HarperCollins Study Bible, page 322
20“Then shall arise in his place one who shall send an official for the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he shall be broken, though not in anger or in battle. 21In his place shall arise a contemptible person on whom royal majesty had not been conferred; he shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom through intrigue. 22Armies shall be utterly swept away and broken before him, and the prince of the covenant as well. 23And after an alliance is made with him, he shall act deceitfully and become strong with a small party. 24Without warning he shall come into the richest partse of the province and do what none of his predecessors had ever done, lavishing plunder, spoil, and wealth on them. He shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time. 25He shall stir up his power and determination against the king of the south with a great army, and the king of the south shall wage war with a much greater and stronger army. But he shall not succeed, for plots shall be devised against him 26by those who eat of the royal rations. They shall break him, his army shall be swept away, and many shall fall slain. 27The two kings, their minds bent on evil, shall sit at one table and exchange lies. But it shall not succeed, for there remains an end at the time appointed. 28He shall return to his land with great wealth, but his heart shall be set against the holy covenant. He shall work his will, and return to his own land.
29“At the time appointed he shall return and come into the south, but this time it shall not be as it was before. 30For ships of Kittim shall come against him, and he shall lose heart and withdraw. He shall be enraged and take action against the holy covenant. He shall turn back and pay heed to those who forsake the holy covenant. 31Forces sent by him shall occupy and profane the temple and fortress. They shall abolish the regular burnt offering and set up the abomination that makes desolate. 32He shall seduce with intrigue those who violate the covenant; but the people who are loyal to their God shall stand firm and take action. 33The wise among the people shall give understanding to many; for some days, however, they shall fall by sword and flame, and suffer captivity and plunder. 34When they fall victim, they shall receive a little help, and many shall join them insincerely. 35Some of the wise shall fall, so that they may be refined, purified, and cleansed,f until the time of the end, for there is still an interval until the time appointed.
36“The king shall act as he pleases. He shall exalt himself and consider himself greater than any god, and shall speak horrendous things against the God of gods. He shall prosper until the period of wrath is completed, for what is determined shall be done. 37He shall pay no respect to the gods of his ancestors, or to the one beloved by women; he shall pay no respect to any other god, for he shall consider himself greater than all. 38He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these; a god whom his ancestors did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. 39He shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall make more wealthy, and shall appoint them as rulers over many, and shall distribute the land for a price.
The Time of the End
40“At the time of the end the king of the south shall attack him. But the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. He shall advance against countries and pass through like a flood. 41He shall come into the beautiful land, and tens of thousands shall fall victim, but Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites shall escape from his power. 42He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver, and all the riches of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopiansg shall follow in his train. 44But reports from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to bring ruin and complete destruction to many. 45He shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, with no one to help him.
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a Heb and at the end of the times years
b Gk: Heb kingdom, and upright ones with him
c Heb it
d Meaning of Heb uncertain
e Or among the richest men
f Heb made them white
g Or Nubians; Heb Cushites
11.1 First year of Darius (see 9.1), possibly an editorial addition, but it may be part of the speech that began in 10.20; the angel would be speaking of strengthening Darius in the supposed Median conquest of Babylon (5.30–31; note on 5.31; Jer 51.11).
11.2 Three more kings, possibly Ahasuerus, Artaxerxes, and Darius II (see 7.6), although no names are mentioned and there is no scholarly consensus about who is meant. The author evidently did not know how many Persian kings there had been.
11.3 Warrior king, Alexander the Great. See 7.7; 8.5–8, 21.
11.4 Broken and divided. See 2.41; 8.8.
11.5 King of the south, Ptolemy I of Egypt. One of his officers, Seleucus I, who established a greater kingdom in Syria.
11.6 They, the Ptolemies and the Seleucids. An alliance, an unsuccessful interdynastic marriage; see 2.43. Daughter, Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy II (now king of the south) to Antiochus II of Syria (now king of the north) in 252 BCE; Berenice, her child, and her attendants were murdered after Antiochus himself died under suspicious circumstances.
11.7–8 A branch, Berenice’s brother, Ptolemy III, who took revenge for her death.
11.9 The latter, Seleucus II, who unsuccessfully invaded Egypt.
11.10 Sons, Seleucus III and Antiochus III.
11.10–19 Reign of Antiochus III the Great.
11.11–12 Ptolemy IV (king of the south) does not capitalize on his victory over Antiochus III (king of the north).
11.13–16 Antiochus III defeats Ptolemy V.
11.14 Revolts in Egypt. The lawless, very likely Jewish supporters of the Seleucids; see 11.30, 32.
11.15 Forces of the south, the Egyptians, defeated at Paneas by Antiochus III in 200 BCE.
11.16 He, Antiochus III, in complete control. Beautiful land, Judea; see 8.9.
11.17 Marriage. Whatever Antiochus intended by giving his daughter in marriage to Ptolemy V, the marriage did not further the father’s ambitions.
11.18 A commander, the Roman commander Lucius Cornelius Scipio, who defeated Antiochus III at the battle of Magnesia in Asia Minor.
11.19 Fall. Antiochus III was assassinated.
11.20 One who…kingdom, Antiochus III’s successor, Seleucus IV, who sent Heliodorus to rob the temple treasury in Jerusalem (2 Macc 3.1–40); Seleucus was later assassinated.
11.21–45 The reign of Antiochus IV (175–164 BCE).
11.21 Obtain…intrigue. Antiochus IV usurped the throne, which belonged to his nephew.
11.22 The prince of the covenant, Onias III; see note on 9.26.
11.24 See 1 Macc 3.30.
11.25–28 The successful campaign against Egypt.
11.28 Against the holy covenant, the attack on Jerusalem and the Jewish religion; see 11.30.
11.29–35 The unsuccessful campaign in Egypt and attack on Jerusalem.
11.30 Kittim, from Citium in Cyprus, is used as a name for westerners. Alexander “came from the land of Kittim” (1 Macc 1.1). Here and in the Dead Sea Scrolls it means the Romans. Forsake the holy covenant. See 2 Macc 4.
11.31 See 8.11–14; 9.27.
11.33 The wise, those steadfast ones like the author to whom truth has been revealed, give understanding, sharing the messages preserved in the book of Daniel, central of which is that God controls events. Fall. The wise suffer martyrdom, but see 12.3.
11.34 A little help, probably more a reference to the small number who sincerely join “the wise” than to the activities of the Maccabees, Jews who confront the forces of Antiochus militarily and eventually succeed (167–164 BCE).
11.36–39 The character and pretensions of Antiochus; see 7.8; 8.9–12, 23–25.
11.36 As he pleases, a Danielic expression for a ruler’s excesses just prior to his demise; see 8.4; 11.3, 16. Exalt…any god. Antiochus claims divine honors as Epiphanes, from the Greek meaning “manifestation” of a god. The imagery may be influenced by the old Canaanite myth of a rebellion in heaven, which is reflected in Isa 14.3–21; Ezek 28.2–19. What is determined, divine control of events; see 7.22, 26–27; 8.19, 25; 9.26–27.
11.37 The one beloved by women, Tammuz, Mesopotamian god of vegetation (Adonis); see Ezek 8.14.
11.38 God of fortresses, probably the Olympian Zeus, the Hellenistic equivalent of Baal Shamem.
11.39 A foreign god. Such a god was unknown to his ancestors.
11.40–45 This passage is not historical; it represents the author’s hopes for this climactic moment in history, based perhaps in part on Ezek 38–39.
11.41 Beautiful land. See note on 11.16. But Edom…escape. Why the peoples east of the Jordan are spared or even mentioned is not clear, except perhaps to imply their cooperation with Antiochus.
11.45 Between the sea…mountain. The idea of Antiochus coming to his end between the Mediterranean and Mount Zion could be influenced by prophetic texts about such a final climactic battle, including Ezek 38.17–23; 39.4–5. Antiochus actually died in Persia during his eastern campaign in 164 BCE.
DANIEL 12
The Resurrection of the Dead
1“At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. 2Many of those who sleep in the dust of the eartha shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky,b and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and the book sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be running back and forth, and evilc shall increase.”
5Then I, Daniel, looked, and two others appeared, one standing on this bank of the stream and one on the other. 6One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was upstream, “How long shall it be until the end of these wonders?” 7The man clothed in linen, who was upstream, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven. And I heard him swear by the one who lives forever that it would be for a time, two times, and half a time,d and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end, all these things would be accomplished. 8I heard but could not understand; so I said, “My lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” 9He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are to remain secret and sealed until the time of the end. 10Many shall be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked shall continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. 11From the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that desolates is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred ninety days. 12Happy are those who persevere and attain the thousand three hundred thirty-five days. 13But you, go your way,e and rest; you shall rise for your reward at the end of the days.”
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a Or the land of dust
b Or dome
c Cn Compare Gk: Heb knowledge
d Heb a time, times, and a half
e Gk Theodotion: Heb adds to the end
12.1 At that time, after the death of Antiochus. With the reference to Michael here and in 10.13–14, 20–21, just as in 7.9–10, 13–14, the scene moves beyond the bounds of earth. Time of anguish. See Jer 30.7 and the many references to the anguish associated with the “day of the LORD,” e.g., Joel 2–3; Am 5.18–20; Zeph 1.14–18. Book. See Ex 32.32–33; Ps 69.28; Isa 4.3.
12.2 Many, so not everyone. Sleep, death. In the dust of the earth, lit. “in the land of dust,” probably Sheol rather than the grave. Shall awake, rise from the dead. Cf. Isa 26.19. Some…and some…, contrasting consequences. Implicit is a worldview strongly dividing between “saved” and “damned.”
12.3 Probably synonymous parallel structure characteristic of Hebrew poetry: not two groups, but one—the wise who lead many to righteousness. Like the stars, like the angelic host. See 8.10, 1 Enoch 104.2–6.
12.4 Keep…book sealed. See 8.26.
12.5–13 Epilogue attempting to recalculate the date of the end.
12.5–6 Two others, beside the one clothed in linen (10.5).
12.7 Swear, sworn testimony about the time of the end; see 7.25.
12.10 See 11.33.
12.11–12 The contradictory numbers reflect an attempt to recalculate the time of the end when the first calculation failed. Note that even the first of these numbers points to a time after the rededication of the temple by Judas Maccabeus (1 Macc 4.52–58), so the author evidently did not regard that as “the end.”
12.13 Rest…rise for your reward. Daniel’s reward at the end is certain; see vv. 2–3. The end of days here is expected shortly after the death of Antiochus, after the predicted number of days has elapsed.
HOSEA
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
THE PROPHECY OF HOSEA revolves around God’s unfathomable love for wayward Israel. Nowhere else in scripture do we feel so intensely God’s agony over the betrayal of God’s people (cf. 3.1; 11.1, 8–9; 14.4). The body of tradition informing Hosea’s message is summarized in one declaration of the Lord found in his book: “I have been the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior”(13.4). Hosea’s task was to apply that venerable word in an era when its meaning had been virtually lost.
Historical and Social Setting
HOSEA’S CAREER TOOK PLACE in the Northern Kingdom, Israel, which Hosea often calls Ephraim (after the name of its largest tribe), and began during the prosperous and relatively quiet reign of King Jeroboam II (ca. 786–746 BCE). The tranquility of this era was disrupted from 738 on by Assyria’s military incursions into the region, and some of Hosea’s sayings reflect the war of Israel and Syria against Judah to force the Southern Kingdom into an anti-Assyrian alliance (the Syro-Ephraimite war, 734–732 BCE). Later, Hosea seems to have been active particularly during the time of King Hoshea’s fatal rebellion against Assyria that led to the end of the Northern Kingdom in 722. The biblical accounts of Hosea’s era are found in 2 Kings 14.23–17.41.
Hosea confronted two doleful developments: a proliferation of sexualized fertility worship and an escalation of reckless political intriguing. The flourishing fertility cult centered on Baal, the storm god in the Canaanite pantheon, believed by many to be the source of rain and agricultural bounty in the land. The tumultuous politics of the era took two main forms. It entailed a series of murderous coups after Jeroboam’s reign and an incessant conspiring with various foreign powers by the acting kings to cope with Assyrian pressure.
A key basis for these developments was societal centralization in the Northern Kingdom since ca. 930 BCE, specifically Israel’s growth as a hierarchical monarchy (8.4; 10.7; 13.10). New, royally appointed priests perverted worship at Israel’s traditional shrines (4.4–10; 5.1; 6.9; 9.8; 10.5). Self-absorption and satiety now issued from a centralized economy that was generating benumbing wealth (10.1; 12.7–8; 13.6). To set things right, Hosea announced that God would return the people to a bygone village-based society where traditional, covenantal lifestyles could flourish (2.14–15; 3.4; 12.9).
Prophet
HOSEA’S LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT fit a bygone era when Israel lacked a monarchy and organized itself based on family ties and kinship (1.11; 12.9, 13). His prophecies reflect confusion and conflict among the Israelite people as their traditional village-based and lineage-based society regrouped and entrenched itself as a centralized state. Alienated from society’s new hierarchical arrangement, Hosea confronted apostasy at the royal capital of Samaria and the royal sanctuaries of Bethel and Gilgal as a dissident.
Hosea appears to have operated out of membership in a traditional priestly lineage, the Levites, whose forebears had lost their stations at old Israel’s traditional shrines with the rise of the Northern monarchy (10.5; 2 Chr 11.14–15; 13.9). Having experienced disenfranchisement, the Levites subsisted on society’s fringe until the great reforms of King Hezekiah and King Josiah in Judah. The psalms of Asaph, associated with the Levites, had an especially marked influence on Hosea’s prophecies.
The narratives about Hosea’s marriage in chs. 1 and 3—though they are prophetic communications and not biography—allow us an unusual glimpse of an Israelite prophet’s personal life. On the Lord’s orders Hosea chose a sexually promiscuous wife, Gomer, leading to a tumultuous marriage. His tortured experience presented Israel with a living, symbolic demonstration of God’s heartbreak over the people’s love affair with foreign deities. As part of this symbolism Hosea gave doomful symbolic names to Gomer’s children, such as “Not my people” (1.9). All this surely entailed an emotional trauma for Hosea and his family that is left unspecified and can only be imagined.
