City or prince,its end shall come like a flood in Daniel 9:26?

Question

Daniel 9:26 KJV

And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood*, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.9:26 Now after the sixty-two weeks,

Daniel 9:26 NET

Now after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one will be cut off and have nothing. As for the city and the sanctuary, the people of the coming prince will destroy them. But his end will come speedily like a flood. Until the end of the war that has been decreed there will be destruction.

וְאַחֲרֵי הַשָּׁבֻעִים שִׁשִּׁים וּשְׁנַיִם, יִכָּרֵת מָשִׁיחַ וְאֵין לוֹ; וְהָעִיר וְהַקֹּדֶשׁ יַשְׁחִית עַם נָגִיד הַבָּא, וְקִצּוֹ בַשֶּׁטֶף, וְעַד קֵץ מִלְחָמָה, נֶחֱרֶצֶת שֹׁמֵמוֹת.

Have heard that somehow the Hebrew here is ambiguous concerning what would be destroyed with or like a flood. Does the end with a flood refer to the destruction of the city and sanctuary or the prince who was to come

Whose end would be like a flood City/Sanctuary or the prince?

Answer 1

The End The "end" spoken of is the Final days of the City of Jerusalem. The order of the Hebrew brings this out:

And the city and sanctuary, the people of a Prince, the coming One, shall destroy; and the end thereof shall be with that flood, and unto the End, war and desolatenesses decreed.

The article in front of Coming One denotes the fact that the Prince is not a present one, or a past one, but a future one. And he (He) is both a Prince and the Anointed One at the same time. (See vs.25, Acts 5:31 Him hath God exalted...to be a Prince and a Savior. Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus, the Prince and Finisher of faith. Acts 3:14-15 But ye denied the Holy One...and killed the Prince of life...)

Jesus was to be crucified ("cut off")in the middle of the last heptad that is, at the end of 31/2 years. But the consequence of that dastardly deed was to be a horrendous punishment: the Destruction of the city and sanctuary. That was the last straw in the wickedness of Israel, or as Jesus put it: fill up the measure (of sin) of your fathers (Matt. 23:32)

Jesus, the Anointed One, the Prince, also had said, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you... (Matt. 21:42) None of these who are bidden shall taste of my supper. (Luke 14:23-24) He shall come and destroy these husbandmen and shall give the vineyard to others... (Luke 20:13-19)

Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves...For, behold, the days are coming in the which they shall say, 'Blessed are the barren'...Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us...for if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? (Luke 23:28-31)

Flood The use of "flood" as a metaphor for an advancing army, was common in the Old Testament, and it accurately pictures the total devastation the Roman Legions left behind after a battle. A tsunami of destruction was to overtake the whole corrupt Judean country, not just the 'city and sanctuary'. (Compare Isaiah 8:6-8)

And notice the phrase, the people of the prince shall destroy in this verse. From what F. Josephus related about the Fall of Jerusalem (and other parts of Judea), the Zealot gangs caused much of the carnage and misery. So much so that the Roman General Titus, swore to God that he was not responsible for this disaster, but they did it to themselves! Competing gangs fought each other. And the Aristocracy fought the gangs. And Idumeans were hired to help the gangs fight rivals. Blood flowed freely in the streets. Gangs stole food from anyone who was cooking; and cannibalism prevailed.

Notice that verse 27 of Daniel 9 is a parallel of verse 26, but with added information. That is, it relates the same thing, but in a different way. (An expose of the amazing COVENANT would be off-topic here, but compare this covenant with many to the statements of Jesus at the Last Supper (And see Isaiah 53:11, Matt. 20:28, 26:28, Jer. 42:2)

A reading of the ancient Septuagint would be in order here:

And one week shall establish the covenant with many, and in the midst of the week my sacrifice and drink-offering shall be taken away; and upon the Temple shall be the abomination of desolation; and at the end of time (See Daniel 12, 1335 days) an end shall be put to the desolation.

Considerations Considering the fact that "flood" is a metaphor for army invasion, and that subsequent history has shown that, altho Jesus was crucified (and risen), the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple did occur...and that it occurred as a consequence of the Seventy Week prophecy in the first century...we can logically conclude that the main topic of coming to an END was the Jewish pride and joy: the Temple and capital of Judaism.

Answer 2

Almost all reliable translations render Dan 9:26 very similarly to the NASB:

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. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.

Note that the destroying prince (as opposed to Messiah the prince) destroyed both the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the temple) - and goes on to say that "its end will be like a flood". The NET translation gives a very similar translation.

This is confirmed by the literary structure (see appendix below) that it is not Messiah that is destroyed like a flood but the city and the sanctuary. By contrast, Messiah will be "cut-off", ie, crucified, but not for Himself. This is to fulfil the prophecies of Isa 53 -

• V4 - Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows;
• V5a - But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities;
• V5b - the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed
• V8b - For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was stricken for the transgression of My people.

That is, Messiah was "cut-off" for the sins/transgression of sinners and not for Himself. It was Rome that destroyed Jerusalem and destroyed the temple in 70 AD. Jesus directly alludes to this prophecy of Daniel in Matt 24:15 -

So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand),

APPENDIX - Detailed structure of Dan 9:24-27

The following is based on my own literal translation. Note that the literary structure falls into two interwoven parts: The A's relate to the Messiah and your people; while the B's relate to the city and sanctuary.

A: 70 sevens (weeks) are “cut off” on your people [2 word phrase];

• B: & your holy city [3 word phrase] A: to: finish transgression, seal sin, expiate wickedness [2 word phrases]
• B: introduce everlasting righteousness, seal vision & prophet, anoint holy sanctuary [3 word phrases]

A1: Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes,

A2: there will be seven sevens (weeks) and 62 sevens (weeks)

• B1: It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench,
• B2: but in times of trouble.

A2: After the sixty-two sevens (weeks),

A1: the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.

• B1: The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.
• B2: The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.

A1: He will confirm a covenant with many

A2: for one seven (week)

A2: In the middle of the seven (week)

A1: he will put an end to sacrifice and offering.

• B2: And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation,
• B1: until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.