Daniel 9:5 Meaning and Explanation
“We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →Daniel does not soften the diagnosis of Israel's calamity. He gives no excuse, shifts no blame, and separates neither himself nor his people from their need for confession. The verse models honest speech before God, where sin is named according to the seriousness Scripture gives it.
Daniel openly names Israel's many-sided rebellion against God. Their sin included wrongdoing, wickedness, revolt, and departure from the precepts and judgments God had given them.
The Context of Daniel 9:5
Daniel's prayer follows his discovery in Jeremiah that Jerusalem's desolations would last seventy years. He has set himself to seek the Lord with fasting and supplications. In verse 4 he addresses the covenant-keeping and merciful God; verse 5 begins the direct confession. Verses 6-8 add that Israel ignored the prophets and now bears shame through the nations. Verses 9-14 acknowledge God's mercies, Israel's disobedience, and the justice of the judgment that came. Daniel then pleads for the Lord to turn toward Jerusalem, its holy mountain, and its desolate sanctuary.
What Does Daniel 9:5 Mean?
The repeated "we have" is deliberate. Daniel confesses in the first person plural: "We have sinned," "have committed iniquity," "have done wickedly," and "have rebelled." The accumulation does not seek a technical ranking of separate offenses. It gives full weight to Israel's turning from God. The final phrase identifies the direction of that rebellion: they departed from God's "precepts" and "judgments." God had made his will known, and the people's wrongdoing included leaving the path he had set before them. Daniel's words are plain because the breach was real.
This verse supplies the moral center of Daniel's prayer. The desolation of Jerusalem is not portrayed as meaningless misfortune, nor does Daniel blame God for Israel's plight. Later he says that the Lord is righteous in all his works, while Israel did not obey his voice. The chapter also identifies neglected prophetic warnings and transgression of the law of Moses. Daniel includes himself in the confession even though the chapter does not catalogue his personal offenses. He prays as one bound to his people and concerned for their restoration before God.
The Bible's prayers of confession often join honest acknowledgment of sin with appeal to God's mercy. Daniel follows that path. His list of wrongs does not end in despair, because the next movement of the prayer says that mercies and forgivenesses belong to the Lord. The chapter's later vision speaks of reconciliation for iniquity, a hope that answers the very need Daniel has named. We may therefore learn from Daniel to bring sin into God's light without concealment, trusting that repentance seeks the God whose mercy is greater than our evasions.
Bible Verses Related to Daniel 9:5
“If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.”
- Leviticus 26:40-42
“Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.”
- Nehemiah 1:6-7
“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.”
- Psalm 51:1-4
“Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.”
- Daniel 9:10-14
Where Daniel 9:5 Echoes in Scripture
Nehemiah 1:6-7 strongly echoes Daniel's communal confession. Nehemiah also confesses Israel's sin, includes himself and his father's house, and identifies failure to keep God's commandments. Both prayers arise from concern for Jerusalem after exile. Together they show that confession can be an act of covenant memory, truthfulness, and hopeful intercession for a people.
How to Apply Daniel 9:5 Today
Honest confession becomes more specific when we ask where we have departed from what God has made known. We can bring before him actions, habits, words, neglected duties, and shared patterns of harm without defending them. When a community's brokenness grieves us, Daniel also gives a way to pray without standing above others. We can seek the good of our households and communities with humility, acknowledging our own need for mercy. Such prayer opens us to repentance, repair where possible, and renewed attention to God's commands.
Reflection & Prayer
Where have we been tempted to use vague language when God invites truthful confession? We might pray: "Lord, show us our departure from thy ways. Give us grace to confess without excuse, to turn from evil, and to walk in the commandments thou hast given."