Daniel 7:23-26

7:23 “This is what he told me: ¹ 

‘The fourth beast means that there will be a fourth kingdom on earth

that will differ from all the other kingdoms.

It will devour all the earth

and will trample and crush it.

7:24 The ten horns

mean that ten kings will arise from that kingdom.

Another king will arise after them,

but he will be different from the earlier ones.

He will humiliate ²  three kings.

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

He will harass ³  the holy ones of the Most High continually.

His intention ⁴  will be to change times established by law. ⁵ 

They will be delivered into his hand

For a time, times, ⁶  and half a time.

7:26 But the court will convene, ⁷  and his ruling authority will be removed –

destroyed and abolished forever!

Daniel 11:36

11:36 “Then the king ⁸  will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every deity and he will utter presumptuous things against the God of gods. He will succeed until the time of ⁹  wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must occur. ¹⁰ 

[7:23]  ¹ tn Aram “thus he said.”

[7:24]  ² tn Or “subjugate”; KJV, NASB, NIV “subdue”; ASV, NRSV “put down.”

[7:25]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Aram “he will think.”

[7:25]  ⁵ tn Aram “times and law.” The present translation is based on the understanding that the expression is a hendiadys.

[7:25]  ⁶ 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.”

[7:26]  ⁷ tn Aram “judgment will sit” (KJV similar).

[11:36]  ⁸ sn The identity of this king is problematic. If vv. 36-45 continue the description of Antiochus Epiphanes, the account must be viewed as erroneous, since the details do not match what is known of Antiochus’ latter days. Most modern scholars take this view, concluding that this section was written just shortly before the death of Antiochus and that the writer erred on several key points as he tried to predict what would follow the events of his own day. Conservative scholars, however, usually understand the reference to shift at this point to an eschatological figure, viz., the Antichrist. The chronological gap that this would presuppose to be in the narrative is not necessarily a problem, since by all accounts there are many chronological gaps throughout the chapter, as the historical figures intended by such expressions as “king of the north” and “king of the south” repeatedly shift.

[11:36]  ⁹ tn The words “the time of” are added in the translation for clarification.

[11:36]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “has been done.” The Hebrew verb used here is the perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of fulfillment.