Daniel 9, along with Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53, is a missionary favorite. Unfortunately for most Christians their translations are often badly mangled. Daniel 9 speaks of two messiahs -- not one. Neither one is "the" messiah. The passage never uses the term "the" messiah. You would not know that if you rely on Christian translations -- many of whom say "the Messiah" (capital "m" too -- even though there are no capital letters in Hebrew). The King James Version (KJV) is guilty of this mistranslation. It puts the definite article "the" in front of the translation they chose for the Hebrew word מָשִֽׁיחַ / (moshiach. The KJV chose to translate מָשִֽׁיחַ / moshiach as "the messiah” in Daniel 9:25 although the Hebrew word for "the" does not appear at all (In Hebrew the word "the" is represented by the prefix ה / ha). Let me repeat that: “the messiah” does not appear in Daniel 9. There is no ה / ha /“the” in front of the word מָשִֽׁיחַ / moshiach / messiah / anointed one in Daniel 9. Knowing now that the King James has altered Daniel 9:25 to say “the Messiah” when it truly says “messiah” (or “anointed one”) – and that the KJV uses the word “messiah” in Daniel 9, but not in the other 37 locations in appears in the T’nach (Jewish bible) one can begin to see how translators are liars (whether they mean to be or not). Let’s just look at a few Christian translations for Daniel 9:
Interesting enough NIV translation uses "the Anointed One" in this chapter, whereas The Message uses "the Anointed Leader" in Daniel 9. Note the capitalization and the use of the word "the" even though they do not use the word "messiah." The Message does use the word "Messiah" (capital "m") three times in Psalm 2 -- using "the Messiah" in one of the three times it uses that word in the psalm. None of these Christian translations use the word “messiah” in the other 37 locations (39 in all) the term actually is found in the T’nach (bible). This selective translation (mistranslation?) misleads their innocent readers in "seeing" Jesus in the passages -- and not in the 37 other instances where the term clearly references other people (primarily priests). The list maker seems to be claiming that Jesus made an end to sins, thus "fulfilling" Daniel 9. The passage does not say that anyone will end sin. It says that the Jewish people have a time frame (given in the chapter) in which to stop sinning and avoid a second exile. It is a WARNING. Let's start at the beginning. The Jews have been exiled to Babylon. Daniel is in exile with them. It is first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, son of Ahasuerus, in the Chaldæan empire (521 BCE). Daniel is among the Jews who have been exiled to Babylon -- and he wants to calculate when this exile will end and the Jews will return to Judah (Israel). "In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, contemplated the calculations, the number of the years that the word of the L-rd had come to Jeremiah the prophet, since the destruction of Jerusalem seventy years." Daniel 9:2. It was 597 BCE, 76 years earlier, when King Jeconiah of Judah had been deposed and sent into exile. Thus more than 70 years had already passed from the start of the exile itself -- so was Jeremiah speaking about the length of the exile or did the 70 years stand for something slightly different? Here are the words of Y'rmiyahu / Jeremiah 29:10: "For so said the L-rd: For at the completion of seventy years of Babylon I will remember you, and I will fulfill My good word toward you, to restore you to this place." The date of Jeconiah's exile was too early -- and Daniel is in exile six years past that date, wondering when the "70 years" began and when his exile will end. Those are not the 70 years. . . The 70 years began with the completion of the Second Temple -- 586 BCE -- exactly 70 years after the destruction of the First Temple by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE. But that had not happened yet for Daniel -- so he was unable to compute the date for the start of his vision -- the return of the Jews from Babylonian exile. In his vision he sees that a messiah (not "the") will give the word to rebuild Jerusalem and let the Jews return to Israel (Judah). The term “messiah” is used 39 times in the T’nach. It means “anointed one” and it refers to kings and priests. Not all "messiahs" are Jews -- the term simply means one who has been anointed (even occasionally used to mean "appointed" without an actually anointing). Jewish anointing is very specific -- for kings and priests -- but even the Queen of England is a messiah -- she was properly anointed according to the laws of her people. There are two messiahs in Daniel 9 and it is quite possible that neither one was Jewish, let alone the Jewish messiah. The first messiah gave the word to rebuild Jerusalem. This first messiah was Cyrus the Great of Persia. He was the king who gave the order to rebuild Jerusalem. In Daniel's vision he learns that from the time the word is given to rebuild Jerusalem the Jews have nearly 500 years to return to observance and avoid a second exile. This vision is a warning. IF the Jews stop sinning and return to G-d they can avoid a second exile. IF. If the Jews do not then they will be exiled again -- and this will be marked by the arrival of a second messiah -- an evil messiah. A man so evil that he will be כרת / kareit -- cut off. The term כרת / kareit means someone who has done something so evil that he is cut off from G-d and from the Jewish people. What of the claimed fulfillment passage -- Galatians 1:3-5? In it the statement is made that Jesus "gave himself for our sins." This has nothing to do with Daniel 9 -- and the T'nach makes it clear time and time and time again that no one can die for your sins or "remove" your sins. We are each responsible for our own actions. Read D'varim / Deuteronomy 24:16 "Fathers shall not die [through the testimony] of their sons, and sons shall not die [through the testimony] of their fathers, since [in any case] every man shall die for his sins." When man repents, G-d forgives. Read Bamidbar / Numbers 35:33 "And you shall not corrupt the land in which you live, for the blood corrupts the land, and the blood which is shed in the land cannot be atoned for except through the blood of the one who shed it." Thus Jesus' blood could not atone for anything -- human blood corrupts the land! No, Galatians is wrong -- Jesus (nor anyone) could "give" himself for your sins -- only you can atone for your sins. For your edification, here is the Artscroll Stone Edition T'nach translation: "In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus of the offspring of Media, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, 9:2. in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, contemplated the calculations, the number of years about which the word of HaShem had come to the prophet Jeremiah, to complete the seventy years since the ruin of Jerusalem. 9:3. I set my face toward the L-rd, G-d, to beseech (with) prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. . . 9:21. I was still speaking in prayer, when the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, was lifted in flight approaching me, at about the time of the afternoon offering. 9:22. He made me understand and spoke with me. He said: Daniel, I have gone forth now to teach you understanding. 9:23. At the beginning of your supplications a word went forth, and I have come to relate it for you are beloved. Contemplate this matter and gain understanding in your vision. 9:24. Seventy septets (שָׁבֻעִ֖ים / shavuim) have been decreed upon your people and upon your holy city to terminate transgression, to end sin, to wipe away iniquity, to anoint the Holy of Holies. 9:25. Know and comprehend: From the emergence of the word to return and to build Jerusalem until the anointment of the prince will be seven septets (שָׁבֻעִ֖ים / shavuim) and for sixty-two septets (וְשָׁבֻעִ֞ים / v'shavuim) it will be rebuilt, street and moat, but in troubled times. 9:26. Then, after the sixty-two septets (הַשָּׁבֻעִים֙ / ha-shavuim) , the anointed one (messiah) will be cut off and will exist no longer; the people of the prince will come and destroy the city and the Sanctuary; but his end will be (to be swept away as) in a flood. Then, until the end of the war, desolation is decreed. 9:27. He will forge a strong covenant with the great ones for one septet (shavuim); but for half of that septet (שָׁב֣וּעַ / shavua) he will abolish sacrifice and meal-offering and the mute abominations will be upon soaring heights until extermination. as decreed will pour down upon the mute (abomination). Footnotes: 9:1 This is Darius the Mede, not Darius the Persian whose parents were King Ahasuerus and Queen Esther. According to the Talmud, this vision took place in the seventieth year after Nebuchadnezzar's subjugation of Jeconiah, eighteen years before the destruction of the Temple. 9:2 See From the Artscroll Stone Edition T'nach translation: "In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus of the offspring of Media, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, 9:2. in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, contemplated the calculations, the number of years about which the word of HaShem had come to the prophet Jeremiah, to complete the seventy years since the ruin of Jerusalem. 9:3. I set my face toward the L-rd, G-d, to beseech (with) prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. . . 9:21. I was still speaking in prayer, when the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, was lifted in flight approaching me, at about the time of the afternoon offering. 9:22. He made me understand and spoke with me. He said: Daniel, I have gone forth now to teach you understanding. 9:23. At the beginning of your supplications a word went forth, and I have come to relate it for you are beloved. Contemplate this matter and gain understanding in your vision. 9:24. Seventy septets (שָׁבֻעִ֖ים / shavuim) have been decreed upon your people and upon your holy city to terminate transgression, to end sin, to wipe away iniquity, to anoint the Holy of Holies. 9:25. Know and comprehend: From the emergence of the word to return and to build Jerusalem until the anointment of the prince will be seven septets (שָׁבֻעִ֖ים / shavuim) and for sixty-two septets (וְשָׁבֻעִ֞ים / v'shavuim) it will be rebuilt, street and moat, but in troubled times. 9:26. Then, after the sixty-two septets (הַשָּׁבֻעִים֙ / ha-shavuim) , the anointed one (messiah) will be cut off and will exist no longer; the people of the prince will come and destroy the city and the Sanctuary; but his end will be (to be swept away as) in a flood. Then, until the end of the war, desolation is decreed. 9:27. He will forge a strong covenant with the great ones for one septet (shavuim); but for half of that septet (שָׁב֣וּעַ / shavua) he will abolish sacrifice and meal-offering and the mute abominations will be upon soaring heights until extermination. as decreed will pour down upon the mute (abomination). Footnotes: 9:1 This is Darius the Mede, not Darius the Persian whose parents were King Ahasuerus and Queen Esther. According to the Talmud, this vision took place in the seventieth year after Nebuchadnezzar's subjugation of Jeconiah, eighteen years before the destruction of the Temple. 9:2 See From the Artscroll Stone Edition T'nach translation: "In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus of the offspring of Media, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, 9:2. in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, contemplated the calculations, the number of years about which the word of HaShem had come to the prophet Jeremiah, to complete the seventy years since the ruin of Jerusalem. 9:3. I set my face toward the L-rd, G-d, to beseech (with) prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. . . 9:21. I was still speaking in prayer, when the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, was lifted in flight approaching me, at about the time of the afternoon offering. 9:22. He made me understand and spoke with me. He said: Daniel, I have gone forth now to teach you understanding. 9:23. At the beginning of your supplications a word went forth, and I have come to relate it for you are beloved. Contemplate this matter and gain understanding in your vision. 9:24. Seventy septets (שָׁבֻעִ֖ים / shavuim) have been decreed upon your people and upon your holy city to terminate transgression, to end sin, to wipe away iniquity, to anoint the Holy of Holies. 9:25. Know and comprehend: From the emergence of the word to return and to build Jerusalem until the anointment of the prince will be seven septets (שָׁבֻעִ֖ים / shavuim) and for sixty-two septets (וְשָׁבֻעִ֞ים / v'shavuim) it will be rebuilt, street and moat, but in troubled times. 9:26. Then, after the sixty-two septets (הַשָּׁבֻעִים֙ / ha-shavuim) , the anointed one (messiah) will be cut off and will exist no longer; the people of the prince will come and destroy the city and the Sanctuary; but his end will be (to be swept away as) in a flood. Then, until the end of the war, desolation is decreed. 9:27. He will forge a strong covenant with the great ones for one septet (shavuim); but for half of that septet (שָׁב֣וּעַ / shavua) he will abolish sacrifice and meal-offering and the mute abominations will be upon soaring heights until extermination. as decreed will pour down upon the mute (abomination). Footnotes: 9:1 This is Darius the Mede, not Darius the Persian whose parents were King Ahasuerus and Queen Esther. According to the Talmud, this vision took place in the seventieth year after Nebuchadnezzar's subjugation of Jeconiah, eighteen years before the destruction of the Temple. 9:2 See Y'rmiyahu / Jeremiah 29:10.. 9:24 Literally "seventy weeks," this phrase refers to seventy times seven years, or 490 years. This refers to the seventy years of exile that have passed from the Destruction of the First Temple until this vision and the entire 420 year period of the Second Temple (Rashi). 9:25. The "septets" (shavuim) refer to full seven-year periods. The prince of this verse is Cyrus, who gave permission to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. He ascended to the throne fifty-two years (seven full septets plus three years) after the exile had begun. From then until the second destruction of Jerusalem was 438 years, or sixty-two septets and four years (Rashi). 9:26. I.e. Agrippa, the last Jewish king, at the end of the Second Temple Era. After his death, the prince of this verse, the Roman Titus, would command the destruction of the Temple, which will not be rebuilt until after the War of Gog and Magog, in Messianic times (Rashi). 9:27. The Roman emperor would make a treaty with the Jewish nation for seven years; but for the second half of that term the Romans would violate that covenant and impede the Temple service. The "mute abomination," i.e., a temple of idolatry, was erected by the emperor Hadrian on the Temple Mount (Rashi). . 9:24 Literally "seventy weeks," this phrase refers to seventy times seven years, or 490 years. This refers to the seventy years of exile that have passed from the Destruction of the First Temple until this vision and the entire 420 year period of the Second Temple (Rashi). 9:25. The "septets" (shavuim) refer to full seven-year periods. The prince of this verse is Cyrus, who gave permission to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. He ascended to the throne fifty-two years (seven full septets plus three years) after the exile had begun. From then until the second destruction of Jerusalem was 438 years, or sixty-two septets and four years (Rashi). 9:26. I.e. Agrippa, the last Jewish king, at the end of the Second Temple Era. After his death, the prince of this verse, the Roman Titus, would command the destruction of the Temple, which will not be rebuilt until after the War of Gog and Magog, in Messianic times (Rashi). 9:27. The Roman emperor would make a treaty with the Jewish nation for seven years; but for the second half of that term the Romans would violate that covenant and impede the Temple service. The "mute abomination," i.e., a temple of idolatry, was erected by the emperor Hadrian on the Temple Mount (Rashi). . 9:24 Literally "seventy weeks," this phrase refers to seventy times seven years, or 490 years. This refers to the seventy years of exile that have passed from the Destruction of the First Temple until this vision and the entire 420 year period of the Second Temple (Rashi). 9:25. The "septets" (shavuim) refer to full seven-year periods. The prince of this verse is Cyrus, who gave permission to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. He ascended to the throne fifty-two years (seven full septets plus three years) after the exile had begun. From then until the second destruction of Jerusalem was 438 years, or sixty-two septets and four years (Rashi). 9:26. I.e. Agrippa, the last Jewish king, at the end of the Second Temple Era. After his death, the prince of this verse, the Roman Titus, would command the destruction of the Temple, which will not be rebuilt until after the War of Gog and Magog, in Messianic times (Rashi). 9:27. The Roman emperor would make a treaty with the Jewish nation for seven years; but for the second half of that term the Romans would violate that covenant and impede the Temple service. The "mute abomination," i.e., a temple of idolatry, was erected by the emperor Hadrian on the Temple Mount (Rashi).
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