Daniel 12:6

And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? The Septuagint renderingis, "And I said"—reading אמר instead of יאמר —"to one clothed in fair linen ( βύσσινα ), which is above the water of the river"—the last five words being omitted from the Syriac of Paulus Tellensis—"When, then, shall the end be of these marvels which thou hast told me, and their purification?" The last clause, which does not represent anything in the Massoretic, is due to a confusion between אֶשְׁמַע , with which the next verse begins, and אַשָׁמַם . Theodotion's rendering is, as usual, closer to the Massoretic, "and he said to the man clothed in baddin , who was upon the waters of the river, When shall be the end of those marvels of which thou speakest?" Both the Greek versions insert "of which thou speakest." The rendering of the Peshitta differs slightly, "And they said"—a reading that one would be wishful to adopt if it had any probability in its favour—"to the man clothed in beautiful apparel, who was standing above the waters of the river, Until when shall the end of these things be?" The omission of "wonders" is to be observed. The Vulgate follows the Septuagint in making Daniel the speaker, "And I said to the man clothed in linen, who was standing over the waters of the river, When shall be the end of these marvels?" And one said. Aben Ezra makes this one of the two who spoke. This suggestion is the most natural, only the sentence is singularly abrupt, and favours the idea that there is an omission here. The LXX . and Vulgate, as we have seen, read, "I said. " While the reading is an easy one, it is, as Professor Bevan remarks, against the analogy of Daniel 8:13 . To the man clothed in linen. This man is mentioned in Daniel 10:5 , presumably Gabriel. Which was upon the waters of the river. The reference may be to Daniel 8:16 , where a voice comes to him from between the banks of the river Ulai. Here, not upon the waters of the river Tigris, but over them, was the appearance of the angel Gabriel. How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? One difficulty that strikes one is that there are no wonders foretold. That the rulers of Syria should war against the possessors of Egypt was not a marvellous thing. Professor Bevan, who holds that the marvels referred to are the events foretold, quotes Isaiah 29:14 as a parallel instance, but, though marvels are there mentioned, such marvels that all the wisdom of the wise should fail, etc; yet here nothing is told of the nature of these marvels. Had there been visions of symbolic animals, as in the seventh and eighth chapters, we could have understood these things being spoken of as marvels. The probability, then, is heightened that there have been omissions as well as insertions here. The time contemplated is the end, when judgment and resurrection are passed. It is, in fact, the question of the apostles ( Matthew 24:3 ), "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?"