Parallel DAN 12:0

Daniel 12 Introduction

Structure and Formatting

This chapter concludes the last section in the book, in which Daniel has a vision and man-like figure appears to him and interprets it.

1. The man finishes his interpretation of Daniel’s vision (1–4)
2. The man answers the question of when these things will happen (5–12)

Translation issues in this chapter

How should translators represent the time periods in this chapter?

When two other figures ask the man who has been speaking with Daniel, “Until when will be the end of the wonders?” (12:6), he replies that it will be “for an appointed time, appointed times, and a half” (12:7). Some interpreters understand the term “time” to mean a “year” and the term “times” to mean “two times” (thus “two years”), and so some translations represent this expression as “three and a half years.” However, it is not certain that these are the meanings, and so we recommend that translators represent this expression in a way that allows for the range of possible interpretations. The UST models one way to do this. It translates this expression as “a time, times, and half a time.” We similarly recommend that translators represent the expressions “1,290 days” (12:11) and “1,335 days” (12:12) straightforwardly, without suggesting further interpretations of them.