Heb. ‘ad-‘eth, “until a time.” This expression points to a [point of] time when the devices of the power here set forth were brought to an end. The word ‘eth, “time,” is here probably not to be taken as a specific period of time, nor as a period of prophetic time. The word translated “times” in chs. 4:16; 7:25 is the Aramaic ‘iddanin, and in ch. 12:7 the Heb. mo‘adim. ‘Ad-‘eth seems to point to a time at an undetermined distance from the speaker. The evil power was to work until that God-ordained limit was reached (see ch. 11:27; cf. ch. 12:1).

Those who believe that prophetic time is here indicated see in the events narrated a reference to the period of time that the city of Rome would continue as the seat of the empire. The beginning date is considered to be 31 B.C., the year of the Battle of Actium, when Augustus waged a successful campaign against Mark Antony and Cleopatra. From 31 B.C., 360 years reach to A.D. 330, the year that the seat of the empire was moved from Rome to Constantinople.

Some see in the statement of this verse a prediction of Roman policy toward the conquered regions of the empire. History records that the plunder of conquest was distributed generously among the nobility and army commanders, and that it was common practice for even the ordinary soldier to receive a grant of land in conquered regions. “For a time”—a considerable period of time, in fact—no “strong holds” were able to withstand the determined pressure of the invincible legions of Rome.