Daniel 8:25
in Daniel 8Through his craft and by his hand, he will cause deceit to prosper, and in his own mind he will make himself great. In a time of peace he will destroy many, and he will even stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be broken off, but not by human hands.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in their security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
KJV
And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.
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This verse in Daniel 8
Commentary
9 notes on this verse[Gabriel] says this because [Antiochus] got into the city through fraudulence, polluted the precious vessels of the temple and committed pillages and demolished the walls. "Without warning he shall destroy many": he killed forty thousand Jews and captured just as many. "And he shall even …
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 Awakening4 voices
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
By peace - Under colour of kindness. Against the prince of princes - He fought against God, affronting God's laws, profaning God's worship, and temple, and setting up the image and worship of Jupiter there.
And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand,....
He will profane his temple and altar, prohibit his worship, and persecute his worshippers. See what a height of impudence some men's impiety brings them to; they openly bid defiance to God himself though he is the Kings of kings. [5.] The ruin that he shall be brought to at last: He shall be broken without hand, that is, without the hand of man.
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)
"A spoiler at noon-day." also . . . against the Prince of princes--not merely against the Jews (Da 8:11; 11:36). broken without hand--by God's special visitation. The stone "cut out of the mountain without hands," that is, Christ is to smite the world power image on his feet (Da 2:34), that is, in its last development (compare Da 7:11).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And through his policy - The word rendered “policy” here (שׂכל s'êkel) means, properly, intelligence, understanding, wisdom; and then, in a bad sense, craft, cunning. So it is rendered here by Gesenius, and the meaning is, that he would owe his success in a great measure to craft and subtilty. He shall cause craft to prosper in his hand - He shall owe his success in a great measure to a crafty policy, to intrigue, and to cunning. This was true in an eminent sense, of Antiochus. See his history in Prideaux, above referred to, and the books of Maccabees.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שִׂכְל֗וֹ | sikhlo | insight his | H7922 → | |
| וְהִצְלִ֤יחַ | vehitzliach | and he will make successful | H6743 → | 65 times |
| מִרְמָה֙ | mirmah | deceit | H4820 → | |
| בְּיָד֔וֹ | beyado | by hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וּבִלְבָב֣וֹ | uvilvavo | and in heart his | H3824 → | 252 times |
| יַגְדִּ֔יל | yagdil | he will magnify himself | H1431 → | 117 times |
| וּבְשַׁלְוָ֖ה | uvshalvah | and in prosperity | H7962 → | 8 times |
| יַשְׁחִ֣ית | yashchit | he will destroy | H7843 → | 146 times |
| רַבִּ֑ים | rabim | many [people] | H7227 → | 454 times |
| וְעַ֤ל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שַׂר־ | sar- | a prince of | H8269 → | 421 times |
| שָׂרִים֙ | sarim | princes | H8269 → | 421 times |
| יַעֲמֹ֔ד | yaamod | he will stand | H5975 → | 521 times |
| וּבְאֶ֥פֶס | uveefes | and by not | H657 → | |
| יָ֖ד | yad | a hand | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| יִשָּׁבֵֽר׃ | yishaver | he will be broken | H7665 → | 147 times |
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
שִׂכְל֗וֹinsight his
sikhloH7922 →
וְהִצְלִ֤יחַand he will make successful
vehitzliachH6743 →65 times
מִרְמָה֙deceit
mirmahH4820 →
בְּיָד֔וֹby hand his
beyadoH3027 →1618 times
וּבִלְבָב֣וֹand in heart his
uvilvavoH3824 →252 times
יַגְדִּ֔ילhe will magnify himself
yagdilH1431 →117 times
וּבְשַׁלְוָ֖הand in prosperity
uvshalvahH7962 →8 times
יַשְׁחִ֣יתhe will destroy
yashchitH7843 →146 times
רַבִּ֑יםmany [people]
rabimH7227 →454 times
וְעַ֤ל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
שַׂר־a prince of
sar-H8269 →421 times
שָׂרִים֙princes
sarimH8269 →421 times
יַעֲמֹ֔דhe will stand
yaamodH5975 →521 times
וּבְאֶ֥פֶסand by not
uveefesH657 →
יָ֖דa hand
yadH3027 →1618 times
יִשָּׁבֵֽר׃he will be broken
yishaverH7665 →147 times
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
Revelation 17:14They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen…
it leads to
- Romans 8:30
And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
- 1 Timothy 6:15
which the blessed and only Sovereign One—the King of kings and Lord of lords—will bring about in His own time.
- Matthew 22:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.”
- Revelation 3:21
To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
- Revelation 2:10
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful…
- Romans 8:30
Through
Daniel 8:11It magnified itself, even to the Prince of the host; it removed His daily sacrifice and overthrew the place of His sanctuary.
it leads to
- Daniel 12:11
And from the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation set up, there will be 1,290 days.
- Revelation 13:5–7
The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for 42 months.
- Daniel 12:11
Through
Job 34:20They die in an instant, in the middle of the night. The people convulse and pass away; the mighty are removed without human hand.
it leads to
- Psalms 73:19
How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!
- Psalms 73:19
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 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 8:25; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.