Charles Ellicott Commentary Daniel 8:17

"So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was affrighted, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man; for the vision belongeth to the time of the end." — Daniel 8:17 (ASV)

The time of the end—that is, either at the final period of earthly history, or at the time which lies at the limit of the prophetic horizon. St. Jerome observes that what happened in the times of Antiochus was typical of what will be fulfilled in the future in Antichrist.