Daniel 8:23
in Daniel 8In the latter part of their reign, when the rebellion has reached its full measure, an insolent king, skilled in intrigue, will come to the throne.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
KJV
And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
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This verse in Daniel 8
Commentary
9 notes on this verseWhen the Jews begin to abandon the law and faith of God and to estrange themselves, the grandchildren of Seleucus Nicator will invade the last part of their kingdom. "A king of bold countenance shall arise": this is Antiochus, who is able to understand riddles, …
This site's exposition
a king of fierce countenance
on Daniel 8:23-25
In the latter time of their kingdom a king of fierce countenance, understanding dark sentences, stands up, the bench again reading Antiochus continued from the little horn of verse nine, mighty in power that is not his own, prospering by craft and destroying many by a peace that hides his hand. He stands up against the Prince of princes, God himself by the reading the older writers give the title, yet he shall be broken without hand, the same phrase the stone of chapter two used of the kingdom that crushes the image, echoing 2:34 and 2:45. The commentators mark the phrase as the chapter's real conclusion: no human weapon ends this king, only the judgment of the one he defied.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
That these things are true, just as has been said, Daniel himself testifies. For he spoke in this way, "And it happened when I saw the vision and I sought to understand, and behold, there stood before me an appearance of a man, and I heard the voice of a man above the midst of the Ubal, and he called and he said, 'Gabriel cause him to understand that vision.' And he came and stood holding me, and when he came, I was astounded and fell upon my face and he said to me, 'Understand son of man. For the vision is for the end of time.' And while he spoke with me I was astounded and I fell upon my face upon the ground and he touched me and stood me on my feet and he said, 'Behold, I myself make known to you what will be at the end of wrath. For the vision is of the end of time. The ram which you saw, who had horns, he is the king of the Persians and Medes. And the male goat is king of the Greeks. And the great horn which was above the midst of his eyes, he is the first king. And after he is shattered, four horns stood up after him, four kings from his nation shall arise and not in his strength. And at the end of their kingdom, when their sins are full, a king, shameless in countenance, shall arise, and who understands riddles. And his rule shall be strong and not in his own strength and he shall destroy wonderful things and he shall prosper and he shall practice and he shall destroy the mighty and the holy people, and the yoke of his chain shall prosper. Cunning is in his hand and in his heart he shall be magnified and in cunning he shall destroy many and he shall stand for the destruction of many and he shall shatter people as eggs in a hand. And the vision of evening and morning which was said is true. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
); that is, when the degenerate Jews have filled up the measure of their iniquity, and are ripe for this destruction, so that God cannot in honour bear with them any longer then shall stand up this king, to be flagellum Dei--the rod in God's hand for the chastising of the Jews.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. 12 And a host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:98%@v11-12
And in the latter time of their kingdom,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And in the latter time of their kingdom - When it shall be drawing to an end. All these powers were ultimately absorbed in the Roman power; and the meaning here is, that taking the time from the period of their formation - the division of the empire after the battle of Ipsus (see the notes at Dan 8:8), until the time when all would be swallowed up in the Roman dominion, what is here stated - to wit, the rise of Antiochus - would be in the latter portion of that period.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Compare Lu 18:8, and 2Ti 3:1-9, as to the wickedness of the world in general just before Christ's second coming. Israel's guilt, too, shall then be at the full, when they who rejected Christ shall receive Antichrist; fulfilling Jesus words, "I am come in My Father's name, and ye receive Me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive" (compare Ge 15:16;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
When the transgressors are come to the full - When the utmost degradation has taken place, by the buying and selling of the high priesthood; for Onias was ejected for a sum of money, to make room for wicked Jason; and Jason again was supplanted for a greater sum by a worse man, if possible, than himself, Menelaus; and the golden vessels of the temple were sold to pay for this sacrilegious purchase. Thus transgressions were come to the full, before the Romans had commission to destroy Jerusalem and its temple, etc. A king of fierce countenance - The Roman government, as before; for king is often taken for kingdom or empire. Understanding dark sentences - Very learned and skillful in all things relating to government and its intrigues. The learning of Rome is proverbial to the present time.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּֽבְאַחֲרִית֙ | uveacharit | and at [the] end of | H319 → | 61 times |
| מַלְכוּתָ֔ם | malkhutam | reign their | H4438 → | 91 times |
| כְּהָתֵ֖ם | kehatem | when are completed | H8552 → | |
| הַפֹּשְׁעִ֑ים | haposhim | the rebels | H6586 → | |
| יַעֲמֹ֛ד | yaamod | he will arise | H5975 → | 521 times |
| מֶ֥לֶךְ | melekh | a king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| עַז־ | ʾaz- | strong | H5794 → | |
| פָּנִ֖ים | panim | of face | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וּמֵבִ֥ין | umevin | and understanding | H995 → | 170 times |
| חִידֽוֹת׃ | chidot | of intrigue<s> | H2420 → |
וּֽבְאַחֲרִית֙and at [the] end of
uveacharitH319 →61 times
מַלְכוּתָ֔םreign their
malkhutamH4438 →91 times
כְּהָתֵ֖םwhen are completed
kehatemH8552 →
הַפֹּשְׁעִ֑יםthe rebels
haposhimH6586 →
יַעֲמֹ֛דhe will arise
yaamodH5975 →521 times
מֶ֥לֶךְa king
melekhH4428 →2525 times
עַז־strong
ʾaz-H5794 →
פָּנִ֖יםof face
panimH6440 →2123 times
וּמֵבִ֥יןand understanding
umevinH995 →170 times
חִידֽוֹת׃of intrigue<s>
chidotH2420 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Timothy 4:1Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 3:1–9
But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come.
- 2 Peter 2:1
Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on…
- 2 Corinthians 11:13–15
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.
- Jude 1:18
when they said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow after their own ungodly desires.”
- 2 Thessalonians 2:3–12
Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.
- 2 Timothy 3:1–9
Through
Revelation 19:20But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and…
it leads to
- Revelation 20:10
And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day…
- Revelation 21:8
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…
- Revelation 20:14–15
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.
- Revelation 20:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies7
About Daniel
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Daniel; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 8:23; Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel 4.27.1-2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.