Daniel 9

This chapter belongs to the visionary section (chapters 7–12) that forms the latter part of the Book of Daniel. In chapter 8, Daniel saw the vision of the ram and the male goat and heard Gabriel's interpretation. In chapter 9, after reading the writings of a prophet and praying, he again receives a revelation from Gabriel.

Outline

• Verses 1–2 The events take place in the first year of Darius the Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. While reading the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah, Daniel understands that the desolation of Jerusalem is to end after seventy years.
• Verses 3–14 Daniel prays with fasting, in sackcloth and ashes. He confesses that because the people did not obey the law and the words of the prophets, the curse written in the law of Moses has come upon them.
• Verses 15–19 He makes supplication to the God who brought the people out of Egypt. Relying not on their own righteousness but on the Lord's mercy, he asks God to look upon Jerusalem and the desolate sanctuary.
• Verses 20–23 About the time of the evening offering, Gabriel, whom Daniel had seen earlier in the vision, comes to him. Gabriel tells Daniel that the commandment went forth at the very beginning of his supplications.
• Verses 24–27 Gabriel announces the appointed period of seventy weeks. From the going forth of the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the Anointed One, seven weeks and sixty-two weeks will pass. After that the Anointed One is cut off, and the city and the sanctuary are destroyed. In the final week a covenant is confirmed; in the midst of it sacrifice is made to cease, and an abomination is set up.

Key Verses

• Daniel 9:2 "that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem" — This is what prompted Daniel to begin praying. It connects with the seventy-year prophecy of Jeremiah 29.
• Daniel 9:18 "for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies" — A representative text of penitential prayer in which the sins of the community are confessed as one's own.
• Daniel 9:24 "Seventy weeks are determined" — One of the most disputed prophecies in the Old Testament.

People and Places

• Daniel
• Darius: the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes. Because he is not attested in extrabiblical records, views differ: some identify him with Cyrus, while others regard him as a ruler serving under Cyrus. His father Ahasuerus is generally regarded as a different person from the king in the Book of Esther.
• Gabriel: the angel who appears again, following his appearance in chapter 8.
• Jeremiah and Moses: in his prayer Daniel refers to Jeremiah's writings and to the law of Moses.
• Jerusalem: the desolate city for whose restoration Daniel pleads.

Points for Reflection

• A "week" is a unit of seven. The seventy weeks are commonly understood as 490 years, but interpretations differ on matters such as whether the starting point is the decree of Cyrus or a decree issued in the reign of King Artaxerxes.
• Many Reformed and evangelical commentaries identify the Anointed One as Jesus Christ and read his being "cut off" as the crucifixion. The destruction of the sanctuary is taken to be the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in AD 70.
• Dispensationalism holds that there is a gap in time between the sixty-ninth week and the final week. It interprets the final week as a seven-year tribulation at the end of the age and the "he" of verse 27 as the Antichrist.
• Historical-critical scholars often see the passage as referring to the prohibition of temple sacrifice by Antiochus IV of the Seleucid dynasty in the second century BC.
• The Seventh-day Adventist Church calculates the seventy weeks from the same starting point (457 BC) as the 2,300 evenings and mornings of chapter 8.
• In Matthew 24:15, Jesus speaks of "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet." This expression connects to the "abominations" of 9:27 and to 11:31 and 12:11.

In the Korean Church

The prayer of chapter 9 is frequently cited in sermons as a model of penitential prayer and of intercessory prayer for the nation and the church. The seventy weeks are treated in eschatological preaching and Bible studies.