Verse 1 ההיא וּבעת points back to קץ בּעת ( Daniel 11:4 ). At the time of the end, in which the hostile persecutor rises up to subdue the whole world, and sets up his camp in the Holy Land to destroy many in great anger and to strike them with the ban ( החרים , Daniel 11:44 ), i.e., totally to outroot them ( Daniel 11:40-45 ), the great angel-prince Michael shall come forth and fight for the people of God against their oppressor. Regarding Michael, see under Daniel 10:13 , p. 771.
“Who stands over the sons of thy people,” i.e., stands near, protecting them (cf. for על עמד in the sense of coming to protect, Esther 8:11 ; Esther 9:16 ), describes Michael, who carries on his work as Israel's שׂר ( Daniel 10:21 ). That Michael, fighting for Daniel's people, goes forth against the hostile king ( Daniel 11:45 ), is, it is true, not said expressis verbis , but it lies in the context, especially in the עמך ימּלט ( they people shall be delivered ) of the second half of the verse, as well as in the expressions regarding Michael, Daniel 10:13 and Daniel 10:21 .
But the people of God need such powerful help for their deliverance, because that time shall be one of oppression without any parallel. The description of this oppression seems to be based on Jeremiah 30:7 (C. B. Michaelis, Hengstenberg); but that which is there said is here heightened by the relative clause (cf. Joel 2:2 ), which enlarges the thought, Exodus 9:18 , Exodus 9:24 . This צרה עת ( time of distress ) is the climax of the oppression which the hostile king shall bring upon Israel, and occurs at the same time as the expiry of the last (the seventieth) week, Daniel 9:26 .
“The salvation of Israel ( ימּלט ), which is here thought of as brought about under the direction of Michael, coincides essentially with the description, Daniel 7:18 , Daniel 7:25 ., 14, Daniel 9:24 .” Thus Kranichfeld rightly remarks. He also rightly identifies the continued victorious deliverance of Israel from the oppression ( Daniel 12:1 ) with the setting up of the Messianic kingdom, described in Daniel 7:2 , Daniel 7:9 , and finds in this verse ( Daniel 12:1 ) the Messianic kingdom dissolving the world-kingdoms.
With this the opposers of the genuineness of the book of Daniel also agree, and deduce therefrom the conclusion, that the pseudo-Daniel expected, along with the overthrow of Antiochus Epiphanes, the appearance of the Messianic kingdom of glory. This conclusion would be indisputable if the premises from which it is drawn, that ההיא בּעת ( at that time ) is the time of Antiochus, were well founded. All attempts of believing interpreters, who, with Porphyry, Grotius, Bleek, v.
Lengerke, Hitzig, and others, find the death of Antiochus prophesied in Daniel 11:45 , to dismiss this conclusion, appear on close inspection to be untenable. According to Hävernick, with ההיא וּבעת ( and at that time ) a new period following that going before is introduced, and that ההיא בּעת means at some future time .
The appearance of Michael for his people denotes the appearance of the Messiah; and the sufferings and oppressions connected with his appearance denote the sufferings which the people of Israel shall endure at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, but which shall be most fully realized only at the second coming of the Lord, Matthew 24:21-22 .
But this explanation is shattered against the ההיא בּעת , which never has the meaning “at some time,” i.e., in the further future, and is refuted by the following remark of Hitzig: - ”Not once,” says he, with good ground, “can the words ההוּא בּיּום be proved by such passages as 2 Kings 3:6 ; Isaiah 28:5 ; Genesis 39:11 , to have the meaning of at that day ; in ההיא בעת we may not by any means seek such a meaning, and the copula here puts a complete barrier in the way of such arbitrariness.
Moreover, if the epoch of Antiochus Epiphanes was indeed a time of oppression, who could a reader then not refer this ההיא to the time of that king described in the foregoing chapter?” Finally, משׂכּילים ( intelligentes ), Daniel 12:3 , refers back to the עם משׂכּילי who helped may to knowledge, and who lost their lives in the persecution ( Daniel 11:33-34 ), and now are raised to eternal life. (Note: These arguments extend also to the overthrow of Ebrard's view, that the expression “to this time” refers to the time after Antiochus Epiphanes shall have died.) Hävernick, however, was right, in opposing those who refer Daniel 12:1 to the period of persecution under Antiochus, in arguing that the statement of the unheard-of greatness of the affliction is far too strong for such a period, and at the same time that the promise of the deliverance of those that shall be found written in the book does not accord with that Syrian oppression, although he is in error when he interprets the appearance of Michael of the first appearance of Christ.
This interpretation receives no support either from Daniel 9:26 or from Matthew 24:21-22 , because both passages treat of the coming of Christ in glory. But if the reference of this verse to the appearance of Christ in the flesh is inconsistent with the words, still more so is its reference to the period of Antiochus. Those interpreters who advance this view are under the necessity of violently separating Daniel 12:1 from Daniel 12:2 , Daniel 12:3 , which undoubtedly treat of the resurrection from the dead.
According to Auberlen, who has rightly conceived that the משׂכּילים , Daniel 12:3 , allude to the משׂכּילים , Daniel 11:33 and Daniel 11:34 , the הרבּים מצדּיקי to the לרבּים יבינוּ , Daniel 11:33 , Daniel 12:2 , Daniel 12:3 do not intimate any progress in the development of the history, but by mentioning the resurrection only, are referred to the eternal retribution which awaits the Israelites according to their conduct during the time of great persecution under Antiochus, because, as C. B.
Michaelis has said, ejus (i.e., of the resurrection) consideratio magnam vim habet ad confirmandum animum sub tribulationibus . As to the period between the time of trial and the resurrection, nothing whatever is said; for in Daniel 12:2 , Daniel 12:3 every designation of time is wanting, while in Daniel 12:1 the expression “at this time” twice occurs. Thus Hengstenberg ( Christol . iii. 1, p. 6) has remarked, “Whether there be a longer or a shorter time between the tribulation of the Maccabean era and the resurrection, the consolation from the fact of the resurrection remains equally powerful.
Therefore it is so connected with the deliverance from the persecution as if the one immediately followed the other.” But with this it is conceded that the resurrection from the dead is so associated with the deliverance of Israel from the tyranny of Antiochus as if it came immediately after it, as the opponents of the genuineness of the book affirm. But this interpretation is obviously a mere make-shift.
Verses 2-3 These verses do not at all present the form of a parenetic reference to the retribution commencing with the resurrection. Daniel 12:2 is by the copula ו connected with Daniel 12:1 , and thereby designates the continuance of the thought of the second half of Daniel 12:1 , i.e., the further representation of the deliverance of God's people, namely, of all those who are written in the book of life.
Since many of the משׂכּילים who know their God ( Daniel 11:33 ) lose their life in the persecution, so in the promise of deliverance a disclosure of the lot awaiting those who sealed with their blood their fidelity to God was not to be avoided, if the prophecy shall wholly gain its end, i.e., if the promise of the deliverance of all the pious shall afford to the people of God in the times of oppression strength and joy in their enduring fidelity to God.
The appeal to the fact that Daniel 12:2 , Daniel 12:3 contain no designation of time proves nothing at all, for this simple reason, that the verses connected by “and” are by this copula placed under Daniel 12:1 , which contains a designation of time, and only further show how this deliverance shall ensue, namely thus, that a part of the people shall outlive the tribulation, but those who lose their lives in the persecution shall rise again from the dead. To this is to be added that the contents of Daniel 12:1 do not agree with the period of persecution under Antiochus.
That which is said regarding the greatness of the persecution is much too strong for it. The words, “There shall be a time of trouble such as never was מהיות , since there was a nation or nations,” designate it as such as never was before on the earth. Theodoret interprets thus: οἵα οὐ γέγονεν, αφ ̓οὐ γεγένηται εθνος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἕως τοῦ καιροῦ ἐκείνου . With reference to these words our Lord says: οἵα οὐ γέγονεν ἀπ ̓ἀρχῆς κόσμου ἕως τοῦ νῦν, οὐδ ̓οὐ μὴ γένηται , Matthew 24:21 .
Though the oppression which Antiochus brought upon Israel may have been most severe, yet it could not be said of it without exaggeration, that it was such a tribulation as never had been from the beginning of the world. Antiochus, it is true, sought to outroot Judaism root and branch, but Pharaoh also wished to do the same by his command to destroy all the Hebrew male children at their birth; and as Antiochus wished to make the worship of the Grecian Zeus, so also Jezebel the worship of the Phoenician Hercules, in the place of the worship of Jehovah, the national religion in Israel.
Still less does the second hemistich of Daniel 12:1 refer to the deliverance of the people from the power of Antiochus. Under the words, “every one that shall be found written in the book,” Hitzig remarks that they point back to Isaiah 4:3 , and that the book is thus the book of life, and corrects the vain interpretation of v.
Lengerke, that “to be written in the book” means in an earthly sense to live, to be appointed to life, by the more accurate explanation, “The book of life is thus the record of those who shall live, it is the list of the citizens of the Messianic kingdom ( Philippians 4:3 ), and in Isaiah contains the names of those who reach it living, in Daniel also of those who must first be raised from the dead for it.” Cf. regarding the book of life, under Exodus 32:32 . Accordingly, ההיא בּעת extends into the Messianic time. This is so far acknowledged by Hofmann ( Weiss. u.
Erf. i. p. 313, and Shcriftbew . 2:2, p. 697), in that he finds in Daniel 12:1 , from “and there shall be a time,” and in Daniel 12:2 , Daniel 12:3 , the prophecy of the final close of the history of nations, the time of the great tribulation at the termination of the present course of the world, the complete salvation of Israel in it, and the resurrection of the dead at the end of the world.
Since, however, Hofmann likewise refers the last verses of the preceding chapter to the time of Antiochus and his destruction, and can only refer the ההיא וּבעת at the beginning of Daniel 12:1-13 , from its close connection with the last words of Daniel 11, to the time which has hitherto been spoken of, so he supposes that in the first clause of the first verse of this chapter ( Daniel 12:1-13 ) there cannot be a passing over to another time, but that this transition is first made by והיתה .
This transition he seeks indeed, in the 2nd ed. of his Schriftbew. l.c. , to cover by the remark: that we may not explain the words of the angel, וגו עת והיתה , as if they meant: that time shall be a time of trouble such as has not been till now; but much rather that they are to be translated: “and there shall arise a time of trouble such as never was to that time.” But this separation of the words in question from those going before by the translation of והיתה “and there shall arise,” is rendered impossible by the words following, ההיא העת עד ; for these so distinctly point back to the words with which the verse commences, that we may not empty them of their definite contents by the ambiguous “till that time.” If the angel says, There shall arise a time of oppression such as has never been since there were nations till that time when Michael shall appear for his people, or, as Hofmann translates it, shall “hold fast his place,” then to every unprejudiced reader it is clear that this tribulation such as has never been before shall arise not for the first time centuries after the appearance of Michael or of his “holding fast his place,” but in the time of the war of the angel-prince for the people of God.
In this same time the angel further places the salvation of the people of Daniel and the resurrection of the dead. (Note: Hofmann's explanation of the words would only be valid if the definition of time ההיא העת אחרי stood after והיתה in the text, which Hofm. in his most recent attempts at its exposition has interpolated inadvertently, while in his earlier exposition ( Weiss. u.
Erf . i. p. 314) he has openly said: “These last things connect themselves with the prospect of the end of that oppressor of Israel, not otherwise than as when Isaiah spoke of the approaching assault of the Assyrians on Jerusalem as of the last affliction of the city, or as in Jeremiah the end of those seventy years is also the end of all the sufferings of his people. There remains therefore a want of clearness in this prospect,” etc.
This want of clearness he has, in his most recent exposition in the Schriftbew ., not set aside, but increased, by the supposition of an immediate transition from the time of Antiochus to the time of the end.) The failure of all attempts to gain a space of time between Daniel 11:45 and Daniel 12:1 , Daniel 12:2 incontrovertibly shows that the assertions of those who dispute the genuineness of the book, that the pseudo-Daniel expected along with the death of Antiochus the commencement of the Messianic kingdom and of the resurrection of the dead, would have a foundation if the last verses of Daniel 11 treated of the last undertakings of this Syrian king against the theocracy.
This if , it has, however, been seen from Daniel 11, is not established. In Daniel 11:40-45 the statements do not refer to Antiochus, but to the time of the end, of the last enemy of the holy God, and of his destruction. With that is connected, without any intervening space, in Daniel 12:1 the description of the last oppression of the people of God and their salvation to everlasting life.
The prophecy of that unheard-of great tribulation Christ has in Matthew 24:21 referred, wholly in the sense of the prophetic announcement, to the yet future θλῖψις μεγάλη which shall precede the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven to judge the world and to bring to a consummation the kingdom of God. That this tribulation shall come only upon Israel, the people of God, is not said; the גּוי מהיות refers much more to a tribulation that shall come upon the whole of humanity. In it shall the angel-prince Michael help the people of Daniel, i.e., the people of God.
That he shall destroy the hostile king, the Antichrist, is not said. His influence extends only to the assistance which he shall render to the people of God for their salvation, so that all who are written in the book of life shall be saved. Christ, in His eschatological discourse, Matt 24, does not make mention of this assistance, but only says that for the elect's sake the days of the oppression shall be shortened, otherwise that no one would be saved ( ἐσώθη , Matthew 24:22 ).
Wherein the help of Michael consists, is seen partly from that which is said in Daniel 10:13 and Daniel 10:21 regarding him, that he helped the Angel of the Lord in the war against the hostile spirit of the Persian and the Javanic world-kingdom, partly from the war of Michael against the dragon described in Revelation 12:7 .
From these indications it is clear that we may not limit the help on the part of Michael to the help which he renders to the saints of God in the last war and struggle, but that he stands by them in all wars against the world-power and its princes, and helps them to victory. But the salvation which the people of God shall experience in the time of the unparalleled great oppression is essentially different from the help which was imparted to the people of Israel in the time of the Maccabees. This is called “a little help,” Daniel 11:34 .
So also is the oppression of Israel in the time of the Maccabees different from the oppression in the end of the time, as to its object and consequences. The former oppression shall, according to Daniel 11:33-35 , serve to purify the people and to make them white to the time of the end; the oppression at the time of the end, on the contrary, according to Daniel 12:1-3 , shall effect the salvation ( המּלט ) of the people, i.e., prepare the people for the everlasting life, and bring about the separation of the righteous from the wicked for eternity.
These clearly stated distinctions confirm the result already reached, that Daniel 12:1-3 do not treat of the time of Antiochus and the Maccabees. The promised salvation of the people ( ימּלט ) is more particularly defined by the addition to עמך : “every one who shall be found written in the book,” sc. of life (see above, p. 813); thus every one whom God has ordained to life, all the genuine members of the people of God. נמלט , shall be saved, sc. out of the tribulation, so that they do not perish therein.
But since, according to Daniel 11:33 ., in the oppression, which passes over the people of God for their purification, many shall lose their lives, and this also shall be the case in the last and severest oppression, the angel gives to the prophet, in Daniel 12:2 , disclosures also regarding the dead, namely, that they shall awaken out of the sleep of death. By the connection of this verse with the preceding by , ו without any further designation of time, the resurrection of the dead is placed as synchronous with the deliverance of the people.
“For that the two clauses, 'thy people shall be delivered' ( Daniel 12:1 ), and 'many shall awake,' not only reciprocally complete each other, but also denote contemporaneous facts, we only deny by first denying that the former declares the final salvation of Israel” (Hofm.
Schriftbew . ii. 2, p. 598). ישׁן , sleeping , is here used, as in Job 3:13 ; Jeremiah 51:39 , of death; cf. καθεύδειν , Matthew 9:24 ; 1 Thessalonians 5:10 , and κοιμᾶσθαι , 1 Thessalonians 4:14 . אדמת־עפר , occurring only here, formed after Genesis 3:19 , means not the dust of the earth , but dusty earth , terra pulveris , denoting the grave, as עפר , Psalms 22:30 . It appears surprising that רבּים , many , shall awake, since according to the sequel, where the rising of some to life and of some to shame is spoken of, much rather the word all might have been expected.
This difficulty is not removed by the remark that many stands for all , because רבּים does not mean all . Concerning the opinion that many stands for all , Hofmann remarks, that the expression “sleeping in the dust of earth” is not connected with the word many ( רבּים ), but with the verb “shall awake” ( יקיצוּ ): “of them there shall be many, of whom those who sleep in the earth shall arise” (Hofm.). So also C. B.
Michaelis interprets the words by reference to the Masoretic accentuation, which has separated רבּים from מיּשׁני ( sleeping ), only that he takes מן in the sense of stating the terminus mutationis a quo . But by this very artificial interpretation nothing at all is gained; for the thought still remains the same, that of those who sleep in the dust many (not all ) awake. The partitive interpretation of מן is the only simple and natural one, and therefore with most interpreters we prefer it. The רבּים can only be rightly interpreted from the context.
The angel has it not in view to give a general statement regarding the resurrection of the dead, but only disclosures on this point, that the final salvation of the people shall not be limited to those still living at the end of the great tribulation, but shall include also those who have lost their lives during the period of the tribulation. In Daniel 11:33 , Daniel 11:35 , the angel had already said, that of “those that understand” many shall fall by the sword and by flame, etc.
When the tribulation at the time of the end increases to an unparalleled extent ( Daniel 12:1 ), a yet greater number shall perish, so that when salvation comes, only a remnant of the people shall be then in life. To this surviving remnant of the people salvation is promised; but the promise is limited yet further by the addition: “every one that is found written in the book;” not all that are then living, but only those whose names are recorded in the book of life shall be partakers of the deliverance, i.e., of the Messianic salvation.
But many ( רבּים ) of those that sleep, who died in the time of tribulation, shall awake out of sleep, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame. As with the living, so also with the dead, not all attain to salvation. Also among those that arise there shall be a distinction, in which the reward of the faithful and of the unfaithful shall be made known.
The word “many” is accordingly used only with reference to the small number of those who shall then be living, and not with reference either to the universality of the resurrection of the dead or to a portion only of the dead, but merely to add to the multitude of the dead, who shall then have part with the living, the small number of those who shall experience in the flesh the conclusion of the matter.
If we consider this course of thought, then we shall find it necessary neither to obtrude upon רבּים the meaning of all , - a meaning which it has not and cannot have, for the universality of the resurrection is removed by the particle מן , which makes it impossible that , οἱ πολλοί = πάντες ; for this conclusion can only be drawn from the misapprehension of the course of thought here presented, that this verse contains a general statement of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, an idea which is foreign to the connection.
From the correct interpretation of the course of thought arises the correct answer to the controverted question, whether here we are taught concerning the resurrection of the people of Israel, or concerning the resurrection of mankind generally. Neither the one nor the other of these things is taught here. The prophetic words treat of the people of Daniel, by which we are to understand the people of Israel. But the Israel of the time of the end consists not merely of Jews or of Jewish Christians, but embraces all peoples who belong to God's kingdom of the New Covenant founded by Christ.
In this respect the resurrection of all is here implicite intimated, and Christ has explicitly set forth the thoughts lying implicite in this verse; for in John 5:28 . He teaches the awakening from sleep of all the dead, and speaks, with unmistakeable reference to this passage before us, of an ἀνάστασις ζωῆς and an ἀνάστασις κρίσεως . For in the O.T. our verse is the only passage in which, along with the resurrection to everlasting life, there is mention also made of the resurrection to everlasting shame, or the resurrection of the righteous and of the wicked.
The conception of עולם , חיּי ζωὴ αἰώνιος , meets us here for the first time in the O.T. חיּים denotes, it is true, frequently the true life with God, the blessed life in communion with God, which exists after this life; but the addition עולם does not generally occur, and is here introduced to denote, as corresponding to the eternal duration of the Messianic kingdom ( Daniel 2:44 ; Daniel 7:14 , Daniel 7:27 , cf.
Daniel 9:24 ), the life of the righteous in this kingdom as imperishable. עולם לדראון לחרפות forms the contrast to עולם לחיּי ; for first חרפות , shame (a plur. of intensive fulness), is placed over against the חיּי , then this shame is designated in reference to Isaiah 66:24 as דּראון , contempt , an object of aversion. Daniel 12:3 Then shall they who in the times of tribulation have led many to the knowledge of salvation receive the glorious reward of their faithfulness.
With this thought the angel closes the announcement of the future. המשׂכּילים refers back to Daniel 11:33-35 , and is here, as there, not limited to the teachers, but denotes the intelligent who, by instructing their contemporaries by means of word and deed, have awakened them to stedfastness and fidelity to their confession in the times of tribulation and have strengthened their faith, and some of whom have in war sealed their testimony with their blood. These shall shine in eternal life with heavenly splendour. The splendour of the vault of heaven (cf.
Exodus 24:10 ) is a figure of the glory which Christ designates as a light like the sun (“The righteous shall shine forth as the sun,” Matthew 13:43 , referring to the passage before us). Cf. for this figure also Revelation 2:28 and 1 Corinthians 15:40 .
By the expression הרבּים מצדּיקי Kranichfeld would understand such as take away the sins of the people in the offering up of sacrifice, i.e., the priests who attend to the offering of the sacrifices, because the expression is borrowed from Isaiah 53:11 , “where it is predicated of the Messianic priest κατ ̓ἐξοχὴν , in the fullest sense of the word, what is said here of the common priests.” But this interpretation is not satisfactory.
In Isaiah 53:11 the Servant of Jehovah justifies many, not by the sacrifice, but by His righteousness, by this, that He, as צדּיק who has done no sin, takes upon Himself the sins of the people and gives His soul an offering for sin. הצּדּיק is neither in the law of sacrifices nor anywhere in the O.T. named as the effect of the sacrifice, but always only עון שׂאת ( נשׂא ) ( to take up, take away iniquity ) and כּפּר , and in the expiatory sacrifices with the constant addition לו (<) ונסלח ; cf. Leviticus 4:26 , Leviticus 4:31 , Leviticus 4:35 ; Leviticus 5:10 , Leviticus 5:16 ; Psalms 32:1 .
Nor is the practice of offering sacrifice anywhere described as a הצּדּיק . This word signifies to assist in obtaining, or to lead to, righteousness, and is here to be read in this general interpretation, and not to be identified with the Pauline δικαιοῦσθαι . The מצדּיקים are those who by their צדקה , i.e., by their fidelity to the law, led others to צדקה , showed them by their example and teaching the way to righteousness.
The salvation of the people, which the end shall bring in, consists accordingly in the consummation of the people of God by the resurrection of the dead and the judgment dividing the pious from the godless, according to which the pious shall be raised to eternal life, and the godless shall be given up to everlasting shame and contempt. But the leaders of the people who, amid the wars and conflicts of this life, have turned many to righteousness, shall shine in the imperishable glory of heaven.
Verses 4-13 The Close of the Revelation of God and of the Book As the revelation in Daniel 8 closes with the direction, “Wherefore shut thou up the vision” ( Daniel 8:26 ), so this before us closes with the command ( Daniel 12:4 ), “But thou Daniel shut up these words;” and as in the former case החזון denotes the vision interpreted to him by the angel, so here הדּברים can only be the announcements of the angel, Daniel 11:2-12:3, along with the preceding appearance, Daniel 10:2-11:1, thus only the revelation designated as דּבר , Daniel 10:1 .
Accordingly, also, סתן is obviously to be interpreted in the meaning illustrated and defended under Daniel 8:25 , to shut up in the sense of guarding; and thus also חתם , to seal. Thus all the objections against this command are set aside which Hitzig has derived from the sealing, which he understands of the sealing up of the book, so that he may thereby cast doubt on the genuineness of the book. It is disputed whether הספר is only the last revelation, Daniel 10-12 (Hävernick, v. Leng., Maurer, Kran.), or the whole book (Bertholdt, Hitzig, Auberlen, Kliefoth).
That ספר might designate a short connected portion, a single prophecy, is placed beyond a doubt by Nahum 1:1 ; Jeremiah 51:63 . The parallelism of the members of the passage also appears to favour the opinion that הספר stands in the same meaning as הדּברים . But this appearance amounts to a valid argument only under the supposition that the last revelation stands unconnected with the revelations going before.
But since this is not the case, much rather the revelation of these chapters is not only in point of time the last which Daniel received, but also forms the essential conclusion of all earlier revelations, then the expression used of the sealing of this last revelation refers plainly to the sealing of the whole book. This supposition is unopposed. That the writing down of the prophecy is not commanded to Daniel, cannot be objected against.
As this is here and in Daniel 8:26 presupposed as a matter of course, for the receiving of a revelation without committing it to writing is not practicable, so we may without hesitation suppose that Daniel wrote down all the earlier visions and revelations as soon as he received them, so that with the writing down of the last of them the whole book was completed. For these reasons we understand by הספר the whole book.
For, as Kliefoth rightly remarks, the angel will close, Daniel 12:4 , the last revelation, and along with it the whole prophetical work of Daniel, and dismiss him from his prophetical office, as he afterwards, Daniel 12:13 , does, after he has given him, Daniel 12:5-12 , disclosures regarding the periods of these wonderful things that were announced. He must seal the book, i.e., guard it securely from disfigurement, “till the time of the end,” because its contents stretch out to the time of the end. Cf.
Daniel 8:26 , where the reason for the sealing is stated in the words, “for yet it shall be for many days.” Instead of such a statement as that, the time of the end is here briefly named as the terminus , down to which the revelation reaches, in harmony with the contents of Daniel 11:40-12:3, which comprehend the events of the time of the end. The two clauses of Daniel 12:4 are differently explained. The interpretation of J. D.
Michaelis, “Many shall indeed go astray, but on the other side also the knowledge shall be great,” is verbally just as untenable as that of Hävernick, “Many shall wander about, i.e., in the consciousness of their misery, strive after salvation, knowledge.” For שׁוּט signifies neither to go astray ( errare ) nor to wander about, but only to go to and fro, to pass through a land, in order to seek out or search, to go about spying ( Zechariah 4:10 , of the eyes of God; Ezekiel 27:8 , Ezekiel 27:26 , to row).
From these renderings there arises for this passage before us the meaning, to search through, to examine, a book; not merely to “read industriously” (Hitzig, Ewald), but thoroughly to search into it (Gesenius). The words do not supply the reason for the command to seal, but they state the object of the sealing, and are not (with many interpreters) to be referred merely to the time of the end, that then for the first time many shall search therein and find great knowledge.
This limiting of their import is connected with the inaccurate interpretation of the sealing as a figure either of the incomprehensibility of the prophecy or of the secrecy of the writing, and is set aside with the correct interpretation of this figure. If Daniel, therefore, must only place the prophecy securely that it may continue to the time of the end, the sealing thus does not exclude the use of it in transcriptions, then there exists no reason for thinking that the searching into it will take place only for the first time in the end.
The words וגו רבּים ישׁטטוּ are not connected with the preceding by any particle or definition of time, whereby they should be limited to קץ עת . To this is to be added, that this revelation, according to the express explanation of the angel ( Daniel 10:14 ), refers to all that shall be experienced by the people of Daniel from the time of Cyrus to the time of the end.
If, then, it must remain sealed or not understood till the time of the end, it must have lain unused and useless for centuries, while it was given for the very purpose of reflecting light on the ways of God for the pious in all times, and of imparting consolation amid their tribulations to those who continued stedfast in their fidelity. In order to serve these purposes it must be accessible at all times, so that they might be able to search into it, to judge events by it and to strengthen their faith.
Kliefoth therefore is right in his thus interpreting the whole passage: “Daniel must place in security the prophecies he has received until the time of the end, so that through all times many men may be able to read them and gain understanding (better: obtain knowledge) from them.” הדּעת is the knowledge of the ways of the Lord with His people, which confirms them in their fidelity towards God.
Verse 5 With Daniel 12:4 the revelation might have concluded, as that in Daniel ends with the direction to shut up the vision. But then a disclosure regarding the times of the events prophesied of, which Daniel might have expected according to the analogy of the visions in Daniel 8 and 9, would have been wanting. This disclosure is given to him in Daniel 12:5-12 , and that in a very solemn, impressive way. The appearance which hitherto he has seen is changed.
He sees two other angels standing on the banks of the river, the one on this side and the other on that side. והנּה ... וראיתי ( then I looked, and lo ) does not, it is true, indicate a new vision so much as a new scene in the vision, which still continued. The words אהרים שׁנים , two others , sc. heavenly beings or angels (without the article), show that they now for the first time became visible, and were different from the one who was hitherto seen by him and had spoken with him.
Therefore the supposition that the one of these two angels was Gabriel, who had communicated to him the revelation, fails, even if, which is according to our exposition, not the case, the speaker in Daniel 11 and Daniel 12:1-13 were this angel.
Verses 6-7 Besides these two now first seen by Daniel, he who was “clothed in linen” is named as standing above the waters of the river; but when we take into view the whole scene, he is by no means to be regarded as now for the first time coming into view. The use of the article ( לאישׁ ), and the clothing that characterized him, point him out as the person spoken of in Daniel 10:5 . Hence our view developed in p. 768 is confirmed, viz., that previously the man clothed in linen was visible to Daniel alone, and announced to him the future. He also in the sequel alone speaks with Daniel.
One of the other two makes inquiry regarding the end of the wonderful things, so as to give occasion to him (as in Daniel 8:13 and Daniel 8:14 ) to furnish an answer. With this the question presses itself upon us, For what purpose do the two angels appear, since only one of them speaks - the other neither does anything nor speaks? Leaving out of view the opinion of Jerome, Grotius, Stäudlin, and Ewald, that the two angels were the guardian spirits of Persia and Greece, and other conceits, such e.g., as that they represent the law and the prophets (after a gloss in the Cod.
Chis .), which Geier has rejected as figmenta hominum textus auctoritate destituta , we confine ourselves to a consideration of the views of Hitzig and Kliefoth. Hitzig thinks that the two angels appear as witnesses of the oath, and that for that reason there are two; cf. Deuteronomy 19:15 with Deuteronomy 31:28 . But these passage do not prove that for the ratification of an oath witnesses are necessary. The testimony of two or three witnesses was necessary only for the attestation of an accusation laid before a judge.
Add to this also that in Daniel 8:13 . two angels appear along with him whose voice came from the Ulai ( Daniel 8:16 ), without any oath being there given. It is true that there the two angels speak, but only the utterance of one of them is communicated. Hence the conjecture is natural, that here also both of the angels spake, the one calling to the other the question that was addressed to the Angel of the Lord hovering over the water, as Theodot. and Ephrem Syrus appear to have thought, and as Klief. regards as probable.
In any case the appearance of the angels on the two banks of the river stands in actual connection with the hovering of the man clothed in linen above the waters of this river, in which the circumstance merits consideration that the river, according to Daniel 10:4 the Tigris, is here called יאר , as besides the Nile only is called in the O.T. The hovering above the stream can represent only the power or dominion over it. But Kliefoth is inclined to regard the river as an emblem of time flowing on to eternity; but there is no support in Scripture for such a representation.
Besides, by this the appellation יאר is not taken into consideration, by which, without doubt, the river over which the Angel of the Lord hovers is designated as a Nile; i.e., it is indicated that as the Angel of the Lord once smote the waters of the Nile to ransom his people out of Egypt, so in the future shall he calm and suppress the waves of the river which in Daniel's time represented the might of the world-kingdom. (Note: C. B.
Michaelis has similarly interpreted the standing (or hovering) over the waters of the river as symbolum potestatis atque dominii supremi, quo non solum terram continentem et aridam, sed etiam aquas pedibus quasi suis subjectas habet, et ea quae aquarum instar tumultuantur, videlicet gentes, adversus ecclesiam Dei insurgentes atque frementes, compescere et coercere potest .
Only he has not in this regard to the name יאר .) The river Hiddekel (Tigris) was thus a figure of the Persian world-power, through whose territory it flowed (cf. for this prophetic type, Isaiah 8:6-7 ; Psalms 124:3-4 ), and the designation of the river as יאר , Nile , contains an allusion to the deliverance of Israel from the power of Egypt, which in its essence shall be repeated in the future. Two other angels stand as servants by the side of the Angel of the Lord, the ruler over the Hiddekel, prepared to execute his will.
Thus interpreted, all the features of the vision gain an interpretation corresponding with the contents of the prophecy.
But the significance of the whole scene, which presents itself to the prophet after he received the announcement, at the same time shows that the Daniel 12:5-12 form no mere supplementary communication, which is given to Daniel before he is wholly dismissed for his prophetical office, regarding the question that lay upon his heart as to the duration of the severe tribulation that was announced, but that this disclosure constitutes an integral part of the foregoing revelation, and is placed at the end of the angel's message only because a change of scene was necessary for the giving prominence to the import of this disclosure.
Thus, to give the prophet the firm certainty that the oppression of his people spoken of, on the part of the ungodly world-rulers, when it has gained its end, viz., The purification of the people, shall bring about, along with the destruction of the enemy of the last time, the salvation of those who are truly the people of God in their advancement to eternal life in glory, the Angel of the Lord standing above the waters of the river presents himself to view as the guide and ruler of the affairs of the nations, and announces with a solemn oath the duration and the end of the time of tribulation.
This announcement is introduced by the question of the angel standing by the river: “Till when the end, i.e., how long continues the end, of these wonderful things?” not: “When shall the end of these things be?” (Kran.) הפּלאות are, according to the context, the extraordinary things which the prophecy had declared, particularly the unheard-of oppressions described in Daniel 11:30 .; cf. with פּלאות the synonym נפּלאות , Daniel 11:36 and Daniel 8:24 .
But the question is not: “How long shall all these פּלאות themselves continue?” but: “How long shall הפּלאות קץ , the end of these wonderful things, continue?” The end of these things is the time of the end prophesied of from Daniel 11:40 to Daniel 12:3 , with all that shall happen in it. To this the man clothed with linen answers with a solemn oath for the confirmation of his statement. The lifting up of his hands to heaven indicates the solemnity of the oath. Commonly he who swears lifts up only one hand; cf.
Deuteronomy 32:40 ; Ezekiel 20:5 , and the remark under Exodus 6:8 ; but here with greater solemnity both hands are lifted up, and he swears העולם בּחי , by Him that liveth for ever. This predicate of God, which we have already heard from the mouth of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 4:31 , here points back to Deuteronomy 32:40 , where God swears, “I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever,” and is quoted from this verse before us in Revelation 10:6 , and there further expanded.
This solemn form of swearing shows that the question and answer must refer not to the duration of the period of the persecution under Antiochus, but to that under the last enemy, the Antichrist. The definition of time given in the answer leads us also to this conclusion: a time, two times, and half a time; which accurately agrees with the period of time named in Daniel 7:25 as that of the duration of the actions of the enemy of God who would arise out of the fourth world-kingdom.
The כּי serves, as ὅτι frequently, only for the introducing of the statement or the answer. ל before מועד does not signify till (= עד , Daniel 7:25 ), but to or upon , at . In both of the clauses of the answer, “space of time and point of time, duration and final end, are connected, and this relation is indicated by an interchange of the prepos. ל and כ ” (Hitzig).
In וגו למועד ( for a time , etc.) is given the space of time on or over which the פּלאות קץ ( the end of these wonders ) stretches itself, and in the following clause, וגו וּככלּות ( and when he shall have accomplished , etc.), the point of time in which the wonderful things reach their end. Thus the two expressions of the oath are related to one another. In the second clause יד נפּץ are differently expounded. Ancient and very wide-spread is the exposition of נפּץ by to scatter .
Theodotion has translated the words thus: ἐν τῷ συντελεσθῆναι διασκορπισμόν ; and Jerome (Vulg.): cum completa fuerit dispersio manus populi sancti . Hävernick, v. Lengerke, Gesenius, de Wette, Hitzig: when at the end of the dispersion of a portion of the holy people, which Häv., v. Leng., and others understand of the dispersion of Israel into the different countries of the world, which dispersion shall be brought to an end, according to the prophetic view, at the time of the Messianic final victory; Joel 3:5 . ( Daniel 2:32 .); Amos 9:11 .
Hitzig, however, refers this to the circumstance that Simon and Judas Maccabaeus brought back their people to Judea who were living scattered among the heathen in Galilee and Gilead (1 Macc. 5:23, 45, 53, 54). But against such an interpretation of the word נפּץ , Hofmann ( Weiss. u.
Erf . i. p. 314) has with justice replied, that the reference to the reunion of Israel, which is nowhere else presented in Daniel, would enter very unexpectedly into this connection, besides that נפּץ does not agree with its object יד , though we should translate this by “might,” or altogether improperly by “part.” יד has not the meaning “part,” which is attributed to it only on the ground of an incorrect interpretation of certain passages. נפּץ signifies to beat to pieces, to shatter ; cf. Psalms 2:9 ; Psalms 137:9 , and in the Pu . Isaiah 27:9 .
This is the primary meaning of the word, from which is attempted to be derived the meaning, to burst asunder, to scatter. This primary meaning of the word, however, Hengstenberg, Maurer, Auberlen, Kranichfeld, Kliefoth, and Ewald have rightly maintained in this place.
Only we may not, with them, translate כּלּות by: to have an end, for then the answer would be tautological, since the breaking to pieces of the might of the people is identical with their scattering, but it has the meaning to make perfect, to accomplish , so that nothing more remains to be done. יד , hand , is the emblem of active power; the shattering of the hand is thus the complete destruction of power to work, the placing in a helpless and powerless condition, such as Moses has described in the words יד אזלת כּי ( for the hand is gone ), Deuteronomy 32:36 , and announced that when this state of things shall arise, then “the Lord shall judge His people, and repent Himself for His servants.” With this harmonizes the conclusion of the oath: then all these things shall be finished, or shall complete themselves. כּל־אלּה ( all these things ) are the פּלאות , Daniel 12:6 .
To these “wonderful things” belong not merely the crushing of the holy people in the tribulation such as never was before, but also their deliverance by the coming of the angel-prince Michael, the resurrection of the dead, and the eternal separation of the righteous from the wicked ( Daniel 12:1-3 ). This last designation of the period of time goes thus, beyond a doubt, to the end of all things, or to the consummation of the kingdom of God by the resurrection of the dead and the final judgment. With this also agrees with expression קדשׁ עם , which is not to be limited to the converted Jews.
The circumstance that in Daniel's time the Israel according to the flesh constituted the “holy people,” does not necessitate our understanding this people when the people of God are spoken of in the time of the end, since then the faithful from among all nations shall be the holy people of God. But by the majority of modern interpreters the designation of time, three and a half times, is referred to the duration of the oppression of the Jews under Antiochus Epiphanes; whence Bleek, v.
Lengerke, Maurer, Hitzig, Ewald, and others conclude that the Maccabean pseudo-Daniel placed together as synchronous the death of Antiochus and the beginning of the Messianic salvation. Hävernick finds in the answer two different designations of time, but has said nothing as to the relation they bear to each other; Hofmann ( Weiss. u. Erf . i. p. 314) finds an obscurity in this, that the end of all things is simply placed in connection with the end of the oppressor Antiochus (see under Daniel 12:1 ).
But, thus Kliefoth rightly asks, on the contrary, “How is it only possible that the catastrophe of Antiochus, belonging to the middle of the times, and the time of the end lying in the distant future, are so comprehended in one clause in an answer to a question regarding a point of time? How as it possible that to the question, How long continues the end of the wonders? it could be answered: For three and a half years shall Antiochus carry on his work; and when it comes to an end in the breaking of the people, then all shall come to an end?
Thus the last only would be an answer to the question, and the first an addition not appertaining to it. Or how were it possible that for the expression, 'all shall be ended,' two characteristics were given, one of which belonged to the time of Antiochus and the other to the time of the end?” And, we must further ask, are we necessitated by the statement to make such an unnatural supposition? Certainly not.
The two clauses do not give two different definitions of time, i.e., refer to different periods of time, but only two definitions of one period of time, the first of which describes its course according to a symbolical measure of time, the second its termination according to an actual characteristic. None of these definitions of time has any reference to the oppression of the holy people by Antiochus, but the one as well as the other refers to the tribulation of the time of the end.
The measure of time: time, times, and half a time, does not indeed correspond to the duration of the dominion of the little horn proceeding from the Javanic world-kingdom (spoken of in Daniel 8) = 2300 evening-mornings ( Daniel 8:14 ), but literally (for מועד corresponds with the Chald. עדּן ) agrees with that in Daniel 7:25 , for the dominion of the hostile king, the Antichrist, rising out of the ten kingdoms of the fourth or last world-kingdom. יד נפּץ כּכלּות also refers to this enemy; for of him it is said, Daniel 7:21 , Daniel 7:25 , that he shall prevail against and destroy the saints of the Most High ( יבלּא , Daniel 7:25 ).
The reference of both the statements in the oath to the history of the end, or the time of Antichrist, has therefore been recognised by Auberlen and Zündel, although the latter understands also, with Hofmann, Daniel 11:36-45 of the oppression of Israel by Antiochus.
To the question, how long the end of the terrible things prophesied of in Daniel 11:40-12:1 shall continue, the Angel of the Lord hovering over the waters answered with a solemn oath: Three and a half times, which, according to the prophecy of Daniel 7:25 and Daniel 9:26-27 , are given for the fullest unfolding of the power of the last enemy of God till his destruction; and when in this time of unparalleled oppression the natural strength of the holy people shall be completely broken to piece, then shall these terrible things have reached their end. Regarding the definition of time, cf.
The exposition under Daniel 7:25 .
Verse 8 Daniel heard his answer, but he understood it not. To שׁמעתּי , as to אבין לא , the object is wanting, because it can easily be supplied from the connection, namely, the meaning of the answer of the man clothed in linen. Grotius has incorrectly supplied quid futurum esset from the following question, in which he has also incorrectly rendered אלּה אחרית by post illiu triennii et temporis semestris spatium . Hävernick has also defined the object too narrowly, for he has referred the non-understanding merely to the mysterious number (a time, two times, etc.).
It was, besides, not merely the double designation of time in Daniel 12:7 which first at the hour of his receiving it, but while it was yet unintelligible to the hearer, compelled Daniel, as Hitzig thinks, to put the further question. The whole answer in Daniel 12:7 is obscure.
It gives no measure for the “times,” and thus no intelligible disclosure for the prophet regarding the duration of the end, and in the definition, that at the time of the deepest humiliaton of the people the end shall come, leaves wholly undefined when this shall actually take place. (Note: As to this latter circumstance L'Empereur remarks: Licet Daniel ex antecedentibus certo tempus finiendarum gravissimarum calamitatum cognoverit, tamen illum latuit, quo temporis articulo calamitas inceptura esset: quod ignorantiam quandam in tota prophetia peperit, cum a priori termino posterioris exacta scientia dependeret.
Initium quidem variis circumstantiis definitum fuerat: sed quando circumstantiae futurae essent, antequam evenirent, ignorabatur .) Hence his desire for a more particular disclosure. The question, “what the end of these?” is very differently interpreted. Following the example of Grotius, Kliefoth takes אחרית in the sense of that which follows something which is either clearly seen from the connection or is expressly stated, and explains אלּה אחרית of that which follows or comes after this.
But אלּה is not, with most interpreters, to be taken as identical with כּל־אלּה of Daniel 12:7 ; for since “this latter phrase includes all the things prophesied of down to the consummation, then would this question refer to what must come after the absolute consummation of all things, which would be meaningless.” Besides, the answer, Daniel 12:11 , Daniel 12:12 , which relates to the things of Antiochus, would not harmonize with such a question.
Much more are we, with Auberlen (p. 75f.), to understand אלּה of the present things and circumstances, things then in progress at the time of Daniel and the going forth of the prophecy.
In support of this interpretation Auberlen adds, “The angel with heavenly eye sees into the far distant end of all; the prophet, with human sympathies, regards the more immediate future of his people.” But however correct the remark, that אלּה is not identical with כּל־אלּה , this not identical with all this , there is no warrant for the conclusion drawn from it, that אלּה designates the present things and circumstances existing under Antiochus at the time of Daniel. אלּה must, by virtue of the connection in Daniel 12:7 , Daniel 12:8 , be understood of the same things and circumstances, and a distinction between the two is established only by כּל .
If we consider this distinction, then the question, What is the last of these things? contains not the meaningless thought, that yet something must follow after the absolute consummation, but the altogether reasonable thought, Which shall be the last of the פּלאות prophesied of? Thus Daniel could ask in the hope of receiving an answer from which he might learn the end of all these פּלאות more distinctly than from the answer given by the angel in Daniel 12:7 .
But as this reference of אלּה to the present things and circumstances is excluded by the connection, so also is the signification attributed to אחרית , of that which follows something, verbally inadmissible; see under Daniel 8:19 . Most other interpreters have taken אחרית as synonymous with קץ , which Hävernick seeks to establish by a reference to Daniel 8:19 , Daniel 8:23 , and Deuteronomy 11:12 .
But none of these passage establishes this identity. קץ is always thus distinguished from אחרית , that it denotes a matter after its conclusion, while אחרית denotes the last or the uttermost of the matter. A distinction which, it is true, may in many cases become irrelevant. For if this distinction is not noticed here, we would be under the necessity, in order to maintain that the two questions in Daniel 12:6 , Daniel 12:8 are not altogether identical, of giving to מה the meaning qualis (Maurer), of what nature (Hofmann, v.
Lengerke, and others); a meaning which it has not, and which does not accord with the literal idea of אחרית . “Not how ? but what ? is the question; מה is not the predicate, but the subject, the thing inquired about.” Thus Hitzig, who is altogether correct in thus stating the question: “What, i.e., which even its the uttermost, the last of the פּלאות , which stands before the end?”
Verse 9 The answer, לך , go thy way, Daniel , is quieting, and at the same time it contains a refusal to answer; yet it is not wholly a refusal, as is clear from Daniel 12:11 , Daniel 12:12 .
The disclosure regarding the end which is given to him in these verses shows distinctly that the end of the things is not so revealed as that men shall be able to know it beforehand with certainty. (Note: On this Calvin has well remarked: Quamvis Daniel non stulta curiositate inductus quaesierit ex angelo de fine mirabilium, tamen non obtinet, quod petebat, quia scilicet voluit Deus ad modum aliquem intelligi quae praedixerat, sed tamen aliquid manere occultum usque dum veniret maturum plenae revelationis tempus. Haec igitur ratio est, cur angelus non exaudiat Danielem.
Pium quidem erat ejus votum (neque enim optat quicquam scire plus quam jus esset), verum Deus scit quod opus sit, ideo non concessit quod optabat .) לך signifies neither go hence, i.e., depart, die (Bertholdt, Hävernick), nor go away, instead of standing waiting for an answer (Hitzig), for the angel does give him an answer; but as the formula dimittentis ut excitantis ad animi tranquillitatem (C. B. Michaelis), it has the meaning: vade Daniel, h. e. mitte hanc praesentem tuam curam . “Be at peace, leave this matter alone” (Geier and others, and similarly v. Lengerke, Kranichfeld, Kliefoth).
The clause assigning the reason for the command כּי ( for the words are shut up , etc.), is chiefly interpreted as referring the closing and sealing up to the incomprehensibility of the prophecy.
Thus e.g., Ewald explains it: “For hidden and sealed up are the words, all the things contained in these prophecies, till the time of the end; then shall they be easily unsealed and deciphered.” But since, according to Daniel 12:4 , Daniel himself must shut up and seal the book, the participles in the clause, assigning the reason for the command לך , cannot have the meaning of the perfect, but only state what is or shall be done: shut up - they shall be (remain) till the time of the end; thus they only denote the shutting up and sealing which must be accomplished by Daniel.
But Daniel could not make the prophecy unintelligible, since ( Daniel 12:8 ) he himself did not understand it; nor could he seal it up till the time of the end, since he did not live to see the end. The shutting up and sealing which was commanded to the prophet can therefore only consist in this, that the book should be preserved in security against any defacement of its contents, so that it might be capable of being read at all times down to the time of the end, and might be used by God's people for the strengthening of their faith; cf. Daniel 8:26 .
“Thus Daniel is calmed in regard to his not understanding it by the fact that this whole prophecy ( הדּברים as in Daniel 12:4 ) shall be guarded and placed in safety, and shall continue through all times down to the end” (Kliefoth). For the use of it in all times is supposed in Daniel 12:10 .
Verse 10 The first clause of this verse is interpreted from Daniel 11:35 . The being purified is effected through tribulation and affliction, which the people shall endure to the end. The prophecy shall serve for the gaining of this object.
It is true, indeed, that this perfection shall not be attained by all; they that are ungodly shall remain ungodly still, and therefore they do not come to the understanding of the words which all the wise shall gain. יבינוּ and יבינוּ לא stand in such distinct relation to the אבין לא ( I understood not ), Daniel 12:8 , that they must be taken in the same sense in both places, i.e., not to have insight in general, but by supplying הדּברים as the object from Daniel 12:8 , to have understanding of the prophecy . This is denied of the wicked or the godless. Only the wise shall gain it.
Thus the angel says to Daniel for the purpose of calming him regarding his non-understanding: - Calm thyself, Daniel, if thou dost not understand these words. The prophecy shall be preserved for all times to the end of the days. These times shall bring many tribulations, to purify thy people; and though by these afflictions all shall not be converted, but the wicked shall remain wicked still and shall not understand the prophecy, yet the wise shall be purified and made white by the afflictions, and the longer they are tried the better shall they learn to understand the prophecy.
Thus, though thou thyself understandest it not, yet it shall be a source of great blessing to the people of God, and in all times, even unto the end, they shall have more and more an understanding of it. Thus has Kliefoth rightly presented the meaning of both verses, and in confirmation of this interpretation has referred to 1 Peter 1:10 , 1 Peter 1:12 , where, with reference to the passage before us (cf. Hengstenberg, Beitrag . i. p. 273f.), it is said that the prophets received the prophecies of the end not for themselves alone, but much rather for “ us,” for those who come after.