And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most high [places], and think to change seasons and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and a half time.
Commentary for this Verse
Daniel has seen four beasts, and out of the fourth rises a small horn. Here the angel says plainly what that horn will do — against God, against His people, and against their sacred calendar — and how long God will let him do it.
A ruler who defies God
What Daniel hears of him first is not cruelty but blasphemy. One writer traces that back to what the man is inside:
Edward DennettHis moral character comes out next, in the words, "And he shall speak great words against the Most High." Like every person who is not born again, his mind is hostile to God. But in his wild contempt for God he goes further: he dares to stand in open defiance.
Why he attacks God's people
The same writer links hatred of God to hatred of His people, and shows what God allows through it:
Edward DennettAs a result — for whoever hates God must also hate His people — he will "wear out the saints of the high places"… in his bold attempt to wipe the name of God off the face of the earth. So God will let the patience of His people on earth be tested… He allows them to fall at this time into the hands of their enemy for their chastening and purifying. But though their enemy, as Satan's instrument, may sift them, not one single grain of wheat shall fall to the ground.
What "times and laws" are
The phrase sounds vague until you ask what a Jewish reader would have heard in it. One writer ties it to the rebuilt temple and its feasts:
Edward DennettThis little horn will "think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand." By then the Jewish temple will have been rebuilt, though in unbelief, and with it the rules of the law and the various feasts. These are the "times and laws" this king will think to change — that is, to do away with. Their very existence testifies that God exists, whatever the people who keep them are like. That is unbearable to a man who wants to take God's place for himself.
What is handed over — and what is not
Much depends on the small word "they." Two writers read it as the times and laws, not the people:
William KellyThe saints of the Most High were the people the prophet knew and cared about… This wicked power wears out the saints of the high places, and thinks to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand. The saints are not what is given up, for God never hands them over to the enemy. He may let saints be troubled for a while, but He never lets them go. It is the times and laws that are given up for a time.
Another writer measures the trouble and marks off what the enemy can never touch:
W. W. FeredayThe sufferings of God's chosen people during the great tribulation last 1260 days, and Satan could not make it 1261 however much he wanted… "Times and laws" (religious institutions) may be given into his hand, but not God's people.
"Saints of the Most High" — a title about heaven
The word for "Most High" is not the same in both halves of the verse. The one joined to "saints" is plural, and some translations render it "the high places":
J. N. DarbyTwo different words are translated "Most High," one singular and one plural. The plural means "the high (places)."… Here the subject is government only. It is the government belonging by right to the heavens, and to Him who reigns there, that must be owned — in the face of a power that denies it, sets itself up against it, and will own no power but its own on the earth.
The measured length of the trouble
Jewish usage explains the odd phrasing of the time limit:
The Bible TreasuryA "time," it is said, was the word the Jews used for the period from one yearly sacrifice or festival to the next. So it came to mean a year of 360 days. "Times" would stand for two years, and the "dividing of time" for half a year. So we have three and a half years in which this little horn gets his way and stops all Jewish worship.
Writers differ on whether the three and a half years also picture a longer stretch of history:
William KellyComparing the different phrases for the same period in Revelation makes it perfectly certain that three and a half years were meant… there is no objection to allowing a longer application in a general way, as long as the crisis itself is not set aside.
How it ends
The horn's career does not fade away. One event ends it:
J. N. DarbyThe persecutions end with the coming of the Ancient of days and judgment given to the saints.
Summary
- Words first. The horn's course begins in speech against God — open defiance, not just unbelief.
- Then war. Hatred of God becomes hatred of His people; the saints are worn down, yet not one grain of wheat is lost.
- Then worship. What he abolishes is the "times and laws" — the feasts and ritual whose very existence testifies that God is.
- But not the saints. It is the times and laws that are given into his hand. God never lets His own out of His own hand.
- And not for long. A time, times and half a time is three and a half years. God fixed that limit, and it closes when the Ancient of Days comes and gives the kingdom to the saints.