Daniel 9:17
King James Version (1769)
Other translations
| Verse | KJV | BSB | ASV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. | So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary. | Now therefore, O our God, hearken unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. |
In context
AI-assisted, sourcedDaniel has read in Jeremiah that Jerusalem's ruin would last seventy years, and he prays with fasting and confession. After owning Israel's sins, he asks God to hear him and to look with favor again on his ruined temple, not for Israel's merit but for God's own sake. Daniel 9:2Daniel 9:3Daniel 9:5Daniel 9:16Daniel 9:17Daniel 9:18
SpeakingDaniel, a man of Judah carried to Babylon, speaking in the first person. Daniel 9:2Daniel overview
ToThe prayer is spoken to God, whom Daniel calls "O our God." Daniel 9:4Daniel 9:17
Also involvedThe temple in Jerusalem, lying desolate, along with the city and the people called by God's name. Daniel 9:17Daniel 9:18Daniel 9:19
Daniel asks God to hear his prayer and pleas and to make his face shine on the desolate sanctuary. To have God's face shine means his favor and saving help, as the Psalms ask: "cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved." Daniel 9:17Psalms 80:3Psalms 80:19Psalms 67:1
Daniel prays in Babylon, where he served under Babylonian and Persian kings. His prayer looks toward Jerusalem, "thy holy mountain," and its ruined temple. Daniel overviewDaniel 9:16Daniel 9:20
The eventsThe prayer comes in the first year of Darius the Mede, after Daniel understood from Jeremiah's word that the desolations of Jerusalem would last seventy years. Jerusalem and its sanctuary still lie desolate. Daniel 9:1Daniel 9:2Daniel 9:17
WrittenTraditional: Daniel wrote the book in the 500s BC. Scholarly: many critical scholars date its final form to about 167-164 BC, while others keep the 500s BC date. Daniel overview
HereDaniel rests his plea on God's mercy and honor, not on Israel's goodness. "For the Lord's sake" is echoed in the next verses: "not for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies" and "for thine own sake, O my God." Daniel 9:17Daniel 9:18Daniel 9:19
In the whole of ScriptureWhile Daniel is still praying, Gabriel comes with the answer: the message of the seventy weeks determined upon his people and holy city. The prayer is part of the book's theme of confession and trust in God's promises. Daniel 9:21Daniel 9:23Daniel 9:24Daniel overview
For readersThe verse shows how to pray when things lie in ruins because of sin: confess honestly, then ask God to act out of his own mercy and for his own name. The Psalms pray the same way for God's shining face. Daniel 9:17Daniel 9:18Psalms 80:7Psalms 119:135
- cause to shineאוֹר
The word means to give light or shine, and in this form includes "to make shine (of the face)." It is the same request for God's favor found in Psalm 80 and Psalm 67. Strong's H0215Psalms 80:3Psalms 67:1
- desolateשָׁמֵם
It means devastated, deserted, desolate. It ties the plea to Jeremiah's "desolations of Jerusalem" and to Lamentations' picture of Zion lying desolate. Strong's H8076Daniel 9:2Lamentations 5:18
- for the sake ofמַ֫עַן
This word marks purpose or reason: "for the sake of, on account of." It shows the ground of the request is the Lord himself, as verse 19 repeats: "for thine own sake." Strong's H4616Daniel 9:19
- sanctuaryמִקְדָּשׁ
It means a sacred place or holy place, used of the temple and the tabernacle. Daniel calls it "thy sanctuary," God's own house lying in ruins. Strong's H4720Daniel 9:17
Takeaway
Daniel asks God to show his favor again to the ruined temple, resting his plea wholly on God's mercy and name. God answers while he is still praying. Daniel 9:17Daniel 9:18Daniel 9:21Daniel 9:23
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.
Original Hebrew words
| English | Hebrew | Say it | Strong's | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| and therefore | וְעַתָּ֣ה׀ | ve-'a-TAH | H6258 | nowעַתָּ֫ה (at.tah) 1) now 1a) now 1b) in phrases |
| listen | שְׁמַ֣ע | she-MA' | H8085G | to hear: hearשָׁמַע (sha.ma) : hear v 1) to hear, listen to, obey 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to hear (perceive by ear) 1a2) to hear of or concerning 1a3) to hear (have power to hear) 1a4) to hear with attention or interest, listen to 1a5) to understand (language) 1a6) to hear (of judicial cases) 1a7) to listen, give heed 1a7a) to consent, agree 1a7b) to grant request 1a8) to listen to, yield to 1a9) to obey, be obedient 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be heard (of voice or sound) 1b2) to be heard of 1b3) to be regarded, be obeyed 1c) (Piel) to cause to hear, call to hear, summon 1d) (Hiphil) 1d1) to cause to hear, tell, proclaim, utter a sound … |
| O 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) |
| to | אֶל־ | 'el- | H0413 | to(wards)אֶל (el) 1) to, toward, unto (of motion) 2) into (limit is actually entered) 2a) in among 3) toward (of direction, not necessarily physical motion) 4) against (motion or direction of a hostile character) 5) in addition to, to 6) concerning, in regard to, in reference to, on account of 7) according to (rule or standard) 8) at, by, against (of one's presence) 9) in between, in within, to within, unto (idea of motion to) |
| [the] prayer of | תְּפִלַּ֤ת | te-fi-LAT | H8605 | prayerתְּפִלָּה (te.phil.lah) 1) prayer 1a) prayer 1b) pray a prayer 1c) house of prayer 1d) hear prayer 1e) in Ps titles (of poetic or liturgical prayer) |
| servant your | עַבְדְּךָ֙ | 'av-de-KHA | H5650 | servant/slaveעֲבַד (a.vad) servant, slave Aramaic of e.ved (עֶ֫בֶד "servant/slave" H5650) |
| and to | וְאֶל־ | ve-'el- | H0413 | to(wards)אֶל (el) 1) to, toward, unto (of motion) 2) into (limit is actually entered) 2a) in among 3) toward (of direction, not necessarily physical motion) 4) against (motion or direction of a hostile character) 5) in addition to, to 6) concerning, in regard to, in reference to, on account of 7) according to (rule or standard) 8) at, by, against (of one's presence) 9) in between, in within, to within, unto (idea of motion to) |
| supplications his | תַּ֣חֲנוּנָ֔יו | ta-cha-nu-NAV | H8469 | supplicationתַּחֲנוּן (ta.cha.nun) 1) supplication, supplication for favour 1a) to man 1b) to God |
| and make shine | וְהָאֵ֣ר | ve-ha-'ER | H0215 | to lightאוֹר (or) 1) to be or become light, shine 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to become light (day) 1a2) to shine (of the sun) 1a3) to become bright 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be illuminated 1b2) to become lighted up 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to give light, shine (of sun, moon, and stars) 1c2) to illumine, light up, cause to shine, shine 1c3) to kindle, light (candle, wood) 1c4) lighten (of the eyes, his law, etc) 1c5) to make shine (of the face) |
| face your | פָּנֶ֔יךָ | pa-NEI-kha | H6440H | face: beforeפָּנֶה (pa.neh) : before/to/front 1) face 1a) face, faces 1b) presence, person 1c) face (of seraphim or cherubim) 1d) face (of animals) 1e) face, surface (of ground) 1f) as adv of loc/temp 1f1) before and behind, toward, in front of, forward, formerly, from beforetime, before 1g) with prep 1g1) in front of, before, to the front of, in the presence of, in the face of, at the face or front of, from the presence of, from before, from before the face of |
| on | עַל־ | 'al- | H5921A | uponעַל (al) prep 1) upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against 1a) upon, on the ground of, on the basis of, on account of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for the sake of, for, with, in spite of, notwithstanding, concerning, in the matter of, as regards 1b) above, beyond, over (of excess) 1c) above, over (of elevation or pre-eminence) 1d) upon, to, over to, unto, in addition to, together with, with (of addition) 1e) over (of suspension or extension) … |
| sanctuary your | מִקְדָּשְׁךָ֖ | mik-da-she-CHA | H4720 | sanctuaryמִקְדָּשׁ (miq.dash) 1) sacred place, sanctuary, holy place 1a) sanctuary 1a1) of the temple 1a2) of the tabernacle 1a3) of Ezekiel's temple 1a4) of Jehovah |
| the desolate | הַשָּׁמֵ֑ם | ha-sha-MEM | H8076 | devastatedשָׁמֵם (sha.mem) devastated, deserted, desolate |
| for [the] sake of | לְמַ֖עַן | le-MA-'an | H4616 | becauseמַ֫עַן (ma.an) 1) purpose, intent prep 1a) for the sake of 1b) in view of, on account of 1c) for the purpose of, to the intent that, in order to conj 1d) to the end that |
| [the] Lord | אֲדֹנָֽי׃ | '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) |
Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.