Chapter 12a Daniel's Prayer
SEFER
DANIEL
By Rav
Yaakov Medan
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Daniel's Prayer
(Sefer Daniel, chapter 9)
1. Was Daniel wrong in his
calculation?
In shiurim #9-11, we examined chapter 6 of
Sefer Daniel. We will now skip chapters 7-8, which we have already
discussed, and move on to chapter 9. In this shiur and the next, we will
try to address the questions that we raised previously: Why does Daniel give up
his life for prayer, seemingly going against the halakha? And why does
Daniel pray facing Jerusalem in its destruction and not to one of the other
specific directions for prayer, as was customary in Babylon at the time of the
Amoraim? Finally, what is the significance of the discrepancy between the
Talmud Bavli and the Yerushalmi concerning the requirement to face
the Temple while praying even when the Temple is destroyed?
Chapter 9 begins by focusing the reader on the
historical chronology:
In the first year of Darius, son of Achashverosh, of the seed of Media, who was
coronated over the kingdom of the Chaldeans. (9:1)
King Darius who appears here is the same Darius the Mede
who appeared previously in chapter 6 of Sefer Daniel. He is not the same
king as the Persian Darius,[1] in whose time the Second Temple was built. Rather, he is the
Darius mentioned in the books of Chaggai, Zekharia, Ezra, and Nechemia.
The reign of the Persian Darius, according to Chazal's calculation, was
about 18 years after Darius the Mede. In between them were Cyrus (Koresh) and
Achashverosh, who appears in Megillat Esther. The father of Darius the
Mede was also named Achashverosh, but he was not the king from Megillat
Esther. There is a tradition that maintains that the Persian Darius was the
son of Achashverosh from Megillat Esther, but there is no support for this view
in other sources. In any event, even if this tradition is correct, there were
two different men named Achashverosh and two different men named Darius.[2]
To return to the text, following the notation of
historical context, we read:
In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, considered in the books the number of
the years, concerning which the word of God came to Yirmiyahu, the prophet, that
the desolations of Jerusalem would last for seventy years. And I
set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting,
and sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God and
made confession, and said: “O Lord, the great and awesome God, Who keeps
covenant and mercy with those that love You and with those who kep Your your
commandments. We have sinned, and have dealt iniquitously, and
have acted wickedly, and have rebelled, and have turned aside from Your
commandments and from Your judgments; and we did not listen to
Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your Name to our kings, our princes,
and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. Rigteousness, O Lord,
belongs to you, while we have shame, as at this day: the men of Yehuda, and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all of Israel, those who are near and those who
are far off, through all the countries where You have driven them, because of
the treachery which they have shown towards You. O Lord, we have shame – our
kings, our princes, and our fathers – because
we have sinned against You.
Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, for we have
rebelled against Him and have not obeyed the Lord our God, to
follow His teachings which He set before us by the hand of His servants, the
prophets. All of
Israel have transgressed Your Torah and have turned aside, so as not to obey
Your voice; and so the curse is poured out upon us, and the oath that is written
in the Torah of Moshe, the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. And He has fulfilled
His word, which He spoke against us, and against our judges that judged us,
bringing upon us a great evil, such that under the entire Heaven there has not
been done as has been done in Jerusalem. As is written in the
Torah of Moshe, all this evil has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the
Lord our God, that we might turn back from our iniquities, and understand Your
truth. Therefore, the Lord watched over the evil and brought it
upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all His works which He has done,
and we have not obeyed Him. And now, Lord our God, You having
brought forth Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and
having made Yourself renowned, as at this day – we have sinned, we have acted
wickedly. (9:2-15)
Daniel's confession then becomes a plea:
O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray You, let Your anger and Your
fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for
our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have
become a reproach to all who are round about us.
And now, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant and his supplications, and
cause Your face to shine upon Your Sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's
sake. My Lord,
incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city
which is called by Your Name; for it is not because of our righteousness that we
present our supplications before You, but rather because of Your great
compassions. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and
act; do not delay, for Your own sake, O my God, for Your city and Your people
are called by Your Name. (9:16-19)
As quoted above, Daniel starts his prayer with the
following introduction:
In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, considered in the books the number of
the years, concerning which the word of God came to Yirmiyahu, the prophet, that
the desolations of Jerusalem would last for seventy years. (9:2)
The gemara expresses surprise at this calculation, and Rabba supplies an
explanation so audacious that, had it not been recorded here, no-one would dare
suggest it:
Rabba said: Even Daniel was mistaken in this calculation. (Megilla 12a)
Why does Rabba believe that Daniel was mistaken in his calculation? Jerusalem
was destroyed in the 11th year of the reign of Tzidkiyahu, which
corresponded to the 19th year of the reign of Nevukhadnetzar. Babylon
was destroyed in what would have been the 70th year of Nevukhadnetzar
(some 25 years after his death), and Darius the Mede rose to power in the same
year. Darius occupied the throne for less than a year, and was succeeded by
Cyrus, who issued the proclamation that permitted the Jews to return to Eretz
Yisrael. In other words, only 52 years had passed since the destruction of
Jerusalem when Daniel made his calculation, and he was therefore mistaken.
This represents the view of all the Geonim and Rishonim, as noted
by Ibn Ezra:
All of the Geonim agreed unanimously with the view of the Sages, who said
that Daniel was mistaken in his calculation, for Jerusalem was destroyed only
when Tzidkiyahu was captured, and this was in the 19th year of the
reign of Nevukhadnetzar. For Yirmiyahu the prophet said, “When seventy years are
completed for Babylon I shall remember you” – and so it was, when Belshatzar was
killed, and Cyrus took the throne, he issued a proclamation and the Jews went up
from Babylon to Jerusalem, and this was God's remembrance. And behold – nineteen
years still remained for Jerusalem to stand in ruins, and this period
represented the reign of Cyrus, the Persian. When one adds to this the reign of
the elder Darius, the Mede, as well as the reign of Achashverosh, and two years
of the reign of Darius the Persian, who was the son of Esther, then the period
of the ruin of Jerusalem would have lasted a total of seventy years. (Ibn Ezra
on 9:2)
But how is this possible? Could Daniel be guilty of such a gross miscalculation
– a mistake of 18 years in the context of such a short period, all of which took
place during his own lifetime? Could Daniel, with all his wisdom and the
ruach ha-kodesh that he possessed, not have known how old he was? Did he not
understand the meaning of “the desolation of Jerusalem” and when that period
began?
R. Yehuda ha-Levi appreciated the difficulty inherent in this idea and added
eighteen years to the accepted chronology so as to make the history conform with
Daniel's calculation. He maintains that seventy years are marked from the
destruction of the Temple until the return in the days of Cyrus. Ibn Ezra notes
his position:
And Yehuda ha-Levi said: One must question how Daniel, who was a prophet and a
sage, could have miscalculated 19 years out of 70 years. And he proposed that
the seventy year total was for the kingdom of Babylon, representing the period
that Jerusalem lay in ruins, and then came God's remembrance – and not as
caluclated by the Geonim. As evidence, he cites Divrei ha-Yamim:
“And they shall be servants to him and to his descendants until the reign of the
kingdom of Persia” – and Cyrus the Persian was the first of their kings. And it
is written there further, “To fulfill the word of God as spoken by Yirmiyahu,
until the land had made good its Shabbatot, for so long as it lay desolte
it rested, to fulfill seventy years."
Ibn Ezra goes on to propose that Daniel's mistake was not in his calculation of
the years, but rather in his interpretation of the concept of “desolation”:
And they said that Daniel began calculating the years of destruction from the
time that Nevukhadnetzar led Yehoyakim to Babylon; thereafter, he reigned for
eight years, and Tzidkiyahu reigned for a further 11 years. Thus, a total of
seventy years of the destruction of Jerusalem were complete.[3]
The difficulty with all of these explanations is clear. To our view, the problem
arises from the assumption, common to all three explanations, that the seventy
years are to be counted from the ruin of Jerusalem mentioned in the verse.
Indeed, on the face of it, when Daniel offers his prayer, only 52 have passed
since the actual destruction.
As we understand it, the “seventy years” refers not to the desolation of
Jerusalem, but rather to the period starting with God's word to Yirmiyahu the
prophet concerning that destruction. Yirmiyahu uttered his prophecy concerning
the destruction of Jerusalem at the hand of Nevukhadnetzar in the fourth year of
Yehoyakim, which is the first year of the reign of Nevukhadnetzar, eighteen
years prior to the destruction. From this point until the first year of Darius
the Mede, there are indeed seventy years:
The word that came to Yirmiyahu concerning all the people of
Yehuda, in the fourth year of Yehoyakim, son of Yoshiyahu, king of Yehuda –
which was the first year of Nevuchadretzar, king of Babylon… So
says the Lord of Hosts: Because you have not heard My words, behold, I will send
and take all the families of the north, says the Lord, to Nevuchadretzar, king
of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them upon this land… And this whole land
shall be a desolation, a waste; and these nations shall serve the king of
Babylon for seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are
complete, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, says the
Lord… (Yirmiyahu 25:1-12).
Indeed, then,
seventy years had passed. If so, what was it that disturbed Daniel so deeply and
caused him to pray with such broken-hearted supplication? After all, the time
for redemption had arrived!
The seventy years
in the prophecy of Yirmiyahu are mentioned again:
For so says the Lord: After seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will
remember you, and fulfill My good word towards you, to bring you back to this
place. For I know the thoughts that I think about you, says the Lord – thoughts
of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. And you shall call upon Me, and go,
and pray to Me, and I will hear you. And
you shall seek Me, and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.[4]
And I will be found of you, says the Lord, and I will bring back your captivity,
and gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven
you, says the Lord; and I will bring you back to the place from which I exiled
you. (ibid. 29:10-14)[5]
From this prophecy of consolation, it appears that seventy years is not a
sufficient condition for redemption. Seventy years must pass from
Nevukhadnetzar's ascent to power, but there is also a need for heartfelt prayer
with a true, profound seeking of God:
And you shall call upon Me, and go, and pray to Me, and I will hear you. And you shall seek Me, and find Me,
when when you search for Me with all your heart.
The redemption, in this sense, follows the same law as the fate of Belshatzar.
As discussed in a previous shiur, his demise also came about at the
conclusion of the seventy-year count, but was at the same time the result of
God's evaluation of his own actions, actions subject to his own free choice. In
the same way, in the case of Am Yisrael, a counting of the years is not
sufficient. Redemption is also dependent on a great act of free choice –
heartfelt, contrite prayer, with a genuine seeking of reconciliation with God.
We conclude, then, that Daniel's count of seventy years was perfectly accurate.
When the seventieth year arrived, he knew that the redemption was dependent upon
prayer and a seeking of God. His prayer, with the commencement of the year of
the awaited redemption, was of critical importance. Yirmiyahu had anticipated
this prayer; all the seventy years of destruction, from the fourth year of
Yehoyakim, had awaited it. Everything depended on this moment.[6]
(To be continued)
Translated by Kaeren Fish
[1]
See Nechemia 12:22.
[2]
An extensive discussion of
the order of these kings as understood in academic scholarship and by Chazal
is to be found in my article, "Mavo le-Ma'amaro shel C. Chefetz al Malkhut
Paras u-Madai," Megadim 14 (5751), pp. 47-77, and in Chefetz's
article, “Malkhut Paras u-Madai bi-Tekufat Bayit Sheni u-Lefaneha – Iyyun
Mechadash," ibid., pp. 78-147.
[3]
According to his calculation
here, Yehoyakim was exiled in his fourth year, and not only in his 11th
year – the year in which he was put to death. This must reflect Ibn Ezra's
understanding of the events, since the first eight years of Nevukhadnetzar's
reign preceded the 11th year of Yehoyakim. (However, in his
commentary on Kohelet 5:1, Ibn Ezra cites only the view that Daniel was
indeed mistaken in his calculation.)
[4]
This verse echoes and parallels the
promise from the punishment set forth in Sefer Devarim: "And if you seek
the Lord your God from there, you shall find Him, if you seek Him with all your
heart and with all your soul" (Devarim 4:29).
[5]
These seventy years are also mentioned in
Divrei ha-Yamim II: "And those who had escaped the sword he carried away
to Babylon, and they were servants to him and to his descendants until the reign
of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill God's word as spoken by Yirmiyahu,
until the land had made good its
Shabbatot, for so long as it lay desolate it rested, to fulfill seventy
years. And in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that the word of the
Lord as spoken by Yirmiyahu might be fulfilled…" (36:20-22). Here, too, the text
speaks of servitude to the king of Babylon and to the king of Persia, and this
servitude begins with the rise of Nevukhadnetzar to power in the fourth year of
Yehoyakim and continues until the return to Tzion, in the first year of the
reign of Cyrus.
The prophet
Zekharia also speaks of the seventy years of fury upon Jerusalem: " Then the
angel of the Lord spoke and said: 'O Lord of Hosts, how long will You not have
compassion upon Jerusalem and upon the cities of Yehuda, against which You have
maintained Your fury for seventy years?" (Zekharia 1:12). But there the
fury upon Jerusalem is counted from the time of the destruction, in the 11th
year of Tzidkiyahu, which was the 19th year of Nevukhadnetzar. We
deduce from Zekharia here that these seventy years last until the second year of
Darius the Persian, when Zekharia's prophecy was uttered and when the Temple
began to be rebuilt, after the original building was halted owing to the
conspiring of the enemies of Yehuda.
Eighteen
years passed from Nevukhadnetzar's rise to power until the destruction of
Jerusalem. Eighteen years passed from the return to the land in the days of
Cyrus until the building of the Temple in the second year of Darius the Persian.
Hence, there are two different systems for counting seventy years, and they
overlap throughout the 52 years between the destruction of Jerusalem and the
return to the land.
[6]
Our explanation of the situation, as
arising from the verses cited from Yirmiyahu, proposes a new understanding. We
are used to the scenario set forth in the teaching of the gemara in
Sanhedrin: "R. Alexandri said: R. Yehoshua ben Levi pointed out a
contradiction. It is written [that redemption will come] 'at its time,' and it
is also written [concerning the redemption], 'I shall hasten it' (Yishayahu
60:22). [The two verses may be reconciled, as follows:] If they are worthy, 'I
shall hasten it'; if they are not worthy, [the redemption will come] 'in its
time'" (Sanhedrin 98a). From here it would seem that one of the two
conditions is sufficient to bring redemption: Either the time allotted for the
exile comes to an end (“at its time”), or alternatively, Am Yisrael is
worthy of redemption, even if the allotted time for their exile is not yet over
(“I shall hasten it”). Our “stringent” interpretation of Yirmiyahu suggests that
both conditions must be fulfilled: both the merit of Am Yisrael – their
prayer and seeking of God – and the end of the period of exile. Our
interpretation accords with the opinion of Rav in the gemara (Sanhedrin
97b): "Rav said: All the anticipated dates for the redemption have already gone
by; the matter now depends solely on repentance and good deeds." What he means
is that the predestined time for redemption is already upon us, but so long as
Am Yisrael lacks the necessary merit, the redemption will not be
realized. Both conditions must be met.
There is
also a middle opinion cited – that of Shemuel, who maintains that there is
actually only one precondition, and that is the conclusion of the period
ordained for exile: "And Shemuel said: It is sufficient that a mourner observe
his period of mourning." It may be that there is support for this position in
the verse from Yishayahu: "Bid Jerusalem to take heart, and proclaim to
it that its service of war is over, that its iniquity is forgiven, that it has
received from God's hand double for all its sins" (Yeshayahu 40:2).
The opposite
view seems to be adopted by R. Eliezer, who insists that if Am Yisrael
engage in repentance, they are redeemed, but if they do not engage in
repentance, they are not redeemed. Here again, it would appear that just one
condition is sufficient – but to his view that condition is that Am Yisrael
merit the redemption, not the criterion of time.