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The BibleTexts.com Bible Commentary Copyright 1996-2005 Robert Nguyen Cramer THE BOOK OF DANIEL |
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Again, 'the man' Gabriel is the messenger and as in ch. 8 comes at the time of the second twice-daily temple sacrifice. The explanation involves interpreting a week of seven days as a 'week' of seven years. The total period is thus 490 years. This formula is implicit in the notion (Deut 15, Lev 25) of a 'sabbath year' in every seven. Calculations of epochs in history according to sabbath-years are found in other contemporary Jewish literature such as Jubilees (a jubilee is seven such cycles, forth-nine or fifty years).
It should be noted that The Oxford Bible Commentary is a "First choice" recommendation on the BibleTexts.com "Recommended Bible Study Books & Resources." If you do not already have this book, it would make an outstanding addition to your biblical resources.
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The History of the World as a Heavenly Conflict (10:1-12:13) - This final section ... offers an interpretation of history as a 'great conflict' (10:1) that combines the idea of a preordained sequence and a struggle between nations: heavenly beings representing each nation fight for the supremacy of their people. The idea of each nation having its own divine patron is found in Deut 32:8-9..., and the idea that heavenly politics determine events on earth is also found in several Jewish writings of the Graeco-Roman period... That human fate is determined by heavenly events is in any case generally a common notion in the ancient world, though in monotheistic Judaism it acquired particular features, such as the emergence of an arch-rebel or opponent, variously called Satan, Mastema, and Belial. But in Daniel this figure makes no appearance; his role is taken by the rebellious human king. However, the effective agent on Israel's behalf is now no longer God but its own angel, Michael.
The first hint of heavenly warfare comes in v. 13: the angel (Gabriel, according to 11:1) was prevented from coming (for the same time Daniel was fasting!) by the Persian 'prince' (angel), now fighting against Israel's patron Michael (who appears only here in the OT). Thus, while in chs. 1-6 the one divine kingdom is that which passes from nation to nation, here sovereignty is continually contested, now between Jews and Persians and soon between Jews and Greeks (v.20).
And now comes a curious passage, in which Daniel tells how the angel explained to him why there had been a delay of three weeks, the period of Danel's fast, between the sending out of the angel and hihs coming to Daniel with the revelation. It had been due to angelic opposition in heaven... The contest , of whatever nature it was, seems to be confined to the angel who may be Gabriel and to the patron angels of the nations, and the thought is that in some way the fortunes of the nations are dependent on what happens in the celestial sphere.
Four times (10:16, 17 [twice], 19) Daniel calls the angel "my Lord" (Hebrew 'adoni), a title of great respect; cf. 1 Sam 1:15,26; 22:12. The angel touches the seer [Daniel] a third time, thus restoring his full strength (10:18). The angel's reassuring words, "You are safe," soothe and encourage Daniel so much that he now invites the angel to speak on (10:19). In 10:10-19, the angelic touches, the twofold repetition of the phrases, "Don't be afraid" and "greatly beloved," and the other comforting words are artistic embellishments to highlight the awesomeness of the angel's appearance and the extraordinary significance of the revelation about to begin.
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11:40-12:4, A Prophecy of the Future. Up to this point, everything has taken place as “predicted”; readers therefore have confidence that the balance of the vision will also transpire. In fact, however, it does not. Verses 40-45 present Antiochus [IV] as meeting his final doom in the aftermath of a historically unknown victory over Egypt. He is pictured as dying between Jerusalem, “the glorious holy mountain” (v. 45), and the sea, when, in fact, extrabiblical records attest that Antiochus died while campaigning in Persia. We can assume, therefore, that the writer was actually living between vv. 39 and 40, namely, after the desolation of the Temple on Kislev 15, 167 b.c. but before its restoration on Kislev 25, 164 b.c., and before the death of Antiochus, which must have taken place somewhat after that latter event, hence early in 163 b.c. As is always the case, the prophecy of the end was in error, its timing considerably off. But the Jewish and Christian communities acknowledged that fact when they admitted the book of Daniel to their canon of sacred Scripture. The canonizers knew that the end had not come on time, but they allowed the vision to remain as testimony to what they held to be fundamentally and perpetually true, namely, that God is the victor in the struggle of history.
In this process, they preserved the most important innovation contained in the book of Daniel, the notion of resurrection in 12:1-3: “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, rsv). Isa. 26:19 may allude to the possibility of the resurrection of the dead, but if so, it is the only other instance of the concept in the ot. “Those who are wise” (Dan. 12:3) may well refer to the chasidim of which the writer of Daniel is a part. Whether they pass over into the realm of the holy ones of God, the host of angels, is not entirely clear, though the notion that they will shine “like the stars forever and ever” might support the idea. In any case, the writer of Daniel has dared here to go further than any theological predecessor in Israel since he suggests that beyond the culmination of human history and God’s victory on behalf of righteousness is a world populated by the saints themselves.
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(12:1) ...The final resolution now concerns the respective fates of righteous and wicked and the calculation of the time when the end will come. On the death of Antiochus [IV], the patron angel Michael will 'stand' or 'arise', which may mean not more than 'appear' or 'act'. Reference to a 'time of distress' following this is curious, but may refer to prophecies of such a time in Isa 13:22; Jer 14:8; 15:11; 30:7, all of which associate the phrase with a decisive divine rescue, and intend to identify rather than predict fresh misery. But the deliverance will only be for some, not all: 'everyone found written in the book', presumably in a heavenly record of the names of the righteous...
12:5-13, Conclusion. The great vision of the culmination of history is over, but the persistent question remains: “How long?” (v. 6). The traditional answer is given: “A time, two times, and half a time” (see 7:25, 9:27; the three years, two-and-a-third months [by lunar reckoning] of 8:14 is a deviation from this stereotypical response). This oblique sequence allows the author to say that by the time the Temple is desolated, the end is imminent. No more need be said (v. 9). In the meantime, those who are righteous have an interim task, to “purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined” (v. 10).
The book concludes with what may well be two additions composed by the writer himself or by some later editor. These glosses (vv. 11-12) lengthen the time before the culmination to 1290 days and 1335 days, respectively. Perhaps they display an anxious adjustment by someone who did not experience the end on its proper timetable. Had the writer lived through the expected three-and-a-half-year period, we might assume that he would have known about the cleansing of the Temple on Kislev 25, 164 b.c. (1 Macc. 4:52) because that event would have occurred in just a little over three years from the time of its profanation. He might even have known about the death of Antiochus [IV], which must have occurred soon after the latter date. It is odd that he made no mention of these great events! Perhaps the writer realized that the ultimate culmination of God’s saving purpose, including the glorious resurrection of the righteous dead, did not belong to the simple turning of political fortune, but that it, in time and significance, lay well beyond the vicissitudes of Jewish history during the second century b.c.
Regarding "a time, two times, and half a time," see also commentary on Rev 11:1-14 at http://www.bibletexts.com/verses/v-rev.htm#rev-11-1. See also reference to this at Rev 12:14.
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1996-2005 Robert Nguyen Cramer
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