Daniel 9:18-27

18 ¹O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see ²our desolations, and ³the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.

19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. ⁴Delay not, ⁵for your own sake, O my God, because ⁶your city and ⁷your people are called by your name. ”

Gabriel Brings an Answer

20 ⁸While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for ⁹the holy hill of my God,

21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man ¹⁰Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, ¹¹came to me in swift flight at ¹²the time of the evening sacrifice.

22 ¹³He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you ¹⁴insight and understanding.

23 ¹⁵At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, ¹⁶and I have come to tell it to you, for ¹⁷you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word ¹⁸and understand the vision.

The Seventy Weeks

24 ¹⁹“Seventy weeks^[a] are decreed about your people and ²⁰your holy city, to finish ²¹the transgression, to put an end to sin, ²²and to atone for iniquity, ²³to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and ²⁴to anoint a most holy place. ^[b]

25 ²⁵Know therefore and understand that ²⁶from the going out of the word to restore and ²⁷build Jerusalem to the coming of an ²⁸anointed one, a ²⁹prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again^[c] with squares and moat, ³⁰but in a troubled time.

26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall ³¹be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come ³²shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. ³³Its^[d] end shall come with a flood, ³⁴and to the end there shall be war. ³⁵Desolations are decreed.

27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, ^[e] and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. ³⁶And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until ³⁷the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. ”

Daniel 9:18-27 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

• 1. 9:18 2 Kgs. 19:16; Isa. 37:17
• 2. 9:18 ver. 26; See ver. 27
• 3. 9:18 Jer. 25:29
• 4. 9:19 Ps. 40:17; 70:5
• 5. 9:19 Ps. 25:11; 79:9
• 6. 9:19 [See ver. 18 above]
• 7. 9:19 Jer. 14:9
• 8. 9:20 Isa. 65:24
• 9. 9:20 See ver. 16
• 10. 9:21 See ch. 8:16
• 11. 9:21 See ch. 8:18
• 12. 9:21 Ex. 29:39; [1 Kgs. 18:36; Ezra 9:4, 5]
• 13. 9:22 [ch. 8:16]
• 14. 9:22 [ch. 1:4, 17]
• 15. 9:23 [ver. 20]
• 16. 9:23 [ch. 10:12, 14]
• 17. 9:23 ch. 10:11, 19
• 18. 9:23 [Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14]
• 19. 9:24 [Ezek. 4:6]
• 20. 9:24 Neh. 11:1
• 21. 9:24 ch. 8:13
• 22. 9:24 [Ps. 78:38; Heb. 2:17]; See Jer. 31:34
• 23. 9:24 Rom. 3:25, 26; See Jer. 23:5, 6
• 24. 9:24 [Ps. 45:7; Isa. 61:1; Acts 4:26, 27]
• 25. 9:25 [ver. 23]
• 26. 9:25 [2 Chr. 36:23; Ezra 1:3; 4:24; 6:15; Neh. 6:15]
• 27. 9:25 [Ps. 51:18]
• 28. 9:25 John 1:41
• 29. 9:25 Isa. 55:4
• 30. 9:25 See Neh. 4:7, 8, 16-18
• 31. 9:26 Isa. 53:8; [Mark 9:12; Luke 24:26]
• 32. 9:26 [Matt. 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 19:43, 44]
• 33. 9:26 Nah. 1:8; [ch. 11:10, 22, 26, 40]
• 34. 9:26 Matt. 24:6, 14
• 35. 9:26 ver. 18; See ver. 27
• 36. 9:27 Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14; [Luke 21:20]
• 37. 9:27 Isa. 10:23

Footnotes

• [a] 9:24 Or 'sevens'; also twice in verse 25 and once in verse 26
• [b] 9:24 Or 'thing', or 'one'
• [c] 9:25 Or 'there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It shall be built again'
• [d] 9:26 Or 'His'
• [e] 9:27 Or 'seven'; twice in this verse