Chapter Nine

1–2. The meditations of the prophet Daniel in the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede upon the fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the end of the Babylonian captivity. 3–19. The prayer of Daniel for the Hebrew people and for Jerusalem. 20–23. The appearance of the Angel Gabriel. 24–27. Revelation concerning the seventy weeks.

Daniel 9:1. In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the race of the Medes, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, Daniel 9:2. in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood from the books the number of the years which the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years for the desolations of Jerusalem. The first year of the reign of Darius the Mede (538–537 B.C.) was at the same time the year of the fall of the Babylonian empire Dan 5:30-31. And since this event is placed by the prophet Jeremiah in direct connection with the end of the seventy-year Babylonian captivity Jer 25:9-12, the prophecy of Jeremiah now drew special attention from Daniel (the Synodal translation “understood”—Hebrew “binoti”—“paid attention”). He dwelt on it at length in his thought. Babylon fell; the 70 years of captivity draw to a close, yet the Hebrew people still remain in bondage. What does this mean? As is evident from Dan 9:15-19, Daniel did not doubt either the truth of Jeremiah’s prophecy or the fact that the time had come for its fulfillment. His mind was troubled by the thought that perhaps the fulfillment of the prophecy was being delayed by the sinfulness of the people. And since it had sufficient grounds Dan 9:16, his meditation on the prophecy of Jeremiah led Daniel to pray for forgiveness of the people and to beseech that the wrath hanging over Jerusalem be turned away Dan 9:16.

Daniel 9:3. And I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. Daniel 9:4. And I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keepest covenant and mercy with those that love you and keep your commandments! Daniel 9:5. We have sinned, and have dealt wickedly, and have acted ungodly, and have rebelled, and have departed from your commandments and from your ordinances; Daniel 9:6. and have not hearkened to your servants the prophets, which spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. Daniel 9:7. Righteousness belongeth to you, O Lord, but confusion of face to us, as at this day; to every man of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those that are near, and those that are far off, through all the countries whither you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you. Daniel 9:8. O Lord, confusion of face belongeth to us, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. Daniel 9:9. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him, Daniel 9:10. and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Daniel 9:11. Yea, all Israel have transgressed your law, even by departing, that they might not obey your voice; therefore the curse and the oath that are written in the law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us; for we have sinned before him. Daniel 9:12. And he has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven has not been made the like to that which has been made upon Jerusalem. Daniel 9:13. As it is written in the law of Moses, so all this evil has come upon us: yet made we not our supplication before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand your truth. Daniel 9:14. Therefore has the Lord watched over the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: but we hearkened not to his voice. In the prayer the prophet appears as though the representative of his people and an intercessor for it before the righteous God. Confessing the sins of Israel, he acknowledges that the punishment endured by it—captivity—is fully deserved, in accordance with the sinfulness of the people Dan 9:4-11 and the righteousness of God Dan 9:12-14. The sinfulness was expressed in the fact that all “have sinned,”—departed from the right path indicated by God’s law, “have dealt wickedly,”—led a perverted life, “have acted ungodly,”—stubbornly resisted God’s will and His law Dan 9:5; cf. 1 Sam 8:47; Ps 105:6. The guilt of the people is further increased by the fact that God used every means to bring them to understanding, but they would not listen to the instructions Dan 9:6. From this it came to pass that the unerring justice of God in His dealings with Israel is now revealed in the position of the latter, and on their faces is stamped shame from the bitter consciousness of sins and the contempt brought about by them. God fulfilled the curse with which he had threatened for the non-fulfillment of the law of Moses Dan 9:11-14.

Daniel 9:15. And now, O Lord our God, that broughtest your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have gotten you renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. Daniel 9:16. O Lord, according to all your righteousness, I beseech you, let yours anger and your fury be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Daniel 9:17. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of your servant, and his supplications, and cause your face to shine upon your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. Daniel 9:18. O my God, incline yours ear, and hear; open yours eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our supplications before you for our righteousnesses, but for your great mercies. Daniel 9:19. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for yours own sake, O my God: for your city and your people are called by your name. Following the confession of the sins of the people and due acknowledgment of the punishment visited upon them, comes the supplication for mercy for the suffering Israel and an end to the captivity. The prophet founds his request first of all on the great deed of the liberation of the Jews from Egypt, as that deed through which God established the covenant concluded with Abraham for his seed Exod 3:6. For the sake of this covenant God repeatedly delivered His people Ps 105:45-47; cf. Deut 9:26. Another basis for the prophet’s supplication is the fact that because of the sins of the people Jerusalem is in disgrace Dan 9:16, upon which God’s name is called Dan 9:18-19. But for the sake of His own name He has repeatedly turned away His wrath, for He does not permit reproach upon it, and for the sake of His glory He restrained Himself from the destruction of the stiff-necked people Isa 48:9-11; cf. Num 14:13-17; Deut 9:26.

Daniel 9:20. And whilst I was speaking, and 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; Daniel 9:21. While I was still continuing in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen before in the vision, flying swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening sacrifice. The prayer of Daniel was so pleasing to God (cf. Deut 30:1-4) that even before its completion He sent His Angel to answer it and to comfort the prophet, tormented with sorrow for his ruined homeland and suffering people. The messenger of God’s will was Gabriel, known to Daniel from the vision of ch. 8 Dan 8:16, who “touched” the prophet, more precisely from the Hebrew—“stood before him” about the time when, if the temple had existed, the evening sacrifice prescribed by the law would have been offered Exod 29:39; Num 28:4.

Daniel 9:22. and said, “Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill and understanding. Daniel 9:23. At the beginning of your supplication the commandment came forth, and I am come to show you; for you art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. Daniel’s prayer was the occasion of the revelation to him concerning the fate of the people; but the true reason is the wisdom of God, which found it opportune and beneficial to communicate the revelation to Daniel. He is chosen for its reception because “you art greatly beloved”—a person worthy of God’s love. The revelation concerning the seventy weeks given to the prophet Daniel provided precisely that answer to his prayer which he needed. Daniel asked for an end to the present calamitous condition of the Jews. He founded his prayer on the prophecies of Jeremiah. This latter, like the other prophets, did not distinguish in his discourse between the time of the deliverance of the Jews from captivity and the time of the coming of the Messiah, presenting these events as if simultaneous Jer 30:8-10; Jer 31. Therefore it was necessary to show Daniel that not immediately after the liberation of the Jews from captivity would the kingdom of the Messiah begin, that many years would pass before this. This is communicated to Daniel in the revelation concerning the weeks. Daniel, as is evident from his prayer Dan 9:15-17, desired the good of his people because he was a bearer of true worship of God: “For your sake, O Lord.” But God foresaw that the Jews would reject the Messiah, and for which, by God’s righteous judgment, they themselves would be rejected by God and handed over to enemies. And this is communicated to the prophet to show him that the Kingdom of God will not be eternally bound to the Jewish people (A. Rozhdestvensky. The Revelation to Daniel Concerning the Seventy Weeks, p. 50).

Daniel 9:24. Seventy weeks are determined for your people and your holy city, so that transgression may be covered, sins sealed up, and iniquities blotted out, and so that everlasting righteousness may be brought in, and vision and prophet sealed up, and the Holy of Holies anointed. The revelation begins with the determination of the period’s duration during which the events recounted below will take place. It is equal to seventy weeks (“shabuum”). Shabbua literally means “a sevenfold time,” “a week,” that is, a time consisting of seven parts regardless of what these parts are. Depending on this lack of definition of the given term, the determination of the duration of the week, and consequently the entire period, is not uniform. And formerly the expression “shabbua” is used in some places of Scripture Gen 29:27; Lev 12:5; Num 28:26; Deut 16:9 and in the prophet Daniel himself Dan 10:2-3 in the sense of a week. But in this place Dan 9:24-26 it cannot be understood in this sense first of all because the events referred to the period of 70 weeks could not be accomplished in such a short span as 490 days. Second, when speaking in chapter 10 about weeks in the sense of weeks, Daniel calls them not simply “weeks,” but “weeks of days.” He would express himself in exactly the same way in chapter 9, if he had in mind a week here. One cannot limit the duration of a week to a month, for months represented among the East a very unstable unit of reckoning: some were shorter, others longer. Moreover, a period of 490 months (about 41 years) is too short for such events as the building of the city and temple, their destruction, and so forth to be accomplished within it. It is more natural to understand the week in the sense of a seven-year period. This view is held by ancient Christian commentators: Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus of Rome, Tertullian, Cyril of Jerusalem, John Chrysostom; by Jewish scholars Saadia Gaon, Rashi, Ibn Ezra, medieval exegetes, and the majority of modern ones. Such a reckoning of the week is not contrary to Scripture. The week in the sense of seven years is represented by the sabbatic jubilee year Lev 25:2-4; Lev 26:34-35, directly called “a sabbath of years” Lev 25:8. With the equality of a week to seven years, a period of 70 weeks will comprise 490 years. They, the revelation says, are determined (literally from Hebrew “nehgak”—cut off, separated) for your people and for your holy city, that is, the events to be accomplished during them will have immediate relation to the Hebrew people. Following the indication of the period’s duration, its purpose is clarified—the blessings it will bring are described. The 70 weeks are determined first of all so that “the transgression be finished,” literally from Hebrew “lekalle hagpescha”—“the transgression be ended.” By the end of the seventy weeks, sin will cease, its power and might over men will end. And since “pescha” means “transgression of God’s law,” “falling away from God and His commandments,” the whole considered expression is applied to the redemption by Christ of the original sin, which consisted in man’s violation of God’s command, in his falling away from God. Among ancient writers such a view is held by Basil of Seleucia. The 70 weeks are appointed further so that “sins be sealed,” In Scripture the image of sealing is used, first, to express the cessation of freedom of action of a known person Job 37:7, the restriction of freedom to use a known object Dan 12:4; Job 9:7; Matt 27:66. Moreover, the same image denotes the appropriation of an object, recognition of it as one’s own John 6:27; Eph 1:13; 2 Cor 1:22. But such a meaning cannot apply in this case; it contradicts the preceding expression: “finish the transgression.” It is more natural to understand “sealing” in the sense of cessation of freedom of action. To seal sins—means to end their power over men, to restrain their force. With the coming of Christ the original sin is destroyed, and with it the sinful inclinations of man are restrained 1 John 3:9; Rom 6:1. Sins are sealed, weakened, and not destroyed, like the original sin, since man is given only grace to help him struggle against sinful inclinations that live and work in him. The following phrase of the Synodal reading: “make reconciliation for iniquity” represents a translation of the Hebrew expression: “lekapper avon.” “Lekapper” comes from “kafar”—to cover, and in relation to sins—to cleanse them through sacrifice, to atone for them. “Avon” means “depravity,” “sinfulness,” and then “guilt for sins.” Accordingly “lekapper avon” means to atone for guilt. According to the opinion of church fathers and teachers, this expression speaks of the very act of atonement—the sacrifice of Christ, the result of which was the destruction of original sin and the restraint of separate sinful inclinations of man. On the negative side, the period of 70 weeks is characterized by the destruction of original sin and the weakening of the force of sinful inclinations; on the positive side—by “the bringing in of everlasting righteousness.” Judging from the context, “everlasting righteousness” is to replace the sinful condition of men. Accordingly, it is understood as the state of man “justified,” the state under grace, free from sin, life according to the laws and commandments of God, required by God’s righteousness 1 Pet 2:24; Rom 5:1; Rom 6:18-20. Such is the New Testament sense of “righteousness”—“δικαιοσυνη”; such also is the sense of the Old Testament “tsedeq” as applied to Messianic time Ps 84:11; Isa 53:11; Jer 23:6 and so on. Righteousness is called “everlasting” both because of the eternity of its Origin and Source—God, and also because on earth it will remain eternally. The establishment on earth of “everlasting righteousness” must be accompanied by the sealing of vision and prophecy—“vision and prophecy be sealed,” that is, the cessation of the further continuation of the Old Testament prophetic gift, Old Testament prophetic predictions and visions, the object of which was the destruction of evil on earth and the establishment of righteousness. The bearers and proclaimers of the Old Testament revelation—the prophets—were anointed ones. But with the cessation of prophecies the anointing of those who proclaimed them will cease; it will be replaced by the anointing of “the Most Holy”: “and to anoint the Most Holy.” The majority of commentators of the church fathers’ time understand by “the Most Holy” the Messiah, and by anointing—either His Divinity, as Eusebius of Caesarea, Athanasius the Great, or the anointing of His humanity with the Holy Spirit, as Clement of Alexandria, blessed Theodoret, and Ammonius.

Exodus 26:33. The Jewish exegetes, Ibn Ezra and Abarbanel, also refer this expression to the Messiah. In more recent times, however, many find it impossible to agree with such an understanding, as it is not compatible with the meaning of the Hebrew expression “kodesh kodashim” (“the Most Holy”). In Scripture this name is given almost exclusively to objects, not to persons. First of all, it is used for the compartment of the tabernacle and temple in which the ark of the covenant stood (Ex. 26:33, 34; 1 Sam 6:16; 1 Sam 7:50; 1 Sam 8:6; 1 Chr 6:49 and so forth), then the altar of burnt offering Exod 29:37; Exod 40:10 and incense Exod 30:10, further—all the vessels and furnishings of the tabernacle Exod 30:28-29, all the sacrifices offered in it Lev 2:3; Lev 6:17; Lev 7:1. In the prophet Ezekiel the name “kodesh kodashim” is used for the sanctuary Ezek 45:3 and all the space on the summit of the mountain around the new temple Ezek 43:12. The only place where “kodesh kodashim” is apparently used of persons is 1 Chr 23:13: “Aaron was set apart, to consecrate him to the most holy things.” But in the Septuagint this verse reads otherwise: “to consecrate the holy of holies.” And the Greek reading is preferred in exegetical literature to the Hebrew. In view of such a meaning of the term “kodesh kodashim,” modern exegetes apply this expression to the Church founded by Jesus Christ, arguing in proof that the image of the temple is always used to express the concept of the Church and never denotes the person of the Messiah Ps 14:1; Ps 22:6; Ps 62:3 and so on. But since the Church, the body of Christ Rom 12:5; 1 Cor 6:15; 1 Cor 12:12; Eph 4:4; Eph 5:30, is inseparable from its Head—Jesus Christ—it is more natural to refer the words “kodesh kodashim” to both Christ and His Church (A. Rozhdestvensky). The anointing of the Most Holy is the communication of the Spirit of God, participation in Divinity 1 Sam 10:1-6; 1 Sam 16:13; Acts 10:38; 1 John 2:20; 2 Cor 1:21-22. The Head of the Church, Christ, bore such an anointing of Divinity in His incarnation and received a twofold anointing at His baptism; through Him, as the Head, the Church is joined to Divinity, and its individual members receive anointing in the sacraments.

Daniel 9:25. So know and understand: from the time the command goes forth to restore Jerusalem until Christ the Ruler there are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; and the people will return and the streets and walls will be rebuilt, but in difficult times. After the indication of the general content of the period of 70 weeks, the beginning point of the entire period and its parts is noted. The seventy weeks will begin with the going forth of the commandment (Hebrew “dabar” in the meaning of “commandment,” “decree”) to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. From this time until the Anointed One, the Prince (Hebrew “mashiah nagid”—the Anointed One-Prince; cf. Isa 9:6; Ezek 24:24; Mic 5:2) will pass seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, a total of 69 weeks. The year of the going forth of the commandment to restore Jerusalem becomes the initial year of the 70 weeks. And since such a commandment was given only by Artaxerxes Longimanus in the twentieth year of his reign Nehem 2:8-9; earlier commandments of Cyrus—Ezra 1:1-4; Ezra 6:3-5 and Darius Hystaspis—Ezra 6:1-12 permit the building of the temple but not the restoration of the city, and therefore cannot be taken into account), some exegetes begin the reckoning of weeks from this time. Others, paying attention to the testimony Nehem 1:1-3; Nehem 2:3) of the destruction of the Jerusalem wall and the burning of the gates, suppose that this circumstance occurred during the time interval between the arrival in Jerusalem of Ezra and Nehemiah—between the 7th and 20th years of Artaxerxes (P. Tikhomirov. The Prophet Malachi. P. 56–59. A. Rozhdestvensky. The Revelation to Daniel Concerning the Seventy Weeks, p. 193–194). Ezra, making use of the permission of Artaxerxes, began the restoration of the Jerusalem walls (cf. Ezra 9:9), but they were destroyed by enemies. In view of this, the decree of Artaxerxes from the twentieth year of his reign is considered a confirmation of his own decree from the 7th year Ezra 7:11-26, from which the period of seventy weeks begins. And since, according to the Ptolemaic canon, Artaxerxes ascended the throne between 18 December 465 B.C. and 18 December 464 B.C., the seventh year of his reign, and at the same time the initial point of the period of weeks, will be 458 or 457 B.C. From this time until the Anointed One, the Prince, that is, until His appearing to the world, there should pass 69 weeks, or 483 years. According to the testimony of the evangelist Luke, the beginning of Jesus Christ’s public ministry coincided with the beginning of John the Baptist’s preaching—both events took place in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Luke 3:1-23. Tiberius ascended the throne after the death of Caesar Augustus, which occurred on 19 August, 14 A.D. Thus, if the first year of Tiberius’ reign lasted from 19 August 14 to 19 August 15 A.D., then his fifteenth year falls on the time from 19 August 28 to 19 August 29 A.D. Some scholars, on the basis that Tiberius was the co-ruler of Augustus during his lifetime, reckon his reign from 13 A.D. In this case the 15th year of Tiberius will be 27 A.D. The distance between this point in time and the beginning of the weeks (458 B.C. or 457 B.C.) will be 483 years. The beginning of the weeks is marked by the going forth of the commandment “to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.” It is natural that the decree began to be carried out immediately after its promulgation. Accordingly, it must be thought that for the building of the city the revelation appoints the first seven weeks. In favor of this also speak the opening words of verse 26: “And after the sixty-two weeks Christ will be put to death.”

Psalm 79:4. The second part of the period—the 62 weeks is clearly separated from the first—the seven weeks. During this latter, its own special events will occur; but other than the building of the city, the revelation knows of nothing. Concerning this latter it is expressed thus: “tashuv venibveta rechob vecharutz,” or in literal translation into Russian: “shall be restored and built streets and walls,” that is, the recovery (“shuv” in the sense of restore, Psalm 79:4, 8, 20) and building of the streets (“rechob”—Gen 19:2; Judg 19:20; 2 Chr 32:6 and others) and walls (“charuz” from “charaz”—to be “sharp,” “to cut,” literally means “cut,” “carved,” hence “moat”). The restoration of Jerusalem as a populated place (streets) and as a stronghold (moat) will occur amid unfavorable circumstances: “in difficult times,” which is confirmed by the testimony of the book of Nehemiah of the destruction of the city walls erected under Ezra Nehem 1:3 and the obstacles encountered by Nehemiah himself in their repair from Tobiah and Sanballat. As to whether the building of Jerusalem did indeed continue for 49 years, this question cannot be solved definitively. There is, however, an attempt to solve it in the affirmative. It is based on the suggestion that the building of Jerusalem continued for all the time that Ezra lived and then—from time to time, with absences in Babylon—Nehemiah. Ezra labored on the building of Jerusalem for 13 years (from the 7th to the 20th year of Artaxerxes, Nehem 2:1). In the 20th year of Artaxerxes came to his aid Nehemiah and restored in 52 days the destroyed wall Nehem 4:1; Nehem 6:15. Having remained in Jerusalem 12 years after this, Nehemiah returned to Artaxerxes, and then returned again to his homeland Nehem 13:6. The time of this second arrival of Nehemiah to Jerusalem is determined by the time of the life of his contemporary “Joyada,” son of the high priest Eliashib Nehem 13:28. Since, according to the Alexandrian chronicle, Eliashib died in 413 B.C., and nothing prevents thinking that Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem about five years after his death, then before his return to his homeland from the 7th year of Artaxerxes there will pass exactly 49 years (457–408 B.C.). (A. Rozhdestvensky, p. 215).

Daniel 9:26. And after the sixty-two weeks Christ will be put to death, and will be no more; and the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed by the people of a leader who will come, and its end will be like a flood, and until the end of the war there will be desolations. After the expiration of the second part of the period of weeks, “the Anointed One shall be cut off.” The Hebrew preposition “achаrey”—“after,” “following,” “behind”—indicates only that the events that are spoken of hereafter occurred no earlier than the end of the 62 weeks, but does not give an exact date: they could have occurred immediately after the 62 weeks or through a known time interval after them. The exact determination of the time of the death of the Messiah is given in verse 27. Similarly, although the revelation does not speak directly of who will kill Him, but judging by the fact that the consequences of Christ’s death will be felt by the Hebrew people, the perpetrator of the killing of the Anointed One is the Jews. The first of these consequences is expressed in the Hebrew expression: “beein lo.” Being transmitted in the translations sometimes with literal exactness (Aquila: “και ουκ εστιν αυτω”; Symmachus: “και ουχ υπαρξει αυτφ”), sometimes with alterations representing a kind of interpretation (LXX: “και ουκ εσται”, implying with “εσται” a subject—“chrisma,” from where the Synodal “and it shall not be”; Theodotion: “και κριμα ουκ εστιν εν αυτω,” from which the Slavonic: “and judgment shall not be in him”; Vulgate: “et non erit ejus populus qui eum negaturus est” “and the people shall no longer be His, as they will deny Him”), equally understood and differently interpreted, the considered expression means: “and it shall not be for him.” Judging from the context, the understood subject at “shall not be” is the Messiah, and the pronoun “him” refers to the Hebrew people. Under such a translation the entire phrase: “and the Messiah shall not be for him,” that is, for the Hebrew people, speaks of the rejection of the Hebrew people as the first consequence of the killing of the Messiah by them. Such an understanding was expressed in the Latin translation of this passage (see above), and such a view is also held by Ephrem the Syrian (see Rozhdestvensky. The Revelation to Daniel, p. 113 and further). The second consequence of the killing of the Messiah will be the destruction of the city and the sanctuary by the people of the prince that shall come. The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple is attributed not to the prince but to his people. This detail causes exegetes to think that the revelation has in view the conquest of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 A.D. As is known, Titus desired to spare the temple, issued several orders to his soldiers about this, but they disobeyed him this time. A glowing ember accidentally thrown by a soldier set the temple afire, and no effort could stop the conflagration. With the destruction of the city and the temple—the centers of the civic and religious life of the Jews—there will come an end to the political and church order of the Jewish people: “and its end will be like a flood.” More accurately from the Hebrew: “psekizzo bagisheteф”—“and the end of it shall be in a flood.” The verb “shatаf,” from which the noun “sheтeф” comes, is used in the prophet Daniel in a metaphorical meaning of an army, inundating the conquered land and sweeping all from it Dan 11:10. The Roman armies will pour upon Judea like the waves of a flood upon the land Isa 28:2 and sweep all away. Although the assault of the Romans resembles an all-crushing flood, yet it will provoke resistance from the Jews and be accompanied by constant warfare: “to the end of the war.” This latter will be caused not by human considerations, but will be a result of the divine determination: “desolations are determined.” The Synodal reading: “and until the end of the war there will be desolations,” does not convey from the corresponding Hebrew phrase: “ve ad ketz milchama necheretzet shomomot,” the word “necheretzet”—determination. The entire phrase should be rendered: “to the end—war,” determination of desolations. The chronological dates Dan 9:25 are interrupted in Dan 9:26 by an indication of the death of the Messiah and its consequences in relation to the Hebrew people. In Dan 9:27, as we shall see below, the revelation again returns to the chronology of Messianic time. The reason for this occurrence is thought to be as follows. The Jews were inclined to “expect the Messiah” as a glorious earthly king, having to restore and magnify their earthly kingdom and subject to them the remaining peoples. This thought could be favored by verse 25, which calls the Messiah “prince” and speaks of the restoration of Jerusalem as a stronghold. In view of this, to deprive Daniel of the possibility of understanding by the Messianic kingdom the earthly Jewish kingdom, he is directly pointed to that which best speaks of the falsity of such an understanding: the rejection of the Messiah by the Hebrew people and its consequences. And only after this does the discourse again return to the chronology of Messianic time (A. Rozhdestvensky. The Revelation to Daniel, p. 133–134).

Daniel 9:27. And one week will confirm the covenant for many, and in the middle of the week sacrifice and offering will cease, and on the wing of the sanctuary there will be the abomination of desolation, and the final, predetermined destruction will overtake the desolator. Upon the last, that is the seventieth week, falls “the establishment of a covenant with many.” The word “covenant” (Hebrew “berit”) is used in Scripture to denote unions between peoples Josh 9:6 and so forth, individual persons 1 Sam 18:3; 1 Sam 23:18 and so on, but most often, and in the book of the prophet Daniel primarily Dan 9:4; Dan 11:22, to denote the covenant—union of God with men. But the noted above Dan 9:26 rejection of the Hebrew people for the murder of the Messiah should have told the prophet Daniel that by this covenant is understood not the former union of God with the Jews, but the new, eternal covenant, of which prophets living near to him in time—Jeremiah Jer 31:31-34; Jer 32:40-41 and Ezekiel Ezek 16:60; Ezek 34:25; Ezek 37:26—had foretold. The covenant will be established “with many.” Since the revelation was given to Daniel on account of his prayers for his own people and concerned the fate of the latter Dan 9:24, under “many” it is naturally understood as “many” from the Hebrew people. Not the entire nation enters into a new communion with God: from it came the murderers of the Messiah, and to the mass of the people the revelation announces, for this reason, rejection and destruction Dan 9:26. And indeed, according to the testimony of the Book of Acts of the Apostles, it was not all Jews, but only “many” of them, who believed in Jesus Christ and became members of the New Testament church. Among them are the 3,000 people who turned to Christ on the day of Pentecost Acts 2:5, the 5,000 Jews after the miracle of the Apostle Peter and his preaching in the temple Acts 4:4. The rest of the mass was so hostile to Christianity that after the murder of the holy Stephen the believers were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria Acts 7:58-59; Acts 8:1, and the apostles transferred their preaching to the Gentiles Acts 8:26. The establishment of the “New” Covenant makes unnecessary, superfluous the existence of the former “Old” Covenant. It is annulled; annulled with it are those external forms in which it manifested and showed itself. And since the essence of the Covenant was the reconciliation of man with God, and this was achieved through sacrifice Lev 17:11, then with the annulment of the Old Covenant the sacrifices are annulled: “in the middle of the week sacrifice and offering will cease” (Hebrew “zevach”—the bloody sacrifice) and the offering (Hebrew “mincha”—the bloodless sacrifice, the grain offering). But the Old Testament sacrifices lost their significance as means of atonement only because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Who “through his own blood once for all entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption” Heb 9:12. Therefore the expression: “in the middle of the week sacrifice and offering will cease,” is an indication of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, which, according to the revelation, is to fall in the middle of the last seventieth week, or, that is the same, is to occur 3 1/2 years after His public ministry began. According to the opinion of the majority of commentators, the death of Jesus Christ occurred in 30 A.D.: in this year the 15th of Nisan—the day on which the Jews ate the Passover and on which Christ was crucified—fell on a Friday Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; cf. Matt 27:62; Matt 28:1. The public ministry of the Savior lasted approximately 3.5 years. The further words of the revelation in the Hebrew text read thus: “ve al kenаf shikkutzim meshomem.” “Kenaf,” from the verb “kanaf,” is used in the meaning of “wing,” and then in the figurative meaning—the edge of an object or space: the edge of a garment Num 15:38; 1 Sam 24:5, the edge, boundary of a country Job 37:3; Job 38:13; Isa 11:12. “Shikkutzim”—the plural of the noun “shikkutz”—abomination Dan 11:31; Dan 12:11, and “meshomem,”—the participial form of the verb “shamem,”—desolating, desolator. In the Hebrew text “shikkutzim” is an attribute to the word “kenaf,” and the subject becomes “meshomem.” Under such a construction, the whole phrase should be translated thus: “and upon the wing of abominations shall appear the desolator.” So is the Hebrew (Masoretic) text, the Syriac translation (Peshitta): “and upon the wings of abomination a desolator,” Aquila and Symmachus: “και επι της αρχης των βδελυγματων ερημωυησεται,” transmitted. Other translations consider “shikkutzim” to be the subject and “meshomem” an attribute to it. Thus the LXX translates: “και επι τον ιερον βδελυγμα των ερημωσεων εσται”; the Vulgate: “et erit in tempto abominatio desolationis”; the Russian Synodal: “and upon the wing of the sanctuary shall be the abomination of desolation.” As for the interpretation of this passage, it is not distinguished by diversity and stability of understanding. The majority of ancient commentators understood by “the abomination of desolation” the statue of a pagan god or images of the Roman emperor set up in the Jerusalem Temple shortly before its destruction. Blessed Theodoret and Eusebius of Caesarea thought that the image of Caesar was brought into the temple by Pilate; John Chrysostom speaks of an image set up in the temple by Hadrian; Clement of Alexandria asserts that Nero set up the abomination in the holy city of Jerusalem, and Basil of Seleucia—that this was done by Caligula. But such interpretations are not justified by history: it knows of no instance of the setting up in the Jerusalem Temple of the image of a Roman emperor. From history it is known only that Pilate ordered the setting up of sacred shields with the image of the emperor in the Herodian palace of Jerusalem, but by the order of Tiberius they were removed. In the reign of Caligula the Jerusalem Temple was indeed threatened with defilement: it was ordered by him to the procurator of Judea Petronius to set up the statue of the emperor in the temple; but the latter did not carry out the command. In distinction from the named fathers and teachers of the church, Origen understands by “the abomination of desolation” the Roman army. Finally, some, such as, for example, Eusebius of Caesarea, understand by “the abomination of desolation” the Jerusalem Temple itself. According to his words, from the time that Christ died and the veil of the temple was torn, the Jews lost their sacrifice and libation, and the abomination of desolation began in the temple. To this Christ pointed in His words: “Behold, your house is left to you desolate.” Matt 23:38. The blessed Theodoret holds the same view. “Through the sacrifice of the cross,” he says, “not only will that (the law of Moses) sacrifice cease, but the abomination of desolation will be given to the sanctuary, that is, it, formerly honored and filled with fear, will become desolate.” Adhering to this interpretation, the considered expression is paraphrased thus: “upon the wings of the sanctuary shall come the desolator” (“the boundary of the defiled city and temple”), that is, upon the boundaries of the desecrated city and temple there will appear the all-desolating army—the Roman legions (A. Rozhdestvensky. The Revelation to Daniel. p. 151–155). According to the sense of the Hebrew reading, the LXX and Vulgate readings: “and in the temple shall be the abomination of desolation.” The fulfillment of this prophecy is seen in the assault of the Roman armies upon Jerusalem. Beginning under the procurator Gessius Florus in 66 A.D., they concluded with the destruction of the city and the temple under Vespasian in 70 A.D. The Romans, executors of the divine judgment on the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, will bring it to completion: “and to the end a decree shall be poured out upon the desolate” (exact translation of the Hebrew phrase: “ve ad kala venecheretzet tippach al shomem”).