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And in the rebellion, the host and the daily sacrifice were given over to the horn, and it flung truth to the ground and prospered in whatever it did.
Daniel 8:12 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB The army was given over to it together with the continual burnt offering through disobedience; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered.
  • KJV And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
  • NKJV Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered.
  • NASB And because of an offense the army will be given to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will hurl truth to the ground and do as it pleases and be successful.
  • NLT The army of heaven was restrained from responding to this rebellion. So the daily sacrifice was halted, and truth was overthrown. The horn succeeded in everything it did.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Through transgression the host and the daily sacrifice are handed over, and the horn casts truth to the ground and prospers. Wickedness is permitted to flourish for a season.

Overview

The verse notes that the desecration occurs through disobedience, hinting that sin among the people contributed to the calamity, while the horn tramples truth and prospers. God's permission of this evil is real but bounded. The temporary success of the wicked is a recurring biblical test of faith, answered by the assurance that God will soon set things right.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Jer 12:1Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
  • Isa 59:14So justice is turned away, and righteousness stands at a distance. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter.
  • Dan 11:31–36His forces will rise up and desecrate the temple fortress. They will abolish the daily sacrifice and set up the abomination of desolation.
  • 2 Th 2:10–12and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.
  • Rev 13:7Then the beast was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them, and it was given authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation.
  • Dan 11:28The king of the North will return to his land with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant; so he will do damage and return to his own land.
  • Rev 13:11–17Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. This beast had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon.
  • Job 12:6The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure—those who carry their god in their hands.
  • Ps 119:142Your righteousness is everlasting and Your law is true.
  • Ps 119:43Never take Your word of truth from my mouth, for I hope in Your judgments.
  • 1 Sam 23:9When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.”
  • Dan 8:4I saw the ram charging toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no deliverance from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Daniel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Daniel 8:12YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DanielMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.

How Daniel 8:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.