What Does Daniel 8:13 Mean in the King James?
Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The question makes duration visible: even when trampling is continual, what is set apart remains distinct from the force pressing it down.
THE MEANING
The verse gives the reader language for the moment when what is set apart and the gathered host are underfoot: the harm is named as desolation, not mistaken for ordinary life. It asks how long the continual sacrifice and the destructive rupture will keep this pressure in place. The sanctuary and host remain distinct from the force trampling them.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that persistent oppression must be permanent or rightful: the verse asks “How long?” precisely where the trampling has become continual.
THE ROOT
מִרְמָס
mirmās trampling
GROWS FROM
רמס
r-m-s
to trample or tread underfoot
“trodden under foot” in this verse is mirmās trampling. English gives the action, but מִרְמָס is a noun: the sanctuary and host are made into what is trampled, pressed beneath another’s power. It describes a condition imposed on them, not their identity.
ALSO GROWS
rāmas: to trample, tread underfoot
רָמַס
This verb names the force enacted against the sanctuary and host.
mirmās: trampling; a thing or place trampled
מִרְמָס
This noun makes the image a condition they are made to endure.
מִקְדָּשׁ
miqdāš sanctuary
GROWS FROM
קדש
q-d-sh
to set apart, make distinct
The sanctuary is a place marked as set apart. Its trampling describes an assault on what is distinguished, without making the pressure its defining nature.
ALSO GROWS
qōdeš: set-apartness; what is set apart
קֹדֶשׁ
This is the quality the sanctuary carries even while it is trampled.
qādôš: set apart
קָדוֹשׁ
The related adjective shows the shared root behind the sanctuary’s distinct character.
הַפֶּשַׁע
ha-peshaʿ the rebellion
GROWS FROM
פשע
p-sh-ʿ
to rebel, break away
The word translated “transgression” carries the force of rebellion or breach, rather than a mere stumble. The phrase binds that rupture to desolation while leaving its duration open to question.
ALSO GROWS
pāšaʿ: to rebel, break away
פָּשַׁע
The verb makes the breach active, clarifying the force carried by the noun in the verse.
pōšēaʿ: one who rebels
פֹּשֵׁעַ
This related form names the one who enacts the breakaway.
THE PATTERN
When violence presses upon what is sacred, scripture gives the oppressed a “How long?” that makes the violence speakable and answerable.
O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?THE THREAD
The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.Both verses use the רמס (r-m-s) root for trampling underfoot. Daniel places the sanctuary and host beneath it; Isaiah turns the image so the feet belong to the poor and needy.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us