And after the threescore and two weeks shall an anointed one be cut off, and be no more; and the people of a prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; but his end shall be with a flood; and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
What's the meaning of this?
There are various explanations among the commentators; here's the M'tzudos'. I've put in square brackets the parts that don't translate the verse.
And after the sixty-two [complete] seven-year periods [from the start of the construction of the second Temple], the anointed [Agrippa] will be cut down and gone, and the nation [Rome] of the ruler ([Titus] who will come [to attack Jerusalem]) will destroy the city and the Temple. That [nation]'s end will be torrential [eventually]; but until the end of the [final] battle, [Jerusalem will remain] cut down to desolation.
*Ibn Ezra's reading (in Hebrew) is here: https://www.sefaria.org › ... › Ibn Ezra › Writings.
*Rashi (with whom Metzudos above agreed) gives this interpretation:
And after: those weeks.
the anointed one will be cut off: Agrippa, the king of Judea, who was ruling at the time of the destruction, will be slain.
and he will be no more: Heb. וְאֵין לוֹ, and he will not have. The meaning is that he will not be.
the anointed one: Heb. מָשִׁיחַ. This is purely an expression of a prince and a dignitary.
and the city and the Sanctuary: lit. and the city and the Holy.
and the people of the coming monarch will destroy: [The monarch who will come] upon them. That is Titus and his armies.
and his end will come about by inundation: And his end will be damnation and destruction, for He will inundate the power of his kingdom through the Messiah, and until the end of the wars of Gog the city will exist.
cut off into desolation: a destruction of desolation.
*Recently, Harav Yaakov Medan at The Israel Koschitsky Virtual Beit Midrash, after discussing the views of Saadia Gaon and Abravanel and giving his own unique interpretation, concluded in his essay 'Chapter 12b Daniel's Prayer (continued)':
Still, the vision remains opaque, and its riddle awaits a solution.
