Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Daniel
Chapter 9: Messiah Shall Be Cut Off
Reading Jeremiah's prophecy that the exile would last seventy years, Daniel does not simply wait for the promise; he prays it in. Chapter 9 opens with one of the great prayers of Scripture, a humble, whole-hearted confession in which the righteous prophet stands with his people and says, 'We have sinned.' While he is still praying, the angel Gabriel comes with an answer that reaches far beyond the return from exile, to the very heart of the gospel: the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. In seventy 'sevens' God will 'make reconciliation for iniquity, and... bring in everlasting righteousness,' and after sixty-nine of them 'shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.' Here, centuries in advance, is the atoning death of Jesus Christ, the Messiah slain not for His own sin but for ours.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Daniel chapter 9, Daniel's prayer and the Seventy Weeks. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. The Seventy Weeks is one of the greatest Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament; we set out its Christ-centered heart plainly and hold the disputed prophetic details with humility. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
We Have Sinned
Daniel reads Jeremiah and pours out a confession for his people.
For Thy Great Mercies
He appeals not to their righteousness but to God's mercy.
To Make Reconciliation
Seventy sevens to end sin and bring everlasting righteousness.
Cut Off, But Not for Himself
The atoning death of Christ foretold centuries ahead.
O Lord, Hear; O Lord, Forgive (Daniel 9:1-19)
Moved by Jeremiah's prophecy of seventy years, Daniel humbles himself and confesses the sins of his people, appealing not to any righteousness of their own but wholly to the great mercies of God.
Not for Our Righteousnesses, But for Thy Great Mercies
"In 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; In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number 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. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 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; We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 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. 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. 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. 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. Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice. 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. 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. 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. 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. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name."
Hebrew Study
"We have sinned," chatanu (חָטָאנוּ). Daniel was one of the godliest men in Scripture, yet he does not pray "they have sinned" but "we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly." He identifies fully with his people and confesses their sin as his own. This is the heart of intercession: to stand with the guilty before God, not above them. It is what the Lord Jesus did perfectly, though sinless, "he was numbered with the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12). Real confession says "we," not "they."
"for thy great mercies," rachamim (רַחֲמִים). The word means tender compassions, the yearning love of a parent. Daniel grounds his whole appeal here: "we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies." He brings no merit; he pleads only mercy. This is the only ground any sinner has before God, "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us" (Titus 3:5). We come "boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy" (Hebrews 4:16), never on our own worthiness.
Explanation
Daniel, now old, is reading Scripture, "I Daniel understood by books" that Jeremiah had foretold "seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." The promise of return is near. But Daniel does not simply wait; the promise drives him to prayer. He sets his face to seek God "by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes," and pours out a great confession.
The prayer is a model. He magnifies God, "the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy." He confesses sin honestly and corporately, "We have sinned... we have rebelled." He justifies God in the judgment, "righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces," and "the LORD our God is righteous in all his works." He appeals to God's mercy and God's own name, "we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies," and closes with urgent, selfless pleading, "O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive... for thine own sake, O my God." It is confession, not excuse; mercy, not merit; God's glory, not Daniel's comfort.
Gospel Focus
Daniel's prayer teaches us how to come to God. First, it is born of Scripture: he read God's promise and turned it into prayer. God's promises are not an excuse to stop praying but the very fuel of prayer. Second, it is honest confession, "we have sinned", and it is corporate; Daniel identifies with his people's guilt rather than standing aloof, a foreshadowing of the sinless One who "was numbered with the transgressors" and bore our sins as His own. Third, and most importantly, it rests entirely on mercy, not merit: "not for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies." This is the posture of every soul that will be heard, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins" (1 John 1:9). We bring no righteousness of our own; we come pleading the mercy of God, and, on this side of the cross, we plead it through the blood of Jesus. And notice how God answered: before Daniel finished, the reply was already on its way. The God of "great mercies" is quick to hear the humble, confessing heart.
Messiah Shall Be Cut Off, But Not for Himself (Daniel 9:20-27)
While Daniel still prays, Gabriel brings the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks: God will finish sin and bring in everlasting righteousness, the Messiah the Prince will come and be cut off, and the city and sanctuary will be destroyed.
To Make Reconciliation, and to Bring In Everlasting Righteousness
"And whiles 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; 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. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. 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. 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 and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant 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."
Hebrew Study
"Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself," yikkareth (יִכָּרֵת). "Messiah" is Mashiach, the Anointed One; the verb "cut off" is the word for being killed, put to death, the very term Isaiah uses of the Suffering Servant, "he was cut off out of the land of the living" (Isaiah 53:8). And the crucial phrase: "not for himself." The Messiah is killed, but not for any sin of His own, He is put to death for others. Here, centuries before Calvary, is the substitutionary death of Christ: "he was wounded for our transgressions" (Isaiah 53:5); God "made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin" (2 Corinthians 5:21); "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust" (1 Peter 3:18). The Messiah was cut off, but not for Himself, for us.
"to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness." The six goals of the Seventy Weeks (verse 24) are the accomplishments of the cross: "to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity" (atonement, the word kaphar), "and to bring in everlasting righteousness." This is the gospel in one verse. By His death Christ "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9:26), "we... received the atonement" (Romans 5:11), and He became for us "everlasting righteousness", "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jeremiah 23:6). What the law could never do, the Anointed One accomplished when He was cut off.
Explanation
While Daniel is still praying, Gabriel arrives "about the time of the evening oblation" with the answer, telling Daniel he is "greatly beloved." The prophecy concerns "Seventy weeks", seventy "sevens" (understood as weeks of years), "determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city." Their purpose is sixfold and glorious: "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." These are not the acts of a returning exile but of the coming Redeemer.
Gabriel then marks the time: from "the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks" (sixty-nine sevens). The city will be rebuilt "in troublous times." Then the heart of it: "after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself." After the Messiah is killed, "the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary", fulfilled when Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70. The Messiah "confirm[s] the covenant with many" and, by His death, causes "the sacrifice and the oblation to cease." The whole sweep, from the rebuilding of Jerusalem to the coming and cutting off of Messiah and the end of the temple, is laid out in advance, and it all centers on the atoning death of the Anointed One.
Gospel Focus
The Seventy Weeks prophecy is one of the clearest windows in the Old Testament onto the cross. Long before Jesus was born, God announced through Gabriel exactly what the Messiah would come to do: not to set up an earthly throne, but "to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness." And He announced how: "Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself." The Anointed One would be put to death, and not for any sin of His own, but for others. This is the very center of the gospel, foretold five centuries in advance: Christ crucified, the sinless One dying in the place of sinners, ending sin, reconciling us to God, and clothing us in a righteousness that is everlasting. When Jesus died, the veil of the temple tore in two (Matthew 27:51), and the sacrifices of the old covenant were finished forever, "he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever" (Hebrews 10:12), exactly as this prophecy said, "he shall... cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease." The precise timing and the debated final "week" we hold humbly; but the center is beyond dispute and beyond price: the Messiah was cut off, not for Himself, but for you. Rest your whole hope on that finished, atoning death.
Chapter 9 in Review
Daniel 9 joins a great prayer to a greater prophecy. Reading Jeremiah's promise of seventy years, Daniel turns it into intercession, humbly confessing his people's sin as his own, "we have sinned", justifying God's righteousness, and pleading not their merit but God's mercy, "not for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies." Before he finishes, Gabriel brings the Seventy Weeks: seventy sevens determined "to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness," with the Messiah the Prince coming and then "cut off, but not for himself," and the city and sanctuary destroyed. The whole sweep of redemption is dated and declared centuries in advance.
For the Apostolic reader this chapter is a treasure. Daniel's prayer models how to come to God, born of Scripture, confessing sin as our own, resting wholly on mercy, and seeking God's glory. And the Seventy Weeks lay the gospel out in prophecy: the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would be "cut off, but not for himself," dying not for His own sin but for ours, to "make an end of sins" and "bring in everlasting righteousness." His death would end the temple sacrifices forever and reconcile us to God. Here, five hundred years before Calvary, is the cross foretold. So confess your sin and plead God's mercy through the blood of the Messiah who was cut off for you, and rest in the everlasting righteousness He has brought in.
- God's promises fuel prayer rather than replace it: Daniel read Jeremiah and prayed (9:2-3).
- True confession says "we have sinned," identifying with the guilty (9:5; Isaiah 53:12).
- We come to God on His mercy, never our merit: "not for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies" (9:18; Titus 3:5).
- The Seventy Weeks aim at the cross: "to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness" (9:24; Romans 5:11).
- "Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself": the substitutionary death of Christ foretold (9:26; Isaiah 53:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
- His death ended the temple sacrifices forever, causing "the sacrifice and the oblation to cease" (9:27; Hebrews 10:12).
Questions for Reflection
- Daniel turned a promise into prayer. Are you praying God's promises, or only waiting on them?
- Daniel confessed "we have sinned." Do you intercede for others by standing with them, or only apart from them?
- Your only plea before God is His mercy. Have you truly let go of trusting your own righteousness?
- The Messiah was "cut off, but not for himself." What does it mean to you that He died in your place?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Key terms: chatanu ("we have sinned," verse 5); rachamim ("great mercies," verse 18); Mashiach ("Messiah, Anointed," verses 25-26); yikkareth ("cut off," verse 26); kaphar ("make reconciliation," verse 24). The seventy years of Jeremiah: Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10; 2 Chronicles 36:21. Corporate confession parallels: Nehemiah 1:5-11; 9; Ezra 9; Leviticus 26:40-42. Mercy, not merit: Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 4:16; 1 John 1:9. The Messiah "cut off... not for himself": Isaiah 53:5-12; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; Romans 5:6-11. The six goals fulfilled at the cross: Hebrews 9:26; 10:10-14; Romans 3:21-26; the everlasting righteousness, "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS": Jeremiah 23:6; 33:16. The end of sacrifice and the torn veil: Matthew 27:51; Hebrews 10:8-12. The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70: Matthew 24:2; Luke 19:43-44; 21:20-24. The precise chronology and the final "week" are understood variously by godly interpreters; we hold those details with humility. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Daniel's prayer of confession, resting on God's mercy: Daniel 9:1-19; Isaiah 53:12; Titus 3:5; 1 John 1:9.
- The Seventy Weeks and Messiah cut off for our sins: Daniel 9:20-27; Isaiah 53:5-8; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 9:26; 10:12.