Daniel Chapter 8 - Transcription of Video Eleven
Introduction to the Interpretation
In this part of Daniel’s account, the third and last part of the vision is left behind and the interpretation begins. The interpretation came in the form of a visitation. However before giving the interpretation proper, Daniel first introduced the one giving it. Needless to say all of this is done within another chiasm. It is structured as follows:
| 1. And he called and he said, "Gabriel, make that one understand the sight." | 1. ויקרא ויאמר גבריאל הבן להלז את-המראה | ||||||
| 2. And he came to where I stood. | 2. ויבא אצל עמדי | ||||||
| 3. And with his coming I was terrified and I fell upon my face. | 3. ובבאו נבעתי ואפלה על-פני | ||||||
| 4. And he said to me, "Understand, son of man, that the vision is for a time of the end." | 4. ויאמר אלי הבן בן-אדם כי לעת-קץ החזון | ||||||
| 5. And with his speaking with me, I fell asleep with my face earthward. | 5. ובדברו עמי נרדמתי על-פני ארצה | ||||||
| 6. And he touched me and he stood me upright. | 6. ויגע-בי--ויעמידני על-עמדי | ||||||
| 7. And he said, "Behold I am making known to you what will be at the end of the fury because it is for an appointed time of the end. | 7. ויאמר הנני מודיעך את אשר-יהיה באחרית הזעם כי למועד קץ | ||||||
This chiasm has seven parts, and the subject at hand defines each part of the chiasm. The first and seventh parts deal with something that is said, the second and the sixth revolve around the issue of Daniel’s standing, the third and the fifth with the affects of Daniel’s visitor on Daniel, and the fourth part stands alone.
In the first part of the chiasm, the voice of the vision called out and identified Daniel’s visitor, as being Gabriel, and gave him the instruction to give understanding of the sight. An understanding of the sight is not the same as a full-blown interpretation of the vision. Daniel was going to be given some additional information, but was not going to be told what the vision as a whole actually means.
The second and third parts of the chiasm indicate that Daniel’s visitor, Gabriel, was not a human being, as his very presence sent Daniel falling on his face.
In the fourth part, Gabriel gave an all-important guideline for understanding the vision, and that is to understand that it relates to the time of the end. Saying this means that Daniel already had a notion of a period of time in history, that has a beginning and an end. In the vision given to Daniel in Belshazzar’s first year, he was shown an episode where the courts of heaven intervened in the events on the earth, and ushered in a new eternal era, where dominion is given to one like a son of man. Since Daniel took care to make reference to that vision at the beginning of his account of this vision, then most likely he was indicating that this is what he understood the time of the end to be – the end of this era and the beginning of a new eternal era.
Giving this guideline for understanding the vision, also adds weight to the what I said of parts one and two of the vision, that they are describing events from different periods of time in history. The events of part one of the vision are undoubtedly events from the ancient world. So if this vision is a vision for the time of the end, then the events of part two of the vision must be events from that time period.
Note how Gabriel called Daniel “son of man”. The voice that called out from the vision to Gabriel was a voice of a man. What do the words ben adam, “son of man” and adam, “man” mean? Well I can give you my opinion. From chapter one of the book of Genesis:
“And Elohim created the man in his image, in the image of Elohim he created him. Male and female he created them.”
Some translate the word Elohim as “God” and some translate it as “gods”. I don’t wish to take time to explain what I think is correct, so I have simply left the Hebrew word Elohim in my translation. It could be assumed that the act of creating the man, “ha adam” involved creating both male and female. However this doesn’t fit the style of writing of Genesis one. Every work of Elohim described in that chapter was describing a separate act. The act of creating man was one act, the act of creating male and female was a separate act. First came man, and from man came male and female. Therefore if you are a male, you are not a “man”, rather you are a “son of man”. Likewise if you are a female you are a “daughter of man”. Therefore Daniel being a male was called a “son of man” by Gabriel, but the voice the called out to Gabriel from the vision was the voice of a man, the first being the Elohim created. How that would have sounded, I have no idea.
Returning to the chiasm. In the fifth part, Daniel’s response to Gabriel’s speaking was to fall asleep, leading to Gabriel setting him up on his feet merely by touching him, more indications that Gabriel is not human.
In the last part of the chiasm, Gabriel again states that the vision relates to the time of the end, but he also adds that it is for an appointed time, and that it also relates to the end of the fury. Saying that the events of the vision have an appointed time implies that these events occur not by chance, but rather by design. Who the designer is, is not made clear.
Gabriel’s reference to the fury was never explained or qualified, meaning Daniel already knew what this fury was. It seems that this fury is another period of time, which comes to an end, toward the time of the end. The events of part two of the vision are detailing exactly how this time of fury comes to an end.
I am not sure what Daniel would have understood this time of fury to be exactly, perhaps is could be connected to the prophecies of Jeremiah chapter 25, but nevertheless, that this time of fury is coming to an end, is a sign that the time of the end is near.
The Interpretation - Part One of the Vision
Having given the principal for interpreting the vision, Gabriel then began giving Daniel an understanding of the sight, meaning he told Daniel what the characters of the vision symbolize. It is important to note that from this point onward in this account, Daniel was simply quoting Gabriel. These are not his words. It is probably not surprising then that not all of what Gabriel said is structured within chiasms. So in the part of the interpretation that deals with the first part of the vision, I could find no chiasm. It is just plain text.
| The ram that you saw, the lord of the two horns, is the kings of Media and Persia. And the hairy kid is the king of Greece. And the large horn between his eyes, he is the first king. And that which is broken, and four will stand up under her. Four kingships will stand from a nation but not with his strength. | האיל אשר-ראית בעל הקרנים—מלכי מדי ופרס והצפיר השעיר מלך יון והקרן הגדולה אשר בין-עיניו הוא המלך הראשון והנשברת—ותעמדנה ארבע תחתיה ארבע מלכיות מגוי יעמדנה ולא בכחו |
I have already made reference to most of what Gabriel had to say about this part of the vision. It is interesting to note that a couple of descriptions given by Gabriel differ from what Daniel wrote. For example Daniel described the kid as being a kid of the goats, where as Gabriel described him as being a hairy kid. Now kids are born with hair, so being hairy must mean that the kid’s hair is long. Yet it takes time for hair to grow, so this kid which by definition is young, has the appearance of age, making it a kid of the goats as Daniel described.