9:24 “Seventy weeks 3 have been determined
concerning your people and your holy city
to put an end to 4 rebellion,
to bring sin 5 to completion, 6
to atone for iniquity,
to bring in perpetual 7 righteousness,
to seal up 8 the prophetic vision, 9
and to anoint a most holy place. 10
9:25 So know and understand:
From the issuing of the command 11 to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem 12 until an anointed one, a prince arrives, 13
there will be a period of seven weeks 14 and sixty-two weeks.
It will again be built, 15 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. 16
As for the city and the sanctuary,
the people of the coming prince will destroy 17 them.
But his end will come speedily 18 like a flood. 19
Until the end of the war that has been decreed
there will be destruction.
1 tn Heb “you shall bear.”
2 tn The phrase refers to the consequences of open hostility to God, or perhaps abandonment of God. The noun תְּנוּאָה (tÿnu’ah) occurs in Job 33:10 (perhaps). The related verb occurs in Num 30:6 HT (30:5 ET) and 32:7 with the sense of “disallow, discourage.” The sense of the expression adopted in this translation comes from the meticulous study of R. Loewe, “Divine Frustration Exegetically Frustrated,” Words and Meanings, 137-58.
3 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.
4 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.
5 tc The present translation reads the Qere (singular), rather than the Kethib (plural).
6 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.
7 tn Or “everlasting.”
8 sn The act of sealing in the OT is a sign of authentication. Cf. 1 Kgs 21:8; Jer 32:10, 11, 44.
9 tn Heb “vision and prophecy.” The expression is a hendiadys.
10 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.
11 tn Or “decree” (NASB, NIV); or “word” (NAB, NRSV).
12 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
13 tn The word “arrives” is added in the translation for clarification.
14 tn Heb “sevens” (also later in this line and in v. 26).
15 tn Heb “it will return and be built.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.
16 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.
17 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.”
18 tn The words “will come speedily” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
19 sn Flood here is a metaphor for sudden destruction.
20 tn Heb “to give.”
21 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
22 tn The Greek article τήν (thn) has been translated with demonstrative force here.
23 tn The Greek term καί (kai) has not been translated here and before the following term “month” since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
24 tn Grk “so that they might kill,” but the English infinitive is an equivalent construction to indicate purpose here.
25 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
26 tn On the term αὐλήν (aulhn) BDAG 150 s.v. αὐλή 1 states, “(outer) court of the temple…Rv 11:2.”
27 tn The precise meaning of the phrase ἔκβαλε ἔξωθεν (ekbale exwqen) is difficult to determine.
28 tn Or “to the nations” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
29 sn The holy city appears to be a reference to Jerusalem. See also Luke 21:24.
30 tn The word “authority” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. “Power” would be another alternative that could be supplied here.
31 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present here.
32 tn Or “desert.”
33 tn The word “God” is supplied based on the previous statements made concerning “the place prepared for the woman” in 12:6.
34 tc The reading “and half a time” (καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ, kai {hmisu kairou) is lacking in the important uncial C. Its inclusion, however, is supported by {Ì47 א A and the rest of the ms tradition}. There is apparently no reason for the scribe of C to intentionally omit the phrase, and the fact that the word “time” (καιρὸν καὶ καιρούς, kairon kai kairou") appears twice before may indicate a scribal oversight.
35 tn Grk “and there was given to him.” Here the passive construction has been simplified, the referent (the beast) has been specified for clarity, and καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
36 tn For the translation “proud words” (Grk “great things” or “important things”) see BDAG 624 s.v. μέγας 4.b.
37 tn Grk “to it was granted.”
38 tn For the translation “ruling authority” for ἐξουσία (exousia) see L&N 37.35.