Does “many” mean some dead are never raised?
Not necessarily. Hebrew “many” can describe the great multitude divided into two destinies. Other passages explicitly teach a resurrection of both righteous and wicked.
DANIEL 12 — THE TIME OF TROUBLE, RESURRECTION, AND THE END
Does “many” mean some dead are never raised? Study Daniel 12 with context, apologetic analysis, and cross-references.
Daniel 123 questions
Source linked
Commentary provenance
Dr. Lucas D. Shallua Commentary · DANIEL 12 — THE TIME OF TROUBLE, RESURRECTION, AND THE END
The precise difficulties
- Does “many” mean some dead are never raised?
- What do the 1,290 and 1,335 days mean?
- What knowledge increases?
Verse and question study
What do the 1,290 and 1,335 days mean?
No interpretation has achieved broad consensus. They likely measure final desecration and a transition to blessed restoration. Exact date-setting has repeatedly exceeded the text.
What knowledge increases?
In context it likely concerns searching and understanding Daniel's prophecy as fulfillment approaches, not a direct prediction of modern science or internet growth.
Historical and literary context
Chapter 12 completes the revelation begun in chapter 10 and expands the final ruler's defeat into resurrection and reward. This is one of the Old Testament's clearest statements of individual bodily resurrection to contrasting eternal destinies. The time periods—time, times, and half a time; 1,290 days; and 1,335 days—have generated many calculations. They establish measured limits and promised blessing, but their precise relationship remains uncertain. The chapter itself models humility: Daniel asks, receives partial explanation, and is told to go his way.
Apologetic note
Daniel's resurrection hope goes beyond national survival and states everlasting destinies with unusual clarity. This belief is firmly attested in Jewish thought before and around the New Testament era. Jesus and the apostles stand within and deepen this biblical resurrection hope rather than importing it from an alien worldview.
Chapter cross-references
- Isaiah 26:19; Ezekiel 37:1–14 Resurrection and restoration imagery
- Matthew 13:36–43; 24:15–22 The righteous shining and unparalleled distress
- John 5:25–29; 11:23–27 Resurrection to life and judgment through Christ
- 1 Corinthians 15:20–28, 51–58 Christ's resurrection guarantees His people's rising
- Revelation 20:11–15; 21:27 Final judgment and the book of life
Source and editorial status
Dr. Shallua’s Commentary
This study preserves the hard questions, explanations, context, apologetic note, and references from Dr. Shallua's Commentary.