8:19 Then he said, “I am going to inform you about what will happen in the latter time of wrath, for the vision 4 pertains to the appointed time of the end.
9:24 “Seventy weeks 5 have been determined
concerning your people and your holy city
to put an end to 6 rebellion,
to bring sin 7 to completion, 8
to atone for iniquity,
to bring in perpetual 9 righteousness,
to seal up 10 the prophetic vision, 11
and to anoint a most holy place. 12
9:25 So know and understand:
From the issuing of the command 13 to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem 14 until an anointed one, a prince arrives, 15
there will be a period of seven weeks 16 and sixty-two weeks.
It will again be built, 17 with plaza and moat,
but in distressful times.
9:26 Now after the sixty-two weeks,
an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. 18
As for the city and the sanctuary,
the people of the coming prince will destroy 19 them.
But his end will come speedily 20 like a flood. 21
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. 22
But in the middle of that week
he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt.
On the wing 23 of abominations will come 24 one who destroys,
until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys.”
10:1 25 In the third 26 year of King Cyrus of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel (who was also called Belteshazzar). This message was true and concerned a great war. 27 He understood the message and gained insight by the vision.
2:6 But from those who were influential 40 (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people 41 ) – those influential leaders 42 added 43 nothing to my message. 44 2:7 On the contrary, when they saw 45 that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised 46 just as Peter was to the circumcised 47 2:8 (for he who empowered 48 Peter for his apostleship 49 to the circumcised 50 also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles) 51
1 sn This is a figure that emphasizes that they will serve for a long time but not for an unlimited duration. The kingdom of Babylon lasted a relatively short time by ancient standards. It lasted from 605
2 tn Heb “until the time of his land, even his, comes.” The independent pronoun is placed here for emphasis on the possessive pronoun. The word “time” is used by substitution for the things that are done in it (compare in the NT John 2:4; 7:30; 8:20 “his hour had not yet come”).
3 tn Heb “him.” This is a good example of the figure of substitution where the person is put for his descendants or the nation or subject he rules. (See Gen 28:13-14 for another good example and Acts 22:7 in the NT.)
4 tn The Hebrew text does not actually state the referent (the vision Daniel saw in vv. 8-12; cf. also v. 13), which has been specified in the translation for clarity. Some Greek witnesses add “the vision” here.
5 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 periods of seventy “sevens” of years, or a total of 490 years.
6 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.
7 tc The present translation reads the Qere (singular), rather than the Kethib (plural).
8 tn The Hebrew phrase לְכַלֵּא (lÿkhalle’) is apparently an alternative (metaplastic) spelling of the root כָּלָה (kalah, “to complete, finish”), rather than a form of כָּלָא (kala’, “to shut up, restrain”), as has sometimes been supposed.
9 tn Or “everlasting.”
10 sn The act of sealing in the OT is a sign of authentication. Cf. 1 Kgs 21:8; Jer 32:10, 11, 44.
11 tn Heb “vision and prophecy.” The expression is a hendiadys.
12 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.
13 tn Or “decree” (NASB, NIV); or “word” (NAB, NRSV).
14 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
15 tn The word “arrives” is added in the translation for clarification.
16 tn Heb “sevens” (also later in this line and in v. 26).
17 tn Heb “it will return and be built.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.
18 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.
19 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.”
20 tn The words “will come speedily” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
21 sn Flood here is a metaphor for sudden destruction.
22 tn Heb “one seven” (also later in this line).
23 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.
24 tn The Hebrew text does not have this verb, but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
25 sn This chapter begins the final unit in the book of Daniel, consisting of chapters 10-12. The traditional chapter divisions to some extent obscure the relationship of these chapters.
26 tc The LXX has “first.”
27 tn The meaning of the Hebrew word צָבָא (tsava’) is uncertain in this context. The word most often refers to an army or warfare. It may also mean “hard service,” and many commentators take that to be the sense here (i.e., “the service was great”). The present translation assumes the reference to be to the spiritual conflicts described, for example, in 10:16–11:1.
28 tn Heb “heart.” So also in v. 28.
29 tn Heb “speak.”
30 tn Grk “It is not for you to know.”
31 sn The one man refers to Adam (the word “man” is understood).
32 tn Or “mankind.” BDAG 276 s.v. ἔθνος 1 has “every nation of humankind Ac 17:26.”
33 tn Grk “to live over all the face of the earth.”
34 tn BDAG 884-85 s.v. προστάσσω has “(οἱ) προστεταγμένοι καιροί (the) fixed times Ac 17:26” here, but since the following phrase is also translated “fixed limits,” this would seem redundant in English, so the word “set” has been used instead.
35 tn Grk “the boundaries of their habitation.” L&N 80.5 has “fixed limits of the places where they would live” for this phrase.
36 tn The Greek term translated “guardians” here is ἐπίτροπος (epitropo"), whose semantic domain overlaps with that of παιδαγωγός (paidagwgo") according to L&N 36.5.
37 tn Grk “the,” but the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
38 tn The Greek term translated “guardians” here is ἐπίτροπος (epitropo"), whose semantic domain overlaps with that of παιδαγωγός (paidagwgo") according to L&N 36.5.
39 tn Grk “the,” but the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
40 tn Or “influential leaders.” BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.a.β has “the influential men Gal 2:2, 6b. A fuller expr. w. the same mng., w. inf. added…vss. 6a, 9.” This refers to the leadership of the Jerusalem church.
41 tn Grk “God does not receive the face of man,” an idiom for showing favoritism or partiality (BDAG 887-88 s.v. πρόσωπον 1.b.α; L&N 88.238).
42 tn Or “influential people”; here “leaders” was used rather than “people” for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy with the word “people” in the previous parenthetical remark. See also the note on the word “influential” at the beginning of this verse.
43 tn Or “contributed.” This is the same word translated “go to ask advice from” in 1:16, but it has a different meaning here; see L&N 59.72.
44 tn Or “added nothing to my authority.” Grk “added nothing to me,” with what was added (“message,” etc.) implied.
45 tn The participle ἰδόντες (idontes) has been taken temporally to retain the structure of the passage. Many modern translations, because of the length of the sentence here, translate this participle as a finite verb and break the Greek sentences into several English sentences (NIV, for example, begins new sentences at the beginning of both vv. 8 and 9).
46 tn Grk “to the uncircumcision,” that is, to the Gentiles.
47 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.
48 tn Or “worked through”; the same word is also used in relation to Paul later in this verse.
49 tn Or “his ministry as an apostle.”
50 tn Grk “to the circumcision,” i.e., the Jewish people.
51 tn Grk “also empowered me to the Gentiles.”