Daniel 8:24

Dan 8:24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

Ver. 24. Not by his own power.] But by his policy rather, and by the perfidy of others. {Dan 11:23}

And he shall destroy wonderfully.] Mirificentissime. In three days he slew fourscore thousand in Jerusalem; forty thousand were put in bands, and as many sold.

And shall prosper, and practice.] Shall do whatsoever he wishes; as if he were some petty god within himself.

And shall destroy the mighty.] So the Jews are called, because stout and undaunted, and while they kept close to God, insuperable; as when otherwise, weak as water. See Hos 13:1. {See Trapp on "Hos 13:1"}

And the holy people.] Federally holy at least.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Dan 8:24. And his power shall be mighty — His power shall increase more and more, namely, in Judea; but not by his own power — This shall not be owing so much to himself, as to the wickedness and factions among the Jews. “Antiochus,” says Mr. Wintle, “was certainly much favoured in his designs by a factious party of the Jews themselves, by the treachery of the Jewish people, according to Josephus, and, according to Appion, the perfidy of others. Eumenes, king of Pergamus, and his brother Attalus, being jealous of the Romans, desired to make the king of Syria their friend, and supported Antiochus in his kingdom. The divine displeasure also against the Jews operated to the furtherance of his designs, who was herein an agent of the vindictive justice of God.” And he shall destroy wonderfully — He shall cause a very great and scarcely credible desolation in Judea. Wintle renders it, He shall make astonishing havoc, and shall be successful: which prediction was accomplished when Jerusalem was taken by Antiochus, 40,000 Jews were slain, and as many were sold into slavery. And shall destroy the mighty and the holy people — Or, the people of the holy God, as עם קדשׂיםmay be rendered, the noun plural being sometimes applied to the Deity. Or the expressions may mean, that he should destroy many of the principal and chief men, and many of the common sort, termed the holy people, as being good men, and sincere worshippers of God. With regard to the former, Grotius observes, from Josephus, that men of the greatest reputation, and of the most generous spirit, among the Jews, paid no regard to Antiochus, and therefore were harassed daily, and died under the most bitter torments. Antiochus, in his first invasion of Judea, slew and led captive 80,000 Jews; and two years afterward sent Apollonius, with an army of 22,000 men, to destroy those that assembled in their synagogues on the sabbath, 2Ma 5:14; 2Ma 5:24; and 1Ma 1:29.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8:24 not by his own power: God remained in sovereign control of the seemingly fortuitous events of history that brought Antiochus IV to power. • a shocking amount of destruction: See 1 Maccabees 1:10-63, which describes many of the evils that Antiochus IV instigated.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That is, not like Alexander’s strength.

Both the Gentiles that dwelt about him, and also the Jews.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

not by his own power--which in the beginning was "little" (Dan 8:9; Dan 7:8); but by gaining over others through craft, the once little horn became "mighty" (compare Dan 8:25; Dan 11:23). To be fully realized by Antichrist. He shall act by the power of Satan, who shall then be permitted to work through him in unrestricted license, such as he has not now (Rev 13:2); hence the ten kingdoms shall give the beast their power (Th2 2:9-12; Rev 17:13).

prosper and practise--prosper in all that he attempts (Dan 8:12).

holy people--His persecutions are especially directed against the Jews.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 24. But not by his own power] The strength of the other kingdoms consisted in themselves; but the Roman empire, as a horn or kingdom of the goat, was not mighty by its own power - was not strong by virtue of the goat, but drew its nourishment and strength from Rome and Italy. There grew the trunk and body of the tree; though the branches extended over Greece, Asia, Syria, and Egypt. - Bp. Newton.

Shall destroy wonderfully] In the taking of Jerusalem by the Romans ninety-seven thousand Jews were made captives, and eleven hundred thousand were slain. So they destroyed this once mighty and holy people!

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

After the angel had explained the Grecian monarchy, he records the future origin of a king who should be hard of face Without the slightest doubt, he implies the iniquity of Antiochus by this phrase. He was notoriously destitute of any nobleness of mind, and remarkable for low cunning, and to this disposition was added an impudence which faltered at nothing. This is the sense in which I take the words hard of face The following phrase asserts his cunning, when it says, he shall be skilled in enigmas This is equivalent to saying, he should excel in cunning, and should not be easily deceived. By these two epithets he does not compliment, but rather defames Antiochus Epiphanes, by representing him as hardened as the wicked usually are, without the slightest particle of either reason, or equity, or shame. He next blames his craftiness and deceit, by stating he should be skilled in enigmas He afterwards adds, his power shall be strengthened, and yet not by his own might Some are of opinion that Antiochus Epiphanes is here compared to Alexander, as the angel had previously stated the inferiority of the four kings to the first; for they were prefigured by four small horns. For the most powerful of them all did not reign over a fifth part of the dominions which Alexander had acquired for himself by violence and war. Others, again, explain this passage as if the power of Antiochus would be great, but still very unlike that of Alexander, and far inferior to it, according to the sense, not in his, i.e., Alexander’s, strength,. Many, however, refer this to Antiochus, although they do not agree among themselves. Some, again, want a kind of correction, as if the angel implied that the power of Antiochus should be great, but not quite openly so. Hence his valor shall be strengthened, not meaning by “valor” that heroic spirit with which kings are usually endowed, nor any increase in magnanimity; nor yet that Antiochus should imitate such monarchs as these, but his strength should lie concealed. He should creep on by clandestine acts, and not contend in open battle according to the practice of those who excel in courage; he should secretly try many schemes, and thus stealthily extend his empire. This makes a tolerable sense. Others, again, think this ought to be referred to God, since the strength of Antiochus was not the result of his own industry or valor, but of the judgment of God, who armed him with it, because he wished to use him as a scourge to execute his punishments on the Jews. His fortitude, therefore, shall be strengthened, yet not by his own valor, as this entirely depended on the just designs and vengeance of God. Although this last sense is more profitable, and contains much useful instruction, yet I fear it is distorted. And thus the last clause is either a correction of the preceding words, meaning” because he should not increase with ingenuous earnestness,” or else, the angel is still comparing his strength with the power of Alexander. His power, therefore, shall be strengthened, and yet not bear comparison with Alexander’s; or, his power shall be strengthened, but not by habits of war nor by open magnanimity, but he shall grow great by fraudulent and clandestine arts; because he was on the one hand most impious, and on the other, of a servile disposition, as we have formerly said.

It follows, He shall make wonderful havoc, and shall prosper, and shall proceed, that is, shall execute, and shall destroy the strong, and the people of the saints. By עצומים, gnetzumim, I understand not only the Jews, but also other neighboring nations; as if the angel had said, Antiochus shall be conqueror wherever he shall extend his arms, until at length he shall subdue Judea, and miserably afflict the people of God. Wherefore, he shall strike or destroy the brave, and the people of the saints, that is, the holy people, as we saw before. And according to his understanding shall his craftiness prosper in his hand The conjunction “and may be here superfluous; in this sense the passage is usually received, thus reading it on in one context; according to his understanding he shall prosper, although there is the conjunction “and” in the way, but this is frequently superfluous in Hebrew. It means, deceit shall prosper in his hand Here the angel confirms the former assertion respecting the servile cunning of Antiochus, as he did not act with ingenuous manliness, but with his audacity and hardihood he united malicious arts and craftiness unworthy of a king. Craft, therefore, shall prosper in his hand, and that too, as far as he understands it. Some suppose the sharpness of Antiochus to be noticed here, as if the angel had said, Craftiness shall prosper in his hand, in consequence of his possessing superior ability and penetration. But the passage may be suitably explained in this way, — Antiochus shall act prosperously according to his mental perception, and shall be so assisted by’ his craftiness, as to obtain whatever he shall grasp at.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(24) Not by his own power.—Not might, but cunning, will cause his success. (Comp. 1Ma_1:10, &c.) Thus his destructive powers become astonishing.

The mighty.—No special individuals are pointed out, but rulers in general.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power] but rather, so it is implied in this rendering, by the permission of God (Häv., Hitz.). The rendering not by his power (but rather by intrigues) is, however, preferable: the first two clauses of the verse will thus contain an oxymoron. R.V. marg. ‘Or, with his power. See Dan_8:22’ seems to refer the pron. (with Ewald) to Alexander; but such a reference is here far-fetched.

destroy wonderfully] work destruction in an extraordinary degree;—the idea of ‘wonder,’ ‘wonderful’ in Heb. is properly that of something distinctive, exceptional, extraordinary. Cf. Dan_11:36, Dan_12:6.

prosper, and do] cf. Dan_8:12.

the mighty] them that are mighty (indef.), alluding to Antiochus’ political foes.

and the people of the holy ones (or saints)] i.e. Israel: cf. Dan_7:25 (‘and shall wear away the holy ones (or saints) of the Most High’).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power,.... He should possess a large kingdom, and that should be increased by conquests:

but not in his power (s), the power of Alexander; he should not arrive to that greatness he did, as in Dan 8:22 so Jacchiades: or, "in his own power" (t); for it was not so much by his own courage and valour, by any heroic actions of Antiochus, he became so great, as by craft and deceit: through sedition he procured the death of his father and eider brother; and by fraud got the kingdom from his nephew; and through the perfidy of Menelaus and Jason, the high priests of the Jews, and other apostates, he obtained what dominion he had over the Jews; and it was by the assistance of Eumenes king of Pergamos, and his brother Attalus, that he kept the kingdom he had usurped, who stood by him, in order to check the growing power of the Romans; and more especially it was by a power given him from above, or by the permission and providence of God, who suffered him to be so great, and to prevail particularly over the Jews; because of their sins, as Aben Ezra and Saadiah observe, to chastise them for them: so his antitype, antichrist, became great and powerful, through craft and policy, and by the help of the ten kings that gave their kingdoms to him:

and he shall destroy wonderfully; or beyond all credit, countries, cities, towns, and their inhabitants; he slew fourscore thousand Jews in three days' time, bound forty thousand, and sold as many,

"And there were destroyed within the space of three whole days fourscore thousand, whereof forty thousand were slain in the conflict; and no fewer sold than slain.'' (2 Maccabees 5:14)

or, "he shall destroy wonderful things" (u); the temple, and the wonderful things of worth and value in it, so Saadiah and Jacchiades; he took away the vessels of the temple, the golden lamps, the ark, and table of gold, &c.:

and shall prosper and practise; for a while do what he pleased, none being able to oppose and hinder him; see Dan 8:12.

and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people; by the "mighty" may be meant the Egyptians, Parthians, and other nations he made war with; and by the "holy people" the Jews, who were sanctified and separated from other people by the Lord, to be a peculiar people; among whom were his holy temple, his holy priests, his holy word, ordinances, and worship; multitudes of these he destroyed, as before observed. Jacchiades interprets this of the sons of Aaron, the holy priests of the Lord, whom he slew.

(s) "robore ipsius", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (t) "In fortitudine sua", Pagninus, Montanus; "per virtutem suam", Munster. (u) "mirabilia", Montanus, Polanus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And his power shall be mighty - He shall be a powerful monarch. Though not as mighty as Alexander, yet his conquests of Egypt and other places show that he deserved to be numbered among the mighty kings of the earth.

But not by his own power - That is, it shall not be by any strength of his own, but by the power which God gives him. This is true of all kings and princes (compare Joh 19:11; Isa 10:5, following), but it seems to be referred to here particularly to show that the calamities which he was about to bring upon the Hebrew people were by Divine direction and appointment. This great power was given him in order that he might be an instrument in the Divine hand of inflicting deserved punishment on them for their sins.

And he shall destroy wonderfully - In a wonderful or extraordinary manner shall he spread desolation. This refers particularly to the manner in which he would lay waste the holy city, and the land of Judea. The history in the books of Maccabees shows that this was literally fulfilled.

And shall prosper - Antiochus was among the most successful kings in his various expeditions. Particularly was he successful in his enterprises against the holy land.

And practice - Hebrew, “do.” That is, he shall be distinguished not only for “forming” plans, but for “executing” them; not merely for “purposing,” but for “doing.”

And shall destroy the mighty and the holy people - The people of God - the Jewish nation. See the notes at Dan 8:9-12.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

By. Hebrew: "not to his (Alexander’s) strength." (ver. 22.) Epiphanes conquered Egypt and the Jews: but the former had an infant king, and the latter were unprovided. He shewed more cunning than prowess.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Not by his own power; not by any heroic deeds, or truly regal qualities, but by making use of the Jewish factions, and also through the Divine permission, and commission given him to punish a backsliding, degenerate nation; lastly, by the help of Eumenes and Attalus, by whose means and help he got up to this height; who being kings, suspected the Roman power, and raised him to be a kind of cheek to them.

The holy people; he shall by force, craft, and cruelty destroy many of God’s people, from the highest to the meanest ranks of them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. See Dan_8:12. Not by his own power he shall prosper, and practice (literally, do), and destroy wonderfully (or, by a slight change, utter monstrous things, as Dan_11:36), and afflict “the mighty ones and the people of the saints.” This was permitted not because he was more powerful than Jehovah, but rather because, like Pharaoh, he was being unconsciously controlled by the One who can make even the sin and wrath of man to praise him. As a double meaning is always to be looked for in an apocalyptic description there may also be a reference here to the fact that it was through outside help that he reached the throne and was confirmed upon it. Still other exegetes make prominent the fact that it was not by power but by poison that this crafty king worked his way up to the throne.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. This verse involves many difficulties, grammatical and exegetical. These difficulties may be said to be present in all the versions of this passage. The LXX renders, "And his power shall be confirmed, and not in his strength, and he shall destroy marvellously, and prosper and do, and shall destroy the rulers and people of the saints." Theodotion is so far slavishly close to the Massoretic text; but he seems to have read qodesh, an adjective agreeing with people," instead of qedosheem, saints;" and he omits the negative clause. The Peshitta is very close to the Massoretic. It emphasizes the negative clause by adding denaphsho, and translates wonders" instead of "wonderfully." Jerome, more intent on expressing what is his own interpretation of the passage than on representing- the original, translates the first heel ("power") by fortitude, and the second by viribus suis. That the power of Epiphanes was great greater than that of his brother and immediate predecessor is undoubted. It is also the ease that lie was confirmed in Iris place by the Romans, though, if we are to receive the account of Appian, the direct means of his elevation to the throne was the intervention of Eumenes of Pergamus on his behalf. Thus the reference of the phrase, "not by his own power," may be to this. Little as he might brook the thought, he was but a subject-ally of the great republic. The other interpretations are

(1) that of Theodoret. Keil, Fuller, Havernick. Kranichfeld. and Moses Stuart, that the reference here is to Divine power as setting up Epiphanes to be a scourge to his people;

(2) that of von Lengerke, Kliefoth, Bevan, Behrmann, etc., not by might, but by his cunning;

(3) that of Hitzig, which combines the two his cunning is divinely given;

(4) that of Calvin and Ewald, that the contrast is with the might of Alexander the Great. All of these have something to favour them, but also something against them. There is against the first that there is no reference in the context to the fact, true though it was, that Antiochus was raised up by God for his own purposes. Against the second is the pronominal suffix, which would be needless if the contrast were between force and fraud. Of course, Hitzig"s combination falls with this. Against the view advocated by Calvin and Ewald is the fact that it seems a long time to hold the reference to Alexander in abeyance. Still, it may be urged that the vision was before the prophet; on the other hand, the relative strength of Epiphanes and Alexander does not seem to be of importance. We still think that the real reference is to the fact that he did not attain the throne either by inheritance or by his own prowess, but by the help and authority of others, namely, Eumencs and Rome. And he shall destroy wonderfully. Gratz thinks yasheeth, "destroy," suspicious, and Professor Bevan suggests jyciy, (yaseeh), and would render, "He shall utter monstrous things;" but, unfortunately for his view, there is no hint in the versions of any difficulty as to the reading, and, further, jWc (sooh) does not mean utter," but "meditate." We must take the words as they stand, (comp. Jud_1:13:19) and translate, "He shall destroy portentously." Certainly Epiphanes was to the Jews a portent of destruction; there had not been his like not Nebuchadnezzar, who burned the temple, was to be compared to him who endeavoured to blot out the worship of Jehovah altogether: not any other of the Greek monarchs. He was unique in his enmity against God and his worship. He shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. The rendering of the Revised Version better conveys the sense of the original, "He shall destroy the mighty ones." There has been discussion as to the distinction involved here. Ewald regards the mighty as the three other horns of the ten (Dan_7:8) an interpretation which proceeds in the false identification of the fourth beast with the Greek Empire. Rashi imagines the star-worshippers; this seems the height of caprice. Jephet-ibn-Ali, who identifies the little horn with Mahommed, holds the "mighty" to be the Romans. Keil and Fuller hold it to be the heathen rulers generally. Von Lengerke, Kliefoth, and others maintain it refers to the rich of the holy people, while ("am) are the poor. Hitzig refers it to the three claimants for the crown, whom Antiochus is alleged, on somewhat insufficient evidence, to have overthrown; Behrmann and Zockler, to the political and warlike enemies of Epiphanes, in contrast to the holy people, who were unwarlike. Kranichfeld refers it to the rulers of Israel, as distinct from the people; Calvin to "neighbouring nations." Moses Stuart would render, "great numbers, even the people of the saints;" while Professor Bevan thinks there is an interpolation here, and adopts a reading of Gratz from the LXX for the beginning of the following verse. On the whole, this seemsthe best solution of the difficulty. After Epiphanes had destroyed the "mighty," that is to say, the political enemies he had, the Egyptians, etc., he directed his mind the "people of the saints."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Not by his own power - Not by any heroick deeds, but by making use of the Jewish factions, through the divine commission to punish a backsliding nation; and by means of Eumenes and Attalus, by whose help he got up to this height. Shall destroy - He shall by force, craft, and cruelty, destroy many of God's people.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

In these verses, the angel explains to Daniel the symbolic meaning of the things he saw in his vision. The animals and horns actually represented human rulers or kingdoms. (See: Symbolic Language)

but not by his own power

"but someone else will give him his power"

he will make deceit prosper

Here "deceit" is spoken of as if it is a person who will prosper. AT: "the amount of deception will increase" (See: Personification)

under his hand

Here "hand" refers to his rule. AT: "under his rule" (See: Metonymy)

King of kings

This refers to God.

he will be broken

Here "he" refers to his power. AT: "his rule will end" (See: Metonymy)

not by any human hand

Here "hand" refers to power. This can be also stated in positive form. AT: "not by any human power" or "by divine power" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

power

devastate

holy

deceive

hand

king

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And his power will become strong and not with might but with smooth talk, as is explained at the end of the Book (11:21).

and he will destroy wondrously and with wonder upon wonder, he will destroy.

and he will prosper and accomplish his desire.

and he will destroy the mighty many nations.

and the people of the holy ones Israel, who believe in the Torah.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.