There is a valid objection to our interpretation of Daniel’s last vision. We have attached the last phrase of verse 10—“none of the wicked shall understand; but those who are wise shall understand”—to the first phrase of verse 11—“from the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up” (12:10–11). Our decision to link these two phrases is justified, because it makes sense of the passage. It explains why the wise will understand at a certain point in the future, whereas Daniel could not understand, even though he was certainly wise.

But there is a traditional Jewish understanding of this passage that instead attaches the phrase, “from the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up” to the phrase that follows it, “there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” This traditional understanding is based on the Masoretic silluk between the two phrases we have attached. The trouble with the Masoretic reading is that it makes the passage undecipherable.

Before discussing it further, we need a very short lesson in Hebrew. In its original written form, Hebrew did not include any vowels, punctuation, or accent marks. It was just a series of consonants. The reader supplied the rest as he read. Later, consonants were used as a stand-in for vowels.

About five hundred years after Christ’s first advent, Jewish scholars called Masoretes took the consonants of the Hebrew language and started to develop vowels and accent marks (for punctuation). They did the bulk of their work from around 700 to 1000 A.D., and the Masoretic text of the Old Testament dates from around this time. The Dead Sea Scrolls have verified that the Masoretic text is still one of the most reliable sources for what the original Hebrew text (made up exclusively of consonants) actually contained.

The Masoretic text contains vowels and accent marks (for punctuation), both inserted into the text by the Masoretic scholars. The silluk is the strongest punctuation mark used in Hebrew, analogous to our period. Here is the passage, with a double asterisk (**) placed in the text to show the location of the Masoretic silluk.

Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the issue of these things?” He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.… None of the wicked shall understand; but those who are wise shall understand.** And from the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits and comes to the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. But go your way till the end; and you shall rest, and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days” (12:8–13).

These punctuation decisions were made well after the time of Christ by Jewish scholars during the Middle Ages. Those scholars were undoubtedly closer to the culture and language than we are now. But at the same time, they were not inerrant (Daniel’s original autographs were). Their punctuation marks must be given great weight, but they are certainly not part of the original inspired text. We must not forget that the silluk was not in the text until more than a millennium after Daniel penned this vision. This punctuation was not there when Jesus read the passage, nor when St. Peter and St. Paul read it, nor even when St. Augustine read it.

What’s the point? Punctuation should make a passage more understandable, not more obtuse. The problem with the Masoretic punctuation is that it leaves the passage without any clear message. So we have chosen to attach the phrase “those who are wise shall understand” to the phrase that follows it, “from the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away.” We can then make sense of why the wise will one day understand, and why Daniel would never understand, even though he was certainly wise. The wise were witnesses to certain events that would make them understand the mystery of Christ’s Kingdom.

While we should never discard Masoretic punctuation without good cause, in this case there is excellent reason to do so.