Daniel 9:24

9:24 “Seventy weeks ¹  have been determined

concerning your people and your holy city

to put an end to ²  rebellion,

to bring sin ³  to completion, ⁴ 

to atone for iniquity,

to bring in perpetual ⁵  righteousness,

to seal up ⁶  the prophetic vision, ⁷ 

and to anoint a most holy place. ⁸ 

Daniel 9:27

9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. ⁹ 

But in the middle of that week

he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt.

On the wing ¹⁰  of abominations will come ¹¹  one who destroys,

until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys.”

[9:24]  ¹ tn Heb “sevens.” Elsewhere the term is used of a literal week (a period of seven days), cf. Gen 29:27-28; Exod 34:22; Lev 12:5; Num 28:26; Deut 16:9-10; 2 Chr 8:13; Jer 5:24; Dan 10:2-3. Gabriel unfolds the future as if it were a calendar of successive weeks. Most understand the reference here as periods of seventy “sevens” of years, or a total of 490 years.

[9:24]  ² tc Or “to finish.” The present translation reads the Qere (from the root תָּמַם, tamam) with many witnesses. The Kethib has “to seal up” (from the root הָתַם, hatam), a confusion with a reference later in the verse to sealing up the vision.

[9:24]  ³ tc The present translation reads the Qere (singular), rather than the Kethib (plural).

[9:24]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew phrase לְכַלֵּא (lÿkhalle’) is apparently an alternative (metaplastic) spelling of the root כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”), rather than a form of כָּלָא (kala’, “to shut up, restrain”), as has sometimes been supposed.

[9:24]  ⁵ tn Or “everlasting.”

[9:24]  ⁶ sn The act of sealing in the OT is a sign of authentication. Cf. 1 Kgs 21:8; Jer 32:10, 11, 44.

[9:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “vision and prophecy.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[9:24]  ⁸ tn Or “the most holy place” (NASB, NLT); or “a most holy one”; or “the most holy one,” though the expression is used of places or objects elsewhere, not people.

[9:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “one seven” (also later in this line).

[9:27]  ¹⁰ tn The referent of the Hebrew word כְּנַף (kÿnaf, “wing”) is unclear here. The LXX and Theodotion have “the temple.” Some English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV) take this to mean “a wing of the temple,” but this is not clear.

[9:27]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text does not have this verb, but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.