The Gentile Times Reconsidered Chronology Christ

The “Seven Times” of Daniel 253
understood to mean just 1260 literal days. As the interpretation of
the “seven times” is derived from the three-and-a-half times (1260
days), why is not a consistent interpretation given to both periods?
How do we know that the supposed 2520 days mean years, but that
this is not the case with the 1,260 days? 33
Obviously there is no real basis for the conclusion that “seven
times” mean 2,520 years.
B-4: Were the “seven times” really seven years?
Nebuchadnezzar’s “seven times” of madness are often understood
as a period of seven years. However, anyone acquainted with the
reign of Nebuchadnezzar knows there are great problems with this
understanding. It is difficult to find a period of seven years within
his reign of 43 years when he was absent from his throne or
inactive as ruler.
Where, then, during Nebuchadnezzar’s 43 years of rule, can we
find a period of seven years when he was absent from the throne
and not involved in royal activities of any kind? The accompanying
table on the following page lists the years when the Biblical and
extra-Biblical sources show Nebuchadnezzar still actively ruling on
his throne.
As can be seen, the documented activities of Nebuchadnezzar
appear to exclude an absence from the throne for any period of
seven years. The longest period for which we have no evidence of
his activity is from his thirty-seventh to his forty-third and last year,
a period of about six years. This period ended with his death. It
should be remembered, however, that Nebuchadnezzar, after his
“seven times” of madness, was re-established on his throne and
evidently ruled for some time afterward.―Daniel 4:26, 36.
So what about the “seven times”? Do they necessarily refer to
years, as is often held?
Actually, the word for “times” in the original Aramaic text of
Daniel (sing. ‘iddan) commonly means “time, period, season” and
may refer to any fixed and definite period of time. 34 Admittedly,
the view that at Daniel chapter four, verses 16, 23, 25, 32 it refers
33 C. T. Russell was at least consistent in claiming that both periods were years, “for
if three and a half times are 1260 days (years), seven times will be a period just
twice as long, 2520 years.”— Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. II (originally published
in 1889), p. 91.
34 Compare the use of the same word in Daniel 2:8 (”time is what you men are trying
to gain”), 2:9 (”until the time itself is changed”), 2:21 (”he is changing times and
seasons”), 3:5,15 (”at the time that you hear the sound”), 7:12 (”there was a
lengthening in life given to them for a time and a season”), and 7:25 (”they will be
given into his hands for a time, and times and half a time”).