Yea, all Israel have transgressed ... - Embracing not only the tribe and the kingdom of Judah, but the whole nation. The calamity, therefore, had come upon them all.
Even by departing - By departing from thy commandments; or by rebellion against thee.
That they might not obey thy voice - By refusing to obey thy voice, or thy commands.
Therefore the curse is poured upon us - As rain descends, or as water is poured out. The “curse” here refers to what was so solemnly threatened by Moses in case the nation did not obey God. See Deuteronomy 28:15-68.
And the oath that is written in the law of Moses ... - The word here rendered “oath” (שׁבועה shebû‛âh) means, properly, a “swearing,” or “an oath;” and hence, either an oath of promise as in a covenant, or an oath of cursing or imprecation - that is, a curse. It is evidently used in the latter sense here. See Gesenius, “Lexicon” Daniel saw clearly that the evils which had been threatened by Moses Deuteronomy 28 had actually come upon the nation, and he as clearly saw that the cause of all these calamities was thai which Moses had specified. He, therefore, frankly and penitently confessed these sins in the name of the whole people, and earnestly supplicated for mercy.