As chapter 9 begins, Jerusalem was in ruins and the prophet was diligently
studying the seventy year prophecy of Jeremiah 25:9-13. There was a specific
reason why Daniel was studying this particular prophecy. Through Jeremiah,
God had promised that the captivity of Israel would last only seventy years.
But eleven years earlier, God had seemed to indicate that the sanctuary and
the people would be trampled under foot for 2300 years (Daniel 8:14). This
apparent discrepancy perplexed Daniel. He could not comprehend how the
prophecy of Jeremiah 25 could be reconciled with the one in Daniel 8:14.
Daniel then uttered one of the most deeply spiritual prayers in the Bible. He
first confessed his sin and that of his people (verses 4-11a). Next he
described the results of his sin and that of his people (verses 11b-14), and
finally he interceded before God, asking Him to restore Israel to its land
(verses 15-19). The urgency of Daniel’s prayer was directly related to the
vision he had received eleven years earlier (Daniel 8). He seemed to surmise
that perhaps God now intended to prolong the seventy years to 2300 because
of the covenant unfaithfulness of Israel. Obviously, Daniel did not want the
seventy years to be extended to 2300, so he poured out his heart to God,
pleading for forgiveness.
In response to Daniel’s plea, God sent Gabriel to inform him that his prayer
had been accepted and that an explanation would be given (9:20-23).The
desolation of Jerusalem in Daniel 9:2 motivated Daniel’s prayer and the
promise of Jerusalem’s restoration and rebuilding was the answer to his
prayer.
In verses 24-27 Gabriel explained that the city of Jerusalem and its people
would be given another opportunity. The city, temple and walls would be
rebuilt according to the schedule of Jeremiah’s prophecy. Seventy weeks (490
years) would be given Israel to redeem her past failures. At the very end of
this period, God would even send Messiah the Prince who would make a final
urgent appeal to Israel. But this appeal would fall upon deaf ears and as a
result the theocracy would come to an end, Jerusalem would be destroyed,
the temple demolished and the people scattered among the nations.
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Links Between Daniel 8 and 9
Almost all Protestant and Roman Catholic scholars fail to link Daniel 8 with
Daniel 9. This is puzzling in that there are multiple textual and contextual
reasons to link the two chapters. Let’s take a look at several reasons why
these two chapters must be connected:
1. In Daniel 8 contains a vision (chazon) in verses 1-12 and an audition (that is, two angels
speaking to each other) in verses 13-14. Gabriel then explains the vision in verses 19-26. A
close examination of this chapter reveals that while all the elements of the vision proper
were explained, the audition was left unexplained. This was presumably due to the fact that
Daniel got ill and Gabriel was not able to finish his explanation (Daniel 8:27). It appears that
Daniel’s illness was caused by his inability to reconcile the meaning of Jeremiah’s seventy
year prophecy with the prophecy of the 2300 days. After all, how could God’s people be
restored to their land after seventy years, if their city and temple were to be trampled upon
by the little horn for 2300 years?
When Daniel received the vision of chapter 8 in 550 B. C., Babylon had not yet fallen. On
the other hand, when the events of Daniel 9 transpired in 538 B. C., Babylon had just fallen
and Medo-Persia had taken over the kingdom (see, Daniel 5). Daniel knew that the fall of
Babylon was the harbinger that Israel would soon be released from bondage. And yet
nothing could be seen on the horizon to indicate that such a release was imminent. Daniel
knew that Jeremiah’s seventy years had begun in 605 B. C., when he and his three friends
had been taken to Babylon. Therefore he also understood that the release of Israel must take
place around the year 536 B. C.
There can be little doubt that the prophecy of the 2300 days/years haunted Daniel at this
point in time. He surmised that Israel’s unfaithfulness was so great, that God had decided to
prolong Israel’s captivity from seventy years to 2300. This is the reason why, at the start of
chapter 9, Daniel was studying Jeremiah’s seventy year prophecy (Daniel 9:1-2). He wanted
to know how this prophecy was related to the 2300 days/years.
Daniel’s prayer, which immediately follows his study of Jeremiah’s prophecy, includes a
confession of Israel’s sin and an appeal to God’s mercy. The word “defer” at the climax of
his prayer has profound significance (verse 19). The Hebrew achar is variously translated in
the Old Testament. It can mean “to loiter, to delay, to procrastinate, to hinder, to tarry, to
slacken.” In Exodus 22:29 it is translated “delay.” In Genesis 24:56 it is rendered “hinder.”
In Deuteronomy 23:21 uses “slack.” Judges 5:28 translates “tarry” as does Habakkuk 2:3 and
Proverbs 23:30. Daniel feared that God would delay the release of Israel beyond the seventy
years and so he poured out his heart in prayer appealing to God’s covenant loyalty and
faithfulness.
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2. The very same angel who had explained the vision of Daniel 8 came back to explain the
time element which had been left unexplained (Daniel 8:16-17, 26; 9:21-23)). To put it
differently, the angel came back to finish in Daniel 9 what he had started in Daniel 8. Thus
these two chapters are linked by the very same angel, Gabriel!
Furthermore, it is of more than passing interest that the unexplained time element of Daniel 8
was later explained in Daniel 9 by the same angel who began his explanation with a time
prophecy!! That is to say, the unexplained time element of Daniel 8 was explained with a
time prophecy in Daniel 9.
3. Gabriel told Daniel: “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy
city.” (Daniel 9:24, KJV). The word “determined” in the Hebrew is chatak. It can mean “to
cut, to decide, to decree, to ordain, to appoint.” The New English Bible translates it “marked
out.” The word appears only this time in the Hebrew Bible but in Mishnaic Hebrew it is
frequently used in a literal sense to describe the act of cutting off parts of animals for the
sacrificial service, the cutting off of the foreskin in circumcision, the cutting off of a lamp
wick and a miner cutting out ore from a mountain. Figuratively, the word is also used to
describe the act of cutting or dividing a Bible verse into two parts for study.
The root meaning of this word, then, appears to be “cut off.” Now, when something is cut
off, it must be cut off from something! For example, if you are going to cut a branch off a
tree there must be a tree to cut it off from!! This being the case, we must ask: “From what are
the seventy weeks cut off?” The answer is simple: It must have been cut off from the larger
prophecy of the 2300 days/years.
4. A close inspection of Daniel 8 and 9 shows that they both deal with the same central themes.
They both speak of the trampling of the city, the people, the sanctuary and the Prince
(compare Daniel 8:11-14, 25 with Daniel 9:3-19, 25-26). However, (we shall study this in
more detail when we deal with Daniel 11) while Daniel 8 focuses primarily on the trampling
of spiritual Israel by the papacy (see, Daniel 8:13; Revelation 11:2; Daniel 11:31; Revelation
17:1-5; Matthew 24:15), Daniel 9 has to do with the trampling of literal Israel by Rome (see,
Daniel 9:26-27; Luke 21:20; Matthew 24:15).
It is obvious that Daniel did not clearly comprehend the shift from literal Israel to spiritual
Israel. If he had understood this, he would have realized that the seventy weeks apply to the
literal Jews in literal Jerusalem with a literal temple while the 2300 days have to do with
spiritual Israel in spiritual Jerusalem with a spiritual temple. Daniel’s failure to comprehend
this distinction led him to believe that the 2300 days applied to literal Israel, an idea he could
not reconcile with Jeremiah’s seventy year prophecy.
Succinctly, Daniel 8 refers to both pagan and papal Rome. Daniel 9 then picks up on the
destruction of literal Jerusalem by pagan Rome and Daniel 10-12 take us further ahead to the
destruction of spiritual Jerusalem by papal Rome. Perhaps this is the reason why Daniel 8
provides only one little horn to represent both Romes. Daniel 9 then explains the role of
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pagan Rome in the desolation of literal Israel while Daniel 10-12 expounds upon the role of
papal Rome in the trampling of spiritual Israel.
5. After God gave Daniel the vision of chapter 8, Gabriel was commanded (the verb is
imperative) to help Daniel understand (bin) it (8:16; see also 8:15-17, 23). Gabriel then
undertook the task of explaining the meaning of the ram, the he-goat and the little horn
(8:19-25). Yet at the end of chapter 8 we are informed that Daniel was “astonished at the
vision, but none understood (bin)” (8:27). It becomes obvious that if Daniel did not
understand the vision at the end of the chapter, then Gabriel had not completed his
commanded mission! We would therefore expect Gabriel to come back at some time to
complete his mission. Did he come back?
In Daniel 9:2 we are told that Daniel understood (bin) that Jeremiah’s prophecy was to be
fulfilled at the end of the seventy years. But, as we have seen, there were many things which
Daniel still did not understand. Therefore, in Daniel 9:22-23 we find Gabriel returning to
speak with Daniel. He told Daniel that he had come to give him understanding (verse 22,
bin) and then, in the imperative, he commands Daniel: “understand (bin) the matter, and
consider (bin) the vision (mareh).” The question which begs to be asked at this point is:
“Understand which vision?” To this point in Daniel 9 there has been no vision, only a
prayer. This must mean that Gabriel returned to explain the vision of the previous chapter.
Significantly, after Gabriel gave his added explanation in Daniel 9 we are told that Daniel
“understood (bin) the thing, and had understanding (bin) in the vision” (Daniel 10:1; mareh).
Obviously, the further explanation of Daniel 9 cleared up many misconceptions which
Daniel had entertained after the vision of Daniel 8.
6. Another clear link between the two chapters is Daniel’s remark: “Yea, whiles I was speaking
in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being
caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.” (Daniel 9:21). The
expression “whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning” clearly echoes back to Daniel
8:16. It bears repeating that there was no new vision in Daniel 9 so Daniel must be referring
to the vision given in Daniel 8. This is irrefutable evidence that the vision spoken of by
Gabriel in Daniel 9 is the same as the one which had given in Daniel 8.
7. Even though the vision of Daniel 8 was given during the reign of Babylon (8:1), Daniel was
already in Shusan, the capital of the Medo-Persian kingdom. It is noteworthy that God began
the vision with Medo-Persia and not with Babylon! The prayer and explanation in Daniel 9
also occur within the time frame of the Medo-Persian kingdom (Daniel 8:2, 20; 9:1). Though
Media will be dropped in chapters 10-12 and only Persia will be referred to, the fact still
remains that all the visions and explanations of Daniel 8-12 are given within the time frame
of the Medo-Persian kingdom. This would seem to indicate that all these chapters deal with
the same subject matter.
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8. A structural matter will also help us discern the relationship between the two chapters. A
close look at the great chain prophecies of the book of Daniel reveals that each has a vision
and its corresponding explanation, except for Daniel 11. Notice the following:
Daniel 2: Has a dream or vision and an auditory explanation
Daniel 7: Has a dream and an auditory explanation
Daniel 8: Has a vision and an auditory explanation
Daniel 9: Has only an auditory explanation
Daniel 10-12: Have only auditory explanations but no new vision
The fact that the last vision of Daniel is in chapter 8 (with the exception of the personal
theophany of Jesus in chapter 10) would seem to indicate that the rest of the book is simply
an auditory explanation of this chapter. This means that there is no new material of substance
given after Daniel 8. Chapters 9-12 simply explain and amplify the vision and audition
already given in chapter 8. This would seem to prove that Daniel 8-12 is a book within a
book, that is to say, the sealed book of Daniel 12:4.
Comments on Verse 23
In response to Daniel’s prayer (verses 3-19), Gabriel arrived to further
explain the vision of Daniel 8. It is significant that he not only came to explain
the mareh or audition, but also the chazon or vision. In other words, he began
his explanation in Daniel 9 at the very same point where he had begun his
explanation of Daniel 8, that is, with Persia. This he must do in order to
indicate that the 2300 days would begin within the historical time frame of
Persia. Gabriel said: “I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved;
therefore understand (bin) the matter; and consider (bin) the vision (chazon).
Then Gabriel undertook the task of explaining the seventy weeks. To this we
must now turn our attention.
Remarks on the Literary Structure of Daniel 9:24-27
The prophecy of the 70 weeks appears to be, in a literary sense, a
disorganized mumbo jumbo. Yet a careful study of the literary structure
reveals a beautiful symmetry. Notice in the following chart that the description
alternates between the city and people on the one hand and Messiah the
Prince on the other:
there is more lots
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