Daniel 9:24–27

Footnotes

1. 56 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.
2. 57 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.
3. 58 The present translation reads the Qere (singular), rather than the Kethib (plural).
4. 59 The Hebrew phrase לְכַלֵּא (lékhalle’) 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.
5. 60 Or “everlasting.”
6. 61 The act of sealing in the OT is a sign of authentication. Cf. 1 Kgs 21:8; Jer 32:10, 11, 44.
7. 62 Heb “vision and prophecy.” The expression is a hendiadys.
8. 63 Or “the most holy place” (, ); or “a most holy one”; or “the most holy one,” though the expression is used of places or objects elsewhere, not people.
9. 64 Or “decree” (, ); or “word” (, ).
10. 65 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
11. 66 The word “arrives” is added in the translation for clarification.
12. 67 Heb “sevens” (also later in this line and in v. 26). The accents in the 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 accentuation, not the traditional translation. If one follows the 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 accentuation.
13. 68 Heb “it will return and be built.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.
14. 69 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 rendering “but not for himself,” apparently suggesting a vicarious death, cannot be defended.
15. 70 Some witnesses (e.g., the ) 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.”
16. 71 The words “will come speedily” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.
17. 72 Flood here is a metaphor for sudden destruction.
18. 73 Heb “one seven” (also later in this line).
19. 74 The referent of the Hebrew word כְּנַף (kénaf, “wing”) is unclear here. The and Theodotion have “the temple.” Some English versions (e.g., , ) take this to mean “a wing of the temple,” but this is not clear.
20. 75 The Hebrew text does not have this verb, but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.