7:23 “This is what he told me: 1
‘The fourth beast means that there will be a fourth kingdom on earth
that will differ from all the other kingdoms.
It will devour all the earth
and will trample and crush it.
7:25 He will speak words against the Most High.
He will harass 2 the holy ones of the Most High continually.
His intention 3 will be to change times established by law. 4
They will be delivered into his hand
For a time, times, 5 and half a time.
1 tn Aram “thus he said.”
2 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.”
3 tn Aram “he will think.”
4 tn Aram “times and law.” The present translation is based on the understanding that the expression is a hendiadys.
5 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.”