9:26 Now after the sixty-two weeks,
an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. 3
As for the city and the sanctuary,
the people of the coming prince will destroy 4 them.
But his end will come speedily 5 like a flood. 6
Until the end of the war that has been decreed
there will be destruction.
9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. 7
But in the middle of that week
he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt.
On the wing 8 of abominations will come 9 one who destroys,
until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys.”
8:1 Sound the alarm! 10
An eagle 11 looms over the temple of the Lord!
For they have broken their covenant with me, 12
and have rebelled against my law.
1 tn Heb “from the end of the earth.”
2 tn Some translations understand this to mean “like an eagle swoops down” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), comparing the swift attack of an eagle to the attack of the Israelites’ enemies.
3 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.
4 tc Some witnesses (e.g., the Syriac) understand a passive verb and the preposition עִם (’im, “with) rather than the noun עַם (’am, “people”), thus reading “the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed with the coming prince.”
5 tn The words “will come speedily” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
6 sn Flood here is a metaphor for sudden destruction.
7 tn Heb “one seven” (also later in this line).
8 tn The referent of the Hebrew word כְּנַף (kÿnaf, “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.
9 tn The Hebrew text does not have this verb, but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “A horn unto your gums!”; NAB “A trumpet to your lips!”
11 tn Or perhaps “A vulture.” Some identify the species indicated by the Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) as the griffon vulture (cf. NEB, NRSV).
12 tn Heb “my covenant” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “the covenant I made with them.”
13 tn The same Greek term can refer to “eagles” or “vultures” (L&N 4.42; BDAG 22 s.v. ἀετός), but in this context it must mean vultures because the gruesome image is one of dead bodies being consumed by scavengers.
14 tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.