THE LAST KING | yomelyah.com

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Is he the last king?

(Daniel 8:23-25)

The prophecy of Daniel announced, 200 years before his advent, the reign of Alexander the Great

FOREWORD

This title, with a question, shows that the examination of this prophecy will be done by a meticulous examination of the events that will follow his second enthronement. History is made up of two main groups of events, those that have long-term effects and those that have only anecdotal value. Bible prophecy, especially Daniel's, relates primarily to historical events with long-term effects. This is why the historical-prophetic biblical narrative is often very stripped down or simplified. For example, in the prophecy mentioned below (Daniel 8:8,21,22), regarding the advent of Alexander the Great, there is no mention of his succession from one of his sons, but rather the fact that four of his generals have divided all of his conquests. In absolute terms, “Philip III, his mentally deficient half-brother, and Alexander IV, his posthumous son, are proclaimed Kings of Macedonia”, but as the same article mentions, these reigns were only “fictitious”.

Regarding the advent of the “last king” mentioned in Daniel (8:23-25), the events that took place for four years after the temporary succession of the outgoing “king” seemed, at first time, to go against the explanations given below. It was therefore appropriate to take a step back and wait some time (four years) to see the whole turn of events. The predecessor “king” mentioned in the article had not acknowledged his “defeat”. The outgoing “king” did not at all look like the description in Daniel 8:23, unlike the one who has just been re-elected. In the wait (of four years) for a major event that finally occurred, the biblical article, below, concerning the “last king”, had remained unchanged. The “last king” mentioned in Daniel 8:23-25, must appear shortly before the “great tribulation” (Daniel 12:1). It will be appropriate to observe his behavior to see if his actions will continue to be in line with the description of Daniel 8:23-25… Of course, the careful observation of this prophecy will be done in parallel with that of the end of the prophecy of the king of the north and the king of the south, focusing on the events in the Middle East (Daniel 11:40-12:1). There will also be, simultaneously, the observation of the prophecy of Gog of Magog (Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39), as well as other prophecies…

The prophecy of Daniel announced, 200 years before his advent, the reign of Alexander the Great

"Then the male goat exalted itself exceedingly, but as soon as it became mighty, the great horn was broken; then four conspicuous horns came up instead of the one, toward the four winds of the heavens. (...) The hairy male goat stands for the king of Greece; and the great horn that was between its eyes stands for the first king. As for the horn that was broken, so that four stood up instead of it, there are four kingdoms from his nation that will stand up, but not with his power"

(Daniel 8:8,21,22)

The writing of the book of Daniel was completed around 536 BCE. Alexander the Great was born in 356 BCE. In 336 BCE, he began his reign. He died very young, in 323 BCE: "the great horn was broken". The prophecy suggests that none of his sons would inherit his kingdom. He had two sons: Alexandre Aigos and Héraclès. The two sons were murdered and therefore did not succeed their father. According to the prophecy, after the death of Alexander the great, the whole of the territories conquered by him were divided into four, between 4 of his generals: Seleucus Nicator taking Mesopotamia and Syria; Cassander, Macedonia and Greece; Ptolemy Lagus, Egypt and Palestine; and Lysimachus, Thrace and Asia Minor: "As for the horn that was broken, so that four stood up instead of it, there are four kingdoms from his nation that will stand up, but not with his power".

The particularity of the prophecy of Daniel chapter 8 is that it describes the succession of world powers by designating two kings who have marked the History: Two hundred years before his advent, it announced the arrival of Alexander the Great, who Hellenized the world (8: 8,21). And this Hellenization has an impact until today by what is designated (by historians) as late antiquity "Greco-Roman". This same prophecy announced (indirectly) that none of the sons of Alexander the Great would inherit his kingdom, but would be divided in four parts (Daniel 8:8,22). And indeed, after the premature death at 32 years (broken horn) of Alexander the Great, the kingdom has been divided among four of his generals. However, the particularity of the prophecy of Daniel chapter 8, is that it describes the face and the general behavior of the last king of the last world power, coming from this Hellenistic world power, who will face the Heavenly King Jeus Christ during the Great Tribulation to come.

The prophecy of Daniel announced, more than 2500 years before the advent of the last king of the last world power, by the description of the physical expression of his face and his general behavior

It is not over...

THE FACE OF THE LAST KING

“And in the final part of their kingdom, as the transgressors act to a completion, a hard-faced looking king who understands ambiguous sayings will stand up”

(Daniel 8:23)

It is not over...

“a fierce-looking king” (New World Translation (2013) ; NIV ; NIVUK ; NLT ; WEB ; YLT)

“He Will Be Stern” (Common English Bible (CEB) ; GW and NOG “Stern-looking” ; TLV)

“fierce countenance” (KJ21 ; ASV ; AMPC ; BRG Bible ; GNV ; LEB ; MEV)

“king will arise Insolent” (Amplified Bible ; HCSB ; ISV ; NASB)

“An arrogant king” (Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) ; JUB)

“king who is dangerous” (Contemporary English Version (CEV))

“bold countenance” (Darby Translation (DARBY) ; ESV ; ESVUK ; NRSV)

“a king of a shameless face” (Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA))

“a cruel king” (Easy-to-Read Version (ERV))

“bold and cruel [fierce/stern-faced] king” (Expanded Bible (EXB) ; NCV)

“a stubborn, vicious, and deceitful king” (Good News Translation (GNT))

“a bold and cruel” (International Children’s Bible (ICB))

“an angry king” (Living Bible (TLB))

“A king will show up, hard-faced” (The Message (MSG))

“a king, impudent” (New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE))

“a rash king” (New English Translation (NET))

“a scary-looking face” (New International Reader's Version (NIRV))

“A king (…) Having fierce features” (New King James Version (NKJV))

“This king will be very proud” (New Life Version (NLV))

“a melech of unyielding countenance” (Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB))

“a king shall rise (up) unshamefast in face” (Wycliffe Bible (WYC))

“ defiance written across his face” (The Voice (VOICE))

The expression translated in the New World Translation of the Bible according “fierce-looking face”, “fierce” comes from the transliterated Hebrew word ‘az.

And according the Strong’s Concordance (H5794), The Biblical Usage (of ‘az) is “strong, vehement, harsh” and the King James Version Translates As “fierce, greedy, mighty, power, roughly, strong”. Word Origin (Etymology) ‘âzaz : The Biblical Usage : “to be stout” (literally or figuratively). King James Version Translates As Harden, impudent, prevail, strengthen (self), be strong.

We can see that among the translations of the Bible, two groups of translations of the Hebrew word (‘az) :

The first group of translation took the literal sense of ‘az, that is, according the Strong’s Concordance: “strong, vehement, harsh”: And in that meaning’s translation we have, among the biblical translations in English (above):

“fierce-looking, fierce, fierce features, stern, dangerous, cruel, angry, hard-faced, scary-looking, unyielding countenance”.

The second group of translation took more in account the etymology of the Hebrew word ‘az that is “to be sout (in figurative sense)” or others expressions in connection with this general meaning that is : “impudent”. And in that meaning’s translation we have, among the biblical translations in English (above):

“Insolent, arrogant, bold, stubborn, impudent, rash, very proud, unshame”.

And there is a little third group of translators which took both sense of the Hebrew word “az”:

“bold and cruel [fierce/stern-faced] king” (Expanded Bible (EXB) ; NCV)

“a bold and cruel” (International Children’s Bible (ICB))

The purpose of this Bible’s translation seems to be, to give an “expanding” understanding of the Hebrew word ‘az (the first sense and the Word Origin’s meaning). These two biblical translations show that it is important to do the right choice in the translation, to have a true idea of his face: has the face of the last king a fierce-looking or an arrogant-looking”? Both expressions are different; the direct context of the expression is giving the right way of the translation of this expression: First what it is written regarding his behavior in the same verse 23, after the brief description of the looking of his face.

“Skilled in intrigue and cunning”...

THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE LAST KING

He will not stop there...

“understands ambiguous sayings” (New World Translation (2013))

“understanding dark sentences” (21st Century King James Version (KJ21) ; ASV ; BRG ; DRA ; GNV ; WEB).

“skilled in intrigue and cunning” (Amplified Bible (AMP))

“understanding dark trickery and craftiness” (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC))

“a master of deception” (Common English Bible (CEB))

“skilled in intrigue” (Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) ; HCSB ; MEV ; NABRE ; NASB ; NRSV)

“cannot be trusted” (Contemporary English Version (CEV))

“understanding riddles” (Darby Translation (DARBY) ; ESV ; RSV)

“will be very tricky” (Easy-to-Read Version (ERV))

“king who ·tells lies” (Expanded Bible (EXB))

“king who understands mysterious things” (GOD’S WORD Translation (GW))

“vicious, and deceitful king” (Good News Translation (GNT))

“This king will tell lies” (International Children’s Bible (ICB) ; NCV)

“proficient at deception” (International Standard Version (ISV))

“expert in enigmas” (Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB))

“skilled in riddles” (Lexham English Bible (LEB))

“great shrewdness and intelligence.” (Living Bible (TLB))

“a master trickster” (The Message (MSG))

“king who understands mysterious things” (Names of God Bible (NOG))

“deceitful king” (New English Translation (NET))

“He will be a master at making clever plans” (New International Reader's Version (NIRV))

“a master of intrigue” (New International Version (NIV) ; NLT ; TLV)

“Who understands sinister schemes” (New King James Version (NKJV))

“will understand secret things” (New Life Version (NLV))

“mastering intrigues” (Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB))

“expert in riddles and ruses” (The Voice (VOICE))

“understanding propositions, either reasons set forth” (Wycliffe Bible (WYC))

“understanding hidden things” (Young's Literal Translation (YLT))

In this more than 40 translations of the Bible, there is also, two great groups of tendencies of translation: The first group has made a literal translation of the Hebrew Word (transliterated) “chîydâh”: this king can understand, ambiguous sayings, dark sentences, riddles, mysterious things, enigmas. Effectively according the Hebrew’s Strong Dictionary, the Hebrew word (transliterated)’s definition of “chîydâh”: a puzzle, conundrum, sententious maxim.

The second group of biblical translation made a figurative translation of Daniel 8:23, according the prophetic description of this last king as: skilled in intrigue and cunning, trickery and craftiness, deception, intrigue and so on… These “interpretative” translations presents this expression of understanding the riddles, sentencious maxim (“chîydâh”), as "a trick” (according the Strong Dictionary): master of intrigue, someone who has insight in hidden situations. Also two French translations of the Bible, from the Hebrew text, translate in the same way of description “expert into the guiles” (versé dans les ruses (traduction juive de Samuel Cahen, 1831)), “expert in tricks” (expert en astuces (Traduction du rabbinat (Zadoc Kahn, 1902). In that case, these Jewish translations, translate the Hebrew word “chîydâh” by the french words (translated in English) “guiles, tricks”.

So, the general looking-face and behavior is this: An impudent, arrogant and fierce-looking king who is at the same time expert in tricks (Daniel 8:23. Bible). Is this general description of this special last king in harmony with the direct context of the prophecy of Daniel? Yes it is, for example en Daniel 7:20, according the big horn (king of United States of America), it is written that it has “a mouth speaking arrogantly”. The same great aspect of this Last King, he is an arrogant king.

A Mightly Last King Causing Ruin

And his power must become mighty, but not by his own power. And in a wonderful way he will cause ruin, and he will certainly prove successful and do effectively

"And his power must become mighty, but not by his own power. And in a wonderful way he will cause ruin, and he will certainly prove successful and do effectively. And he will actually bring mighty ones to ruin, also the people made up of the holy ones. And according to his insight he will also certainly cause deception to succeed in his hand. And in his heart he will put on great airs, and during a freedom from care he will bring many to ruin"

(Daniel 8:24,25)

The Last King will quickly show who he really is. The Last King is described as having a great power which does not come from him, but at his disposal. The Last King is using, and he will continue to use this extraordinary power to wreak more havoc and worldwide destruction. The action of the Last King is and will be extremely effective, even against the "mighty ones" of this world. The Last King will not hesitate to be part of the worldwide coalition of Gog of Magog in order to continue to attack "the holy ones": "And he will actually bring mighty ones to ruin, also the people made up of the holy ones". His success and his extraordinary power to cause destruction, like a god, will go to his head (THE TWO KINGS ; GOG OF MAGOG).

Against The Prince Of Princes He Will Stand Up

And against the Prince of princes he will stand up, but it will be without hand that he will be broken

“And against the Prince of princes he will stand up, but it will be without hand that he will be broken”

(Daniel 8:25)

Verse 25 seems to be a repetition of verse 24. So, when it is written (at the end of verse 25) that the last king will stand up against the Prince of princes, that means (according to the end of verse 24), when he will want to exterminate the people of the "holy ones", he "will stand up against the Prince of princes". Besides, in a parallel prophecy of Daniel 12:1, regarding the time of the great tribulation, it is written this: "During that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of your people" (Daniel 12: 1). In the time when the last king will stand up against the Prince of princes, Michael, the Prince of princes, the King Jesus Christ, will stand up, in behalf of the holy ones, the People of God: "He will be broken without human hand" (Daniel 8:25).

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