Question 1

What new elements appear in the vision in Daniel 12:5, and how do they change the scene?

Accepted Answer

Daniel reports seeing “other two” figures standing on opposite banks of the river. Their placement frames the river like a boundary line, while the linen-clothed man remains central, still located “above the waters.” This shifts the moment from a private reception of revelation to something more like a witnessed exchange: additional beings are present, positioned as observers or attendants. The scene feels deliberately arranged so that a formal question can be asked and a formal answer can be given, rather than continuing the earlier long explanation uninterrupted.

Question 2

Who asks the question in verse 6, and to whom is it addressed?

Accepted Answer

The question comes from one of the two figures Daniel sees at the riverbanks. It is addressed to “the man clothed in linen,” the same figure already functioning as the main heavenly communicator earlier in the vision (cf. Daniel 10). The text also repeats that this linen-clothed man is “above the waters of the river,” emphasizing his elevated position. So the question is not directed to Daniel, and it is not answered by Daniel; it is an internal vision dialogue that Daniel overhears and reports.

Question 3

What does the question mean by “the end of these wonders,” based on the immediate context?

Accepted Answer

The question seeks the endpoint of the astonishing events being described in the larger vision. In the immediate context, “these wonders” likely points back to the distressing, sweeping developments of Daniel 10–12—conflict, upheaval, and the climactic trouble around God’s people. The phrase is broad rather than detailed: the question is not “what will happen next?” but “how long until the whole series reaches its finish?” The wording leaves open how wide the scope is, but it clearly includes the culminating crisis affecting “the holy people” (12:7).

Question 4

What actions make the answer in verse 7 sound like an oath, and what do they signal?

Accepted Answer

Daniel hears the linen-clothed man raise both his right and left hands toward heaven and “swear by him who lives forever.” The combination of lifted hands and invoking the eternal one marks this as a solemn, binding declaration. It signals that the timing is not a guess or a calculation; it is presented as settled and guaranteed by the highest authority available in the vision’s world. The oath form also heightens the weight of what follows: both the stated duration and the condition tied to the end are meant to be taken seriously.

Question 5

What two-part content is included in the answer: (1) the time span and (2) the condition connected to completion?

Accepted Answer

First, the answer gives a duration: “a time, times, and a half.” The text does not define the unit, but it clearly presents a bounded period. Second, it connects completion to a condition: when “they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people,” then “all these things” will be finished. That means the end-point is not only calendar-based; it is linked to a turning point in the community’s lived experience—its strength being shattered—after which the sequence of “wonders” reaches its conclusion.

Question 6

In verse 7, what is the relationship between the shattering of the holy people’s power and the finishing of “all these things”?

Accepted Answer

The verse presents the shattering of the holy people’s strength as a marker that coincides with the completion of the predicted events. Grammatically, it functions as an “when…then…” linkage: when that breaking is finished, then “all these things” are finished. The text does not say the holy people are wiped out; it says their “power/strength” is broken—language that can suggest exhaustion, loss of capacity, or being brought to the end of self-reliance. The passage makes that experience central to the timeline’s endpoint.

Daniel 12:5-7

Scripture