Daniel's prayer]

IN

CHAP. IX.

the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;

2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the númber of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;

5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by depart ing from thy precepts and from thy udgments:

6 Neither have we hearkened unto hy servants the prophets, which spake athy name to our kings, our princes, nd our fathers, and to all the people the land.

7 O Lord, righteousness belongeth to thee, but unto us confusion of faces, at this day; to the men of Judah, I to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, unto all Israel, that are near, and

[and confession.

that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee,

8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face; to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.

9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;

10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.

13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD, our God, is righteous

A discourse is here introduced between two angels, or holy ones, (ch. iv. 13—23.) as to the duration of these calamities, and the answer is given to Daniel himself, on which he faints and is sick; as well he might be, as a Jewish Patriot, if the interpretation of years for days be adopted; but if he had understood the period to he about six years only, this is not so easy to be accounted for, since he had himself lived to survive the 70 years' captivity.

IX. Ver. 2. Seventy years. See Jer. 2; xxix. 10. He had doubtless copies of

ecies.

By departing, &c.- Wintle, "So as to hearkening to thy voice." And the

oath that is written--namely, Deut. xxx. 15-19; xxxi. 17, 18; xxxii. 19, &c.

Ver. 13. As it is written.-Levit. xxvi. 14, &c.Yet made we not our prayer before, &c.-Heb. "Yet entreated we not the face of," &c.

Gabriel sent to]

in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.

15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.

17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.

18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, 0 my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

20 And whiles I was speaking, and

[comfort Daniel praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;

21 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.

22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.

23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved therefore under stand the matter, and consider the vision.

24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore

Ver. 15. Gather thee renown-Heb. "Made thee a name."

Ver. 18. Which is called by thy name-Hebrew, "Whereupon thy name is called."- -Not presentHeb. "Not cause to fall." See Note on Jer. xxxvi. 7. Ver. 21. The man Gabriel-that is, the angel in human form. See ch. viii. 16.

--

Ver. 23. The commandment-Heb. "Word." Ver. 24. Seventy weeks--that is, of years, or 490 years. To finish - Margin, "Restrain;" Dr. Stonard, "Put a stop to." To make an end-Marg. "To seal up," which is literal, and refers to sealing up any thing in a bag.And to make reconciliation for iniquity.-So Boothroyd, and Dr. Stonard; but Dr. Blayney reads, "to make atone. ment," and Mr. Wintle, " to expiate;" all referring to the atonement of our Saviour on the cross.Everlasting righteousness So Boothroyd; but Wintle, Faber, and Stonard read, "the righteousness of ages," i. e. to come; and Blayney (on the contrary) "of ancient times."-To seal up the vision and prophecy-Heb. "prophet:" So Wintle and Stonard. -And to anoint the most holy-Wintle and Stonard, "The holy of holies;" Blayney, "The most holy things;" Faber, "The Most Holy One." A barbanel is quoted as applying this to the Messiah.Unto Messiah the Prince - Stonard, "Until Messiah shall be leader." Strictly, perhaps, a prince,

or nobleman of sufficient rank, or merit, to stand before kings. See Prov. xxii. 29. Seest thou a maa diligent, &c.....he shall stand before kings."

Ver. 25. From the going forth of the commandment-that is, as we reckon, following the Index a our anthorized version, which is adopted by Bp. Lloyd, Mr. Wintle, and Mr. Horne. But it should be remarked here, that it is almost impossible, at this distance of time, to fix these dates to a month, or even a year, since the Jews had two years, ose beginning in the spring, and the other in Automa. (See the Calendar in our first volume, p.310.) Nor are we certain of the exact length of their year: beside which, before the commencement of the New Testament Chronology, there is an hiatus of three or four years. The date of our Lord's passion is, however, astronomically settled by Mr. Ferguson, at

A. D. 33.

The way of dividing a greater number into two r three smaller, as in this verse, is quite in the orients! taste. See Ezek. xlv. 12. and Note. Ibid. To restore and to build-Marg. "To build again." See 2 Sam. xv. 25; Ps. lxxi. 90.——————And the wall Marg. "The breach;" Stonard, "The lanes.". Even in troublous times-Heb. In strast times;" i. e. times of straitness or distress, which appears throughout the books of Ezra and Nebemiah.

CHAP. IX.

[of seventy weeks.

with many for one week and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (N)

CHAP. X.

IN the third year of Cyrus king of

Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belte

(N) Daniel's prophecy of the seventy weeks.-The Prophet's mind having been occupied in considering Jeremiah's prophecy of the 70 years' captivity, and finding them drawing to a close, he earnestly implores pardon and restoration of his captive countrymen, though he appears to have been himself too old to participate in the national felicity. His prayers are beard in the very moment of their being presented, and the angel Gabriel is sent to assure him of their acceptance; and at the same time to deliver, by his means, the very interesting aud important prophecies which form the four last verses of this chapter : wherein the angel announces to the Prophet that the holy city should be ebuilt and peopled within seven weeks of ears, and should continue for seventy eeks, or 490 years; after which it should ? utterly destroyed, for putting the Mes

Isiah to death. The commencement of this period is, by Prideaux and others, fixed to the time when the order was issued for rebuilding the temple, in the 7th year of the reign of Artaxerxes. "Seven weeks, or 49 years, was the city and temple in building; sixty-two weeks, or 434 years more, bring us to the public manifestation of the Messiah," by the preaching of John the Baptist; "and one week, or 7 years after this, will bring us to the time of our Saviour's passion, or the 33d year of the Christiau era; in all 490 years, according to the prophecy. The latter part of the prediction relates to the subversion of the Jewish temple and polity, by the Romans, (A. D. 70,) and to the second coming of the Messiah." (Horne's Crit. Introd. iv. New Ed. p. 192.) Not to enlarge farther here, we shall give a few additional remarks in the close of this Prophet.

er. 2. But not for himself - Marg. "And shall nothing," Booth. "though he have no (fault);" And they (the Jews) shall be no more his peo

So Blayney and Faber. Wintle, "None shall him;" Stonard, "No one will be on his side." expression is certainly elliptical, the Hebrew ng, literally, and (or but) nothing (or none) to to which ambiguity may be traced all the ver above given. Our translators, following the have here placed only a colon, but Dr. Boothnd others, (in our opinion very judiciously,) a int; here ending the prophecy, so far as conbe Messiah.

And the people of the prince. This certainly ot to be applied to the Messiah, but to Titus army; for the city was not destroyed by ns, but by the Romans. The wrong pointto a faulty division of the verses, and contwo parts of the prophecy, perfectly dishe Romans destroyed both the city and the ; and the end thereof was with a flood, with nothing but desolation and destruction, tion was destroyed, or scattered through And he shall confirm the (Marg. "a") "ith many for one week-that is, of years. in explanation of this, remarks, that the ade a league with the Medes, Parthians, that they might be at liberty, with all th, to prosecute the war with the Jews. , and in the midst of this period, A. D. 70,

all Jewish sacrifices ceased for ever.

The reckoning days for years, and weeks of such years, is not peculiar to the Scriptures. Varro says, he was entered into the 12th week of his years; i. e. his 84th year. Quoted in Bp. Chandler's Def. p. 136.

Ver. 27. And for the overspreading, &c.-Marg. "And upon the battlements shall be the idols of the desolator." Wintle, "The abomination of desolation;" Stonard, "Upon the border of abominations shall be the desolator, and that"

Ibid. Even until the consummation - Stonard, "Until he (the desolator) be consumed, and the determined judgment shall have been poured out upon the desolated. But Faber reads with our margin, "the desolator." For a fuller account of the fulfilment of this part of the prophecy, see our remarks on Matt. xxiv.

In our Introduction to this book, we promised to consult Dr. Stonard's elaborate work on this subject, published last year (1825). We have done so; and have quoted some of his observations; but we are sorry to be obliged to confess, that we are by no means satisfied with the novel parts of his hypothesis; particularly, not with his making Christ's ministry to commence at 12 years old; nor with his translating "Messiah the leader," and making him the leader (or prince) of the Roman armies; nor with several parts of his translation, which we have quoted without adopting it is but justice to add, however, that it is a work of great erudition and the purest intentions, and well worthy the perusal of Biblical students..

Daniel mourns]

shazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.

2 In those days I Daniel was mourn ing three full weeks.

3 I ate no pleasant bread, neither

[and humbles himself.

came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

4 And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;

5 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man

In the first verse of the prophecy (ver. 24), Dr. Boothroyd (who, in this place, adheres very closely to our authorized version) interprets the several expressions, "to finish transgression, and make an end of sin," &c. in reference to the work of the Messiah. "All these (says Dr. B.) refer to the sufferings, doctrine, and righteousness of our Lord, who died for our sins, and made peace by the blood of his cross; so that through him, sin is pardoned, righteousness obtained, and reconciliation ef. fected." The word rendered "to make an end "of sins, means literally, as in the margin, to seal them up as in a bag: so Job speaks of his sins as "sealed up in a bag, to be brought in evidence against him " (Job xiv. 17); here they are sealed up for another purpose, to be cast into oblivion, yea, into "the depths of the sea," that they may be found no more for ever. (See Isa. xxxviii. 17; Jer. 1. 20; Micah vii. 19.) In the latter part of this verse, the same word is used in reference to "vision and prophecy," and means, we apprehend, to close them, so far as concerns the Jewish dispensation. We have already remarked, that Daniel's prophecies are considered as prosaic; yet, as Dr. Boothroyd has remarked oue exception, (chap. ii. 20-23,) and Bp. Jebb another, (chap. vii. 26,) so we beg to propose this as a third, and venture to render this verse as a Hebrew triplet, or trimetre, thus

"To finish the transgression, and to seal up the sins;

"To make atonement for iniquity, and bring in everlasting righteousness;

"To seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy."

In the last line, we confess that we prefer applying the whole to the Messiah. He sealed up the vision and prophecy," because in him the prophecies, as well as promises, are all yea and amen;" and to him give all the prophets witness." (Acts x. 43.) He was also "the LORD our Righteousness," and therefore the Most

66

Holy One. As to anointing "the most holy place," the temple here referred to was to be destroyed, instead of being onsecrated. But Messias means, literally, "the anointed;" and he was so, not only in his prophetic and priestly offices, but also in his kingly office, to which his resur rection was the necessary introduction. (See Psalm ii. 2, 6; lxviii. 18; compared with Acts iv. 27; x. 38; Ephes. iv. 8.)

We cannot enter thus minutely into all the parts of this important prophecy; but there is one passage of pre-eminent inportance: "Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself." We have, in the Notes below, subjoined both the literal reading, and the various translations given of this clause; and after much reflection, we humbly conceive the passage to be nearly parallel with Isaiah, (chap. liii. 8,) in one of the following interpretations, all which harmonize with each other, and with the evangelical Prophet, as Isaiah is frequently called. Dauiel says of the Messiah, “He shall be cut off;" Isaiah adds, “ from the land of the living." If the latter clause in Daniel be rendered as by Wintle and Stenard, "None shall be for him," it will perfectly correspond with Isaiah's question, "Who shall declare his generation?" or speak to his character? (see our Note there,) and with the fact that all his disciples forsook him, and fled;" or, 2dly, If our common translation be preferred, (as we are inclined to prefer it,) "Not for himself," it is perfectly in harmony with the following clause in Isaiah, "For the transgression of my people was he stricken." Or, 3dly, Should we adopt Dr. Boothroyd's rendering, "He had no fault," Isaiah will give us an expression perfectly parallel; He had done no violence, neither was deceit found in his mouth." Either way, Isaiah is the best commentator on Daniel, and both bear a noble testimony to the atonement offered by Messiah.

CHAP. X. Ver. 1. The time appointed was long.— The text is ambiguous, and might be rendered, "the warfare is great." Boothroyd. See Note on Job vii. 1. Ver. 2. Three full weeks-Heb. "Three weeks of days." So ver. 3. Dr. Stonard (p. 125) thinks the

term is here used in distinction from the weeks of years in the preceding chapter. Ver. 3. No pleasant bread-Heb. "Bread of delight," or delicate food. Ver. 4. Hiddekel Syriac, "The Euphrates;"

desh clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz :

reeks were in the le

6 His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightmeaning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.

Heat mer

nd bet

As to as the tem

7 And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.

8 Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.

9 Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.

10 And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.

11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.

12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.

13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty Ways; but, lo, Michael, one of the

[the prince of Persia.

chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

14 Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.

15 And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb.

16 And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.

17 For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.

18 Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me.

19 And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.

20 Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.

21 But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince. (O)

CHAP. X. (0) Daniel's self-humiliation, and last phetic vision. The early part of this

chapter gives a pleasing view of Daniel, as a Jewish saint and patriot. Hearing, probably, of the difficulties his brethren in

. 7. The men.- So Acts ix. 7. .9. In a deep sleep.-See Note on ch. viii. 18. . 10. He set—Heb. “Moved." 11. Greatly beloved.-See chap. ix. 23. 13. The prince, &c. opposed me-Heb." Stood me;” i.e. to stop my way.-Michael, one of

the chief (or first) princes.-See Jude 9; Rev. xii. 7. Ver. 20. To fight-Wintle, " Contend;" the contests of spiritual beings must be intellectual, not carnal, like those of Milton's angels.-The prince of Greece-another hostile demon.

Ver. 21. That holdeth with me - Heb. "That strengtheneth himself with me" i. e. that cordially unites with me.The Scripture of truth.-Not the revealed word, but his secret record, and immutable decree. See Ps. lvi. 8; Isa. lxv. 6; Mal. iii. 16,