Daniel 7:16-19

7:16 I approached one of those standing nearby and asked him about the meaning ¹  of all this. So he spoke with me and revealed ²  to me the interpretation of the vision: ³  7:17 ‘These large beasts, which are four in number, represent four kings who will arise from the earth. 7:18 The holy ones ⁴  of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will take possession of the kingdom forever and ever.’

7:19 “Then I wanted to know the meaning ⁵  of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others. It was very dreadful, with two rows of iron teeth and bronze claws, and it devoured, crushed, and trampled anything that was left with its feet.

Daniel 12:8

12:8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I said, “Sir, ⁶  what will happen after these things?”

Matthew 13:36

Explanation for the Disciples

13:36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

Matthew 24:15

The Abomination of Desolation

24:15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation ⁷  – spoken about by Daniel the prophet – standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

Mark 4:12

4:12 so that although they look they may look but not see,

and although they hear they may hear but not understand,

so they may not repent and be forgiven.” ⁸ 

Mark 13:14

The Abomination of Desolation

13:14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation ⁹  standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee ¹⁰  to the mountains.

Mark 13:1

The Destruction of the Temple

13:1 Now ¹¹  as Jesus ¹²  was going out of the temple courts, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look at these tremendous stones and buildings!” ¹³ 

Mark 1:10-11

1:10 And just as Jesus ¹⁴  was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens ¹⁵  splitting apart and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹⁶  1:11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my one dear Son; ¹⁷  in you I take great delight.” ¹⁸ 

Revelation 13:18

13:18 This calls for wisdom: ¹⁹  Let the one who has insight calculate the beast’s number, for it is man’s number, ²⁰  and his number is 666. ²¹ 

[7:16]  ¹ tn Aram “what is certain.”

[7:16]  ² tn Aram “and made known.”

[7:16]  ³ tn Aram “matter,” but the matter at hand is of course the vision.

[7:18]  ⁴ sn The expression holy ones is either a reference to angels or to human beings devoted to God.

[7:19]  ⁵ tn Aram “to make certain.”

[12:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “my lord,” a title of polite address.

[24:15]  ⁷ sn The reference to the abomination of desolation is an allusion to Dan 9:27. Though some have seen the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy in the actions of Antiochus IV (or a representative of his) in 167 b.c., the words of Jesus seem to indicate that Antiochus was not the final fulfillment, but that there was (from Jesus’ perspective) still another fulfillment yet to come. Some argue that this was realized in a.d. 70, while others claim that it refers specifically to Antichrist and will not be fully realized until the period of the great tribulation at the end of the age (cf. Mark 13:14, 19, 24; Rev 3:10).

[4:12]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10. Thus parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.

[13:14]  ⁹ sn The reference to the abomination of desolation is an allusion to Dan 9:27. Though some have seen the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy in the actions of Antiochus IV (or a representative of his) in 167 b.c., the words of Jesus seem to indicate that Antiochus was not the final fulfillment, but that there was (from Jesus’ perspective) still another fulfillment yet to come. Some argue that this was realized in a.d. 70, while others claim that it refers specifically to Antichrist and will not be fully realized until the period of the great tribulation at the end of the age (cf. Mark 13:19, 24; Matt 24:21; Rev 3:10).

[13:14]  ¹⁰ sn Fleeing to the mountains is a key OT image: Gen 19:17; Judg 6:2; Isa 15:5; Jer 16:16; Zech 14:5.

[13:1]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[13:1]  ¹² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:1]  ¹³ sn The Jerusalem temple was widely admired around the world. See Josephus, Ant. 15.11 [15.380-425]; J. W. 5.5 [5.184-227] and Tacitus, History 5.8, who called it “immensely opulent.” Josephus compared it to a beautiful snowcapped mountain.

[1:10]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and immediately coming up out of the water, he saw.” The present participle has been translated temporally, with the subject (Jesus) specified for clarity.

[1:10]  ¹⁵ tn Or “sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The same word is used in v. 11.

[1:10]  ¹⁶ sn The phrase like a dove is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descended like one in some sort of bodily representation.

[1:11]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).

[1:11]  ¹⁸ tn Or “with you I am well pleased.”

[13:18]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Here is wisdom.”

[13:18]  ²⁰ tn Grk “it is man’s number.” ExSyn 254 states “if ἀνθρώπου is generic, then the sense is, ‘It is [the] number of humankind.’ It is significant that this construction fits Apollonius’ Canon (i.e., both the head noun and the genitive are anarthrous), suggesting that if one of these nouns is definite, then the other is, too. Grammatically, those who contend that the sense is ‘it is [the] number of a man’ have the burden of proof on them (for they treat the head noun, ἀριθμός, as definite and the genitive, ἀνθρώπου, as indefinite – the rarest of all possibilities). In light of Johannine usage, we might also add Rev 16:18, where the Seer clearly uses the anarthrous ἄνθρωπος in a generic sense, meaning ‘humankind.’ The implications of this grammatical possibility, exegetically speaking, are simply that the number ‘666’ is the number that represents humankind. Of course, an individual is in view, but his number may be the number representing all of humankind. Thus the Seer might be suggesting here that the antichrist, who is the best representative of humanity without Christ (and the best counterfeit of a perfect man that his master, that old serpent, could muster), is still less than perfection (which would have been represented by the number seven).” See G. K. Beale, Revelation, [NIGTC], 723-24, who argues for the “generic” understanding of the noun; for an indefinite translation, see the ASV and ESV which both translate the clause as “it is the number of a man.”

[13:18]  ²¹ tc A few mss (̹¹⁵ C, along with a few mss known to Irenaeus {and two minuscule mss, 5 and 11, no longer extant}), read 616 here, and several other witnesses have other variations. Irenaeus’ mention of mss that have 616 is balanced by his rejection of such witnesses in this case. As intriguing as the reading 616 is (since the conversion of Nero Caesar’s name in Latin by way of gematria would come out to 616), it must remain suspect because such a reading seems motivated in that it conforms more neatly to Nero’s gematria.