In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, Daniel meditates in the books on the word of Hashem to Jeremiah — seventy years for the desolations of Jerusalem — and turns to prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. The confession is the heart of the book's Hebrew: 'we have sinned, and have dealt iniquitously... to You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us confusion of face... to the Lord our God belong compassions and forgivenesses; for we have rebelled against Him.' While he is yet speaking, the man Gabriel, being caused to fly swiftly, touches him about the time of the evening offering: 'seventy weeks are decreed upon your people and upon your holy city' — weeks of anointing and covenant, of the wall built again in troublous times, of desolations determined until the consummation.
Tap any Hebrew word to reveal its root, value, and meanings.
In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;
verse value 4521
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 48 letters. The shortest word is "over" (עַ֖ל, 2 letters) and the longest is "son·of·Ahasuerus" (בֶּן־אֲחַשְׁוֵר֖וֹשׁ, 9 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "son·of·Ahasuerus" (בֶּן־אֲחַשְׁוֵר֖וֹשׁ), "from·seed·of" (מִזֶּ֣רַע). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "was·made·king" (root מלך, 187x in Daniel); "over" (root על, 64x in Daniel); "that" (root אשר, 40x in Daniel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Medes', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 5 words. Full calculation: בִּשְׁנַ֣ת [in·year·of] (752) + אַחַ֗ת [one] (409) + לְדָרְיָ֛וֶשׁ [of·Darius] (550) + בֶּן־אֲחַשְׁוֵר֖וֹשׁ [son·of·Ahasuerus] (873) + מִזֶּ֣רַע [from·seed·of] (317) + מָדָ֑י [Medes] (54) + אֲשֶׁ֣ר [that] (501) + הׇמְלַ֔ךְ [was·made·king] (95) + עַ֖ל [over] (100) + מַלְכ֥וּת [kingdom·of] (496) + כַּשְׂדִּֽים [Chaldeans] (374) = 4521.
Rashi
In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus This is not the Ahasuerus of the days of Haman, for he was the king of Persia, whereas this one was Darius the Mede who was crowned over the kingdom of the Chaldeans when Belshazzar was slain, as is written above (6:1): “And Darius the Mede took (sic) the kingdom.”
Ibn Ezra
In the first year — I have already explained this: that this [Darius] is not the Darius son of Ahasuerus who is the son of Queen Esther.
Metzudat David
Darius the son of Ahasuerus – This is not the Ahasuerus who lived in the days of Haman, for his son was called Darius the Persian; rather, this is Darius the Mede, who took the kingship after the death of Belshazzar, as stated above: ‘and Darius the Mede received the kingdom’ (Daniel 6:1).
Malbim
Of the seed of the Medes — to distinguish him from the later Darius, who was also a son of Ahasuerus, it states that he was of the seed of the Medes, and that this is the first Darius, who seized the kingdom of the Chaldeans from the hand of Belshazzar. The questions: (2) Regarding what is said, ‘I meditated in the books’ — which the commentators explain refers to the prophecy of Jeremiah — why does it say “books,” when it is a single book? And how can it say “for the fulfillment of the desolations of Jerusalem,” when this is not what is stated in Jeremiah’s prophecy — there it is written, “when Babylon’s seventy years are fulfilled” — and there is a great difference between the two expressions, as will be explained?
Ibn Yahya
This section reads: In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, etc. – This Darius is not the Darius son of that Ahasuerus who took Esther. For that other one reigned over all the nations once he inherited the entire kingdom from his father Ahasuerus — called Artaxerxes — who ruled from Hodu (India) to Cush (Ethiopia), which he in turn had inherited from Cyrus king of Persia; and Cyrus had inherited it from this Darius [of our verse], who was his father-in-law and a lowly king, and only in his old age was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans — that is, the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled over the whole earth.
in the first year of his reign I Daniel meditated in the books, over the number of the years, concerning which the word of Hashem came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish for the desolations of Jerusalem seventy years.
verse value 6725
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 91 letters. The shortest word is "one" (אַחַת֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·word·of·Hashem" (דְבַר־יְהֹוָה֙, 7 letters). 11 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "of·his·reign" (לְמׇלְכ֔וֹ), "meditated" (בִּינֹ֖תִי), "in·the·books" (בַּסְּפָרִ֑ים). The root שנה appears 3 times in this verse. 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "of·his·reign" (root מלך, 187x in Daniel); "Daniel" (root דניאל, 75x in Daniel); "that" (root אשר, 40x in Daniel). First appearance of the root יהוה ("the·word·of·Hashem") in Daniel. First appearance of the root נביא ("the·prophet") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·the·books', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 12 words.
Rashi
Contemplated the calculations Heb. בִּינֹתִי בַּסְפָרִים. the number of the years, etc. I contemplated the calculation of the years, for I thought about what Jeremiah (29:10) prophesied: “For at the completion of seventy years of Babylon I will remember you,” and I thought that this remembrance is the building of the Temple, and that the seventy years end in the first year of Darius the Mede, since the kingdom of Babylon stretched forth a hand upon Israel, when Nebuchadnezzar vanquished Jehoiakim to be his slave. Now that was in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, as the master said (Meg. 11b): “In the first year he conquered Nineveh; in the second year he went up and vanquished Jehoiakim.” Figure from that year until now, and you will find them [the 70 years]. This calculation is found also in the Mishnah of Seder Olam (ch. 28), and we learned there that in the year of Belshazzar’s death were 70 years from the day that Nebuchadnezzar ascended the throne: seventy minus one since the day that he conquered Jehoiakim, and yet one more year for Babylon, which Darius completed. And when I [Daniel] saw that the redemption was not hastening to come, I contemplated and put my heart to the calculation, and I knew that I should not have counted according to the conquest of Jehoiakim but [according] to the destruction of Jerusalem, when 70 years will be complete from the exile of Zedekiah, when Jerusalem was destroyed. And there are yet 18 years to come, for this exile was in the eighteenth year counting from the conquest of Jehoiakim, as we learned in Seder Olam: “They were exiled in the seventh year; they were exiled in the eighth year; they were exiled in the eighteenth year; they were exiled in the nineteenth year.” Our Sages in Tractate Megillah (11b) explained that they were exiled in the exile of Jeconiah in the seventh year, counting from the conquest of Jehoiakim, which is the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. They were exiled a second time in the eighteenth year, counting from the conquest of Jehoiakim, which is the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign.
Ibn Ezra
In the first year — all the Geonim, with one voice, agreed with the view of the ancients, who said that Daniel erred in his calculation, since Jerusalem was destroyed only when Zedekiah was captured, and that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar['s reign]; for Jeremiah the prophet said, ‘when seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will remember you’ [Jeremiah 29:10]. And so it happened: when Belshazzar was slain and Cyrus became king, he then decreed, and Israel went up from Babylon to Jerusalem, and this was [the fulfillment of] that ‘remembering.’ Now, nineteen years remained [to be counted] from the destruction of Jerusalem, [spanned by] the reign of Cyrus the Persian; and when you add the reign of Darius the Mede the elder, and also the reign of Ahasuerus, and two years of the reign of Darius the Persian — who was the son of Esther — then the seventy years from the destruction of Jerusalem were completed. And they said that Daniel began counting ‘the destruction’ from the time Nebuchadnezzar led Jehoiakim away to Babylon, after which he reigned eight more years. Others say [Daniel counted] from the first year of Zedekiah, and thus the seventy years were completed from the destruction of Jerusalem. Now, Yehuda Halevi used to say: one must wonder how Daniel, who was a prophet and a sage, could have erred by nineteen years out of seventy?! And he said: rather, the reckoning of the seventy years for the kingdom of Babylon [runs] from when Jerusalem was destroyed — and that is when the ‘remembering’ was — not as the Geonim said. And the proof is that it is written in Chronicles: ‘and they became servants to him and to his sons, until the kingdom of Persia came to reign’ — Cyrus the Persian being the first of these kings — and it is written there: ‘to fulfill the word of Hashem by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had made up for her sabbaths; all the days that she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfill seventy years’ [2 Chronicles 36:20-21]. And I said to him: if the count is from the destruction of Jerusalem, what reason did Scripture have to record ‘in the eighth year of his reign,’ which is [elsewhere called] ‘the nineteenth year’? And he answered: you tell me the reason for the reckoning of ‘and it came to pass at the end of forty years’?! And I said to him: we know that the prophet [Isaiah] said of Cyrus, ‘he shall build My city, and he shall let My exiles go free’ [Isaiah 45:13], but he did not prophesy that he would build the [Temple] House. And indeed [Cyrus] sent forth the exiles, and they began to build the House and to lay its foundation, but the adversaries of Judah stopped them from building it. And it is written: ‘if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed’ [Ezra 4:13]; and it is written there: ‘to make these men cease, so that this city not be rebuilt’ [Ezra 4:21] — and they stopped them by force and power. Now this verse [in Chronicles] has already explained itself: ‘to fulfill the word of Hashem by the mouth of Jeremiah,’ who had said, ‘for when seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will remember you, and I will fulfill for you My good word, to bring you back to this place’ — and so the meaning is that they returned to Jerusalem, yet it remained in ruins until the land had made up for her sabbaths. And he said to me: who has gotten you into this predicament? Then I answered: but is it not written in the Book of Ezra, ‘and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia’ [Ezra 4:24], ‘and Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah son of Iddo, prophesied’ [Ezra 5:1] — then Zerubbabel and Joshua arose to build; and it is written, ‘and with them were the prophets of God, helping them’ [Ezra 5:2], and it is written there, ‘at that time [the governor] came against them,’ and so on [Ezra 5:3] — and he wrote a letter to Darius the king, and he [Darius] commanded that this House of God be built, and they built it and completed it by the decree of the God of Israel, and by the decree of Cyrus, and Darius the Mede, and Artaxerxes — that is, Ahasuerus, for he too commanded it, being just as resolved as Cyrus had been. And Rabbi Yehuda replied: what good does all this do you?! Then I answered him: behold, you yourself admit that Zechariah prophesied in the second year of Darius the Persian — the one they say is the son of Esther, as is written in his book — and behold, it is written there: ‘how long will You not have compassion on Jerusalem... against which You have held indignation these seventy years?’ [Zechariah 1:12]. Then he fell silent.
Metzudat David
In the first year – Since the wording had grown lengthy in the preceding verse, Scripture repeats ‘in the first year’ again; such is the way of Scripture. I Daniel meditated in the books – For at first he had erred in the calculation of the seventy years that Jeremiah spoke of, ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you,’ etc. (Jeremiah 29:10); and he reckoned that the building of the Temple and the complete redemption would likewise occur at the end of seventy years from the spread of Babylon's dominion over Israel, counting from when Nebuchadnezzar first conquered Jehoiakim. But through the words of the angel stated at the end of the passage, he was given additional understanding in the reckoning, and he came to realize that the number of years concerning which the word of Hashem came to Jeremiah — that the Temple would be built a second time and complete redemption would then occur — would be at the time when seventy years were completed for the ruins of Jerusalem, that is, counting from the exile of Zedekiah. And just as the beginning of the visitation, when they would return to the land, would occur at the end of seventy years from the beginning of Babylon's dominion spreading over Israel, so too the end of the redemption and the building of the Temple would occur at the end of seventy years from the utter destruction of the Temple and the city.
Metzudat Zion
In the books — [the word 'sefarim'] is related to the language of number and reckoning ('mispar').
Malbim
I meditated in the books — for in Jeremiah [ch. 25] it says that they would serve the king of Babylon seventy years, and that afterward, ‘I will punish the king of Babylon’ — and that prophecy had already been fulfilled by then. And it is further stated [ibid., ch. 29] that ‘when seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will remember you, to bring you back to that place’ — and that prophecy had not yet been fulfilled. Concerning this he studied the books, and he found in one book that, regarding the number of years about which the word of Hashem came to Jeremiah, it was written [not as it appears in the book of Jeremiah that we possess, ‘when Babylon’s seventy years are fulfilled, I will remember you,’ but rather it was written there]: ‘for the fulfillment of the desolations of Jerusalem, I will remember you after seventy years’ — a different version, and that book too was attributed to Jeremiah. There is a difference between the two versions: according to what is written in the book of Jeremiah that we have, the time of the reckoning is counted from when Nebuchadnezzar became king, so that the seventy years came to their end in the year of Belshazzar’s death, as Rashi explains here, following the Seder Olam; but according to the version of the book that Daniel found, which speaks of the desolations of Jerusalem — an event that took place in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year — the time of the reckoning would fall eighteen years later than that. In truth, this version too had been transmitted from Jeremiah, and there is no contradiction between them: the second reckoning refers to the building of the Temple, which did not take place until eighteen years after the first. Daniel reasoned that the first prophecy was contingent on their own deeds — on whether they would be worthy — while the second prophecy was fixed to a set time, as our Sages said: if they are worthy, He will hasten it; if they are not worthy, it will come in its due time. He therefore turned his face to prayer, so as to hasten the time through merit and prayer. And Abarbanel explains that since Daniel had been shown in the previous vision that the exile would last two thousand three hundred years, he thought that Hashem had retracted the good promise He had made through Jeremiah, on account of the wickedness and transgressions of the people, as it is written, “the host was given over together with the continual burnt-offering through transgression” (Daniel 8:12); he therefore prayed and confessed, so as to turn back the wrath and reverse the decree.
Ibn Yahya
In the first year, etc. – He explains that the 'first year' of Darius during which this event befell him is not the first year of his reign over the small kingdom he inherited from his father, but rather the first year of his reign once he was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, which is the kingdom of the entire world. That is why Scripture writes 'in the first year' twice. 'I Daniel meditated in the books' means that I sought to grasp one thing from another, so as to know the number of years concerning which the word of Hashem came to Jeremiah — that after seventy years had passed, He had sworn to bring an end to the desolations of Jerusalem. And it was necessary to determine when these seventy years begin: from the [start of the] kingdom of the Chaldeans, or from the time of the exile.
And I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.
verse value 3538
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 49 letters. The shortest word is "and·sackcloth" (וְשַׂ֥ק, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·supplications" (וְתַחֲנוּנִ֑ים, 8 letters). 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "and·I·set" (וָאֶתְּנָ֣ה), "to·Lord" (אֶל־אֲדֹנָי֙), "to·seek" (לְבַקֵּ֥שׁ). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·I·set" (root נתן, 21x in Daniel); "God" (root אלהים, 20x in Daniel). First appearance of the root תפלה ("prayer") in Daniel. First appearance of the root תחנון ("and·supplications") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·supplications', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 3 words. Full calculation: וָאֶתְּנָ֣ה [and·I·set] (462) + אֶת־פָּנַ֗י [my·face] (541) + אֶל־אֲדֹנָי֙ [to·Lord] (96) + הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים [God] (91) + לְבַקֵּ֥שׁ [to·seek] (432) + תְּפִלָּ֖ה [prayer] (515) + וְתַחֲנוּנִ֑ים [and·supplications] (570) + בְּצ֖וֹם [with·fasting] (138) + וְשַׂ֥ק [and·sackcloth] (406) + וָאֵֽפֶר [and·ashes] (287) = 3538.
Ibn Ezra
And I set my face — [turned] toward the southwest. And the meaning of ‘God’ — that He alone is truly God. And the meaning of ‘to seek ... by prayer’ — [I resolved it] in my heart, and so I prayed.
Metzudat David
And I set my face – That is, before I had meditated in the books, I had still reckoned that the building of the Temple and complete redemption would likewise occur at the end of seventy years from Babylon's dominion spreading over Israel, counting from when Nebuchadnezzar first conquered Jehoiakim — and that was in fact in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign; and he reigned forty-five years, so forty-four years of his reign remained, plus the twenty-three years of his son Evil-merodach — except that one year was counted twice, credited to both his reign and his father's, since it fell in the transition between them; that makes sixty-six years; plus the three years of his son Belshazzar, that makes seventy years less one. So in the first year of Darius, seventy years were completed. And when I saw that the complete redemption was not on the verge of coming, I set my face toward the Omnipresent to pray about the matter, reckoning that on account of sin the appointed time had been delayed. And sackcloth and ashes – By clothing myself in sackcloth and rolling in ashes, as an expression of grief and self-abasement.
Malbim
The questions: (3) Why does it repeat itself — first, “and I set my face…to seek by prayer,” and then, “and I prayed…and said”? And I set my face — since he wished to pray on behalf of the community, he first had to prepare himself, so as to be worthy that his prayer on behalf of all Israel be accepted. He therefore first prepared himself for prayer, and this took place in two ways. First, through supplications, in that he asked Hashem to grant him the right words to speak — just as prayer leaders do, whose very first request is this, as it is said, “O Lord, open my lips…” (Psalms 51:17). This is the meaning of, ‘and I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications’ — that is, to seek from Him the words and language with which to speak the prayer and supplications. He also prepared himself through further preparations — with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Ibn Yahya
And I set my face to the Lord God, etc. – Hashem is my Master specifically, even though His divinity extends over the whole earth. I sought from Him this knowledge through prayer and supplication, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes, so as to know whether the delay was because the time had not yet arrived, or whether, even though the time had arrived, sin was perhaps the cause — in which case the matter could be remedied through prayer, repentance, and good deeds.
And I prayed to Hashem my God, and made confession, and said: ‘O Lord, the great and awful God, who keep covenant and mercy with those who love You and keep Your commandments,
verse value 4229
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 79 letters. Notable word values: "God" (הָאֵ֤ל) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "O" (אָנָּ֤א, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·I·prayed" (וָֽאֶתְפַּֽלְלָ֛ה, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 552: and·I·prayed, His·commandments. 12 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "and·I·prayed" (וָֽאֶתְפַּֽלְלָ֛ה), "to·Hashem" (לַיהֹוָ֥ה), "and·I·confessed" (וָאֶתְוַדֶּ֑ה). The root שמר appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·I·said" (root אמר, 88x in Daniel); "my·God" (root אלהים, 20x in Daniel). First appearance of the root ברית ("the·covenant") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·I·confessed', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 12 words.
Rashi
and I confessed the sins of my people. O great and awesome God but he did not say, “mighty.” He said [to himself], “Heathens are enslaving His children, so where are His mighty deeds?”
Ibn Ezra
And I prayed ... O Hashem — [the word “ana” functions] like [an interjection such as] ‘indeed’ [i.e., an entreaty], and comparable to it: ‘Please, Hashem, for I am Your servant’ (Psalms 116:16), and ‘Please, this people has sinned a great sin’ (Exodus 32:31). And the Nagid, of blessed memory, said that it is actually two words — al na — from the root of hoel (‘to consent’), with the lamed absorbed, like the lamed that is absorbed in yukach (‘it shall be taken’). But this is unnecessary.
Metzudat David
And made confession – Concerning [our] sins. Covenant – The reward that He promised in the covenant.
Metzudat Zion
O [Lord] — a term of entreaty [i.e., 'I beseech You'].
Malbim
And I prayed — after that I prayed on my own behalf; ‘and made confession of my iniquity’ — for all this is among the requirements for a prayer leader, that he first render himself meritorious. And after these preparations he began to pray on behalf of the community, and said: ‘O Lord, the great and awful God’ — so that it should not be thought that he doubted Hashem’s ability to redeem them at the appointed time, or that he doubted His promises and His good will. Therefore, regarding [His] ability, he says, ‘I know that You are the great and awful [God]’ — for the name “great” indicates that He is the first cause of all things that are caused, and their final end, while the name “awful” indicates His individual providence and His power over every single thing, as is stated elsewhere. And regarding [His] will and His faithfulness to His promise, he says, ‘I know that You keep covenant and mercy, and do not change Your promise’ — but this holds true only for those who love Him and keep His commandments; it is only to them that He keeps His covenant and mercy — not so are we, who…
Ibn Yahya
And I prayed to Hashem my God, etc. – Meaning, I prayed to Hashem my God that He shorten the appointed end and accomplish [the term of] the desolations of Jerusalem, after I had confessed on behalf of my people Israel, saying, 'O Lord, the great and awful God.' Now the title 'mighty' is missing from His crown, blessed be He, here — for one might say the nations subjugate His children, so where is His might? Therefore he says only 'great and awful,' and does not mention the title 'mighty.' 'Who keeps the covenant for those who keep His commandments' — for He gives them reward for the commandments they perform; and 'keeps mercy for those who love Him' — for those who love Hashem direct all their deeds toward Heaven, so that even their bodily acts are counted as commandments, and therefore Hashem treats them with the attribute of mercy, which goes beyond the strict letter of the law.
we have sinned, and have dealt iniquitously, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, and have turned aside from Your commandments and from Your ordinances;
verse value 3169
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 48 letters. The shortest word is "and·have·turned·aside" (וְס֥וֹר, 4 letters) and the longest is "and·from·Your·ordinances" (וּמִמִּשְׁפָּטֶֽיךָ, 8 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "and·we·have·dealt·iniquitously" (וְעָוִ֖ינוּ), "we·have·done·wickedly" (הִרְשַׁ֣עְנוּ), "and·we·have·rebelled" (וּמָרָ֑דְנוּ). 7 unique roots are used. First appearance of the root רשע ("we·have·done·wickedly") in Daniel. First appearance of the root סור ("and·have·turned·aside") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·we·have·rebelled', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 3 words. 5 of the verse's 8 words begin with the letter ו.
Rashi
turning away We were constantly turning away from Your commandments, tolant in Old French, turning away.
Ibn Ezra
And have turned aside — this is an infinitive form, like ‘remember’ in ‘Remember the Sabbath day’ (Exodus 20:8). And the meaning of ‘turned aside’ — [it means] ‘we have turned aside.’
Metzudat David
And have turned aside – And we keep going and turning aside from Your commandments.
Malbim
WE have sinned — It may be that our sins would cause His good promises not to come about. And corresponding to the sins against the commandments between man and God, he says, “we have sinned, and have dealt iniquitously” — sin (chet) comes from the side of desire, while iniquity (avon) comes from the side of a corrupted intellect and heresy. And corresponding to the sins against the commandments between man and his fellow, he says, “and have done wickedly” — for “wickedness” mostly refers to what is between man and his fellow. And we did not do this like one who transgresses merely out of desire, but rather “we have rebelled,” in rebellion and treachery. And he goes on to explain: corresponding to “we have sinned, and have dealt iniquitously” he says, “and have turned aside from Your commandments” — these being the commandments between man and God; and corresponding to “have done wickedly” he says, “and from Your ordinances” — for the ordinances are between man and his fellow; and corresponding to “we have rebelled” he says...
Ibn Yahya
'We have sinned' — in deed, as it says, 'nor stood in the way of sinners.' 'We have dealt iniquitously' — in speech, as it says, 'nor sat in the seat of the scornful.' 'And we have done wickedly' — in thought, as it says, 'who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked.' 'And we have rebelled' — for we did all three of these deliberately. 'And turned aside from Your commandments and from Your ordinances' — for we transgressed, and we deliberately aimed, in order to anger You, to turn aside from Your commandments.
neither have we hearkened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
verse value 3554
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 64 letters. The shortest word is "and·not" (וְלֹ֤א, 3 letters) and the longest is "to·our·kings" (אֶל־מְלָכֵ֥ינוּ, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 37: and·not, and·to. 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "to·Your·servants" (אֶל־עֲבָדֶ֣יךָ), "spoke" (דִּבְּרוּ֙), "in·Your·name" (בְּשִׁמְךָ֔). 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·our·kings" (root מלך, 187x in Daniel); "and·not" (root לא, 74x in Daniel); "all·people·of" (root כל, 41x in Daniel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·our·fathers', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְלֹ֤א [and·not] (37) + שָׁמַ֙עְנוּ֙ [we·have·hearkened] (466) + אֶל־עֲבָדֶ֣יךָ [to·Your·servants] (137) + הַנְּבִיאִ֔ים [the·prophets] (118) + אֲשֶׁ֤ר [that] (501) + דִּבְּרוּ֙ [spoke] (212) + בְּשִׁמְךָ֔ [in·Your·name] (362) + אֶל־מְלָכֵ֥ינוּ [to·our·kings] (187) + שָׂרֵ֖ינוּ [our·princes] (566) + וַאֲבֹתֵ֑ינוּ [and·our·fathers] (475) + וְאֶ֖ל [and·to] (37) + כׇּל־עַ֥ם [all·people·of] (160) + הָאָֽרֶץ [the·land] (296) = 3554.
Ibn Ezra
Our princes, and our fathers — [these were] the elders [of the people]; and just as it was mentioned that the princes and the fathers had sinned, so too it later mentions that they, too, have shame of face.
Metzudat David
And to all the people of the land – Who have perished and come to an end, with none of their descendants remaining.
Malbim
Neither have we hearkened to Your servants the prophets — and this itself is a rebellion, since the prophets spoke in Your name, and their words reached the people as a whole — whether our kings and princes, or our fathers in earlier generations, or the whole people of the land — inasmuch as they were sent in every generation, to every stratum of the people, great and small alike. And since they were sent, speaking in Your name, and we did not listen, this is like rebelling against a king to his very face, for his messenger is like himself.
Ibn Yahya
And all this we did after many warnings from Your prophets, for we did not hearken to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to all of us — both to the great, namely our kings, our princes, and our fathers, who are the elders of the people, and to the lowly, for they warned and spoke also to the common people of the land.
To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us confusion of face, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, through all the countries where You have driven them, because they dealt treacherously with You.
verse value 6962
Insights
Verse structure: 22 words, 106 letters. The shortest word is "to·You" (לְךָ֤, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·to·all·Israel" (וּֽלְכׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֞ל, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 501: that, that. 10 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "the·righteousness" (הַצְּדָקָ֔ה), "and·to·us" (וְלָ֛נוּ), "and·to·inhabitants·of" (וּלְיֹשְׁבֵ֣י). The root אשר appears 2 times in this verse. 20 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·to·all·Israel" (root כל, 41x in Daniel); "that" (root אשר, 40x in Daniel); "as·the·day" (root יום, 33x in Daniel). First appearance of the root איש ("to·man·of") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'this', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 14 words.
Rashi
To you, O Lord, is the righteousness i.e., Your judgments and retributions that You have brought upon us—justice and righteousness are with You. and to us is the shamefacedness We should be ashamed for what has happened to us, for we caused it for ourselves. as of this day as we see today.
Metzudat David
To You – With You lies the righteousness, in that a remnant of us still remains. But to us confusion of face – The fact that we are in exile, ashamed and disgraced, as we are today — the shame is accounted to us, and not to the Omnipresent, blessed be He, for His hand is not too short to redeem; rather, it is our iniquity that causes it. To the men of Judah, etc. – To all of them the shame is accounted. Who are near – Who were not exiled to distant places. Because they dealt treacherously – On account of their treachery.
Metzudat Zion
They dealt treacherously — a term denoting sin and transgression.
Malbim
The questions: (7–9) Why is “to us belongs confusion of face” repeated, with the wording doubled throughout? And how can this obligate compassion and forgiveness — “for we have rebelled against You” — when that ought rather to obligate that He not forgive and not have compassion? To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness — he says: behold, with respect to the punishment that came upon us, righteousness belongs to You, Hashem; the punishment was just. “But to us belongs confusion of face” in all the lands — in all the lands to which we were driven in exile — for since the inhabitants of those lands knew that the exile came about through the treachery with which we betrayed You, we had confusion of face before the inhabitants of those lands on account of the punishment. And this applied both to the men of Judah, who were exiled in the days of Jehoiachin, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were exiled in the days of Zedekiah, and to all Israel — that is, the ten tribes, who were exiled in the days of Sennacherib — both those who are near and those who are far: both those exiled to a nearby place, namely Judah and Jerusalem, and the ten tribes exiled far away — all of them had shame before the nations on account of their punishment. But...
Ibn Yahya
That is why 'to You, O Lord, belongs righteousness' — for You judged Your people Israel righteously, with great judgments. 'But to us, the lowly ones' — the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, etc. — 'throughout all the lands to which You have driven them, belongs confusion of face,' because of the treachery with which we betrayed You. And understand that Daniel, out of his humility, counted himself among the lowly of Israel, and therefore spoke of himself in the first person, 'to us.' But when he went on to explain the cause of the confusion of face — namely, the treachery — he switched to the third person, in order to exclude himself from the group, for he himself had not been treacherous, and had he included himself it would have implicated him in the sin of the generation. This is why it says, 'because of their treachery, with which they dealt treacherously with You,' in the third person.
O Hashem, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against You.
verse value 2911
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 46 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֗ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "against·You" (לָֽךְ, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·to·our·fathers" (וְלַאֲבֹתֵ֑ינוּ, 8 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "to·us" (לָ֚נוּ), "to·our·kings" (לִמְלָכֵ֥ינוּ), "to·our·princes" (לְשָׂרֵ֖ינוּ). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·our·kings" (root מלך, 187x in Daniel); "that" (root אשר, 40x in Daniel); "the·face" (root פנים, 31x in Daniel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·to·our·fathers', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 3 words. Full calculation: יְהֹוָ֗ה [Hashem] (26) + לָ֚נוּ [to·us] (86) + בֹּ֣שֶׁת [confusion·of] (702) + הַפָּנִ֔ים [the·face] (185) + לִמְלָכֵ֥ינוּ [to·our·kings] (186) + לְשָׂרֵ֖ינוּ [to·our·princes] (596) + וְלַאֲבֹתֵ֑ינוּ [and·to·our·fathers] (505) + אֲשֶׁ֥ר [that] (501) + חָטָ֖אנוּ [we·have·sinned] (74) + לָֽךְ [against·You] (50) = 2911.
Metzudat David
Because we have sinned – Because we sinned, for this caused the exile, which brings us shame.
Malbim
O Hashem, to us belongs confusion of face... because we have sinned against You — we ourselves are ashamed not on account of the punishment, but on account of the sin; this is the essential shame that is ours — that we sinned against Hashem. And this shame extends also to our kings and our princes, who likewise sinned, and even to our fathers — even though the punishment did not reach them, they too should feel shame over their sin against Hashem.
Ibn Yahya
'And to us,' the great ones — our kings, our princes, and our fathers — 'belongs confusion of face,' because we sinned against You.
To the Lord our God belong compassions and forgivenesses; for we have rebelled against Him;
verse value 1353
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 33 letters. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·the·forgivenesses" (וְהַסְּלִח֑וֹת, 7 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "to·Lord" (לַֽאדֹנָ֣י), "the·compassions" (הָרַחֲמִ֖ים), "and·the·forgivenesses" (וְהַסְּלִח֑וֹת). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "our·God" (root אלהים, 20x in Daniel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·the·forgivenesses', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 3 words. Full calculation: לַֽאדֹנָ֣י [to·Lord] (95) + אֱלֹהֵ֔ינוּ [our·God] (102) + הָרַחֲמִ֖ים [the·compassions] (303) + וְהַסְּלִח֑וֹת [and·the·forgivenesses] (515) + כִּ֥י [for] (30) + מָרַ֖דְנוּ [we·have·rebelled] (300) + בּֽוֹ [against·Him] (8) = 1353.
Rashi
To the Lord our God are the mercies that we did not perish for our iniquities, for we rebelled against Him.
Metzudat David
To the Lord our God, etc. – That is, they [compassion and forgiveness] are in His hand. For we have rebelled – Since we rebelled against Him, compassion and forgiveness must be in His hand, for without them we could not endure.
Malbim
To the Lord our God belong compassions and forgivenesses — now he says that the compassion and forgiveness we seek are not such that we are worthy of them in a way that would make them attributable to us; rather, they belong to Hashem alone, for we have rebelled against Him. For one who sins unwittingly and is punished deserves compassion, since he has been punished beyond what strict justice requires, and likewise his sin, having been unwitting, deserves forgiveness — as it is written, “and it shall be forgiven to the whole congregation of the children of Israel... for it happened to the whole people through error” (Numbers 15:26). In such a case the compassion and forgiveness come on account of the one who was punished. But we rebelled in [willful] rebellion and treachery, and we are not worthy of compassion and forgiveness; and whatever compassion and forgiveness He grants us is not for our own sake, but for the sake of the honor of His name, and for the sake of Hashem our God — not for our sake.
Ibn Yahya
To the Lord our God belong compassions, etc. – For were it not for the mercies that Hashem extended toward Israel, His wrath would already have consumed them all, since we rebelled against Him and committed our iniquities deliberately, for mere unwitting errors would not have made them liable to utter destruction.
neither have we hearkened to the voice of Hashem our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.
verse value 3726
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 60 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. Verse gematria: 3726 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "and·not" (וְלֹ֣א, 3 letters) and the longest is "in·His·laws" (בְּתֽוֹרֹתָיו֙, 7 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "in·voice·of" (בְּק֖וֹל), "to·walk" (לָלֶ֤כֶת), "in·His·laws" (בְּתֽוֹרֹתָיו֙). 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·not" (root לא, 74x in Daniel); "that" (root אשר, 40x in Daniel); "His·servants" (root עבד, 40x in Daniel). First appearance of the root תורה ("in·His·laws") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'our·God', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 8 words. Full calculation: וְלֹ֣א [and·not] (37) + שָׁמַ֔עְנוּ [we·have·hearkened] (466) + בְּק֖וֹל [in·voice·of] (138) + יְהֹוָ֣ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ [our·God] (102) + לָלֶ֤כֶת [to·walk] (480) + בְּתֽוֹרֹתָיו֙ [in·His·laws] (1024) + אֲשֶׁ֣ר [that] (501) + נָתַ֣ן [He·gave] (500) + לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ [before·us] (226) + בְּיַ֖ד [in·hand·of] (16) + עֲבָדָ֥יו [His·servants] (92) + הַנְּבִיאִֽים [the·prophets] (118) = 3726.
Malbim
Neither — and this too: even afterward, when He sent prophets to warn us to return to the good way, “we did not hearken to the voice of Hashem...” by the hand of His servants the prophets.
Ibn Yahya
Because we did not hearken to the voice of Hashem, who warned us through the prophets to walk in His laws.
Indeed, all Israel have transgressed Your law, and have turned aside, so as not to hearken to Your voice; and so there has been poured out upon us the curse and the oath that is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God; for we have sinned against Him.
verse value 7629
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 89 letters. Notable word values: "against·Him" (לֽוֹ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·servant·of·God" (עֶֽבֶד־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים, 9 letters). 10 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "and·all·Israel" (וְכׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל), "have·transgressed" (עָֽבְרוּ֙), "Your·law" (אֶת־תּ֣וֹרָתֶ֔ךָ). The root תורה appears 2 times in this verse. 18 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "upon·us" (root על, 64x in Daniel); "the·curse" (root אלה, 57x in Daniel); "and·all·Israel" (root כל, 41x in Daniel). First appearance of the root עבר ("have·transgressed") in Daniel. First appearance of the root לו ("against·Him") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·Your·voice', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 12 words.
Rashi
have befallen us Heb. וַתִּתַּךְ, and You caused to reach us, like (Exod. 9:33): לֹא נִתַּךְ אָרְצָה, and Onkelos rendered: did not reach the earth. the curse and the oath the curses of the Covenant with which You adjured us at Horeb (Lev 26:14): “And if you do not listen etc.”; all the curses written there.
Ibn Ezra
And there has been poured out — like [the phrase] ‘you shall be melted within it’ (Ezekiel 22:22), used figuratively. For we have sinned against Him — [the word] ‘Him’ refers back to the word ‘God’ [used earlier in the verse].
Metzudat David
And have turned aside – They kept on turning aside [from Your voice]. And so there has been poured out – Upon us has been poured the curse, [namely] the punishment for violating the oath that we swore when we accepted the Torah. For we have sinned against Him – Because we sinned against Him.
Metzudat Zion
There has been poured out — a term denoting pouring and emptying, as in 'and the rain was not poured out upon the earth' (Exodus 9). The oath — [meaning] the curse.
Malbim
The questions: (11–13) Why is it repeated — “the curse and the oath that is written in the Law of Moses”... “as it is written in the Law of...” — with the entire matter doubled unnecessarily? Indeed, all [Israel have transgressed Your law] — and not individuals alone, for this was done by all of Israel: both in the rebellion — in that all of them transgressed Your law — and in that they did not hearken to the voice of the prophets, which is why it says, “and have turned aside, so as not to hearken to Your voice.” “and so there has been poured out” — he goes on to explain how utterly heretical they had become. For behold, the rebuke is doubled: once in Leviticus and once in Deuteronomy, and the curses in Deuteronomy are double the curses in Leviticus. I have already explained elsewhere that the curses in Leviticus were stated with regard to the future — “and if you shall reject My statutes” (Leviticus 26:15), “and if after these things you will not hearken to Me” (Leviticus 26:18), “and if for all this you will not hearken to Me” (Leviticus 26:27) — that is, He brings the rebuke upon them in order to bring them back in repentance, delivering the blows one at a time, as it says, “then I will chastise you yet more” (Leviticus 26:18), “I too will do this to you” (Leviticus 26:16). Whereas the curses in Deuteronomy come to punish for the past: after He had already brought upon them the curses of Leviticus one by one, and they stiffened their necks and refused to repent, He then brings the rebuke of Deuteronomy, all of which comes at once, to purge the sin of the past — “to put an end to transgression, and to bring sin to a close” (cf. Daniel 9:24). It is thus clear that whenever Hashem brings the second rebuke, the one in Deuteronomy, this is evidence that the people had stiffened their necks and refused to hearken to all the rebukes He had brought upon them one by one, as written in Leviticus — for they had become utterly heretical and attributed everything to chance, as it says, “and if you walk with Me happenstance” (Leviticus 26:21). And this is the meaning of, “and so there has been poured out upon us the curse and the oath that is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God” — these are the curses of Deuteronomy, which came by way of a curse and an oath [as it says, “Cursed be the man...” (Deuteronomy 27:15), and it is said, “that you should enter into the covenant of Hashem your God, and into His oath” (Deuteronomy 29:12) — whereas the curses of Leviticus did not come by way of a curse and an oath]. And these curses were spoken by Moses in his capacity as “the servant of God,” meaning that he stated them on his own authority (and this is why it says “has been poured out upon us” — indicating that they all came at once, like something poured out in a single pouring) — “for we have sinned against Him,” for these curses came on account of the sin of the past.
Ibn Yahya
Because all Israel deliberately and intentionally transgressed Your Torah, in order to anger You, and turned aside from hearkening to Your voice. And even though Israel was not utterly destroyed, still, because we sinned, the curse and the oath written in the portion of Ki Tavo, in the Torah of Moses, was poured out upon us.
And He has confirmed His word, which He spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil; so that under the whole heaven has not been done as has been done upon Jerusalem.
verse value 8452
Insights
Verse structure: 20 words, 97 letters. The shortest word is "and·against" (וְעַ֤ל, 3 letters) and the longest is "not·has·been·done" (לֹֽא־נֶעֶשְׂתָ֗ה, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 501: that, that. 9 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "and·He·confirmed" (וַיָּ֜קֶם), "His·word" (אֶת־דְּבָר֣וֹ), "that·He·spoke" (אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֣ר). The root דבר appears 3 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "upon·us" (root על, 64x in Daniel); "to·bring" (root בוא, 42x in Daniel); "His·word" (root דבר, 40x in Daniel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'great', dividing the verse into phrases of 13 and 7 words.
Rashi
as was done in Jerusalem the sword, slaying, the burning of the city; and they humbled women and put captives into neck irons.
Malbim
And He has confirmed His word — this means that He fulfilled the word that He had spoken against us and against our judges who judged us — namely, the curse written in Deuteronomy: “Hashem will bring you, and your king whom you shall set over you...” (Deuteronomy 28:36). And this word was spoken against us in particular in the days of Josiah, when they found the Torah scroll rolled open to this very verse, and Hashem declared, through Huldah the prophetess, that He would bring this evil upon us.
Ibn Yahya
And He has fulfilled His word, which He spoke there against us and against our judges who ruled us and led us astray, by bringing upon us a great calamity as punishment for our transgressions — such that no evil like it has been done anywhere under the whole heaven, as was done in Jerusalem.
As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of Hashem our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in Your truth.
verse value 5854
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 81 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "Moses" (מֹשֶׁ֔ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·not·we·have·entreated" (וְלֹֽא־חִלִּ֜ינוּ, 8 letters). 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "all·the·evil" (כׇּל־הָרָעָ֥ה), "has·come" (בָּ֣אָה), "and·not·we·have·entreated" (וְלֹֽא־חִלִּ֜ינוּ). 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "upon·us" (root על, 64x in Daniel); "has·come" (root בוא, 42x in Daniel); "all·the·evil" (root כל, 41x in Daniel). First appearance of the root שוב ("to·turn") in Daniel. First appearance of the root עון ("from·our·iniquities") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'upon·us', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 8 words.
Rashi
As is written in the Law of Moses a hint that He warned us that if we transgress the oath, all this evil will befall us.
Metzudat David
As it is written, etc. – Just as it is written, so He brought it about. Yet we have not entreated – While we were still in Jerusalem, when we heard the prophets prophesying about the coming evil, we did not entreat the favor of Hashem. And have discernment in Your truth – To know and understand that You are a God of truth.
Metzudat Zion
Entreated — a term denoting prayer, as in 'and Moses entreated' (Exodus 32).
Malbim
As it is written in the Law of Moses — meaning: since the curses of Deuteronomy have already come upon us, it is evident that the curses of Leviticus — whose purpose is to bring the people back to repentance for the future — had already come and had not helped. This is the meaning of “as it is written in the Law of Moses,” namely, the curses of Leviticus: “all this evil has come upon us” — they had already come, sevenfold and sevenfold again, seven times over, to the very end; “yet we have not entreated the favor of Hashem” — for the purpose of these curses is not to punish, but only to bring about repentance, and we did not take it to heart to entreat the favor of Hashem, to turn from our iniquities and gain understanding in Your truth; for we walked with Him with indifference and blamed everything on chance, failing to understand that they were rebukes for sin. Therefore wrath went forth from before Hashem to bring the second set of curses, those of Deuteronomy, which come to punish for the past. This is the meaning of the next verse:
Ibn Yahya
As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of Hashem our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in Your truth — that is, in the teaching of Hashem's Torah and His wisdom, which make known the truth of Hashem. For had Israel, in their exile, turned back in repentance, entreated the favor of Hashem, and studied His Torah, then, for the sake of His mercies, He would have passed over the transgression.
And so Hashem has watched over the evil, and brought it upon us; for Hashem our God is righteous in all His works which He has done, and we have not hearkened to His voice.
verse value 3481
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 69 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָה֙) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. Verse gematria: 3481 = 59². The shortest word is "that" (אֲשֶׁ֣ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "in·all·His·works" (עַל־כׇּל־מַֽעֲשָׂיו֙, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 26: Hashem, Hashem. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "and·he·watched" (וַיִּשְׁקֹ֤ד), "over·the·evil" (עַל־הָ֣רָעָ֔ה), "and·he·brought·it" (וַיְבִיאֶ֖הָ). The root יהוה appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·not" (root לא, 74x in Daniel); "upon·us" (root על, 64x in Daniel); "and·he·brought·it" (root בוא, 42x in Daniel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'upon·us', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 9 words. Full calculation: וַיִּשְׁקֹ֤ד [and·he·watched] (420) + יְהֹוָה֙ [Hashem] (26) + עַל־הָ֣רָעָ֔ה [over·the·evil] (380) + וַיְבִיאֶ֖הָ [and·he·brought·it] (34) + עָלֵ֑ינוּ [upon·us] (166) + כִּֽי־צַדִּ֞יק [for·righteous] (234) + יְהֹוָ֣ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ [our·God] (102) + עַל־כׇּל־מַֽעֲשָׂיו֙ [in·all·His·works] (576) + אֲשֶׁ֣ר [that] (501) + עָשָׂ֔ה [He·has·done] (375) + וְלֹ֥א [and·not] (37) + שָׁמַ֖עְנוּ [we·have·hearkened] (466) + בְּקֹלֽוֹ [in·His·voice] (138) = 3481.
Rashi
hastened Heb. וַיִשְׁקֹד, and hastened. for...is righteous for justice is with Him. Our Rabbis, however, explained that the Holy One, blessed be He, is charitable, and it is charity for us that He hastened and brought [the evil] two years before the numerical value of וַנוֹשַּׁנְתֶּם (Deut. 4:25): “and you will have grown old,” in order that [the curse of] “that you shall perish” should not be fulfilled with you. The numerical value of וַנוֹשַּׁנְתֶּם is 852, but they were exiled at the end of 850 [years] after their entry into the land.
Ibn Ezra
And Hashem has watched — like [the phrase] ‘I am watching’ (Jeremiah 1:12). And the meaning of ‘for Hashem’s sake’ is: for the sake of this Name that we invoke. And Rabbi Moshe said: [it should be understood as] ‘for Your sake, Hashem’; and according to the midrash: ‘for Abraham’s sake’ — who was the first to call out this Name, which is written with an alef and a dalet.
Metzudat David
And so Hashem has watched over – He hastened toward the evil and brought it upon us; that is, He hastened to bring exile after exile, namely the exiles of Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah. For Hashem is righteous – That is, this should not be reckoned against Him as injustice, for He is truly righteous in every act of exile that He brought upon us; rather, we did not hearken to His voice to take the lesson to heart, even when we saw that the hand of Hashem had touched us in the first exile — and so He brought also the second, and also the third.
Metzudat Zion
Has watched over — a term denoting alacrity, as in 'for I hasten [to perform My word]' (Jeremiah 1).
Malbim
And so Hashem has watched over the evil, And brought it upon us — the first set of rebukes, those of Leviticus, do not come rapidly but one at a time; but once we did not heed His voice and the second set of rebukes came, they came with vigilance and speed, all at once. “For Hashem our God is righteous in all His works which He has done” — since He did everything, making every effort to bring us back to repentance, and we did not heed His voice; thus He is righteous in having been vigilant to bring the evil, so that we would recognize His punishment and His providence.
Ibn Yahya
As for their not returning to Hashem — He watched over the evil and brought it upon us, for He is righteous in all the works He has done, since we did not hearken to His voice.
And now, O Lord our God, who have brought 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.
verse value 4988
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 68 letters. Verse gematria: 4988 is divisible by 86, the value of Elohim. The shortest word is "name" (שֵׁ֖ם, 2 letters) and the longest is "our·God" (אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ, 6 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "you·brought·forth" (הוֹצֵ֨אתָ), "your·people" (אֶֽת־עַמְּךָ֜), "from·land·of" (מֵאֶ֤רֶץ). 16 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 40x in Daniel); "as·the·day" (root יום, 33x in Daniel); "your·people" (root עם, 30x in Daniel). First appearance of the root עתה ("and·now") in Daniel. First appearance of the root מצרי ("Egypt") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'this', dividing the verse into phrases of 14 and 2 words.
Rashi
And now, O Lord, our God We confess that we have sinned and have dealt wickedly.
Ibn Ezra
Hashem, hear — [hear] this prayer. Hashem, forgive — [forgive] the sins that I have confessed; and ‘act,’ and ‘do not delay’ — [that is,] to shine Your face upon Your desolate Sanctuary.
Metzudat David
And now, etc. – This connects back to the end of the verse, as if to say: 'But now, Hashem, etc., we come back and confess, saying: we have sinned, we have done wickedly.' And have gotten You renown – To become renowned in the world through this, so that You would be known and famed, as You are today.
Malbim
And now, O Lord our God, who have brought [Your people forth out of the land of Egypt] — now that we have already received the punishment and are in this harsh exile, [Daniel says]: even in Egypt we were not worthy of redemption on the merit of our own deeds, for there too we were sinners; rather, You brought us out with a mighty hand, without merit or worthiness, but only for the sake of Your great Name, that it not be profaned — as is written in the book of Ezekiel, that they rebelled against Him in the land of Egypt, yet He acted for the sake of His Name. This is the meaning of “brought [us] out with a mighty hand, and gotten You renown, as at this day” — that You did this for the sake of Your Name, even though we sinned and acted wickedly in Egypt as well; and how much more fitting that You act this way now, when Your Name has become even more renowned, as it says, “and have gotten You renown, as at this day.”
Ibn Yahya
'And now, Hashem our God' etc. — having completed the confession, he now begins the prayer, saying: 'And now, Hashem our God,' whose Godhood rested upon us when You brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, whereby You made Yourself a name in the world that endures to this day, for that name has persisted until now and will persist forever — 'we have sinned' in deed, 'and we have done wickedly' in thought.
O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, let Your anger and Your fury, I pray You, 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 have become a reproach to all that are about us.
verse value 6032
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 90 letters. Notable word values: "in·our·sins" (בַחֲטָאֵ֙ינוּ֙) = 86, equal to Elohim. Verse gematria: 6032 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֤י, 2 letters) and the longest is "to·all·our·surroundings" (לְכׇל־סְבִיבֹתֵֽינוּ, 11 letters). Words sharing gematria 586: Jerusalem, Jerusalem. 12 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "as·all·your·righteousness" (כְּכׇל־צִדְקֹתֶ֙ךָ֙), "turn·away·please" (יָֽשׇׁב־נָ֤א), "your·anger" (אַפְּךָ֙). The root ירושלם appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·your·people" (root עם, 30x in Daniel). First appearance of the root חרפה ("for·a·reproach") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'mountain·of·your·holiness', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 8 words.
Rashi
a mockery [as translated,] a mockery. to all those surrounding us to all our neighbors; they all mock us.
Metzudat David
According to all Your righteousness – In keeping with the way of Your righteousness. Because for our sins, etc. – That is, it is not because Your hand is [too] short that they have become a reproach, but rather because You grew angry with us on account of our sins, etc.; that is why Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach, and once Your anger turns away, we will no longer be a reproach. To all that are about us – All of them mock/revile us.
Malbim
Questions: (16–19): The entire passage is long and repetitious? O Lord, according to all Your righteousness — just as the righteousness You showed us before was granted even though we were not deserving, but performed out of Your supreme righteousness, whose very nature is that it does not look to deeds or merit, so too now, “let Your anger and Your fury, I pray You, be turned away.” [The first reason:] do this for the sake of Jerusalem and Mount Zion — hence it says, “from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain”; for indeed, because of our sins, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach, and there is a desecration of the [divine] Name.
Ibn Yahya
Hashem, according to all Your abundant righteous deeds and kindnesses that You have done in the world, do this also for us, and let Your anger and Your fury, we pray, turn away from Your city Jerusalem, the place that holds Your holy mountain; for through our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all who surround us, since You have poured out Your fury upon them.
Now therefore, O our God, hearken to the prayer of Your servant, and to his supplications, and cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.
verse value 4173
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 60 letters. Verse gematria: 4173 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "hearken" (שְׁמַ֣ע, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·to·his·supplications" (וְאֶל־תַּ֣חֲנוּנָ֔יו, 10 letters). 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "to·prayer·of" (אֶל־תְּפִלַּ֤ת), "your·servant" (עַבְדְּךָ֙), "and·to·his·supplications" (וְאֶל־תַּ֣חֲנוּנָ֔יו). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "your·servant" (root עבד, 40x in Daniel); "your·face" (root פנים, 31x in Daniel); "hearken" (root שמע, 24x in Daniel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·desolate', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 2 words. Full calculation: וְעַתָּ֣ה [and·now] (481) + שְׁמַ֣ע [hearken] (410) + אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ [our·God] (102) + אֶל־תְּפִלַּ֤ת [to·prayer·of] (941) + עַבְדְּךָ֙ [your·servant] (96) + וְאֶל־תַּ֣חֲנוּנָ֔יו [and·to·his·supplications] (567) + וְהָאֵ֣ר [and·cause·to·shine] (212) + פָּנֶ֔יךָ [your·face] (160) + עַל־מִקְדָּשְׁךָ֖ [upon·your·sanctuary] (564) + הַשָּׁמֵ֑ם [the·desolate] (385) + לְמַ֖עַן [for·the·sake·of] (190) + אֲדֹנָֽי [Lord] (65) = 4173.
Rashi
for the sake of the Lord For the sake of the holy Name that is called upon the Temple, as it says (Exod. 15:17): “the Sanctuary, O Lord, (אֲדֹנָי) which Your hands have established.”
Metzudat David
And cause Your face to shine – Turn toward it [the sanctuary] with a shining, smiling countenance; this is a figure of speech. For the Lord's sake – That is, for Your own sake, Hashem, lest the nations say [it was] for lack of power, etc.
Malbim
Now therefore — [the second reason:] do this on account of the prayer of Your servant and his supplications; [the third reason:] for the sake of the Sanctuary — hence it says, “cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary that is desolate.” This too You should do for the sake of Hashem, who caused His Name to dwell in this House, and there is a desecration of the Name.
Ibn Yahya
'Now therefore, O our God' etc. — having prayed on behalf of all Israel, he now prays again on his own behalf, saying: 'Now therefore, hearken, our God, to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary that is desolate' — which is now dark, since You have hidden Your face from it and it has been consumed. And this You should also do for the sake of Your own name, Hashem, which is profaned among the nations, in that the Temple of the King, which used to lend a name and praise to the name of Hashem, has become desolate and burned, with foxes walking through it.
O my God, incline Your ear, and hear; open Your eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city upon which Your name is called; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteousness, but because of Your great compassions.
verse value 6357
Insights
Verse structure: 23 words, 108 letters. Verse gematria: 6357 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "because·of·our·righteousness" (עַל־צִדְקֹתֵ֗ינוּ, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 115: upon·it, we. 13 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "incline" (הַטֵּ֨ה), "your·ear" (אׇזְנְךָ֮), "and·hear" (וּֽשְׁמָע֒). The root כי appears 2 times in this verse. 21 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "not" (root לא, 74x in Daniel); "upon·it" (root על, 64x in Daniel); "the·great" (root רב, 34x in Daniel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'upon·it', dividing the verse into phrases of 13 and 10 words.
Rashi
and see our desolations and the desolations of the city upon which Your name is called, because not upon the support of our righteousness do we cast our supplications to benefit us, but we have come upon Your mercies.
Metzudat David
And hear – My prayer. And the city – [Behold also] the desolation of the city. Because of our righteousness – On reliance upon our righteousness. But because of Your compassions – On reliance upon Your abundant compassions.
Metzudat Zion
Open — [a synonym for] 'open' (petach).
Malbim
Incline — corresponding to what was said, “hear the prayer of Your servant,” he now says, “incline Your ear, O my God, and hear.” And corresponding to what was said about acting for the sake of Jerusalem and the Sanctuary, he says, “open Your eyes and behold our desolations, and the city upon which Your name is called” — for there is a desecration of the Name. “For [it is] not” — he now concludes what he had begun earlier, that “compassions and forgivenesses belong to Hashem our God,” meaning that the compassion and the forgiveness are attributed to Him, not to us, as he explained at length throughout his prayer. Corresponding to “compassion” he says, “for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteousness” — that is to say, so that the compassion should not be attributed to us; rather, it is “because of Your great compassions,” since we have no righteousness or merits of our own; and corresponding to “forgiveness” he goes on to say:
Ibn Yahya
Incline Your ear, my God, and hear our prayer; open Your eyes and see our desolation and the desolation of the city upon which Your name is called; for it is not because of our righteousness that we lay our supplication before You, since we know our own wickedness, but only because of Your abundant compassions, by which You pass over transgression and forgive the guilt of those who turn back to You.
O Lord, hear, O Lord, forgive, O Lord, attend and do, defer not; for Your own sake, O my God, because Your name is called upon Your city and Your people.’
verse value 3789
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 66 letters. The shortest word is "Lord" (אֲדֹנָ֤י, 4 letters) and the longest is "attend" (הַֽקְשִׁ֥יבָה, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 65: Lord, Lord, Lord. 9 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "hear" (שְׁמָ֙עָה֙), "forgive" (סְלָ֔חָה), "attend" (הַֽקְשִׁ֥יבָה). The root אדון appears 3 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·upon·your·people" (root עם, 30x in Daniel); "hear" (root שמע, 24x in Daniel); "and·do" (root עשה, 24x in Daniel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'do·not·delay', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 6 words. Full calculation: אֲדֹנָ֤י [Lord] (65) + שְׁמָ֙עָה֙ [hear] (415) + אֲדֹנָ֣י [Lord] (65) + סְלָ֔חָה [forgive] (103) + אֲדֹנָ֛י [Lord] (65) + הַֽקְשִׁ֥יבָה [attend] (422) + וַעֲשֵׂ֖ה [and·do] (381) + אַל־תְּאַחַ֑ר [do·not·delay] (640) + לְמַֽעַנְךָ֣ [for·your·sake] (210) + אֱלֹהַ֔י [my·God] (46) + כִּֽי־שִׁמְךָ֣ [for·your·name] (390) + נִקְרָ֔א [is·called] (351) + עַל־עִירְךָ֖ [upon·your·city] (400) + וְעַל־עַמֶּֽךָ [and·upon·your·people] (236) = 3789.
Rashi
O Lord, hear our supplications. O Lord, forgive our sins. O Lord, hearken Your ear to our cry. and do our request and do not delay.
Metzudat David
Hear – My prayer. Forgive – Our iniquities. And do – That is, fulfill my requests, and do not delay the time of redemption. Because Your name, etc. – As if to say: [this is] the city of God, and likewise [these are] the people of the God of Israel, and it is not consistent with Your honor to leave them in the hand of the idolatrous nations.
Metzudat Zion
Attend — a term denoting hearkening. Defer — from the language of delay and postponement.
Malbim
O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive — [meaning] that You forgive for the sake of Hashem, and also that You not prolong the duration of the exile on account of transgression and iniquity [which is what he had come to pray about]. Hence he says, “attend and do” — act at once, and “defer not” the time appointed by the mouth of Jeremiah [for the nature of delay is postponing a set time]. And all this, do “for Your own sake, O my God, because Your name is called upon Your city and Your people” — for first he said, regarding “Your sanctuary that is desolate,” that it should be “for the Lord’s sake”; then he added, “the city upon which Your name is called”; and now he adds that Your name is called upon Your people as well — meaning that whether for the Sanctuary, the city, or the people, it must be done for the honor of His Name.
Ibn Yahya
And after he prayed to Hashem to have mercy on Israel for the sake of His mercies, he prays again that He have mercy on them for the sake of His honor. This is the meaning of his saying: 'Hashem, hear; Hashem, forgive; Hashem, attend and act; do not delay' — that is, grant forgiveness quickly and bring the act of forgiveness to pass, and return Israel to their land — 'for Your own sake, my God, and for the sake of Your honor, for Your name has long been called upon Your city and Your people.' For otherwise the nations will say that Hashem was unable to save them from the mighty enemy, so they were exiled from their land and the Temple of Hashem was burned.
And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Hashem my God for the holy mountain of my God;
verse value 4984
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 74 letters. Notable word values: "and·yet" (וְע֨וֹד) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "for" (עַ֖ל, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·praying" (וּמִתְפַּלֵּ֔ל, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 46: my·God, my·God. 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "and·praying" (וּמִתְפַּלֵּ֔ל), "and·confessing" (וּמִתְוַדֶּה֙), "my·sin" (חַטָּאתִ֔י). The root חטאה appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "for" (root על, 64x in Daniel); "speaking" (root דבר, 40x in Daniel); "before" (root פנים, 31x in Daniel). First appearance of the root חטאה ("my·sin") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Israel', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 8 words.
Rashi
about the mount of the Sanctuary of my God for the mount of the House of God, that it be built.
Ibn Ezra
And while I was still speaking, and praying, and presenting my supplication — [this whole account describes] matters that were not [verbatim] recorded; therefore it became necessary to say once more, ‘while I was still speaking in prayer’ [in the next verse, to resume the account]. And the meaning of ‘being caused to fly swiftly’ — as though it said ‘they made him fly,’ [meaning] that he was forced to fly.
Metzudat David
And while I was [speaking], etc. – That is, besides the words stated here, I went on speaking and praying about further matters as well, and I was confessing, etc. For the holy mountain – On behalf of the holy mountain of my God, that is, the Temple.
Malbim
Questions: (20–21): “And while I was speaking, and praying, … and presenting my supplication” — and then “while I was speaking in prayer” — the wording is evidently doubled. And while I was speaking — [this refers to] other prayers not recorded here. His prayer had three components: first, tefillah, whose nature is the pouring out of the soul and cleaving to God — hence he says, “speaking and praying”; second, viduy — “and confessing”; third, techinnah, which is a specific personal request — hence he says, “and presenting my supplication,” which was the specific personal plea on behalf of the holy mountain of his God, for that was the main point of his supplication.
Ibn Yahya
'And while I was speaking, and praying' etc. — that is to say, that while I was still speaking in prayer and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and laying my supplication before Hashem my God for the holy mountain of my God, which lay desolate, that its captivity be restored — the time when I was speaking in prayer was at the time of the evening offering.
indeed, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, approached close to me about the time of the evening offering.
verse value 4894
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 68 letters. Notable word values: "and·yet" (וְע֛וֹד) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "I" (אֲנִ֥י, 3 letters) and the longest is "offering·of·evening" (מִנְחַת־עָֽרֶב, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 246: speaking, Gabriel. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "in·the·prayer" (בַּתְּפִלָּ֑ה), "and·the·man" (וְהָאִ֣ישׁ), "caused·to·fly" (מֻעָ֣ף). The root יעף appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "speaking" (root דבר, 40x in Daniel); "that" (root אשר, 40x in Daniel); "I" (root אני, 23x in Daniel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·the·prayer', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 12 words.
Rashi
at first in the days of Belshazzar, as is written above (8:15 26). in swift flight [He was] caused to fly to me with flying and with gliding.
Ibn Ezra
And the meaning of ‘swiftly’ — for he [Gabriel] was weary from the abundance of running; and behold, this word is a noun formed on the pattern of ‘ba-yaqar’ in ‘man abides not in honor’ (Psalms 49:13). And the meaning of ‘about the time of the evening offering’ — for he [Daniel] was fasting and weeping, as is written concerning the fast [cf. 9:3].
Metzudat David
Indeed, while I was speaking – While I was still speaking in prayer. In the vision at the beginning – In the vision that had appeared to me in the third year of Belshazzar [i.e., the vision of ch. 8]; for in the first year of Belshazzar he had seen, in a dream, what he saw [there, i.e., the vision of ch. 7]. Being caused to fly swiftly – He flew in swift flight and reached me at the time of the offering of the evening meal-offering, which is the tamid offering of the afternoon.
Metzudat Zion
Caused to fly swiftly — from the language of flying and soaring. The evening offering — [meaning] the evening tribute-offering.
Malbim
Indeed, while I was speaking in prayer — after he had completed the second round of prayer, confession, and supplication, he began praying a third time in this same order; and when he began with tefillah, which is the first component of each round, the angel — the man Gabriel — was revealed to him, “caused to fly swiftly” — flying from heaven to come to him. Our Sages said that he flew in two flights, for Gabriel [travels] in two flights: first flying upward to receive the flow from the one above him, who is Michael (hence it is said of Michael, “in one [flight]”), and afterward flying downward to convey the prophecy below.
Ibn Yahya
'Indeed... the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning' — 'being caused to fly swiftly' is an expression of flight. That is to say, that he was flying to come to me, since he had flown to me once before, in the first vision. And this flying alludes to an outpouring of influence. 'Approached close to me' — once he understood my prayer.
And he made me to understand, and talked with me, and said: ‘O Daniel, I have now come forth to make you skillful of understanding.
verse value 2230
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 41 letters. The shortest word is "with·me" (עִמִּ֑י, 3 letters) and the longest is "to·make·you·skillful" (לְהַשְׂכִּילְךָ֥, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "I·have·come·forth" (יָצָ֖אתִי), "to·make·you·skillful" (לְהַשְׂכִּילְךָ֥). The root בין appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·he·said" (root אמר, 88x in Daniel); "Daniel" (root דניאל, 75x in Daniel); "and·he·talked" (root דבר, 40x in Daniel). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'with·me', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 6 words. Full calculation: וַיָּ֖בֶן [and·he·caused·to·understand] (68) + וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר [and·he·talked] (222) + עִמִּ֑י [with·me] (120) + וַיֹּאמַ֕ר [and·he·said] (257) + דָּנִיֵּ֕אל [Daniel] (95) + עַתָּ֥ה [now] (475) + יָצָ֖אתִי [I·have·come·forth] (511) + לְהַשְׂכִּילְךָ֥ [to·make·you·skillful] (415) + בִינָֽה [understanding] (67) = 2230.
Rashi
And he enabled me to understand Heb. וַיָבֶן.
Ibn Ezra
And he said — [this refers to] the angel, [who said]: ‘Hear, O Daniel: for now I have come forth’ — from the ranks of the angels, or from the heavenly Sanctuary — ‘to make you skillful in understanding.’
Metzudat David
And he made me to understand – He gave me understanding. I have now come forth – From heaven. To make you skillful of understanding – To give you understanding of the matter concerning the time of the redemption.
Malbim
And he made me to understand — it seemed [to Daniel] that [Gabriel] was flying on his way as though he did not know where Daniel was; only when he touched him did he perceive that Daniel was standing there, and he paused there to speak with him. “I have now come forth to make you skillful of understanding” — in response to what Daniel had said, “I, Daniel, understood by the books,” the angel told him that he had not understood the matter properly, and that he [Gabriel] would grant him understanding of how to grasp it in accordance with the truth.
Ibn Yahya
'And he talked with me, and said: Daniel, I have now come forth' from heaven, at the command of my God, 'to make you skillful of understanding' — in knowledge of the end of the time of distress.
At the beginning of your supplications a word went forth, and I have come to declare it; for you are greatly beloved; therefore look into the word, and understand the vision.
verse value 3710
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 59 letters. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "your·supplications" (תַּחֲנוּנֶ֜יךָ, 7 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "in·beginning·of" (בִּתְחִלַּ֨ת), "your·supplications" (תַּחֲנוּנֶ֜יךָ), "I·have·come" (בָּ֣אתִי). The root דבר appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "I·have·come" (root בוא, 42x in Daniel); "word" (root דבר, 40x in Daniel); "and·look·into" (root בין, 32x in Daniel). First appearance of the root חמד ("greatly·beloved") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'you', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 4 words. Full calculation: בִּתְחִלַּ֨ת [in·beginning·of] (840) + תַּחֲנוּנֶ֜יךָ [your·supplications] (544) + יָצָ֣א [went·forth] (101) + דָבָ֗ר [word] (206) + וַאֲנִי֙ [and·I] (67) + בָּ֣אתִי [I·have·come] (413) + לְהַגִּ֔יד [to·declare] (52) + כִּ֥י [for] (30) + חֲמוּד֖וֹת [greatly·beloved] (464) + אָ֑תָּה [you] (406) + וּבִין֙ [and·look·into] (68) + בַּדָּבָ֔ר [in·the·word] (208) + וְהָבֵ֖ן [and·understand] (63) + בַּמַּרְאֶֽה [in·the·vision] (248) = 3710.
Rashi
In the beginning of your supplications, a word came forth a true [word came] from the Holy One, blessed be He, to me to tell you. for you have desirable qualities You have qualities that are desirable to the Holy One, blessed be He. now contemplate the word Put your heart to understand the word.
Ibn Ezra
At the beginning of your supplications a word went forth — from before the glorious Name, in the manner of [the phrase] ‘the word went forth from the king’s mouth’ (Esther 7:8). And the meaning is: a decree ordained to happen exactly so, without addition or subtraction. And I have come to declare — [i.e., to declare] the word to you. For you are greatly beloved — [literally, the word] ‘man’ is omitted [elliptically, so that it is] as though it said ‘you are a man of preciousness,’ similar to [the phrase] ‘and I am prayer’ (Psalms 109:4) [meaning, ‘I am a man of prayer’]. Therefore look into the word — [namely, the word] that went forth. And understand — [i.e., direct] your heart. The vision — Yefet said: [it means] ‘this vision.’
Metzudat David
At the beginning – At the time you began pleading, a word from Hashem went forth to go and tell you, and behold, I have come to declare it. For you are greatly beloved – Because you possess precious, beloved qualities, for this Hashem sent [word] to tell you. Therefore look into the word – Apply your mind to understand the matter. And he repeated [the charge] to urge him on further, saying: understand this prophetic vision.
Malbim
At the beginning [of your supplications A word went forth] — do not say that the matter changed because of your prayer, for this word had already gone forth immediately, at the very outset; and “I have come to declare it” [means] that because you are a man of preciousness, I was sent to come to you — not to convey the prophecy to you from a distance, in a dream or a vision, but so that you would see me face to face, which is a greater level. “And understand the word” — Abarbanel explains that you should understand well the words of Jeremiah, which you had not understood properly; and of this it says “the word,” referring to the word of prophecy. “And also understand the vision” — [meaning] what I will show you further, beyond this.
Ibn Yahya
And do not think that it was because of the abundance of your supplications, which you multiplied and pressed in prayer, that your prayer was heard. Rather, as soon as you began your supplications, a word and command went forth from Hashem to reveal to you what you had asked, and I have come to tell it to you. And the reason for this is that you are a man greatly beloved. Therefore, understand the matter clearly stated, which I am about to say, and grasp from the vision the matter that is obscure.
Seventy weeks are decreed upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sin, and to forgive iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal vision and prophet, and to anoint the most holy place.
verse value 7471
Insights
Verse structure: 23 words, 105 letters. The shortest word is "iniquity" (עָוֺ֔ן, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·upon·city·of" (וְעַל־עִ֣יר, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 422: weeks, seventy. 16 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "are·decreed" (נֶחְתַּ֥ךְ), "upon·your·people" (עַֽל־עַמְּךָ֣), "and·upon·city·of" (וְעַל־עִ֣יר). The root קדש appears 3 times in this verse. 19 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·to·bring·in" (root בוא, 42x in Daniel); "upon·your·people" (root עם, 30x in Daniel). First appearance of the root שבוע ("weeks") in Daniel. First appearance of the root כלה ("to·finish") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'everlasting', dividing the verse into phrases of 17 and 6 words.
Rashi
Seventy weeks [of years] have been decreed on Jerusalem from the day of the first destruction in the days of Zedekiah until it will be [destroyed] the second time. to terminate the transgression and to end sin so that Israel should receive their complete retribution in the exile of Titus and his subjugation, in order that their transgressions should terminate, their sins should end, and their iniquities should be expiated, in order to bring upon them eternal righteousness and to anoint upon them (sic) the Holy of Holies: the Ark, the altars, and the holy vessels, which they will bring to them through the king Messiah. The number of seven weeks is four hundred and ninety years. The Babylonian exile was seventy [years] and the Second Temple stood four hundred and twenty [years].
Ibn Ezra
Weeks — Rabbi Saadia Gaon said that these ‘weeks’ are years, and the proof is that afterward it says (Daniel 10:3), ‘until three weeks of days were completed,’ and it did not simply say ‘seventy days’ together with ‘weeks’ — whereas here they are like ‘seven sabbaths of years’ (Leviticus 25:8). And he explained correctly that the ‘half of the week’ mentioned [later, in verse 27] is one thousand two hundred and ninety days, as I shall explain with complete proof; only, the interpretation of these ‘seventy weeks’ [as years] is exceedingly difficult. Furthermore: as for ‘to finish the transgression and to make an end of sin,’ we do not know whether the whole verse is meant for good or for ill — for it appears, from the words ‘to forgive iniquity’ and ‘to anoint the most holy place,’ that it is for good, yet ‘and to seal vision and prophet’ is not for good. If so, how can we establish the words ‘to finish the transgression and to make an end of sin’ as being for good?! And so, too, with ‘to seal vision and prophet.’ Now, we find it written, ‘for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full’ (Genesis 15:16), which is for ill — the sense being that the day of its calamity, the time appointed for the punishment of its sin, has not yet come; similarly, ‘my punishment is greater than I can bear’ (Genesis 4:13), and likewise, ‘if iniquity should befall you,’ and likewise, ‘your iniquity is fulfilled’ (Lamentations 4:22), meaning your iniquity has been paid in full — and that, too, is for ill. Yet one could answer, in reply, that here it is ‘sin’ and ‘guilt’ [that are finished, which is not the same as mere ‘iniquity’]. Furthermore: the word in ‘forgive, we pray you’ (Genesis 50:17) works the opposite way [i.e., positively], whereas ‘then he shall bear her iniquity’ (Numbers 30:16) [uses the same root negatively] — so the whole matter is to be interpreted according to its context, and it indicates that ‘to bring everlasting righteousness’ is meant for good. And the meaning of ‘and to seal vision’ — that all the prophets prophesied concerning the Second Temple. Now I shall state the words of the Gaon; he said: ‘a word went forth’ — its meaning is that it was decreed that Jerusalem, together with the Second Temple, would be destroyed four hundred and ninety years [later] — and these are the ‘seventy weeks.’ Only, you erred in your reckoning, [thinking] that a full seventy years had been completed, when in fact it is only seven weeks, which are forty-nine years — and he did not trouble to mention the two [extra] years, for there were [really] fifty-one. And he explained ‘until an anointed one, a prince’ (Daniel 9:25) as referring to Cyrus the king, and brought proof from the words of the prophet: ‘Thus says Hashem to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held’ (Isaiah 45:1) — and the ‘sixty-two weeks’ are the days of the Second Temple. Now, there is a difficulty to raise: first, that the angel said, ‘at the beginning of your supplications a word went forth’ [i.e., at the very start, not partway through]. Furthermore: how can the years of the exile be mixed together with the years of the Second Temple, and how, on this reading, are we to interpret ‘to finish the transgression and to make an end of sin’? Furthermore: what are we to make of the week that remains, of which it says, ‘and he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week,’ after the ‘sixty-two weeks’? It would have been fitting to mention that three more weeks remained. And his proof — that Cyrus is ‘the anointed one’ — is not correct, for ‘to His anointed’ can mean His prophet, as it is written, ‘because Hashem has anointed me’ (Isaiah 61:1). And before I state my own view, I shall explain ‘and he shall make a firm covenant with many’ — this much was known: that Titus made a covenant with Israel for seven years, and after three and a half years the daily offering ceased in the Second Temple, before the destruction of the Temple; and so it is written in the book of Yosef ben Gorion. And it says, ‘and upon the wing of detestable things shall come one who makes desolate’ (Daniel 9:27) — that they placed detestable things in the Sanctuary, after the number mentioned, when Jerusalem was captured. And it is written in the fourth prophecy, ‘and they shall profane the Sanctuary, the stronghold’ (Daniel 11:31) — that is the day Jerusalem was captured, in the days of Titus; and they had removed the daily offering before that, and set up the detestable thing that causes desolation. And so it is written, ‘and from the time that the daily offering is taken away, and the detestable thing that causes desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days’ (Daniel 12:11). And Daniel had to specify exactly how many whole days make up the ‘half of the week,’ on account of the two [months of] Adar [in a leap year], and also on account of the word ‘half’ — since a ‘half’ need not be an exact half, but may be slightly less or more, as with ‘the half tribe of Manasseh,’ and many similar cases. And know that ‘days,’ [in Scripture], always means [literal] days, and not years — except that it is possible, when ‘days’ is stated [without a number], for it to mean a complete year, when the days of the year have come full circle, as in the phrase ‘from days to days’ [i.e., year to year], which refers to the days of a whole year, so that [in the phrase] ‘his right of redemption shall be a year’ (Leviticus 25:29), [the word] ‘days’ means [a full year]. But wherever ‘days’ is stated together with a specific number — ‘two days’ or ‘three [days]’ — it cannot mean years, only [actual] days, just as they are to be understood in the phrase ‘two years of days,’ which meant two complete years, in which the days had cycled back to where they had been; and likewise, ‘[until] a month of days’ — meaning that the moon would be seen in the very configuration in which it had appeared on the first day of the count. Therefore I have said that the one thousand two hundred and ninety days are the ‘half of the week’ mentioned [in the previous verse]. And so, too, [with the verse] ‘happy is he who waits and comes to the days’ (Daniel 12:12), as I shall explain — for had these been years, how could a person wait a thousand years and ‘come’ to them, seeing that it is written, ‘the days of our years, in them, are seventy years’ (Psalms 90:10)?! Now, we find that Nehemiah said, ‘the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies waste, and its gates are consumed by fire’ (Nehemiah 2:3); and it is written that he, too, was appointed governor in the land of Judah; and it is written concerning him, ‘he shall build the Temple of Hashem, and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne’ (Zechariah 6:13); and Jeremiah prophesied concerning him, ‘and a king shall reign, and deal wisely’ (Jeremiah 23:5); and in the book of Ezra it is written concerning Nehemiah, ‘and you were unto them as a king.’ Now I shall explain [my own view of] ‘seventy weeks’ — they are [reckoned] from ‘the going forth of the word’ at the beginning of Daniel's supplications. ‘To finish the transgression’ — like [the phrase] ‘for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full’ (Genesis 15:16). ‘And to make an end of sin’ — like [the phrase] ‘your iniquity is fulfilled’ (Lamentations 4:22). ‘And to forgive iniquity’ — [meaning] to bear the burden of exile. ‘To forgive iniquity’ — [the iniquity] of our fathers, and to bring the time when Hashem will judge them in righteousness. Or, its meaning is for ill: for the ‘advent’ of righteousness could equally mean its setting — just as, of the sun, its ‘advent’ means its setting — so, on this reading, it would be for ill. For if meant for good, the sense would be the opposite, as in ‘then shall your righteousness go forth as brightness’ (Isaiah 62:1), and ‘He will bring forth your righteousness as the light’ (Psalms 37:6); and this is the sense of ‘arise, shine, for your light has come’ (Isaiah 60:1) — meaning that your light, which had been set until now, [has now risen]. ‘And to seal vision and prophet’ — that the prophets would cease. And to anoint the most holy place — this marks the beginning of the exile [that followed]. And do not let the matter of the [chronological] reckoning trouble you, for behold, in the count of the king of Persia's [reign] there is an added new-moon month [i.e., an intercalation], according to the word of the angel, as I shall explain; and if there is, in the calculation, some addition or deficiency, it does no harm. Perhaps the matter of the new moon troubles you: for one who knows the moment of a lunar eclipse in a given year, and finds another eclipse from a hundred years before it, can from these know the moon's true position; and, by his calculation, he can, at will, work it back to an earlier date, or forward to the years to come. And behold, the meaning [of the next verse] is: ‘know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem...’ (Daniel 9:25).
Metzudat David
Seventy weeks – Seventy shemitah-cycles of years are decreed upon your people, etc. That is, the Omnipresent decreed that the destruction of the Second Temple would come at the completion of seventy shemitah-cycles from the destruction of the First, amounting in all to four hundred ninety years. And so it was: for at the completion of seventy years from the destruction of the First Temple the Second was built, and it stood four hundred twenty years — that makes, all together, four hundred ninety years. To finish the transgression – Through the destruction of the Second Temple and the harshness of the exile, transgression will come to an end and sin will be finished, for everything will be purged and the iniquity atoned for; and this will be the cause that brings in everlasting righteousness — that is, our righteous Messiah, who will reign forever. And to seal vision and prophet – That the words of vision and prophet should be completed; that is, that all the promises and tidings that all the prophets prophesied should be fulfilled. And to anoint the most holy place – That the Holy of Holies should be in surpassing greatness, for then the glory of the House will be great.
Metzudat Zion
Weeks — [meaning] sabbatical cycles of seven years each. Decreed [nechetakh] — [meaning] decreed [nigzar]; for both words share the sense of 'cutting off.' To make an end — from the language of completion and finishing. To seal — a term denoting completion; and our Sages state, 'all who conclude blessings' (Berakhot 63); and likewise 'and upon the sealed [document]' (Nehemiah 10), for it is customary for each person to inscribe his name after the writing is finished [i.e., a concluding seal]. To anoint — a term denoting high station, as in 'to His anointed one, to Cyrus' (Isaiah 45); and for this reason he is also called here 'an anointed prince' (mashiach nagid).
Malbim
Seventy weeks are decreed — He [the angel] made known to him that the decree that was cut and pronounced upon Israel, that they would be in exile seventy years, corresponds to seventy shemittah (sabbatical) years; for those seventy years came about because of the sin of [neglecting] the sabbatical years, as it is written, “then shall the land enjoy its sabbaths . . . while you are in the land of your enemies,” etc. (Leviticus 26:34); and so too, toward the end of the book of Chronicles, it says that this was “to fulfill the word of Hashem by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had paid off her sabbaths” [2 Chronicles 36:21]. The exile came to atone for the sin of the sabbatical years. And presumably, during those same years, they also sinned with other transgressions; if so, they sinned over the course of seven times seventy years, which come to four hundred and ninety years. Only that for the other transgressions they did not necessarily have to be specifically in exile, for these they bore other punishments throughout the whole span of the Second Temple, when they were subjugated under three kingdoms — first Media and Persia, then Greece, then Rome — all of which laid a heavy yoke upon them; and this served to atone for the additional sins they committed during these four hundred and ninety years.
[Now, although Rashi (on Ezekiel 4) worked out the reckoning of the sabbatical years by combining them with the jubilee years, this is not a necessary conclusion, for in any case, according to R. Yehudah, who holds that the jubilee year is itself counted within the reckoning of the [sabbatical] cycle, it cannot be reckoned that way; and in any event we know plainly, from the testimony of our own verse here, that they sinned for four hundred and ninety years — for the calculation he made there, concerning the days of the Judges, counting only the days between one judge and the next, is not compelling, since, as the verse itself attests, the people did not obey even their own judges, and they sinned at times even during the lifetime of the judges.]
And it has already been explained that the return under the Second Temple is not regarded as the destined redemption, for the exile began at the time of the first exile, in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, and continues until the future redemption; and Israel’s return in the days of the Second Temple, and their dwelling there, is [still] reckoned as part of the exile, since they had no prophets, no Divine Presence, no Urim and Tummim, and no king of the House of David, and the lost and the scattered were not gathered in — for throughout the whole span of the Second Temple they were driven out and scattered still further into overseas lands, as is known from the histories of that era. There was, however, a condition: had they then returned in complete repentance, He would have hastened the end at that time; but since they did not merit it, the night grew still darker, and they will not return until the time appointed for the wonders.
This, then, is what the angel made known to Daniel: that a period of seventy sevens was cut and decreed —
“to finish the transgression” — that is, the transgression between one man and another, and sin against Hashem;
“and to forgive iniquity” — the iniquity here is that which comes about through a perversion of the intellect and through heresy, namely the sin of idolatry;
“and to make an end of sin” — this is the sin that comes through desire, that is, illicit relations (arayot), which they were guilty of in the days of the First Temple;
“and to bring in everlasting righteousness” — for had they repented, and had the time of redemption come at the end of these four hundred and ninety years, it would have brought everlasting righteousness, so that all the peoples of the world would recognize the true faith and be vindicated in righteous judgment;
“and to seal vision and prophet” — for then the prophecy of all the prophets, and the visions they had seen concerning the future redemption, would be fulfilled, and all of them would be sealed, as it were, with the king’s own signet ring, the seal of truth. It also means that prophecy would then return once more, as it is written, “I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” (Joel 3:1);
“and to anoint the most holy place” — this is the third Temple building, which will be anointed by a prophet, anointing being a mark of its surpassing holiness (unlike the Second Temple, which was not anointed, since it lacked five things and was destined to be destroyed).
Therefore a term of four hundred and ninety years was decreed as their punishment if they should merit [redemption], but a longer punishment and a heavier exile if they should not merit it. And Abarbanel has already explained that, since the future redemption is to bring everlasting righteousness, such that all the peoples of the world will recognize the true faith, this requires a longer span of time than the previous exiles required — see there.
Ibn Yahya
Behold, the decree has been cut and sealed in heaven concerning your people and your holy city: that there would be seventy sabbatical cycles from the destruction of the First Temple until the destruction of the Second Temple, which is four hundred ninety years — that is, seventy years of the Babylonian exile, and four hundred twenty years of the Second Temple period. In Israel's exile after the destruction of the Second Temple, 'the transgression' will be 'finished' — that is, the sin committed in thought, as it says, 'Transgression speaks to the wicked, methinks; there is no fear of God before his eyes' — and 'an end' will be 'made of sin' — that is, the sin committed in deed, as it says, 'My son, if sinners entice you...,' 'if they say, come with us...' — and 'iniquity' will be 'forgiven' through confession, and removed as though it had never been. In the Babylonian exile the iniquities and sins were not fully ended, for afterward, in the Second Temple period, Israel returned to sin again as before; but in this last exile, all the iniquities will come to an end and be atoned for, for so great an exile as this will atone for iniquity, and the House of Israel will sin no more. Therefore, at its end, the fifth kingdom will come to Israel, and 'everlasting righteousness' will be 'brought in' — namely, the Tablets of the Covenant — to the eternal House, in the Sanctuary, which had been lacking in the Second Temple. And 'vision and prophet' will be 'sealed' and confirmed, for Hashem will pour out His spirit upon all flesh, and their sons will dream dreams even though they are young in years — for prophecy was lacking in the Second Temple period. And 'the most holy place' will be 'anointed' with the anointing oil, for that oil was lacking in the Second Temple.
Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem to one anointed, a prince, shall be seven weeks; and for threescore and two weeks, it shall be built again, with broad place and moat, but in troublous times.
verse value 8348
Insights
Verse structure: 20 words, 97 letters. The shortest word is "word" (דָבָ֗ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·to·build" (וְלִבְנ֤וֹת, 6 letters). 13 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "and·know" (וְתֵדַ֨ע), "and·discern" (וְתַשְׂכֵּ֜ל), "from·going·forth·of" (מִן־מֹצָ֣א). The root שוב appears 2 times in this verse. 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·know" (root ידע, 43x in Daniel); "word" (root דבר, 40x in Daniel). First appearance of the root נגיד ("leader") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'seven', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 9 words.
Rashi
And you shall know and understand from the emergence of the word From the emergence of this word, which emerged at the beginning of your supplications to tell you, you shall know to understand [how] to restore and build Jerusalem. until the anointed king Time will be given from the day of the destruction until the coming of Cyrus, king of Persia, about whom the Holy One, blessed be He, said that he would return and build His city, and He called him His anointed and His king, as it says (Isa. 45:1): “So said the Lord to His anointed one, to Cyrus etc.” (verse 13): “He shall build My city and free My exiles, etc.” seven weeks Seven complete shemittah cycles they will be in exile before Cyrus comes, and there were yet three more years, but since they did not constitute a complete shemittah cycle, they were not counted. In the one year of Darius, in which Daniel was standing when this vision was said to him, seventy years from the conquest of Jehoiakim terminated. Deduct eighteen years from them, in which the conquest of Jehoiakim preceded the destruction of Jerusalem, leaving fifty-two years. This is what our Rabbis learned (Yoma 54a): “For fifty-two years no one passed through Judea.” They are the fifty-two years from the day of the destruction until they returned in the days of Cyrus. Hence, we have seven shemittah cycles and three years. and in sixty-two weeks it will return and be built i.e., the city with its streets. and moat Heb. וְחָרוּץ. They are the moats that they make around the wall to strengthen the city, which are called fosse in French, ditch or moat. but in troubled times But in those times they will be troubled and distressed, for in the subjugation of the kings of Persia and the heathens, they will burden them with harsh bondage. Now although there are sixty-two weeks and four years more that remain from the eighth week, whose beginning, viz. the three years, was included in the fifty-two years of the duration of the exile, those four years were not counted here because here he counted only weeks, and you find that from the beginning he started to count seventy weeks, and at the end, when he delineated their times and their judgments, he counted only sixty-nine, proving that one week was divided, part of it here and part of it there; and he mentioned only whole weeks. but in troubled times They will be troubled in those times.
Ibn Ezra
To one anointed, a prince, shall be seven weeks — Now, there are nineteen years, which are the reigns of Cyrus and Ahasuerus, and two years of Darius — who reigned twelve years — and so it is written in the Book of the Kings of Persia — and twenty years from [the reign of] Artaxerxes the king. Now, altogether, the seven weeks [ran] until Nehemiah came, as is written in the Book of Ezra; and the sixty-two weeks are [the years] that the Second Temple stood; and the half-week I have explained elsewhere. And it says, ‘appalled’ — this is a transitive verb; and the meaning is that it appalls all who see it and all who hear of it, from [among] Israel. (27) And the meaning of ‘and that until the full end and what is decreed shall be poured out upon the appalled’ — that the detestable thing will remain in the [Temple] House until the time of the full end and decree arrives; the decree that has been decreed will be poured out upon the ‘appalled’ — that is, the detestable thing — by way of a prayer [i.e., a wish that it be destroyed], that it should become desolate; like [the phrase] ‘O daughter of Babylon, that is to be destroyed’ (Psalms 137:8).
Metzudat David
From the going forth of the word – From what issues forth and can be understood from this word, you will know and discern the time when [the command] comes to restore and build Jerusalem in a complete redemption, and you will understand that you erred in your calculation, and that the time has not yet come. Unto one anointed, a prince – That is, in this reckoning the number of these seven shemitah-cycles was allotted up to ‘unto one anointed, a prince’; that is, from the destruction until ‘one anointed, a prince’ — namely Cyrus — there will be a full seven shemitah-cycles, but the eighth will not be complete. And for threescore and two weeks, it shall be built again, etc. – And after that [Jerusalem] will go back to being built, for a period of sixty-two complete shemitah-cycles (and because the next one was not completed, he did not even mention the extra years), apart from the years that did not amount to a full shemitah-cycle. And from that going forth of the word you will be able to discern and know that the time has not yet come. For the number of seventy years that Jeremiah spoke of — ‘when seventy years are completed for Babylon’ — refers only to the beginning of the visitation, and that count is reckoned from the beginning of Babylon's dominion spreading over Israel, from the time Nebuchadnezzar first conquered Jehoiakim. But the final redemption and the building of the Temple will occur at the completion of seventy years from the exile of Zedekiah and the destruction of the [First] Temple. For if so, the reckoning comes out precisely: Zedekiah's exile was at the end of Nebuchadnezzar's nineteenth year, and he reigned forty-five years, so twenty-six years remained of his reign; the days of Evil-merodach his son were twenty-three — except that one year was counted twice, as stated above — which makes forty-eight; the days of Belshazzar his son were three, which makes fifty-one; the days of Darius the Mede were one year, which makes fifty-two. So from the destruction until Cyrus, who reigned after Darius, only seven complete shemitah-cycles had passed, with three years having entered into the eighth shemitah-cycle. And in the first year of Cyrus they went up to Jerusalem and began to build it, and it stood thus for eighteen years, until the first year of Darius the Persian; and the House itself was not built until his second year, and it stood four hundred twenty years. So from the building of Jerusalem until the destruction there were four hundred thirty-eight years, which amount to sixty-two complete shemitah-cycles plus four more years that did not amount to a full shemitah-cycle (and therefore he did not even mention the years) — so altogether there are seventy shemitah-cycles. And just as the reckoning stated, ‘until an anointed one, a prince,’ is calculated from the exile of Zedekiah, so too the reckoning of the complete redemption and the building of the Temple is to be counted as seventy years from the exile of Zedekiah, and these were not completed until the first year of Darius the Persian. For when Darius the Mede died, it was fifty-two years from the exile of Zedekiah, as we have said; go and reckon: the days of Cyrus, three, makes fifty-five; the days of Ahasuerus, fourteen, makes sixty-nine. So in the first year of his son Darius the Persian the seventy years were completed, and in his second year came the complete redemption, and they began to build the House, as it is written, ‘In the second year of Darius, etc. … and they came and did the work in the house of Hashem’ (Haggai 1:14). And as for what is written, ‘and in the first year of Cyrus, that the word of Hashem by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, etc.’ (II Chronicles 36:22) — that was only a partial visitation, whereby Israel returned to their land by the decree of Cyrus, as stated there, which occurred at the completion of seventy years from the exile of Jehoiakim, that is, fifty-two years from the exile of Zedekiah. But the complete redemption is reckoned as seventy years from the exile of Zedekiah, as we have said. Yet if the complete redemption and the building of the Temple were reckoned instead from the first conquest of Jehoiakim, at the completion of seventy years from it, then there would be no reckoning at all here from the exile of Zedekiah; and so the reckoning stated, ‘until an anointed one, a prince,’ would likewise have to be counted from the first conquest of Jehoiakim, which would come to ten shemitah-cycles, and from ‘an anointed one, a prince’ until the destruction of the Second Temple there would be only sixty shemitah-cycles, making altogether seventy shemitah-cycles. But that is not what was stated and decreed, for [the period] until ‘an anointed one, a prince’ does not even reach eight complete shemitah-cycles, while from there until the destruction it comes to even more than sixty-two shemitah-cycles. So from this [Daniel] will realize that he had erred in his calculation — and this refers back to the beginning of the passage, where, through the angel's words, [Daniel] said: ‘I … discerned by the books the number … to accomplish for the desolations of Jerusalem, seventy years’ — that is, reckoned from the exile of Zedekiah and the destruction of the [First] Temple. Broad place and moat – The city square will be built, with a trench dug around it, in the manner done for a fortified city. But in troublous times – The period during which the Second Temple stood will be a time of distress, for Persia, Greece, and Rome will rule over them.
Metzudat Zion
Moat — a term denoting digging; and our Sages state, 'trenches and stakes' (Chullin 67). Troublous — from the language of distress and trouble.
Malbim
The questions: (25) What is meant by, ‘and for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again, with broad place and moat’? This was not so, for the Temple stood only four hundred and twenty years, which are only sixty weeks, not sixty-two. And furthermore, he opens by [saying] seventy weeks, yet then details only seven and sixty-two — leaving one week unaccounted for? Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the word to restore and to build Jerusalem — on this basis he explains to him the details of the reckoning of what would take place during these seventy sabbatical cycles that were decreed concerning Hashem’s people: that is, from the destruction [of the Temple] until the time when permission would be given them to return and build Jerusalem — which was in the first year that Cyrus reigned, when he gave permission for the exiles to return, and many of them did return. “and from there to one anointed, A PRINCE” — meaning, concerning the length of time that an anointed one would be a prince and ruler; that is, throughout all the days that the Temple stood they had an anointed one — a High Priest anointed with oil, or a prince or king, both of whom were called “anointed” — and he would be a prince and commander. This period would extend for seven weeks, and sixty weeks, and two further weeks, in which the city would ‘be built again, with broad place and moat.’ That is: the seven weeks — seven sabbatical cycles — would extend until ‘to restore and build Jerusalem’; that is, from the time of the destruction of the Temple until Cyrus issued the decree to restore and build Jerusalem, which was in the first year of his reign. Rashi has already explained that there were, in fact, three years more [than seven full weeks] — for in the first year of Darius, in which Daniel stood when this vision was told to him, the seventy years from the subjugation of Jehoiakim were completed; subtract from these the eighteen years by which the subjugation of Jehoiakim preceded the destruction of Jerusalem, and fifty-two remain — but since the final week was not complete, it was not counted. And the sixty weeks would extend until ‘an anointed one, a prince’ — meaning, until the time of the destruction [of the Second Temple], for until then an anointed one from Israel would be a prince and ruler over them. And the two remaining weeks would extend until it would ‘be built again, with broad place and moat’ — meaning, from the time the building was halted, in the first year of Cyrus, when they wrote an accusation and the building was stopped, until the second year of Darius. For although eighteen years had, in fact, elapsed, he counts only whole sabbatical cycles, and there were no more than two complete cycles in that span; therefore only two are counted, as Rashi explained above — and this is especially so since, as is clear from Ezra, they began building in the second year, in the second month, and it was then that the adversaries of Judah wrote their accusation; and by the time the letters had gone and come back to halt the building, it was not actually halted until the end of the second year, or the beginning of the third year, of Cyrus. Accordingly, he showed him three distinct reckonings. The first reckoning: seven weeks, until Cyrus issued the decree to build — and then was fulfilled what Jeremiah said, ‘when Babylon’s seventy years are fulfilled, I will attend to you’ (cf. Jeremiah 29:10), for this was the first decree, in the days of Cyrus, immediately upon the fall of Babylon. The second reckoning: two sabbatical cycles (plus a few further years, which he did not count, since they were less than a full week), until they actually began building again a second time, in the days of Darius; and with this was fulfilled the second prophecy that Daniel found in the writings — that the desolations of Jerusalem were to be fulfilled after seventy years (cf. Daniel 9:2) — reckoned from the exile of Zedekiah, which came eighteen years after the exile of Jehoiakim. And this is the answer to the first doubt that Daniel had. And the Second Temple stood four hundred and twenty years, which are sixty weeks — which is why it says, ‘until one anointed, a prince,’ who ruled over Israel, an anointed one and ruler from among their own. “and in troublous times” — meaning that throughout this entire period the Second Temple would stand amid troubled times, for they were under the rule of foreign kingdoms, and had troubles and distresses, in order ‘to finish the transgression’ and ‘to atone for iniquity’ from the sins of the First Temple. And this is the answer to the second doubt that Daniel had, since he had seen that there would be yet another subjugation in exile.
Ibn Yahya
'Know therefore and discern' the origin of the matter: when the Babylonian exile will end, how long the Second Temple will endure, and when the long, final exile will begin. For from the going forth of the word until it is brought to realization in the coming of the ruler Cyrus — who is called Hashem's anointed — to restore Israel and build Jerusalem, seven weeks will pass. With this he explained the duration of the Babylonian exile approximately, for he did not reveal the exact time allotted for each matter. And for 'threescore and two weeks' the land of Israel will return to being built up, in the Second Temple period, and 'it shall be built, with broad place and moat' — that is, the trenches of the land and all its places. And 'in troublous times' — for during much of the Second Temple period there would be distress and trouble for Israel, as in the days of the Hasmoneans and others. Now, the count of the sixty-two weeks runs from the time the work of building began in the days of Cyrus, even though it was later halted. With this he explained, approximately, the duration of the Second Temple.
And after the threescore and two weeks an anointed one shall be cut off, and be no more; and the people of a prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; but his end shall be with a flood; and to the end of the war desolations are determined.
verse value 6938
Insights
Verse structure: 21 words, 86 letters. Notable word values: "to·him" (ל֑וֹ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "to·him" (ל֑וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·weeks" (הַשָּׁבֻעִים֙, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 67: and·there·is·no, leader. 9 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "the·weeks" (הַשָּׁבֻעִים֙), "shall·be·cut·off" (יִכָּרֵ֥ת), "anointed" (מָשִׁ֖יחַ). The root קץ appears 2 times in this verse. 20 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "who·comes" (root בוא, 42x in Daniel); "people·of" (root עם, 30x in Daniel); "and·until" (root עד, 21x in Daniel). First appearance of the root שטף ("in·the·flood") in Daniel. First appearance of the root מלחמה ("war") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·him', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 13 words.
Rashi
And after those weeks. the anointed one will be cut off Agrippa, the king of Judea, who was ruling at the time of the destruction, will be slain. and he will be no more Heb. וְאֵין לוֹ, and he will not have. The meaning is that he will not be. the anointed one Heb. מָשִׁיחַ. This is purely an expression of a prince and a dignitary. and the city and the Sanctuary lit. and the city and the Holy. and the people of the coming monarch will destroy [The monarch who will come] upon them. That is Titus and his armies. and his end will come about by inundation And his end will be damnation and destruction, for He will inundate the power of his kingdom through the Messiah. and until the end of the wars of Gog the city will exist. cut off into desolation a destruction of desolation.
Ibn Ezra
And after the threescore and two weeks an anointed one shall be cut off, and be no more; and the people of a prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary — [this means] that no king from Israel will reign over them any longer; and ‘the people of the prince who shall come,’ who will destroy the city and the sanctuary, is Vespasian, general of the king of Rome, when he came against Jerusalem together with his son. Concerning them, too, it is written in the fourth prophecy: ‘and armed forces shall arise from him, and profane the sanctuary, the stronghold, and take away the continual burnt-offering’ (Daniel 11:31). And the meaning of ‘and his end’ — it will come by means of ships. And ‘to the end of the war’ — that he fought many years against Jerusalem, until it was destroyed and left desolate.
Metzudat David
Threescore and two – He did not trouble to count the additional four years, as stated above, since they do not amount to a complete shemitah-cycle. An anointed one shall be cut off – This is King Agrippa, who will be put to death at the time of the destruction. And be no more – He will no longer exist in the world; this is a repetition of the same idea in different words. And the sanctuary – The Temple. The people of a prince – The people of the prince who will come against Jerusalem, namely Titus. But his end shall be with a flood – But the end of that people will be destruction in a great flood — indeed, the very one that will come about through the Messiah. And to the end of the war – The war that will be the last of all wars, namely the war of Gog. Desolations are determined – The city of Jerusalem will be cut off with an utter cutting-off of desolation.
Metzudat Zion
With a flood — this is a figurative expression, borrowed from the surging rush of water. Are determined — a term denoting cutting off and severance, as in 'for a full end, and one that is determined' (Isaiah 10).
Malbim
And after the threescore And two weeks — during which an anointed one, a prince, would rule over them, from among their own people — ‘an anointed one shall be cut off, and be no more.’ For the last king, Agrippa, was killed in Rome, and likewise the last High Priest was killed, and there was no longer any king or High Priest from among their own people. ‘And the people of a prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary’ — that is, the Roman people; for the destruction of the Temple was not by the will of Titus — rather, the Romans did this of their own accord, as is stated in Josippon. ‘But his end shall be with a flood’ — and through this flood there would come an end to the sanctuary, in that the Temple would remain in ruins until the time of war — meaning, until the time of the war of Gog and Magog arrives — and ‘to the end of the war desolations are determined’ — that is, until the time that has been decreed and decided that it should be desolate and in ruins.
Ibn Yahya
And after the sixty-two weeks an anointed one shall be cut off — that is, the service of the Temple that began with Cyrus the anointed shall be cut off, for it has no one to help it. 'The city and the sanctuary' shall be destroyed 'by the people' who come with the prince — Titus. Now Scripture attributes that destruction to 'the people' and not to Titus, because, as Josippon records, he had compassion on the city and its people; and its end — that is, of the city and the sanctuary — in this destruction shall be 'with a flood,' meaning a great destruction, like the flood of many waters. And 'until the end of the war desolations are determined,' for many of Israel, as numerous as sand, died in the war of Titus, and their children in the war of the brigands.
And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week; and for half of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and upon the wing of detestable things shall be that which causes appalment; and that until the extermination wholly determined be poured out upon that which causes appalment.’
verse value 5872
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 80 letters. Notable word values: "one" (אֶחָ֑ד) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "one" (אֶחָ֑ד, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·he·shall·confirm" (וְהִגְבִּ֥יר, 6 letters). 11 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Daniel. Unique to this verse in Daniel (hapax): "and·he·shall·confirm" (וְהִגְבִּ֥יר), "week" (שָׁב֣וּעַ), "the·week" (הַשָּׁב֜וּעַ). The root שבוע appears 2 times in this verse. 16 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·upon" (root על, 64x in Daniel); "with·the·many" (root רב, 34x in Daniel). First appearance of the root שקוץ ("detestable·things") in Daniel. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'one', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 13 words.
Rashi
And he will strengthen a covenant for the princes for one week לָרַבִּים, for the princes, like “and all the officers of (רַבֵּי) the king,” in the Book of Jeremiah (39:13). will strengthen Titus [will strengthen] a covenant with the princes of Israel. for one week He will promise them the strengthening of a covenant and peace for seven years, but within the seven years, he will abrogate his covenant. he will abolish sacrifice and meal-offering This is what he says in the first vision (8: 26): “and in tranquility he will destroy many.” Through a covenant of tranquility, he will destroy them. and on high, among abominations will be the dumb one This is a pejorative for pagan deities. i.e., on a high place, among abominations and disgusting things, he will place the dumb one, the pagan deity, which is dumb like a silent stone. high Heb. כְּנַף, lit. wing, an expression of height, like the wing of a flying bird. and until destruction and extermination befall the dumb one and the ruling of the abomination will endure until the day that the destruction and extermination decreed upon it [will] befall it, in the days of the king Messiah. befall the dumb one Heb. תִּתַּךְ, reach; and total destruction will descend upon the image of the pagan deity and upon its worshippers.
Metzudat David
And he shall make a firm covenant – At first, the king of Rome will make and strengthen a covenant with the leaders of Israel, for the duration of one shemitah-cycle [seven years]. And for half of the week – But he will break the covenant in the middle of the week, and come against Jerusalem, and cause sacrifice and offering to cease from the House of Hashem. And upon the wing – That is, at a great height, like a bird that spreads its wings to fly upward; this is a figure of speech. Detestable things … that which causes appalment – There will be a detestable, mute idol, mute as a silent stone. And that until the extermination – It will remain at that great height until destruction and excision are poured out upon that mute idol; that is, it will come to an end all at once, and not gradually.
Metzudat Zion
With many (larabim) - Meaning officers, as in "the king's officers" (Jeremiah 41). That which causes appalment (meshomem) - Paralyzed and struck mute [with horror]. Poured out (titakh) - An expression of pouring out and emptying.
Malbim
And he shall make A firm covenant — he relates how the destruction would come about: that for one week, Titus asked them to make peace with him, and wished to make a covenant with them, and would not accept from them even tribute — provided only that they enter with him into a covenant of peace. This is the meaning of ‘he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week.’ ‘And for half of the week’ — three years before the destruction — ‘he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease’: the sacrifices were nullified on account of the wars. ‘And upon the wing of detestable things’ — seventy years after the destruction, Hadrian set up his image in the place of the Temple, upon a wing of abominations. And this would continue ‘until the extermination wholly determined is poured out upon that which causes appalment’ — that is, upon the one who destroys it, who laid it waste and destroyed it.
Ibn Yahya
'And for one week' — the last of the seventy weeks — 'he shall make a covenant prevail for many.' That is to say, Titus will call Israel to peace, that they should make a covenant with him and submit before him, and he will deal ever more graciously with them. 'And for half of that last week he shall cause sacrifice and offering to cease' from the Temple; and afterward he will burn the Temple and make it a desolate ruin, exposed, so that 'the wing of detestable things' shall pass over it — these being the unclean birds that will pass over there and nest in it. And 'until the extermination wholly determined,' his fury shall be poured out upon the people of Israel, who are left desolate.
Rashi
Ibn Ezra
Metzudat David
Malbim
Ibn Yahya