The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been spoken is true.This phrase refers to the vision Daniel received, which includes the prophecy of the ram and the goat, symbolizing the Medo-Persian and Greek empires. The "evenings and mornings" likely refer to the 2,300 days mentioned earlier in the chapter (
Daniel 8:14). The assurance that the vision "is true" emphasizes the certainty and divine origin of the prophecy. This aligns with the biblical theme that God's word is trustworthy and will come to pass (
Isaiah 55:11). The historical fulfillment of these prophecies, particularly the rise of Alexander the Great and the subsequent division of his empire, underscores the accuracy of the vision.
Now you must seal up the vision,
Sealing the vision indicates that it is to be preserved and protected for future understanding. In ancient times, sealing a document was a way to authenticate and secure it. This act suggests that the full understanding of the vision was not meant for Daniel's immediate audience but for those in the future who would witness its fulfillment. This concept is echoed inRevelation 22:10, where John is told not to seal up the prophecy because the time is near, contrasting with Daniel's instruction due to the distant nature of the events.
for it concerns the distant future.”
The phrase "distant future" indicates that the events described in the vision would not occur in Daniel's lifetime but would unfold over centuries. This points to the period of the Greek Empire and the subsequent events leading up to the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who desecrated the Jewish temple. The distant fulfillment also suggests a typological foreshadowing of future events, possibly relating to end-times prophecy and the Antichrist, as seen in the broader eschatological themes of the book of Daniel. This dual fulfillment perspective is common in biblical prophecy, where immediate historical events prefigure ultimate eschatological realities.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
DanielThe prophet who receives the vision. He is a key figure in the Old Testament, known for his faithfulness and wisdom.
2.
Vision of the Evenings and MorningsRefers to the prophetic vision Daniel received, which includes symbolic imagery and future events.
3.
Sealing the VisionDaniel is instructed to seal the vision, indicating that its full understanding is reserved for a future time.
4.
Distant FutureThe events described in the vision are not immediate but pertain to a time far ahead, suggesting a prophetic timeline.
Teaching Points
The Certainty of God's WordGod's revelations are true and trustworthy, even if their fulfillment is not immediate.
The Importance of Patience and FaithBelievers are called to trust in God's timing and remain faithful, even when the fulfillment of His promises seems distant.
The Role of Prophecy in Strengthening FaithProphecies serve to prepare and encourage believers, reminding them of God's sovereign control over history.
The Mystery of God's PlanSome aspects of God's plan are sealed and mysterious, requiring humility and trust from believers.
The Call to Diligence in StudyUnderstanding prophecy requires diligent study and reliance on the Holy Spirit for insight.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Daniel 8:26?
2.How does Daniel 8:26 encourage us to trust in God's future plans?
3.What does "seal up the vision" imply about God's timing and revelation?
4.How can we apply the patience shown in Daniel 8:26 to our lives?
5.How does Daniel 8:26 connect with other prophetic visions in the Bible?
6.What role does faith play when understanding prophecies like in Daniel 8:26?
7.What does Daniel 8:26 mean by "the vision of the evenings and the mornings"?
8.How does Daniel 8:26 relate to the prophecy's fulfillment in history?
9.Why is the vision in Daniel 8:26 sealed for the future?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Daniel 8?
11.If the vision was to be sealed “for many days” (Daniel 8:26), why do some interpret it as a prophecy about near-contemporary events rather than an end-times scenario?
12.When will the 2300 days prophecy be fulfilled?
13.What do the seven thunders in Revelation signify?
14.What is the scientific or historical basis for interpreting the '2,300 evenings and mornings' (Daniel 8:14), and why is the meaning often disputed among scholars?What Does Daniel 8:26 Mean
The vision of the evenings and the morningsDaniel 8:26 opens by echoing the earlier statement in verse 14: “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be restored.”
• “Evenings and mornings” point to the daily sacrifices offered twice a day (Exodus 29:38-39). The vision therefore speaks of a literal span of 2,300 sacrifice cycles—1,150 days, a little over three years.
• History shows this timeframe matches the desecration of the Second Temple under Antiochus IV Epiphanes (168–165 BC), yet the vision’s language stretches beyond that event (v. 17 “time of the end”).
• Taking the numbers at face value affirms that God marks history down to exact days (Genesis 1:14;Galatians 4:4 “when the time had fully come”).
that has been spoken is true“The vision … is true.” God stakes His own character on the certainty of what He reveals.
• Scripture consistently declares, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17) and “Every word of God is flawless” (Proverbs 30:5).
• Past fulfillments (the rise of Medo-Persia, Greece, and Antiochus in vv. 20-25) verify the prophecy’s accuracy, giving unshakable confidence that unfulfilled elements will also unfold exactly.
•Revelation 22:6 echoes the same assurance: “These words are faithful and true.”
Now you must seal up the visionGabriel instructs Daniel to “seal” the message.
• Sealing secures and preserves (Jeremiah 32:14), ensuring the prophecy reaches the generations that will need it most.
• The command does not hide truth forever; it reserves it until God’s appointed unveiling—compareDaniel 12:4 “seal the book until the time of the end” withRevelation 22:10 “Do not seal up the words … because the time is near.”
• The preserved scroll stands as a testimony, ready to be opened and believed when unfolding events demand understanding (Amos 3:7).
for it concerns the distant futureThe Hebrew phrase points far beyond Daniel’s lifetime.
• Near fulfillment: the Antiochus crisis assured Israel that God saw their suffering in advance.
• Ultimate fulfillment: language like “time of the end” (v. 17) and parallels to the “abomination of desolation” (Daniel 9:27;Matthew 24:15) propel the vision toward a final Antichrist who will again desecrate a sanctuary and persecute God’s people (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4;Revelation 13:5-7).
• Thus the prophecy serves two horizons—past and future—encouraging vigilance and hope.
summaryDaniel 8:26 assures us that God’s prophetic timetable is precise (“evenings and mornings”), His word completely reliable (“is true”), His revelation carefully preserved (“seal up the vision”), and His purposes extend to the very end of history (“distant future”). Because earlier details have come to pass exactly, we can trust Him for the climactic fulfillment still ahead, living in readiness and confidence that “the vision will certainly come to pass; it will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:3).
(26) The concluding words of the angel are intended to comfort the Jewish Church in the days of her persecution. They teach her that God has foreseen her affliction, that it comes from Him in His love, and that it shall last only for a short while. This promise accounts for the firmness which was exhibited by the saints of the Maccabees, which entitles their faith to a place in the same list of faithful men which contains the names of Abel, Abraham, and Moses (
Hebrews 11:34-38).
Shut thou up.--The revelation is to be kept safe, because the time of fulfilment is far off, and then the comforting words will be needed. Comp.Revelation 22:10, where the opposite counsel is given, "seal it not, for the time of fulfilment is near."
Verse 26. -And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days. The rendering of the LXX. here is, "The vision of the evening and morning was found true, and the vision has been secured for many days."אֲשַׁר נֶאֶמֲר (asher ne'emar) has been readנמצא על, although it is difficult to see the genesis of such a reading from the Massoretic , orvice versa. The LXX. rendering ofסתם ought to be observed - not "shut up," in the sense of being "sealed," but "defended from interference by being secured as with a hedge." Theodotion and the Peshitta agree with the Massoretic text, but haveחתם, construct ofסתם.The vision of the evening and the morning refers to ver. 14. The phrase used. here differs by the insertion of the definite article: but this merely intimates a reference. This statement does not mean that the period indicated by the two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings would end with the death of Antiochus. Certainly, his death occurred in the year following the cleansing of the temple (1 Macc. 6:16). If the writer reckons the beginning of the year according to the Macedonian Calendar, almost a year must have elapsed between the temple-cleansing and the death of Antiochus; but it is the cleansing that is theterminus ad quem, not the death of Antiochus. The pollution of the temple was the event that, of all others, would be trying to the faith and patience of Jewish believers; therefore attention is directed to this. As the beginning of this season of trial is the point to which the whole history of the Greek Empire travels, so the termination of this desecration is the end contemplated.Shut thou up the vision. Certainly the verbsatham means sometimes "to hide;" and it is also certain that it is a characteristic of apocalyptic literature to contain, in the text, elaborate directions fur hiding the vision;e.g. the Apocalypse of Moses. It has been argued that this is a preparation for the publication of Daniel in the age of the Maccabees, so long after the date at which it purports to be written. But there is no description of how the book is to be hidden, as in theAssumption of Moses. Moreover, the translators of the LXX. did not understandsatham as "hide." If it had been hidden, and had been discovered, he would have known and translated accordingly. Then when we turn to the next verse, we find that Daniel himself did not understand the command as meaning that he was to keep the vision secret from his contemporaries; so far from that being the case, one at' his reasons for distress is that no one understood the vision.The vision shall be far many days. That is to say, that a long interval divided the time when the revelation was made from the time of its fulfilment (Ezekiel 12:27); the vision he sees is for many days to come. Before the beginning of the history revealed to Daniel, certainly not many years intervened; but between the days of Belshazzar and those of Antiochus was an interval of approximately four centuries. The Persian Empire rose and fell, and the Macedonian Empire rose and was approaching its fall. At the end of the period, the light of the vision fell most clearly. It was not necessary that Daniel should know the events portrayed to foretell them truly, any more than it was needful that the Second Isaiah should know the exact historical events portrayed so clearly in his fifty-third chapter. Daniel could not fail to know of Persia, and it even did not require more than a knowledge of the past, and ordinary powers of political forecast, to see that Cyrus might, and probably would, found a world-empire. He knew of the Greeks: there were Greeks in the army of Nebuchadnezzar. Moreover, we learn from Herodotus (1:77) that Nabu-nahid Labynetus had made an alliance with Croesus, in order to check the advance of Cyrus. We know from Herodotus (1:26, 27) that Croesus subdued all the Greek cities inAsia Minor. To Daniel, who possibly had favoured this alliance with the Western monarch, the King of Javan would mean, not Alexander the Great, as it means to us, but Croesus. But his hopes that Babylon will be delivered by the help of Croesus are shown to be groundless, by the intimation that it will be "for many days." The intimation that he had made to Belshazzar, of the interpretation of the inscription on the palace wall, did not necessarily, in his mind, militate against the hope that repentance might lead to respite. Daniel may have made use of political expedients to help in the result he wished.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Hebrew
The vision
וּמַרְאֵ֨ה(ū·mar·’êh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4758:Sight, appearance, vision
of the evenings
הָעֶ֧רֶב(hā·‘e·reḇ)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6153:Evening
and the mornings
וְהַבֹּ֛קֶר(wə·hab·bō·qer)
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1242:Dawn, morning
that
אֲשֶׁ֥ר(’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834:Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that
has been spoken
נֶאֱמַ֖ר(ne·’ĕ·mar)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559:To utter, say
is true.
אֱמֶ֣ת(’ĕ·meṯ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 571:Stability, certainty, truth, trustworthiness
Now you
וְאַתָּה֙(wə·’at·tāh)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - second person masculine singular
Strong's 859:Thou and thee, ye and you
must seal up
סְתֹ֣ם(sə·ṯōm)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 5640:To stop up, to repair, to keep secret
the vision,
הֶֽחָז֔וֹן(he·ḥā·zō·wn)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2377:A sight, a dream, revelation, oracle
for
כִּ֖י(kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588:A relative conjunction
it concerns the distant
רַבִּֽים׃(rab·bîm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 7227:Much, many, great
future.”
לְיָמִ֥ים(lə·yā·mîm)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 3117:A day
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OT Prophets: Daniel 8:26 The vision of the evenings and mornings (Dan. Da Dn)
