In the first year of Darius, Daniel discerns from Jeremiah's prophecy that Jerusalem's desolation would last seventy years, prompting him to seek the Lord through fervent prayer, fasting, and confession. He confesses Israel's widespread sins and pleads for God's mercy upon the desolate city and sanctuary. While Daniel prays, the angel Gabriel appears to him, revealing a prophecy of "seventy weeks" determined for Daniel's people and holy city, detailing future events concerning the Messiah, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and subsequent destruction and desolation.
in the first year of his reign, I, Dani'el, was reading the Scriptures and thinking about the number of years which ADONAI had told Yirmeyah the prophet would be the period of Yerushalayim's desolation, seventy years.
I prayed to ADONAI my God and made this confession: "Please, Adonai, great and fearsome God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot!
"To you, Adonai, belongs righteousness; but to us today belongs shame - to us, the men of Y'hudah, the inhabitants of Yerushalayim and all Isra'el, including those nearby and those far away, throughout all the countries where you have driven them; because they broke faith with you.
Yes, all Isra'el flouted your Torah and turned away, unwilling to listen to your voice. Therefore the curse and oath written in the Torah of Moshe the servant of God was poured out on us, because we sinned against him.
He carried out the threats he spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us disaster so great that under all of heaven, nothing has been done like what has been done to Yerushalayim.
As written in the Torah of Moshe, this whole disaster came upon us. Yet we did not appease ADONAI our God by renouncing our wrongdoing and discerning your truth.
So ADONAI watched for the right moment to bring this disaster upon us, for ADONAI our God was just in everything he did, yet we didn't listen when he spoke.
"Now, Adonai our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, thereby winning renown for yourself, as is the case today - we sinned, we acted wickedly.
Adonai, in keeping with all your justice, please allow your anger and fury to be turned away from your city Yerushalayim, your holy mountain; because it is due to our sins and the wrongdoings of our ancestors that Yerushalayim and your people have become objects of scorn among everyone around us.
My God, turn your ear, and hear; open your eyes and see how desolated we are, as well as the city which bears your name. For we plead with you not because of our own righteousness, but because of your compassion.
Adonai, hear! Adonai, forgive! Adonai, pay attention, and don't delay action - for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people bear your name!"
While I was speaking, praying, confessing my own sin and the sin of my people Isra'el, and pleading before ADONAI my God for the holy mountain of my God -
yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gavri'el, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, swooped down on me in full flight at about the time of the evening sacrifice,
At the beginning of your prayers, an answer was given; and I have come to say what it is; because you are greatly loved. Therefore look into this answer, and understand the vision.
"Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and for your holy city for putting an end to the transgression, for making an end of sin, for forgiving iniquity, for bringing in everlasting justice, for setting the seal on vision and prophet, and for anointing the Especially Holy Place.
Know, therefore, and discern that seven weeks [of years] will elapse between the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Yerushalayim until an anointed prince comes. It will remain built for sixty-two weeks [of years], with open spaces and moats; but these will be troubled times.
Then, after the sixty-two weeks, Mashiach will be cut off and have nothing. The people of a prince yet to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, but his end will come with a flood, and desolations are decreed until the war is over.
He will make a strong covenant with leaders for one week [of years]. For half of the week he will put a stop to the sacrifice and the grain offering. On the wing of detestable things the desolator will come and continue until the already decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator."
Study Notes for Daniel 9
Verse 1
Darius the Mede is likely a viceroy or governor appointed by Cyrus the Great, who inherited the Babylonian empire. This dating places the event around 539/538 B.C.
Verse 2
Daniel realized the 70 years of Babylonian exile prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer. 25:11-12; 29:10) were drawing to a close. This understanding prompted his fervent prayer for national restoration.
Verse 3
The practice of fasting, wearing sackcloth, and sitting in ashes were traditional signs of deep mourning, repentance, and earnest seeking of God's favor.
Verse 4
Daniel begins his prayer by acknowledging God's sovereignty and faithfulness, grounding his petition not in Israel’s merit but in God’s unchanging character and covenant loyalty.
Verse 5
Daniel does not exempt himself or his generation; he uses the first-person plural ('We have sinned'), fully identifying with the corporate guilt of the nation.
Verse 11
The 'curse' and 'oath' refer to the warnings of judgment detailed in the Deuteronomic covenant (Lev. 26; Deut. 28), which explicitly predicted exile and calamity for disobedience.
Verse 14
The phrase 'the LORD hath watched upon the evil' emphasizes that God deliberately and justly executed the promised judgment because of Israel's persistent refusal to obey His voice.
Verse 15
Daniel invokes the Exodus, the foundational act of God’s redemptive power, reminding God of His historical commitment to protect and glorify His name through His people.
Verse 18
This verse is the theological heart of the prayer: Daniel pleads for restoration not based on Israel's 'righteousnesses' (merit or worth), but solely on God’s ‘great mercies’ and reputation.
Verse 21
Gabriel, the interpreting angel (cf. Dan. 8:16), arrived swiftly in response to Daniel’s prayer, emphasizing the immediacy of God’s attention. The 'evening oblation' refers to the time of the daily sacrifice (around 3 PM).
Verse 23
'Thou art greatly beloved' establishes Daniel’s favored status before God. The revelation is given because of Daniel’s faithful seeking and God’s gracious response.
Verse 24
The ‘seventy weeks’ (Hebrew *shabu’im*) are universally interpreted as seventy weeks of years, totaling 490 years, determined for the accomplishment of six major redemptive goals leading to the establishment of everlasting righteousness.
Verse 25
The 490 years are divided into three segments: 7 weeks (49 years) for the rebuilding of Jerusalem; 62 weeks (434 years) leading up to the Messiah; and the final 1 week (7 years).
Verse 26
'Messiah be cut off, but not for himself' is a clear prediction of the sacrificial death of the Anointed One. The subsequent destruction of the city and sanctuary refers historically to the Roman invasion led by Titus in A.D. 70.
Verse 27
This final 'week' (seven years) describes a ruler who confirms a covenant, then breaks it mid-week by causing the cessation of sacrifices and bringing the 'abomination of desolation,' a figure related to the Antichrist.
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