Daniel 12

Daniel · Chapter 12

Daniel 12:2

1And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.3And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.4But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.5Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.6And 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?7And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.8And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?9And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.10Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.11And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.12Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.13But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

In context

AI-assisted, sourced

Daniel 12:2 comes right after a promise that, in a future 'time of trouble, such as never was,' Daniel's people will be delivered, 'every one that shall be found written in the book' (12:1). It says that many who have died, pictured as sleeping in the dust, will wake to one of two ends: everlasting life, or shame and everlasting contempt. The book lists the resurrection of the dead among its themes, and this verse is where that theme appears. Daniel 12:1Daniel 12:2Daniel overview

SpeakingThe words are spoken to Daniel by one who calls Israel 'thy people' and then says, 'But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words.' In the same scene the man clothed in linen answers questions about the end. Daniel 12:1Daniel 12:4Daniel 12:7

ToDaniel first. Through his sealed book the words also reach God's people in exile and after it, and readers looking to 'the time of the end.' Daniel 12:4Daniel 12:9Daniel overview

Also involvedThe dead who 'sleep in the dust of the earth.' They wake and are divided into two groups. The verse before speaks of Daniel's people being delivered, 'every one that shall be found written in the book.' Daniel 12:1Daniel 12:2

The verse promises that "many of them that sleep in the dust" will awake, and that the raised will face two opposite, lasting outcomes. Isaiah also says 'thy dead men shall live... ye that dwell in dust.' Jesus speaks the same way: all that are in the graves 'shall come forth,' some 'unto the resurrection of life' and some 'unto the resurrection of damnation.' Daniel 12:2Isaiah 26:19John 5:28John 5:29

Daniel receives this message by a river. Two figures stand on its banks, and the man clothed in linen is above the waters. The text does not name the river here, and the book was written from Babylon, where Daniel served. Daniel 12:5Daniel 12:6Daniel overview

BABYLONIAMEDIABabylon 1SusaUlai

The eventsThe text places it 'at that time,' when Michael stands up and a time of trouble without equal comes. The chapter ties these things to 'the time of the end' and 'the end of the days.' Daniel 12:1Daniel 12:4Daniel 12:9Daniel 12:13

WrittenTraditional view: Daniel wrote the book in the 500s BC, and its events run to about 536 BC. Scholarly view: many critical scholars date the book's final form to about 167-164 BC, under Antiochus IV, while others keep the 500s BC date. Daniel overview

HereAlongside the promise that Daniel's people will be delivered in the worst trouble ever (12:1), the verse says death is not the final word: the dead will wake. The next verse adds that the wise who turn many to righteousness will shine 'for ever and ever.' Daniel 12:1Daniel 12:2Daniel 12:3

In the whole of ScriptureIt fits the book's message that God rules and will set up a kingdom that 'shall never be destroyed.' Other Scripture tells the same story: Isaiah says 'thy dead men shall live,' Revelation shows the dead standing before God to be judged, and Paul says death will be 'swallowed up in victory.' Daniel overviewIsaiah 26:19Revelation 20:121 Corinthians 15:54

For readersThe dead are pictured as sleepers who will wake, and Daniel himself is told he will 'rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.' The outcome is lasting, life or contempt, and Jesus ties it to what people have done: 'they that have done good' and 'they that have done evil.' Daniel 12:2Daniel 12:13John 5:29

Christians read this differently

The verse says 'many' will awake, while John 5:28 says 'all that are in the graves.' Some read 'many' as the whole number of the dead, raised to two destinies as in John 5:29. Others read it as a particular large group raised in connection with the time of trouble in 12:1, not every person. Daniel 12:1Daniel 12:2Strong's H7227AJohn 5:28John 5:29

  • sleepיָשֵׁן
    Hebrew · ya.shen · H3463

    The word means 'sleeping,' here 'sleepers.' The dead are pictured as sleepers who will wake, and Paul also speaks of death as sleep: 'We shall not all sleep.' Strong's H3463Daniel 12:21 Corinthians 15:51

  • awakeקִיץ
    Hebrew · quts · H6974

    It means 'to awake, wake up.' It pairs with 'sleep' to describe the dead rising, like Isaiah's 'Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust.' Strong's H6974Isaiah 26:19

  • everlastingעוֹלָם
    Hebrew · o.lam · H5769G

    Its senses include 'continuous existence, perpetual' and 'everlasting, indefinite or unending future, eternity.' The verse uses it for both outcomes, life and contempt, as Matthew 25:46 sets 'everlasting punishment' beside 'life eternal.' Strong's H5769GDaniel 12:2Matthew 25:46

  • contemptדֵּרָאוֹן
    Hebrew · de.ra.on · H1860

    The word means 'aversion, abhorrence.' It stands beside 'shame,' a word meaning reproach or scorn, to describe the second group's lasting end. Strong's H1860Strong's H2781Daniel 12:2

Takeaway

Those who sleep in the dust will wake, and their outcome is everlasting: life for some, shame and contempt for others. Jesus speaks of the same two-way resurrection of all in the graves in John 5:28-29, so both the hope and the warning stand. Daniel 12:2John 5:28John 5:29Matthew 25:46

Drafted by AI from the Scripture and data shown under “Show sources,” then checked automatically and by a second AI pass. Updated 2026-10-28.

The world around the text

About 605-536 BC. King of Babylon: Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC). Where Daniel lived and served for about seventy years. The capital of the Babylonian empire, on the Euphrates south of modern Baghdad, in the land the Bible calls Shinar and Chaldea.

Who ruled
  • King of BabylonNebuchadnezzar605-562 BC

    The king who besieged Jerusalem, carried Daniel and the temple vessels to Babylon, and later destroyed the city and temple. His own building inscriptions boast of the Babylon he built. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 24:12 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 25:1Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)

  • Last king of Babylon, and his son who ruled in his placeNabonidus and Belshazzar556-539 BC

    Nabonidus spent about ten years at the oasis of Tema in Arabia and left his son Belshazzar to rule in Babylon. That is why Belshazzar could only offer Daniel the place of "third ruler in the kingdom": he was himself second. Daniel 5:1Daniel 5:7Daniel 5:29Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Verse Account of Nabonidus

  • Received the kingdom after Babylon fellDarius the MedianFrom 539 BC

    Daniel says he "took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old" and set 120 princes over it. Records outside the Bible do not name him; he has been identified with Gubaru, the governor Cyrus set over Babylon, or with Cyrus himself. Daniel 5:31Daniel 6:1Daniel 9:1Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)

  • King of PersiaCyrus559-530 BC

    He united the Medes and Persians, took Babylon in 539 BC, and let the exiles go home to rebuild the temple, as Isaiah had named him beforehand. Daniel 1:21Daniel 6:28Daniel 10:1Ezra 1:1-4Isaiah 44:28-45:1Cyrus Cylinder

  • King of JudahJehoiakim609-598 BC

    Judah's king when Daniel was taken. Jeremiah warned him and his people that the land would serve Babylon seventy years. Daniel 1:1-22 Kings 23:36-24:6Jeremiah 25:1-11

What was happening, 612 BC to 167 BC
  1. 612 BC
    WarNineveh falls

    Babylon and the Medes destroyed Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, as Nahum and Zephaniah had foretold. Babylon became the great power of the region. Nahum 3:7Zephaniah 2:13Fall of Nineveh Chronicle (ABC 3)

  2. 605 BC
    WarBattle of Carchemish

    Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Necho of Egypt at Carchemish on the Euphrates, in Jehoiakim's fourth year. The same year he came against Jerusalem and took the first captives, Daniel among them. Jeremiah 46:2Daniel 1:1-4Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)

  3. 597 BC
    WarJerusalem surrenders

    Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin, his nobles and craftsmen to Babylon. The prophet Ezekiel went into exile with them. 2 Kings 24:10-17Ezekiel 1:2Babylonian Chronicles (ABC 5)

  4. 586 BC
    WarJerusalem and the temple destroyed

    Babylon's army burned the temple and the city and broke down its walls. Daniel later prays over "the desolations of Jerusalem" and asks God to shine on his "sanctuary that is desolate." 2 Kings 25:8-10Jeremiah 52:12-14Daniel 9:2Daniel 9:17

  5. c. 575 BC
    BuildingBabylon rebuilt in splendor

    Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt Babylon with great walls, palaces and the blue-glazed Ishtar Gate, and his inscriptions praise his own work. Compare his boast: "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built?" Daniel 4:30Nebuchadnezzar's East India House InscriptionHerodotus, Histories 1.178-183

  6. 562 BC
    RulersNebuchadnezzar dies

    His son Evil-merodach became king and released Jehoiachin of Judah from prison. 2 Kings 25:27-30Jeremiah 52:31-34

  7. c. 553-543 BC
    RulersNabonidus leaves Babylon to Belshazzar

    King Nabonidus stayed at Tema in Arabia for about ten years, and the yearly New Year festival in Babylon was not held. Belshazzar governed in Babylon. Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Daniel 5:1Daniel 7:1

  8. 550 BC
    WarCyrus unites the Medes and Persians

    Cyrus of Persia defeated Astyages king of the Medes, joining the two peoples in one kingdom. Daniel's vision names the ram's two horns as "the kings of Media and Persia," the higher coming up last. Daniel 8:3Daniel 8:20Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.127-130

  9. October 539 BC
    WarBabylon falls to Cyrus

    Cyrus's army entered Babylon without a long siege. Herodotus says the people were feasting when the city was taken. Daniel records that "in that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain." Daniel 5:30-31Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Herodotus, Histories 1.191Cyrus Cylinder

  10. 538 BC
    God's peopleCyrus lets the exiles return

    In his first year over Babylon, Cyrus proclaimed that the Jews could go back and build the LORD's house in Jerusalem. Daniel "continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus." Ezra 1:1-42 Chronicles 36:22-23Daniel 1:21Cyrus Cylinder

  11. c. 536 BC
    God's peopleThe temple's foundation is laid

    The returned exiles rebuilt the altar and laid the foundation of the temple. In the third year of Cyrus, Daniel was still in the east, mourning and praying. Ezra 3:1-11Daniel 10:1-3

  12. 334-331 BC
    WarAlexander the Great conquers Persia

    Alexander of Macedon crossed into Asia and overthrew the Persian empire within four years. Daniel 8:21 names the rough goat as "the king of Grecia" and its great horn as "the first king." Daniel 8:5-8Daniel 8:21Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 1-3

  13. 323-301 BC
    WarAlexander's empire is divided

    Alexander died young, and after twenty years of war his generals divided his empire, chiefly into four kingdoms. Daniel 8:22 says "four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." Daniel 8:8Daniel 8:22Daniel 11:4Diodorus Siculus, Library 18-20Plutarch, Demetrius 28-30

  14. 167 BC
    WarAntiochus IV defiles the temple

    The Greek king Antiochus IV banned Jewish worship and set up a pagan altar on the altar of burnt offering. 1 Maccabees calls it "the abomination of desolation." Two centuries later Jesus spoke of "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet" as still to come. 1 Maccabees 1:54-59Josephus, Antiquities 12.5.4Matthew 24:15

The full picture: places, culture and daily life. Scripture first, then ancient records of these years (the Babylonian Chronicles, the Cyrus Cylinder, Nebuchadnezzar's inscriptions) and ancient writers (Herodotus, Arrian, Diodorus, Josephus). Drafted by Claude and not yet reviewed by a person.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
and many [people]וְרַבִּ֕יםve-ra-BIMH7227A
many

רַב (rav) adj 1) much, many, great 1a) much 1b) many 1c) abounding in 1d) more numerous than 1e) abundant, enough 1f) great 1g) strong 1h) greater than adv 1i) much, exceedingly

of [the] sleepers ofמִיְּשֵׁנֵ֥יmi-ye-she-NEIH3463
sleeping

יָשֵׁן (ya.shen) sleeping

[the] ground ofאַדְמַת־'ad-mat-H0127G
land: soil

אֲדָמָה (a.da.mah) : soil 1) ground, land 1a) ground (as general, tilled, yielding sustenance) 1b) piece of ground, a specific plot of land 1c) earth substance (for building or constructing) 1d) ground as earth's visible surface 1e) land, territory, country 1f) whole inhabited earth 1g) city in Naphtali

dustעָפָ֖ר'a-FARH6083
dust

עָפָר (a.phar) 1) dry earth, dust, powder, ashes, earth, ground, mortar, rubbish 1a) dry or loose earth 1b) debris 1c) mortar 1d) ore

they will awakeיָקִ֑יצוּya-KI-tzuH6974
to awake

קִיץ (quts) 1) to awake, wake up 1a) (Hiphil) to awaken, arouse, show signs of waking, awake

theseאֵ֚לֶּה'E-lehH0428
these

אֵ֫לֶּה (el.leh) 1) these 1a) used before antecedent 1b) used following antecedent Aramaic equivalent: el.leh (אֵלֶּה "these" H0429)

to life ofלְחַיֵּ֣יle-chai-YEIH2416E
life

חַיִּים (chay.yim) 1) life (abstract emphatic) 1a) life 1b) sustenance, maintenance

perpetuityעוֹלָ֔םo-LAMH5769G
forever: enduring

עוֹלָם (o.lam) : enduring/eternal 1) long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world 1a) ancient time, long time (of past) 1b) (of future) 1b1) for ever, always 1b2) continuous existence, perpetual 1b3) everlasting, indefinite or unending future, eternity

and theseוְאֵ֥לֶּהve-'E-lehH0428
these

אֵ֫לֶּה (el.leh) 1) these 1a) used before antecedent 1b) used following antecedent Aramaic equivalent: el.leh (אֵלֶּה "these" H0429)

to reproachesלַחֲרָפ֖וֹתla-cha-ra-FOTH2781
reproach

חֶרְפָּה (cher.pah) 1) reproach, scorn 1a) taunt, scorn (upon enemy) 1b) reproach (resting upon condition of shame, disgrace) 1c) a reproach (an object)

to abhorrence ofלְדִרְא֥וֹןle-dir-'onH1860
abhorrence

דֵּרָאוֹן (de.ra.on) aversion, abhorrence

perpetuityעוֹלָֽם׃ סo-LAMH5769G
forever: enduring

עוֹלָם (o.lam) : enduring/eternal 1) long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world 1a) ancient time, long time (of past) 1b) (of future) 1b1) for ever, always 1b2) continuous existence, perpetual 1b3) everlasting, indefinite or unending future, eternity

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.