Daniel 8:10-11

8:10 It grew so big it reached the army ¹  of heaven, and it brought about the fall of some of the army and some of the stars ²  to the ground, where it trampled them. 8:11 It also acted arrogantly against the Prince of the army, ³  from whom ⁴  the daily sacrifice was removed and whose sanctuary ⁵  was thrown down.

Daniel 8:25

8:25 By his treachery ⁶  he will succeed through deceit. ⁷  He will have an arrogant attitude, ⁸  and he will destroy many who are unaware of his schemes. ⁹  He will rise up against the Prince of princes, yet he will be broken apart – but not by human agency. ¹⁰ 

¹ tn Traditionally, “host.” The term refers to God’s heavenly angelic assembly, which he sometimes leads into battle as an army.

² sn 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).

³ sn The prince of the army may refer to God (cf. “whose sanctuary” later in the verse) or to the angel Michael (cf. 12:1).

⁴ tn Or perhaps “and by him,” referring to Antiochus rather than to God.

⁵ sn Here the sanctuary is a reference to the temple of God in Jerusalem.

⁶ tn The Hebrew term has a primary meaning of “skill, insight,” but here it has the connotation “cunning, treachery.” See BDB 968 s.v. שֵׂכֶל, שֶׂכֶל.

⁷ tn Heb “he will cause deceit to succeed by his hand.”

⁸ tn Heb “in his heart he will act arrogantly.”

⁹ tn Heb “in peace.” The Hebrew word used here is difficult. It may refer to the security felt by those who did not realize the danger of imminent attack, or it may refer to the condition of being unaware of the impending danger. The latter idea is reflected in the present translation. See further, BDB 1017 s.v. שַׁלְוָה.

¹⁰ tn Heb “with nothingness of hand.”