Ezra 4:4

4:4 Then the local people ¹  began to discourage ²  the people of Judah and to dishearten them from building.

Daniel 9:25

9:25 So know and understand:

From the issuing of the command ³  to restore and rebuild

Jerusalem ⁴  until an anointed one, a prince arrives, ⁵ 

there will be a period of seven weeks ⁶  and sixty-two weeks.

It will again be built, ⁷  with plaza and moat,

but in distressful times.

[4:4]  ¹ tn Heb “the people of the land.” Elsewhere this expression sometimes has a negative connotation, referring to a lay population that was less zealous for Judaism than it should have been. Here, however, it seems to refer to the resident population of the area without any negative connotation.

[4:4]  ² tn Heb “were making slack the hands of.”

[9:25]  ³ tn Or “decree” (NASB, NIV); or “word” (NAB, NRSV).

[9:25]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[9:25]  ⁵ tn The word “arrives” is added in the translation for clarification.

[9:25]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “it will return and be built.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.