The prayer of Daniel
1 In the first year of the reign of Darius, son of Ahasuerus, of the Median race, who was king of Chaldea, the following happened:
2 I, Daniel, thought about the num ber of years, according to the scrip tures, before Jerusalem should be left in ruins. Yahweh spoke of seventy years to the prophet Je re miah.
3 I turned to the Lord and begged him. I pleaded with prayers and fasting. I did penance, I put on sackcloth and sat on an ash pile.
4 I prayed to Yahweh, my God, and made this confession: “Lord God, great and to be feared, you keep your Cove nant and love for those who love you and observe your commandments.
5 We have sinned, we have not been just, we have been rebels, and have turned away from your commandments and laws.
6 We have not listened to your servants, the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, leaders, fathers and to all the people of the land.
7 Lord, justice is yours, but ours is a face full of shame, as it is to this day – we, the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the whole of Israel, near and far away, in all the lands where you have dispersed us because of the infidelity we have committed against you.
8 Ours is the shame, O Lord for we, our kings, princes, fathers, have sinned against you.
9 We hope for pardon and mercy from the Lord, because we have rebelled against him.
10 We have not listened to the voice of Yahweh, our God, or followed the laws which he has given us through his servants, the prophets.
11 All Israel has broken your law and has turned away from it rather than listen to your voice. Therefore, the curse and the threats written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have come upon us because we have sinned against him.
12 He has carried out the threats he pronounced against us and against those who governed us: he brought a terrible calamity upon us. No, never could there be anything worse than what has come upon Jerusalem.
13 All these disasters have struck us with dread as it was written in the Law of Moses, but we have not tried to calm the anger of Yahweh, our God. We have not turned away from our sins and learned to listen to your truth.
14 Yahweh made true his threat and brought this calamity upon us, for Yahweh, our God, is just in all his works, while we have not obeyed his voice.
15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt by your powerful hand and gained renown to this day, we have sinned, we have been unfaithful.
16 Lord, in keeping with your kindness, turn away your anger and wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy mountain, for because of our sins and the wickedness of our fathers, Jeru salem and your people are the laughingstock of all around us.
17 So now, our God, listen to the prayer and pleading of your servant and, for your own sake, let your face shine upon your desolate sanctuary.
18 My God, incline your ear and listen. Open your eyes and see how the city lies in ruins, the city upon which your Name has been pronounced. We do not rely on our good works, but we pour out our plea before you, trusting in your great mercy.
19 Listen, Lord! Lord, forgive! Pay attention to us, Lord! Act, my God, and do not delay for your own sake, since your city and your people are called by your name.”
The prophecy of the seventy weeks
20 At the hour of the evening sacrifice, I was still speak ing, confessing my sins and those of Israel, my people, begging Yahweh on behalf of his Holy Mountain.
21 At that moment, Gabriel whom I had seen at the beginning of the vision, came to me, flying,
22 and he said to me, “Daniel, I have come now to make you understand.
23 As you were praying, a word was uttered and I have come to teach it to you because God loves you. Pay attention to this word and understand the vision:
24 Seventy weeks are set for your peo ple and your holy city, to put an end to transgression, to put sin under lock, to wipe out the offense, and to bring everlasting justice, so that the visions and the prohecies will be fulfilled and the Holy of Holies be anointed.
25 Understand this, then:
From the time the order to rebuild Jerusalem was given until an anointed leader comes, there shall be seven weeks.
Then in sixty-two weeks squares and walls will be rebuilt, but in a difficult time.
26 After the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one will be cut off; the city and the temple shall be destroyed by the peo ple of a king who will come. They will be carried along as by a flood. Until the end, there will be wars and disasters which God has decreed.
27 He will impose his law on a great part of the people for a week. By mid-week, he will put a stop to the sacrifices and offerings. The devastator shall place the abominable idol in the Temple until the ruin de creed by God comes upon the devastator.”
------------------------------------------------------------
33 / 33
Comments , Chapter 9
• 9.1 Daniel is reflecting on Jere miah’s pro phecy (25:1) about the seventy years of exile of the Jews in Babylon. The angel Gabriel gives him another message referring to seventy weeks. This message is one of the most famous prophecies in the book of Daniel.
• 20. Gabriel begins by saying enigmatic things (v. 24) and then, he explains.
To put an end to transgression, to put sin under lock, to wipe out the offense, and to bring everlasting justice (v. 24). So, the coming of the kingdom of God is clearly announced. A most Holy One will be anointed: this refers to the most holy place, namely, the Temple. After being profaned by the pagan conquerors, it will be renewed to become the definitive dwelling place of God in the midst of his people.
Now Gabriel himself provides an explanation: all this will happen soon. The seventy weeks are a symbolic number of weeks of years, and cannot be taken literally except for the first seven weeks: these refer perhaps to the time between the destruction of Je rusalem in 587 and the decree of liberation by Cyrus (called the Anointed of God in Isaiah 45) in 538.
Then comes an indefinite period re presented by sixty-two weeks (of years) bringing us to the beginning of Antiochus’ persecution in 171. That year the high priest, Onias, was murdered: an anointed one will be cut off (see 2 Mac 4:34). After that, the persecutor put an end to worship in the Jerusalem Temple and even built an altar de dicated to Baal Shamem on the altar of holocausts: this is the Abominable Idol of the devastator. This happened during the week of persecution, when the prophecy was written; a victorious intervention of God is announced for the end of the week.
The divine intervention revealed itself in the unexpected peace which the Jews obtained at that time (1 Mac 6:55). However, this was not the coming of God’s kingdom, but only a sign of it. What was announced about everlasting justice will only be fulfilled fully in Christ.
In any case the numbers presented by the author refer to the era of the Maccabees. If the end of history did not take place then, it is useless to manipulate the numbers to figure out when it will take place: God did not wish to reveal it (Mk 13:32).
At the end of the last century the founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses built up his whole interpretation of the Bible on this prophecy of Daniel. His extravagant figuring was meant to prove that the kingdom of God in Israel, with David and Solomon, concluded in Daniel’s days and, after this, the new kingdom of God began that would end in 1914 with the end of the world. When that did not happen, they had to correct their figures.
This is not the place to argue about these theories. It is enough to note that for them the two key dates of salvation were the destruction of Jerusalem in the sixth century before Christ and the year 1914. For them the coming of Jesus, his death and resurrection, were not important for the coming of the kingdom of God. This shows the error of those who rely on difficult biblical texts to question the surest truths, instead of starting with the most solid foundations of faith to attempt to clarify confusing texts.