The 2300 [actually 2200] Evenings & Mornings of Daniel 8
Nor are we to forget that Josephus seems ever, in his Wars of the Jews, to apply Daniel's Prediction of Time, Times and a Half, Dan. vii. 25. and xii. 7. to the Prophanation by Antiochus, as if it had lasted three Year and Half [...] while he does as often leave off that Application in his Antiquities, x. ii. 7. xii. 7.6. vis. and honestly own, with the original Authors of the two Books of the Maccabees, that such Prophanation continued but three Years only: Which last is also, I think, a remarkable Application of one of Daniel's Prophecies, I mean that of the 1100 Evenings and 1100 Mornings, 2200 in all, Dan. vii. 14. which seems to have been the Number in Josephus's Copy, as Jerom says some would have it in his Time; instead of those 2300 in our MasoretHebrew, in Clem. Alex. in Africanus, in the MS. Alex. and those 2400 in our Vatican Copy. -- William Whiston, Six Dissertations: Dissertation II, London, 1734: p. 126-32
Some authorities read 'two hundred' instead of two thousand 'three hundred' -- Jerome's Commentary on Dan. 8:14
And he answered me, Vnto the euening and the morning, two thousand and three hundreth: then shall the Sanctuarie be clensed. -- Daniel 8:14 Geneva Bible, 1599
And he saith unto me, Till evening--morning two thousand and three hundred, then is the holy place declared right. -- Daniel 8:14 Young's Lit. Trans., 1898
Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said unto that certain one who spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt-offering, and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. -- Daniel 8:14 ASV, 1901
And the rough he-goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.And as for that which was broken, in the place whereof four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but no by his own power; and he shal destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do his pleasure ; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.And through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in their security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. And the vision of the evenings and mornings which hath been told is true: but shut thou up the vision; for it belongeth to many days to come. -- Daniel 8:21-26 [Josephus dates Daniel 8 to 574 B.C., 408 years before the desecration of the altar by Antiochus IV.]
Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side; -- 1 Macc. 1:54, KJV 1611
Now on the five and twentieth day of the ninth month, which is called the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and eighth year, they rose up betimes in the morning, And offered sacrifice according to the law upon the new altar of burnt offerings, which they had made. Look, at what time and what day the heathen had profaned it, even in that was it dedicated with songs, and citherns, and harps, and cymbals. -- 1 Macc. 4:52-54, KJV 1611
So on the five and twentieth day of the month Casleu, which the Macedonians call Apeliens, they lighted the lamps that were on the candlestick, and offered incense upon the altar [of incense], and laid the loaves upon the table [of shew-bread], and offered burnt-offerings upon the new altar [of burnt-offering]. Now it so fell out, that these things were done on the very same day on which their Divine worship had fallen off, and was reduced to a profane and common use, after three years' time; for so it was, that the temple was made desolate by Antiochus, and so continued for three years. This desolation happened to the temple in the hundred forty and fifth year, on the twenty-fifth day of the month Apeliens, and on the hundred fifty and third olympiad: but it was dedicated anew, on the same day, the twenty-fifth of the month Apeliens, on the hundred and forty-eighth year, and on the hundred and fifty-fourth olympiad. And this desolation came to pass according to the prophecy of Daniel, which was given four hundred and eight years before; for he declared that the Macedonians would dissolve that worship [for some time]. -- Josephus, Antiquities XII:7.6
Daniel wrote that he saw these visions in the Plain of Susa; and he hath informed us that God interpreted the appearance of this vision after the following manner: He said that the ram signified the kingdoms of the Medes and Persians, and the horns those kings that were to reign in them; and that the last horn signified the last king, and that he should exceed all the kings in riches and glory: that the he-goat signified that one should come and reign from the Greeks, who should twice fight with the Persian, and overcome him in battle, and should receive his entire dominion: that by the great horn which sprang out of the forehead of the he-goat was meant the first king; and that the springing up of four horns upon its falling off, and the conversion of every one of them to the four quarters of the earth, signified the successors that should arise after the death of the first king, and the partition of the kingdom among them, and that they should be neither his children, nor of his kindred, that should reign over the habitable earth for many years; and that from among them there should arise a certain king that should overcome our nation and their laws, and should take away their political government, and should spoil the temple, and forbid the sacrifices to be offered for three years' time. And indeed it so came to pass, that our nation suffered these things under Antiochus Epiphanes, according to Daniel's vision, and what he wrote many years before they came to pass. In the very same manner Daniel also wrote concerning the Roman government, and that our country should be made desolate by them. -- Josephus, Antiquities X:11.7
I did a thorough count of the calendar and here is what I have found and invite you to research on your own. In accordance with Jerome's witness that some of the ancient manuscripts read 2,200 evenings and mornings, along with the witness and time-lines of Maccabees and Josephus, it becomes clear that the first century reading of this text was 2,200 evenings and mornings. If one traces the days from 15 Kislev of 166 B.C. (according to Maccabees) all the way to 24 Kislev of 163 B.C., the day before the first Feast of Dedication, you will arrive at exactly 1,100 Hebrew days, making up 1,100 morning sacrifices and 1,100 evening sacrifices missed during the abomination of desolation of Antiochus Epiphanes. This is from Jan. 2 (Kislev 15, 3595) 166 B.C. -- Jan. 7 (Kislev 24, 3598) 163 B.C. This not only proves that 1) Maccabees and 2) Josephus agree with 3) Jerome's early witness concerning 2,200 evening-morning being the true and right reading, but it also confirms that 4) our Hebrew calendar is accurate and is the same calendar being used in Maccabees and Josephus. And if it is the same calendar as was used by this priestly class, then it came directly from 5) Ezra the Scribe & Priest during the post-babylonian restoration and is the true Hebrew calendar--de facto.
2400, 2300, or 2200 in Daniel 8:14?
What is the reason for the divergent texts of the Septuagint and
Massoretic in Daniel 8:14? For the Massoretic text reads:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י עַ֚ד עֶ֣רֶב בֹּ֔קֶר אַלְפַּ֖יִם וּשְׁלֹ֣שׁ מֵאֹ֑ות וְנִצְדַּ֖ק קֹֽדֶשׁ׃ [And he said, Until evening plus morning is two thousand and three hundred, then shall the sanctuary be vindicated. -- Daniel 8:14, MT]
While the older Septuagint reads:
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ἕως ἐσπέρας καὶ πρωΐ ἡμέραι δισχίλιαι καὶ τετρακόσιαι, καΙ καθαρισθήσεται τδ άγιον.-- Daniel 8:14, Vetus Testamentum Graecum Juxta LXX, 1840. [And he said to him, Evening and morning there shall be two thousand and four hundred days; and then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.] -- Daniel 8:14, LXX, Sir Brenton, 1851]
And yet both Josephus and Maccabees are making a count of 2200 evenings and mornings, agreeing with Jerome's statement that some of his Hebrew texts read 2200 instead of 2300.
So what has happened here? It is easily explained as being a scribal duplication of the Hebrew word for 200 (מאתיים) in the copy of the text that was being used to translate the Septuagint. This proves that the original number was in fact 200 (מאתיים). The text without the scribal error of duplication would have been as follows:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י עַ֚ד עֶ֣רֶב בֹּ֔קֶר אלפיים וּמאתיים וְנִצְדַּ֖ק קֹֽדֶשׁ׃
Thus, the translators of the Septuagint in Alexandria would have naturally turned 'two thousand and two hundred and two hundred' into 2,400. The translation addition of 'days' in the Septuagint was simply a translation gloss and not a part of the original document being translated.
It is curious too that אַלְפַּ֖יִם appears in the plural of 1000 and simply means 'thousands' instead of the regular expression in the Hebrew duel number form for two-thousand (אלפיים) that would be expected in this expression. This is strange and worth noting. I propose that in the original text it in fact did read as אלפיים. The original reading that the Septuagint translators were working from most probably then read as follows with both 1000 and 100 in the duel form (signifying 1100 evening offerings and 1100 morning offerings) equaling 2000 and 200, yet with a scribal duplication error totaling 2400:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י עַ֚ד עֶ֣רֶב בֹּ֔קֶר אלפיים וּמאתיים וּמאתיים וְנִצְדַּ֖ק קֹֽדֶשׁ׃
However, when the Massoretes came to this portion of the text, they would have met with a debate and a conundrum. For they knew that some of the texts only had one occasion of מאתיים while others had two. How to resolved the problem without offending everyone? By changing it to read exactly as a happy compromise between the two -- 2,300 (וּשְׁלֹ֣שׁ מֵאֹ֑ות). Later versions and texts of the Septuagint were made to read as "καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ · ἕως ἐσπέρας καὶ πρωΐ ἡμέραι δισχίλιαι καὶ τριακόσιαι [three hundred]" to make them agree with the later MT.
Thus, the entirety of the current Massoretic text of Daniel 8:14 appears to have been a compromise based upon a confusion over a scribal error of word duplication, and it can be easily seen as being such. The correct and original reading can be vindicated to be 2200 (אלפיים וּמאתיים), and therefore the restored text should appear and be rendered as follows:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י עַ֚ד עֶ֣רֶב בֹּ֔קֶר אלפיים וּמאתיים וְנִצְדַּ֖ק קֹֽדֶשׁ׃ [And he said, Until evening plus morning is two-thousand and two-hundred, then shall the sanctuary be vindicated. -- Daniel 8:14]
Nor are we to forget that Josephus seems ever, in his Wars of the Jews, to apply Daniel's Prediction of Time, Times and a Half, Dan. vii. 25. and xii. 7. to the Prophanation by Antiochus, as if it had lasted three Year and Half [...] while he does as often leave off that Application in his Antiquities, x. ii. 7. xii. 7.6. vis. and honestly own, with the original Authors of the two Books of the Maccabees, that such Prophanation continued but three Years only: Which last is also, I think, a remarkable Application of one of Daniel's Prophecies, I mean that of the 1100 Evenings and 1100 Mornings, 2200 in all, Dan. vii. 14. which seems to have been the Number in Josephus's Copy, as Jerom says some would have it in his Time; instead of those 2300 in our MasoretHebrew, in Clem. Alex. in Africanus, in the MS. Alex. and those 2400 in our Vatican Copy. -- William Whiston, Six Dissertations: Dissertation II, London, 1734: p. 126-32
Some authorities read 'two hundred' instead of two thousand 'three hundred' -- Jerome's Commentary on Dan. 8:14
And he answered me, Vnto the euening and the morning, two thousand and three hundreth: then shall the Sanctuarie be clensed. -- Daniel 8:14 Geneva Bible, 1599
And he saith unto me, Till evening--morning two thousand and three hundred, then is the holy place declared right. -- Daniel 8:14 Young's Lit. Trans., 1898
Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said unto that certain one who spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt-offering, and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. -- Daniel 8:14 ASV, 1901
And the rough he-goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.And as for that which was broken, in the place whereof four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but no by his own power; and he shal destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do his pleasure ; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.And through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in their security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. And the vision of the evenings and mornings which hath been told is true: but shut thou up the vision; for it belongeth to many days to come. -- Daniel 8:21-26 [Josephus dates Daniel 8 to 574 B.C., 408 years before the desecration of the altar by Antiochus IV.]
Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side; -- 1 Macc. 1:54, KJV 1611
Now on the five and twentieth day of the ninth month, which is called the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and eighth year, they rose up betimes in the morning, And offered sacrifice according to the law upon the new altar of burnt offerings, which they had made. Look, at what time and what day the heathen had profaned it, even in that was it dedicated with songs, and citherns, and harps, and cymbals. -- 1 Macc. 4:52-54, KJV 1611
So on the five and twentieth day of the month Casleu, which the Macedonians call Apeliens, they lighted the lamps that were on the candlestick, and offered incense upon the altar [of incense], and laid the loaves upon the table [of shew-bread], and offered burnt-offerings upon the new altar [of burnt-offering]. Now it so fell out, that these things were done on the very same day on which their Divine worship had fallen off, and was reduced to a profane and common use, after three years' time; for so it was, that the temple was made desolate by Antiochus, and so continued for three years. This desolation happened to the temple in the hundred forty and fifth year, on the twenty-fifth day of the month Apeliens, and on the hundred fifty and third olympiad: but it was dedicated anew, on the same day, the twenty-fifth of the month Apeliens, on the hundred and forty-eighth year, and on the hundred and fifty-fourth olympiad. And this desolation came to pass according to the prophecy of Daniel, which was given four hundred and eight years before; for he declared that the Macedonians would dissolve that worship [for some time]. -- Josephus, Antiquities XII:7.6
Daniel wrote that he saw these visions in the Plain of Susa; and he hath informed us that God interpreted the appearance of this vision after the following manner: He said that the ram signified the kingdoms of the Medes and Persians, and the horns those kings that were to reign in them; and that the last horn signified the last king, and that he should exceed all the kings in riches and glory: that the he-goat signified that one should come and reign from the Greeks, who should twice fight with the Persian, and overcome him in battle, and should receive his entire dominion: that by the great horn which sprang out of the forehead of the he-goat was meant the first king; and that the springing up of four horns upon its falling off, and the conversion of every one of them to the four quarters of the earth, signified the successors that should arise after the death of the first king, and the partition of the kingdom among them, and that they should be neither his children, nor of his kindred, that should reign over the habitable earth for many years; and that from among them there should arise a certain king that should overcome our nation and their laws, and should take away their political government, and should spoil the temple, and forbid the sacrifices to be offered for three years' time. And indeed it so came to pass, that our nation suffered these things under Antiochus Epiphanes, according to Daniel's vision, and what he wrote many years before they came to pass. In the very same manner Daniel also wrote concerning the Roman government, and that our country should be made desolate by them. -- Josephus, Antiquities X:11.7
I did a thorough count of the calendar and here is what I have found and invite you to research on your own. In accordance with Jerome's witness that some of the ancient manuscripts read 2,200 evenings and mornings, along with the witness and time-lines of Maccabees and Josephus, it becomes clear that the first century reading of this text was 2,200 evenings and mornings. If one traces the days from 15 Kislev of 166 B.C. (according to Maccabees) all the way to 24 Kislev of 163 B.C., the day before the first Feast of Dedication, you will arrive at exactly 1,100 Hebrew days, making up 1,100 morning sacrifices and 1,100 evening sacrifices missed during the abomination of desolation of Antiochus Epiphanes. This is from Jan. 2 (Kislev 15, 3595) 166 B.C. -- Jan. 7 (Kislev 24, 3598) 163 B.C. This not only proves that 1) Maccabees and 2) Josephus agree with 3) Jerome's early witness concerning 2,200 evening-morning being the true and right reading, but it also confirms that 4) our Hebrew calendar is accurate and is the same calendar being used in Maccabees and Josephus. And if it is the same calendar as was used by this priestly class, then it came directly from 5) Ezra the Scribe & Priest during the post-babylonian restoration and is the true Hebrew calendar--de facto.
2400, 2300, or 2200 in Daniel 8:14?
What is the reason for the divergent texts of the Septuagint and
Massoretic in Daniel 8:14? For the Massoretic text reads:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י עַ֚ד עֶ֣רֶב בֹּ֔קֶר אַלְפַּ֖יִם וּשְׁלֹ֣שׁ מֵאֹ֑ות וְנִצְדַּ֖ק קֹֽדֶשׁ׃ [And he said, Until evening plus morning is two thousand and three hundred, then shall the sanctuary be vindicated. -- Daniel 8:14, MT]
While the older Septuagint reads:
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ἕως ἐσπέρας καὶ πρωΐ ἡμέραι δισχίλιαι καὶ τετρακόσιαι, καΙ καθαρισθήσεται τδ άγιον.-- Daniel 8:14, Vetus Testamentum Graecum Juxta LXX, 1840. [And he said to him, Evening and morning there shall be two thousand and four hundred days; and then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.] -- Daniel 8:14, LXX, Sir Brenton, 1851]
And yet both Josephus and Maccabees are making a count of 2200 evenings and mornings, agreeing with Jerome's statement that some of his Hebrew texts read 2200 instead of 2300.
So what has happened here? It is easily explained as being a scribal duplication of the Hebrew word for 200 (מאתיים) in the copy of the text that was being used to translate the Septuagint. This proves that the original number was in fact 200 (מאתיים). The text without the scribal error of duplication would have been as follows:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י עַ֚ד עֶ֣רֶב בֹּ֔קֶר אלפיים וּמאתיים וְנִצְדַּ֖ק קֹֽדֶשׁ׃
Thus, the translators of the Septuagint in Alexandria would have naturally turned 'two thousand and two hundred and two hundred' into 2,400. The translation addition of 'days' in the Septuagint was simply a translation gloss and not a part of the original document being translated.
It is curious too that אַלְפַּ֖יִם appears in the plural of 1000 and simply means 'thousands' instead of the regular expression in the Hebrew duel number form for two-thousand (אלפיים) that would be expected in this expression. This is strange and worth noting. I propose that in the original text it in fact did read as אלפיים. The original reading that the Septuagint translators were working from most probably then read as follows with both 1000 and 100 in the duel form (signifying 1100 evening offerings and 1100 morning offerings) equaling 2000 and 200, yet with a scribal duplication error totaling 2400:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י עַ֚ד עֶ֣רֶב בֹּ֔קֶר אלפיים וּמאתיים וּמאתיים וְנִצְדַּ֖ק קֹֽדֶשׁ׃
However, when the Massoretes came to this portion of the text, they would have met with a debate and a conundrum. For they knew that some of the texts only had one occasion of מאתיים while others had two. How to resolved the problem without offending everyone? By changing it to read exactly as a happy compromise between the two -- 2,300 (וּשְׁלֹ֣שׁ מֵאֹ֑ות). Later versions and texts of the Septuagint were made to read as "καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ · ἕως ἐσπέρας καὶ πρωΐ ἡμέραι δισχίλιαι καὶ τριακόσιαι [three hundred]" to make them agree with the later MT.
Thus, the entirety of the current Massoretic text of Daniel 8:14 appears to have been a compromise based upon a confusion over a scribal error of word duplication, and it can be easily seen as being such. The correct and original reading can be vindicated to be 2200 (אלפיים וּמאתיים), and therefore the restored text should appear and be rendered as follows:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י עַ֚ד עֶ֣רֶב בֹּ֔קֶר אלפיים וּמאתיים וְנִצְדַּ֖ק קֹֽדֶשׁ׃ [And he said, Until evening plus morning is two-thousand and two-hundred, then shall the sanctuary be vindicated. -- Daniel 8:14]