A Context for the Time Periods of Daniel 12

1. A Context for the Time Periods of Daniel 12 Part 2: Dan 12:5-13

2. Introduction Overview

3. Introduction Dan 10-12 divides chiastically into three parts. • A: Dan 10 (=10:1-11:1) Introduction • B: Dan 11 (=11:2-12:4) Body • A’: Dan 12 (=12:5-13) Conclusion

4. Introduction Dan 10-12 divides chiastically into three parts. • A: Dan 10 (=10:1-11:1) Introduction • B: Dan 11 (=11:2-12:4) Body • A’: Dan 12 (=12:5-13) Conclusion

5. Introduction Dan 11 Begins 11:2a Dan 11:2a is distinct from both 1 and 2b: Introduction to the prophecy ends “And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede. I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.” (11:1) Frame “And now I will show you the truth.” (11:2a) Body of the prophecy begins “Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, . . .” (112b)

6. Introduction Dan 11 Ends 12:4 But has an internal frame of its own. • A: “And now I will show you the truth.” (11:2a) • B: [Prophecy] • A’: “But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end.” (12:4) The sense is, “I will show you the truth [11:2a]. . . . Now, shut up and seal all those true things I just showed you [12:4].”

7. Notes Dan 12 Begins 12:5 • Dan 12 begins with vs. 5 and it also divides chiastically into three parts: • A: Dan 12:5-7 Time (Time, times, and half a time) • B: Dan 12:8-10 Understanding • A’: Dan 12:11-13 Time (1,290 days; 1,335 days) • We consider each in turn.

8. Daniel 12(A): 5-7

9. Text of the Passage Daniel 12(A): 5-7

10. Daniel 12(A): 5-7

11. Daniel 12(A): 5-7 Setting

12. Daniel 12(A): 5-7 Question

13. Daniel 12(A): 5-7 Question

14. Parallel Usage (12:6) • The expression עד מתי • Up to what point? (8:13) • The word קץ used similarly • End of a war (9:26) • End of a period of years (11:6, 13, 27) • End of a period of days (12:13b) • The stem *פלא • Astounding destruction (8:24) • Astounding boasts (11:36)

15. Parallel Usage (12:6) Time • The expression עד מתי • Up to what point? (8:13) • The word קץ used similarly • End of a war (9:26) • End of a period of years (11:6, 13, 27) • End of a period of days (12:13b) • The stem *פלא • Astounding destruction (8:24) • Astounding boasts (11:36)

16. Parallel Usage (12:6) Evil • The expression עד מתי • Up to what point? (8:13) • The word קץ used similarly • End of a war (9:26) • End of a period of years (11:6, 13, 27) • End of a period of days (12:13b) • The stem *פלא • Astounding destruction (8:24) • Astounding boasts (11:36)

17. Daniel 12(A): 5-7 Answer

18. Daniel 12(A): 5-7 Answer

19. Parallel Usage (12:7) • The period of “a time, times, and half a time” • Period during which an oppressor oppresses (7:25) • The word וככלות (*כלה) (2 Chr 7:1; 20:23; 24:14; 29:29; 31:1; Ezra 9:1). • End of a prayer (2 Chr 7:1; 31:1) • Finished slaughtering the inhabitants of a city (2 Chr 20:23) • Finished a task (2 Chr 24:14; Ezra 9:1) • Finished offering a sacrifice (2 Chr 29:29) • The word תכלנה (*כלה) (Gen 41:53; Job 11:20; Lam 4:17) • End of a period of years (Gen 41:53) • Eyes failed (hope gone) (Job 11:20; Lam 4:17

20. Parallel Usage (12:7) Constraining Evil in Time • The period of “a time, times, and half a time” • Period during which an oppressor oppresses (7:25) • The word וככלות (*כלה) (2 Chr 7:1; 20:23; 24:14; 29:29; 31:1; Ezra 9:1). • End of a prayer (2 Chr 7:1; 31:1) • Finished slaughtering the inhabitants of a city (2 Chr 20:23) • Finished a task (2 Chr 24:14; Ezra 9:1) • Finished offering a sacrifice (2 Chr 29:29) • The word תכלנה (*כלה) (Gen 41:53; Job 11:20; Lam 4:17) • End of a period of years (Gen 41:53) • Eyes failed (hope gone) (Job 11:20; Lam 4:17

21. Parallel Usage (12:7) Time • The period of “a time, times, and half a time” • Period during which an oppressor oppresses (7:25) • The word וככלות (*כלה) (2 Chr 7:1; 20:23; 24:14; 29:29; 31:1; Ezra 9:1). • End of a prayer (2 Chr 7:1; 31:1) • Finished slaughtering the inhabitants of a city (2 Chr 20:23) • Finished a task (2 Chr 24:14; Ezra 9:1) • Finished offering a sacrifice (2 Chr 29:29) • The word תכלנה (*כלה) (Gen 41:53; Job 11:20; Lam 4:17) • End of a period of years (Gen 41:53) • Eyes failed (hope gone) (Job 11:20; Lam 4:17

22. Notes The themes of time and evil naturally correspond, since evil is not allowed to endure indefinitely. We can see this contrast in vs. 7. God lives forever • “And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream; he raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever” (12:7a) (See also 12:2-3.) The time period (12:7), and the “wonders” (12:6), come to an end • “That it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished.” (12:7b)

23. From Vs. 6: Can פלאMean “Terrible”? Lamentations 1:9

24. Can פלאMean “Terrible”? Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future; Therefore her fall is terrible [פלאים]; she has no comforter. „O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!“ (Lam 1:9, ESV)

25. Can פלא Mean “Terrible”? Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future; Therefore her fall is terrible [פלאים]; she has no comforter. „O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!“ (Lam 1:9, ESV)

26. Can פלא Mean “Terrible”? Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future; Therefore her fall is terrible [פלאים]; she has no comforter. „O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!“ (Lam 1:9, ESV)

27. Can פלא Mean “Terrible”? Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future; Therefore her fall is terrible [פלאים]; she has no comforter. „O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!“ (Lam 1:9, ESV)

28. Can פלא Mean “Terrible”? Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future; Therefore her fall is terrible [פלאים]; she has no conforter. „O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy [אויב] has triumphed [הגדיל]!“ (Lam 1:9, ESV)

29. Parallel Uses of הגדיל Dan 8 (Little Horn) • Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great [ותגדל-יתר] toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. (8:9) • It grew great [ותגדל], even to the host of heaven. And some of the host and some of the stars it threw down to the ground and trampled on them. (8:10) • It became great [הגדיל], even as great as the Prince of the host. And the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. (8:11) • By his cunning he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great [יגדיל]. Without warning he shall destroy many. And he shall even rise up against the Prince of princes, and he shall be broken – but by no human hand. (8:25)

30. Parallel Uses of הגדיל Dan 11 (King of the North) • And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself [יתגדל] above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished, for what is decreed shall be done. (11:36) • He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself[יתגדל] above all. (11:37)

31. Parallel Passage 2 Kgs 21:12 • “[T]hereforethus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster [רעה] that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.” • In Lam 1:9 the fall of Jerusalem is פלאים; in 2 Kgs 21:12 it is רעה. Both verses describe the destruction of Jerusalem, so the event in both cases is the same. Are the terms used in the two passages comparable? • If so, then פלאים – in context – is not wonderful, but “terrible” (ESV). A literal gloss would be “evil” (רעה).

32. Notes • Although in most cases פלא does refer to things that are good or wonderful, this is not always the case. Its meaning must be established by context.

33. Could פלאות Be a Reference to Vss. 2-3? • The wonders of 12:2-3 do not end. • “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (12:2) • “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” (12:3) • The “wonders” of 12:6 do end. • “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?” (12:6)

34. From Vs. 7: Can לMean “After”? Lamentations 1:9

35. Can ל Mean “After”? • Example 1: • “After seven days” = “In seven days” • Denn nach sieben Tagen [לימים עוד שבעה] will ich regnen lassen auf die Erde, vierzig Tage Nächte lang, und will alle Wesen, die ich gemacht habe, vom Erdboden vertilgen. (Gen 7:4, ZB42) • For in seven days [לימים עוד שבעה] I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground. (Gen 7:4, ESV)

36. Can ל Mean “After”? • Example 2: • “After seven days” = “Seven days later” • And after seven days [לשבעת הימים] the waters of the flood came upon the earth. (Gen 7:10, ESV) • Seven days later [לשבעת הימים] the waters of the flood came on the earth. (Gen 7:10, HCSB)

37. Notes ל can mean “after” in the sense of “immediately after,” but cannot mean “at any and every subsequent time.” For the latter meaning other constructions must be used. Hebrew English

38. Notes Having said that ל can mean “after,” it is a separate question whether this is the best gloss in 12:7. • A majority of English translations use other words in 12:7. • The king’s breaking activity in 12:7b does not take place after 1798 – not even right after – but before, which should be allowed to inform our understanding of 12:7a. • Throughout the chapter the angel has little or nothing to say about events after the end of the “time, times, and half a time,” or before its beginning. His focus throughout is on what would happen during the period.

39. Daniel 12(B): 8-10

40. Text of the Passage Daniel 12(B): 8-10

41. Daniel 12(B): 8-10

42. Daniel 12(B): 8-10 Frame

43. Daniel 12(B): 8-10 • 8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome [אחרית] of all this be?” • 9 He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end [עד-עת קץ]. • 10 Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.” (12:8-10)

44. What Does It Mean to “Understand”? • “[Y]our investigator has been brought slowly but irresistibly to the conclusion that prophecy has been progressively understood just as fast as history has ful­filled it, step by step, down through the passing centuries. And, further, that always at the time of fulfillment of each major epoch and event of prophecy there have been numerous men of eminence and godliness, widely scattered geograph­ically, who have recognized that a fulfillment was taking place before their very eyes. They have sensed where they were on the timetable of prophecy, and have left the record of that recognition. Such is the evidence.” (Edwin LeRoy Froom, Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, 1:15)

45. Notes • The sealing of the scroll was not an arbitrary act on God’s part, but has to do with the fact that people can’t reliably understand events which have not yet occurred and are therefore not part of their experience. • Thus, at each point, the question is: How much of the material has undergone the transition from prophetic prediction to historical fact? That’s the part that can be understood at any given time.

46. Where Should Our Focus Be? When? or What?

47. Daniel 12(B): 8-10 Focus on When • 8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome [אחרית] of all this be?” • 9 He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end [עד-עת קץ]. • 10 Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.” (12:8-10)

48. Daniel 12(B): 8-10 Focus on What • 8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome [אחרית] of all this [אלה] be?” • 9 He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words [הדברים] are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end [עד-עת קץ]. • 10 Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.” (12:8-10)

49. Daniel 12(B): 8-10 • “But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.” (12:4) • He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.” (12:9-10)

50. Notes Whatever 12:4 refers to, 12:9 is referring to the same thing. The angel leaves some clues as to his intent in vs. 10. And it isn’t anything in Dan 12, but earlier in Dan 11. (We talked already about 12:2-3., which is part of Dan 11.)