Daniel 9:20
in Daniel 9While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and that of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the LORD my God concerning His holy mountain—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Jehovah my God for the holy mountain of my God;
KJV
And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God;
⋯
This verse in Daniel 9
Commentary
8 notes on this verseHe is informed concerning the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ (of which that was a type), what should be the nature of it and when it should be accomplished,
This site's exposition
confessing my sin and that
Jerome observed that Daniel confessed his own sins as well as the people's, counting himself among them. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown noted that the words while I was speaking recur in verse 21. The repetition marks an answer given before the prayer ended.
This site's exposition
confessing my sin
on Daniel 9:20-23
While Daniel is still praying, Gabriel, the messenger of chapter 8, comes “in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice”. That offering had not been made for decades, yet it still marks the hour, and the answer “went out” at the beginning of his petitions.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
And so confessing from the face of the people, he describes these things, declaring the sins of the people and of their fathers, who did not obey his slaves the prophets, who were sent to them to speak in the name of the Lord. And when he was proclaiming every supplication in humility and fastings and sackcloth, the angel Gabriel was sent forth to him, in order to cause him to understand what was sought by him. For Daniel speaks in this way, "And while I was still speaking and praying and declaring my sins and the sins of my people, prostrating my pitiful case before the Lord my God concerning the holy Mountain, and while I was still speaking in prayer, behold, the man Gabriel, whom I saw in the vision in the beginning, came flying and he touched me around the evening sacrifice and he caused me to understand and spoke with me and said, 'Daniel, now I have come to teach you understanding. In the beginning of your supplication the word went out and I myself came to proclaim to you that you are cherished man.'" [Daniel 9:20-23]
Verse 20. "Now while I was yet speaking and praying and confessing my sins and the sins of my people, Israel, so as to present (Vulg.: and was presenting) my petitions in the presence of my God on behalf of the holy mountain of my God..." And so, as we have pointed out above, he not only thought upon the sins of the people but also upon his own sins, as being one of the people.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And while I was speaking and praying,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
whiles I was speaking--repeated in Da 9:21; emphatically marking that the answer was given before the prayer was completed, as God promised (Isa 30:19;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And whiles I was speaking ... - In the very time when I was thus pleading. For the holy mountain of my God - See the notes at Dan 9:16.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְע֨וֹד | veod | and still | H5750 → | 490 times |
| אֲנִ֤י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| מְדַבֵּר֙ | medaber | [was] speaking | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| וּמִתְפַּלֵּ֔ל | umitpalel | and [was] praying | H6419 → | |
| וּמִתְוַדֶּה֙ | umitvadeh | and [was] confessing | H3034 → | |
| חַטָּאתִ֔י | chatati | sin my | H2403 → | 295 times |
| וְחַטַּ֖את | vechatat | and [the] sin of | H2403 → | 295 times |
| עַמִּ֣י | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וּמַפִּ֣יל | umapil | and [was] making fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| תְּחִנָּתִ֗י | techinati | supplication my | H8467 → | |
| לִפְנֵי֙ | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהַ֔י | ʾelohai | God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
| עַ֖ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַר־ | har- | [the] mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| קֹ֥דֶשׁ | kodesh | [the] holiness of | H6944 → | 469 times |
| אֱלֹהָֽי׃ | ʾelohai | God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
וְע֨וֹדand still
veodH5750 →490 times
אֲנִ֤יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
מְדַבֵּר֙[was] speaking
medaberH1696 →1141 times
וּמִתְפַּלֵּ֔לand [was] praying
umitpalelH6419 →
וּמִתְוַדֶּה֙and [was] confessing
umitvadehH3034 →
חַטָּאתִ֔יsin my
chatatiH2403 →295 times
וְחַטַּ֖אתand [the] sin of
vechatatH2403 →295 times
עַמִּ֣יpeople my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וּמַפִּ֣ילand [was] making fall
umapilH5307 →435 times
תְּחִנָּתִ֗יsupplication my
techinatiH8467 →
לִפְנֵי֙<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהַ֔יGod my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 times
עַ֖לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
הַר־[the] mountain of
har-H2022 →546 times
קֹ֥דֶשׁ[the] holiness of
kodeshH6944 →469 times
אֱלֹהָֽי׃God my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 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
Romans 3:23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 7:20
Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
- 1 John 1:8–10
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- Galatians 3:22
But the Scripture pronounces all things confined by sin, so that by faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.
- Romans 3:9
What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin.
- Ecclesiastes 7:20
Through
Psalms 145:18The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 29:12–13
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 34:18
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
- Deuteronomy 4:7
For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?
- John 4:24
God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
- Jeremiah 29:12–13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies14
On this chapter
About Daniel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 4.29.1-3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER NINE; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.