Daniel 12:7 - meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Daniel 12:7
And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
flaxen thread or yarn · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
upon
מִמַּעַל֮mi.ma.'Al
H4605
properly · preposition + cardinal number, both genders singular construct
waters
לְמֵימֵ֣יle.mei.Mei
H4325
water · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: an…
Revelation 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a…
Daniel 8:24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destro…
Revelation 10:5-7 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,
Revelation 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Jeremiah 4:2 And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in hi…
Daniel 4:34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most…
Luke 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gen…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Daniel 12:5–end
Daniel had been made to foresee the amazing revolutions of states and kingdoms, as far as the Israel of God was concerned in them; in them he foresaw troublous times to the church, suffering trying times, the prospect of which much affected him and filled him with concern. Now there were two questions proper to be asked upon this head: - When shall the end be? And, What shall the end be? These two questions are asked and answered here, in the close of the book; and though the comforts prescribed in the foregoing verses, one would think, were satisfactory enough, yet, for more abundant satisfaction, this is added.
I. The question, When shall the end be? is asked by an angel, Dan 12:5, Dan 12:…
held up . . . right . . . and . . . left hand--Usually the right hand was held up in affirmation as an appeal to heaven to attest the truth (Deu 32:40; Rev 10:5-6). Here both hands are lifted up for the fuller confirmation.
time, times, and a half--(See on Dan 7:25). NEWTON, referring this prophecy to the Eastern apostasy, Mohammedanism, remarks that the same period of three and a half years, or 1260 prophetic days, is assigned to it as the Western apostasy of the little horn (Dan 7:25); and so, says PRIDEAUX, Mohammed began to forge his imposture, retiring to his cave, A.D. 606, the very year that Phocas made the grant to the bishop of Rome, whence he assumed the title, The Universal Past…
Which was upon the waters - By this description, he was standing on the water. This is very similar to the description of the angel, Rev 10:5, Rev 10:6, and in the seventh verse there seems to be a reference to this prophecy "a time, times, and a half." See the note on Dan 7:25 (note).
John Gill on Daniel 12:7
And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river,.... Christ, as he appeared in a human form, and as the High Priest our profession, and as the Mediator that has power over all flesh; so he pronounced articulate sounds with a human voice, and so loud, clear, and distinct, that Daniel could hear every word he said, and for whose sake it was said:
when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven; the lifting up of the right hand is a gesture used in swearing, and the lifting up of both hands is either for the greater solemnity of the action, or with respect to the two angels that stood one on one side of him, and the other on the other, that both might…
The Church Fathers
The word times may seem an indefinite plural in our language [Latin], but the Greek texts (and, so I am told, the Hebrew texts as well) show that "times" is written in the dual number and so means "two times."
The last of all persecutions, the antichrist's, is to go on for three and a half years.… Now the question, quite reasonably, presents itself: Should these three and a half years, brief as they are, be included in the thousand years of the devil's binding and the saints' reign with Christ, or are they outside the thousand and superadded to them?… We conclude that the reign of Christ with his saints will be longer than the devil's bonds and imprisonment, for, even when he is released, they will continue to reign with their King, the Son of God, for these three and a half years.
What and to whom did he swear? The Son swore to Father, saying that the Father lives forever and that they truly shall know all these things in a time and times and half of a time, when the dispersal of the Jews has been consummated. And so he stretched out his hands, and through this he displayed the passion. But when he says, "In a time and times and half of the time," [Daniel 12:7] he signaled that the things of the Antichrist are for three-and-a-half years. For he says a time is one year, but times are two years, and half of a time is half of one year. These are the one thousand two hundred ninety days which Daniel foretold.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Angels · Communicate the will of God and Christ — Communicate the will of God and Christ
Oaths · Often accompanied by raising up the hand — Often accompanied by raising up the hand
Time · Daniel’ s reckoning of time, and times, and half times — Daniel’ s reckoning of time, and times, and half times
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
river
הַיְאֹר֒hay.'Or
H2975
a channel · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
up
וַיָּ֨רֶםvai.Ya.rem
H7311
to be high actively · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
hand
יְמִינ֤וֹye.mi.No
H3225
the right hand or side (leg · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
hand
וּשְׂמֹאלוֹ֙u.se.mo.Lo
H8040
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
heaven
הַשָּׁמַ֔יִםha.sha.Ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
sware
וַיִּשָּׁבַ֖עvai.yi.sha.Va'
H7650
to seven oneself · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Daniel 12:5-7
5. Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.
5. Et aspexi ego Daniel, et ecce duo alii stantes, unus hac ad ripam fluminis, et unus, id est, alter, illac ad ripam fluminis. [196]
6. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
6. Et dixit ad virum qui indutus erat lineis, vestibus subaudiendum est, qui erat supra aquas fluminis, [197] Quousque finis mirabilium?
7. And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand a…
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 Dan 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 Dan 8:13…
time, times, and half a time: God appoints times for all things as he rules the flow of earthly and heavenly events (see study note on 7:24-25). • The shattering of the holy people was part of God’s purpose to purify them (12:10).
Rashi on Daniel 12:7
and when they have ended shattering the strength of the holy people Heb. נַפֵּץ יַד, lit. shattering the hand. When Israel’s strength terminates, [similar to] (Deut. 32:36): “that power has vanished (אָזְלַת יַד) and nothing left to keep or abandon.”
