The Vision of Daniel 8 : Interpretations from 1700 to 1900

This study attempts to trace the history of the interpretation of the vision of Dan 8, particularly its five animal symbols, the temporal phrase of the 2300 "evening-mornings," and three cultic expressions, from about 1700 to 1900. The main objective is to discover different interpretations, the exegetical and/or historical arguments that were offered, and the approaches that were used. In the period 1700 to 1800, interpreters of the preterist and historicist schools were more involved in the interpretation of Dan 8 than any other school of interpretation. It was in this century that the traditional historicist view of the little horn was challenged. In the period 1800 to 1850, interpreters of the historical-critical school and the futurist school proposed new methods and applied them to Dan 8. Nevertheless, the historicist school remained dominant, at least in England and the United States. It was in this period that historical-critical scholars began to revive a less well known view of the four world empires of Daniel, and historicists became more concerned with the temporal expression of "2300 evening-mornings." In the period 1850 to 1900, the same four schools of interpretation continued to deal with the vision of Dan 8. At the beginning of this period the historical-critical method reached new frontiers. English expositors began to apply it in the interpretation of Daniel. At the end of the century it had many followers in the British territory and it began to be used in the United States. The futurist school also grew in this period, while the historicist school lost some ground due to the lack of a literal and historical fulfillment of certain prophecies and due to the growing inroads of modernism. Concurrently the traditional view of the little horn was revived and the traditional view of the four world empires (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome) continued to be the most popular. In the last chapter certain conclusions and implications regarding the interpretations of the vision of Dan 8, schools of interpretation, and some issues in interpretation are presented.