Daniel 1:12

1:12 “Please test your servants for ten days by providing us with some vegetables to eat and water to drink.

Daniel 7:25

7:25 He will speak words against the Most High.

He will harass ¹  the holy ones of the Most High continually.

His intention ²  will be to change times established by law. ³ 

They will be delivered into his hand

For a time, times, ⁴  and half a time.

Daniel 8:14

8:14 He said to me, “To 2,300 evenings and mornings; ⁵  then the sanctuary will be put right again.” ⁶ 

[7:25]  ¹ tn Aram “wear out” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB, NLT “wear down.” The word is a hapax legomenon in biblical Aramaic, but in biblical Hebrew it especially refers to wearing out such things as garments. Here it is translated “harass…continually.”

[7:25]  ² tn Aram “he will think.”

[7:25]  ³ tn Aram “times and law.” The present translation is based on the understanding that the expression is a hendiadys.

[7:25]  ⁴ sn Although the word times is vocalized in the MT as a plural, it probably should be regarded as a dual. The Masoretes may have been influenced here by the fact that in late Aramaic (and Syriac) the dual forms fall out of use. The meaning would thus be three and a half “times.”

[8:14]  ⁵ sn The language of evenings and mornings is reminiscent of the creation account in Genesis 1. Since “evening and morning” is the equivalent of a day, the reference here would be to 2,300 days. However, some interpreters understand the reference to be to the evening sacrifice and the morning sacrifice, in which case the reference would be to only 1,150 days. Either way, the event that marked the commencement of this period is unclear. The event that marked the conclusion of the period is the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem following the atrocious and sacrilegious acts that Antiochus implemented. This took place on December 25, 165 B.C. The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah each year commemorates this victory.

[8:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “will be vindicated” or “will be justified.” This is the only occurrence of this verb in the Niphal in the OT. English versions interpret it as “cleansed” (KJV, ASV), “restored” (NASB, TEV, NLT), or “reconsecrated” (NIV).