Daniel 9:6

We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, fathers, and all the people of the land.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The speaker, representing the exiled community of Judah, addresses God directly during a corporate confession of national sin, situated between admissions of rebellion (Daniel 9:5) and the acknowledgment of collective shame (Daniel 9:7).

The words — שָמַ֙עְנוּ֙ (sha.Ma'.nu) translates to "we have listened" and לֹ֤א (Lo') means "not," forming the core denial that the nation failed to heed the divine message. עֲבָדֶ֣י/ךָ ('a.va.Dei./kha) identifies the ignored messengers as "your servants," specifically the prophets who spoke in God's name (בְּ/שִׁמְ/ךָ֔, be./shim./Kha).

The thread — This refusal to heed prophetic warnings echoes the pattern in Daniel 9:10 of disobeying God's laws delivered through His servants, and aligns with the repeated divine sending of messengers recorded in 2 Chronicles 36:15 and the generational guilt detailed in Ezra 9:7.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that the exile resulted not from divine silence but from a deliberate, collective rejection of the warnings God explicitly sent to every level of society.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְלֹ֤אve./Lo'and/ not שָׁמַ֙עְנוּ֙sha.Ma'.nuwe have listened אֶל־'el-to עֲבָדֶ֣יךָ'a.va.Dei./khaservants/ your הַנְּבִיאִ֔יםha./ne.vi.'Imthe/ prophets אֲשֶׁ֤ר'a.Sherwho דִּבְּרוּ֙di.be.Ruthey spoke בְּשִׁמְךָ֔be./shim./Khain/ name/ your אֶל־'el-to מְלָכֵ֥ינוּme.la.Khei./nukings/ our שָׂרֵ֖ינוּsa.Rei./nuleaders/ our וַאֲבֹתֵ֑ינוּva./'a.vo.Tei./nuand/ ancestors/ our וְאֶ֖לve./'Eland/ to כָּל־kol-all עַ֥ם'am[the] people of הָאָֽרֶץ׃ha./'A.retzthe/ land

King James Version

Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

Cross-references

Daniel 9:10 and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God to walk in His laws, which He set before us through His servants the prophets.
2 Chronicles 36:15 Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place.
Ezra 9:7 From the days of our fathers to this day, our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities, we and our kings and priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the earth and subjected to the sword and to captivity, to pillage and humiliation, as we are this day.
Nehemiah 9:34 Our kings and leaders and priests and fathers did not obey Your law or listen to Your commandments and warnings that You gave them.
Jeremiah 44:4 Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying: ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.’
Zechariah 1:4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the LORD.
Zechariah 7:8 Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying,
Luke 20:10 At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed.
Acts 7:51 You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
2 Kings 17:13 Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.”