Daniel 9:20-24

The Seventy “Sevens”

20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill—
21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.
22 He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding.
23 As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:
24 “Seventy ‘sevens’[a] are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish[b] transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.[c]

Daniel 9:20-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DANIEL 9

This chapter contains a prayer of Daniel, and the answer to it. The time, occasion, and manner of his prayer, or circumstances of it, are observed, Da 9:1-3, the parts of it, an address unto God, under various suitable epithets and characters, Da 9:4 confession of sin, of his own, of the inhabitants of the land, kings, princes, and people, which are largely dwelt upon and exaggerated, Da 9:5-15 and petitions for mercy, Da 9:16-19, then the answer follows; the time when it was ordered and given, and the person by whom it was sent, are expressed, Da 9:20-23 who delivered to him the vision of the seventy weeks to be considered by him; in which both the work of the Messiah, and the time of his coming, are clearly pointed out, Da 9:24-27.

Cross References 11

  • 1. S Ezra 10:1
  • 2. S ver 3; Psalms 145:18; S Isaiah 58:9
  • 3. S Daniel 8:16; S Luke 1:19
  • 4. S Exodus 29:39
  • 5. S Daniel 7:16; Daniel 10:14; Amos 3:7
  • 6. S Isaiah 65:24
  • 7. Daniel 10:19; Luke 1:28
  • 8. Daniel 10:11-12; Matthew 24:15
  • 9. S Isaiah 1:26
  • 10. S Isaiah 53:10
  • 11. S Isaiah 56:1; Hebrews 9:12

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Or "‘weeks’" ; also in verses 25 and 26
  • [b]. Or "restrain"
  • [c]. Or "the most holy One"
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