Daniel 9:20-27

Gabriel Gives to Daniel a Prophecy of Seventy Weeks

9:20 While I was still speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my request before the LORD my God concerning his holy mountain ¹  – 9:21 yes, while I was still praying, ²  the man Gabriel, whom I had seen previously ³  in a vision, was approaching me in my state of extreme weariness, ⁴  around the time of the evening offering. 9:22 He spoke with me, instructing me as follows: ⁵  “Daniel, I have now come to impart understanding to you. 9:23 At the beginning of your requests a message went out, and I have come to convey it to you, for you are of great value in God’s sight. ⁶  Therefore consider the message and understand the vision: ⁷ 

9:24 “Seventy weeks ⁸  have been determined

concerning your people and your holy city

to put an end to ⁹  rebellion,

to bring sin ¹⁰  to completion, ¹¹ 

to atone for iniquity,

to bring in perpetual ¹²  righteousness,

to seal up ¹³  the prophetic vision, ¹⁴ 

and to anoint a most holy place. ¹⁵ 

9:25 So know and understand:

From the issuing of the command ¹⁶  to restore and rebuild

Jerusalem ¹⁷  until an anointed one, a prince arrives, ¹⁸ 

there will be a period of seven weeks ¹⁹  and sixty-two weeks.

It will again be built, ²⁰  with plaza and moat,

but in distressful times.

9:26 Now after the sixty-two weeks,

an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. ²¹ 

As for the city and the sanctuary,

the people of the coming prince will destroy ²²  them.

But his end will come speedily ²³  like a flood. ²⁴ 

Until the end of the war that has been decreed

there will be destruction.

9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. ²⁵ 

But in the middle of that week

he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt.

On the wing ²⁶  of abominations will come ²⁷  one who destroys,

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

[9:20]  ¹ tn Heb “the holy mountain of my God.”

[9:21]  ² tn Heb “speaking in prayer.”

[9:21]  ³ tn Heb “in the beginning.”

[9:21]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew expression בִּיעָף מֻעָף (mu’af bi’af) is very difficult. The issue is whether the verb derives from עוּף (’uf, “to fly”) or from יָעַף (ya’af, “to be weary”). Many ancient versions and modern commentators take the first of these possibilities and understand the reference to be to the swift flight of the angel Gabriel in his coming to Daniel. The words more likely refer to the extreme weariness, not of the angel, but of Daniel. Cf. 7:28; 8:27; 10:8-9, 16-17; also NASB.

[9:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “he instructed and spoke with me.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.

[9:23]  ⁶ tn Or “a precious treasure”; KJV “greatly beloved”; NASB, NIV “highly esteemed.”

[9:23]  ⁷ tn This sentence is perhaps a compound hendiadys (“give serious consideration to the revelatory vision”).

[9:24]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tc The present translation reads the Qere (singular), rather than the Kethib (plural).

[9:24]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Or “everlasting.”

[9:24]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “vision and prophecy.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[9:24]  ¹⁵ 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.

[9:25]  ¹⁶ tn Or “decree” (NASB, NIV); or “word” (NAB, NRSV).

[9:25]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[9:25]  ¹⁸ tn The word “arrives” is added in the translation for clarification.

[9:25]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “sevens” (also later in this line and in v. 26).

[9:25]  sn The accents in the MT indicate disjunction at this point, which would make it difficult, if not impossible, to identify the “anointed one/prince” of this verse as messianic. The reference in v. 26 to the sixty-two weeks as a unit favors the MT accentuation, not the traditional translation. If one follows the MT accentuation, one may translate “From the going forth of the message to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince arrives, there will be a period of seven weeks. During a period of sixty-two weeks it will again be built, with plaza and moat, but in distressful times.” The present translation follows a traditional reading of the passage that deviates from the MT accentuation.

[9:25]  ²⁰ tn Heb “it will return and be built.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.

[9:26]  ²¹ sn The expression have nothing is difficult. Presumably it refers to an absence of support or assistance for the anointed one at the time of his “cutting off.” The KJV rendering “but not for himself,” apparently suggesting a vicarious death, cannot be defended.

[9:26]  ²² tc Some witnesses (e.g., the Syriac) understand a passive verb and the preposition עִם (’im, “with) rather than the noun עַם (’am, “people”), thus reading “the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed with the coming prince.”

[9:26]  ²³ tn The words “will come speedily” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[9:26]  ²⁴ sn Flood here is a metaphor for sudden destruction.

[9:27]  ²⁵ tn Heb “one seven” (also later in this line).

[9:27]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text does not have this verb, but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.