I am pleased to add a study entitled The Mystery of the Daily: An Exegesis of Daniel 8:9-14. It is a manuscript written by John W. Peters in 1992. I came across this manuscript in 2002 and was immediately immersed in the academic technicality of it, in which I was particularly fascinated by the usage of Hebrew and linguistics used to exegete these verses. As a result of my exposure to this academic paper, I began to study the original Biblical languages because I believed it would unlock truths from the original text which I would not have gotten otherwise from an English translation. Ultimately, the linguistic nature of this manuscript motivated me to commence with Bible translation based on strict grammatical precision, a principle which proved the utmost importance in the correct translation and exegesis of Daniel 8:9-14.
While preterists change and add to the Hebrew text of Daniel 8:9-14 so much in order to force Antiochus IV Epiphanes as the only fulfillment of it, an extremely literal and grammatical translation of these verses with no changes to the Hebrew text shows that Antiochus cannot be the fulfillment at all, but rather the Roman power. Regarding “the continuity” in verses 11, 12, and 13, it is definitely not the erroneous view among preterists which states that “the continuity” refers to the continual burnt offerings which Antiochus took away for 3.5 years, nor is it the popular but misguided view among historicists which states that “the continuity” refers to Christ’s high priestly ministry in heaven. Taking and refining the lead from William Miller and Uriah Smith of the 19th century, Peters shows that “the continuity” is the self-magnifying character of paganism inherent within each pagan kingdom starting with Medo-Persia and ending with the 1st and 2nd phase Roman power. This is evident by the continued use of the Hebrew keyword gadal (to become great) which is applied to each of the four earthly powers. Therefore, while the translations “the continual [burnt offering]” and “the continual [high priestly ministry of Christ]” have no linguistic basis within 8:9-14, the translation “the continuity” with the meaning of self-magnifying character of paganism does within 8:3-14.
After looking at both preterist and historicist commentaries, The Mystery of the Daily currently stands as the best exegesis of Daniel 8:9-14 to date. I strongly recommend all who have an interest in Bible prophecy to read and study this paper in its entirety, because “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10.
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