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Daniel

About this book
Chapter 12

1 “At that time Michael, the great prince who watches over your people,⁠ will arise.⁠ There will be a time of distress unlike any other from the nation’s beginning up to that time.⁠ But at that time your own people, all those whose names are found written in the book, will escape.⁠ 2 Many of those who sleep in the dusty ground will awake—some⁠ to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence.⁠ 3 But the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavenly expanse.⁠ And those bringing many to righteousness will be like the stars forever and ever.⁠ 4 “But you, Daniel, close up these words and seal the book until the time of the end.⁠ Many will dash about, and knowledge will increase.”⁠ 5 I, Daniel, watched as two others stood there, one on each side of the river. 6 One said to the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river, “When will the end of these wondrous events occur?” 7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen who was over the waters of the river as he raised both his right and left hands to the sky and made an oath by the one who lives forever:⁠ “It is for a time, times, and half a time.⁠ Then, when the power of the one who shatters the holy people has been exhausted, all these things will be finished.” 8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I said, “Sir, what will happen after these things?” 9 He said, “Go, Daniel. For these matters are closed and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, made clean, and refined, but the wicked will go on being wicked. None of the wicked will understand, though the wise will understand. 11 From the time that the daily sacrifice is removed and the abomination that causes desolation is set in place, there are 1,290 days. 12 Blessed is the one who waits and attains to the 1,335 days. 13 But you should go your way until the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will arise to receive what you have been allotted.”

Texts in conversation

Compare Amos 8:12 and Daniel 12:4

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Daniel 12 echoes Amos 8 through the idea of “roving,” which shows a search for something lost. In Amos people roam the land seeking a message that is gone, and Daniel uses the same image for those searching for the meaning of a sealed vision.

Passages

Amos 8:12

Hebrew Bible
10 I will turn your festivals into funerals and all your songs into funeral dirges. I will make everyone wear funeral clothes and cause every head to be shaved bald. I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. 11 Be certain of this, the time is coming,” says the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land—not a shortage of food or water but an end to divine revelation. 12 People will stagger from sea to sea, and from the north around to the east. They will wander about looking for a message from the Lord, but they will not find any. 13 In that day your beautiful young women and your young men will faint from thirst.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Amos

Daniel 12:4

Hebrew Bible
2 Many of those who sleep in the dusty ground will awake—some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence. 3 But the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavenly expanse. And those bringing many to righteousness will be like the stars forever and ever. 4 “But you, Daniel, close up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will dash about, and knowledge will increase.” 5 I, Daniel, watched as two others stood there, one on each side of the river.
200–101 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Daniel

References

"... In the Polel stem, shwt generally means “go eagerly, quickly, to and fro” in search of something. In some passages, this search may involve physical movement (Numbers 11:8; Job 1:17; 2:2; 2 Samuel 24:2,8; Jeremiah 5:1; 49:3; Amos 8:12). For example, in Numbers 11:8 people “rove around” in search of manna and in Amos 8:12 people will go in search of the word of God which cannot be found. Yet, in other passages (2 Chronicles 16:9; Zechariah 4:10), it denotes “searching,” which scarcely involves physical movement. In 2 Chronicles 16:9, God’s eyes are said to “rove around” throughout the whole world (also Zechariah 4:10). Rather than a physical movement, the meaning here is that God observes the activities of men. In sum, shwt implies searching, involving either bodily movement in search of something or a mental activity of searching into something. The context of Daniel 12:4 suggests that “rove around” be understood as “searching” into the meaning of something. The increase of “knowledge” directly sequels the activity of ‘roving around.’ ..."
Daniel K. Bediako, “‘Knowlege Shall Increase’ An Interpretation of Daniel 12:4,” Valley View University Journal of Theology 2 (2012): 93–103.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Amos 8:12 and Daniel 12:4

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