What does Daniel 9:26 mean?
Starting with the prior verse (Daniel 9:25), the angel Gabriel (Daniel 9:21–23) establishes a timeline for the appearance of the "anointed one." This uses the term translated into English as "Messiah;" this predicts when Jesus Christ will declare Himself to the world. This event is timed from a proclamation about rebuilding Jerusalem. This would be fulfilled on March 4, 444 BC when Artaxerxes Longimanus authorized Israelites to rebuild the walls of their city (Nehemiah 2:1–8). Counting from there are sixty-two plus seven (Daniel 9:25) "weeks"—literally, "groups of seven"—which can be taken as prophetic years. The prophetic year is simplified: twelve months of thirty days. This adds up to 173,880 days.According to this verse, this timespan ends at the arrival and "cutting off" of this Anointed One. Counting from Artaxerxes' declaration, this would target March 30, AD 33. Many scholars suggest this was the precise day of Jesus' "triumphal entry" into Jerusalem, where He first publicly embraced His role as Messiah (Matthew 21:9–11). Shortly after this, Jesus would be killed and left with nothing, without friends or possessions. The nation had turned and rejected Him, and His disciples had forsaken Him. He did not have a kingdom. Even His garments and tunic were taken from Him by Roman soldiers (John 19:23). Yet He would be resurrected (Matthew 16:21; Luke 18:31–33; John 20:11–18).
None of the six divine purposes for Israel listed by Gabriel (Daniel 9:24) were fulfilled when Jesus died and arose. Some commentators believe the immediate reference to "the prince who is to come" applies to Titus, the Roman leader who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70. The city was also subject to desolations under Antiochus Epiphanes in the second century BC (Daniel 8:9–14). Either as an alternative explanation, or a prophecy of dual fulfillment, is the predicted destruction of Jerusalem by the head of the ungodly worldwide government of the end-times tribulation. Revelation 11:2 describes Jerusalem as trampled by the nations for forty-two months: the second half of the tribulation.
The "flood" mentioned here seems to be a poetic reference to overwhelming force (Nahum 1:8, Daniel 11:10, 40).
The last "week" has not yet been accounted for. The next verse relates Gabriel's prediction about that period, which will not come immediately after the first sixty-nine weeks (Daniel 9:27).