Daniel Chapter 9 Vs. 1

 

Daniel's Prayer for His People

“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;” (Dan. 9:1)

the first year... The vision was seen about a year after the one in Dan. 8:1-27 (see 5:30-31 with 8:1).

Darius the son... This was no doubt Astyages or Xerxes, the son of Ahasuerus or Cyaxares. Ahasuerus is an appellative and used of four kings of Medo-Persia. The Greek form is Xerxes. Both Cyaxares and Astyages were called Ahasuerus, the appellative meaning the Mighty. See, Dan. 5:31.

of the Medes... The Medes were Japhethites (Gen. 10:2; 2Ki. 17:6; 18:11; 1Ch. 1:5; Ezr. 6:2; Est. 1:3-19; 10:2; Isa. 13:17; 21:2; Jer. 25:25; 51:11, 51:28; Dan. 5:28-31; 6:1-16; 8:20; 9:1; 11:1; Acts 2:9).

Japhethites: The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras.

Darius, the Mede, had been a friend of Daniel, and elevated him to high office in his kingdom. He ruled over Babylon, after Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians.

This may mean that Darius (a title and not a proper name) refers to Cyrus who was made king by God’s allowance. Since Cyrus was the first monarch of the Medo-Persian Empire, this was also the first year after the death of Belshazzar, when Babylon fell.

The vision of the 70 “sevens”

The Occasion of the Vision

It was now the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede. (On the identity of this Darius see Dan. 6:1.) This was 539 b.c., 66 years after Daniel had been exiled.

The overthrow of the Babylonian Kingdom by the Medo-Persians was indeed a momentous event. It had been revealed to Belshazzar through Daniel’s interpretation of the writing on the wall (Dan. 5:25-28, 5:30).