Daniel 9:25

The detailed statement of the 70 שׁבעים in 7 + 62 + 1 (Dan 9:25, Dan 9:26, Dan 9:27), with the fuller description of that which was to happen in the course of these three periods of time, incontrovertibly shows that these three verses are a further explication of the contents of Dan 9:24. This explication is introduced by the words: "Know therefore, and understand," which do not announce a new prophecy, as Wieseler and Hofmann suppose, but only point to the importance of the further opening up of the contents of Dan 9:24, since ותשׂכּל (and thou wilt understand) stands in distinct relation to בינה להשׂכּלך (to give thee skill and understanding, Dan 9:22). The two parts of Dan 9:25 contain the statements regarding the first two portions of the whole period, the seven and the sixty-two שׁבעים, and are rightly separated by the Masoretes by placing the Atnach under שׁבעה. The first statement is: "from the going forth of the command to restore and to build Jerusalem unto a Messiah (Gesalbten), a prince, shall be seven weeks." דּבר מצא (from the going forth of the commandment) formally corresponds, indeed, to דּבר יצא (the commandment came forth), Dan 9:23, emphatically expressing a decision on the part of God, but the two expressions are not actually to be identified; for the commandment, Dan 9:23, is the divine revelation communicated in Dan 9:24-27, which the angel brings to Daniel; the commandment in Dan 9:25 is, on the contrary, more fully determined by the words, "to restore and to build, etc. להשׁיב is not to be joined adverbially with ולבנות so as to form one idea: to build again; for, though שׁוּב may be thus used adverbially in Kal, yet the Hiphil השׁיב is not so used. השׁיב means to lead back, to bring again, then to restore; cf. for this last meaning Isa 1:26, Psa…

In this chapter we have, I. Daniel's prayer for the restoration of the Jews who were in captivity, in which he confesses sin, and acknowledges the justice of God in their calamities, but pleads God's promises of mercy which he had yet in store for them (v. 1-19). II. An immediate answer sent him by an angel to his prayer, in which, 1. He is assured of the speedy release of the Jews out of their captivity (Dan 9:20-23). And, 2. He is informed concerning the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ (of which that was a type), what should be the nature of it and when it should be accomplished (Dan 9:24-27). And it is the clearest, brightest, prophecy of the Messiah, in all the Old Testament.

9:25 The command . . . to rebuild Jerusalem and its Temple marks the beginning of the seventy sets of seven. The event that best fits this description is the decree of Cyrus the Great in 538 BC that allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding (see 5:31; 9:1; Ezra 1:2-4). Less likely are the decrees of Artaxerxes I in 458 BC (see Ezra 7:12-26) and 445 BC (see Neh 2:5-8). • a ruler—the Anointed One: Many interpreters see Christ as fulfilling this prophecy, so they understand this passage as describing history from the time of Daniel to the time of Christ. However, an “anointed one” can refer to any of Israel’s kings or priests, who were ordained by anointing with oil. If the passage was fulfilled in the time of Antiochus IV, then the anointed one was probably the high priest at the time, Onias III (cp. Dan 11:22). • and strong defenses: The vision refers to Jerusalem as being physically rebuilt. The rebuilding of the Temple was completed in 515 BC (Ezra 3:1–6:22); in 445 BC, Nehemiah completed the wall of Jerusalem (Neh 2–6). • The perilous times can refer to the history of Jerusalem and its Temple from the time the decree was published until the end of the seventy sets of seven (see Dan 11:2-45).