The Meaning of Daniel 8:14 Explained

Daniel 8:14

KJV: And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

YLT: And he saith unto me, Till evening -- morning two thousand and three hundred, then is the holy place declared right.

Darby: And he said unto me, Until two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings: then shall the sanctuary be vindicated.

ASV: And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And he said  unto me, Unto two thousand  and three  hundred  days;  then shall the sanctuary  be cleansed. 

What does Daniel 8:14 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Another angel replied, but he replied to Daniel. The answer was primarily for his comfort and for the comfort of his people, the Jews. The angel said that the desecration would last2 ,300 evenings and mornings. Many commentators take this as meaning2 ,300 days (i.e, six years, four months, and20 days) since the Jews described a24-hour day as evening and morning ( Genesis 1:5-31). [1] Others believe it means a total of2 ,300 evenings and mornings (1 ,150 of each), namely, 1 ,15024-hour days (i.e, three years, two months, and10 days). In this case, "2 ,300 evenings and mornings" may mean: 2 ,300 evening and morning sacrifices. This period then may describe the duration of the period when Antiochus did his worst to the temple and the Jews (167-164 B.C.). [2] 1think2 ,300 days are in view-the former view. The Jews followed a calendar that consisted of30 days each month. This, of course, results in a year of360 days, which is five and one quarter days short of a lunar year. They made up the remaining days every few years by inserting another month. [3]
Some interpreters view the2 ,300 as a symbolic number. The problems with this approach are essentially two. First, the other similar numbers in Daniel appear to be literal. Second, arriving at the symbolic meaning of this number is extremely difficult and boils down to guessing. Other interpreters have tried to explain these days as years, but the connection with evenings and mornings probably limits them to days. [4] Seventh-Day Adventists take the days as years and believe that Jesus did not enter the holiest in heaven until A.D1844 , 2 ,300 years after Cyrus issued his decree to rebuild the temple. [5] Perhaps the figure is in days, rather than in months or years, to give the impression of a long, hard duration.
The temple would be restored after2 ,300 days.
"Innumerable explanations have been attempted to make the twenty-three hundred days coincide with the history of Antiochus Epiphanes." [6]
One way to locate the fulfillment is to identify the end of the2 ,300 days, and then work back. But did the angel mean that this period would end with the restoration of the holy place, or that the restoration of the holy place would follow sometime after the end of the2 ,300 days? The text does not provide the answer, but the first Hanukkah in December of164 B.C. may be the Revelation -consecration that the angel predicted. Alternatively, the full restoration of all the sacrifices, and the religious independence of the Jews that came a few months later, may be in view. In either case, the year of restoration was probably164 B.C, or shortly after that.
One literal view is that the2 ,300 days ended with Antiochus" death in November-December of164 B.C. [7] However, the text seems to identify the2 ,300 days specifically with the desecration of the temple and the persecution of the Jews. As far as we know, Antiochus did not take over six years to do those things. Antiochus began his reign in175 B.C, and in169 B.C. he first entered the temple. Some who hold this view identify the beginning of this period as Antiochus" initial entrance into Jerusalem in170 B.C. Others identify it with the murder of the Jewish high priest Onias III in171 B.C. However, there was no abridgement of temple service at those early dates. Antiochus looted the temple in170 B.C, but the abolition of the sacrifices did not begin until167 B.C. 1 Maccabees 6:8-13 records Antiochus" comments, just before his death, about failing to destroy the Jews.
Walvoord considered2 ,300 "obviously a round number." [8] But other scholars have questioned why this is so obvious.
Regardless of how one solves the2 ,300 evenings and mornings problem, there is general agreement among the scholars that Antiochus fulfilled this prophecy. I believe the2 ,300 days was a period of persecution during his domination of the Jews, perhaps167-164 B.C.
"A persecutor of the Jews in Russia asked a Jew what he thought the outcome would be if the wave of persecutions continued. The Jew answered, "The result will be a feast! Pharaoh tried to destroy the Jews, but the result was the Passover. Haman attempted to destroy the Jews, but the result was the Feast of Purim. Antiochus Epiphanes tried to destroy the Jews, but the result was the Feast of Dedication."" [9]

Context Summary

Daniel 8:1-14 - God's Sanctuary Dishonored
Shushan was the lily palace. There, by the river Ulai, the prophet beheld in vision the attack which would subsequently be made on the Medo-Persian kingdom by Alexander. The great horn which was broken is, of course, Alexander, and the four notable ones are his four generals, who after his death divided up his conquests. The little horn is referred by many to Antiochus, whose conflict with the Maccabees was one of the most significant in later Jewish history. Others refer it to Mohammed and his followers, who have reigned over the same regions. In this case the little horn would stand for the Eastern apostasy as distinguished from the Western, which is said to be represented by the little horn of the fourth beast, Daniel 7:8. The Books of the Maccabees, included in the Apocrypha, should be studied to understand more clearly what is intended in Daniel 8:11-12. The explanation of these obscure verses is also given in Daniel 8:24-25. Antiochus was obsessed with hatred against the spiritual worship of the Jews, and their refusal to admit his image into the Temple. He stayed their sacrifices, though they were restored for a season, to be finally suspended during the present age. The day for a year system, Daniel 8:14, may refer to the desolations of the Turkish or Ottoman empire, of which Antiochus was the representative. [source]

Chapter Summary: Daniel 8

1  Daniel's vision of the ram and he goat
13  The two thousand three hundred days of the suspension of the daily sacrifice
15  Gabriel comforts Daniel, and interprets the vision

What do the individual words in Daniel 8:14 mean?

and he said to me for evenings days two thousand and three hundred then shall be cleansed the sanctuary
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י עַ֚ד עֶ֣רֶב בֹּ֔קֶר אַלְפַּ֖יִם וּשְׁלֹ֣שׁ מֵא֑וֹת וְנִצְדַּ֖ק קֹֽדֶשׁ

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר  and  he  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
אֵלַ֔י  to  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
עֶ֣רֶב  evenings 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֶרֶב  
Sense: evening, night, sunset.
בֹּ֔קֶר  days 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בֹּקֶר 
Sense: morning, break of day.
אַלְפַּ֖יִם  two  thousand 
Parse: Number, md
Root: אֶלֶף 
Sense: a thousand.
וּשְׁלֹ֣שׁ  and  three 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Number, feminine singular construct
Root: מִשְׁלֹשׁ 
Sense: three, triad.
מֵא֑וֹת  hundred 
Parse: Number, feminine plural
Root: מֵאָה 
Sense: hundred.
וְנִצְדַּ֖ק  then  shall  be  cleansed 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Nifal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: צָדַק  
Sense: to be just, be righteous.
קֹֽדֶשׁ  the  sanctuary 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: קֹדֶשׁ  
Sense: apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness.