During the last of the seventy weeks “he” will confirm the covenant with “many”. This refers to God’s covenant with Israel. Through the seventy weeks-prophecy, God extended His covenant with Israel for a further 490 years. But during those last seven years, the Messiah will confirm the covenant with many from Israel. After that, the covenant comes to an end.
Daniel 9:27 reads:
“And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week”
The “one week” is the last of the Seventy Weeks, but who is “he”? What covenant is this and with whom does he make this covenant?
The Covenant of God
Through Moses God made a covenant with Israel, but because of their disobedience, Israel went into exile. At the end of Seventy Years of exile God, through the prophecy of Daniel 9, extended His covenant with Israel for a further seventy weeks of years (490 years). On the basis of the arguments below it is proposed that the covenant in 9:27 refers to God’s covenant with Israel:
As discussed in the previous article (The Covenant in Daniel 9), the divine covenant is the central theme in Daniel 9 that integrates the prayer and prophecy into a unit. This context speaks against the supposition that an altogether different covenant is abruptly introduced in the last 7 of the 490 years.
The word “covenant” appears in 6 verses in Daniel. In four verses it is explicitly God’s covenant (9:4; 11:28, 30, 32.).
Some propose that covenant in 9:27 is not God’s covenant with Israel because of the absence of the article “the”, but in Daniel 11:28, 30, 32 “covenant” is also used without the article, while the reference is explicit to God’s “holy covenant”.
“He” refers to the Messiah.
The “he” in verse 27 must refer to a person mentioned in the previous verse. This verse reads as follows:
“Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary …” (Daniel 9:26).
The “Messiah” is therefore the dominant figure in verse 26. The “prince” is a subordinate figure. It is not even the subject of the clause. The subject of the clause is “the people.”
Dispensationalism proposes that the “he”, who will make a firm covenant with many in verse 27, is the “prince” of verse 26, and that this prince is an end-time Antichrist. He will enter into some pact at the beginning of the last seven years and then—in the course of those seven years—break his covenant. Objections against this view:
(1) According to verse 26, “the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” This refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in the first century. If his people refer to the first-century Romans, and if the prince is an end-time Antichrist, then the people and their prince live 2000 years apart, which is an unnatural interpretation.
(2) If “he” makes a new covenant for one week, then he cannot break his covenant in the middle of the week.
Confirm the covenant
The verb translated “make a firm” in the NASB is “gâbar”. Strong’s short definition of this word is “prevailed“. Of the 25 times this word appears in the OT, the NASB translates it 14 times as prevail. The evidence of the usage of gâbar in the Bible (“The covenant of the Seventieth Week” by Meredith G. Kline) indicates that verse 27 has in view the enforcing of a covenant previously granted. It is not a verb for the making of a new covenant. It should, therefore, be translated as “make firm a covenant”, and not as “make a firm covenant”. The KJV translates it as confirm the covenant and Young’s Literal Translation reads “strengthening a covenant”. Confirm a covenant implies a covenant that existed prior to the last seven years. If so, it can only refer to God’s covenant with Israel.
The Many
“The many”, with whom he will confirm the covenant, most often refers to God’s people. For instance:
“The Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities“ (Isa 53:11)
“Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days” (Dan 11:33; See also Dan 11:39; 12:3; Matt. 26:28; Hebr. 9:26-28; Rom 5:15, 19; 1Co 10:33).
The covenant in 9:27 is therefore God’s covenant with Israel.
End of the week
Daniel 9 does not specify a specific event for the end of the Seventy Weeks. However, the Seventy Weeks was an extension of God’s covenant with Israel, as also indicated by the phrase, “Seventy weeks are cut off for your people and your holy city” (9:24). The seventy weeks therefore end when God’s covenant with Israel ends. It will be the end of all Jewish privileges as the covenant people.
This is confirmed by verse 27, which reads, he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week. This is last of the seventy weeks. When that week comes to an end the messiah will no longer confirm the covenant with Israel.
Articles in this series
1. Summary of all Daniel 9 articles
2. Introduction
3. When will the Messiah Appear? – Discussion of punctuation
4. Daniel 9 does not describe the same
crisis as the other prophecies in Daniel.
5. Where do we find Jeremiah’s 70 years in history?
6. With which decree do the 490 years begin?
7. Daniel’s prayer is part of the prophecy.
8. Daniel 9 extends God’s covenant with Israel.
9. Who confirms the covenant in week 70? CURRENT
10. What is the real sequence of events?
11. The 490 years came to an end when they stoned Stephen.
12. Nehemiah gives context to Daniel 9.
13. List of articles
Four interpretations of Daniel 9
Liberal-critical interpretation
Consistent Symbolical Interpretation
Dispensationalism and Daniel 9
Historical Messianic Interpretation