Daniel 9

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Daniel 9:1 sn The identity of this Darius is a major problem in correlating the biblical material with the extra-biblical records of this period. Most modern scholars treat the reference as a mistaken allusion to Darius Hystaspes (ca. 522-486 b.c.). Others have maintained instead that this name is a reference to the Persian governor Gubaru. Still others understand the reference to be to the Persian king Cyrus (cf. 6:28, where the ו (vav) may be understood as vav explicativum, meaning “even”). Under either of these latter two interpretations, the first year of Darius would have been ca. 538 b.c. Daniel would have been approximately eighty-two years old at this time.
2. Daniel 9:1 tc The LXX reads “Xerxes.” This is the reading used by some English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV). Most other English versions retain the Hebrew name “Ahasuerus.”
3. Daniel 9:1 tc The present translation follows the MT in reading a Hophal (i.e., passive). Theodotion, the Syriac, and the Vulgate all presuppose the Hiphil (i.e., active). Even though this is the only occurrence of the Hophal of this verb in the Bible, there is no need to emend the vocalization to the Hiphil.
4. Daniel 9:1 tn Heb “was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.”
5. Daniel 9:2 tc This phrase, repeated from v. 1, is absent in Theodotion.
6. Daniel 9:2 tn Heb “books” or “scrolls.” The word “sacred” has been added to clarify that it refers to the Scriptures.
7. Daniel 9:2 sn The tetragrammaton (the four Hebrew letters that constitute the divine Name, YHWH) appears 8 times in this chapter and nowhere else in the book of Daniel.
8. Daniel 9:3 tn Heb “face.”
9. Daniel 9:3 tn The Hebrew phrase translated “Lord God” here is אֲדֹנָי הָאֱלֹהִים (ʾadonay haʾelohim).
10. Daniel 9:3 sn When lamenting, ancient Israelites would fast, wear sackcloth, and put ashes on their heads to show their sorrow and contrition.
11. Daniel 9:4 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 7, 9, 15, 16, and 19 is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
12. Daniel 9:4 tn Heb “who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.” The expression is a hendiadys.
13. Daniel 9:6 tn Heb “in your name.” Another option is to translate: “as your representatives.”
14. Daniel 9:6 tn Heb “our fathers” (also in vv. 8, 16). The Hebrew term translated “father” can refer to more distant relationships such as grandfathers or ancestors.
15. Daniel 9:6 tn Heb “people.”
16. Daniel 9:7 tn Heb “to you (belongs) righteousness.”
17. Daniel 9:7 tn Heb “and to us (belongs) shame of face like this day.”
18. Daniel 9:7 tn Heb “men.”
19. Daniel 9:8 tn Heb “to us (belongs) shame of face.”
20. Daniel 9:9 tn Heb “to the Lord our God (belong) compassion and forgiveness.”
21. Daniel 9:10 tn Heb “paid attention to the voice of,” which is an idiomatic expression for obedience (cf. NASB “nor have we obeyed the voice of”).
22. Daniel 9:10 tn Heb “to walk in.”
23. Daniel 9:10 tc The LXX and Vulgate have the singular.
24. Daniel 9:11 tn Or “transgressed.” The Hebrew verb has the primary sense of crossing a boundary, in this case, God’s law.
25. Daniel 9:11 tn Heb “by not paying attention to your voice.”
26. Daniel 9:11 tn Heb “the curse and the oath that is written.” The term “curse” refers here to the judgments threatened in the Mosaic law (see Deut 28) for rebellion. The expression “the curse and the oath” is probably a hendiadys (cf. Num 5:21; Neh 10:29) referring to the fact that the covenant with its threatened judgments was ratified by solemn oath and made legally binding upon the covenant community.
27. Daniel 9:11 tn Heb “him.”
28. Daniel 9:12 tn Heb “he has fulfilled his word(s), which he spoke.”
29. Daniel 9:12 tn Heb “our judges.”
30. Daniel 9:12 tn Heb “who judged.”
31. Daniel 9:13 tn Heb “we have not pacified the face of.”
32. Daniel 9:13 tn Or “by gaining insight.”
33. Daniel 9:13 tn Heb “by your truth.” The Hebrew term does not refer here to abstract truth, however, but to the reliable moral guidance found in the covenant law (see vv 10-11).
34. Daniel 9:14 tn Or “righteous.”
35. Daniel 9:14 tn Heb “in all his deeds that he has done.”
36. Daniel 9:14 tn Heb “we have not listened to his voice.”
37. Daniel 9:15 tn Heb “with a powerful hand.”
38. Daniel 9:16 tn Or “righteousness.”
39. Daniel 9:16 tn Heb “your anger and your rage.” The synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of God’s anger. This is best expressed in English by making one of the terms adjectival (cf. NLT “your furious anger”; CEV “terribly angry”).
40. Daniel 9:17 tn Heb “hear.” Here the verb refers to hearing favorably, accepting the prayer and responding positively.
41. Daniel 9:17 tn Heb “let your face shine.” This idiom pictures God smiling in favor. See Pss 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19.
42. Daniel 9:17 tn Heb “for the sake of my Lord.” Theodotion has “for your sake.” Cf. v. 19.
43. Daniel 9:18 tn Heb “turn your ear.”
44. Daniel 9:18 tn Heb “desolations.” The term refers here to the ruined condition of Judah’s towns.
45. Daniel 9:18 tn Heb “over which your name is called.” Cf. v. 19. This expression implies that God is the owner of his city, Jerusalem. Note the use of the idiom in 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1; Amos 9:12.
46. Daniel 9:18 tn Heb “praying our supplications before you.”
47. Daniel 9:19 tn Heb “for your name is called over your city and your people.” See the note on this expression in v. 18.
48. Daniel 9:20 tn Heb “the holy mountain of my God.”
49. Daniel 9:21 tn Heb “speaking in prayer.”
50. Daniel 9:21 tn Heb “in the beginning.”
51. Daniel 9:21 tn The Hebrew expression בִּיעָף מֻעָף (muʿaf biʿaf) is very difficult. The issue is whether the verb derives from עוּף (ʿuf, “to fly”) or from יָעַף (yaʿaf, “to be weary”). Many ancient versions and modern commentators take the first of these possibilities and understand the reference to be to the swift flight of the angel Gabriel in his coming to Daniel. The words more likely refer to the extreme weariness, not of the angel, but of Daniel (cf. 7:28; 8:27; 10:8-9, 16-17; also NASB).
52. Daniel 9:22 tn Heb “he instructed and spoke with me.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.
53. Daniel 9:23 tn Or “a precious treasure”; KJV “greatly beloved”; NASB, NIV “highly esteemed.”
54. Daniel 9:23 tn This sentence is perhaps a compound hendiadys (“give serious consideration to the revelatory vision”).
55. Daniel 9:24 tn Heb “sevens.” Elsewhere the term is used of a literal week (a period of seven days); cf. Gen 29:27-28; Exod 34:22; Lev 12:5; Num 28:26; Deut 16:9-10; 2 Chr 8:13; Jer 5:24; Dan 10:2-3. Gabriel unfolds the future as if it were a calendar of successive weeks. Most understand the reference here as seventy “sevens” of years, or a total of 490 years.
56. Daniel 9:24 tc Or “to finish.” The present translation reads the Qere (from the root תָּמַם, tamam) with many witnesses. The Kethib has “to seal up” (from the root הָתַם, hatam), a confusion with a reference later in the verse to sealing up the vision.
57. Daniel 9:24 tc The present translation reads the Qere (singular), rather than the Kethib (plural).
58. Daniel 9:24 tn The Hebrew phrase לְכַלֵּא (l^ekhalleʾ) is apparently an alternative (metaplastic) spelling of the root כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”), rather than a form of כָּלָא (kalaʾ, “to shut up, restrain”), as has sometimes been supposed.
59. Daniel 9:24 tn Or “everlasting.”
60. Daniel 9:24 sn The act of sealing in the OT is a sign of authentication (cf. 1 Kgs 21:8 and Jer 32:10, 11, 44).
61. Daniel 9:24 tn Heb “vision and prophecy.” The expression is a hendiadys.
62. Daniel 9:24 tn Or “the most holy place” (NASB, NLT); or “a most holy one”; or “the most holy one,” though the expression is used of places or objects elsewhere, not people.
63. Daniel 9:25 tn Or “decree” (NASB, NIV); or “word” (NAB, NRSV).
64. Daniel 9:25 tn The word “arrives” is added in the translation for clarification.
65. Daniel 9:25 tn Heb “sevens” (also later in this line and in v. 26).sn The accents in the MT indicate disjunction at this point, which would make it difficult, if not impossible, to identify the “anointed one/prince” of this verse as messianic. The reference in v. 26 to the sixty-two weeks as a unit favors the MT accentuation, not the traditional translation. If one follows the MT accentuation, one may translate “From the going forth of the message to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince arrives, there will be a period of seven weeks. During a period of sixty-two weeks it will again be built, with plaza and moat, but in distressful times.” The present translation follows a traditional reading of the passage that deviates from the MT accentuation.
66. Daniel 9:25 tn Heb “it will return and be built.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.
67. Daniel 9:26 sn The expression have nothing is difficult. Presumably it refers to an absence of support or assistance for the anointed one at the time of his “cutting off.” The KJV rendering “but not for himself,” apparently suggesting a vicarious death, cannot be defended.
68. Daniel 9:26 tc Some witnesses (e.g., the Syriac) understand a passive verb and the preposition עִם (ʿim, “with) rather than the noun עַם (ʿam, “people”), thus reading “the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed with the coming prince.”
69. Daniel 9:26 tn The words “will come speedily” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
70. Daniel 9:26 sn Flood here is a metaphor for sudden destruction.
71. Daniel 9:27 tn Heb “one seven” (also later in this line).
72. Daniel 9:27 tn The referent of the Hebrew word כְּנַף (k^enaf, “wing”) is unclear here. The LXX and Theodotion have “the temple.” Some English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV) take this to mean “a wing of the temple,” but this is not clear.
73. Daniel 9:27 tn The Hebrew text does not have this verb, but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.