Bible Strands
Daniel 11:35
Some of the wise will fall so that they may be refined, purified, and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — An angelic messenger speaks to Daniel within the vision of the kings of the north and south, describing what will happen to the wise during the final period of persecution.
The words — The Hebrew triad צרף (tseraph, "refine"), ברר (barer, "purge"), לבן (laven, "whiten") escalates from smelting to selection to bleaching, a metallurgical sequence applied to people.
The thread — Zechariah 13:9 and Malachi 3:2 use the same refiner's-fire imagery for a remnant that survives testing; Revelation 7:14 identifies those who have "come out of the great tribulation" as the ones who have been washed white.
Why it lands — The verse insists that the falling is neither accidental nor open-ended: it has a purpose (refinement) and a deadline ("the appointed time"). It asks the reader to refuse both the claim that suffering is meaningless and the claim that it is infinite.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.
Cross-references
- Zechariah 13:9 This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”
- Malachi 3:2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
- Revelation 7:14 “Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
- Proverbs 17:3 A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts.
- Revelation 2:10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
- Daniel 12:10 Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.
- 1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials
- James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,
- Deuteronomy 8:16 He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.
- Daniel 8:10 It grew as high as the host of heaven, and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the earth and trampled them.