←Daniel 9→BSB

• Darius the Mede: See study note on 5:31.
• Ahasuerus is the Hebrew rendering of a Persian word taken into Greek as “Xerxes.” The father of Darius the Mede must have been a different Xerxes from the later Xerxes I, who reigned from 486 to 465 BC (see Esth 1:1); the time of this vision was 539 BC. It has been argued that the name Xerxes/Ahasuerus is an ancient throne name for Persian kings.

• reading . . . Jeremiah: Daniel apparently had a copy of Jeremiah’s prophecies.
• Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years: Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC (see 2 Kgs 25:8), and the first return occurred in 538 BC—about 48 years later. The rebuilding of the city began almost at once (see Ezra 3:1–13; Isa 44:28), and the rebuilt Temple was completed in 515 BC—about seventy-one years after it was destroyed (Ezra 6:15). Daniel might have thought of Jerusalem’s “destruction” as having begun with his own exile in 605 BC (see Jer 25:11–12), with sixty-seven years between 605 and 538 BC.

• Daniel realized that the seventy years were nearly at an end, so he turned to the Lord God seeking restoration for his people and the city of Jerusalem.
• People in mourning often wore burlap and ashes (cp. Neh 9:1; Esth 4:1; Lam 2:10; Luke 10:13).
• Focused prayer was often accompanied by fasting to put spiritual concerns ahead of physical needs.

• the Lord (Hebrew Yahweh): The covenant name of God (Exod 6:2–3; 20:2) is found in Daniel only in this chapter.
• God is faithful to his covenant with his people who love . . . and obey him (cp. Exod 34:6–7; Deut 7:9; Rom 8:28). God’s unfailing love (Hebrew khesed, elsewhere translated “grace,” “mercy,” “kindness”) is his fundamental nature that is the cause of faith, hope, and worship throughout the Bible (see Num 14:18; Neh 9:17; Pss 108:4; 136:1–26; Jon 2:4; 1 Jn 4:7–8).

Daniel used four different words meaning sin: The people had sinned (literally missed the mark), done wrong (i.e., committed a bent or twisted act), rebelled against the covenant, and scorned (literally turned away from) the Lord’s instructions.

God’s servants the prophets were his specially called and inspired spokesmen (9:10; Deut 18:15–22; 2 Kgs 17:23; 21:10–15; Jer 7:25; 25:4).

God’s act of driving Israel into exile for breaking his covenant was unique in all of history. Israel’s exodus from Egypt, their exile, and their return from Babylon are still unequaled (see also Jer 29:10).

Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses is summarized in Lev 26 and Deut 27–28. When the people entered into the covenant they swore to be obedient, calling down curses on themselves if they failed (see Exod 24:7–8; Josh 8:34–35).

God could bring lasting honor to his name by rescuing his people from exile in Babylonia, just as he did when he rescued them from Egypt (cp. Ezek 36:19–24).

mock Jerusalem and your people: God’s name was dishonored when his chosen city and his chosen people were ridiculed because of their helplessness before their enemies, making it appear that their God was helpless (9:19; cp. Ezek 36:19–20).

For your own sake: That is, for God’s own honor (9:19).

because of your mercy: God’s compassionate and merciful character gave Daniel hope (cp. Exod 34:6; Jon 4:1–3; Mic 6:8).

• listen and act! . . . do not delay: Daniel prayed this prayer in 539 BC (see study note on 9:1). Shortly thereafter (in 538 BC), King Cyrus gave his decree allowing the Jewish people to return to Judea (Ezra 1:1–4). The new Temple in Jerusalem was completed in 515 BC (Ezra 6:15). God returned the Israelites from exile in response to their prayers and repentance, just as the Exile had been his response to his people’s sins and rebellion.
• your people and your city bear your name: God’s reputation was associated with Jerusalem (Neh 1:9) and his people, Israel (Exod 5:22–6:1).

• Gabriel . . . earlier vision: See 8:15–16.
• evening sacrifice: Before the destruction of the Temple, Israel had offered two sacrificial lambs daily, one in the morning and one in the evening (Exod 29:41). Daniel apparently observed these times daily with prayer (Dan 6:10, 13; cp. Ps 55:17).

In the book of Daniel, insight and understanding are key words that often refer to the meaning of God’s revelation (cp. 1:4; 9:13, 25; 11:33, 35). God did not promise Daniel the answers to all of his questions, but rather, a basic grasp of the issues. God is in charge of history.

• a command was given (literally a word went forth): This command might have been God’s decree to end the Exile and return his people to Jerusalem and Judea, or it might have been the command to explain the future to Daniel (9:24–27).
• you are very precious to God: Also in 10:11, 19.
• It is unclear what your vision refers to: It could be the restoration of Jerusalem and God’s people that Daniel read about in Jeremiah and envisioned in his prayer (9:2–20), or one of the earlier visions (e.g., ch 8; cp. 8:27).

• Many understand the period of seventy sets of seven as seventy “weeks of years”—i.e., 490 years. However, they are not called “years” in the Hebrew text, and it has proven difficult to assign this period to an actual historical period of 490 years. Therefore, many interpreters believe that the numbers are not intended as calendar years but as symbolic periods of time to fulfill the visions. Just as Jerusalem suffered a lifetime of desolation (9:2; see study note on Jer 25:11), the city would experience many lifetimes of restoration.
• The period of time was for your people (the Jews) and your holy city (Jerusalem). The six purposes listed here appear to refer to the restoration of the Jews and the city of Jerusalem. Other interpreters see these six purposes as representing God’s universal work of redemption in the world.
• God would finish the rebellion of the Israelites, and he would also finish the rebellions of human rulers who defy the Lord and attack the holy people (Dan 7:8, 22, 25–26; 8:13–14; 11:29–45).
• To confirm the prophetic vision means to fulfill the content of the visionary answer to Daniel’s prayer.
• the Most Holy Place (Or the Most Holy One; literally a most holy): Some interpreters see this as referring to the restored Most Holy Place in the Temple in 164 BC. Others see it as referring to the anointing of Christ and his church as God’s own temple (Matt 12:6; Eph 2:19–22).

• The command . . . to rebuild Jerusalem and its Temple marks the beginning of the seventy sets of seven. The event that best fits this description is the decree of Cyrus the Great in 538 BC that allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding (see 5:31; 9:1; Ezra 1:2–4). Less likely are the decrees of Artaxerxes I in 458 BC (see Ezra 7:12–26) and 445 BC (see Neh 2:5–8).
• a ruler—the Anointed One: Many interpreters see Christ as fulfilling this prophecy, so they understand this passage as describing history from the time of Daniel to the time of Christ. However, an “anointed one” can refer to any of Israel’s kings or priests, who were ordained by anointing with oil. If the passage was fulfilled in the time of Antiochus IV, then the anointed one was probably the high priest at the time, Onias III (cp. Dan 11:22).
• and strong defenses: The vision refers to Jerusalem as being physically rebuilt. The rebuilding of the Temple was completed in 515 BC (Ezra 3:1–6:22); in 445 BC, Nehemiah completed the wall of Jerusalem (Neh 2–6).
• The perilous times can refer to the history of Jerusalem and its Temple from the time the decree was published until the end of the seventy sets of seven (see Dan 11:2–45).

• the Anointed One (literally an anointed): Those who see the fulfillment of this passage in the time of Antiochus IV point to the murder of the high priest Onias III in 171 BC as the fulfillment of this prophecy (see study note on 11:22). Those who see the fulfillment of this passage in the time of Christ will refer this prophecy to the crucifixion of the Messiah in AD 30 or 33.
• The ruler who will arise could refer to Antiochus IV, who attempted to destroy the Jewish people and their worship in the Temple between 171 and 164 BC (see 1 Maccabees 1:20–40). Many believe, however, that the destruction of the city and the Temple refers to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 66–70.
• The end refers to the completion of the seventy sets of seven. The text implies that the very end is a later time, and that the war would continue into the future (cp. Matt 24:4–8; Mark 13:5–8).
• The image of a flood often represents an invading army (cp. Dan 11:10, 22, 40; Nah 1:8) or devastating destruction.

• The ruler (literally he): Most interpreters understand this pronoun as referring to the ruler of 9:26. Some think that it refers back to the anointed one of 9:25–26 and is thus a prophecy about Christ, meaning that Christ caused a covenant to prevail and removed the need for sacrifices and offerings by his death. However, the word behind make a treaty has the sense of imposing a covenant, evidently by the use of force or intimidation. Antiochus IV imposed a covenant with the people of Judea following the beginning of his rule in 175 BC (cp. 11:23; see 1 Maccabees 1:10–15). Other interpreters believe that this prophecy was fulfilled in the events of AD 66–70. For still others, it refers to a future ruler.
• The phrase put an end refers to a destructive action, not an act of God’s salvation such as the Messiah would accomplish by his death. In 167 BC, Antiochus IV ordered the people of Judea to cease all practice of Jewish worship in the Temple and instead practice pagan worship, on pain of death (see 1 Maccabees 1:41–63). Similarly, the Roman general Titus put an end to the sacrifices and offerings in the Temple when he destroyed it in AD 70.
• a sacrilegious object that causes desecration (literally an abomination of desolation): Cp. Dan 8:13; 11:31; 12:11. This expression (Hebrew shiqqutsim meshomem) is possibly a mocking play on the Semitic name for Zeus (Ba‘al Shamayim, “Lord of the Heavens”). Idol-gods are often referred to as shiqquts, “abomination,” “desolation,” elsewhere in the Bible (see Deut 29:17; 2 Chr 15:8; Isa 66:3; Jer 32:34; Ezek 20:7), and the similarity between the sounds of shomem, “devastation, destruction, desolation,” and shamayim is clear. In December 167 BC, Antiochus IV erected an image of Zeus atop the altar of burnt offering in the Temple court and sacrificed unclean animals there. The same phrase (abomination of desolation) is used in 1 Maccabees 1:54 to describe that altar and its sacrifices. Jesus and multiple New Testament authors anticipated a desolating sacrilege in the future (Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20; 2 Thes 2:3–4). After Titus destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem in AD 70, the Romans set up their idols in the Temple precinct and made sacrifices to their gods (see Josephus, War 6.6.1). The apostle John later observed that many antichrists had appeared (1 Jn 2:18–23) and that the spirit of the antichrist was at work in the world (1 Jn 4:3).
• The time of destruction is under God’s control, and the fate decreed for this defiler is certain to come (cp. Dan 7:11; 8:25; 11:45). So it is with every ruler who exalts himself against God and seeks to destroy God’s people.