INTRODUCTION TO DANIEL 9 This chapter contains a prayer of Daniel, and the answer to it. The time, occasion, and manner of his prayer, or circumstances of it, are observed, Daniel 9:1, the parts of it, an address unto God, under various suitable epithets and characters, Daniel 9:4 confession of sin... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE FIRST YEAR OF DARIUS THE SON OF AHASUERUS, OF THE SEED OF THE MEDES,.... This is the same with Darius the Median, that took the kingdom after the death of Belshazzar; so called, to distinguish him from Darius the Persian; and yet Porphyry has the gall to assert that this was Darius the Persia... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE FIRST YEAR OF HIS REIGN,.... Which was also the first of Cyrus, who was partner with him in the kingdom; in which year ended the seventy years' captivity of the Jews, and proclamation was made to have their liberty to go up to Jerusalem, and build the temple, Ezra 1:1, reckoning from the thir... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I SET MY FACE UNTO THE LORD GOD, TO SEEK BY PRAYER AND SUPPLICATIONS,.... He set apart some time on purpose for this service, distinct from his usual stated times of prayer, as well as from his civil business and employment; and he not only set his face toward Jerusalem, as he used to do, Daniel... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I PRAYED UNTO THE LORD MY GOD,.... Not to idols, nor to angels or saints departed; but to the Lord God of heaven and earth, who is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, c.: a God hearing and answering prayer and to whom he directed his prayer, not only as the God of nature and providence, but as... [ Continue Reading ]
WE HAVE SINNED, AND HAVE COMMITTED INIQUITY, AND HAVE DONE WICKEDLY, AND HAVE REBELLED,.... Some think there is a gradation in these words; that they had committed some sins through error and ignorance; others through infirmity and obliquity, or in the perverseness of their spirits, and the crookedn... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER HAVE WE HEARKENED UNTO THY SERVANTS THE PROPHETS,.... To their explanations of the laws and judgments of God; to their admonitions, reproofs, and counsels; these they did not attentively listen to, nor give credit to them, nor yield obedience to them; but despised and rejected them, though t... [ Continue Reading ]
O LORD, RIGHTEOUSNESS BELONGETH UNTO THEE,.... It is essential to him, it is his nature, and appears in all his works; he is perfectly pure, holy, and righteous; he is just, and without iniquity; and there is no unrighteousness in him, nor any to be charged upon him, on account of anything done by h... [ Continue Reading ]
O LORD, TO US BELONGETH CONFUSION OF FACE,.... Which is repeated, to show how much the mind of the prophet was affected with it, and to fix a sense of it in the minds of others; as well as to suggest that he wanted words fully to express that shame that everyone ought to take to themselves; and also... [ Continue Reading ]
TO THE LORD OUR GOD BELONG MERCIES AND FORGIVENESSES,.... Mercy is his nature, and what he delights in; it is abundant, and he is plenteous in it the fountain of mercy is with him, and numerous are the streams which flow from it, called "the multitude of his tender mercies"; all temporal favours spr... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER HAVE WE OBEYED THE VOICE OF THE LORD OUR GOD,.... Speaking in the law, and by his prophets; for what was spoken there, and by them, should have been considered, not as the word of man, but as the word of God, and should have been attended to and obeyed; for despising that and them was interp... [ Continue Reading ]
YEA, ALL ISRAEL HAVE TRANSGRESSED THY LAW,.... Even God's professing people, on whom he had bestowed distinguishing favours and blessings, and gave them such a law as no other people had, and yet they transgressed it; not a few, or the greatest part only, but the whole body of them: and indeed there... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE HATH CONFIRMED HIS WORDS WHICH HE SPAKE AGAINST US,.... That is, he hath made good his threatenings of wrath and vengeance, in case of disobedience to his law: AND AGAINST OUR JUDGES THAT JUDGED US; kings, and inferior governors, that ruled over them, who perverted justice, and did not execu... [ Continue Reading ]
AS IT IS WRITTEN IN THE LAW OF MOSES, ALL THIS EVIL IS COME UPON US,.... As it is there threatened it should, and as it is there foretold it would come upon them, so it has; even the selfsame things, in the same manner, and with the same circumstances, as there foretold; which is a proof of the omni... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE HATH THE LORD WATCHED UPON THE EVIL, AND BROUGHT IT UPON US,.... The evil of punishment; he watched the fit and proper time to bring it upon them; indeed, he watches over the evil of sin, to bring upon men the evil of chastisement or punishment, Job 14:16, but the latter is here meant; see... [ Continue Reading ]
AND NOW, O LORD OUR GOD,.... The Lord of the whole earth in general, the sovereign Ruler of the universe, and the God of Israel in a special and peculiar manner; which is used to encourage faith in prayer, and carries in it a tacit argument or plea with God to be heard, in what he was about to say i... [ Continue Reading ]
O LORD, ACCORDING TO ALL THY RIGHTEOUSNESS,.... Or "righteousnesses" i; which he had been used to exercise in the world, in all ages of it; either punishing wicked men according to their deserts, to which respect may be had here; since turning away wrath from his people would issue in turning it upo... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THEREFORE, O OUR GOD,.... This being our miserable case, and the seventy years' captivity being at an end, and thou still our covenant God, whom we profess and worship: HEAR THE PRAYER OF THY SERVANT, AND HIS SUPPLICATIONS; which he had put up in an humble manner, consisting of various petition... [ Continue Reading ]
O MY GOD, INCLINE THINE EAR, AND HEAR,.... The petitions now put up, for Christ's sake: OPEN THINE EYES, AND BEHOLD OUR DESOLATIONS; the city and temple a heap of rubbish, and the whole land forsaken of its inhabitants, and lying waste and uncultivated, or, however, at most possessed by enemies; an... [ Continue Reading ]
O LORD, HEAR; O LORD, FORGIVE,.... That is, hear the prayers and supplications that have been presented, and forgive the sins that have been confessed; show both, by removing present calamities, and restoring to former prosperity and privileges: O LORD, HEARKEN, AND DO; not only listen to what has... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHILE I WAS SPEAKING AND PRAYING,.... Speaking to God in prayer; for it seems his prayer was vocal, and not mental only: AND CONFESSING MY SIN, AND THE SIN OF MY PEOPLE ISRAEL; Daniel, though so holy and good a man, was not without sin, and thought it his duty to confess it before the Lord; and... [ Continue Reading ]
YEA, WHILES I WAS SPEAKING IN PRAYER,.... Which is repeated, that it might be observed, that while he was in prayer, before he had finished it, or got off of his knees, an answer was sent him; see Isaiah 65:24: EVEN THE MAN GABRIEL, WHOM I HAD SEEN IN THE VISION AT THE BEGINNING; either at the beg... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE INFORMED ME, AND TALKED WITH ME,.... He informed him, by talking with him, of the will of God, to restore the captivity of his people, to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, and of the coming of the Messiah: or, "he caused me to attend" n, "and talked with me"; he excited his attention to what... [ Continue Reading ]
AT THE BEGINNING OF THY SUPPLICATIONS,.... As soon as ever he began to pray. This circumstance shows how ready the Lord is to hear the prayers of his people; and yet it was not owing to the prayers of the prophet, and to any intrinsic virtue or merit in them that the Lord did what he afterwards decl... [ Continue Reading ]
SEVENTY WEEKS ARE DETERMINED UPON THY PEOPLE, AND UPON THY HOLY CITY,..... Or, "concerning thy people, and concerning thy holy city" s; that is, such a space of time is fixed upon; "cut out" t, as the word signifies; or appointed of God for the accomplishment of certain events, relative to the tempo... [ Continue Reading ]
KNOW, THEREFORE, AND UNDERSTAND,.... Take notice and observe, for the clearer understanding of these seventy weeks, and the events to be fulfilled in them, what will be further said concerning them, the beginning of them, their distinct periods, and what shall be accomplished in them: THAT FROM THE... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AFTER THREESCORE AND TWO WEEKS,.... To be reckoned from the end of the seven weeks, or forty nine years, which, added to them, make four hundred and eighty three years: SHALL MESSIAH BE CUT OFF, BUT NOT FOR HIMSELF; by whom is designed the same with Messiah the Prince in Daniel 9:25, not Onias... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SHALL CONFIRM THE COVENANT WITH MANY FOR ONE WEEK,.... Sixty nine of the seventy weeks being accounted for, and the several events observed to be fulfilled in them; the angel proceeds to take notice of the remaining "one" week, or seven years, and what should be done within that space of time... [ Continue Reading ]