Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Daniel 9:26 - 9:26

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Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Daniel 9:26 - 9:26


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After the threescore and two weeks, i.e., in the seventieth שָׁבוּעַ, shall the Messiah be cut off. - From the אַחֲרֵי (after) it does not with certainty follow that the “cutting off” of the Maschiach falls wholly in the beginning of the seventieth week, but only that the “cutting off” shall constitute the first great event of this week, and that those things which are mentioned in the remaining part of the verse shall then follow. The complete designation of the time of the “cutting off” can only be found from the whole contents of Dan 9:26, Dan 9:27. נִכְרַת, from כָּרַּת, to hew down, to fell, to cut to pieces, signifies to be rooted up, destroyed, annihilated, and denotes generally a violent kind of death, though not always, but only the uprooting from among the living, or from the congregation, and is therefore the usual expression for the destruction of the ungodly - e.g., Psa 37:9; Pro 2:22 - without particularly designating the manner in which this is done. From יִכָּרֵת it cannot thus be strictly proved that this part of the verse announces the putting to death of an anointed one, or of the Messiah. Of the word Maschiach three possible interpretations have been given: 1. That the Maschiach Nagid of Dan 9:25, the Maschiach of Dan 9:26, and the Nagid of Dan 9:26, are three different persons; 2. that all the three expressions denote one and the same person; and 3. that the Maschiach Nagid of Dan 9:25 and the Maschiach of Dan 9:26 are the same person, and that the Nagid of Dan 9:26 is another and a different person. The first of these has been maintained by J. D. Michaelis, Jahn. Ebrard understands by all the three expressions the Messiah, and supposes that he is styled fully Maschiach Nagid in Dan 9:25 in order that His calling and His dignity (מָשִׁיחַ), as well as His power and strength (נָגִיד), might be designated; in Dan 9:26, מָשִׁיחַ, the anointed, where mention is made of His sufferings and His rejection; in Dan 9:26, נָגִיד, the prince, where reference is made to the judgment which He sends (by the Romans on apostate Jerusalem). But this view is refuted by the circumstance that הַבָּא (that is to come) follows נָגִיד, whereby the prince is represented as first coming, as well as by the circumstance that הַבָּא נָגִיד, who destroys the city and the sanctuary, whose end shall be with a flood, consequently cannot be the Messiah, but is the enemy of the people and kingdom of God, who shall arise (Dan 7:24-25) in the last time. But if in Dan 9:26 the Nagid is different from the Maschiach, then both also appear to be different from the Maschiach Nagid of Dan 9:25. The circumstance that in Dan 9:26 מָשִׁיחַ has neither the article nor the addition נָגִיד following it, appears to be in favour of this opinion. The absence of the one as well as the other denotes that מָשִׁיחַ, after that which is said of Him, in consideration of the connection of the words, needs no more special description. If we observe that the destruction of the city and the sanctuary is so connected with the Maschiach that we must consider this as the immediate or first consequence of the cutting off of the Maschiach, and that the destruction shall be brought about by a Nagid, then by Maschiach we can understand neither a secular prince or king nor simply a high priest, but only an anointed one who stands in such a relation to the city and sanctuary, that with his being “cut off” the city and the sanctuary lose not only their protection and their protector, but the sanctuary also loses, at the same time, its character as the sanctuary, which the Maschiach had given to it. This is suitable to no Jewish high priest, but only to the Messias whom Jehovah anointed to be a Priest-King after the order of Melchizedek, and placed as Lord over Zion, His holy hill. We agree therefore with Hävernick, Hengstenberg, Auberlen, and Kliefoth, who regard the Maschiach of this verse as identical with the Maschiach Nagid of Dan 9:25, as Christ, who in the fullest sense of the word is the Anointed; and we hope to establish this view more fully in the following exposition of the historical reference of this word of the angel.

But by this explanation of the מָשִׁיח we are not authorized to regard the word יִכָּרֵת as necessarily pointing to the death of the Messias, the crucifixion of Christ, since יִכָּרֵת, as above shown, does not necessarily denote a violent death. The right interpretation of this word depends on the explanation of the words לֹו וְאֵין which follow - words which are very differently interpreted by critics. The supposition is grammatically inadmissible that לֹו אֵין = אֵינֶנּוּ (Michaelis, Hitzig), although the lxx in the Codex Chisianus have translated them by καὶ οὐκ ἔσται; and in general all those interpretations which identify אֵין with לֹא, as e.g., et non sibi, and not for himself (Vitringa, Rosenmüller, Hävernick, and others). For אַיִן is never interchanged with לֹא, but is so distinguished from it that לֹא, non, is negation purely, while אַיִן, “it is not,” denies the existence of the thing; cf. Hengstenberg's Christol. iii. p. 81f., where all the passages which Gesenius refers to as exemplifying this exchange are examined and rightly explained, proving that אַיִן is never used in the sense of לֹא. Still less is לֹו to be taken in the sense of לֹו (<) אֲשֶׁר, “there shall not then be one who (belongs) to him;” for although the pronomen relat. may be wanting in short sentences, yet that can be only in such as contain a subject to which it can refer. But in the אַיִן no subject is contained, but only the non-existence is declared; it cannot be said: no one is, or nothing is. In all passages where it is thus rightly translated a participle follows, in which the personal or actual subject is contained, of which the non-existence is predicated. לֹו (<) אֵין without anything following is elliptical, and the subject which is not, which will not be, is to be learned from the context or from the matter itself. The missing subject here cannot be מָשִׁיחַ, because לֹו points back to מָשִׁיחַ; nor can it be עָם, people (Vulg., Grotius), or a descendant (Wieseler), or a follower (Auberlen), because all these words are destitute of any support from the context, and are brought forward arbitrarily. Since that which “is not to Him” is not named, we must thus read the expression in its undefined universality: it is not to Him, viz., that which He must have, to be the Maschiach. We are not by this to think merely of dominion, people, sanctuary, but generally of the place which He as Maschiach has had, or should have, among His people and in the sanctuary, but, by His being “cut off,” is lost. This interpretation is of great importance in guiding to a correct rendering of יִכָּרֵת; for it shows that יִכָּרֵת does not denote the putting to death, or cutting off of existence, but only the annihilation of His place as Maschiach among His people and in His kingdom. For if after His “cutting off” He has not what He should have, it is clear that annihilation does not apply to Him personally, but only that He has lost His place and function as the Maschiach.

(Note: Kranichfeld quite appropriately compares the strong expression יִכָּרֵת with “the equally strong יְבַלֵּא (shall wear out) in Dan 7:25, spoken of that which shall befall the saints on the part of the enemy of God in the last great war. As by this latter expression destruction in the sense of complete annihilation cannot be meant, since the saints personally exist after the catastrophe (cf. Dan 9:27, Dan 9:22, Dan 9:18), so also by this expression here (יִכָּרֵת) we are not to understand annihilation.”)

In consequence of the cutting off of the מָשִׁיחַ destruction falls upon the city and the sanctuary. This proceeds from the people of the prince who comes. יַשְׁחִית, to destroy, to ruin, is used, it is true, of the desolating of countries, but predicated of a city and sanctuary it means to overthrow; cf. e.g., Gen 19:13., where it is used of the destruction of Sodom; and even in the case of countries the הַשְׁחִית consists in the destruction of men and cattle; cf. Jer 36:29.

The meaning of הַבָּא נָגִיד עַם depends chiefly on the interpretation of the הַבָּא. This we cannot, with Ebrard, refer to עָם. Naturally it is connected with נָגִיד, not only according to the order of the words, but in reality, since in the following verse (Dan 9:27) the people are no longer spoken of, but only the actions and proceedings of the prince are described. הַבָּא does not mean qui succedit (Roesch, Maurer), but is frequently used by Daniel of a hostile coming; cf. Dan 1:1; Dan 11:10,Dan 11:13, Dan 11:15. But in this sense הַבָּא appears to be superfluous, since it is self-evident that the prince, if he will destroy Jerusalem, must come or draw near. One also must not say that הַבָּא designates the prince as one who was to come (ἐρχόμενος), since from the expression “coming days,” as meaning “future days,” it does not follow that a “coming prince” is a “future prince.” The הַבָּא with the article: “he who comes, or will come,” denotes much rather the נָגִיד (which is without the article) as such an one whose coming is known, of whom Daniel has heard that he will come to destroy the people of God. But in the earlier revelations Daniel heard of two princes who shall bring destruction on his people: in Dan 7:8, Dan 7:24., of Antichrist; and in Dan 8:9., 23ff., of Antiochus. To one of these the הַבָּא points. Which of the two is meant must be gathered from the connection, and this excludes the reference to Antiochus, and necessitates our thinking of the Antichrist.

In the following clause: “and his end with the flood,” the suffix refers simply to the hostile Nagid, whose end is here emphatically placed over against his coming (Kran., Hofm., Kliefoth). Preconceived views as to the historical interpretation of the prophecy lie at the foundation of all other references. The Messianic interpreters, who find in the words a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and thus understand by the Nagid Titus, cannot apply the suffix to Nagid. M. Geier, Hävernick, and others, therefore, refer it (the suffix) to the city and the sanctuary; but that is grammatically inadmissible, since הָעִיר (the city) is gen faem. Aub. and others refer it, therefore, merely to the sanctuary; but the separation of the city from the sanctuary is quite arbitrary. Vitringa, C. B. Michaelis, Hgstb., interpret the suffix as neuter, and refer it to יַשְׁחִית (shall destroy), or, more correctly, to the idea of destroying comprehended in it, for they understand שֶׁטֶף of a warlike overflowing flood: “and the end of it shall be (or: it shall end) in the flood.” On the other hand, v. Lengerke and Kliefoth have rightly objected to this view. “This reference of the suffix,” they say, “is inadmissibly harsh; the author must have written erroneously, since he suggested the reference of the suffix to עָם or to נָגִיד. One cannot think of what is meant by the end of the destruction, since the destruction itself is the end; a flood may, it is true, be an emblem of a warlike invasion of a country, but it never signifies the warlike march, the expedition.” There thus remains nothing else than to apply the suffix to the Nagid, the prince. קֵץ can accordingly only denote the destruction of the prince. Hitzig's interpretation, that קִצּוֹ is the result of his coming, refutes itself.

In בַּשֶׁטֶף the article is to be observed, by which alone such interpretations as “in an overflowing” (Ros., Roed., and others), ”vi quadam ineluctabili oppressus” (Steudel, Maurer), “like an overflowing,” and the like, are proved to be verbally inadmissible. The article shows that a definite and well-known overflowing is meant. שֶׁטֶף, “overflowing,” may be the emblem of an army spreading itself over the land, as in Dan 11:10,Dan 11:22, Dan 11:26; Isa 8:8, or the emblem of a judgment desolating or destroying a city, country, or people; cf. Psa 32:6; Nah 1:8; Pro 27:4; Psa 90:5. The first of these interpretations would give this meaning: The prince shall find his end in his warlike expedition; and the article in בַּשֶׁטֶף would refer back to הַבָּא. This interpretation is indeed quite possible, but not very probable, because שֶׁטֶף would then be the overflowing which was caused by the hostile prince or his coming, and the thought would be this, that he should perish in it. But this agrees neither with the following clause, that war should be to the end, nor with Dan 7:21, Dan 7:26, according to which the enemy of God holds the superiority till he is destroyed by the judgment of God. Accordingly, we agree with Wieseler, Hofmann, Kranichfeld, and Kliefoth in adopting the other interpretation of שֶׁטֶף, flood, as the figure of the desolating judgment of God, and explain the article as an allusion to the flood which overwhelmed Pharaoh and his host. Besides, the whole passage is, with Maurer and Klief., to be regarded as a relative clause, and to be connected with הַבָּא: the people of a prince who shall come and find his destruction in the flood.

This verse (Dan 9:26) contains a third statement, which adds a new element to the preceding. Rosenmüller, Ewald, Hofm., and others connect these into one passage, thus: and to the end of the war a decree of desolations continues. But although קֵץ, grammatically considered, is the stat. constr., and might be connected with מִלְחָמָה (war), yet this is opposed by the circumstance, that in the preceding sentence no mention is expressly made of war; and that if the war which consisted in the destruction of the city should be meant, then מִלְחָמָה ought to have the article. From these reasons we agree with the majority of interpreters in regarding מִלְחָמָה as the predicate of the passage: “and to the end is war;” but we cannot refer קֵץ, with Wieseler, to the end of the prince, or, with Häv. and Aub., to the end of the city, because קֵץ has neither a suffix nor an article. According to the just remark of Hitzig, קֵץ without any limitation is the end generally, the end of the period in progress, the seventy שָׁבֻעִים, and corresponds to סוֹפָא עַד in Dan 7:26, to the end of all things, Dan 12:13 (Klief.). To the end war shall be = war shall continue during the whole of the last שָׁבוּעַ.

The remaining words, שֹׁמֵמוֹת נֶחֱרֶצֶת, form an apposition to מִלְחָמָה, notwithstanding the objection by Kliefoth, that since desolations are a consequence of the war, the words cannot be regarded as in apposition. For we do not understand why in abbreviated statements the effect cannot be placed in the form of an apposition to the cause. The objection also overlooks the word נֶחֱרֶצֶת. If desolations are the effect of the war, yet not the decree of the desolations, which can go before the war or can be formed during the war. שֹׁמֵמוֹת denotes desolation not in an active, but in a passive sense: laid waste, desolated. נֶחֱרֶצֶת, that which is determined, the irrevocably decreed; therefore used of divine decrees, and that of decrees with reference to the infliction of punishment; cf. Dan 9:27; Dan 11:36; Isa 10:23; Isa 28:22. Ewald is quite in error when he says that it means “the decision regarding the fearful deeds, the divine decision as it embodies itself in the judgments (Dan 7:11.) on the world on account of such fearful actions and desolations,” because שֹׁמֵמוֹת has not the active meaning. Auberlen weakens its force when he renders it “decreed desolations.” “That which is decreed of desolations” is also not a fixed, limited, measured degree of desolations (Hofm., Klief.); for in the word there does not lie so much the idea of limitation to a definite degree, as much rather the idea of the absolute decision, as the connection with כָלָה in Dan 9:27, as well as in the two passages from Isaiah above referred to, shows. The thought is therefore this: “Till the end war will be, for desolations are irrevocably determined by God.” Since שֹׁמֵמוֹת has nothing qualifying it, we may not limit the “decree of desolations” to the laying waste of the city and the sanctuary, but under it there are to be included the desolations which the fall of the prince who destroys the city and the sanctuary shall bring along with it.