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, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years about which the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years.
I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments,
we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances;
neither have we listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.
Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, turning aside, that they should not obey your voice: therefore the curse and the oath written in the Torah of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us; for we have sinned against him.
He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing on us a great evil; for under the whole sky, such has not been done as has been done to Jerusalem.
As it is written in the Torah of Moses, all this evil has come on us: yet have we not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in your truth.
Therefore has the LORD watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he does, and we have not obeyed his voice.
Now, Lord our God, who has brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have gotten yourself renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
Lord, according to all your righteousness, let your anger and please let your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all who are around us.
Now therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant, and to his petitions, and cause your face to shine on your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.
My God, turn your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake.
While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;
yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering.
At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went out, and I have come to tell you; for you are greatly beloved: therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.
Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
Know therefore and discern, that from the going out of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times.
After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One shall be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
He shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out on the desolate.
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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The Calling of Disciples
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