Athas challenges the past assumptions by Book of Daniel scholars, especially with regard to the symbolism used in Chapter 9, and by analyzing the narrative and visionary parts of the book in its final redaction. In Daniel 9:21, the archangel Gabriel reveals to the prophet to anticipate an event occurring in seventy weeks. This exegesis provides a theory for chronological interpretation that includes dates for calculating the length of time for historically understanding exile, oriented by persecution during the rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes in approximately 170-163 BCE. The weeks are not in direct succession and refer instead to a period of seven weeks (587-538 BCE) and a period of 62 weeks (605-171 BCE). This theory postulates that exile implies foreign domination.