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 8:9-14

8:9 From one of them came a small horn. ⁵  But it grew to be very big, toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. ⁶  8:10 It grew so big it reached the army ⁷  of heaven, and it brought about the fall of some of the army and some of the stars ⁸  to the ground, where it trampled them. 8:11 It also acted arrogantly against the Prince of the army, ⁹  from whom ¹⁰  the daily sacrifice was removed and whose sanctuary ¹¹  was thrown down. 8:12 The army was given over, ¹²  along with the daily sacrifice, in the course of his sinful rebellion. ¹³  It hurled ¹⁴  truth ¹⁵  to the ground and enjoyed success. ¹⁶ 

8:13 Then I heard a holy one ¹⁷  speaking. Another holy one said to the one who was speaking, “To what period of time does the vision pertain – this vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the destructive act of rebellion and the giving over of both the sanctuary and army to be trampled?” 8:14 He said to me, “To 2,300 evenings and mornings; ¹⁸  then the sanctuary will be put right again.” ¹⁹ 

Daniel 9:27

9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. ²⁰ 

But in the middle of that week

he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt.

On the wing ²¹  of abominations will come ²²  one who destroys,

until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys.”

Daniel 11:36-37

11:36 “Then the king ²³  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 ²⁴  wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must occur. ²⁵  11:37 He will not respect ²⁶  the gods of his fathers – not even the god loved by women. ²⁷  He will not respect any god; he will elevate himself above them all.

[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.”

[8:9]  ⁵ sn This small horn is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who controlled the Seleucid kingdom from ca. 175-164 B.C. Antiochus was extremely hostile toward the Jews and persecuted them mercilessly.

[8:9]  ⁶ sn The expression the beautiful land (Heb. הַצֶּבִי [hatsÿvi] = “the beauty”) is a cryptic reference to the land of Israel. Cf. 11:16, 41, where it is preceded by the word אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”).

[8:10]  ⁷ tn Traditionally, “host.” The term refers to God’s heavenly angelic assembly, which he sometimes leads into battle as an army.

[8:10]  ⁸ sn In prescientific Israelite thinking the stars were associated with the angelic members of God’s heavenly assembly. See Judg 5:20; Job 38:7; Isa 40:26. In west Semitic mythology the stars were members of the high god’s divine assembly (see Isa 14:13).

[8:11]  ⁹ sn The prince of the army may refer to God (cf. “whose sanctuary” later in the verse) or to the angel Michael (cf. 12:1).

[8:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps “and by him,” referring to Antiochus rather than to God.

[8:11]  ¹¹ sn Here the sanctuary is a reference to the temple of God in Jerusalem.

[8:12]  ¹² tc The present translation reads וּצְבָאָהּ נִתַּן (utsÿva’ah nittan) for the MT וְצָבָא תִּנָּתֵן (vÿtsava’ tinnaten). The context suggests a perfect rather than an imperfect verb.

[8:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “in (the course of) rebellion.” The meaning of the phrase is difficult to determine. It could mean “due to rebellion,” referring to the failures of the Jews, but this is not likely since it is not a point made elsewhere in the book. The phrase more probably refers to the rebellion against God and the atrocities against the Jews epitomized by Antiochus.

[8:12]  ¹⁴ tc Two medieval Hebrew MSS and the LXX have a passive verb here: “truth was hurled to the ground” (cf. NIV, NCV, TEV).

[8:12]  ¹⁵ sn Truth here probably refers to the Torah. According to 1 Macc 1:56, Antiochus initiated destruction of the sacred books of the Jews.

[8:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “it acted and prospered.”

[8:13]  ¹⁷ sn The holy one referred to here is presumably an angel. Cf. 4:13[10], 23 [20].

[8:14]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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).

[9:27]  ²⁰ tn Heb “one seven” (also later in this line).

[9:27]  ²¹ tn The referent of the Hebrew word כְּנַף (kÿnaf, “wing”) is unclear here. The LXX and Theodotion have “the temple.” Some English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV) take this to mean “a wing of the temple,” but this is not clear.

[9:27]  ²² tn The Hebrew text does not have this verb, but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:36]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn The words “the time of” are added in the translation for clarification.

[11:36]  ²⁵ tn Heb “has been done.” The Hebrew verb used here is the perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of fulfillment.

[11:37]  ²⁶ tn Heb “consider.”

[11:37]  ²⁷ tn Heb “[the one] desired by women.” The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.