9:24–27 The interpretation of these verses is disputed at many points. There are two fundamental approaches to the interpretation of the “weeks” (lit. “sevens”): symbolic periods of time or literal periods of time. In the symbolic view the seventy years of punishment (v. 2) are multiplied seven times in accordance with the covenantal curses (Lev. 26:18, 21, 24, 28). Jubilees, a Jewish book from the period between the Testaments, also structures the whole of history into periods of 490 years. Adherents of the literal view fall into three categories. As with other prophecies in Daniel, some commentators interpret the verses with reference to the time of Antiochus IV. Other interpreters may be divided into two groups: (a) those who interpret the passage as having its primary focus on events associated with the First Advent of Christ and shortly thereafter (first-advent view); (b) those who interpret the passage as having reference to events associated with both the first and second advents of Christ with an unstated time interval between the two (second-advent view). Within each of these categories individual interpreters differ on details.