Daniel 9:19
in Daniel 9O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God, because thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
KJV
O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
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This verse in Daniel 9
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The short broken ejaculations and repetitions show the intense fervor of his supplications. defer not--He implies that the seventy years are now all but complete. thine own sake--often repeated, as being the strongest plea (Jer 14:21).
This site's exposition
brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt
on Daniel 9:15-19
The appeal turns to plea, grounded in the Exodus itself, the Lord who brought his people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and gotten himself renown, asked now to act again for his own name's sake rather than for any righteousness of theirs. It rises to the fourfold cry of verse nineteen, O Lord, hear, O Lord, forgive, O Lord, hearken and do, which the older writers set beside Moses' intercession at the golden calf as one of Scripture's great pleadings for a whole nation. Daniel asks nothing on the ground of merit, we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies, the confession's own last word before the answer comes.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
We cannot now expect that God should send us answers to our prayer by angels, but, if we pray with fervency for that which God has promised, we may by faith take the promise as an immediate answer to the prayer; for he is faithful that has promised. [2.] He had a discovery made to him of a far greater and more glorious redemption which God would work out for his church in the latter days.
(2.) "Do it for the Lord's sake, that is, for the Lord Christ's sake," for the sake of the Messiah promised, who is the Lord (so the most and best of our Christian interpreters understand it), for the sake of Adonai, so David called the Messiah ( Ps. cx. 1 ), and mercy is prayed for for the church for the sake of the Son of man ( Ps. lxxx.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive,....
"That the mercy prayed for may be granted in mercy, let the sin that threatens to come between us and it be removed: O Lord! hearken and do, not hearken and speak only, but hearken and do; do that for us which none else can, and that speedily-- defer not, O my God! " Now that he saw the appointed day approaching he could in faith pray that God would make haste to them and not defer.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3484: “Daniel—a Pattern for Pleaders” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
DANIEL was a man in very high position in life. It is true he was not living in his own native land, but, in the Providence of God, he had been raised to great eminence under the dominion of the country in which he dwelt. He might, therefore, naturally have forgotten his poor kinsmen—many have done so. Alas, we have known some that have even forgotten their poor fellow Christians when they have grown in Grace and have thought themselves too good to worship with the poorer sort when they have grown rich in this world's goods. But it was not so with Daniel. Though he had been made a president of the empire, yet he was still a Jew—he felt himself still one with the seed of Israel. In all the afflictions of his people he was afflicted, and he felt it his honor to be numbered with them and his duty and his privilege to share with them all the bitterness of their lot. If he could not become despised and as poor as they, if God's Providence had made him to be distinguished, yet his heart would make no distinction—he would remember them and pray for them, and would plead that their desolation might yet be removed. Daniel was also a man very high in spiritual things. Is he not one of God's three mightier in the Old Testament? He is mentioned with two others in a celebrated verse as being one of three whose intercessions God would have heard if he had heard any intercessions. But though thus full of Grace, himself, (and for that very reason), he stooped to those who were in a low state. Rejoicing as he did before God as to his own lot, he sorrowed and cried by reason of those from whom joy was banished. It is a sad fault with those Christians who think themselves full of Grace, when they begin to despise their fellows! They may rest assured they are greatly mistaken in the estimate they have formed of themselves.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3484: “Daniel—a Pattern for Pleaders” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
DANIEL was a man in very high position in life. It is true he was not living in his own native land, but, in the Providence of God, he had been raised to great eminence under the dominion of the country in which he dwelt. He might, therefore, naturally have forgotten his poor kinsmen—many have done so. Alas, we have known some that have even forgotten their poor fellow Christians when they have grown in Grace and have thought themselves too good to worship with the poorer sort when they have grown rich in this world's goods.
Thy city and thy people are called by thy name - The holy city, the city of the great King. I think it scarcely possible for any serious man to read these impressive and pleading words without feeling a measure of the prophet’s earnestness.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
O Lord, hear ... - The language in this verse does not require any particular explanation. The repetition - the varied forms of expression - indicate a mind intent on the object; a heart greatly interested; an earnestness that cannot be denied. It is language that is respectful, solemn, devout, but deeply earnest. It is not vain repetition, for its force is not in the “words” employed, but in the manifest fervour, earnestness, and sincerity of spirit which pervade the pleading.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲדֹנָ֤י׀ | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| שְׁמָ֙עָה֙ | shemaah | hear ! | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י׀ | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| סְלָ֔חָה | selachah | forgive ! | H5545 → | |
| אֲדֹנָ֛י | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| הַֽקֲשִׁ֥יבָה | hakashivah | be attentive ! | H7181 → | |
| וַעֲשֵׂ֖ה | vaaseh | and act | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תְּאַחַ֑ר | teachar | you delay | H309 → | |
| לְמַֽעֲנְךָ֣ | lemaankha | for own sake your | H4616 → | |
| אֱלֹהַ֔י | ʾelohai | O God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| שִׁמְךָ֣ | shimkha | name your | H8034 → | 864 times |
| נִקְרָ֔א | nikra' | it is called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עִירְךָ֖ | ʾirekha | city your | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עַמֶּֽךָ׃ | ʾamekha | people your | H5971 → | 1873 times |
אֲדֹנָ֤י׀O Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
שְׁמָ֙עָה֙hear !
shemaahH8085 →1159 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י׀O Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
סְלָ֔חָהforgive !
selachahH5545 →
אֲדֹנָ֛יO Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
הַֽקֲשִׁ֥יבָהbe attentive !
hakashivahH7181 →
וַעֲשֵׂ֖הand act
vaasehH6213 →2628 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תְּאַחַ֑רyou delay
teacharH309 →
לְמַֽעֲנְךָ֣for own sake your
lemaankhaH4616 →
אֱלֹהַ֔יO God my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
שִׁמְךָ֣name your
shimkhaH8034 →864 times
נִקְרָ֔אit is called
nikra'H7121 →733 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
עִירְךָ֖city your
ʾirekhaH5892 →1090 times
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
עַמֶּֽךָ׃people your
ʾamekhaH5971 →1873 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 11:8I tell you, even though he will not get up to provide for him because of his friendship, yet because of the man’s persistence, he will get up and give him as much as…
it leads to
- Genesis 32:26
Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
- Luke 18:1–8
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:
- Romans 15:30
Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.
- Colossians 4:12
Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in the…
- Matthew 15:22–28
And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.”
- Genesis 32:26
Through
Ephesians 1:12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory.
it leads to
- Ephesians 1:6
to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.
- Jeremiah 17:5–7
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Ephesians 1:13–14
And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
- Ephesians 1:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies12
By subject
Prayer34 verses
About Daniel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3484: “Daniel—a Pattern for Pleaders” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Prophet Daniel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.