And at the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors shall have come to the full, a king of bold countenance, and understanding riddles, shall stand up.
An angel explains Daniel's vision of the ram and the goat. The explanation does not stop with the empires Daniel could have seen. It reaches forward to a king who rises when transgression has reached its limit. Who is this bold-faced king, and when does he appear?
Commentators see two figures in this king. One belongs to the past. The angel's own time-markers reach past him to another.
I have no doubt, dear friends, that the type was the king of the Syrians — the king of the line of the Seleucids. But it is quite certain that this was not the end of the indignation. In the explanation which Daniel gives, he confines himself to what the antitype will do at the time of the end (v. 17) — the end of the indignation against the Jews (v. 19). We must set the church aside here. This is about the Jews in the last days, at the end of the indignation.
The vision itself covers ground now past; the explanation looks ahead.
The vision in Daniel 8:9-14 dwells on what is now history; the interpretation, in verses 23-25, mainly on what is yet to be fulfilled.
The king does not arise at random. He is timed to a moral condition — Israel's sin brought to its full measure. One writer reads that condition through Jesus' picture of the unclean spirit returning to a swept house with seven worse than itself.
The text hints here that the Jews at the end of the age will become worse than they even are now… "Empty, swept, and garnished" had been, was then, and is now the condition of the Jews. In sharp contrast with their ways of old, there has been no idolatry among them for more than 2,000 years… It is still the same moral state, until all that the prophets predicted of "the end" is accomplished.
The same writer draws the link to our verse directly: at that point the transgressors reach their limit, and God allows this Gentile scourge to stand up.
The ESV renders the phrase "one who understands riddles." It describes more than a soldier. He works on minds as much as on armies.
Next, the "king of bold face" will be not only a great king but something like a rabbi in a philosophical way. He will have force of arms, and also a spirit of crafty wisdom that can explain riddles. He will be like a prophet, like the second Beast in Palestine, who explains deep and mysterious things. So by a deceitful and penetrating spirit he will gain great influence over the thinking part of the Jewish nation. He will persuade them into a false and irreligious security, where they forget and forsake the LORD.
The next verse says his power is not his own. One writer makes this the mark that separates him from the little horn of Daniel 7.
"And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power." That is a remarkable word. It is not said at all about the little horn of Daniel 7. There, I take it, the power was his own. Satan might give him power too, but in his own person he wielded the force of the Roman Empire. This ruler's power will be mighty, but it will not be his own. He depends on the strength given him by others. He will be the instrument of foreign policy and power, not his own.
Readers often merge the end-time figures into one. One writer warns against that.
We must also beware of a still more common confusion. People mix the little Horn of Daniel 8 with either the Emperor in Rome or the Antichrist in Jerusalem. He is the enemy of both. He is "the Assyrian" of the prophets in general, and the "king of the north." We read of his last doings and his end in Daniel 11:40-45.
Commentators differ on how much of this fits Antiochus, but they agree the final scene is still ahead.
Two phrases in this verse fix the timing, and so does the king's end two verses later.
Put together the expressions "at the latter end of their kingdom" and "when the transgressors have reached their limit." Add this: "he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes, but he shall be broken without hand." That is, he comes into conflict with the Lord Himself. This proves that the king will arise in the last days. It also proves that his end will take place at the very end of the latter half of Daniel's seventieth week.
- Timed — He rises when transgression reaches its limit. Ripening sin is the clock that lets him stand up.
- Typed — An early Syrian king was the pattern. The angel's explanation looks past him to the one he pictured.
- Trained in riddles — His weapon is crafty wisdom. He explains mysteries and lulls people into a false security.
- Borrowed might — He is mighty "but not by his own power," an instrument of strength supplied from outside.
- Broken — Rising at last against the Prince of princes, he is broken by no human hand.
And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy marvellously, and shall prosper, and shall practise, and shall destroy the mighty ones, and the people of the saints.
The angel Gabriel is explaining Daniel's vision, and here he describes a ruler with huge power that is not his own. Who is this king, where does his strength come from, and why are the people he destroys still called holy?
This king does not belong to Daniel's own day. He belongs to the end of God's anger with Israel.
In verse 19 we see that the interpretation relates to the time of the end — a very important point for understanding the passage. And this is what will happen at the very end of God's anger (against Israel), when the sin of the Jews is at its height. A fierce-looking king will arise. He will cause terrible destruction. He will prosper and carry out his schemes, destroying the mighty, or a great multitude of persons, and especially "the people of the holy ones," that is, the Jews.
Readers often merge three end-time figures into one. Writers here keep them apart.
We must also beware of the still more common confusion of the little Horn of Daniel 8 with either the Emperor in Rome or the Antichrist in Jerusalem. He is the enemy of both, being "the Assyrian" of the prophets in general, and the "king of the north," whose last doings and end we read of in Daniel 11:40-45. The Beast and the False Prophet meet a terrible end, and his own ruin follows soon after, no less striking than theirs.
Others identify the horn with Antiochus Epiphanes, an earlier king. The reply is that the description outgrows him.
This horn was at first a little one, and grew very great; Antiochus did not. His kingdom was weak and paid tribute to the Romans, and he never enlarged it. The horn was a fierce-looking king. He destroyed on an astonishing scale. He prospered and schemed — that is, his schemes against the holy people succeeded. But a mere message from the Romans frightened Antiochus out of Egypt, and the Jews later routed and baffled him.
Compare him with the little horn of the earlier vision in chapter 7. One phrase marks the difference.
"His power shall be great — but not by his own power" — a remarkable statement, which is not said at all about the little horn of Daniel 7. There, I take it, it was by his own power. Satan might give him power too; but in his own person he wielded the force of the Roman Empire. This ruler depends on strength given him by others. He will be the instrument of foreign policy and power, not his own.
Commentators differ on the source of that backing. Some name a northern empire:
He will also be powerful, but not by his own power. That is, someone else will support him in his ambitious claims. Those claims seem to be the "total destruction of Israel and the complete blotting out of the very name from the earth."… Who can doubt that Gog, the Czar of all the Russias, supports "the King of the North"? He is his overlord, and further north still.
Others reject that reading and look instead behind the visible world:
Some have thought that because the verse says his power will be great, but not by his own power (Daniel 8:24), a neighbouring power will support him — probably Russia. We do not think so… He will be the rod of God's anger. So may it not be that God will permit and order one of those great spiritual powers that move behind the nations to energise and guide him until he completes his commission?
The verse calls the people he attacks holy, though their conduct was not. (The writers use an older translation here; the ESV reads "the people who are the saints.")
Despite their treachery and rebellion as a nation, the Jews are, to the prophet, the holy people.
Two very different powers use this same man.
Altogether it is a fearful portrait. He will be a fit tool of Satan, and at the same time an instrument in the hand of God to chasten the Jews in their ungodliness. He will be a man of determined will and refined cruelty, practised in designing craftiness, and a master of hidden knowledge. His purpose will be so fixed that he will let nothing stand in the way of his own selfish designs. His whole object will be his own advancement and exaltation.
- Borrowed — His might is real, but lent. He is the instrument of another's policy. The horn of chapter 7 wielded his own empire's force; this king does not.
- Disputed — Who lends it? Some writers name a northern empire. Others name an unseen spiritual power that drives him on.
- Directed — The lent power has one target: the Jews. He destroys their great men and their people.
- Holy — The prophet still calls them the holy people while they rebel. Their name does not depend on their behaviour.
- Overruled — Satan's fit tool is at the same time God's rod. His ruin is as certain and as striking as the Beast's.
And through his cunning shall he cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he will magnify [himself] in his heart, and by prosperity will corrupt many; and he will stand up against the Prince of princes but he shall be broken without hand.
Daniel 8:25 ends Gabriel's explanation of the fierce king who rises out of the broken Greek empire, and it traces his whole career in one line: cunning, pride, then a clash with "the Prince of princes" that ends him. Two questions keep coming back — who is this king, and what does it mean that he is "broken — but by no human hand" (older translations, which the writers below quote, read "without hand")?
Commentators are careful not to confuse him with the Antichrist. He is not the ruler in Palestine; he attacks from outside.
This evil agent is not the wilful king or Antichrist who is to reign in Palestine in that day. He is another king who opposes the Antichrist from outside. He is no less wicked, and he perishes just as terribly. He is the same who in the last prophecy of Daniel (11:40–45) is called "the king of the north."
The chapter has a fulfilment in the past and another one still ahead.
The little horn does refer to Antiochus Epiphanes, and he did stop the worship at Jerusalem. Yet the passage plainly points to a later and still future period, and to another king of Syria, who will stand against the Prince of princes and will be broken without hand. Verses 23–25 are clearly future: "in the latter time."
Kelly names the earlier persecutor and says where he came from.
Out of Alexander's broken empire arose the kingdom of Syria, which fell to Seleucus Nicator. Of that line, Antiochus Epiphanes persecuted the Jews and insulted the God of Israel beyond all others, and tried to destroy the Jews and their religion.
The verse's opening words describe a weapon sharper than an army.
That is, it will not be by force of arms. He will deal with the Jews in the way of peace. By keen insight and cunning, as a kind of rabbi, he will have great influence over the Jewish nation.
Older translations say he will destroy many "by peace"; the ESV has "without warning he shall destroy many." Kelly looks at the state of the victims: comfortable, and so defenceless.
He will take advantage of the fact that they are at ease and unprepared for his cunning advances.
The title is not left vague. Commentators read it as a name for Christ Himself.
Christ is the Prince of princes — "the prince of the host." This king will not only overthrow many Jews. At the same time he will gain immense influence over the nation. And when he sets himself against the Prince of princes, he will be destroyed without hand.
Notice the order in the verse: he grows great in his own mind first, and only then stands up against the Prince of princes.
But his career of prosperity will be his ruin. Deceived by his own successes and lifted up in heart, he will dare to "stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand." We are told only the fact: this ruler on earth will dare to be the open enemy of Him who will soon claim His title as King of kings and Lord of lords. In some way, "without hand," he will meet with instant destruction.
No army defeats him. No rebellion topples him. The words rule out every human instrument. Kelly points to a matching line later in Daniel.
He will be completely helpless in this last struggle. As another scripture says (Daniel 11:45), "he shall come to his end, with none to help him."
Boyd traces where such a purpose comes from, and who ends it.
He is an offspring of the great destroyer, the devil. His aim will be to destroy every trace of the name of God on the earth. But he shall be broken without hand. Christ will deal with him at His appearing. No human hand shall deal with him. The sword that lays him low will come out of the mouth of the Lord. What a life of rebellion against God! What a solemn ending to the life of a responsible creature! May our ways on earth not be directed and driven by our own wills, but by the holy will of God.
- Craft — he rises by scheming, not by weapons. He wins the Jewish nation by dealing peacefully with them while they are at ease and unprepared.
- Pride — his successes swell his heart. A man deceived by his own run of success is heading for ruin.
- Defiance — pride reaches its limit when he stands up against the Prince of princes. Commentators read that title as Christ, who will soon claim His place as King of kings.
- Judgment — "without hand" means no human hand. Christ deals with him at His appearing, and Daniel 11:45 adds that no one helps him.
- Timing — Antiochus Epiphanes matched much of this in history. But "the latter time" points on to a still-future king of the north, whose end is settled before it begins.