_In the first year of Darius_ That is, immediately after the overthrow of the kingdom of Babylon, which was the year of the Jews' deliverance from captivity. This Darius was not Darius the _Persian_, under whom the temple was built, as some have asserted, to invalidate the credibility of this book;... [ Continue Reading ]
_I set my face unto the Lord God_ This expression does not merely mean, that he directed his face to the place where the temple had stood: it signifies also his resolution to apply to God with the utmost seriousness, fervency, importunity, and perseverance, for the accomplishment of his promises res... [ Continue Reading ]
_I prayed unto the Lord my God_ Daniel could approach God with confidence, knowing him to be his God in covenant, his reconciled God and Father. Observe, reader, we must know God to be our God, if we would pray in faith, and with success, when we apply to him for any blessing. _And made my confessio... [ Continue Reading ]
_We have sinned, and have committed iniquity_ Daniel uses the same confession here that is prescribed, in Solomon's consecration prayer, to be used by the Jews in the land of their captivity; with a promise subjoined, of a favourable answer that God would make to their supplications presented to him... [ Continue Reading ]
_O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee_ Thou hast done us no wrong in any of the calamities which thou hast brought upon us; but hast shown thyself to be just and holy, nay, merciful and gracious, punishing us far less than our iniquities deserved. _But unto us confusion of faces_ But ignominy a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law_ Not here and there one, but the generality of them; the body of the people have transgressed, _by departing_, and taking themselves out of the way, _that they might not_ hear, and so might not _obey thy voice: therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the... [ Continue Reading ]
_And now, O Lord, who hast brought thy people forth_, &c. A form of supplication used in several places of Scripture, whereby devout persons entreat God to continue his favours, by recounting his former mercies toward them. _And hast gotten thee renown_, or, _made thee a name, as at this day_ That i... [ Continue Reading ]
_According to all thy righteousness let thine anger be turned away_ The word _righteousness_ here, as in many other places of Scripture, is equivalent to _mercy;_ (see the margin;) _from thy holy mountain _ The place whereon thy temple stood. _Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach_ Our conq... [ Continue Reading ]
_O my God, incline thine ear and hear_ The prophet's importunity, in these verses, is very remarkable and affecting, and shows how exceedingly he had it at heart to have his request granted. _Open thine eyes, and behold our desolations_ Especially the desolations of thy city and temple: or, look wit... [ Continue Reading ]
_And while I was speaking and praying_, &c. We have here the answer that was immediately sent to Daniel's prayer, and it is a very remarkable one; as it contains the most illustrious prediction of Christ, and gospel grace, that is extant in any part of the Old Testament. Daniel here observes, and la... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he informed me_ Namely, on what errand he came; _and talked with me_ That is, familiarly, as one friend talks with another. _And said, O Daniel, I am come to give thee skill and understanding_ To reveal to thee things of infinite importance, and to make thee understand them. Mr. Wintle reads th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Seventy weeks_, &c. Weeks not of days, but of years, or, seventy times seven years, that is, four hundred and ninety years, each day being accounted a year according to the prophetic way of reckoning, (see note on Daniel 7:25,) a way often used in Scripture, especially in reckoning the years of jub... [ Continue Reading ]
_Know therefore and understand_ Learn therefore and retain; _from the going forth of the commandment_ From the publication of the edict by the Persian king; _to restore and to build Jerusalem_ Or, _to build again_ Jerusalem: so the verb שׂוב is translated in the latter part of the verse. Daniel had... [ Continue Reading ]
_After threescore and two weeks_ (counting from the expiration of the first interval) _shall Messiah be cut off_ “This long interval extends from the 93d Olympiad to the 202d Olympiad, or four hundred and thirty- four years; ending with the sixty-ninth [prophetic] week, and with the commencing of ou... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he shall confirm the covenant with many_ “The covenant to be confirmed by the Messiah is not a civil, but a religious compact, as such, styled by Daniel himself, _the holy covenant, Daniel 11:28_; Daniel 11:30; Daniel 11:32, the covenant of grace; which, after the infraction of the first divine... [ Continue Reading ]