Daniel 12
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 536 BC – 535 BC · Return & rebuilding · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
13 verses · 374 words · ~2 min read · ~2 min listen
The End Times
1“At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress, the likes of which will not have occurred from the beginning of nations until that time. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.
2And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.
4But you, Daniel, shut up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam to and fro, and knowledge will increase.”
5Then I, Daniel, looked and saw two others standing there, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. 6One of them said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long until the fulfillment of these wonders?”
7And the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by Him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, and times, and half a time. When the power of the holy people has finally been shattered, all these things will be completed.”
8I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?”
9“Go on your way, Daniel,” he replied, “for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. 10Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.
11And from the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation set up, there will be 1,290 days. 12Blessed is he who waits and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.
13But as for you, go on your way until the end. You will rest, and then you will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.”
Footnotes (3)
- a v2 See John 5:29and Revelation 11:18.
- b v3 Or expanse or firmament; see also Genesis 1:6–8.
- c v3 See Matthew 13:43.
Study notes on this chapter · 4
The valley of dry bones
Ezekiel sees a valley of dry bones come to life as God breathes on them, and God says the bones are the whole house of Israel, who will be brought back to their land. Readers have taken the vision as a picture of national restoration, of resurrection, or both, and Revelation echoes it in the raising of the two witnesses.
When: Ezekiel, c. 586–570 BC.
Ways people read this (4)
- Restoration of Israel from exile in Babylon (as the text itself explains).
- A picture that also points to the resurrection of the dead at the end of the age.
- A future national restoration of Israel.
- The Spirit's renewal of the people of God in Christ, Jew and Gentile together.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
A time, times and half a time
Daniel says the holy ones will be handed over to the little horn for 'a time, times and half a time', and Daniel 12 repeats the period. Revelation gives the same span as 1,260 days and 42 months. Interpreters disagree on whether it is three and a half literal years, a symbolic period, or a period of years.
When: Daniel; Revelation, c. AD 90s.
Ways people read this (4)
- Three and a half literal years, as in Antiochus IV's persecution (167–164 BC) or a future tribulation.
- A symbolic period for a limited time of persecution, symbolizing half of seven (incomplete, cut short).
- 1,260 years in some historicist readings, using the day-year principle.
- The period of the church's witness between Christ's first and second comings (some amillennial readings).
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
The abomination of desolation
Jesus tells his disciples that when they see 'the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel', standing in the holy place, those in Judea should flee to the mountains. Daniel's phrase was applied to Antiochus IV's desecration of the temple in 167 BC. Interpreters disagree on whether Jesus points to events in AD 66–70, to a future event, or to both.
When: Daniel, c. 530 or c. 165 BC; Jesus' Olivet discourse, c. AD 30–33; Jerusalem fell in AD 70.
Ways people read this (4)
- Fulfilled when Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem (Luke 21:20) and the temple was destroyed in AD 70 (preterist and many other readings).
- Fulfilled in part in AD 70 and awaiting a fuller fulfillment in an end-time desecration.
- A future event: the antichrist setting up an image or claiming worship in a rebuilt temple (dispensationalist readings).
- Antiochus IV's desecration was the first fulfillment, with Jesus applying the pattern to a new desecration.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
Many who sleep in the dust will awake
Daniel 12 says that at a time of unparalleled distress many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame. This is one of the clearest Old Testament statements about bodily resurrection. Jesus and Paul both affirm a resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous, and Jesus says the righteous will shine like the sun.
When: Daniel (c. 530 BC, or c. 165 BC in critical dating); Jesus' teaching, c. AD 28–30; Paul before Felix, c. AD 57.
Ways people read this (3)
- A general resurrection at the end of the age (the common Christian and Pharisaic reading).
- Some take 'many' to describe a partial resurrection, before a later general one (as in some premillennial readings).
- Some see a national or symbolic restoration rather than bodily resurrection (a minority reading).
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.