Daniel 9:3
in Daniel 9So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
KJV
And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
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This verse in Daniel 9
Commentary
7 notes on this verseNor is it merely a change of nature, or aversion of perils or obliteration of sins but likewise the recognition of mysteries that fasts will merit from God. Look at Daniel's example.… In the first year of King Darius, when, after careful and repeated meditation on the times predicted by Jeremiah, he set his face to God in fasts and sackcloth and ashes. An angel was sent to him and immediately stated this had been the cause of the divine honor; he said, "I came to show you, wretched as you are," namely, because he had been fasting.
This site's exposition
with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes
on Daniel 9:3-6
Daniel seeks the Lord “with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes,” and his confession runs in the key of Ezra 9 and Nehemiah 9. He prays as one of the guilty people, the pattern the older commentators find in Moses and Nehemiah, a righteous man confessing with his nation.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
What will you say, Daniel? You are among the good; you enjoy honor before God and people; why do you concern yourself with the others? But Moses also acted the same way. And what does he say? "He asked for the things that were due with fasting, sackcloth and ashes." Why did he do that, if what he was asking was due the Israelites? He did it so that he might not make them unworthy of this. For there is no compulsion that can be applied to God; he is above all laws. He did this "to seek in prayer and petition."
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And I set my face unto the Lord God - Probably the meaning is, that he turned his face toward Jerusalem, the place where God had dwelt; the place of his holy abode on earth. See the notes at Dan 6:10. The language, however, would not be inappropriate to denote prayer without such a supposition. We turn to one whom we address, and so prayer may be described by “setting the face toward God.” The essential idea here is, that he engaged in a set and formal prayer; he engaged in earnest devotion.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
prayer . . . supplications--literally, "intercessions . . . entreaties for mercy." Praying for blessings, and deprecating evils.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
I set my face - to seek by prayer - He found that the time of the promised deliverance could not be at any great distance; and as he saw nothing that indicated a speedy termination of their oppressive captivity, he was very much afflicted, and earnestly besought God to put a speedy end to it; and how earnestly he seeks, his own words show. He prayed, he supplicated, he fasted, he put sackcloth upon his body, and he put ashes upon his head. He uses that kind of prayer prescribed by Solomon in his prayer at the dedication of the temple. See 1Ki 8:47, 1Ki 8:48.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֶתְּנָ֣ה | vaetenah | and I set ! | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| פָּנַ֗י | panai | face my | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֲדֹנָי֙ | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לְבַקֵּ֥שׁ | levakesh | to seek | H1245 → | 225 times |
| תְּפִלָּ֖ה | tefilah | prayer | H8605 → | 72 times |
| וְתַחֲנוּנִ֑ים | vetachanunim | and supplications | H8469 → | 18 times |
| בְּצ֖וֹם | betzom | with fasting | H6685 → | |
| וְשַׂ֥ק | vesak | and sackcloth | H8242 → | |
| וָאֵֽפֶר׃ | vaefer | and ash[es] | H665 → |
וָאֶתְּנָ֣הand I set !
vaetenahH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
פָּנַ֗יface my
panaiH6440 →2123 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אֲדֹנָי֙[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
לְבַקֵּ֥שׁto seek
levakeshH1245 →225 times
תְּפִלָּ֖הprayer
tefilahH8605 →72 times
וְתַחֲנוּנִ֑יםand supplications
vetachanunimH8469 →18 times
בְּצ֖וֹםwith fasting
betzomH6685 →
וְשַׂ֥קand sackcloth
vesakH8242 →
וָאֵֽפֶר׃and ash[es]
vaeferH665 →
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
Jeremiah 33:3Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 29:12
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- Isaiah 65:24
Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
- Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
- Isaiah 48:6
You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not acknowledge them? From now on I will tell you of new things, hidden things unknown to you.
- Psalms 91:15
When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
- Jeremiah 29:12
Through
Esther 4:16“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast…
it leads to
- Acts 20:24
But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus—the ministry of testifying to the good…
- 2 Chronicles 20:3
Jehoshaphat was alarmed and set his face to seek the LORD. And he proclaimed a fast throughout Judah.
- Joel 2:12–17
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
- Acts 20:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies18
On this chapter
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 9; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, ON FASTING 7.