Texts in Conversation
The Hebrew version of Daniel 9 lists anointing a most holy place among the goals of the seventy weeks. The Greek Septuagint reads two Hebrew letters in reverse order and instead promises gladness in the holy of holies, turning anointing into rejoicing.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Daniel 9:24
Hebrew Bible
23 At the beginning of your requests a message went out, and I have come to convey it to you, for you are of great value in God’s sight. Therefore consider the message and understand the vision: 24 “Seventy weeks have been determined concerning your people and your holy city to put an end to rebellion, to bring sin to completion, to atone for iniquity, to bring in perpetual righteousness, to seal up the prophetic vision, and to anoint a Most Holy Place. 25 So know and understand: From the issuing of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince arrives, there will be a period of seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will again be built, with plaza and moat, but in distressful times.
LXX Daniel 9:24
Septuagint
23 At the beginning of your entreaty an order went forth from the Lord, and I have come to show you, for you are one who has received mercy, so understand and grasp the decree given. 24 Seventy sevens have been decreed upon your people and upon the city, Zion, to complete the sin and to deal with the unjust offenses and to wipe away the injustices and to fully understand the vision and to establish eternal righteousness and to complete the visions and the prophet and to be cheerful in the holy of holies. 25 And you will know and understand and be cheerful, and you will find commands to respond, and you will build Jerusalem, the city, for the Lord.
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Notes and References
... The six objectives pertaining to the removal of sin and the establishment of righteousness remain in both Greek versions and bear witness to the hope of not only the author but also the translators. The Old Greek renders the sixth objective as εὐφρᾶναι ἅγιον ἁγίων (to gladden a holy of holies) instead of χρῖσαι ἅγιον ἁγίων (to anoint a holy of holies). The translator or an earlier copyist may have mistakenly transposed two Hebrew letters and read לשמח (to bring joy) instead of למשח (to anoint). Still, εὐφρᾶναι conveys the jubilant purpose of the seventy sevens. Perhaps the translator deliberately made a play on the Hebrew words in order to express his confidence that the desecration of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar and Antiochus IV would not be the last memory of God's house. ...
Ulrich, Dean R.
The Antiochene Crisis and Jubilee Theology in Daniel's Seventy Sevens
(p. 154) Brill, 2015
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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