Danielchapter 12
13 verses · BSBDaniel book hub →
Speaks with:Daniel 8×4Matthew 24×2Daniel 12×2Revelation 22×2Daniel 11×2Jeremiah 30×1
Summary
Chapter summary
'And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation', the tribulation Jesus echoes in the Olivet Discourse. Then the clearest resurrection verse in the Old Testament: 'many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.' The wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament. The man clothed in linen swears by him that liveth for ever: a time, times, and a half. The words are sealed till the time of the end; 1290 and 1335 days stand unexplained, with a blessing on him that waiteth.
Context
Prophecy · Daniel — Daniel overview
- A. 1–4 Michael stands up, and many sleepers awake
- B. 5–7 A time, times, and half a time
- C. 8–13 Go your way, Daniel — you will stand in your lot
The outline
A.Michael stands up, and many sleepers awakevv. 1 to 4
Read vv. 1 to 4 →B.A time, times, and half a timevv. 5 to 7
Read vv. 5 to 7 →C.Go your way, Daniel — you will stand in your lotvv. 8 to 13
Read vv. 8 to 13 →
The world behind this chapter
Daniel 12The history
The final chapter of Daniel contains the clearest resurrection statement in the Old Testament: many that sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Israel's earlier books speak of Sheol and of God's power over death, but nothing before this is this explicit about two destinies.
Michael is named again as "the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people" — the one who fought alongside the messenger in chapter 10. A time of trouble is announced that is worse than anything in national history, and deliverance is promised for everyone written in the book.
Daniel is then told to shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. Sealing a document in that world was physical: a rolled scroll tied and stamped with clay, meaning it was finished and not to be tampered with. Meanwhile knowledge would increase and many would run to and fro.
He asks how long, and does not get a clean answer — a time, times, and half a time, plus two numbers of days that readers have argued over ever since. Then he is told plainly: go your way, Daniel; the words are closed and sealed; rest, and stand in your lot at the end of the days.
What it meant to them
For exiles who had watched faithful people die without seeing the promises, this was the answer that mattered most. The righteous who died in Babylon were not simply gone. They would rise, and they would shine like the stars.
And Daniel — who had spent seventy years in a foreign capital and never went home — is told that his own portion is secure at the end of the days. He would not see it in his lifetime. He would see it.
Sources cited
- John Calvin, Commentaries on the Book of the Prophet Daniel
- Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
- Alfred Edersheim, Bible History: Old Testament
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Daniel 12. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.