complete verse (Daniel 8:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Daniel 8:19:

  • Kupsabiny: “and said to me, ‘I am telling you about the last days of God’s punishment to mankind.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I am about to tell you what will happen as a result of God’s anger. This vision shows the end time. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “He said, ‘I will-tell you (sing.) what will-happen in the future when God will-show his anger, for that end time has- already -been-determined.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then he said, ‘I have come here to tell you what will happen because of God being angry. These things will happen near the time when the world will end.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Daniel 8:19

Behold: see verse 15.

What shall be at the latter end of the indignation: the word for indignation refers to God’s outrage against sin, the latter end is literally “in the afterward” and indicates the time when people will be able to see that outrage take effect. In the perspective of the vision, the end of the world is the time when God, in his anger, will punish human beings for their sins. This will be followed by the restoration of the people of God, who will be reconciled with their creator and master after having received their own chastisement. New Revised Standard Version translates “what shall take place later in the period of wrath.”

Appointed: this element seems to be missing from Good News Translation but it is important. Appointed time is one word in the Hebrew, often used for fixed dates on a calendar, as for regular feast days, for example. Thus the time of the end of the persecutions is already fixed and definite. Knox reads “be sure the end for them is fixed.”

Pertains to: this Revised Standard Version rendering carries the same meaning as the preposition “for” in verse 17. The whole clause may then be rendered “the vision refers to the time of the end, which God has already established.”

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René & Ellington, John. A Handbook on Daniel. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .