Daniel's final vision
Chapters 10, 11, and 12 in the Book of Daniel make up Daniel's final vision, describing a series of conflicts between the unnamed "King of the North" and "King of the South" leading to the "time of the end", when Israel will be vindicated and the dead raised, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
"King of the North" redirects here. For the EP by Bugzy Malone, see King of the North (EP). For the mayor of Greater Manchester, see Andy Burnham.
Although set during the 6th century BC, the Book of Daniel was written in reaction to the persecution of the Jews by the Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167–164 BC.[1] Its authors were the maskilim, the "wise", of whom Daniel is one: "Those among the people who are wise shall make many understand ...",[2] and its fundamental theme is God's control over history.[3] The climax comes with the prophecy of the resurrection of the dead.[4] Chapter 7 spoke of the kingdom of the saints or "holy ones" of the Most High",[5] but Daniel 10–12 does not say that history will end with the coming of the Jewish kingdom; rather, the "wise" will be brought back to life to lead Israel in the new kingdom of God.[4]
In contemporary Christian millennialism, Daniel 11:36–45 is interpreted as a prophecy of the career and destruction of the Antichrist, and Daniel 12 as concerning the salvation of Israel and the coming kingdom of Christ.[6]
Summary[edit]
Chapter 1888, a prologue: In the third year of Cyrus (the Persian conqueror of Babylon), after fasting for three weeks, Daniel sees a vision of a man clothed in linen, clearly a supernatural being, who tells him that he is currently engaged in a battle with the "prince of Persia", in which he is assisted by "Michael, your prince". He must soon return to the combat, but first he will tell Daniel what is written in the "book of truth".
Chapter 11, the report of the vision: The angel continues: there will be four kings of Persia, and the last will make war on Greece. After him will come a great king, but that king's empire will be broken up. There will be wars and marriages between the kings of the South and the North (described in great detail), and the king of the North will desecrate the Temple and set up "the abomination that causes desolation". At the end-time there will be a war between the king of the South and the king of the North, and the king of the North will meet his end "between the sea and the Holy Mountain".
Chapter 12, the epilogue: At the end-time, "Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise." There will be great distress, but those whose names are written will be saved, the dead will awaken to everlasting shame or life. Daniel asks how long it will be before these things are fulfilled and is told, "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days; blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days". At the end of the vision, Daniel is told "Go your way", and promised his inheritance at the end of days.
The first six chapters are folktales dating from the late Persian/early Hellenistic period, while the visions of chapters 7–12 date from between 167 and 164.[7] A probable outline of the composition is as follows:[8]
Daniel is episodic rather than linear: it has no plot as such. It does, however, have a structure. Chapters 2–7 form a chiasm, a literary figure in which elements mirror each other: chapter 2 is the counterpart of chapter 7, chapter 3 of chapter 6, and chapter 4 of chapter 5, with the second member of each pair advancing the first in some way. Daniel 8 is then a new beginning, and the single vision contained in chapters 10–12 advances that argument further and gives it more precision.[9]
Within the three chapters of Daniel 10–12, Daniel 10 serves as prologue, chapter 11 as the report of the angelic vision, and chapter 12 as the epilogue.[10] P. R. Davies suggests that the text is "poor Hebrew, and may represent a rather poor translation from an Aramaic original".[11] The unit begins with a third-person introduction (10:1), and then switches to Daniel speaking in his own voice as one of the two primary characters, his angelic partner being the second—this is probably the angel Gabriel, although he is never identified.[12] Then follows Daniel 11, the "Book of Truth": much of the history it recounts is accurate down to the two successive Syrian invasions of Egypt in 170 and 168 BC, but there was no third war between Egypt and Syria, and Antiochus did not die in Palestine.[13] The failure of prophecy helps pinpoint the date of composition: the author knows of the desecration of the Temple in December 167, but not of its re-dedication or of the death of Antiochus, both in late 164;[13] the countdown of days remaining to the end-time in Daniel 12:11–12 differs from that in Daniel 8, and it was most likely added after the original prediction failed to come to pass.[14]