The angel asks to establish a defined timeline for the fulfillment of prophetic visions, providing Daniel and future readers with a framework for understanding God’s sovereign control over eschatological events. By posing this as a question rather than a statement, the text emphasizes that prophetic timing belongs to divine revelation, not human calculation.

The man clothed in linen raised both hands toward heaven, swore by Him who lives forever, and declared that it would be for ‘a time, times, and half a time,’ and when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end, all these things would be finished (Daniel 12:7).

This question probes the duration until the fulfillment of apocalyptic wonders that Daniel has witnessed throughout his visions. The Hebrew ‘ad-matay’ (until when) expresses urgent longing for resolution, a cry echoed throughout Scripture by those awaiting God’s deliverance. One angel poses this question to another of higher authority, demonstrating that even celestial beings do not presume to know divine timing apart from revelation. The question format rather than a declarative statement underscores a fundamental biblical truth: prophetic chronology belongs exclusively to God’s sovereign decree and must be disclosed through revelation rather than discovered through speculation. The ensuing answer, ‘a time, times, and half a time’, introduces cryptic symbolism that has occupied interpreters throughout church history, pointing to a definite but concealed period of tribulation before final vindication. This exchange affirms that God’s purposes unfold according to predetermined schedules that He alone controls and reveals according to His wisdom.