Deeper Reflection
Difficulty in interpreting Scripture existed in New Testament times. Peter found “some things” in Paul’s letters ‒ which were considered as part of “the Scriptures” written “according to the wisdom given to him” by God ‒ “hard to understand” (2 Pet 3:15-16). In view of understanding a difficult passage like Daniel 11:36-45, we will consider some matters for Bible interpretation.“The Bible is the Word of God given in the words of man in history.”⁷⁸ This definition of the Bible shows the dual nature and dual authorship of Scripture: divine – “the Word of God” and human – “the words of man”. The “prophecy of Scripture” was not “made by an act of human will” (2 Pet 1:21a). Production of Scripture was an act of divine will. God was the source and initiator. But God used humans as instruments in this divine revelation. Humans wrote Scripture with “words of man” as “men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Pet 1:21b). The nature of Scripture is such that the human author did not understand certain implications of what he was writing about – implications made by the divine author. Old Testament prophets prophesied about Christ in what they wrote, but they did not understand the prophecies (vv.10-12), which only become clear when God “in these last days has spoken to us in His Son” (Heb 1:1-2). So then, “it is conceivable that Daniel thought he was still describing the climactic king of the north [Antiochus], whom he has been speaking about in verse 21” in Daniel 11:36-45, “but the divine intention may have been much broader”⁷⁹ .

---

⁷⁸ George Eldon Ladd, The New Testament and Criticism (Eerdmans, 1967), 12 ⁷⁹ Tremper Longman, 281