DAN 9:3 Interlinear View

1. Hebrew word
2. Hebrew lemma
3. OET-LV words
4. OET-RV words
5. Strongs
6. Role/Morphology
7. Gloss
8. CAPS codes
9. OET tags
10. OET word #
1. וָ,אֶתְּנָ,ה
2. 517376,517377,517378
3. And I set
4. Then turned and
5. 5414
6. V-C,Vqw1cs,Sh
7. and,I,set
8. S
9. Y-538; TProphecies_of_Daniel
10. 361712
1. אֶת
2. 517379
3. DOM
4. -
5. 853
6. O-To
7. DOM
8. -
9. Y-538; TProphecies_of_Daniel
10. 361713
2. 517380
3. -
4. -
6. -x-maqqef
8. -
9. -
10. 361714
1. פָּנַ,י
2. 517381,517382
3. face of my
4. -
5. 6440
6. O-Ncbpc,Sp1cs
7. face_of,my
8. -
9. Y-538; TProphecies_of_Daniel
10. 361715
1. אֶל
2. 517383
3. to
4. -
5. 413
6. S-R
7. to
8. -
9. Y-538; TProphecies_of_Daniel
10. 361716
2. 517384
3. -
4. -
6. -x-maqqef
8. -
9. -
10. 361717
1. אֲדֹנָ,י
2. 517385,517386
3. my master
4. -
5. 136
6. S-Ncmpc,Sp1cs
7. my=master
8. -
9. Y-538; TProphecies_of_Daniel
10. 361718
1. הָ,אֱלֹהִים
2. 517387,517388
3. the ʼElohīm
4. -
5. 430
6. S-Td,Ncmpa
7. the=ʼElohīm
8. -
9. Person=God; Y-538; TProphecies_of_Daniel
10. 361719
1. לְ,בַקֵּשׁ
2. 517389,517390
3. to seek
4. -
5. 1245
6. SV-R,Vpc
7. to,seek
8. -
9. Y-538; TProphecies_of_Daniel
10. 361720
1. תְּפִלָּה
2. 517391
3. prayer
4. -
5. 8605
6. S-Ncfsa
7. prayer
8. -
9. Y-538; TProphecies_of_Daniel
10. 361721
1. וְ,תַחֲנוּנִים
2. 517392,517393
3. and supplications
4. -
5. 8469
6. S-C,Ncmpa
7. and,supplications
8. -
9. Y-538; TProphecies_of_Daniel
10. 361722
1. בְּ,צוֹם
2. 517394,517395
3. with fasting
4. with
5. 6685
6. S-R,Ncmsa
7. with,fasting
8. -
9. Y-538; TProphecies_of_Daniel
10. 361723
1. וְ,שַׂק
2. 517396,517397
3. and sackcloth
4. sackcloth
5. 8242
6. S-C,Ncmsa
7. and,sackcloth
8. -
9. Y-538; TProphecies_of_Daniel
10. 361724
1. וָ,אֵפֶר
2. 517398,517399
3. and ash[es]
4. ashes
5. 665
6. S-C,Ncmsa
7. and,ash[es]
8. -
9. Y-538; TProphecies_of_Daniel
10. 361725
2. 517400
3. -
4. -
6. -x-sof-pasuq
8. -
9. -
10. 361726

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 9:1–27: Daniel asked God to help Jerusalem and received a message from Gabriel concerning seventy weeks

The vision recorded in this chapter occurred during the first year of the reign of Darius (538 B.C.). Thirteen years had therefore passed since Daniel received the vision described in chapter 8. Daniel was now more than eighty years old.

Daniel had read in the book of Jeremiah that God’s people would remain in exile and serve the king of Babylon for seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11). During that time the city of Jerusalem would remain in ruins. However, God had promised to bring his people back to the land of Judah after the seventy years were over (Jeremiah 29:10). Now Daniel realized that the seventy-year period was almost at an end. He prayed for his people and for Jerusalem. In response, God sent the angel Gabriel to reveal what would happen in the future.

Paragraph 9:1–3

In this paragraph Daniel turned to God in prayer. Verses 1 and 2 give some historical and other background information that explains why Daniel wanted to pray to God at that time.

9:3a

So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition,

So I turned/gave my face/attention to the Lord God. I prayed and begged him earnestly/seriously.
So I began to pray to the Lord God with full sincerity. I begged/asked him for help.

So I turned my attention to the Lord God: The Hebrew clause that the BSB translates as I turned my attention to the Lord God is literally “I set my face to the Lord God.” This indicates that Daniel gave the Lord God his full attention. If he was doing other things, he left them and concentrated on praying to God. Use the expression that is natural in your language. For example:

So I began to pray earnestly to the Lord God

So I turned my attention to the Lord God (NET)

the Lord God: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as Lord means “master.” It is not the holy name of God that the BSB translates as LORD (9:2c).

to seek Him by prayer and petition: The phrase to seek Him by prayer and petition indicates that Daniel prayed to God, and in his prayer he asked God for help. The prayer and petition are not separate actions. Other ways to translate this include:

to seek Him by prayer and supplications (NASB)

to implore him by prayer and requests (NET)

and prayed and asked him for help (NCV)

to seek Him: The Hebrew verb that the BSB literally translates as to seek Him indicates that Daniel was looking or asking for God’s mercy and an answer to his prayer.

prayer and petition: The two nouns that the BSB translates as prayer and petition both refer to the action of asking God for help. In some languages it may be natural to follow the GW and translate them as verbs:

I prayed, pleaded… (GW)

9:3b

with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

I fasted, and I wore sackcloth and sprinkled myself with ashes.
I dressed in mourning clothes and refused to eat anything. I put cold ashes on my head to show my sorrow/repentance.

with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes: This verse part indicates what Daniel did while he prayed to God. He fasted and he wore sackcloth and sprinkled ashes on himself. These actions all indicated sorrow and repentance. In some languages it may be natural to translate one or more of the nouns with verbs. For example:

and fasted in sackcloth and ashes (GW)

I fasted. I wore sackcloth and put ashes on my head.

with fasting: The phrase with fasting indicates that Daniel chose not to eat in order to show his grief and sincere repentance. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate the meaning or purpose of this action. For example:

I refused to eat to show my sorrow

sackcloth: The phrase sackcloth indicates that Daniel wore clothing made from rough cloth as a sign of his sincere mourning and repentance. See Esther 4:1, Isaiah 58:5, and Matthew 11:21. Here is another way to translate this:

I also wore rough burlap (NLT)

and ashes: The phrase and ashes is short for “and in ashes.” This indicates that Daniel sat in ashes or put ashes on himself, probably on his head, to show his sorrow and sincerity. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 6:26 and Luke 10:13 and the examples above. The NLT says;

and sprinkled myself with ashes

General Comment on 9:3b-c

It is probable that Daniel put on sackcloth and ashes and began to fast before he began to pray. In some languages it may therefore be natural to reorder the action recorded in these verse parts. For example:

^3cI dressed myself in sackcloth and sat in ashes. I stopped eating ^3band began to pray and ask God for help.

General Comment on 9:3b

In some languages it may be necessary to indicate the purpose of the three actions. For example:

Then, to show my sorrow, I went without eating and dressed in sackcloth and sat in ashes. (CEV)

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

וָ⁠אֶתְּנָ֣⁠ה אֶת־פָּנַ֗⁠י אֶל־אֲדֹנָ⁠י֙ הָֽ⁠אֱלֹהִ֔ים

and,I,set DOM face_of,my to/towards my=master the=ʼElohīm

Here face represents Daniel’s attention. Alternate translation: “I focused my attention on the Lord God” or “I directed my thoughts toward the Lord God”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

לְ⁠בַקֵּ֥שׁ

to,seek

Those who want to know Yahweh and please him are spoken of as if they are literally seeking to find Yahweh.

Note 3 topic: translate-symaction

בְּ⁠צ֖וֹם וְ⁠שַׂ֥ק וָ⁠אֵֽפֶר

with,fasting and,sackcloth and,ash[es]

These are symbolic acts of repentance and sorrow.

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.

OET interlinear DAN 9:3