The Gentile Times Reconsidered Chronology Christ

The “Seven Times” of Daniel 279
Following normal English usage, translators have usually
employed the definite article when rendering the words kairoí ethnôn
as, “the times of the Gentiles.” In Greek, the use of the definite
article would point to a definite and well-known period. Since,
however, the definite article is not found in the Greek text, the
phrase “times of Gentiles” can refer to an imprecise period rather
than one specific period already known to the readers (or listeners).
The words kairoí ethnôn have been variously interpreted
throughout the centuries. Bible commentator Dr. Alfred Plummer
observed:
The “seasons of the Gentiles” or “opportunities of the Gentiles”
cannot be interpreted with certainty. Either (1) Seasons for
executing the Divine judgements; or (2) for lording it over Israel;
or (3) for existing as Gentiles; or (4) for themselves becoming
subject to Divine judgements; or (5) Opportunities of turning to
God; or (6) of possessing the privileges which the Jews had
forfeited. The first and last are best, and they are not mutually
exclusive. 73
A few comments may be necessary to clarify what may be
implied in each of these alternatives:
(1) Seasons for executing the divine judgments
A number of expositors understand the “times of Gentiles” as the
period allotted to the Gentile armies of Rome for executing the
divine judgment upon the Jewish nation and its capital. As the
period required for crushing the Jewish rebellion and recapturing
Jerusalem lasted for about three and a half years—from the arrival
of Vespasian’s armies in Galilee in the spring of 67 until the
desolation of Jerusalem by Titus’ armies in the autumn of 70
C.E.―these expositors usually also equate the “times of Gentiles”
with the “42 months” of Revelation 11:2, during which period the
Gentiles would “trample on the holy city.” 74
(2) Seasons for lording it over Israel
In this view the “times of Gentiles” are understood as referring to
the period of Gentile domination of Jerusalem, dating either from
70 C.E. or from an earlier point of time.
73 Alfred Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to S.
Luke. International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1896), p. 483.
74 Dr. Milton S. Terry, for example, who adopted this view, states: “These ‘times of the
Gentiles’ are obviously the period allotted to the Gentiles to tread down Jerusalem,
and those times are fulfilled as soon as the nations shall have accomplished their
work of treading down the holy city.”—M. S. Terry, Biblical Apocalyptics (Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1988. Reprint of the 1898 edition), p. 367.