^8:9From one of them came a small horn.²⁸ But it grew to be very big, toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land.²⁹^8:10It grew so big it reached the army³⁰ of heaven, and it brought about the fall of some of the army and some of the stars³¹ to the ground, where it trampled them. ^8:11It also acted arrogantly against the Prince of the army,³² from whom³³ the daily sacrifice was removed and whose sanctuary³⁴ was thrown down. ^8:12The army was given over,³⁵ along with the daily sacrifice, in the course of his sinful rebellion.³⁶ It hurled³⁷ truth³⁸ to the ground and enjoyed success.³⁹

^8:13Then I heard a holy one⁴⁰ speaking. Another holy one said to the one who was speaking, “To what period of time does the vision pertain—this vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the destructive act of rebellion and the giving over of both the sanctuary and army to be trampled?” ^8:14He said to me, “To 2,300 evenings and mornings;⁴¹ then the sanctuary will be put right again.”⁴²

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Footnotes

28 This small horn is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who controlled the Seleucid kingdom from 175–164 B.C. Antiochus was extremely hostile toward the Jews and persecuted them mercilessly.
29 The expression the beautiful land (Heb. הַצֶּבִי [hatsévi] = “the beauty”) is a cryptic reference to the land of Israel. Cf. 11:16, 41, where it is preceded by the word אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”).
30 Traditionally, “host.” The term refers to God’s heavenly angelic assembly, which he sometimes leads into battle as an army.
31 In prescientific Israelite thinking the stars were associated with the angelic members of God’s heavenly assembly. See Judg 5:20; Job 38:7; Isa 40:26. In west Semitic mythology the stars were members of the high god’s divine assembly (see Isa 14:13).
32 The prince of the army may refer to God (cf. “whose sanctuary” later in the verse) or to the angel Michael (cf. 12:1).
33 Or perhaps “and by him,” referring to Antiochus rather than to God.
34 Here the sanctuary is a reference to the temple of God in Jerusalem.
35 The present translation reads וּצְבָאָהּ נִתַּן (utséva’ah nittan) for the וְצָבָא תִּנָּתֵן (vétsava’ tinnaten). The context suggests a perfect rather than an imperfect verb.
36 Heb “in (the course of) rebellion.” The meaning of the phrase is difficult to determine. It could mean “due to rebellion,” referring to the failures of the Jews, but this is not likely since it is not a point made elsewhere in the book. The phrase more probably refers to the rebellion against God and the atrocities against the Jews epitomized by Antiochus.
37 Two medieval Hebrew and the have a passive verb here: “truth was hurled to the ground” (cf. , , ).
38 Truth here probably refers to the Torah. According to 1 Macc 1:56, Antiochus initiated destruction of the sacred books of the Jews.
39 Heb “it acted and prospered.”
40 The holy one referred to here is presumably an angel. Cf. 4:13[10], 23 [20].
41 The language of evenings and mornings is reminiscent of the creation account in Genesis 1. Since “evening and morning” is the equivalent of a day, the reference here would be to 2,300 days. However, some interpreters understand the reference to be to the evening sacrifice and the morning sacrifice, in which case the reference would be to only 1,150 days. Either way, the event that marked the commencement of this period is unclear. The event that marked the conclusion of the period is the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem following the atrocious and sacrilegious acts that Antiochus implemented. This took place on December 25, 165 B.C. The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah each year commemorates this victory.
42 Heb “will be vindicated” or “will be justified.” This is the only occurrence of this verb in the Niphal in the OT. English versions interpret it as “cleansed” (, ), “restored” (, , ), or “reconsecrated” ().

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. It grew great, even to the host of heaven. And some of the host and some of the stars it threw down to the ground and trampled on them. It became great, even as great as the Prince of the host. And the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. And a host will be given over to it together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression, and it will throw truth to the ground, and it will act and prosper. Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?” And he said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land. It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them. It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the army of the Lord; it took away the daily sacrifice from the Lord, and his sanctuary was thrown down. Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.

Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, “How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled—the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, the surrender of the sanctuary and the trampling underfoot of the Lord’s people?”

He said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

From one of them a little horn emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. It grew as high as the heavenly army, made some of the army and some of the stars fall to the earth, and trampled them. It acted arrogantly even against the Prince of the heavenly army; it revoked his regular sacrifice and overthrew the place of his sanctuary. In the rebellion, the army was given up, together with the regular sacrifice. The horn threw truth to the ground and was successful in what it did.

Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the speaker, “How long will the events of this vision last—the regular sacrifice, the rebellion that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and of the army to be trampled?”

He said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be restored.”

NLTNew Living Translation

Then from one of the prominent horns came a small horn whose power grew very great. It extended toward the south and the east and toward the glorious land of Israel. Its power reached to the heavens, where it attacked the heavenly army, throwing some of the heavenly beings and some of the stars to the ground and trampling them. It even challenged the Commander of heaven’s army by canceling the daily sacrifices offered to him and by destroying his Temple. The army of heaven was restrained from responding to this rebellion. So the daily sacrifice was halted, and truth was overthrown. The horn succeeded in everything it did.

Then I heard two holy ones talking to each other. One of them asked, “How long will the events of this vision last? How long will the rebellion that causes desecration stop the daily sacrifices? How long will the Temple and heaven’s army be trampled on?”

The other replied, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the Temple will be made right again.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And from one of them came forth a horn, a little one, and it grew exceedingly toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the beautiful land. And it grew up to the host of heaven, and it threw down to the ground some of the host and some of the stars and trampled them. Even against the prince of the hosts it acted arrogantly and took away from him the regular burnt offering, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown. And on account of transgression, the host was given over to the horn in addition to the regular burnt offering. And it cast down truth to the ground, and it acted, and it had success.

And I heard a certain holy one speaking, and a certain other holy one said to the specific one who was speaking, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, and the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and the host to trampling?” And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings, then the sanctuary will be restored.”

KJV 1900King James Version

And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered. Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

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