Who are the "two holy ones" speaking in Daniel 8:13? Immediate Context of Daniel 8:13 “Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the speaker, ‘How long will the vision of the regular sacrifice apply, and the rebellion that causes desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled?’ ” Canonical Comparisons 1. Daniel 4:13, 17, 23 – “…a watcher, a holy one, came down…” . Angels appear in pairs delivering and interpreting divine decrees. 2. Daniel 9:21 – “while I was still in prayer, Gabriel…came to me in swift flight.” The pattern: Daniel sees a vision, then hears/receives an angelic dialog explaining its duration. 3. Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1 – Michael named alongside another dazzling figure. Again, a conversation between two heavenly beings precedes an answer to “how long?” (Daniel 12:6). 4. Zechariah 1:9–13; 6:4–5 – Multiple angels interact over God’s timetable for Jerusalem. These parallels sustain the simplest identification: two angels conversing for Daniel’s benefit. Historical Jewish and Christian Interpretation Second-Temple literature (1 Enoch 12–16, Jubilees 4:15) consistently equates “holy ones” with angels. Early Church Fathers follow suit: • Hippolytus, Commentary on Daniel (I.15), names them “watching angels.” • Jerome (Commentarii in Danielem, 8.13) identifies Gabriel as the respondent, and an unnamed angel as the inquirer. Specific Angelic Candidates within Daniel Gabriel is explicitly introduced in 8:16; Michael appears in 10:13 and 12:1. This yields two conservative possibilities: 1. Gabriel + Unnamed Angel: • 8:15-16 has Gabriel dispatched after the dialogue; he may well be the respondent. • Pattern matches Zechariah 1, where an unnamed interpreting angel questions “the LORD of Hosts.” 2. Gabriel + Michael: • When Daniel later asks, “How long?” (12:6), the answer comes from the Man in linen while one angel speaks to another (likely Michael and Gabriel). • The continuity of subject matter (desolation of temple, trampling of host, duration until restoration) supports the same duo spanning chapters 8–12. Rebuttal of Alternate Views A. Saints-in-Heaven Theory – The word “saints” can denote human believers elsewhere (Psalm 16:3), yet Daniel restricts it to angels; no contextual warrant exists for resurrected humans holding explanatory authority before the incarnation. B. Pre-Incarnate Christ + Gabriel – The text reserves theophanic titles (“the Ancient of Days,” “the Son of Man,” “a Man clothed in linen”) for distinct scenes (7:13; 10:5; 12:6). 8:13 lacks such exalted descriptors and instead uses the ordinary “holy one,” a title uniformly angelic. C. Midrashic Personifications (e.g., Zadokites) – No early Jewish source assigns sectarian leaders to Daniel 8; Qumran writers treat the prophecy as still future (11QMelchizedek). Theological Significance 1. Angelic Witness – Divine revelations are delivered “by angels” (Hebrews 2:2). The presence of two speaks to Deuteronomy 19:15: “on the testimony of two or three witnesses a matter is established.” 2. Prophetic Certainty – The question “How long?” underscores that God fixes precise endpoints for judgment and restoration (Daniel 8:14’s 2 300 evenings-mornings). 3. Christological Trajectory – Gabriel, who here announces temple vindication, will later announce Messiah’s coming (Daniel 9:25; Luke 1:26-33), threading together judgment, cleansing, and ultimate salvation through Christ’s resurrection. Practical and Devotional Implications Because angels are “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14), the dialog in Daniel 8:13 invites believers to trust God’s heavenly administration even when earthly events (desecration, persecution) seem overwhelming. The meticulous chronology and the later historical fulfillment in the Maccabean era foreshadow an even greater deliverance inaugurated at the empty tomb (Matthew 28:2-7). Conclusion The overwhelming lexical, contextual, manuscript, and historical evidence identifies the “two holy ones” of Daniel 8:13 as two angelic beings—most plausibly Gabriel and either Michael or another unnamed watcher—conversing to highlight the certainty, heavenly endorsement, and time-bounded nature of God’s redemptive plan. |
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