Daniel 9:1-9

Daniel Prays for His People

9:1 In the first year of Darius ¹  son of Ahasuerus, ²  who was of Median descent and who had been ³  appointed king over the Babylonian ⁴  empire – 9:2 in the first year of his reign ⁵  I, Daniel, came to understand from the sacred books ⁶  that, according to the word of the LORD ⁷  disclosed to the prophet Jeremiah, the years for the fulfilling of the desolation of Jerusalem ⁸  were seventy in number. 9:3 So I turned my attention ⁹  to the Lord God ¹⁰  to implore him by prayer and requests, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. ¹¹  9:4 I prayed to the LORD my God, confessing in this way:

“O Lord, ¹²  great and awesome God who is faithful to his covenant ¹³  with those who love him and keep his commandments, 9:5 we have sinned! We have done what is wrong and wicked; we have rebelled by turning away from your commandments and standards. 9:6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority ¹⁴  to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, ¹⁵  and to all the inhabitants ¹⁶  of the land as well.

9:7 “You are righteous, ¹⁷  O Lord, but we are humiliated this day ¹⁸  – the people ¹⁹  of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far away in all the countries in which you have scattered them, because they have behaved unfaithfully toward you. 9:8 O LORD, we have been humiliated ²⁰  – our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors – because we have sinned against you. 9:9 Yet the Lord our God is compassionate and forgiving, ²¹  even though we have rebelled against him.

[9:1]  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 vav (ו) 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.

[9:1]  ² 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.”

[9:1]  ³ 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.

[9:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans.”

[9:2]  ⁵ tc This phrase, repeated from v. 1, is absent in Theodotion.

[9:2]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text has “books”; the word “sacred” has been added in the translation to clarify that it is Scriptures that are referred to.

[9:2]  ⁷ sn The tetragrammaton (the four Hebrew letters which constitute the divine Name, YHWH) appears eight times in this chapter, and nowhere else in the book of Daniel.

[9:2]  ⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[9:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “face.”

[9:3]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew phrase translated “Lord God” here is אֲדֹנָי הָאֱלֹהִים (’adonay ha’elohim).

[9:3]  ¹¹ sn When lamenting, ancient Israelites would fast, wear sackcloth, and put ashes on their heads to show their sorrow and contrition.

[9:4]  ¹² tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 7, 9, 15, 16, and 19 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[9:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.” The expression is a hendiadys.

[9:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in your name.” Another option is to translate, “as your representatives.”

[9:6]  ¹⁵ 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.

[9:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “people.”

[9:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to you (belongs) righteousness.”

[9:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and to us (belongs) shame of face like this day.”

[9:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “men.”

[9:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to us (belongs) shame of face.”

[9:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “to the Lord our God (belong) compassion and forgiveness.”