|
There has been an issue with Daniel 8:11 which has been acknowledged
but not resolved.
Dan 8:10 And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down
some of the host and some of the stars to the ground,
and trampled them.
:11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the
host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away,
and the place of His sanctuary was cast down.
:12 Because of transgression, an army was given over
to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he
cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and
prospered.
The Hebrew word translated "taken away" is Strong's H7311 and Strong's
Exhaustive Concordance records the meaning as:
This definition does actually mention "take (away, off, up)", but
it can be seen that its primary meaning is to heighten, to raise or
figuratively to exalt or extol.
There are actually two received forms of the Hebrew H7311.
[NB: The first row shows the Hebrew without
added vowels. The second row shows the
Hebrew with vowels added. ]
Both are still conveying the same meaning, i.e. to 'raise'.
So what is being said over verses 10-12?
What is the sequence of thoughts being presented?
It is clear that verse 10 is talking about the little horn rising to
the host of heaven and casting down some of the symbolic host and some
of the symbolic stars.
Comment: The indication is that the host of heaven is above the
location where the little horn would normally dwell.
Then, skipping over verse 11, we have verse 12 talking about an army
being given to the little horn to oppose the daily sacrifice and cast
down truth. The little horn being given this army because of ongoing
transgression at the Jerusalem sanctuary.
Comment: The end-time role of the little horn is to decimate
Jerusalem. He is given this role because of ongoing
religious transgression.
When we look at the normal translation of the middle verse, Dan 8:11,
it does not harmonize with the prior or subsequent verse.
Dan 8:11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the
host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away,
and the place of His sanctuary was cast down.
Comment: 1) The common translation seems to repeat the teaching of
verse 10, which initially appears acceptable.
2) Then is states the little horn will take away the daily.
The little horn does indeed do that, but he does not take
away the daily in heaven.
Also it seems that verse 12 is actually the verse which
introduces the taking away of the daily at Jerusalem.
It is verse 12 that provides the reason (transgression),
then advises he will be given an army to enable this task
to be accomplished.
Therefore, it seems that verse 11 should not be addressing
this topic, as this is a topic introduced in verse 12.
3) The place of His (ie, God's) sanctuary will be cast down?
This is not right. The place of the sanctuary at Jerusalem
is going to be brought down. So the verse implies the
wrong location.
It seems to be fair to say that the translators were unsure how
to render Dan 8:11, and they just did their best. Subsequent
translations just followed.
So what is the Hebrew of Dan 8:10 and 11 saying?
and
H1431 waxed great
H5704 unto
H6635 host
H8064 heavens
and
H5307 casting
H776 earthward
H4480 from
H6635 the host
and
H4480 from
H3356 the stars
and
H7429 trampling
So the text. "And waxed great unto the host of heavens and
casting earthward from the host and from the
stars and trampling.
So the rendering of Dan 8:10 does seem reasonable.
What does the Hebrew of Daniel 8:11 show?
H5704 up to, unto, until
H8269 chief, prince
H6635 host
H1431 he (did) great (things), he magnified (himself}
and
H4480 and from him, and hence from or out of
H7311 to be high actively, to rise, raise
H8548 the continual, the continually
and
H7993 fling/cast down/forth/off/out
H4349 site of
H4720 consecrated thing/place, hallowed, sanctuary
Hence, a reasonable rendering would be something like the following;
Dan 8:11 Until the Prince of the host did great things,
and by him was elevated the daily sacrifice,
and was flung down the site of his {the little
horn's} consecrated place.
So the verse would be stating that the Prince of the Host would do
great things. Elevate the daily and cast down to earth the consecrated
place of the little horn.
Is there in Scripture an equivalent description?
Rev 12:7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon
and his angels fought,
:8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found
for them in heaven any longer.
:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent
of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives
the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and
his angels were cast out with him.
So in summary let us consider how Daniel 8:10-13 should have been
translated.
Dan 8:10 And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it
flung down some of the host and some of the
stars to the ground, and trampled them.
:11 Until the Prince of the host did great things,
and by him was elevated the daily sacrifice,
and was flung down the site of his {the little
horn's} consecrated place.
:12 And a host was given against the continual
which was in transgression, and it {the little
horn} flung down truth to the ground. And it
did this and prospered.
So the importance of a proper translation of Dan 8:11 is to reflect
a spiritual war amongst the host of heaven. A war which the little
horn loses.
The verse also relocates the little horn from being amongst the host
of heaven to being upon the earth. Where he stops transgression in
Jerusalem and defeats all present (including those of faith trying
to provide a witness - those of faith who unwisely failed to leave
when the sign of the Abomination of Desolation was manifest).
In this location the little horn prospers, at least until his allotted
time expires.
| |
----------------------------------------------------------
