Daniel 9:26, commentary and pictures

After the seven weeks and sixty-two weeks together, making sixty-nine weeks or 483 years from the decree to restore Jerusalem in 457 B.C., Messiah the Prince, the Anointed One, appeared in autumn A.D. 27 when Jesus was baptized and anointed by the Holy Spirit. In the middle of the final week, three and a half years later in spring A.D. 31, He was cut off, put to death by crucifixion in sacrifice rather than enthroned as an earthly ruler. His death was wholly vicarious and not for Himself, for though innocent He died the just for the unjust as Substitute and Surety, bearing the curse of others that sinners might be clothed with His righteousness. His sacrifice made reconciliation for iniquity, brought in everlasting righteousness, and fulfilled and ended the significance of the ceremonial offerings that had pointed to Him. The destruction of the city and sanctuary by the people of the prince is the judgment destruction of Jerusalem upon those who rejected Him, with war and determined desolations unto the end.

Revelation and Historical Setting

The promise that after sixty-two weeks Messiah would be cut off was brought to Daniel in vision by ministering angels as a direct communication from God. It came in answer to Daniel's earnest prayer with fasting and affliction of soul, with tears and confession and humiliation, and his prayer was heard and not in vain. That answered prayer opened to him great future events extending to the advent of the world's Redeemer.

It was given while Israel was in captivity with the Temple destroyed and the Temple service suspended. Israel's religion had centered in the ceremonies of the sacrificial system, making outward forms all-important while losing the spirit of true worship. Their services had been corrupted with the traditions and practices of heathenism, and in performing the sacrificial rites they did not look beyond the shadow to the substance nor discern Christ the true offering for the sins of men.

The Lord brought the people into captivity and suspended the services so that outward ceremonies would not become the sum total of their religion. He did this so their principles and practice would be purged from heathenism, so ritual service would cease in order that heart service might be revived, and so outward glory would be removed that the spiritual might be revealed. In the land of captivity, as the people turned to the Lord with repentance, He manifested Himself to them without the outward representation of His presence. Then visions were given unfolding the overthrow of the oppressors of God's people, the coming of the Redeemer, and the establishment of the everlasting kingdom.

It belongs to Daniel's prophecies about future events whose meaning was not fully understood by Daniel himself. Those writings were sealed until the time of the end. Within that prophecy it forms part of the angel's explanation of the time period left unexplained in Daniel's earlier vision, placing the cutting off of Messiah after the seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.

Meaning of Key Phrases

“Messiah” means “the Anointed One.” Sixty-nine weeks, or 483 years, from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem reach to His coming, ending in the autumn of A.D. 27. Then Jesus was baptized and anointed with the Holy Spirit, after which He began preaching and declared that the time was fulfilled. The seventy weeks are part of the 2,300-year period, and both periods begin together with that decree. The final week ran from A.D. 27 to A.D. 34, with the gospel directed especially to the Jews, and in the middle of that week, at sixty-nine and a half weeks, three and a half years after His baptism, in spring A.D. 31, Christ was crucified. His sacrifice fulfilled the sacrificial types and ended the significance of the ceremonial offerings that had pointed to Him.

To be cut off after the sixty-two weeks, following the first seven weeks, means the Messiah would be put to death rather than enthroned as an earthly ruler. His cutting off was in sacrifice by crucifixion, the great center revealed in answer to fervent prayer. By His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary He made reconciliation for iniquity and brought in everlasting righteousness. That truth becomes effectual when acted upon, and by the humiliation of the cross He brings everlasting deliverance to all who walk after Him and give positive evidence of separation from the world. It was this redeeming death that Moses and Elijah discussed with Him at His transfiguration. The first disciples based their announcement that the time was fulfilled and God’s kingdom was at hand on the seventy weeks, giving the right message at the right time, yet because they expected an earthly kingdom and empire they did not recognize that the same prophecy foretold His suffering and death on the cross, and that expectation blinded them to its meaning.

“Not for Himself” means His death was wholly vicarious. Though innocent and undeserving of punishment, He died the just for the unjust to bring many sons and daughters to God. As Substitute and Surety He came under the curse and condemnation belonging to others, taking defiled human garments so that sinners may be clothed with His glorious righteousness. What appeared to be a hellish triumph over His humanity was a full and broad and deep victory encompassing the world. The people of the prince that shall come destroy the city and the sanctuary, and its end comes like a flood, which is the destruction of Jerusalem and its sanctuary as the king’s judgment on those who rejected the invitation to the wedding feast, with war and determined desolations to the end.

Prophetic Time Periods

The verse belongs to the seventy weeks, or 490 years, which are cut off from the 2,300-year period and specially allotted to the Jews. The seventy weeks are divided into seven weeks, sixty-two weeks, and one week, which together make seventy weeks. They form part of the 2,300 days, provide the key to the commencement of the 2,300 years in Daniel 8, and begin together with the 2,300 years. The events bounded by those times were fulfilled as predicted.

The periods are reckoned by the day-year principle, in which a day stands for a literal year. They are reckoned from the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, the decree of Artaxerxes completed in his seventh year in 457 B.C. and reckoned from autumn. Reverent labor to determine the beginning and ending dates is proper and intended to lead to full understanding. Beginning both periods in 457 B.C. yields 1843 by simple subtraction, while counting from autumn places the end of the 2,300 days in autumn 1844.

The seven weeks and sixty-two weeks join to make sixty-nine weeks, or 483 years, from the going forth of the commandment to Messiah the Prince. Reckoned from autumn B.C. 457 they reach to autumn A.D. 27. Then Jesus was baptized, anointed by the Holy Spirit, and began preaching that the time was fulfilled.

The cutting off occurs in the final week, which ran from A.D. 27 to A.D. 34 with the gospel directed especially to the Jews. In the middle of that week, at sixty-nine and a half weeks, three and a half years after His baptism, in spring A.D. 31, Christ was crucified. His sacrifice fulfilled the sacrificial types and ended the significance of the ceremonial offerings that had pointed to Him.

The seventy weeks expire in A.D. 34 with the sealing of the Jewish rejection of Christ by persecution of His disciples and the turning of the apostles to the Gentiles. The remaining 1,810 years then extend from A.D. 34 to 1844 for the cleansing of the sanctuary. Every preceding specification was fulfilled at the appointed time.

Fulfillment in Jesus Christ

The verse identifies Jesus as the Messiah, the promised one whose coming Daniel foretold. It belongs to a prophecy that definitely pointed out the time of Christ's coming, His anointing by the Holy Spirit, His death, and the giving of the gospel to the Gentiles. The Jewish people had the privilege of understanding that prophecy and recognizing its fulfillment in Jesus' mission, and Christ urged His disciples to study it.

By His sacrifice on Calvary He made reconciliation for iniquity and brought in everlasting righteousness. That truth becomes effectual when acted upon, and by the humiliation of the cross He brings everlasting deliverance to all who walk after Him and give positive evidence that they are separated from the world. It was this redeeming death that Moses and Elijah talked with Him about at His transfiguration.

The appointed hour for His advent was fixed and determined in heaven, and the prophetic period extending to His coming was revealed as the time of Christ's coming. When that period was nearly ended in the days of Zacharias and John, Zacharias prayed for the Messiah's advent, and Gabriel — the messenger who had given Daniel the prophecy — came to announce its fulfillment. John's ministry fell when the seventy weeks were nearly ended, and his preaching was a direct announcement that the Messiah's coming was near. When the fullness of the time was come God sent forth His Son, and Jesus was born in Bethlehem to redeem those under the law, although the message was not rightly interpreted by all and many did not comprehend the words of the prophets concerning His appearing.

The scribes knew from prophetic history that the appointed time of waiting for the Messiah's advent had passed. Yet the leaders rejected Him and plotted to kill Him, and He was the heir cruelly slain. The prophecies that foretold Christ's coming were meant to awaken the people and help them understand the events then unfolding.

Misunderstanding and Rejection

The announcement that the time was fulfilled and the kingdom of God was at hand rested on the seventy weeks, of which this verse forms part with the 2,300-day period, and it gave the right message at the right time in fulfillment of God's will. Yet the first disciples did not recognize that the same prophecy that gave the time also foretold the Messiah's death. After the period leading to Messiah the Prince He was to be cut off, put to death rather than enthroned as an earthly ruler, but because they expected an earthly kingdom and empire that expectation blinded them to the foretold suffering and death of Christ on the cross. They were mistaken in expecting the kingdom to be set up at the end of the seventy weeks, holding popular errors that blinded the mind to the truth, and through their own misapprehension of their message they suffered disappointment.

The light unmistakably pointed to the time of Messiah's coming and directly foretold His death, and this light was given to the Jewish people. By devotion to the world and forgetfulness of God and His word their understanding was darkened, leaving them in ignorance concerning Messiah's advent, and in pride and unbelief they rejected the Redeemer. Study of the prophecy was discouraged, and finally the rabbis pronounced a curse on all who should attempt a computation of the time. Those who rejected this truth lost all desire for the gift of Heaven, putting darkness for light and light for darkness until the light in them became darkness, and how great was that darkness.

The testimony by which the time and manner of Christ's first appearing could have been recognized was misread by attributing to His first appearing the glory and power belonging to His second appearing. They failed to recognize Christ or to understand the significance of their own actions, and in rejecting and mistreating Him they fulfilled what Scripture had foretold. Although the exact time of the first advent was made known and the hour fixed and determined, not all rightly interpreted the message and many did not comprehend the words of the prophets concerning His appearing. The pure and simple who were willing to receive the light, waiting to catch its first gleams and searching the Scriptures earnestly, could understand when Messiah should appear, while priests and rulers, lofty in their own estimation and occupied and hurried with their own interests, were unprepared to recognize God and to understand the teaching of the Scriptures in regard to Christ's coming.