Daniel 9:2-3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Daniel 9:1-3

We left Daniel, in the close of the foregoing chapter, employed in the king's business; but here we have him employed in better business than any king had for him, speaking to God and hearing from him, not for himself only, but for the church, whose mouth he was to God, and for whose use the oracles of God were committed to him, relating to the days of the Messiah. Observe, 1. When it was that Daniel had this communion with God (Dan. 9:1), in the first year of Darius the Mede, who was newly... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Daniel 9:2

In the first year of his reign ,.... Which was also the first of Cyrus, who was partner with him in the kingdom; in which year ended the seventy years' captivity of the Jews, and proclamation was made to have their liberty to go up to Jerusalem, and build the temple, Ezra 1:1 , reckoning from the third, or the beginning of the fourth, of Jehoiakim king of Judah, when the desolation of the land began, and Daniel himself was carried captive; and which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Daniel 9:3

And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications ,.... He set apart some time on purpose for this service, distinct from his usual stated times of prayer, as well as from his civil business and employment; and he not only set his face toward Jerusalem, as he used to do, Daniel 6:10 , the more to affect his mind with the desolations the city and temple lay in; but towards the Lord God, the sovereign Lord of all, who does according to his will in heaven and in earth,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Daniel 9:2

I Daniel understood by books - The prophecy referred to here is found Jeremiah 25:12 ; Jeremiah 29:10 . The people must have been satisfied of the Divine inspiration of Jeremiah, or his prophecies would not have been so speedily collected nor so carefully preserved. It appears that there was a copy of them then in Daniel's hands. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Daniel 9:3

I set my face - to seek by prayer - He found that the time of the promised deliverance could not be at any great distance; and as he saw nothing that indicated a speedy termination of their oppressive captivity, he was very much afflicted, and earnestly besought God to put a speedy end to it; and how earnestly he seeks, his own words show. He prayed, he supplicated, he fasted, he put sackcloth upon his body, and he put ashes upon his head. He uses that kind of prayer prescribed by Solomon in... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Daniel 9:2

Verse 2 We began to say yesterday, that the faithful do not so acquiesce in the promises of God as to grow torpid, and become idle and slothful through the certainty of their persuasion that God will perform his promises, but are rather stimulated to prayer. For the true proof of faith is the assurance when we pray that God will really perform what he has promised us. Daniel is here set before us as an example of this. For when he understood the time of deliverance to be at hand, this knowledge... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Daniel 9:3

Verse 3 When they were cast out and dispersed throughout the various countries of the earth, it seemed as if the covenant of God had been abolished, and as if there was no further advantage in deriving their origin from those holy fathers to whom their land had been promised. For the purpose of meeting these temptations, God fixed beforehand a set time for their exile, and Daniel now recurs to this prediction. He adds, Then I raised my face It is properly אתנה, ath-neh, I placed; but as some... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Daniel 9:1-2

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; in the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord same to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. The version of the Septuagint goes on the assumption that the critics are correct in their belief that the author of Daniel imagined a Median Empire... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Daniel 9:1-19

The omnipotence of prayer. The man of prayer exerts a greater influence over national affairs than even crowned heads. "Prayer moves the hand that moves the world." Daniel on his knees was a mightier man than Darius on his throne. Daniel was in the service of the King of kings; was admitted to the audience-chamber of the Most High; and received the announcements of the Divine will. Darius now mainly serves as a landmark on the course of time to indicate a date; Daniel is still the teacher... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Daniel 9:1-21

The nation's advocate at God's bar. "Whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel … touched me" ( Daniel 9:21 ). Our subject is the prayer of Daniel, and the following points will demand full and careful consideration. I. THE MOMENT IN TIME . This was most critical; for: 1 . The moment had been anticipated in prophecy. ( Jeremiah 25:11 , Jeremiah 25:12 ; Jeremiah 29:10-14 .) How Daniel reckoned the seventy years, and how others did so, must be carefully... read more

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