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Daniel 12:5-7
The narrative shifts to a riverbank scene where figures appear, one asks about duration, and a sworn answer gives a set period.
Meaning in context
The narrative shifts to a riverbank scene where figures appear, one asks about duration, and a sworn answer gives a set period.
Section 2 of 6
River scene and the timing oath
The narrative shifts to a riverbank scene where figures appear, one asks about duration, and a sworn answer gives a set period.
Movement
Faithfulness under empire
Artifact
Court tales and apocalyptic visions
Biblical Timeline
Exile & Return
Daniel context: 586 BC - 400 BC
Biblical Timeline
Exile & Return
Daniel context
Exile & Return / 586 BC - 400 BC
Daniel context is set in the exile and return, where Babylonian exile, return, rebuilding, and renewed covenant life under Persian rule.
Scripture Text
Thesis
The narrative shifts to a riverbank scene where figures appear, one asks about duration, and a sworn answer gives a set period.
Verse by Verse
Two figures appear on opposite riverbanks Daniel looks and sees “other two” standing at the edges of the river, one on each side. The scene widens beyond Daniel and the linen-clothed man, adding witnesses or attendants positioned as if to bracket the river setting.
A direct question about the endpoint One of the two asks the linen-clothed man—who is positioned above the river waters—how long it will be “to the end of these wonders.” The question assumes the “wonders” are ongoing or still ahead and seeks their finishing point.
The oath and the time period tied to a condition Daniel hears the linen-clothed man raise both hands toward heaven and swear by the one who lives forever. The answer gives a duration: “a time, times, and a half.” It also links the completion to a specific outcome: when they have finished shattering the power/strength of the holy people, then “all these things” will be finished.
Literary Context
These verses come near the close of Daniel’s final vision (Daniel 10–12), where Daniel has been receiving an extended explanation about coming conflicts and their effects on his people. The “man clothed in linen” has already been the primary speaker and guide (compare Daniel 10:5), and here the vision briefly shifts into a question-and-answer moment involving two additional figures. The focus tightens on timing: not a full replay of events, but a measured span that marks when the “wonders” will reach their endpoint, and what condition will coincide with that finish.
Historical Context
The book’s setting places Daniel among exiles living under major Near Eastern empires, where Judean communities faced pressure, vulnerability, and changing political control. The river setting fits the broader portrayal of Daniel receiving visions in imperial lands, with waterways functioning as recognizable landmarks and dramatic meeting places. In such a world, questions about “how long” suffering and upheaval will last were not abstract; they were tied to communal endurance under powerful states and their policies. This scene presents a heavenly perspective on duration and completion, expressed in a formal, oath-like declaration.
Theological Significance
Questions
Keep Studying
Daniel’s vision briefly widens. Two additional figures appear, one on each riverbank, while the linen-clothed man remains the main speaker, positioned “above” the river (12:5–6). The scene is staged like a formal inquiry: one figure asks a direct “how long?” question about “the end of these wonders,” and the answer comes as a solemn oath (12:6–7).
The oath is emphasized by gesture (both hands raised) and by the one invoked (“the one who lives forever”). The response gives a defined period (“a time, times, and a half”) and links the endpoint of “all these things” to a grim condition: the shattering of the holy people’s strength (12:7). That linkage is explicit in the text; the meaning and scope of the phrases require interpretation.
Some read “a time, times, and a half” as a specific, countable duration (often treated as three and a half “units,” sometimes equated with years). Others treat it as a symbolic way of saying the oppression has a set limit—real and definite, but not meant to be converted into a precise calendar.
There is also disagreement over what event “breaking in pieces the power of the holy people” points to. Some connect it mainly to a severe historical crushing of the community within Daniel’s horizon of persecution. Others see it as a later, final crisis still ahead, with the phrase describing the point at which the faithful are brought to the end of their resources.
The passage uses compressed apocalyptic language: “wonders,” “a time, times, and a half,” and “breaking in pieces” are not self-defining here. The larger vision (Daniel 10–12) gives context, but it still leaves room about whether the time phrase is intended as a literal measurement or a stylized way of expressing a limited period.
It presents a heaven-authorized limit on the duration of the “wonders”: the suffering and upheaval are not described as endless. The timing is delivered under oath, highlighting certainty rather than satisfying curiosity. The text also places the community’s experience—its strength being shattered—at the center of the timetable: the endpoint is tied to what happens to “the holy people,” not merely to shifting empires or leaders. For a later echo of the same time phrase in apocalyptic speech, compare Revelation 12:14.
completely (tiḵ·le·nāh)