Daniel 9:1-5

Daniel’s Prayer

1 In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes[a] (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian[b] kingdom—
2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.
3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: “Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.

Daniel 9:1-5 Meaning and Commentary

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, Da 9:1-3, the parts of it, an address unto God, under various suitable epithets and characters, Da 9:4 confession of sin, of his own, of the inhabitants of the land, kings, princes, and people, which are largely dwelt upon and exaggerated, Da 9:5-15 and petitions for mercy, Da 9:16-19, then the answer follows; the time when it was ordered and given, and the person by whom it was sent, are expressed, Da 9:20-23 who delivered to him the vision of the seventy weeks to be considered by him; in which both the work of the Messiah, and the time of his coming, are clearly pointed out, Da 9:24-27.

Cross References 12

  • 1. S Daniel 5:31
  • 2. S Ezra 4:6
  • 3. S 2 Chronicles 36:21; Jeremiah 29:10; Zechariah 1:12; Zechariah 7:5
  • 4. S 2 Chronicles 20:3
  • 5. S 2 Samuel 13:19; S Nehemiah 1:4; Jeremiah 29:12; Daniel 10:12; John 3:6
  • 6. S 1 Kings 8:30
  • 7. S Deuteronomy 7:21
  • 8. Deuteronomy 7:9; S 1 Kings 8:23
  • 9. S Jeremiah 8:14
  • 10. Psalms 106:6
  • 11. Isaiah 53:6
  • 12. ver 11; Lamentations 1:20; S Lamentations 3:42

Footnotes 2

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