How Many Ancient of Days did Daniel See?

The prophet Daniel is given an amazing vision where he sees two distinct glorious divine Persons:

“I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His clothing was like white snow And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with fire, Its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, And the books were opened.” Daniel 7:9-10

“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And came near before Him. And to Him was given dominion, Glory, and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue Might serve (yipelachun) Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not be taken away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14

The New Testament identifies the second divine figure as Jesus Christ:

“But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, ‘I put You under oath by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You yourself said it; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his garments and said, ‘He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; what do you think?’ They answered and said, ‘He deserves death!’’ Matthew 26:63-66 – Cf. 16:27-28; 24:30-31; 25:31-46; 26:1-2; Luke 17:24-25; Acts 7:55-56; Revelation 14:14-16

What makes this interesting is that two ancient Greek versions render the Aramaic of Daniel (the language in which chapter 7 was written) rather differently:

7:13 ἐθεώρουν ἐν ὁράματι τῆς νυκτὸς καὶ ἰδοὺ μετὰ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὡς υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενος ἦν καὶ ἕως (heos) τοῦ παλαιοῦ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἔφθασεν καὶ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ προσηνέχθη

7:14 καὶ αὐτῷ ἐδόθη ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ ἡ τιμὴ καὶ ἡ βασιλεία καὶ πάντες οἱ λαοί φυλαί γλῶσσαι αὐτῷ δουλεύσουσιν (douleusosin) ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτοῦ ἐξουσία αἰώνιος ἥτις οὐ παρελεύσεται καὶ ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ οὐ διαφθαρήσεται (Blue Letter Bible LXX: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lxx/dan/7/1/s_857001)

Here the Son of Man comes TO (heos) the Ancient of Days and is given service (douleo).

Now contrast this with the following version, which scholars typically refer to as the Old Greek (OG):

13 ἐθεώρουν ἐν ὁράματι τῆς νυκτός, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὡς υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἤρχετο, καὶ ὡς (hos) παλαιὸς ἡμερῶν παρῆν· καὶ οἱ παρεστηκότες παρῆσαν αὐτῷ.

14 καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ἐξουσία καὶ τιμὴ βασιλική, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τῆς γῆς κατὰ γένη καὶ πᾶσα δόξα αὐτῷ λατρεύουσα (latreuousa)· καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτοῦ ἐξουσία αἰώνιος ἥτις οὐ μὴ ἀρθῇ, καὶ ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ, ἥτις οὐ μὴ φθαρῇ. (Bible Hub: https://biblehub.com/sepd/daniel/7.htm)

Here the Son of Man comes AS (hos) the Ancient of Days and receives sacred service or divine worship (latreuo), which is more restrictive in scope than douleuo. According to Jesus, only YHWH God is supposed to receive latreuo:

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only (kai auto mono latreuseis).”’” Matthew 4:10 – Cf. Luke 4:8

Now irrespective of the Greek verb used, the context of Daniel 7 shows that the Son of Man is being worshiped as a heavenly divine figure. As the following Evangelical scholars explain:

In the very next chapter, the Aramaic verb segīd is used eleven times in reference to the homage or worship that Daniel’s three friends refused to do toward Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image (Dan. 3:5–18), concluding with Nebuchadnezzar’s acknowledgment that their God had vindicated them for refusing to “serve and worship [yisgedûn, a form of segīd] any god except their own God” (3:28). Likewise, Isaiah uses the Hebrew cognate verb sāgad exclusively for the act of falling down before an idol (Isa. 44:15, 17 [bis], 19; 46:6). The Greek verb proskyneō used in Daniel 2:46 LXX is a broad term used in the Septuagint for both physical bowing before superiors and engaging in worship of deities. By contrast, Daniel 7:14 says that all people will “serve” (Aramaic, yiple ḥûn [pelaḥ]; Greek, latreuousa or douleuousin)²³ the “son of man” figure. The Aramaic verb pelaḥ refers exclusively to religious service, either of the true God (Ezra 7:24; Dan. 6:16, 20; 7:27) or of false gods (Dan. 3:12, 14, 17, 18; of both, 3:28).²⁴ This careful use of language supports the traditional view that Daniel 2:46 is not endorsing Nebuchadnezzar’s act of giving “worship” to Daniel. The astute reader is not supposed to conclude that God approves of worshiping creatures but that even a pagan ruler was forced to acknowledge that the God of Daniel “is God of gods and Lord of kings” (Dan. 2:47).

23. The LXX uses latreuousa, while the Greek translation by Theodotion uses douleuousin. Although a distinction can be made between these two words, they can also be used synonymously. See further, pp. 119–21; see also 701.

24. Cf. Fletcher-Louis, Jesus Monotheism, 197–98. (Robert M. Bowman Jr. & J. Ed Komoszewski, The Incarnate Christ and His Critics: A Biblical Defense [Kregel Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, 202], Part 1: Crown Him with Many Crowns: Jesus’ Divine Honors, Chapter 4: Worship the Lord Your God, p. 102; bold emphasis mine)

And:

Although the Bible does not contain statements that unambiguously present Jesus as the object of the verb latreuō,³⁰ it does closely associate Jesus with God in receiving the religious service that verb expresses. In Revelation 22:3–4, some exegetes think Jesus actually does receive latreuō:

And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. (Rev. 22:3–4 NKJV)

Some commentators think that the singular pronoun “him” (autō) at the end of verse 3 bends grammatical convention (something common in Revelation³¹) to refer to both “God” (the Father) and “the Lamb” (the Son, Jesus Christ). One reason to think so is the fact that both God and the Lamb share a single throne.³² In any case, elsewhere in Revelation the same idea is expressed in other ways. For instance, John speaks of those who have been redeemed “as firstfruits for God and the Lamb” (Rev. 14:4). The “firstfruits” referred to the choice portion of a harvest that was offered to the Lord in sacrifices at the sanctuary under the Mosaic covenant.³³ John also had a vision revealing that those who come to life in “the first resurrection . . . will be priests of God and of Christ” (Rev. 20:6). Since what priests do is to perform religious service, Revelation 20:6 implies that those resurrected saints will “serve” both God (the Father) and the Lamb (Jesus Christ the Son).³⁴

As we pointed out already with regard to the word “worship” (proskyneō), there is an important distinction between a concept and the word or words that are used to express that concept. Since a concept may be expressed using a variety of words, the mere fact that a particular word is not used in reference to Christ does not mean that the concept that word expresses has no reference to Christ.

Ironically, Deuteronomy 6:13, the text that Jesus quoted and to which we have referred several times, is an excellent example of this interpretive principle. Whereas the Hebrew and Greek texts there both use a word that means “fear” (as is reflected in most English versions), the Gospels quote Jesus quoting Deuteronomy using the word proskyneō, which means “worship” (Matt. 4:10; Luke 4:8). This is not a mistake: different words can express the same idea. Worshiping or bowing down before God is a way of demonstrating one’s fear of God or one’s reverence for God.

There are quite a few other verses in the Greek Old Testament that prohibit or condemn “bowing down” (proskyneō) or “serving” (latreuō) other gods or idols, using those specific words (Exod. 20:5; 23:24; Deut. 4:19; 5:9; 8:19; 11:16; 17:3; 29:25; 30:17; Josh. 23:7, 16; Judg. 2:19; 2 Kings 17:16, 35; 21:21; 2 Chron. 7:19; Dan. 3:12, 14, 18, 28 [3:95 LXX]). There are also many examples of these prohibitions and condemnations that do not use latreuō but instead use douleuō, which is also customarily translated “serve” (1 Kings 9:6, 9; 16:31; 22:53; 2 Kings 21:3; 2 Chron. 7:22; 33:3; Jer. 8:2; 13:10; 16:11; 22:9; 25:6). Despite this verbal difference, these statements are talking about exactly the same thing.

The significance of this point for our study of the divine honors due to Jesus Christ is simple: The apostles characterized themselves and Christians in general as “servants” (douloi) of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:1; 1 Cor. 7:22; Gal. 1:10; Eph. 6:6; Phil. 1:1; Col. 4:12; James 1:1; 2 Peter 1:1; Jude 1) and their work as “service” (douleuō) to him (Rom. 14:18; 16:18; Col. 3:24). These texts are not speaking of work done for a mere earthly master. They are speaking of people devoting their lives to Jesus Christ, who is a heavenly, supernatural figure. In short, the Christian life is one of religious commitment, devotion, and service to Christ.

Many if not most people in the West have difficulty grasping the significance of this point for Christology, but Muslims do not. The Qur’an forbids any human being to ask others to be his servants because they should serve only Allah (Q 3:79). True religion means submission (the meaning of Islam) to Allah, the one God, alone. Muslims would not endorse attempts to find some religiously significant difference between worshiping and serving, or between serving described by different words, in order to justify some sort of “relative” or “lesser” worship of Christ. Here again, they see something that many Westerners who deny that Jesus Christ is God do not. This is why Muslims sternly reject divine or even quasi-divine titles and honors for Jesus and insist that he was just Allah’s “servant,” like all other prophets.³⁵

The problem facing Muslims in this regard is that Jesus’ apostles apparently viewed Jesus as much more than a prophet. Paul’s undisputed epistles³⁶ as well as epistles attributed to Peter (2 Peter 1:1)³⁷ and to Jesus’ brothers James and Jude (James 1:1; 2:1; Jude 1, 4)³⁸ indicate that they all viewed themselves as Jesus’ servants and viewed Jesus as their heavenly Lord.

30. As mentioned in the previous chapter (p. 102 n. 23), in Daniel 7:14 LXX, the “one like a son of man” (whom Christians understand from the NT to be Jesus Christ) receives latreuō, but not in the translation by Theodotion, which uses a form of douleuō (a synonym that also means “serve”).

31. See Beale, Book of Revelation, 100–107.

32. On Christ sharing God’s throne, see Part 5.

33. Beale, Book of Revelation, 742.

34. See Costa, Worship and the Risen Jesus in the Pauline Letters, 316–17 n. 18.

35. Ally, Is Jesus God? The Bible Says No, 13–14, 46, 84.

36. A consensus of scholars, Christian or not, considers Paul to be the author of at least seven of the thirteen epistles bearing his name (Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon). Like most evangelicals, we accept all thirteen epistles as Pauline, but a robust case for an early divine Christology can be made from the seven undisputed epistles.

37. Almost all non-conservative scholars think 2 Peter was written decades after Peter’s death. For a strong defense of the apostle Peter as the author of 2 Peter, see Michael J. Kruger, “The Authenticity of 2 Peter,” JETS 42, no. 4 (Dec. 1999): 645–71.

38. By Jesus’ “brothers” we mean that they were Mary’s natural sons (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3; Gal. 1:19; Jude 1). On James and Jude as the authors of the epistles bearing their names, see Douglas J. Moo, The Letter of James, PNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 9–22; Peter H. Davids, The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude, PNTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 8–28. (Ibid., pp. 119-121; bold emphasis mine)

Finally:

“... In any case, since the “one like a son of man” is a heavenly figure, we should understand pelaḥ in Daniel 7:14 to mean religious service or worship. This interpretation is reflected in the Septuagint or Old Greek (OG), which in Daniel 7:14 uses the word latreuousa, a form of latreuō, which everyone agrees refers in the Greek Bible exclusively to religious service given only to God. Crispin Fletcher-Louis rightly remarks, “It is really hard to explain the use of the latreuō in Dan 7:14 if the OG translator does not think that the kind of worship that is normally owed to God will soon rightfully be given to this man figure.”²² In Daniel 7:27, the same version uses a different verb, hypotagēsontai, “shall be subjected,” to translate pelaḥ, perhaps in view of the grammatical ambiguity. Theodotion translates pelaḥ with douleusousin, a different verb meaning ‘shall serve,’ in both Daniel 7:14 and 7:27. Fletcher-Louis is probably right that Theodotion’s use of douleuō is not meant to deny a religious or cultic worship of the son of man figure but is instead a broader term chosen to include “both cultic devotion and political service.’”²³

22. Fletcher-Louis, Jesus Monotheism: Volume 1, 197.

23. Fletcher-Louis, Jesus Monotheism: Volume 1, 198. (Ibid., Part 5: The Lamb upon His Throne: Jesus’ Divine Seat, Chapter 37: The Coming of the Son of Man, pp. 700-701; bold emphasis mine)

What the preceding shows is that there are two Ancient of Days, not just one, and that the one like the Son of Man is fully divine.

Remarkably, Jesus in the Apocalypse of John appears as both the Son of Man and the Ancient of Days:

“Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Yes, amen... Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. And His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters,  and having in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp two-edged sword which comes out of His mouth, and His face was like the sun shining in its power. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not fear; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” Revelation 1:7, 12-18

The Apostle has taken the description of the Ancient of Days and applied to the risen Jesus, obviously because Christ is as old as God the Father since they are co-equal in essence and glory.

Just as remarkable is the prophet Daniel’s use of the Aramaic plural term elyonin (lit. “Highest Ones/Most High”) throughout the same chapter where he sees the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man:

“But the saints of the Highest One (elyonin) will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come... until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was given in favor of the saints of the Highest One (elyonin), and the season arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom... He will speak words against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One (elyonin), and he will intend to make changes in seasons and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time... Then the reign, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One (elyonin); His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve (yipelachun) and obey Him.” Daniel 7:18, 22, 25, 27

Note that “the Highest Ones” of v. 27 receive the same worship that the Son of Man does in v. 14.

This should make it clear that Daniel employed the plural elyonin for the express purpose of identifying both the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man as the Most High who reign over all creation.

Further Reading

The Son of Man Rides the Clouds Pt. 2b