In Daniel 9:25, "The Street" and "The Wall" Are One and the Same.
By Bud Chrysler © 2025 Arthur Chrysler
Daniel 9:25 – Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and (Hebrew = waw) the wall, even in troublous times.
- and the wall - Daniel 9:25 likely identifies the street with the wall by use of an epexegetical waw (and): "the street shall be built again, and (namely, or i.e.) the wall... ." The epexegetical waw also has been used to identify the Assyrian king Pul as Tilgath-pileser: I Chronicles 5:26 - And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and (namely, or i.e.) the spirit of Tilgath-pileser king of Assyria..." (See D. J. Wiseman, Notes on some problems in the Book of Daniel, 1965, p. 12)
- Another example - Zechariah 9:9 – Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
According to Wiseman’s way of thinking, Zechariah 9:9 can be translated “riding upon an ass, even (namely, or i.e.) upon a colt the foal of an ass." This would involve only one animal. - The circumstances -
Royal Sepulchers at the southern end of the City of David (Photo by the author, 1984)
Daniel 9:25b – …the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
Overhead view of a Persian period cobblestone street (bottom left) atop Nehemiah’s/Hezekiah’s mid-slope wall in the City of David; Shilo’s Area D2.
(Photo Bud Chrysler, 1984)
(Photo Bud Chrysler, 1984)
Nehemiah 4:7-8 – But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.
Nehemiah 4:16, 18, 21 – And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons…. For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded… So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.
There can be little doubt that these were indeed “troublous times” (Daniel 9:25b).
Nehemiah 4:16, 18, 21 – And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons…. For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded… So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.
There can be little doubt that these were indeed “troublous times” (Daniel 9:25b).
- Nehemiah chapter 12 describes the dedication of the wall, and how it was used as a street:
Hezekiah's Broad Wall in NW. Jerusalem, unearthed by Nahman Avigad in the 1970s – width 23 ft. (Photo by the author, 1984)
Kathleen Kenyon’s section of Hezekiah's wall, SW. – City of David – width 16.4 ft. (Photo Kathleen Kenyon)
Nehemiah 12:38 – And the other company of them that gave thanks went over against them, and I after them, and the half of the people upon the wall, from beyond the tower of the furnaces even unto the broad wall…
Hezekiah’s wall encompassed the entire city of Jerusalem (125 acres) during the late 8th century B.C. In the summer of 1984, I participated as a volunteer in the City of David Archaeological Project of the Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology, Jerusalem, directed by Dr. Yigal Shiloh. Fortunately, I was assigned to dig along Hezekiah's mid-slope wall. After seeing how wide this wall is (up to 23 feet in places), and the cobblestone pavement in Shiloh’s area D2, I submit to you as a working hypothesis the possibility that “the street” and “the wall,” mentioned in Daniel 9:25, are one and the same. If this is not the case, Daniel 9:25 would seem to suggest that Jerusalem had only one street!
Hezekiah’s wall encompassed the entire city of Jerusalem (125 acres) during the late 8th century B.C. In the summer of 1984, I participated as a volunteer in the City of David Archaeological Project of the Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology, Jerusalem, directed by Dr. Yigal Shiloh. Fortunately, I was assigned to dig along Hezekiah's mid-slope wall. After seeing how wide this wall is (up to 23 feet in places), and the cobblestone pavement in Shiloh’s area D2, I submit to you as a working hypothesis the possibility that “the street” and “the wall,” mentioned in Daniel 9:25, are one and the same. If this is not the case, Daniel 9:25 would seem to suggest that Jerusalem had only one street!
