Daniel 9:4

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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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
prayed	וָֽאֶתְפַּֽלְלָ֛ה va.'et.pa.Lah	H6419	to judge (officially or mentally) · conjunction + verb, hithpael sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular + paragogic he
LORD	לַיהוָ֥ה la.Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
God	אֱלֹהַ֖י 'e.lo.Hai	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
confession	וָאֶתְוַדֶּ֑ה va.'et.va.Deh	H3034	physically · conjunction + verb, hithpael sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
said	וָאֹֽמְרָ֗ה va.'o.me.Rah	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular + paragogic he
O	אָנָּ֤א 'a.Na'	H577	oh now! · interjection
Lord	אֲדֹנָי֙ 'a.do.Nai	H136	the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · proper noun, a title
great	הַגָּדוֹל֙ ha.ga.dOl	H1419	great (in any sense) · definite article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
dreadful	וְהַנּוֹרָ֔א ve.ha.no.Ra'	H3372	to fear · conjunction + definite article + verb, niphal active participle, masculine singular absolute
God	הָאֵ֤ל ha.'El	H410	strength · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
keeping	שֹׁמֵ֤ר sho.Mer	H8104	properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
covenant	הַבְּרִית֙ ha.be.Rit	H1285	a compact (because made by passing between pieces of fl… · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
mercy	וְֽהַחֶ֔סֶד ve.ha.Che.sed	H2617	kindness · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
love	לְאֹהֲבָ֖יו le.'o.ha.Vav	H157	to have affection for (sexually or otherwise) · preposition + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
keep	וּלְשֹׁמְרֵ֥י u.le.sho.me.Rei	H8104	properly · conjunction + preposition + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
commandments	מִצְוֹתָֽיו mitz.vo.Tav	H4687	a command · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Exodus 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Deuteronomy 5:10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
Exodus 34:6-7 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness an…
Daniel 9:5-12 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy jud…
Jeremiah 32:17-19 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for the…
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I…
Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his com…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 9:4-19

We have here Daniel's prayer to God as his God, and the confession which he joined with that prayer: I prayed, and made my confession. Note, In every prayer we must make confession, not only of the sins we have been guilty of (which we commonly call confession), but of our faith in God and dependence upon him, our sorrow for sin and our resolutions against it. It must be our confession, must be the language of our own convictions and that which we ourselves do heartily subscribe to. Let us go over the several parts of this prayer, which we have reason to think that he offered up much more largely than is here recorded, these being only the heads of it. I. Here is his humble, serious, reveren…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 9:4

my confession--according to God's promises in Lev 26:39-42, that if Israel in exile for sin should repent and confess, God would remember for them His covenant with Abraham (compare Deu 30:1-5; Jer 29:12-14; Jam 4:10). God's promise was absolute, but prayer also was ordained as about to precede its fulfilment, this too being the work of God in His people, as much as the external restoration which was to follow. So it shall be at Israel's final restoration (Psa 102:13-17). Daniel takes his countrymen's place of confession of sin, identifying himself with them, and, as their representative and intercessory priest, "accepts the punishment of their iniquity." Thus he typifies Messiah, the Sin-be…

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Adam Clarke on Daniel 9:4

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.

John Gill on Daniel 9:4

And I prayed unto the Lord my God,.... Not to idols, nor to angels or saints departed; but to the Lord God of heaven and earth, who is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, &c.: a God hearing and answering prayer; and to whom he directed his prayer, not only as the God of nature and providence, but as his own covenant God and Father; thereby encouraging his faith in him, and using his interest with him: and made my confession; of his own sins, and of the sins of his people; of the favours bestowed on him and them; of his justice in afflicting them, and his mercy in appointing a time for their deliverance; of his own faith in him, love to him, and submission to his will: and said, O Lord, the…

The Church Fathers

Verse 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.
— Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER NINE

[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 recalling the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Being very precise in his prayer, he mentions that he does not keep it with anyone but with "those who love him and keep his commandments;" if someone transgresses your commands, he renders himself unworthy of the promises.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 9:4

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Confession — (1) An open profession of faith (Luke 12:8). (2.) An acknowledment of sins to God (Lev. 16:21; Ezra 9:5-15; Dan. 9:3-12), and to a neighbour whom we have wronged (James 5:16; Matt. 18:15).
Daniel — God is my judge, or judge of God. (1.) David’s second son, “born unto him in Hebron, of Abigail the Carmelitess” (1 Chr. 3:1). He is called also Chileab (2 Sam. 3:3). (2.) One of the four great…
Confession Of Sin · Exemplified: Daniel — Exemplified: Daniel
Covenant, The · God is faithful to — God is faithful to
Nation · Chastised — Chastised
Prayer · Accompanied with: Confession — Accompanied with: Confession
Prayer, Intercessory · Exemplified: Daniel — Exemplified: Daniel
Seekers · .Daniel — .Daniel
Seeking God · Exemplified: Daniel — Exemplified: Daniel

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Daniel 9:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 9:4-19

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 9:4

Adam Clarke on Daniel 9:4

John Gill on Daniel 9:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Daniel 9:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Daniel 9:4-19

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Daniel 9:4

Adam Clarke on Daniel 9:4

John Gill on Daniel 9:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Daniel 9:4

Keil & Delitzsch on Daniel 9:3-19

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Daniel 9:4-11

Rashi on Daniel 9:4