Daniel 8:13 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Daniel 8:13
Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
a sight (mentally) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
daily
הַתָּמִיד֙ha.ta.Mid
H8548
properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
transgression
וְהַפֶּ֣שַׁעve.ha.Pe.sha'
H6588
a revolt (national · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
desolation
שֹׁמֵ֔םsho.Mem
H8074
to stun (or intransitively · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
give
תֵּ֛תtet
H5414
to give · verb, qal infinitive construct
sanctuary
וְקֹ֥דֶשׁve.Ko.desh
H6944
a sacred place or thing · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
host
וְצָבָ֖אve.tza.Va'
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
foot
מִרְמָֽסmir.Mas
H4823
abasement (the act or the thing) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
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
Revelation 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tre…
Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to ceas…
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…
Revelation 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on th…
Daniel 4:13 I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven;
Daniel 11:31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall…
Psalms 79:5 How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
Isaiah 6:11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utt…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Daniel 8:1-14
Here is, I. The date of this vision, Dan 8:1. It was in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, which proved to be his last year, as many reckon; so that this chapter also should be, in order of time, before the fifth. That Daniel might not be surprised at the destruction of Babylon, now at hand, God gives him a foresight of the destruction of other kingdoms hereafter, which in their day had been as potent as that of Babylon. Could we foresee the changes that shall be hereafter, when we are gone, we should the less admire, and be less affected with, the changes in our own day; for that which is done is that which shall be done, Ecc 1:9. Then it was that a vision appeared to me, even to me…
that certain saint--Daniel did not know the names of these two holy angels, but saw only that one was speaking to the other.
How long shall be the vision concerning . . . daily sacrifice--How long shall the daily sacrifice be suspended?
transgression of desolation--literally, "making desolate," that is, Antiochus desolating profanation of the temple (Dan 11:31; Dan 12:11). Compare as to Rome and the last Antichrist, Mat 24:15.
Adam Clarke on Daniel 8:13
One saint speaking, and another saint said - One angel asked another how long the sanctuary was to be trodden down?
John Gill on Daniel 8:13
Then I heard one saint speaking,.... An angel, either a created angel, pure and holy in his nature, as Gabriel; or the uncreated Angel Jesus Christ, the Word of God; what he was speaking of is not said; perhaps Daniel did not hear what he said, though he heard him speaking, or perceived that he spake; yet did not understand what he said, or what was the subject of his discourse; very probably it was something relative to the vision now seen:
and another saint said unto that certain saint that spake; another angel said to him that spake, whose name is unknown, only called such an one, or Palmoni, which some render "the wonderful numberer"; or, "the numberer of secrets", or "that has all secr…
The Church Fathers
Plūmni: interior. This name is given to the angel on the basis of his actions and the place that he occupies; it indicates the one who is in the inside and close to the Judge and who knows the secrets and the events that are about to happen. It is a Hebrew term.
The word phelmouni means "a person" in Greek; Syriac, which is close to Hebrew, also confirms this. So blessed Daniel is saying, I heard one holy one asking another holy one. Clearly he is witnessing angels conversing and wanting to learn how long is the period of the offenses of impiety and lawlessness, the devastation of the temple, the illicit and loathsome sacrifice and the oppression of the people.
Verse 13. "And I heard one of the saints speaking, and one saint said to another saint (I do not know which one), who was conversing with him." Instead of "another one which one I do not know" - the rendering of Symmachus (tini pote) which I too have followed - Aquila and Theodotion, and the Septuagint as well, have simply put the Hebrew word (p-l-m-n-y) phelmoni itself. Without specifying the angel's name, I should say that the author indicated some one of the angels or other in a general way. "'How long shall be the vision concerning the continual sacrifice and the sin of the desolation that is made, and the sanctuary and the strength be trodden under foot?'" One angel asks another angel for how long a period the Temple is by the judgment of God to be desolated under the rule of Antiochus, King of Syria, and how long the image of Jupiter is to stand in God's Temple (according to his additional statement: "...and the sanctuary and the strength be trodden under foot?").
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 — By the word “angels” (i.e. “messengers” of God) we ordinarily understand a race of spiritual beings of a nature exalted far above that of man, although infinitely removed from that of God—whose…
Shushan — A lily, the Susa of Greek and Roman writers, once the capital of Elam. It lay in the uplands of Susiana, on the east of the Tigris, about 150 miles to the north of the head of the Persian Gulf. It is…
Armies · Illustrative of: The Church — Illustrative of: The Church
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).
Daniel 8:13-14
13. Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
13. Et audivi sanctum unum loquentum: dixit ergo sanctus unus mirabili, dicemus postea de voce, loquens, Quousque visiom jugis sacrificii, et sceleris vastantis ad dandum, [59] et sanctuarium, et exercitus conculcatio. [60]
14. And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
14. Et dixit mihi, ad vesperum, mane, [61] duo millia et trecenti anni: et justificabitur s…
In Dan 8:13 תּת (to give) is more closely defined by מרמס (something trodden under foot); but in these passages in Ezekiel above referred to, it [the verb נתן] is connected with an actual object. Construed with the accus. pers. and על, נתן means "to place one over anything." This conception in its different shades is not so much derived from the words of the text as from a reference to the history; for it is supposed (cf. Grotius, Wies.) that because the matter spoken of is the wickedness of Antiochus, the entrance of the Syrian army into Jerusalem and its proceedings (1 Macc. 1:29ff.) must be set forth. צבא, notwithstanding the want of the article, and notwithstanding the feminine construct…
How long: God’s people were called en masse to endure this period to the end. • The Temple would then be made right for its proper religious functions, not rebuilt physically (see 8:11-12; study note on 8:26).
Rashi on Daniel 8:13
one holy one one of the angels.
and...said that angel.
to the anonymous Heb. לַפַּלְמוֹנִי. This word is like two: פְּלוֹנִי אַלְמוֹנִי, and Jonathan ben Uziel translated it in the Book of Samuel (I 21: 3): “covered and hidden,” like (Deut. 17:8): “If a matter be hidden (יִפָּלֵא) from you.” אַלְמוֹנִי means a widower (אַלְמָן) without a name, [i.e., bereft of a name] for he [the angel] did not explain to him what he was and what his name was.
to the anonymous one who was speaking to the angel who was speaking and issuing decrees, viz. “And a set time will be given for the daily sacrifice because of transgression.”
How long will be the vision this [vision] which concerns the daily sacrif…
