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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Daniel 12:4 - 12:4
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The Close of the Revelation of God and of the Book
As the revelation in Daniel 8 closes with the direction, “Wherefore shut thou up the vision” (Dan 8:26), so this before us closes with the command (Dan 12:4), “But thou Daniel shut up these words;” and as in the former case הֶחָזֹון denotes the vision interpreted to him by the angel, so here הַדְּבָרִים can only be the announcements of the angel, Daniel 11:2-12:3, along with the preceding appearance, Daniel 10:2-11:1, thus only the revelation designated as דָּבָר, Dan 10:1. Accordingly, also, סָתַן is obviously to be interpreted in the meaning illustrated and defended under Dan 8:25, to shut up in the sense of guarding; and thus also חָתַם, to seal. Thus all the objections against this command are set aside which Hitzig has derived from the sealing, which he understands of the sealing up of the book, so that he may thereby cast doubt on the genuineness of the book.
It is disputed whether הַסֵפֶר is only the last revelation, Daniel 10-12 (Hävernick, v. Leng., Maurer, Kran.), or the whole book (Bertholdt, Hitzig, Auberlen, Kliefoth). That סֵפֶר might designate a short connected portion, a single prophecy, is placed beyond a doubt by Nah 1:1; Jer 51:63. The parallelism of the members of the passage also appears to favour the opinion that הַסֵפֶר stands in the same meaning as הַדְּבָרִים. But this appearance amounts to a valid argument only under the supposition that the last revelation stands unconnected with the revelations going before. But since this is not the case, much rather the revelation of these chapters is not only in point of time the last which Daniel received, but also forms the essential conclusion of all earlier revelations, then the expression used of the sealing of this last revelation refers plainly to the sealing of the whole book. This supposition is unopposed. That the writing down of the prophecy is not commanded to Daniel, cannot be objected against. As this is here and in Dan 8:26 presupposed as a matter of course, for the receiving of a revelation without committing it to writing is not practicable, so we may without hesitation suppose that Daniel wrote down all the earlier visions and revelations as soon as he received them, so that with the writing down of the last of them the whole book was completed. For these reasons we understand by הַסֵפֶר the whole book. For, as Kliefoth rightly remarks, the angel will close, Dan 12:4, the last revelation, and along with it the whole prophetical work of Daniel, and dismiss him from his prophetical office, as he afterwards, Dan 12:13, does, after he has given him, Dan 12:5-12, disclosures regarding the periods of these wonderful things that were announced. He must seal the book, i.e., guard it securely from disfigurement, “till the time of the end,” because its contents stretch out to the time of the end. Cf. Dan 8:26, where the reason for the sealing is stated in the words, “for yet it shall be for many days.” Instead of such a statement as that, the time of the end is here briefly named as the terminus, down to which the revelation reaches, in harmony with the contents of Daniel 11:40-12:3, which comprehend the events of the time of the end.
The two clauses of Dan 12:4 are differently explained. The interpretation of J. D. Michaelis, “Many shall indeed go astray, but on the other side also the knowledge shall be great,” is verbally just as untenable as that of Hävernick, “Many shall wander about, i.e., in the consciousness of their misery, strive after salvation, knowledge.” For שׁוּט signifies neither to go astray (errare) nor to wander about, but only to go to and fro, to pass through a land, in order to seek out or search, to go about spying (Zec 4:10, of the eyes of God; Eze 27:8, Eze 27:26, to row). From these renderings there arises for this passage before us the meaning, to search through, to examine, a book; not merely to “read industriously” (Hitzig, Ewald), but thoroughly to search into it (Gesenius). The words do not supply the reason for the command to seal, but they state the object of the sealing, and are not (with many interpreters) to be referred merely to the time of the end, that then for the first time many shall search therein and find great knowledge. This limiting of their import is connected with the inaccurate interpretation of the sealing as a figure either of the incomprehensibility of the prophecy or of the secrecy of the writing, and is set aside with the correct interpretation of this figure. If Daniel, therefore, must only place the prophecy securely that it may continue to the time of the end, the sealing thus does not exclude the use of it in transcriptions, then there exists no reason for thinking that the searching into it will take place only for the first time in the end. The words וגו רַבִּים יְשֹׁטְטוּ are not connected with the preceding by any particle or definition of time, whereby they should be limited to קֵץ עֵת. To this is to be added, that this revelation, according to the express explanation of the angel (Dan 10:14), refers to all that shall be experienced by the people of Daniel from the time of Cyrus to the time of the end. If, then, it must remain sealed or not understood till the time of the end, it must have lain unused and useless for centuries, while it was given for the very purpose of reflecting light on the ways of God for the pious in all times, and of imparting consolation amid their tribulations to those who continued stedfast in their fidelity. In order to serve these purposes it must be accessible at all times, so that they might be able to search into it, to judge events by it and to strengthen their faith. Kliefoth therefore is right in his thus interpreting the whole passage: “Daniel must place in security the prophecies he has received until the time of the end, so that through all times many men may be able to read them and gain understanding (better: obtain knowledge) from them.” הַדַּעַת is the knowledge of the ways of the Lord with His people, which confirms them in their fidelity towards God.