Daniel 9:15
King James Version (1769)
Other translations
| Verse | KJV | BSB | ASV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. | Now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and who made for Yourself a name renowned to this day, we have sinned; we have acted wickedly. | And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. |
In context
AI-assisted, sourcedDaniel has just confessed that Israel's ruin came because they did not obey God (9:5-14). Now he turns from confession to request, and he starts by recalling how God brought his people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and made a name for himself. He then admits again, "we have sinned, we have done wickedly," before asking God to turn his anger from Jerusalem (9:16). Daniel 9:5Daniel 9:14Daniel 9:15Daniel 9:16
SpeakingDaniel, praying in the first person, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. Daniel 9:3Daniel 9:4Daniel overview
ToThe prayer is spoken to the Lord God, "O Lord our God." Daniel 9:15Daniel 9:4
Also involvedIsrael: the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel scattered among the nations, whom Daniel speaks for as "we." Daniel 9:7Daniel 9:20
Daniel appeals to God's past rescue from Egypt as the ground of hope, and he sets it beside an honest confession of sin. He does not ask on the basis of the people's goodness but for God's great mercies and for his own name's sake (9:18-19). Daniel 9:15Daniel 9:18Daniel 9:19
Daniel was in Babylon, in the realm of the Chaldeans, praying for Jerusalem, which lay desolate far away. The verse looks back to Egypt, where God first freed his people. Daniel 9:1Daniel 9:17Daniel overviewEgypt
The eventsThe prayer comes in the first year of Darius the Mede, when Daniel understood from Jeremiah that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. Daniel 9:1Daniel 9:2
WrittenTraditional: written by Daniel in the 500s BC. Scholarly: many critical scholars date the book's final form to about 167-164 BC, while others hold the traditional date. Daniel overview
HereRecalling the Exodus reminds God, and the people, that Israel is his own people and that his name is bound up with them. That is why Daniel can ask God to act "for thine own sake" and "for the Lord's sake." Daniel 9:15Daniel 9:17Daniel 9:19
In the whole of ScriptureOther prayers make the same appeal. Moses pleaded for the people God had "brought forth out of the land of Egypt... with a mighty hand" (Exodus 32:11). Nehemiah recalled that God got himself "a name, as it is this day" (Nehemiah 9:10). Psalm 106:8 says God saved them "for his name's sake." Exodus 32:11Nehemiah 9:10Nehemiah 1:10Psalms 106:8
For readersThe verse shows a way to pray when we have failed. We can be honest about sin and still lean on what God has already done and on his own name, not on our own record. Daniel 9:15Daniel 9:18
- renown (name)שֵׁם
The word is "name," and it can also mean reputation, fame or glory. Daniel's plea rests on God's name, the same ground he uses in 9:19, "thy people are called by thy name." Strong's H8034Daniel 9:19Nehemiah 9:10
- handיָד
"Hand" can stand for strength or power. Paired with "strong," it echoes God's word in Exodus 6:1 that with a strong hand Pharaoh would let Israel go. Strong's H3027HStrong's H2389Exodus 6:1
- we have sinnedחָטָא
The word means to sin or to miss the way or the goal of right and duty. It repeats Daniel's earlier confession in 9:5. Strong's H2398Daniel 9:5
Takeaway
Daniel holds two things together: God's mighty rescue in the past and his people's present sin. He asks for help on the strength of God's name and mercy, not their merit. Daniel 9:15Daniel 9:18Daniel 9:19
Drafted by AI from the Scripture and data shown under “Show sources,” then checked automatically and by a second AI pass. Updated 2026-10-28.
The world around the text
About 605-536 BC. King of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC). Where Daniel lived and served for about seventy years. The capital of the Babylonian empire, on the Euphrates south of modern Baghdad, in the land the Bible calls Shinar and Chaldea.
Who ruled
- King of BabylonNebuchadnezzar605-562 BC
The king who besieged Jerusalem, carried Daniel and the temple vessels to Babylon, and later destroyed the city and temple. His own building inscriptions boast of the Babylon he built. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 24:12 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 25:1Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)
- Last king of Babylon, and his son who ruled in his placeNabonidus and Belshazzar556-539 BC
Nabonidus spent about ten years at the oasis of Tema in Arabia and left his son Belshazzar to rule in Babylon. That is why Belshazzar could only offer Daniel the place of "third ruler in the kingdom": he was himself second. Daniel 5:1Daniel 5:7Daniel 5:29Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Verse Account of Nabonidus
- Received the kingdom after Babylon fellDarius the MedianFrom 539 BC
Daniel says he "took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old" and set 120 princes over it. Records outside the Bible do not name him; he has been identified with Gubaru, the governor Cyrus set over Babylon, or with Cyrus himself. Daniel 5:31Daniel 6:1Daniel 9:1Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)
- King of PersiaCyrus559-530 BC
He united the Medes and Persians, took Babylon in 539 BC, and let the exiles go home to rebuild the temple, as Isaiah had named him beforehand. Daniel 1:21Daniel 6:28Daniel 10:1Ezra 1:1-4Isaiah 44:28-45:1Cyrus Cylinder
- King of JudahJehoiakim609-598 BC
Judah's king when Daniel was taken. Jeremiah warned him and his people that the land would serve Babylon seventy years. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 23:36-24:6Jeremiah 25:1-11
What was happening, 612 BC to 167 BC
- 612 BCWarNineveh falls
Babylon and the Medes destroyed Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, as Nahum and Zephaniah had foretold. Babylon became the great power of the region. Nahum 3:7Zephaniah 2:13Fall of Nineveh Chronicle (ABC 3)
- 605 BCWarBattle of Carchemish
Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Necho of Egypt at Carchemish on the Euphrates, in Jehoiakim's fourth year. The same year he came against Jerusalem and took the first captives, Daniel among them. Jeremiah 46:2Daniel 1:1-4Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)
- 597 BCWarJerusalem surrenders
Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin, his nobles and craftsmen to Babylon. The prophet Ezekiel went into exile with them. 2 Kings 24:10-17Ezekiel 1:2Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)
- 586 BCWarJerusalem and the temple destroyed
Babylon's army burned the temple and the city and broke down its walls. Daniel later prays over "the desolations of Jerusalem" and asks God to shine on his "sanctuary that is desolate." 2 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 52:12-14Daniel 9:2Daniel 9:17
- c. 575 BCBuildingBabylon rebuilt in splendor
Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt Babylon with great walls, palaces and the blue-glazed Ishtar Gate, and his inscriptions praise his own work. Compare his boast: "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built?" Daniel 4:30Nebuchadnezzar's East India House InscriptionHerodotus, Histories 1.178-183
- 562 BCRulersNebuchadnezzar dies
His son Evil-merodach became king and released Jehoiachin of Judah from prison. 2 Kings 25:27-30Jeremiah 52:31-34
- c. 553-543 BCRulersNabonidus leaves Babylon to Belshazzar
King Nabonidus stayed at Tema in Arabia for about ten years, and the yearly New Year festival in Babylon was not held. Belshazzar governed in Babylon. Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Daniel 5:1Daniel 7:1
- 550 BCWarCyrus unites the Medes and Persians
Cyrus of Persia defeated Astyages king of the Medes, joining the two peoples in one kingdom. Daniel's vision names the ram's two horns as "the kings of Media and Persia," the higher coming up last. Daniel 8:3Daniel 8:20Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.127-130
- October 539 BCWarBabylon falls to Cyrus
Cyrus's army entered Babylon without a long siege. Herodotus says the people were feasting when the city was taken. Daniel records that "in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain." Daniel 5:30-31Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.191Cyrus Cylinder
- 538 BCGod's peopleCyrus lets the exiles return
In his first year over Babylon, Cyrus proclaimed that the Jews could go back and build the LORD's house in Jerusalem. Daniel "continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus." Ezra 1:1-42 Chronicles 36:22-23Daniel 1:21Cyrus Cylinder
- c. 536 BCGod's peopleThe temple's foundation is laid
The returned exiles rebuilt the altar and laid the foundation of the temple. In the third year of Cyrus, Daniel was still in the east, mourning and praying. Ezra 3:1-11Daniel 10:1-3
- 334-331 BCWarAlexander the Great conquers Persia
Alexander of Macedon crossed into Asia and overthrew the Persian empire within four years. Daniel 8:21 names the rough goat as "the king of Grecia" and its great horn as "the first king." Daniel 8:5-8Daniel 8:21Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 1-3
- 323-301 BCWarAlexander's empire is divided
Alexander died young, and after twenty years of war his generals divided his empire, chiefly into four kingdoms. Daniel 8:22 says "four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." Daniel 8:8Daniel 8:22Daniel 11:4Diodorus Siculus, Library 18-20Plutarch, Demetrius 28-30
- 167 BCWarAntiochus IV defiles the temple
The Greek king Antiochus IV banned Jewish worship and set up a pagan altar on the altar of burnt offering. 1 Maccabees calls it "the abomination of desolation." Two centuries later Jesus spoke of "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet" as still to come. 1 Maccabees 1:54-59Josephus, Antiquities 12.5.4Matthew 24:15
The full picture: places, culture and daily life. Scripture first, then ancient records of these years (the Babylonian Chronicles, the Cyrus Cylinder, Nebuchadnezzar's inscriptions) and ancient writers (Herodotus, Arrian, Diodorus, Josephus). Drafted by Claude and not yet reviewed by a person.
Where
- Egypt regionMapAbout this place
Locations from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Some ancient sites are uncertain.
Original Hebrew words
| English | Hebrew | Say it | Strong's | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| and now | וְעַתָּ֣ה׀ | ve-'a-TAH | H6258 | nowעַתָּ֫ה (at.tah) 1) now 1a) now 1b) in phrases |
| O Lord | אֲדֹנָ֣י | 'a-do-NAI | H0136 | Lordאֲדֹנָי (a.do.nai) Lord - a title, spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence Another name of ye.ho.vah (יהוה "LORD" H3068G) |
| God our | אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ | 'e-lo-HEI-nu | H0430G | Godאֱלֹהִים (e.lo.him) This name means "gods" (plural intensive-singular meaning), "God" Another name of ye.ho.vah (יהוה "LORD" H3068G) |
| who | אֲשֶׁר֩ | 'a-SHER | H0834A | whichאֲשֶׁר (a.sher) A: 1) (relative part.) 1a) which, who 1b) that which 2) (conj) 2a) that (in obj clause) 2b) when 2c) since 2d) as 2e) conditional if B: Beth+ 1) in (that) which 2) (adv) 2a) where 3) (conj) 3a) in that, inasmuch as 3b) on account of C: Mem+ 1) from (or than) that which 2) from (the place) where 3) from (the fact) that, since D: Kaph+ 1) (conj.), according as, as, when 1a) according to that which, according as, as 1b) with a causal force: in so far as, since 1c) with a temporal force: when |
| you brought out | הוֹצֵ֨אתָ | ho-TZE-ta | H3318H | to come out: comeיָצָא (ya.tsa) : come/go_out/escape 1) to go out, come out, exit, go forth 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to go or come out or forth, depart 1a2) to go forth (to a place) 1a3) to go forward, proceed to (to or toward something) 1a4) to come or go forth (with purpose or for result) 1a5) to come out of 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to cause to go or come out, bring out, lead out 1b2) to bring out of 1b3) to lead out 1b4) to deliver 1c) (Hophal) to be brought out or forth |
| people your | עַמְּךָ֜ | 'a-me-KHA | H5971A | peopleעַם (am) : people/nation 1) nation, people 1a) people, nation 1b) persons, members of one's people, compatriots, country-men |
| from [the] land of | מֵאֶ֤רֶץ | me-'E-retz | H0776G | land: country/planetאֶ֫רֶץ (e.rets) : country/field 1) land, earth 1a) earth 1a1) whole earth (as opposed to a part) 1a2) earth (as opposed to heaven) 1a3) earth (inhabitants) 1b) land 1b1) country, territory 1b2) district, region 1b3) tribal territory 1b4) piece of ground 1b5) land of Canaan, Israel 1b6) inhabitants of land 1b7) Sheol, land without return, (under) world 1b8) city (-state) 1c) ground, surface of the earth 1c1) ground 1c2) soil 1d) (in phrases) 1d1) people of the land 1d2) space or distance of country (in measurements of distance) 1d3) level or plain country 1d4) land of the living 1d5) end(s) of the earth … |
| Egypt | מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ | mitz-RA-yim | H4714G | Egyptמָצוֹר (ma.tsor) "Matsor", a name for Egypt Another spelling of mits.ra.yim (מִצְרַ֫יִם "Egypt" H4714G) This name means siege, entrenchment |
| by a hand | בְּיָ֣ד | be-YAD | H3027H | handיָד (yad) : hand/arm[anatomy] 1) hand 1a) hand (of man) 1b) strength, power (fig.) 1c) side (of land), part, portion (metaph.) (fig.) 1d) (various special, technical senses) 1d1) sign, monument 1d2) part, fractional part, share 1d3) time, repetition 1d4) axle-trees, axle 1d5) stays, support (for laver) 1d6) tenons (in tabernacle) 1d7) a phallus, a hand (meaning unsure) 1d8) wrists |
| strong | חֲזָקָ֔ה | cha-za-KAH | H2389 | strongחָזָק (cha.zaq) 1) strong, stout, mighty 1a) strong 1a1) severe, sharp, hot 1a2) firm, hard 1b) a strong one (subst) |
| and you made | וַתַּֽעַשׂ־ | va-ta-'as- | H6213H | to makeעֲבַד (a.vad) 1) to make, do 1a)(P'al) 1a1) to make, create 1a2) to do, perform 1b) (Ithp'al) 1b1) to be made into 1b2) to be done, be wrought, be performed, be executed, be carried out |
| a name | שֵׁ֖ם | shem | H8034 | nameשֵׁם (shem) 1) name 1a) name 1b) reputation, fame, glory 1c) the Name (as designation of God) 1d) memorial, monument Aramaic equivalent: shum (שֻׁם "name" H8036) |
| as the day | כַּיּ֣וֹם | kai-YOM | H3117L | dayיוֹם (yom) : day/when/time/period 1) day, time, year 1a) day (as opposed to night) 1b) day (24 hour period) 1b1) as defined by evening and morning in Genesis 1 1b2) as a division of time 1b2a) a working day, a day's journey 1c) days, lifetime (pl.) 1d) time, period (general) 1e) year 1f) temporal references 1f1) today 1f2) yesterday 1f3) tomorrow |
| the this | הַזֶּ֑ה | ha-ZEH | H2088 | thatדִּי (di) part of relation 1) who, which, that mark of genitive 2) that of, which belongs to, that conj 3) that, because |
| we have sinned | חָטָ֖אנוּ | cha-TA-nu | H2398 | to sinחָטָא (cha.ta) 1) to sin, miss, miss the way, go wrong, incur guilt, forfeit, purify from uncleanness 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to miss 1a2) to sin, miss the goal or path of right and duty 1a3) to incur guilt, incur penalty by sin, forfeit 1b) (Piel) 1b1) to bear loss 1b2) to make a sin-offering 1b3) to purify from sin 1b4) to purify from uncleanness 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to miss the mark 1c2) to induce to sin, cause to sin 1c3) to bring into guilt or condemnation or punishment 1d) (Hithpael) 1d1) to miss oneself, lose oneself, wander from the way 1d2) to purify oneself from uncleanness |
| we have acted wickedly | רָשָֽׁעְנוּ׃ | ra-SHA-'e-nu | H7561 | be wickedרָשַׁע (ra.sah) 1) to be wicked, act wickedly 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to be wicked, act wickedly 1a2) to be guilty, be condemned 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to condemn as guilty (in civil relations) 1b2) to condemn as guilty (in ethical or religious relations) 1b3) to act wickedly (in ethics and religion) |
Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.