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Answer:In our study of the different translations we
will compare the Hebrew text with that of the King James
Version of the Bible. It contains the grossest errors,
which are, in whole or in part, duplicated by other
Christian versions of the Bible.
First, the King James Version puts a definite article
before "Messiah the Prince" (9:25). The original Hebrew
text does not read "the Messiah the Prince," but, having
no article, it is to be rendered "a mashiach ["anointed
one," "messiah"], a prince," i.e., Cyrus (Isaiah 45:1,
13; Ezra 1:1-2).
The word mashiach is nowhere used in the Jewish Scriptures
as a proper name, but as a title of authority of a king
or a high priest. Therefore, a correct rendering of
the original Hebrew should be: "an anointed one, a prince."
Second, the King James Version disregards the Hebrew
punctuation. The punctuation mark 'atnach functions
as the main pause within a sentence. The 'atnach is
the appropriate equivalent of the semicolon in the modern
system of punctuation. It thus has the effect of separating
the seven weeks from the sixty-two weeks: ". . . until
an anointed one, a prince, shall be seven weeks; then
for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again . . ." (9:25).
By creating a sixty-nine week period, which is not
divided into two separate periods of seven weeks and
sixty-two weeks respectively, Christians reach an incorrect
conclusion, i.e., that the Messiah will come 483 years
after the destruction of the First Temple.
Some Christians claim that there is something called
a "prophetic year" of 360 days, thus shortening the
interval between the beginning of the 483 years which
they claim began in 444 B.C.E., and the date of the
crucifixion of Jesus. They do this in order to make
the dates coincide, but the claim of a "prophetic year"
is without any scriptural foundation.
Third, the King James Version omits the definite article
in Daniel 9:26, which should read: "And after the threescore
and two weeks. . . ." By treating the sixty-two weeks
as a distinct period, this verse, in the original Hebrew,
shows that the sixty-two weeks mentioned in verse 25
are correctly separated from the seven weeks by the
'atnach. Hence, two anointed ones are spoken of in this
chapter, one of whom comes after seven weeks (Cyrus),
and the other after a further period of sixty-two weeks
(Alexander Yannai).
Fourth, the words v'ayn lo (9:26) are incorrectly
translated by the King James Version as "but not for
himself." They should be translated as "he has nothing"
or "he shall have nothing." There are Christian commentators
who maintain this phrase has both meanings, but that
claim cannot be supported grammatically.
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