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and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.">Ezra 9:7</a><p><a href="/context/nehemiah/9-33.htm" title="However, you are just in all that is brought on us; for you have done right, but we have done wickedly:">Nehemiah 9:33-34</a><p><a href="//apocrypha.org/baruch/1-11.htm" title="And pray for the life of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and for the life of Balthasar his son, that their days may be upon earth as the days of heaven:">Baruch 1:11</a>.<p><a href="/daniel/9-6.htm" title="Neither have we listened to your servants the prophets, which spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.">Daniel 9:6</a><p><a href="/ezra/9-7.htm" title="Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass to this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.">Ezra 9:7</a><p><a href="/context/nehemiah/9-32.htm" title="Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keep covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before you, that has come on us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day.">Nehemiah 9:32-33</a><p><a href="/daniel/9-7.htm" title="O LORD, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.">Daniel 9:7</a><p><a href="/context/ezra/9-6.htm" title="And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up to the heavens.">Ezra 9:6-7</a><p><a href="/context/nehemiah/9-32.htm" title="Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keep covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before you, that has come on us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day.">Nehemiah 9:32-33</a><p><a href="//apocrypha.org/baruch/1-15.htm" title="And ye shall say, To the Lord our God belongeth righteousness, but unto us the confusion of faces, as it is come to pass this day, unto them of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,">Baruch 1:15-17</a><p><a href="/daniel/9-8.htm" title="O Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.">Daniel 9:8</a><p><a href="/context/ezra/9-6.htm" title="And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up to the heavens.">Ezra 9:6-7</a><p><a href="/nehemiah/9-33.htm" title="However, you are just in all that is brought on us; for you have done right, but we have done wickedly:">Nehemiah 9:33</a><p><a href="/daniel/9-9.htm" title="To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;">Daniel 9:9</a><p><a href="/nehemiah/9-17.htm" title="And refused to obey, neither were mindful of your wonders that you did among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but you are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsook them not.">Nehemiah 9:17</a><p><a href="/daniel/9-13.htm" title="As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come on us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand your truth.">Daniel 9:13</a><p><a href="//apocrypha.org/baruch/2-7.htm" title="For all these plagues are come upon us, which the Lord hath pronounced against us">Baruch 2:7</a>.<p><a href="/daniel/9-14.htm" title="Therefore has the LORD watched on the evil, and brought it on us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he does: for we obeyed not his voice.">Daniel 9:14</a><p><a href="/ezra/9-15.htm" title="O LORD God of Israel, you are righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before you in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before you because of this.">Ezra 9:15</a><p><a href="/nehemiah/9-33.htm" title="However, you are just in all that is brought on us; for you have done right, but we have done wickedly:">Nehemiah 9:33</a><p><a href="/daniel/9-15.htm" title="And now, O Lord our God, that have brought your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have gotten you renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.">Daniel 9:15</a><p><a href="/nehemiah/9-10.htm" title="And showed signs and wonders on Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for you knew that they dealt proudly against them. So did you get you a name, as it is this day.">Nehemiah 9:10</a><p><a href="//apocrypha.org/baruch/2-11.htm" title="And now, O Lord God of Israel, that hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and high arm, and with signs, and with wonders, and with great power, and hast gotten thyself a name, as appeareth this day:">Baruch 2:11</a>.<p><a href="/daniel/9-18.htm" title="O my God, incline your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our supplications before you for our righteousnesses, but for your great mercies.">Daniel 9:18</a><p><a href="//apocrypha.org/baruch/2-19.htm" title="Therefore we do not make our humble supplication before thee, O Lord our God, for the righteousness of our fathers, and of our kings.">Baruch 2:19</a>.<p><a href="/daniel/9-19.htm" title="O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and do; defer not, for your own sake, O my God: for your city and your people are called by your name.">Daniel 9:19</a><p><a href="//apocrypha.org/baruch/2-15.htm" title="That all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, because Israel and his posterity is called by thy name.">Baruch 2:15</a>.<p>The resemblance is due to the fact that most of the corresponding thoughts are taken from earlier works, such as the Law of Moses, or prophetical writings. It will be observed that this similarity can be traced chiefly in <a href="/context/daniel/9-4.htm" title="And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;">Daniel 9:4-9</a>; <a href="/context/daniel/9-13.htm" title="As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come on us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand your truth.">Daniel 9:13-19</a>. The language, however, is very general, and can be traced for the most part to earlier sources. A short analysis of the prayers of Ezra and Nehemiah shows that the similarity of the prayers is less striking than appears at first sight. Ezra confesses the sins of the congregation from the early period of Israel’s history down to his own time; he blesses God for allowing a remnant to escape, he then confesses the special sin of which the nation was guilty at that time, and acknowledges that neither he nor his people are able to stand before God. Not once in the course of his prayer does he ask for forgiveness. Nehemiah, after thanking God for His mercies, using the language of Psalmists, proceeds to bless God for the mercies which He has showered upon his people in spite of their frequent relapses into sin. He frequently contrasts the righteousness of God with the guiltiness of the nation, and, like Ezra, does not pray for forgiveness or to be delivered from bondage. But Daniel’s prayer is just the reverse. Not only does he pray for the pardon and deliverance of his people, but he concludes with a petition that he himself may be heard (<a href="/context/daniel/9-17.htm" title="Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of your servant, and his supplications, and cause your face to shine on your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.">Daniel 9:17-18</a>). It is therefore unreasonable to suppose that Daniel’s prayer should have been founded upon the model of the prayers of Ezra and Nehemiah. Still more improbable is the hypothesis that it was curtailed from the prayer of Baruch. The date of the book of Baruch is almost universally acknowledged to be late, and the prayer contained in it depends as much upon the book of Nehemiah as it does upon Daniel.<p><span class= "bld"> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-1.htm">Daniel 9:1</a></div><div class="verse">In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;</div>IX.</span><p>(1) On Darius the Mede see <span class= "ital">Excursus D.</span><p><span class= "bld">Was made king.</span>—The phrase corresponds with “took the kingdom” (<a href="/daniel/5-31.htm" title="And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about three score and two years old.">Daniel 5:31</a>), and shows that Darius was not king by his own right, but that he received his authority from another—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> Cyrus.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-2.htm">Daniel 9:2</a></div><div class="verse">In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.</div>(2) <span class= "bld">Understood.—</span>He gave special attention to Jeremiah’s prophecy of the seventy years of the Captivity. Two passages occur in that prophet’s writings where the duration of the Captivity is mentioned (<a href="/jeremiah/25-11.htm" title="And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.">Jeremiah 25:11</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/29-10.htm" title="For thus said the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.">Jeremiah 29:10</a>), to the former of which Daniel refers (see especially <a href="/daniel/9-9.htm" title="To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;">Daniel 9:9</a>; <a href="/context/daniel/9-11.htm" title="Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, even by departing, that they might not obey your voice; therefore the curse is poured on us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.">Daniel 9:11-12</a>). It will be observed that there existed at this time a collection of sacred books, consisting of what had been already admitted into the Canon.<p><span class= "bld">Seventy years.</span>—It appears from <a href="/haggai/1-2.htm" title="Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD's house should be built.">Haggai 1:2</a>, <a href="/zechariah/1-12.htm" title="Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these three score and ten years?">Zechariah 1:12</a>, that considerable uncertainty prevailed as to the time whence the seventy years were to be reckoned. It has been pointed out (Professor Leathes’ <span class= "ital">Old Testament Prophecy,</span> p. 179) that three periods of seventy years occur in connection with the Captivity:—(1) from B.C. 606, the date of Jeremiah’s prophecy, to B.C. 536, the edict of Cyrus; (2) from B.C. 598, Jehoiachin’s captivity, to B.C. 528, the period of <a href="/ezra/4-6.htm" title="And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they to him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.">Ezra 4:6</a>; (3) from B.C. 588, the destruction of the Temple, to <span class= "ital">B.C. 5</span>18, the edict of Darius (<a href="/ezra/6-1.htm" title="Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.">Ezra 6:1</a>). In the first year of Cyrus, seventy years had elapsed since the captivity of Daniel, but to him it was a question of melancholy importance whether his computation had begun at the right date.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-3.htm">Daniel 9:3</a></div><div class="verse">And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:</div>(3) <span class= "bld">I set my face.</span>—Comp. <a href="/daniel/6-11.htm" title="Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.">Daniel 6:11</a>. Probably he prayed, as on that occasion, with his face towards Jerusalem. The prayer of Daniel bears some resemblance to those offered by Ezra and Nehemiah, while that of Baruch resembles it much more closely. (On this see <span class= "ital">Excursus F.</span>)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-4.htm">Daniel 9:4</a></div><div class="verse">And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;</div>(4) <span class= "bld">The covenant.—</span>See <a href="/exodus/19-5.htm" title="Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people: for all the earth is mine:">Exodus 19:5</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-5.htm">Daniel 9:5</a></div><div class="verse">We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:</div>(5) <span class= "bld">We have sinned.—</span>It has been remarked that four stages of sin are pointed out by the prophet, corresponding to the four different words which he uses. “Sin” refers especially to sins of deed, “committing iniquity” to sins of word, “done wickedly” to sins of thought, “rebelled” implies the person against whom the sin has been committed. The whole result of sin under these several aspects is expressed by the words “departing from Thy precepts.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-6.htm">Daniel 9:6</a></div><div class="verse">Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.</div>(6) <span class= "bld">Neither have we hearkened.—</span>The aggravation of guilt. All God’s warnings have been unheeded by high and low alike, by all to whom they were addressed.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-7.htm">Daniel 9:7</a></div><div class="verse">O Lord, righteousness <i>belongeth</i> unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, <i>that are</i> near, and <i>that are</i> far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.</div>(7) <span class= "bld">Righteousness.—</span>The absolute righteousness of God appears distinct and clear in spite of the chastisement from which the nation suffers. Meanwhile, the humble looks of the devout part of the nation show that it feels the present shame and confusion.<p><span class= "bld">All the countries.—</span>See <a href="/context/isaiah/11-11.htm" title="And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.">Isaiah 11:11-12</a>. In the midst of his sorrow for the past, the mind of the prophet recurs unconsciously to the great promise of future deliverance by “the root of Jesse.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-8.htm">Daniel 9:8</a></div><div class="verse">O Lord, to us <i>belongeth</i> confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.</div>(8) <span class= "bld">Confusion of face.</span>—Repeated from <a href="/daniel/9-7.htm" title="O LORD, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.">Daniel 9:7</a>, so as to bring into stronger contrast the mercy of God (<a href="/daniel/9-9.htm" title="To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;">Daniel 9:9</a>) with the righteousness” mentioned in <a href="/daniel/9-7.htm" title="O LORD, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.">Daniel 9:7</a>. St. Jerome well remarks, “<span class= "ital">Post sententiam judicantis provocat eum ad clementiam.”</span> The absolute mercy and forgiveness of God is implied by the article in this verse, just as His absolute righteousness is in <a href="/daniel/9-7.htm" title="O LORD, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.">Daniel 9:7</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-11.htm">Daniel 9:11</a></div><div class="verse">Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that <i>is</i> written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.</div>(11) <span class= "bld">The curse.</span>—The passages in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, to which Daniel refers, had already been noticed by Isaiah (Isaiah 1), as having received a partial fulfilment in his times. It remains for Daniel to realise the complete “pouring” out of the curse. It is poured out like a torrent of rain (see <a href="/exodus/9-33.htm" title="And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands to the LORD: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth.">Exodus 9:33</a>); as the fire melts the silver (<a href="/context/ezekiel/22-20.htm" title="As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the middle of the furnace, to blow the fire on it, to melt it; so will I gather you in my anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.">Ezekiel 22:20-22</a>), so does the curse cause the nation to melt away.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-12.htm">Daniel 9:12</a></div><div class="verse">And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.</div>(12) <span class= "bld">Our judges.—</span>Used in a wide sense to signify kings, princes, and rulers generally. (Comp. <a href="/hosea/7-7.htm" title="They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calls to me.">Hosea 7:7</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-13.htm">Daniel 9:13</a></div><div class="verse">As <i>it is</i> written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.</div>(13) <span class= "bld">Made we not our prayer.—</span>The reference is, as in <a href="/daniel/9-6.htm" title="Neither have we listened to your servants the prophets, which spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.">Daniel 9:6</a>, to the conduct of the nation from the first. There had been plenty of external show of praying, as appears from Isaiah 1 and elsewhere, but these prayers were of no effect on account of their formalism. The conditions of acceptable prayer are implied in the closing words of the verse “turning from iniquity, and wisdom in the truth,” <span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> in the revelation of God. On the phrase “make prayer,” see <a href="/exodus/32-11.htm" title="And Moses sought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why does your wrath wax hot against your people, which you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?">Exodus 32:11</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-14.htm">Daniel 9:14</a></div><div class="verse">Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God <i>is</i> righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.</div>(14) <span class= "bld">Watched.</span>—By the use of this word it seems that Daniel is again referring to the prophecies of Jeremiah. (See <a href="/jeremiah/1-12.htm" title="Then said the LORD to me, You have well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.">Jeremiah 1:12</a>, &c.) He prays that as all the curses foretold by that prophet have been poured upon the nation, so also the release from the Captivity, which was also promised by him, may be accomplished also.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-15.htm">Daniel 9:15</a></div><div class="verse">And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.</div>(15) <span class= "bld">Thou hast brought.—</span>The mention of past mercies moves Daniel to pray that future mercies may be granted. His language is founded partly upon <a href="/context/jeremiah/32-17.htm" title="Ah Lord GOD! behold, you have made the heaven and the earth by your great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for you:">Jeremiah 32:17-23</a>, and partly upon <a href="/context/isaiah/63-11.htm" title="Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?">Isaiah 63:11-16</a>. The Babylonian exile is frequently compared by Isaiah (<span class= "ital">e.g.,</span> <a href="/context/isaiah/51-9.htm" title="Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Are you not it that has cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?">Isaiah 51:9-10</a>) to Egyptian bondage. Daniel reproduces the thought in this verse.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-16.htm">Daniel 9:16</a></div><div class="verse">O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people <i>are become</i> a reproach to all <i>that are</i> about us.</div>(16) <span class= "bld">Righteousness.—</span>Those acts of Jehovah which evince His righteousness, or His faithfulness to His promises. Mount Zion, the “holy mountain,” holds a very important place in prophecy. It is the outward visible sign of the stability of God’s promises to David, the “sure mercies of David,”’ as well as the centre of all that is Holy in the kingdom of God. (See <a href="/context/psalms/68-15.htm" title="The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan.">Psalm 68:15-16</a>; <a href="/context/psalms/132-13.htm" title="For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his habitation.">Psalm 132:13-14</a>; <a href="/context/isaiah/2-2.htm" title="And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.">Isaiah 2:2-4</a>; and comp. <a href="/daniel/9-20.htm" title="And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;">Daniel 9:20</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-17.htm">Daniel 9:17</a></div><div class="verse">Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.</div>(17) <span class= "bld">Cause thy face to shine.—</span>See <a href="/numbers/6-25.htm" title="The LORD make his face shine on you, and be gracious to you:">Numbers 6:25</a>. The meaning is “let thy works show the fulfilment of “thy Word.”<p><span class= "bld">For the Lord’s sake</span>.—Comp. <a href="/daniel/9-19.htm" title="O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and do; defer not, for your own sake, O my God: for your city and your people are called by your name.">Daniel 9:19</a>, “because Thou art the Lord.” Never does prayer rise higher, than when the soul humbly appeals to God as the sovereign lord of all, and patiently waits for Him to do as He pleases. (Comp. <a href="/context/psalms/44-9.htm" title="But you have cast off, and put us to shame; and go not forth with our armies.">Psalm 44:9-26</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-20.htm">Daniel 9:20</a></div><div class="verse">And whiles I <i>was</i> speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;</div>(20) <span class= "bld">Whiles I was speaking.—</span>The answer to Daniel’s prayer. He had not even finished his prayer when the answer came. The angel Gabriel, whom he had seen (<a href="/daniel/8-16.htm" title="And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.">Daniel 8:16</a>), comes to him, and reveals to him the mystery of the seventy weeks.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-21.htm">Daniel 9:21</a></div><div class="verse">Yea, whiles I <i>was</i> speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.</div>(21) <span class= "bld">Being caused to fly swiftly.—</span>A very difficult expression, occurring only here. The Authorised Version follows the LXX. and Theodotion. The rendering has been defended on the ground that the word translated “swiftly” comes from a root meaning “to fly.” and is literally rendered by <span class= "ital">flight.</span> Thus “caused to fly in flight” means “caused to fly swiftly.” The marginal version “with weariness” finds supporters, and, if adopted, must be taken to refer to the bodily condition of Daniel (<a href="/context/daniel/8-17.htm" title="So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell on my face: but he said to me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.">Daniel 8:17-27</a>). The former translation is most in accordance with the context. The “flight” of angels is implied in <a href="/isaiah/6-2.htm" title="Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly.">Isaiah 6:2</a>, and should not be regarded as an idea foreign to the Old Testament.<p><span class= "bld">Touched me.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">reached me</span>. (Comp. this use of the word, <a href="/jonah/3-6.htm" title="For word came to the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.">Jonah 3:6</a>.) The time of the evening sacrifice Isaiah 3 P.M., being the hour of evening prayer. (See <a href="/exodus/29-39.htm" title="The one lamb you shall offer in the morning; and the other lamb you shall offer at even:">Exodus 29:39</a>; <a href="/numbers/28-4.htm" title="The one lamb shall you offer in the morning, and the other lamb shall you offer at even;">Numbers 28:4</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-22.htm">Daniel 9:22</a></div><div class="verse">And he informed <i>me</i>, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.</div>(22) <span class= "bld">He informed me</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.</span>, gave me understanding (as <a href="/daniel/9-2.htm" title="In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.">Daniel 9:2</a>, <a href="/daniel/8-16.htm" title="And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.">Daniel 8:16</a>). The angel gave Daniel understanding in the perplexing words of Jeremiah, showing him that what affected his people was a period of seventy weeks that were yet to come, rather than seventy years which were already passed.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-23.htm">Daniel 9:23</a></div><div class="verse">At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew <i>thee</i>; for thou <i>art</i> greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.</div>(23) <span class= "bld">The commandment.</span>—The marginal version is to be preferred, which points to the revelation which follows <a href="/context/daniel/9-24.htm" title="Seventy weeks are determined on your people and on your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.">Daniel 9:24-27</a>. The title “greatly beloved” occurs again (<a href="/daniel/10-11.htm" title="And he said to me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright: for to you am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood trembling.">Daniel 10:11</a>; <a href="/daniel/10-19.htm" title="And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be to you, be strong, yes, be strong. And when he had spoken to me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for you have strengthened me.">Daniel 10:19</a>). It implies that Daniel was worthy of this proof of God’s love. St. Jerome compares (<a href="/2_samuel/12-25.htm" title="And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.">2Samuel 12:25</a>) Jedidiah.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-24.htm">Daniel 9:24</a></div><div class="verse">Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.</div>(24) <span class= "bld">Seventy weeks.—</span>Great difficulty is experienced in discovering what sort of weeks is intended. <a href="/context/daniel/9-25.htm" title="Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.">Daniel 9:25-27</a> are sufficient to show that ordinary weeks cannot be meant. Possibly, also, the language (<a href="/daniel/10-2.htm" title="In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.">Daniel 10:2</a>, margin “weeks of days”) implies that “weeks of days” are not intended here. On the other hand, it is remarkable that in <a href="/context/leviticus/25-1.htm" title="And the LORD spoke to Moses in mount Sinai, saying,">Leviticus 25:1-10</a> the word week should not have been used to signify a period of seven years, if year-weeks are implied in this passage. However, it is generally assumed that we must understand the weeks to consist of years and not of days (see Pusey’s <span class= "ital">Daniel,</span> pp. 165, 166), the principle of year-weeks depending upon <a href="/numbers/14-34.htm" title="After the number of the days in which you searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall you bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you shall know my breach of promise.">Numbers 14:34</a>, <a href="/leviticus/26-34.htm" title="Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lies desolate, and you be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.">Leviticus 26:34</a>, <a href="/ezekiel/4-6.htm" title="And when you have accomplished them, lie again on your right side, and you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed you each day for a year.">Ezekiel 4:6</a>. The word “week” in itself furnishes a clue to the meaning. It implies a “Heptad,” and is not necessarily more definite than the “time” mentioned in <a href="/daniel/7-25.htm" title="And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.">Daniel 7:25</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Are determined.—</span>The word only occurs in this passage. Theod. translates <span class= "greekheb">συνετμήθησαν</span><span class= "ital">;</span> LXX., <span class= "greekheb">ἐκρίθησαν</span>; Jer. “<span class= "ital">abbreviatœ sunt</span>.” In Chaldee the word means “to cut,” and in that sense “to determine.”<p>The object “determined” is twofold: (1) transgression and sin; (2) reconciliation and righteousness.<p><span class= "bld">To finish.</span>—The Hebrew margin gives an alternative rendering, “to restrain,” according to which the meaning is “to hold sin back” and to “prevent it from spreading.” If this reading is adopted it will be parallel to the second marginal alternative, “to seal up,” which also implies that the iniquity can no more increase. Although the alternative readings may be most in accordance with the Babylonian idea of “sealing sins,” the presence of the word “to seal” in the last clause of the verse makes it more probable that the marginal readings are due to the conjectures of some early critics, than that they once stood in the text. However, it must be observed that while St. Jerome translates the passage “<span class= "ital">ut consummetur prœvaricatio, et finem habeat peccatum</span>,” Theodotion supports the marginal reading “to seal.”<p><span class= "bld">To make reconciliation</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.</span>, atonement. (Comp. <a href="/proverbs/16-6.htm" title="By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.">Proverbs 16:6</a>; <a href="/isaiah/6-7.htm" title="And he laid it on my mouth, and said, See, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.">Isaiah 6:7</a>; <a href="/isaiah/27-9.htm" title="By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he makes all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.">Isaiah 27:9</a>; <a href="/psalms/78-38.htm" title="But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yes, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.">Psalm 78:38</a>.) The two former clauses show that during the seventy weeks sin will cease. The prophet now brings out another side of the subject. There will be abundance of forgiveness in store for those who are willing to receive it.<p><span class= "bld">Everlasting righteousness.—</span>A phrase not occurring elsewhere. The prophet seems to be combining the notions of “righteousness” and “eternity,” which elsewhere are characteristics of Messianic prophecy. (<a href="/isaiah/46-13.htm" title="I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.">Isaiah 46:13</a>; <a href="/context/isaiah/51-5.htm" title="My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait on me, and on my arm shall they trust.">Isaiah 51:5-8</a>; <a href="/psalms/89-36.htm" title="His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.">Psalm 89:36</a>; <a href="/daniel/2-44.htm" title="And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.">Daniel 2:44</a>; <a href="/daniel/7-18.htm" title="But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.">Daniel 7:18</a>; <a href="/daniel/7-27.htm" title="And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.">Daniel 7:27</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">To Seal Up.—</span><span class= "greekheb">σϕραγίσαι</span><span class= "ital">,</span> Theod.; <span class= "greekheb">συντελεσθῆναι</span>, LXX.; <span class= "ital">impleatur,</span> Jer.; the impression of the translators being that all visions and prophecies were to receive their complete fulfilment in the course of these seventy weeks. It appears, however, to be more agreeable to the context to suppose that the prophet is speaking of the absolute cessation of all prophecy. (Comp. <a href="/1_corinthians/13-8.htm" title="Charity never fails: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.">1Corinthians 13:8</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">To anoint the most Holy.—</span>The meaning of the sentence depends upon the interpretation of the words “Most Holy” or “Holy of Holies.” In Scripture they are used of (1) the altar (<a href="/exodus/29-37.htm" title="Seven days you shall make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatever touches the altar shall be holy.">Exodus 29:37</a>); (2) the atonement (<a href="/exodus/30-10.htm" title="And Aaron shall make an atonement on the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement on it throughout your generations: it is most holy to the LORD.">Exodus 30:10</a>); (3) the tabernacle and the sacred furniture (<a href="/exodus/30-29.htm" title="And you shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatever touches them shall be holy.">Exodus 30:29</a>); (4) the sacred perfume (<a href="/exodus/30-36.htm" title="And you shall beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with you: it shall be to you most holy.">Exodus 30:36</a>); (5) the remnant of the meat offering (<a href="/leviticus/2-3.htm" title="And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.">Leviticus 2:3</a>; <a href="/leviticus/2-10.htm" title="And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.">Leviticus 2:10</a>); (6) all that touch the offerings made by fire (<a href="/leviticus/6-18.htm" title="All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the LORD made by fire: every one that touches them shall be holy.">Leviticus 6:18</a>); (7) the sin offering (<a href="/leviticus/10-17.htm" title="Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God has given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD?">Leviticus 10:17</a>); (8) the trespass offering (<a href="/leviticus/14-13.htm" title="And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest's, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy:">Leviticus 14:13</a>); (9) the shewbread (<a href="/leviticus/24-9.htm" title="And it shall be Aaron's and his sons'; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy to him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute.">Leviticus 24:9</a>); (10) things devoted (<a href="/leviticus/27-28.htm" title="Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote to the LORD of all that he has, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD.">Leviticus 27:28</a>); (11) various offerings (<a href="/numbers/18-9.htm" title="This shall be your of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs which they shall render to me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons.">Numbers 18:9</a>); (12) the temple service and articles connected with it, or perhaps Aaron (<a href="/1_chronicles/23-13.htm" title="The sons of Amram; Aaron and Moses: and Aaron was separated, that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons for ever, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister to him, and to bless in his name for ever.">1Chronicles 23:13</a>); (13) the limits of the new temple (<a href="/ezekiel/43-12.htm" title="This is the law of the house; On the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.">Ezekiel 43:12</a>); (14) the sanctuary of the new temple (<a href="/ezekiel/45-3.htm" title="And of this measure shall you measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand: and in it shall be the sanctuary and the most holy place.">Ezekiel 45:3</a>); (15) the territory set apart for the sons of Zadok (<a href="/ezekiel/48-2.htm" title="And by the border of Dan, from the east side to the west side, a portion for Asher.">Ezekiel 48:2</a>). Which of these significations is to be here adopted can only be discovered by the context. Now from the careful manner in which this and the following verse are connected by the words “Know therefore,” it appears that the words “most Holy” are parallel to “Messiah the Prince” (<a href="/daniel/9-25.htm" title="Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.">Daniel 9:25</a>), and that they indicate a person. (See <a href="/leviticus/6-18.htm" title="All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the LORD made by fire: every one that touches them shall be holy.">Leviticus 6:18</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/23-13.htm" title="The sons of Amram; Aaron and Moses: and Aaron was separated, that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons for ever, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister to him, and to bless in his name for ever.">1Chronicles 23:13</a>.) This was the opinion of the Syriac translator, who renders the words “Messiah the most Holy,” and of the LXX. <span class= "greekheb">εὐϕρᾶναι ἃγιον ἁγίων</span><span class= "ital">,</span> on which it has been remarked that <span class= "greekheb">εὐϕρᾶναι</span> would have no meaning if applied to a place, and the phrase employed in this version for the sanctuary is invariably <span class= "greekheb">τὸ ἃγιον τῶν ἁγίων</span>. Any reference to Zerubbabel’s temple, or to the dedication of the temple by Judas Maccabæus, is opposed to the context.<p><span class= "bld">EXCURSUS G: THE SEVENTY WEEKS (Daniel 9:24).</span><p>It may be questioned in what way this prophecy presents any meaning to those who follow the punctuation of the Hebrew text, and put the principal stop in <a href="/daniel/9-25.htm" title="Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.">Daniel 9:25</a> after “seven weeks,” instead of after “three score and two weeks.” The translation would be as follows, “From the going out . . . until Messiah the prince shall be seven weeks; and during sixty-two weeks the city shall be rebuilt . . . and after sixty-two weeks shall Messiah be cut off” . . . This can only be explained upon the hypothesis that the word “week” is used in an indefinite sense to mean a period. The sense is then as follows:—The period from the command of Cyrus or of Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem, down to the time of Messiah, consisted of seven such weeks; during the sixty-two weeks that followed the kingdom of Messiah is to be established amidst much persecution. During the last week the persecution will be so intense that Messiah may be said to be annihilated by it, His kingdom on earth being destroyed. At the end of the last week the Antichristian prince who organises the persecution is himself exterminated, and destroyed in the final judgment.<p>According to this view the seventy weeks occupy the whole period that intervenes between the times of Cyrus or Artaxerxes and the last judgment. The principal objection to it is that it gives no explanation of the numbers “seven” and “sixty-two,” which seem to have been chosen for some particular purpose. Nor does it furnish any reason for the choice of the word “weeks” instead of “times” or “seasons,” either of which words would have equally served the same indefinite purpose.<p>The traditional interpretation follows the punctuation of Theodotion, which St. Jerome also adopted, and reckons the seventy weeks from B.C. 458, the twentieth year of Artaxerxes. From this date, measuring seven weeks of years—that is, forty-nine years—we are brought to the date B.C. 409. It is predicted that during this period the walls of Jerusalem and the city itself should be rebuilt, though in troublous times. It must be remembered that very little is known of Jewish history during the times after Ezra and Nehemiah. The latest date given in Nehemiah is the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, or B.C. 446. It is highly probable that the city was not completely restored till nearly forty years later. Reckoning from B.C. 409 sixty-two weeks or 434 years, we are brought to A.D. 25, the year when our Saviour began His ministry. After three and a half years, or in the “midst of a week,” he was cut off. The seventy weeks end in A.D. 32, which is said to be the end of the second probation of Israel after rejecting the Messiah. The agreement between the dates furnished by history and prediction is very striking, and the general expectation that there prevailed about the appearance of a Messiah at the time of our Saviour’s first advent points to the antiquity as well as to the accuracy of the interpretation. However, the explanation of the latter half of the seven weeks is not satisfactory. We have no chronological account of events which occurred shortly after the Ascension, and there are no facts stated in the New Testament that lead us to suppose that Israel should have three and a half years’ probation after the rejection of the Messiah.<p>The modern explanation adheres in part to the Masoretic text, and regards the sixty-two year-weeks as beginning in B.C. 604. Reckoning onwards 434 years, we are brought to the year B.C. 170, in which Antiochus plundered the Temple and massacred 40,000 Jews. Onias III., the anointed prince, was murdered B.C. 176, just before the close of this period; and from the attack upon the Temple to the death of Antiochus, B.C. 164. was seven years, or one week, in the midst of which, B.C. 167, the offering was abolished, and the idolatrous altar erected in the Temple. The seven weeks are then calculated onwards from B.C. 166, and are stated to mean an indefinite period expressed by a round number, during which Jerusalem was rebuilt after its defilement by Antiochus. This explanation is highly unsatisfactory. It not only inverts the order of the weeks, but arbitrarily uses the word week in a double sense, in a definite and in an indefinite sense at once. There is still a graver objection to assuming that the starting point of the seventy weeks is the year B.C. 604. No command to rebuild Jerusalem had then gone forth.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-25.htm">Daniel 9:25</a></div><div class="verse">Know therefore and understand, <i>that</i> from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince <i>shall be</i> seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.</div>(25) <span class= "bld">Know therefore.—</span>The difficulty of this verse is considerably increased by the principal accent in the Hebrew text being placed after the words “seven weeks.” According to the present punctuation, the translation is “Unto an Anointed one a prince shall be seven weeks, and during sixty and two weeks [Jerusalem] shall be built up” . . . This is opposed (1) to ancient translations except the LXX.; (2) to <a href="/daniel/9-26.htm" title="And after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and to the end of the war desolations are determined.">Daniel 9:26</a>, which connects the sixty-two weeks with the Anointed, and not with the building of the city.<p><span class= "bld">The commandment.—</span>To be explained, as in <a href="/daniel/9-23.htm" title="At the beginning of your supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show you; for you are greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.">Daniel 9:23</a>, to mean revelation. But to what revelation is the allusion? Is it to the edict of Cyrus (<a href="/ezra/6-14.htm" title="And the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.">Ezra 6:14</a>), which Isaiah predicts (<a href="/isaiah/44-28.htm" title="That said of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, You shall be built; and to the temple, Your foundation shall be laid.">Isaiah 44:28</a>)? Or are we to explain it of what happened in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes? (See <span class= "ital">Excursus G.</span>) It is obvious that there is no reference to Jeremiah’s prophecy, for nothing is there stated which can be interpreted to be a command to rebuild Jerusalem.<p><span class= "bld">Messiah the Prince.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">an Anointed one, a prince,</span> the two nouns being placed in apposition, and the article omitted before each, the person and the office of the person contemplated being sufficiently definite. He is to be “anointed,” that is, King and Priest at once (see <a href="/1_samuel/10-1.htm" title="Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD has anointed you to be captain over his inheritance?">1Samuel 10:1</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/13-14.htm" title="But now your kingdom shall not continue: the LORD has sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be captain over his people, because you have not kept that which the LORD commanded you.">1Samuel 13:14</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/25-30.htm" title="And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and shall have appointed you ruler over Israel;">1Samuel 25:30</a>); in fact, He is to possess those attributes which in other passages are ascribed to the Messiah. It is needless to point out that Cyrus, though spoken of (<a href="/isaiah/45-1.htm" title="Thus said the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;">Isaiah 45:1</a>) as an “anointed of Jehovah,” cannot be indicated here. By no calculation can he be said to have come either seven weeks or, sixty-nine weeks from the time of the commencement of the Captivity.<p><span class= "bld">The street</span> . . . <span class= "bld">the wall.</span>—By the street is meant the large square, which, according to <a href="/ezra/10-9.htm" title="Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together to Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.">Ezra 10:9</a>, was in front of the Temple. With this the “wall” is contrasted, but what is meant cannot be ascertained. According to the etymology, it means “something cut off.” The English Version follows the ancient translations.<p><span class= "bld">In troublous times</span>.—The whole history of the rebuilding of Jerusalem tells us one long tale of protracted opposition. Zerubbabel was compelled to undergo the persecution of his adversaries, and to bear their misrepresentations (<a href="/context/ezra/4-1.htm" title="Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity built the temple to the LORD God of Israel;">Ezra 4:1-6</a>). Attempts to delay the works were made in the reign of Darius (<a href="/ezra/5-6.htm" title="The copy of the letter that Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shetharboznai and his companions the Apharsachites, which were on this side the river, sent to Darius the king:">Ezra 5:6</a>). In later times (<a href="/ezra/4-12.htm" title="Be it known to the king, that the Jews which came up from you to us are come to Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations.">Ezra 4:12</a>) complaints were made that the walls were being rebuilt. Probably on this occasion the works that had been executed were destroyed (<a href="/nehemiah/1-3.htm" title="And they said to me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.">Nehemiah 1:3</a>), and it was not until the twentieth year of Artaxerxes that Nehemiah succeeded in completing the walls, and not even then without the most indefatigable labours.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-26.htm">Daniel 9:26</a></div><div class="verse">And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof <i>shall be</i> with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.</div>(26) <span class= "bld">After threescore and two weeks.—</span>These words can only mean that in the seventieth week the Anointed one shall be cut off. Observe the care with which the seventy weeks are arranged in a series of the form 7 + 62 + 1. During the period of seven weeks Jerusalem is to be rebuilt. The “troublous times” are not to be restricted to this period, but may apply to the sixty-two weeks which follow. After the end of the sixty-nine weeks Messiah is to be cut off. By “Messiah” we must understand the same person who is spoken of in <a href="/daniel/9-25.htm" title="Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.">Daniel 9:25</a>. It should also be observed that the word “prince,” which is applied to Messiah in <a href="/daniel/9-25.htm" title="Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.">Daniel 9:25</a>, is here used of another person—some secular prince, who stands in opposition to the Messiah. The Greek versions render “unction” instead of “anointed,” whence Jacob of Edessa explains “the cutting off” to mean “the cessation of the unction by which judgment and sovereignty were established.” The word “to cut off,” however, applies to a person more appropriately than to a thing. It is frequently used of excommunication, <span class= "ital">e.g.,</span> <a href="/exodus/30-33.htm" title="Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.">Exodus 30:33</a>; <a href="/exodus/30-38.htm" title="Whoever shall make like to that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.">Exodus 30:38</a>, <a href="/psalms/37-9.htm" title="For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait on the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.">Psalm 37:9</a>, and must not be mistaken for the word “to cut off” (<a href="/isaiah/53-8.htm" title="He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.">Isaiah 53:8</a>).<p><span class= "bld">But not for himself.—</span>On the marginal rendering comp. <a href="/john/14-30.htm" title="Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world comes, and has nothing in me.">John 14:30</a>. Literally the words mean, <span class= "ital">and He has not,</span> but what it is that He loses is left indefinite. Taking the sense according to the context, the meaning is either that He has no more a people, or that His office of Messiah amongst His people ceases.<p><span class= "bld">That shall come.</span>—These words imply coming with hostile intent, as <a href="/daniel/1-1.htm" title="In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Jerusalem, and besieged it.">Daniel 1:1</a>; <a href="/daniel/11-10.htm" title="But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.">Daniel 11:10</a>. Two such princes have been already mentioned (<a href="/daniel/7-23.htm" title="Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.">Daniel 7:23</a>, &c., <a href="/daniel/8-23.htm" title="And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.">Daniel 8:23</a>, &c.), the one being Antiochus, the other his great antitype, namely, Antichrist. Are we to identify this “prince” with either of these? Apparently not. Another typical prince is here introduced to our notice, who shall destroy the city and the sanctuary after the “cutting off” or rejection of the Messiah. But it must be noticed that the work of destruction is here attributed to the “people,” and not to the “prince.”<p><span class= "bld">The end thereof.—</span>It is not clear what end or whose end is signified. According to grammatical rules, the possessive pronoun may either refer to “sanctuary, the last substantive, or to “prince,” the chief nominative in the sentence. The use of the word “flood” (<a href="/daniel/11-22.htm" title="And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflowed from before him, and shall be broken; yes, also the prince of the covenant.">Daniel 11:22</a>) (comp. “overflow,” <a href="/daniel/11-26.htm" title="Yes, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain.">Daniel 11:26</a>) makes it, at first sight, more plausible to think of the end of a person than of a thing. (Comp. also <a href="/nahum/1-8.htm" title="But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.">Nahum 1:8</a>.) But upon comparing this clause with the following, it appears that by “the end” is meant the whole issue of the invasion. This is stated to be desolation, such as is caused by a deluge.<p><span class= "bld">Unto the end.—</span>That is, until the end of the seventy weeks, desolations are decreed. The words recall <a href="/context/isaiah/10-22.htm" title="For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.">Isaiah 10:22-23</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/daniel/9-27.htm">Daniel 9:27</a></div><div class="verse">And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make <i>it</i> desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.</div>(27) <span class= "bld">And he shall confirm.—</span>The subject of the sentence is ambiguous. Theod. makes it to be “one week.” LXX. “the covenant;” others take it to be the Antichristian prince spoken of in the last verse, an opinion which derives some support from <a href="/daniel/7-25.htm" title="And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.">Daniel 7:25</a>. According to this interpretation, the covenant refers to the agreement which the prince makes with the large number of persons who become apostates. But (1) the word “covenant” does not apply to any such agreement, but rather to a covenant with God, and (2) in <a href="/daniel/9-26.htm" title="And after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and to the end of the war desolations are determined.">Daniel 9:26</a> it is the people of the prince, and not the prince, which is the subject of the sentence. It is therefore more appropriate to take Messiah as the subject. During the last closing week of the long period mentioned, Messiah, though cut off, shall confirm God’s covenant (comp. <a href="/daniel/11-22.htm" title="And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflowed from before him, and shall be broken; yes, also the prince of the covenant.">Daniel 11:22</a>; <a href="/daniel/11-28.htm" title="Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land.">Daniel 11:28</a>; <a href="/daniel/11-30.htm" title="For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.">Daniel 11:30</a>; <a href="/daniel/11-32.htm" title="And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.">Daniel 11:32</a>) with many, that is, with those who receive Him.<p><span class= "bld">In the midst of the week.</span>—Or, during half the week (the latter half of the week, according to the LXX.), he will cause to cease all the Mosaic sacrifices (possibly those mentioned in <a href="/daniel/8-11.htm" title="Yes, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down.">Daniel 8:11</a>), whether bloody or unbloody. The verb “cause to cease” is used here as in <a href="/jeremiah/36-29.htm" title="And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus said the LORD; You have burned this roll, saying, Why have you written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from there man and beast?">Jeremiah 36:29</a>.<p><span class= "bld">And for the overspreading</span> . . .—The Greek versions agree in translating this as follows, <span class= "greekheb">καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερὸν βδελυγμα τῶν ἐρημώσεων</span><span class= "ital">,</span> which St. Jerome follows, <span class= "ital">“et erit in templo abominatio desolationis.</span> However, it is not possible to obtain any such meaning from our present Hebrew text without omitting the last letter and altering the last vowel of the word translated “abominations.” As the text stands it can be literally translated only as follows, “and upon the wing of abominations is a desolator.” The desolator, of course, is the person who causes the desolations mentioned in <a href="/daniel/9-26.htm" title="And after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and to the end of the war desolations are determined.">Daniel 9:26</a>. But what is meant by the “<span class= "ital">wing of abominations?”</span> The language is without parallel in the Old Testament, unless such passages as <a href="/psalms/18-10.htm" title="And he rode on a cherub, and did fly: yes, he did fly on the wings of the wind.">Psalm 18:10</a>; <a href="/psalms/104-3.htm" title="Who lays the beams of his chambers in the waters: who makes the clouds his chariot: who walks on the wings of the wind:">Psalm 104:3</a> are adduced, where, however, the plural “wings,” and not the singular, is used. If the number is disregarded, the words before us are explained to mean that “the abomination” or idolatry is the power by which the desolator accomplishes his purposes. He comes riding on the wings of abominations, using them for his ministers as God does the winds or the cherubim. As it appears decisive against this interpretation that Daniel has written “wing,” and not “wings,” it is better to explain the words as referring to the “sanctuary” spoken of in the last verse. The sense is in that case, “and upon the wing—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> the pinnacle of the abominations (comp. the use of <span class= "greekheb">πτερύγιον</span><span class= "ital">,</span> <a href="/matthew/4-5.htm" title="Then the devil takes him up into the holy city, and sets him on a pinnacle of the temple,">Matthew 4:5</a>) is a desolator. The Temple is thus called on account of the extent to which it had been desecrated by Israel.<p><span class= "bld">Until the consummation.—</span>These words refer back to <a href="/daniel/9-26.htm" title="And after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and to the end of the war desolations are determined.">Daniel 9:26</a>, and mean that these abominations will continue till the desolation which God has decreed shall be poured upon that which is desolated. Though the word “desolate” is active in <a href="/daniel/8-13.htm" title="Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said to that certain saint which spoke, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?">Daniel 8:13</a>; <a href="/daniel/12-11.htm" title="And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.">Daniel 12:11</a>, it appears in this passage to be used in a passive sense, as also in <a href="/daniel/9-18.htm" title="O my God, incline your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our supplications before you for our righteousnesses, but for your great mercies.">Daniel 9:18</a>. That which is foretold by Daniel is the complete and final destruction of the same city and temple which evoked the prophet’s prayer. There is no prophecy that the desolator himself is destined to destruction. Of his doom nothing is here stated. The “prince” appears merely as the instrument pre-ordained by God, by whose people both city and sanctuary are to be destroyed.<p><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. 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