Daniel 9:1-27 - Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

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The Seventy Weeks

In the first year of Darius the Mede, Daniel, studying the prophetical books, finds that Jeremiah has predicted that the desolation of Jerusalem will last for seventy years (Daniel 9:1-2). He prays, confessing the great sin of Israel, and entreating God to have mercy on His people (Daniel 9:3-19), Thereupon the angel Gabriel explains to him (Daniel 9:20-24) that Jeremiah's seventy years are seventy 'weeks,' or 'sevens,' of years (=490 years), which are to be made up of (7+62+1) 'weeks.' The seven 'weeks' begin with 'the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem,' and end with 'the anointed one, the prince,' and the sixty-two 'weeks' include the building of the city in troublous times (Daniel 9:25). The events of the last 'week' are more minutely described. An anointed one is cut off, and a hostile prince destroys the city and the sanctuary (Daniel 9:26). He makes a covenant with many for the one 'week'; for the half of the 'week' he makes the sacrifice and oblation to cease, an 'abomination of desolation' appears, and finally the desolator comes to a sudden end (Daniel 9:27).

Interpretation. The interpretation of this chapter is not without difficulty on any view of the book. Its explanation of the 70 years (Jeremiah 25:11-12; Jeremiah 29:10) is of course an artificial one. Jeremiah meant that the dominion of Babylon over all the nations of Western Asia would last for 70 years from the fourth year of Jehoiakim (605 b.c.) (Jeremiah 25:1; Jeremiah 25:11), 70 years being a round number for two generations: cp. the 40 years of Ezekiel 4:6; Ezekiel 29:11; Ezekiel 29:13. In this chapter the meaning is extended so as to refer to the humiliation of Jerusalem under a long succession of heathen powers. There are two main interpretations to be considered. The first places the beginning of the last 'week' in the time of Christ, and starts in its reckoning of the 70 'weeks' from the mission of Ezra (458 b.c.) or that of Nehemiah (444 b.c.). But though the end of the 70 'weeks' is to be placed 490 instead of 70 years after Jeremiah's time, yet the beginning of this period ought to coincide more closely with the beginning of Jeremiah's 70 years. And apart from other difficulties this view fails to give any clear explanation of the different events of the last 'week' The death of Christ abolished the OT. sacrifices not merely for 'half a week' but for ever, while the destruction of Jerusalem (70 a.d.) was much more than seven years (one 'week') after the crucifixion. The second interpretation finds in the events of the last 'week' another picture of the last seven years of Antiochus Epiphanes, and in the first seven 'weeks' the time (49 years) between the captivity (586 b.c.) and the edict of Cyrus (538 b.c.). That the Jews already reckoned Jeremiah's 70 years from the date of the final captivity is shown by 2 Chronicles 36:20; 2 Chronicles 36:21. The difficulty of this view relates to the 62 'weeks.' The time from the edict of Cyrus (538 b.c.) to the beginning of the last seven years of Antiochus Epiphanes (171 b.c.) is only 367 years, which is less than 62 'weeks' (434 years) by 67 years. To this it may be replied either that the 62 'weeks' are merely a broken period, not to be reckoned exactly, or that the writer of Daniel was not in a position to know the precise length of this interval. Josephus and other writers make similar errors in the chronology of that time.

Related Commentaries of Daniel 9:1

Daniel 9:1-27

1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;

2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;

5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:

6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7 O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.

8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.

9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.

13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.

15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gottena thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.

17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.

18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

20 And whiles 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;

21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly,b touched me about the time of the evening oblation.

22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.

23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandmentc came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finishd the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be builte again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

27 And he shall confirm the covenantf with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.