Daniel 9:24-27 — A Fresh Look at the Hebrew

The Most Debated Four Verses in Scripture

Daniel 9:24-27 is one of the most studied — and most debated — passages in all of Scripture. It contains the famous “70 weeks” prophecy, and entire theological systems have been built on how these four verses are translated.

Yet for all the study, there is remarkably little agreement:

• When does the 70th week happen? Some say it was fulfilled at the cross. Others say it’s still future — a 2,000+ year “gap” between the 69th and 70th weeks.
• Who is the “he” in verse 27? Some say Messiah confirms the covenant. Others say the antichrist makes a treaty. The text doesn’t name the subject — interpreters choose.
• What does “cut off” mean in verse 26? The KJV adds “but not for himself,” which is not in the Hebrew. The NIV says “and will have nothing.” Neither is a straightforward translation.
• Who destroys the city? Traditional translations rearrange the Hebrew word order to make “the people of the prince” the subject. But the verb is singular (“he will destroy”), not plural.

What if much of this confusion comes not from Daniel, but from translation choices?

This study walks through the Hebrew of Daniel 9:24-27 one word at a time, with no assumption that you know Hebrew. Every word is shown, transliterated, and explained. The goal is not to tell you what to believe, but to show you what the text actually says — and let you decide.

But first, let’s understand why Daniel was asking, and why the traditional answers don’t fully satisfy.

The Context: Daniel’s Perplexity

The Historical Situation

Daniel was taken captive to Babylon around 598 BC during Nebuchadnezzar’s siege. By the time of Daniel 9, it is the first year of Darius — approximately 522 BC. Daniel has been in captivity for roughly 77 years (inclusive).

He reads Jeremiah’s prophecy:

“I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.” — Daniel 9:2

Daniel is perplexed. He has been counting. Jeremiah promised 70 years — and those 70 years are nearly complete (or already past, depending on the starting point). Yet Jerusalem is still desolate. Why?

Historically, there IS a clean 70-year fulfillment: the First Temple was destroyed in 586 BC, and the Second Temple was completed in the 6th year of Darius (516 BC) — exactly 70 years. So Jeremiah’s prophecy was literally fulfilled in terms of the physical temple.

But Daniel’s prayer in chapter 9 goes far beyond bricks and mortar. He confesses the sins of the nation, pleads for restoration, and asks about the desolation of Jerusalem. His question isn’t just “when will the building be rebuilt?” — it’s “when will everything be made right?”

Gabriel’s Answer Goes Further

The angel Gabriel arrives and says:

“I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.” — Daniel 9:22

What follows (verses 24-27) is Gabriel’s explanation of what Jeremiah’s “70” truly means. This is not a separate prophecy dropped from nowhere — it is an answer to Daniel’s question about Jeremiah’s timeline.

But notice: Jeremiah said “70 years.” Gabriel says “70 sevens.” Gabriel is unpacking the “70” — revealing that Jeremiah’s prophetic “years” are not simple solar years but sevened periods whose scope encompasses the full plan of redemption.

The physical temple was rebuilt in 70 years. But the desolation Daniel is grieving over — the transgression, the sin, the broken covenant — requires far more than 70 years to resolve. It requires “70 sevens” — however long that turns out to be.

Jerusalem: Not Just a City

Daniel prays about “Jerusalem” and “thy holy city.” Gabriel’s answer is determined upon “thy holy city.” But is this only about the physical city in Judea?

Throughout Scripture, Jerusalem carries symbolic weight far beyond its geography — it represents the covenant community, the bride of God:

• Galatians 4:26 — “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all”
• Hebrews 12:22-23 — “Ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem… the general assembly and church of the firstborn”
• Revelation 21:2 — “the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”
• Revelation 21:9-10 — The angel says “I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife” — and shows John Jerusalem

Jerusalem IS the bride. The bride IS the covenant community. When the angel shows John “the bride,” he shows him a city made of people, not stones. (For the full evidence, see the JERUSALEM Symbol Study.)

If “thy holy city” includes the heavenly Jerusalem — the bride, the covenant community — then the prophecy’s scope extends beyond the physical reconstruction of a city in Judea. It encompasses the full restoration of God’s people, culminating in the New Jerusalem descending from heaven (Revelation 21:2).

This is why a purely historical reading (Jerusalem rebuilt in 70 years, done) doesn’t satisfy Daniel’s question — and why Gabriel’s answer reaches so much further.

The Elephant in the Room: Messiah or Antichrist?

In the traditional reading of Daniel 9:26-27, there is an unnamed “he” who:

• Confirms (or makes) a covenant
• Causes sacrifices to cease
• Brings desolation

One camp says this “he” is the antichrist — a future ruler who will make a treaty with Israel, break it halfway through, and desecrate the temple. This requires a “gap” of 2,000+ years between the 69th and 70th weeks — a gap the text never mentions.

The other camp says this “he” is Messiah — Jesus, who established the new covenant, whose sacrifice ended the need for temple sacrifices, and who predicted Jerusalem’s desolation. But if Messiah “is cut off and has nothing,” He sounds like a victim, not a king.

Both camps struggle because the traditional translation is genuinely ambiguous about the subject. Entire theological systems — dispensationalism, covenant theology, historicism — have been built on different answers to this single question.

But what if the ambiguity is in the translation, not in Daniel? What if the original consonantal Hebrew is far clearer than the English suggests?

To see how that’s possible, we need to understand one thing about how Hebrew works.

How Hebrew Words Work

The Homonym Problem

In English, the same word can mean completely different things depending on context:

“I will present a present in the present.”

Three meanings — “give” (verb), “gift” (noun), “now” (time) — all from the same spelling. You know which meaning is intended because of context, not because the word itself changes.

Hebrew has this same feature, but more intensely. Hebrew words are built from consonant roots (usually three letters), and the same root can produce nouns, verbs, adjectives — all spelled the same way in the original consonantal text.

Vowel Points: Added Later

When Daniel wrote (around 530 BC), Hebrew was written with consonants only — no vowel marks. Readers supplied the vowels from context, just as you supply the meaning of “present” from context.

Between 600-900 AD — over a thousand years after Daniel — Jewish scribes called the Masoretes added a system of dots and dashes (vowel points) to the consonantal text. These points are a valuable tradition, but they are an interpretation, not the original text. Where the consonants are ambiguous, the Masoretes had to choose one reading — and that choice sometimes obscures other valid readings.

This matters in Daniel 9 because several key words are spelled identically as consonants but mean very different things depending on which vowels you supply. As we walk through the text, we’ll see exactly where these ambiguities lie — and how resolving them differently can turn a confusing, debated passage into a coherent prophecy with a clear subject.

Daniel 9:24 — The Seventy Sevens

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” — KJV

The Two Words That Are Really One

Here is something most translations hide completely. The first two words of Daniel 9:24 are:

Look at the consonants column. They are identical. The same four Hebrew letters — שבעים — appear twice in a row. Without vowel points, Daniel 9:24 opens with:

שבעים שבעים

The same word, repeated. The only thing that makes the first one “weeks” and the second one “seventy” is the vowel pointing added over a thousand years later by the Masoretes.

Why the Repetition Matters

In Hebrew, repeating a word is not redundancy — it is a literary device with specific force:

It means the thing is divinely established. Joseph explained this principle to Pharaoh:

“And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.” — Genesis 41:32

When God repeats something, it is fixed. It is certain. It will happen. Gabriel opening with שבעים שבעים — the same consonants twice — signals that this timeframe is divinely decreed and will certainly come to pass.

It creates the superlative — the ultimate form:

• קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ — “Holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3) = the MOST holy
• שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים — “Song of Songs” (Song of Solomon 1:1) = the greatest song
• שבעים שבעים — “sevens of sevens” = the ultimate covenantal timeframe

It carries distributive/multiplicative force:

• יוֹם יוֹם — “day day” = “day by day” / “each day”
• שבעים שבעים — “seventy of seventy” = 70 x 70

So the opening of Daniel 9:24 is not a flat number (“seventy weeks”). The repetition of identical consonants declares: this is the supreme, divinely established, covenantal timeframe — and God will bring it to pass.

“Weeks” Is Spelled Differently Everywhere Else

This gets more striking when you look at how “weeks” (H7620) is spelled in the rest of the Bible:

Every other occurrence of “weeks” in Scripture uses the feminine plural ending -וֹת (-ot). The Feast of Weeks is always שָׁבֻעוֹת (Shavuot) — never שָׁבֻעִים.

Every plural occurrence of “weeks” outside Daniel uses the feminine ending -וֹת (-ot). Daniel is the only book that uses the masculine plural ending -ים (-im). And with that ending, “weeks” becomes consonantally indistinguishable from “seventy.”

(Note: Leviticus 12:5 also has consonants שבעים, but that is the dual form — meaning exactly “two weeks” of uncleanness after bearing a daughter. The dual ending -ַיִם looks like -ים in consonants but is a different grammatical form than Daniel’s plural.)

The Leviticus connection is symbolically rich: throughout Scripture, Jerusalem and Zion are called “the daughter” — “daughter of Zion” (Isaiah 52:2, Zechariah 9:9), “daughter of Jerusalem” (Lamentations 2:15, Zephaniah 3:14). The only non-Daniel use of שבעים for H7620 describes the purification period after bearing a daughter — and Daniel’s prophecy is about the period determined upon the holy city, which Scripture consistently calls the daughter. For a son, the uncleanness is one שבוע (7 days). For a daughter, it is שבעים — double. The daughter-city undergoes a doubled period of purification, measured in the same word Daniel uses, ending when transgression is finished and she is made clean.

If Daniel meant ordinary “weeks,” why use a unique plural form — one that happens to produce the exact same consonants as the word “seventy”?

Independent witness: Smith’s Literal Translation (SLT) already reads this as “Seventy seventy” — not “seventy weeks.” This is not a new invention; at least one established English translation saw the same thing in the Hebrew.

What the Word Actually Means

Strong’s defines H7620 not as “week” but as: “literally, sevened” — a passive participle from H7650 שָׁבַע (shava, “to seven oneself / to swear an oath”). The word literally means “a thing that has been sevened” — a completed seven-cycle.

The plural שבעים means “groups of sevens” — not just one seven, but multiple completed seven-cycles bundled together. Since the plural requires at least two, the minimum “group of sevens” is 7 x 7 = 49 — which is a jubilee cycle.

The Feast of Weeks and the Jubilee Pattern

The word שָׁבוּעַ (shavua) is the same word used for the Feast of Weeks — Shavuot (שָׁבוּעוֹת). And Shavuot itself is structured as a miniature jubilee:

• Count 7 weeks (49 days) from Firstfruits
• The 50th day is Shavuot — the day of harvest, of covenant, of the giving of Torah at Sinai

This is the same pattern as the Jubilee cycle: count 7 sevens (49 years), and the 50th year is the Jubilee — liberty, restoration, return.

So when Gabriel says “שבעים שבעים,” the word itself embeds the jubilee pattern. “Seventy groups-of-sevens” most naturally reads as 70 jubilee cycles.

What “שבעים שבעים” Could Mean

Since the consonants are identical and the word means “groups-of-sevens,” Daniel 9:24 opens with a phrase that can mean:

• “Seventy groups-of-sevens” — 70 jubilee cycles (70 x 49 = 3,430 years)
• “Seventy seventy” — 70 x 70 = 4,900 years
• “Seventy weeks” — the traditional reading (70 x 7 = 490) — but note: this reading requires the Masoretic vowel points to distinguish the two identical consonantal words as different. It also treats each “sevened” as a simple 7 rather than a “group of sevens” (which is what the plural form means). Of the possible readings, this one relies most heavily on the later vowel pointing.

The ambiguity is not a defect. It is in the consonants Daniel wrote. The Masoretes chose one reading. The consonantal text favors the larger numbers.

The Math: How Long — and From When?

The calculation depends on two questions: what is a “שבעים” (group-of-sevens), and when does the count start?

The starting point is not specified in verse 24 — it says only that the period is “determined upon thy people and thy holy city.” The starting point must come from context: the beginning of the covenant community, the giving of the law, the Jordan crossing, or some decree.

Using the dates established in the app’s timeline:

The 490-year reading, starting from Abraham, ends before David — long before any of the six requirements are fulfilled. Starting from the Jordan crossing, it ends in the divided kingdom. Neither reaches even the Babylonian exile, let alone “everlasting righteousness.”

The 70-jubilee reading from the Jordan crossing lands in our generation. The 70 x 70 reading extends through what could be the millennial reign.

The question “when does the count start?” is as important as “how long is each unit?” — and the six items that must be accomplished (see below) constrain the answer. Whatever combination of starting point and unit length you choose, it must reach far enough to contain all six requirements.

Who Are “Thy People”?

Gabriel says this prophecy is “determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city.” Most readers assume “thy people” means ethnic Israel during a narrow historical window. But who does Scripture say Daniel’s people are?

Daniel’s people are the seed of Abraham — the covenant community that begins with God’s promise:

“I will make of thee a great nation… and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” — Genesis 12:2-3

“And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant.” — Genesis 17:7

“In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” — Genesis 22:18

Paul confirms that this “seed” is ultimately Christ and all who are in Him:

“Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” — Galatians 3:16

“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” — Galatians 3:29

So “thy people” is not merely ethnic Israel during the Second Temple period. It is the entire covenant community — from Abraham’s call (Genesis 12) through every generation of his seed, culminating in Christ and all who are grafted in (Romans 11:17-24).

This covenant begins in 1876 BC with Abraham. If the “seventy sevens” is determined upon this people from their beginning to their completion — when every promise is fulfilled, every transgression finished, everlasting righteousness established — then the timeframe must span from Abraham to the very end.

If “thy people” are the seed of Abraham, and the covenant starts with Abraham, then the 70 x 70 reading (4,900 years from 1876 BC = 3024 AD) naturally spans from the Abrahamic covenant through the millennial reign — the point where “everlasting righteousness” is finally and fully established.

What Must Be Accomplished

Look at what these “seventy sevens” must accomplish — six things:

1. Finish the transgression
2. Make an end of sins
3. Make reconciliation for iniquity
4. Bring in everlasting righteousness
5. Seal up the vision and prophecy
6. Anoint the most Holy

Ask yourself honestly: have these been fulfilled?

Items 1-3 (finish transgression, end sins, reconcile iniquity) — one could argue these were accomplished positionally at the cross. But has transgression actually been finished? Have sins actually ended? Not yet — not in any observable sense.

Items 4-6 are even harder to place in the past:

• Bring in everlasting righteousness — Has everlasting righteousness arrived? The world is not yet living in everlasting righteousness. This sounds like it requires the completion of all things — possibly the end of the millennial reign described in Revelation 20.

• Seal up the vision and prophecy — Have vision and prophecy been sealed? If Revelation was written after 70 AD (as most scholars hold), prophecy continued well beyond the 490-year window. Sealing up “the vision and prophecy” suggests a point where prophecy is no longer needed — because everything has been fulfilled.

• Anoint the most Holy — This could refer to Christ’s anointing at His baptism (27 AD). But “the most Holy” (qodesh qodashim — literally “holy of holies”) could also refer to the anointing of the final, eternal temple — the dwelling place of God with man (Revelation 21:3).

The test: If your proposed timeframe cannot contain all six items — if “everlasting righteousness” hasn’t been brought in and “the vision and prophecy” hasn’t been sealed up — then the “seventy sevens” period isn’t finished yet. The 490-year reading (ending around 33 AD) leaves at least three items unfulfilled. Even the 3,430-year jubilee reading pushes into the near future. The 4,900-year reading (70 x 70) extends to encompass the millennial reign and its conclusion.

Whatever the precise calculation, the scope of these six requirements demands a timeframe that reaches to the very end — not merely to the cross or to 70 AD.

Jeremiah’s “Years” as Prophetic Units

Remember: Gabriel is explaining Jeremiah’s “70 years.” Throughout prophetic literature, “days” and “years” function as abstract units that stand for larger periods:

• Ezekiel 4:6 — “I have appointed thee each day for a year”
• Numbers 14:34 — “each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, forty years”

If Jeremiah’s “years” are prophetic units — and Gabriel is revealing that each “year” is actually a “seven” (a jubilee cycle) — then the scope of the prophecy expands dramatically. Gabriel isn’t correcting Jeremiah; he’s unpacking what Jeremiah’s “70” truly contains.

Daniel 9:25 — Which Order? Which Jerusalem?

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” — KJV

The Starting Point Question

Most readers assume the count starts “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.” But which commandment? There are at least four candidates:

Traditional interpretations pick one of the BC decrees and calculate forward. But Daniel 9:25 may describe two separate counts from two separate decrees — not one continuous timeline.

Two Rebuildings Prophesied in Scripture

Scripture explicitly describes Jerusalem being rebuilt twice — and in very different ways:

The first rebuilding — by Jews alone, rejecting foreign help:

“The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.” — Nehemiah 2:20

“They which builded on the wall… every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.” — Nehemiah 4:17

This is the Ezra/Nehemiah rebuilding: Israelites doing it themselves, armed, in troubled times, explicitly rejecting help from foreigners. Daniel 9:25 describes exactly this: “built again with plaza and moat, even in troublous times.”

The second rebuilding — by foreigners and their kings:

“And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee.” — Isaiah 60:10

This was not fulfilled by any of the BC-era rebuildings — Jews built their own walls under Nehemiah. But in 1535 (lunar year; Adar = ~March 1536 Gregorian), the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman ordered Jerusalem’s walls rebuilt. The walls, gates, and the plaza (the Temple Mount platform as it exists today) were constructed by foreign workers under a foreign king — exactly as Isaiah prophesied. Arabic building inscriptions dated 1535-1538 are still preserved today.

The Structural Problem: Why Not Just Say 69?

Before interpreting, consider three red flags in the traditional “7 weeks + 62 weeks = 69 weeks” reading:

1. Reversed word order. Normal Hebrew puts the number before the noun: שבעה שבעים (“seven weeks”). But Daniel 9:25 says שבעים שבעה (“weeks seven” / “seventy seven”). This reversal is unusual and demands explanation.

2. Why repeat the unit? If both numbers count the same unit, why say “weeks seven, and weeks sixty and two”? Hebrew would naturally say “weeks: seven and sixty-two.” The repetition of שבעים suggests the two instances serve different functions — not the same counting unit restated.

3. Why not sixty-nine? Hebrew has a perfectly natural way to say 69: ששים ותשע (shishim ve-tesha). If the point is 7 + 62 = 69 weeks, there is no reason to split them. You would just say “sixty-nine weeks” — as Hebrew does everywhere else with compound numbers. The split into “seven” and “sixty and two” serves no purpose in the traditional reading. Unless they were never meant to be added together.

These three oddities — reversed word order, repeated unit, and inexplicable split — suggest the traditional compound-number reading is forcing a structure onto the text that isn’t there.

Two Independent Clauses, Two שבעים

The alternative reading treats each שבעים independently:

First clause: שבעים שבעה = “seventy sevens” — the same 490-year period from verse 24, confirming the timeframe: “from the decree to restore Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince: 490 [years].”

The reversed word order now makes sense. It’s not “seven weeks” (number-noun); it’s “seventy-seven” or “seventy × seven” — a mathematical expression, not a counted duration. The same consonants שבעים that opened verse 24 reappear here as the same concept.

History confirms this reading. From the decree of Artaxerxes to Ezra (457 BC) to Messiah’s ministry and crucifixion (~27-33 AD) is approximately 490 years — not 483. The traditional “69 weeks × 7 = 483 years” falls short by 7 years, forcing interpreters to debate which decree to count from and whether to use prophetic (360-day) years to make the math work. But 70 × 7 = 490 prophetic years from 457 BC lands precisely at Messiah — no adjustments needed. The time itself has been tested, and it favors “seventy sevens” over “sixty-nine weeks.”

Second clause: ושבעים ששים ושנים = “and jubilee sixty, and second” — a separate timestamp identifying a specific jubilee and a second event. The vav (ו) conjunction introduces a new clause, not a continuation of the first.

This reading explains all three anomalies:

• The reversed word order → it’s “seventy-seven,” not “seven weeks”
• The repeated שבעים → different function each time (timeframe vs. jubilee)
• The split numbers → they aren’t a compound. “Sixty” and “second” are independent values

The 60th Jubilee and the Second Decree

With שבעים understood as “jubilee,” ששים (“sixty”) identifies a specific one — the 60th jubilee from when the count began.

The jubilee cycle is 49 years. Counting from the Jordan crossing (approximately 1406 BC, when Israel entered the land and the jubilee count began):

1406 BC + (60 × 49 years) = 1535 AD = start of the 60th jubilee

In Adar of 1535 (~March 1536 Gregorian), Sultan Suleiman ordered Jerusalem’s walls rebuilt — the walls, gates, and the Temple Mount plaza that stand in Jerusalem today. Dated inscriptions prove construction was actively underway by mid-1536: a sabil (fountain) near Bab el-Kattanin (10 Muharram 943 AH = 29 June 1536), a sabil at Bab el-Silsile (4 January 1537), and the Temple Mount plaza plaque (“beginning of Shaban 943 AH” = 13-23 January 1537). The decree must predate these — consistent with early 1536 Gregorian (Adar of lunar year 1535).

And ושנים (“and second”) marks this as the second decree to rebuild Jerusalem — distinct from Nehemiah’s earlier rebuilding. Two rebuildings, each prophesied differently (see Two Rebuildings above).

Verse 25 Word-by-Word: The Second Half

The second half of Daniel 9:25 (after the two שבעים clauses) contains several words whose traditional translation obscures the meaning:

תשוב — “They Will Return”

Hebrew: תָּשׁוּב (tashub) Strong’s: H7725 — שׁוּב (shub, to return/come back) Morphology prefix: ת (tav) — 3rd person plural or 2nd person prefix

The KJV renders this as part of “shall be built again” — combining תשוב with the next word ונבנתה. But תשוב is its own verb: “they will return” or “they will come back.” The next word ונבנתה is separately “and it will be built.”

Reading them independently: “They will return, and it [Jerusalem] will be built” — the people come back first, then the city is rebuilt. This matches the historical pattern: Jews returned to Jerusalem before Suleiman rebuilt the walls around them.

חרוץ — “Moat/Trench,” Not “Wall”

Hebrew: חָרוּץ (charuts) Strong’s: H2742 — from חרץ (charats, to cut, to sharpen) Meaning: a trench, moat, or cut thing

The KJV translates this as “wall” — but H2742 does not mean wall. It means something cut — a trench, a moat, a sharp cut. The ASV, RSV, and NASB all translate it as “moat.” Suleiman’s rebuilding included the moat/trench system around Jerusalem’s walls, still visible today.

ובצוק העתים — “And in Tribulation, THE Times”

Hebrew: וּבְצוֹק הָעִתִּים (u-ve-tsoq ha-‘ittim) Strong’s: H6695 צוֹק (tsoq, anguish/tribulation) + H6256 עֵת (‘et, time) with definite article

The KJV renders this as “even in troublous times” — a vague description of difficult circumstances. But two features demand attention:

1. צוק (tsoq) is the same root used in passages about the great tribulation — anguish, distress, pressure. This is not generic difficulty; it is eschatological tribulation.

2. העתים has the definite article הַ — “THE times,” not just “times.” The article points to specific, previously known times — the end times that Daniel has been asking about since the beginning of chapter 9.

Reading with these features: “and in tribulation, THE times [will end]” — a statement about the conclusion of the eschatological timeline, not merely a description of Nehemiah’s building conditions.

Verse 25 — The Two Translations

Traditional (KJV)

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.”

Alternative

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince: seventy sevens. Then jubilee sixty and the second (decree) — they will return, and it will be built: the plaza and the moat. Then in tribulation, THE times (end).”

What Changed and Why

What This Means for Verse 26

Daniel 9:26 opens with “and after הַשבעים ששים ושנים” — traditionally read as “after the sixty-two weeks.” But there is a grammatical key hidden in plain sight: the definite article הַ on שבעים. Verse 25 uses שבעים twice without the article. Verse 26 adds it. Why?

Because verse 26 is not counting generic “weeks.” It is referencing THE שבעים system established in verse 24 — the jubilee cycles. The opening clause identifies a specific moment: the 60th jubilee, the second decree to rebuild. What follows (Messiah cuts a covenant, vanishes, gathers the holy nation, destroys the enemy) occurs after that second decree.

The full analysis of this definite article — and its stunning connection to the historically documented 60th jubilee (Suleiman’s 1535 rebuilding of Jerusalem by foreign workers, exactly as Isaiah 60:10 prophesied) — is presented in the word-by-word section below.

Daniel 9:26 — Word by Word

This is where careful attention to each word matters most. We’ll take it one word at a time, starting with the opening clause that sets the timeline.

The Opening Clause: “And after THE seventy, sixty, and second”

Traditional: “And after threescore and two weeks…” Hebrew: ואחרי הַשבעים ששים ושנים

The traditional rendering treats “sixty and two weeks” as a compound number (62) modifying “weeks.” But the Hebrew contains a grammatical signal that every translation ignores: the definite article הַ on שבעים.

Why the Article Matters

In Hebrew, the definite article הַ means “the specific one already known.” It’s how Hebrew says “the X we’ve been talking about.”

Compare verse 25 and verse 26:

• Verse 25: שָׁבֻעִים שִׁבְעָה וְשָׁבֻעִים שִׁשִּׁים — “weeks seven, and weeks sixty” — NO definite article. These are generic counting units.
• Verse 26: הַשָּׁבֻעִים שִׁשִּׁים — “THE weeks/seventy, sixty” — WITH definite article. This points back to a specific, previously established reference.

If Daniel 9:26 simply meant “sixty-two weeks” as a compound number, there would be no reason for the article. Verse 25 counts “weeks” without it. The article in verse 26 is grammatically unnecessary for a simple number — unless שבעים here is not a counting unit but a reference to THE שבעים שבעים (seventy-seventy) system established in verse 24.

The article says: “after THE [previously discussed] jubilee-cycle.”

“Sixty” as the 60th Jubilee

With שבעים understood as a reference to the jubilee system (not a generic “weeks”), ששים (“sixty”) becomes a specific jubilee count — the 60th jubilee.

The jubilee cycle is 49 years. Counting from the Jordan crossing (approximately 1406 BC, when Israel entered the land and the jubilee count began):

1406 BC + (60 × 49 years) = 1535 AD = start of the 60th jubilee

In Adar of 1535 (~March 1536 Gregorian), the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman ordered the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls, gates, and the Temple Mount plaza. The walls standing in Jerusalem today are Suleiman’s walls. Dated inscriptions — sabil near Bab el-Kattanin (29 June 1536), sabil at Bab el-Silsile (4 January 1537), Temple Mount plaza plaque (January 1537) — prove construction was underway by mid-1536, so the decree must predate them.

This was the second decree to rebuild Jerusalem — and it was fulfilled exactly as Isaiah prophesied:

“And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee.” — Isaiah 60:10

Not Jews building their own walls (Nehemiah), but a foreign king sending foreign workers to rebuild — exactly at the 60th jubilee.

“And Again / Twofold” — The Decree Done Twice

The word שְׁנַיִם (shnayim, H8147) is typically translated “two.” But Strong’s own definition includes: “two; also (as ordinal) twofold.” The KJV itself translates H8147 as “second, double, twice” in other passages. The word is derived from H8145 שֵׁנִי (sheni) — which IS “second.”

So שנים doesn’t just mean the cardinal number 2. It carries the attested sense of “a second time,” “again,” “twofold.” In context: “jubilee sixty, and again” = the 60th jubilee and [the decree done] a second time.

This isn’t a substitution of a different word — it’s using an acknowledged meaning of the SAME word, straight from the lexicon.

The context tells us what was done twice. Verse 25 established two separate decrees to rebuild Jerusalem — one by Israel’s own people, one by foreigners. Daniel 9:26 picks up the timeline after the decree done a second time:

“And after THE jubilee [cycle] — the sixtieth — and [the decree done] again, Messiah shall cut (a covenant)…”

The Convergence

The grammatical evidence (definite article) and the historical evidence (Suleiman’s 1535 order) converge on the same point:

One ignored definite article. One shifted word boundary. And the entire timeline unlocks.

Word 1: “shall cut”

Hebrew consonants: יכרת (y-k-r-t) Strong’s: H3772 — כָּרַת (karath) Basic meaning: to cut

Most translations render this as “shall be cut off” — a passive form meaning something is done to Messiah. He is the victim.

But the consonants יכרת can equally be read as “shall cut” — an active form meaning Messiah does the cutting.

How can the same four letters mean both? In Hebrew, the difference between “he will cut” (active) and “he will be cut” (passive) is entirely in the vowels — which, remember, were added over a thousand years after Daniel wrote. The consonants are identical.

Why “cut” matters: The word כָּרַת (karath) is THE standard Hebrew verb for making a covenant. The phrase “cut a covenant” (karath berit) appears 78 times in the Old Testament:

• “The LORD made a covenant with Abram” (Genesis 15:18) — literally “cut a covenant”
• “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel” (Jeremiah 31:31) — literally “cut a new covenant”

And the very next verse (Daniel 9:27) explicitly discusses “the covenant.” The covenantal context is already established.

The two readings:

Both are linguistically valid. The consonants do not favor one over the other. The question is: which fits the context better?

Word 2: “Messiah”

Hebrew consonants: משיח (m-sh-y-ch) Strong’s: H4899 — מָשִׁיחַ (mashiach) Meaning: anointed one

This word is the same in both readings. The Anointed One — the Messiah — is the subject of the sentence.

Word 3: “and vanish”

Hebrew consonants: ואין (v-‘-y-n) Strong’s: H369 — אַיִן (‘ayin) with the prefix ו (vav = “and”) Basic meaning: and nothing / and is not / and there is not

The KJV renders the phrase ואין לו as “but not for himself” — which is an interpretation, not a translation. The NIV has “and will have nothing.” Neither captures what אַיִן means when applied to a person.

Throughout Scripture, when someone is described as אַיִן, it means they are gone — removed from the scene:

• Genesis 5:24 — “Enoch walked with God: and he was not (‘ayin); for God took him.” Enoch didn’t die. He vanished. God removed him.
• Genesis 37:30 — “The child is not (‘ayin).” Jacob’s sons tell him Joseph is gone. But Joseph wasn’t dead — he was alive in Egypt, exalted at the right hand of Pharaoh.
• Isaiah 57:1 — “The righteous perishes, and no man (‘ayin) lays it to heart… the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.” The righteous are removed before judgment — and no one notices.

When the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) translated Enoch’s אַיִן, they chose the phrase “was not found” — implying someone searched but the person was no longer locatable. The New Testament uses this exact Greek phrase for the empty tomb: “they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus” (Luke 24:3).

(For the full pattern of אַיִן applied to persons across Scripture, see the H369 Pattern Study.)

The two readings:

Word 4: “to himself”

Hebrew: לו (lo) Meaning: to him / for him / to himself

The preposition ל (lamed) with a pronominal suffix carries several senses simultaneously:

• Direction: “to himself” — He returns to His own place (John 14:2: “I go to prepare a place for you”)
• Purpose/benefit: “for himself” — He does this for His own purpose
• Possession: “belonging to him” — He claims what follows as His own

In the traditional reading, this is part of “have nothing” — “nothing to him.” But in the alternative reading, this preposition does not end the clause — it opens it. What follows tells you what He gathers to Himself.

Notice the vav (ו, “and”) conjunctions that chain the next words directly to this phrase: “to himself, and the city and the holy.” These are not a separate thought — they are the objects of the gathering.

Words 5-6: “the city and the holy”

Hebrew consonants: והעיר והקדש (v-h-‘-y-r v-h-q-d-sh) Strong’s: H5892 עִיר (‘ir, city) and H6944 קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, holy/set-apart)

In the traditional reading, “the city and the sanctuary” are the objects that get destroyed in the next clause by “the people of the prince.”

In the alternative reading, “the city and the holy” belong to the previous clause — they are what Messiah gathers to Himself when He vanishes:

“Messiah shall cut (a covenant) and vanish — to himself, the city (the watchful people of the kingdom) and the holy (the set-apart; or: and he will sanctify them)”

This is not about buildings. It is about people. Here’s why:

עיר (‘ir) — “City” or “The Watchful”?

The Hebrew word עִיר (H5892, “city”) derives from the root עוּר (‘ur, H5782) meaning “to rouse, to be awake, to be watchful.” A city, in its deepest Hebrew sense, is a community of the watchful — people who are alert, vigilant, guarding.

This is not just etymology. The connection is active throughout Scripture:

• Isaiah 52:1, 8 — “Awake, awake… thy watchmen shall lift up the voice… they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.” The watchmen (tsophim) and the city (Zion) are interchangeable — the city IS its watchers.
• Daniel 4:13, 17, 23 — The word עִיר appears in Aramaic as a title: “a watcher (‘ir) and a holy one came down from heaven.” Here the same root explicitly means “a watcher” — a heavenly being who is alert and vigilant. Daniel uses the SAME WORD for both “city” and “watcher.”
• Psalm 127:1 — “Except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” The city and its watchers are inseparable.

So “the city” (העיר) carries the layered sense of: the watchful community, the vigilant people of the kingdom, the wakeful assembly.

When Scripture speaks of “Jerusalem the holy city,” it is not primarily describing real estate. It is describing a people who are alert, watching, and waiting — the covenant community (see JERUSALEM symbol study).

קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh) — “The Holy” and “He Will Sanctify”

The word קֹדֶשׁ (H6944) means “holiness, the set-apart, the sacred.” As a noun, “the holy” or “the holy ones” — those who are consecrated, separated from the ordinary.

But the consonants הקדש carry a profound dual reading. They can be parsed as:

1. Noun: הַקֹּדֶשׁ — “the holy [place/thing/ones]” — the set-apart
2. Verb (Hiphil): הִקְדִּישׁ — “he will sanctify” / “he will make holy” — attested with these exact consonants in Judges 17:3

Both readings are simultaneously true. Messiah gathers to Himself the holy, set-apart people — and in the act of gathering them, He sanctifies them. The noun tells you WHO they are; the verb tells you WHAT happens to them.

This is the rapture described in covenantal language: the Bridegroom comes for His bride — the watchful, set-apart community — and takes them to Himself.

The Combined Picture

Read as a continuous clause:

“Messiah shall cut (a covenant) and vanish — to himself, the city (the watchful people of the kingdom) and the holy (the set-apart; or: and he will sanctify them)”

The meaning layers build simultaneously:

Messiah cuts a covenant (the kiddushin, the betrothal — see Marriage Pattern below). Then He vanishes — ascending to prepare a place — taking with Him the watchful, holy nation. A holy people gathered, sanctified, and brought into the presence of their King.

This is not the destruction of a physical city. It is the gathering of a kingdom.

Compare:

• 1 Peter 2:9 — “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people”
• 1 Thessalonians 4:17 — “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord”
• John 14:3 — “I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”

The Hebrew of Daniel 9:26 encodes all of this in four words: ואין לו והעיר והקדש.

Word 7: “he will destroy”

Hebrew consonants: ישחית (y-sh-ch-y-t) Strong’s: H7843 — שָׁחַת (shachat), Hiphil imperfect Meaning: he will destroy / he will corrupt

This verb is 3rd person masculine singular — “he will destroy.” Not “they will destroy.”

This is critical. Traditional translations rearrange the word order to produce:

“the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary”

But this makes a plural subject (“the people”) govern a singular verb (“he will destroy”). The grammar doesn’t naturally fit.

In the alternative reading, the subject of “he will destroy” is the same “he” who has been the subject all along — Messiah. He cuts a covenant, He vanishes, and He will destroy the people of the coming ruler.

Words 8-10: “the people of the coming ruler”

Hebrew consonants: עם נגיד הבא (‘-m n-g-y-d h-b-‘) Strong’s: H5971 עַם (‘am, people), H5057 נָגִיד (nagid, ruler/prince), H935 בּוֹא (bo’, to come)

In the traditional reading, “the people of the prince that shall come” are the subject — they do the destroying.

In the alternative reading, they are the object — they are what gets destroyed. Messiah destroys the people of the coming ruler. This is not the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome. It is Messiah’s ultimate victory over the antichrist’s forces.

The two readings side by side:

Daniel 9:26 — The Two Translations

Traditional (KJV)

“And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”

Alternative

“And after THE jubilee (cycle) — the sixtieth — and the second (decree), Messiah shall cut (a covenant) and vanish — to himself, the city (the watchful people of the kingdom) and the holy (the set-apart; or: and he will sanctify them); he will destroy the people of the coming ruler. The end thereof with a flood, and unto the end of the war, desolations are decreed.”

What Changed and Why

Daniel 9:27 — The Marriage Covenant

“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease…” — KJV

Two Verbs, One Covenant

Notice that Daniel 9:27 uses a different verb for the covenant than 9:26:

• Verse 26 uses כרת (karath, H3772) — “to cut” a covenant (initiation)
• Verse 27 uses גבר (gabar, H1396, Hiphil: הִגְבִּיר) — “to strengthen/confirm” a covenant (consummation)

He does not cut a new covenant in verse 27. He strengthens the one already cut in verse 26. These are two stages of one covenant.

The Biblical Marriage Pattern

This two-stage covenant matches the ancient Hebrew marriage exactly:

Stage 1 — Betrothal (erusin): The groom initiates the covenant by offering a cup of wine. If the bride accepts, the covenant is sealed. The bride price is paid. They are legally bound, but the marriage is not yet consummated.

Stage 2 — The groom departs: He goes to his father’s house to prepare a dwelling place. The bride waits. She does not know the exact day or hour of his return.

Stage 3 — The groom returns: He comes back — often at night, with a shout — to take his bride to the place he has prepared. The covenant is brought to fullness. The marriage is strengthened.

How Jesus Enacted This Pattern

At the Last Supper, Jesus followed the biblical betrothal sequence precisely:

1. He offered the cup — “This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). This is the betrothal proposal. The cup of wine is the covenant offer.

2. He said He would not drink again — “I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come” (Luke 22:18). The groom abstains until the wedding feast.

3. He promised to go and return — “I go to prepare a place for you… I will come again, and receive you unto myself” (John 14:2-3). The groom departs to build the bridal chamber.

4. He vanished — The ascension. From the bride’s perspective, the groom is אַיִן (gone). She waits.

5. “No one knows the day or hour” — (Matthew 24:36). The bride does not know when the groom will return. This is a standard feature of Hebrew betrothal — the father decides when the son may go collect his bride.

6. “One is taken” — The word “receive” in John 14:3 is παραλαμβάνω (G3880) — the same Greek word used in Matthew 24:40: “one is taken, and the other left.” The groom takes the bride to himself.

Daniel 9:26-27 Maps to This Sequence

The cutting is the cross. The vanishing is the ascension. The strengthening is the return.

The Messiah Question — Resolved?

Recall the debate from the beginning of this study: is the “he” in Daniel 9:26-27 the Messiah or the antichrist?

In the traditional translation, the ambiguity is genuine — the unnamed “he” could be either. This has fueled centuries of disagreement.

But in the alternative reading, the ambiguity largely disappears:

In the alternative reading, Messiah is the subject throughout. He cuts. He vanishes. He destroys. He strengthens. There is no unnamed antichrist figure doing these things. The passage is about Messiah’s work from first coming to second coming.

The antichrist appears only as the “coming ruler” (נָגִיד הַבָּא) whose people Messiah will destroy — not as the actor in the passage.

Second Witness: Jeremiah

Jeremiah describes the same sequence of events using remarkably similar language:

“In those days, and in that time… they will ask the way to Zion… saying, Come, let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.” — Jeremiah 50:4-5

“Remove out of the midst of Babylon… and be as the he goats before the flocks.” — Jeremiah 50:8

“The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.” — Jeremiah 51:10

“In those days, and in that time, says the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.” — Jeremiah 50:20

The parallels to Daniel 9:26-27 (alternative reading):

• A perpetual covenant (cf. “cut a covenant”)
• Remove out of Babylon (cf. “vanish” / rapture)
• Brought to Zion (cf. “to himself and the city”)
• Pardoned / sanctified (cf. “he will sanctify”)
• Iniquity not found (cf. the אַיִן pattern — “not found”)

Summary

Daniel 9:26-27, read from the consonantal Hebrew without later vowel point assumptions, describes a coherent sequence:

1. Messiah cuts a covenant — the crucifixion as covenant-cutting, sealed at the Last Supper
2. Messiah vanishes — to Himself, and the city, and the holy place (ascension + 70 AD)
3. Messiah will destroy the people of the coming ruler (final victory)
4. Messiah strengthens the covenant — the return, the marriage consummation

This reading resolves the long-standing debate about whether the “he” is Messiah or antichrist. It is Messiah throughout — acting, not acted upon. The covenant is not the antichrist’s treaty. It is the new covenant in Messiah’s blood, cut at the cross and strengthened at the return.

The traditional translation is not wrong in every detail — but its vowel-point choices and word reordering create ambiguities that the consonantal text does not require. The alternative reading deserves serious consideration alongside the tradition.

See also: H369 — The אַיִן Pattern — How Scripture uses “is not” as a keyword for divine removal See also: GRASS — Symbol Study — The wind/Spirit acting on people, connecting to the אַיִן mechanism