What starting date is Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks based on—Ezra's return or Nehemiah's return?
Daniel's prophecy of the seventy weeks is based on Nehemiah's return, not Ezra's return. Its starting point is the decree allowing Nehemiah to come back and rebuild Jerusalem's city wall, dated around April 14, 445 B.C. Ezra's return concerned rebuilding the temple, while Nehemiah's return concerned the wall.
Les emphasizes that Ezra's return was for rebuilding the temple, not the city wall, while Nehemiah's return was for rebuilding the city wall. He says Daniel chapter 9's prophecy is based not on the day Ezra came back, but on the day Nehemiah came back. He mentions the date as April 14, something like 445 B.C., when Nehemiah received permission to return and rebuild the wall. From that date until Christ's coming into Jerusalem on the triumphal entry, Palm Sunday, was fulfilled to the exact day from Nehemiah's date, not Ezra's.