Daniel 9:4
in Daniel 9And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion to those who love Him and keep His commandments,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I prayed unto Jehovah my God, and made confession, and said, Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments,
KJV
And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
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This verse in Daniel 9
Commentary
7 notes on this verseVerse 4. "'I beseech Thee, O Lord God, who art mighty and terrible...'" That is, Thou art terrible towards those who despise Thine injunctions. "'...Who keepest covenant and mercy towards those who love Thee and keep Thy commandments.'" It is not therefore the case that what God promises will come to pass without further ado, but rather, He fulfils His promises towards those who keep His commandments.
This site's exposition
with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes
on Daniel 9:3-6
Daniel sets his face to seek the Lord by prayer, supplication, fasting, sackcloth and ashes, the full apparatus of national mourning, and the confession that follows runs in the same key as Ezra's in Ezra 9 and the Levites' in Nehemiah 9, we have sinned repeated until it becomes the prayer's own refrain. He counts himself inside the guilt he shares by nation rather than by deed, since the youth who refused the king's food in chapter one has nothing personal to confess, and the bench reads this identification as the same pattern Moses and Nehemiah both carry, a righteous man praying as one of the guilty people. The prayer names no merit of its own from the first word.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
[Daniel] calls [God] "great and wonderful" for his ability to do great and wonderful things. Godly people, after all, are accustomed to apply divine names on the basis of benefits conferred. He spoke of his "keeping covenant and mercy with those who love him" in …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And I prayed unto the Lord my God,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
So weak and sinful is man that any covenant for good on God's part with him, to take effect, must depend solely on His grace. If He be a God to be feared for His justice, He is one to be trusted for His "mercy." love . . . keep his commandments--Keeping His commandments is the only sure test of love to God (Joh 14:15).
Keeping the covenant - Fidelity and truth are characteristics of God. He had never yet broken his engagements to his followers, and was ever showing mercy to men.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And I prayed unto the Lord my God - Evidently a set and formal prayer. It would seem probable that; he offered this prayer, and then re corded the substance of it afterward. We have no reason to suppose that we have the whole of it, but we have doubtless its principal topics. And made my confession - Not as an individual, or not of his own sins only, but a confession in behalf of the people, and in their name. There is no reason to suppose that what he here says did “not” express their feelings. They had been long in captivity - far away from their desolate city and temple. They could not but be sensible that these calamities had come upon them on account of their sins; and they could not but feel that the calamities could not be expected to be removed but by confession of their sins, and by acknowledging the justice of the Divine dealings toward them. When we have been afflicted - when we are called to pass through severe trials - and when, borne down by trial, we go to God, and pray that the evil may be removed, the first thing that is demanded is, that we should confess our sins, and acknowledge the justice of God in the judgments that have come upon us. If we attempt to vindicate and justify ourselves, we can have no hope that the judgment will be averted. Daniel, therefore, in the name of the people, began his prayer with the humble and penitent acknowledgment that all that they had suffered was deserved. O Lord, the great and dreadful God - A God great, and to be feared or venerated - הנורא hanôrâ'. This does not mean “dreadful” in the sense that there is anything stern or unamiable in his character, but mainly that he is to be regarded with veneration. Keeping the covenant and mercy - Keeping his covenant and showing mercy. […]
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָֽאֶתְפַּֽלְלָ֛ה | vaetpalah | and I prayed ! | H6419 → | |
| לַיהוָ֥ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהַ֖י | ʾelohai | God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וָאֶתְוַדֶּ֑ה | vaetvadeh | and I confessed | H3034 → | |
| וָאֹֽמְרָ֗ה | vaomerah | and I said ! | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אָנָּ֤א | ʾana' | I beg you | H577 → | |
| אֲדֹנָי֙ | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| הָאֵ֤ל | hael | <the> God | H410 → | 241 times |
| הַגָּדוֹל֙ | hagadol | <the> great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| וְהַנּוֹרָ֔א | vehanora' | and <the> awesome | H3372 → | 315 times |
| שֹׁמֵ֤ר | shomer | [who] keeps | H8104 → | |
| הַבְּרִית֙ | haberit | the covenant | H1285 → | 284 times |
| וְֽהַחֶ֔סֶד | vehachesed | and <the> covenant loyalty | H2617 → | |
| לְאֹהֲבָ֖יו | leohavav | to [those who] love him | H157 → | |
| וּלְשֹׁמְרֵ֥י | uleshomerei | and to [those who] keep | H8104 → | |
| מִצְוֹתָֽיו׃ | mitzvotav | <of> commandments his | H4687 → |
וָֽאֶתְפַּֽלְלָ֛הand I prayed !
vaetpalahH6419 →
לַיהוָ֥הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהַ֖יGod my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 times
וָאֶתְוַדֶּ֑הand I confessed
vaetvadehH3034 →
וָאֹֽמְרָ֗הand I said !
vaomerahH559 →5305 times
אָנָּ֤אI beg you
ʾana'H577 →
אֲדֹנָי֙O Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
הָאֵ֤ל<the> God
haelH410 →241 times
הַגָּדוֹל֙<the> great
hagadolH1419 →526 times
וְהַנּוֹרָ֔אand <the> awesome
vehanora'H3372 →315 times
שֹׁמֵ֤ר[who] keeps
shomerH8104 →
הַבְּרִית֙the covenant
haberitH1285 →284 times
וְֽהַחֶ֔סֶדand <the> covenant loyalty
vehachesedH2617 →
לְאֹהֲבָ֖יוto [those who] love him
leohavavH157 →
וּלְשֹׁמְרֵ֥יand to [those who] keep
uleshomereiH8104 →
מִצְוֹתָֽיו׃<of> commandments his
mitzvotavH4687 →
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 8:28And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 5:10
And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish…
- James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
- Genesis 50:20
As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.
- Romans 5:3–5
Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
- 1 Corinthians 2:9
Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
- 1 Peter 5:10
Through
Deuteronomy 5:10but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
it leads to
- Romans 8:28
And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
- 1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
- Romans 8:28
Through
Exodus 20:6but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.
- Deuteronomy 7:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies12
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; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER NINE; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 9:4.