly as the Christian reading that identifies Jesus's crucifixion c. AD 30-33.