Discovery BoxDaniel 9:2-3 
Context9:2 in the first year of his reign 1 I, Daniel, came to understand from the sacred books 2 that, according to the word of the LORD 3 disclosed to the prophet Jeremiah, the years for the fulfilling of the desolation of Jerusalem 4 were seventy in number. 9:3 So I turned my attention 5 to the Lord God 6 to implore him by prayer and requests, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 7
Daniel 9:24-27
Context9:24 “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.”
1 tc This phrase, repeated from v. 1, is absent in Theodotion.
2 tn The Hebrew text has “books”; the word “sacred” has been added in the translation to clarify that it is Scriptures that are referred to.
3 sn The tetragrammaton (the four Hebrew letters which constitute the divine Name, YHWH) appears eight times in this chapter, and nowhere else in the book of Daniel.
4 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
5 tn Heb “face.”
6 tn The Hebrew phrase translated “Lord God” here is אֲדֹנָי הָאֱלֹהִים (’adonay ha’elohim).
7 sn When lamenting, ancient Israelites would fast, wear sackcloth, and put ashes on their heads to show their sorrow and contrition.
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 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.
10 tc The present translation reads the Qere (singular), rather than the Kethib (plural).
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.
12 tn Or “everlasting.”
13 sn The act of sealing in the OT is a sign of authentication. Cf. 1 Kgs 21:8; Jer 32:10, 11, 44.
14 tn Heb “vision and prophecy.” The expression is a hendiadys.
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.
16 tn Or “decree” (NASB, NIV); or “word” (NAB, NRSV).
17 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
18 tn The word “arrives” is added in the translation for clarification.
19 tn Heb “sevens” (also later in this line and in v. 26).
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.
20 tn Heb “it will return and be built.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.
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.
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.”
23 tn The words “will come speedily” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
24 sn Flood here is a metaphor for sudden destruction.
25 tn Heb “one seven” (also later in this line).
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.
27 tn The Hebrew text does not have this verb, but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
