Daniel 9:5

My Notes

What Does Daniel 9:5 Mean?

Daniel confesses with escalating specificity: we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments.

We have sinned (chata — to miss the mark, to fall short of the standard) — the first and most general confession. We missed the target God set. The standard was clear. We did not reach it.

Have committed iniquity (avah — to twist, to pervert, to bend what is straight) — the second level: we twisted what was right. Not merely falling short — actively distorting. The iniquity is the deliberate perversion of what God made straight.

Have done wickedly (rasha — to act as a guilty criminal, to be actively wicked) — the third level: criminal behavior. Not just missing the mark or twisting the standard. Acting with the deliberate wickedness of someone who knows the law and violates it willfully.

Have rebelled (marad — to revolt, to rise up against authority, to mutiny) — the fourth level: rebellion against God's authority. The relationship between Israel and God is sovereign-to-subject — and the people mutinied. The rebellion is personal: against the God who chose them.

Even by departing (sur — to turn aside, to deviate, to leave the path) from thy precepts and from thy judgments — the mechanism of the rebellion: departing from God's specific instructions (mitsvot — commandments) and judicial decisions (mishpatim — judgments). The rebellion was not abstract. It was specific: leaving the particular commands and standards God established.

The confession escalates: sinned → committed iniquity → done wickedly → rebelled → departed from precepts and judgments. Each term adds intensity. The progression moves from general failure to active criminality to open revolt to specific covenant violation. Daniel does not offer a vague apology. He names every dimension of the failure.

The we is critical. Daniel did not commit these sins personally (he is described as blameless throughout the book). But he identifies with his people's guilt: we sinned. We rebelled. We departed. The corporate identification is the mark of intercessory prayer: the righteous man bears the weight of the nation's sin as though it were his own.

The prayer (Daniel 9:4-19) is one of the greatest models of corporate confession in Scripture — and it begins with these five escalating acknowledgments that leave nothing unconfessed.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Why does Daniel escalate through five terms (sinned, committed iniquity, done wickedly, rebelled, departed) rather than using one general confession?
• 2.What does Daniel saying 'we' — identifying with sins he did not personally commit — model about intercessory prayer?
• 3.How does the specificity of the confession ('departing from thy precepts and thy judgments') differ from vague apology?
• 4.Where does your own confession need the kind of escalating honesty Daniel demonstrates — naming every dimension of the failure?

Devotional

We have sinned. The simplest confession. We missed the mark. We fell short. The standard was God's. The failure was ours. And Daniel — who never personally committed the sins he confesses — says we. Not they. We. The righteous man identifies with the guilty nation and bears its sin in prayer.

And have committed iniquity. Deeper than missing the mark: twisting what was straight. Taking what God made right and bending it. The iniquity is deliberate distortion — not accidental failure but intentional perversion.

And have done wickedly. Deeper still: acting as criminals. Not just falling short or twisting truth — actively, willfully doing what is wicked. The behavior of people who know the law and choose to violate it.

And have rebelled. The deepest level: revolt against God's authority. Mutiny. The relationship was sovereign and subject — and the subjects rose against the sovereign. The rebellion is personal: against the God who loved them, chose them, and gave them everything.

Even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments. The specific mechanism: they left the path. The commandments God gave — departed from. The judgments God established — abandoned. The rebellion was not abstract. It was the concrete, daily, practical leaving of what God specifically said.

The escalation is the honesty. Daniel does not offer a quick 'forgive us.' He names every dimension: sin, iniquity, wickedness, rebellion, departure. The five-fold confession leaves nothing hidden, nothing minimized, nothing excused. The prayer that follows (v.4-19) is built on this foundation: total, specific, escalating honesty about what the nation did.

This is what genuine confession looks like: not 'I made a mistake.' But: I sinned. I twisted what was right. I acted wickedly. I rebelled. I departed from your specific commands. The specificity is the sincerity. And the we is the intercession: the righteous one bearing the guilt of the guilty as though it were his own.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture