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Daniel 9:24 -27
A1
9:24.
a
Finish transgression.
seventy
b
Make an end (chatham) of sins.
sevens.
c
Make atonement for iniquity.
a
Bring in everlasting righteousness.
b
Seal up (chatham) vision and prophecy.
c
Anoint the Most Holy.
A2
9:25,26.
a
The City.-- Restoration.
seven sevens
b
The Messiah.-- Coming.
and sixty -two
c
Seven sevens and sixty -two sevens.
sevens.
c
After sixty -two sevens.
b
The Messiah.-- Cut off.
a
The City.-- destroyed.
A3
9:26,27.
a
Desolation decreed (shamem).
the one seven.
End of Desolator.
the midst of
b
Covenant made.
the seven.
c
One seven.-- 7 years.
c
Midst of seven.-- 3.5 years.
b
Covenant broken.
a
Desolation decreed (shamem).
End of Desolator.
'Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city'.-
- The word 'determined' means 'to cut off', and the passage indicates that
God has set apart this period of time in which He will accomplish His
purposes for the people and the city. At first there appears to be an undue
repetition in the words of verse 24: 'to finish the transgression, and to
make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity'. But on
examination the verse is found to be both true, like all Scripture, and
prophetic.
'To finish' is a translation of kala which means 'to restrain', or
'shut up', as in a prison: 'Zedekiah ... had shut him up' (Jer. 32:3). As a
substantive it is translated 'prison' as in 1 Kings 22:27; 2 Kings 17:4 and
eight other places. 'The transgression' that is to be 'shut up' or
'imprisoned' has already been spoken of in Daniel. Pesha, 'transgression',
and pasha, 'transgressor' occur in Daniel only in 8:12,13,23 and 9:24. To
read these occurrences in their contexts is of itself sufficient indication
that the period of the last seven of Daniel 9 is the setting, and also what
'transgression' is to be 'imprisoned':
'The little horn ... magnified himself even to the prince of the host,
and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his
sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily
sacrifice by reason of transgression ... the transgression of
desolation ... in the latter time of their kingdom, when the
transgressors are come to the full' (Dan. 8:11-13,23).
In Daniel 9 and Matthew 24:15 it is 'the abomination of desolation';
here it is 'the transgression of desolation'. This refers to the violation
of the temple and its sacrifices, and the desolation, once more, of
Jerusalem. The day, however, is fixed when this desolation shall for ever
cease, and the Desolator be imprisoned. It does not require great perception