7:25 He will speak words against the Most High.
He will harass 4 the holy ones of the Most High continually.
His intention 5 will be to change times established by law. 6
They will be delivered into his hand
For a time, times, 7 and half a time.
1 sn The expression holy ones is either a reference to angels or to human beings devoted to God.
2 tn Aram “prevailing against” (KJV and ASV both similar); NASB “overpowering them”; TEV “conquered them.”
3 tc In the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate the verb is active, understanding “judgment” to be the object rather than the subject of the verb (i.e., “the Ancient of Days rendered judgment”). This presupposes a different vocalization of the verb ( יְהַב [yÿhav] rather than the MT יְהִב [yÿhiv]).
4 tn Aram “wear out” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NASB, NLT “wear down.” The word is a hapax legomenon in biblical Aramaic, but in biblical Hebrew it especially refers to wearing out such things as garments. Here it is translated “harass…continually.”
5 tn Aram “he will think.”
6 tn Aram “times and law.” The present translation is based on the understanding that the expression is a hendiadys.
7 sn Although the word times is vocalized in the MT as a plural, it probably should be regarded as a dual. The Masoretes may have been influenced here by the fact that in late Aramaic (and Syriac) the dual forms fall out of use. The meaning would thus be three and a half “times.”