this being
dated to his coming to be Prince or King, seems to relate to his second
coming. There, the Prophet was consummate, and the most holy anointed:
here, he that was anointed comes to be Prince and to reign. For _Daniel_'s
Prophecies reach to the end of the world; and there is scarce a Prophecy in
the Old Testament concerning _Christ_, which doth not in something or other
relate to his second coming. If divers of the antients, as [8] _Irenaeus_,
[9] _Julius Africanus_, _Hippolytus_ the martyr, and _Apollinaris_ Bishop
of _Laodicea_, applied the half week to the times of _Antichrist_; why may
not we, by the same liberty of interpretation, apply the seven weeks to the
time when _Antichrist_ shall be destroyed by the brightness of _Christ_'s
coming?

The _Israelites_ in the days of the antient Prophets, when the ten Tribes
were led into captivity, expected a double return; and that at the first
the _Jews_ should build a new Temple inferior to _Solomon_'s, until the
time of that age should be fulfilled; and afterwards they should return
from all places of their captivity, and build _Jerusalem_ and the Temple
gloriously, _Tobit_ xiv. 4, 5, 6: and to express the glory and excellence
of this city, it is figuratively said to be built of precious stones,
_Tobit_ xiii. 16, 17, 18. _Isa._ liv. 11, 12. _Rev._ xi. and called the
_New Jerusalem_, the _Heavenly Jerusalem_, the _Holy City_, the _Lamb's
Wife_, the _City of the Great King_, the _City into which the Kings of the
earth do bring their glory and honour_. _Now_ while such a return from
captivity was the expectation of _Israel_, even before the times of
_Daniel_, I know not why _Daniel_ should omit it in his Prophecy. This part
of the Prophecy being therefore not yet fulfilled, I shall not attempt a
particular interpretation of it, but content myself with observing, that as
the _seventy_ and the _sixty two weeks_ were _Jewish_ weeks, ending with
sabbatical years; so the _seven weeks_ are the compass of a _Jubilee_, and
begin and end with actions proper for a _Jubilee_, and of the highest
nature for which a _Jubilee_ can be kept: and that since _the commandment
to return and to build _Jerusalem__, precedes the _Messiah the Prince_ 49
years; it may perhaps come forth not from the _Jews_ themselves, but from
some other kingdom friendly to them, and precede their return from
captivity, and give occasion to it; and lastly, that this rebuilding of
_Jerusalem_ and the waste pla