p ifiljll { !jl|l!!!ij{!i" [ !iii! : : ! p>-\ \ ;t 
 
 ii Si Si w i r 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 OF THK 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 OF 
 
 Mrs. SARAH P. WALS WORTH. 
 
 Received October, 1894. 
 ^Accessions No . 5> 86 Cliiss No. 
 
 r\ 
 
NOTES, 
 
 CRITICAL, ILLUSTRATIVE, AND PRACTICAL, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 BOOK OF DANIEL, 
 
 WITH AN 
 
 INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. 
 
 ALBERT BARNES 
 
 NEW-YORK : 
 
 LEAV1TT & ALLEN, 379 BEOAPW AY 
 1857. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by 
 
 ALBERT BARNES. 
 
 In the Othcc of the Clerk of the District Court of the Eastern District of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Stereotyped by SLOTE & MOOXEV, Philadelphia. 
 
. 
 
 I 
 
 K E F A C E. 
 
 A VERY remarkable resemblance has always been observed 
 between the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation. 
 Whatever view may be taken of the proper interpretation 
 of these books, it is difficult to write a commentary on one of 
 them without carefully studying the other, and without practi 
 cally furnishing to a considerable extent an exposition of the 
 other. There is no evidence, indeed, that John, in the Book 
 of Revelation, intended to imitate Daniel, and yet there is so 
 strong a resemblance in the manner in which the Divine dis 
 closures respecting the future were made to the two writers; 
 there is so clear a reference to the same great events in the 
 history of the world ; there is so much similarity in the symbols 
 employed, that no commentator can well write on the one 
 without discussing many points, and making use of many 
 illustrations, which would be equally appropriate in an expo 
 sition of the other. 
 
 The following Notes on the Book of Daniel were mostly 
 written before I commenced the preparation of Notes on the 
 Book of Revelation, though the latter volume is published 
 first. It has thus happened that many inquiries have been 
 
 (m) 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 started, and many subjects discussed, in connection with this 
 book, which would otherwise have found a place in the Notes on 
 the Book of Revelation, and that in the exposition of the latter, 
 I have, in many places, to avoid needless repetition, done little 
 more than refer to corresponding places in the Notes on Daniel. 
 While I have endeavoured to make each work a complete 
 exposition in itself, it is nevertheless true that the two volumes 
 are designed, in some measure, to go together, and that the 
 one is necessary to the full understanding of the other. 
 PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 26$, 1851. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 
 
 | 1. THE LIFE OF DANIEL. 
 
 OF Daniel little more is known, or can now be ascertained, than is re 
 corded in this book. There are two other persons of this name mentioned 
 in the Bible a son of David, 1 Chron. iii. 1 ; and a Levite of the race of 
 Ithamar, Ezra viii. 2 ; Neh. x. 6. The latter has been sometimes con 
 founded with the prophet, as he is in the Apocryphal Addenda to the 
 Septuagint. 
 
 Daniel, supposed commonly to be the same person as the author of 
 this book, is twice mentioned by Ezekiel, once as deserving to be ranked 
 with Noah and Job, and once as eminent for wisdom. " Though these 
 three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they should deliver but their 
 own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God." Ezek. xiv. 14. 
 " Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel, and there is no secret that they 
 can hide from thee." Ezek. xxviii. 3. Whether this is the Daniel who is 
 the author of this book, however, or whether this was some ancient 
 patriarch whose name had been handed down by tradition, and whose 
 name was assumed by the author of this book in later times, has been a 
 question among recent critics, and will properly come up for examina 
 tion under the next section in this Introduction. 
 
 Assuming now that the book is genuine, and that it was written by 
 him whose name it bears, all that is known of Daniel is substantially aa 
 follows : 
 
 He was descended from one of the highest families in Judah, if not one 
 of royal blood (Notes on ch. i. 3 ; Josephus Ant. b. x. ch. x. $ 1.) His 
 birth-place was probably Jerusalem, (comp. ch. ix. 24,) though it is not 
 absolutely certain that this passage would demonstrate this. 
 
 Of his first years nothing is recorded. At an early age we find him in 
 Babylon, among the captive Hebrews whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried 
 away at the first deportation of the people of Judah, in the fourth year 
 of Jehoiakim. He is mentioned in connection with three other youths, 
 apparently of the same rank, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who, 
 1* (V) 
 
VI UfttUHNJCUOlf. 
 
 with him, were selected for the purpose of being instructed in the lan 
 guage and literature of the Chaldeans, with a view to their being employed 
 in the service of the court. Ban. i. 3, 4. His age at that time if is 
 impossible to determine with accuracy, but it is not improbable that 
 it was somewhere about twelve or fifteen years. In ch. i. 4. he and 
 his three friends are called children," (sn^.). This word properly 
 denotes the period from the age of childhood up to manhood, and might 
 be translated boys, lads, or youth." Professor Stuart on Daniel, p. 373. 
 Ignatius (Ep. ad Magn.), says that Daniel was twelve years of age when 
 he went into exile ; Chrysostome says that he was eighteen, (Opp. vi. 
 p. 423 ;) Epiphanius says, In vfimos WK; Jerome calls him admodum puer. 
 These are, of course, mere conjectures, or traditions, but they are proba 
 bly not far from the truth. Such was the age at which persons would be 
 most likely to be selected for the training here referrc d to. The design 
 of this selection and training is not mentioned, but in the circumstances 
 of the case it is perhaps not difficult to conjecture it. The Hebrews wer< 
 a captive people. It was natural to suppose that they would be restless, 
 and perhaps insubordinate, in their condition, and it was a matter of 
 policy to do all that could be done to conciliate them. Nothing would 
 better tend to this than to select some of their own number who were of 
 their most distinguished families ; to place them at court ; to provide for 
 them from the royal bounty ; to give them the advantages of the best 
 education that the capital afforded ; to make an arrangement that con 
 templated their future employment in the service of the state, and to 
 furnish them every opportunity of promotion. Besides, in the inter 
 course of the government with the captive Hebrews, of which, from the 
 nature of the case, there would be frequent occasion, it would be an ad 
 vantage to have native born Hebrews in the confidence of the govern 
 ment, who could be employed to conduct that intercourse. 
 
 In this situation, and with this view, Daniel received that thorough 
 education which Oriental etiquette makes indispensable in a courtier, 
 (Comp. Plato, Alcib. 37,) and was more especially instructed in the 
 science of the Chaldeans, and in speaking and writing their language. 
 He had before evidently been carefully trained in the Hebrew learning, 
 and in the knowledge of the institutions of his country, and was 
 thoroughly imbued with the principles of the religion of his fathers. 
 An opportunity soon occurred of putting his principles to the test. 
 Trained in strict religious principles, and in the sternest rules of tem 
 perance in eating and drinking, and fearing the effect of the luxurious 
 living provided for him and his companions by the royal bounty, he 
 resolved, with them, to avoid at once the danger of conforming to the 
 habits of idolaters ; of " polluting" himself by customs forbidden by his 
 religion, and of jeoparding his own health and life by intemperate in 
 dulgence. He aimed, also, to secure the utmost vigor of body, and the 
 utmost clearness of mind, by a course of strict and conscientious temper 
 ance. He obtained permission, therefore, to abstain from the food pro 
 vided for him, and to make an experiment of the most temperate mode 
 of living, ch. i. 8 14. " His prudent proceedings, wise bearing, and 
 absolute refusal to comply with such customs, were crowned with the 
 divine blessing, and had the most splendid results." 
 
 er the lapse of three years spent in this rourse of discipline, Daniel 
 
 
 
INTRODUCTION. VTI 
 
 passed tho examination -which was necessary to admit him to the royal 
 favor, and was received into connection with the government, to be em 
 ployed in the purposes which had been contemplated in this preparatory 
 training, ch. i. 18 20. One of his first acts was an interpretation of o 
 dream of Nebuchadnezzar which none of the Chaldeans had been able to 
 interpret, the result of which was that he was raised at once to that im 
 portant office, the governorship of the province of Babylon, and the head- 
 inspectorship of the sacerdotal caste, ch. ii. 
 
 Considerably later in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, we find Daniel in 
 terpreting another dream of his, to the effect that, in icnsequence 
 of his pride, he would be deprived for a time of his reason and his 
 throne, and would be suffered to wander from the abodes of men, and to 
 live among wild beasts, but that after a time he would be again 
 restored. The record which we have of this, is found in a proclama 
 tion of the king himself, which is preserved by Daniel, ch. iv. In 
 the interpretation of this remarkable dream, and in stating to the 
 king the most proud and absolute monarch of the earth at that time 
 what would come upon him, Daniel displays the most touching anxiety, 
 love, and loyalty, for the prince, and shows that he was led to this inter 
 pretation only by the conviction of the truth. In view of a calamity so 
 great, he exhorted the monarch yet to humble himself and to repent of his 
 sins, and to perform acts of charity, with the hope that God might be mer 
 ciful and avert from him a doom so humiliating so much to be dreaded, 
 ch. iv. 1927. 
 
 Under the immediate successor of Nebudchadnezzar Evil-Merodach 
 Daniel appears to have been forgotten, and his talents and his for 
 mer services seem to have passed away from the recollection of those 
 in power. His situation at court appears to have been confined to 
 an inferior office (ch. viii. 27), and it would seem also that this led 
 him occasionally, if not regularly, away from Babylon to some of 
 the provinces to attend to business there. Comp. Notes in ch. viii. 2. 
 This was not strange. On the death of a monarch, it was not unu 
 sual to discharge the officers who had been employed in the govern 
 ment, as, at the present time, on the death of a king, or a change of 
 dynasty, the members of the cabinet are changed ; or as the same thing 
 happens in our own country when a change occurs in the Chief Magistracy 
 of the nation.* Sir John Chardin in his MS. Notes on Persia says that, 
 in his time, on the death of a Shah or king, all the soothsayers and 
 physicians attached to the court were at once dismissed from office ; the 
 former because they did not predict his death, and the latter because they 
 did not prevent it. It is to be remembered also, that Daniel was raised 
 to power by the will of Nebuchadnezzar alone, and that the offices which 
 he held were, in part, in consequence of the service which he had ren 
 dered that prince; and it is not strange, therefore, that on a change of 
 the government, he, with perhaps the other favorites of the former 
 sovereign, should be suffered tc retire. We find consequently no men 
 tion made of Daniel during the reign of Evil-Merodach or in the short 
 
 * Since this was written, a remarkable illustration of what is here said has occurred in our 
 own country, on the death of the late President, Gen. Zachary Taylor. It will be rer-ollected 
 that on the very night of his death, all the members of the cabinet tendered their resignation 
 to his constitutional successor, and all of them in fact ceased to hold office and retired to pri 
 vate life. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 reign of his successor ; we lose sight of him until the reign of Belshazzar 
 the last king of Babylon, and then he is mentioned only in connection 
 with the closing scene of his life, ch. v. In consequence of a remarkable 
 vision which Belshazzar had of a hand-writing on the wall, and of the 
 inability of any of the wise men of the Chaldeans to read and interpret 
 it, Daniel, at the instance of the queen mother, who remembered his 
 former services at court, was called in, and read the writing, and an 
 nounced to the king the impending destiny of himself and his empire. 
 For this service he was again restored to honor, and the purpose was 
 formed to raise him to an exalted rank at court a purpose which was, 
 however, frustrated by the fact that Babylon was that very night taken, 
 and that the government passed into the hands of the Medes and Per 
 sians. It was under this king, luwever, that Daniel had two of his most 
 remarkable visions (ch. vii. viii.), respecting future events visions which 
 perhaps more definitely than any other in the Scriptures, disclose what 
 is to occur in the ages to come. 
 
 After the conquest of Babylon by the united arms of the Medes and 
 Persians, under the reign of Darius or Cyaxares, Daniel was raised again 
 to an exalted station. The whole kingdom was divided into one hundred 
 and twenty provinces, and over these three presidents or chief governors 
 were appointed, and of these Daniel had the first rank, ch. vi. 13. The 
 reasons^ of this appointment are not stated, but they were doubtless 
 found in such circumstances as the following: that it was desirable 
 for Darius to employ some one who was familiar with the affairs 
 of the Babylonian empire; that Daniel probably had knowledge on 
 that subject equal or superior to any other one that could be found ; 
 that he had long been employed at court, and was familiar with the laws, 
 usages and customs that prevailed there ; that he knew better than any 
 one else pea-haps what would secure the tranquillity of that portion of 
 the empire ; that, being himself a foreigner, it might be supposed better 
 to employ him than it would be a native Chaldean, for it might be pre 
 sumed that he would be less inimical to a foreign dominion. Under 
 these circumstances he was again raised to a high rank among; the 
 officers of the government ; but his elevation was not beheld without 
 malice and envy. Those who might have expected this office for 
 themselves, or who were dissatisfied that a foreigner should be thus ex 
 alted, resolved, if possible, to bring him into such a situation as would 
 ruin him, ch. vi. 4. To do this, they determined to take advantage of a 
 principle in the government of the Medes and Persians, that a law 
 having once received the royal sanction could not be changed, and by 
 securing the passage of such a law as they knew Daniel would not obey, 
 they hoped to humble and ruin him. They, therefore, under plausible 
 pretences, secured the passage of a law that no one in the realm should 
 be allowed for a certain time to offer any petition to any God or man, 
 except the king, on penalty of being thrown into a den of lions. Daniel, 
 as they anticipated, was the first to disregard this law, by continuing his 
 regular habit of worshipping God, praying, as he had been accustomed, 
 three times a day, with his window open. The consequence was, that 
 the king, there being no way to prevent the execution of the law, allowed 
 it to be executed. Daniel was cast into the den of lions, but was mi 
 raculously preserved ; and this new proof of his integrity, and of the divine 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 favour, was the means of his being raised to more exalted honour, 
 ch. vi. 
 
 In this situation at court, and with these advantages for promoting the 
 interests of his people, he employed himself in seriously and diligently 
 securing the return of the exiles to their own country, though it does not 
 appear that he himself returned, or that he contemplated a return. It is 
 probable that he supposed that at his time of life it would not be wise to 
 attempt such a journey ; or that he supposed he could be of more use 
 to his countrymen in Babylon in favouring their return than he could by 
 accompanying them to their own land. His position at the court of the 
 Medo-Persian government gave him an opportunity of rendering material 
 aid to his people, and it is not improbable that it was through his instru 
 mentality that the decree was obtained from Cyrus which allowed them 
 to return. One of the designs of Providence in raising him up, was, 
 doubtless, that he might exert that influence at court, and that he might 
 thus be the means of restoring the exiles. He had at last the happiness 
 to see his most ardent wishes accomplished in this respect. 
 
 In the third year of Cyrus, he had a vision, or a series of visions, (chs. x. 
 xi. xii.) containing minute details respecting the history and sufferings 
 of his nation to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, concluding with a 
 more general represention (ch. xii.) of what would occur in the last days 
 of the world s history. 
 
 Beyond this, nothing certain is known of Daniel. The accounts 
 respecting him are vague, confused, and strange. How long he lived, 
 and when and where he died, are points on which no certain information 
 can now be obtained. Josephus gives no account of his latter days, or of 
 his death, though he says respecting him, "he was so happy as to have 
 strange revelations made to him, and these as to one of the greatest of > 
 the prophets, insomuch that while he was alive he had the esteem and 
 applause both of kings and of the multitude ; and now he is dead he 
 retains a remembrance that will never fail." Ant. b. x. ch. xi. It is 
 commonly believed that he died in Chaldea, having been detained there 
 by his employments in the Persian empire. Epiphanius says that he 
 died in Babylon, and this has been the commonly received opinion of 
 historians. This opinion, however, has not been universal. Some sup 
 pose that he died at Shusan or Susa. Josephus (Ant. b. x. ch. xi.) says 
 that, " on account of the opinion which men had that he was beloved of 
 God, he built a tower at Ecbatana in Media, which was a most elegant 
 building, and wonderfully made/ and that it was still remaining in his 
 day. Benjamin of Tudela says that his monument was shown at Chuzestan, 
 which is the ancient Susa. As Benjamin of Tudela professes to record 
 what he saw and heard, and as his Itinerary la a book which has been 
 more frequently transcribed and translated thun almost any other book, 
 except the Travels of Maundeville, it may be of some interest to copy 
 what he has said of the tomb of Daniel. It is a record of the traditions 
 of the East the country where Daniel lived and died, and it is not 
 improbably founded in essential truth. At any rate, it will show what 
 has been the current tradition in the East respecting Daniel, and is all 
 that can now be known respecting the place of his death and burial. 
 Benjamin of Tudela was a Jewish Rabbi of Spain, who travelled through 
 Europe, Asia, and Africa, from Spain to China, between A. D. 1160 and 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 1173. His Itinerary -was first printed in 1543. It was a work in wide 
 circulation in the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, and has been translated 
 from the original Hebrew, into Latin, English, French, Dutch, and Jewish 
 German, and, in these languages has passed through not less than twenty- 
 two editions. I quote from the London and Berlin edition of 1840. 
 " Four miles from hence begins Khuzostan, Elam of Scripture, a large 
 province which, however, is but partially inhabited, a portion of it lying 
 in ruins. Among the latter are the remains of Shushan the Metropolis 
 and palace of king Achashverosh, which still contains very large and 
 handsome buildings of ancient date. Its seven thousand Jewish inhabi 
 tants possess fourteen synagogues ; in front of one of which is the tomb 
 of Daniel, who rests in peace. The river Ulai divides the parts of the city 
 which are connected with a bridge ; that portion of it which is inhabited 
 by the Jews, contains the markets ; to it all trade is confined, and there 
 dwell all the rich ; on the other side of the river they are poor, because 
 they are deprived of the abovenamed advantages, and have even no 
 gardens nor orchards. These circumstances gave rise to jealousy, which 
 was fostered by the belief that all honor and riches originated from the 
 possession of the remains of the prophet Daniel, who rests in peace, and 
 who was buried on their side. A request was made % the poor for per 
 mission to remove the sepulchre to the other side, but it was rejected ; 
 upon which a war arose and was carried on between the two parties for 
 a length of time ; this strife lasted until their souls became loath 
 (Num. xxi. 4. 5 ; Judg. xvi. 16.), and they came to a mutual agreement, 
 by which it was stipulated that the coflin, which contained Daniel s bones, 
 should be deposited alternately every year on either side. Both parties 
 faithfully adhered to this arrangement, which was, however, interrupted 
 by the interference of Sanjar Shah Ben Shah, who governs all Persia, and 
 holds supreme power over forty-five of its kings. 
 
 " When this great emperor Sanjar, king of Persia, came to Shushan, 
 and saw that the coffin of Daniel was removed from side to side, he 
 crossed the bridge with a very numerous retinue, and accompanied by 
 Jews and Mahometans, inquired into the nature of these proceedings. 
 Upon being told what we have related above, he declared that it was 
 derogatory to the honor of Daniel, and recommended that the distance 
 between the two banks should be exactly measured, that Daniel s coffin 
 should be deposited in another coffin, made of glass, and that it should 
 be suspended from the very middle of the bridge, fastened by chains of 
 iron. A place of public worship was erected on the very spot, open to 
 every one who desired to say his prayers, whether he be Jew or Gentile, 
 and the coffin of Daniel is suspended from the bridge unto this very day." 
 Vol. i. pp. 117120. 
 
 This story, trifling as it is in some of its details, may be admitted as 
 evidence of a tradition in the East that Daniel died and was buried at 
 Shushan. This tradition, moreover, is very ancient. In a Note on this 
 passage (vol. ii. p. 152.) A. Asher, the publisher of the Itinerary of Ben 
 jamin says, " Aasim of Cufah, a venerable historian, who preceded Ibn 
 ilankcl by two hundred years, (for he died 735) mentions the discovery of 
 Daniel s coffin at Sus. Ibn llankel, who travelled in the tenth century, 
 speaks of it, and ascribes to the possession of the bones of Daniel the virtue 
 sf dispelling all sorts of distress, particularly that of famine from want of 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 X, 
 
 rain." It has been a matter of much controversy whether the place 
 now known as Chouck, Chouz, or Sous is the ancient Shushan, (Lat. 
 31 55 , Long. 83 40 ), or the place now called Shuster (Lat. 31 
 30 , Long. 84 30 X ). The former opinion is maintained by Rennel, 
 Ouseley, Barbie du Bocagc, Kinneir, and Iloek ; the latter by d Herbelot 
 d Anville, Vincent, Mannert, and Hammer. Major Rawlinson, who has 
 furnished the most recent account of this place, maintains that Shushan 
 the palace is the present Susan on the Kulan or Eulaeus, the Ulai 
 of Scripture. See vol. ix. of the Journal of the Royal Geographical 
 Society. 
 
 2. GENUINENESS AND AUTHENTICITY OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 
 Consideration of Objections. 
 
 Until a comparatively recent period, with some slight exceptions, 
 the genuineness and authenticity of the Book of Daniel have been 
 regarded as settled, and its canonical authority was as little doubted 
 as that of any other portion of the Bible. The ancient Hebrews 
 never called its genuineness or authenticity in question (Lengerke, 
 Das Buch Daniel, Konigsberg, 1835, p. 6 ; Hengstenberg, Die Authentic 
 des Daniel, Berlin, 1831. p. 1). It is true that in the Talmud (Tract. Baba 
 Bathra, Fol. 15. Ed. Venet.) it is said that "the men of the Great Synogogue 
 wrote 13 ro the .jjip K. D. N. G. that is, portions (xi. chs.) of the 
 Book of Ezekiel, the prophet Daniel, and the Book of Esther ;" but this, 
 as Lengerke has remarked, (p. v.) does not mean that they had introduced 
 this book into the canon, as Bertholdt supposes, but that, partly by 
 tradition, and partly by inspiration, they revised it anew. But whatever 
 may be the truth in regard to this, it does not prove that the ancient 
 Jews did not consider it canonical. It is true that much has been said 
 about the fact that the Jews did not class this book among the prophets, 
 but placed it in the Hagiography, or Kethubim, ouirvp. It has been in 
 ferred from this, that they believed that it was composed a considerable 
 time after the other prophetic books, and that they did not deem it 
 worthy of a place among their prophetic books in general. But, even if 
 this were so, it would not prove that they did not regard it as a genuine 
 production of Daniel ; and the fact that it was not placed among the 
 prophetic books may be accounted for without the supposition that they 
 did not regard it as genuine. The usual statement on that subject is, 
 that they placed the book there because they say that Daniel lived the 
 life of a courtier in Babylon, rather than the life of a prophet ; and the 
 Jews further assert that, though he received divine communications, they 
 were only by dreams and visions of the night, which they regard as the 
 most imperfect kind of revelations. Home, Intro, iv. 188. The place which 
 Daniel should occupy in the sacred writings probably became a matter 
 of discussion among the Hebrews only after the coming of the Saviour, 
 when Christians urged so zealously his plain prophecies (ch. ix. 24 27) 
 in proof of the Messiahship of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 The first open and avowed adversary to the genuineness and authen 
 ticity of the Book of Daniel, was Porphyry, a learned adversary of the 
 Christian faith in the third century. He wrote fifteen books against 
 Christianity, all of which are lost, except some fragments preserved by 
 
XJI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Eusebius, Jerome, and others. His objections against Daniel were made 
 in his twelfth book, and all that we have of these objections has been 
 preserved bv Jerome in his commentary on the Book of Daniel. A full 
 account of Porphyry, ami of his objections against the Christians and 
 the sacred books of the Old and New Testament, so far as can now bo 
 known, may be seen in Lardner, Jewish and Heathen Testimonies, vol. 
 vii. pp. 390 470, of his works, Ed. London, 1829. In regard to the 
 Book of Daniel, he maintained, according to Jerome (Pr. and Explan. in 
 Daniel), " that the book was not written by him whose name it bears, but 
 by another who lived in Judea in the time of Antiochus, surnamed 
 Epiphanes ; and that the Book of Daniel does not foretell things to come, 
 but relates what had already happened. In a word, whatever it contains 
 to the time of Antiochus is true history ; if there is anything relating to 
 aftertimes it is falsehood ; forasmuch as the writer could not see things 
 future, but at the most only could make some conjectures about them. 
 To him several of our authors have given answers of great labour and 
 diligence, in particular Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, in three volumes, 
 the 18th, the 19th, and the 20th. Apollinarius, also, in one large book, 
 that is the 26th, and before them, in part, Methodius. As it is not my 
 design," says Jerome, "to confute the objections of the adversary, which 
 would require a long discourse, but only to explain the prophet to our 
 own people, that is, Christians, I shall just observe that none of the 
 prophets have spoken so clearly of Christ as Daniel, for he not only fore- 
 tels his coming, as do others likewise, but he also teaches the time when 
 he will come, and mentions in order the princes of the intermediate space, 
 and the number of the years, and the signs of his appearance. And be 
 cause Porphyry saw all these things to have been fulfilled, and could not 
 deny that they had actually come to pass, he was compelled to say as he 
 did ; and because of some similitude of circumstances, he asserted 
 that the things foretold as to be fulfilled in Antichrist at the end of 
 the world, happened in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. Which 
 kind of opposition is a testimony of truth ; for such is the plain interpre 
 tation of the words, that to incredulous men the prophet seems not to 
 foretell things to come, but to relate things already past. And though, 
 as before said, it is not my intention to confute all his objections, I 
 shall, as occasion offers, take notice of some of his weak arguments. And 
 it may be proper for us, among other things, to observe now, that Por 
 phyry argued that the Book of Daniel was not genuine, because it was 
 written in Greek, and, therefore, was not the work of any Jew, but the 
 forgery of some Greek writer. This he argued from some Greek words 
 which are in the fable of Susanna, to which both Eusebius and Apollinarius 
 returned the same answer, that the fabulous stories of Susanna, and Bel, 
 and the Dragon, are not in the Hebrew, but are said to have been com 
 posed by a person of the tribe of Levi ; whereas the sacred Scriptures 
 assure us that Daniel and the three children, his companions, were of the 
 tribe of Judah. And they said they were not accountable for what was not 
 received by the Jews, nor was a part of the sacred Scriptures." A few 
 of the objections which Porphyry makes to the credibility of certain parts 
 of Daniel, Jerome has quoted in his commentary on tne particular pas 
 sages referred to. These have been collected by Dr. Lardner, and may 
 be socn in his works, vol. vii. pp. 402 415. It is not necessary to trans- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIII 
 
 cribe them here, as they will come up for consideration in the Notes on 
 the particular chapters. 
 
 Dr. Lardner [vol. vii. p. 401 J, remarks respecting Porphyry, " that 
 Porphyry s work against the Christians was much laboured, and that in 
 this argument he displayed all his learning, which was very considerable. 
 Hence, we can perceive the difficulty of undertaking an answer to him, 
 for which very few were fully qualified ; in which none of the apologists 
 for Christianity seem to have answered expectations." We cannot now 
 form a correct opinion of the argument of Porphyry, for we have only 
 the few fragments of his work, which Jerome and others have seen proper 
 to preserve. We are in danger, therefore, of doing injustice to what may 
 have been the real force of his argument, for it may have been stronger 
 than would be indicated by those fragments that remain. It is impossi 
 ble to recover his main objections ; and all that can now be said is, that, 
 as far as is known, he did not make any converts to his opinions, and 
 that his objections produced no change in the faith of the Christian 
 world. 
 
 No further attack on the genuineness and authenticity of Daniel seems 
 to have been made, and no further doubt entertained, until the time of 
 Spinoza. Spinoza was by birth a Jew ; was born at Amsterdam in 1G32 ; 
 became professedly converted to Christianity in consequence of supposing 
 that his life was in danger among the Jews, but was probably indifferent 
 to all religions. lie gave himself up to philosophical inquiries, and is 
 commonly understood to have been a pantheist. He maintained (Tractat. 
 Theol. Politicus, c. 10, T. i p. 308 Ed. Paulus) that the last five chapters 
 of Daniel were written by Daniel himself, but that the seven previous 
 chapters were collected about the time of the Maccabees, from the chro 
 nological writings of the Chaldeans, and that the whole was arranged by 
 some unknown hand. Edward Wells, who lived in the first part of the 
 eighteenth century, maintained that the work was composed by some one 
 soon after the death of Daniel. Antony Collins, one of the British Deists, 
 maintained also that it was not written by Daniel. In more recent times, 
 the genuineness of the book has been doubted or denied, in whole or in 
 part, by Corrodi, Gesenius, Luderwald, Dereser, Scholl, Lengerke, 
 Eichhorn, De Wette, Griesenger, Bertholdt, Bleek, Ewald, Ilitzig, and 
 Kirms ; it has been defended by the English writers generally, and 
 among the Germans, by Staiidlin, Beckhaus, Jahn, Ilavernick, Ileng- 
 stenberg, and others. The general ground taken by those who have 
 denied its genuineness and authenticity is, that the book was written at 
 or about the time of the Maccabees, by some Jew, who, in order to give 
 greater authority and importance to his work, wrote under the assumed 
 name of Daniel, and laid the scene in Babylon in the time of the cap 
 tivity. 
 
 The various arguments urged against the genuineness of the book, 
 may be seen in Bertholdt, Eichhorn, Lengerke, Kirms (CommentatioIIis- 
 torico Critica, Jenae, 1828), and De Wette. The best defence of its au 
 thenticity, probably, is the work of Ilengstenberg, (Die Authentic des 
 Daniel, Berlin, 1831). The exanmiation of the objections alleged against 
 the particular chapters, and particular portions of chapters, it will be 
 most convenient to examine in the introductions to the respective chap 
 ters. I propose, in this general Introduction, merely to examine the ob- 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 jections of a general character "which have been made to the work. These 
 have been concisely arranged and stated by De Wette (Lehrbuch der 
 Historisch-kritischenEinleifung, etc. Berlin, 1845, pp.382 389), and in the 
 examination of the objections I shall consider them in the order in which 
 he has stated them. 
 
 The view which De "VVette entertains of the book is stated in the fol 
 lowing manner: " that in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, when the 
 spirit of prophecy among the Jews had been a long time extinct, a Jew 
 ish friend of his country endeavoured to encourage and strengthen his 
 contemporary sufferers, and those who were contending for their liberty, 
 through these apocalyptic prophecies respecting the former ascendency 
 of the theocratic principle, which, in order to give the work greater repu 
 tation and authority, he ascribed to an ancient Seer of the name of 
 Daniel, of whom probably something had been handed down by tradition. 
 Designedly he suffered the promises to extend to a great length of time, 
 in order to make them appear the more certain. After the manner of the 
 ancient prophets, also, he inwove much that was historical, and especially 
 such as would be fitted to excite and arouse the martyr spirit of his own 
 people." Lehrbuch, p. 390. 
 
 I. The first objection which is urged against the genuineness of the 
 book is derived from what is denominated the fabulous contents Mahrchen- 
 haften Inhalte of its narrative parts. This objection, in the words of 
 De Wette, is that " the book is full of improbabilities (ii. 3, ff. 46, f. iii. 
 1, 5, f. 20, 22, 28, f. iii. 31, ff. 31, f. v. 11, f. 18, ff. 29, vi. 8, ff. 26, ff.) ; 
 of wonders, (ii. 28, iii. 23, ff. v. 5, vi. 23, 25) ; its historical inaccu 
 racies are such as are found in no prophetic book of the Old Testament, 
 and are founded on the same type (Comp. ii. 2 11, with iv. 4. v. 8. iii. 4 
 12, 2630, with vi. 818, 2124). This seeking after wonders and 
 strange things, and the religious fanaticism nourished through these per 
 secutions, which it breathes, place the book in the same condition as the 
 second Book of the Maccabees, as a production of the time of Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, and the similarity of the former of the two books betrays the 
 fictitious character (Dichtvng] of the book." Lehrbuch, pp. 382, 383. 
 
 In reference to this objection, which turns on the marvellous charac 
 ter of the Book, and the improbable historical statements in it, the 
 following remarks may be made : 
 
 (a) These objections are noticed in detail in the Introductions to the 
 respective chapters where the historical events here objected to are stated, 
 and the question whether they are fabulous, or are in accordance with 
 true history, is there fully considered. This will make it needless to no 
 tice them here particularly. In the Introduction to the respective chap 
 ters, I have noticed, and have endeavoured to answer, all the objections 
 which I have found of this character in the works of Eichhorn, Bertholdt, 
 Bleek, and Lengerke. This will make it the less necessary to dwell on 
 this point in this general Introduction. 
 
 (6) But as to the alleged contradiction between Daniel and the his 
 torical accounts which we have of the affairs to which he refers, it may 
 be proper to observe in general (1.) That, for anything that appears, 
 Daniel may be as accurate a historian as any of the heathen writers of 
 those times. There is, in the nature of the case, no reason why we 
 should put implicit confidence in Berosus, Abydenus, Xenophon, and 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 Herodotus, and distrust Daniel; nor why, if a statement is omitted by 
 them, we should concluds at once, that if mentioned by Daniel it is false. 
 It is an unhappy circumstance, that there are many persons who suppose 
 that the fact that a thing is mentioned by a profane historian is pre 
 sumptive evidence of its truth ; if mentioned by a sacred writer, it is 
 presumptive evidence of its falsehood. Under the influence of the same 
 feeling it is inferred, that if an event is mentioned by a sacred writer, 
 which is omitted by a profane historian, it is regarded as demonstrative that 
 the work in which it is found is fabulous. It is unnecessary to show 
 that this feeling exists in many minds ; and yet nothing can be more 
 unjust for the mere fact that an author writes on sacred subjects, or is the 
 professed friend of a certain religion, should not be allowed to cast a sus 
 picion on his testimony. That testimony must depend, in regard to its 
 value, on his credibility as an historian, and not on the subject on which 
 he writes. In the nature of things there is no more reason why a writer 
 on sacred subjects should be unworthy of belief, than one who is record 
 ing the ordinary events of history. (2.) Daniel, according to the account 
 which we have of him, had opportunities of ascertaining the truth of the 
 facts which he narrates which no profane historian had. He spent the 
 greater part of a long life in Babylon, in the very midst of the scenes 
 which he describes ; he was intimately acquainted with the affairs of the 
 government ; he enjoyed, in a remarkable degree, the confidence of those 
 in authority ; and he was himself deeply concerned in most of these 
 transactions, and could have adopted the language of /Eneas et quorum 
 magna pars fui. (3.) It is to be remembered, also, in regard to these 
 events and times, that we have few fragments of history remaining. We 
 have fragments of the writings of Berosus, a Chaldean, indeed, who 
 wrote in Greece ; and of Abydenus, a Greek, who wrote in Ghaldea ; we 
 have some historical statements in Xenophon, and a few in Herodotus, 
 but the Chaldean history, if ever written, is lost ; the public documents 
 are destroyed ; the means of an accurate and full knowledge of the Chal 
 dean or Babylonish power in the time when Daniel lived, have disap 
 peared forever. Under these circumstances, it would not be strange if 
 we should not be able to clear up all the difficulties of a historical nature 
 that may be suggested respecting these fragmentary accounts, or be able 
 to verify the statements which we find in the sacred books by the explicit 
 testimony of contemporary writers. 
 
 (c) As a matter of fact, the investigations of history, as far as they can 
 be made, go to confirm the authority of Daniel. Instances of this will 
 occur in the examination of the particular chapters in this book, and all 
 that can now be done is merely to refer to them, particularly to the intro 
 ductions to chs. i. iv. v. vi. In general, it may be said here, that none of 
 the historical authorities contradict what is stated by Daniel, and that the 
 few fragments which we have go to confirm what he has said, or at least 
 to make it probable. 
 
 (d) As to the objections of De Wette and others, derived from the mi 
 raculous and marvellous character of the book, it may be observed fur 
 ther, that the same objection would lie against most of the books of the 
 Bible, and that it is, therefore, not necessary to notice it particularly in 
 considering the Book of Daniel. The Bible is a book full of miracles and 
 marvels; and he who would have any proper understanding of it must 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 regard and treat it as such. It is impossiblo to understand or explain 
 it without admitting the possibility and the reality of miraculous 
 events ; and in a book which claims to be founded on miracles, it does not 
 prove that it is not authentic or genuine simply to say that it assumes that 
 miracles are possible. To destroy the credibility of the book, it is ne 
 cessary to show that all claims of a miraculous character are unfounded, 
 and all miracles impossible and absurd ; and this objection would not lie 
 against the Book of Daniel peculiarly, but equally against the whole 
 Bible. Two remarks here may be made, however, of a more particular 
 character: (1.) one is, that the statements in Daniel are not more mar 
 vellous than those which occur in other parts of the Bible, and if they 
 may be believed, those occurring in Daniel maybe also; and (2.) the other is, 
 that it would rather be an argument against the genuineness and authen 
 ticity of the book if no miraculous and marvellous statements were found 
 in it. It would be so unlike the other books of tin- Bible, where miracles 
 abound, that we should feel that there was wanting in its favour the evi 
 dence of this nature, which would show that it had the same origin as 
 the other portions of the volume. The particular objections in regard 
 to the statements in Daniel of this nature, are considered in the Notes 
 on the Book. 
 
 II. A second objection to the genuineness of the Book of Daniel, re 
 lates to the prophecies which are found in it. This objection is derived 
 from the peculiar character of these prophecies ; from the minuteness 
 of the detail ; the exact designation of the order of events ; the fact that 
 they seem to be a summary of history written after the events occurred ; 
 and that in these respects they are essentially unlike the other prophe 
 cies in the Bible. This objection, we have seen, is as old as Porphyry ; 
 and this was, in fact, with him, the principal argument against the au 
 thenticity of the book. This objection is summed up and stated by De 
 Wette in the following manner ( 255. b. pp. 384, 385) : " The ungenu- 
 ineness (Unachtheit) appears further from the prophetic contents of the 
 same, which is to a remarkable extent different from that of all the remaining 
 prophetic books, (a) through its apocalyptic character, or through this 
 that the coming of the kingdom of the Messiah is mentioned and deter 
 mined according to certain definite periods of time, or specified periods, 
 and that the representation of it occurs so much in the form of visions ; 
 (b) that the circumstances of the distant future, and the fortune of the 
 kingdoms which were not yet in existence, even down to the time of An- 
 tiochus Epiphanes, are described with so much particularity and accuracy 
 (viii. 14, ix. 25, ff. xii. 11, ff.) that the account must have been written 
 after the event ; (c) and that, if Daniel was a prophet, he must have 
 lived in the times of Ezekiel and Zechariah, and we must suppose 
 that his prophecies would have borne the general character of the prophe 
 cies of those times, but that in fact we find in them the spirit of a later 
 age the spirit that ultimately developed itself in the Sibylline Books, to 
 which these prophecies bear a strong resemblance." 
 
 In reply to this, it may be remarked : 
 
 (1.) That all that is said in Daniel is possible : that is, it is possible 
 that prophetic intimations of the future should be given with as much 
 particularity as are found in Daniel. No one can demonstrate, or even 
 affirm, that God could not, if he chose, inspire a prophet to predict in detai) 
 
INTRODUCTION. XVT1 
 
 vkfc wccrrences of the most remote times, and the fall of kingdoms not 
 yei \u oemg. All this knowledge must be with him ; and for anything 
 mai appt/ars, it would be as easy to inspire a prophet to predict these 
 events AS any other. The sole inquiry, therefore, is in regard to a fact ; 
 and this Is to be settled by an examination of the evidence, that the 
 prophet lived and prophesied before the events predicted occurred. 
 
 (2.) The prophecies iu Daniel are not, in their structure and character, 
 so unlike those whose genuineness is undisputed, as to make it certain 
 or even probable, that the latter are genuine, and those of Daniel not. 
 Dreams and visions were common methods of communicating the Divine 
 will to the prophets, (See Introduction to Isaiah, g 7. (2), (4), and who 
 will undertake from any internal evidence to determine between those 
 of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel? 
 
 (3.) As to the allegation respecting the details in Daniel of future 
 events the particularity with which he describes them all is to be 
 admitted that is affirmed on the subject. It is a fact that there is such 
 particularity and minuteness of detail as could be founded only on truth, 
 and that the delineations of Alexander and his conquests, and the statements 
 of the events that would succeed his reign down to the time of Antiochus 
 Epiphanes (ch. xi.), are drawn with as much accuracy of detail as they 
 would be by one writing after the events had occurred. No one can 
 doubt this who attentively examines these remarkable prophecies. Por 
 phyry was undoubtedly right in affirming, that in regard to their minute 
 ness and accuracy, these prophecies appeared to be written after the 
 events ; and if it can be shown, therefore, that they were written before the 
 events referred to, the testimony of Porphyry is a strong evidence of the 
 fact that Daniel was inspired ; for no one will maintain that man, by any 
 natural sagacity, could describe events before they occur with the exactness 
 of detail, and the minute accuracy which is found in this part of Daniel. 
 
 But is not what is here said of Daniel, as to the accuracy and minute 
 ness of detail true also, in the main, of other prophecies in the Old Tes 
 tament ? Are there not many prophecies that are as accurate, and in 
 some respects as minute, as they would have been if they were written after 
 the events referred to ? Is not this true of the predictions respecting the 
 destruction of Tyre and of Babylon, and the carrying away of the Jews 
 into captivity ? Is not Cyrus expressly mentioned by Isaiah, and is not 
 the work which he would perform in the conquest of Babylon drawn out 
 in exact detail ? See Isa. xlv. 1. soq. So in Jeremiah (1. li.), there is 
 a prophetic account of the destruction of Babylon as minute in many re 
 spects as the predictions of Daniel, and as exact and minute as it would 
 have been if written after the events had occurred, and the author had 
 been making a historical record instead of uttering a prediction. But 
 on this point I must content myself with referring to the argument of 
 Hengstenberg, Authentic des Daniel, pp. 173 195. It may be added, 
 however, that it is on this accuracy of detail in Daniel that we ground 
 one of the strong arguments for his inspiration. It will be admitted on 
 all hands it cannot be denied that no one could foresee those events 
 and describe them with such accuracy of detail, by any natural sagacity ; 
 but no one who believes in the fact of inspiration at ail, can doubt that it 
 would be as easy for the Divine Spirit to present future events in this 
 accuracy of detail as in a more general, jajaamer. At all events, this ao- 
 
XVIII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 curacy arid minuteness of detail removes the prophecies from the region 
 of conjecture, and is an answer to the usual objections that they art 
 obscure and ambiguous. Not one can pretend this of the writings of 
 Daniel ; and if it can be shown that the book was written before the events 
 occurred, the conclusion cannot be avoided that the author was inspired. 
 
 III. A third objection to the genuineness and authenticity of the Book 
 of Daniel is thus stated by De Wette (| 255, b. 3, p. 385) : " Grounds of 
 objection lie further in the repeated mention of Daniel himself, in so hon 
 ourable a manner, ch. i. 17, 19, f. v. 11, f. vi. 4, ix. 23, x. 11, et al." 
 
 This objection cannot be regarded as having any great degree of force, or 
 as contributing much to set aside the direct evidence of the authority of the 
 book: for (a) it is possible that all these honours were conferred on him. 
 This is, in itself, no more incredible or remarkable than that Joseph 
 should have reached the honours in Egypt, which are attributed to him in 
 Genesis ; and no one can show that if the account had been written by 
 another, it would have been unworthy of belief, (b) If it were a fact that 
 he was thus honoured, it was not improper to state it. If Daniel was 
 the historian of those times, and kept the records of the events of his own 
 life, and actually obtained those honours, there was no impropriety in his 
 making a record of those things. He has done no more than what 
 Csesar did in the mention of himself, his plans, his conquests, his triumphs. 
 In the record of Daniel there is no unseemly parading of his wisdom, or 
 the honours conferred on him ; there is no praise for the mere sake of 
 praise ; there is no language of panegyric on account of his eminent piety. 
 The account is a mere record of facts as they are said to have occurred 
 that Daniel was successful in his early studies, and his preparation for the 
 examination through which he and his companions were to pass (ch. i.) ; 
 that on more than one occasion he succeeded in interpreting a dream or 
 vision which no one of the Chaldeans could do ; that in consequence of 
 this he was raised to an exalted rank ; that he was enabled to maintain 
 his integrity in the midst of extraordinary temptations, and that he was 
 favoured with the Divine protection when in extraordinary danger. I 
 presume that no one who has read the Book of Daniel with an unpre 
 judiced mind, ever received an impression that there was any want of 
 modesty in Daniel in these records, or that there was any unseemly or 
 unnecessary parading of his own virtues and honours before the world. 
 
 IV. A fourth objection which has been urged against the genuineness 
 of Daniel, is derived from the language in which it is written. This ob 
 jection, as stated by De Wette, ( \ 235, b. 4, p. 385,) is founded on " the 
 corrupt Hebrew and Chaldee, and the intermingling of Greek words in 
 the composition." The objection is urged more at length in Bertholdt, 
 (p. 24, seq.) and by Bleek, Kirms, and others. The objection, a derived 
 from the language of the book, is properly divided into three parts : 
 (a) that it is written in Hebrew and Chaldee ; (b) that in each part of it 
 there is a want of purity of style, indicating a later age than the time 
 of the captivity ; and (c) that there is an intermingling of Greek words, 
 such as it cannot be presumed that one who wrote in the time of the 
 exile, and in Babylon, would have employed, arid such as were probably in 
 troduced into common use only by a later intercourse with the Greeks, 
 and particularly by the Macedonian conquest. 
 
 (a) As to the first of these, little stress can be laid on it, and indeed 4 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 is rather an argument for the genuineness of the work than against it. 
 It is well known that from the fourth verse of the second chapter to the 
 end of the seventh chapter, the work is written in the Chaldee language, 
 while the remainder is pure Hebrew. The only way in which this fact 
 could he regarded as an objection to the genuineness of the book, would be 
 that, it is an indication that it is the production of two different authors. 
 But this would be an objection only on the supposition that the author 
 could write and speak only one language, or that, supposing he was ac- 
 quainced with two, there were no circumstances which could account for 
 the use of both. But neither of these suppositions apply here. There 
 is every reason to believe that Daniel was acquainted with both the He 
 brew and the Chaldee ; and there is no improbability in the supposition 
 that he wrote in both with equal ease. And, on the other hand, it may 
 be remarked, that the very circumstance here referred to, is a confirma 
 tion of the genuineness o*f the book; for (1.) it accords with all that is 
 known of Daniel. He was a youth when he left his native country, and 
 there is every probability that he was familiar with the Hebrew in early 
 life, and that he would never forget it, though it might be true that he 
 would ordinarily use the language of Chaldea. He was still familiar 
 with the Hebrew books, and it is to be presumed that the language used 
 by the Hebrews in exile was their native tongue. In all his intercourse 
 with his own countrymen, therefore, it is every way probable that he would 
 use his native language, and would thus through life retain his know 
 ledge of it. (2.) It is equally clear that he was familiar with the Chal 
 dee language. He was early, in connection with three other Hebrew 
 youth, (ch. i. 3, 4,) placed under the best instruction in Babylon, for the 
 express purpose of acquiring, with other branches of learning, a know 
 ledge of the " tongue of the Chaldeans ;" and he speedily made such 
 acquisitions as to pass with honour the examination appointed before he 
 was admitted to public employment, ch. i. 18 20. He was, moreover, 
 employed at court during a considerable part of his long life, and no one, 
 therefore, can doubt that he was entirely familiar with the language used 
 in Babylon, and that he could compose in it with ease. (3.) It is evident 
 that the work must, if it is the production of one author, have been com 
 posed by some person who was, in this respect, in the circumstances of 
 Daniel ; that is, by one who was familiar with both the languages : and 
 the circumstances bear on their face evidence that the work was written 
 by one in the condition in which Daniel was known to be ; that is, 
 one who had been early trained in the Hebrew, and who had lived in 
 Chaldea. No native-born Hebrew, who had not lived in Chaldea, would 
 be likely to be so well acquainted with the two languages that he could 
 use either with equal facility ; and it may be presumed that no native- 
 born Chaldean could evince so intimate an acquaintance with the Hebrew. 
 The direct evidence that it is the production of one author will be ad 
 duced in another part of this Introduction. (4.) It is by no means pro 
 bable that one who lived so late as the time of Antiochus Epiphanes 
 could have written the book as it is written ; that is, that he would have 
 been so familiar with the two languages, Hebrew and Chaldee, that he 
 could use them with equal ease. It is an uncommon thing for a man to 
 write in two different languages in the same work, and he never does it 
 without some special design a design for which there would not be likely 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to be occasion if one were "writing in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes 
 It was perfectly natural that Daniel should write in this manner, and 
 perfectly unnatural that any one should do it in a later age, and in dif 
 ferent circumstances. If the book had been forged by a Hebrew in the 
 time of Antiochus Epiphanes, there is every reason to believe that he 
 would have been careful to write it in as pure Hebrew as possible, for 
 that was the language in which the canonical books were written, and if 
 he had endeavoured to gain credit for the book as one of divine authority, 
 he would not have intermingled so much of a foreign language. If he 
 were a Chaldean, and could write Hebrew at all, as it is certain that the 
 author of this book could, then, for the reason just given, he would have 
 been careful to write the whole book in as pure Hebrew as possible, and 
 would not have jeoparded its credit by so large an infusion of a foreign 
 tongue. (5.) This reasoning is conclusive, unless it be supposed that the 
 author meant to represent it as a composition of some Hebrew in the time 
 of the exile, and that in order to give it the greater verisimilitude he 
 adopted this device to make it appear as if written by one who was a 
 native Hebrew, but who had become familiar with a foreign language. 
 But this device would be too refined to be likely to occur, and, for the 
 reasons given above, would be difficult of execution if it should occur. 
 Even in such a case, the writer would be much more likely to represent 
 its author as writing in the sacred language of the prophets, in order to 
 procure for himself the credit of employing the language used in all the 
 divine communications to men. The language in which the book is writ 
 ten, therefore, is just such as it would be on the supposition that it is 
 genuine, and just such as it would not be on the supposition that it is a 
 forgery of a later age. 
 
 (6) As to the statement that the language is corrupt Hebrew and Chal- 
 dee in der Verderbten sowohl hebraischen als Chaldaishen Sprache (De 
 AVette), it may be remarked that this position has never been satisfacto 
 rily made out, nor has it been shown that it is not such as might be em 
 ployed, or would be employed, by one who resided in Babylon in the 
 time of the exile. That the language would not be the purest kind of 
 Hebrew, or the purest Chaldee, might be possible, in the circumstances 
 of the case ; but it could be shown that it was not such as might be em 
 ployed there, unless there are words and forms of speech which did not 
 come into use until a later period of the world. This has not been 
 shown. It is true that there are Persian words ; but this is not unnatu 
 ral in the circumstances of the case bordering asChaldea did on Persia, 
 and during a part of the time referred to in the book, being actually subject 
 to Persia. It is true that there are Greek words ; but under the next speci 
 fication I shall endeavour to show that this does not militate against the 
 supposition that the book may have been written in Babylon in the time 
 of the exile. It is true that there are words and forms of speech which 
 were not in use in the earlier periods of Hebrew literature, but which be 
 came common in the later periods of their literature; butthis doos not prove 
 that they may not have been in use as early as the exile. A specimen of 
 the words referred to indeed all on which the argument is founded 
 may be seen inDe Wette, p. 385, Note (e.) They are few in number, and 
 in respect to none of these can it be proved that they were not in exist- 
 ance in the time of Daniel. They are of Persian, of Syriac, or of Chaldee 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 origin, and arc such words as would be likely to come into use in the cir 
 cumstances of the case. In regard to this objection it may be added, that 
 it has been abandoned by some of the objectors to the genuineness of the 
 Book of Daniel themselves. Bleek is candid enough to give it up entirely. 
 He says, " We have, in general, too few remains of the different centuries 
 after the exile, to draw any conclusions as to the gradual depreciation of 
 the language, and to determine with any certainty to what particular 
 period any writer belongs." Zeitschr. p. 213. " Daniel," says Prof. 
 Stuart, " in the judgment of Gesenius (Geschich. Heb. Sprach. p. 35), has 
 decidedly a purer diction than Ezekiel ; in which opinion," says he, " as 
 far as I am able to judge, after much time spent upon the book, and exam 
 ining minutely every word and phrase in it many times over, I should 
 entirely coincide." Com. p. 465. 
 
 (c) A more material objection is derived from the use of Greek words 
 in the composition of the book. That there are such words is undenia 
 ble ; though they are by no means numerous. Bertholdt (pp. 24, 25,) 
 has enumerated ten such words ; De Wette has referred to four, p. 386. 
 The words enumerated by Bertholdt, are, n^ams, rrp<m/ioi ; c^nc* 
 
 pvl 5 I-O, KVpvcroeiv ; D-\n<p Kt $ a P S 5 33D 
 
 In regard to this objection, it may be remarked, in general, that it 
 does not assert that the structure of the Book of Daniel is fashioned 
 after the Greek manner, or that the Greek style pervades it ; it asserts 
 only that a few Greek words have been incorporated into the book. The 
 question then is, whether even all these words are of Greek origin ; and 
 whether, if they are, or if only a part of them are, their use in the book 
 can be accounted for on the supposition that it was written in the time 
 of the captivity, or rather, whether their occurrence in the book is a 
 proof that the book could not have been written at that time. 
 
 The first point is the question, whether these words are of undoubted 
 Greek origin ; and this question will require us to examine them in de 
 tail. 
 
 (1.) The first word specified is D pijna partemim rendered princes (ch. 
 i. 3,) which it is alleged is the same as the Greek jrpon/jor protimoi. The 
 word used by Daniel occurs only in two other places in the Old Testament 
 (Esther i. 3, vi. 9), where it is rendered noUes, and most noble ; and it is 
 obvious to remark, that the fact that it is found in Esther might be urged 
 in proof that the book of Daniel was written at the time in which it ia 
 commonly believed to have been, since the antiquity and genuineness of 
 the book of Esther is not called in question. But apart from this, there 
 is no evidence that the word is of Greek origin. Gesenius, who may be 
 considered as impartial authority on the subject, says, " It is of Persian 
 origin, 1 9. Pehlvi pardom the first, see Auquetil du Perron Zenda- 
 vesta, ii. p. 468. Comp. Sanscr. pratliama the first. In the Zend dialect 
 the form is peoerim. Comp. Sanscr. pura, prius, antea, purana, autiquus. 
 From the former comes the Greek n-pwnrj, and from the latter the Latin 
 primus." Lex. The same account of the origin of the word is given by 
 Jahn, De Wette, Bleek, and Kirms. This word, then, may be set aside. 
 It is indeed objected by Bertholdt, that, though the word had a Persian 
 origin, yet there is no evidence that it would be used in Babylon in the 
 time of the exile. But this objection can have no force. Babylon and 
 
XXII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Persia were neighbouring kingdoms, and there is no presumption that 
 Persian words might not find their way to Babylon, and as a matter of 
 fact such words occur in Jeremiah, and probably in Isaiah and in Na- 
 hum. See Hengstenberg, pp. 11, 12. The truth was, that the Assyrians 
 and the Medo-Persians were originally all of the same stem or stock, and 
 there is no presumption against the supposition that the same words 
 might be found in each of the languages spoken by them. 
 
 (2.) The next word referred to is ajnp, pithgham, (Dan. iii. 16, iv. 17, 
 rendered matter), which it is alleged is the same as the Greek <f>$ryi*a 
 pthegma. The word occurs, besides these places in Daniel, in Ezra iv. 
 17, v. 11, rendered answer; v. 7, rendered letter; and vi. 11, rendered 
 word. In Hebrew it occurs in Esth. i. 20, rendered decree, and in Ecc. 
 viii. 11, rendered sentence. In respect to this word, also, Gesenius says, 
 "The origin of the word is to be sought in the Persian, in which vedam is 
 word, edict, mandate." Lex. The fact, also, it may be added, that it is 
 found in Esther, in Ezra, and the book of Ecclesiastes,is sufficient to destroy 
 the objection that its use proves that the Book of Daniel was written later 
 than the time of the exile. It was brought, probably, into the Greek 
 language from the common origin of the Persian and the Greek. 
 
 (3, 4.) The next words referred to, are Np ns, kdhroz (a herald), ch. iii. 
 4, and nj> kdrciz, to cry out, to make proclamation, which it is alleged 
 are the same as the Greek * /p kemx, and xripvoaw kerussein. Of these 
 words, also, Gesenius remarks, " The root is widely diffused in the Indo- 
 European languages, e. q. Sansc. krus, to cry out ; Zenda. khresio, 
 crying out, a herald ; Pers. to cry out ; Gr. f /pfo also, *p <w, *pa ; 
 Germ, kreischen, kreissen ; Eng. to cry." Lex. Among the Christian 
 Arabs, Gesenius remarks, it means to preach. Jalm and Dereser say 
 that the word is related to the Zendish word khresio, which means to 
 tread behind, and to scream out, to screech kreischen. Hengstenberg 
 (p. 13,) remarks of this word, that its use is spread abroad nut only in 
 Chaldee, but in Syriac, and that this circumstance makes it probable that 
 it had a Semitish origin. The probability is, that this word and the 
 Greek had a common origin, but its use is so fur spread in the world that 
 it cannot be argued that the fact that it is found in the Book of Daniel 
 demonstrates that the book had a later origin than the period of the exile. 
 
 (5.) The next word mentioned as of Greek origin is DT^ kitharos, (ch. 
 iii. 5, 7, 10, 15,) cithara, harp, lyre, (rendered in each place, harp,} 
 which it is said is the same as the Greek *i3ap f , citharis. In regard to 
 this word, which is the name of a musical instrument, it is to be admitted 
 that it is the same as the Greek word. It occurs nowhere else in the 
 Old Testament, and its origin is unknown. As a Greek word, it will be 
 considered, in connection with the three others of the same class, in the 
 sequel. It cannot be affirmed, indeed, that it has a Greek origin, but its 
 origin cannot be found in the Chaldee, Persian, or Sanscrit languages. 
 But, although it is admitted that it is a Greek word, and denotes an in* 
 strument that was well known in Greece, this does not demonstrate that 
 it is of Greek origin. It is admitted on all hands that the names of Greek 
 instruments of music were mostly of foreign derivation ; and there is 
 nothing to lead to the supposition that this was of Greek origin, unless it 
 be that the word KiSapa or KiSdpos, means, in the Doric dialect, the breast, and 
 that this instrument might have received its name either because it was 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXIII 
 
 played by being placed against the breast, like the violin with us, or be 
 cause its form resembled the human breast. This is the opinion of Isi- 
 dorus, Origg. i. 2, 21. But there is great uncertainty in regard to this. 
 
 (6.) The next word specified is sp3?, sabbeka (ch. lii. 5), and the simi 
 lar word, Kjqfr (ch. iii. 7, 10, 15), in each case rendered sackbut. Of this 
 word it is alleged that it is the same as the Greek an^vKn, sambuca, a 
 stringed instrument well known in Greece. But in regard to this word, 
 also, the remark of Gesenius maybe quoted: " Strabo affirms," says he, 
 " that the Greek word, aa///?wj (sambuca), is of barbarian, i. e. of oriental 
 origin, and if so, the name might have allusion to the interweaving of the 
 strings from the root -335" to interweave, to entwine, to plait. Gesenius, 
 however, remarks, that in this place it is joined with a word (symphony) 
 which is manifestly of Greek origin ; and he seems to infer that this 
 word, also, may have had a Greek origin. The direct affirmation of Strabo 
 is (Lib. x.), that the names of the Greek instruments of music were of 
 foreign origin, and in reference to this particular instrument, Athenaeus 
 (i. iv.) affirms, that it was of Syrian origin. So Clemens Alex, expressly 
 declares that the sambuca had a foreign origin. Strom. L. i. p. 307. 
 Even Bleek admits this in regard to this particular instrument. See 
 Hengstenberg, p. 15. 
 
 (7.) The next word for which a Greek origin is claimed is JOJSBID 
 symphony, Greek av^^via, ch. iii. 5, 10, 15, rendered in the text, in each 
 place, dulcimer, and in the margin symphony, or singing. Gesenius re 
 marks, in regard to this word, that "it is the Greek word adopted into 
 the Chaldce tongue, just as at the present day the same instrument is 
 called in Italy, zampogna, and in Asia Minor, zambouja." It cannot be 
 denied that the word is the same as the Greek word ; though it is to be 
 remarked that among the Greeks it was not used to denote the name of 
 an instrument of music. Yet, as it is compounded of two Greek words 
 avv and 0uj its Greek origin cannot well be doubted. With the Greeks, 
 the word meant properly harmony, or concert of sounds (Passoiv) ; and 
 it was then readily given to an instrument that was fitted to produce har 
 mony, or that was distinguished for its sweet sounds. The word is 
 found in Syriac, as applied to a musical instrument, but the evidence 
 seems to be strong that the ivord had a Greek origin, though there is no 
 evidence that the Greeks ever applied it to a musical instrument. 
 
 (8.) The next word for which a Greek origin is claimed is j-najDe, and 
 jnn:D? pesanterin, (ch. iii. 7, 5, 10, 15, rendered psaltery in each place,) 
 which, it is said, is the same as the Greek ^a\rfiptov psaltery. "This word," 
 says Gesenius, (Lex.) " was adopted from the Greek into Chaldee, h and j 
 being interchanged." The origin of the word is, however, wholly uncer 
 tain. That it is found in Greek is undoubtedly true ; but, as has been 
 before remarked, as it is admitted that the names of the Greek instru 
 ments of music had mostly a foreign origin, it is impossible to demon 
 strate that this may not have been true in regard to this word. Baxtorf 
 (Lex. Chald.) says that it is a word " corrupted from the Greek." 
 
 (9.) The next word is #2.3, pattish, (ch. iii. 21, rendered hosen,) which 
 it is said is the same as the Greek neraaof j)etasos. But there is no reason 
 to believe that this word had an original Greek origin. It is found in 
 Syriac, and the root, \y$$ -patash, Gesenius remarks, " is widely found in 
 
XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the Indo-European languages. The primary form," says he, "is bait, patt, 
 whence later Lat. battere ; French, battre; Dutch, bot; Swed. batsch," &c. 
 The Greek word has undoubtedly had the same origin, and it cannot be 
 maintained that the Chaldee word is derived from the Greek. 
 
 (10.) The remaining word which is alleged to be of Greek origin is, 
 njpj, nebirbaU (ch. ii. C, v. 17), rendered in both cases in the text, re- 
 wards, and in the margin, fee. It does not elsewhere occur in the Old 
 Testament. It is maintained by Bertholdt and others, that this is the same 
 word as the Greek voniapa money. But there is no evidence that the 
 word is of Greek origin. Gesenius says (Lex.}, that the word may have 
 a Chaldee origin, though he prefers to assign to it a Persian origin, and 
 he says that the idea of money (implied in the Greek word) is foreign to 
 the context here. Bohlen, Winer, and Ilengstenberg, agree in assigning 
 the word to a Persian origin. See Hengs. Authen. p. 12. 
 
 The result, then, to which we have come in regard to the objection 
 that words of Greek origin, and indicating an age later than the time of 
 the exile, are found in Daniel, is, that the number alleged to be of such 
 an origin is very few at best, and that of those which have been referred 
 to, there are not more than four (marked 5, C, 7, and 8, in the enumera 
 tion above,) to which the objection can be supposed to apply with any 
 degree of probability. These are the words actually selected by De 
 Wette, (p. 386,) as those on which he relies. 
 
 In regard to these four words, then, we may make the following gene 
 ral observations : 
 
 (a) They are all names of musical instruments said to have been 
 used in Babylon. 
 
 (6) The general remark of Strabo above referred to may be called to 
 recollection here, that the names of musical instruments among the 
 Greeks were mostly of foreign origin. In itself considered, therefore, 
 there is no improbability in the supposition that the same words should 
 be applied to musical instruments in Greece and in Chaldea. 
 
 (c) The languages in which these words are found belong to the same 
 great family of languages the Indo-European ; that is, the Persian, the 
 Greek, the Latin, &c. They had a common origin, and it is not strange 
 if we find the same words spread extensively through these languages. 
 
 (d) There was sufficient intercourse between Persia, Chaldea, Asia 
 Minor, and Greece, before and at the time of the Hebrew captivity, to 
 make it not improbable that the names of musical instruments, and the 
 instruments themselves, should be borne from one to the other. There 
 is, therefore, no improbability in supposing that such instruments may 
 have been carried to Babylon from Greece, and may have retained their 
 Greek names in Babylon. Curtius (b. iv. c. 12) says, that in the Persian 
 host that came out to meet Alexander the Great, there were many per 
 sons found of Greek origin who had become subject to the authority of 
 Media. For farther historical proofs on this subject, see Hengs. Authen, 
 pp. 16, 17. Indeed, little proof is needed. It is known that the Greeks 
 were in the habit of visiting foreign lands, and particularly of travelling 
 into the region of the East, for the purpose of obtaining knowledge ; and 
 nothing is, in itself, more probable than that in this way the names of a 
 few musical instruments, in common use among themselves, should have 
 been made known to the people among whom they travelled, and that 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 those names should have been incorporated into the languages spoken 
 there. 
 
 V. A fifth objection, or class of objections, is derived from the alleged 
 reference to usages, opinions, and customs, later than the time of the 
 exile. This objection, which embraces several subordinate points, is 
 thus summed up by De Wette : " The remarkable later representations 
 on the subject of angels (der Angelologie, iv. 14, ix. 21, x. 13, 21 ; of 
 Christology, vii. 13, f. xii. 1 3 ; of dogmatics [or doctrines, Dogmatik,] 
 xii. 2, f. ; of morals [Sittenlehre] or customs, iv. 24, Comp. Tobit, iv. 
 11, xii. 9 ; and of asceticism [Askese], i. 8 16, Comp. Esther iv. 17, 
 2 Mac. v. 27, vi. 11, furnish at least an additional argument [einen Hiilfs- 
 beweis] against the genuineness of the book/ $ 255, c. (5). 
 
 This objection, it will be observed, divides itself into several parts or 
 portions, though coming under the same general description. The gene 
 ral statement is, that there is an allusion to customs and opinions which 
 were found among the Jews only at a later period than the captivity, and 
 that, therefore, the book could not have been composed at the time al 
 leged. The specifications relate to angelology, or the representations re 
 specting angels ; to christology, or the views of the Messiah ; to the 
 doctrines stated, particularly to those respecting the resurrection of the 
 dead and the final judgment ; to the customs that prevailed, and to the 
 ascetic views expressed, particularly on the effect of abstinence from rich 
 kinds of diet. It will be convenient to notice them in their order, so far 
 as to furnish a general answer. Most of them will be noticed more par 
 ticularly in the Notes on the passages as they occur ; and for a full and 
 complete answer the reader may be referred, in general, to Hengstenberg, 
 Authentic des Daniel, pp. 137 173. 
 
 A. The first specification is derived from the statements which occur 
 respecting angels, ch. iv. 14, ix. 21, x. 13, 21. These, it is affirmed, in 
 dicate a state of opinion which prevailed among the Hebrews only at a 
 later age than the time of the exile, and consequently the book could not 
 have been written at that time. This objection, as urged by Bertholdt 
 and others, refers to two points ; first, that the statements respecting the 
 opinions of the Chaldeans on the subject, are not in accordance with the 
 opinions in the time when the book is said to have been written ; and se 
 cond, that the statements respecting angels, considered as Hebrew opin 
 ions, are those which belong to a later age. It will be proper to notice 
 these in their order. 
 
 I. The first is, that the statements which occur as representing the 
 opinions of the Chaldeans, express sentiments which did not prevail 
 among them. The objections on this point relate to two statements in the 
 book ; one, that the Son of God, or a Son of God, is spoken of by Nebu 
 chadnezzar ; the other, to what is said (ch. iv. 14,) of the " decree of the 
 Watchers." 
 
 The former objection is thus stated by Bertholdt: In ch. iii. 25, 
 " Nebuchadnezzar speaks of a Son of God [ and the form of the fourth is 
 like the Son of God ], and although the Chaldeans, and most of the 
 dwellers in Upper Asia, were polytheists, yet there is no evidence that 
 anything was known at the time of the views which prevailed among the 
 Greeks on this subject, but that such views became known in the time of 
 3 
 
XXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Seleucus Nicator." p. 29. It is hence inferred that the book could not 
 have been written before the time of Seleucus. 
 
 In regard to the objection, it may be observed, in addition to what is 
 said in the Notes on the passage, (ch. iii. 25,) where the expression oc 
 curs, that the objection is so vague and indefinite that it scarce needs a 
 reply. The opinions which prevailed in the East on the subject of the 
 gods, is so little known now that it is impossible to demonstrate that such 
 an opinion as this might not have existed in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 and impossible to prove that such views as would have suggested thia 
 expression did not prevail before the time of Seleucus Nicator. Indeed, 
 it is not easy to show that such language as is here ascribed to Nebu 
 chadnezzar would have been more likely to have been suggested by the 
 views of mythology that prevailed in Greece, and that were spread 
 abroad in consequence of the difference of Greek opinions in the 
 East, than by the views which prevailed in Babylon in the time of the 
 exile. But it may be more particularly observed in reply to the objection, 
 
 (a) That according to Gesenius (Thes. p. 237), this language, as used 
 by Nebuchadnezzar, is such as would properly denote merely one of the 
 gods, or one in the form of the gods ; that is, one who resembled the gods 
 in the same way as the phrase "son of man" denotes a man, or one in the 
 form and appearance of a man. Perhaps this was all that was meant by 
 Nebuchadnezzar ; at least that is all that can be demonstrated to have been 
 his meaning, or all that is necessarily implied in his words. See Notes 
 on the passage. But, 
 
 (6) There were opinions which prevailed in Chaldea on the subject of 
 the gods which would fully justify the use of such language. That they 
 regarded one portion of the gods as descended from another, or as be 
 gotten by another ; that they looked upon them as constituting families, 
 in a way similar to the Greeks, and particularly that they regarded Bel, 
 their supreme god, always accompanied by the goddess Mylitta, as the 
 father of the gods, has been abundantly demonstrated. On this point, 
 see Gesenius, Com. zu. Isai. ii. 332, seq. (Beylage \ 2, Gottheiten der 
 Chaldaer), and Creuzer, Symbolik, on the word Mylitta, i. 231, ii. 331, 
 333, 350, 460. The idea of derivation, descent, or birth, among the gods, 
 was one that was quite familiar to the Chaldeans, perhaps as much so as 
 to the Greeks. In fact, this has been so common an opinion among all 
 polytheists, that it is rather to be presumed that it would be found every 
 where among the heathen than otherwise. 
 
 The other objection on this point is derived from what is said of the 
 Watchers, ch. iv. 13, 17. The objection is, that there are betrayed here 
 traces of a later Parsish- Jewish representation; that is, that this indicates 
 that the book was composed in later times. 
 
 In regard to the meaning of this language, see notes on ch. iv. 13. 
 Perhaps a reference to this Note, where the probability that such a term 
 would be used in Babylon is shown, is all that is necessary in answering 
 the objection. But, in addition to this, an observation of Diodorua 
 Siculus may be introduced here. I copy it as I find it in Gesenius, Com. 
 zu. Isa. vol. ii. pp. 333, 334. Diodorus is speaking of the sun, moon, and 
 five planets as adored by the Chaldeans, and adds, "To the course of these 
 etars, there are, as they say, thirty others that are subordinate, which are 
 represented as divine counsellors (Swi /?ovXa/oi consulting gods, as wa 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXVII 
 
 would say,) of whom one half has the supervision of the regions under 
 the earth ; the other half has the supervision of things on the earth, 
 among men, and in heaven. Every ten days is one of them sent as a 
 messenger of the stars from those above to those below, and from those 
 below to those above." This quotation will render it unnecessary to say 
 anything more as to the question, whether it is improbable that such 
 language would be used by one residing in Babylon in the time of the 
 exile. It is to be remembered that this is language which is represented 
 in a dream as having been addressed to Nebuchadnezzar, and the quota 
 tion proves that it is such language as would be likely to occur to the 
 king of Babylon in the visions of the night. It was such language as he 
 must have been accustomed to, and so far is the use of this language 
 from being an objection to the genuineness of Daniel, that it might rather 
 have been urged as a proof of it, since it is not probable that it would 
 have been used by one who was not familiar with the customary ideas of 
 the Chaldeans. 
 
 (2.) The other form of the objection derived from the statements re 
 specting the angels in the Book of Daniel, refers to the opinions held 
 among the Hebrews themselves. The general objection is, that these 
 are representations respecting the ranks, and orders, and names of the 
 angels which pertain only to later times in the history of Jewish opinions, 
 and which did not exist in the period of the exile. This objection 
 divides itself into several specifications, which it may be proper to notice 
 briefly in their order. 
 
 (a) One is, that there is in the book, and particularly in ch. viii. 16, 
 an allusion to the Persian doctrine of the seven Amhaspands, or angels 
 that stand before God, and that this idea is found only in times later than 
 the exile. Bertholdt, p. 528. 
 
 To this the answer is obvious : (1.) That there is no manifest allusion 
 to that Persian doctrine in the book, and no statement which would 
 not as readily have been made if that doctrine had no existence since it 
 is a mere representation of angels with certain names, and with no par 
 ticular reference to the number seven ; and (2.) if this were so, it is cer 
 tain that this representation occurs in the Zendavesta, and the Zendavesta 
 was composed in a distant antiquity, probably long before the time of 
 the exile, and certainly before the time of Alexander the Great. See 
 Crouzer, Symbolik, i. 183, seq., and the authorities there referred to. 
 This, then, if it were true that the doctrine of the seven Amhaspands is 
 found in the book of Daniel, and was derived from the Zendavesta, or 
 the Persian, would remove the objection so far as to show that the book 
 was composed before the time of Alexander the Great, or at least that 
 there is no reason, from this quarter, to suppose that it was written 
 afterwards. But the truth is, that the doctrine respecting angels and 
 intermediate beings was so prevalent a doctrine all over the East, that 
 this objection can have no solid foundation. 
 
 (6) It is objected, that there are found in this book representations of 
 the angels, in reference to their ranks and orders, which are opinions of 
 the Jews of a later age, and which did not exist in the time of the exile, 
 and that, therefore, the book had a later origin than the captivity. 
 Bertholdt. 
 
 To this it is sufficient to reply, (1.) that such a representation of ranks 
 
XXVIII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and orders of angels is implied in Isa. vi. 1, seq., in the account of the 
 Seraphim, a representation which supposes that there are angels of 
 exalted rank and names ; (2.) That there are traces of such an opinion in 
 much earlier ages, as in Psa. cxxiii. 20 ; Ixviii. 17 ; (3.) That this repre 
 sentation of differences in the ranks of angels is one that prevails in tho 
 Old Testament ; and (4.) That, for anything that appears, all that is im 
 plied in Daniel may have been a matter of common belief in his time. 
 There is nothing in the book which would indicate any very definite 
 arrangement of the angels into orders, though it is evidently implied that 
 there are different degrees in the ranks of the angelic hosts, (ch. x. 5, 13, 
 xii. 1,) but this was a common opinion in the East, and indeed has been 
 a common sentiment where a belief in the existence of angels has pre 
 vailed at all. 
 
 (c) It is objected that names are given to the angels the name of 
 Gabriel and Michael, and that this is indicative of a later age. To this, 
 also, it may be replied, (1.) That long before this we find the name Satan 
 given to the leader of evil angels, Job i. 6, and there is no presumption 
 against the belief that names may have been given to good angels also; 
 (2.) That even if the practice had not prevailed before, no reason can be 
 assigned why the angels who appeared to Daniel may not have assumed 
 names, or been mentioned under appropriate titles to designate them, as 
 well as those who appeared in after times ; and (3.) That, for anything 
 that appears, the fact that names were given to the angels among the 
 Jews of later times may have had its origin in the time of Daniel, or may 
 have occurred from the fact that he actually mentioned them under 
 specific names. 
 
 (d) A similar objection is, that the statement in ch. vii. 10, that 
 " thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten 
 thousand stood before him," is also a statement that had its origin in the 
 representation of a Persian court in the numbers that stood round the 
 throne of a Persian monarch, and that this indicates a later age, or a 
 Persian origin. To this objection it is sufficient to refer to Isaiah, vi., 
 and to the Notes on this passage. But we have other representations of 
 the same kind abounding in the Scriptures, in which God is described as 
 a magnificent monarch, attended and surrounded by hosts of angels, and 
 the same objection would lie against them which is urged against the ac 
 count in Daniel. See particularly Job i. 2; 1 Kings, xxii. 19 22; 
 Deut. xxxiii. 2 ; Ps. Ixviii. 18. 
 
 (e) Another objection from the representations of the angels, is derived 
 from what ifj said of their interposition in human affairs, and their ap 
 pearing particularly as the guardians and protectors of nations, in ch. x. 
 12, 20; xii. 1, which it is said indicates opinions of a later age. In reply 
 to this, all that is necessary is to refer to the copious Notes on these pas 
 sages, where the foundation of that opinion is examined, and to add that 
 no one can demonstrate that that opinion may not have had an existance 
 as eariy as the time of the exile. Indeed, it was a common opinion 
 }n ancient times an opinion whose origin no one now can determine 
 an opinion whose correctness no one can disprove. That this was & pre 
 vailing opinion in ancient times, is admitted by Bertholdt himself, pp. 
 32, S3, 705707. 
 
 In general, therefore, jjk may be remarked respecting the objections 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXIX 
 
 derived from the angeiology of the Book of Daniel, (a) that there way 
 be things occurring in the book which were suggested by opinions 
 prevailing in .Babylon and the East; (6) that the statements in Daniel 
 the revelations made to him as an eminent prophet may have been the 
 germ of the opinions which prevailed among the Jews in later times, de 
 velopments of which we have in the books of the Apocrypha, and in the 
 later Rabbincal writings. If so, the objection derived from the angei 
 ology of the book is entirely unfounded. 
 
 B. The second objection derived from the alleged reference to later 
 customs and opinions, is founded on the Christology of the book, or the 
 doctrine relating to the Messiah. The objection is, that the opinions 
 which are found in the book belong to a later age; or ^ that in the 
 time of the exile no such views exist in the genuine writings of the 
 prophets, and that consequently the book must have been composed 
 when those later views had come to prevail. The views referred to as 
 the ground of the objection, are found in ch. vii. 13, 14, and xii. 1 3. This 
 objection, thus stated by De Wette, has been expanded by Bertholdt and 
 others, and properly embraces, as stated by them, four specifications, 
 which it will be convenient to notice in their order. 
 
 (1.) The first is, that in the time of the exile, the doctrine of the Mes 
 siah had not become so developed that it was expected that he would ap 
 pear in glory and majesty, and set up a kingdom upon the earth, as is im 
 plied in ch. vii. 13, 14. See Bertholdt, p. 31. 
 
 In reply to this, all that is necessary to be said is, to refer to the 
 prophecies in the other portions of the Old Testament, whose antiquity 
 and genuineness are undoubted. In the prophecies of Isaiah, there are 
 predictions of the Messiah as clear, as definite, as distinct, as any 
 that occur in Daniel ; and no one can compare the prophecies found 
 in other parts of the Old Testament with those found in Daniel, and de 
 termine by any internal evidence that one class must have been written 
 before, and another after, the time of the exile. Besides, why may not 
 the predictions, under the spirit of inspiration, have been more clearly 
 communicated to one prophet than to another to Daniel than to Isaiah ? 
 And why may not some circumstances respecting the Messiah and his 
 reign have been made to one rather than to another ? If it be admitted that 
 all that occurs in the first part of Isaiah (chs. i. xxxix.) was actually 
 revealed to him, and recorded by him, previous to the exile, there can be 
 no difficulty in admitting that what is found in Daniel may have been 
 communicated and recorded at the time of the exile. In proof of what 
 is here said, it is only necessary to refer to Hengstensberg s Christology, 
 vol. 1. The Messianic prophecies there collected and illustrated, Gen. iii. 
 14, 15, ix. 26, 27, xlix. 10, Num. xxiv. 17, Deut. xviii. 1518, Ps. ii. xlv. 
 ex. xvi. xxii. Isa. ii. iv. vii. xi. xii., furnish statements as clear, in many 
 respects, respecting the Messiah as anything in Daniel, and of many of 
 these statements it might as well be alleged that they are couched in the 
 language of later times, as anything that occurs in the book before us. 
 
 (2.) It is alleged further, of the Christology of Daniel, that the ideas 
 respecting the kingdom of the Messiah are stated in the language of later 
 times. Bertholdt, p. 31. In proof of this Bertholdt refers to ch. ii. 44, 
 vii. 13, seq. 
 
 This is the same objection in another form. The reply to it is obvious. 
 
XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 (a] If Daniel is admitted to be a true prophet, there is no presumption 
 against the supposition that some ideas may have been imparted to him 
 which might not be found in other prophets any more than that circum 
 stances respecting the power and kingdom of the Messiah may have been 
 communicated to Isaiah which were not to the earlier prophets ; and (6) 
 as a matter of fact, as before stated, many of the prophecies of Isaiah are as 
 minute and as clear in regard to the kingdom of the Messiah as those in 
 Daniel. Compare Isa. ix. 6, 7. No one could place that prediction by the 
 side of the prediction in Daniel vii. 13, 14, and determine from any inter 
 nal evidence that the one was written before the exile, and that the other 
 was couched in the language of later times. 
 
 (3.) It is objected (Bertholdt p. 31), that the sentiment found in 
 Daniel (ch. xii. 1,) that the setting up of the kingdom of the Mes 
 siah would be preceded by times of trouble, is a doctrine of the 
 .Rabbincal writings of later times, and savors of a later origin than 
 the times of the exile. To this, also, the reply is obvious, (a] It 
 is to be admitted that this idea occurs in the Rabbincal writings, and that 
 it was a common doctrine among the Jews ; but can any one demonstrate 
 that the doctrine had not its origin in this very passage in Daniel ? It is 
 quite as philosophical to suppose that this language may have been 
 found in the genuine language of the prophets, and that the doctrine may 
 have sprung up from that cause, as to suppose that it was first originated 
 by uninspired men among the Jews, and then embodied in a pretended 
 prophecy, (b] It was natural that Daniel, if a real prophet, should con 
 nect the two things together, not in time, but in the range of vision. See 
 Intro, to Isa. 7, iii. (5). Placing himself in prophetic vision in the 
 midst of foreseen trouble coming upon his country, it was natural that 
 the mind should be directed to brighter days and that he should en 
 deavour to cheer his own heart, and to comfort his afflicted countrymen, 
 by dwelling on happier scenes when, under the Messiah, these troubles 
 would cease, (c) As a matter of fact, the same thing elsewhere occurs. 
 Thus Isaiah (ch. xl. and onward,) describes the coming of the kingdom 
 of the Messiah, by connecting it with the deliverance from the calamities 
 that would come upon the Jewish people in the time of the captivity. He 
 seeks to comfort them in their troubles by the assurance of better days ; 
 and in describing their return to their own land, the mind of the prophet 
 insensibly glides on to the coming of the Messiah to the happier times 
 that would occur under him to the deliverance from the bondage of sin 
 and to the setting up of a kingdom of peace and truth in the world ; and 
 the description which began with the troubles of the exile, and the return 
 to their own land, ends with a sublime and glorious view of the times of 
 the Messiah, and of the happiness of the world under his reign. And it 
 may be added that this is in accordance with a general principle laid 
 down in the Bible. " But the Lord shall judge his people, and repent 
 himself for his servants, when he saith that their power is gone, and 
 there is none shut up or left." Deut. xxxii. 36. Comp. Isa. xi. 11, and 
 the Notes of Gesenius on that place. See also Hos. iii. 5, Amos ix, 14, 
 15, Micah iv. 6, 7, Joel v. 6, 7, Zeph. iii. 19, 20, Jer. xxiii. 8, xxxiii. 7, 
 Ezek. xxxvi. 26. 
 
 (4.) A fourth specification respecting the Christology in the Book of 
 Daniel, is derived from the reference to the doctrine of the resurrection 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXI 
 
 ih. xii. 2. It is objected that this is a doctrine of later times, and that 
 it could not have been known in the age when Daniel is said to have 
 lived. 
 
 That the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is referred to in that 
 passage, or that what is there said is based on the belief of that doctrine, 
 and implies that the doctrine was so commonly believed as to make it 
 proper to refer to it as such, seems plain from the passage itself. See 
 Notes on the passage. 
 
 But in regard to the objection derived from this fact, it may be re 
 marked : 
 
 (a) That there is evidence elsewhere that the doctrine was known as 
 early as the time of the exile, and was assumed to be true in the same man 
 ner in which it is here. Thus in Isa. xxvi. 19, it is referred to in the 
 same manner, for the remark of the prophet is based on that, and cannot 
 be explained except on the supposition that this ivas an article of common 
 belief. See Notes on that passage. See also Gesenius, who says, " that 
 this place actually contains the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, 
 and that in these words the doctrine of the resurrection is undoubtedly 
 implied." The same thing seems also to be true in the vision of the 
 valley of dry bones, Ezekiel xxxvii. 1 14. Though that passage does not 
 refer primarily to the resurrection of the dead, and is not intended 
 directly to teach it, yet it is difficult, if not impossible, to explain it 
 except on the supposition that this doctrine was understood, and was 
 believed to be true. It is just such an illustration as would be used 
 now in a community where that doctrine is understood and believed. 
 
 (6) It is undoubtedly true that in the passage under consideration, 
 (Dan. xii. 2,) the design is not directly to teach the doctrine of the resur 
 rection of the dead, but that it refers, as the primary thought, to the 
 restoration and recovery of the Jewish people, as if they were raised 
 from the dead ; but still, as in the passages in Isaiah and Ezekiel above 
 referred to, the doctrine of the resurrection is assumed, and the illustration 
 is derived from that, and, as Jerome has remarked on the passage, such an 
 illustration would not be employed unless the doctrine were believed, 
 for " no one Avould attempt to confirm an uncertain or doubtful thing by 
 that which had no existence." But the same design exists in each of 
 the cases, in Daniel, Isaiah, and Ezekiel. The doctrine is alluded to in 
 the same manner, and in each case is assumed to be true in the name 
 way as a doctrine that was known, and that might be employed for illus 
 tration. This is one of the best proofs that there could be that it was a 
 common article of belief ; and as it is used by these three writers in the 
 same manner, if it proves that, one of them lived in a later age, it proves 
 the same of all. But as the genuineness of that portion of Isaiah where 
 the passage occurs, and of Ezekiel is not called in question, it follows 
 that the objection has no force as alleged against the genuineness of 
 Daniel. 
 
 (c) It may be added, that on the supposition that there is no allusion 
 to this doctrine in any of the prophets that lived in the time of the exile, 
 or before it, that would furnish no evidence that it might not be found 
 in a book written by Daniel. The belief undoubtedly sprang up at some 
 time among the Jews, for it is admitted by those who object to the genu 
 ineness of Daniel on this account, that it did exist in the time in which 
 
XXXII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 they allege that the book was written in the time of Antiochus Epiph- 
 anes ; and it undoubtedly somelioiv gained so much currency among the 
 Jews as to lay the foundation of the peculiar belief of the Pharisees on 
 the subject. But no one can show that this doctrine could not have had its 
 origin in Daniel himself; or that he, living in the time of the exile, might 
 not have made such statements on the subject, as to lay the foundation 
 for the general belief of the doctrine in later times. Even on the sup 
 position that he was not inspired, this might have been ; much more on 
 the supposition that he was inspired for he was one of the latest of the 
 prophets of the Old Testament, and one of those who were most eminently 
 favored of God. In itself considered, there is no improbability in sup 
 posing that God might have honoured Daniel, by making him the instru 
 ment of first distinctly announcing the doctrines of the resurrection and 
 the future judgment of the world. 
 
 C. A third objection, from the alleged reference to later customs and 
 opinions in the book of Daniel, is derived from the fact stated in ch. 
 vi. 10, that Daniel in his prayer is said to have turned his face towards 
 Jerusalem. This objection, as urged by Bertholdt and others, is, that 
 the custom of turning the face towards Jerusalem in prayer, was one 
 that was originated after the building of the second temple, and that no 
 traces of it are found while the first temple was standing. It is ad 
 mitted indeed that the custom of turning the face towards a temple or 
 place of worship prevailed extensively in Oriental countries as among 
 the Mohammedans at present but it is alleged that this had its origin 
 among the Jews after the captivity, and after the second temple was 
 built. It is further added that it is improbable that Daniel would turn 
 his face towards Jerusalem on that occasion, for the city and temple were 
 destroyed, and the Shekinah, the symbol of the Divine presence there, 
 had disappeared. See Bertholdt, p. 30. 
 
 To this objection, the following remarks may be made in reply: 
 
 (1.) The custom of turning the face in worship towards a temple or 
 shrine, was one that existed early in the world, and has prevailed in 
 almost all countries. It is one that would naturally spring up even if 
 there were no positive commands on the subject, for this would seem to 
 be demanded by respect for the God who was worshipped, and who was 
 supposed to have his residence in a particular temple. If Jehovah, 
 therefore, was supposed to have his dwelling in the temple ; if the sym 
 bols of his presence were believed to be there ; if that was his house, 
 just in proportion as that was believed would the custom be likely to 
 prevail of turning the face towards that place in worship just as we 
 now naturally turn the face towards heaven, which we regard as the pecu 
 liar place of his abode. It would have been unnatural, therefore, if 
 Daniel had not turned his face towards Jerusalem in his devotions. 
 
 (2.) The custom is, in fact, far-spread in the East, and goes back in its 
 origin beyond any period we can now assign to it. It prevails everywhere 
 among the Mohammedans ; it was found by Mungo Park among the 
 negroes in Africa ; (Rosenmiiller Morgenland, iv. 361,) and it maybe 
 said to be the general custom of the East. No one can determine its 
 origin, and probably, for the reason above stated, it existed in the first 
 periods of the history of the world. 
 
 (3.) The custom is mentioned in the Psalms as existing before the 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXIII 
 
 time of Daniel. Thus in Ps. v. 7, " As for me, I will come into thy 
 house in the multitude of thy mercy ; and in thy fear will I worship 
 toward thy holy temple/ Ps. cxxxviii. 2, " I will worship toward thy 
 holy temple," &c. Comp. Ps. cxxi. 1. So Psalm xxviii. 2, " Hear the 
 voice of my supplication when I lift up my hands toward thy holy 
 oracle." 
 
 (4.) The custom was sanctioned by what Solomon said at the dedica 
 tion of the temple. In his prayer on that occasion, it is implied that the 
 custom ivould prevail, and what was said at that time could not but 
 be regarded as giving a sanction to it. Thus in the prayer offered at 
 the dedication of the temple, he seems to have supposed just such a case 
 as that before us : " If they sin against thee, and thou be angry with 
 them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away cap 
 tive into the land of the enemy, far or near ; if they shall bethink 
 themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, 
 and pray unto thee toward their land which thou gave.st unto their 
 fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have 
 built for thy name, then hear thou their prayer," &c. 1 Kings viii. 44 
 49. Comp. also vs. 33, 35, 38, 44. 
 
 (5.) It may be added that nothing was more natural than for Daniel 
 to do this. It is not said that he turned his face toward the " temple," 
 but toAvard " Jerusalem." It was true that the temple was in ruins ; 
 true that the ark was removed, and that the Shekinah had disappeared. 
 It was true, also, that Jerusalem was in ruins. But it is to be remem 
 bered that Jerusalem had been long regarded as the city of God, and his 
 dwelling-place on the earth ; that this was the place where his worship 
 had been celebrated for ages, and where he had manifested himself by 
 visible symbols ; that this was the place where the ancestors of Daniel 
 had lived and worshipped, and where he believed the temple of God 
 would be built again, and where God would again dwell a place sacred 
 in the recollection of the past, and in the anticipations of the future a 
 place where Daniel had himself been taught to worship God when a 
 child, and where he anticipated that they who should be delivered from 
 the long captivity would again offer sacrifice and praise ; and nothing, 
 therefore, was more natural than for him in his prayer to turn his face to 
 a spot hailowed by so many sacred associations. 
 
 D. A fourth objection designed to show that the book betrays a later 
 origin than the time of the captivity is, that Daniel is represented (ch. 
 vi. 10,) as entering into his chamber, or " upper room" vxepwov when 
 he prayed, and that the custom of setting apart a chamber in a house for 
 private devotion, sprang up in a later age among the Jews, as one of the 
 results of formalism and ostentation in religion. Bertholdt, p. 30. 
 
 In regard to this custom among the later Jews, see tlm Notes on 
 the passage referred to. But there are two remarks to be made, show 
 ing conclusively that this objection has no force : 
 
 (a) There is no evidence that it was such an "upper room" virepwcv 
 as is here referred to. All that is fairly implied in the word in this 
 passage mV>! might be applied to any house, and at any time. It 
 denotes, indeed, an upper room, upper story, or loft; but not necessarily 
 such an upper room as was built by the Jews in later times, and desig 
 nated by the word fcrepww. It is not improbable that Daniel would retire 
 
XXXIV INTRODUCTION 
 
 to such a part of his house to pray, but it is not nectssarily implied in 
 this word that the chamber referred to had been specifically constructed 
 as a place of prayer. 
 
 (6) But even supposing that this was the case, it is impossible to 
 prove that such a custom may not have prevailed in the time of the cap 
 tivity. We cannot now trace the origin of that custom among the Jews, 
 and though it undoubtedly prevailed in a later age, yet no one can de 
 monstrate that it did not exist also at a time as early as that of the exile. 
 Indeed, there is some evidence that it did prevail at an earlier period 
 among the Hebrews. Thus in 2 Samuel xviii. 33, it is said of David on 
 the death of Absalom, " And the king was much moved, and went up to 
 tlie chamber over the gate, and wept," &c. So in the case of the prophet 
 Elijah, during his residence with the widow of Zarephath, an upper 
 chamber or loft was assigned the prophet, 1 Kings xvii. 19, called " a 
 loft where he abode" rrhy. the very word which is used in Daniel. The 
 same word occurs again in Judges iii. 20, 23, 24, 25, in such case ren 
 dered parlor, and referring to a private room where one might retire, 
 and, as the word implies, to an upper room doubtless a small room built 
 on the flat roof of the house, as being more retired and cool. And again, 
 in 2 Kings i. 2, it is said of Ahaziah that " he fell down through a lat 
 tice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria." And again in 2 Kings 
 iv. 10, the Shunamitess proposes to her husband to make for the prophet 
 
 Elisha "a little chamber on the wall" tvn: 1 ?? a place of retirement 
 
 for him. These passages show that the custom of constructing a cham 
 ber or upper room for the purpose of retirement or devotion prevailed 
 long before the time of Daniel, and, therefore, the fact that he is repre 
 sented as having such a place in his house in Babylon, if that be the fact 
 referred to here, cannot be alleged as evidence that the book was written 
 at a later period than the captivity. 
 
 E. It is alleged as an evidence that the book was written at a period 
 later than the exile, that Daniel is represented (in the same passage, ch. 
 vi. 10,) as praying three times a day, a custom, it is said, which origi 
 nated in later times. 
 
 But the reply to this is obvious, (a) The custom of praying three 
 times a day in sacred devotion, is one of which there are traces in 
 earlier times. Thus the Psalmist, Ps. Iv. 17, " Evening, and morning, 
 and at noon, will I pray and cry aloud, and he shall hear my voice." 
 (b) Daniel may have had such a custom without supposing that he 
 derived it from any one. (c) These are the natural times of prayer ; 
 times that devout persons will be likely to select as seasons of devotion ; 
 the morning, when one just enters upon the duties and trials of the day 
 when it is appropriate to give thanks for preservation, and to ask of God 
 that he will guide, direct and sustain us; the evening, when, having 
 finished the toils of the day, it is appropriate to render thanksgiving, 
 to pray for the remission of the sins of the day, and to seek the blessing 
 and protection of God as we lie down to rest ; and noon, when we feel 
 the propriety of dividing the labours of the day by an interval of rest 
 and devotion thus keeping up, amidst the cares of the world, the life 
 of religion in tke soul, (d) There is no certain evidence that this be 
 came a regular and settled usage in later times among the Jews, anj 
 more than that it was of a former ao-e. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXV 
 
 F. It is alleged that what is said in ch iv. 27, of the efficacy of 
 almsgiving in averting the judgments of God, is an opinion that had its 
 origin in later times, and proves that the book must have been written 
 at a period subsequent to the captivity. The passage is, " Let my coun 
 sel be acceptable unto thee, and brake off thy sins by righteousness, and 
 thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor ; it may be a lengthening of 
 thy tranquillity." This, it is said, could have been written only at a 
 time when great merit was attributed to almsgiving, and when such 
 acts, it was supposed, would avert divine vengeance from the guilty ; 
 and this opinion, it is alleged, sprang up at a period subsequent to the cap 
 tivity. That the sentiment here adverted to prevailed in later times, 
 there can be no doubt; but there is no proof that it is used in the pas 
 sage before us in the sense in which it prevailed in the time when the 
 books of the Apocrypha were written. And, in reference to the objec 
 tion here urged, all that is necessary, it seems to me, is to refer to the 
 Notes on the passage, where its true meaning is fully considered. The 
 short answer is, that the passage does not teach any such peculiar doc 
 trine on the subject of almsgiving as prevailed in later times among the 
 Jews, but only the general doctrine, which is found everywhere in the 
 Bible, and which accords with all just notions on the subject, that if a 
 sinner will abandon the error of his ways, and perform acts of righteous 
 ness, it will conduce to his happiness, and in all probability to the length 
 ening out of his days. 
 
 G. One other objection, under the general head now under considera 
 tion, remains. It is derived from what are called the ascetic customs re 
 ferred to in the book. On this point De Wette refers to ch. i. 8 16, as 
 compared with 2 Mace. v. 27, and with the Apocryphal portion of the 
 Book of Esther. 
 
 In regard to this objection, also, perhaps all that is necessary is to 
 refer to the Notes on the passage. The reason which Daniel gave for 
 not partaking of the food and wine furnished by the king of Babylon, is 
 not such as would be derived from any ascetic or monastic opinions, but 
 such as would be given by any Jew of that age Avho was conscientious. 
 It was " that he might not defile himself with the portion of the king s 
 meat, nor with the wine which he drank" (ch. i. 8) ; that is, he pur 
 posed to keep himself clear from all participation in idolatry, and to 
 save himself from the temptations to which one would be exposed if he 
 indulged freely in the luxuries in eating and drinking which were prac 
 tised at the royal table. As this solution explains the passage on prin 
 ciples that would be like to influence a pious Jew, and which would be 
 proper in young men everywhere, it is unnecessary to seek any other, 
 and improper to suppose that there is an allusion here to superstitious 
 customs which prevailed among the Jews in later times. 
 
 VI. A sixth objection to the authenticity and genuineness of the Book, 
 is derived from the place assigned it in the canon. This objection is 
 urged by Bertholdt, Bleek, Eichhorn, Kirms, and Be Wette, and is sub 
 stantially this, as stated by Bertholdt. It is well known that the Jews, 
 in the time when the Talmud was composed, divided their sacred books 
 into three parts the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiography. The 
 latter class embraced the Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Ruth, 
 Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the two 
 
XXXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 books of the Chronicles. This classification also existed in the time of 
 Jerome, who obtained it evidently from the Jews in Palestine. The 
 objection is, that in collecting and arranging the books of the Old Tes 
 tament, Daniel was assigned to this latter class, and was not placed 
 among the Prophets. The book professes to be, in a great part, pro 
 phetical, and if genuine, its true place, it is argued, would be among the 
 prophets ; and, it is said, it would have been placed in that class if it had 
 been in existence at the time when the collection of the sacred books 
 was made. It is argued, therefore, that it must have had a later origin, 
 and that when it was written it was assigned a place in that general col-^ 
 lection of writings where all those books were arranged which could not 
 be placed with either of the other classes. This objection is summarily 
 stated by Prof. Stuart (Critical History and Defence of the Old Testa 
 ment Canon, p. 266,) in the following words : " The argument runs 
 thus : No reason can be assigned, except the lateness of the composi 
 tion, why Daniel and the Chronicles should be placed among the Kcthu- 
 bim or Hagiography, since the first belongs to the class of the later pro 
 phets, and the second, like Samuel, Kings, etc., to the class of the former 
 prophets. The fact, then, that Daniel and the Chronicles are joined with 
 the Kethubim, shows that they were written after the second class of 
 the scriptural books, viz. the Prophets, was fully defined and completed. 
 Now, as this class comprises Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, so we 
 have conclusive evidence that Daniel and Chronicles must have been 
 composed, or at all events introduced into the canon, at a period sub 
 sequent to Nehemiah and Malachi, which was about 430 420, B. C. ; ;; 
 
 In reference to this objection, perhaps all that would be necessary for 
 me would be to refer to the very full and satisfactory argument of Prof. 
 Stuart on the Canon in the work just named, $ 9 13, pp. 214 298. A 
 few remarks, however, on two or three points, seem to be demanded to 
 show the results which have been searched by a careful investigation of 
 the subject, and how entirely without foundation is the objection. 
 
 A. The objection, then, takes for granted the following things, which 
 it is impossible now to prove : (1.) That the division of the books of the 
 Old Testament found in the Talmud, and prevailing among the Jews in 
 the time of Jerome, in which Daniel is placed in the third class, the 
 Kethubim or Hagiography, is the ancient and original division ; for if 
 this is not so, then Daniel may have been placed among the prophets, 
 and of course the objection would not then exist. There is the strongest 
 reason to believe that this was not the arrangement that prevailed at an 
 earlier period, but that it was made long after the time . of Josephus. 
 At any rate it cannot be proved to have been the original arrangement. 
 (2.) It takes for granted that the main reason for inserting Daniel and 
 the books of the Chronicles in the Hagiography was the recent origin of 
 these books, or the fact that they were composed after the second class 
 the prophets was completed and collected together; for the whole 
 weight of the objection rests on this. If any of these books in the Hagi 
 ography were in fact written at an earlier period than some in the second 
 c l ass the Prophets, or if any other reason existed for referring them to 
 the class of the Hagiograghy than the lateness of their composition, then 
 the objection would have 110 force. But this difficulty of itself would be 
 uital to the objection, for there is every reason to suppose that the late- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXVII 
 
 ness of the composition was not the reason why these books were placed 
 in the Hagiography, and that this was never supposed or implied by those 
 who made the arrangement. For, not to speak of the Book of Job, which 
 is found in that class, and which is probably one of the oldest compo 
 sitions in the Bible, if not the very oldest, what shall we say of the 
 Psalms, and the Book of Proverbs, and the Book of Ecclesiastes, and the 
 Canticles, which are also found in that class? Assuredly it could not 
 have been pretended that these writings belonged to the Maccabean age, 
 and that they were inserted in the Hagiography because they were sup 
 posed to have had a later origin than the Prophets ; for, in all ages, the 
 Jews have regarded the Book of Proverbs, the Book of Ecclesiastes, and 
 the Canticles, as the genuine production of Solomon. Why then were 
 they put into the Hagiography for there the Psalms, and the Book of 
 Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon, have always been, 
 in every triplex division of the books of the Old Testament which has 
 ever been made? (3.) The objection takes for granted that the two 
 classes, the Prophets and the Hagiography, have been fixed and uniform, 
 like the first, the Law, as to the number of books, in each ever since the 
 division was made ; that the same number of books, and the same arrange 
 ment, has been found which existed in the time of Josephus ; and that no 
 causes have ever operated since to produce a change in the arrangement ; 
 for if this is not so it would be fatal to the objection. But this can never 
 be shown to be true. Indeed, there is every reason to believe that the 
 contrary is true, and if it cannot be demonstrated to be true, the objec 
 tion is without force. But, 
 
 B. There are strong positive arguments to show that the fact that 
 Daniel, in the later divisions of the Hebrew books, is placed in the list of 
 the Hagiography or Kethubim, is no argument against the genuineness 
 and authenticity of the book. 
 
 (1.) There is every presumption that in the earliest arrangement of 
 the books of the Old Testament, the book of Daniel, with several that 
 now occupy the same place in the Talmudical arrangement, was ranked 
 with the second class the Prophets. This presumption is founded, 
 mainly, on what is said of the division of the books of the Old Testa 
 ment by Josephus. It is true that he has not enumerated the books of 
 the Old Testament, but he has mentioned the division of the books in his 
 time, and, of course, in earlier times, in such a way as to make it morally 
 certain that Daniel was not in the third class, but in the second class 
 the Prophets. His account of this division (Against Apion, b. 1, $ 8) is 
 as follows : " We have not a countless number of books, discordant and 
 arranged against each other, but only two and twenty books, containing the 
 history of every age, which are justly accredited as divine [the old editions 
 of Josephus read merely, which are justly accredited Sna (divine) 
 comes from Eusebius translation of Josephus, in Ecc. Hist. iii. 10] ; and of 
 these five belong to Moses, which contain both the laws and the history 
 of the generations of men until his death. This period lacks but little of 
 3000 years. From the death of Moses, moreover, until the reign of 
 Artaxerxes, king of the Persians after Xerxes, the prophets who fol 
 lowed Moses have described the things which were done during the age 
 of each one respectively, in thirteen books. The remaining four contain 
 hymns to God and rules of life for men. From the time of Artaxerxes, 
 
XXXVIII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 moreover, till our present period, all occurrences have been written down ; 
 but they are not regarded as entitled to the like credit with those which 
 precede them, because there was no certain succession of prophets. Fact 
 has shown what confidence we place in our own writings. For although so 
 many ages have passed away, no one has dared to add to them, nor to 
 take anything from them, nor to make alterations. In all Jews it is im 
 planted, even from their birth, to regard them as being the instructions 
 of God, and to abide steadfastly by them, and if it be necessary to die 
 gladly for them." Prof. Stuart s translation, ut supra, pp. 430, 431. 
 
 Now, in this extract from Josephus, stating the number and order of 
 the sacred books in his time, it is necessarily implied that the Book of 
 Daniel was then included in the second part, or among the " Prophets." 
 For (a) it is clear that it was not in the third division, or the Hagiog- 
 raphy. Of that division Josephus says, " The remaining four contain 
 hymns to God, and rules of life for men." Now we are not able to 
 determine with exact certainty, indeed, what these four books were, for 
 Josephus has not mentioned their names, but we can determine with 
 certainty that Daniel was not of the number, for his book does not come 
 under the description of " hymns to God," or " rules of life for men." If 
 we cannot, therefore, make out what these books were, the argument 
 would be complete on that point; but although Josephus has not 
 enumerated them, they can be made out with a good degree of proba 
 bility. That the " hymns to God" would embrace the Psalms there can 
 be no doubt ; and there can be as little doubt that in the books contain 
 ing " rules of life for men," the Proverbs would be included. The other 
 books that would more properly come under this designation than any 
 other, are Ecclcsiastes and the Song of Solomon, (see the full evidence of 
 this in Prof. Stuart, ut supra, pp. 256-264) ; at all events it is clear that 
 Daniel would not be included in that number. (6) There is evidence, 
 then, that Daniel was included a-t that time in the second division that 
 of the Prophets. Josephus says that that division comprised " thirteen 
 books," and that Daniel was included among them is evident from the 
 rank which Josephus gives to him as one of the greatest of tho prophets. 
 Thus he says of him (Ant. b. x. ch. xi.), "lie was so happy as to have 
 strange revelations made to him, and those as to one of the greatest of 
 the prophets ; insomuch that while he was alive he had the esteem and 
 applause both of kings and of the multitude ; and now he is dead he 
 retains a remembrance that will never fail. For the several books that 
 he wrote and left behind him are still read by us till this time, and from 
 them we believe that he conversed with God ; for he not only prophesied 
 of future events, as did the other prophets, but he also determined the 
 time of their accomplishment. And while prophets used to foretell mis 
 fortunes, and on that account were disagreeable both to the kings and 
 the multitude, Daniel was to them a prophet of good things, and tiiis to 
 such a degree, that, by the agreeable nature of his predictions, he pro 
 cured the good-will of all men ; and by the accomplishment of them he 
 procured the belief of their truth, and the opinion of a sort of divinity 
 for himself among the multitude. He also wrote and left behind him 
 what evinced the accuracy, and an undeniable veracity of, his predictions." 
 From this it is clear that Josephus regarded Daniel as worthy to be 
 ranked among the greatest of the prophets, and that he considered his 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXIX 
 
 writings as worthy to be classed with those of the other eminent prophets 
 jf his country. This is such language as would be used in speaking ol 
 my ancient prophet ; and, as we have seen that the Book of Daniel could 
 not have been of the number mentioned by him in the third class 
 " those containing hymns to God and rules of life for men" it follows 
 that it must have been ranked by Josephus in the second division that 
 of the prophets. It does not seem easy to suppose that there could be 
 clearer proof than this, short of direct affirmation. The proof that he 
 regarded Daniel as belonging to this division of the books, is as clear as 
 can be made out from his writings in favor of Isaiah, Jeremiah, or 
 Ezekiel. 
 
 (2.) If Daniel had this rank in the time of Josephus, then it would 
 follow that in the division of the books of the Old Testament, as referred 
 to by the Saviour (Luke xxiv. 44), he must have had this rank also. 
 There can be no doubt that Josephus expresses not his own private 
 judgment in the matter, but the prevailing opinion of his countrymen on 
 the subject. Josephus was born A. D. 37. and consequently he must 
 have uttered what was the general sentiment in the time of the Saviour 
 and the apostles for it cannot be supposed that any change had occurred 
 in that short time among the Jews, by which Daniel had been transferred 
 from the third division to the second. If any change had occurred in the 
 arrangement of the books, it would have been, for reasons which are ob 
 vious, just the reverse since the predictions of Daniel were at this time 
 much relied on by Christians, in their arguments against the Jews, to 
 prove that Jesus was the Messiah. We may regard it as morally cer 
 tain, therefore, that in the time of the Saviour, Daniel was ranked among 
 the prophets. It may be added here, also, that if Daniel had this rank 
 in the estimation of Josephus, it may be presumed that he had the same 
 rank when the division of the sacred books is referred to in the only 
 other two instances among the Jews, previous to the composition of the 
 Talmud. In both these cases there is mention of the triplex division ; in 
 neither are the names of the books recorded. One occurs in the " Pro 
 logue of the Wisdom of Jesus, the Son of Sirach," in the Apocrypha. 
 This Prologue was probably written about 130 B. C. ; the book itself 
 probably about 180 B. C. In this Prologue the writer mentions the 
 divisions of the sacred books three times in this manner : " Since so many 
 and important things have been imparted to us by the Law, the Prophets, 
 and other [i.corks ] of the like kind which have followed, for which one 
 must needs praise Israel on account of learning and wisdom ; and inas 
 much as not only those who read ought to be well-informed, but those 
 who are devoted to learning, should be able to profit, both in the way of 
 speaking and writing, such as are foreigners, my grandfather, Jesus, 
 having devoted himself very much to the reading of the Law, the Prophets, 
 and the other books of his country, and having acquired a great degree of 
 experience in these things, was himself led on to compose something per 
 taining to instruction and wisdom, so that those desirous of learning, 
 being in possession of these things, might grow much more by a life con 
 formed to the law. Ye are invited, therefore, with good will, and strict 
 attention, to make the perusal, and to take notice whenever we may seem 
 to lack ability, in respect to any of the words which we have labored to 
 translate. Not only so, but the Law itself, and the Prophets, and the re- 
 
XL INTRODUCTION. 
 
 maining books, exhibit no small diversity among themselves as to the 
 modes of expression." 
 
 The other reference of the same kind occurs in Philo Judseus. He 
 flourished about A. D. 40, and in praising a contemplative life, and giving 
 examples of it, he comes at last to the Therapeutce, or Essenes, and in 
 speaking of their devotional practices, he uses this language: " In every 
 house is a sanctuary, which is called sacred place or monastery, in which, 
 being alone, they perform the mysteries of a holy life; introducing 
 nothing into it, neither drink, nor bread-corn, nor any of the other things 
 which are necessary for the wants of the body, but the Laws, and Ora 
 cles predicted by the prophets, and Hymns and other writings, by which 
 knowledge and piety are increased and perfected." There can be no 
 reasonable doubt that precisely the same division of the books of the Old 
 Testament is referred to in each of these cases which is mentioned by 
 Josephus. If so, then Daniel was at that time reckoned among the 
 Prophets. 
 
 (3.) He certainly had this rank among the early Christians, alike in 
 their estimation of him, and in the order of the sacred books. It happens, 
 that although Josephus, the son of Sirach, and Philo have given no 
 list of the names and order of the sacred books, yet the early Christians 
 have, and from these lists it is easy to ascertain the rank which they 
 assigned to Daniel. " Melito places Daniel among the Prophets, and 
 before Ezekiel. The same does Origen. The Council of Laodicea places 
 Daniel next after Ezekiel, and, of course, among the Prophets. The 
 same do the Canones Apostol., Cyrill of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen, 
 Athanasius, Synopsis Scripturse in Athan. The Council of Hippo, like 
 Melito and Origen, place it before Ezekiel, as also does Hilary ; and 
 Rufinus places it next after Ezekiel. Jerome alone, in giving an 
 account of the Rabbinical usage in his day, puts Daniel among the 
 Hagiography ; and after it he puts Chronicles, Ezra (with Nehemiah) 
 and Esther." Prof. Stuart, ut supra, p. 284.* The Talmud thus stands 
 alone, with the exception of Jerome, in placing Daniel among the books 
 constituting the Hagiography ; and Jerome, in doing this, merely gives 
 an account of what was customary in his time among the Jewish 
 Rabbins, without expressing any opinion of his own on the subject. 
 These testimonies are sufficient to show that Daniel was never placed in 
 the division composing the Hagiography, so far as can be proved by the 
 Son of Sirach, by Philo, by Josephus, by the Jews in the time of the 
 Saviour, or by the Christian writers of the first four centuries ; and, of 
 course, until it can be demonstrated that he was thus classified, this ob 
 jection must fall to the ground. But, 
 
 (4.) The fact that Daniel occupied this place in the- divisions made of 
 the books by the later Jews, can be accounted for in a way perfectly con 
 sistent with the supposition that he wrote at the time when the book is 
 commonly believed to have been composed. For, 
 
 (a) The reason which they themselves give for this arrangement is, 
 not that his writings were of later date, but some fanciful view which 
 they had about the degrees of inspiration of the prophets. They say that 
 the Books of Moses take the precedence above all others, because God 
 
 * The lists of the books, as given by these writers and councils, may be seen at length In 
 ?rof. Stuart, ut supra, Appendix, pp. 431-452. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XLI 
 
 spake with him mouth to mouth ; that the prophets who came after him, 
 were such as, whether sleeping or waking when they received revelations, 
 were deprived of all the use of their senses, and were spoken to by a 
 voice, or saw prophetic visions in ecstacy ; and that the third and lowest 
 class of writers were those who, preserving the use of their senses, spake 
 like other men, and yet in such a way that, although not favoured with 
 dreams or visions in ecstacy, they still perceived a divine influence resting 
 upon them, at whose suggestion they spake or wrote what they madt 
 public. For the proof of this, see Prof. Stuart, ut supra, p. 269. Agree 
 ably to this fanciful opinion, they made the arrangements of the sacred 
 books which is found in the Talmud, and on this principle they placed 
 Daniel in the list of the Hagiography. But assuredly this fanciful 
 opinion, and the mistake of the Jews consequent on it, can be no reason 
 for supposing that the Book of Daniel was written in the time of the 
 Maccabees ; and especially as they who made this arrangement never 
 pretended this, and never could have made the arrangement on this 
 ground. And, 
 
 (6) There is great reason for supposing, after all, that Daniel was not 
 assigned to the place which he has in the Talmudic divisions of the sacred 
 books, on the ground that he was properly classed there, even on their 
 arbitrary and fanciful opinion as to the degrees of inspiration among the 
 prophets, but because, in the disputes between Christians and Jews 
 about the Messiah, in the first three and a half centuries, the Jews felt 
 themselves to be so pressed by the prediction in Dan. ix. respecting the 
 seventy weeks, that they sought to give the book a lower place than it 
 had occupied before, and thus to remove it somewhat from an association 
 with the other prophets, and to diminish the force of the argument in 
 proof that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ. 
 
 (5.) To all this it may be added, that it would have been impossible to 
 have foisted a book into the canon that was composed in the time of the 
 Maccabees, and that was not regarded as of divine inspiration. We have, 
 as above, the express testimony of Josephus, that for some four hundred 
 years before his time they had no prophets who wrote inspired books, or 
 who could be regarded as sacred writers. The canon, according to him, 
 was closed at the time of Artaxerxes, and afterward they had books in 
 which " all occurrences were written down, but these were not regarded 
 as of like credit with those that preceded them, because there was no 
 certain succession of prophets." That is, the canon of inspired books 
 was then closed, in the apprehension of the Jews, or they had a definite 
 number which they regarded as of divine origin, and as distinguished 
 from all others. 
 
 Now, supposing this to have been, as no doubt it was, a prevailing 
 opinion among the Jews, it would have been impossible to have foisted 
 in a book written in the time of the Maccabees or after the time of 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, as the objection supposes the Book of Daniel to 
 have been in such a way that it would be regarded as entitled to a 
 place among the sacred writings. If this book was written at that 
 time, it must have been known that it was not the genuine production of 
 the Daniel of the captivity, and by whom could it be introduced into the 
 canon ? On what pretence could it be done ? What claim could have 
 been urged for a spurious book of this kind to a place by the side of 
 
XLTI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Isaiah and Ezekiel ? It is well known that the Hebrews have been, in aft 
 ages, most careful of their sacred books ; that they have transcribed 
 them with the greatest possible attention ; that they have counted the 
 words and the letters ; that they have marked and preserved every 
 variety, irregularity, and anomaly, even every unusual shape and 
 position of a letter in the manuscript; and it may be asked with em 
 phasis, in what way it would be possible to introduce a book which was 
 known and admitted to be spurious, a book falsely ascribed to one who 
 was said to have lived long before among those which they regarded as 
 of divine origin, and whose purity they guarded with so much care ? 
 Scarcely any greater literary absurdity can be imagined than this. 
 
 VII. A seventh objection which has been urged to the genuineness of 
 the Book of Daniel, is derived from the silence of the Son of Sirach in 
 regard to it. This objection is urged by De Wette, Bleek, Eichhorn, 
 Kirms, and Bretschneider, and is substantially this: that in the Book 
 of Ecclesiasticus (ch. xlix.), the author of that book, Jesus, the Son 
 of Sirach, undertakes to give a list of the personages in the Jewish 
 history who had been eminent for virtue, piety, and patriotism ; 
 and that the circumstances of the case are such that it is to be pre 
 sumed that if he had known anything of Daniel and his writings, he 
 would have been mentioned among them. Thus he mentions David, 
 Hezekiah, Josiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the Twelve Prophets, Zorobabel, 
 Jesus the son of Josedec, Nehemiah, Enoch, Joseph, Shem, Seth, and 
 Adam. The particular point, however, of the objection seems to bo, that 
 he mentions men who were eminent in securing the return of the He 
 brews to their own country, as Nehemiah and Zorobabel, and that if 
 Daniel had lived then in Babylon, and had had the important agency in 
 effecting the return of the captives which is ascribed to him in this book, 
 or had had the influence at the court of Persia attributed to him, it is un 
 accountable that his name was not mentioned. 
 
 To this objection we may reply: (1.) That the argumentum a silentio 
 is admitted not to be a conclusive kind of reasoning. So long as there 
 may have been other reasons why the name was omitted in such a list, it 
 is unfair and inconclusive to infer that he had not then an existence, or 
 that there was no such man. It is necessary, in order that this reason 
 ing should have any force, to show that this is the only cause which 
 could have led to this omission, or that this alone could account for it. 
 But it is easy to conceive that there may have been many reasons why 
 the name was omitted in this rapid enumeration, consistently with 
 the belief that Daniel then lived in Babylon, and that he occupied 
 the position, and rendered the services, which it may be supposed 
 from the account in this book, he would render. In such a rapid 
 enumeration it cannot be supposed that the writer mentioned all the 
 eminent men among the Hebrews, and therefore it is in no way remark 
 able that the name of Daniel should have been omitted. This is con 
 ceded even by Kirms. See his work, Commentatio Historico-Critica, &c., 
 p. 9. (2.) The objection, if of any value, would prove that no such 
 person as Daniel existed at that time, or even at any time previous to 
 the age of the Son of Sirach ; for he did not mention these persons as 
 authors of books, but as eminent persons as distinguished not by their 
 writings, but by their lives. But the existence of Daniel, as a historical 
 
INTRODUCTION. XLIIi 
 
 personage, is as clear as that of any of the eminent men mentioned in 
 the Jewish history, and is even conceded by the objectors themselves. 
 See 1 of this Introduction. (3.) As a matter of fact, the Son of Sirach 
 has omitted the names of others whom he would be at least as likely to 
 refer to as the name of Daniel. He has wholly omitted the name of 
 Ezra. Would not his agency be as likely to occur to such a writer as 
 that of Daniel ? He has omitted the names of Mordecai and Esther 
 personages whose agency would be as likely to be remembered in 
 such a connection as that of Daniel. He has omitted also the whole 
 of the Minor Prophets ; for the passage in ch. xlix. 10, which in the 
 common version makes mention of them, is shown by Bretschneider 
 (in loc.} to be clearly spurious, it having been copied verbatim from ch. 
 xlvi. 12, with merely the substitution of the words " the twelve prophets" 
 for the word " their." See Prof. Stuart, Com. p. 463. How can such 
 an omission be accounted for if the objection derived from the omission 
 of the name of Daniel has any force ? And if the mere silence of the Son 
 of Sirach be allowed to be an argument against the existence of pro 
 minent persons in the Jewish history, and the genuineness of the books 
 which they wrote, who will determine the limit to which the objection 
 will go ? How small a portion of the patriarchs and prophets ; how small 
 a portion of the writings of the Old Testament, would be spared ! And, 
 after all, why should so much weight be allowed to the mere silence of 
 the Son of Sirach an author comparatively unknown as to set aside 
 the positive testimony of all antiquity, and change the faith of the 
 world? . . T 
 
 3. CONTINUATION OF THE ARGUMENT FOR THE GENUINENESS 
 AND AUTHENTICITY OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 
 
 B. Positive Proofs of its Genuineness and Authenticity. 
 
 HAVING thus examined at length the objections which have been made 
 to the genuineness and authenticity of the Book of Daniel, I proceed 
 now to notice the positive proofs that it was written at the time when it 
 is alleged to have been, and by the author whose name it bears. This 
 need not detain us long; for if the objections which are made to the 
 genuineness of the book are not well founded, there will be little diffi 
 culty in showing that the common sentiment in the church in regard to 
 its authorship and authenticity is correct. It has undeniably for a long 
 time had a place in the sacred canon; it has been received by the 
 Christian church at all times as a sacred book, on the same level with 
 the other inspired books ; it has had a place among the books regarded 
 by the Jews as inspired, and if it cannot be displaced from the position 
 which it has so long occupied, the conclusion would seem to be fair 
 that that is its proper position. We have seen, in the previous dis 
 cussion, that it was ranked by Josephus among the prophetic books ; that 
 it was held in high estimation among the Jews as one of their sacred 
 books ; that the canon of Scripture was closed some four hundred years 
 before the time of the Saviour, and that, from the nature of the case, it 
 would have been impossible to foist a book of doubtful origin, or an 
 acknowledged fiction, into that canon in a later age. 
 
 In looking now at the positive evidence of the genuineness and 
 
XL1V INTRODUCTION. 
 
 canonical authority of the book, the only points that are really necessary 
 to be made out are two : that it is the work of one author, and that 
 that author was the Daniel of the captivity. If these two points can be 
 established, its right to a place in the canon will be easily demonstrated. 
 My object, then, will be to establish these two points, and then to show 
 how, if these points are admitted, it follows that the book is inspired, 
 and has a right to a place in the canon. 
 
 I. It is the work of one author. That is, it is not made up of frag 
 ments from different hands, and composed at different times. It is a 
 book by itself, every part of which is entitled to credit if any part 
 of it is, and entitled to the same credit on the ground of being the com 
 position of the same author. 
 
 The evidence of this lies in such circumstances as the following: 
 
 (1.) It is apparent on the face of the book that the design is to repre 
 sent it as the production of one author. If the book is a forgery, this 
 was no doubt the intention of its author ; if it is genuine, it was of course 
 the design. No one, on reading the book, it is presumed, could fail to 
 perceive that the design of the author was to leave the impression that it 
 is the work of one hand, and that it was intended to represent what 
 occurred in the lifetime of one man, and that one man had committed it 
 to writing. This is apparent, because the same name occurs throughout ; 
 because there is substantially one series of transactions ; because the 
 transactions are referred to as occurring in one place Babylon; and 
 because the same languages, customs, usages, and times, are referred to. 
 All the internal marks which can go to demonstrate that any work is by one 
 hand would be found to be applicable to this ; and all the external marks 
 will be found also to agree with this supposition. 
 
 There are two things, indeed, to be admitted, which have been relied 
 on by some, to prove that the work is the composition of different 
 authors. 
 
 (a) The one is, that it is divided into two parts : the one (ch. i.-vi.), in 
 the main historical ; the other (ch. vii.-xii.), in the main prophetical. 
 But this is no argument against the identity of the authorship, for the 
 same intermingling of history with prophecy occurs in most of the pro 
 phetic books ; and it is no objection that these occur in separate con 
 tinuous portions instead of being irregularly intermingled. In fact, the 
 same thing occurs in Isaiah, where the first part (ch. i.-xxxix.) is made 
 up, in a considerable degree, of historic allusions mingled with prophesy ; 
 and where the second part (ch. xl.-lxvi.) is wholly prophetic. Besides, 
 anyone must admit that on the supposition that Daniel v\ as the sole 
 author of the book, nothing would be more natural than this ve^y arrange 
 ment. What objection could there be to the supposition that one part 
 of his book might relate to historic incidents mainly though even these 
 have a strong prophetic character and that the other should be com 
 posed of prophecies ? What would there be in his condition or character 
 that would forbid such a supposition ? 
 
 (6) The other circumstance is, that, between these two parts, there is 
 a change in the person of the writer that in the first portion (ch. i.-vi.), 
 he uses the third person when speaking of Daniel, and in the other (ch. 
 vii.-xii.), the first person. This is, in the main, true, though it is true 
 also that in the second part the third person is sometimes used when 
 
INTRODUCTION. XLV 
 
 speaking ,>f himself, ch. vii. 1, x. 1. But in regard to this, it may be 
 observed, (1.) that it is no uncommon thing for an author to speak of 
 himself in the third person. This is uniformly done by Caesar in his 
 Commentaries, and this fact is never urged now as an argument against 
 the genuineness of his work. (2.) This is often done by the prophets. 
 See Isa. ii. 1, vii. 3, xiii. 1 ; Ezek. i. 3. So Hosea, throughout the first 
 chapter of his book, speaks uniformly of himself in the third person, and 
 in chs. ii. and iii. in the first person ; and so Amos, ch. vii. 1, 2, 4, 5, 
 7, 8, speaks of himself in the first person, and again, vs. 12, 14, in the 
 third person. It may be added, that it is the uniform method, also, of the 
 Evangelist John to speak of himself in the third person ; and, in fact, this 
 is so common in authors that it can constitute no argument against the 
 genuineness of any particular book. 
 
 It may be observed, also, that, in general, those who have denied the 
 genuineness and authenticity of the Book of Daniel, have admitted that 
 it is the work of one author. This is expressly admitted by Lengerke, 
 p. ci., who says, " The identity of the author appears from the uniformity 
 of the plan, and the relations which the different parts bear to each other; 
 that the historical and prophetic parts are related to each other ; that 
 there is a certain uniform gradation (Stufenfolge) of the oracles from the 
 uncertain to the certain ; that there is a remarkable similarity of ideas, 
 images, and forms of speech ; and that in the respective parts of the He 
 brew and Chaldee, there is great similarity of style." The same opinion 
 is maintained by Dereser, Gesenius, Bleek, De Wette, Kirms, Hoffmann, 
 and Hengstenberg ; though nearly all of these authors suppose that it 
 was written in the time of the Maccabees. They admit, however, that it 
 is the work of a single author. Eichhorn and Bertholdt appear to have 
 been the only authors of distinction who have denied it. 
 
 (2.) The identity of the book appears from the manner in which it is 
 written in respect to language. We have already seen that a part of it 
 is written in Hebrew, and a part in Chaldee. From the beginning to ch. 
 ii. 4, it is Hebrew ; then from ch. ii. 4, to the end of ch. vii. it is Chaldee, 
 and the remainder (ch. viii.-xii.) is Hebrew. Now, it may be admitted, 
 that if the historical part (ch. i.-vi.) had been wholly in either of these 
 languages, and the prophetical part (ch. vii.-xii.) had been wholly in the 
 other, it might have constituted a plausible argument against the 
 identity of the book. But the present arrangement is one that furnishes 
 no such argument. It cannot well be conceived that if the work 
 were the production of two authors, one would begin his portion in one 
 language and end it in another, and that the other would just reverse 
 the process in regard to languages. Such an arrangement would not be 
 likely to occur in two independent compositions professedly treating of the 
 same general subjects, and intended to be palmed off as the work of one 
 author. As it is, the arrangement is natural, and easy to be accounted 
 for ; but the other supposition would imply an artifice in composition 
 which would not be likely to occur, and which would be wholly unneces 
 sary for any purpose which can be imagined. 
 
 (3.) The identity of the book appears from the fact that it refers to the 
 same series of subjects ; that the same great design is pursued through 
 the whole. Thus in the two parts, though the first is mainly historical, 
 and the last prophetical, there is a remarkable parallelism between tha 
 
XLVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 predictions in ch. ii. and in ch. vii. The same great series of events is 
 referred to, though in different forms ; and so throughout the book, as 
 remarked above in the quotation from Lengerke, we meet with the same 
 ideas, the same modes of speech, the same symbols, the same imagery, 
 the operation of the same mind, and the manifestation of the same cha 
 racter in the authors. The Daniel of the first part is the Daniel of the 
 last ; and, in this respect, the similarity is so great as to leave the irre 
 sistible impression on the mind that he is the personage of the whole 
 book, and that his own hand is apparent throughout. 
 
 (4.) The identity of the book appears from the fact that the objections 
 made to it pertain alike to every part of it, and in reference to the dif 
 ferent parts are substantially the same. By referring to the objections 
 which have, in the previous section, been examined at length, it will be 
 seen that they all suppose the identity of the book, or that they are 
 drawn from the book considered as a whole, and not from any particular 
 part. Whatever difficulty there is in regard to the book pertains to it as 
 a whole, and difficulties of precisely the same kind lie scattered through 
 the entire volume. This fact proves that the book has such an identity 
 as appertains to one and the same author ; and this fact would not be 
 likely to occur in a book that was made up of the productions of different 
 authors. 
 
 (5.) It may be added, that whenever Daniel is spoken of by Josephus, 
 by the Saviour, or by the early Christian writers, it is always done as if 
 the book was the production of one author. Just such language is used 
 as would be used on the supposition that the book is the composition 
 of one man ; nor is there an intimation that there were two Daniels, ov 
 that there was even any doubt about the identity of the authorship. 
 
 The fact that the Book of Daniel is the production of one author, may 
 be regarded as established. Indeed, there is no ancient work concerning 
 which the evidence is more direct and clear. 
 
 II. The second point to be made out is, that the author was the 
 Daniel of the captivity. The evidences on this point will be adduced in 
 the order, not of time, but of what seems due to them in value and im 
 portance. 
 
 (1.) I refer, first, to the testimony of the writer himself. In chs. vii. 
 28, viii. 2, 15, 27, ix. 2, x. 1, xii. 5, the writer speaks of himself as 
 " I Daniel;" that is, the same Daniel whose history is given in ch. i. 
 This cannot be, indeed, regarded as conclusive evidence ; for the forger 
 of a book might insert the name of another person as the author, 
 and be constant in maintaining it to be so. All that is affirmed is, that 
 this is prima facie evidence, and is good evidence until it is set aside 
 by substantial reasons. We assume this in regard to any book, and 
 the evidence should be admitted unless there are satisfactory reasons for 
 supposing that the name is assumed for purposes of deception. It cannot 
 be doubted that the book bears on its face the appearance and the claim 
 of having been written by the Daniel of the captivity, and that, in this 
 respect, it is altogether such as it would be on that supposition. There 
 is certainly an air of simplicity, honesty, and sincerity about it which we 
 expect to find in a genuine production. 
 
 (2.) I refer, secondly, to the fact that the Book of Daniel was received 
 into the canon o* the Old Testament as an authentic work of the Daniel 
 
INTRODUCTION. XL\ II 
 
 of the captivity, and as entitled to a place among the inspired books of 
 Scripture. 
 
 (a) It has been shown above, that the Canon of Scripture was re 
 garded as complete long before the time of the Maccabees ; or that, 
 according to the testimony of Josephus, there were three classes of books 
 among the Hebrews, all regarded as sacred books, and all, in this respect, 
 differing from certain other books which they had, as containing the 
 record of affairs subsequent to the time of Artaxerxes. These classes of 
 books were known as the Law, the Prophets, and the " Kethubim" the 
 " other writings," or the " Hagiography ;" and these books together con 
 stituted what, in the New Testament, are called t/ie Scriptures, or Scrip 
 ture : the Scripture in Matt. xii. 10, xv. 28 ; Luke iv. 21 ; John ii. 22, vii 
 38, 42, x. 35, xix. 37 ; Horn. iv. 3, ix. 17 ; Gal. iii. 8, 22 ; 2 Tim. iii. 16 
 1 Pet. ii. 6 ; 2 Pet. i. 20 ; the Scriptures in Matt. xxi. 42, xxii. 29, xxvi. 
 54; Luke xxiv. 27, 32, 45; John v. 39; Acts xvii. 2, 11, xviii. 24, 28; 
 Rom. i. 2, xv. 4, xvi. 26 ; 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4 ; 2 Tim. iii. 15 ; 2 Pet. iii. 16. 
 These constituted a collection of writings which were distinct from all 
 others, and the use of the word Scripture, or Scriptures, at once suggested 
 them, and no others, to the mind. 
 
 (b) The Book of Daniel was found in that list of writings, and would 
 be suggested by that term as belonging to the general collection. That 
 is, in order to adduce his authority, or to mention a prophecy in that book, 
 it would be done as readily as a part of the Scriptures, and would be as 
 well understood, as in quoting a declaration of Moses or Isaiah. This is 
 apparent (1) from the fact seen above, that Josephus must have regarded 
 Daniel as having a rank among the prophets ; and (2), mainly, from the 
 fact that Daniel has always, from the earliest knowledge which we have 
 of the book, had a place in the canon. The book has never, so far as we 
 have any knowledge, been placed among the Apocryphal writings. It 
 was evidently regarded by Josephus, speaking the common sentiment of 
 his countrymen, as having a place in the canonical writings ; it was cer 
 tainly so regarded by the authors of the Talmud, though they assigned 
 it a place in the third division, or Kethubini ; it is expressly so men 
 tioned by Jerome, by Melito, Bishop of Sardis (A. D. 170), by Origen, by 
 the Council of Laodicea (A. D. 360-364), by Cyrill of Jerusalem (A. D. 
 350), by Gregory Nazianzen (A. D. 370), by Athanasius of Alexandria 
 (A. 1). 326), and by the author of the Synopsis Scriptures Sacra), who 
 lived in the time of Athanasius. See Prof. Stuart on the Old Testament. 
 Appendix. From that time onward it is needless to show that the Book 
 of Daniel has always had a place in the canon of Scripture, and been re 
 garded as on a level with the other writings of the sacred volume. 
 Indeed, it has never had, so far as we have any historical information, 
 any oilier place than that, but wherever known, and wherever men 
 tioned, it has always been as a portion of the sacred writings. 
 
 (c) It is -norally certain that it could not have been introduced into 
 that canon if it was the work of a later age, and if it was not believed, at 
 the time when the canon of the Old Testament was completed, or when 
 the books^ of the Old Testament were collected and arranged, by whom 
 soever this was clone, to have been the genuine work of Daniel. This 
 point has been considered already. The Jews were the most cautious of 
 all people in regard to their sacred books, and at an early period of their 
 
XLVIII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 history the contending sects of the Pharisees and Sadducees arose, and 
 from the very nature of their opinions, and the vigilance of the one 
 against the other, it was impossible that a book could be introduced 
 into the sacred canon which was not universally regarded as genuine and 
 authentic. The exact period, indeed, when these sects arose has not 
 been determined, and cannot now be ; but it is put beyond a doubt that it 
 was before the time of the Maccabees. Josephus first mentions them 
 (Ant. xiii. 5, 9) under the high-priest Jonathan (B. C. 159-144) ; but he 
 mentions them, together with the Essenes, as sects already fully and 
 definitely formed. Winer thinks that the spirit of Judaism, soon after 
 the return from the exile, gave rise to a feeling which led to the forma 
 tion of the party of the Pharisees ; and that this very naturally called forth 
 an opposition which embodied itself in the party of the Sadducees. In the 
 time of John Hyrcanus, nephew of Judas Maccabseus, Josephus speaks 
 of the Pharisees as having such influence with the common people that 
 " they would be believed even if they uttered anything against the king or 
 high-priest." The Sadducees were always opposed to them ; always 
 watched all their movements, opinions, and aims, with jealousy ; always 
 contended with them for power, and always embodied in their own ranks 
 no small part of the learning, the wealth, and the influence of the nation. 
 The main subject of division between them was one that pertains to the 
 Very point before us. It was not the question about the existence of 
 angel or spirit, or the question of predestination, as has been sometimes 
 said, but it was whether the Scriptures are to be regarded as the only rule 
 of faith and practice. The Pharisees insisted on the authority of tra 
 dition, and claimed that the oral or unwritten law was of equal authority 
 with the written; while the Sadducees rejected all traditions and ordi 
 nances of men not expressly sanctioned by the Scriptures. So Josephus 
 says expressly: " Their custom was, to regard nothing except the Laws 
 [that is, the written Laws the Old Testament] ; for they reckon it as a 
 virtue to dispute against the doctors in favor of the wisdom ($<*) which 
 they follow." Ant. xviii. 1, 4. Again, in Ant. xviii. 10, 6, he says, 
 " The Pharisees inculcated many rules upon the people, received from 
 the fathers, which are not written in the Law of Moses ; and on this 
 account the sect of the Sadducees reject them, alleging that those things 
 are to be regarded as rules which are written" [in the Scriptures], " but 
 that the traditions of the fathers are not to be observed." 
 
 The rise of these contending sects must, at all events, be referred to a 
 time which preceded the Maccabees the time when it is pretended by 
 objectors that the Book of Daniel was composed. But the moment when 
 these two parties were formed, the extent of the Jewish Scriptures was, 
 of course, a matter that was fully and permanently decided. It is im 
 possible to suppose that the Sadducees would concede to their antagonists 
 the right to introduce new books into the canon, or that a new book could 
 be introduced without producing controversy. This would have been 
 giving up the very point in dispute. No book could be introduced, or 
 could be recognised as entitled to a place there, which was not acknow 
 ledged by both parties as having been written by a true prophet, and as 
 being believed to be divinely inspired. If the Book of Daniel, then, 
 was the work of that age, and was falsely attributed to the Daniel of the 
 exile, it is impossible that it could have been introduced into the canon. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XLIX 
 
 (d) It may be asked, in addition, why, if the Book of Daniel was 
 written in the time of the Maccabees, and was then introduced into tho 
 canon, the Book of Ecclesiasticus, and other books of the Apocrypha, 
 were not also introduced ? If the book of Daniel was spurious, what was 
 there that should entitle that to a place in the canon which could not have 
 been urged in favor of the " Book of Wisdom/ or of some of the other 
 books of the Apocrypha? Yet these books never found a place in tho 
 canon, and were never regarded as belonging to it ; and there was, there 
 fore, some reason why Daniel had a place there which could not be 
 applied to them. The only reason must have been that the Book of 
 Daniel was regarded as the genuine work of the Daniel of the exile, and 
 therefore written by a prophet before the times of inspiration ceased. 
 
 (3.) I refer, third, in proof of the genuineness and authenticity of the 
 Book of Daniel, to the New Testament. 
 
 Daniel is expressly mentioned in the New Testament but once, and 
 that is by the Saviour, in Matt. xxiv. 15, and in the parallel passage in 
 Mark xiii. 14. In the former passage the Saviour says, " When ye, 
 therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel 
 the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth let him understand), 
 then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains." In the latter 
 place the same passage reported by another writer " But when ye shall 
 see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, 
 standing where it ought not (let him that readeth understand), then let 
 them which be in Judea/ &c. 
 
 These, it must be admitted, are the only places in the New Testament 
 where Daniel is directly quoted, though it cannot be denied that there 
 are others which seem to imply that the book was known, and that it 
 was intended to be referred to. Comp. the argument in Hengstenberg, 
 Authentic des Daniel, pp. 273-277. The passages of this nature referred 
 to by De Wette, g 255, (31), and commonly relied on, are the following: 
 
 1 Peter i. 10, seq. Compared with Daniel xii. 8, seq. 
 
 2 Thess. ii. 3. " " vii. 8, 25. 
 1 Cor. vi. 2. " " vii. 22. 
 
 Heb. xi. 33. " " vi. 
 
 In regard to these passages, however, it may be doubted of some of 
 them (2 Thess. ii. 3, 1 Cor. vi. 2) whether there is in them any designed 
 allusion to any prophet of the Old Testament; and of 1 Pet. i. 10, that 
 the allusion is so general that it cannot be demonstrated that Peter had 
 his eye on Daniel rather than on the other prophets, or that he neces 
 sarily included Daniel in the number ; and of the other passage (Heb. 
 xi. 33, (" Stopped the mouths of lions"), that, from anything that appears 
 in the passage, it cannot be demonstrated that Paul meant to refer to 
 Daniel, or, if he did, all that is there implied may have been founded on 
 a traditionary report of Daniel, and it cannot be adduced as proof that 
 he meant to refer to the Book of Daniel. It cannot be denied that there 
 is, in some respects, a very strong resemblance between the Book of 
 Daniel and the Book of Revelation, and that the Book of Daniel was 
 familiar to the author of the Apocalypse, but still, as Daniel is not ex 
 pressly quoted or referred to, it cannot be demonstrated with certainty 
 that John meant to recognise the book as inspired. The argument, then, 
 rests mainly, if not exclusively, on the testimony of the Saviour. 
 
L INTRODUCTION. 
 
 And here it is proper to say that, in this country, we may lay out of 
 view, as not worthy of attention, the remark of De Wette, that " Christ 
 neither ivould (wollte) nor could (konnte], from the nature of the case, be 
 a critical authority." \ 255, (3). In this argument it must be assumed, 
 that if a book of the Old Testament can be shown to have his sanction, 
 it is to be regarded as belonging to the inspired canon. Or, to state the 
 proposition in a form which cannot, on any account, be regarded as ob 
 jectionable, the point of inquiry is, to ascertain whether Christ did, or 
 did not, regard the Book of Daniel as belonging to the canon of the 
 inspired writings, and as coming within the class which he, in John 
 v. 39, and elsewhere calls " the Scriptures/ 
 
 Now, in regard to this reference to Daniel by the Saviour, considered 
 as an argument for the genuineness and authenticity of the book, the 
 following remarks may be made : 
 
 (a) There is a distinct recognition of Daniel as a historical personage 
 as a man. This is plain on the face of the quotation for he refers to him 
 as he would to Moses, Isaiah, or Jeremiah. No one can believe that he 
 regarded Daniel as a fictitious or fabulous personage, or that, in this 
 respect, he meant to speak of him as different from the most eminent of 
 the ancient prophets. Indeed, in all the doubts that have been expressed 
 about the genuineness of the Book of Daniel, it has never been main 
 tained that the Lord Jesus did not mean to be understood as referring to 
 Daniel as a real historical personage. 
 
 (b) He refers to him as a prophet: " When ye shall see the abomina 
 tion of desolation, spoken of by Daniel, the prophet" ^po-Mrou. This 
 word he uses evidently, in its ordinary signification, as meaning one who 
 predicted future events, and as entitled to a rank among the true 
 prophets. It is the very word which Josephus, in a passage quoted above, 
 employs in relation to Daniel, and is manifestly used in the same sense. 
 The Saviour assigns him no inferior place among the prophets ; regards 
 him as having uttered a true prediction, or a prediction which was to be 
 fulfilled at a period subsequent to the time when he was then speaking ; 
 and refers to him, in this respect, as he would have done to any one of 
 the ancient inspired writers. 
 
 (c) He refers to him as the author of a book, and, by his manner of 
 speaking of him, and by the quotation which he makes, gives his sanction 
 to some well-known book of which he regarded Daniel as the author. 
 This, which if true settles the question about the testimony of the 
 Saviour, is apparent from the following considerations: (1.) From the 
 very use of the word prophet here. It is evident, on the face of the pas 
 sage, that he refers to him in the use of this word, not as having spoken 
 the prediction, but as having recorded it ; that the language is used as it 
 would have been of any other of the " prophets," or of those who had 
 this appellation because they had made a record predicting future events. 
 It is clear that the word among the Jews had so far a technical significa 
 tion, that this would at once be suggested on its use. (2) Because he 
 quotes the language found in the Book of Daniel ftb&vytia rfjf cpe/jLuaeuf. 
 This very phrase occurs in the Greek translation, in ch. xii. 11, and a 
 similar expression (tt&vyn* rtiv epc^acuv occurs in ch. ix. 27; and 
 another similar expression /?<3tXi>y/ja tyufUfavQ* occurs in ch. xi. 31. The 
 phrase, therefore, may be regarded as belonging to Daniel, not only by 
 
INTRODUCTION. LI 
 
 the express mention of his name, but by the fact that it does not 
 elsewhere occur in the sacred Scriptures. (3.) The same thing is 
 apparent from the parenthetical expression, " Whoso readeth, let 
 him understand." The point of this remark is in the word " readeth," 
 as referring to some written record. There has been, indeed, much 
 difference of opinion in regard to this phrase, whether it is to be 
 considered as the command of the Saviour that they who read the words 
 of Daniel should pay attention to its meaning ; or whether it is the 
 remark of the evangelist, designed tc call attention to the meaning of 
 the prophecy, and to the words of the Saviour. In my Notes on the pas 
 sage in Matt. xxiv. 15, the opinion is expressed that these are the words 
 of the evangelist. It is proper now to say, that on a more careful con 
 sideration of that passage this seems to me to be very doubtful ; but 
 whether correct or not, it would only vary the force of the argument by 
 making Matthew the speaker instead of the Saviour. It would still be 
 an inspired testimony that, at the time when Matthew wrote, there was 
 a book which was understood to be the production of Daniel, and that it 
 was the intention of the evangelist to rank him among the prophets, and 
 to call particular attention to what he had written. The interpretation 
 of the parenthesis, it must be admitted, however, is so uncertain that no 
 argument can be founded on it to denonstrate that Christ meant to call 
 attention to the words of Daniel ; but the passage does prove that such 
 words to be "read" were found in the book, and that in order to 
 determine their exact sense there was need of close attention. Olshausen 
 agrees with the interpretation of the parenthesis expressed in my Notes 
 on Matthew, regarding it as the declaration of the evangelist. The older 
 expositors generally regard the parenthesis as the words of the Saviour ; 
 more recent ones generally as the words of the evangelist. The former 
 opinion is defended by Hengstenberg. Authen. pp. 259, 260. 
 
 Whichever interpretation is adopted, it seems clear, from the above 
 remarks, that the Saviour meant to refer to Daniel as a real historical 
 personage, and to a well-known book bearing his name, as a genuine pro 
 duction of the Daniel of the exile. If so, then the testimony of Christ is 
 expressly in favor of its canonical authority. 
 
 (4.) I refer, fourth, in proof of the genuineness and authenticity of the 
 book, or in proof that it was written by the Daniel of the captivity, to the 
 fact that it had an existence before the times of the Maccabees, and was re 
 ferred to then as among the books having a divine authority. This might, 
 indeed, be regarded as already demonstrated, if it had a place in the Canon 
 of Scripture, as I have endeavoured to show that it had ; but there is other 
 proof of this that will go further to confirm the point. It will be recol 
 lected that one of the main positions of those who deny its genuineness 
 is, that it was written in the time of the Maccabees by some one who 
 assumed the name of Daniel. The point now to be made out is, that 
 there is direct evidence that it had an existence before that time. In 
 proof of this, I refer, 
 
 (a) To the testimony of Joscphus. His statement is found in kis " Anti 
 quities," b. xi. ch. viii., in the account which he gives of the interview- 
 between Alexander and the high-priest Jaddua, in Jerusalem: "And 
 when he went up into the temple, he offered sacrifices to God, according 
 uo the high-priest s direction ; and magnificently treated both the high- 
 
LIT INTRODUCTION. 
 
 priest and the priests. And when the Book of Daniel was shown to 
 him, wherein Daniel declared that one of the Greeks should destroy the 
 empire of the Persians, he supposed that himself was the person 
 intended. And as he was then glad, he dismissed the multitude for the 
 present ; but the next day he called them to him, and bade them ask 
 what favors they pleased of him." The genuineness of this narrative 
 has been examined at length by Hengstenberg, Authen. pp. 277-288. 
 In reference to that testimony, the following remarks may be made : 
 (1.) The authority of Josephus is entitled to great credit, and his testi 
 mony may be regarded as good proof of a historical fact. (2.) There is 
 here express mention of " the Book of Daniel," as a book existing in the 
 time of Alexander, and as shown to him, in which he was so manifestly 
 referred to that he at once recognised the allusion. The passages re 
 ferred to are the following: ch. vii. 6, viii. 3-8, 21, 22, xi. 3, 4. For the 
 evidence that these passages relate to Alexander, the reader is referred 
 to the Notes on them respectively. It is clear that if they were read to 
 Alexander, and if he regarded them as applying to himself, he could not 
 doubt that his victory over the Persians would be certain. (3.) There is 
 every probability in the circumstances of the case, that, if the Jewish 
 high-priest was in possession of the Book of Daniel at that time, with so 
 clear a reference to a Grecian conqueror, he would show those passages 
 to him, for nothing would be more likely to appease his wrath, and to 
 obtain protection for the Jews in Jerusalem, and for those who were 
 scattered in the lands where it was manifest that he purposed to extend 
 his conquests. And (4.) it may be presumed that, as a consequence of 
 this, Alexander would grant to the Jews all that Josephus says that he 
 did. The best way of accounting for the favor which Josephus says he did 
 show to the Jews, is the fact which he states, that these predictions were 
 read to him announcing his success in his projected wars. Thus 
 Josephus says, as a consequence of these predictions being shown to him 
 (Ant., ut supra], " And as ho was then glad, he dismissed the multitude for 
 the present ; but the next day he called them to him, and bade them ask 
 what favors they pleased of him. Accordingly the high-priest desired 
 that they might enjoy the laws of their forefathers, and might pay no 
 tribute the seventh year. This was readily granted. And when they 
 entreated that he would permit the Jews in Babylon and Media to enjoy 
 their own laws also, he willingly promised to do hereafter what they 
 desired. And when he said to the multitude, that if any of them would 
 enlist themselves in his army, on the condition that they should continue 
 under the laws of their forefathers, and live according to them, he was 
 willing to take them with him, many were ready to accompany him in 
 his wars." 
 
 There is intrinsic probability that this account in Josephus is true, and 
 the main historical facts, as stated by Josephus, are vouched for by other 
 writers. " That Alexander was personally in Judea, Pliny testifies, Hist. 
 Nat. xii. 26. That Palestine voluntarily surrendered to him, is testified 
 in Arrian s History of Alexander, ii. 25. That he was met by the high- 
 priest and his brethren dressed in turbans, is testified by Justin (xi. 10), 
 who says : Obvios cum infulis multos orientis regis habuit." See 
 Stuart on Daniel, p. 408. 
 
 There is, therefore, the highest degree of probability that thie 
 
INTRODUCTION. . Lin 
 
 narrative of Josephus is true; and if this is a correct historical 
 narrative, then it is clear that the Book of Daniel, containing, in respect 
 to the conquests of Alexander, the same passages that are now applied 
 to him, was in existence long before the time of the Maccabees. This 
 occurred in 332 B. C., and if this account is correct, then " the Book of 
 Daniel, as it now exists, was current among the Jews as a sacred book, 
 at least some 168-170 years before the time when, according to the critics 
 of the sceptical school, the book could be written." 
 
 (&) The same thing may be inferred from a passage in the Apocrypha. 
 In 1 Maccabees ii. 49-68, the dying Mattathias is said, in an exhortation to 
 his sons to be " zealous for the law, and to give their lives for the covenant 
 of their fathers," to have referred to the ancient examples of piety and 
 fortitude among the Hebrews, mentioning, among others, Abraham, 
 " found faithful in temptation ; ;; Joseph, who " in a time of distress kept 
 the commandments, and was made lord of Egypt ;" Joshua, who " for 
 fulfilling the word was made a judge in Israel ;" Caleb, who for " bearing 
 witness before the congregation received the heritage of the land ;" David, 
 Elias, Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, and then (ver. 60) he mentions 
 Daniel in these words : " Daniel for his innocency was delivered from the 
 mouth of lions." Here is an evident reference to the history of Daniel 
 as we have it (ch. vi.) ; and although it is true that such an account 
 might be handed down by tradition, and that such a reference as this 
 might be made if there were nothing more than mere tradition, yet it 
 is also true that this is such a reference as would be made if the book 
 were in existence then as it is now, and true also that the other references 
 are, mostly at least, to written accounts of the worthies who are there 
 mentioned. If there were no positive evidence to the contrary, the 
 prima facie proof in this quotation would be, that Mattathias referred to 
 some well-known written record of Daniel. 
 
 (c) The fact of the existence of the book before the time of the Mac 
 cabees may be inferred from its translation by the authors of the 
 Septuagint. The fact that the book was translated with the other He 
 brew and Chaldee books of the Old Testament, is a proof that it had an 
 existence at an early period, and that it was worthy, in the estimation of 
 the translators, of a place among the sacred books of the Jews. 
 
 (5.) I refer, fifth, in proof of the genuineness and authenticity of the 
 book, to the language in which it is written. We have already seen that 
 it is written partly in Hebrew, and partly in Chaldee. The argument 
 to which I refer, from this fact, in proof of the genuineness of the book, 
 consists of the following things : 
 
 (a) The language is such as it might be expected it would be on the 
 supposition that Daniel was the real author. Daniel was by birth a 
 Hebrew. He was probably born in Jerusalem, and remained there until 
 he was about twelve or fifteen years of age (see $ 1), when he was re 
 moved to Babylon. In his youth, therefore, he had used the Hebrew 
 language, and his early education had been in that language. In Baby 
 lon he was instructed in the language and literature of the Chaldeans, 
 and probably became as familiar with the language of the Chaldeans 
 as he was with his native tongue. Both these languages ho un 
 doubtedly spoke familiarly, and probably used them with the same 
 degree of ease. That the book, therefore, is written in both these 
 5* 
 
LIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 languages, accords with this representation; and, if written by one 
 man, it must have been composed by one who was thus familiar with 
 both. It is true that the fact that Daniel could thus speak the two 
 languages is in itself no proof that he was the author ; but the fact that it 
 was so written accords with the circumstances of the case. His early 
 training, and the fact that the book is written in the two languages with 
 which it is known he was familiar, furnish a coincidence such as would 
 occur on the supposition that he was the author ; and a coincidence, like 
 those adverted to by Dr. Paley, in his argument in favor of the genuine 
 ness of the New Testament (Horee Paulina)), the more valuable because 
 it is clear that it was undesigned. 
 
 But why^ the book was written in two languages, is a question that is 
 not so easily solved, and which it is not necessary to solve. No reason 
 is given in the book itself; none appears from anything in the design of 
 the portions written respectively in Hebrew and ChaKL-o. There is 
 nothing apparent in these portions of the book which would lead us to 
 suppose that one was designed to be read by the Hebrews arid the other 
 by the Chaldeans, or that, as it is often affirmed (comp. Home, Introduc 
 tion, vol. iv. p. 193) that one portion " treats of the Chaldean or Baby 
 lonish affairs." There is no particular " treatment" of the Chaldean or 
 Babylonish affairs, for example, in the seventh chapter, where the 
 Chaldean portion ends, any more than in the eighth, where the Hebrew 
 is resumed, and, in fact, no internal reason can be assigned why one of 
 those chapters should have been written in Chaldee or Hebrew rather 
 than the other or both. The same remark is applicable to the first and 
 second chapters, and indeed to every portion of the book ; and the reason 
 which induced the author to write different portions of it in different 
 languages must be for ever unknown. This does not, however, affect the 
 force of the argument which I am suggesting. 
 
 (6) The circumstance now adverted to may be regarded as of some 
 force in showing that it is not probable that the book was forged, and 
 especially that it was not forged in the time of the Maccabees. It is an 
 unusual thing for a man to attempt to forge a book in two languages ; 
 and though cases have occurred in great numbers where a man could so 
 familiarly write in two languages that he could do this, yet this would 
 not be likely to occur in the time of the Maccabees. It was probably a 
 very uncommon thing at that time that a man was so familiar with the 
 two languages that he could write readily in each, for there are no 
 writings extant in either of these languages in that age ; and it is well 
 known that the Hebrew language became greatly adulterated by foreign 
 admixtures soon after the return from the exile, and never regained the 
 purity which it had in the early periods of its history. 
 
 (c) To these considerations it may be added, that if the book was 
 written in the times of the Maccabees, or at a later period, there is every 
 reason to suppose that it would have been written in the Greek language. 
 This appears from the fact that all the books which we have of that age 
 are written in Greek, and that the Greek at that time had become so pre 
 valent that it would be natural that it should be used. Thus all the 
 books of the Apocrypha, and those parts which profess to be additions 
 to the Book of Daniel, as the Song of the Three Holy Children, the His 
 tory of Susanna, and the Destruction of Bel and the Dragon, are found 
 
INTRODUCTION. LV 
 
 only in Greek, and there is no evidence that they were ever written in 
 Hebrew or Chaldee. See $ 4 of this Introduction. If the Book of 
 Daniel itself was written in that age, why was not it also written in 
 Greek ? Or why should the book, as we have it now, if it were a forged 
 book, have been written in Hebrew and Chaldee, and those other portions, 
 which the author seems to have designed should be regarded as belonging 
 to the book, have been written in Greek? There are none of the books 
 of the Apocrypha of which there is any evidence that they were written 
 in Hebrew or Chaldee, The only one of those books for which such 
 a claim has been set up is the Book of Ecclesiasticus. That is affirmed by 
 the Son of Sirach (see the Prologue), to have been written originally by 
 his grandfather in Hebrew, and to have been translated by himself into 
 Greek. But the Hebrew original is not in existence ; nor is there any 
 certain evidence that it ever was. It is an additional circumstance, 
 showing that a book of the Maccabaean age would have been written in 
 Greek, that even Berosus, who was himself a Chaldean, wrote his history 
 of Chaldea in Greek. See Intro, to ch. iv. $ 1. 
 
 To all these considerations, which seem to me of themselves to settle 
 the question, I may be permitted to add a very ingenious argument 
 of Prof. Stuart, in his own words ; an argument which, I think, no one 
 can answer. Com. on Daniel, pp. 438-449. 
 
 " The accurate knowledge, which the writer of the Book of Daniel 
 displays, of ancient history, manners and customs, and Oriental-Baby 
 lonish peculiarities, shows that he must have lived at or near the time 
 and place, when and where the book leads us to suppose that he lived. 
 
 " A great variety of particulars might be adduced to illustrate and 
 confirm this proposition ; but I aim only to introduce the leading and 
 more striking ones. 
 
 " (a) In drawing the character of Nebuchadnezzar, and giving some 
 brighter spots to it, Daniel agrees with hints of the like nature in Jer. 
 xlii. 12, xxxix. 11. If a writer in the Maccabaean age had undertaken, as 
 is asserted, to symbolize Antiochus Epiphanes by drawing the character 
 of Nebuchadnezzar, it would be difficult to conceive how he would have 
 been persuaded to throw into the picture these mellower tints. 
 
 " (b) In drawing the portrait of Belshazzar, the last king of Babylon, 
 Daniel agrees very strikingly with Xenophon. In this latter writer, he 
 appears as a debauched, pleasure-loving, cruel, and impious monarch. 
 Cyrop. iv. v. represents him as killing the son of Gobryas, one of his 
 nobles, because he had anticipated him, while hunting, in striking down 
 the game. When the father remonstrated, he replied, that he was sorry 
 only that he had not killed him also. In Lib. v. 2, he is styled haughty 
 and abusive. One of his concubines spoke in praise of Gadates, a 
 courtier, as a handsome man. The king invited him to a banquet, and 
 there caused him to be seized and unmanned. It is all in keeping with 
 this, when he appears in Daniel v. In his intoxication and pride, he 
 orders the sacred vessels of the Jerusalem-temple to be profaned ; and 
 Daniel is so disgusted with his behaviour, that he does not, as in the case 
 of Nebuchadnezzar (chap, iv.), disclose any strong sympathy for him, but 
 denounces unqualified destruction. Xenophon calls this king, avoaiog. 
 
 " (c) Cyaxares (Darius the Mede in Dan.) is drawn by Xenophon a$> 
 devoted to wine and women (Cyrop. iv.). In Dan. vi. 19, it is mentioned 
 
LVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of Darius, as an extraordinary thing, that after he saw the supposed rum 
 of Daniel, he neither approached his table or his harem. Xenophon 
 speaks of him as indolent, averse to business, of small understanding, 
 vain, without self-restraint, and easily thrown into tears; and then, 
 moreover, as subject to violent outbursts of passion (iv. v.). In Daniel 
 he appears as wholly governed by his courtiers ; they flatter his vanity 
 and obtain the decree intended to destroy Daniel. Daniel s supposed 
 impending fate throws him into lamentation, and he betakes himself to 
 fasting and vigils ; and when he learns the safety of his Hebrew servant, 
 he sentences his accusers, with all their wives and children, to be thrown 
 into the lions den, vi. 18-24. 
 
 " Now as there was no history of these times and kings among the 
 Hebrews, and none among the Greeks that gave any minute particulars, 
 in what way did a late writer of the Book of Daniel obtain his know 
 ledge ? 
 
 " (d) When in Dan. i. 21, it is stated that Daniel continued until the 
 Jirst year of Cyrus, without any specification when this was, the writer 
 seems plainly to suppose his readers to be familiar with this period. It 
 is true, that from the Book of Ezra a knowledge of that time, the period 
 of Jewish liberation, might be gained ; but the familiar manner of the 
 reference to it, indicates that the writer feels himself to be addressing 
 those who were cognizant of matters pertaining to the period. 
 
 " (e) In ch. i. and ii. we are told that Icing Nebuchadnezzar besieged 
 Jerusalem, took it, and sent Daniel and his companions to Babylon. 
 There they were taken under the care and instruction of learned men 
 among the Chaldees, and trained up for the personal service of the king. 
 The period of training was three years. At the close of this, they were 
 examined and approved by the king ; and soon after this occurred 
 Nebuchadnezzar s first dream, which Daniel was summoned to interpret. 
 This dream is said to be in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar s reign. 
 Here then is an apparent parachronism. How could Daniel have been 
 taken and sent into exile by king Nebuchadnezzar, educated three years, 
 and then be called to interpret a dream in the second year of Nebuchad 
 nezzar s reign? The solution of this difficulty I have already exhibited 
 in an Exc. at the end of the commentary on ch. i. I need not repeat the 
 process here. It amounts simply to this, viz., that Nebuchadnezzar is 
 called king in Dan. i. 1, by way of anticipation ; a usage followed by 
 Kings, Chron., and Jeremiah. Before he quitted Judea he became 
 actual king by the death of his father ; and the Jews, in speaking of him 
 as commanding the invading army, always called him king. But in 
 Dan. ii. 1, Nebuchadnezzar is spoken of in the Chaldee mode of reference 
 to his actual reign. This leaves some four years for Daniel s discipline 
 and service. But to those who were not familiar with the Jewish mode 
 of speaking in respect to Nebuchadnezzar, it would naturally and 
 inevitably appear like a parachronism, or even a downright contradiction 
 of dates. Yet the writer has not a word of explanation to make. He 
 evidently feels as if all were plain to his readers ; (as doubtless it was) 
 But a writer of the Maccabaean age would plainly have seen and avoided 
 the difficulty. 
 
 " (f) In Dan. v. 30, it is stated that Belshazzar was slain ; but not a 
 word is said descriptive of the manner in which this was brought about. 
 
INTRODUCTION. LVII 
 
 nor even that the city of Babylon was taken. The next verse simply 
 mentions that Darius the Mede took the kingdom. All this brevity seems 
 to imply, that the \vriter supposed those whom he was addressing to be 
 cognizant of the whole matter. Had he lived in the Maccabean age, 
 would he have written thus respecting events so interesting and im- 
 Dortant? In like manner Dan. x. 1, seq. tells us, that in the third year 
 of Cyrus, Daniel mourned and fasted three weeks. But not a word _ is 
 said to explain the occasion of this peculiar and extraordinary humili 
 ation. If we turn now to Ezra iv. 1-5, we shall find an account of a 
 combination among the enemies of the Jews to hinder the building of 
 the city walls, which was successful, and which took place in the third 
 year of Cyrus reign, i. e. the same year with Daniel s mourning. There 
 can scarcely be a doubt that this was the occasion of that mourning ; for 
 certainlv it was no ritual, legal, or ordinary fast. The manner now in 
 which ch. x. is written, plainly imports that the writer feels no need of 
 giving explanations. He takes it for granted that his readers will at 
 once perceive the whole extent of the matter. But how, in the Macca- 
 baean age, could a writer suppose this knowledge within the grasp of 
 his readers ? 
 
 " (g) In Dan. ii., the dream is interpreted as indicating the destruction 
 of the Babylonish empire by the Medo-Persians. Abydenus, in his 
 singular account of Nebuchadnezzar s last hours (given on p. 122 above), 
 represents this king as rapt into a kind of prophetic ecstasy, and in this 
 state as declaring his fearful anticipations of the Medo-Persian conquest. 
 How came such a coincidence ? 
 
 " (7i) In iv. 27, Nebuchadnezzar is introduced as saying: " Is not this 
 great Babylon which I have built? Recent critics allege this to be a 
 mistake. * Ctesias/ they tell us, attributes the building of Babylon to 
 Semiramis (Bahr Ctes. p. 397, seq.), and Herodotus (i. 181, seq.) ascribes 
 it to Semiramis and Nitocris/ My answer is, that Ctesias follows the 
 Assyrian tradition, and Herodotus the Persian. But Berosus and Aby 
 denus give us the Babylonian account ; which is, that Nebuchadnezzar 
 added much to the old town, built a magnificent royal palace, surrounded 
 the city with new walls, and adorned it with a vast number of buildings. 
 Well and truly might he say that he had built it, meaning (as he plainly 
 did) its magnificent structures. It was not any falsehood in his declara 
 tion, which was visited with speedy chastisement, but the pride and vain 
 glory of his boasting gave offence to heaven. But how came a writer of 
 the Maccabaean period to know of all this matter? No Greek writer has 
 told anything about Nebuchadnezzar or his doings. To Berosus and 
 Abydenus, a writer of the Maccabaean age could hardly have had access. 
 Herodotus and Ctesias told another and different story. Whence then 
 did he get his knowledge of the part which Nebuchadnezzar had acted, 
 in the building of the city? And yet the account of it in Daniel accords 
 entirely with both Berosus and Abydenus. Even the account of Nebu 
 chadnezzar s madness is virtually adverted to in these writers ; see above, 
 p. 122, seq. 
 
 " (i) In Dan. v. 10-12, is introduced a personage styled the queen, 
 not because she was Belshazzar s wife, for the latter was already in the 
 banqueting-room (v. 3, 23), but probably because she was a queen- 
 mother. Not improbably this was the Nitocris of Herodotus ; and Berosus, 
 
LVIII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Diod. Sic. (ii. 10), and Alex. Polyhist. (in Chron. Armen.), all say that 
 Nitocris was a wife of Nebuchadnezzar. If so, she might have had much 
 to do with ornamenting the city both before and after Nebuchadnezzar s 
 death ; and this will account for the great deference paid to her by Bel- 
 bkazzar, as related in v. 10-12. It is one of those accidental circum 
 stances, which speaks much for the accordance of Daniel with the 
 narrations of history. It is, moreover, a circumstance, about which a 
 writer of the Maccabaean age cannot well be supposed to have known 
 anything. 
 
 "And since we are now examining ch. v., it may be proper to note 
 another circumstance. We have seen, that at Babylon the wives and 
 concubines of the king were, without any scruple, present at the feast. 
 But in Esth. i. we have an account of the positive refusal of Queen Vashti 
 to enter the guest-chamber of Ahasuerus. In other words, this was, and 
 is, against the general custom of the East. How came a write r of the 
 Maccabaean period to know this distinction between the customs of 
 Babylon and of Persia ? The author of the Sept. Version, a contemporary 
 of this period, knows so little of such a matter that he even leaves out the 
 passage respecting the presence of women at the feast. Why ? Plainly 
 because he thought this matter would be deemed incredible by his readers. 
 In Xen. Cyrop. (V. 2. 28), is an account of a feast of Belshazzar, where 
 his concubines are represented as being present. Not only so, but we 
 have elsewhere, in Greek and Roman Avriters, abundant testimony to 
 usages of this kind, in their accounts of the Babylonish excesses. But 
 how comes it about, that the forger of the Book of Daniel, whose fami 
 liarity with those writings is not credible, should know so much more of 
 Babylonish customs than the Sept. translator ? 
 
 " (j) Of the manner in \vhich Babylon was taken, and Belshazzar slain, 
 Daniel has not given us any minute particulars. But he has told us that 
 the Medes and Persians acquired the dominion of Babylon (v. 28), and 
 that Darius the Mede succeeded Belshazzar. The manner in which he 
 announces the slaying of Belshazzar (v. 30), shows that the event was 
 altogether sudden and unexpected. Now Herodotus in (I. 190), and 
 Xcnophon (Cyrop. VII.), have told us, that Cyrus diverted the waters of 
 the Euphrates, and marched in its channel into the heart of Babylon, 
 and took the city in a single night. They tell us that the Babylonians 
 were in the midst of feast-rioting that night, and were unprepared to 
 meet the enemy who were not expected in the city. How entirely all 
 this harmonizes with Daniel, is quite plain. Gesenius himself acknow 
 ledges that this is sehr auffallend, i. e. very striking. He has even 
 acknowledged, in a moment of more than usual candor and concession, 
 that Isa. xliv. 27, has a definite reference to the stratagem of Cyrus in 
 taking the city. In connection with a prediction concerning Cyrus, 
 Jehovah is here represented as " saying to the deep, Be dry ; yea, 1 will 
 dry up thy rivers." So in Jer. 1. 38, " A drought is upon her waters, and 
 they shall be dried up ; ;; and again, li. 36, " I will dry up her sea [river], 
 and make her springs dry." If the Book of Daniel is to be cast out as a 
 late production, and as spurious, because it seems to predict the sudden 
 capture of Babylon in one night, by the Medes and Persians, what is to 
 be done with these passages of Isa. and Jer.? Even the Neologists, 
 Although they maintain a later composition in respect to those parts of 
 
INTRODUCTION. LIX 
 
 the prophets which have just been cited, still do not venture to place that 
 composition post eventum. If not, then there is prediction ; and this, too, 
 of a strange event, and one so minute and specific, that guessing is out of 
 question. If, then, Isa. and Jer. predicted, why might not a Daniel also 
 predict ? 
 
 " Another circumstance there is also, in which all three of these pro 
 phets are agreed. According to Dan. vi., Babylon was feasting and 
 carousing, on the night of its capture. In Isa. xxi. 5, we have the like : 
 * Prepare the table . . . Eat, drink ; arise, ye princes, and anoint the 
 shield/ i. e rise up from your feast-table, and make ready for assault. 
 So Jer. li. 39, * I will prepare their feasts, and I will make them drunken, 
 that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith 
 the Lord/ 
 
 " If now a writer of the Maccabaoan period had undertaken to write 
 the story of the capture of Babylon, is there any probability that he 
 would have hit upon all these circumstances, so peculiar and so con 
 cordant ? Conversant with the native Greek historians we cannot well 
 suppose him to have been ; for Greek literature was regarded as reproach 
 ful by the Jews of that period, and even down to the time of Josephus, 
 who speaks strongly on this subject. 
 
 " (k) Daniel v. 30, relates the violent death of Belshazzar, when the city 
 was taken. In this particular he is vouched for by Xenophon, Cyrop. 
 VII. v. 24, 30. So do Isa. xxi. 2-9, xiv. 18-20 ; Jer. 1. 29-35, li. 57, 
 declare the same thing. But here Berosus and Abydenus dissent, both 
 of them representing the Babylonish king as surrendering, and as being 
 treated humanely by Cyrus. How comes it, if the forger of the Book of 
 Daniel wrote about B. C. 160, that he did not consult those authors on 
 Babylonish affairs? Or if (as was surely the fact in regard to most 
 Jewish writers at that period), he had no familiarity with Greek authors, 
 then where did he obtain his views about the death of Belshazzar ? For 
 a full discussion of this matter, see p. 147, seq., above. There can 
 scarcely be a doubt, that the account of Daniel and Xenophon is the 
 true one. 
 
 " Xenophon relates, that the party which assailed the palace, who were 
 led on by Gobryas and Gadatas, fell upon the guards who were carous 
 ing, ?rpoj </>> jroAu, i. e. at broad daylight;* Cyro. VII. 5. 27. In other 
 words, the Persians did not accomplish their onset upon the palace, until 
 the night was far spent, and daylight was dawning. How now are 
 matters presented in the Book of Daniel. First, there is the feast, (of 
 course in the evening) ; then the quaffing of wine ; then the hand-writing 
 on the wall ; then the assembling of all the Magi to interpret it ; then the 
 introduction of Daniel, whose interpretation was followed by his being 
 clothed with the insignia of nobility, and being proclaimed the third ruler 
 in the kingdom. All this must of course have taken up most of the night. 
 Here, then, one writer confirms and illustrates the other. A Pseudo- 
 Daniel would not have risked such a statement as the true one has 
 made ; for at first view, the matter seems incredible, and it is charged 
 
 " * Singular, that in a critical edition and commentary on Xenophon, now before me, this is 
 rendered before a good Jlre. First, the Greek words do not allow this. Secondly, the Baby 
 lonians need and have no fires for warmth. Thirdly, Cyrus would not have "drained the 
 Euphrates, and marched his army in its channel, at a time when fires were needed fq/ 
 Varmth. 
 
LX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 upon the book as such. But Xenophon has freed it from all diffi* 
 culties. 
 
 " Dan. vi. also declares, that Belshazzar was a son, i. e. a descendant 
 of Nebuchadnezzar. An appeal is made to Berosus and Megasthenes, to 
 show that this was not true. Yet they do not so testify, but only that 
 Belshazzar was not of the regular line of heirs of the throne. He 
 might still have been a younger son of Nebuchadnezzar, or a son of 
 Nebuchadnezzar s daughter. Now Herodotus agrees with Daniel, i. 188, 
 i. 74. So does Xenophon. And as the other authors have not in reality 
 contradicted this, what reason is there for refusing to believe ? See the 
 discussion of this topic at large, p. 144, seq. 
 
 " It certainly deserves to be noted, that, in part, the Book of Daniel is 
 on the side of the Greek writers, and against Berosus and Abydenus, 
 where the representations of the latter may be justly regarded as 
 designed to save the honor and credit of the Babylonians ; in part also 
 is Daniel on the side of the latter, and against the Greek writers, 
 i. e., in cases where there is no reason to suppose the native historians 
 to be partial. The media via appears in this case to be hit upon, by 
 the simple pursuit of historical truth in the narratives of the book 
 before us. 
 
 " Again, in Dan. v. 31, we have an assurance, that Darius the Mede 
 assumed the throne of Babylon. Here Herodotus and Ctesias are 
 silent ; but here Xenophon fully confirms the account given by Daniel. 
 Herodotus himself states (i. 95), that there were two other modes of 
 telling the story of Cyrus, besides that which he follows ; and that of 
 Xenophon and Daniel is probably one of these. This is confirmed by 
 Is. xiii. 17, where the Mede is declared to be the leading nation in 
 destroying Babylon, and the same is also said in Jer. liii. 11, 28. In 
 Is. xxi. 2, both Media and Persia are mentioned. The silence of Hero 
 dotus and Ctesias can not disprove a matter of this kind. See a full dis 
 cussion of the topic, p. 148, seq, 
 
 "Dan. vi. 1 states, that Darius set over his kingdom 120 satraps. 
 Xenophon (Cyrop. VIII. 6, 1 seq.) relates, that satraps were set over all 
 the conquered nations, when Cyrus was in Babylon. He speaks of the 
 appointments as made by Cyrus ; and doubtless they were, since he was 
 the only acting governor of Babylon, and vice-gerent of the king. No 
 less true is it, that to Darius also, as supreme, may the appointment be 
 attributed. How came the alleged late writer of Daniel to know this ? 
 Xenophon mentions no express number. The Book of Esther (i. 1) men 
 tions 127 satraps. Why did not our late writer copy that number in order 
 to remove suspicion as to so great a number of those high officers ? And 
 how is it that 120 in Daniel is objected to as an incredible number, when 
 the empire was actually as large at the time of their appointment, as it 
 Avas in the time of Xerxes, as exhibited in Esth. i. 1 ? The Septuagint 
 translator of Daniel, who belonged to the Maccabaean age, did not venture 
 to write 120, as it seems, but 127 (so in Cod. Chis.), thus according with 
 Esth. i. 1, and leaning upon that passage. He seems evidently to have 
 felt that the story of so many satrapies must be supported by the Book 
 of Esther, in order to be believed. He even, in his ignorance of history, 
 translates v. 31 thus: And Artaxerxes, the Mede, took the kingdom/ 
 probably meaning the Persian Artaxerxes Longimanus. 
 
INTRODUCTION. LXI 
 
 " (1} It is worthy of remark, that the order of the two nations, Mede& 
 and Persians, is to be found in strict accordance with the idiom of the 
 times. Thus in vi. 8, 12, 15, we have the Medes and Persians ; but after 
 Cyrus comes to the throne, the order is invariably Persians and Medes 
 So in the Book of Esther, the law of the Persians and Medes shows the 
 same change of usus loquendi. Would a Pseudo-Daniel have been likely 
 to note such a small circumstance ? 
 
 " It is also noted (Dan. v. 31), that when Darius took the kingdom, he 
 was threescore and two years old. From his history, his reign, and his 
 descent from Ahasuerus (ix. 1), this seems altogether probable. But no 
 other author states his age. The fact that it is done in Daniel, betokens 
 a familiarity of the writer with the minutiae of his history. So does the 
 mention, that in the first year of his reign, Daniel took into most serious 
 consideration the prophecy of Jeremiah, respecting the seventy years 
 exile of the Hebrews. 
 
 " Thus far, then, all is well. All seems to be in conformity with true 
 history, so far as we can ascertain it. It is not upon one or two particu 
 lars that we would lay stress. We acknowledge that these might have 
 been traditionally known, and accurately reported. It is on the tout en 
 semble of the historical matters contained in the book, that stress is to be 
 laid. And certainly it would be very singular, if all these circumstances 
 should be true and consistent, and yet the book be written in the Mac- 
 cabaean period. 
 
 " How is it with the best historical books of that period ? The first 
 Book of the Maccabees is, in the main, a trustworthy and veracious 
 book. But how easy it is to detect errors in it, both in respect to 
 geography and history ! In vii. 7 it is related that the Romans took 
 Antiochus the Great prisoner alive. But this never happened. They 
 gained a great victory over him, and took away many of his provinces ; 
 but he himself escaped their grasp. In vii. 8 it is said, that they took 
 from him the land of India, Media, and Lydia. But neither India 
 nor Media ever belonged to him. The efforts to show that Mysia was 
 originally written instead of Media, are of course but mere guesses ; 
 and if true, India still remains. More likely is it that the author him 
 self put Media for Mysia, and if so, then this does not mend the matter. 
 In vii. 9, 10, it is related, that the Greeks resolved to send an army to 
 Rome and destroy it ; but that the Romans learning this, sent forth an 
 army, who slew many, carried away numerous captives of their women 
 and children, laid hold of their strong places, and took possession of 
 their lands, and reduced the people of Syria to servitude unto this day. 
 Now nothing of all this ever happened. There was indeed a fracas 
 between the Aetolians and the Romans at that period ; but it was soon 
 made up, without any ravages of war, or any servitude. Further, the 
 author, in vii. 15, represents the Roman Senate as consisting of 320 
 members, continually administering the government. He goes on to 
 state (v. 16), that they choose a ruler annually, and that all obey this 
 one. Every tyro in Roman history knows how unfounded all this 
 is. And what shall we say of the very first sentence in the book, 
 which tells us, that Alexander, the son of Philip, smote Darius, king of 
 the Persians and Medes, and then reigned in his stead over Greece ? 
 In i. 6, he states that the same Alexander, about to die, made a partition 
 6 
 
fcXII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of his empire among his chiefs a thing that took place some consider- 
 able time afterwards, partly by mutual agreement, and partly by force. 
 In vi. 1 he makes Elymais a town instead of a province. 
 
 "Such are some of the specimens of this writer s errors in geography 
 and history. That he was a grave, enlightened, and veracious writer, 
 in the main, is conceded by all. But if in things so plain, and transac 
 tions so recent, he commits eo many errors as have been specified, 
 what would he have done, if the scene had been shifted from near coun 
 tries to the remote places where the Book of Daniel finds its circle of 
 action ? 
 
 " As to the second Book of the Maccabees, it is so notorious for errors 
 and mistakes, that very little credit has been attached to it, on the part 
 of intelligent critics. It is not once to be named, in comparison with 
 the Book of Daniel. It must have been written, when a knowledge of 
 historical events was confused, and at a very low ebb. The Book of 
 Tobit, which originated in or near the Maccabaean period, exhibits not 
 only a romantic, and, as it were, fairy tale, but contains historical and 
 geographical difficulties incapable of solution ; also physical phenomena 
 are brought to view, which are incredible. It is needless to specificate 
 them here. De Wette s Einleit. presents them, 309. 
 
 " We have dwelt hitherto, under our 5th head, mainly on things of a 
 historical nature, i. e. events and occurrences. Let us now examine a 
 number of things that are of a miscellaneous nature, which it would be 
 somewhat difficult if not useless to classify throughout, but most of which 
 are connected with manners, customs, demeanor, etc. 
 
 " (ra) Daniel makes no mention in his book of prostration before the 
 king, in addressing him. O Jci?ig, live for ever! was the usual greeting. 
 Arrian (iv.) testifies, that the story in the East was, that Cyrus was the 
 first before whom prostration was practised. It is easy to see how this 
 came about. With the Persians, the king was regarded as the represen 
 tative of Onnusd, and therefore entitled to adoration. Nebuchadnezzar 
 was high enough in claims to submission and honour ; but not a word of 
 exacting adoration from those who addressed him. How could a Pseudo- 
 Daniel know of this nice distinction, when all the Oriental sovereigns of 
 whom he had any knowledge had, at least for four centuries, exacted 
 prostration from all who approached them ? 
 
 " (n) In mere prose (Dan. i. 2), Babylon is called by the old name, 
 Shinar (Gen. xi. 2, xiv. 1) ; and as an old name, it is poetically used 
 once by Isaiah (xi. 11), and once by Zechariah (v. 11). Now Shinar 
 was the vernacular name of what foreigners call Babylonia; and it was 
 easy and natural for Daniel to call it so. But how or why came a Pseudo- 
 Daniel to such a use of the word? Babylon he would naturally, and 
 almost with certainty, call it. 
 
 " (o) Dan. i. 5 tells us that the Hebrew lads were to be fed from the 
 king s table. Such a custom, even in respect to royal prisoners, Jer. 
 lii. 33, 34, discloses. Among the Persians this was notorious, and ex 
 tended to the whole corps d elites of the soldiery. Ctesias tells us, that 
 the king of Persia daily fed 15,000 men. How came the late writer of 
 Daniel to be acquainted with a minute circumstance of the nature of that 
 before us ? 
 
 " (p] Daniel and his companions receive Chaldee r ames, some of which 
 
INTRODUCTION. LXIJI 
 
 are compounded of the names of their false gods. In 2 Kings xxiv. 17, 
 Nebuchadnezzar is reported to have changed the name of king Mattaniah 
 into ZedekiaJi. How did the late forger of the book come by the notion 
 of assigning to his Hebrew heroes the names of idol-gods ? The rigorous 
 attachment to all that was Jewish, and the hearty hatred of heathenism 
 by all the pious in the time of the Maccabees, makes it difficult to ac 
 count for his course. 
 
 " (q) In Dan. ii. 1, the Babylonish mode of reckoning time is intro 
 duced, viz., the second year of Nebuchadnezzar. Where else, unless in 
 Ezek. i. 1, is this employed? How came the late interpolator of the 
 sacred books to betake himself to this mode of reckoning; and especially 
 since it apparently contradicts i. 1, v. 18? See the solution of the diffi 
 culty, in Exc. I. p. 19, seq. 
 
 " (r) In Dan. ii. 5, iii. 29, one part of the threatened punishment is, 
 that the houses of the transgressors should be turned into a dung-hill, or 
 rather a morass-lieap. Here an intimate acquaintance with the Baby 
 lonish mode of building is developed. The houses were mostly co> 
 structed of sun-baked bricks, or with those slightly burned ; and when 
 once demolished, the rain and dew would soon dissolve the whole mass, 
 and make them sink down, in that wet land near the river, into a miry 
 place of clay, whenever the weather was wet. 
 
 " (s] In Dan. iii. 1, the plain of Dura is mentioned ; a name found no 
 where else, yet mentioned here as a place familiar to the original readers 
 of the book, inasmuch as no explanation is added. Whence did the 
 Pseudo-Daniel derive this name ? 
 
 " (t) In Dan. ii. 5, and iii. 6, we find the punishment of hewing to 
 pieces and burning in ovens mentioned. Testimony to such modes of 
 punishment may be found in Ezek. xvi. 40, xxiii. 25, and Jer. xxix. 22. 
 But such a mode of punishment could not exist among the Persians, who 
 were fire-worshippers ; and accordingly in chap. vi. we find casting into a 
 den of lions as substituted for it. 
 
 " (u) In Dan. iii. we find not only a huge idol (in keeping with the 
 Babylonish taste), but also a great variety of musical instruments em 
 ployed at the dedication of it. Quintus Curtius has told us, that when 
 Alexander the Great entered Babylon, there were in the procession 
 
 three parts, first the wide and long pantaloons for the lower part of the 
 person ; secondly, a woollen shirt ; and thirdly, a large mantle with a 
 girdle around it. On the cylinder rolls found at Babylon, Miinter (Relig. 
 d. Bab. s. 96) discovered the same costume. In Dan. iii. 21, the same 
 three leading and principal articles of dress are particularized. Other 
 parts of clothing are merely referred to, but not specificated ; but these 
 garments being large and loose, and made of delicate material, are men 
 tioned in order to show how powerless the furnace was, since they were not 
 even singed. How did a Pseudo-Daniel obtain such particulars as these? 
 " (w) Dan vi. 16 shows, that the regal token of honour bestowed, was j, 
 collet or golden chain put around the neck. Brissonius, in his work on 
 the Persian dominion, has shown the same custom among the Persian 
 kings, who, not improbably, borrowed it from the Babylonians, 
 
LXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " (x] In Dan. vi. 8, the laws of the Medes which change n >t are men* 
 tioned. In Esth. i. 19, and viii. 8, we have repeated mention of this 
 same peculiar custom. The reason of this probably was, that the 
 king was regarded as the impersonation of Orrnusd, and therefore as 
 infallible. 
 
 " (y] In Dan. vii. 9, we have a description of the divine throne as 
 placed upon moveable wheels. The same we find in Ezekiel i. and x. ; 
 which renders it quite probable, that the Babylonian throne was con 
 structed in this way, so that the monarch might move in processions, 
 with all the insignia of royalty about him. 
 
 " (z) It deserves special remark, that Daniel has given individual clas 
 sifications of priests and civilians, such as are nowhere else given in 
 Scripture, and the knowledge of which must have been acquired from 
 intimate acquaintance with the state of things in Babylon. In Dan. it. 
 2, 10, 27, the various classes of diviners and literati are named. In Dan. 
 iii. 2, 3, the different classes of magistrates, civilians, and rulers, are 
 specifically named. On this whole subject, I must refer the reader to 
 Exc. III. on the Chaldees, p. 34, seq. above. Whence a Maccabaean writer 
 could have derived such knowledge, it would be difficult to say. It is ono 
 of those circumstances which could not well be feigned. Several of the 
 names occur nowhere else in the Heb. Bible, and some of them are evi 
 dently derivates of the Parsi or Median language ; e. g. prntj in vi. 3, a 
 name unknown in the Semitic. On the other hand, several of them are 
 exclusively Chaldean ; e. g. Dan. iii. 3, N^p-iN, N^ri, of which no pro 
 fane writer has given the least hint. How came the Pseudo-Daniel to a 
 knowledge of such officers ?" 
 
 The evidence that the book is a genuine production of the Daniel of the 
 captivity, may be summed up now in few words. There is (1), on the 
 face of the book, the testimony of the writer himself to his own author 
 ship good evidence in itself, unless there is some reason for calling it 
 in question or setting it aside. There is (2) the fact that it was early 
 received into the canon as a part of the inspired Scriptures, and that it 
 has always been, both by Jews and Christians, regarded as entitled to a 
 place there. There is (3) the express testimony of the Saviour that Daniel 
 was a prophet, and a clear reference to a part of the prophecy by him, as 
 we have it now in the Book of Daniel. There is (4) express testimony that 
 the book was in existence before the time of the Maccabees, and was then 
 regarded as a genuine production of Daniel; particularly (a) the testimony 
 of Josephus; (6) of the author of the Book of Maccabees, and (c) of the 
 authors of the Septuagint translation. There is (5) the fact that 
 the book was so written in two different languages that we cannot 
 well attribute it to a writer of the Maccabean period. And there is 
 (6) " the accurate knowledge which the writer of the Book of Daniel 
 displays of ancient history, manners, and customs, and Oriental-Baby 
 lonish peculiarities, which shows that he must have lived at or near the 
 time and place when and where the book leads us to suppose that he 
 lived." For the genuineness and authenticity of what other book can 
 more clear and decisive testimony be brought? These considerations 
 seem to make it clear that the book could not have been a forgery of the 
 time of the Maccabees, and that every circumstance combines to confirm 
 
INTRODUCTION. LXV 
 
 the common belief that it was written in the time of the exile, and by the 
 author whose name it bears. But if this is so, then its canonical autho 
 rity is established : for we have all that can be urged in favor of the 
 canonical authority of any of the books of the Old Testament. Its place 
 in the canon from the earliest period ; the testimony of Christ ; the testi 
 mony of Josephus and the Jews in all ages to its canonical authority ; tho 
 testimony of the early Christian fathers ; its prophetic character ; and tho 
 strong internal probabilities that it was written at the time and in the 
 manner in which it professes to have been, all go to confirm the opinion 
 that it is a genuine production of the Daniel of the captivity, and worthy 
 to be received and accredited as a part of the inspired oracles of truth. 
 On one of these points, which has not been insisted on in this Introduc 
 tion its prophetic character the evidence can be appreciated only by an 
 examination of the particular prophecies ; and that will be seen as the 
 result of the exposition of those parts of the book which refer to future 
 events. It may be said, in general, however, that if it is proved to have 
 been written in the time of the captivity, there will be no hesitation in 
 admitting its inspiration. Porphyry maintained, as we have seen, that 
 the pretended prophecies were so clear that they must have been written 
 after the events ; and this, as we have seen also, is one of the leading ob 
 jections urged against the book in more modern times. If this is so, then, 
 apart from all the evidence which will be furnished of the fulfillment of 
 the prophecies of Daniel in the course of the exposition, it may be pro 
 perly inferred, that if the book was written in the time in which it pro 
 fesses to have been, it furnishes the highest evidence of inspiration, for 
 no one can pretend that the predictions occurring in it, pertaining to 
 future events, are the results of any mere natural sagacity. 
 
 g 4. NATURE, DESIGN, AND GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE 
 BOOK OF DANIEL. 
 
 THE Book of Daniel is not properly a history either of the Jews or 
 Babylonians, nor is it a biography of the writer himself. It is not con 
 tinuous in its structure, nor does it appear to have been written at one 
 time. Though the work, as we have seen, of one author, it is made up 
 of portions, written evidently on different occasions, in two different lan 
 guages, and having, to a considerable extent, different objects in view. 
 Though the author was a Jewish exile, and surrounded by his own country 
 men as exiles, yet there is almost no reference to the past history of these 
 people, or to the causes of their having been carried into captivity, and no 
 description of their condition, struggles, and sufferings in their exile ; arid 
 though written by one who resided through the greatest part of a very 
 long life in a land of strangers, and having every opportunity of obtain 
 ing information, there is no distinct reference to their history, and no 
 description of their manners and customs. And although his own career 
 while there was eventful, yet the allusions to himself are very few; and 
 of the largest portion of that long life in Babylon probably embracing 
 more than seventy years we have no information whatever. In the 
 book there are few or no allusions to the condition of the exiles there ; 
 but two of the native kings that reigned there during that long period are 
 6* 
 
LXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 even mentioned; one of those Nebuchadnezzar only when Daniel 
 interpreted two of his dreams, and when the colossal idol was set up on 
 the plain of Dura ; and the other Belshazzar only on the last day of his 
 life. The book is not regular in its structure, but consists of an inter 
 mixture of history and prophecy, apparently composed as occasion 
 demanded, and then united in a single volume. Yet it has a unity of 
 authorship and design, as we have seen, and is evidently the production 
 of a single individual. 
 
 In considering the nature, design, and general character of the book, 
 the attention may be properly directed to the following points : 
 
 I. The portions containing incidents in the life of the author, and of 
 
 his companions in Babylon, of permanent value. 
 
 II. The prophetic portions. 
 
 III. The language and style of the book. 
 
 I. The portions containing incidents in the life of the author, and of 
 his companions in Babylon, of permanent value. 
 
 As already remarked, the allusions to his own life, and to the circum 
 stances of his companions in exile, are few in number ; and it may be 
 added, that where there are such allusions they are made apparently 
 rather to illustrate their principles, and the nature of their religion, than 
 to create an interest in them personally. We could make out but little 
 respecting their biography from this volume, though that little is suffi 
 cient to give us decided views of their character, and of the value and 
 power of the religion which they professed. 
 
 The few personal incidents which we have, relate to such points as the 
 following : The selection of Daniel, and three other captives, when young, 
 with a view to their being trained in the language and science of the 
 Chaldeans, that they might be employed in the service of the govern 
 ment, ch. i. ; the fact that Daniel was called, when all the skill of the 
 Chaldeans failed, to interpret a dream of Nebuchadnezzar, and that he 
 was enabled to give an explanation that was so satisfactory that the king 
 promoted him to exalted honor, ch. ii. ; the narrative respecting the three 
 friends of Daniel Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who refused to 
 fall down and adore the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar erected in the 
 plain of Dura, and who for their disobedience were cast into the fiery 
 furnace, ch. iii. ; Daniel s interpretation of a second dream of Nebuchad 
 nezzar, and the fulfillment of the interpretation of that dream on the 
 monarch, ch. iv. ; his interpretation of the hand-writing on the wall at 
 the feast of Belshazzar, ch. v. ; and the attempt of the enemies of Daniel 
 to destroy his influence and his life by taking advantage of his known 
 piety, and the firmness of his attachment to God, ch. vi. 
 
 These must have been but a few of the incidents that occurred to 
 Daniel in the course of a long life spent in Babylon, and they were pro 
 bably selected as furnishing valuable illustrations of character; as 
 evincing the nature of true piety ; as proofs of divine inspiration ; and as 
 showing that God has control over kings and nations. All that is here 
 stated occurred at distant intervals in a long life, and this fact should be 
 remembered in reading the book. For the practical lessons taught by 
 these portions of the book, I may be permitted to refer to the remarks at 
 the close of chs. i. ii. iii. vi. 
 
INTRODUCTION. LXVII 
 
 II. The prophetic portions of the book. 
 
 The prophecies of the Book of Daniel may be arranged under 
 two great classes: those relating to the Babylonian monarchs; and 
 those of more general interest partaining to the future history of the 
 world. 
 
 (1.) The former are confined to the calamities that would come upon 
 the two monarchs who are mentioned in the book Nebuchadnezzar and 
 Belshazzar. Of the former of these kings, Nebuchadnezzar, his derange 
 ment as a judgment of heaven, on account of his pride, is predicted, 
 ch. iv. ; and of the latter, Belshazzar, the termination of his reign, and 
 the taking of his kingdom, are predicted on account of his impiety, ch. v. 
 The object did not seem to be to state what farther would occur to the 
 kingdom of the Chaldeans, except as it should be lost in the great king 
 dom of the Medes and Persians, in which it would be absorbed. 
 
 (2.) Those of general interest pertaining to future times. Of these 
 there are several classes : 
 
 (a.) The prospective history of the revolutions in the great kingdoms 
 of the world ; or a general glance at what would happen in relation to 
 the empires that were then playing their part in human affairs, and 
 of those which would grow out of the kingdoms existing in the time of 
 Daniel. 
 
 These may be arranged under the following general heads : 
 
 (1.) A description of the great kingdoms or empires that would pro 
 perly grow out of the Babylonian or Chaldean monarchy, ch. ii. That 
 kingdom was, in the time of Daniel, the great, and almost the single, 
 sovereignty of the earth ; for, in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, this had 
 absorbed all others. From this, however, were to spring other great 
 dynasties that were to rule over the world, and that might properly, in 
 some sense, be represented as the successors of this. These great revo 
 lutions are represented in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar respecting the 
 golden image, ch. ii., and they are described by Daniel as (a) the great 
 monarchy of which Nebuchadnezzar was the head Babylon represented 
 in the image by the head of gold, ch. ii. 38 ; (6) as another kingdom 
 inferior to this, represented in the image by the breast and arms of 
 silver (ch. ii. 32, 39) the Medo-Persian empire, that would succeed that 
 of Babylon ; (c) as a third kingdom that would succeed this, represented 
 in the image by the belly and the thighs of brass, ch. ii. 32, 39 ; (d) as a 
 fourth kingdom more mighty than either, subduing all nations under it, 
 and crushing the powers of the earth, yet made of discordant materials, 
 so as never firmly to adhere as one represented by the legs of iron, and 
 the feet and toes partly of iron and partly of clay in the image (ch. ii. 32, 
 41-43), denoting the mighty Roman power_; and (e) as another kingdom 
 that would spring up under this fourth kingdom, and that would ulti 
 mately supplant it, and become the permanent kingdom on the earth 
 (ch. ii. 44, 45). 
 
 Substantially the same representation occurs again in ch. vii., under 
 the image of a succession of formidable beasts that were seen by Daniel 
 in a dream. These four great kingdoms, represented successively by a 
 lion, by a bear, by a leopard, and by a non-descript monster, were also 
 succeeded by a great and permanent kingdom on the earth the reign of 
 Qod. In this representation, Daniel goes more into detail in respect 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to the last great empire than he does in interpreting the dream of Nebu 
 chadnezzar. Indeed, the design of this latter representation seems to be, 
 to give a more full account of the changes which would occur in this last 
 great kingdom on the earth the kingdom of the saints that had been 
 before given. 
 
 (2.) A particular prophecy of the conquests of the king of Greciae 
 Alexander the Great extending down to the time of Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, and to the calamities and desolations which he would bring 
 upon the holy land, ch. viii. This occurs in a vision which Daniel had at 
 Shushan, in the province of Elam, and consisted of a representation of a 
 ram with two horns, " pushing" in every direction, as if to extend its 
 conquests everywhere. From the west, however, there carne a goat, with 
 a single horn between its eyes, that attacked and overcame the ram. 
 This single horn on the head of the goat is subsequently represented as 
 broken, and in its place there came up four other horns, and out of one 
 of them a little horn that became great, and that magnified itself par 
 ticularly against " the prince of the host," and that took away the daily 
 sacrifice, or that closed the sacred services of religion in the temple. 
 
 A part of this is explained by Gabriel, as referring to the king of 
 Grecias ; and there can be no difficulty in understanding that Alexander 
 the Great is referred to, and that by the four horns that sprang up out 
 of the one that was broken, the four kingdoms into which that of Alex 
 ander was divided at his death are meant, and that by the little horn that 
 sprang up Antiochus Epiphanes is designated. 
 
 (3.) A particular and minute prophecy respecting the wars between 
 two of the kingdoms that sprang out of the empire of Alexander Syria 
 and Egypt so far especially as they aifected the holy land, and the 
 services in the sanctuary of God, chs. x. xi. This vision occurred in the 
 third year of the reign of Cyrus, and on an occasion when Daniel had 
 been fasting three full weeks. The prediction was imparted to him by 
 an angel that appeared to him by the river Hiddekel, or Tigris, and con 
 tains a detailed account of what would occur for a long period in the 
 conflicts which would exist between the sovereigns of Syria and Egypt. 
 In these wars the Hebrew people were to be deeply interested, for their 
 country lay between the two contending kingdoms ; their land would be 
 taken and re-taken in those conflicts ; not a few of the great battles that 
 would be fought in these conflicts would be fought on their territory ; and 
 deep and permanent disasters would occur to them in consequence of the 
 manner in which the Hebrew people would regard and treat one or both 
 of the contending parties. This prophetic history is conducted onward, 
 with great particularity, to the death of Antiochus Epiphanes the most 
 formidable enemy that the Hebrew people would have to encounter in the 
 future, and then (ch. xii.), the vision terminates with a few uncon 
 nected hints of what would occur in future periods, to the end of the 
 world. 
 
 It was from this portion of the book particularly that Porphyry 
 argued that the whole work must have been written after the events had 
 vocurred, and that, therefore, it must be a forgery of a later age than the 
 time of the exile in Babylon. 
 
 (4.) A particular and minute prophecy respecting the time when the 
 Messiah would appear, ch. ix. This was imparted to Daniel when, 
 
INTRODUCTION. LXIX 
 
 anxious about the close of the long captivity of his countrymen, and sup 
 posing that the predicted time of the return to the land of their fathers 
 drew on, he gave himself to an earnest and careful study of the books 
 of Jeremiah. At the close of the solemn prayer which ho offered on that 
 occasion (ch. ix. 4-19), the angel Gabriel appeared to him (ch. ix. 20, 21), 
 to assure him that his prayer was heard, and to make an important com 
 munication to him respecting future times, ch. ix. 22, 23. lie then pro 
 ceeded to inform him how long a period was determined in respect to 
 the holy city, before the great work should be accomplished of making an 
 end of sin, and of making reconciliation for iniquity, and of bringing in 
 everlasting righteousness; when, that great work having been accom 
 plished, the oblations at the temple would cease, and the overspreading 
 of abomination would occur, and desolation would come upon the temple 
 and city, ch. ix. 24-27. This celebrated prophecy of the " seventy weeks" 
 is among the most important, and, in some respects, among the most 
 difficult parts of the sacred volume. If the common interpretation and 
 the one that is adopted in these Notes is correct, it is the most definite 
 prediction of the time when the Messiah would appear, to be found in 
 the Old Testament. 
 
 (5.) Particular prophecies respecting events that would occur after 
 the coming of the Messiah. These relate to two points : 
 
 A. Prophecies relating to the church, ch. vii. 7-27. 
 
 (a.) The rise of ten kingdoms out of the great fourth monarchy 
 which would succeed the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, and 
 the Macedonian to wit, the Roman power, ch. vii. 24. 
 
 (6.) The rise of another power after them, springing out of them, 
 and subduing three of those powers to wit, the Papal power, 
 ch. vii. 24. 
 
 (c.) The characteristics of that new power as arrogant, and per 
 secuting, and claiming supreme legislation over the world, 
 ch. vii. 25. 
 
 (d.) The duration of this power, ch. vii. 25. 
 
 le.) The manner in which it would be terminated, ch. vii. 26. 
 
 (f.) The permanent establishment of the kingdom of the saints 
 on the earth, ch. vii. 27. 
 
 B. Prophecies relating to the final judgment, and the end of all 
 things, ch. xii. 
 
 This portion (ch. xii.) is made up of hints find fragments broken 
 thoughts and suggestions which there was no occasion to fill up. What 
 is said is not communicated in a direct form as a revelation of new truths, 
 but is rnther based on certain truths as already known, and employed here 
 for the illustration of others. It is assumed that there will be a resurrection 
 of the dead and a judgment, and the writer employs the language based on 
 this assumption to illustrate the point immediately before him, ch. xii. 2, 
 3, 4, 9, 13. There is also a very obscure reference to the times when 
 certain great events were to occur in the future (ch. xii. 11, 12) ; but 
 there is nothing, in this respect, that can enable us certainly to determine 
 when these events will take place. 
 
 In reference to these prophetic portions of the Book of Daniel, a few 
 illustrative remarks may now be made : 
 
 (1.) They relate to most momentous events in the history of the world. 
 
LXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 If the views taken of these portions of the book are correct, then the eye 
 of the prophet rested on those events in the future which would enter 
 most deepfo* into the character of coining ages, and which would do more 
 than any mher to determine the final condition of the world. 
 
 (2.) The prophecies in Daniel are more minute than any others in the 
 Bible. This is particularly the case in respect to the four great king 
 doms which would arise ; to the conquests of Alexander the Great ; to the 
 kingdoms which would spring out of the one great empire that would be 
 founded by him ; to the wars that would exist between two of those 
 sovereignties ; to the time when the Messiah would appear ; to the man 
 ner in which he would be cut off; to the final destruction of the holy city; 
 and to the rise, character, and destiny of the Papacy. Of these great 
 events there are no other so minute connected descriptions anywhere 
 else in the Old Testament ; and even, on many of these points, the more 
 full disclosures of the New Testament receive important light from the 
 prophecies of Daniel. 
 
 (3.) There is a remarkable resemblance between many of the predic 
 tions in Daniel and in the Book of Revelation. No one can peruse the 
 two books without being satisfied that, in many respects, they were 
 designed to refer to the same periods in the history of the world, and to 
 the same events, and especially where time is mentioned. There is, 
 indeed, as is remarked in the Preface to these Notes, no express allusion 
 in the Apocalypse to Daniel. There is no direct quotation from the 
 book. There is no certain evidence that the author of the Apocalypse ever 
 saw the Book of Daniel, though no one can doubt that he had. There is 
 nothing in the Apocalypse which mi^ht not have been written if the Book 
 of Daniel had not been written, or if it had been entirely unknown to 
 John. Perhaps it may be added, that there is nothing in the Book of 
 Revelation which might not have been as easily explained if the Book of 
 Daniel had not been written. And yet, it is manifest, that in most im 
 portant respects the authors of the two books refer to the same great 
 events in history; describe the same important changes in human 
 affairs ; refer to the same periods of duration ; and have in their eye the 
 same termination of things on the earth. No other two books in the 
 Bible have the same relation to each other ; nor are there any other two 
 in which a commentary on the one will introduce so many topics which 
 must be considered in the other, or where the explanations in the one will 
 throw so much light on the other. 
 
 III. The language and style of the book. 
 
 (1.) The language of the Book of Daniel is nearly half Chaldee and 
 half Hebrew. In ch. i. ii. 1 3, it is Hebrew ; from ch. ii. 4, to the end 
 of ch. vii. it is Chaldee, and the remainder of the book is Hebrew. 
 The Book of Ezra also contains several chapters of Chaldee, exhibiting 
 the same characteristics as the part of the Book of Daniel written in that 
 language. 
 
 As Daniel was early trained in his own country in the knowledge of 
 the Hebrew, and as he was carefully instructed, after being carried to 
 Babylon, in the language and literature of the Chaldees (see | 1), it is 
 certain that he was capable of writing in either language ; and it is pro 
 bable that he would use either, as there might be occasion, in his inter 
 course with his own countrymen, or with the Chaldeans. There is the 
 
INTRODUCTION. LXXI 
 
 highest probability that the captive Hebrews would retain the knowledge 
 of their own language in a great degree of purity, during their long 
 captivity in Babylon, and that this would be the language which Daniel 
 would employ in his intercourse with his own countrymen, while from his 
 own situation at court, and the necessity of his intercourse with the Chal 
 deans, it may be presumed that the language which he would perhaps 
 most frequently employ would be the Chaldean. 
 
 That there were reasons why one portion of this book was written 
 in Chaldee, and another in Hebrew, there can be no doubt, but it is 
 now utterly impossible to ascertain what those reasons were. The use of 
 one language or the other seems to be perfectly arbitrary. The portions 
 written in Hebrew have no more relation to the Jews, and would have 
 no more interest to them, than those written in Chaldee ; and, on the 
 other hand, the portions written in Chaldee have no special relation to 
 the Chaldeans. But while the reasons for this change must for ever 
 remain a secret, there are two obvious suggestions which have often been 
 made in regard to it, and which have already been incidentally adverted 
 to, as bearing on the question of the authorship of the book. (1) The 
 first is, that this fact accords with the account which we have of the 
 education of the author, as being instructed in both these languages 
 furnishing thus an undesigned proof of the authenticity of the book ; 
 and (2) the other is, that this would not have occurred if the work was 
 a forgery of a later age ; for (a] it is doubtful whether, in the age of 
 the Maccabees, there were any who could write with equal ease in both 
 languages, or could write botli languages with purity ; (6) if it could 
 be done, the device would not be one that would be likely to occur to the 
 author, and he would have been likely to betray the design if it had 
 existed; and (c) as the apocryphal additions to Daniel (see 5) were 
 written in Greek, the presumption is that if the book had been forged in 
 that age it would have been wholly written in that language. At all 
 events, the facts in the case, in regard to the languages in which the book 
 was written, accord with all that we know of Daniel. 
 
 (2.) The book abounds with symbols and visions. In this respect it 
 resembles very closely the writings of Ezekiel and Zechariah. One of 
 these was his cotemporary, and the other lived but little after him, and 
 it may be presumed that this style of writing prevailed much in that 
 age. All these writers, not improbably, " formed the^r style, and their 
 manner of thinking and expression, in a foreign land, where symbol, and 
 imagery, and vision, and dreams, were greatly relished and admired. 
 The ruins of the Oriental cities recently brought to the light of day, as 
 well as those which have ever remained exposed to view, are replete with 
 symbolic forms and images, which once gave a play and a delight to the 
 fancy." Prof. Stuart on Daniel, p. 393. Perhaps none of the other 
 sacred writers abound so much in symbols and visions as Daniel, except 
 John, in the Book of Revelation ; and in these two, as before suggested, 
 the resemblance is remarkable. The interpretation of either of these 
 books involves the necessity of studying the nature of symbolic language ; 
 and on the views taken of that language, must depend, in a great degree, 
 the views of the truths disclosed in these books. 
 
 (3.) The Book of Daniel, though not written in the style of poetry, yet 
 abounds much with the spirit of poetry as the Book of Revelation does. 
 
LXXII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Indeed the Apocalypse maybe regarded as, on the whole, the most poetic 
 book in the Bible. We miss, indeed, in both these books, the usual 
 forms of Hebrew poetry ; we miss the parallelism (comp. Intro, to Job, 
 1 5) ; but the spirit of poetry pervades both the Book of Daniel and the 
 Book of Revelation, and the latter, especially if it were a mere human 
 production, would be ranked among the highest creations of genius. 
 Much of Daniel, indeed, is simple prose alike in structure and in form ; 
 but much also in his visions deserves to be classed among the works of 
 imagination. Throughout the book there are frequent bursts of feel 
 ing of a high order (comp. ch. ii. 19-23) ; there are many passages that 
 are sublime (comp. chs. ii. 27-45, iv. 19-27, v. 17-28) ; there is a spirit of 
 unshaken fidelity and boldness as in the passages just referred to ; there 
 is true grandeur in the prophetic portions (comp. chs. vii. 9-14, x. 5-9, 
 xi. 41-45, xii. 1-3, 5-8) ; and there is, throughout the book, a spirit of 
 humble, sincere, firm, and devoted piety, characterising the author as a 
 man eminently prudent and wise, respectful in his intercourse with 
 others, faithful in every trust, unceasing in the discharge of his duties to 
 God; a man who preferred to lose the highest offices which kings 
 could confer, and to subject himself to shame, and to death, rather than 
 shrink, in the slightest degree, from the discharge of the proper duties of 
 religion. 
 
 I 5. THE APOCRYPHAL ADDITIONS TO THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 
 
 THESE additions are three in number: 
 
 (1.) "The Song of the Three Holy Children;" that is, the song of 
 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were cast into the burning fur 
 nace by Nebuchadnezzar, ch. iii. This " Song," as it is called, is inserted, 
 in the Greek copies, in ch. iii., between the twenty-third and twenty- 
 fourth verses, and contains sixty-eight verses, making the whole chapter, 
 in the Greek, to contain an hundred verses. The " Song" consists pro 
 perly of three parts : I. A hymn of " Azariah," or of " Ananiah, Azariah, 
 and Misael" Avavias Kai A^apea? xai Mitral of whom Azariah is the speaker, 
 in which praise is given to God, and a prayer is offered that thej may 
 be accepted, preserved, and delivered, vs. 1-22. These are the Hebrew 
 names of the three persons that were cast into the fiery furnace (Dan. i. 
 6, 7), but why these names are inserted here rather than the names given 
 them in Babylon by the " prince of the eunuchs" (ch. i. 7), and which 
 are used in the Chaldee in this chapter, is not known ; and the circum 
 stance that they are so used furnishes a strong presumption that this 
 addition in Greek is spurious, since, in the other portions of the chapter 
 (vs. 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, marked in Codex Chisian. in brackets), the same 
 names occur which are found in the original Chaldee. II. A statement, 
 that the king s servants added fuel to the flame, or kept up the intensity 
 of the heat by putting in rosin, pitch, tow, and small wood, making the 
 furnace so hot that the flame rose above it to the height of forty-nine 
 cubits, and so hot as to consume the Chaldeans that stood around it, but 
 that the angel of the Lord came down, and smote the flame of fire out 
 of the oven, and made the midst of the furnace like a moist, whistling 
 wind, so that the three " children" were safe, vs. 23-27. III. A hymn 
 
INTRODUCTION. LXXIII 
 
 of praise, calling on all things to praise God, uttered by " the three, as out 
 of one mouth," vs. 28-68. The narrative then proceeds, in the Greek 
 translation, as it is in the Chaldee, and as it now stands in our common 
 translation of the Book of Daniel. 
 
 (2.) The second addition is what is called " The History of Susanna." 
 This is a story the des.gn of which is to honour Daniel. A man in Baby 
 lon of great wealth, by the name of Joacim, marries Susanna, a Jewess, 
 who had been brought up in the fear of the Lord. The house of 
 Joacirn was a place of much resort, and particularly by two men 
 of advanced life, who were appointed judges of the people. Susanna was 
 a woman of great beauty, and each one of the two judges, ignorant of the 
 feelings of the other, fell violently in love with her. They both observed 
 that at a certain time of the day she walked in the garden, and both, un 
 known to each other, resolved to follow her into the garden. They pro 
 posed, therefore, to each other to return to their own homes, and both, 
 after having gone away, returned again, and then, surprised at this, they 
 each declared their love for Susanna, and agreed to watch for the time 
 when she should enter the garden, and then to accomplish their purpose. 
 She entered the garden as usual for the purpose of bathing, and the elders, 
 having hid themselves, suddenly came upon her, and threatened her with 
 death if she would not gratify their desires. She, rather than yield, 
 calmly made up her mind to die, but gave the alarm by crying aloud, and 
 the elders, to save themselves, declared that they found a young man 
 with her in the garden, and the matter coming before the people, she was 
 condemned to death, and was led forth to be executed. At this juncture, 
 Daniel appeared, who proposed to examine the elders anew, and to do it 
 separately. In this examination, one of them testified that what he had 
 seen occurred under a mastick or lentisk tree, the other that it was under 
 a holm tree. The consequence was, that Susanna was discharged, and 
 the two elders themselves put to death. 
 
 This story is said, in the common version of the Apocrypha, to be " set 
 apart from the beginning of Daniel because it is not in the Hebrew." It 
 is found only in the Apocrypha, and is not incorporated in the Greek 
 translation of Daniel. 
 
 (3.) The third addition is what is called " The History of the Destruc 
 tion of Bel and the Dragon, cut off from the end of Daniel." 
 
 This is a story in two parts. The first relates to Bel, the idol god of 
 the Babylonians. A large quantity of food was daily placed before the 
 idol in the temple, which it was supposed the idol consumed. The 
 inquiry was made of Daniel by Cyrus, king of Persia, why he did not 
 worship the idol. Daniel replied, that he was permitted by his religion 
 to worship only the living God. Cyrus asked him whether Bel was not 
 a living God ; and, in proof of it, appealed to the large quantity of food 
 which he daily consumed. Daniel smiled at the simplicity of the king, 
 and affirmed that the god was only brass and clay, and could devour 
 nothing. The king, enraged, called for the priests of Bel, and insisted 
 on being informed who ate the large quantity of food that was daily 
 placed before the idol. They, of course, affirmed that it was the idol, 
 and proposed that a test should be applied by placing the food before 
 him as usual, and by having the temple carefully closed and sealed with 
 the signet of the king. Under the table they had, however, made a 
 
LXXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 private entrance, and, in order to detect them, Daniel caused ashes to be 
 sprinkled on the floor, which, on the following day, revealed the foot 
 prints of men, women, and children, who had secretly entered the temple, 
 and consumed the food. The consequence was, that they were put to 
 death, and Bel and his temple were delivered to Daniel, who destroyed 
 them both. 
 
 The other part of the story relates to a great dragon which was wor 
 shipped in Babylon. The king said that it could not be affirmed that this 
 dragon was made of brass, or that he was not a living being, and required 
 Daniel to worship him. Daniel still declared that he would worship only 
 the living God, and proposed to put the dragon to death. This he did by 
 making a ball of pitch, and fat, and hair, and putting it in the mouth 
 of the dragon, so that he burst asunder. A tumult, in consequence of 
 the destruction of Bel and the dragon, was excited against the king, and 
 the mob came and demanded Daniel, who had been the cause of this. 
 Daniel was delivered to them, and was thrown into the den of lions, where 
 he remained six days ; and, in order that the lions might at once devour 
 him, their appetites had been sharpened by having been fed each day 
 with "two carcasses" in the margin, "two slaves" and two sheep. 
 At this juncture, it is said that there was in Jewry a prophet, by the 
 name of Habbacuc, who had made pottage, and was going with it into a field 
 to carry it to the reapers. He was directed by an angel of the Lord to take 
 it to Babylon to Daniel, who was in the lions den. The prophet answered 
 that he never saw Babylon, and knew not where the den was. So the 
 angel of the Lord took him by the crown, and bare him by the hair of his 
 head, and placed him in Babylon over the den. He gave Daniel the food, 
 and was immediately restored to his own place in Judea. On the seventh 
 day the king went to bewail Daniel ; found him alive ; drew him out, and 
 threw in those who had caused him to be placed there, who were, of course, 
 at once devoured. 
 
 This foolish story is said, in the title, in the common version of the 
 Apocrypha, to have been " cut off from the end of Daniel." Like the 
 Prayer of the Three Children, and the History of Susanna, it is found 
 only in Greek, in which language it was undoubtedly written. 
 
 In respect to these additions to the Book of Daniel, and the question 
 whether they are entitled to be regarded as a part of his genuine work, 
 and to have a place in the inspired writings, the following remarks may 
 now be made : 
 
 (a) Neither of them, and no portion of them, is found in the Hebrew 
 or the Chaldee, nor is there the slightest evidence that they had a 
 Hebrew or Chaldee original. There is no historical proof that they 
 ever existed in either of these languages, and, of course, no proof that 
 they ever formed a part of the genuine work of Daniel. If they were 
 written originally in Greek, and if the evidence above adduced that the 
 Book of Daniel was written in the time of the exile is conclusive, then 
 it is clear that these additions were not written by Daniel himself, and 
 of course that they were not entitled to a place among the inspired 
 records. For the Greek language was not understood in Babylon to any 
 considerable extent, if at all, until the time of Alexander the Great, and 
 his conquests in the East ; and it is every way certain, that a book written 
 in Babylon in the time of the exile would not have been written in Greek. 
 
INTRODUCTION. LXXV 
 
 The evidence is conclusive that these additions were never auy part of 
 the genuine Book of Daniel ; and, of course, that they have no claim to a 
 place in the canon. Moreover, as they constituted no part of that book, 
 none of the evidence urged in favor of the canonical authority of that 
 book can be urged in behalf of these stories, and any claim that they 
 may have must rest on their own merits. 
 
 (b) They have no claim, on their own account, to a place in the canon. 
 Their authors are unknown. The time of their composition is unknown. 
 They were never recognized by the Jews as canonical, and never had the 
 sanction of the Saviour and the apostles, as they are never quoted or 
 alluded to in the New Testament. And they have no internal evidence 
 that they are of divine origin. There is no evidence which could be 
 urged in favour of their claims to a plaoe in the canonical Scriptures which 
 sould not be urged in favour of the whole of the Apocrypha, or which 
 could not be urged in favour of any anonymous writings of antiquity. 
 The only ground of claim which could be urged for the admission of these 
 stories into the sacred canon would be, that they were a part of the 
 genuine Book of Daniel ; but this claim never can be made out by any 
 possibility. 
 
 (c) In common with the other books of the Apocrypha, these books 
 were rejected by the early Christian writers, and were not admitted into 
 the canon of Scripture during the first four centuries of the Christian 
 church. See Home s Introduction, i. 628. Some of the books of the 
 Apocrypha were indeed quoted by some of the Fathers with respect 
 (Lardner, iv. 331), particularly by Ambrose (who lived A. D. 340-397), 
 but they are referred to by Jerome only to be censured and condemned 
 (Lardner, iv. 424, 440, 466-472), and are mentioned only with contempt 
 by Augustine. Lardner iv. 499. 
 
 It is seldom that these additions to Daniel in the Apocrypha are quoted 
 or alluded to at all by the early Christian writers, but when they are it is 
 only that they maybe condemned. Origen, indeed, refers to the story of 
 Susanna as a true history, and, in a letter to Africanus, says of it, " That 
 the story of Susanna, being dishonorable to the Jewish elders, it was sup 
 pressed by their great men ; and that there were many things kept, as 
 much is might be, from the knowledge of the people, some of which, 
 nevertl eless, were preserved in some apocryphal books." Lardner, ii. 
 466. Origen, indeed, in the words of Dr. Lardner, " Says all he can 
 think of to prove the history [of Susanna] true and genuine, and affirms 
 that it was made use of in Greek by all the churches of Christ among the 
 Gentiles ; yet he owns that it was not received by the Jews, nor to be 
 found in their copies of the Book of Daniel." Lardner, ii. 541, 542. 
 Comp. also Du Pin, Dissertation Preliminaire sur la Bible, Liv. i., eh. i. 
 sect. 5, p. 15, note (e}. To the arguments of Origen on the subject, 
 Africanus replies, that " he wondered that he did not know that the book 
 was spurious, and says it was a piece lately forged." Lardner ii. 541. 
 The other books the Prayer of the Three Children and the Story of Bel 
 and the Dragon I do not find, from Lardner, to have been quoted or 
 referred to at all by the early Christian writers. 
 
 (d} The foolishness and manifest fabulousness of the Story of Bel and 
 the Dragon, may be referred to as a proof that that cannot be a part of 
 the genuine Book of Daniel, or entitled to a place among books claiming 
 
LXXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to be inspired. It has every mark of being a fable, and is wholly un, 
 worthy a place in any volume claiming to be of divine origin, or any 
 voiume of respectable authorship whatever. 
 
 (e] Little is known of the origin of these books, and little importance 
 can be attached to them, but it may be of some use to know the place 
 which they have commonly occupied in the Bible by those who have re 
 ceived them as a part of the canon, and the place where they are com 
 monly found in the version of the Scriptures. 
 
 " The Song of the Three Children is placed in the Greek version of 
 Daniel, and also in the Latin Vulgate, between the twenty-third and 
 twenty-fourth verses of the third chapter. " It has always been ad 
 mired," says Home (Intro, iv. 217, 218), " for the piety of its* sentiments, 
 but it was never admitted to be canonical, until it was recognised by the 
 Council of Trent. The fifteenth verse [ Neither is there at this time 
 prince, or prophet, or leader, or burnt-offering, or sacrifice, or oblation, 
 or incense, or place to sacrifice before thee, and to find mercy ], contains a 
 direct falsehood ; for it asserts that there was no prophet at that time, when 
 it is well known that Daniel and Ezckiel both exercised the prophetic 
 ministry in Babylon. This Apocryphal fragment is, therefore, most pro 
 bably the production of a Hellenistic Jew. The Hymn (vs. 20, seq.) re 
 sembles the hundred and forty-eighth Psalm, and was so approved of by 
 the compilers of the Liturgy, that in the first Common Prayer Book of 
 Edward VI. they appointed it to be used instead of the Te Deum during 
 Lent/ 7 
 
 " The History of Susanna has always been treated with some respect, 
 but has never been considered as canonical, though the Council of Trent 
 admitted it into the number of the sacred books. It is evidently the work 
 of some Hellenistic Jew, and in the Vulgate version it forms the thirteenth 
 chapter of the Book of Daniel. In the Septuagint version it is placed at 
 the beginning of that book." Home. iv. 218. 
 
 " The History of the Destruction of Bel and the Dragon, was always 
 rejected by the Jewish Church ; it is not extant either in the Hebrew or 
 the Chaldee language. Jerome gives it no better title than The Fable of 
 Bel and the Dragon; nor has it obtained more credit with posterity, 
 except with the Fathers of the Council of Trent, who determined it to be 
 a part of the canonical Scriptures. This book forms the fourteenth 
 chapter of the Book of Daniel, in the Latin Vulgate ; in the Greek, it was 
 called the Prophecy of Ilabakkuk, the son of Jesus, of the tribe of Levi. 
 There are two Greek texts of this fragment, that of the Septuagint, and 
 that found in Theodotion s Greek version of Daniel. The former is the 
 most ancient, and has been translated into Syriac. The Latin and Arabic 
 versions, together with another Syriac translation, have been made from 
 the text of Theodotion." Home, iv. 218. These additions to Daniel 
 may be found in Greek, Arabic, Syriac, and Latin, in Walton s Polyglott, 
 torn. iv. 
 
 g 6. THE ANCIENT VERSIONS OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 
 
 (1.) OF these the oldest, of course, is the Septuagint. For a general 
 account of this version, see Intro, to Isaiah, 8, I. (1). Of the author 
 of that portion of the Septuagint version which comprised the Book of 
 
INTRODUCTION. LXXVH 
 
 Daniel for no one can doubt that the Septuagint was the work of dif 
 ferent authors we have now no information. The translation of Daniel 
 was among the least faithful, and was the most erroneous, of the whole 
 collection ; and, indeed, it was so imperfect that its use in the church was 
 early superseded by the version of Theodotion the version which is now 
 found in the editions of the Septuagint. 
 
 The Septuagint translation of the Book of Daniel was for a long time 
 supposed to be lost, and it is only at a comparatively recent period that 
 it has been recovered and published. For a considerable period before 
 the time of Jerome, the version by the LXX. had been superseded by that 
 of Theodotion, doubtless on account of the great imperfection of the 
 former, though it is probable that its disuse was gradual. Jerome, in 
 his Preface to the Book of Daniel, says, indeed, that it was not known 
 to him on what ground this happened " Danielem prophetam juxta 
 LXX. interpretes ecclesise non legunt, et hoc cur acciderit, nescio," but 
 it is in every way probable that it was on account of the great imperfec 
 tion of the translation, for Jerome himself says, " Hoc unum affirmare, 
 quod multum a veritate discordet et recto judicio repudiata sit." He 
 adds, therefore, that though Theodotion was understood to be an unbe 
 liever " post adventem Cnristi incredulus fuit" yet that his translation 
 was preferred to that of the LXX. " Illud quoque lectorem admoneo, 
 Danielem non juxta LXX. interpretes, sed juxta Theodotionem ecclesias 
 legere, qui utique post adventum Christi incredulus fuit. Unde judicio 
 m:igistrorum ecclesise editio eoruna in hoc volumine repudiata est, et 
 Theodotionis vulgo legitur, quse et Hebraeo et ceteris translator! bus 
 congruit." 
 
 From this cause it happened that the translation of Daniel by the LXX. 
 went into entire disuse, and was for a long time supposed to have been 
 destroyed. It has, however, been recovered and published, though it has 
 not been substituted in the editions of the Septuagint in the place of the 
 version by Theodotion. A copy of the old version by the LXX. was found 
 in the Chisian library at Rome, in a single manuscript (Codex Chisianus), 
 and was published in Rome, in folio, in the year 1772, under the title, 
 Daniel Secundum LXX. ex tetraplis Origenis mine primum editus e singu- 
 lari Chisiano Codice annorum supra DCCC. Romae, 1772. fol. This was 
 republished at Goettinburg, in 1773, and again in 1774. These editions 
 were prepared by J. D. Michcelis, the former containing the text only, the 
 latter with the text of the LXX., the version of Theodotion, the interpre 
 tation of Hippolytus, a Latin version, and the annotations of the Roman 
 editor. 
 
 These editions were published from one manuscript, and without any 
 attempt to correct the text by a comparison with other versions. The 
 text is supposed to have been corrupted, so that, as Hahn says, no one can 
 believe that this codex exhibits it as it was when the version was made. 
 " This corruption," says he, " exists not only in particular words and 
 phrases, but in the general disarrangement and disorder of the whole 
 text, so that those parts are separated which ought to be united, and 
 those parts united which ought to be kept distinct. Besides this, there 
 was entire inattention to the signs which Origen had used in his edition of 
 the Septuagint." Pref. to Daniel, Kara rov$ E/tf<5o/,ijwKra. As there was but 
 Dne manuscript, all hope of correcting the text in the way in which it 
 7 * 
 
LXXVIII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 has been done in the other parts of the Septuagint, and in other versions, 
 by a comparison of manuscripts, was, of course, out of the question. 
 
 After four editions of the work had been published, it happened that, 
 in the Ambrosian Library at Mailand, Cajetan Bugati discovered a 
 Syriac Hexaplar manuscript, written in the year 616, or 617, after Christ, 
 which embraced the Hagiography, and the prophetic books, and, among 
 others, " Daniel, according to the Septuagint Translation." The title of 
 this Syriac version, as translated by Hahn, is as follows: "Explicit liber 
 Danielis prophetse, qui conversus est ex traditione T&V Septuaginta 
 duorum, qui in diebus Ptolemoei regis ^Egypti ante adventum Christi 
 annis centum plus minus verterunt libros sanctos de lingua Hebrseorum, 
 in Groecum, in Alexandria civitate magna. Versus est autem liber iste 
 etiam de Graeco in Syriacum, in Alexandria civitate mense Canun pos 
 teriori anni nongentesimi vicesimi octavi Alexandri indictione quinta 
 (i. e. a 617, p. ch.). ; This professes, therefore, to be a Syriac translation 
 of the Septuagint version of Daniel. This version was found to be in good 
 preservation, and the signs adopted by Origen to determine the value of the 
 text were preserved, and a new edition of the Greek translation was pub 
 lished, corrected by this, under the title : Daniel Secundum editionem LXX. 
 interpretum ex tetraplis desumptum. Rom., 1788. This Syriac version 
 enabled the editor to correct many places that were defective, and to do 
 much towards furnishing a more perfect text. Still the work was, in 
 many respects, imperfect ; and, from all the aids within his reach, and 
 probably all that can now be hoped for, Hahn published a new edition of 
 the work, corrected in many more places (see them enumerated in his 
 Preface, p. ix.), under the following title: AANIHA Kara row; E/36o^Kovra t 
 E Codice Chisiano p_ost Segaarium edidit secundum versionem Syriaco- 
 Hexaplarem recognivit annotationibus criticis et philologicis illustravit 
 Henricus Augustus Hahn, Philosophise Doctor et Theologiae candi- 
 datus. Lipsise, CIDIDCCCXLV. This is now the most perfect edition of 
 the Septuagint version of Daniel, but still it cannot be regarded as of 
 great critical value in the interpretation of the book. It has been used 
 in the preparation of this commentary. An account of the instances in 
 which it departs from the Hebrew and Chaldee original may be seen at 
 length in Lengerke, Das Buck Daniel, Einleitung, pp. cix-cxiv. It has 
 the Prayer of the Three Children, inserted in the usual place (ch. iii. 23, 
 24), and the History of Susanna, and the Destruction of Bel and the 
 Dragon, as separate pieces, at the end. 
 
 (2.) The translation of Theodotion. This is that which has been sub 
 stituted in the Septuagint for the version above referred to, and which is 
 found in the various editions of the Septuagint, and in the Polyglott 
 Bibles. Theodotion was a native of Ephesus, and is termed by Eusebius 
 an Ebonite, or Semi-Christian. Jerome, as we have seen above, regarded 
 him as an unbeliever post adventum Christi incredulus fuit : that is, 
 he remained an unbeliever after the coming of Christ ; propably meaning 
 that he was a Jew by birth, and remained unconvinced that Jesus was 
 the Messiah. He was nearly contemporary with Aquila, who was the 
 author of a Greek translation of the Old Testament, and who was also 
 of Jewish descent. The Jews were dissatisfied with the Septuagint 
 version as being too paraphrastic, and Aquila undertook to make a literal 
 version, but without any regard to the genius of the Greek language. 
 
INTRODUCTION. LXXIX 
 
 \V have only some fragments of the version by Aquila. The version of 
 Theodotion is less literal than that of Aquila holding a middle rank 
 between the servile closeness of Aquila, and the freedom of Symmachus. 
 This version is cited by Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Tryphon, 
 the Jew, which was composed about the year 160. The version of 
 Theodotion is a kind of revision of the Septuagint, and supplies some defi 
 ciencies in the Septuagint, but the author shows that he was indifferently 
 skilled in Hebrew. It is evident, that in his translation Theodotion 
 made great use of both the previous versions, that by the LXX., and that 
 of Aquila ; that he followed sometimes the diction of the one, and some 
 times that of the other ; that he often mingled them together in the com 
 pass of the same verse ; and that he adapted the quotations from the two 
 versions to his own style. As his style was similar to that of the LXX., 
 Origen, in his Hexapla, perhaps for the sake of uniformity, supplied the 
 additions which he inserted in his work chiefly from this version. There 
 are but few fragments of these versions now remaining. See Home, 
 Intro, iv. 171-176. Lengerke supposes that Theodotion was a Christian, 
 p. cxv. From this translation of Theodotion, a version was made in 
 Arabic, in the tenth century. Lengerke, p. cxv. 
 
 (3.) The Syriac versions. For the general character of these versions, 
 see Intro, to Isaiah, \ 8, (3). There is nothing remarkable in these 
 versions of Daniel. For an account of a later Syriac version of the 
 Septuagint, see the remarks above. " As Daniel has no Targum or Chaldee 
 version, the Syriac version performs a valuable service in the explanation 
 of Hebrew words." Prof. Stuart, p. 491. 
 
 (4.) The Latin Vulgate. For the general character of this, see Intro, 
 to Isa. $ 8, (2). As this contains the Apocryphal portions, the Prayer 
 of the Three Children, the History of Susanna, and the Destruction of 
 Bel and the Dragon, and as the Latin Vulgate was declared canonical 
 by the Council of Trent, of course those fragments have received the 
 sanction of the Roman Catholic Church as a part of the inspired records. 
 This version, as a whole, is superior to any of the other ancient versions, 
 and shows a more thorough knowledge than any of them of the 
 tenor and nature of the book. " An invaluable service has Jerome done, 
 by the translation of Daniel, and by his commentary on the book." Prof. 
 Stuart, p. 491. 
 
 (5.) The Arabic version. For an account of the Arabic versions, see 
 Intro, to Isaiah, $ 8, (4). There is nothing peculiar in the Arabic ver 
 sion of Daniel. 
 
 7. EXEGETICAL HELPS TO THE BOOK OP DANIEL. 
 
 BESIDES the versions above referred to, I have made use of the following 
 exegetical helps to the Book of Daniel, in the preparation of these Notes. 
 The order in which they are mentioned is not designed to express any 
 thing in regard to their value, but is adopted more for the sake of con 
 venience : 
 
 Critic! Sacri. Tom. iv. 
 
 Calvin, Praelectiones in Daniel. "Works, vol. y., ed. Amsterdam, 1667. 
 
LXXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Jerome, Commentary on Daniel. Works, torn, iv., ed. Paris, 1623. 
 The Pictorial Bible (Dr. Kitto). London, 1836. 
 Bush s Illustrations of Scripture. Brattleboro, 1836. 
 Dr. Gill, Commentaries. Vol. vi., ed. Philadelphia, 1819. 
 Hengstenberg s Christology, translated by the Rev. Reuel Keith, D. D. 
 Alexandria, 1836. 
 
 Newton on the Prophecies. London, 1832. 
 
 Einleitung in das Alte Testament. Von Johann Gottfried Eichhorn. 
 Vierter Band, 612-619. 
 
 Daniel aus dem Hebraish-Aramaischen neu ubersctzt und erklart mit 
 einer vollstandigen Einleitung, und einigen historischen und exegetischen 
 Excursen, Von Leonhard Bertholdt. Erlangen, 1806. 
 
 Das Buch Daniel Verdeutscht und Ausleget Von Dr. Csesar von 
 Lengerke, Professor der Theologioe zu Kb nigsburg in Pr. Konigsberg, 
 1835. 
 
 Commentarius Grammaticus in Vetus Testamentum in usum maxima 
 Gymnasiorum et Academiarum adornatus. Scripsit Franc. Jos. Valent. 
 Dominic. Maurer. Phil. Doct. Soc. Historico-Theol. Lips. Sod. Ord, 
 Volumen Secundum. Lipsiae, 1838. 
 
 Isaaci Newtoni ad Danielis Profetse Vaticinia. Oposcula, torn, iii., 
 1744. 
 
 Lehrbuch der Historish-Kritischen Einleitung in die kanonishen und 
 Apokryphischen Biicher des Alten Testamentes. Von Wilhelm Martin 
 Leberect De Wette. 253-259. Berlin, 1845. 
 
 In Danielem Prophetam Commentarius editus a Philippo Melanthone, 
 Anno M. D. XLIII. Corpus Reformatorum, Bretschneider, vol. xiii.. 
 1846. 
 
 Ueber Verfasser und der Zweck des Buches Daniel. Theologische 
 Zeitschrift. Drittes Heft. Berlin, 1822, pp. 181-294. By Dr. Fried. 
 Llicke. 
 
 Commentatio Historico-Critica Exhibeus descriptionem et censuram 
 recentium de Danielis Libro Opinionum, Auctore Henrico Godofredo 
 Kirmss, Saxone Seminarii Theologici Sodali. Jense, 1828. 
 
 Die Authentic des Daniel. Von Ernst "Wilhelm Hengstenberg. 
 Berlin, 1831. 
 
 The Season and Time, or an Exposition of the Prophecies which relate 
 to the two periods of Daniel subsequent to the 1260 years now recently 
 expired. By W. Ettrick, A. M. London, 1816. 
 
 An Essay towards an Interpretation of the Prophecies of Daniel. By 
 Richard Amner. London, 1776. 
 
 Neue Kritishe Untersuchungen iiber des Buch Daniel. Von Heinrich 
 Havernick, der Theologie Doctor und A. 0. Professor an der Universitat 
 Rostock. Hamburgh, 1838. 
 
 An Exposition of such of the Prophecies of Daniel as receive their ac 
 complishment under the New Testament. By the late Rev. Magnus 
 Frederic Roos A. M., Superintendant and Prelate in Lustnan and 
 
INTRODUCTION. LXXX1 
 
 Anhausen. Translated from the German, by Ebenezer Henderson. 
 Edinburgh, 1811. 
 
 A Description accompanying an hieroglyphical print of Daniel s Great 
 Image. London. 
 
 Daniel, his Chaldie Visions and his Ebrew: both translated after 
 the original, and expounded both, by the reduction of heathen most 
 famous stories, with the exact proprietie of his wordes (which is the 
 surest certaintie what he must meane) : and joining all the Bible and 
 learned tongues to the frame of his Worke London, 1596. By Hugh 
 Broughton. 
 
 Observations intended to point out the application of Prophecy in the 
 eleventh chapter of Daniel to the French Power. London, 1800. 
 Author unknown. 
 
 An Apologie in Briefe Assertions defending that our Lord died in the 
 time properly fortold to Daniel. For satisfaction to some studentes in 
 both Universities. By H. Broughton. London, 1592. 
 
 As Essay in Scripture Prophecy, wherein it is endeavoured to explain 
 the three periods contained in the xiith chapter of the Prophet Daniel, 
 with some arguments to make it probable that the first of the periods did 
 expire in the year 1715. Printed in the year 1715. Author and place 
 unknown. 
 
 Daniel, an Improved Version attempted, with a Preliminary Disser 
 tation, and Notes, critical, historical, and explanatory. By Thomas 
 Wintle, B. D., Rector of Brightwall, in Berkshire, and Fellow of Pem 
 broke College. Oxford, 1792. 
 
 Hermanni Venema Commentarius, ad Danielis cap. xi. 4-45, et xii. 
 1-3. Leovardiee, 1752. 
 
 A Chronological Treatise upon the Seventy Weeks of Daniel. By 
 Benjamin Marshall, M. A., Rector Naunton, in Gloucestershire. Lon 
 don, 1725. 
 
 The Times of Daniel, Chronological and Prophetical, examined with 
 relation to the point of contact between Sacred and Profane Chronology. 
 By George, Duke of Manchester, London, 1845. 
 
 Prof. Stuart s Commentary on Daniel, Boston, 1850, was not pub 
 lished until after the " Notes" or Commentary in this work had been 
 written. I have consulted it carefully in revising the manuscript for the 
 press. 
 
 To these works, which I have consulted feely, in proportion to what 
 seemed to me their respective worth, and to such collateral exegetical 
 helps in addition as I have access to in my own library, the following 
 works are referred to by De Wette, Lehrbuch, pp. 378, 379, as valuable 
 aids in interpreting Daniel : 
 
 Ephraem, d. S. Ausleg. des Proph. Daniel, Opp. ii. 203, seq. 
 
 Theodoret, Comment, in Visiones Dan. Proph. Opp. ed. Sculz. ii. 
 1053, seq. 
 
LXXXII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Paraph. Joseph! Jachidae in Dan. c. Vers. et Annotatt. Const, 
 1 Empereur. Amst. 1633. 
 
 Prselectt. Acad. in Dan. Proph. habitae a Mart. Geir. Lips. 1667, ed. 
 corr. 84. 
 
 H. Venem. Dissertatt. ad Vatice. Danielis, c. ii. vii. et viii. Leov. 
 1745 
 
 Chr. B. Michael. Annotatt. in Dan. in J. H. Michael. TJeberr. Annotatt. 
 in Hagiogr. iii. 1, &eq. 
 
 Rosenmuller schol. 
 
THE 
 
 BOOK OF DANIEL, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 \ 1. AUTHENTICITY OF THE CHAPTER. 
 
 FOB the general argument in favour of the genuineness and authenticity of the Book of Daniel, 
 ee Intro., 2, 3. To the genuineness and authenticity of each particular chapter in detail, 
 however, objections, derived from something peculiar in each chapter, have heen urged, which 
 it is proper to meet, and which I propose to consider in a particular introduction to the re 
 spective chapters. These objections it is proper to consider, not so much because they have 
 been urged by distinguished German critics De Wette, Bertholdt, Bleek, Eichhorn, and others, 
 
 f or their writings will probably fall into the hands of few persons who will read these Notes, 
 
 but (a) because it may be presumed that men of so much learning, industry, acuteness, and 
 ingenuity, have urged all the objections which can, with any appearance of plausibility, be 
 alleged against the book : and (/>) because the objections which they have urged may be pre 
 sumed to be felt, to a greater or less degree, by those who read the book, though they might not 
 be able to express them with so much clearness and force. There are numerous objections to 
 various portions of the Scriptures floating in the minds of the readers of the Bible, and many 
 difficulties which occur to such readers, which are not expressed, and which it would be desirable 
 to remove, and which it is the duty of an expositor of the Bible, if he can, to remove. Sceptical 
 critics, in general, but collect and embody, in a plausible form, difficulties which are felt by most 
 readers of the Scriptures. It is for this reason, and with a view to remove what seems to fur 
 nish plausible arguments against the different portions of this book, that the objections which 
 have been urged, principally by the authors above referred to, will be noticed in special sections, 
 preceding the exposition of each chapter. 
 
 The only objection to the genuineness and authenticity of the first chapter, which it seems 
 necessary to notice, is that the account of Daniel in the chapter is inconsistent with the mention 
 of Daniel by Ezckiel. The objection substantially is, that it is improbable that the Daniel who 
 is mentioned by Ezekiel should be one who was a cotemporary with himself, and who at that 
 time lived in Babylon. Daniel is three times mentioned in Ezekiel, and in each case as a man 
 of eminent piety and integrity ; as one so distinguished by his virtues as to deserve to be classed 
 with the most eminent of the patriarchs. Thus in Ezek. xiv. 14, "Though these three men, 
 Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteous 
 ness, saith the Lord God." So again, ver. 20, " Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I 
 live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter, they shall deliver but their 
 own souls by their righteousness." And again, ch. xviii. 3, speaking of the prince of Tyre, 
 " Behold thou art wiser than Daniel." The objection urged in respect to the mention of Daniel in 
 these passages is substantially this that if the account in the Book of Daniel is true, he must 
 have been a cotemporary with Ezckiel, and must have been, when Ezekiel prophesied, a young, 
 man ; that it is incredible that he should have gained a degree of reputation which would 
 entitle him to be ranked with Noah and Job ; that he could not have been so well known as to 
 make it natural or proper to refer to him in the same connection with those eminent men ; and 
 especially that he could not have been thus known to the prince of Tyre, as is supposed of those 
 mentioned by Ezekiel in the passages referred to, for it cannot be presumed that a man so young 
 had acquired such a fame abroad as to make it proper to refer to him in this manner in an 
 address to a heathen prince. This objection was urged by Bernstein (iiber das Buch Iliob, in 
 den Analekten Von Keil und Tzschirner, i. 3, p. 10), and it is found also in Bleek, p. 284, and 
 De Wctte, Einl. p. 380. De Wette says that it is probable that the author of the Book of 
 Daniel used the name of "an ancient mythic or poetic person falsely," in order to illustrate hia 
 work. 
 
 (83) 
 
84 DANIEL. [B.C. 607 
 
 Now, in regard to this objection, it may be remarked, (a) that, according to all the accounts 
 which we have iu the Bible, Ezekiel and Daniel were cotemporary, and were in Babylon at th< 
 same lime. As Daniel, however, lived a long time in Babylon after this, it is to be admitted, 
 also, that at the period referred to by Ezekiel, he must have been comparatively a young man. 
 But it does not follow that he might not then have had a well-known character for piety and 
 integrity, which would muke it proper to mention his name in connection with the most eminent 
 saints of ancient times. If the account in the Book of Daniel itself is a correct account of him, 
 this will not be doubted, for he soon attracted attention in Babylon ; he soon evinced that ex 
 traordinary piety which made him so eminent as a man of God, and that extraordinary wisdom 
 which raised him to the highest rank as an officer of state in Babylon. It was very soon after 
 he was taken to Babylon that the purpose was formed to train him, and the three other selected 
 youths, in the learning of the Chaldeans (ch. i. vs. 1-4), and that Daniel showed that he was 
 qualified to pass the examination, preparatory to his occupying an honourable place in the 
 court (ch. i. 18-21), and it was only iu the second year of the reign of Nebuchaunezzar that the 
 remarkable dream occurred, the interpretation of which gave to Daniel so much celebrity, ch. ii. 
 According to a computation of llengstenberg (Authentic des Daniel, p. 71), Daniel was taken to 
 Babylon full ten years before the prophecy of Ezekiel, in which the first mention of him was 
 made, and if so, there can be no real ground for the objection referred to. In that time, if the 
 account of his extraordinary wisdom is true; if he evinced the character which it is said that he 
 did evince and against this there in no intrinsic improbability; and if he was exalted to office 
 arid rank, as it is stated that he was. there can be no improbability in what Ezekiel says of him, 
 that he had a character which made it proper that he should be classed with the most eminent 
 men of the Jewish nation, (b) As to the objection that the name of Daniel could not have been 
 known to the king of Tyre, as would seem to be implied in Ezek. xxviii. 3, it may be remarked, 
 that it is not necessary to suppose that these prophecies were ever known to the king of Tyre, or 
 that they were ever designed to influence him. The prophecies which were directed against the 
 ancient heathen kings were uttered and published among the Hebrew people, primarily for 
 their guidance, and were designed to furnish to them, and to others in future times, arguments 
 for the truth of religion, though they assumed the form of direct addresses to the kings them 
 selves. Such an imaginary appeal may have been made in this case by Ezekiel to the king of 
 Tyre; and, in speaking of him, and of his boasted wisdom, Ezekiel may have made the compa 
 rison which would then naturally occur to him, by mentioning him in connection with the 
 mo&t eminent man for wisdom of that age. But, it should be said, also, that there can be no 
 certain evidence that the name of Daniel was not known to the king of Tyre, and uo intrinsic 
 improbability in the supposition that it was. If Daniel had at that time evinced the remark 
 able wisdom at the court of Babylon which it is said in this book that he had ; if he had been 
 raised to that high rank which it is affirmed he had reached, there is no improbability in sup 
 posing that so remarkable a circumstance should have been made known to the king of Tyre. 
 Tyre was taken, by Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 572, after a siege of thirteen years, and it is in no 
 way improbable that the king of Tyre would be made acquainted with what occurred at tho 
 court of the Chaldeans. The prophecy in Ezekiel, where Daniel is mentioned (ch. xxviii. 3), could 
 not have been uttered long before Tyre was taken, and, in referring to what was to occur, it was 
 not unnatural to mention the man most distinguished fey wisdom at the court of Babylon, and 
 in the councils of Nebuchadnezzar, with the presumption that his name and celebrity would 
 not be unknown to the king of Tyre, (c) As to the objection of Bernstein, that it would be im 
 probable, if Daniel lived there, and if he was comparatively a young man, that his name would 
 be placed between that of Noah and Job (Ezek. xiv. 14), as if he had lived before Job, it may 
 be remarked, that there might be a greater similarity between the circumstances of Noah and 
 Daniel than between Noah and Job, and that it was proper to refer to them in this order. But 
 the mere circumstance of the order in which the names are mentioned cannot be adduced as a 
 proof that one of the persons named did not exist at that time. They may have occurred in 
 this order to Ezekiel, because, in his apprehension, that was the order in which the degree of 
 their piety was to be estimated. 
 
 To this objection thus considered, that the mention of Daniel in connection with Noah and 
 Job proves that Ezekiel referred to some one of ancient times, it may be further replied, that, 
 if this were so, it is impossible to account for the fact that no such person is mentioned by any 
 of the earlier prophets and writers. How came his name known to Ezekiel ? And if there had 
 been a patriarch so eminent as to be ranked with Noah and Job, how is it to be accounted for 
 that all the sacred writers, up to the time of Ezekiel, are wholly silent in regard to him ? And 
 why is it that, when he mentions him, he does it as of one who was well known? The mere 
 mention of his name in this manner by Ezekiel, proves that his character was well known 
 to those f>r whom he wrote. Noah and Job were thus known by the ancient records; but how 
 ffas Daniel thus known ? He is nowhere mentioned in the ancient writings of the Hebrews . 
 and if he was so well known that he could be referred to in the same way as Noah and Job, it 
 must be either because there was some tradition in regard to him, or because he was then living, 
 and his character was well understood by those for whom Ezekiel wrote. But there is no 
 evidence? that there was any such tradition, and no probability that there was ; and the con 
 clusion, then, is inevitable, that he was then so well known to the Hebrews in exile, that it was 
 proper for Ezekiel to mention him just as he did Noah and Job. If so, this furnishes the 
 highest evidence that ho actually lived in tht time of Ezekiel ; that is, in the time when this 
 book purports to Lave been written. 
 
J5.C. 607.J OH AFTER I. 85 
 
 g 2. ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER. 
 
 This chapter is entirely historical, the prophetic portions of the book commencing -with th 
 second chapter. The object of this chapter seems to be to state the way in which Daniel, who 
 subsequently acted so important a part in Babylon, was raised to so distinguished favour with 
 the king and court. It was remarkable that a Jewish captive, and a young man, should be so 
 honoured; that he should be admitted as one of the principal counsellors of the king, and that 
 he should ultimately become the prime-minister of the realm ; and there was a propriety that 
 there should bo a preliminary statement of the steps of this extraordinary promotion. This 
 chapter contains a record of the way in which the future premier and prophet was introduced to 
 the notice of the reigning monarch, and by which his wonderful genius and sagacity were dis 
 covered. It is a chapter, therefore, that may be full of interest and instruction to all, and 
 especially to young men. The chapter contains the record of the following points, or steps, 
 which led to the promotion of Daniel : 
 
 I. The history of the Jewish captivity, as -explanatory of the reason why those who are sub 
 sequently referred to were in Babylon. They were exiles, having been conveyed as captives 
 to a foreign land, vs. 1, 2. 
 
 II. The purpose of the king, Nebuchadnezzar, to bring forward the principal talent to be 
 found among the Jewish captives, and to put it under a process of training, that it 
 might be employed at the court, vs. 3, 4. In carrying out this purpose, a confidential 
 officer of the court, Ashpenaz, was directed to search out among the captives the most 
 promising youths, whether by birth or talent, and to put them under a process of train 
 ing, that they might become fully instructed in the science of the Chaldeans. What 
 were the reasons which led to this cannot be known with certainty. They may havo been 
 such as these : (1.) The Chaldeans had devoted themselves to science, especially to those 
 sciences which promised any information respecting future events, the secrets of the 
 unseen world, &c. Hence they either originated or adopted the science of astrology ; they 
 practised the arts of magic ; they studied to interpret dreams ; and, in general, they made 
 use of all the means which it was then supposed could be employed to unlock the 
 secrets of the invisible world, and to disclose the future. (2. ) They could not have been 
 ignorant of the fact, that the Hebrews claimed to have communications with God. They 
 had doubtless hoard of their prophets, and of their being able to foretell what was to 
 occur. This kind of knowledge would fall in with the objects at which the Chaldeans 
 aimed, and if they could avail themselves of it, it would enable them to secure what they 
 so ardently sought. It is probable that they considered this as a sort of permanent 
 power which the Hebrew prophets had, and supposed that at all times, and on all subjects, 
 they could interpret dreams, and solve the various questions about which their own 
 magicians were so much engaged. It is not to be presumed that they had any very accu 
 rate knowledge on the exact character of the Hebrew prophecies, or the nature of the 
 communication which the prophets had with God ; but it was not unnatural for them to 
 suppose that this spirit of prophesy or divination would be possessed by the most noble 
 and the most talented of the land. Hence Ashpenaz was instructed to select those of the 
 royal familv, and those in whom there was no blemish, and who were handsome, and who 
 were distinguished for knowledge, and to prepare them, by a suitable course, for being pre 
 sented to the king. (3.) It may have been the purpose of the Chaldean monarch to bring 
 forward all the talent of the realm, whether native or foreign, to be employed in the service 
 of the government. There is no reason to suppose that there was any jealousy of foreign 
 talent, or any reluctance to employ it in any proper way, in promoting the interests of 
 the kingdom. As the Chaldean monarch had now in his possession the Hebrew royal 
 family, and all the principal men that had been distinguished in Judea, it was not un 
 natural to suppose that there might be valuable talent among them of which he might 
 avail himself, and which would add to the splendour of his own court and cabinet. It 
 might have been naturally supposed, also, that it would tend much to conciliate the cap 
 tives themselves, and repress any existing impatience, or insubordination, to select tho 
 most noble and the most gifted of them, and to employ them in the service of the go 
 vernment; and in any questions that might arise between the government and the captive 
 nation, it would be an advantage for the government to be able to employ native-born 
 Hebrews in making known the wishes and purposes of the government. It was, more 
 over, in accordance with the proud spirit of Nebuchadnezzar (see ch. iv.), to surround 
 himself with all that would impart splendour to his own reign. 
 
 III. The method by which this talent was to be brought forward, vs. 5-7. This was by a 
 course of living in the manner of the royal household, with the presumption that at the 
 end of three years, in personal appearance, and in the knowledge of the language of the 
 Chaldeans (ver. 4), they would be prepared to appear at court, and to be employed in the 
 service to which they might be appointed. 
 
 IV. The resolution of Daniel not to corrupt himself with the viands which had been appointed 
 for him and his brethren, ver. 8. He had heretofore been strictly temperate; he had 
 avoided all luxurious living; he had abstained from wine; and, though now having all 
 the means of luxurious indulgence at command, and unexpectedly thrown into the temp 
 tations of a splendid Oriental court, he resolved to adhere steadfastly to his principles. 
 
 V. The apprehension of the prince of the eunuchs that this would be a ground of offence with 
 his master, tho king, and that he would himself be held responsible, vs. 9, 10. This was a 
 
 8 
 
86 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 607. 
 
 yery natural apprehension, as the command seems to have been positive, and as an Oriental 
 monarch was entirely despotic. It was not unreasonable for him to whom this office wai 
 entrusted, to suppose that a failure on his part to accomplish what he had been directed 
 to do would be followed by a loss of place or life. 
 
 VI. The experiment, and the result, vs. 11-17. Daniel asked that a trial might be made of 
 the effects of temperance in preparing him and his companions for presentation at court. 
 He requested that they might be permitted, even for a brief time, yet long enough to make 
 a fair experiment, to abstain from wine, and the other luxuries of the royal table, and that 
 then it might be determined whether they should be allowed to continue the experiment. 
 The result was as he had anticipated. At the end of ten days, on a fair comparison with 
 those who had indulged in luxurious living, the benefit of their course was apparent, and 
 they were permitted to continue this strict abstinence during the remainder of the tune 
 which was deemed necessary for their preparation to appear at court. 
 
 VII. The presentation at court, vs. 18-21. At the end of the time appointed for preparation, 
 Daniel and his selected companions were brought into the royal presence, and met with 
 the most favourable reception which could have been hoped for. They were distinguished, 
 it would seem, for beauty and manly vigour, and as much distinguished for wisdom as they 
 were for the beauty and healthfulness of their bodily appearance. They at once took an 
 honourable station, greatly surpassing in true wisdom and knowledge those at the court 
 who were regarded as skilled in the arts of divination and astrology. These years of 
 preparation we are not to suppose were spent in merely cultivating the beauty of their 
 personal appearance, but they were doubtless employed, under all the advantages of instruc 
 tion, which could be afforded them, in the careful cultivation of their mental powers, and in 
 the acquisition of all the knowledge which could be obtained under the best masters at the 
 court of the Chaldeans. Comp. ver. 4. 
 
 I 
 
 N the third year of the reign of 
 Jehoiakim king of Judah came 
 
 a Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon 
 unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. 
 
 a 2 Kings 24. 1, 2; 2 Chron. 36. 6, 7. 
 
 1. In the third year of the reign of Je- 
 Tioiakim king of Judah came Nebuchad 
 nezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem. 
 This event occurred, according to Jahn, 
 (History of the Hebrew Commonwealth), 
 in the year 607 before Christ, and in the 
 368th year after the Revolt of the ten 
 tribes. According to Usher, it was in the 
 369th year of the Revolt, and 606 B. C. 
 The computation of Usher is the one 
 generally received, but the difference of a 
 year in the reckoning is not material. 
 Comp. Michaelis, Anmerkung, zu 2 Ktin. 
 xxiv. 1. Jehoiakim was a son of Josiah, 
 a prince who was distinguished for his 
 piety, 2 Kings, xxii. 2; 2 Chron. xxxv. 
 1-7. After the death of Josiah, the peo 
 ple raised to the throne of Judah Je- 
 hoahaz, the younger son of Josiah, proba 
 bly because he appeared better qualified to 
 reign than his elder brother. 2 Kings 
 xxiii. 30 : 2 Chron. xxxvi. 1. He was a 
 wicked prince, and, after he had been on 
 the throne three months, he was removed 
 by Pharaoh-nechoh, king of Egypt, who 
 returned to Jerusalem from the conquest 
 of Phoenicia, and placed his elder brother, 
 Eliakim, to whom he gave the name of 
 Jehoiakim, on the throne. 2 Kings xxiii. 
 34; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 4. Jehoahaz was 
 first imprisoned in Riblah, 2 Kings, xxiii. 
 33, and was afterwards removed to Egypt 
 2 Chron. xxxvi. 4. Jehoiakim, an un 
 
 worthy son of Josiah, was, in reality, aa 
 he is represented by Jeremiah, one of 
 the worst kings who reigned over Judah. 
 His reign continued eleven years, and as 
 he came to the throne B. C. 611, hia 
 reign continued to the year 600 B. C. In 
 the third year of his reign, after the battle 
 of Megiddo, Pharaoh-nechoh undertook a 
 second expedition against Nabopolassar, 
 king of Babylon, with a numerous army, 
 drawn in part from Western Africa, Libya, 
 and Ethiopia. Jahn s His. Heb. Com 
 monwealth, p. 134. This Nabopolassar, 
 who is also called Nebuchadnezzar I., was 
 at this time, as Berosus relates, aged and 
 infirm. He therefore gave up a part of 
 his army to his son Nebuchadnezzar, who 
 defeated the Egyptian host at Carche- 
 mish (Circesium) on the Euphrates, and 
 drove Necho out of Asia. The victorious 
 prince marched directly to Jerusalem, 
 which was then under the sovereignty of 
 Egypt. After a short siege Jehoiakim 
 surrendered, and was again placed on the 
 throne by the Babylonian prince. Ne 
 buchadnezzar took part of the furniture 
 of the temple as booty, and carried back 
 with him to Babylon several young men, 
 the sons of the principal Hebrew nobles, 
 among whom were Daniel and his three 
 friends referred to in this chapter. It ia 
 not improbable that one object in con 
 veying thorn to Babylon was that they 
 
B. C. 606.] 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 2 And the LORD gave Jehoiakim 
 king of Judah into his hand, with 
 
 part of the ressels of the house of 
 God : which he carried into the land 
 
 might be hostages for the submission and 
 good order of the Hebrews in their own 
 land. It is at this timp that the Baby 
 lonian sovereignty over Judah commences, 
 commonly called the Babylonian cap 
 tivity, which, according to the prophecy 
 of Jeremiah, xxv. 1-14, xxix. 10, was to 
 continue seventy years. In Jer. xxv. 1, 
 and xlvi. 2, it is said that this was in the 
 fourth year of Jehoiakim. In the passage 
 before us it is said that it was the third 
 year. This difference, says Jahn, arises 
 from a different mode of computation. 
 "Jehoiakim came to the throne at the 
 end of the year, which Jeremiah reckons 
 as the first (and such a mode of reckon 
 ing is not uncommon), but Daniel neglect 
 ing the incomplete year, numbers one 
 less." For a more full and complete ex 
 amination of the objection to the genuine 
 ness of Daniel from this passage, I would 
 refer to Prof. Stuart on Daniel, Excursus, 
 1. pp. 19-30. ^f And besieged it. Jerusa 
 lem was a strongly fortified place, and it 
 was not easy to take it, except as the re 
 sult of a sie^. It was, perhaps, never 
 carried by dire;, b and immediate assault. 
 Comp. 2 Kings xxv. 1-3, for an account 
 of a siege of Jerusalem a second time by 
 Nebuchadnezzar. At that time the city 
 was besieged about a year and a half. 
 How long the siege here referred to con 
 tinued is not specified. 
 
 2. And the Lord gave Jehohiakim kinj 
 of Judah into his hand. Jehoiakim was 
 taken captive, and it would seem that 
 there was an intention to convey him to 
 Babylon (2 Chron. xxxvi. 6), but that for 
 some cause he was not removed there, 
 but died at Jerusalem (2 Kings xxiv. 
 5, 6), though he was not honourably 
 buried there. Jer. xxii. 19, xxxvi. 30. 
 In the Second Book of Chronicles (xxxvi. 
 6), it is said that " Nebuchadnezzar king 
 of Babylon came up, and bound Jehoia 
 kim in fetters to take him to Babylon." 
 Jahn supposes that an error has crept 
 into the text in the Book of Chronicles, 
 as there is no evidence that Jehoiakim 
 was taken to Babylon, but it appears from 
 2 Kings xxiv. 1, 2, that Jehoiakim was 
 continued in authority at Jerusalem under 
 Nebuchadnezzar three years, and then re 
 belled against him, and that then Nebu 
 chadnezzar sent against him " bands of 
 the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, 
 
 and bands of the Moabites, and bands of 
 the children of Ammon, and sent them 
 against Judah to destroy it." There is 
 no necessity of supposing an error in the 
 text in the account in the Book of Chron 
 icles. It is probable that Jehoiakim was 
 taken, and that the intention was to take 
 him to Babylon, according to the account 
 in Chronicles, but that, from some cause 
 not mentioned, the purpose of the Chal 
 dean monarch was changed, and that he 
 was placed again over Judah, under Ne 
 buchadnezzar, according to the account 
 in the Book of Kings, and that he re 
 mained in this condition for three yeara 
 till he rebelled, and that then the bands 
 of Chaldeans, Ac., were sent against 
 him. It is probable that at this time, 
 perhaps while the siege was going on, he 
 died, and that the Chaldeans dragged his 
 dead body out of the gates of the city, 
 and left it unburied, as Jeremiah had 
 predicted. Jer. xxii. 19, xxxvi. 30. ^With 
 part of the vessels of the house of God. 
 2 Chron. xxxvi. 7. Another portion of 
 the vessels of the temple at Jerusalem 
 had been taken away by Nebuchadnezzar, 
 in the time of Jehoiachin, the successor of 
 Jehoiakim. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10. On the 
 third invasion of Palestine, the same 
 thing had been repeated on a more ex 
 tensive scale. 2 Kings xxiv. 13. At the 
 fourth and final invasion, under Zedekiah, 
 when the temple was destroyed, all its 
 treasures were carried away. 2 Kings, 
 xxv. 6-20. A part of these treasures were 
 brought back under Cyrus, Ezra L 7 ; the 
 rest under Darius, Ezra vi. 5. Why they 
 were not all taken away at first does not 
 appear, but perhaps Nebuchadnezzar did 
 not then intend wholly to overthrow the 
 Hebrew nation, but meant to keep them 
 tributary to him as a people. The temple 
 was not at that time destroyed, but pro 
 bably he allowed the worship of Jehovah 
 to be celebrated there still, and he would 
 naturally leave such vessels as were abso 
 lutely necessary to keep up the services of 
 public worship <[ Which he carried into 
 the land of Shinar. The region around 
 Babylon. The exact limits of this country 
 are unknown, but it probably embraced the 
 region known as Mesopotamia the coun 
 try between the rivers Tigris and Eu 
 phrates. The derivation of the name 
 Shinar is unknown. It occurs only in 
 
88 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 606. 
 
 of Shinar to the house of his god ; 
 nnd he brought the vessels into the 
 treasure-house of his god. 
 
 3 If And the king spake unto Ash 
 penaz the master of his eunuchs, 
 that he should bring certain of the 
 
 Gen. x. 10, xi. 2, xiv. 1, 9j Josh. vii. 21 ; 
 Isa. xi. 11 ; Dan. i. 2; Zech. v. 11. 1 To 
 the house of his God. To the temple of 
 Bel, at Babylon. This was a temple of 
 great magnificence, and the worship of 
 Bel was celebrated there with great 
 splendour. For a description of this 
 temple, and of the god which was wor 
 shipped there, see Notes on Isa. xlvi. 1. 
 These vessels were subsequently brought 
 out at the command of Belshazzar, at his 
 celebrated feast, and employed in the con 
 viviality and revelry of that occasion. 
 Sec Dan. v. 3. ^[ And he brought the ves 
 sels into the treasure-house of his god. It 
 would seem from this that the vessels had 
 been taken to the temple of Bel, or Belus, 
 in Babylon, not to be used in the worship 
 of the idol, but to be laid up among the 
 valuable treasures there. As the temples 
 of the gods were sacred, and were re 
 garded as inviolable, it would be natural 
 to make them the repository of valuable 
 spoils and treasures. Many of the spoils 
 of the Romans were suspended around 
 the walls of the temples of their gods, 
 particularly in the Temple of Victory. 
 Comp. Eschenberg, Manual of Class. Lit. 
 P. iii. 149, 150. 
 
 3. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz 
 the master of his eunuchs. On the general 
 reasons which may have influenced the 
 king to make the selection of the youths 
 
 here mentioned, see the analysis of the 
 chapter. Of Ashpenaz, nothing more ia 
 known than is stated here. Eunuchs 
 were then, as they are now, in constant 
 employ in the harems of the East, and 
 they often rose to great influence and 
 power. A large portion of the glares em 
 ployed at the courts in the East, and in 
 the houses of the wealthy, are eunuchs. 
 Comp. Burckhardt s Travels in Nubia, 
 pp. 294, 295. They are regarded as the 
 guardians of the female virtue of the 
 harem, but their situation gives them 
 great influence, and they often rise high 
 in the favour of their employers, and 
 often become the principal officers of the 
 court. " The chief of the black eunuchs 
 is yet, at the court of the Sultan, which 
 is arranged much in accordance with the 
 ancient court of Persia, an officer of the 
 highest dignity. He is called Kislar-Aga, 
 the overseer of the women, and is the 
 chief of the black eunuchs, who guard the 
 harem, or the apartments of the females. 
 The Kislar-Aga enjoys, through his situa 
 tion, avast influence, especially in regard to 
 the offices of the court, the principal Agas 
 deriving their situations through him." 
 See Jos. von Hammers des Osmanischen 
 Reichs Staatsverwalt, Th. i. s. 71, as 
 quoted in Rosenmiiller s Alte und neue 
 Morgenland, ii. 357, 348. The following 
 cuts, from Assyrian marbles, will illustrate 
 
 tho usual appearance of these officers. 
 That it is common in the East to desire 
 that those employed in public service 
 should have vigorous bodies, and beauty 
 of form, and to train them for this, will 
 be apparent from tho following extract : 
 
 " Curtius says, that in all barbarous or 
 uncivilized countries, the stateliness of the 
 body is held in great veneration ; nor do 
 they think it capable of great services or 
 action to whom nature has not vouchsafed 
 t 4 ) give a beautiful form and aspect. If 
 
B.C. 606.] 
 
 children a of Israel, and of the king s 
 seed, and of the princes ; 
 
 Foretold, 2 Kings, 20. 17, 18 ; Is. 39. 7. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 89 
 
 has always been the custom of eastern 
 nations to choose such for their principal 
 officers, or to wait on princes and great 
 personages. Sir Paul Ricaut observes, 
 That the youths that are designed for 
 the great oflices of the Turkish empire, 
 must be of admirable features and looks, 
 well-shaped in their bodies, and without 
 any defect of nature ; for it is conceived 
 that a corrupt and sordid soul can scarcely 
 inhabit in a serene and ingenious aspect; 
 and I have observed, not only in the 
 seraglio, but also in the courts of great 
 men, their personal attendants have been 
 of comely lusty youths, well-habited, de 
 porting themselves with singular modesty 
 and respect to the presence of their 
 masters; so that when a Pascha Aga 
 Spahi travels, he is always attended with 
 a comely equipage, followed by nourish 
 ing youths, well-clothed, and mounted, in 
 great numbers. " Burder. This may 
 serve to explain the reason of the arrange 
 ment made in respect to these Hebrew 
 youths. <[[ That he should briny certain 
 of the children of Israel. Heb. of the 
 sons of Israel. Nothing can with cer 
 tainty be determined respecting their 
 age by the use of this expression, for the 
 phrase means merely the descendants of 
 Jacob, or Israel, that is, Jews, and it 
 would be applied to them at any time of 
 life. It would seem, however, from sub 
 sequent statements, that those who were 
 selected were young men. It is evident 
 that young men would be better qualified 
 for the object contemplated to be trained 
 in the language and the sciences of the 
 Chaldeans (ver. 4) than those who were 
 at a more advanced period of life. 1[ And 
 of the king s seed, and of the princes. 
 That the most illustrious, and the most 
 promising of them were to be selected; 
 those who would be most adapted to ac 
 complish the object which he had in 
 view. Comp. the Analysis of the chapter. 
 It is probable that the king presumed, 
 that among the royal youths who had 
 been made captive, there would be found 
 those of most talent, and of course those 
 best qualified to impart dignity and 
 honor to his government, as well as those 
 who would be most likely to be quali 
 fied to make known future events by 
 the interpretation of dreams, and by 
 8* 
 
 4 Children in whom was no blem 
 ish, but well-favoured, and skilful in 
 all wisdom, and cunning in knowl- 
 
 tho prophetic intimations of the divine 
 will. 
 
 4. Children in whom was no blemish. 
 The word rendered children in this place 
 
 BTO1 is different from that which is 
 rendered children in ver. 3 3>J3. That 
 word denotes merely that they were sons, 
 or descendants, of Israel, without imply 
 ing anything in regard to their age ; the 
 word here used would be appropriate only 
 to those who were at an early period of 
 life, and makes it certain that the king 
 meant that those who were selected should 
 be youths. Comp. Gen. iv. 23, where the 
 word is rendered "a young man." It is 
 sometimes, indeed, used to denote a. son, 
 without reference to age, and is then 
 
 synonymous with t3, ben, a son. But it 
 properly means one born : that is, recently 
 born; a child, Gen. xxi. 8; Ex. i. 17, ii. 
 3 ; and then one in early life. There can 
 be no doubt that the monarch meant to 
 designate youths. So the Vulgate, pueroa, 
 and the Greek, vtaviaKo\^, and so the 
 Syriac. All these words would be ap 
 plicable to those who were in early life, 
 or to young men. Comp. Intro, to Daniel, 
 g 1. The word blemish refers to bodily 
 defect or imperfection. The object was 
 to select those who were most perfect in 
 form, perhaps partly because it was sup 
 posed that beautiful youth would most 
 grace the court, and partly because it 
 was supposed that such would be likely 
 to have the brightest intellectual endow 
 ments. It was regarded as essential to 
 personal beauty to be without blemish. 
 2 Sam. xiv. 25 : "But in all Israel there 
 was none to be so much praised as Absa 
 lom for beauty ; from the sole of his feet, 
 even to the crown of his head there was 
 no blemish in him." Cant. iv. 7 : " Thou 
 art all fair, my love ; there is no spot in 
 thee." The word is sometimes used in a 
 moral sense, to denote corruption of 
 heart or life (Deut. xxxii. 5; Job xi. 15, 
 xxxi. 7), but that is not the meaning 
 here. ^ But well-favoured. Heb. good 
 of appearance ; that is, beautiful. r \ And 
 skilful in all wisdom. Intelligent, wise, 
 that is, in all that was esteemed wise in 
 their own country. The object was, to 
 bring forward the most talented and in 
 
90 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 6,06, 
 
 edge, and understanding science, 
 and such as had ability in them to 
 stand in the king s palace, and 
 
 whom they might teach the learn 
 ing and the tongue of the Chal- 
 Ueans. 
 
 telligent, as well as the most beautiful, 
 among the Hebrew captives. ^[ And cun 
 ning in all knowledge. In all that could 
 be known. The distinction between the 
 
 word here rendered knowledge rjjl 
 and the word rendered science P;JP is 
 not apparent. Both come from the word 
 jnj, to knotc, and would be applicable 
 to any kind of knowledge. The word 
 rendered cunning is also derived from the 
 same root, and means knowing, or skilled 
 in. We more commonly apply the word 
 to a particular kind of knowledge, mean 
 ing artful, shrewd, astute, sly, crafty, de 
 signing. But this was not the meaning 
 of the word when the translation of the 
 Bible was made, and it is not employed 
 in that sense in the Scriptures. It is 
 always used in a good sense, meaning 
 intelligent, skilful, experienced, well-in 
 structed. Comp. Gen. xxv. 27; Ex. xxvi. 
 1, xxviii. 15, xxxviii. 23; 1 Sam. xvi. 16; 
 1 Chron. xxv. 7 ; Ps. cxxxvii. 5 ; Isa. iii. 3. 
 ^[ And understanding science. That is, the 
 sciences which prevailed among the He 
 brews. They were not a nation dis 
 tinguished for science, in the sense in 
 which that term is now commonly un 
 derstood embracing astronomy, chemis 
 try, geology, mathematics, electricity, <fcc., 
 but their science extended chiefly to mu 
 sic, architecture, natural history, agricul 
 ture, morals, theology, war, and the 
 knowledge of future events; in all which 
 they occupied an honourable distinction 
 among the nations. In many of these 
 respects they were, doubtless, far in 
 advance of the Chaldeans, and it was 
 probably the purpose of the Chaldean 
 monarch to avail himself of what they 
 knew, ^f And such as had ability in them 
 to stand in the king s palace. Heb. had 
 
 strength D ^ . Properly meaning, who 
 had strength of body for the service 
 which would be required of them in at 
 tending on the court. "A firm consti 
 tution of body is required for those 
 protracted services of standing in the 
 hall of the royal presence." Grotius. 
 The word palace here ^D is com 
 monly used to denote the temple. 2 Kings 
 xxiv. 13 ; 2 Chron. iii. 17 ; Jer. 1. 28 ; 
 
 Hag. ii. 15. Its proper and primitive sig 
 nification, however, is a large and magnifi 
 cent building a palace and it was given 
 to the temple as the palace of Jehovah, the 
 abode where he dwelt as king of his 
 people. ^[ And whom they might teach. 
 That they might be better qualified for 
 the duties to which they might be called. 
 The purpose was, doubtless (see Analysis), 
 to bring forward their talent, that it might 
 contribute to the splendour of the Chal 
 dean court; but as they were, doubtless, 
 ignorant, to a great extent, of the lan 
 guage of the Chaldeans, and as there 
 were sciences in which the Chaldeans 
 were supposed to excel, it seemed de 
 sirable that they should ha,ve all the 
 advantage which could be derived from a 
 careful training under the best masters. 
 
 1 The learning. 1 p ? . Literally, wri 
 ting. Isa. xxix. 11, 12. Gescnius sup 
 poses that this means the writing of the 
 Chaldeans ; or that they might be able to 
 read the language of the Chaldeans. But 
 it, doubtless, included the knowledge of 
 what was written, as well as the ability to 
 read what was written ; that is, the pur 
 pose was to instruct them in the sciences 
 which were understood among the Chal 
 deans. They were distinguished chiefly 
 for such sciences as these: (1.) Astrono 
 my. This science is commonly supposed 
 to have had its origin on the plains of 
 Babylon, and it was early carried there 
 to as high a degree of perfection as it 
 attained in any of the ancient nations. 
 Their mild climate, and their employ 
 ments as shepherds, leading them to pass 
 much of their time at night under the 
 open heavens, gave them the opportunity 
 of observing the stars, and they amused 
 themselves in marking their positions 
 and their changes, and in mapping out 
 the heavens in a variety of fanciful 
 figures, now called constellations. (2.) As- 
 trology. This was at first a branch of 
 astronomy, or was almost identical with 
 it, for the stars were studied principally 
 to endeavour to ascertain what influence 
 they exerted over the fates of men, and 
 especially what might be predicted from 
 their position on the birth of an indi 
 vidual, as to his future life. Astrology 
 was then deemed a science whose lawa 
 
B.C. 606.] 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 91 
 
 were to bo ascertained in the same way 
 as the laws of any other science ; and the 
 world has been slow to disabuse itself of 
 the notion that the stars exert an influence 
 over the fates of men. Even Lord Bacon 
 held that it was a science to be "re 
 formed" not wholly rejected. (3.) Ma 
 gic ; soothsaying: divination ; or whatever 
 would contribute to lay open the future, 
 or disclose the secrets of the invisible 
 world. Hence they applied themselves 
 to the interpretation of dreams ; they made 
 .use of magical arts, probably employing, 
 as magicians do, some of the ascertained 
 results of science in producing optical 
 illusions, impressing the vulgar with the 
 belief that they were familiar with the 
 secrets of the invisible world ; and hence 
 the name Chaldean and magician became 
 almost synonymous terms. Ch. ii. 2, iv. 
 7, v. 7. (4.) It is not improbable that 
 they had made c ovances in other sciences, 
 but of this we have little knowledge. 
 They knew little of the true laws of 
 astronomy, geology, chemistry, electri 
 city, mathematics ; and in these, and in 
 kindred departments of science, they may 
 be supposed to have been almost wholly 
 ignorant. ^[ And the tongue of the Chal 
 deans. In regard to the Chaldeans, see 
 Notes on Job i. 17, and Isa. xxiii. 13. 
 The kingdom of Babylon was composed 
 mainly of Chaldeans, and that kingdom 
 was called " the realm of the Chaldeans." 
 Dan. ix. 1. Of that realm, or kingdom, 
 Babylon was the capital. The origin of the 
 Chaldeans has been a subject of great 
 perplexity, on which there is still a con 
 siderable variety of opinions. According 
 to Ileeren they came from the North ; by 
 Gesenius they are supposed to have come 
 from the mountains of Kurdistan ; and 
 by Micb.aelis from the Steppes of Scythia. 
 They seem to have been an extended 
 race, and probably occupied the whole of 
 the region adjacent to what became Bab 
 ylonia. Heeren expresses his opinion as 
 to their origin in the following language : 
 " It cannot be doubted, that, at some 
 remote period, antecedent to the com 
 mencement of historical records, one 
 mighty race possessed these vast plains, 
 varying in character according to the 
 country which they inhabited; in the 
 deserts of Arabia, pursuing a nomad life ; 
 in Syria, applying themselves to agricul 
 ture, and taking up settled abodes ; in 
 Babylonia, erecting the most magnificent 
 cities of ancient times; and in Phoenecia, 
 
 opening the earliest ports, and construct 
 ing fleets, which secured to them the 
 commerce of the known world." There 
 exists at the present time, in the vicinity 
 of the Bahreia Islands, and along the 
 Persian gulf, in the neighbourhood of 
 the Astan river, an Arab tribe, of the 
 name of the Beni Khaled, who are pro 
 bably the same people as the Gens Chaldei 
 of Pliny, and doubtless the descendants 
 of the ancient race of the Chaldeans. On 
 the question when they became a king 
 dom, or realm, making Babylon their 
 capital, see Notes on Isa. xxiii. 13. Com 
 pare, for an interesting discussion of the 
 subject, Forster s Historical Geography 
 of Arabia, vol. i. pp. 49-56. The lan 
 guage of the Chaldeans, in which a con 
 siderable part of the Book of Daniel is 
 written (see the Intro, g 4, III.), diffored 
 from the Hebrew, though it was a b;.;!n-h 
 of the same Aramsen family of languages. 
 It was, indeed, very closely allied to the 
 Hebrew, but was so different that those 
 who were acquainted with only one of the 
 two languages could not understand the 
 other. Comp. Neh. viii. 8. Both were 
 the offspring of the original Shemitish 
 language. This original language may be 
 properly reduced to three great branches : 
 (I.) The Aramaean, which prevailed in 
 Syria, Babylonia, and Mesopotamia; and 
 which may, therefore, be divided into the 
 Syriac or West-Aramasn, and the Chaldee 
 or Kast-Aramsen, called after the Babylon 
 ish Aramoen. (2.) The Hebrew, with which 
 the fragments of the Phoenician coincide. 
 (3.) The Arabic, under which belongs the 
 Ethiopic as a dialect. The Aramaen, 
 which, after the return from the Bab 
 ylonish captivity, was introduced into 
 Palestine, and which prevailed in the 
 time of the Saviour, is commonly called 
 the Syro-Chaldaic, because it was a mix 
 ture of the Eastern and Western dialects. 
 The Chaldee, or Ea,st Aramaen, and the 
 Hebrew, had, in general, the same stock of 
 original words, but they differed in several 
 respects, such as the following : (a) Many 
 words of the old primitive language which 
 had remained in one dialect had been 
 lost in the other. (6) The same word was 
 current in both dialects, but in different 
 significations, because in the one it re 
 tained the primitive signification, while 
 in the other it had acquired a different 
 meaning, (c) The Babylonian dialect had 
 borrowed expressions from the Northern 
 Chaldeans, who had made various irrup- 
 
DANIEL. 
 
 [B.C. 60& 
 
 5 And the king appointed them 
 a daily provision of the king s meat, 
 and of the wine a which he drank : 
 
 * OfhisdrinJc. 
 
 tions into the country. These expressions 
 were foreign to the Shemitish dialects, 
 and belonged to the Japhetian language, 
 which prevailed among the Armenians, 
 the Medes, the Persians, and the Chal 
 deans, who were probably related to 
 these. Traces of these foreign words are 
 found in the names of the officers of state, 
 and in expressions having reference to the 
 government, (d) The Babylonian pro 
 nunciation was more easy and more 
 sonorous than the Hebrew. It exchanged 
 the frequent sibilants of the Hebrew, and 
 the other consonants which were hard to 
 pronounce, for others which were less dif 
 ficult; it dropped the long vowels which 
 were not essential to the forms of words ; 
 it preferred the more sonorous A to the 
 long 0, and assumed at the end of nouns, 
 in order to lighten the pronunciation, a 
 prolonged auxiliary vowel (the so called 
 emphatic N) ; it admitted contractions in 
 pronouncing many words, and must have 
 been, as the language of common life, far 
 better adapted to the sluggish Orientals 
 than the harsher Hebrew. See an article 
 " On the Prevalence of the Araniaoan Lan 
 guage in Palestine in the age of Christ 
 and the Apostles," by Henry F. Pfann- 
 kuche, in the Biblical Repository, vol. i. 
 pp. 318, 319. On this verse, also, comp. 
 Notes on Isa. xxxix. 7. 
 
 5. And the king appointed them. Cal 
 vin supposes that this arrangement was 
 resorted to in order to render them ef 
 feminate, and, by a course of luxurious 
 living, to induce them gradually to forget 
 their own country, and that with the 
 same view their names were changed. 
 But there is no evidence that this was the 
 object. The purpose was manifestly to 
 train them in the manner in which it was 
 supposed they would be best fitted, in 
 bodily health, in personal beauty, and in 
 intellectual attainments, to a,ppear at 
 court, and it was presumed that the best 
 style of living which the realm furnished 
 would conduce to this end. That the 
 design was not to make them effeminate, 
 is apparent from vor. 15. f A daily pro 
 vision. Hob. The thing of a day in his 
 Jay; that is, he assigned to them each 
 day a portion of what had been prepared 
 for the royal meal. It was not a per- 
 
 so nourishing them three years, 
 that at the end thereof they might 
 stand before the king. 
 
 manent provision, but one which was 
 made each day. The word rendered 
 "provision" HB path, means a bit, 
 crumb, morsel. Gen. xviii. 5 ; Judges 
 xix. 5; Ps. cxlvii. 17. ^ Of the king s 
 meat. The word meat here means food, 
 as it does uniformly in the Bible, the old 
 English word having this signification 
 when the translation was made, and not 
 being limited then, as it is now, to animal 
 
 food. The word in the original J? 
 bag, is of Persian origin, meaning food. 
 The two words are frequently compound 
 ed 12I?V path-bag (Dan. i. 5, 8, 13, 
 15, 16, xi. 26), and the compound means 
 delicate food, dainties ; literally, food of 
 the father; i. e. the king; or, according 
 to Lorsbach, in Archiv f. Morgenl. Litt. 
 II. 313, food for idols, or the gods ; in 
 either case denoting delicate food ; lux 
 urious living. Gesenius, Lex. ^ And of 
 the wine which he drank. Marg., of his 
 drink. Such wine as the king was ac 
 customed to drink. It may be presumed 
 that this was the best kind of wine. From 
 anything that appears, this was furnished 
 to them in abundance ; and with the 
 leisure which they had, they could hardly 
 be thrown into stronger temptation tc 
 excessive indulgence. f *S o nourishing 
 them three years. As long as was sup 
 posed to be necessary in order to develop 
 their physical beauty and strength, and 
 to make them well acquainted with the 
 language and learning of the Chaldeans. 
 The object Avas to prepare them to give 
 as much dignity and ornament to the 
 court as possible. ^ That at the end 
 thereof they might stand before the king. 
 Notes, ver. 4. On the arrangements made 
 to bring forward these youths, the editor 
 of the Pictorial Bible makes the follow 
 ing remarks, showing the correspondence 
 between these arrangements and what 
 usually occurs in the East : " There is not 
 a single intimation which may not be 
 illustrated from the customs of the Turk 
 ish seraglio, till some alterations were 
 made in this, as in other matters, by the 
 present Sultan [Mahmoud], The pages 
 of the seraglio, and officers of the court, 
 as well us the greater part of the public 
 
B. C. 606.J 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 93 
 
 6 Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hana- 
 
 niah, Mishael, and Azariah ; 
 
 functionaries and governors of provinces, 
 were originally Christian boys, taken cap 
 tive in war, or bought or stolen in time 
 of peace. The finest and most capable 
 of these were sent to the palace, and if 
 accepted, were placed under the charge of 
 the chief of the white eunuchs. The lads 
 did not themselves become eunuchs ; which 
 we notice because it has been erroneously 
 inferred, that Daniel and the other He 
 brew youths must have been made eunuchs, 
 because they were committed to the care 
 of the chief eunuch. The accepted lads 
 were brought up in the religion of their 
 masters; and there were schools in the 
 palace where they received such com 
 plete instruction in Turkish learning and 
 science as it was the lot of few others to 
 obtain. Among their accomplishments 
 we find it mentioned, that the greatest 
 pains were taken to teach them to speak 
 the Turkish language (a foreign one to 
 them) with the greatest purity, as spoken 
 at court. Compare this with, Teach 
 them the learning and tongue of the Chal 
 deans. The lads were clothed very 
 neatly, and well, but temperately, dieted. 
 They slept in large chambers, where 
 there were rows of beds. Every one slept 
 separately; and between every third or 
 fourth bed lay a white eunuch, who served 
 as a sort of guard, and was bound to keep 
 a careful eye upon the lads near him, and 
 report his observations to his superior. 
 When any one of them arrived at a proper 
 age they were instructed in military ex 
 ercises, and pains taken to make them 
 active, robust, and brave. Every one, 
 also, according to the custom of the 
 country, was taught some mechanical or 
 liberal art, to serve him as a resource in 
 adversity. When their education was 
 completed in all its branches, those who 
 had displayed the most capacity and 
 valour, were employed about the person 
 of the king, and the rest given to the 
 service of the treasury, and the other 
 offices of the extensive establishment to 
 which they belonged. In due time the 
 more talented or successful young men got 
 
 which give them access to the private 
 apartments of the seraglio, so that they 
 at almost any time could see and speak to 
 
 government of provinces and to military 
 commands ; and it has often happened 
 that favourite court officers have stepped 
 at once into the post of grand vizier, or 
 chief minister, and other high offices 
 of state, without having previously been 
 abroad in the world as pashas and mili 
 tary commanders. How well this agrees 
 to and illustrates the usage of the Bab 
 ylonian court, will clearly appear to the 
 reader without particular indication. See 
 Habesci s Ottoman Empire ; Tavernier s 
 Relation de 1 Interieur du Serail du 
 Grand Seigneur. " 
 
 6. Now among these were of the children 
 of Judah. That is, these were a part of 
 those who were selected. They are men 
 tioned because they became so prominent 
 in the transactions which are subsequent 
 ly recorded in this book, and because 
 they evinced such extraordinary virtue 
 in the development of the principles in 
 which they had been trained, and in the 
 remarkable trials through which they were 
 called to pass. It does not appear that 
 they are mentioned here particularly on 
 account of any distinction of birth, or 
 rank ; for though they were among the 
 noble and promising youth of the land, 
 yet it is clear that others of the same 
 rank and promise also were selected. 
 Ver. 3. The phrase "the children of 
 Judah" is only another term to denote 
 that they were Hebrews. They belonged 
 to the tribe, or the kingdom of Judah. 
 
 ^[ Daniel. This name N ji means 
 properly judge of God; that is, one who 
 acts as judge in the name of God. Why 
 this name was given to him is not known. 
 We cannot, however, fail to be struck with 
 its appropriateness, as the events of his 
 life showed. Nor is it known whether he 
 belonged to the royal family, or to the 
 nobles of the land, but as the selection 
 was made from that class it is probable. 
 Those who were at first carried into cap 
 tivity were selected exclusively from the 
 more elevated classes of society, and 
 there is every reason to believe that 
 
 promoted to the various high court offices Daniel belonged to a family of rank and 
 
 consequence. The Jews say that he was 
 of the royal family, and was descended 
 from Hezekiah, and cite his history in 
 
 their great master. This advantage soon I confirmation of the prophecy addressed 
 paved the way for their promotion to the ! by Isaiah to that monarch, " Of thy son* 
 
94 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 |B. C. 60& 
 
 7 Unto whom the prince of the 
 eunuchs gave names : for he gave 
 unto Daniel the name of a Belteshaz- 
 
 c. 4.8, 5.12. 
 
 which shall issue from thee, which thou 
 shalt beget, shall they take away; and 
 they shall bo eunuchs in the palace of 
 the king of Babylon." Isa. xxxix. 7. 
 Comp. Intro. 1. ^[ Hananiah, Mishael, 
 and Azariah. Of the rank, and early 
 history of these young men, nothing is 
 known. They became celebrated for their 
 refusal to worship the golden image set 
 up by Nebuchadnezzar. Ch. iii. 12. seq. 
 
 7. Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs 
 gave names. This practice is common in 
 Oriental courts. " The captive youths 
 referred to in the Notes on ver. 5, in the 
 Turkish court also receive new names, 
 that is, Mohammedan names, their former 
 names being Christian." P-ict. Bible. It 
 is possible that this changing of their 
 names may have been designed to make 
 them forget their country, and their re 
 ligion, and to lead thm more entirely to 
 identify themselves with the people in 
 whose service they are now to be em 
 ployed, though nothing of this is inti 
 mated in the history. Such a change, it 
 is easy to conceive, might do much to 
 make them feel that they were identified 
 with the people among whom they were 
 adopted, and to make them forget the 
 customs and opinions of their own coun 
 try. It is a circumstance which may give 
 some additional probability to this sup 
 position, that it is quite a common thing 
 now at missionary stations to give new 
 names to the children who are taken into 
 the boarding-schools, and especially the 
 names of the Christian benefactors at 
 whoso expense they are supported. Comp. 
 also Gen. xli. 45. Another reason, of the 
 same general character, for this change. 
 of names may have been, that the name 
 of the true God constituted a part of 
 their own names, and that thus they 
 were constantly reminded of him and his 
 worship. In the new names given them, 
 the appellation of some of the idols wor 
 shipped in Babylon was incorporated, and 
 this might serve as remembrancers of the 
 divinities to whose service it was doubt 
 less the intention to win them, ^f For he 
 gave unto Daniel the name Belteshazzar. 
 The name Belteshazzar vsx tftpta is 
 
 compounded of two words, and means, 
 
 zar, and to Hananiah, of Shadrach: 
 and to Mishael, of Meshach ; and to 
 Azariah, of Abed-nego. 
 
 according to Gesenius, Bel s prince , that 
 is, he whom Bel favours. Bel was the 
 principal divinity worshipped at Babylon 
 (Notes, Isa. xlvi. 1), and this name would, 
 therefore, be likely to impress the youth 
 ful Daniel with the idea that he was a 
 favourite of this divinity, and to attract 
 him to his service. It was a flattering 
 distinction that he was one of the favour 
 ites of the principal god worshipped in 
 Babylon, and this was not improbably 
 designed to turn his attention from the 
 God whose name had been incorporated 
 in his own. The giving of this name 
 seemed to imply, in the apprehension of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, that the spirit of the 
 gods was in him on whom it was conferred. 
 See ch. iv. 8, 9. ^ And to Hananiah, 
 of Shadrach. The name Hananiah 
 
 nvun __ means, "Whom Jehovah has 
 graciously given," and is the same with 
 Ananias (Gr., Avaj/taj), and would serve 
 to remind its possessor of the name of 
 Jehovah, and of his mercy. The name 
 
 Shadrach "IT!*? according to Lors- 
 bach, means young friend of the king ; ac 
 cording to Bohlen, it means rejoicing in the 
 way, and this last signification is the one 
 which Gesenius prefers. In either signifi 
 cation it would con tribute to aforgetfulness 
 of the interesting significancy of the former 
 name, and tend to obliterate the remem 
 brance of the early training in the ser 
 vice of Jehovah. ^[ And to Mishael, of 
 
 Meshach. The name Mishael V-TQ 
 means who is what God is ? from 
 S P, who, V , what, and SN , God. It would 
 thus be a remembrance of the greatness 
 of God; of his supremacy over all his 
 creatures, and of his nconiparable ex 
 altation over the universe. The significa 
 tion of the name Meshach "HP* ? is 
 less known. The Persian word means 
 ovicula, a little sheep (Gesenius), but 
 why this name was given we are not 
 informed. Might it have been on ac 
 count of his beauty, his gentleness, hia 
 lamb-like disposition ? If so, nothing 
 perhaps would be better fitted to turn 
 away the thoughts from the Great God, 
 
B. C. 606.] 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 95 
 
 8 flBut Daniel purposed in his 
 heart that ho would not defile him 
 self with the portion a of the kinj 
 
 a Pout. 32. 38 ; Ezo. 4. 13; IIos. 9. 3. 
 
 and his service, to himself, ^ And t 
 Azariah, <>f Abcd-nego. The name Azariuh 
 
 n j"l!?. means, whom Jehovah helps, 
 
 from "MJ? to help, and ^J, the same as 
 Jehovah. This name, therefore, had a 
 striking significancy, and would be a con 
 stant remembrancer of the true God, and 
 of the value of his favour and protection. 
 
 The name Abed-neno i * J 1 3 _v means, 
 a servant of Neyo, or perhaps of Nebo 
 1 2 3 . This Avord (Nebo), among the Chal 
 deans, probably denoted the planet Mer 
 cury. This planet was worshipped by 
 them, and by the Arabs, as the celestial 
 scribe, or writer. See Notes on Isa. 
 xlvi. 1. The divine worship paid to this 
 planet by the Chaldeans is attested, says 
 Gesenius, by the many compound proper 
 names of which this name forms a part; 
 as Nebuchadnezzar, Nebushasban, and 
 others mentioned in classic writers; as 
 Nabonedus, Nabonassar, Nabonabus, <tc. 
 This change of name, therefore, was de 
 signed to denote a consecration to the 
 service of this idol-god, and the change 
 was eminently adapted to make him to 
 whom it was given forget the true God to 
 whom, in earlier days, he had been 
 devoted. It was only extraordinary grace 
 which could have kept these youths in 
 the paths of their early training, and in 
 the faithful service of that God to whom 
 they had been early consecrated, amidst 
 the temptations by which they were now 
 surrounded in a foreign land, and the 
 influences which were employed to alien 
 ate them from the God of their fathers. 
 
 8. But Daniel purposed in his heart. 
 Evidently in concurrence with the youths 
 who had been selected with him. See 
 vs. 11-13. Daniel, it seems, formed this 
 as a decided purpose, and meant to carry 
 it into effect as a matter of principle, 
 though he designed to secure his object, 
 if possible, by making a request that he 
 might be allowed to pursue that course 
 (ver. 11), and wished not to give offence, 
 or to provoke opposition. What would 
 have been the result if he had not ob 
 tained permission, we know not, but the 
 probability is, that he would have thrown 
 
 meat, nor with the wine which he 
 drank : therefore he requested of the 
 prince of the eunuchs that he might 
 not defile himself. 
 
 himself upon the protection of God, as he 
 afterwards did (ch. vi.), and would have 
 done what he considered to be duty, re 
 gardless of consequences. The course 
 which he took saved him from the trial, 
 for the prince of the eunuchs was willing 
 to allow him to make the experiment, 
 ver. 14. It is always better, even where 
 there is decided principle, and a settled 
 purpose in a matter, to obtain an object 
 by a peaceful request, than to attempt to 
 secure it by violence. ^ That he would 
 not defile himself with the y>ortiftn of the 
 kiny s meat. Notes, ver. 5. The word 
 which is rendered defile himself Sx |jp> 
 from "?NJ is commonly used in con 
 nection with redemption, its first and 
 usual meaning being to redeem, to ran 
 som. In later Hebrew, however, it means, 
 to be defiled; to be polluted; to be un 
 clean. The connection between these sig 
 nifications of the word is not apparent, 
 unless, as redemption was accomplished 
 with the shedding of blood, rendering the 
 place where it was shed defiled, the idea 
 came to be permanently attached to the 
 word. The defilement here referred to 
 in the case of Daniel, probably was, that 
 by partaking of this food he might, in 
 some way, be regarded as countenancing 
 idolatry, or as lending his sanction to a 
 mode of living which was inconsistent 
 with his principles, and which was peril 
 ous to his health and morals. The Syriac 
 renders this simply, that he would not eat, 
 without implying that there would be 
 defilement, ^ Nor with the wine iclnch 
 he drank. As being contrary to his prin 
 ciples, and perilous to his morals and 
 happiness. ^[ Therefore lie requested of 
 the prince of the eunuchs that he might not 
 defile himself. That he might be per 
 mitted to abstain from the luxuries set 
 before him. It would seem from this, that 
 he represented to the prince of the 
 eunuchs the real danger which he appre 
 hended, or the real cause why he wished 
 to abstain that he would regard the use 
 of these viands as contrary to the habits 
 which he had formed ; as a violation of 
 the principles of his religion; and as, iu 
 his circumstances, wrong as well as peril 
 ous. This he presented as a request. He 
 
96 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 606. 
 
 asked it, therefore, as a favour, prefer- 
 ing to use mild and gentle means for 
 securing the object, rather than to put. 
 himself in the attitude of open resistance 
 to the wishes of the monarch. What 
 reasons influenced him to choose this 
 course, and to ask to be permitted to live 
 on a more temperate and abstemious diet, 
 we are not informed. Assuming, how 
 ever, what is apparent from the whole 
 narrative, that he had been educated in 
 the doctrines of the true religion, and in 
 the principles of temperance, it is not 
 difficult to conceive what reasons would 
 influence a virtuous youth in such circum 
 stances, and we cannot be in much dan 
 ger of error in suggesting the following : 
 (1.) It is not improbable that the food 
 which was offered him had been, in some 
 way, connected with idolatry, and that 
 his participation in it would be construed 
 as countenancing the worship of idols. 
 Cull-in. It is known that a part of the 
 animals offered in sacrifice was sold in 
 the market; and known, also, that splendid 
 entertainments were often made in honour 
 of particular idols, and on the sacrifices 
 which had been offered to them. Comp. 
 1 Cor. viii. Doubtless, also, a considerable 
 part of the food which was served up at 
 the royal table consisted of articles which, 
 by the Jewish law, were prohibited as 
 unclean. It was represented by the pro 
 phets, as one part of the evils of a cap 
 tivity in a foreign land, that the people 
 would be under a necessity of eating that 
 which was regarded as unclean. Thus, in 
 Ezekiel iv. 13 : " And the Lord said, Even 
 thus shall the children of Israel eat their 
 defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither 
 I will drive them." Hosea ix. 3 : " They 
 shall not dwell in the Lord s land, but 
 Ephraim shall return to Egypt ; and shall 
 eat unclean things in Assyria." Rosen- 
 miiller remarks on this passage (Alte u. 
 neue Morgenland, 1076), "It was cus 
 tomary among the ancients to bring a 
 portion of that which was eaten and 
 drank as an offering to the gods, as a 
 sign of thankful recognition that all which 
 men enjoy is their gift. Among the Ro 
 mans these gifts were called libamina, so 
 that with each meal there was connected 
 an act of offering. Hence Daniel and his 
 friends regarded that which was brought 
 from the royal table as food which had 
 been offered to the gods, and therefore as 
 impure." (2.) Daniel and his friends 
 were, doubtless, restrained from partaking 
 
 of the food and drink offtred to them by 
 a regard to the principles of temperance 
 in which they had been educated, and by 
 a fear of the consequences which would 
 follow from indulgence. They had evi 
 dently been trained in the ways of strict 
 temperance. But now new scenes open 
 ed to them, and new temptations were 
 before them. They were among strangers. 
 They were noticed and flattered. They 
 had an opportunity of indulging in the 
 pleasures of the table, such as captive 
 youth rarely enjoyed. This opportunity, 
 there can be no doubt, they regarded as a 
 temptation to their virtue, and as in the 
 highest degree perilous to their principles, 
 and they, therefore, sought to resist the 
 temptation. They were captives exiles 
 from their country in circumstances of 
 great depression and humiliation, and 
 they did not wish to forget that circum 
 stance. Calvin. Their land was in ruins; 
 the temple where they and their fathers 
 had worshipped had been desecrated and 
 plundered; their kindred and country 
 men were pining in exile ; everything 
 called them to a mode of life which would 
 be in accordance with these melancholy 
 facts, and they, doubtless, felt that it 
 would be in every way inappropriate for 
 them to indulge in luxurious living, and 
 revel in the pleasures of a banquet. But 
 they were also, doubtless, restrained from 
 these indulgences by a reference to the 
 dangers which would follow. It required 
 not great penetration or experience, in 
 deed, to perceive, that in their circum 
 stances young men as they were sud 
 denly noticed and honoured compliance 
 Avould be perilous to their virtue; but it 
 did require uncommon strength of prin 
 ciple to meet the temptation. Rare has 
 been the stern virtue among j r oung men 
 which could resist so strong allurements; 
 seldom, comparatively, hare those who 
 have been unexpectedly thrown, in the 
 course of events, into the temptations of 
 a great city, in a foreign land, and flatter 
 ed by the attention of those in the higher 
 walks of life, been sufficiently firm in prin 
 ciple to assert the early principles of tem 
 perance and virtue in which they may have 
 been trained. Rare has it been that a 
 youth in such circumstances would form 
 the steady purpose not to defile himself 
 by the tempting allurements set before 
 him, and that, at all hazards, he would 
 adhere to the principles in which he had 
 been educated. 
 
B.C. 606.J 
 
 CHAPTER i. 
 
 97 
 
 9 Now God had brought Daniel 
 into a favour and tender love with 
 the prince of the eunuchs. 
 
 10 And the prince of the eunuchs 
 said unto Daniel, I fear my lord 
 the king, who hath appointed your 
 
 a Gen. 39.21; Prov. 16. 7. 
 
 9. Now God had brought Daniel into 
 favour. Comp. Gen. xxxix. 21 ; Prov. 
 xvi. 7. By what means this had been 
 done is not mentioned. It may be pre 
 sumed, however, that it was by the 
 attractiveness of his person and manners, 
 and by the evidence of promising talent 
 which he had evinced. Whatever were 
 the means, however, two things are 
 worthy of notice: (1.) The effect of this 
 on the subsequent fortunes of Daniel. It 
 was to him a great advantage, that by the 
 friendship of this man he was enabled to 
 carry out the purposes of temperance and 
 religion which he had formed, without 
 coming in conflict with those who were in 
 power. (2.) God was the author of the 
 favour which was thus shown to Daniel. 
 It was by a controlling influence which 
 he exerted, that this result had been 
 secured, and Daniel traced it directly to 
 him. We may hence learn that the favour 
 of others towards us is to be traced to the 
 hand of God, and if we are prospered in 
 the world, and are permitted to enjoy the 
 friendship of those who have it in their 
 power to benefit us, though it may be on 
 account of our personal qualifications, we 
 should learn to attribute it all to God. 
 There would have been great reason to 
 apprehend beforehand, that the refusal of 
 Daniel and his companions to partake of 
 the food prepared for them would have 
 been construed as an affront offered to the 
 king, especially if it was understood to be 
 on the ground that they regarded it as 
 defilement or pollution to partake of it; 
 but God overruled it all so as to secure the 
 favour of those in power. 
 
 10. And the prince of the eunuchs said 
 unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king. He 
 was apprehensive that if Daniel appeared 
 less healthful, or cheerful, or beautiful, 
 than it was supposed he would under the 
 prescribed mode of life, it would be con 
 strued as disobedience of the commands 
 of the king on his part, and that it would 
 be inferred that the wan and emaciated 
 appearance of Daniel was caused by the 
 fact that the food which had been ordered 
 
 meat and your drink : for why 
 should he see your faces b worse 
 liking than the children which 
 are of your c sort ? then shall ye 
 make me endanger my head to the 
 king, 
 b Sadder. c Or, term, or, continuance. 
 
 had not been furnished, but had been 
 embezzled by the officer who had it in 
 charge. We have only to remember the 
 strict and arbitrary nature of Oriental 
 monarchies to see that there was just 
 grounds for the apprehensions here ex 
 pressed. 5[ For why should he see your 
 faces worse liking. Marg., sadder. The 
 Hebrew word D^fiJN means properly, 
 angry; and then morose, gloomy, sad. 
 The primary idea seems to be, that 
 of any painful, or unpleasant emotion 
 of the mind which depicts itself on 
 the countenance whether anger, sorrow, 
 envy, lowness of spirits, <fcc. Greek, 
 0<cuS/>o>7ra stern, gloomy, sad. Matt. vi. 
 16; Luke xxiv. 17. Here the reference 
 is not to the expression of angry feelings 
 in the countenance, but to the counte 
 nance as fallen away by fasting, or poor 
 living. ^ Than the children. The youths, 
 or young men. The same word is hero 
 used which occurs in ver. 4. Comp. Notes 
 on that verse. <[ Which are of your sort. 
 Marg., term, or continuance. The Hebrew 
 word here used ^ means properly, 
 a circle, or circuit; hence an age, and then 
 the men of an age, a generation. Ge- 
 scnius. The word is not used, however, 
 in the Scriptures elsewhere in this sense. 
 Elsewhere it is rendered joy, or rejoicing. 
 Job. iii. 22; Ps. xliii. 4, xlv. 15, Ixv. 12; 
 Prov. xxiii. 24 ; Isa. xvi. 10, xxxv. 2, Ixv. 
 18 ; Jer. xlviii. 33 ; Hos. ix. 1 j Joel i. 16. 
 This meaning it has from the usual sense 
 ot the verb SiJ to exult, or rejoice. 
 The verb properly means to move in a 
 circle ; then to dance in a circle ; and then 
 to exult or rejoice. The word "circle," 
 as often used now to denote those of a 
 certain class, rank, or character, would 
 accurately express the sense here. Thus 
 we speak of those in the religious circles, 
 in the social circles, <fec. The reference 
 here is to those of the same class with 
 Daniel; to wit, in the arrangements made 
 for presenting them before the king. Gr., 
 o\ivf\\iK<i u^cov of your age. ^f Then shall 
 
DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. t>06. 
 
 11 Then said Daniel to a Melzar, thee, ten days; and let them give 
 whom the prince of the eunuchs j us b pulse c to eat, and water to 
 had set over Daniel, Hananiah, drink. 
 
 13 Then let our countenances be 
 looked upon before thee, and the 
 
 b Of pulse that we may eat. c Thatweinay. 
 
 Mishael, and Azariah, 
 
 12 Prove thy servants, I beseech 
 
 a Or, the steward. 
 
 ye make me endanger my head to the king. 
 As if he had disregarded the orders given 
 him, or had embezzled what had been 
 provided for these youths, and had fur 
 nished them with inferior fare. In the 
 arbitrary courts of the East, nothing would 
 be more natural than that such an appa 
 rent failure in the performance of what 
 was enjoined would peril his life. The 
 word here used, and rendered make me 
 endanger 3^n occurs nowhere else 
 in the Bible. It means, in Piel, to 
 make guilty; to cause to forfeit. Greek, 
 KaratiKdaaTe you will condemn, or cause 
 me to be condemned. 
 
 11. Tfien said Daniel to Melzar, whom 
 the prince of the eunuchs had set over 
 Daniel, (fee. Marg. or, the steward. It is 
 not easy to determine whether the word 
 here used "VjhQ Melzar, is to be re 
 garded as a proper name, or the name of 
 an office. It occurs nowhere else, except 
 in ver. 16 of this chapter, applied to the 
 same person. Gesenius regards it as 
 denoting the name of an office in the 
 Babylonian court master of the wine, 
 chief butler. Others regard it as meaning 
 a treasurer. The word is still in use in 
 Persia. The Vulgate renders it as a 
 proper name Malasar ; and so the Syriac 
 Meshitzar; and so the Greek Apeboad 
 Amelsad. The use of the article in the 
 word "a?^ would seem to imply that 
 it denoted the name of an office, and 
 nothing would be more probable than 
 that the actual furnishing of the daily 
 portion of food would be entrusted to a 
 steward, or to some incumbent of an office 
 inferior to that sustained by Ashpenaz. 
 Ver. 3. 
 
 12. Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, 
 ten days. A period which would indicate 
 the probable result of the entire experi 
 ment. If during that period there were 
 no indications of diminished health, 
 beauty, or vigour, it would not be unfair 
 to presume that the experiment in behalf 
 of temreranoe would be successful, and it 
 would not be improper then to ask that it 
 might be continued longer. ^ And let 
 
 them give w pulse to eat. Marg. of 
 pulse that He may eat. Heb. Let them 
 give us of pulse, and we will eat The 
 word pulse with us means leguminous 
 plants with thin seeds; that is, plants 
 with a pericarp, or seed-vessel, of two 
 valves, having the seeds fixed to one 
 suture only. In popular language the 
 legume is called a pod ; as a pea-pod, or 
 Lean-pod, and the word is commonly ap 
 plied to peas or beans. The Hebrew 
 word D JTU would properly have re 
 ference to seeds of any kind from 7 ^ J 
 zara, to disperse, to scatter seed, to sow. 
 Then it would refer to plants that bear 
 seed, of all kinds, and would be by no 
 means limited to pulse as peas or beans. 
 It is rendered by Gesenius, "seed-herbs, 
 greens, vegetables; i. o. vegetable food, 
 such as was eaten in a half- fast, opposed 
 to meats and the more delicate kinds of 
 food." The word occurs only here and in 
 ver. 16. It is rendered in the Vulgate, 
 leijumina ; and in the Greek, ciTrd rcS* 
 ffnepnarwi from seeds/ It is not a 
 proper construction to limit this to pulse, 
 or to suppose that Daniel desired to live 
 solely on peas or beans, but the fair inter 
 pretation is to apply it to that which 
 grows up from seeds ; such, probably, as 
 would be sown in a garden, or, as we 
 would now express it, vegetable diet. It 
 was designed as an experiment and was 
 a very interesting one to show the legiti 
 mate effect of such a diet in promoting 
 beauty and health, and the result is 
 worthy of special notice as contrasted 
 with a more luxurious mode of life. [ And 
 water to drink. This, also, was a most 
 interesting and important experiment, to 
 show that wine was not accessary to pro 
 duce healthfulness of appearance, or 
 manly strength and beauty. It was an 
 experiment to illustrate the effect of cold 
 water as a beverage, made by an interest 
 ing group of young men, when eur. 
 rounded by great temptations, and is, 
 therefore, worthy of particular attention. 
 13. Then let our countenances be looked 
 upon, One of the objects to be secured by 
 
B. C. 606.] 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 countenance of the children that eat 
 of the portion of the king s meat : 
 and as thou seest, deal with thy 
 servants. 
 
 14 So he consented to them in this 
 matter, and proved them ten days. 
 
 15 Ai^d at the end of ten days 
 their countenances appeared fairer 
 and fatter in flesh than all the child 
 ren which did eat the portion of the 
 king s meat. 
 
 this whole trial was to promote their per 
 sonal beauty, and their healthful appear 
 ance (vs. 4, 5), and Daniel was willing 
 that the trial should be made with re 
 ference to that, and that a judgment 
 should be formed from the observed effect 
 of their temperate mode of life. The 
 Hebrew word rendered countenance 
 
 iD is not limited to the face, as the 
 word countenance is with us. It refers to 
 the whole appearance, the form, the 
 * looks / and the expression here is equiva 
 lent to, Then look on us, and see what 
 the result has been, and deal with us ac 
 cordingly. The Greek is, at iMeai i^wv 
 our appearance. ^[ Of the children. 
 Youths ; young men. Notes, ver. 4. The 
 reference is, probably, to the Chaldean 
 youths who were trained up amidst the 
 luxuries of the court. It is possible, how 
 ever, that the reference is to Hebrew 
 youths who were less scrupulous than 
 Daniel and his companions, ^f And as 
 thou seest, deal toith thy servants. As the 
 result shall be. That is, let us be pre 
 sented at court, and promoted or not, as 
 the result of our mode of living shall be. 
 What the effect would have been if there 
 had been a failure, we are not informed. 
 Whether it would have endangered their 
 lives, or whether it would have been 
 merely a forfeiture of the proffered hon 
 ours and advantages, we have no means 
 of determining. It is evident that Daniel 
 had no apprehension as to the issue. 
 
 14. So he consented to them in this mat 
 ter. Heb., he heard them in this thing. 
 The experiment was such, since it was to 
 be for so short a time, that he ran little 
 risk in the matter, as it the end of the 
 ten days he supposed that it would be 
 easy to change their mode of diet if the 
 trial was unsuccessful. 
 
 15. And at the end of ten days their 
 countenances appeared fairer. Heb., 
 good; that is, they appeared more beau 
 tiful and healthful. The experiment was 
 successful. There was no diminution of 
 beauty, of vigour, or of the usual indica 
 tions of health. One of the results of a 
 
 course of temperance appears in the coun 
 tenance, and it is among the wise ap 
 pointments of God that it should be so. 
 He has so made us, that while the other 
 parts of the body may be protected 
 from the gaze of men, it is necessary 
 that the face should be exposed. Hence 
 he has made the countenance the prin 
 cipal seat of expression, for the chief 
 muscles which indicate expression have 
 their location there. See the valuable 
 work of Sir Charles Bell on " The 
 Anatomy of Expression." London, 1844. 
 Hence there are certain marks of guilt 
 and vice which always are indicated in 
 the countenance. God has so made us 
 that the drunkard and the glutton must 
 proclaim their own guilt and shame. The 
 bloated face, the haggard aspect, the look 
 of folly, the "heaviness of the eye, the 
 disposition to squint, and to see double, 
 and a forcible elevation of the eyebrow to 
 counteract the dropping of the upper eye 
 lid, and preserve the eyes from closing," 
 are all marks which God has appointed 
 to betray and expose the life of indul 
 gence. Arrangements are made for theso 
 expressions in the very anatomy of the 
 face, and no art of man can prevent it. 
 Bell, on the Anatomy of Expression, p. 
 106. God meant that if man would be 
 intemperate he should himself proclaim it 
 to the world, and that his fellow-men 
 should be apprized of his guilt. This was 
 intended to be one of the safeguards of 
 virtue. The young man who will be in 
 temperate knows what the result must be. 
 He is apprized of it in the loathsome 
 aspect of every drunkard whom he meets. 
 He knows that if he yields himself to in 
 dulgence in intoxicating drink, he must 
 soon proclaim it himself to the wide world. 
 No matter how beautiful, or fresh, or 
 blooming, or healthful, he may now be ; 
 no matter how bright the eye, or ruddy 
 the cheek, or eloquent the tongue, the 
 eye, and the cheek, and the tongue, will 
 soon become indices of his manner of 
 life, and the loathsomeness and offensive- 
 ness of the once beautiful and blooming 
 
100 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 606. 
 
 16 Thus Melzar took away the 
 portion of their meat, and the wine 
 
 countenance must pay the penalty of his 
 folly. And in like manner, and for the 
 same reason, the countenance is an indi 
 cation of temperance and purity. The 
 bright and steady eye, the blooming 
 cheek, the lips that eloquently or grace 
 fully utter the sentiments of virtue, pro 
 claim the purity of the life, and are the 
 natural indices to our fellow men that we 
 live in accordance with the great and 
 benevolent laws of our nature, and are 
 among the rewards of temperance and 
 virtue. 
 
 16. Thus Melzar tools aieay the portion 
 of their meat, &c. Doubtless permanently. 
 The experiment had been satisfactory, 
 and it was inferred that if the course of 
 temperance could be practised for ten 
 days without unhappy results, there would 
 be safety in suffering it to be continued. 
 We may remark on this : I. That the ex 
 periment was a most important one, not 
 only for the object then immediately in 
 view, but for furnishing lessons of per 
 manent instruction adapted to future 
 times. It was worth one such trial, and 
 it was desirable to have one such illustra 
 tion of the effect of temperance recorded. 
 There are so strong propensities in our 
 nature to indulgence; there are so many 
 temptations set before the young; there 
 is so much that allures in a luxurious 
 mode of life, and so much of conviviality 
 and happiness is supposed to be connected 
 with the social glass, that it was well to 
 have a fair trial made, and that the result 
 should be recorded for the instruction of 
 "uture times. II. It was especially de- 
 -..rable that the experiment should be 
 made of the effect of strict abstinence 
 from the use of wine. Distilled liquors 
 were indeed then unknown ; but alcohol, 
 the intoxicating principle in all ardent 
 spirits, then existed, as it does now, in 
 wine, and was then, as it is now, of the 
 same nature as when found in other sub 
 stances. It was in the use of wine that 
 the principal danger of intemperance then 
 lay; and it may be added, that in refer 
 ence to a very large class of persons of 
 both sexes, it is in the use of wine that 
 the principal danger always lies. There 
 are multitudes, especially of young men, 
 who are in little or no danger of becoming 
 intemperate from the use of the stronger 
 
 that they should drink ; and gave 
 them pulse. 
 
 kinds of intoxicating drinks. They would 
 never begin with them. But the use of 
 wine is so respectable in the view of the 
 upper classes of society; it is deemed so 
 essential to the banquet; it constitutes so 
 much, apparently, a mark of distinction, 
 from the fact that ordinarily only the 
 rich can afford to indulge in it; its use is 
 regarded extensively as so proper for even 
 refined and delicate females, and is so 
 often sanctioned by their participating in 
 it; it is so difficult to frame an argument 
 against it that will be decisive ; there is so 
 much that is plausible that may be said 
 in favour or in justification of its use, and 
 it is so much sanctioned by the ministers of 
 religion, and by those of influence in the 
 churches, that one of the principal dangers 
 of the young arises from the temptation 
 to indulgence in wine, and it was well 
 that there should be a fair trial of the com 
 parative benefit of total abstinence. A 
 trial could scarcely have been made un 
 der better circumstances than in the case 
 before us. There was every inducement 
 to indulgence which is ever likely to 
 occur ; there was as much to make it a 
 mere matter of principle to abstain from 
 it as can be found now in any circum 
 stances, and the experiment was as tri 
 umphant and satisfactory as could be 
 desired. III. The result of the experi 
 ment, (a) It was complete and satisfac 
 tory. More was accomplished in the 
 matter of the trial by abstinence than by 
 indulgence. Those who abstained were 
 more healthful, more beautiful, more 
 vigorous than the others. And there was 
 nothing miraculous nothing that occur 
 red in that case which docs not occur in 
 similar cases. Sir J. Chardin remarks, 
 respecting those whom he had seen in the 
 East, " that the countenances of the 
 kechicks [monks] are in fact more rosy 
 and smooth than those of others ; and that 
 those who fast much, I mean the Arme 
 nians and the Greeks, are, notwithstand 
 ing, very beautiful, sparkling wit 1 * health, 
 with a clear and lively countenance." 
 He also takes notice of the very great 
 abstemiousness of the Brahmins in the 
 Indies, who lodge on the ground, abstain 
 from music, from all sorts of agreeable 
 smells, who go very meanly clothed, are 
 almost always wet, either by going intc 
 
B.C. 606.] 
 
 CHAPTBK I. 
 
 101 
 
 water, or by rain, "yet," says he, " I have 
 Been also many of them very handsome 
 and healthful." Haruiar s Observa. ii. 
 pp. 112, 113. (b) The experiment has 
 often, been made, and with equal success, 
 in modern times, and especially since the 
 commencement of the temperance re 
 formation, and an opportunity has been 
 given of furnishing the most decisive 
 proofs of the effects of temperance in con 
 trast with indulgence in the use of wine, 
 and of other intoxicating drinks. This 
 experiment has been made on a wide 
 scale, and with the same result. It is 
 demonstrated, as in the case of Daniel, 
 that " MORE" will be secured of that which 
 men are so anxious usually to obtain, and 
 of that which it is desirable to obtain, than 
 can be by indulgence. (1.) There will be 
 "more" beauty of personal appearance. 
 Indulgence in intoxicating drinks leaves 
 its traces on the countenance the skin, 
 the eye, the nose, the whole expression 
 as God meant it should. See Notes on 
 ver. 15. No one can hope to retain beauty 
 of complexion or countenance who in 
 dulges freely in the use of intoxicating 
 drinks. (2.) "More" clearness of mind 
 and intellectual vigour can be secured by 
 abstinence than by indulgence. It is true 
 that, as was often the case with Byron 
 and Burns, stimulating drinks may excite 
 the mind to brilliant temporary efforts ; 
 but the effect soon ceases, and the mind 
 makes a compensation for its over-worked 
 powers by sinking down below its proper 
 level as it had been excited above. It 
 will demand a penalty in the exhausted 
 energies, and in the incapacity for even its 
 usual efforts, and unless the exhausting 
 stimulus be again applied, it cannot rise 
 even to its usual level, and when often 
 applied, the mind is divested of all its 
 elasticity and vigour : the physical frame 
 loses its power to endure the excitement; 
 and the light of genius is put out, and the 
 body sinks to the grave. He who wishes 
 to make the most of his mind in the long 
 run, whatever genius he may be endowed 
 with, will be a temperate man. His 
 powers will be retained uniformly at a 
 higher elevation, and they will maintain 
 their balance and their vigour longer. 
 (3.) The same is true in regard to every 
 thing which requires vigour of body. 
 The Roman soldier, who carried his eagle 
 around the world, and who braved the 
 dangers of every ciime equally bold and 
 vigorous, and hardy, and daring amidst 
 9* 
 
 polar snows, and the burning sands of the 
 equator, was a stranger to intoxicating 
 drinks. He was allowed only vinegai 
 and water, and his extraordinary vigoui 
 was the result of the most abstemious 
 fare. The wrestlers in the Olympiac and 
 I&thmian games, who did as much to give 
 suppleness, vigour, and beauty to the 
 body, as could be done by the most care 
 ful training, abstained from the use of 
 wine and all that would enervate. Since 
 the temperance reformation commenced in 
 this land, the experiment has been made 
 in every way possible, and it has been 
 settled that a man will do more work, and 
 do it better; that he can bear more 
 fatigue, can travel farther, can better 
 endure the severity of cold in the winter, 
 and of toil in the heat of summer, by 
 strict temperance, than he can if he in 
 dulges in the use of intoxicating drinks. 
 Never was the result of an experiment 
 more uniform than this has been ; never 
 has there been a case where the testimony 
 of those who have had an opportunity of 
 witnessing it, was more decided and 
 harmonious; never was there a question 
 in regard to the effect of a certain course 
 on health in which the testimony of phy 
 sicians have been more uniform; and 
 never has there been a question in regard 
 to the amount of labour which a man 
 could do, on which the testimony of re 
 spectable farmers, and master mechanics, 
 and overseers of public works, could be 
 more decided. (4) The full force of these 
 remarks about temperance in general, 
 applies to the use of wine. It was in 
 respect to m nc that the experiment before 
 us was made, and it is this which gives it, 
 in a great degree, its value and import 
 ance. Distilled spirits were then un 
 known, but it was of importance that a 
 fair experiment should be made of the 
 effect of abstinence from wine. The great 
 danger of intemperance, taking the world 
 at large, has been, and is still, from the 
 use of wine. This danger affects par 
 ticularly the upper classes in society, and 
 young men. It is by the use of wine, in 
 a great majority of instances, that the 
 peril commences, and that the habit of 
 drinking is formed. Let it be remem 
 bered, also, that the intoxicating princi 
 ple is the same in wine as in any other 
 drink that produces intemperance. It is 
 alcohol the same substance precisely, 
 whether it be driven off by heat from 
 wine, beer, or cider, and condensed by 
 
102 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 606. 
 
 17 As for these four children, 
 God gave them knowledge and skill 
 in all learning and wisdom : and 
 
 distillation, or whether it remain in these 
 liquids without being distilled. It is 
 neither more or less intoxicating in one 
 form than it is in the other. It is only 
 more condensed and concentrated in one 
 case than in the other; better capable of 
 preservation, and more convenient for 
 purposes of commerce. Every principle, 
 therefore, which applies to the temperance 
 cause at all applies to the use of wine ; 
 and every consideration derived from 
 health, beauty, vigour, length of days, 
 reputation, property, or salvation, which 
 should induce a young man to abstain 
 from ardent spirits at all should induce 
 him to abstain, as Daniel did, from the 
 use of wine. 
 
 17. As for these four children. On the 
 word children, see Notes on ver. 4. Comp. 
 ver. 6. 5[ @d ff ave them knowledge and 
 skill. See Notes on ver. 9. There is no 
 reason to suppose that in the "knowledge 
 and skill" here referred to, it is meant to 
 be implied that there was anything 
 miraculous, or that there was any direct 
 inspiration. Inspiration was evidently 
 confined to Daniel, and pertained to what 
 is spoken of under the head of "visions 
 and dreams." The fact that all this was 
 to be attributed to God as his gift, is in 
 accordance with the common method of 
 speaking in the Scriptures ; and it is also 
 in accordance with fact, that all know 
 ledge is to be traced to God. See Ex. 
 xxxi. 2, 3. God formed the intellect; he 
 preserves the exercise of reason ; he fur 
 nishes us instructors ; he gives us clear 
 ness of perception ; he enables us to take 
 advantage of bright thoughts and happy 
 suggestions which occur in our own 
 minds, as much as he sends rain, and 
 dew, and sunshine on the fields of the 
 husbandman, and endows him with skill. 
 Comp. Isa. xxviii. 26, " For his God doth 
 instruct him." The knowledge and skill 
 which we may acquire, therefore, should 
 be as much attributed to God as the suc 
 cess of the farmer should. Comp. Job 
 xxxii. 8, " For there is a spirit in man, 
 and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth 
 them understanding." In the case before 
 us, there is no reason to doubt that the 
 natural powers of these young men had 
 been diligently applied during the three 
 
 a Daniel had understanding in all 
 visions and dreams. 
 
 a Or, he made Daniel understand. 
 
 years of their trial (ver. 5), and under tho 
 advantages of a strict course of tem 
 perance, and that the knowledge here 
 spoken of was the result of such an appli 
 cation to their studies. On the meaning 
 of the words "knowledge" and "skill" 
 here, see Notes on ver. 4. ^[ In all learn 
 ing, and wisdom. See also Notes on ver. 4. 
 |f And Daniel had understanding. Show 
 ing that in that respect there was a 
 special endowment in his case ; a kind of 
 knowledge imparted which could be com 
 municated only by special inspiration. 
 The margin is, he made Daniel under 
 stand. The margin is in accordance with 
 the Hebrew, but the sense is the same. 
 ^[ In all visions. On the word rendered 
 visions prn , se e Notes on Isa. i. 1, 
 and Intro, to Isaiah, $ 7, -(4). It is a 
 term frequently employed in reference to 
 prophecy, and designates the usual method 
 by which future events were made known. 
 The prophet was permitted to see those 
 events as if they were made to pass 
 before the eye, and to describe them as if 
 they were objects of sight. Here the 
 word seems to be used to denote all super 
 natural appearances; all that God per 
 mitted him to see that in any way 
 shadowed forth the future. It would 
 seem that men who were not inspired 
 were permitted occasionally to behold 
 such supernatural appearances, though 
 they were not able to interpret them. 
 Thus their attention would be particularly 
 called to them, and they would be pre 
 pared to admit the truth of what the 
 interpreter communicated to them. Comp. 
 ch. iv., ch. v. 5, 6 ; Gen. xl. 5, xli. 1-7. 
 Daniel was so endowed that he could in 
 terpret the meaning of these mysterious 
 appearances, and thus convey important 
 messages to men. The same endowment 
 had been conferred on Joseph when in 
 Egypt. See the passages referred to in 
 Genesis. ^ And dreams. One of the 
 ways by which the will of God waa 
 anciently communicated to men. See 
 Intro, to Isaiah, $ 7, (2), and Notes on 
 Job xxxiii. 14-18. Daniel, like Joseph 
 before him, was supernaturally endowed 
 to explain these messages which Go 
 sent to men, or to unfold these preintima- 
 
B. C. 60S.] 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 103 
 
 18 Now at the end of the days that the 
 king had said he should bring them in, 
 then the prince of the eunuchs brought 
 them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 19 And the king communed with them ; 
 and among them all was found none like 
 
 * 1 Kings 10. 13 ; Ps. 119, 99. b Of. 
 
 tions of coming events. This was a kind 
 of knowledge which the Chaldeans par 
 ticularly sought, and on which they espe 
 cially prided themselves, and it was im 
 portant, in order to " stain the pride of 
 all human glory," and to make " the wis 
 dom of the wise" in Babylon to be seen 
 to be comparative " folly," to endow one 
 man from the land of the prophets in the 
 most ample manner with this knowledge, 
 as it was important to do the same thing 
 at the court of Pharaoh by the superior 
 endowments of Joseph. Gen. xli. 8. 
 
 18. Now at the end of the days, <tc. 
 After three years. See ver. 5. [ The 
 
 S-ince of the eunuchs brought them in. 
 aniel, his three friends, and the others 
 who had been selected and trained for the 
 same purpose. 
 
 19. And the king communed with than. 
 Heb. spake with them. Probably he 
 conversed with them on the points which 
 had constituted the principal subjects of 
 their studies ; or he examined them. It 
 is easy to imagine that this must have 
 been to these young men a severe ordeal. 
 ^[ And among them all was found none 
 like Daniel, &c. Daniel and his three 
 friends had pursued a course of strict 
 temperance ; they had come to their daily 
 task with clear heads and pure hearts 
 free from the oppression and lethargy of 
 surfeit, and the excitement of wine ; they 
 had prosecuted their studies in the enjoy 
 ment of fine health, and with the buoy- 
 ousness and elasticity of spirit produced 
 by temperance, and they now showed tho 
 result of such a course of training. Young 
 men of temperance, other things being 
 equal, Avill greatly surpass others in their 
 preparation for the duties of life in any 
 profession or calling. ^[ Therefore stood 
 they before the king. It is not said, indeed, 
 that the others were not permitted also 
 to stand before the monarch, but the 
 object of the historian is to trace the 
 means by which these youths rose to such 
 eminence and virtue. It is clear, how 
 ever, that whatever may have been the 
 result on the others, the historian means 
 to say that these young men rose to 
 
 Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: 
 therefore stood they before the king. 
 
 20 And * in all matters of wisdom *and 
 understanding, that the king inquired of 
 them, he found them ten times better than 
 all the magicians and astrologers that were 
 in all his realm. 
 
 higher eminence than they did, and were 
 permitted to stand nearer the throne. 
 The phrase " stood before the king," is 
 one which denotes elevated rank. They 
 were employed in honourable offices at 
 the court, and received peculiar marks of 
 the royal favour. 
 
 20. And in all matters of wisdom and 
 understanding. Marg. of. The Hebrew 
 is, Everything of wisdom of understand 
 ing. The Greek, * In all things of wis 
 dom and knowledge. The meaning is, 
 in everything which required peculiar 
 wisdom to understand and explain it. The 
 points submitted were such as would ap 
 propriately come before the minds of the 
 sages and magicians who were employed 
 as counsellors at court. ^ He found them 
 ten times better. Better counsellors ; bet 
 ter informed. Heb. ton hands above 
 the magicians; that is, ten times, or 
 many times. In this sense the word ten 
 is used in Gen. xxxi. 7. 41 ; Num. xiv. 
 22 ; Neh. iv. 12 ; Job xix. 3. They greatly 
 surpassed them. ^ Than all the magi 
 cians. Gr. roijf 7raoi<5o{if. The Greek 
 word means those singing to ; then those 
 who propose to heal the sick by singing; 
 then those who practice magical arts or 
 incantations particularly with the idea of 
 charming with songs; and then those who 
 accomplish anything surpassing human 
 power by mysterious and supernatural 
 means. Passow. The Hebrew word 
 a DS^n hhartummim occurs only in the 
 following places in the Scriptures, in all 
 of which it is rendered magicians, Gen. 
 xli. 8, 24; Ex. vii. 11, 22, vii. 7 (3), 18 (14), 
 19 (15), ix. 11; Dan. i. 22, ii. 2. From 
 this it appears that it applied only to the 
 magicians in Egypt and in Babylon, and 
 doubtless substantially the same class of 
 persons is referred to. It is found only 
 in the plural number, perhaps implying 
 that they formed companies, or that they 
 were always associated together, so that 
 different persons performed different parts 
 in their incantations. The word is defined 
 by Gesenius to mean, "Sacred scribes, 
 skilled in the sacred writings or hiero- 
 
104 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 603 
 
 glyphics tepoypapijiartis a class of Egyp 
 tian priests." It is, according to him 
 (Lex.), of Hebrew origin, and is derived 
 fromB?n, hhcret, stylus an instrument 
 of writing, and D formative. It is not 
 improbable, he suggests, that the He 
 brews with these letters imitated a similar 
 Egyptian word. Prof. Stuart (in Joe.) 
 says that the word would be correctly 
 translated pen-men, and supposes that it 
 originally referred to those who were 
 " busied with books and writing, and 
 skilled in them." It is evident that the 
 word is not of Persian origin, since it 
 was used in Egypt long before it occurs 
 in Daniel. A full and very interesting 
 account of the Magians and their reli 
 gion may be found in Creuzer, Mytliologie 
 und Symbolik, i. pp. 187-234. Herodotus 
 mentions the Magi as a distinct people, 
 i. 101. The word Mag or Mog (whence 
 the piiyoi magoi, of the Greeks, and 
 the magi of the Romans), means properly 
 a priest ; and at a very early period the 
 names Chaldeans and Magi were inter 
 changeable, and both were regarded as of 
 the same class. Creuzer, i. 187, note. 
 They were doubtless, at first, a class of 
 priests among the Medes and Persians, 
 who were employed, among other things, 
 in the search for wisdom ; who were con 
 nected with heathen oracles ; who claimed 
 acquaintance with the will of the gods, 
 and who professed to have the power, 
 therefore, of making known future events, 
 by explaining dreams, visions, preter 
 natural appearances, &c. The Magi form 
 ed one of the six tribes into which the 
 Medes were formerly divided (Herodotus, 
 i. 101), but on the downfall of the Median 
 empire, they continued to retain at the 
 court of the conqueror a great degree of 
 power and authority. " The learning of 
 the Magi was connected Avith astrology 
 and enchantment, in which they were so 
 celebrated that their name was applied 
 to all orders of magicians and enchanters." 
 Anthon, Class. Die. These remarks may 
 explain the reason why the word magician 
 comes to be applied to this class of men, 
 though we are not to suppose that the 
 persons referred to in Genesis and Ex 
 odus, under the appellation of the Hebrew 
 name there given to them (O Etyvi), or 
 those found in Babylon, referred to in the 
 passage before us, to whom the same 
 name is applied, were of that class of 
 t.rirsty. The name magi, or magician, 
 
 was so extended as to embrace all wht 
 made pretensions to the kind of know, 
 ledge for which the magi were distinguish-, 
 ed, and hence caiae also to be synonymous 
 with the Chaldeans, who were also cele 
 brated for this. Comp. Notes on ch. ii. 2. 
 In the passage before us, it cannot be 
 determined with certainty that the per 
 sons were of Magian origin, though it is 
 possible, as in ch. ii. 2, they are dis- 
 tinguished from the Chaldeans. All that 
 is certainly meant is, that they were per 
 sons who laid claim to the power of 
 diving into future events; of explaining 
 mysteries ; of interpreting dreams ; of 
 working by enchantments, &c. ^[ And 
 astrologers. O^rxn. This word is ren 
 dered by the LXX, ^uyovj magians. So, 
 also, in the Vulgate magos. The English 
 word astrologer denotes "one who pro 
 fesses to foretell future events by the 
 aspects and situation of the stars." Web 
 ster. The Hebrew word ^N ac 
 cording to Gesenius, means enchanters, 
 magicians. It is derived, probably, from 
 the obsolete root T^> to cover, to con 
 ceal, and refers to those who were de 
 voted to the practice of occult arts, and to 
 the cultivation of recondite and cabalistic 
 sciences. It is supposed by some philo 
 logists to have given rise, by dropping the 
 initial N, to the Greek ao/oj, icise, wise 
 man, and the Persian Sophi, an epithet 
 of equivalent import. See Gesenius on 
 the word, and comp. Bush on Dan. ii. 2. 
 The word is found only in Daniel, ch. i. 
 20, ii. 2, 10, 27, iy. 7 (4), v. 7, 11, 15, in 
 every instance rendered astrologer, and 
 astrologers. There is no evidence, how 
 ever, that the science of astrology enters 
 into the meaning of the word, or that 
 the persons referred to attempted to 
 practice divination by the aid of the 
 stars. It is to be regretted that the term 
 astrologer should have been employed in 
 our translation, as it conveys an intima 
 tion which is not found in the original. 
 It is, indeed, in the highest degree pro 
 bable, that a part of their pretended wis 
 dom consisted in their ability to cast the 
 fates of men by the conjunctions and op 
 position of the stars, but this is not neces 
 sarily implied in the word. Prof. Stuart 
 renders it inchanters. *[/ ail his realm 
 Not only in the capital, but throughout 
 the kingdom. These arts were doubt 
 less practised extensively elsewhere, but 
 it is probable that the most skilful 
 
B.C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER i. 
 
 105 
 
 21 And Daniel continued a even 
 
 a Ch. 6. 28, 10. 1. Ho lived to see that glo 
 rious time of the return of his people from the 
 
 unto the first year of king Cyrus. 
 
 Babylonian captivity, though he did not die 
 then. So t> ll is used. Ps. 110. 1, 112. 8. 
 
 in them would be assembled at the 
 capital. 
 
 21. And Daniel continued even unto 
 the first year of king Cyrus. When the 
 proclamation was issued by him to re 
 build the temple at Jerusalem. Ezra. i. 1. 
 That is, he continued in influence and 
 authority, at different times, dui ing that 
 period, and, of course, during the whole 
 of the seventy year s captivity. It is not 
 necessarily implied that he did not live 
 longer, or even that he ceased then to 
 have influence and authority at court, but 
 the object of the writer is to show that, 
 
 during that long and eventful period, he 
 occupied a station of influence, until the 
 captivity was accomplished, and the royal 
 order was issued for rebuilding the tem 
 ple. He was among the first of the cap 
 tives that were taken to Babylon, and he 
 lived to see the end of the captivity " the 
 joyful day of Jewish freedom." Prof. 
 Stuart. It is commonly believed that 
 when the captives returned, he remained 
 in Chaldea, probably detained by his high 
 employments in the Persian empire, and 
 that he died either at Babylon or at 
 Shusan. Comp. the Intro. 1. 
 
 PRACTICAL REMARKS. 
 
 In view of the exposition given of this chapter, the following remarks may be made : 
 (1.) There is in every period of the world, and in every place, much obscure and buried talent 
 that might be cultivated and brought to light, as there arc many gems in earth and ocean 
 that are yet undiscovered. Notes on vs. 1-4. "Among these captive youths prisoners of war 
 in a foreign land, and as yet unknown, there was most rich and varied talent talent that was 
 destined yet to shine at the court of the most magnificent monarchy of the ancient world, and 
 to be honoured as among the brightest that the world has seen. And so in all places, and at all 
 times, there is much rich and varied genius, which might shine with great brilliancy, and per 
 form important public services, if it were cultivated, and allowed to develop itself on the great 
 theatre of human affairs. Thus in obscure rural retreats there may be bright gems of intellect ; 
 in the low haunts of vice there may be talent that would charm the world by the beauty of 
 song, or the power of eloquence; among slaves there may be mind which, if emancipated, would 
 take its place in the brightest constellations of genius. The great endowments of Moses as a 
 lawgiver, a prophet, a profound statesman, sprang from an enslaved people, as those of Daniel 
 did ; and it is not too much to say that the brightest talent of the earth has been found in places 
 of great obscurity, ajid where, but for some remarkable dispensation of Providence, it might 
 have remained for ever unknown. This thought has been immortalized by Gray : 
 
 "Full many a gem of\ urest ray serene, 
 
 The dark unfathonled caves of ocean bear; 
 
 Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
 
 And waste its sweetness on the desert air. 
 
 " Some village Ilampden that with dauntless breast 
 
 The little tyrant of the fields withstood ; 
 Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest; 
 Some Cromwell guiltless of his country s blood." 
 
 There is at any time on the earth talent enough created for all that there is to be done in any 
 generation; and ther^ is always enough for talent to accomplish if it were employed in the pur 
 poses for which it wa8 oii n inally adapted. There need be at no time any wasted or unoccupied 
 miiiu ; and there need be no great and good plan that should fail for the want of talent fitted to 
 accomplish it if that which actually exists on the earth were called into action. 
 
 (2.) He does a great service to the world who seeks out such talent, and gives it an oppor 
 tunity to accomplish what it is fitted to, by furnishing it the means of an education. Ver. 3. 
 Nebuchadncz/.ar unconsciously, and doubtless undesignedly, did a great service to mankind by 
 his purpose to seek out the talent of the Hebrew captives, and giving it an opportunity to ex 
 pand, and to ripen into usefulness. Daniel has taken his place among the prophets and states 
 men of the world as a man of rare endowments, and of equally rare integrity of character. He 
 has, under the leading of the divine Spirit, done more than most other prophets to lift the mys 
 terious veil which shrouds the future; more than could have been done by the penetrating 
 sagacity of all the Burkes, the Cannings, and the Metternichs of the world. So far as human 
 appearances go, all this might have remained in obscurity, if it had not been for the pur 
 pose of the Chaldean monarch to bring forward into public notice the obscure talent which lay 
 hid among the Hebrew captives. He always does a good service to mankind who seeks out 
 bright and promising genius, and who gives it the opportunity of developing itself with ad- 
 7ntago on the great theatre of human affairs. 
 
106 D A N I E L. [B. C. 603. 
 
 (3.) We cannot but admire the arrangements of Providence by >hich this was done. Notes 
 on vs. 1-4. This occurred in connection with the remarkable purpose of a heathen monarch a 
 man who, perhaps more than any other heathen ruler, has furnished an illustration of th 
 truth that " the king s heart is in the hand of the Lord." That purpose was, to raise to emi 
 nence and influence the talent that might be found among the Hebrew captives. There can bo 
 no doubt that the hand of God was in this ; that there was a secret divine influence on his 
 mind, unknown to him. which secured this result ; and that while he was aiming at one result, 
 God was designing to secure another. There was thus a double influence on his mind : (1.) that 
 which arose from the purpose of the monarch himself, originated by considerations of policy, or 
 contemplating the aggrandizement and increased splendour of his court ; and (2.) the secret 
 and silent influence of God, shaping the plans of the monarch to the ends which He, had in view. 
 Comp. Notes on Isa. x. 5, seq. 
 
 (4.) As it is reasonable to suppose that these young men had been trained up in the 
 strict principles of religion and temperance (vs. 8-12), the case before us furnishes an 
 interesting illustration of the temptations to which those who are early trained in the 
 ways of piety are often exposed. Every effort seems to have been made to induce them to 
 abandon the principles in which they had been educated, and there was a strong proba 
 bility that those efforts would be successful, (a) They were among strangers, far away from 
 the homes of their youth, and surrounded by the allurements of a great city. (6) Everything 
 was done which could be done to induce them to forget their own land, and the religion of their 
 fathers, (c) They were suddenly brought into distinguished notice; they attracted the atten 
 tion of the great, and had the prospect of associating with princes and nobles in the most mag 
 nificent court on earth. They had been selected on account of their personal beauty and their 
 intellectual promise, and were approached, therefore, in a form of temptation to which youths 
 are commonly most sensitive, and to which they are commonly most liable to yield, (d) They 
 were far away from the religious institutions of their country; from the public services of tho 
 sanctuary; from the temple; and from all those influences which had been made to bear upon 
 them in early life. It was a rare virtue which could, in these circumstances, withstand the 
 power of such temptations. 
 
 (5.) Young men, trained in the-ways of religion, and in the habits of temperance, are often 
 now exposed to similar temptations. They visit the cities of a foreign country, or the cities in 
 their own land. They are surrounded by strangers. They are far away from the sanctuary to 
 which in early life they were conducted by their parents, and in which they were taught tho 
 truths of religion. The eye of that unslumbering vigilance which was upon them in their own 
 land, or in the country neighbourhood where their conduct was known to all, is now withdrawn. 
 No one will know it if they visit the theatre ; no one will see them who will make report if they 
 are found in the gambling-room, or the place of dissipation. In those new scenes, new temp 
 tations are around them. They may be noticed, flattered, caressed. They may be invited to 
 places by the refined and the fashionable, from which, when at home, they would have recoiled. 
 Or it may be, prospects of honour and affluence may open upon them, and in the whirl of 
 business or pleasure, they may be under the strongest temptations to forget the lessons of early 
 virtue, and to abandon the principles of the religion in which they were trained. Thousands of 
 young men are ruined in circumstances similar to those in which these youths were placed in 
 Babylon, and amidst temptations much less formidable than those which encompassed them ; and 
 it is a rare virtue which makes a young man safe amidst the temptations to which he is ex 
 posed in a great city, or in a distant land. 
 
 (6.) We have in this chapter an instructive instance of the value of early training in the prin 
 ciples of religion and temperance. There can be no doubt thr; these young men owed theii 
 safety and their future success wholly to this. Parents, theufore, should be encouraged to 
 train their sons in the strictest principles of religion and virtue. Seed thus sown will not be 
 lost. In a distant land ; far away from home, from a parent s eye, from the sanctuary of God; 
 in the midst of temptations, when surrounded by flatterers, by the gay and by the irreligious, 
 such principles will be a safeguard to them which nothing else can secure, and will save them 
 when otherwise they would be engulphed in the vortex of irrcligion and dissipation. The best 
 service which a parent can render to a son, is to imbue his mind thoroughly with the princi 
 ples of temperance and religion. 
 
 (7.) We may gee tb value of a purpose of entire abstinence from the use of wine. Ver. 8. 
 Puiiiel resolved that he would not make use of it as a beverage. His purpose, it would seem, 
 was decided, though he meant to accomplish it by mild and persuasive means if possible. There 
 were good reasons for the formation of such a purpose then, and those reasons are not less 
 weighty now. He never had occasion to regret tho formation of such a purpose; nor has any 
 one who has formed a similar resolution ever had occasion to regret it. Among the reasons for 
 the formation of such a resolution, the following may be suggested: (1.) A fixed resolution in 
 regard to the course which one will pursue; to the kind of life which he will live; to the prin 
 ciples on which he will act, is of inestimable value in a young man. Our confidence in a man is 
 just in proportion as we have evidence that he has formed a steady purpose of virtue, and that 
 he has sufficient strength of resolution to keep it. (2.) The same reasons exist for adopting a 
 resolution of abstinence in regard to the use of wine, which exist for adopting it in relation to 
 the use of ardent spirits ; for (a) The intoxicating principle in wine or other fermented liquors is 
 precisely the same as in ardent spirits. It is the result of fermentation, not of distillation, and 
 undergoes no change by distillation. The only effect of that chemical process, is to drive it off 
 by heat, condense, and collect it in a form better adapted to commerce or to preservation, but 
 
B. 0. 603.] C H A P T E R I. 107 
 
 the alcoholic principle is precisely the same in wine as in distilled liquors. (6) Intoxication 
 itself is the same thing, whether produced hy fermented liquors or by distilled spirits. It pro 
 duces the same effect on the body, on the mind, on the affections. A man who becomes intoxi 
 cated on vrine as he easily may is in precisely the same condition, so far as intoxication ig 
 produced, as he who becomes intoxicated on distilled liquors, (c) There is the same kind of 
 danger of becoming intemperate in the use of the one as of the other. The man who habitu 
 ally uses wine is as certainly in danger of becoming a drunkard, as he who indulges in the 
 use of distilled liquors. The danger, too, arises from the same source. It arises from the fact, 
 that he who indulges once will feel induced to indulge again; that a strong and peculiar 
 craving is produced for stimulating liquors ; that the body is left in such a state that it 
 demands a repetition of the stimulus; that it is a law in regard to indulgence in this kind 
 of drinks, that an increased quantity is demanded to meet the exhausted state of the system; 
 and that the demand goes on in this increased ratio until there is no power of control, and 
 the man becomes a confirmed inebriate. All these laws operate in regard to the use of "wine 
 as really as to the use of any other intoxicating drinks ; and, therefore, there is the same reason 
 for the adoption of a resolution to abstain from all alike, (d) The temptations are often greater 
 in relation to wine than to any other kind of intoxicating drinks. There is a large class of persons 
 in the community who are in comparatively little danger of becoming intemperate from any 
 other cause than this. This remark applies particularly to young men of wealth ; to those who 
 move in the more elevated circles ; to those who are in college, and to those who are preparing 
 for the learned professions. They are in peculiar danger from this quarter, because it is re 
 garded as genteel to drink a glass of wine; because they are allured by the example of professed 
 Christians, of minister? of the gospel, and of ladies ; and because they are often in circumstances 
 in which it would not be regarded as respectable or respectful to decline it. (3.) A third 
 reason for adopting such a resolution is, that it is the ONLY SECURITY that any one can have that 
 he will not become a drunkard. No one who indulges at all in the use of intoxicating liquors, 
 can have any certainty that he will not yet become a confirmed inebriate. Of the great mul 
 titudes who have been, and who are drunkards, there are almost none who meant to sink 
 themselves to that wretched condition. They have become intemperate by indulging in the 
 social glass when they thought themselves safe, and they continued the indulgence until 
 it was too late to recover themselves from ruin. lie who is in the habit of drinking at all 
 can have no security that he may not yet be all that the poor drunkard now is. But 
 he will be certainly safe from this evil if he adopts the purpose of total abstinence, and stead 
 fastly adheres to it. Whatever other dangers await him, he will be secure against this; 
 whatever other calamities he may experience, he is sure that he will escape all those that 
 are caused by intemperance. 
 
 (8.) We have in this chapter a most interesting illustration of the value of temperance 
 in eating, vs. 9-17. There are laws of our nature relating to the quantity and quality 
 of food, which can no more be violated with impunity than any other of the laws of God ; 
 and yet those laws are probably more frequently violated than any other. There are more 
 persons intemperate in the use of food than in the use of drink, and probably more diseases 
 engendered, and more lives cut short, by improper indulgence in eating than in drinking. 
 At the same time it is a more base, low, gross, and beastly passion. A drunkard is very 
 often the wreck of a generous and noble-minded nature. He was large-hearted, open, free, 
 liberal, and others took advantage of his generosity of disposition, and led him on to habits 
 of intoxication. But there is nothing noble or generous in the gourmand. He approximates 
 more nearly to the lowest forms of the brutal creation than any other human being; and if 
 there is any man who should be looked on with feelings of unutterable loathing, it is he whc 
 wastes his vigour, and destroys his health, by gross indulgence in eating. There is almost nc 
 sin that God speaks of in tones of more decided abhorrence than the sin of gluttony. Cornp. 
 Deut. xxi. 20, 21 ; Ps. cxli. 4 ; Prov. xxiii. 1, 2, 3, 20, 21 ; Luke xvi. 19, xxi. 34. 
 
 (9.) We have, in the close of the chapter before us, a most interesting illustration of the 
 effect of an early course of strict temperance on the future character and success in life, 
 TS. 17-21. The trial in the case of these young men was fairly made. It was continued 
 through three years ; a period long enough for a fair trial ; a period long enough to make it 
 an interesting example to young men who are pursuing a course of literary studies, who are 
 preparing to enter one of the learned professions, or who are qualifying themselves for a life 
 of mechanical or agricultural pursuits. In the case of these young men, they were strictly 
 on probation, and the result of their probation was seen in the success which attended them 
 when they passed the severe examination before the monarch (ver. 19), and in the honours 
 which they reached at his court, vs. 19-21. To make this case applicable to other young men, 
 and useful to them, we may notice two things: the fact that every young man is on pro 
 bation ; and the effect of an early course of temperance in securing the object of that pro 
 bation. 
 
 (a) Every young man is on probation ; that is, his future character and success are to be 
 determined by what he is when a youth. (1.) All the great interests of the world are soon to 
 pass into the hands of the young. They who now possess the property, and fill the offices of 
 the land, will pass away. Whatever there is that is valuable in liberty, science, art, or religion, 
 will pass into the hands of those who are now young. They will preside in the seminaries of 
 learning; will sit down on the benches of justice; will take the vacated seats of senators; will 
 occupy the pulpits in the churches; will be entrusted with all the offices of honour and emolu 
 ment; will be ambassadors to foreign courts; and will dispense the charities of the land, and 
 
108 DANIEL. [B.C 603 
 
 carry out and complete tin designs of Christian benevolence. There is not an interest of liberty, 
 religion, or law, which will not soon be committed to them. (2.) The world is favourably dis 
 posed towards young men, and they who are now entrusted with these great interests, and 
 who are soon to leave them, are ready calmly to commit them to the guardianship of the rising 
 generation, as soon as they have the assurance that they are qualified to receive the trust 
 They, therefore, watch with intense solicitude, the conduct of those to whom so great interests 
 are so soon to be committed. (3.) Early virtue is indispensable to a favourable result of the pro 
 bation of young men. A merchant demands evidence of integrity and industry in a young 
 man before he will admit him to share his business, or will give him credit; and the same tiling 
 is true respecting a farmer, mechanic, physician, lawyer, or clergyman. No young man can 
 hope to have the confidence of others, or to succeed in his calling, who does not give evidence that he 
 is qualified for success by a fair probation or trial. (4.) Of no young man is it presumed that he is 
 qualified to be entrusted with these great and momentous interests until he has had a fair trial. 
 There is no such confidence in the integrity of young men, or in their tendencies to virtue, or 
 in their native endowments, that the world is willing to commit great interests to them without 
 an appropriate probation. No advantage of birth or blood can secure this; and no young man 
 should presume that the world will be ready to confide in him until he has shown that he ia 
 qualified for the station to which he aspires. (5.) Into this probation, through which every 
 young man is passing, the question of temperance enters perhaps more deeply than anything 
 else respecting character. "With reference to his habits on this point, every young man is 
 watched with an eagle eye, and his character is well nderstood, when perhaps he least sus 
 pects it. The public cannot be deceived on this point, and every young man may be assured 
 that there is an eye of unslumbering vigilance upon him. 
 
 (6) The effect of an early course of temperance on the issue of this probation. This is seen in 
 the avoidance of a course of life which would certainly blast every hope ; and in its positive in 
 fluence on the future destiny. 
 
 1. The avoidance of certain things which would blast every hope which a young man could 
 cherish. There are certain evils which a young man will certainly avoid by a course of strict 
 temperance, Avhich would otherwise certainly come upon him. They are such as these : (a) Po 
 verty, as arising from this source. He may, indeed, be poor if he is temperate. lie may lose 
 his health, or may meet with losses, or may" be unsuccessful in business: but he is certain that 
 he will never be made poor from intemperance. Nine-tenths of the poverty in the community 
 is caused by this vice; nine-tenths of all who are in almshouses are sent there as the result of 
 it, but from all this he will be certain that he will be saved. There is a great difference, if a 
 man is poor, between being such as the result of a loss of health, or other Providential 
 dispensations, and being such as the result of intemperance, (b) lie will be saved from 
 committing crime from this cause. About nine-tenths of the crimes that are committed, are the 
 results of intoxicating drinks, and by a course of temperance a man is certain that he will be 
 saved from the commission of all those crimes. Yet if not temperate, no man has any security 
 that he will not commit any one of them. There is nothing in himself to save him from the 
 very worst of them ; and every young man who indulges in the intoxicating cup, should reflect 
 that he has no security that he will not be led on to commit the most horrid crimes which ever 
 disgrace humanity, (c) He will certainly be saved from the drunkard s death. He will indeed 
 die. He may die young; for, though temperate, he may be cut down in the vigour of his days. 
 But there is all the difference imaginable between dying as a drunkard, and dying in the 
 ordinary course of nature. It would be a sufficient inducement for any one to sign a tem 
 perance pledge, and to adhere to it, if there were no other, that he might avoid the horrors of a 
 death by delirium tremens, and saved from the loathsomeness of a drunkard s grave. It is 
 much for a young man to be able to say as he enters on life, and looks out on the future with 
 solicitude as to what is to come, Whatever may await me in the unknown future, of this one 
 thing I am certain ; I shall never be poor, and haggard, and wretched, as the drunkard is. I 
 shall never commit the crimes to which drunkenness prompts. I shall never experience the un 
 utterable horrors of delirium tremens. I shall never die the death of unequalled wretchedness 
 caused by mania a potu. Come what may, I see, on the threshold of life, that I am to be free 
 from the worst evils to which man is ever exposed. If I am poor, I will not be poor as th 
 victim of intemperance is. If I die early, the world will not feel that it is benefitted by my 
 removal, and my friends will not go forth to my grave with the unutterable anguish which a 
 parent has who follows a drunken son to the tomb. 
 
 2. A course of temperance will have a direct and positive effect on the issue of such a proba 
 tion. So it had in the case of the yoving men in the chapter before us; and so it will have in. 
 every case. Its effect will be seen in the beauty, and healthfuliicss, and vigour of the bodily 
 frame; in the clearness of the intellect, and the purity of the heart; in habits of industry, 
 in general integrity of life, and in rendering it more probable that the soul will be saved. In 
 no respect whatever, will a steadfast adherance to the principles of temperance injure any 
 young man; in every respect, it may be the means of promoting his interests in the present 
 life, and of securing his final happiness in the world to come. "Why, then, should any young 
 man hesitate about forming such a resolution as Daniel did (ver. 8), and about expressing, in 
 every proper way, in the most decided manner, his determined purpose to adhere through life 
 to the strictest principles of temperance? 
 
B.C. 603.] CHAPTER II. 09 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 g 1. AUTHENTICITY OP THE CHAPTER. 
 
 THE objections to the authenticity and credibility of this chapter are not numerous or im 
 portant. 
 
 I. The first that is alleged, by Bertholdt (Com. pp. 192, 193), is, substantially, this, that if 
 the account here is true, the records of ancient times could not exhibit a more finished tyrant 
 than Nebuchadnezzar was, if he doomed so many persons to death on .o flight and foolish an 
 occasion, ver. 5. This cruelty, it is said, is wholly contrary to the general character of Nebuchad 
 nezzar as it is reported to us, and wholly incredible. It is further said that, though it was 
 common in the East to trust in dreams, and though the office of interpreting them was an 
 honourable office, yet no one was so unreasonable, or could be, as to require the interpreter to 
 reveal the dream itself when it was forgotten. The proper office of the interpreter, it is said, 
 was to interpret the dream, not to tell what the dream was. 
 
 To this objection, which seems to have considerable plausibility, it may be replied : 
 
 (1.) Much reliance was placed on dreams in ancient times, alike among the Hebrews and in 
 the heathen world. The case of Pharaoh will at once occur to the mind; and it need not be 
 Paid that men everywhere relied out dreams, and inquired earnestly respecting them, whether 
 they might not be the appointed means of communication with the spiritual world, and of 
 disclosing what was to occur in the future. There cat be no objection, therefore, to the 
 supposition that this heathen monarch, Nebuchadnezzar, felt all the solicitude which ho is 
 reported to have done respecting the dream which he had. It may be further added, that 
 in the dream itself there is nothing improbable as a dream, for it has all the charac 
 teristics of those mysterious operations of the mind; and, if God ever communicated his 
 will by a dream, or made known future events in this way, there is no absurdity in supposing 
 that he would thus communicate what was to come, to him who was at that time at the head 
 of the empires of the earth, and who was the king over the first of those kingdoms which wero 
 to embrace the world s history for so many ages. 
 
 (2.) There is no improbability in supposing that a dream would vanish from the distinct re 
 collection, or that if it had vanished, the mind would be troubled by some vague recollection 
 or impression in regard to it. This often occurs in our dreams now. as in the indistinct recol 
 lection that we have had a pleasant or a frightful dream, when we are wholly unable to recall 
 the dream itself. This often occurs, too, when we would be glad to recover the dream if we 
 could, but when no effort that we can make will recall its distinct features to our minds. 
 
 (3.) There was, really, nothing that was unreasonable, absurd, or tyrannical, in the demand 
 which Nebuchadnezzar made on the astrologers, that they should recall the dream itself, and 
 then interpret it. Doubtless he could recollect it if they would suggest it, or at least he could 
 so far recollect it as to prevent their imposing on him ; for something like this constantly occurs 
 in the operation of our own minds. When we have forgotten a story, or a piece of history, 
 though we could not ourselves recall it, yet when it is repeated to us, we can then distinctly 
 recollect it, and can perceive that that is the same narrative, for it agrees with all our impres 
 sions in regard to it. Furthermore, though it was not understood to be a part of the office of 
 an interpreter of dreams to recall the dream if it had vanished from the mind, yet Nebuchad 
 nezzar reasoned correctly, that if they could interpret the dream thev ought to be presumed to 
 be able to tell what it was. The one required no more sagacity than the other; and if they 
 were, as they pretended to be, under the inspiration of the gods in interpreting a dream, it was 
 fair to presume that, under the fame in^ ration, they could tell what it was. Comp. Notes on 
 ver. 5. No objection, then, can lie against the authenticity of this chapter from any supposed 
 absurdity in the demand of Nebuchadnezzar. It was not only strictly in accordance with all 
 the just principles of reasoning in the case, but was in accordance with what might be expected 
 from an arbitrary monarch who was accustomed to exact obedience in all things. 
 
 (4.) What is here said of the threatening of Nebuchadnezzar (ver. 5.) accords with the gen- 
 era-1 traits of hii character as history has preserved them. lie had in him the elements of 
 cruelty and severity of the highest order, especially when his will was not immediately complied 
 with. In proof of this we need only refer to his cruel treatment of the king Zedekiab, when 
 Jerusalem was taken: "So they took the king, and brought him to the king of L-abylon, to 
 Kiblah, and they gave judgment upon him. And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his 
 eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and brought him 
 to Babylon." 2 Kings xxv. 6, 7 ; comp. also, in vs. 18-21 of the same chapter, the account of his 
 slaying the large number of persons that were taken by Nebuzar adan. captain of the guard, 
 und brought by him to the king in Babylon. These were slain in cold blood by order of Nebuchad 
 nezzar himself. These facts make it every way probable that, in a fit of passion, lie would no/ 
 hesitate to threaten the astrologers with death if they did not comply at once with his will. 
 Comp. Jer. xxxix. 5, seq., lii. 9-11. The truth was, that though Nebuchadnezzar had some 
 ijood qua L.CS, and was religious in his way. yet he had all the usual characteristic* of aa 
 
 10 
 
110 DANIEL. [B.C. COS. 
 
 Oriental despot. He was a man of strong passions ; and was a man who would never hesitate in 
 carrying out the purposes of an arbitrary, a determined, and a stubborn will. 
 
 II. A second objection made by Bertholdt, which may demand a moment s notice, is, substan 
 tially, that the account bears the mark of a later hand, for the purpose of conferring a highe 
 honour on Daniel, and making what he did appear the more wonderful. Pp. 62, 63, 193-196 
 Tlie supposition of Bertholdt is, that the original account was merely that Nebuchadnezzar 
 required of the interpreter to explain the sense of the dream, but that, in order to show the 
 greatness of Daniel, the author of this book, long after the affair occurred, added the circum 
 stance that Nebuchadnezzar required of them to make the dream known as well as the inter 
 pretation, and that the great superiority of Daniel was shown by his being able at once to do 
 this. 
 
 As this objection, however, is not based on any historic grounds, and as it is throughout 
 mere conjecture, it is not necessary to notice it further. Nothing is gained by the conjecture; 
 no difficulty is relieved by it; nor is there any real difficulty to be relieved by any such suppo 
 sition. The narrative, as we have it, has, as we have seen, no intrinsic improbability, nor is 
 there anything in it which is contrary to the well-known character of Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 III. A third objection to the authenticity of the chapter which deserves to be noticed, is 
 urged by Liiderwald, pp. 40, seq., and Bleek, p. 280. that this whole narrative has a strong re 
 semblance to the account of the dreams of Pharaoh, and the promotion of Joseph at the 
 court of Egypt, and was apparently made up from that, or copied from it. 
 
 But to this we may reply, (a) That, if either happened, there is no more improbability in 
 supposing that it should happen to Daniel in Babylon than to Joseph in Egypt ; and taken as 
 separate and independent histories neither of them is improbable, (b) There is so much 
 diversity in the two cases as to show that the one is not, copied from the other. They agree, 
 indeed, in several circumstances : in the fact that the king of Egypt and the king of Babylon 
 had each a dream ; in the fact that Joseph and Daniel wert> enabled to interpret the dream ; 
 in the fact that they both ascribed the ability to do this not to themselves but to God ; and in 
 the fact that they were both raised to honour as a consequence of their being able to inter 
 pret the dream. But in nothing else do they agree. The dreams themselves ; the occasion ; 
 the explanation; the result; the bearing on future events in these, and in numerous other 
 things, they differ entirely. It may be added, also, that if the one had been copied from tho 
 other, it is probable that there would have been some undesigned allusion by which it could 
 be known that the writer of the one had the other before him, and that he was framing his 
 own narrative from that. But, as a matter of fact, there are no two records in history that 
 have more the marks of being independent and original narratives of real transactions than the 
 account of Joseph in Egypt, and of Daniel in Babylon. 
 
 IV. A fourth objection to the account in this chapter, arises from an alleged error in chro 
 nology. For a consideration of this, see Notes on ver. 1. 
 
 2. ANALYSIS OP THE CHAPTER. 
 
 The subjects of this chapter are the following : 
 
 I. The dream of Nebuchadnezzar. Ver. 1. In accordance with the common belief among 
 the ancients, he regarded this as a divine message. The dream, too, was of such a cha 
 racter as to make a deep impression on his mind, though its distinct features and details 
 had gone from him. 
 
 II. The demand of Nebuchadnezzar that the Chaldeans should recall the dream to his recol 
 lection, and expound its meaning. Vs. 2-9. He ordered those whose business it was pro 
 fessedly to give such interpretations, to come into his presence, and to make known tho 
 dream and its meaning. But it would seem that their pretensions went no further than to 
 explain a dream when it was known, and hence they asked respectfully that the king 
 would state the dream in order that they might explain it. The king, in anger, threat 
 ened death if they did not first recall the dream, and then make known the interpreta 
 tion, promising at the same time, ample rewards if they were able to do this. As all this, 
 under divine direction, was designed to communicate important information of future 
 events, it was so ordered that the dream should be forgotten, thus entirely confounding 
 the art of the Chaldeans, and giving an opportunity to Daniel to make the dream and 
 its interpretation known, thus exalting a man from the land of the prophets, and showing 
 that it was not by the skill of the pretended interpreters of dreams that future events 
 could be made known, but that it was only by tho^e who were inspired for that purpose 
 by the true God. 
 
 III. The acknowledged failure of the power of the astrologers and Chaldeans. Vs. 10, 11. 
 They admitted that they could not do what was demanded of them. Whatever might be 
 the consequence, they could not even attempt to recall a forgotten dream. And as, 
 though we may be unable to recall such a dream distinctly ourselves, we could 
 easily recognize it if it were stated to us, and os we could not be imposed on by something 
 else that anyone should undertake to make us believe was the real dream, the magicians 
 saw that it was hopeless to attempt to palm a story of their own invention on him. as if 
 that were the real dream, and they therefore acknowledged their inability to comply with 
 the demand of the king. 
 
B. C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IV. The decree that they should die. Vs. 12, 13. In this decree, Daniel and his thrc friendu 
 who had been trained with him at court (ch. i.) were involved, not because they had 
 failed to comply \\\i\\ the demand of the king, for there is the fullest evidence that the 
 subject had not been laid before them, but because they came under the general class of 
 wise men, or counsellors, to whom the monarch looked to explain the prognostics of 
 coming events. 
 
 V. Daniel, when apprised of the decree, and the cause of it, went to the king and requested 
 a respite in the execution of the sentence. Vs. 14-16. It would seem that he had the privi 
 lege of access to the king at pleasure. We may presume that he stated that the thing 
 had not in fact been laid before him, though he had become involved in the general 
 sentence, and it is no unreasonable supposition that the king was so much troubled with 
 the dream ; that he was so anxious to know its signification ; and that he saw so clearly that 
 if the decree was executed, involving Daniel and his friends, all hope of recalling and xin- 
 derstanding it would be lost, that he was ready to grasp at any hope, however slender, of 
 being made acquainted with the meaning of the vision. He was willing, therefore, that 
 Daniel should be spared, and that the execution of the decree should be suspended. 
 
 VI. In these interesting and solemn circumstances, Daniel and his friends gave them 
 selves to prayer. Ver. 17, 18. Their lives were in danger, and the case was such that 
 they could not be rescued but by a direct divine interposition. There was no power which 
 they had of ascertaining by any human means what was the dream of the monarch, and yet 
 it was indispensable in order to save their lives, that the dream should be made known. 
 God only, they knew, could communicate it to them, and he only, therefore, could save 
 them from death, and in these circumstances of perplexity they availed themselves of the 
 privilege which all the friends of God have ol carrying their cause at once before his 
 throne. 
 
 VII. The secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision, and he gave utterance to an 
 appropriate song of praise. Vs. 19-23. The occasion was one which demanded such an 
 expression of thanksgiving, and that which Daniel addressed to God was every way 
 worthy of the occasion. 
 
 VIII. The way was now prepared for Daniel to make known to the king the dream and the 
 interpretation. Accordingly he was brought before the king, and he distinctly disclaimod 
 any power of himself to recall the dream, or to make known its signification. Vs. 
 24-30. 
 
 IX. The statement of the dream and the interpretation. Vs. 31-45. 
 
 X. The effect on Nebuchadnezzar. Vs. 46-49. He recognised the dream; acknowledged 
 that it was only the true God who could have made it known; and promoted Daniel 
 to distinguished honour. In his own honours, Daniel did not forget the virtuous com 
 panions of his youth (ch. i.), and sought for them, now that he was elevated, posts of 
 honourable employment also. Ver. 49. 
 
 1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebu- 
 
 1. And in the second year of the reign 
 of Nebuchadnezzar. There is an appa 
 rent chronological difficulty in this state 
 ment, which has given some perplexity to 
 expositors. It arises mainly from two 
 sources. (1.) That in Jeremiah xxv. i., 
 it is said that the first year of the reign 
 of Nebuchadnezzar corresponded with the 
 fourth year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, 
 and as the captivity was in the third 
 year of the reign of Jehoiakim (Dan. i. 1), 
 the time here would be the fourth year of 
 the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, instead of 
 the first. (2.) That we learn from ch. i. 
 5, 18, that Daniel and his three friends 
 had been in Babylon already three years, 
 under a process of training preparatory 
 to their being presented at court, and as 
 the whole narative leads us to suppose 
 that it was after this that Daniel was re 
 garded as enrolled among the wise men 
 (comp. ch. ii. 13, 14), on the supposition 
 that the captivity occurred in the first 
 
 year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, this 
 would bring the time of the dream into 
 the fourth year of his reign. This diffi 
 culty is somewhat increased from the 
 fact that when Nebuchadnezzar went 
 up to besiege Jerusalem he is called 
 " king," and it is evident that he did not 
 go as a lieutenant of the reigning mo 
 narch ; or as a general of the Chaldean 
 forces under the direction of another. See 
 2 Kings xxiv. 1, 11. Various solutions 
 of this difficulty have been proposed, but 
 the true one probably is, that Nebuchad 
 nezzar reigned some time conjointly with 
 his father, Nabopolassar, and, though the 
 title king was given to him, yet the reck 
 oning here is dated from the time when 
 he began to reign alone, and that this was 
 the year of his sole occupancy of the 
 throne. Berosus states that his father, 
 Nabopolasser, was aged and infirm, and 
 that he gave up a part of his army to his 
 { son Nebuchadnezzar, who defeated the 
 
112 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. 3. 603, 
 
 chadnezzar dreamed dreams, where- 
 
 a Ge. 41. 8 ; Es. 6. 1 ; Job 33. 15-17 ; c. 4. 5. 
 
 with his spirit was troubled, and 
 his sleep brake from him. 
 
 Egyptian host at Carchemish (Circessium) 
 on the Euphrates, and drove Necho out of 
 Asia. The victorious prince then march 
 ed directly to Jerusalem, and Jehoiakim 
 surrendered to him, and this was the be 
 ginning of the seventy years captivity. 
 See Jahn s History of the Hebrew Com 
 monwealth, p. 134. Nabopolassar pro 
 bably died about two years after that, 
 and Nebuchadnezzar succeeded to the 
 throne. The period of their reigning 
 together was two years, and of course the 
 second year of his single reign would be 
 the fourth of his entire reign ; and a 
 reckoning from either would be proper, 
 and would not be misunderstood. Other 
 modes of solution have been adopted, but 
 as this meets the whole difficulty, and is 
 founded on truth, it is unnecessary to 
 refer to them. Comp. Prof. Stuart, on 
 Daniel, Excursus I. pp. 19-30, and Ex 
 cursus II. pp. 32, 33. ^[ Nebuchadnezzar 
 dreamed dreams. The plural is here 
 used, though there is but one dream men 
 tioned, and probably but one is referred 
 to, for Nebuchadnezzar, when speaking 
 of it himself, ver. 3, says, " I have dream 
 ed a dream." In the Latin Vulgate, and 
 in the Greek, it is also in the singular. 
 It is probable that this is a popular use 
 of words, as if one should say, I had 
 strange dreams last night/ though per 
 haps but a single dream was intended. 
 Prof. Bush. Among the methods by which 
 God made known future events in ancient 
 times, that by dreams was one of the 
 most common. See Notes on ch i. 17; 
 Intro, to Isaiah, $ 7, (2) ; comp. Gen. xx. 
 3, 6, xxxi. 11, xxxvii. 4, 5, 6, xl. 5, xli. 7, 
 25; 1 Kings iii. 5; Numbers xii. 6; Joel 
 ii. 8 ; Job xxxiii. 14-16. The belief that 
 the will of heaven was communicated to 
 men by means of dreams, was prevalent 
 throughout the world in ancient times. 
 Hence the striking expression in Homer, 
 II. i. 63 KOI yap r ovap EK AIOJ ianv 
 ihe dream is of Jove. So in the com 
 mencement of his Second Iliad, he repre 
 sents the will of Jupiter as conveyed to 
 Agamemnon by Otipyj, or the dream. 
 So Diog. Laertins makes mention of a 
 dream of Socrates, by which he foretold 
 his death as to happen in three days. 
 This method of communicating the divine 
 will Avas adopted not only in reference to 
 the prophets, but also to those who were 
 
 strangers to religion, and even to wicked 
 men, as in the case of Pharaoh, Abime- 
 lech, Nebuchadnezzar, the butler and 
 baker in Egypt, &c. In every such 
 instance, however, it was necessary, as in 
 the case before us, to call in the aid of a 
 true prophet to interpret the dream, and 
 it was only when thus interpreted, that it 
 took its place among the certain predic 
 tions of the future. One object of com 
 municating the divine will in this manner 
 seems to have been, to fix the attention 
 of the person who had the dream on 
 the subject, and to prepare him to re 
 ceive the communication which God had 
 chosen to make to him. Thus it cannot 
 be doubted that by the belief in dreams 
 entertained by Pharaoh and Nebuchad 
 nezzar, as disclosing future events, and 
 by the anxiety of mind which they ex 
 perienced in regard to the dreams, they 
 were better prepared to receive the com 
 munications of Joseph and Daniel in 
 reference to the future than they could 
 have been by any other method of making 
 known the divine will. They had no 
 doubt that some important communica 
 tion had been made to them respecting 
 the future, and they were anxious to 
 know what it was. They were prepared, 
 therefore, to welcome any explanation 
 which commended itself to them as true, 
 and in this way the servants of the true 
 God had a means of access to their 
 hearts which they could have found in 
 no other way. By what laws it was so 
 regulated that a dream should be known 
 to be a preintimation of coming events, 
 we have now no means of ascertaining. 
 That it is possible for God to have 
 access to the mind in sleep, and to com 
 municate his will in this manner, no one 
 can doubt. That it was, so far as em 
 ployed for that purpose, a safe and certain 
 way, is demonstrated by the results of the 
 predictions thus made in the case of 
 Abimelech, Gen. xx. 3, 6 ; of Joseph and 
 his brethren, Gen. xxxvii. 4, 5, 6; of 
 Pharaoh, Gen xli. 7, 25 ; and of the but 
 ler and baker, Gen. xl. 5. It is not, how 
 ever, to be inferred that the same reliance, 
 or that any reliance, is now to be placed 
 on dreams; for were there no other con 
 sideration against such reliance, it would 
 be sufficient that there is no authorised 
 interpreter of the wanderings of the mind 
 
B.C. 603 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 113 
 
 2 Then the king commanded to 
 call the magicians, and the astrolo- 
 
 in sleep. God now communicates his 
 truth to the souls of men in other ways. 
 ^[ Wherewith his spirit was troubled. 
 Alike by the unusual nature of the 
 dream, and by the impression which he 
 undoubtedly had that it referred to some 
 important truths pertaining to his king 
 dom and to future times. See vs. 31-36 1 . 
 The Hebrew word here rendered troubled 
 C>9 means properly to strike, to beat, 
 to pound; then in Niph., to be moved, or 
 agitated; and also in Hithpa., to be 
 agitated, or troubled. The proper signi 
 fication of the word is that of striking as 
 on an anvil, and then it refers to any 
 severe stroke, or anything which pro 
 duces agitation. The verb occurs only in 
 the following places : Judges xiii. 25, 
 where it is rendered move, and Ps. Ixxvii. 
 4, (5); Gen xli. 8; Dan. ii. 1, 3, where it 
 is rendered troubled. The noun is of fre 
 quent occurrence. ^[ And his sleep brake 
 from him. II eb. I 1 ?* *W W& . Lit 
 erally His sleep was upon him. The 
 Greek is, his sleep was from him; i. e. 
 left him. The Vulgate, his sleep fled 
 (fugit) from him. But it may be doubted 
 whether the Hebrew will bear this con 
 struction. Probably the literal construc 
 tion is the true one, by which the sense 
 of the Hebrew ? upon, will be re 
 tained. The meaning then would be, 
 that this remarkable representation oc 
 curred when he was in a profound sleep. 
 It was a dream, and not an of*n -vision. 
 It was such a representation as passes 
 before the mind when the senses are 
 locked in repose, and not such as was 
 made to pass before the minds of the pro 
 phets when they were permitted to see 
 visions of the future, though awake. 
 Comp. Num. xxiv. 4, 16. There is no 
 thing in the words which conveys the 
 idea that there was anything preter 
 natural in the sleep that had come upon 
 Nebuchadnezzar, but the thought is, that 
 all this occurred when he was sound 
 asleep. Prof. Stuart, however, renders 
 this, his sleep failed him, 5 and so does 
 also Gesenius. Winer renders it, his 
 sleep went away from him. But it seems 
 to me that the more natural idea is that 
 which occurs in the literal translation of 
 the words, that this occurred as a dream, 
 to a state of profound repose. 
 
 10* 
 
 gers, and the sorcerers, ancf tho 
 Chaldeans, for to show the king his 
 
 2. Then the king commanded. That is, 
 when he awoke. The particle rendered 
 then, does not imply that this occurred 
 immediately. When he awoke, his mind 
 was agitated; he was impressed with the 
 belief that he had had an important 
 divine communication ; but he could not 
 even recall the dream distinctly, and ho 
 resolved to summon to his presence those 
 whose business it was to interpret what 
 were regarded as prognostics of tho 
 future. ^[ The magicians and the astro 
 logers. These are the same words which 
 occur in ch. i. 20. See Notes on that 
 place, ^f And the sorcerers. Heb. D CU pp . 
 Vulg. rnalefici sorcerers. Gr. 0ap/ja*oi)j. 
 Syriac, magician. The Hebrew word is 
 derived from *!? ? Jcaspaph meaning 
 in Piel, to practise magic ; to use magic 
 formulas, or incantations; to mutter; and 
 it refers to the various arts by which 
 those who were addicted to magic prac 
 tised their deceptions. The particular 
 idea in this word would seem to be, that 
 on such occasions some forms of prayers 
 were used, for the word in Syriac means 
 to offer prayers, or to worship. Probably 
 the aid of idol-gods was invoked by such 
 persons when they practised incantations. 
 The word is found only in the following 
 places : once as a verb, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 6, 
 and rendered used witchcraft, and as a 
 participle, rendered sorcerers, in Ex. viL 
 11, Dan. ii. 2, Mai. iii. 5: and witch in 
 Ex. xxii. 18 (17), Deut. xviii. 10. The 
 noun *l f 2, and a pirs, is used in the fol 
 lowing places, always with reference to 
 sorcery or witchcraft: Jer. xxvii. 9; 2 
 Kings ix. 22 ; Isa. xlvii. 9 ; Mic. v. 12 
 (11); Nah. iii. 4. It may not be easy to 
 specify the exact sense in which this 
 word is used as distinguished from the 
 others which relate to the same general 
 subject, but it would seem to be that some 
 form of prayer or invocation was em 
 ployed. The persons referred to did not 
 profess to interpret the prognostics of 
 future events by any original skill of their 
 own, but by the aid of the gods. ^ And 
 the CJialdeans. See Notes on ch. i. 4. 
 The Chaldeans appear to have been but 
 one of the tribes or nations that made up 
 the community at Babylon (corap. Notes 
 en Isa. xxiii. 13), and it would seem that 
 
114 
 
 DANIEL, 
 
 [B. C. 603 
 
 dreams. So they came and stood 
 before the king. 
 
 3 And the king said unto them, 
 
 I have dreamed a dream, and my 
 spirit was troubled to know the 
 dream. 
 
 at this time they were particularly de 
 voted to the practice of occult arts, and 
 secret sciences. It is not probable that 
 the other persons referred to in this enu 
 meration were Chaldeans. The Magians, 
 if any of these were employed, were Me 
 dians (Notes on ch. i. 20), and it is not 
 improbable that the other classes of 
 diviners might have been from other 
 nations. The purpose of Nebuchadnezzar 
 was to assemble at his court whatever 
 was remarkable throughout the world for 
 skill and knowledge (see Analysis of 
 ch i.), and the wise men of the Chaldeans 
 were employed in carrying out that de 
 sign. The Chaldeans were so much de 
 voted to these secret arts, and became so 
 celebrated for them, that the name came, 
 among the Greek and Roman writers, 
 to be used to denote all those who laid 
 claim to extraordinary powers in this de 
 partment. Diodorus Siculus, L. ii., says 
 of the Chaldeans in Babylon, that " they 
 sustain the same ofSce there that the 
 priests do in Egypt ; for being devoted to 
 the worship of God through their whole 
 lives, they give themselves to philosophy, 
 and seek from astrology their highest 
 glory." Cicero also remarks (De Divin., 
 p. 3), that " the Chaldeans, so named, not 
 from their art, but their nation, are sup 
 posed by a prolonged observation of the 
 stars, to have wrought out a science by 
 which could bo predicted what was to 
 happen to every individual, and to what 
 fate he was born." Juvenal, likewise 
 (Sat. vi. v. 552-4), has this passage : - 
 " Chaldaeis sed major erit fiducia ; quid- 
 quid dixerit astrologus, credent a fonte 
 relatum Ammonis." " But their chief 
 dependence is upon the Chaldeans; what 
 ever an astrologer declares, they will re 
 ceive as a response of [Jupiter] Ammon." 
 Horace refers to the Babylonians as dis 
 tinguished in his time for the arts of 
 magic, or divination : 
 
 " nee Babylonios, 
 Teutaris nunicros." Car. Lib. 1, xi. 
 
 It is not probable that the whole nation 
 of Chaldeans was devoted to these arts, 
 but as a people they became so cele 
 brated in this kind of knowledge that 
 it was their best-known characteristic 
 abroad. ^[ For to show the king his 
 dreams. To show him what the dream 
 
 was, and to explain its import. Comp. 
 Gen. xli. 24 ; Judges xiv. K ; 1 Kings 
 x. 3. That it was common for kings to 
 call in the aid of interpreters to explain 
 the import of dreams, appears from Hero 
 dotus. When Astyages ascended the 
 throne, he had a daughter, whose name 
 was Mandane. She had a dream, which 
 seemed to him so remarkable, that he 
 called in the "Magi," whose interpreta 
 tion, Herodotus remarks, was of such a 
 nature that it " terrified him exceed 
 ingly." He was so much influenced by 
 the dream and the interpretation, that it 
 produced an entire change in his determi 
 nation respecting the marriage of his 
 daughter. Book 1, cvii. So again, after 
 the marriage of his daughter, Herodotus 
 says (B. 1, cviii.) : "Astyages had an 
 other vision. A vine appeared to spring 
 from his daughter which overspread all 
 Asia. On this occasion, also, he con 
 sulted his interpreters : the result was, 
 that he sent for his daughter from Persia., 
 when the time of her delivery approached. 
 On her arrival, he kept a strict watch 
 over her, intending to destroy her child. 
 The magi had declared the vision to inti 
 mate that the child of his daughter should 
 supplant him on the throne." Astyages, 
 to guard against this, as soon as Cyrus 
 was born, sent for Harpagus, a person in 
 whom he had confidence, and command 
 ed him to take the child to his own house, 
 and put him to death. These passages 
 iu Herodotus show that what is here re 
 lated of the king of Babylon, demanding 
 the aid of magicians and astrologers to 
 interpret his dreams, was by no means an 
 uncommon occurrence. 
 
 3. And the king said unto them, I have 
 dreamed a dream, and my spirit was 
 troubled to know the dream. That is, 
 clearly, to know all about it; to recollect 
 distinctly what it was, and to understand 
 what it meant. He was agitated by so 
 remarkable a dream ; he probably had, as 
 Jerome remarks, a shadowy and floating 
 impression of what the dream was such 
 as we often have of a drearn that has 
 agitated our minds, but of which we 
 cannot recall the distinct arid full image; 
 and he desired to recall that distinctly, 
 and to know exactly what it meant. Se 
 ver. 1. 
 
B. C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 115 
 
 4 Then spake the Chaldeans to 
 the king in Syriac, king, live a for 
 
 a 1 Kings i. 31. 
 
 4. Then spake the Chaldeans to the 
 king. The meaning is, either that the 
 Chaldeans spoke in the name of the entire 
 company of the soothsayers and magi 
 cians (Notes, ch. i. 20, ii. 2), because they 
 were the most prominent among them, or 
 the name is used to denote the collective 
 body of soothsayers, meaning that this 
 request was made by the entire company. 
 ^ In Syriac. In the original n CHN 
 in Aramean. Gr. Zupitm in Syriac. So 
 the Vulgate. The Syriac retains the 
 original word. The word means Ara 
 mean, and the reference is to that lan 
 guage which is known as East Aramean 
 a general term embracing the Chaldee, 
 the Syriac, and the language which 
 were spoken in Mesopotamia. See No:es 
 on ch. i. 4. This was the vernacular 
 tongue of the king and of his subjects, 
 and was that in which the Chaldeans 
 would naturally address him. It is re 
 ferred to here by the author of this 
 book, perhaps to explain the reason why 
 he himself makes use of this language 
 in explaining the dream. The use of this, 
 however, is not confined to the statement 
 of what the magicians said, but is con 
 tinued to the close of the seventh chapter. 
 Comp. the Intro. $ 4, III. The language 
 used is that which is commonly called 
 Chaldee. It is written in the same cha 
 racter as the Hebrew, and differs from 
 that as one dialect differs from another. 
 It was, doubtless, well understood by the 
 Jews in their captivity, and was probably 
 spoken by them after their return to their 
 own land. ^ king, live for ever. This 
 is a form of speech quite common in ad 
 dressing monarchs. See 1 Sam. x. 24; 
 1 Kings i. 25 (margin) ; ch. iii. 9, v. 10. 
 The expression is prevalent still, as in the 
 phrases Long live the king/ Vive 
 I emperour, Vive I roi, &c. It is found 
 ed on the idea that long life is to be re 
 garded as a blessing, and that we can in 
 no way express our good wishes for any 
 one better than to wish him length of 
 days. In this plae, it was merely the 
 usual expression of respect and homage, 
 showing their earnest wish for the welfare 
 of the monarch. They were willing to 
 do anything to promote his happiness, 
 
 ever: tell thy servants the dreatu, 
 and we will show the interpre 
 tation. 
 
 and the continuance of his life and reign. 
 It was especially proper for them to use 
 this language, as they were about to 
 make a rather unusual request, which 
 might be construed as an act of disre 
 spect, implying that the king had not 
 given them all the means which it was 
 equitable for them to have in explaining 
 the matter, by requiring them to interpret 
 the dream when he had not told them 
 what it was. ^[ Tell thy servants the 
 dream, and tec will show the interpreta 
 tion. The claim which they set up in 
 regard to the future was evidently only 
 that of explaining what were regarded aa 
 the prognostics of future events. It waa 
 not that of being able to recall what is 
 forgotten, or even to originate what might 
 be regarded as pre-intimations of what is 
 to happen. This was substantially the 
 claim which was asserted by all the 
 astrologers, augurs, and soothsayers of 
 ancient times. Dreams, the flight of 
 birds, the aspect of the entrails of ani 
 mals slain for sacrifice, the positions of 
 the stars, meteors, and uncommon ap 
 pearances in the heavens, were supposed 
 to be intimations made by the gods, of 
 what was to occur in future times, and 
 the business of those who claimed the 
 power of divining the future, was merely 
 to interpret these things. When the king, 
 therefore, required that they should re 
 call the dream itself to his own mind, ic 
 was a claim to something which was not 
 involved in their profession, and which 
 they regarded as unjust. To that power 
 they made no pretensions. If it be asked 
 why, as they were mere jugglers and pre 
 tenders, they did not invent something 
 and state that as his dream, since he had 
 forgotten what his dream actually was, 
 we may reply, (1.) that there is no cer 
 tain evidence that they were not sincere 
 in what they professed themselves able to 
 do for we are not to suppose that all 
 who claimed to be soothsayers and 
 astrologers were hypocrites and inten 
 tional deceivers. It was not at that 
 period of the world certainly determined 
 that nothing could be ascertained respect- 
 ing the future by dreams, and by the 
 positions of the stars, &c. Dreams were 
 among the methods by which the future 
 was made known, and whether the know- 
 
116 DANIEL. [B.C. 603 
 
 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone 
 
 ledge of what is to come could be obtain 
 ed from the positions of the stars, &c., 
 was a question which was at that time 
 settled. Even Lord Bacon maintained 
 that the science of astrology was not to 
 be rejected, but to be reformed. (2.) If 
 the astrologers had been disposed to 
 attempt to deceive the king, there is no 
 probability thai they could have succeed 
 ed in palming an invention of their own 
 on him as his own dream. We may not 
 be able distinctly to recollect a dream, 
 but we have a sufficient impression of it 
 of its outlines or of some striking, 
 though disconnected, things in it, to know 
 what it is not. We might instantly recog 
 nise it if stated to us ; we should see at 
 once, if any one should attempt to deceive 
 us by palming an invented dream on us, 
 that that was not what we had dreamed. 
 
 5. The hint/ answered and said to the 
 Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me. 
 The Vulgate renders this, Sermo recessit 
 a me The word is departed from me. 
 So the Greek, O Aoyof cm ifiov airiarr). 
 Luther, Es ist mir entf alien It has 
 fallen away from me/ or has departed 
 from me. Coverdale, "It is gone from 
 me." The Chaldee word rendered " the 
 thing" >v?P means properly a word, 
 
 furnish an interpretation of the dream, 
 they should be cut off. The question 
 as to the true interpretation, then, is 
 between two constructions whether it 
 means, as in our version, that the dream 
 had departed from him, that is, that he 
 had forgotten it; or, that a decree or com 
 mand had gone from him, that if they 
 could not interpret the dream, they 
 should be destroyed. That the former is 
 the correct interpretation, seems to me to 
 bo evident. (1.) It is the natural con 
 struction, and accords best with the mean- 
 ing of the original words. Thus no one 
 
 can doubt that the word 
 
 and the 
 
 words "i3? and pnim, are used in the sense 
 of thing, and that the natural and proper 
 meaning of the Chaldee verb "\TN is to go 
 away, depart. Comp. the Heb. W$, in 
 Deut. xxxii. 36, " He seeth that their 
 power is gone ;" 1 Sam. ix. 7, " The bread 
 is spent in our vessels;" Job xiv. 11, 
 "The waters fail from the sea;" and the 
 Chaldee StN, in Ezra iv. 23, "They went 
 tip in haste to Jerusalem," v. 8, " We 
 went into the province of Judea;" and 
 Dan. ii. 17, 24, vi. 18 (19), 19 (20). 
 (2.) This interpretation is sustained by 
 the Vulgate of Jerome, and by the Greek. 
 
 discourse something which is > ( 3 -) I* does not appear that any such 
 A +v, n L- command had at that time gone forth 
 * from the king, and it was only when they 
 reference here . came before him that he promulgated 
 
 is to the matter under consideration, such an order. Even though the word, as 
 to wit, the dream and its meanin 
 The fair interpretation is, that he had for- 
 
 saying, 
 
 . , ... ..._ 
 
 spoken; then, like T?3 
 
 ila a thing. The 
 
 Gesenius and Zickler (Chaldaismus Dan. 
 
 Proph.), maintain, is a feminine participle 
 
 gotten the dream, and that if he retained | present, instead of a verb in the pre- 
 any recollection of it, it was only such an \ terite, still it would then as well apply to 
 imperfect outline as to alarm him. The the dream departing from him, as the 
 word rendered "is gone" NIJN which | command or edict. We may suppose the 
 ooc, re on, y te e and in ver? 8, sup- | *& "$ ft Ser* 
 posed to be the same as ^. to go aicarj, I S t 00 d by the magicians, and the king did 
 to depart. Gesenius renders the whole not attempt to correct their apprehension 
 phrase, " The word has gone out from I of what he meant. Thus, in ver. 7, they 
 me ; i. c. what I have said is ratified, and say, " Let the king tell his servants the 
 cannot be recalled ;" and Prof. Bush (in \ dream, and we will show the interprcta - 
 Joe.) contends that this is the true inter- tion thereof." This shows that they un- 
 
 pretation, and this also is the interpreta- 
 
 derstood that the dream had gone from 
 
 tion preferred by J. D. Michaelis. and him, and that they could not be expected 
 Dathe. A construction somewhat similar I to interpret its meaning until they were 
 
 is adopted by Aben. Ezra, C. B. Michaelis, 
 Winer, Hengstenberg, and Prof. Stuart, 
 that it means, " My decree is firm, or 
 Bteadfast;" to wit, that if they did not 
 
 apprised what it was. (5.) It is not 
 necessary to suppose that the king re 
 tained the memory of the dream himself, 
 and that he meant merely to try them ; 
 
B. C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 117 
 
 from me: if ye -will not make 
 known unto me the dream, with 
 the interpretation thereof, ye shall 
 
 be a cut in b pieces, and your houses 
 shall be made a dunghill. 
 
 Made,. 
 
 b c. o. 29. 
 
 c Ezr. 6. 11. 
 
 that is, that he told them a deliberate 
 falsehood, in order to put their ability to 
 the test. Nebuchadnezzar was a cruel 
 and severe monarch, and such a thing 
 would not have been entirely inconsistent 
 with his character; but we should not 
 needlessly charge cruelty and tyranny on 
 any man, nor should we do it unless the 
 evidence is so clear that we cannot avoid 
 it. Besides, that such a test should be 
 proposed, is in the highest degree impro 
 bable. There was no need of it ; and it 
 was contrary to the established belief in 
 such matters. These men were retained 
 at court, among other reasons, for the 
 very purpose of explaining the prognos 
 tics of the future. There was confidence 
 in them ; and they were retained because 
 there was confidence in them. It does 
 not appear that the Babylonian monarch 
 had had any reason to distrust their 
 ability as to what they professed; and 
 why should he, therefore, on this occasion 
 resolve to put them to so unusual, and 
 obviously so unjust a trial ? For these 
 reasons, it seems clear to mo "that our 
 common version has given the correct 
 sense of this passage, and that the meaning 
 is, that the dream had actually so far 
 departed from him that he could not re 
 peat it, though he retained such an im 
 pression of its portentous nature, and of 
 its appalling outline, as to fill his mind 
 with alarm. As to the objection derived 
 from this view of the passage by Bertholdt 
 to the authenticity of this chapter, that it 
 is wholly improbable that any man would 
 be so unreasonable as to doom others to 
 punishment because they could not recall 
 his dream, since it entered not into their 
 profession to be able to do it (Comm. i. p. 
 p. 192), it may be remarked, that the cha 
 racter of Nebuchadnezzar was such as to 
 make what is stated here by Daniel by no 
 means improbable. Thus it is said re 
 specting him (2 Kings xxv. 7), "And they 
 Blew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, 
 and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and 
 bound him with fetters of brass, and 
 carried him to Babylon." Comp. 2 Kings 
 xxv. 18-21; Jer. xxxix. 5, seq. lii. 9-11. 
 See also Dan. iv. 1.7, where he is called 
 "the basest of men." Comp. Hengsten- 
 berg, Die Authentic des Daniel, pp. 79-81. 
 On this objection, see Intro, to the chap. 
 
 ter, 1, I. ^[ If ye will not make known 
 unto me the dream, with the interpretation 
 thereof. Whatever may be thought as to 
 the question whether he had actually for 
 gotten the dream, there can be no doubt 
 that he demanded that they should state 
 what it was, and then explain it. This 
 demand was probably as unusual as it 
 was in one sense unreasonable, since it 
 did not fall fairly within their profession. 
 Yet it was not unreasonable in this sense, 
 that if they really had communication 
 with the gods, and were qualified to ex 
 plain future events, it might be sup 
 posed that they would be enabled to 
 recall this forgotten dream. If the gods 
 gave them power to explain what was to 
 come, they could as easily enable them to 
 recall the past. ^ Ye shall be cut in 
 pieces. Marg. made. The Chaldee is, 
 Ye shall be made into pieces ; referring 
 to a mode of punishment that was com 
 mon to many ancient nations. Comp. 
 1 Sam. xv. 33 : " And Samuel hewed Agag 
 in pieces before the Lord in G-ilgal." 
 Thus Orpheus is said to have been torn 
 in pieces by the Thracian women ; and 
 Bessus was cut in pieces by order of 
 Alexander the Great. ^ And your houses 
 shall be made a dunghill. Comp. 2 Kings 
 x. 27. This is an expression denoting 
 that their houses, instead of being ele 
 gant, or comfortable mansions, should be 
 devoted to the vilest of uses, and sub 
 jected to all kinds of dishonour and de 
 filement. The language here used is in 
 accordance with that which is commonly 
 employed by Orientals. They imprecate 
 all sorts of indignities and abominations 
 on the objects of their dislike, and it is 
 not uncommon for them to smear over 
 with filth what is the object of their con 
 tempt or abhorrence. Thus when the 
 caliph Omar took Jerusalem, at the head 
 of the Saracen army, after ravaging the 
 greater part of the city, he caused dung 
 to be spread over the site of the sanctu 
 ary, in token of the abhorrence of all 
 Musselmans, and of its being henceforth 
 regarded as the refuse and otfscouring of 
 all things. Prof. Bush. The Greek ren 
 ders this, "And your houses shall bo 
 plundered ;" the Vulgate, " And your 
 houses shall be confiscated." But thesa 
 renderings are entirely arbitrary. This 
 
118 
 
 DANIEL 
 
 [B. C. 60a 
 
 6 But a if ye show the dream, and 
 the interpretation thereof, ye shall 
 receive of me gifts and & rewards 
 and great honour : therefore show 
 me the dream, and the interpreta 
 tion thereof. 
 
 7 They answered again and said, 
 
 a c. 5. 16. b Or, fee ; ver. 48, c. 5. 17. 
 
 may seem to be a harsh punishment which 
 was threatened, and some may, perhaps, 
 be disposed to say that it is improbable 
 that a monarch would allow himself to 
 use such intemperate language, and to 
 make use of so severe a threatening, 
 especially when the magicians had as yet 
 shown no inability to interpret the dream, 
 and had given no reasons to apprehend 
 that they would be unable to do it. But 
 we are to remember, (1.) the cruel and 
 arbitrary character of the king (see the 
 references above); (2.) the nature of an 
 Oriental despotism, in which a monarch 
 is accustomed to require all his commands 
 to be obeyed, and his wishes gratified 
 promptly, on pain of death; (3.) the fact 
 that his mind was greatly excited by the 
 dream ; and (4.) that he was certain that 
 something portentous to his kingdom had 
 been prefigured by the dream, and that 
 this Avas a case in which all the force of 
 threatening, and all the prospect of 
 splendid reward, should be used, that they 
 might be induced to tax their powers to 
 the utmost, and allay the tumults of his 
 mind. 
 
 6. But if ye show the dream. If you 
 shoAV what the dream was. ^ And the 
 interpretation thereof. What it signifies. 
 That is, they were so to state the dream 
 that Nebuchadnezzar would recognise it; 
 and they Avere to give such an explana 
 tion of H as would commend itself to his 
 mind as ihe true one. On this last point 
 he Avould doubtless rely much on their 
 supposed wisdom in performing this duty, 
 but it would seem clear, also, that it was 
 necessary that the interpretation should 
 be seen to be a fair interpretation, or such 
 as would be fairly implied in the dream. 
 Thus, Avhen Daniel made known the in 
 terpretation, he saAv at once that it met all 
 the features of the dream, and he admitted 
 it to be correct. So also Avhen Daniel ex 
 plained the hand-Avriting on the wall to 
 Belshazzar, he admitted the justness of 
 it, and loaded him with honours. Daniel 
 V. 29. So when Joseph explained the 
 
 Let the king tell his servants tha 
 dream, and we will show the inter 
 pretation of it. 
 
 8 The king answered and said, I 
 know of certainty that ye would 
 c gain tha time, because ye see the 
 thing i& gone from me. 
 
 c Or, buy; Ep. 5. 16. 
 
 dreams of Pharaoh, he at once saw the 
 appropriateness of the explanation, and 
 admitted it to be correct (Gen xli. 39-45), 
 and so in the case above referred to (Notes 
 011 ver. 2), of Astyages respecting the 
 dreams of his daughter (Herodo. 1, cvii. 
 cviii.), he at once saw that the interpreta 
 tion of the dreams proposed by the Magi 
 accorded with the dreams, and took his 
 measures accordingly. ^[ Ye shall receive, 
 of me gifts, and rewards, and great honour. 
 Intending to appeal to their highest hopes 
 to induce them, if possible, to disclose the 
 meaning of the dream. He specifies no 
 particular rewards, but makes the promise 
 general, and the evident meaning is, that, 
 in such a case, he would bestow what it be 
 came a monarch like him to give. That 
 the usual rewards in such a case were such 
 as were adapted to stimulate to the most 
 vigorous exertions of their powers, may 
 be seen from the honour which he con 
 ferred on Daniel when he made known 
 the dream (ver. 48), and from the re 
 wards which Belshazzar conferred on 
 Daniel for making known the interpreta 
 tion of the writing on the wall ( ch. v. 29) : 
 " Then commanded Belshazzar, and they 
 clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a 
 chain of gold about his neck, and made a 
 proclamation concerning him, that he 
 should be the third ruler in the kingdom." 
 Comp. Esther v. 11. vi. 7-9. 
 
 7. They ansicercd again and said, Let 
 the king tell his servants the dream, and 
 we will show the interpretation of it. 
 Certainly not an unreasonable request, in 
 any circumstances, and especially in 
 theirs. They did not profess, evidently, 
 to be able to recall a dream that was for 
 gotten, but the extent of their profession 
 on this subject appears to have been, that 
 they were able to explain what was com 
 monly regarded as a prognostic of a future 
 event. 
 
 8. The king answered and said, 1 
 know of certainty that ye would gain 
 the time. Marg. buy. The Chaldee word, 
 
B. C. 603-] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 119 
 
 9 But if ye will not make known 
 unto me the dream, there is but one 
 
 decree for you ; for ye have prepared 
 lying and corrupt words to spe&k 
 
 PJ3T ( from ]?t ), means to get for one s 
 gelf, buy, gain, procure. Greek, rf ayopd^trt 
 that ye redeem time; and so the Vul 
 gate quod tempus redimitis. The idea 
 is, that they saw that they could not com 
 ply with his requisition, and that their 
 asking him (ver. 7) to state the dream 
 was only a pretext for delay, in the hope 
 that in the interval some device might be 
 hit on by them to appease him, or to 
 avert his threatened indignation. It would 
 be natural to suppose that they might 
 hope that on reflection he would become 
 more calm, and that, although they 
 miyht not be able to recall the dream and 
 explain it, yev it would be seen to be un 
 reasonable to expect or demand it. The 
 king seems to have supposed that some 
 such thoughts were passing through their 
 minds, and he charges on them such a 
 project. The argument of the king seems 
 to have been something like this : They 
 who can explain a dream correctly, can as 
 well tell what it is as what its interpreta 
 tion is, for the one is as much the result 
 if divine influence as the other; and if 
 men can hope for divine help in the one i 
 case why not in the other ? As you can 
 not, therefore, recall the dream, it is 
 plain that you cannot interpret it, and 
 your only object in demanding to know 
 it, is that you may ward off as long as 
 possible the execution of the threatened 
 sentence, and, if practicable, escape it 
 altogether. It is not improbable that 
 what they said was more than the simple 
 request recorded in ver. 7. They would 
 naturally enlarge on it, by attempting to 
 show how unreasonable was the demand 
 of the king in the case, and their argu 
 ments would give a fair pretex for what 
 he here charges on them, ^ Because ye 
 cr,e the thing is gone from me. According 
 to the interpretation proposed in ver. 5, 
 the dream. The meaning is, You see 
 that I have forgotten it. I have made a 
 positive statement on that point. There 
 can be no hope, therefore, that it can be 
 recalled, and it is clear that your only 
 object must be to gain time. Nothing can 
 be gained by delay, and the matter may 
 therefore be determined at once, and your 
 conduct be construed as a confession that 
 you cannot perform what is required, and 
 the sentence proceed without delay. This 
 
 makes better sense, it seems to me, than 
 to suppose that he means that j. sentence 
 had gone forth from him that if they 
 could not recall and interpret it they 
 should be put to death. 
 
 9. But if ye will not ma7ce known the 
 dream, there is but one decree for you. 
 That is, you shall share the same fate. 
 You shall all be cut to pieces, and your 
 houses reduced to ruin. ver. 5. There 
 shall be no favour shown to any class of 
 you, or to any individual among you. It 
 seems to have been supposed that the 
 responsibility rested on them individually 
 as well as collectively, and that it would 
 be right to hold each and every one of 
 them bound to explain the matter. As 
 no difference of obligation was recognised, 
 there would be no difference of criminality. 
 It should be said, however, that there is 
 a difference of interpretation here. Gese- 
 nius, and some others, render the word 
 translated decree i~n counsel, plan, pur 
 pose, and suppose that it means, this only 
 is your counsel, or plan ; that is, to pre 
 pare lying words, and to gain time. So 
 Prof. Stuart renders the verse, "If ye will 
 not make known to me the dream, one 
 thing is your purpose, both a false and 
 deceitful word have ye agreed to utter 
 before me, until the time shall have 
 changed; therefore tell me the dream, 
 and then I shall know that you can show 
 me the interpretation thereof." The 
 original word, however, is most com 
 monly used in the sense of law or decree. 
 See Deut. xxxiii. 2; Es. i. 8, 13, 15, 19, 
 ii. 8, iii. 8, 14, 15, iv. 3, 8, 11, 16, viii. 13, 
 14, 17, ix. 1, 13, 14, and there seems to 
 be no necessity for departing from the 
 common translation. It contains a sense 
 according to the truth in the case, and is 
 in accordance with the Greek, Latin, and 
 Syriac versions. ^ For ye have prepared 
 lying and corrupt words to speak before 
 me. That is, You have done this in asking 
 me to state the dream (vs. 4, 7), and in 
 the demand that the dream should bo 
 made known to you, in order that you 
 may interpret it. I shall know by your 
 inability to recall the dream that you ha ve 
 been acting a false and deceitful part, and 
 that your pretensions were all false. Your 
 wish, therefore, to have me state the 
 dream will be shown to be a mere pro- 
 
120 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 603. 
 
 before me, till the time be changed : 
 therefore tell me the dream, and 
 I a shall know that ye can show me 
 the interpretation thereof. 
 
 10 fi The Chaldeans answered be 
 fore the king, and said, There is not 
 a man upon the earth that can show 
 the king s matter : therefore there is 
 
 a Is. 41. 23. 
 
 tence, an artifice for delay, that you might 
 put off the execution of the sentence with 
 the hope of escaping altogether. ^[ Till 
 the time be changed. That is, till a new 
 state of things shall occur ; either until his 
 purpose might change, and his anger 
 should subside, or till there should be a 
 change of government. It was natural 
 for such thoughts to pass through the 
 mind of the king, since as matters could 
 be no worse for them if the subject was 
 delayed, there Avas a possibility that they 
 might be better for any change would 
 be likely to be an advantage. There 
 docs not appear to have been any great 
 confidence or affection on either side. 
 The king suspected that they were in 
 fluenced by bad motives, and they cer 
 tainly had no strong reasons for attach 
 ment to him. Comp. Notes on ver. 21, 
 and ch. vii. 25. 
 
 10. The Chaldeans answered before the 
 king, and said. Perhaps the Chaldeans 
 answered because they were the highest 
 in favour, and were those in whom most 
 confidence was usually reposed in such 
 matters. See Notes on ver 2. On such 
 an occasion those would be likely to be 
 put forward to announce their inability to 
 do this, who would be supposed to be able 
 to interpret the dream, if any could, and on 
 whom most reliance was usually placed. 
 ^[ There is not a man upon the earth 
 that can show the king s matter. Chald. 
 N.Tt"5l~ hy ( upon the dry ground. Comp. 
 Gen. i. 10. The meaning is, that the 
 thing was utterly beyond the power of man. 
 It was what none who practised the arts 
 of divining laid claim to. They doubt 
 less supposed that as great proficients in 
 that art as the world could produce might 
 be found among the wise men assembled 
 at the court of Babylon, and if they failed 
 they inferred that all others would fail. 
 This was, therefore, a decided confession 
 of their inability in the matter, but they 
 meant to break the force of that mortify- 
 
 no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked 
 such things at any magician, or 
 astrologer, or Chaldean. 
 
 11 And it is a rare thing that the 
 king requireth, and there is none 
 other that can show it before the 
 king, except b the gods, whose dwel 
 ling c is not with flesh. 
 
 ver. 28. 
 
 b Is. 66. 1, 2. 
 
 ing confession, and perhaps to appease 
 the wrath of the king, by affirming that 
 the thing was wholly beyond the human 
 powers, and that no one could be expect 
 ed to do what was demanded. ^[ There 
 fore there is no king, lord, nor ruler. 
 No one has ever made a similar demand. 
 The matter is so clear, the incompe- 
 tency of man to make such a disclosure 
 is so manifest, that no potentate of any 
 rank ever made such a request. They 
 designed, undoubtedly, to convince the 
 king that the request was so unreasonable 
 that he would not insist on it. They 
 were urgent, for their life depended on it, 
 and they apprehended that they had jus 
 tice on their side. 
 
 11. And it is a rare thing that the king 
 requireth. Chald. nyj?i meaning choice, 
 valuable, costly ; then heavy, hard, diffi 
 cult. Gr. ffapvs. Vulg. gravis heavy, 
 weighty. The idea is not so much that 
 the thing demanded by the king was un 
 common or rarely made though that was 
 true, as that it was so difficult as to be 
 beyond the human powers. They would 
 not have been likely on such an occasion 
 to say that the requirement was abso 
 lutely unjust or unreasonable. The term 
 which they used was respectful, and yet 
 it implied that no man could have any 
 hope of solving the question as it was 
 proposed by him. ^[ And there is none 
 other that can show it before the king ex 
 cept the gods, whose dwelling is not with 
 Jlesh. This was clearly true that a matter 
 of that kind could not be disclosed ex 
 cept by divine assistance. It would seem 
 from this that these persons did not claim 
 to be inspired, or to have communication 
 with the gods ; or, at least, that they did 
 not claim to be inspired by the supreme 
 God, but that they relied on their own 
 natural sagacity, and their careful and 
 long study of the meaning of those oc 
 currences which prefigured future events^ 
 and perhaps on the mystic arts derived 
 
B.C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 121 
 
 12 For this cause the king was j manded to destroy a all the wise men 
 angry and very furious, and com- of Babylon. 
 
 Matt. 2. 10. 
 
 from their acquaintance with science as 
 then understood. The word gods here 
 rrfr.XElahin [the same as the Heb. 
 Elohini], is in the plural number, but 
 might be applied to the true God, as the 
 Hebrew Elohim often is. It is by no 
 means certain that they meant to use this I 
 in the plural, or to say that it was an ad 
 mitted truth that the gods worshipped in 
 Babylon did not dwell with men. It was, 
 undoubtedly, the common opinion that 
 they did; that the temples were their 
 abode ; and that they frequently appeared 
 among men, and took part in human 
 affairs. But it was a very early opinion 
 that the Supreme God was withdrawn from 
 human affairs, and had committed the 
 government of the world to intermediate 
 beings internuncii demons, or aeons : 
 beings of power far superior to that of 
 men, who constantly mingled in human 
 affairs. Their power, however, though 
 great, was limited : and may not the Chal 
 deans here by the word r<il$ Elahin 
 have meant to refer to the Supreme God, 
 and to say that this was a case which 
 pertained to him alone ; that no inferior 
 divinity could be competent to do such a 
 thing as he demanded; and that as the 
 Supreme God did not dwell among men 
 it was hopeless to attempt to explain the 
 matter ? Thus understood the result will 
 convey a higher truth, and will show 
 more impressively the honour put on 
 Daniel. The phrase, whose dwelling is 
 not with flesh, means with men in human 
 bodies. On the supposition that this refers 
 to the Supreme God, this undoubtedly 
 accords with the prevailing sentiment of 
 those times, that however often the infe 
 rior divinities might appear to men, and 
 assume human forms, yet the Supreme 
 God was far removed, and never thus 
 took up his abode on the earth. They 
 could hope, therefore, for no communica 
 tion from Him who alone would be com 
 petent to the solution of such a secret as 
 this. This maybe regarded, therefore, as 
 a frank confession of their entire failure 
 in the matter under consideration. They 
 acknowledged that they themselves were 
 not competent to the solution of the 
 question, and they expressed the opinion 
 that the ability to do it could not be ob- 
 11 
 
 tained from the help which the inferior 
 gods rendered to men, and that it was 
 hopeless to expect the Supreme God far 
 withdrawn from human affairs to inter 
 pose. It was a public acknowledgment 
 that their art failed on a most important 
 trial, and thus the way was prepared to 
 show that Daniel, under the teaching of 
 the true God, was able to accomplish what 
 was wholly beyond all human power. 
 The trial had been fairly made. The 
 wisest men of the Chaldean realm had 
 been applied to. They on whom reliance 
 had been placed in such emergencies ; 
 they who professed to be able to explain 
 the prognostics of future events ; they who 
 had been assembled at the most import 
 ant and magnificent court of the world 
 the very centre of Pagan power; they 
 who had devoted their lives to investiga 
 tions of this nature, and who might be 
 supposed to be competent to such a work, 
 if any on earth could, now openly ac 
 knowledged that their art failed them, and 
 expressed the conviction that there was no 
 resource in the case. 
 
 12. For this cause the king icas angry. 
 Because they failed in explaining the 
 subject which had been referred to them. 
 It is true that his anger was unjust : for 
 their profession did not imply that they 
 would undertake to explain what he de 
 manded, but his wrath was not unnatural. 
 His mind was alarmed, and he was 
 troubled. He believed that what he had 
 seen in his dream foreboded some im 
 portant events, and, as an arbitrary sove 
 reign, unaccustomed to restrain his anger, 
 or to inquire into the exact justice of mat 
 ters which excited his indignation, it was 
 not unnatural that he should resolve to 
 wreak his vengeance #n all who made any 
 pretensions to the arts of divining. [ And 
 very furious. Wrought up to the highest 
 degree of passion. Chal. Much enraged. 
 It was not a calm and settled purpose 
 to execute his threat, but a purpose at 
 tended with a high degree of excitement. 
 ^f And commanded to destroy all the wise 
 men of Babylon, That is, all who made 
 pretensions to this kind of wisdom ; all 
 who came under the Ave^l-known denomi 
 nation of wise men, or sages. He had 
 called that class before him (ver. 2) ; he 
 had demanded of them an explanation of 
 
122 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 603. 
 
 13 And the decree went forth 
 that the wise men should be slain ; 
 and they sought Daniel and his fel 
 lows to be slain. 
 
 a Returned. 
 
 his dream ; he had been assured by the 
 leading men among them, the Chaldeans 
 (vs. 10, 11), that they could not recall his 
 dream, and, as he supposed that all who 
 could be relied on in such a case had 
 failed, he resolved to cut them off as im 
 postors. Where Daniel was at this time is 
 not known. It would seem, however, 
 that, from some reason, he had not been 
 summoned before the king with the others, 
 probably because, although he had shown 
 himself to be eminently endowed with 
 wisdom (ch. i. 20), he had not yet made 
 any pretensions to this kind of knowledge, 
 and was not numbered with the Magi, or 
 Chaldeans. When, however, the decree 
 went forth that all the wise men of 
 Babylon should be slain, the exhibition 
 of wisdom and knowledge made by him 
 (ch. i. 18-20) was recollected, and the 
 executioners of the sentence supposed that 
 he and his companions were included in 
 the general instructions. Whether the 
 word Babylon here relates to the city of 
 Babylon, or to the whole realm, there is 
 no certain way of determining. Consider 
 ing, however, the character of Oriental 
 despotisms, and the cruelty to which ab 
 solute sovereigns have usually been trans 
 ported in their passion, there would be no 
 improbability in supposing that the com 
 mand included the whole realm-, though it 
 is probable that most of this class would 
 be found in the capital. 
 
 13. And the decree went forth that the 
 wise men should be slain. The original 
 here will bear a somewhat different trans 
 lation, meaning the decree went forth 
 and the wise men were slain ; that is, the 
 execution of the sentence was actually 
 commenced. So the Vulg, Et egressa 
 sententid, sapientes inter flciebantur. So also 
 the Greek version, xai ol aotyol dneKrivvovTO 
 and the wise men were slain. This 
 seems to me to be the more ^robable in 
 terpretation, and better to suit the con 
 nection. Then it would mean that they 
 had actually begun to execute the decree, 
 and that in the prosecution of their bloody 
 work they sought out Daniel and his com 
 panions, and that by his influence with 
 Arioch, the execution of the sentence was 
 Arrested. ^ And they sought Daniel and 
 
 14 ft Then Daniel a answered with 
 counsel and wisdom to Arioch the 
 b captain of the king s guard, which 
 
 b Cliief of the executioners, or slaiigltter-mien, 
 or chief marshal ; Ge. 37. 36; Je 52. 12, 14. 
 
 his fellows to be slain. His three com 
 panions (ch. i. 6), who probably had not 
 been among those who were summoned to 
 court to explain the matter. Had they 
 been consulted at first the issuing of the 
 decree would have been prevented, but it 
 seems to have been the design of Provi 
 dence to give the fairest trial of the ability 
 of these sages, and to allow matters to 
 come to a crisis, in order to show that 
 what was done was wholly beyond human 
 power. 
 
 14. Then Daniel answered. Marg. re 
 turned. The original literally is, re 
 turned counsel and wisdom/ meaning 
 that he returned an answer which was 
 replete with wisdom. It would seem pro 
 bable that Arioch had communicated to 
 Daniel the decree of the king, and had 
 stated to him that he was involved in that 
 decree, and must prepare to die. f Coun 
 sel and wisdom. That is, wise counsel. 
 He evinced great prudence and discretion 
 in what he said. He made such a sug 
 gestion to Arioch as, if acted on, would 
 stay the execution of the sentence against 
 all the wise men, and would secure the 
 object which the king had in view. What 
 was the exact nature of this answer is 
 not mentioned. It is probable, however, 
 that it was that he might be enabled to 
 disclose the dream, and that he made this 
 so plausible to Arioch, that he was dis 
 posed to allow him to make the trial. It 
 is evident that Arioch would not have 
 consented to arrest the execution of the 
 sentence, unless it had appeared to him 
 to be in the highest degree probable that 
 he would be able to relieve the anxiety 
 of the king. Knowing that the main ob 
 ject of the king was to obtain the inter 
 pretation of his dream, and seeing that 
 this object was not any the more likely to 
 be secured by the execution of this stern 
 decree, and knowing the high favour with 
 which Daniel had been received at court 
 (ch, i. 19-21), he seems to have been 
 willing to assume some measure of re 
 sponsibility, and to allow Daniel to make 
 his own representation to the king, ^f To 
 Arioch, the captain of the king s guard. 
 Marg. chief of the executioners, O* 1 
 slaughter -tnen, or chief marshal. Greek, 
 
B. 0. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 123 
 
 was gono forth to slay the wise 
 men of Babylon : 
 
 15 He answered and said to 
 Arioch the king s captain, Why is 
 
 elpu TOV /?a<nXWf chief cook of the 
 king. The Vulgate renders this, Then 
 Daniel inquired respecting the law and 
 the sentence of Arioch, the commander 
 of the royal army/ The Chaldee word 
 rendered guard, is ^naa. It is derived 
 from n33 tabahh, to slaughter; to kill 
 animals ; and then to kill or slay men. The 
 noun then means a slaughterer or slayer ; 
 a cook ; an executioner, or one who kills 
 men at the will of a sovereign, or by due 
 sentence of law. There can be no doubt 
 that the word here refers to Arioch as sent 
 out to execute this sentence ; yet we are 
 not to regard him as a mere executioner, 
 or as we would a hangman, for undoubt 
 edly the king would entrust this sentence 
 to one who was of respectable, if not of 
 high rank. It is probable that one of the 
 principal officers of his body-guard would 
 be entrusted with the execution of such a 
 sentence. In 1 Sam. Yiii. 13, the word is 
 rendered cooks. It does not elsewhere 
 occur. That he was not a mere execu 
 tioner, is apparent from the title given 
 him in the next verse, where he is called 
 the king s captain. ^ Which was yone 
 forth to slay, &c. He had gone to exe 
 cute the decree, and its execution had 
 already commenced. 
 
 15. He a.nswcrcd and said to Arioch, the 
 kinr/ s captain. The word captain a dif 
 ferent word from that which occurs in ver. 
 14 K|p7lP denotes one who has rule or 
 dominion ; one who is powerful or mighty ; 
 and it would be applied only to one who 
 sustained a post of honour and respon 
 sibility. See the use of the word "!$, as 
 meaning to rule, in Neh. v. 15 ; Eccl. ii. 
 19, vi. 2, viii. 9 ; Est. ix. 1 ; Ps. cxix. 133. 
 The Avord here used is the same which 
 occurs in ver. 10, where it is rendered 
 ruler. It doubtless denotes here an officer 
 of rank, and designates one of more 
 honourable employment than would be 
 denoted by the word executioner. It 
 should be said on these verses (14, 15), 
 however, that the office of executioner in j 
 the East was by no means regarded as a j 
 dishonourable office. It Avas entrusted to i 
 those high in rank, and even nobles con 
 sidered it an honour, and often boasted 
 
 the decree so hasty from the king? 
 Then Arioch made the thing known 
 to Daniel. 
 
 16 Then Daniel went in, and do- 
 
 of it as such, that among their ancestors 
 there were those who had in this way 
 been entrusted with executing the com 
 mands of their sovereign. Hanway and 
 Abdul-Kerim both say that this office 
 conferred honour and rank. Tourne-. 
 fort says, that in Georgia "the execu 
 tioners are very rich, and men of standing 
 undertake this employment; far different 
 from what occurs in other parts of the 
 world, in that country this gives to a 
 family a title of honour. They boast that 
 among their ancestors there were many 
 who were executioners; and this they 
 base on the sentiment, that nothing is 
 more desirable than justice, and that no 
 thing can be more honourable than to be 
 engaged in administering the laws." See 
 Eosenmiiller, Morgenland, 1079. f Why 
 is the decree so hasty from the king ? Im 
 plying that all the effort had not been 
 made which it was possible to make to 
 solve the mystery. The idea is, that a 
 decree of such a nature, involving so 
 many in ruin, ought not to have pro 
 ceeded from the king without having 
 taken all possible precautions, and made 
 all possible efforts to find those who 
 might bo able to disclose what the king 
 desired. It was to Daniel a just matter 
 of surprise that, after the favour and 
 honour with which he had been received 
 at court (ch. i. 19, 20), and the confidence 
 which had been reposed in him, a com 
 mand like this should have been issued, 
 so comprehensive as to embrace him and 
 his friends, when they had done nothing 
 to deserve the displeasure of the king. 
 ^[ Then Arioch made the thing known to 
 Daniel. The statement respecting the 
 dream ; the trouble of the king ; the con 
 sultation of the magicians ; their inability 
 to explain the dream, and the positive 
 command to put all the pretenders to wis 
 dom to death. It is clear that Daniel had 
 not before been informed of these things. 
 1C. Then Daniel went in, &c. Either by 
 himself, or through the medium of some 
 friend. Perhaps all that is meant is, not 
 that he actually went into the presence 
 of the monarch, but that he went into 
 the palace, and through the interposition 
 of some high officer of court who had 
 access to the sovereign, desired of him 
 
124 
 
 DANIEL 
 
 sired of the king that he would give 
 him time, and that he would show 
 the king the interpretation. 
 
 17 Then Daniel went to his house, 
 and made the thing known to Hana- 
 
 ISam. 17. 37 ;c, 3. 17; 
 From before. 
 
 Tim. 4. 17, 18. 
 
 [B. C. COS. 
 
 hia 
 
 mah, Mishael, and Azariah, 
 companions : 
 
 18 That a they would desire mer 
 cies b of the God of heaven concern 
 ing this secret ; c that Daniel and 
 his fellows should not perish with 
 
 c Or, they should not destroy Daniel. 
 
 that he would give him time, and that he 
 would make it known. It would rather 
 appear, from vs. 24, 25, that the first 
 direct audience which he had with the 
 king Avas after the thing was made known 
 to him in a night vision, and it would 
 scarcely accord with established Oriental 
 usages that he should go immediately and 
 unceremoniously into the royal presence. 
 A petition presented through some one who 
 had access to the king, would meet all the 
 circumstances of the case. ^[ That he 
 would give him time. He did not specify 
 ivhi/ he desired time, though the reason 
 why he did it is plain enough. He wished 
 to lay the matter before God, and to 
 engage his friends in earnest prayer that 
 the dream and the interpretation might 
 be made known to him. This request 
 was granted to him. It may seem re 
 markable, as no time was allowed to the 
 Chaldeans that they might make inquiry 
 (ver. 8), that such a favour should have 
 been granted to Daniel, especially after 
 the execution of the sentence had been 
 commenced ; but we are to remember 
 (1.) That the king would recollect the 
 favour which he had already shown 
 Daniel on good grounds, and the fact that 
 he regarded him as endowed with great 
 wisdom, ch. i. 19, 20; (2.) Daniel did not 
 ask, as the Chaldeans did, that the king 
 should tell the dream before he undertook 
 to explain it, but he proposed evidently to 
 unfold the whole matter; (3.) it could not 
 but occur to the king that Daniel had not 
 yet been consulted, and that it was but 
 reasonable that he should have a fair 
 trial now, since it appeared that he was 
 involved in the general sentence; (4.) the 
 anxiety of the king to understand the 
 dream was so great that he was willing to 
 grasp at any hope in order that his per 
 plexities might be relieved; and (5.) it is 
 not improper to suppose that there may 
 have been a divine influence on the mind 
 of this monarch, making him willing to 
 do so simple an act of justice as this, in 
 order that it might be seen and acknow 
 
 ledged that the hand of God was in the 
 whole matter. 
 
 17. Then Daniel iccnt to his house. It 
 is quite evident that he had obtained the 
 object of his request, though this is not 
 expressly mentioned. The king was un 
 doubtedly, for the reasons above stated, 
 willing that he should have a fair oppor 
 tunity to try his skill in disclosing the 
 mysterious secret, f And made the thing 
 known to Hananiali, &c. Made the whole 
 matter known the perplexity respecting 
 the dream ; the failure of the Chaldeans 
 
 j to interpret it ; the decree ; and his own 
 petition to the king. They had a com 
 mon interest in knowing it, as their lives 
 were all endangered. 
 
 18. That they would desire mercies of 
 the God of heaven concerning this secret. 
 That they would implore of God that he 
 would show his mercy to them in reveal 
 ing this secret, that their lives might be 
 spared. In the margin, as in the Chaldee, 
 this is from before the God of heaven. 
 All depended now on God. It was clear 
 that human skill was exhausted, and that 
 no reliance could he placed on any ability 
 which man possessed. The art of the 
 Chaldeans had failed, and Daniel, as well 
 by this failure as by the promptings of 
 his own feelings, must now have perceived 
 that the only hope was in God, and that 
 his favour in the case was to be obtained 
 only by prayer. As his three friends 
 were equally interested in the issue, and 
 as it was an early principle of religion, 
 and one found in all dispensations (comp. 
 Matt, xviii. 19), that united prayer has 
 special power with God, it was natural and 
 proper to call on his friends to join with 
 
 ! him in asking this favour from Him who 
 j alone could grant it. It was the natural, 
 I and the last resource of piety, furnishing 
 i an example of what all may do, and 
 ! should do, in times of perplexity and 
 ! danger. f[ That. Daniel and his fellows 
 I should not perish. Marg., or, they should 
 i not destroy Daniel. The reading in the 
 i margin is most in accordance with the 
 Chaldee, though the sense is substantially 
 
B.C. 603.] 
 
 CHAP TEE II. 
 
 125 
 
 the rest of the wise men of Baby 
 lon. 
 
 19 Then \vas the secret revealed 
 unto Daniel in a night a vision. 
 
 Then Daniel 
 heaven. 
 
 blessed the God of 
 
 Num. 12. 6. 
 
 b Ps. 50. 23. 
 
 the same. The word fellows is the same 
 which is before rendered companions, 
 \ With the rest of the wise men of JJabylon. 
 It seems to have been certain that the 
 decree would be executed on the Chal 
 deans, soothsayers, &c. And, indeed, 
 there was no reason why the decree should 
 not be executed. They had confessed 
 their inability to comply with the king s 
 command, and whatever Daniel could now 
 do could not be construed in their favour 
 as furnishing any reason why the decree 
 should not be executed on them. It was 
 presumed, therefore, that the law, severe 
 as it seemed to be, would be carried into 
 effect on them, and we may suppose that 
 this was probably done. The only hope 
 of their escaping from the common lot was 
 in the belief that the God whom they 
 served would now interpose in their 
 behalf. 
 
 19. Then was the secret revealed, &c. 
 To wit, the dream and the interpretation. 
 The thing which had been hidden was 
 disclosed. We may suppose that this oc 
 curred after a suitable time had been 
 given to prayer. ^[ In a niyht innion. 
 A representation made to him at night, 
 but whether when he was asleep or awake 
 does not appear. Comp. Notes on ch. i. 
 17; Isa. i. 1; Job iv. 13, xxxiii. 15. 
 ^[ Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 
 Nothing would be more natural than that 
 he should burst forth in a song of grateful 
 praise for disclosing a secret, by means of 
 which his life, and the lives of his com 
 panions, would be preserved, and by which 
 such signal honour would redound to God 
 himself, as alone able to reveal comin 
 events. 
 
 20. Daniel ansiuered and said. The 
 word answer, in the Scriptures, often 
 occurs substantially in the sense of speak 
 or say. It does not always denote a reply 
 to something that has been said by an 
 other, as it does with us, but is often used 
 when a speech is commenced, as if one 
 were replying to something that might be 
 said in the case, or as meaning that the 
 circumstances in the case gave rise to the 
 
 II* 
 
 20 Daniel answered and said, 
 Blessed be the name of God for 
 
 ever and ever : for c wisdom and 
 might are his : 
 
 21 And he changeth the d times 
 and the seasons : he e removeth 
 
 c .Tor. 32. 19. d Ps. 31. 14, 15. 
 
 Ps. 75. 6, 7. 
 
 remark. Here the meaning is, that Daniel 
 responded, as it were, to the goodness 
 which God had manifested, and gave 
 utterance to his feelings in appropriate 
 expressions of praise, ^f Jllessed be the 
 name of God for ever and ever. That 
 is, blessed bo God the name, in the 
 Scriptures, being often used to denote 
 the person himself. It is common in 
 the Bible to utter ascriptions of praise 
 to God in view of important revelations, 
 or in view of great mercies. Comp. the 
 song of Moses after the passage of the 
 Red Sea, Ex. xv. ; the song of Deborah 
 after the overthrow of Sisera, Judg. v. and 
 xii. ^ For wisdom and miyht are his. 
 Both these were manifested in a remark 
 able manner in the circumstances of this 
 case, and therefore these were the begin 
 nings of the song of praise : wisdom, as 
 now imparted to Daniel, enabling him to 
 disclose this secret, when all human skill 
 had failed; and miyht, as about to be 
 evinced in the changes of empire indicated 
 by the dream and the interpretation. 
 Comp. Jer. xxxii. 19, "Great in counsel, 
 and mighty in work." 
 
 21. And he changeth the times and the 
 seasons. The object of this is to assert 
 the general control of God in reference to 
 all changes which occur. The assertion 
 is made, undoubtedly, in view of the re 
 volutions in empire which Daniel now 
 saw, from the signification of the dream, 
 were to take place under the divine hand. 
 Foreseeing now these vast changes de 
 noted by different parts of the image (vs. 
 36-45), stretching into far-distant times, 
 Daniel was led to ascribe to God the con 
 trol over all the revolutions which occur 
 on earth. There is no essential dififerenco 
 between the words times and seasons. 
 The words in Chaldee denote stated or 
 appointed seasons ; and the idea of times 
 appointed, set, determined, enters into 
 both. Times and seasons are not under 
 the control of chance, but are bounded by 
 established laws ; and yet God, who ap 
 pointed these laws, has power to change 
 them, and all the changes which occur 
 
126 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 603, 
 
 kings, and setteth up kings: he 
 a giveth wisdom unto the wise, and 
 
 a Prov. 2. 6, 7. 
 
 knowledge to them that know un 
 derstanding : 
 
 under those laws are produced by his 
 agency. Thus the changes which occur 
 in regard to day and night, spring and 
 summer, autumn and winter, clouds and 
 sunshine, health and sickness, childhood 
 and youth, manhood and age, are under 
 his control. Such changes, being in ac 
 cordance with certain laws, may be re 
 garded as appointed, or set, and yet the 
 laws and the revolutions consequent on 
 them are all under his control. So in 
 regard to the revolutions of empire. 
 By the arrangements of his providence 
 he secures such revolutions as he shall 
 see it to be best should occur, and in all 
 of them his high hand should be regarded. 
 The words seasons and times are of fre 
 quent occurrence in Daniel, and are 
 sometimes used in a peculiar sense (see 
 Notes on ch. vii. 12, 25), but they seem 
 here to be employed in their usual and 
 general signification, to denote that all 
 the revolutions which occur on earth are 
 under his control. ^[ He rcmovcth kings, 
 and setteth up kings. He has absolute 
 control over all the sovereigns of the 
 earth, to place on the throne whom he 
 will, and to remove them when he pleases. 
 This was doubtless suggested to Daniel, 
 and was made the foundation of this por 
 tion of his hymn of praise, from what he 
 was permitted to see in the disclosures 
 made to him in the interpretation of the 
 dream. Ho then saw (comp. vs. 37-45), 
 that there would be most important revo 
 lutions of kingdoms under the hand of 
 God, and being deeply impressed with 
 these great prospective changes, he makes 
 this general statement, that it was the 
 prerogative of God to do this at pleasure. 
 Nebuchadnezzar was brought to feel this, 
 and to recognize it, when he said (ch. iv. 
 17), " The Most High ruleth in the king 
 dom of men and giveth it to whomsoever 
 he will ;" " he doeth according to his will in 
 the army of heaven, and among the inha 
 bitants of the earth ; none can stay his 
 hand, or say unto him, What doestthou ?" 
 ch. iv. 32, 35. This claim is often asserted 
 for G od in the Scriptures as a proof of his 
 supremacy and greatness. " For promo 
 tion corneth neither from the east, nor 
 from the. west, nor from the south : but 
 God is the judge ; he putteth down one, 
 and setteth up another/ 1 Ps. Ixxv. 6, 7. 
 
 Comp. 1 Sam. ii. 7, 8. Thus he claimed 
 absolute control over Sennacherib to 
 employ him at his pleasure in executing 
 his purposes of punishment on the He 
 brew nation (Isa. x. 5-7), and thus over 
 Cyrus to execute his purposes on Baby 
 lon, and to restore his people to their 
 land. Isa. xlv. 1, seq. See also Isa. xlvi. 
 10, 11. In this manner, all the kings of 
 the earth may be regarded as under his 
 control; and if the divine plan was fully 
 understood it would be found that each 
 one has received his appointment, under 
 the divine direction, to accomplish some 
 important part in carrying forward the 
 divine plans to their fulfillment. A his 
 tory of human affairs, showing the exact 
 purpose of God in regard to each ruler 
 who has occupied a throne, and the exact 
 object which God designed to accomplish 
 by placing him on the throne at the timo 
 when he did, would be a far more im 
 portant and valuable history than any 
 which has been written. Of many such 
 rulers, like Cyrus, Sennacherib, Pilate, 
 Henry VIII., Edward VI., and the Elec 
 tor of Saxony, we cnn see the reason why 
 they lived and reigned when they did; 
 and doubtless God has had some im 
 portant end to accomplish in the develop 
 ment of his great plans in the case of 
 every one who has ever occupied a throne. 
 *[ He giveth wisdom unto the wise, &c. He 
 is the source of all true wisdom and know 
 ledge. This is often claimed for God in 
 the Scriptures. Comp. Prov. ii. 6, 7 : 
 
 " For the Lord giveth wisdom ; 
 Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and 
 
 understanding. 
 
 lie layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous ; 
 He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly." 
 
 See also 1 Kings iii. 9-12 ; Ex. xxxi. 3. 
 God claims to be the source of all wisdom 
 and knowledge. He originally formed 
 each human intellect, and made it what 
 it is; he opens before it the paths of 
 knowledge; he gives to it clearness of 
 perception ; he preserves its powers so 
 that they do not become deranged; he 
 has power to make suggestions, to direct 
 the laws of association, to fix the mind on 
 important thoughts, and to open before it 
 new and interesting views of truth. And 
 as it would be found, if the history could 
 be written, that God has placed each 
 
B. C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 127 
 
 22 He revealeth a the deep and 
 secret things : he knoweth b what is 
 in the darkness, and the light c dwel- 
 leth with hiui. 
 
 monarch on the throne with a distinct 
 reference to some important purpose in 
 the development of his great plans, so 
 probably it would be seen that each im 
 portant work of genius which has been 
 written; each invention in the arts; and 
 each discovery in science, has been, for a 
 similar purpose, under his control. He 
 has created the great intellect just at the 
 time when it was needful that such a dis 
 covery or invention should be made, and 
 having prepared the world for it by the 
 course of events, the discovery or inven 
 tion has occurred just at the time when, 
 on the whole, it was most desirable that 
 it should. 
 
 22. He revealeth the deep and secret 
 things. Things which are too profound 
 for man to fathom by his own power, and 
 which are concealed or hidden until he 
 makes them known. What is said here 
 is an advance on what was affirmed in the 
 previous verse, and relates to another 
 kind of knowledge. That related to such 
 knowledge as was not properly beyond 
 the grasp of the human intellect when un 
 aided in any supernatural manner, and 
 affirmed that even then all discoveries and 
 inventions are to be traced to God; this 
 refers to a species of knowledge which 
 lies beyond any natural compass of the 
 human powers, and in which a super 
 natural influence is needed such things 
 as the Chaldeans and astrologers claimed 
 the power of disclosing. The assertion 
 here is, that when the highest human 
 wisdom showed itself insufficient for the 
 exigency, God was able to disclose those 
 deep truths which it was desirable for man 
 to understand. Applied generally, this 
 refers to the truths made known by revela 
 tion truths which man could never have 
 discovered by his unaided powers, f He 
 knoweth tohat is in the darkness. What 
 appears to man to be involved in dark 
 ness, and on which no light seems to 
 shine. This may refer not only to what 
 is concealed from man in the literal dark 
 ness of night, but to all that is mysterious ; 
 all that lies beyond the range of human 
 inquiry; all that pertains to unseen 
 worlds. An immensely large portion of j 
 the universe lies wholly beyond the range j 
 
 23 I thank thee, and praise thee, 
 
 thou God of my fathers, who hast 
 given me wisdom and might, and 
 
 * Ps. 25. 14. b Ps. 139. 11, 12; Heb. 4. 13. 
 c 1 Tim. 6. 16; Uohn 1. 5. 
 
 of human investigation at present, and is, 
 of course, dark to man. IT And the light 
 dwelleth with him. The word rendered 
 dwelleth xy? means properly to loose, 
 to unbind, to solve, as e. g., hard ques 
 tions, Dan. v. 16; and is then applied to 
 travellers who unbind the loads of their 
 beasts to put up for the night, and then 
 it comes to mean to put up for the night, 
 to lodge, to dwell. Hence the meaning 
 is, that the light abides with God; it is 
 there as in its appropriate dwelling-place ; 
 he is in the midst of it; all is light about 
 him ; light when it is sent out goes from 
 him; when it is gathered together its ap 
 propriate place is with him. Comp. Job 
 xxxviii. 19, 20 : 
 
 "Where is the way where light dwelleth? 
 And as for darkness where is the place 
 
 thereof? 
 That thou shouldest take it to the bound 
 
 thereof. 
 And that thou shouldest know the paths to 
 
 the house thereof?" 
 
 See Notes on that passage. Comp. also, 
 
 1 Tim. i. 16: "Dwelling in the light 
 which no man can approach unto." 
 1 John i. 5 : " God is light, and in him is 
 no darkness at all." 
 
 23. / thank thee, and praise thee, 
 thou God of my fathers. By his " fathers" 
 here, Daniel refers doubtless to the Jew 
 ish people in general, and not to his own 
 particular ancestors. The meaning of 
 the phrase " God of my fathers," is, that 
 he had been their protector ; had regarded 
 them as his people; had conferred on 
 them great favours. The particular 
 ground of thanksgiving here is, that the 
 same God who had so often revealed him 
 self to the Hebrew people by the prophets 
 in their own land, had now condescended 
 to do the same thing to one of their 
 nation, though a captive in a strange 
 country. The favour thus bestowed had 
 an increased value from the fact that it 
 showed that the Hebrew people were not 
 forgotten, though far from the land of 
 their birth, and that though in captivity 
 they might still hope for the benign inter, 
 position of God. ^ Who hast given me 
 wisdom and might. The word wisdom 
 
128 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 603. 
 
 hast made known unto me now 
 what we desired of thee : for thou 
 hast now made known unto us the 
 king s matter. 
 
 24 T[ Therefore Daniel went in 
 unto Arioch, whom the king had 
 ordained to destroy the wise men 
 of Babylon ; he went and said 
 
 thus unto him : Destroy not th 
 wise men of Babylon: bring me in 
 before the king, and I will shov? 
 unto the king the interpretation. 
 
 25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel 
 before the king in haste, and said 
 thus unto him, a I have found a man 
 
 * That I. 
 
 here undoubtedly refers to the ability 
 which had now been given him to declare 
 the nature and purport of the dream, im 
 parting to him a degree of wisdom far 
 superior to those pretenders to whom the 
 matter had been at first submitted. The 
 word might (Chald. strength Nivyoj) 
 does not probably differ materially from 
 wisdom. It means ability to interpret 
 the dream implying that it was a task be 
 yond natural human ability, fl" For thou 
 hast now made known unto us the king s 
 matter. That is, it had been made known 
 to him and his friends. He joins himself 
 with them ; for although it was particu 
 larly made known to him, yet, as they had 
 united with him in prayer that the secret 
 might be disclosed, and as they shared 
 common dangers, he regarded it as in 
 fact made known to them all. 
 
 24. Therefore Daniel went in unto 
 Arioch. In view of the fact that the 
 matter was now disclosed to him, he pro 
 posed to lay it before the king. This, of 
 course, he did not do directly, but through 
 Arioch, who was entrusted with the exe 
 cution of the decree to slay the wise men 
 of Babylon. That officer would natur 
 ally have access to the king, and it was 
 proper that a proposal to arrest the exe 
 cution of the sentence should be made 
 through his instrumentality. The Chaldee 
 NjnSrjfrSs is properly on this whole 
 account or, on this whole account be 
 cause in accordance with the usually 
 full and pleonastic mode of writing par 
 ticles, similar to the German alldieiceil, 
 or the compound English forasmuch as. 
 The meaning is, that in view of the whole 
 matter, he sought to lay the case before 
 the king, f Destroy not the wise men of 
 Babylon. That is, Stay the execution 
 of the sentence on them. Though they 
 have failed to furnish the interpretation 
 demanded, yet as it can now be given, 
 there is no occasion for the exercise of 
 ttiis severity. The ground of the sentence 
 
 was that they could not interpret tha 
 dream. As the execution of the sentence 
 involved Daniel and his friends, and ag 
 the reason why it was passed at all would 
 now cease by his being able to furnish 
 the required explanation, Daniel felt that 
 it was a matter of mere justice that the 
 execution of the sentence should cease 
 altogether. ^ Bring me in before the 
 king. It would seem from this that 
 Daniel did not regard himself as having 
 free access to the king, and he would not 
 unceremoniously intrude himself into hia 
 presence. This verse confirms the inter 
 pretation given of ver. 16, and makes it 
 in the highest degree probable that thia 
 was the first occasion on which he wag 
 personally before the king in reference to 
 this matter. 
 
 25. Then Arioch brought in Daniel before 
 the king in haste. The Chaldee word used 
 here implies in tumultuous haste, as of one 
 who was violently excited, or in a state of 
 trepidation, from I WJ| to tremble, to be 
 in trepidation. The trepidation in this 
 case may have arisen from one or both of 
 two causes: (1.) exultation, or joy, that 
 the great secret was discovered; or 
 (2.) joy that the effusion of blood might 
 be stayed, and that there might be now 
 no necessity to continue the execution of 
 the sentence against the wise men. <j 1 
 have found a man. Marg. as in Chaldee, 
 That I have found a man/ It is not to 
 be supposed that Arioch had known any 
 thing of the application which Daniel had 
 made to the king to delay the execution 
 of the sentence (ver. 16), and for any 
 thing that appears he had suspended that 
 execution on his own responsibility. Ig 
 norant as he was, therefore, of any such 
 arrangement, and viewing only his own 
 agency in the matter, it was natural for 
 him to go in and announce this as some 
 thing entirely new to the king, and with 
 out suggesting that the execution of the 
 sentence had been at all delayed. It was 
 a rno.st remarkable circumstance, and one 
 
B. C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 129 
 
 of the a captives of Judah, that will 
 make known unto the king the in 
 terpretation. 
 
 26 The king answered and said 
 to Daniel, whose name was Belte- 
 shazzar, Art thou able to make 
 known unto me the dream which I 
 have seen, and the interpretation 
 thereof? 
 
 a Children of the, captivity. 
 
 which looks like a divine interposition, 
 that he should have been disposed to 
 delay the execution of the sentence at all, 
 so that Daniel could have an opportunity 
 of showing whether he could not divulge 
 the secret. All the circumstances of the 
 case seein to imply that Arioch was not a 
 man of a cruel disposition, but was dis 
 posed, as far as possible, to prevent the 
 effusion of blood. ^[ Of the captives of 
 Judah. Marg. as in Chald. of the child 
 ren of the captivity. The word Judah 
 here probably refers to the country rather 
 than to the people, and means that he was 
 among those who had been brought from 
 the land of Judah. *[ That will make 
 known unto the king the interpretation. 
 It is clear, from the whole narrative, that 
 Arioch had great confidence in Daniel. 
 All the evidence which he could have that 
 he would be able to make this known, 
 must have been from the fact that Daniel 
 professed to be able to do it ; but such was 
 his confidence in him that he had no 
 doubt that he would be able to do it. 
 
 26. The king answered, an d said to 
 Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar. 
 Notes, ch. i. 7. The king may have ad 
 dressed him by this name, and probably 
 did during this interview. This was the 
 name, it would seem, by which he was 
 known in Babylon a name which implied 
 honour and respectability, as being con 
 ferred on one whom it was supposed the 
 principal Babylonian divinity favoured. 
 ^[ Art thou able to make known unto me the 
 dream ? One of the first points in the 
 difficulty was to recall the dream itself, 
 and hence this was the first inquiry which 
 the king presented. If he could not re 
 call that, of course the matter was at an 
 end, and the law would be suffered to 
 take its course. 
 
 27. Daniel answered in the presence of 
 the king, and said, The secret which the 
 king hath demanded, cannot the wise men, 
 &c., show unto the king ? Daniel regarded 
 
 27 Daniel answered in the pre 
 sence of the king, and said, The 
 secret which the kino; hath de 
 manded cannot b the wise men, the 
 astrologers, the magicians, the sooth 
 sayers, show unto the king ; 
 
 28 But c there is a God in heaven 
 that revealeth secrets, and d maketh 
 
 b Is. 47.13, 14. c Gen. 40. 8, 41. 1C. 
 
 d Hath made. 
 
 it as a settled and indisputable point that 
 the solution could not be hoped for from 
 the Chaldean sages. The highest talent 
 whicH the realm could furnish had been 
 applied to, and had failed. It was clear, 
 therefore, that there was no hope that the 
 difficulty would be removed by human 
 skill. Besides this, Daniel would seem 
 also to intimate that the thing, from the 
 necessity of the case, was beyond the 
 compass of the human powers. Alike in 
 reference to the question whether a for 
 gotten dream could be recalled, and to the 
 actual signification of a dream so remark 
 able as this, the whole matter was beyond 
 the ability of man. ^[ The loise men, the 
 astrologers, &c. On these words see Notes 
 on ch. i. 20. All these words occur in 
 that verse, except r~}}% Gozrin rendered 
 soothsayers. This is derived from "IHj 
 to cut, to cut off ; and then to decide, to 
 determine; and it is thus applied to those 
 who decide or determine the fates or 
 : destiny of men; that is, those who "by 
 : casting nativities from the place of the 
 stars at one s birth, and by various arts 
 of computing and divining, foretold the 
 fortunes and destinies of individuals." 
 See Gesenius, Com. z. Isai. ii. 349-356, 
 $ 4, Von den Chaldern und deren Astro- 
 logie. On p. 555, he has given a figure, 
 showing how the heavens were cut up, or 
 divided, by astrologers in the practice of 
 their art. Comp. the phrase nutneri Baby- 
 lonii, in Hor. Carm. I. ii. 2. The Greek is 
 ya^aprjvtiv the Chaldee word in Greek 
 letters. This is one of the words not 
 very few in number which the authors 
 of the Greek version did not attempt to 
 translate. Such words, however, are not 
 useless, as they serve to throw light on 
 the question how the Hebrew and Chaldee 
 were pronounced before the vowel points 
 were affixed to those languages. 
 
 28. Hut there is a God in heaven that 
 vrets. One of the principal 
 
130 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. COS. 
 
 known to the king Nebuchadnezzar | thoughts came a into tliy mind upon 
 what shall be in the latter days, thy bed, what should come to pass 
 
 Thy dream, and the visions of thy 
 
 head upon thy bed, are these ; 
 29 As for theo, king, 
 
 a Came up. 
 
 thy 
 
 hereafter : and b he that revealeth 
 secrets maketh known to thee what 
 shall come to pass. 
 
 b Amos 4. 13. 
 
 Objects contemplated in all that occurred 
 respecting this dream and its interpreta 
 tion, was, to direct the mind of the mo 
 narch to the true God, and to secure the 
 acknowledgment of his supremacy. Hence 
 it was so ordered that those who were most 
 eminent for wisdom, and who were re 
 garded as the favourites of heaven, were 
 constrained to confess their entire in 
 ability to explain the mystery. The way 
 was thus prepared to show that he who 
 could do this must be the true God, and 
 must be worthy of adoration and praise. 
 Thus prepared, the mind of the monarch 
 was now directed by this pious Hebrew 
 youth, though a captive, to a truth so 
 momentous and important. His whole 
 training; hi I modesty, and his piety, all 
 were combined to lead him to attribute 
 whatever skill he might evince in so diffi 
 cult a matter to the true God alone : and 
 we can scarcely conceive of a more sub 
 lime object of contemplation than this 
 young man, in the most magnificent 
 court of the world, directing the thoughts 
 of the most mighty monarch that then 
 occupied a. throne, to the existence and | 
 the perfections of the true God. ^[ And 
 maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar. 
 Marg. hath made. The translation in the 
 text is more correct, for it was not true 
 that he had as yet actually made these 
 things known to the king. He had fur 
 nished intimations of what was to occur, 
 but he had not yet been permitted to un 
 derstand their signification. *[ What shall 
 be in the latter days. Gr. fa f.a\arwv TU>V 
 tiliepui in the last days. Vulg. in novis- 
 eimis temporibiis in the last times. 
 Chald. H*!? 1 " 1 n<l T!?? in the after days; 
 or, as Faber expresses it, in the afterhood 
 of days. The phrase means what we 
 would express by saying, hereafter; in 
 future times ; in time to come. This 
 phrase often has special reference to the 
 .times of the Messiah, as the last dispen 
 sation of things on the earth, or as that 
 under which the affairs of the world will 
 oo wound up. Cornp. Notes on Isa. ii. 2. 
 It does not appeal , however, to be used 
 
 in that sense here, but it denotes merely 
 future times. The phrase the latter 
 days, therefore, does not exactly convey 
 the sense of the original. It is future 
 days rather than latter days. ^[ Thy 
 dream and the visions of thy head upon 
 thy led. The phrase visions of thy 
 head, means conceptions or notions 
 formed by the brain. It would seem from 
 this that, even in the time of Daniel, the 
 brain was regarded as, in some sense, tho 
 organ of thinking, or that thought had its 
 scat in the head. We are not to suppose 
 that, by the use of these different expres 
 sions Daniel meant to describe two things, 
 or to intimate that Nebuchadnezzar had 
 had visions which were distinct. What 
 he saw might be described as a dream or 
 a vision. It, in fact, had the nature of 
 both. ^[ Are these. These which I now 
 proceed to describe. 
 
 29. As for thee, king, thy thoughts 
 came into thy mind upon thy bed. Marg. 
 up ; that is, thy thoughts ascended. The 
 Chaldee is, thy thoughts ascended ip 1 ??- 
 So the Greek : Thy thoughts ascended 
 avifaaav upon thy couch. There is, evi 
 dently, some allusion to the thoughts 
 ascending,* or going up, and perhaps the 
 idea is that they were employed on im 
 portant subjects an idea which we now 
 express by saying that one s thoughts are 
 elevated, as contrasted with those which 
 are low and grovelling. ^[ What should 
 come to pass hereafter. It would seem 
 most probable from this that the thoughts 
 of Nebuchadnezzar were occupied with 
 this subject in his waking moments on his 
 bed, and that the dream was grafted on 
 this train of thought when he fell asleep. 
 Nothing is more probable than that his 
 thoughts might be thus occupied. The 
 question respecting his successor; the 
 changes which might occur; the possi 
 bility of revolutions in other kingdoms, 
 or in the provinces of his own vast eru- 
 pire, all were topics on which his mind 
 would probably be employed. As God 
 designed, too, to fix his thoughts par- 
 ticularly on that general subject- the 
 
B. C. 603.1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 131 
 
 30 But as for me, this secret is 
 ii >t revealed to me for any wisdom 
 that I have more than any living, 
 but for * their sakes that shall make 
 
 a Acts 3. 12. 
 
 changes which were to occur in his em 
 pire such an occasion, when his atten 
 tion was greatly engrossed with the 
 subject, would be very suitable to impart 
 the knowledge which he did by this 
 vision. Daniel refers to this, probably, 
 because it would do much to confirm the 
 monarch in the belief of his inspiration if 
 he referred to the train of thought Avhich 
 had preceded the dreain ; as it is not im 
 probable that the king would remember 
 his waking thoughts on the subject, 
 though his dream was forgotten. 
 
 30. But as for me. So far as I am con 
 cerned in this matter, or whatever skill 
 or wisdom I may evince in the interpre 
 tation, it is not to be traced to myself. 
 The previous verse commences with the 
 expression as for tliee, and in this verse 
 by the phrase as for me, Daniel puts 
 himself in strong contrast with the king. 
 The way in which this was done was not 
 such as to flatter the vanity of the king, 
 and cannot be regarded as the art of the 
 courtier, and yet it was such as would be 
 universally adopted to conciliate his fa 
 vour, and to give him an elevated idea of 
 the modesty and piety of the youthful 
 Darnel. In the previous verse he says, 
 that, as to what pertained to the king, 
 God had greatly honoured him by giving 
 him important intimations of what was 
 yet to occur. Occupying the position 
 which he did, it might be supposed that it 
 would not be wholly unnatural that he 
 should be thus favoured, and Daniel does 
 not say, as in his own case, that it was 
 not on account of anything in the cha 
 racter and rank of the king that this had 
 been communicated to him. But when 
 he comes to speak of himself a youth j a 
 captive ; a stranger in Babylon ; a native 
 of another land, nothing was more natu 
 ral or proper than that he should state 
 distinctly that it was not on account of 
 anything in him that this was done. 
 ^[ This secret is not revealed to me for any 
 wisdom that I have more than any living. 
 That is, it is not by any wisdom which I 
 have above others, nor is it on account of 
 any previous wisdom which I have pos 
 sessed or manifested. There is an abso- 
 
 known the interpretation to the 
 king, and that thou migbtest know 
 the thoughts of thy heart. 
 
 b Or, the intent that the interpretation may be 
 made known. 
 
 lute and .total disclaimer of the idea that it 
 was in any sense, or in any way, on account 
 of his own superiority in wisdom. All the 
 knowledge which he had in the case was to 
 be traced entirely to God. f But for their 
 gakes that shall make known the interpreta 
 tion to the king. Marg., or, the intent that 
 the interpretation may be made known. 
 The margin is the more correct rendering, 
 and should have been admitted into the 
 text. The literal translation is, but (]&) 
 on account of the thing that they might 
 make known the interpretation to the 
 king. The word rendered make known 
 is indeed in the plural, but it is evidently 
 used in an impersonal sense, meaning that 
 the interpretation would be made known. 
 It was to the intent that they might 
 make it known ; that is, that somebody 
 might do it, or that it might be done. 
 Would not modesty and delicacy lead to 
 the choice of such an expression here, 
 inclining Daniel to avoid, as far as pos 
 sible, all mention of himself? The main 
 thought is, that the grand object to be 
 secured was not to glorify Daniel, or any 
 other human being, but to communicate 
 to this heathen monarch important truths 
 respecting coming events, and through 
 him to the world. ^[ And that thou might- 
 est know the thoughts of thy heart. In 
 reference to this matter. That is, that he 
 might be able to recall the thoughts which 
 passed through his mind in the dream. 
 This (vs. 27-30) is the introduction to 
 the important disclosure which, Daniel 
 was about to make to the kin,g. This 
 entire disclaimer of the honour of having 
 originated the interpretation by his own 
 wisdom, and ascribing it to God, is worthy 
 here of special attention. It is probable 
 that the magicians were accustomed to 
 ascribe to their own skill and sagacity the 
 ability to interpret dreams and the other 
 prognostics of the future, and to claim 
 special honour on that account. In oppo 
 sition to this, Daniel utterly disclaims any 
 such wisdom himself, and attributes the 
 skill which he has entirely to God. This 
 is a beautiful illustration of the nature of 
 modesty and piety. It places before us a 
 
132 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 603. 
 
 31 f Thou, ling, a sawest, and 
 behold a great image. This great 
 
 young man, having now the prospect of 
 being elevated to great honours ; under 
 every temptation to arrogate the pos 
 session of extraordinary wisdom to him 
 self; suddenly exalted above all the sages 
 of the most splendid court on earth, dis 
 claiming all merit, and declaring, in the 
 most solemn manner, that whatever pro 
 found wisdom there might be in the com 
 munication which he was about to make, 
 it was not in the slightest degree to he 
 traced to himself. See the remarks at the 
 end of the chapter (6.) 
 
 31. Thou, king, sawest. Marg. wast 
 teeing. The margin is in accordance with 
 the Chaldee. The language is properly 
 that which denotes a prolonged or atten 
 tive observation. He was in an attitude 
 favourable to vision, or was looking with 
 intensity, and there appeared before 
 him this remarkable image. Comp. ch. 
 vii. 1, 2, 4, 6. It was not a thing which 
 appeared for a moment, and then van 
 ished, but which remained so long that 
 he could contemplate it with accuracy. 
 *l And, behold, a great image. Chald. 
 one image that was grand NOfr in D7$. 
 So the Vulgate statua una grandis. So 
 the Greek eixuv pia. The object seems 
 to he to fix the attention on the fact that 
 there was but one image, though composed 
 of so different materials, and of materials 
 that seemed to be so little fitted to be 
 worked together into the same statue. 
 The idea, by its being represented as one, 
 is, that it wafi, in some respects, the same 
 kingdom that he saw symbolized : that is, 
 that it would extend over the same coun 
 tries, and could be, in some sense, re 
 garded as a prolongation of the same 
 empire. There was so much of identity, 
 though different in many respects, that it 
 could be represented as one. The word 
 rendered image "?)? denotes properly a 
 shade, or shadow, and then anything that 
 shadows forth, or that represents any 
 thing. It is applied to man (Gen. i. 27), 
 as shadowing forth, or representing God ; 
 that is, there was something in man when 
 he was created, which had so far a re 
 semblance to God that he might be re 
 garded as an image of him. The word is 
 often used to denote idols as supposed to 
 be a representation of the gods, either in 
 their forms, or as shadowing forth their 
 
 image, whose brightness was exce* 
 
 a Wast seeing. 
 
 character, as majestic, stern, mild, scverOj 
 merciful, <fec. Num. xxxiii. 52 ; 1 Sam. 
 vi. 5; 2 Kings xi. 18; 2 Chron. xxiii. 17; 
 Ezek. vii. 20, xvi. 17, xxiii. 14; Amos v. 
 26. This image is not represented as an 
 idol to be worshipped, nor in the use of 
 the word is it to be supposed that there is 
 an allusion, as Prof. Bush supposes, to 
 the fact that these kingdoms would be 
 idolatrous, but the word is used in its 
 proper and primitive sense, to denote 
 something which would represent, or 
 shadow forth the kingdoms which would 
 exist. The exact size of the image is 
 not mentioned. It is only suggested that 
 it was great a proper characteristic to 
 represent the greatness of the kingdoms 
 to which it referred. ^ This great image. 
 The word here rendered great 33 is dif 
 ferent from that used in the previous 
 clause, though it is not easy to determine 
 the exact difference between the words. 
 Both denote that the image was of 
 gigantic dimensions. It is well remarked 
 by Prof. Bush, that "the monuments of 
 antiquity sufficiently evince that the 
 humour prevailed throughout the East, 
 and still more in Egypt, of constructing 
 enormous statues, which were usually 
 dedicated to some of their deities, and 
 connected with their worship. The ob 
 ject, therefore, now presented in the 
 monarch s dream, was not, probably, en 
 tirely new to his thoughts." <[ Whose 
 brightness was excellent. Whose bright 
 ness excelled, or was unusual and re 
 markable. The word rendered brightness 
 W is found only in Daniel. It is ren 
 dered brightness in ch. ii. 31, iv. 36, and 
 in the margin in ch. v. 6, and counte 
 nance in ch. v, 6 (text), and in vs. 9, 10, 
 ch. vii. 28. From the places where it ia 
 found, particularly ch. iv. 36, it is clear 
 that it is used to denote a certain beauty, 
 or majesty, shining forth in the counte 
 nance, which was fitted to impress the 
 beholder with awe. The term here is to 
 be understood not merely of the face of 
 the image, hut of its entire aspect, as 
 having something in it signally splendid 
 and imposing. We have only to conceive 
 of a colossal statue whose head was bur 
 nished gold, and a large part of whoso 
 frame was polished silver, to see the 
 J force of this language. If Stood Icfon 
 
B. 0. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 133 
 
 lent, stood before thee ; and the form 
 thereof was terrible. 
 
 32 This image s head was of tine 
 
 gold, his breaJt and his arms of sil 
 ver, his belly and his a thighs of brass, 
 
 a Or, sides. 
 
 thee. It stood over against him in full 
 view. He had an opportunity of sur 
 veying it clearly and distinctly. ^ And 
 the form thereof was terrible. Vast, im 
 posing, grand, fearful. The sudden ap 
 pearance of such an object as this could 
 not but fill the mind with terror. The 
 design for which this representation was 
 made to Nebuchadnezzar, is clearly un 
 folded in the explanation which Daniel 
 gives. It may be remarked here, in 
 general, that such an appearance of a 
 gigantic image was well adapted to re 
 present successive kingdoms, and that the 
 representation was in accordance with the 
 spirit of ancient times. " In ancient coins 
 and medals," says the editor of the Pic 
 torial Bible, " nothing is more common 
 than to see cities and nations represented 
 by human figures, male and female. Ac 
 cording to the ideas which suggested 
 such symbols, a vast image in the human 
 figure was, therefore, a very fit emblem 
 of sovereign power and dominion, while 
 the materials of which it was composed 
 did most significantly typify the character 
 of the various empires, the succession of 
 which was foreshown by this vision. 
 This last idea, of expressing the condition 
 of things by metallic symbols, was pre 
 valent before the time of Daniel. Hesiod, 
 who lived about two centuries before 
 Daniel, characterises the succession of 
 ages (four) by the very same metals gold, 
 silver, brass, and iron." 
 
 32. This image s head was of fine gold. 
 Chald. good gold W ^1 that is, fine, 
 pure, unalloyed. The whole head of the 
 figure, colossal as it was, appeared to be 
 composed wholly of this. Had the ivhole 
 image been made of gold, it would not 
 have been so striking for it was not un 
 common to construct vast statues of this 
 metal. Comp. ch. iii. 1. But the remark 
 able peculiarity of this image was, that it 
 was composed of different materials, some 
 of which were seldom or never used in 
 such a structure, and all of which had a 
 peculiar significancy. On the significancy 
 of this part of the figure, and the resem 
 blance between this head of gold and 
 Nebuchadnezzar himself, see Notes on vs. 
 37, 38. *[ His breast and his anna of 
 iilrcr. The word rendered breast PT! 
 12 
 
 is in the plural number, in accordance 
 with a common usage in the Hebrew, by 
 which several members of the human 
 body are often expressed in the plural aa 
 013=3 -faces, &c. There is a foundation 
 for such a usage in nature, in the two 
 fold form of many of the portions of the 
 human body. The portion of the body 
 which is here represented is obviously tha 
 upper portion of the front part that which 
 is prominently visible when we look at 
 the human frame. Next to the head it is 
 the most important part, as it em 
 braces most of the vital organs. Some 
 degree of inferiority, as well as the idea 
 of succession, would be naturally re 
 presented by this. " The inferior value 
 of silver as compared with gold, will 
 naturally suggest some degree of de 
 cline or degeneracy in the character of 
 the subject represented by the metal ; and 
 so in other members, as we proceed down 
 ward, as the material becomes contin 
 ually baser, we naturally infer that the 
 subject deteriorates, in some sense, in the 
 like manner." Prof. Bush, in loc. On 
 the kingdom represented by this, and the 
 propriety of this representation, see Notes 
 on ver. 39. ^[ His belly and his thighs of 
 brass. Marg. sides. It is not necessary 
 to enter minutely into an examination of 
 the words here used. The word belly 
 denotes, unquestionably, the regions of the 
 abdomen as externally visible. The word 
 rendered thighs in the text, is rendered 
 sides in the margin. It is, like the word 
 breaxt in the previous verse, in the plural 
 number, and for the same reason. The 
 Hebrew word HI? is commonly ren 
 dered thigh in the Scriptures (Gen. xxiv. 
 2, 9, xxxii. 25, 31, 32, et al.), though it is 
 also frequently rendered side, Ex. xxxii. 
 27, xl. 22, 24 ; Lev. i. 4 ; JTum. iii. 29, et 
 al. According to Gesenius, it denotes 
 " the thick and double fleshy member 
 which commences at the bottom of the 
 spine, and extends to the lower legs." It 
 is that part on which the sword was 
 formerly worn. Ex. xxxii. 27, Judg. iii. 
 16, 21; Ps. xlv. 4. It is also that part 
 which was smitten, as an expression of 
 mourning, or of indignation. Jer. xxxi. 
 19; Ezck. xxi. 17. Comp. Horn. II. xii. 
 162, xv. 397; Od. xiii. 198; Cic. cl. Orat 
 
134 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 603. 
 
 33 His legs of iron, his feet part 
 of iron and part of clay. 
 
 * Or. which was not in hands. 
 
 34 Thou sawest till that a stone 
 was cut out without b hands, which 
 
 b Zee. 4. 6; John 1. 13. 
 
 80; Quinc. xi. 3. It is not improperly 
 here rendered thighs, and the portion of the 
 figure that Avas of brass was that between ! 
 the breast and the lower legs, or extended j 
 from the breast to the knees. The word \ 
 is elsewhere employed to denote the shaft 
 or main trunk of the golden candlestick 
 of the tabernacle. Ex. xxv. 31, xxxvi. 
 17, Num. viii. 4. ^[ Of brass. An infe 
 rior metal, and denoting a kingdom of 
 inferior power or excellence. On the 
 kingdom represented by this, see Notes 
 on ver. 39. 
 
 33. His legs of iron. The portion of 
 the lower limbs, from the knees to the 
 ancles. This is undoubtedly the usual 
 meaning of the English word leys, and it 
 as clearly appears to be the sense of the 
 original word here. Iron was regarded 
 as inferior to either of the other metals 
 specified, and yet was well adapted to 
 denote a kingdom of a particular kind 
 less noble in some respects, and yet hardy, 
 powerful, and adapted to tread down the 
 world by conquest. On the application 
 of this, see Notes on ver. 40. ^ His feet 
 part of iron and part of clay. As to his 
 feet; or in respect to his feet, they were 
 partly of iron, and partly of clay a mix 
 ture denoting great strength, united with 
 that which is fragile and weak. The 
 word rendered day in this place *!?? is 
 found nowhere else except in this chapter, 
 and is always rendered clay. Ch. ii. 33, 
 34, 35, 41 (twice), 42, 43 (twice), 45. In 
 some instances (vs. 41, 43) the epithet 
 miry is applied to it. This would seem to 
 imply that it was not burnt or baked 
 clay, or earthenware, as Prof. Bush 
 supposes, but clay in its natural state. 
 The idea would seem to be, that the 
 framework, so to speak, was iron, with 
 clay worked in, or filling up the inter 
 stices, so as to furnish an image of 
 strength combined with that which is 
 weak. That it would be well adapted 
 to represent a kingdom that had many 
 elements of permanency in it, yet that 
 was combined with things that made it 
 weak a mixture of that which was pow 
 erful with that which was liable to be 
 crushed ; capable of putting forth great 
 efforts, and of sustaining great shocks, 
 and yet having such elements of feeble 
 
 ness and decay as to make it liable to be 
 overthrown. For the application of this, 
 see Notes on vs. 41-43. 
 
 34. Thou sawest. Chald. Thou wast 
 seeing; that is, thou didst continue to 
 behold, implying that the vision was of 
 somewhat long continuance. It did not 
 appear, and then suddenly vanish, but it 
 remained so long that he had an oppor 
 tunity of careful observation. j Till 
 that a stone was cut without hands. That 
 is, from a mountain or hill. ver. 45. 
 This idea is expressed in the Latin and 
 the Greek version. The vision appears 
 to have been that of a colossal image 
 standing on a plain, in the vicinity of a 
 mountain, standing firm, until, by some 
 unseen agency, and in an unaccountable 
 manner, a stone became detached from 
 the mountain, and was made to impinge 
 against it. The margin here is, which 
 was not in his hands. The more correct 
 rendering of the Chaldee, however, is that 
 in the text : literally, < a stone was cut out 
 which was not by hands ??T? : or per 
 haps still more accurately, a stone was 
 cut out which was not in hands, so that 
 the fact that it was not in or by hands 
 refers rather to its not being projected by 
 hands than to the manner of its being 
 detached from the mountain. The essen 
 tial idea is, that the agency of hands did 
 not appear at all in the case. The stone 
 seemed to be self-moved. It became 
 detached from the mountain, and, as if 
 instinct with life, struck the image and 
 demolished it. The word rendered stone 
 P^ determines nothing as to the size of 
 the stone, but the whole statement would 
 seem to imply that it was not of large 
 dimensions. It struck upon the feet 
 of the image (ver. 35), and it became 
 itself a great mountain all which would 
 seem to imply that it was at first not 
 large. What increased the astonishment 
 of the monarch was, that a stone of such 
 dimensions should have been adequate to 
 overthrow so gigantic a statue, and to 
 have ground it to powder. The points on 
 which it was clearly intended to fix the 
 attention of the monarch, and which 
 made the vision so significant and remark 
 able were these : (a) the colossal size a.nd 
 firmness of the image ; (b) the fact that a 
 
B. C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 135 
 
 smote the image upon his feet that 
 were of iron and clay, and brake 
 them to pieces. 
 
 35 Then was the iron, the clay, 
 
 stone, not of large size, should be seen to 
 be self-detached from the mountain, and 
 to move against the image ; (c) the fact 
 that it should completely demolish and 
 pulverise the colossal figure ; and (d) the 
 fact that then this stone of inconsiderable 
 size should be itself mysteriously augment 
 ed until it filled the world. It should be 
 added, that the vision appears not to have 
 been that of a stone detached from the side 
 of a hill, and rolling doicn the mountain 
 by the force of gravitation, but that of a 
 stone detached, and then moving off 
 toward the image as if it had been thrown 
 from a hand, though the hand was un 
 seen. This would very strikingly and 
 appropriately express the idea of some 
 thing apparently small in its origin, that 
 was impelled by a cause that was unseen, 
 and that bore with mighty force upon 
 an object of colossal magnitude, by an 
 agency that could not be explained by 
 the causes that usually operate. For the 
 application and pertinency of this, see 
 Notes on vs. 44, 45. ^ Which smote the 
 image upon his feet. The word here used 
 Nnp means to strike, to smite; without 
 reference to the question whether it is a 
 single blow, or whether the blow is often 
 repeated. The Hebrew Avord NH is 
 uniformly used as referring to the ckyjping 
 of the hands ; that is, smiting them to 
 gether. Ps. xcviii. 8 ; Isa. Iv. 12 ; Ezek. 
 xxv. 6. The Chaldee word is used only 
 here and in ver. 35, referring to the 
 smiting of the image, and in ch. iv. 35, 
 where it is rendered stay none can 
 stay his hand. The connection here, and 
 the whole statement, would seem to 
 demand the sense of a continued or pro 
 longed smiting, or of repeated blows, 
 rather than a single concussion. The 
 great image was not only thrown down, 
 but there was a subsequent process of 
 comminution independent of what would 
 have been produced by the fall. A fall 
 would only have broken it into large 
 blocks or fragments; but this continued 
 smiting reduced it to powder. This would 
 imply, therefore, not a single shock, or 
 violent blow, but some cause continuing 
 to operate until that which had been 
 
 the brass, the silver, and the gold, 
 broken to pieces together, and be 
 came like * the chaff of the summer 
 threshing-floors ; and the wind car* 
 
 a Ps. 1. 4; IIos. 13. 3. 
 
 overthrown was effectually destroyed, like 
 a vast image reduced to impalpable pow 
 der. The first concussion on the feet 
 made it certain that the colossal frame 
 would fall; but there was a longer pro 
 cess necessary before the whole effect 
 should be accomplished. Comp. Notes on 
 vs. 44, 45. ^[ And brake them to pieces. 
 In ver. 35, the idea is, " they became like 
 the chaff of the summer threshing-floors." 
 The meaning is not that the image waj 
 broken to fragments, but that it was 
 beaten fine reduced to powder so that 
 it might be scattered by the wind. This 
 is the sense of the Chaldee word PPJ? 
 and of the Hebrew word also PiT?. See 
 Ex. xxxii. 20: "And he took the calf 
 which they had made, and burned it in 
 the fire, and (/round it to powder." Deut. 
 ix. 21: "And I took your sin, the calf 
 which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, 
 and stamped it, and ground it very small, 
 even until it was as small as dust." Isa. 
 xli. 15 : " Thou shalt thresh the mountains, 
 and beat them small, and shalt make 
 the hills as chaff." 2 Kings xxiii. 15: " He 
 burnt the high places, and stamped it small 
 to powder." 2 Chron. xxxiv. 4 : " And they 
 brake down the altars, <fcc., and made 
 dust of them, and strewed them upon the 
 graves of them that had sacrificed unto 
 them." Comp. Ex. xxx. 36; 2 Chron. 
 xxxiv. 7 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 6. From these 
 passages it is clear that the general mean 
 ing of the word is that of reducing any 
 thing to fine dust or powder, so that it 
 may be easily blown about by the wind. 
 
 35. Then- was the iron, the clay, the 
 brass, the silver, and the gold broken ir, 
 2>ieces together, and became like the chaff 
 of the summer thrcshiny-floor. The word 
 rendered together ^7^ our translators 
 would seem to have understood as refer 
 ring to time; to its being done simul 
 taneously. The more literal interpreta 
 tion, however, is * as one; that is, they 
 were beaten small as one, referring to 
 identity of condition. They were all re 
 duced to one indiscriminate mass ; to sucfc 
 a mass that the original materials could 
 no longer be distinguished, and would aU 
 
13C 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 603. 
 
 ried them away, that a no place was 
 found for them : and the stone that 
 emote the image became a great 
 > mountain, and filled c the whole 
 earth. 
 
 a Ps. 37. 36. b Is. 2. 2, 3. c 1 Cor. 15. 25. 
 
 36 This is the dream ; and we 
 will tell the interpretation thereof 
 before the king. 
 
 37 Thou, king, art a king * of 
 iings : for e the God of heaven hath 
 
 Ezr. 7. 12 ; Is. 47. 5 ; Kzc. 26. 7 ; Hos. 8. 10. 
 e Ezr. 1.2. 
 
 be blown away together. The literal 
 meaning of the word used in and ^n 
 is one, or first. Ezra iv. 8, "wrote a 
 letter ;" v. 1 3, " in the first year of Cyrus ;" 
 vi. 2, " a roll ;" Dan. ii. 9, " there is but 
 one decree for you;" iii. 19, "heat the 
 furnace one seven times hotter," &c. 
 United Avith the conjunction (D) it means 
 as one, like the Heb. "V38? . Eccl. xi. 6 ; 
 2 Chron. v. 13 ; Ezra ii. 6, iii. 9 ; Isa. Ixv. 
 25. The phrase "chaff of the summer 
 threshing-floors," refers to the mode of 
 winnowing grain in the East. This was 
 done in the open air, usually on an ele 
 vated place, by throwing the grain when 
 threshed into the air with a shovel, and 
 the wind thus drove away the chaff. Such 
 chaff, therefore, naturally became an em 
 blem of anything that was light, and that 
 would be easily dissipated. See Notes 
 on Isa. xxx. 24. Matt. iii. 12. f And the 
 wind carried tliem away, that no place was 
 found for them. They were entirely dis 
 sipated, like chaff. As that seems to 
 have no longer any place, but is carried 
 we know not where, so the figure here 
 would denote an entire annihilation of 
 the power to which it refers. ^[ And the 
 stone that smote the image became a great 
 mountain, and filled the whole earth. The 
 vision which was before the mind of the 
 king as here represented was, that the 
 stone which was cut out of the mountain 
 was at first small, and that while he con 
 templated it, it swelled to larger dimen 
 sions, until it became an immense moun 
 tain a mountain that filled the whole 
 land. It was this which, perhaps, more 
 than anything else, excited his wonder, 
 that a stone, at first of so small dimen 
 sions, shouli of itself so increase as to 
 surpass the size of the mountain from 
 which it was cut, until it occupied every 
 place in view. Everything about it was 
 so remarkable and unusual that it was no 
 wonder that he could not explain it. We 
 have now gone over a description of the 
 literal vision as it appeared to the mind 
 of the monarch. Had it been left here, ii 
 \& clear that it would have been of dim- 
 
 cult interpretation, and possibly the true 
 explanation might never have been sug 
 gested. We have, however, an exposition 
 by Daniel, which leaves no doubt as to 
 its design, and which was intended to 
 carry the mind forward into some of the 
 most important and remarkable events of 
 history. A portion of his statement has 
 been fulfilled; a part remains still unac 
 complished, and a careful exposition of 
 his account of the meaning of the vision 
 will lead our thoughts to some of the 
 most important historical events which 
 have occurred in introducing the Chris 
 tian dispensation, and to events still more 
 important in the statement of what is yet 
 to come. 
 
 36. This is the dream; and we ivill tell 
 the interpretation thereof before the king. 
 Daniel here speaks in his own name, and 
 in the name of his companions. Hence 
 he says we will tell the interpretation. 
 It was in answer to their united supplica 
 tions (ver. 18), that this meaning of the 
 vision had been made known to him, and 
 it would not only have been a violation 
 of the rules of modesty, but an unjust 
 assumption, if Daniel had claimed the 
 whole credit of the revelation to himself. 
 Though he was the only one who ad 
 dressed the king, yet he seems to have 
 desired that it might be understood 
 that he was not alone in the honour 
 which God had conferred, and that he 
 wished that his companions should be had 
 in just remembrance. Comp. ver. 49. 
 
 37. Thou, king, art a king of kings. 
 The phrase king of kings is a Hebraism, 
 to denote a supreme monarch, or one who 
 has other kings under him as tributary- 
 Ezra vii. 12; Ezek. xxvi. 7. As such it 
 is applied by way of eminence to the Son 
 of God in Rev. xvii. 14, xix. 16. As here 
 used, it means that Nebuchadnezzar ruled 
 over tributary kings and princes, or that 
 he was the most eminent of the kings of 
 the earth. The sceptre which he swayed 
 was, in fact, extended over many nation:: 
 that were once independent kingdoms, 
 and the title here conferred on him wa* 
 
B. C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 137 
 
 given thee a kingdom, power, and 
 strength, and glory. 
 
 38 And wheresoever the children 
 of men dwell, the beasts of the field 
 
 and the fowls of the heaven hath he 
 given a into thy hand, and hath 
 made thee ruler over them all. 
 Thou art this head of gold. 
 
 a Jer. 27. 6. 
 
 not one that was designed to natter the 
 monarch, but was a simple statement of 
 what was an undoubted truth. Daniel 
 would not withhold any title that was in 
 accordance with reality, as he did not 
 withhold any communication in accord 
 ance with reality that was adapted to 
 humble the monarch. ^[ For the God of 
 heaven hath given thee a kingdom, &c. At 
 the same time that Daniel gave him a 
 title which might in itself have ministered 
 to the pride of the monarch, he is careful 
 to remind him that he held this title in 
 virtue of no wisdom or power rf his own. 
 It was the true God who had conferred on 
 him the sovereignty of these extensive 
 realms, and it was one of the designs of 
 this vision to show him that he held his 
 power at his will, and that at his pleasure 
 he could cause it to pass away. It was 
 the forgetfulness of this, and the pride 
 resulting from that forgetfulness, which 
 led to the melancholy calamity which 
 befel this haughty monarch, as recorded 
 in ch. iv. 
 
 38. And wheresoever the children of 
 men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the 
 fowls of the heaven, hath he given into thy 
 hand. This is evidently general lan 
 guage, and is not to be pressed literally. 
 It is designed to say that he ruled over 
 the whole world ; that is, the world as 
 then known. This is common language 
 applied in the Scriptures to the Baby 
 lonian, Persian, Grecian and Roman 
 
 Israel, Thus shall ye say unto your mas 
 ters ; I have made the earth, the man and 
 the beast that are upon the ground, by 
 my great power, and by my out-stretched 
 arm, and have given it unto whom it 
 seemed meet unto me. And now I have 
 given all these lands into the hands of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my 
 servant ; and the beast of the field I have 
 given him also to serve him. And all 
 nations shall serve him, and his son, and 
 his son s son, until the very time of his 
 land come; and then many nations and 
 great kings shall serve themselves of him. 
 And it shall come to pass, that the nation 
 and kingdom which will not serve the same 
 Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, 
 and that will not put their neck under 
 the yoke of the king of Bahylon, that 
 nation will I punish, saith the Lord, 
 with the sword, and with the famine, 
 and with the pestilence, until I have 
 consumed them by his hand." At the 
 time referred to by Daniel, the sceptre 
 of Nebuchadnezzar extended over all 
 these realms, and the world was, in 
 fact, placed substantially under one head. 
 " All the ancient Eastern histories," says 
 Bishop Newton, " almost are lost; but 
 there are some fragments even of heathen, 
 historians yet preserved, which speak of 
 this mighty conqueror and his extended 
 empire. Berosus, in Josephus (Contra 
 Apion, 1. i. $ 19), says that he held in sub 
 jection Egypt, Syria, Phenicia, Arabia, 
 
 kingdoms. Thus in ver. 39, the third of and by his exploits surpassed all the Chal- 
 these kingdom, the Grecian, was to "bear deans and Babylonians who reigned before 
 rule over all the earth." Comp. ch. viii. 5 : him. Strabo asserts that this kin cr among: 
 
 Comp 
 
 " And, as I was considering, behold, an 
 he-goat came from the west on the face 
 of the whole earth." So of the Roman 
 empire, in ch. vii. 23 : " The fourth beast 
 shall devour the whole earth." The de 
 claration that his kingdom embraced the 
 beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, 
 
 among 
 
 the Chaldeans was more celebrated than 
 Hercules ; that he proceeded as far as to 
 the pillars of Hercules, and led his army 
 cut of Spain into Thrace and Pontus. 
 But his empire, though of great extent, 
 was yet of no long duration ; for it ended 
 in his grandson Belshazzar, not seventy 
 
 is a strong expression, meaning that he | years after the delivery of this prophecy, 
 reigned over the whole world. A some- j nor above twenty-three years after the 
 what similar description of the extent i death of Nebuchadnezzar." Newton on 
 
 of the empire of the king of Babylon 
 occurs in Jcr. xxvii. 4-8 : " And com 
 mand them to say unto their masters, 
 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the Gtd of 
 12* 
 
 the Prophecies, pp. 186, 187. f Thou art 
 this head of gold. The head of gold seen 
 in the image represents thee as the sove 
 reign of a vast empire. Compared with 
 
138 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 603. 
 
 the other monarchs who are to succeed ! 
 thee, thou art like gold compared with 
 silver, and brass, arid iron ; or, compared 
 with thy kingdom, theirs shall be as 
 silver, brass, and iron compared with 
 gold. It was common, at an early period, 
 to speak of different ages of the world as 
 resembling different metals. Coinp. Notes 
 onver. 31. In reference to the expres 
 sion before us, " Thou art this head of 
 gold," it should be observed, that it is not 
 probably to be confined to the monarch 
 himself, but is rather spoken of him as the 
 head of the empire; as representing the 
 state ; as an impersonation of that dynasty. 
 The meaning is, that the B;fbylonian em 
 pire, as it existed under him, in its rela 
 tion to the kingdoms which should suc 
 ceed, was like the head of gold seen in 
 the image as compared with the inferior 
 metals that made up the remaining por 
 tions of the image. Daniel, as an inter 
 preter, did not state in what the resem 
 blance consisted, nor in what respects his 
 empire could be likened to gold as com 
 pared with those which should follow. 
 In the scanty details which we now have 
 of the life of that monarch, and of the 
 events of his reign, it may not be possible 
 to see as clearly as would be desirable, in 
 what that resemblance consisted, or the 
 full propriety of the appellation given to 
 him. So far as may now be seen, the 
 resemblance appears to have been in the 
 following things: (I.) In respect to the 
 empire itself of which he was the sove 
 reign, as standing at the head of the 
 others the first in the line. This was 
 not indeed the first kingdom, but the de 
 sign here was not to give an account of 
 all the empires on earth, but to take the 
 world as it was then, and to trace the suc 
 cessive changes which would occur pre 
 paratory to the establishment of the 
 kingdom which should finally spread over 
 the earth. Viewed in reference to this 
 design, it was undoubtedly proper to 
 designate the empire of Babylon as the 
 head. It not only stood before them in 
 the order of time, but in such a relation 
 that the others might be regarded as in 
 some sort its successors ; that is, they 
 would succeed it in swaying a general 
 encptre over the world. In this respect 
 they would resemble also the Babylonian. 
 At the time here referred to, the dominion 
 over which Nebuchadnezzar swayed his 
 sceptre was at the head of the nations; 
 Was th central power of tho Pagan 
 
 world; was the only empire that could 
 claim to be universal. For a long period 
 the kingdom of Babylon had been de 
 pendent on that of Assyria, and while 
 Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian 
 empire, Babylon was the head of a king 
 dom, in general subordinate to that of 
 Assyria, until Nabopolassar, the imme 
 diate predecessor of Nebuchadnezzar, ren 
 dered the kingdom of Babylon inde 
 pendent of the Assyrians, and transferred 
 the seat of empire to Babylon. This was 
 about the year 626 before the Christian 
 era. See Universal History, vol. iii. pp. 
 412-415. Nebuchadnezzar, receiving this 
 mighty kingdom, had carried his own 
 arms to distant lands; had conquered 
 India, Tyre, and Egypt; and, as would 
 appear, all Northern Africa, as far as the 
 pillars of Hercules, and, with quite unim 
 portant exceptions, all the known world 
 was subject to him. (II.) The appel 
 lation head of gold may have been given 
 him on account of the splendor of his capi 
 tal, and the magnificence of his court. In 
 Isa. xiv. 4, Babylon is called "the golden 
 city." See Notes on that place. In Isa. 
 xiii. 19, it is called " the glory of king 
 doms, the beauty of the Chaldees excel 
 lency." In Isa. xlvii. 5, it is called " the 
 lady of kingdoms." In Jer. li. 13, it is 
 spoken of as "abundant in treasures," 
 and in ver. 41, as "the praise of the 
 whole earth." So in profane writers, 
 Babylon has similar appellations. Thus 
 in yEsch. Per. 51, mention is made of 
 Baj3v\ui> 77 no\vxpvffos Babylon abounding 
 in gold. The conquests of Nebuchadnezzar 
 enabled him to bring to his capital the 
 spoils of nations, and to enrich his capital 
 above any other city on the earth. Ac 
 cordingly, he gave himself to the work of 
 adorning a city that should bo worthy to 
 be the head of universal empire, and suc 
 ceeded in making it so splendid as to be 
 regarded as one of the wonders of the 
 world. His great work in adorning and 
 strengthening his capital consisted, first, 
 of the building of the immense walls of 
 the city; second, of the tower of Belns; 
 and third, of the hanging gardens. For 
 a full Ascription of these, see Prideaux s 
 Connection, vol. i. p. 232. scq. (III.) The 
 appellation may have been given him by 
 comparison with the kingdoms which were 
 to succeed him. In some respects in ex 
 tent and power some one or more of 
 them, as the Roman, might surpass his ; 
 but the appellation which was appropriate 
 
B. 0. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 to them was not gold, but they would 
 be best denoted by the inferior metals. 
 Thus the Medo-Persian kingdom was less 
 splendid than that of Babylon, and would 
 be better represented by silver; the Mace 
 donian, though more distinguished by its 
 conquests, was less magnificent, and would 
 be better represented by brass; and the 
 Roman, though, ultimately still more ex 
 tensive in its conquests, and still more 
 mighty in power, was less remarkable for 
 splendor than strength, and would be 
 better represented by iron. In magnifi 
 cence, if not in power, tho Babylonian 
 surpassed them all; and hence the pro 
 priety of the appellation, head of gold. 
 (IV.) It is possible that in this appel 
 lation there then may have been some 
 reference to the character of the monarch 
 himself. In Jer. xxvii. 6, he is spoken 
 of as the servant of God/ and it is clear 
 that it was designed that a splendid mis 
 sion was to be accomplished by him as 
 under the divine control, and in the pre 
 paration of the world for the coming of 
 the Messiah. Though he was proud and 
 haughty as a monarch, yet his own per 
 sonal character would compare favourably 
 with that of many who succeeded him in 
 these advancing kingdoms. Though his 
 conquests were numerous, yet his career 
 as a conqueror was not marked with cru 
 elty, like that of many other warriors. 
 He was not a mere conqueror. He loved 
 also the arts of peace. He sought to em 
 bellish his capital, and to make it in out 
 ward magnificence, and in the talent 
 which he concentrated there, truly the 
 capital of tho world. Even Jerusalem he 
 did not utterly destroy, but having se 
 cured a conquest over it, and removed 
 from it what he desired to embellish his 
 own capital, he still intended that it should 
 be the subordinate head of an important 
 province of his dominions, and placed on 
 the throne one who was closely allied to the 
 king who reigned then when he took the 
 city. But the appellation here, and the 
 reign of Nebuchadnezzar, are to be con 
 templated chiefly, like the kingdoms that 
 succeeded, in their relation to redemption. 
 It is in this aspect that the study of his 
 tory becomes most interesting to a mind 
 that regards all events as embraced in the 
 eternal counsels of God, and it is undoubt 
 edly with reference to this that the his 
 tory of these kingdoms becomes in any 
 way introduced into the inspired writings. 
 All history may be contemplated under 
 
 two aspects : in its secular bearing ; and 
 in its relation to the redemption of the 
 world. In the former aspect, it has great 
 and important uses. As furnishing les 
 sons to statesmen ; as showing the pro 
 gress of society ; as illustrating the effects 
 of vice and immorality, and the evils of 
 I anarchy, ambition, and war ; as recording 
 and preserving the inventions in the arts, 
 and as showing what are the best methods 
 of civil government, and what conduces 
 most to the happiness of a people, its 
 value cannot well be over-estimated. But 
 it is in its relations to the work of re 
 deeming man that it acquires its chief 
 value, and hence the sacred volume is so 
 much occupied with the histories of early 
 nations. The rise and fall of every na 
 tion; the conquests and defeats which 
 have occurred in past times, may all have 
 had, and perhaps may yet be seen to have 
 had, an important connection with the 
 redemption of man as being designed to 
 put the world in a proper position for the 
 coming of the Prince of Peace, or in some 
 way to prepare the way for the final 
 triumph of the gospel. This view gives 
 a new and important aspect to history. 
 It becomes an object in which all on 
 earth who love the race and desire its re 
 demption, and all in heaven, feel a deep 
 concern. Every monarch ; every war 
 rior : every statesman ; every man who by 
 his eloquence, bravery, or virtue, has con 
 tributed anything to the progress of the 
 race, or who has in any way played an 
 important part in progress of the world s 
 affairs, becomes a being on whom we can 
 look with intense emotion ; and in refe 
 rence to every man of this character, it 
 would be an interesting inquiry what he 
 has done that has contributed to prepare 
 the way for the introduction of the 
 Mediatorial scheme, or to facilitate its 
 progress through the world. In reference 
 to this point, the monarch whose charac 
 ter is now before us seems to have been 
 raised up, under an overruling Provi 
 dence, to accomplish the following things : 
 (1.) To inflict punishment on the revolted 
 people of God for their numerous idol 
 atries. See the Book of Jeremiah, passim. 
 Hence, he led his armies to the land of 
 Palestine; he swept away the people, ana 
 bore them into captivity ; he burnt the 
 temple, destroyed the capital, and laid the 
 land waste. (2.) He was the instrument 
 in the hand of God of effectually puri 
 fying the Jewish nation from the sin of 
 
140 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 605> 
 
 39 And aftei thee shall arise an 
 
 other kingdom inferior > to thee, 
 
 C. 5. 28. 
 
 idolatry. It was for that sin eminently 
 that they were carried away ; and never 
 in this world have the ends of punish 
 ment been better secured than in this 
 instance. The chastisement was effectual. 
 The Jewish nation has never since sunk 
 into idolatry. If there have been indi 
 viduals of that nation of which, however, 
 there is no certain evidence who have 
 become idolaters, yet as a people they 
 have been preserved from it. More than 
 two thousand five hundred years have 
 since passed away ; they have been wan 
 derers and exiles in all lands ; they have 
 been persecuted, ridiculed, and oppressed 
 on account of their religion ; they have 
 been placed under every possible induce 
 ment to conform to the religion around 
 them, and yet, as professed worshippers 
 of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, they 
 have maintained their integrity, and 
 neither promises nor threatenings, neither 
 hopes nor fears, neither life nor death, 
 have been sufficient to constrain the He 
 brew people to bow the knee to an idol 
 god. (3.) Another object that seems to 
 have been designed to be accomplished by 
 Nebuchadnezzar in relation to Redemp 
 tion, was, to gather the nations under one 
 head preparatory to the coming of the 
 Messiah. It will be seen in the remarks 
 which will be made on the relation of the 
 Roman empire to this work (Notes on vs. 
 40-43), that there were important reasons 
 why this should be done. Preparatory to 
 that, a succession of such kingdoms each 
 swayed the sceptre over tho whole world, 
 and when the Messiah came, the way 
 was prepared for the easy and rapid pro 
 pagation of the new religion to the re 
 motest parts of the earth. 
 
 39. And after thee. This must mean 
 subsequently to the reign, but it does not 
 mean that the kingdom here referred to 
 would immediately succeed his own reign, 
 for that would not be true. The Medo- 
 Persian empire did not come into the 
 ascendency until many years after the 
 death of Nebuchadnezzar. This occurred 
 during the reign of Belshazzar, a grand 
 son of Nebuchadnezzar, between whose 
 reign and that of his grandfather there 
 had intervened the reigns of Evil-mero- 
 dach and Neriglassar besides, as the re- 
 fiuii rider of the prophecy relating to 
 .Do image refers to kingdoms, and not 
 
 to individual monarchs, it is clear thai 
 this also relates not primarily to Nebu 
 chadnezzar as an individual, but as the 
 head of a kingdom. The meaning is, that 
 a kingdom would succeed that over which 
 he reigned, so far inferior that it might be 
 represented by silver as compared with 
 gold, ^f Shall arise another kingdom. 
 Chald. shall stand up Dlplp another 
 kingdom. This is language which would 
 denote something different from a succes 
 sion in the same dynasty ; for that would 
 be a mere continuance of the same king 
 dom. The reference is evidently to a 
 change of empire j and the language im 
 plies that there would be some revolution 
 or conquest by which the existing king 
 dom would pass away, and another would 
 succeed. Still, there would be so much 
 of sameness in respect to its occupying 
 essentially the same territory, that it 
 would be symbolized in the same image 
 that appeared to Nebuchadnezzar. The 
 kingdom here referred to was undoubt 
 edly the Medo-Persian. established by 
 Cyrus in the conquest of Babylon, which 
 continued through the reigns of his suc 
 cessors until it was conquered by Alex 
 ander the Great. This kingdom succeeded 
 that of Assyria, or Babylon, 538 years 
 B. C., to the overthrow of Darius Codo- 
 manus, 333 years B. C. It extended, of 
 course, through the reigns of the Persian 
 kings, which acted so important a part 
 in the invasion of Greece, and whose 
 defeats have given immortality to the 
 names of Leonidas, Aristides, Miltiades, 
 and Themistocles, and made the names 
 of Salamis, Thermopylae, Marathon, and 
 Leuctra so celebrated. For a general 
 account of Cyrus, and the founding of 
 the Medo-Persian empire, the reader is 
 referred to the Notes on Isa. xli. 2. 
 ^f Inferior to thee. And therefore repre 
 sented by silver as compared with gold. 
 In what respects it would be inferior, 
 Daniel does not specify, and this can only 
 be learned from the facts which occurred 
 in relation to that kingdom. All that is 
 necessary to confirm the truth of the pro 
 phetic description, is, that it was to be 
 so far inferior as to make the appellation 
 silver applicable to it in comparison with 
 the kingdom of Babylon, represented by 
 gold. The expression would denote that 
 
B.C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 141 
 
 and another third kingdom of brass, 
 
 which shall bear rule over all the 
 earth. 
 
 there was a general decline or degene 
 racy in the character of the monarchs, 
 and the general condition of the empire. 
 There have been different opinions as to 
 the inferiority of this kingdom to the 
 Babylonian. Calvin supposes that it re 
 fers to degeneracy ; Geir supposes that it 
 relates to the duration of the kingdom 
 this continuing not more than two hun 
 dred and forty years, while the other, 
 including the Assyrian, embraced a period 
 of one thousand five hundred years; 
 Polanus supposes that the meaning is, 
 that the Babylonian had more rest and 
 tranquillity ; while Junius, Willett, and 
 others understand it of a milder and 
 more humane treatment of the Jews on 
 the Babylonians than the Persians. Per 
 haps, however, none of these opinions 
 meet the circumstances of the case, for 
 they do not furnish as full an account of 
 the reasons of this inferiority as is de 
 sirable. In regard to this, it may be ob 
 served, (a) that it is not to be supposed 
 that this kingdom was to be in all respects 
 inferior to the Babylonian, but only that 
 it would have certain characteristics which 
 would make it more appropriate to des 
 cribe it as silver than as gold. In certain 
 other respects, it might be far superior, as 
 the Roman, though in the same general 
 line of succession, was in extent and 
 power, superior to either, though there 
 was still a reason why that should be re 
 presented by iron rather than by gold, by 
 silver, or by brass, (b) The inferiority 
 did not relate to the power, the riches, or 
 the territorial extent of the Medo-Persian 
 empire, for it embraced, so far as appears, 
 all that was comprehended in the Baby 
 lonian empire, and all in addition which 
 was added by the conquests of Cyrus. In 
 his proclamation to rebuild the temple 
 (Ezra i. 2), Cyrus speaks of the extent of 
 his empire in language strongly resem 
 bling that which is applied to the kingdom 
 of Nebuchadnezzar. " Thus saith Cyrus, 
 king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven 
 hath given me all the kingdoms of the 
 earth." Thus also it is said of Ahasuerus, 
 or Astyages, king of Media a kingdom 
 that constituted a part of the Medo- 
 Persian empire under Cyrus and his 
 successors, that he "reigned from India 
 even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and 
 twenty and seven provinces." To the 
 
 kingdom of Babylon, as he found it when 
 he conquered it, Cyrus of course added 
 the kingdoms of Media and Persia, to the 
 crown of which he was the heir (see Notes 
 on Isa. xli. 2), and also the various pro 
 vinces which he had conquered before he 
 came to the throne ; that is, Capadocia, 
 the kingdom of Lydia, and almost the 
 whole of Asia Minor, (c) Nor can it bo 
 supposed that the kingdom was inferior 
 in regard to wealth, for in addition to all 
 the wealth that Cyrus found in Babylon, 
 he brought the spoils of his victories ; the 
 treasures in the possession of the crowns 
 of Persia and Media, and all the wealth of 
 Croesus, the rich king of Lydia, of which 
 he had become possessor by conquest. 
 In considering the inferiority of this 
 kingdom, w y hich made it proper that it 
 should be represented by silver rather 
 than by gold, it is to be borne in mind 
 that the representation should embrace 
 the whole kingdom in all the successive 
 reigns, and not merely the kingdom as it 
 was under the administration of Cyrus. 
 Thus regarded, it will comprehend the 
 succession of Persian monarchs until the 
 time of the invasion and conquest of the 
 East by Alexander the Great. The reign 
 of Cyrus was indeed splendid, and if he 
 alone, or if the kingdom during his ad 
 ministration, were contemplated, it would 
 be difficult to assign a reason why an 
 appellation should have been given to it 
 implying any inferiority to that of Ne 
 buchadnezzar. The inferiority of the 
 kingdom, or that which made it proper to 
 represent it by silver rather than by gold, 
 as compared with the kingdom of Baby 
 lon, may have consisted in the following 
 particulars : (1.) In reference to the suc 
 cession of kings who occupied the Persian 
 throne. It is true that the character of 
 Cyrus is worthy of the highest commen 
 dation, and that he was distinguished not 
 only as a brave and successful conqueror, 
 but as a mild, able, and upright civil 
 ruler. Xenophon, who wished to draw 
 the character of a model prince, made 
 choice of Cyrus as the example; and 
 though he has not improbably embellished 
 his character by ascribing to him virtues 
 drawn from his own fancy in some degree, 
 yet there can be no doubt that in the 
 main his description was drawn from the 
 life. " The true reason," says Prideaux, 
 
142 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B.C. GCKY 
 
 (Conn >xions, vol. i. p. 252, Ed. Charles- 
 town, 1815), "why he chose the life of 
 Cyrus before all others for the purpose 
 above mentioned" [that of giving a 
 description of what a worthy and just 
 prince ought to be] "seemeth to be no 
 other but that he found the true history 
 of that excellent and gallant prince to be, 
 above all others, the fittest for those 
 maxims of right policy and true princely 
 virtue to correspond with, which he 
 grafted upon it." But he was succeeded 
 by a madman, Cambyses, and by a race 
 of kings eminent among princes for folly 
 and crime. " The kings of Persia," says 
 Prideaux, "were the worst race of men 
 that ever governed an empire." (2.) The 
 kingdom was inferior in reference to the 
 remarkable defeats in the military cam 
 paigns which were undertaken. The 
 Assyrian, or Babylonian empire was dis 
 tinguished for the victories by which it 
 carried its arms around the then known 
 world. The Medo-Persian empire, after 
 the reign of Cyrus, was almost as remark 
 able for the succession of defeats which 
 have made the period of the world during 
 which the empire continued, so well- 
 known in history. It is probable that no 
 kingdom ever undertook so many foolish 
 projects in reference to the conquests of 
 other nations ; projects so unwisely plan 
 ned, and that resulted in so signal failures. 
 The successor of Cyrus, Cambyses, in 
 vaded Egypt, and his conduct there in 
 carrying on the war was such as to make 
 him be regarded as a madman. Enraged 
 against the Ethiopians for an answer 
 which they gave him when, under pre 
 tence of friendship, he sent spies to ex 
 amine their country, he resolved to 
 invade their country. Having come to 
 Thebes, in Upper Egypt, he detached 
 from his army fifty thousand men to go 
 against the Hammonians, with orders to 
 destroy their country, and to burn the 
 temple of Jupiter Hammon that stood in 
 it. After marching a few days in the 
 desert, they were overwhelmed in the 
 sands by a strong south wind, and all 
 perished. Meantime Cambyses marched 
 with the rest of his army against the 
 Ethiopians, though he wanted all the 
 means of subsistence for his army, until, 
 having devoured all their beasts of bur 
 den, they were constrained to designate 
 every tenth man of the army to be killed 
 and eaten. In these deplorable circum 
 stances, Cambyses returned to Thebes, 
 
 having lost a great part of his army in 
 
 this wild expedition. Prideaux s Con. i. 
 328. It was also during the continuance 
 of this kingdom, that the ill-starred ex 
 peditions to Greece occurred, when Mar- 
 donius and Xerxes poured the millions of 
 Asia on the countries of Greece, and met 
 such signal overthrows at Platea, Mara 
 thon, and Salarnis. Such a series of 
 disasters never before had occurred to in 
 vading armies, or made those who re 
 pelled invasion so illustrious. In this 
 respect there was an evident propriety in 
 speaking of this as an inferior, or de 
 generate kingdom. (3.) It was inferior 
 in respect to the growing degeneracy and 
 effeminacy of character and morals. 
 From the time of Xerxes (B. C. 479) 
 " symptoms of decay and corruption were 
 manifest in the empire ; the national cha 
 racter gradually degenerated; the citizens 
 were corrupted and enfeebled by luxury ; 
 and confided more in mercenary troops 
 than in native valour and fidelity. The 
 kings submitted to the control of their 
 wives, or the creatures whom they raised 
 to posts of distinction ; and the satraps, 
 from being civil functionaries, began to 
 usurp military authority." Lyman, Hist. 
 Chart. (4.) The kingdom was inferior by 
 the gradual weakening of its power from 
 internal causes. It was not only de 
 feated in its attempts to invade others, 
 and weakened by the degeneracy of the 
 court and people, but, as a natural con 
 sequence, by the gradual lessening of the 
 power of the central government, and the 
 growing independence of the provinces. 
 From the time of Darius Nothus (B. C. 
 423) a weak, effeminate, and indolent 
 prince u the satraps of the distant pro 
 vinces paid only a nominal obedience to 
 the king. Many of them were, in fact, 
 sovereigns over the countries over which 
 they presided, and carried on Avars against 
 each other." Lyman. It was from causes 
 such as these that the power of the king 
 dom became gradually weakened, and 
 that the way was prepared for the easy 
 conquests of Alexander the Great. Their 
 successive defeats-, and this gradual 
 degeneracy and weakening of the king 
 dom, show the propriety of the descrip 
 tion given of the kingdom in the vision 
 and the interpretation that it would be 
 an "inferior kingdom," a kingdom which, 
 in comparison with that of Babylon, 
 might be compared with silver as com 
 pared with gold. Still, it sustained an 
 
B. C. 603.J 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 143 
 
 important relation to the progress of 
 events in regard to the history of religion 
 in tne world, and had an important bear 
 ing on the redemption of man. As this 
 is the most important bearing of history, 
 and as it was doubtless with reference to 
 this that the mention of it is introduced 
 into the sacred Scriptures, and as it is, in 
 fact, often alluded to by Isaiah, and in 
 the Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, 
 and some of the minor prophets, it 
 may be proper, in the most summary 
 way, to allude to some of these things 
 which pertain to the bearing of this 
 kingdom on the great events connected 
 with redemption, or to what was done 
 during the continuance of this king 
 dom for the promotion of the true reli 
 gion. A full account may be found in 
 Prideaux s Connections, part 1, book iii.- 
 vii. Compare Edward s History of Re 
 demption, Period I. part vi. The par 
 ticular things which occurred in connec 
 tion with this kingdom bearing on the 
 progress of religion, and favourable to its 
 advancement, were these : (a) the over 
 throw of Babylon, so long the formidable 
 enoray of the ancient people of God; 
 (6) The restoration of the exiles to their 
 own land under the auspices of Cyrus 
 (Ezra i. 1); (c) The re-building of the 
 temple under the same auspices, and with 
 the favour of the successors of Cyrus ; 
 (d) The preparation of the world for the 
 coming of the Messiah, in the agitations 
 that took place during the continuance of 
 the Persian monarchy; the invasion of 
 Greece ; the defeats there : the pre 
 paration by these defeats for the coming 
 of him who was so long promised as 
 the " desire of all nations." Compare 
 Hag. ii. 7: "And I will shake all na 
 tions, and the desire of all nations shall 
 come ; and I will fill this house" [the 
 temple erected under the auspices of j 
 Gyms and his successors] "with glory, I 
 saith the Lord of hosts." There was a | 
 propriety, therefore, that this kingdom ! 
 should receive a distinct notice in the 
 sacred Scriptures, for some of the most 
 important events connected with the his- j 
 tory of true religion in the world occurred 
 under the auspices of Cyrus and his suc 
 cessor?, and perhaps at no period has 
 there been more occasion to recognize the 
 hand of God than in the influences ex 
 erted on the minds of those heathen 
 princes disposing them to be favourable 
 to the long-oppressed children of God. 
 
 ^And another third kingdom of brass. 
 See Notes on ver. 32. The parts of the 
 image which were of brass were the belly 
 and thighs, denoting inferiority not only 
 to the head, but to the part which im 
 mediately preceded it the breast and the 
 arms of silver. It is not indeed speci 
 fied, as in the former case, that this king 
 dom would be inferior to the former, and 
 it is only from the position assigned to it 
 in the image, and the inferior quality of 
 the metal by which it is represented, 
 that it is implied that there would be any 
 inferiority. There can be no reasonable 
 doubt that by this third kingdom is de 
 noted the empire founded by Alexander 
 the Great the Macedonian empire. It 
 is known to all that he overthrew the 
 Persian empire, and established a king 
 dom in the East embracing substantially 
 the same territory which had been occu 
 pied by the Medo-Persian and the Baby 
 lonian empire. While there can be no 
 doubt that that kingdom is referred to, 
 there can be as little that the reference is 
 not merely to the empire during the reign 
 i of Alexander himself, but that it em- 
 | braced the whole empire as founded and 
 arranged by him, until it was succeeded 
 by another universal empire here de 
 nominated the fourth kingdom. The rea 
 sons for supposing that the Macedonian 
 empire is referred to here are almost too 
 obvious to require that they should be 
 specified. They are such as these : 
 (1.) This kingdom actually succeeded 
 that of Medo-Persia, covering the same 
 territory, and, like that, was then un 
 derstood to be a universal monarchy. 
 (2) The empire of Alexander is elsewhere 
 | more than once referred to by Daniel in 
 the same order, and in such a manner 
 that the sense cannot be mistaken. Thus 
 in ch. viii. 21 : " And the rough goat is 
 the king of Grecia : and the great horn 
 that is between his eyes is the first king. 
 Now that being broken, wheraas four 
 stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand 
 up out of his nation, but not in his 
 power." Ch. x. 20: "And now," said 
 the man that appeared in vision to Daniel 
 (ver. 5,) "will I return to fight with the 
 prince of Persia ; and when I am gone 
 forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come." 
 Cb. xi. 2 4: " And now will I show thoe 
 the truth. Behold there shall stand up 
 yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth 
 shall be far richer than they all : and by 
 his strength through his riches he shall 
 
144 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 605 
 
 stir up all against the realm of Grecia. 
 And a mighty king shall stand up, that 
 fihall rule with great dominion, and do 
 according to his will. And when he shall 
 stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, 
 and shall be divided toward the four winds 
 of heaven, and not to his posterity, nor 
 according to the kingdom that he ruled; 
 for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even 
 for others besides those." Since this 
 kingdom is thus referred to elsewhere by 
 Daniel in the same order, and as destined 
 to act an important part in the affairs of 
 the world, it is reasonable to suppose that 
 there is a reference to it here. (3.) It is 
 a circumstance of some importance that 
 the emblem here by which this kingdom 
 is represented, brass, is one that is pecu 
 liarly appropriate to the Greeks, and one 
 that could not be applied to any other 
 nation with equal propriety. The Greeks 
 were distinguished for their brazen ar 
 mor, and the appellation the brazen coated 
 Greeks xaXroxirw Cff A^aiot is that by 
 which they were designated most com 
 monly by the Ancients. II. i. 371, ii. 47 ; 
 Od. i. 286. In accordance with this, 
 Josephus says, (Ant. B. x. c. 10, $4) 
 Tr)i> <$ ixtivaiv Ertpojnf and (5iio-a>{ Ka^aipfiaei 
 \ aX(coV rifjupieanevos their empire another 
 shall come from the West, CLOTHED WITH 
 BRASS, shall destroy. These considera 
 tions leave no doubt that the kingdom 
 here referred to was that Grecian or 
 Macedonian, which, under Alexander, 
 obtained dominion over all the East. 
 ^f Which shall bear rule over all the earth. 
 In a sense similar to that of the Assyrian, 
 the Babylonian, and the Medo-Persian 
 empire. This is the common description 
 of the empire of Alexander, He, him 
 self, commanded that he should be called 
 the kiny of all the icorld : Accepto deinde 
 imperio, regem se terrarum omnium ac 
 mundi appellari jussit (Justin. L. 12, c. 
 16 $9) Having received the empire, 
 he ordered himself to be called the king 
 of all lands, and of the world. "Diodorus 
 Siculus says that he received ambassadors 
 from all countries. Kcna <5e" TOVTOV rdv 
 Xpovov, i dndaqf oXt&dv r>/f oimvplviif IJKOV 
 irpiatfeis, K. r. X. At which time, legates 
 came tc him from almost the whole habit 
 able world. L. 17, c. 113. So Arrian 
 (Bxpedi. Alex. L. 7, c. 15,) remarks that 
 Alexander then appeared to himself and 
 to those around him, to be lord of all the 
 earth and of the sea y/5j re iaramtt xal 
 SaXawrK Kvpiov. The author of the Book 
 
 of Maccabees gives a similar account of 
 the extent of this kingdom : " And it 
 came to pass, after that Alexander, the 
 son of Philip, the Macedonian, who first 
 reigned in Greece, had overthrown Darius, 
 the king of the Persian and Medes, he 
 fought many battles, and took the strong 
 holds of all, and slew the kings of the 
 earth ; and he went through even to the 
 ends of the earth ; and took the spoil of 
 many nations; and the earth was quiet 
 before him." 1 Mac. i. 1 3. The pro 
 priety of saying that this "kingdom bore 
 rule over all the earth," is, therefore, ap 
 parent. It embraced, of course, all that 
 was anciently included in the Assyrian 
 and Babylonian empires ; all that had 
 been added to that empire by the con 
 quests of Cyrus, and also all that Alex 
 ander had added to it by his hereditary 
 dominions, and by his conquests in other 
 places. Nearly or quite all the known 
 world, except that which was then sub 
 ject to the Romans, then just a rising 
 power, was under the sway of Alexander. 
 A question has been started whether this 
 refers merely to the kingdom of Alex 
 ander, during his own life, or whether it 
 embraced also the succession of dynasties 
 until the conquests of the Romans. That 
 the latter is the correct opinion seems 
 clear from the following considerations : 
 (1.) It was true, as we have seen, of the 
 two previous kingdoms specified the 
 Babylonian, and the Medo-Persian 
 that they embraced not merely the king 
 dom under any one reigning monarch, 
 but during its entire continuance until it 
 was overthrown by one that had also 
 pretensions to a universal empire the 
 former by the Medo-Persian, and the lat 
 ter by the Macedonian. It is to be pr- 
 sumed that the same principles of inter 
 pretation are to be applied also to the 
 Macedonian kingdom itself especially 
 as that was also actually succeeded by 
 one that in a still higher sense laid claim 
 to universal empire. (2.) This was in 
 fact one kingdom. It is true that on the 
 death of Alexander, the empire which he 
 founded was divided among four of his 
 generals, and also that from that sprung 
 the two reigns the Seleucidae in Syria, 
 and of the Lagidae who reigned in Egypt, 
 but, as Newton has remarked, "their 
 kingdom was no more a different kingdom 
 from that of Alexander, than the parts 
 differ from the whole. It was the same 
 government still continued. Those who 
 
B. C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 145 
 
 governed were still Macedonians. All 
 ancients authors spoke of the kingdom 
 of Alexander and of his successors as one 
 and the same kingdom. The thing is 
 implied in the very name by which they 
 are usually called, the successors of Alex 
 ander. Alexander being dead/ says 
 Josephus, (Ant, B. xi. ch. 8, 7,) the 
 empire was divided among his successors. 
 After the death of Alexander/ says Jus 
 tin, (Lib. xli. c. 4, gl,) the kingdoms 
 of the East were divided among his suc 
 cessors/ and he still denominates them 
 Macedonians, and their empire the Mace 
 donian." Newton on the Prophecies, 
 pp. 189, 190. In regard to the point 
 before adverted to in reference to the 
 kingdoms of Babylon and of Medo-Persia 
 Hie relation which they sustained to 
 religion, or the methods in which they 
 were made to contribute to its progress in 
 the world, making it proper that they 
 should be noticed in the volume of in 
 spiration, it may be remarked that the 
 Macedonian kingdom was also designed, 
 undoubtedly, under an overruling Provi 
 dence, to contribute to the progress of 
 the great work of human redemption, 
 and to prepare the way for the coming 
 of the Messiah. A full statement of 
 what was done under this reign in re- 
 epect to religion the most interesting 
 aspect of history may be seen in Ed 
 ward s History of Redemption, pp. 271 
 275, and in Prideaux s Connexion, vol. 
 2, page 279, seq. The kingdom here re 
 ferred to the Macedonian, represented 
 here by the portion of the imago that was 
 of brass, and in the vision of the four 
 beasts (ch. vii.) by a leopard that had on 
 its back the wings of a fowl, and in ch. 
 viii. 21, by the rough goat, continued from 
 the overthrow of Darius Codomanus by 
 Alexander, (B. C. 333,) to the conquest 
 of Syria, and the East by the Romans 
 under Pompey, about sixty-six years be 
 fore the birth of the Saviour. The prin 
 cipal events during this period affecting 
 the interests of religion, and preparing 
 the way for the coming of the Messiah, 
 were the following: I. The extensive 
 diffusion of the knowledge of the Greek 
 language. The army of Alexander was 
 mainly composed of Greeks. The Greek 
 language was, of course, that which was 
 spoken by the court, and in the cities 
 which he founded; the despatches were 
 in Greek ; that language would be exten 
 sively cultivated to gratify those in power ; 
 
 and the successors of Alexander were 
 those who used the Greek tongue. The 
 consequence was, that the Greek language 
 was extensively spread over the coun 
 tries which were subdued by Alexander, 
 and which were governed by his succes 
 sors. That language became the popular 
 tongue; a sort of universal language 
 understood by the great mass of the peo 
 ple, in a manner not unlike the French 
 in Europe at the present day. The effect 
 of this, in preparing for the introduction 
 of the gospel, was seen in two respects : 
 (a) in facilitating the preaching of the 
 gospel. It is true that the apostles had 
 the gift of tongues, and that there was, 
 notwithstanding the prevalence of tho 
 Greek language, occasion for this. But 
 there is no evidence that this was con 
 ferred on all the early preachers o? th-e 
 gospel, nor is it certain that those on 
 whom it was conferred were able to mako 
 use of it on all occasions. It is not im 
 probable that in their ordinary labors the 
 apostles and others were left to rely on 
 their natural endowments, and to use the 
 language to which they had been most 
 accustomed. As there was, therefore, a 
 common language in most of the countries 
 in which the gospel would be proclaimed, 
 it is evident that the propagation of reli 
 gion would be greatly facilitated by this, 
 and there can be no doubt that it was one 
 of the designs of Providence in permitting 
 the Macedonian conquest thus to prepare 
 the way for the more easy and rapid dif 
 fusion of the new religion. (6) In like 
 manner, this conquest prepared the way 
 for the permanent record of the history of 
 the Saviour s life, and the doctrines of 
 religion in the writings of the New Tes 
 tament. It was evidently desirable, on 
 many accounts, that the records should 
 be made in one language rather than in 
 many, and of all the languages then 
 spoken on the earth, the Greek was the 
 best adapted to such a purpose. It was 
 not only the most polished and culti 
 vated, but it was the most copious ; and 
 it was the best fitted to express abstract 
 ideas, and accurate distinctions. Pro 
 bably with all the improvements since 
 made in the copious Arabic language, 
 and in the languages of modern times, 
 there never has been one that was so well 
 fitted for the purposes of a divine revela 
 tion as the Greek. It may have been one 
 design of Providence in the extensive 
 and accurate cultivation of that language) 
 
146 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 603 
 
 tn Greece itself, as well as in its diffusion 
 over the world, that there should be at 
 the time of the introduction of the Chris 
 tian revelation a medium of permanent 
 record, that should be as free from imper 
 fection as language could be; a medium 
 also in which there should be so much 
 permanent and valuable literature that 
 even after It should cease to be a spoken 
 language, would be cultivated by the 
 whole literary world, thus furnishing the 
 means of an accurate knowledge of the 
 meaning of the sacred writings. II. The 
 translation of the Old Testament into 
 the same language, was another impor 
 tant event which took place during the 
 continuance of this kingdom which greatly 
 facilitated the introduction and spread 
 of Christianity. The Hebrew language 
 was understood by comparatively few. 
 It ceased to be spoken in its purity after 
 the time of the captivity. In that lan 
 guage the Scriptures of the Old Testa 
 ment would have been but little diffused 
 in the world. By their being translated, 
 however, into Greek, they became exten 
 sively known, and furnished a ready and 
 an intelligible ground of appeal to the 
 preachers of the new religion when they 
 referred to the prophecies of the Old Tes 
 tament, and the recorded predictions of 
 the Messiah. For a full account of the 
 history of this version, the reader may 
 consult Prideaux s Connexion, vol. iii. 
 p. 53, seq. It was made, according to 
 Archbishop Usher, about 277 B. C . The 
 probability is, that it was made at dif 
 ferent periods, and by different hands, 
 as it is executed with very various degrees 
 of ability. See Intro, to Isaiah, $ viii. I. 
 (1), for a more extended account of this 
 version and its value. There can be no 
 doubt that it contributed much to the dif 
 fusion of the knowledge of the Holy 
 Scriptures, and was an important instru 
 ment in preparing the world for the recep 
 tion of the revelation that should be made 
 by the Messiah. III. Events of great 
 importance occurred during the continu 
 ance of this kingdom in preserving the 
 Jewish people in times of persecution, and 
 saving their city and temple from ruin, 
 and their nation from extinction. () The 
 destruction of Jerusalem and the tem 
 ple was threatened by Alexander himself. 
 After the siege and capture of Tyre, he 
 became enraged at the Jews for refusing 
 to furnish supplies for his army during 
 the eiege, under the plea that they were 
 
 bound to show allegiance to Darius, and 
 he marched to Jerusalem with an inten 
 tion to take and destroy it. In order to 
 appease him, it is said that Jaddua, the 
 high priest, went out to meet him in his 
 pontifical robes, at the head of a proces- 
 sion of priests, and accompanied with the 
 people in white garments. Alexander 
 was so impressed with the scene, that, to 
 the surprise of all, he spared the city 
 and temple, and on being asked by Par- 
 menio the reason of this clemency, said 
 that he had seen this person in vision, 
 who had directed him to lay aside all 
 anxiety about his contemplated expedition 
 to Asia, and that he had promised that 
 God would give him the empire of the 
 Persians. According to the story, Jaddua 
 showed him the prophecies of Daniel, and 
 confirmed him by those prophecies in the 
 confident expectation of conquering the 
 East, and in view of this Alexander 
 offered sacrifices in the temple, and 
 granted to the Hebrews the freedom of 
 their country, and the exercise of their 
 laws and religion. See Prideaux, vol. ii. 
 p. 302, seq. ; Josephus, Ant. B. ii. ch. 8. 
 Whatever of fable there may be in this 
 account, it is certain that the city and 
 temple were not destroyed by Alexander, 
 but that in his ravages in the East he was 
 led, by some cause, to deal with the 
 capital of the Hebrew nation in a manner 
 different from what he did with others. 
 (b) A remarkable preservation of the Jew 
 ish people, of a somewhat similar cha 
 racter, and evincing the protection of God, 
 occurred during the great persecution 
 under Antiochus Epiphanes, one of the 
 successors of Alexander, in the time of the 
 Maccabees. See Prideaux, vol. iii. p. 
 230, and 2 Maccabees, v. 11-27. In the 
 times of that celebrated persecution, mul 
 titudes of the Jews were slain by Antio 
 chus himself, the city was taken, and the 
 temple defiled. Three years after it was 
 taken by Antiochus (B.C. 168), Apollo- 
 nius was directed by him to march 
 against the city to vent his wrath on the 
 Jews, and when the people were assem 
 bled in their synagogues for worship, he 
 let loose his forces on them, with a com 
 mand to slay all the men, and to take all 
 the women and children captives to be 
 sold as slaves. After this, he plundered 
 the city, demolished the houses, and pulled 
 down the walls, and then with the ruina 
 of the demolished city built a strong for 
 tress on the top p.f an eminence in the 
 
B.C. 603.] CHAPTER II. 147 
 
 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron : forasmuch as 
 
 city of David, in a place which over 
 looked the temple, and placed a strong 
 garrison within. From this place, attacks 
 were made on all who went up to the tem 
 ple to worship, and the temple was defiled 
 with all manner of pollutions, until it was 
 deserted, and the daily sacrifices ceased. 
 From these calamities and persecutions, 
 the city and the Jewish nation were 
 delivered by the valour of Judas Macca 
 beus, in the manner detailed in the First 
 Book of Maccabees. 
 
 40. And the fourth kingdom. Repre 
 sented in the image by the legs of iron, 
 and the feet " part of iron, and part of 
 clay." ver. 33. The first question which 
 arises here is, what kingdom is referred to 
 by this? In regard to this, there have 
 been two leading opinions; one, that it 
 refers to the Roman empire ; the other, 
 that it refers to the kingdoms or dynasties 
 that immediately succeeded the reign of 
 Alexander the Great; embracing the king 
 doms of the Seleucidae and Lagidae, 
 Syria and Egypt in the language of 
 Prof. Stuart, who adopts this opinion, 
 " that the legs and feet were symbols of 
 that intermingled and confused empire, 
 which sprung up under the Grecian chiefs 
 who finally succeeded him," [Alexander 
 the Great]. Com. on Daniel, p. 173. For 
 the reasoning by which this opinion is 
 supported, see Prof. Stuart, pp. 173-193. 
 The common opinion has been, that the 
 reference is to the Roman empire, and in 
 support of this opinion the following con 
 ditions may be suggested : (1.) The obvious 
 design of the image was to symbolize the 
 succession of great monarchies, which 
 would precede the setting up of the 
 kingdom of the Redeemer, and which 
 would have an important agency in pre 
 paring the world for that. The Roman 
 empire was in itself too important, and 
 performed too important an agency in 
 preparing the world for that, to be omitted 
 in such an enumeration. (2.) The king 
 dom here referred to was to be in exist- 
 once at the time symbolized by the cut 
 ting of the stone out of the mountain; 
 for during the continuance of that king 
 dom, or under it, " the God of heaven was 
 to set up a kingdom which should never 
 be destroyed." ver. 44. But the king 
 doms of the Seleucidee and the Lagidse 
 the intermingled and confused empires 
 that sprang up after Alexander the Great 
 
 had ceased before that time, being su 
 perseded by the Roman. (3.) Unless the 
 Roman power be represented, the sym 
 metry of the image is destroyed; for it 
 would make what was in fact one king 
 dom, represented by two different metals 
 brass and iron. We have seen above 
 that the Babylonian empire was repre 
 sented appropriately by gold; the Medo- 
 Persian by silver; and the Macedonian 
 by brass. We have seen also, that in fact 
 the empire founded by Alexander, and 
 continued through his successors in Syri.ii 
 and Egypt, was in fact one kingdom, so 
 spoken of by the ancients, and being in 
 fact a Greek dynasty. If the appellation 
 of brass belonged to that kingdom as a 
 Greek kingdom, there is an obvious in 
 congruity, and a departure from the 
 method of interpreting the other portions 
 of the image, in applying the term iron 
 to any portion of that kingdom. (4.) By 
 the application of the term iron, it is evi 
 dently implied that the kingdom thus 
 referred to would be distinguished for 
 strength strength greater than its pre 
 decessors as iron surpasses brass, and 
 silver, and gold, in that quality. But 
 this was not true of the confused reigns 
 that immediately followed Alexander. 
 They were unitedly weaker than the 
 Babylonian and the Medo-Persian, and 
 weaker than the empire of Alexander, out 
 of which they arose. Comp. ch. viii. 21, 
 22. It was true, however, of the Roman 
 power, that it was so much superior to all 
 its predecessors in power, that it might 
 well be represented by iron in comparison 
 with brass, silver, and gold. (5.) The 
 fourth monarchy represented in Nebu 
 chadnezzar s dream is evidently the same 
 which is represented by the fourth beast 
 in Dan. vii. 7, 8, 23, 25. But it will 
 appear, from the exposition of that chap 
 ter, that the reference there is to the 
 Roman empire. See Notes on these pas 
 sages. There can be no well-founded 
 objection It this view on the ground that 
 this kingdom was not properly a ttucces- 
 *ion of the kingdom of Alexander, and 
 did not occupy precisely the same terri 
 tory. The same was true of each of the 
 other kingdoms the Medo-Persian, and 
 Macedonian. Yet while they were not, 
 in the usual sense of the term, in the suc 
 cession, they did in fact follow one after 
 the other, and with such accessions as 
 
148 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. bifo 
 
 iron breaketh in pieces and sub- f 41 And whereas them sawest tho 
 dueth all things : and as iron that j feet and toes, part of potter s clay, 
 breaketh all these, shall it break in and part of iron, the kingdom 
 pieces and bruise. shall be divided ; but there shall 
 
 were derived from conquest, and from the 
 hereditary dominions of the conquerors, 
 they did occupy the same territory. The 
 design seems to have been to give a re 
 presentation of a series of great mo 
 narchies, which would be, in an important 
 sense, universal monarchies, and which 
 should follow each other before the advent 
 of the Saviour. The Roman, in addition 
 to what it possessed in the West, actually 
 occupied in the East, substantially the 
 same territory as the Babylonian, the 
 Medo-Persian, and the Macedonian, and 
 like them it had all the claims which any 
 ancient sovereignty had to the title of an 
 universal monarchy. Indeed no kingdom 
 has ever existed to which this title could 
 with more justice be applied. ^[ Shall be 
 strong as iron. It is scarcely necessary 
 to observe that this description is ap 
 plicable to the Roman power. In nothing 
 was it more remarkable than its strength ; 
 for that irresistible power before which 
 all other nations were perfectly weak. 
 This characteristic of the Roman power is 
 thus noticed by Mr. Gibbon : " The arms 
 of the Republic, sometimes vanquished in 
 battle, always victorious in war, advanced 
 with rapid steps to the Euphrates, the 
 Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean ; and 
 the images of gold, or silver, or brass, 
 that might serve to represent the nations 
 and their kings, Avere successively broken 
 by the iron monarchy of Rome." Dec. 
 and Fall, p. 642, Lond. ed. 1830, as 
 quoted by Prof. E ^sh. ^f forasmuch oa 
 iron breaketh in pieces and subducth all 
 things. Iron is the metal which is used, 
 and always has been used, for the purpose 
 here suggested. In the form of hammers, 
 sledges, and cannon-balls, and in general 
 in reference to the accomplishment of any 
 purpose, by beating or battering, this has 
 been found to be the most valuable of the 
 metals. It is heavy ; is capable of being 
 easily wrought into desired shapes ; is 
 abundant; is susceptible of being made 
 hard so as not to be itself bruised, and 
 has, therefore, all the properties which 
 could be desired for purposes like this. 
 ^ And as iron that breaketh all these. 
 That is, all these things ; to wit, every 
 thing. Nothing is able to stand before it ; 
 \hciv is nothing which it cannot reduce to 
 
 powder. There is some repetition here, 
 I but it is for the sake of emphasis, ^ Shall 
 j it break in pieces and bruise. Nothing 
 ! could better characterise the Roman power 
 i than this. Everything was crushed be- 
 | fore it. The nations which they con 
 quered ceased to be kingdoms, and were 
 reduced to provinces, and as kingdoms 
 j they were blotted out from the list of 
 nations. This has been well described by 
 Mr. Irving: "Tho Roman empire did 
 beat down the constitution and establish 
 ment of all other kingdoms; abolishing 
 their independence, and bringing them 
 into the most entire subjection ; humbling 
 the pride, subjecting the will, using the 
 property, and trampling upon the power 
 and dignity of all other states. For by 
 this was the Roman dominion distin 
 guished from all the rest, that it was the 
 work of almost as many centuries as those 
 were of years ; the fruit of a thousand 
 battles, in which millions of men were 
 slain. It made room for itself as doth a 
 battering-ram, by continual successive 
 blows ; and it ceased not to beat and 
 bruise all nations, so long as they con 
 tinued to offer any resistance. Disc, on 
 Dan. Visions, p. 180. 
 
 41. And whereas thou sawest the feet 
 and toes part of potter s clay, and part of 
 iron. Ver. 33. The Chaldee is, of them 
 clay of the potter, and of them iron ; that 
 is, part was composed of one material, and 
 part of the other. The sense is not that 
 the feet were composed entirely of one, 
 and the toes of the other, but that they 
 were intermingled. There was no homo- 
 geneousness of material ; nothing in one 
 that would coalesce with the other, or that 
 could be permanently united to it, as two 
 metals might be fused or welded together, 
 and form one solid compound. Iron and 
 clay cannot be welded ; and the idea hero 
 I clearly is, that in the empire here referred 
 ! to there would be two main elements 
 which could never be made to blend. 
 ^ The kingdom shall be divided. That is, 
 divided as the iron and clay were in the 
 image. It does not necessarily mean that 
 there would be an open rupture ; an actual 
 separation into two parts, but that there 
 would be such a diversity in the internal 
 constitution that, while there wculd be the 
 
B. C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 149 
 
 be in it of the strength of the iron, 
 forasmuch as thou sawest the iron 
 mixed with miry clay. 
 
 42 And as the toes of the feet 
 
 were part of iron, and part of clay, 
 so the kingdom shall be partly 
 strong, and partly a broken. 
 
 a Brittle. 
 
 element of great power, there would be 
 also an element of weakness : there would 
 be something which could never be 
 blended with the element of strength, so 
 as to produce one harmonious and homo 
 geneous whole. ^[ But there shall be in it 
 of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as 
 thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 
 The principal idea in this part of the 
 description, is, that there would be great 
 power ; that whatever elements of weak 
 ness there might be, yet the power of the 
 empire would be apparent. No one can 
 fail to perceive how this applies to the 
 Roman empire; a mighty power which, 
 through all its long history, was dis 
 tinguished for the vigour with which it 
 carried forward its plans, and pressed on 
 to universal dominion. As to the ele 
 ment of weakness symbolized too by the 
 clay, it may not be possible to determine, 
 with absolute certainty, what is referred 
 to. Any internal source of weakness ; 
 anything in the constitution of the state, 
 whether originally existing and consti 
 tuting heterogeneous material ; or whether 
 springing up in the empire itself, or 
 whether arising from the intermingling 
 of foreign elements that never amalga 
 mated themselves with the state, any one 
 of these suppositions would meet all that 
 is fairly implied in this language. From 
 ver. 43, " they shall mingle themselves 
 with the seed of men/ it would seem, 
 however, that the reference is to some 
 foreign admixture like the interming 
 ling of nations of other languages, laws 
 and customs which were never truly 
 amalgamated with the original materials, 
 and Avhich constantly tended to weaken 
 and divide the kingdom. It is to be re 
 marked, in the exposition of the passage, 
 that in the previous three kingdoms there 
 was comparative homogeneousness. In 
 the fourth kingdom, there was to be 
 something of a peculiar character in this 
 respect by which it should be distinguish 
 ed from the others. As a matter of fact, 
 the other three kingdoms were com 
 paratively homogeneous in their cha 
 racter. The predominant feature was 
 Oriental; and though there were dif 
 ferent nations and people intermingled in 
 the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, and 
 
 the Macedonian kingdoms, yet there was 
 the same general prevailing character in 
 each ; there was not such an intermin 
 gling of foreign nations as to produce 
 disturbing elements, or to mar the sym 
 metry and strength of the whole. It was 
 not thus with Rome. In that empire 
 there was the intermingling of all nations 
 and tongues, and though the essential 
 element of the empire remained always 
 the Roman, yet there was an intermin 
 gling of other influences under the same 
 general government, which could be .ap 
 propriately compared with clay united 
 with iron, and which ultimately con 
 tributed to its fall. See Notes on ver. 43. 
 42. And as the toes of the feet, were part 
 of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom 
 shall le partly strong and partly broken. 
 Marg. brittle. The margin is the more 
 correct rendering of the Chaldee word 
 n ^3? . It meams frail, fragile, easily 
 broken, but not necessarily that it was 
 actually broken. That did not occur 
 until the stone cut out of the mountain 
 impinged on it. It has been commonly 
 supposed (comp. Newton on the Prophe 
 cies), that the ten toes on the feet refer to 
 the ten kingdoms into which the Roman 
 empire was ultimately broken up, cor 
 responding with the ten horns seen in the 
 vision of Daniel, in ch. vii. 10. In regard 
 to the fact that the Roman empire was 
 ultimately broken up into ten such king 
 doms, see the extended Notes on ch. vii. 
 24. The thing which struck the monarch 
 in the vision, and Daniel in interpreta 
 tion, as remarkable, was that the feet and 
 toes were composed partly of iron and 
 partly of clay. In the upper portion of 
 the image there had been uniformity in 
 the different parts, and had been no inter 
 mingling of metals. Here a new feature 
 was seen not only that a new metal was 
 employed, but that there was inter 
 mingled with that, in the same portion of 
 the image, a different substance, and on* 
 that had no affinity with the iron, and 1 
 that could never be made to blend with 
 it. In the latter part of this verse, tho 
 original word for partly is not the same 
 in each clause. In the former it is 
 ^P*~?P properly from the end, sc. of 
 
150 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B.C. 603 
 
 43 And whereas thou sawest iron 
 mixed with miry clay, they shall 
 mingle themselves with the seed of 
 
 the kingdom. Comp. Dan. iv. 31, " At 
 the end of the days ;" i. 15, "At the end of 
 ten days;" and vs. 5, 18. The word 
 might be employed to denote the end or 
 extremity of anything, e. g. in respect to 
 time, and some have supposed that there 
 is a reference here to the later periods of 
 the Roman empire. See Pool s Synopsis. 
 But the word is also used to denote the 
 eum, or the whole number, and then the 
 phrase is equivalent to a part as e. g. in 
 the phrase B^^vJ "^3 ^? PXpp , from the 
 sum of the vessels of the house of God 
 (Dan. i. 2) ; that is, a portion of the whole 
 number, or a part. Comp. Neh. vii. 70, 
 * from the sum of the heads of the fathers ; 
 that is, a part of them. In the latter part 
 of the clause it is, Hip -from it; that is, a 
 part of it; partly. The entire phrase 
 means that one part of the whole would 
 be strong; and one part would be fragile. 
 The reference is not to the ft mewhen this 
 would occur, but to the fact that it would 
 be so. The idea in this verse does not 
 vary materially from that in the former, 
 except that in that, the prominent thought 
 is, that there would be strength in the 
 kingdom ; in this, the idea is, that while 
 there would be strength in the kingdom, 
 there would be also the elements of weak 
 ness. 
 
 43. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed 
 with clay, they shall mingle themselves with 
 the seed of men. Various explanations 
 have been given of this verse, and it 
 certainly is not of easy interpretation 
 The phrase seed of men would properly 
 denote something different from the ori 
 ginal stock that was represented by iron ; 
 some foreign admixture that would be so 
 unlike that, and that would so little amal 
 gamate with it, as to be properly repre 
 sented by clay as compared with iron. 
 Prof. Stuart interprets this of matrimo 
 nial alliances, and supposes that the idea 
 expressed is, that, "while the object of 
 such alliances was union, or at least a 
 design to bring about a peaceable state of 
 things, that object was, in a peculiar 
 manner, defeated." The word rendered 
 
 pj cn N^ JN is employed, in Hebrew and 
 in Chaldee, to denote men of an inferior 
 class the lower orders, the common 
 Uerd, in contradistinction from the more 
 
 men : but they shall not cleave a one 
 to another, even as iron is not mixed 
 
 With clay. a This with this. 
 
 elevated and noble classes, represented by 
 the word &* . See Isa. ii. 9, v. 15 ; Prov. 
 viii. 4. The word here used, also (from 
 ^19, to be sick, ill at ease, incurable), 
 would properly denote feebleness, or infe 
 riority, and would be aptly represented by 
 clay as contrasted with iron. The ex 
 pression seed of men as here used, 
 would therefore denote some interming 
 ling of an inferior race with the original 
 stock; some union, or alliance, under the 
 one sovereignty, which would greatly 
 weaken it as a whole, though the original 
 strength still was great. The language 
 would represent a race of mighty and 
 powerful men, constituting the stamina 
 the bone and the sinew of the empire 
 mixed up with another race, or other 
 races, with whom, though they were asso 
 ciated in the government, they could 
 never be blended ; could never assimilate. 
 This foreign admixture in the empire 
 would be a constant source of weakness, 
 and would constantly tend to division 
 and faction, for such elements could 
 never harmonize. It is further to be 
 remarked that this would exist to a degree 
 which would not be found in either of the 
 three previous kingdoms. In fact, in 
 these kingdoms there was no such inter 
 mingling with foreign nations as to 
 destroy the homogeneousness of the em 
 pire. They were, in the main, Orientals j 
 with the language, the manners, the 
 customs, the habits of Orientals, and in 
 respect to energy and power the point 
 here under consideration there was no 
 marked distinction between the subjected 
 provinces and the original materials of 
 the monarchy. By the act of subjection, 
 they became substantially one people, and 
 readily blended together. This remark 
 will certainly apply to the two first of 
 these monarchies the Babylonian and 
 the Medo-Persian ; and though with less 
 force to the Macedonian, yet it was not 
 true of that that it became so intermingled 
 with foreign people as to constitute hete 
 rogeneous elements as it was of the Ro 
 man: In that monarchy, the element of 
 strengtJi was infused by Alexander and 
 his Greeks ; all the elements of weakness 
 were in the original materials of the 
 empire. In the Roman, the element of 
 
B. C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 151 
 
 strength the iron was in the original 
 material of the empire; the weak, the 
 heterogeneous element the clay was 
 that which was introduced from the 
 foreign nation?. This consideration may 
 perhaps do something to show that the 
 opinion of Grotius, Prof. Stuart, and 
 others, that this fourth monarchy was that 
 which immediately succeeded Alexander, 
 is not well founded. The only question 
 then is, whether in the constitution of 
 the Roman empire, at the time when it 
 became the successor of the other three as 
 a universal monarchy, there was such an 
 intermingling of a foreign element, as to 
 be properly represented by clay as con 
 trasted with the original and stronger 
 material, iron. I say, at the time when 
 it became the successor of the other three 
 as a universal monarchy/ because the 
 only point of view in which Daniel con 
 templated it was that. He looked at this, 
 as he did at the others, as already such a 
 universal dominion, and not at what it 
 was before, or at the steps by which it 
 rose to power. Now, on looking at the 
 Roman empire at that period, and during 
 the time when it occupied the position of 
 the universal monarchy, and during which 
 the stone cut out of the mountain grew 
 and filled the world, there is no difficulty 
 in finding such an intermingling with 
 other nations the seed of men as to 
 be properly described by iron and clay 
 in the same image that could never be 
 blended. The allusion is, probably, to 
 that intermingling with other nations 
 which so remarkably characterised the 
 Roman empire, and which arose partly 
 from its conquests, and partly from the 
 inroads of other people in the la,tter days 
 of the empire, and in reference to both of 
 which there was no proper amalgamation, 
 leaving the original vigour of the empire 
 substantially in its strength, but intro 
 ducing other elements which never amal 
 gamated with it, and which were like 
 clay intermingled with iron. (1.) From 
 their conquests. Tacitus says, " Dorni- 
 nandi cupido cunctis affectibua flagrantior 
 est" the lust of ruling is more ardent 
 than all other desires, and this was 
 eminently true of the Romans. They 
 aspired at the dominion of the world ; and, 
 in their strides at universal conquest, they 
 brought nations under their subjection, 
 and admitted them to the rights of citizen 
 ship, which had no affinity with the 
 original material which composed the 
 
 Roman power, and which never really 
 amalgamated with it, any more than clay 
 does with iron. (2.) This was true, also, 
 in respect to the hordes that poured into 
 the empire from other countries, and par 
 ticularly from the Scandinavian regions, 
 in the latter periods of the empire, and 
 with which the Romans were compelled 
 to form alliances, while, at the same time, 
 they could not amalgamate with them. 
 " In the reign of the Emperor Caracalla," 
 says Mr. Gibbon, " an innumerable 
 swarm of Suevi appeared on the banks 
 of the Mein, and in the neighbourhood of 
 the Roman provinces, in quest of food, or 
 plunder, or glcry. The hasty army of 
 volunteers gradually coalesced into a 
 great and permanent nation, and, as it 
 was composed of so many different tribes, 
 assumed the name of Allemanni, or all- 
 men, to denote their various lineage, and 
 their common bravery." No reader of 
 the Roman history can be ignorant of the 
 invasions of the Goths, the Huns, and 
 the Vandals, or of the effects of these in 
 vasions on the empire. No one can be 
 ignorant of the manner in which they be 
 came intermingled with the ancient Ro 
 man people, or of the attempts to form 
 alliances with them, by intermarriages 
 and otherwise, which were always like 
 attempts to unite iron and clay. " Placidia, 
 daughter of Theodosius the Great, was 
 given in marriage to Adolphus, king of 
 the Goths ; the two daughters of Stilicho, 
 the Vandal, were successively married to 
 Honorius ; and Genseric, another Vandal, 
 gave Eudocia, a captive imperial prin 
 cess, to his son to wife." The effects 
 of the intermingling of foreign people 
 on the character and destiny of the em 
 pire, cannot be stated perhaps in a more 
 graphic manner than is done by Mr. 
 Gibbon, in the summary review of the 
 Roman History, with which he concludes 
 his seventh chapter, and at the same 
 time there could scarcely be a more clear 
 or expressive commentary on this pro 
 phecy of Daniel. " During the four first 
 ages," says he, " the Romans, in the labo 
 rious school of poverty, had acquired the 
 virtues of war and government: by the 
 vigorous exertion of those virtues, and 
 by the assistance of fortune, they had ob 
 tained, in the course of the three succeed 
 ing centuries, an absolute empire over 
 many countries of Europe, Asia, and 
 Africa. The last three hundred years had 
 been consumed in apparent prosperity 
 
152 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 603. 
 
 und internal decline. The nation of sol 
 diers, magistrates, and legislators, who 
 composed the thirty-five tribes of the Ro- 
 man people was dissolved into the com 
 mon mass of mankind, and confounded 
 with the millions of servile provincials, 
 who had received the name, without 
 adopting the spirit, of Romans. A mer 
 cenary army, levied among the subjects 
 and barbarians of the frontier, was the 
 only order of men who preserved and 
 abused their independence. By their 
 tumultuary election, a Syrian, a Goth, or 
 an Arab, was exalted to the throne of 
 Rome, and invested with despotic power 
 over the conquests and over the country 
 of the Scipios. The limits of the Roman 
 empire still extended from the Western 
 Ocean to the Tigris, and from Mount 
 Atlas to the Rhine and the Danube. To 
 the undiscerning eye of the vulgar, Philip 
 appreared a monarch no less powerful 
 than Hadrian or Augustus had formerly 
 been. The form was still the same, but 
 the animating health and vigour were fled. 
 The industry of the people was discou 
 raged and exhausted by a long series of 
 oppression. The discipline of the legions, 
 which alone, after the extinction of every 
 other virtue, had propped the greatness 
 of the state, was corrupted by the am 
 bition, or relaxed by the weakness of the 
 emperors. The strength of the frontiers, 
 which had always consisted in arms 
 rather than in fortifications, was insen 
 sibly undermined; and the fairest pro 
 vinces were left exposed to the rapacious- 
 ness or ambition of the barbarians, who 
 soon discovered the decline of the Roman 
 empire." Vol. i. pp. 110, 111. Harper s 
 Edi. N. Y. 1829. Comp. Notes on Rev. vi. 
 18. The agency of the Roman empire 
 was so important in preparing the world 
 for the advent of the Son of God, and in 
 reference to the establishment of his king 
 dom, that there was an obvious propriety 
 that it should be made a distinct subject 
 of prophecy. We have seen that each of 
 the other three kingdoms had an im 
 portant influence in preparing the world 
 for the introduction of Christianity, and 
 was designed to accomplish an important 
 part in the " History of Redemption." 
 The agency of the Roman empire was 
 more direct and important than any one 
 or all rf these ; for (a) that was the em 
 pire which had the supremacy when the 
 Son of God appeared; (6) that kingdom 
 had performed a more direct and im 
 
 portant work in preparing the world for 
 his coming; (c) it was under authority 
 derived from that sovereignty that the 
 Son of God was put to death ; and (d) it 
 was by that that the ancient dispensation 
 was brought to an end; and (c) it was 
 under that that the new religion was 
 spread through the world. It may be of 
 use, therefore, in an exposition of this 
 prophecy, to refer with some particularity 
 to the things that were accomplished by 
 this fourth kingdom in furthering the 
 work of redemption, or in introducing 
 and establishing the kingdom that was 
 to be set up, and which was never to be 
 destroyed. That agency related to the 
 following points : (1.) The establishment 
 of a universal dominion ; the fact that the 
 world was brought under one sceptre, 
 greatly favoured the propagation of the 
 Christian religion. We have seen, under 
 the previous dynasties the Babylonian, 
 Persian, and Macedonian, that such an 
 universal empire was important in earlier 
 ages to prepare the world for the advent 
 of the Messiah. This was still more im 
 portant when he was about actually to 
 appear, and his religion was to be spread 
 over the world. It greatly favoured the 
 diffusion of the new system that there was 
 one empire; that the means of commu 
 nication from one part of the world to 
 another had been so extended by the 
 Romans ; and that one who was entitled 
 to the privileges of citizenship could 
 claim protection in nearly every part of 
 the world. (2.) The prevalence of unir 
 versal peace. The world had become 
 subject to the Roman power, and con 
 quest was at an end. The world at last, 
 after so long agitations and strifes, was at 
 peace. The distant provinces quietly 
 submitted to the Roman control ; the civil 
 dissensions which had reigned so long at 
 the capital, were hushed; Augustus, hav 
 ing triumphed over all his rivals quietly 
 occupied the imperial throne, and, as a 
 symbol of the universal peace, the temple 
 of Janus was closed. Rarely in their his 
 tory had that temple been closed before ;* 
 and yet there was an obvious propriety 
 
 * This temple was built, or finished at least, 
 by Numa. It was closed, first, in his reign; 
 secondly, at the close of the first Punic war, 
 B. C. 241 ; three times in the reign of Augustus, 
 the last time near the epoch of the birth of the 
 Saviour; and three times afterwards, once 
 under Nero, once under Vespasian, and once 
 under Constantius, A. D. 350. Eschenburg 
 Glow. Lit. p. 18. 
 
B. C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 153 
 
 that when the Prince of Peace should 
 come, the world should be at rest, and 
 that the clangor of arms should cease. It 
 was a beautiful emblem of the nature of 
 his reign. A world tha.t had been always 
 in conflict before rested on its arms ; the 
 tumult of battle had died away ; the ban 
 ners of war were furled ; the legions of 
 Rome paused in their career of conquest, 
 and the world tranquilly waited for the 
 coming of the Son of God. (3.) The Ro 
 man power accomplished an important 
 agency in the great transaction which the 
 Son of God came to perform in his 
 making an atonement for the sins of the 
 world. It was so arranged, in the divine 
 counsels, that he should be put to death, 
 not by the hands of his own kindred and 
 countrymen, but by the hands of foreign 
 ers, and under their authority. The ne 
 cessity and the certainty of this was early 
 predicted by the Saviour (Matt. xxix. 19 ; 
 Mark x. 33; Luke xviii. 32), and it is 
 clear that there were important reasons 
 why it should be thus done, and doubtless 
 one design of bringing Judea and the rest 
 of the world under the Roman yoke was 
 that it might be accomplished in this way. 
 Among the reasons for this, may be sug 
 gested such as the following: (a) The 
 heathen world, as well as the Jewish 
 community, thus had a part in the great 
 transaction. He died for the whole 
 world Jews and Gentiles and it was I 
 important that that fact should be referred 
 to in the manner of his death, and that 
 the two great divisions of the human 
 family should be united in the great 
 transaction. It thus became not a Jewish 
 affair only j not an event in which Judea 
 alone was interested, but an affair of the 
 world ; a transaction in which the repre 
 sentatives of the world took their part. 
 (6) It was thus made a matter of pub 
 licity. The account of the death of the 
 Saviour would thus, of course, be trans 
 mitted to the capital, and would de 
 mand the attention of those who were in 
 power. When the gospel was preached 
 at Rome, it would be proper to allege that 
 it was a thing in which Rome itself had 
 had an important agency, the fact that 
 under the Roman authority the Messiah 
 had been put to death, (c) The agency 
 of the Romans, therefore, established 
 the certainty of the death of Jesus, and 
 consequently the certainty of his having 
 risen from the dead. In order to demon 
 strate the latter, it was indispensable that 
 
 the former should be made certain, and 
 that all questions in regard to the reality 
 of his death should be placed beyond a 
 doubt. This was done by the agency of 
 Pilate, a Roman governor. His death 
 was certified to him, and he was satisfied 
 of it. It became a matter of record ; a, 
 point about which there could be no dis 
 pute. Accordingly, in all the questions 
 that came up in reference to the religion 
 of Christ, it was never made a matter of 
 doubt that he had been really put to 
 death under Pilate, the Roman governor, 
 whatever question may have arisen about 
 the fact of his resurrection, (d) Equally 
 important was the agency of the Romans 
 in establishing the innocence of the Sa 
 viour. After patient and repeated trials 
 before himself, Pilate was constrained to 
 say that he was innocent of the charges 
 alleged against him, and that no fault 
 could be found in him. In proclaiming 
 the gospel, it was of immense importance 
 to be able to affirm this throughout the 
 world. It could never be alleged against 
 the gospel that its author ha-d violated 
 the laws ; that he deserved to be put to 
 death as a malefactor, for the records of 
 the Roman governor himself showed the 
 contrary. The agency of the Romans, 
 therefore, in the great work of the atone 
 ment, though undesigned on their part, 
 was of inestimable importance in the 
 establishment of the Christian religion; 
 and it may be presumed that it was for 
 this, in part at least, that the world was 
 placed under their control, and that it 
 was so ordered that the Messiah suffered 
 under authority derived from them. 
 (4.) There was another important agency 
 of the Romans in reference to the religion 
 that was to fill the earth. It was in 
 destroying the city of Jerusalem, and 
 bringing to a final end the whole system 
 of Hebrew rites and ceremonies. The 
 ancient sacrifices lost their efficacy really 
 when the atonement was made on the 
 cross. Then there was no need of the 
 temple and the altar, and the ancient 
 priesthood. It Avas necessary that the 
 ancient rites should cease, and, that 
 having noAV lost their efficacy, there 
 should be no possibility of perpetuating 
 them. Accordingly, within the space of 
 about thirty years after the death of the 
 Saviour, when there had been time to 
 perceive the bearing of the atonement 
 made on their temple rites ; when it was 
 plain that they were no longer efficacious, 
 
154 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 6J3 
 
 44 And in a the days of these 
 kings shall the God b of heaven set 
 
 a Their. b Mieali 4. 7 ; Luke 1. 32, 33. 
 
 up a kingdom which shall never b 
 destroyed : and the c kingdom shall 
 
 c Kingdom tJtereof. 
 
 significant, or necessary, the Romans 
 were suffered to destroy the city, the 
 altar, and the temple, and to bring the 
 whole system to a perpetual end. The 
 place where the ancient worship had 
 been celebrated was made a heap of 
 ruins ; the altar was overturned, never to 
 be built again ; and the pomp and 
 splendor of the ancient ritual passed 
 away for ever. It was the design of God 
 that that system should come to a per 
 petual end; and hence, by his provi 
 dence, it was so arranged that ruin should 
 spread over the city where the Lord was 
 crucified, and that the Jewish people 
 should never build an altar or a temple 
 there again. To this day it has never 
 been in their power to kindle the fire of 
 sacrifice there, or to cause the smoke of 
 incense to ascend in a temple consecrated 
 to the worship of the God of their fathers. 
 The agency of this fourth kingdom, 
 therefore, was exceedingly important in 
 the introduction and establishment of that 
 kingdom which was to be perpetual, and 
 which was to fill the earth, and hence the 
 reference to it here, and the more ex 
 tended reference in ch. vii. 
 
 44. And in the days of these kings. 
 Marg. their. The reading in the text 
 these kings is the more correct. The 
 Vulgate renders this, in the days of 
 these kingdoms. The natural and ob 
 vious sense of the passage is, that during 
 the continuance of the kingdoms above 
 mentioned, or before they should finally 
 pass away, that is, before the last one 
 should become extinct, another kingdom 
 would be established on the earth which 
 which would be perpetual. Before the 
 succession of universal monarchies should 
 have passed away, the new kingdom 
 would be set up that would never be 
 destroyed. Such language is not uncom 
 mon. " Thus, if we were to speak of any 
 thing taking place in the days of British 
 kings, we should not of course understand 
 it as running through all their reigns, but 
 merely as occurring in some one of them." 
 Prof. Bush. So it is said in Ruth i. 1 : 
 " It came to pass in the days when the 
 judges ruled, that there was a famine in 
 the land;" that is, the famine occurred 
 sometime under that gen^rfil administra 
 tion, or before it had pasted away, evi 
 
 dently not meaning that there was a 
 famine in the reign of each one. So it is 
 said of Jephtha, that he was buried in the 
 cities of Gilead; that is, some one of them. 
 Josiah was buried in the sepulchres of his 
 fathers; that is, in some one of them. 
 \ Shall the God of heaven. The God who 
 rules in heaven ; the true God. This ia 
 designed to show the divino origin of this 
 kingdom, and to distinguish it from 
 all others. Though the others here re 
 ferred to were under the divine control, 
 and were designed to act an important 
 part in preparing the world for this, yet 
 they arc not represented as deriving their 
 origin directly from heaven. They were 
 founded in the usual manner of earthly 
 monarchies, but this was to have a hea 
 venly origin. In accordance with this, 
 the kingdom which the Messiah came 
 to establish is often called in the New 
 Testament, the kingdom of heaven, 
 the kingdom of God/ &c. Comp. Micah 
 iv. 7 ; Luke i. 32, 33. f Set np a king 
 dom. Shall cause to arise or stand up 
 ^\>\ . It shall not owe its origin to the 
 usual causes by which empires are consti 
 tuted on the earth by conquests; by 
 human policy; by powerful alliances; by 
 transmitted hereditary possessions, but 
 shall exist because God shall appoint and 
 constitute it. There can be no reasonable 
 doubt as to what kingdom is here in 
 tended, and nearly all expositors have 
 supposed that it refers to the kingdom of 
 the Messiah. Grotius, indeed, who made 
 the fourth kingdom refer to the Seleucidae 
 and Lagidse, was constrained by consis 
 tency to make this refer to the Roman 
 power; but in this interpretation he 
 stands almost, if not entirely alone. Yet 
 even he supposes it to refer not to heathen 
 Rome only, but to Rome as the perpetual 
 seat of power the permanent kingdom 
 the seat of the church : Imperium Roma- 
 num perpetub mansurum, quod sedes erit 
 ccclesite. And although he maintains 
 that it refers to Rome primarily, yet he is 
 constrained to acknowledge that what is 
 here said is true in a higher sense of 
 the kingdom of Christ: Sensiu sublimin, 
 Christum finem impositurum omnibus iui- 
 periis tenrertribu*. But there can be no 
 real doubt as to what kingdom i? in. 
 
B. C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 155 
 
 not be left to other people, but it 
 shall break a in pieces and consume 
 
 tended. Its distinctly declared divine 
 origin j the declaration that it shall never 
 be destroyed ; the assurance that it would 
 absorb all other kingdoms, and that it 
 would stand fcr ever ; and the entire ac 
 cordance of these declarations with the 
 account of the kingdom of the Messiah in 
 the New Testament, show beyond a doubt 
 that the kingdom of the Redeemer is 
 intended. ^[ Which shall never be destroy 
 ed. The others would pass away. The 
 Babylonian would be succeeded by the 
 Medo-Persian, that by the Macedonian, 
 that by the lloman, and that in its turn 
 by the one which the God of heaven 
 would set up. This would be perpetual. 
 Nothing would have power to overthrow 
 it. It would live in the revolutions of 
 all other kingdoms, and would survive 
 them all. Comp. Notes on ch. vii. 14; 
 and the summary of the doctrines taught 
 here at the close of the Notes on ver 45. 
 ^[ And the kingdom shall not be left to 
 other people. Marg. their. Literally, 
 Its kingdom shall not be left to other 
 people ; that is, the ruling power appro 
 priate to this kingdom or dominion shall 
 never pass away from its rightful pos 
 sessor, and be transferred to other hands. 
 In respect to other kingdoms, it often 
 happens that their sovereigns are deposed, 
 and that their power passes into the 
 hands of usurpers. But this can never 
 occur in this kingdom. The government 
 will never change hands. The adminis 
 tration will be perpetual. No foreign 
 power shall sway the sceptre of this king 
 dom. There may be an allusion here to 
 the fact that, in respect to each of the 
 other kingdoms mentioned, the power 
 over the same territory did pass into the 
 hands of other people. Thus, on the 
 same territory, the dominion passed from 
 the hands of the Babylonian princes to 
 the hands of Cyrus the Persian, and then 
 to the hat-Is of Alexander the Macedonian, 
 and then to the hands of the Romans. 
 But this would never occur in regard to 
 the kingdom which the God of heaven 
 would set up. In the region of empire 
 appropriate to it, it would never change 
 hands; and this promise of perpetuity 
 made this kingdom wholly unlike all its 
 predecessors, ^f But it shall break in 
 pieces and consume all these kingdoms. 
 Ag represented by the stone cut out of 
 
 all these kingdoms, and it shall 
 
 stand for ever. 
 
 a Ps. 2. 9. 
 
 the mountains without hands, impinging 
 on the image. See Notes on vs. 34, 35. 
 
 Two inquiries at once meet us here, 
 of Bomewhat difficult solution. The first 
 is, how, if this is designed to apply to 
 the kingdom of the Messiah, can the 
 description be true ? The language here 
 would seem to imply some violent action ; 
 some positive crushing force ; something 
 like that which occurs in conquests when 
 nations are subdued. Would it not ap 
 pear from this that the kingdom here 
 represented was to make its way by con 
 quests in the same manner as the other 
 kingdoms, rather than by a silent and 
 peaceful influence ? Is this language, in 
 fact, applicable to the method in which 
 the kingdom of Christ is to supplant all 
 others? In reply to these questions, it 
 may be remarked, (1.) That the leading 
 idea, as apparent in the prophecy, is not 
 so much that of violence as that the king 
 doms referred to would be utterly brought 
 to an end; that there would be, under this 
 new kingdom, ultimately an entire cessa 
 tion of the others ; or that they would be 
 removed or supplanted by this. This is 
 represented (ver. 35) by the fact that the 
 materials composing the other kingdoms 
 are represented before this as becoming 
 like " the chaff in the summer threshing- 
 floors ;" and as " being carried away, 
 so that no place was found for them." 
 The stone cut out of the mountain, 
 small at first, was mysteriously en 
 larged, so that it occupied the place which 
 they did, and ultimately filled the earth. 
 A process of gradual demolition, acting 
 on them by constant attrition, removing 
 portions of them, and occupying their 
 place unHl they should disappear, and 
 until there should be a complete substitu 
 tion of the new kingdom in their place, 
 would seem to correspond with all that is 
 essential in the prophetic description. 
 See Notes on ver. 34, on the expression, 
 " which smote the image upon his feet" 
 But (2.) this language is in accordance 
 with that which is commonly used in the 
 predictions respecting the kingdom of the 
 Messiah language which is descriptive 
 of the existence of power in subduing the 
 nations, and bringing the opposing king- 
 dotns of the world to an end, Thus in 
 Psalm ii. 9, " Thou shalt break them with 
 a vod of iron ; thou shalt dash them in 
 
156 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 
 
 pieces like a potter s vessel." Isa. Ix. 12, 
 " For the nation and kingdom that will 
 not serve thee shall perish; yea, those 
 nations shall be utterly wasted." So 1 Cor. 
 xv. 24, 25, " When he shall have put down 
 all rule, and all authority, and power. 
 For he must reign till he hath put all 
 enemies under his feet." These expres 
 sions denote that there will be an entire 
 subjection of other kingdoms to that of 
 the Messiah, called in the New Testa 
 ment, " the kingdom of God." They un 
 doubtedly imply that there will be some 
 kind of force employed for this great 
 work cannot be accomplished without 
 the existence of power ; but it may be 
 remarked (a) that it does not necessarily 
 mean that there will be physical force, or 
 power like that by which kingdoms have 
 been usually overturned. The kingdom 
 of the Redeemer is a kingdom of prin 
 ciples, and those principles will subdue 
 the nations, and bring them into subjec 
 tion, (b) It does not necessarily mean 
 that the effect here described will be ac 
 complished at once. It may be by a 
 gradual process, like a continual beating 
 on the image, reducing it ultimately to 
 powder. 
 
 The other question which arises here 
 is, How can it be said that the new king 
 dom which was to be set xip would "break 
 in pieces and consume all these king 
 doms ?" How could the destruction of 
 the image in the Roman period be in fac 
 the destruction of the three previous king 
 doms, represented by gold, and silver, and 
 brass ? Would they not in fact have 
 passed away before the Roman power 
 came into existence? And yet, is not 
 the representation in ver. 35, that the 
 iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and 
 the gold were broken in pieces together 
 and were all scattered like the chaff of 
 the summer threshing-floor? Is it sup 
 posed that these kingdoms would be al 
 in existence at the same time, and tha 
 the action of the symbolical stone was 
 to be alike on all of them? To these 
 questions, we may answer, (1.) That the 
 meaning is, undoubtedly, that three of 
 these kingdoms would have passed away 
 at the time of the action of the stone 
 referred to. They were to be a succession 
 of kingdoms, occupying to a great extent, 
 the same territory, and not contemporary 
 monarchies occupying distinct territories. 
 (2.) The action of the stone was in faot, 
 ID a most important sense, to be on them 
 
 ill; that is, it was to be on what consti* 
 ited these successive kingdoms of gold, 
 silver, brass, and iron. Each was in its 
 /urn a universal monarchy. The same 
 .erritory was substantially occupied by 
 ;hem all. The Medo-Persian sceptre ex 
 tended over the region under the Baby- 
 onian ; the Macedonian over that ; the 
 Roman over that. These were indeed 
 accessions in each successive monarchy, 
 but still any thing which affected the Ro 
 man empire affected what had in fact 
 been the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, 
 and the Macedonian. A demolition of 
 the image in the time of the Roman em 
 pire would be, therefore, in fact, a de 
 molition of the whole. (3.) This inter 
 pretation is necessary from the nature of 
 the symbolical representation. The eye 
 of the monarch in the dream was directed 
 to the image as a splendid whole. It wa 
 necessary to the object in view that he 
 should see it all at a time, that he might 
 have a distinct conception of it. This 
 purpose made it impossible to exhibit the 
 kingdoms in succession, but they all stood 
 up before him at once. No one can doubt 
 that there miyht have been a different 
 representation, and that the kingdoms 
 might have been made to pass before him 
 in their order, but the representation 
 would have been less grand and impos 
 ing. But this design made it necessary 
 that the image should be kept entire be 
 fore the mind until its demolition. It 
 would have been unseemly to have re 
 presented the head as removed, and then 
 the shoulders and breast, and then the 
 belly and thighs, until nothing remained 
 but the feet and toes. It was necessary 
 to keep up the representation of the image 
 of colossal majesty and strenyth, until a 
 new power should arise which would de 
 molish it all. Nebuchadnezzar is not re 
 presented as seeing the parts of the image 
 successively appear or disappear. He 
 does not at first see the golden head rising 
 above the earth and then the other parts 
 in succession; nor the golden head dis 
 appearing, and then the other parts, until 
 nothing was left but the feet and the toes. 
 Such a representation would have de 
 stroyed the decorum and beauty of the 
 whole figure; and as it cannot be argued 
 that because Nebuchadnezzar saw the 
 whole image at the outset standing in its 
 complete form that therefore all these 
 kingdoms must have been simultaneously 
 in existence, so it cannot be argued be- 
 
B. C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 157 
 
 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that 
 the stone was cut out of the moun 
 tain a without hands, and that it 
 brake in pieces the iron, the brass, 
 the clay, the silver, and the gold ; 
 
 the great God hath made known ti 
 the king what shall come to pass 
 b hereafter : and the dream is certain, 
 and the interpretation thereof sure. 
 
 Which was not in hands. 
 
 b After this. 
 
 cause he saw the whole image standing 
 when the stone smote upon it, that there 
 fore all these kingdoms must have had 
 an existence then. It may be added 
 (4.) that the destruction of the last was in 
 fact the destruction of all the three pre 
 decessors. The whole power had become 
 embodied in that, and the demolition 
 affected the whole series. 
 
 45. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the 
 stone, &c. On the meaning of the lan 
 guage employed here, see Notes on vs. 
 34, 35. The word forasmuch may be 
 taken either in connection with what pre 
 cedes, or with what follows. In the 
 former method, there should be a period 
 at the word gold in this verse, and then 
 the sense is, In those days shall the God 
 of heaven set up a kingdom, &c., foras 
 much, or because thou sawest a stone, &c., 
 that is, that was a certain indication of 
 it. According to the other method, the 
 meaning is, Forasmuch as thou sawest 
 the stone cut out and demolish the image, 
 the great God has made known the cer 
 tainty of it; that is, that is a certain 
 indication that it will be done. The Vul 
 gate is, According to what thou sawest, 
 that the stone was cut out without hands, 
 and reduced the clay, <fcc., the great God 
 has shown to the king what will be here 
 after. The difference in the interpreta 
 tion is not very material, ^f Cut out of 
 the mountain. This is not inserted in the 
 statement in ver. 34. It seems, however, 
 to be implied there, as there is mention 
 of the stone as cut out. The representa 
 tion is evidently that of a stone disengaged 
 from its native bed, the side of a moun 
 tain, without any human agency, and 
 then rolling down the side of it and im 
 pinging on the image. ^[ The great God 
 hath made known to the Icing what shall 
 come to pass hereafter. Marg. the same 
 as the Chaldee, after this. The meaning 
 is simply, in time to come ; in some fu 
 ture period. Daniel claims none of the 
 merit of this discovery to himself, but 
 ascribes it all to God. f And the dream 
 is certain, and the interpretation thereof 
 *nre. TJ;ai is, it is ;ao vain and airy 
 phantom : no mere working ">f the imagi- 
 14 
 
 nation. The dream was all that the 
 monarch had supposed it to be a repre 
 sentation of corning events, and his soli 
 citude in regard to it was well-founded. 
 Daniel speaks with the utmost assurance 
 also as to its fulfilment. He knew that 
 he had been led to this interpretation by 
 no skill of his own ; and his representa 
 tion of it was such as to satisfy the mon 
 arch of its correctness. Two circum 
 stances probably made it appear certain 
 to the monarch, as we learn from the next 
 verse it did: one, that Daniel had re 
 called the dream to his own recollection, 
 showing that he was under a divine guid 
 ance ; and the other, the plausibility 
 the verisimilitude the evident truthful 
 ness of the representation. It was such 
 a manifest explanation of the dream that 
 Nebuchadnezzar, in the same manner as 
 Pharaoh had done before him when his 
 dreams were explained by Joseph, at once 
 admitted the correctness of the represen 
 tation. 
 
 Having now gone through with the 
 exposition of this important passage re 
 specting the stone cut from the mountain, 
 it seems proper to make a few remarks 
 in regard to the nature of the kingdom 
 that would be set up, as represented by 
 the stone which demolished the image, 
 and which so marvellously increased as 
 to fill the earth. That there is reference 
 to the kingdom of the Messiah cannot be 
 reasonably doubted. The points which 
 are established in respect to that kingdom 
 by the passage now under consideration, 
 are the following : 
 
 I. Its superhuman origin. This is in 
 dicated in the representation of the stone 
 cut out of the mountain without hands ; 
 that is, clearly not by human agency, or 
 in the ordinary course of events. There 
 was to be a superhuman power exerted in 
 detaching it from the mountain, as well 
 as in its future growth. What appeared 
 so marvellous was, that it was cut from 
 its original resting-place by some invisible 
 power, and mcved forward to the con 
 summation of its work without any hu 
 man agency. That this was designed to 
 be significant of something there can b 
 
150 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 605. 
 
 no reasonable doubt, for the result is 
 made to turn on this. I do not see that 
 any special significancy is to be attached 
 to the idea of its being cut from a moun 
 tain, nor that it is required of us to 
 attempt to refine on that expression, 
 and to ascertain whether the mountain 
 moans the Roman kingdom, out of which 
 the gospel church was taken, as many 
 suppose ; or the Jewish nation, as Augus 
 tine supposed; or that "the origin of 
 Christ was sublime and superior to the 
 whole world/ as Calvin supposes ; or to 
 the mountainous country of Judea in 
 which the Messiah was born, as many 
 others have maintained; or to the tomb 
 of Joseph, as a rock from which the Mes 
 siah sprang to life and victory, as others 
 have imagined. All this belongs to a 
 system of interpretation that is trifling in 
 the extreme. The representation of the 
 mountain here is merely for the sake of 
 verisimilitude like the circumstances in 
 a parable. If a stone was cut out with 
 out hands/ it would be natural to speak 
 of it as cut from the mountain or parent 
 rock to which it was attached. The eye 
 is not here directed to the mountain as 
 having any thing significant or marvel 
 lous about it, but to the stone that so mys 
 teriously left its bed, and rolled onward 
 toward the image. The point of interest 
 and of marvel, the mysterious thing that 
 attracted the eye, was that there was no 
 human agency employed; that no hands 
 were seen at work ; that none of the or 
 dinary instrumentalities were seen by 
 which great effects are accomplished 
 among men. Now this would properly 
 represent the idea that the kingdom of 
 the Messiah would have a supernatural 
 origin. Its beginnings would be unlike 
 what is usually seen among men. How 
 appropriately this applies to the kingdom 
 of the Messiah, as having its origin not in 
 human power, need not here be stated. 
 Nothing is more apparent; nothing is 
 more frequently dwelt on in the New 
 Testament, than that it had a heavenly 
 origin. It did not owe its beginning to 
 human plans, counsels, or power. 
 
 II. Its feebleness in its beginning com 
 pared with its ultimate growth and power. 
 At first it was a stone comparatively 
 small, and that seemed utterly inadequate 
 to the work of demolishing and pulver- 
 /.ing a colossal statue of gold, silver, 
 i/raf.s, and iron. Ultimately it grew to 
 >*o itself of mrc^tam-size, and to fill the 
 
 land. Now this representation would 
 undoubtedly convey the fair impression 
 that this new power, represented by the 
 stone, would at first be comparatively 
 small and feeble ; that there would bo 
 comparative weakness in its origin as 
 contrasted with what it would ultimately 
 attain to ; and that it would seem to be 
 utterly inadequate to the performance of 
 what it finally accomplished. It is hardly 
 necessary to say that this corresponds 
 entirely with the origin of the Messiah s 
 kingdom. Every where it is represented 
 as of feeble beginnings, and as a system, 
 to human view, entirely inadequate to so 
 great a work as that of bringing other 
 kingdoms to an end, and subduing it to 
 itself. The complete fulfilment of the 
 prophetic statement would be found in 
 such circumstances as the following : 
 (1.) The humble origin of the head of 
 this new power himself the Messiah 
 the king of Zion. He was in fact of a 
 decayed and dilapidated family; was 
 ranked among the poor ; was without 
 powerful friends or political connections ; 
 possessed no uncommon advantages of 
 learning, and was regarded with contempt 
 and scorn by the great mass of his coun 
 trymen. No one would have supposed 
 that the religion originated by one of so 
 humble an origin would have power to 
 change the destiny of the kingdoms of 
 the earth. (2.) The feebleness of tho 
 beginning of his kingdom. His few fol 
 lowers ; the little band of fishermen ; 
 the slow progress at first made these 
 were circumstances strikingly in accord 
 ance with the representation in Daniel. 
 (3.) The absence in that band of all that 
 seemed requisite to accomplish so great a 
 work. They had no arms, no wealth, no 
 political power. They had nothing of 
 that which has commonly been employed 
 to overthrow kingdoms, and the band 
 of fishermen sent forth to this work 
 seemed as little adequate to the under 
 taking as the stone cut from the moun 
 tain did to demolish the colossal image. 
 (4.) All this feebleness in the beginning 
 was wonderfully contrasted with the ulti 
 mate results like the stone, when cut 
 from the mountain, contrasted with its 
 magnitude when it filled the earth. The 
 Saviour himself often referred to the con 
 trast between the feeble origin of his reli 
 gion, and what it would grow to be. At 
 first it was like a grain of mustard seed, 
 smallest among seeds ; then it grew to be 
 
B. C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 159 
 
 a tree so large that the fowls of the air 
 lodged in the branches. At first it was 
 like leaven, hidden in meal; ultimately, 
 it would diffuse itself through the mass, 
 so that the whole would be leavened. 
 Matt. xiii. 3133. 
 
 III. It would supplant all other king 
 doms. This was clearly indicated by the 
 fact that the stone demolished the 
 image, reducing it to powder, and filled 
 the place which that occupied, and all the 
 land. This has been explained (Notes 
 on vs. 34, 35,) as meaning that it would 
 not be by sudden violence, but by a con 
 tinued process of comminution. There 
 would be such an action on the kingdoms 
 of the earth represented by gold, and 
 silver, and brass, and iron, that they 
 would disappear, and the new power re 
 presented by the stone would finally 
 take their place. As this new power was 
 to be humble in its origin, and feeble to 
 human view ; as it had nothing which, to 
 outward appearance, would seem adequate 
 to the result, the reference would seem to 
 be to the principles which would charac 
 terize it, and which, as elements of power, 
 would gradually but ultimately secure 
 the changes represented by the demoli 
 tion of the colossal statue. The only 
 question then would be, whether the 
 principles in the kingdom of the Messiah 
 had such originality and power as would 
 gradually but certainly change the modes 
 of government that existed in the world, 
 and substitute another kind of reign; or, 
 what is the influence which it will exert 
 on the nations, causing new methods of 
 government, in accordance with its prin 
 ciples, to prevail on the earth. Though 
 apparently feeble, without arms, or wealth, 
 or civil alliances, it has elements of poiver 
 about it which will ultimately subdue all 
 other principles of government, and take 
 their place. Its work was indeed to be a 
 gradual work, and it is by no means ac 
 complished, yet its effect has been mighty 
 already on the principles that rule among 
 the nations, and will still be more mighty 
 until the laws of the kingdom of the Mes 
 siah shall prevail in all the earth. This 
 seems to be the idea which it is designed 
 to express by this prophetic image. If 
 one were asked in what respects it is to be 
 anticipated that these changes will be 
 wrought, and in what respects we can 
 discern the evidences of such changes 
 already, we might say in such points 
 as the following: (1.) In regard to 
 
 the methods in which governments are 
 founded. Governments were formerly 
 mostly the result of civil or foreign wars. 
 Nearly all the governments of antiquity 
 were originally founded in the power of 
 some military leader, and then held by 
 power. Christianity originated new views 
 about wars and conquests views that will 
 ultimately prevail. In nothing are the 
 opinions of mankind destined more en 
 tirely to be reversed than in regard to 
 war to its glory, its achievements, and 
 the fame of those who have been most 
 celebrated for bloody triumphs. (2.) In 
 regard to the rights of the people. A 
 mighty principle was originated by Chris 
 tianity in respect to the rights of men 
 the right of conscience; the right to the 
 avails of their own labour ; the right to 
 life and liberty. (3.) In regard to op 
 pression. The history of the world has 
 been to a great extent a history of op 
 pression. But all this is to be changed 
 by the principles of the true religion ; 
 and when the period shall arrive that 
 there shall be no more occasion to use 
 the word oppression, as descriptive of any 
 thing that shall have an actual existence 
 on earth, this will be a different world. 
 Then the time will have come appropri 
 ately designated by the demolition of the 
 colossal statue symbolic of all govern 
 ments of oppression, and the substitution 
 in its place of that which was at first insig 
 nificant, but which had vital energy to 
 supplant all that went before it. 
 
 IV. This kingdom will be perpetual. 
 This is asserted in the unequivocal state 
 ments that it " shall never be destroyed," 
 and that "it shall not be left to other 
 people ;" that is, shall never pass into 
 other hands. There could not be a more 
 positive declaration that the kingdom 
 here referred to will continue through all 
 coining time. Other kingdoms pass away, 
 but this will not ; and amidst all the revo 
 lutions of other empires this will remain. 
 The lapse of eighteen hundred years since 
 this kingdom was set up, has done not a 
 little to confirm the truth of this prediction 
 Many other kingdoms during that time 
 have disappeared from the earth, but this 
 remains in its full vigour, and with ex 
 tending power. It has, at this day, an 
 extent of dominion which it never had 
 before, and there are clearer indications 
 that it will spread over all the earth than 
 ever existed at any previous time. That 
 this kingdom will be perpetual, may be 
 
160 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 
 
 from the following considerations : 
 (1.) From the promises of God. These 
 are absolute; and they are attested by 
 Him who has all power, and who can, 
 with infinite ease, accomplish all that he 
 has spoken. So in Dan. vii. 14, " His do 
 minion is an everlasting dominion, which 
 shall not pass away, and his kingdom that 
 which shall not be destroyed." Luke i. 
 33, " And he shall reign over the house 
 of Jacob for ever : and of his kingdom 
 there shall be no end." Ps. xlv. 6, 
 (comp. Notes on Heb. i. 8), " Thy throne, 
 G od, is for ever and ever." In Hebrews 
 i. 8, it is, "But unto the Son he saith, 
 Thy throne, God, is for ever and ever." 
 Isa. ix. 7, " Of the increase of his govern 
 ment and power, there shall be no end, 
 upon the throne of David, and upon his 
 kingdom, to order it, and to establish it 
 with judgment and with justice, from 
 henceforth even for ever." (2.) It may 
 be argued, from the fact that the efforts 
 which have been made to destroy it have 
 shown that this cannot be done by any hu 
 man power. Eighteen hundred years have 
 now passed away a period sufficiently 
 long to test the question whether it can 
 be destroyed by force and violence ; by 
 argument and ridicule. The experiment 
 has been fairly made, and if it were pos 
 sible that it should be destroyed by ex 
 ternal force, it would have been done. It 
 cannot be imagined that more favourable 
 circumstances for such a purpose will ever 
 occur. The church of Christ has met 
 every form of opposition that we can 
 conceive could be made against it, and 
 has survived them all. Particularly it 
 has survived the trial which has been 
 made in the following respects : (a) The 
 Roman power, the whole might of the 
 Roman arms, that had subdued and 
 crushed the world, was brought to bear 
 upon the kingdom of Christ to crush and 
 destroy it, but wholly failed. It cannot be 
 supposed that a new power will ever arise 
 that will be more formidable to Chris 
 tianity than the Roman was. (6) The 
 power of persecution. That has been 
 tried in every way, and has failed. The 
 most ingenious forms of torture have been 
 devised to extinguish this religion, and 
 have all failed. It has always been found 
 that persecution has only contributed 
 ultimately to the triumph of the cause 
 which it was hoped to crush, (c) The 
 power of philosophy. The ancient phi 
 losophers opposed it, and attempted to 
 
 destroy it by argument. This was early 
 done by Celsus and Porphyry ; but it soon 
 became apparent that the ancient philoso 
 phy had nothing that could extinguish the 
 rising religion, and not a few of the pro 
 minent philosophers themselves were con 
 verted, and became the advocates of the 
 faith, (d) The power of science. Chris 
 tianity had its origin in an age when 
 science had made comparatively little pro 
 gress, and in a country where it was 
 almost unknown. The sciences since have 
 made vast advances ; and each one in its 
 turn has been appealed to by the enemies 
 of religion, to furnish an argument 
 against Christianity. Astronomy, history, 
 the discoveries in Egypt, the asserted 
 antiquity of the Hindoos, and geology, 
 have all been employed to overthrow the 
 claims of the Christian religion, and have 
 all been compelled to abandon the field. 
 See this admirably demonstrated in Dr. 
 Wiseman s lectures on the connection 
 between science and revealed religion. 
 (e) The power of ridicule. At one time it 
 was held that ridicule is the test of 
 truth/ and this has been applied un 
 sparingly to the Christian religion. But 
 the religion still lives, and it cannot be 
 supposed that there will be men endued 
 with the power of sarcasm and wit supe 
 rior to those who, with these weapons , 
 have made war on Christianity, or that in 
 fidelity has any hope from that quarter. 
 It may be inferred, therefore, that there is 
 no external source of corruption and decay 
 which will prevent its being perpetual. 
 Other kingdoms usually have ; and after 
 a few centuries at most the internal cor 
 ruption the defect of the organization 
 develops itself, and the kingdom falls. 
 But nothing of this kind occurs in the 
 kingdom of Christ. It has lived now 
 through eighteen hundred years, through 
 periods of the world in which there hare 
 been constant changes in the arts, in the 
 sciences, in manners, in philosophy, in 
 forms of government. During that time 
 many a system of philosophy has been 
 superseded, and many a kingdom has 
 fallen, but Christianity is as fresh and 
 vigorous as it meets each coming genera 
 tion as it ever was ; and the past has 
 demonstrated that the enemies of the gos 
 pel have no reason to hope that it will 
 become weak by age, and will fall by its 
 own decrepitude. 
 
 V. A fifth characteristic of this king 
 dom is, that it will universally prevaiL 
 
B. C. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 161 
 
 46 f Then the king Nebuchad- 1 nezzar fell upon his face, and wor- 
 
 1 
 
 which cannot be detached from society, 
 but which go into its permanent struc 
 ture, and which the world will not 
 let die. (3.) Society is thus making con 
 stant advances. A position gained in hu 
 man progress is never ultimately lost. 
 " The principles thus accumulated and 
 incorporated into society become perma 
 nent. Each age adds something in this 
 respect to the treasures accumulated by 
 all preceding ages, and each one is, in 
 some respects, an advance on its prede 
 cessors, and makes the final triumph of 
 the principles of truth, and liberty, and 
 pure religion more sure. (4.) Christianity, 
 or the kingdom of Christ, is aggressive. 
 It makes a steady war on the evil cus 
 toms, habits, and laws of the world. It 
 is in accordance with its nature to diffuse 
 itself. Nothing can prevent its propaga 
 tion ; and, according to the laws of society, 
 nothing is so certain philosophically in 
 regard to the future, as the final preva 
 lence of the religion of the Redeemer. 
 It may meet with temporary and formi 
 dable obstructions. It may be retarded, 
 or extinguished, in certain places. But 
 its general course is onward like the 
 current of the mighty river towards the 
 ocean. The only thing certain in the 
 future is, that the Christian religion will 
 yet spread all over the world ; and there 
 is enough in this to gratify the highest 
 wishes of philanthropy, and enough to 
 stimulate to the highest effort to secure so 
 desirable an end. 
 
 46. Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell 
 upon his face. This was the common 
 method of signifying profound respect 
 among the Orientals. Comp. Gen. xvii. 
 3, 1. 18 ; Lev. ix. 24 ; Num. xiv. 5 ; Josh, 
 v. 14 ; Judges xii. 20 ; Rev. xi. 16. ^ And 
 worshipped Daniel. The word rendered 
 worshipped here "UP in the Chaldee 
 portions of the Bible is uniformly ren 
 dered worship. Dan. ii. 26 ; iii. 5, 6, 7, 
 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 18, 28. It occurs no- 
 where else, and in every instance, except in 
 the one before us, is employed with refer 
 ence to the homage paid to an idol, all the 
 other cases occuring in the third chapter 
 respecting the image that was set up by 
 Nebuchadnezzar. The corresponding He 
 brew word "UD occurs only in Isa. xliv. 
 15, 17, 19, xlvi. 6, and is, in every in- 
 
 This was symbolized by the stone that | 
 "became a great mountain, and that filled 
 the whole earth." ver. 35. It is also im- ; 
 plied, in the statement in ver. 44, that it 
 " shall break in pieces, and consume all 
 these kingdoms." They will cease, and 
 this will occupy their places. The prin 
 ciples of the kingdom of the Messiah, 
 whatever may be the external forms of 
 government that shall exist on the earth, 
 will everywhere prevail. That this will 
 occur, may be argued from the following 
 considerations : (1.) The promises recorded 
 in the Bible. The passage before us is 
 one. Of the same nature are the follow 
 ing: Ps. ii. 8, "Ask of me, and I shall 
 give thee the heathen for thine inherit 
 ance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
 for thy possession." Mai. i. 11, For 
 from the rising of the sun unto the going 
 down of the same, my name shall be great 
 among the Gentiles, and in every place 
 incense shall be offered to my name, and 
 a pure offering." Isa. xi. 9, " The earth 
 shall be full of the knowledge of the 
 Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Comp. 
 Hab. ii. 14; Isa. xlv. 22, and Isa. Ix. 
 (2.) The world in its progress loses nothing 
 that is of value. Truth is eternal, and 
 when once discovered, society will not let 
 it go. It seizes upon great elements in 
 human nature, and the world will not let 
 it die. Thus it is with discoveries in 
 science, in inventions in the arts, and 
 
 Srinciples in morals. There is no evi- 
 ence that anything that was known to 
 the ancients which was of permanent value 
 to mankind has been lost; and the few 
 things that were lost have been succeeded 
 by that which is better. All that was 
 truly valuable in their science, their phi 
 losophy, their arts, their jurisprudence, 
 their literature, we possess still, and the 
 world will always retain it. And what 
 can ever obliterate from the memory of 
 man the printing-press, the steam-engine, 
 the cotton-gin, the telescope, the blow 
 pipe, the magnetic telegraph? Society 
 ACCUMULATES from age to age all that is 
 truly valuable in inventions, morals, and 
 the arts, and travels with them down to 
 the period when the world shall have 
 reached the highest point of perfecta- 
 bility. This remark is true also of Chris 
 tianity the kingdom of Christ. There 
 are principles in regard to the happi 
 ness and rights of man in that system, 
 
162 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 603 
 
 shipped Daniel, and commanded 
 that they should offer an oblation 
 and sweet odours unto him. 
 
 stance, rendered fall down, also with 
 reference to idols. The proper idea, there 
 fore, of the -word here is, that the monarch 
 meant to render religious homage to 
 Daniel, or such adoration as was usually 
 paid to idols. This is confirmed by what 
 is immediately added, that he commanded 
 that an oblation should be made to him. 
 It is not, however, necessary to suppese 
 that Daniel received or approved this re 
 ligious homage of the king, or that he left 
 the impression on his mind that he was 
 willing to be honoured as a god. The ! 
 prostration of the king before him, of ! 
 course, he could not prevent. The views 
 and feelings which the monarch had in 
 doing it, he could not prevent. The com 
 mand to present an oblation and sweet 
 odours to him/ he could not prevent. 
 But it is not a fair inference that Daniel 
 approved this, or that he did anything to 
 countenance it, or even that he did not, in ! 
 a proper manner, rebuke it: for (1.) we 
 we not to suppose that all that was said 
 was recorded, and no one can prove that 
 Daniel did not express his disapprobation 
 of this religious honour shown to him. 
 (2.) Daniel had, in fact, expressed his 
 views, in the clearest manner, on this very 
 point before the monarch. He had, again 
 and again, disclaimed all power to be able 
 to reveal such secrets. He had directed 
 his mind to the true God, as he who alone 
 could disclose coming events, vs. 28, 30, 
 45. He had taken all possible precaution 
 to prevent any such result, by declaring, 
 in the most emphatic terms (ver. 30), that 
 this secret was not revealed to him on 
 account of any wisdom which he had more 
 than any living. If now, after all this 
 precaution, and these disclaimers, the 
 king should prostrate himself before him, 
 and, for the moment, feel that ho was in 
 the presence of a God, Daniel was not 
 responsible for it, and it should not be 
 inferred that he encouraged or approved 
 it (3.) It would seem, from the narrative 
 itself, more than probable that Daniel 
 did refuse the homage, and direct the 
 thoughts of the monarch to the true God. 
 la the very next verse it is said, " The 
 king answered unto Daniel, and said, of a 
 truth it is, that your God is a God of 
 gods, and a Lord of kings, and a re- 
 
 47 The king answered unto Da 
 niel, and said, Of a truth it is, that 
 your God is a God of gods, and a 
 
 vealer of secrets." Answered what? 
 Perhaps something that was said by 
 Daniel. At all events, it is clear from 
 this that whatever were the momentary 
 expressions of wonder, gratitude, and 
 adoration, on the part of the king, his 
 thoughts soon passed to the proper ob 
 ject of worship the true God. ^ And 
 commanded, &c. The fact that this was 
 commanded does not prove that it was 
 done. The command was probably given 
 under the excitement of his admiration 
 and wonder. But it does not follow that 
 Daniel received it, or that the command 
 was not recalled on reflection, or that the 
 oblation and odors may not have been 
 presented to the true God. <[ That they 
 should offer an oblation. That is, his 
 attendants, or perhaps the priests to whom 
 pertained the duty of making offerings to 
 the gods. The word rendered oblation 
 nnjp does not refer to a bloody sacrifice, 
 but means a gift or present of any kind. 
 It is applied in the Scriptures to denote 
 (1.) a gift, or present (Gen. xxxii. 14, 
 19, 21, xliii. 11, 15, 25, 26) ; (2.) tribute, 
 such as was exacted from a subject na 
 tion, under the notion of a present (2 Sam. 
 viii. 2, 6 ; 1 Kings v. 1) ; (3.) an offering, 
 or sacrifice to God, especially a bloodless 
 offering, in opposition to njj a bloody 
 sacrifice, Lev. ii. 1, 4, 5, 6, vi. 7, vii. 9 ; 
 Ps. xl. 7 ; Jer. xvii. 26. See the word 
 fully explained in the Notes on Isa. i. 13. 
 There can be no doubt that Nebuchad 
 nezzar meant that such an offering should 
 be presented as was usually made in idol 
 worship. ^f And sweet odors. Incense 
 was commonly used in worship (see Notes 
 on Isa. i. 13), and it is not improbable 
 that in the worship of the gods it was ac 
 companied with other fragrant odors. 
 Sweet odors, or savors/ expressed by the 
 same word which is used here, were a 
 part of the prescribed worship in the lie- 
 brew ritual. Lev. i. 9, 13, 17, ii. 2, 9, iii. 
 5, vi. 14 ; Num. xv. 7. 
 
 47. The king ansicered Daniel. An- 
 swered either what he had said in tho 
 interpretation of the dream, or possibly 
 something that he had said in regard to 
 the impropriety of offering this homage 
 to him. Cornp. Notes on ver. 46. It is 
 
B. 0. 603.] 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 163 
 
 Lord of kings, and a revealer of 
 secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal 
 this secret. 
 
 48 Then the king made Daniel a 
 great man, and gave him many 
 
 great a gifts, and made him ruler 
 over the whole province of Babylon, 
 and chief of the b governors over all 
 the wise men of Babvlon. 
 
 a ver. 6. 
 
 b c. 4. 9, 5. 11. 
 
 certain that, for some cause, whatever 
 might have been the homage which he 
 was disposed to render to Daniel, his 
 thoughts were soon turned from him to the 
 true God, and to an acknowledgment of 
 him as superior to all other beings. He 
 seems, at least, instantly to have reflected 
 on what Daniel had himself said (ver. 30), 
 and to have remembered that religious 
 homage was due, not to Daniel, but to 
 the God who had communicated .the secret 
 to him. ^ Of a truth it is. It is truly so. 
 This had been shown by the manner in 
 which this secret was disclosed. ^[ That 
 your God is a God of gods. Is superior 
 to all other gods; is supreme over all. 
 Comp. Rev. xvii. 14; 1 Tim. vi. 15. The 
 idea is, that whatever subordinate beings 
 there may be, he is supreme. ^[ And a 
 Lord of kings. Supreme over kings. 
 They are all inferior to him, and subject 
 to his control. ^[ And a revealer of secrets. 
 One of the attributes of divinity. See 
 Notes on ver. 28. ^[ Seeing thou couldest 
 reveal this secret. A secret which the 
 wisest men of the realm had sought 
 in vain to disclose. The fact that a pro 
 fessed servant of God had been able to do 
 this, showed that God was himself su 
 preme, and worthy of adoration. We 
 have here, then, an instance in which a 
 proud and haughty heathen monarch was 
 brought to an acknowledgment of the true 
 God, and was constrained to render him 
 homage. This was a result which it was 
 evidently intended to reach in the whole 
 transaction: in the dream itself; in the 
 fact that the wise men of Babylon could 
 not interpret it ; and in the fact that an 
 acknowledged servant of the Most High 
 had been enabled to make the dis 
 closure. The instance is instructive, as 
 showing to what extent a mind clearly 
 not under the influence of any genuine 
 piety for subsequent events showed that 
 no permanent effects wei e produced on 
 him, and that he was still an idolater 
 (ch. iii.), and a most proud and haughty 
 man (ch. iv.), may be brought to ac 
 knowledge God. See the remarks at the 
 end of the chapter (7.) 
 
 acS. Then the kiny made Daniel a great 
 
 man. That is, he gave him an honourable 
 appointment; he so honoured him that he 
 was regarded as a great man. He was 
 really made great by the grace of God, 
 and the extraordinary favour which God 
 had bestowed upon him, but the estimate 
 which the king had of his greatness was 
 shown by the tokens of the royal favour. 
 ^[ And gave him many great gifts. This is 
 a common way of showing esteem in the 
 East. The estimate in which one holds 
 another is evinced by the variety and 
 richness of the presents conferred on him. 
 Hence every person of distinction expects 
 gifts of those who approach them as ex 
 pressive of their regard for them, and of 
 the esteem in which they are held. Comp. 
 ver. 6. of this chapter. ^ And made him 
 ruler over the whole province of Babylon. 
 Chald. rvkv? caused him to preside over, 
 or to rule over, from the verb BT7# shelat, 
 to rule, and commonly applied to one who 
 rules as a prince, or in an elevated office. 
 From this word the terms sultan, and 
 sultana are derived. <[ And chief of the 
 governors over all the wise men of Babylon. 
 This would seem to be an appointment 
 which did not pertain to him as governor 
 of the province of Babylon, or as presid 
 ing in the capital, but was a separate ap 
 pointment, and, therefore, an additional 
 mark of favour. The phrase chief of 
 the governors, would seem to imply that 
 the magi of Babylon were disposed in 
 certain orders or classes, each of which 
 had its appropriate head, like the head 
 of a college or university. Daniel waa 
 placed over the whole as the president, 
 principal, or chancellor. It had been the 
 policy of Nebuchadnezzar to assemble at 
 the capital the principal talent and learn 
 ing of the realm. Comp. Notes ch. i. 18- 
 20, ii. 2. Daniel thus, in both these 
 stations of honour at an early period of 
 life, though recently an unknown stranger, 
 and a captive, was exalted to the highest 
 honours which could be conferred on a 
 subject, and raised to posts of distinction 
 which would usually be regarded as the 
 highest rewards which could be obtained 
 
164 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 603 
 
 49 Then Daniel requested of the 
 king, and * he set Shadrach, Me- 
 shach, and Abed-nego, over the 
 
 C. 3. 12. 
 
 by a long life of devotednees to the wel 
 fare of the country. 
 
 49. Then Daniel requested of the king. 
 In his own remarkable prosperity, and in 
 the extraordinary honours conferred on 
 him, he did not forget the companions of 
 his humbler days. They were his coun 
 trymen ; they had been captives with 
 him ; they had been selected with a view 
 to stand with him before the king (ch. i. 
 3, 4) ; they had shared with him in his 
 rules of abstinence (ch. i. 11-17) ; they had 
 all passed an honourable examination 
 before the king (ch. i. 18, 19) ; they had 
 united with him in supplication to God 
 that he would disclose th meaning of the 
 vision (ch. ii. 17, 18), and now it was 
 proper that they should be remembered 
 by him who had been so signally hon 
 oured. ^[ Over the affairs of the province 
 of Baby Jon. In what particular depart 
 ments of business they were employed is 
 not mentioned; but it would seem that 
 all that specially pertained to this pro 
 vince was intrusted to them. Daniel had 
 the general superintendence, but the 
 subordinate duties growing out of the 
 office were intrusted to them. The fact 
 that the king granted the request, shows 
 the influence that Daniel had at the 
 court. The reasons which influenced the 
 
 affairs of the province of Babylon : 
 but Daniel sat b in the gate of the 
 king. 
 
 b Esther 2. 19,3. 2. 
 
 king in granting the request, may have 
 been not only the favour with which he re 
 garded Daniel, but the fact that the duties 
 of the office conferred on him now were 
 such as to require assistance, and the re 
 membrance of the virtues of these youths 
 when they stood before him. fl But 
 Daniel sat in the gate of the king. The 
 post of chief honour and dignity as a 
 counsellor of the king. The gate of a city 
 in the East, being a chief place of con 
 course, was the place where courts were 
 held, and public business was usually 
 transacted. See Notes on Job xxix. 7. 
 To say, therefore, that he sat in the gate 
 of the king, is merely to say that he oc 
 cupied a place with the chief counsellors 
 and dignitaries of the realm. The phrase 
 Sublime Porte/ that is, the Sublime 
 Gate, is still employed at Constantinople 
 to denote the government of the Sultan; 
 for in the earlier days of Ottoman rule, 
 the reigning sovereign, as is still the case 
 in some parts of the East, held courts of 
 justice and levees at the entrance of his 
 residence. See Harper s Magazine, vol. 
 iv. p. 333. The office of Daniel was, 
 perhaps, not far different from that of 
 the Grand Vizier of the Turkish govern 
 ment. See Murray s Ency. Geog. vol. ii. 
 p. 202. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 Among the lessons of practical value suggested by this chapter, we may notice the fol 
 lowing : 
 
 (1.) We have an instance (vs. 1-3) of the methods -which were resoited to in the early period* 
 of the world to ascertain what the future would be. This great monarch relied on a dream 
 which greatly disturbed him, and on the power which he supposed was intrusted to men to 
 interpret dreams. In common with the prevailing spirit of his times, and of all ancient times 
 (Notes, ver. 1), he believed that dreams might be regarded as prognostics of future events; that 
 they were under divine direction ; and that all that was necessary to make them safe guides in 
 reference to what is to occur, was that they should be properly interpreted. In common, too, 
 with all the people of ancient times, and with most of modern times, the king here referred to 
 had an earnest desire to look into the future. There has been no desire in the human bosom 
 stronger than this. We are so made that we wish to lift the mysterious veil which shrouds the 
 future ; to penetrate the deep darkness which rests on the unseen world. Our great interests 
 are there. The past is fixed, and cannot now affect us, except by the consequences of what we 
 have done, and by teaching us lessons of value derived from our own observation, and that of 
 others. But the future is not yet fixed. Man, so anxious to know what this is to be. finds 
 himself in respect to it peculiarly endowed. In relation to the past, he is endowed with the 
 faculty of memory, but with nothing corresponding to this pertaining to the future. lie can 
 treasure up what has occurred, but he cannot in like manner make the future pass before his 
 mind, that he may become wise by knowing what will take place in far distant times. There 
 can be no doubt that God could have endowed the mind with one faculty as well as the other 
 .or he has it himself but there were obvious reasons why it should not be done. Institute then 
 V* man was of this power, one great object of human inquiry has been to see whether th 
 
B.C. 603.] CHAPTER II. 165 
 
 deficiency could be supplied, and whether something might not he found -which would he to tho 
 future substantially what the memory is to the past. The efforts and results on this subject 
 one of which we have in the chapter before us constitute one of the most instructive chapters 
 of the history of our race, and show how effectually God has bounded the limits of human in 
 vestigation in this respect. Among those methods of attempting to penetrate the future, and 
 of laying open its deep mysteries, may be noticed the following : 
 
 (a) Astrology. It was supposed that the stars might exert an influence over the fates of 
 men, and that by observing their positions, conjunctions, and oppositions, it might be ascer 
 tained what would be the destiny of individuals and nations. The belief of this hae manifested 
 itself more or less in every age; and in such instances as in the word lunacy, and in the common 
 apprehensions about the influence of the moon on health, and on vegetation, may be still seen 
 traces of that belief. Even Lord Bacon held that astrology was a science not to be rejected, 
 but reformed; and in the early periods of the world it was & fair subject of investigation 
 whether the heavenly bodies actually exerted such an influence, and whether, if it were so, it 
 was possible to ascertain the laws by which this was done. This was the so-called science of 
 astrology. 
 
 (b) Necromancy. The belief of this also prevailed in nearly all ancient nations, and we find 
 frequent reference to it in the Scriptures. This consisted in the belief that the dead must be 
 acquainted with the world where they now dwell, so dark to the living, and that it might be 
 possible to make a covenant or compact with them by which they would be induced to dis 
 close what they knew. It was extensively, if not universally, believed that they re-appeared 
 to men, and that it was not an uncommon occurrence for them to leave their abodes, and to 
 visit the earth again. It was, therefore, not an unnatural, and not an unfair subject of 
 inquiry, whether they would not disclose to the more favoured among mortals what they 
 knew of the secrets of the invisible world, and what they knew of events which were to come. 
 Comp. Notes on Isa, viii. 19. 
 
 (c) The arts of divination. These were founded mainly on the investigations of science. It 
 was at first a fair question whether, amidst the wonders which science was unfolding to the 
 view, it might not contribute to lift the veil from the future, and reveal what was yet to come. 
 It took long to ascertain what were the legitimate aims of science, and what might be hoped 
 for from it. Hence it was directed to the inquiry whether some substance might not be found 
 which would transmute all things to gold; whether some elixer might not be discovered which 
 would arrest all disease, and give immortality to man ; and whether science would not disclose 
 some means by which the future could be penetrated, and the mysteries of the invisible world 
 be laid open to the view. It required centuries of investigation, a thousand failures, and the 
 results of long and patient thought, to ascertain what were the true objects of science, and to 
 convince the world that it was not its legitimate purpose to reveal the future to man. 
 
 (d) Heathen oracles. It was an early inquiry whether God would not, in some way, lift the 
 veil from the future, and disclose its secrets to man. The belief that this would be done seems 
 to be natural to the mind of man ; and in all ages, and in all countries, he has supposed that 
 the future would thus be disclosed. Hence, among the heathen, certain persons claimed to 
 be divinely inspired ; hence such shrines as that at Delphi became celebrated; hence ambiguous 
 responses were uttered, so expressed as to support the credit of the oracle, whatever might bo 
 the result; hence men were appointed to observe the flights of birds, to inspect the entrails of 
 animals offered in sacrifice, to interpret any unusual phenomena in the clouds, to mark the 
 direction of meteors, and, in general, to examine any unusual appearances in the heavens or 
 the earth, which would seem to furnish any clew by which the future might be known. 
 Much of all this undoubtedly became mere imposture, and justified the remark of Cicero that 
 he wondered that one Augur could meet another without laughing ; but there can be no doubt 
 that by many these inquiries were honestly pursued, and that at first all this seemed to be a 
 legitimate subject of inquiry. What forbade man to pursue it? And who could tell but that 
 in some such ways the secrets of the mysterious future could be found out? It demanded 
 long and patient inquiry and observation to show that this could not be so, and that whatever 
 might be indicated by any of these things, it was never designed that they should be the 
 means by which man could be made acquainted with the mysteries of the invisible world. 
 
 (e) Dreams. We have seen (Notes, ver. 1) that it was an early article of belief that through 
 the medium of dreams the divine will might be made known, and the secrets of the future 
 disclosed. The theory on this subject seems to have been, that during sleep the ordinary laws 
 of the mind are suspended ; that the soul is abstracted from the visible world ; that the thoughts 
 which it has then must be originated by higher beings ; and that in this state it has converse 
 with an invisible world, and may be permitted to see much of what is yet to occur. Comp. 
 Intro, to Isaiah, g 7, (2). 
 
 (f) Visions. Men supposed that these might be representations made to certain favoured 
 persons respecting the future, their senses being closed to surrounding objects, and that while 
 in an ecstacy, or trance, the mind might have a view of future events. Such were the visions 
 of Balaam ; such, in a remarkable manner, were the visions of the true prophets ; and so 
 deeply was the conviction that this might occur engrafted in the human mind, that the 
 belief of it seems to have had a place among the heathen nations. Comp. Intro, to Isaiah. 
 17, (4). 
 
 ouch were some of the ways by which it was supposed that the future might be penetrated 
 by man, and its secrets disclosed. By allowing man to make trial of these methods, and to 
 pursue them through a period of several thousand years, until he himself saw that they wer 
 
166 DANIEL. [B.C. 603. 
 
 fruitless, God was preparing the race to feel the necessity of direct communications from himself 
 and to welcome the true revelations which he would make respecting things to come. 
 
 (2.) We have in the chapter before us (vs. 4-11) an instance of the acknowledged failure of a 
 class of the wisest of men, whose lives were devoted to this employment, in their attempts to 
 disclose the future. This is a fair illustration of all the attempts of the heathen, and it was 
 doubtless permitted in order that it might be seen that all such attempts must fail. The 
 magicians, astrologers, and Chaldeans were foiled in a case which fairly came within the pro 
 vince of their art, and when pretenders to this kind of knowledge ought to have been able to 
 solve the difficulties of the monarch. Regarding this as a fair illustration of all the attempts 
 of the heathen to penetrate the future, and to discover the great truths which it is desirable 
 for man to know, there are three observations which may be made in regard to it : I. The 
 trial has been a fair one. (a) There was time enough allowed for it. It was about four thou 
 sand years from the creation of man to the time when the canon of Scripture was completed, 
 and promulgated to the whole world, and it could not be said that man required a longer 
 time to test the question whether he needed a revelation. (6) The trial was a fair one, because 
 it was one which men were at liberty to pursue to any extent, and which was conducted under 
 the best advantages. It was confined to no country or favoured class of men. In all lands, 
 and with every advantage of climate, government, and laws, man has been engaged in the 
 great inquiry, and if it be remembered what immense numbers of minds have been employed 
 in these investigations, it cannot be pretended that the utmost desirable freedom has not been 
 allowed to man to test the question whether by searching he can find out God, and disclose 
 the future, (c) The same thing is true in respect to the talent which has been employed in 
 this investigation. It is not too much to say that the highest talent that the world has pro 
 duced has been engaged in these inquiries, and that the rejectors of revelation cannot hope 
 that higher powers can be brought to bear on it, or that the unaided human intellect can hopa 
 to accomplish more in this respect than has been done. The profoundest minds in Egypt and 
 Chaldea were engaged in inquiries of this sort. The very highest talent which Greece pro 
 duced in its best days was employed on questions of religion ; in attempts to find out God, to 
 ascertain the relations of man to him, and to determine what man was to be hereafter. 
 What was true, also, of the ancient heathen, and of the modern heathen, that the best talent 
 has been employed on these questions, is true also of the rejectors of revelation in Christian 
 lands. Men of high powers of intellect have refused to acknowledge the Bible as a revelation, 
 and have chosen to fall back on the unaided resources of their own minds. Aided with all 
 that science and learning can do, they have inquired after a system of religion that would 
 commend itself to man as true, and as adapted to his wants ; and it cannot be pretended that 
 man in this respect has not had a fair opportunity to show what the human powers can do. 
 (d) The trial has been a fair one in regard to the field of investigation. Astrology, necromancy, 
 abstruse natural science, oracles, dreams, visions, the observation of the course of events all 
 these have been open before man, and in one and all of them he has been allowed to pursue 
 his investigations at pleasure. II. There has been an entire failure in the attempt. The 
 Chaldeans failed in Babylon, as the magicians had done in Egypt, to explain what was regarded 
 as a prognostic of the future, and in both cases it was necessary to call in the aid of one who 
 had a direct communication from heaven. The same has been the case in all attempts to ex 
 plain the future, and to disclose what man was so desirous of knowing about the invisible 
 world, (a) All reliance on astrology, necromancy, oracles, dreams, and the revelations of tho 
 abstruser sciences, has failed. Astrology has ceased to be a science, and the stars are studied 
 for other purposes than to disclose future events ; necromancy has ceased to be a science for 
 no one now hopes to be able to make a compact with the dead, in virtue of which they will 
 disclose the secrets of the invisible world ; no one now would consult a heathen oracle with the 
 hope of receiving a response to his inquiries that might be relied on ; the abstruser sciences are 
 pursued for other purposes, and no one would repose on dreams to furnish a system of truth 
 which would meet the wants of man. (b) The same thing has been true in regard to the 
 various systems of religion on which men have relied. It is true of the systems of the heathen. 
 They have been tried in the most ample manner, and have shown that they do not meet the 
 wants of man. The experiment has been fairly made, and the system is becoming worse and 
 worse. It is not adapted to elevate man in the scale of being in regard to the present life; it 
 does not remove the evils which press now upon the race ; it does not disclose a certain way by 
 which a sinner may be prepared for the life to come. It is truein ? yard to an atonement for sin. 
 The attempt has been made now for nearly six thousand years, 1 1 find some way in which an 
 efficacious sacrifice may be made for sin. Blood has been poured an thousands of altars ; ani 
 mals have been offered, and thousands of human beings have been devoted to the gods, but 
 Btill there has been no evidence that these bloody offerings have been accepted, or that they 
 have availed to expiate transgression. The experiment has failed. There is no new sacrifice 
 that can be offered now, and it is hopeless for man to attempt to make expiation for his own 
 sins. The same thing is true of the systems of religion proposed by infidelity. They are all 
 failures. One system after another is abandoned, and no one is such as the race needs. The 
 best talent that infidelity can hope to produce has been exhausted in this undertaking ; for 
 how can it hope to produce men better fitted to propose a system of religion to mankind than 
 Shaftesbury, or Ilobbes, or Tindal, or Herbert, or Voltaire, or Hume 1 Yet, after all that has 
 been done by infidelity in modern times, an intelligent man would prefer trusting his eternal 
 interests to such a system as Socrates would propose to one proposed by Hume ; he would feel 
 laA* under the guidance of Cicero or Seneca than under the direction of Voltaire or Gibbon, 
 
B.C. COS.] CHAPTER II. 167 
 
 HI. The reasons why God has permitted this trial to be made, in such a manner, and with 
 such results, are obvious. In the cases which occurred in the time of Pharaoh in Egypt, and 
 of Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, the reason evidently was, that when there was an acknow 
 ledged failure of the power of the magicians, God might himself, through Joseph and Daniel, 
 get honour to his own name. So the reasons why he has permitted this trial to be made ou a 
 large scale, and has suffered it everywhere to fail, are probably these two: (1.) To show to man, 
 in Hueh a way as to admit of no doubt, his need of revelation ; and (2.) To induce him to prize 
 the volume of revealed truth. We should value it the more, and adhere to it the more firmly, 
 in view of the experiment which has been made in all lands. If thai revelation be rejected, man 
 has tto resource; he is wholly unable to penetrate the future; he can devise no way of making 
 atonement for sin ; he can originate no system that shall alleviate the sorrows under which we 
 groan, or disclose the prospect of happiness beyond the tomb. For if the Bible is taken away, 
 on what shall we fall back to guide us? On astrology; on necromancy; on heathen oracles and 
 sacrifices; on dreams; on the ravings of priestesses at heathen shrines, or the speculations of 
 infidelity in Christian lands? All these have been tried in vain. The Bible is the only guide 
 on which man can rely to conduct him to heaven. If that fails, all fails, and man is in the 
 midst of impenetrable night. 
 
 (3.) Vie may learn from this chapter (vs. 12-19), that in the perplexities and trials which 
 arise in life, a good man may appeal to God for guidance and help. So Daniel felt, when all 
 human power had failed, in complying with the demands of a stern and arbitrary monarch, 
 and when he and his friends, though innocent, were about to be involved in the sweeping sen 
 tence which had been issued against the wise men of Babylon. Then it was clear that nothing 
 could save them but divine interposition ; nothing could avert the stroke but such a heavenly 
 influence as would disclose the secret, and thus avert the wrath of the king. In this emergency, 
 Daniel felt that he might call upon God, and to this service he summoned also his three 
 friends, who were equally interested with him in the issue. In view of this we may observe: 
 I. That all good men are liable to meet with similar perplexities and embarrassments; to be 
 placed in circumstances where nothing but the interposition of God can help them. This is 
 true in such respects as the following : (a) In reference to the knowledge of the truth. The 
 mind is often perplexed on the subject of religion: reason fails to disclose those truths which it 
 is desirable to know; darkness and obscurity seem to envelop the whole subject; the soul, op 
 pressed with a sense of conscious guilt, seeks to find some way of peace ; the heart, entangled 
 in the meshes of unbelief, struggles and pants to be free, and there is no human help nothing 
 this side the eternal throne on which reliance can be placed to impart the light which is needed. 
 (6) In reference to duty. The mind is often perplexed to know what should be done. Though 
 desirous of doing what is right, yet there may be so many conflicting views; there may be such 
 doubt as to what is best and right, that none but God can direct in such an emergency, (c) In 
 cases of peril. Daniel and his friends were in danger; and men are often now in such danger 
 that they feel that none but God can save them. On a bed of pain ; in a stranded vessel; in a 
 burning house, men often feel that human help is powerless, and that aid can be found in none 
 but God. Thus the church, in the dark days of persecution, has often been so encompassed with 
 dangers, that it could not but feel that none but God could avert the impending destruction. 
 (c) In times when religion declines, and when iniquity abounds. Then the church often is led 
 to feel that there is need of the aid of God, and that none but he can rouse it from its death 
 like slumbers, and put back the swelling waves of iniquity. II. In such circumstances it is the 
 privilege of a good man to appeal to God, with the hope that he will interpose. (1.) This was 
 felt by Daniel, and it is an undoubted truth, as revealed in the Bible, that in such circum 
 stances, if we will look to God, we may hope for his guidance and help. Comp. 2 Kings xix. 
 14, 15; Job xvi. 19-21 ; Ps. xxv. 9, xlvi. 1, seq., Iv. 22; James i. 5, 6. But (2.) what kind of inter 
 position and direction may we hope for in such perplexities? I answer: (a) We may expect the 
 divine dh-ectiou by a careful study of the principles laid down in the Scriptures. The Bible 
 indeed does not, for it could not, mention the names of individuals, or specify every case which 
 would occur in which divine direction would be needed, but it lays down great principle of 
 truth, applicable to all the circumstances which will ever arise. In this respect there is a won 
 derful richness and fullness in the Word of God. There is many a rich vein of truth which seems 
 never to have been worked until we are placed in some new and untried situation. When one is 
 thrown into perplexing circumstances ; when he is called to pass through trials; when he me\ ts 
 some powerful form of temptation, he is surprised to find how much there is in the Bible adapted 
 to such circumstances that he never saw there before. It seems to be a new book, written to 
 meet just such cases ; nor in such circumstances does he ever consult its pages in vain. (6) We 
 may expect direction by his providence. The sparrow falls not to the ground without his direc 
 tion, and all events are under his control, and as these events occur they may be regarded as 
 so many indications of his will. One of the most interesting and profitable employments in a 
 man s life is to study the indications of Providence in regard to himself, and to endeavour to 
 learn, from what is daily occurring to him, what is the will of God in regard to him. A careful 
 and prayerful observer of the intimations of the divine will is not in serious danger of error, 
 (c) God guides those who are in perplexity by his Spirit: There is a secret and silent influ 
 ence on the mind of him who is desirous of being led in the way of duty, suggesting what ia 
 true, delivering the mind from prejudice, overcoming opposition to the truth, disposing the 
 heart to charity, peace, and love, prompting to th<j performance of duty, and gradually elevating 
 the soul to God. If a man would pray when he feels an inward prompting to pray ; would read 
 too Bible when some inward voice seems to call him to do it ; would do good when the inward 
 
168 DANIEL. [B.C. 603. 
 
 monitor urges him to do it ; would fix the eye and the heart on heaven when something within 
 seems to lead him toward the skies, he would not be in much danger of error. Such are 
 spring-times of piety in the soul times when the soul may make rapid progress in the know 
 ledge of the truth, and it is not enthusiasm to say that such states of mind arc produced by 
 an influence from above. 
 
 (4.) In view of this chapter (vs. 17, 18), we may observe that it is a privilege to have praying 
 friends friends on whom we can call to unite with us in prayer in the time of trouble. So 
 Daniel found it when lie called on his friends to pray ; so Esther found it when her whole people 
 were in danger, and when all depended on her successful application to the sovereign (Esther 
 iv. 1C), and so the friends of God have found it in all ages. If prayer is heard at all, there are 
 special reasons why it should prevail when many are united in the request. Comp. Matt. 
 xviii. 19. Hence the propriety of worship in the family ; hence the fitness of prayer-meetings ; 
 and hence the appropriateness of prayer offered in the great congregation. 
 
 (5.) God should be praised and acknowledged as having supremacy over all things, vs. 20-23. 
 Particularly he should be acknowledged (a) in the changes that occur on earth; in the changes 
 from childhood to youth, and from youth to manhood, and to old age ; in the beautiful changes 
 of the seasons, and in all the variety which the seasons bring with them; in the changes from 
 sickness to health, from poverty to affluence, from oppression and slavery to freedom, from an 
 humble to an exalted condition; in all the revolutions of empire, and the changes of dynasties. 
 (I) He should be acknowledged in his supremacy over the kings and rulers of the earth. Every 
 monarch reigns by his permission, and every one is designed to accomplish some great purpose in 
 the development of his plans. If a full and correct history of the world could be written, it would 
 be found that God had some object to accomplish by the instrumentality of every one whom he has 
 called to a throne, and that as we can now see a distinct design to be accomplished by the reign 
 of Pharaoh, Sennacherib, Cyrus, and Augustus, so we could find some distinct design in re 
 ference to every one who has ever reigned, (c) He should be recognized as the source of all 
 knowledge. Particularly (1.) he originally endowed every mind, and gave it the capacity which 
 it has for acquiring knowledge; (2.) he preserves the faculties of the mind, and gives them their 
 just balance ; (3.) he makes the intellect clear and bright, and when it applies itself to the 
 investigation of truth he only can preserve it unclouded ; (4) he makes, under the operation 
 of the regular laws of intellect, important suggestions to the mind those pregnant HINTS con 
 taining so much "the seeds of things" on which all true progress in knowledge depends those 
 bright thoughts, those happy conceptions, which come into the soul, and which result in such 
 happy inventions, and such advances in science, art, literature, and law ; and (5.) he should 
 be regarded as the original source of those inventions which contribute so much to the progress 
 of the race. At the proper time, and the best time, when some new and wonderful discovery 
 is to hurst upon the world, he raises up the individual who is to make it, and the discovery 
 takes its place as one of the fixed points of progress, and society, with that as a treasure never 
 to be lost, moves forward on a higher elevation, with greatly accelerated progress. So it was 
 with the invention of alphabetical writing; the art of printing; the application of steam to pur 
 poses of manufactory and navigation ; the telescope, and the telegraph ; and, in general, in re 
 spect to all those great inventions which have contributed to the progress of society. If the 
 whole truth were known, it would be seen that the hand of God was in these things as really as 
 in the revelation of the deep and secret things to Daniel. 
 
 (6.) We may learn from this chapter, as was remarked in the Notes on ver. 30, that for all 
 ~ur attainments in knowledge and wisdom we should ascribe the praise to God alone. In illus 
 tration of this we may remark (I.), That there is a strong native tendency in man to ascribe 
 the honour of such attainments to himself. It is one of the most difficult of all things to 
 induce man to attribute the praise of whatever excellence he may have, or whatever attain 
 ments he may make, to his Creator. This exists universally in regard to talent, rank, and scientific 
 attainments; and it is even hard for a heart that is endowed with true religion to free 
 itself altogether from self-glorying, as if it were all to be traced to ourselves. Yet (II.), in our 
 case, as in the case of Daniel, all the honour should be ascribed to God. For (1.) it is to him wo 
 owe all our original endowments of mind and of body, whatever they may be. In this respect 
 we are as he chose to make us. We have no natural endowment whether of beauty, strength, 
 genius, aptness for learning, or advantages for distinction in science which he did not confer 
 on us, and which he could not as easily have withheld from us as he did from those less 
 favoured. And why should we be proud of these things ? Shall the oak of Bashan be proud 
 of its far-spreading arms, or its strength? Shall the cedar of Lebanon be proud of its height, 
 and its vastness, and its beauty ? Shall the rose be proud of its beauty or its sweetness, or shall 
 the magnolia boast of its fragrance? (2.) God has conferred on us all the means of education 
 which we have enjoyed, and all to which the development of our natural powers can be traced. 
 He has preserved our reason ; he has furnished us instructors ; he has provided the books which 
 we have read; he has continued to us the possession of the health which we have enjoyed. At 
 any moment he could have driven reason from the throne; he could have deprived us of 
 health; he could have summoned us away. (3.) It is equally owing to him that we have been 
 favoured with any success in the prosecution of our calling in life. Let the merchant who 
 has accumulated great property, apparently by his own industry, suppose that all divine 
 agency and influence in his case had been withheld, and whatever labour he might have 
 expended, or with whatever skill he might be endowed, he could have met with no such 
 eucces?. Let him reflect how much he owes to favouring gales on the ocean ; to the seasons 
 producing abundant harvests, and to what seems almost to be chanct or fortune, and lie 
 
B.C. 603.] CHAPTER II. 169 
 
 will see at once that whatever success he may have been favoured viih is to be traced, in *n 
 eminent sense, to God. The same thing is true of all the other successful departments of 
 human effort. (4.) This is equally true in ail the knowledge which we have of th*j way of sal 
 vation, and all our hopes of eternal life. It is a great principle of religion that we have nothing 
 which we have not received, and that if we have received it, we should not glory as if we had 
 not received it, for it is God who makes us to differ. 1 Cor. iv. 7. It is God who originally gave 
 us the volume of revealed truth making us differ from the whole pagan world. It is God who 
 awakened us to see our guilt and danger, making us to differ from the gay an J careless world 
 around us. It is God alone who has pardoned our sins, making us to differ from the multitude 
 who are unpardoned in the world. It is God who lias given us every hope that we cherish that 
 is well-founded, and all the peace and joy which we have had in communion with himself. For 
 these things, then-fore, we should give all the praise to God. and in our case, as in that of Daniel, 
 it is one of the evidences of our piety when we are disposed to do so. 
 
 (7.) We have in this chapter (vs. 4b , 47,) an instructive instance of the extent to which an 
 irreligious man may go iii showing respect for God. It cannot be supposed that Nebuchadnezzar 
 was a truly pious man. His characteristics and actions, both before and after this, were those 
 of a heathen, and there is no evidence that he was truly converted to God. Yet he evinced the 
 h ghest respect for one who was a servant and prophet of the Most High (ver. 46), and even for 
 God himself (ver. 47). This was evinced in a still more remarkable manner at a subsequent 
 period, ch. iv. In this he showed how far it is possible for one to go who has no real piety, and 
 as such cases are not uncommon, it may not be improper to consider them for a moment. 
 I. This respect for God extends to the following things : (1.) An admiration of him, as great, 
 and wise, and powerful. The evidences of his power and wisdom are traced in his works. The 
 mind may be impressed with that which is wise, or overpowered with that which is vast, without 
 there being any real religion, and all this admiration may terminate on God, and be expressed 
 in language of respect for him. or for his ministers. (2.) This admiration of God may be ex 
 tended to whatever is beautiful in religion. The beauty of the works of nature, of the sky, of a 
 landscape, of the ocean, of the setting sun, of the changing clouds, of the flowers of the field, 
 may lead the thoughts up to God, and produce a certain admiration of a Being who has clothed 
 the world with so much loveliness. There is a religion of sentiment as well as of principle; 
 R religion that terminates on the beautifv.1 as well as a religion that terminates on the holy. 
 The Greeks, natural admirers of beauty, carried this kind of religion to the highest possible 
 degree ; for their religion was, in all its forms, characterized by the love of the beautiful. So 
 also there is much that is beautiful in Christianity, as well as in the works of God, and it is pos 
 sible to be charmed with that without ever having felt any compunction for sin, or any love for 
 pure religion itself. It is possible for one who has a natural admiration for that which is lovely 
 ia character, to see a high degree of moral beauty in the character of the Redeemer; for on 
 whose heart is easily moved by sympathy to be affected in view of the sufferings of the injured 
 Saviour. The same eyes that would weep over a well-told tale, or over a tragic representation 
 on the stage, or over a scene of real distress, might weep over the wrongs and woe-s of Him who 
 was crucified, and yet there might be nothing more than the religion of sentiment the religion 
 springing from mere natural feeling, (ij.) There is much poetic religion in the world. It is 
 possible for the imagination to form such a view of the divine character that it shall seem to be 
 lovely, while perhaps there may be scarcely a feature of that character that shall be correct. 
 Is ot a little of the religion of the world is of this description where such a God is conceived 
 of as the iniiid chooses, and the affections are fixed on that imaginary being, while there is not 
 a particle of love to the true God in the soul. 80 there is a poetic view of man, of his character, 
 of his destiny, while the real character ->f the heart has never been seen. So there is a poetic 
 view of heaven strongly resembling tue views which the ancients had of the Elysian fields. 
 But heaven as a place of holiness, has never been thought of, and would not be loved. Men 
 look forward to a place where the refined and the intelligent; the amiable and the lovely; the 
 accomplished and the upright; where poets, orators, warriors, and philosophers will be assem 
 bled together. This is the kind of religion which is often manifested in eulogies, and epitaphs, 
 and in conversation, where those who never had any better religion, and never pretended to any 
 serious piety, are represented as having gone to heaven when they die. There are few who, 
 under the influence of such a religion, are not looking forward to some kind of a heaven; and 
 few persons die, whatever may be their character, unless they are openly and grossly abandoned, 
 for whom the hope is not expressed that they have gone safe to a better world. If we may 
 credit epitaphs, and obituary notices, and funeral eulogiums, and biographies, there are few 
 poets, warriors, statesmen.or philosophers, about whose happiness in the future world we should 
 have any apprehension. II. But in all this there may be no real religion. There is no evi 
 dence that there was any in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, and as little is there in the instances 
 now referred to. Such persons may have a kind of reverence for God as great, and powerful, and 
 wij ; they may have even a kind of pleasure in looking on the evidence of his existence and 
 perfections in his works; they may have a glow of pleasurable f motion in the mere poetry 
 of religion ; they may be restrained from doing many things by their consciences ; they may 
 erect temples, and build altars, and contribute to the support of religion, and even be zealous 
 for religion, as they understand it, and still have no just views of God, and no true piety what 
 ever. (1.) The mind that is truly religious is not insensible to all this, and may have as 
 exalted notions of God as a great and glorious being, and be as much impressed with the 
 beauty evinced in his works as in the cases supposed. True religion does not destroy the 
 lease of the sublime and beautiful, but rather cultivates thie in a higher degree. But (2.) 
 
170 DANIEL. [B.C. 580. 
 
 Is much besides this that enters into true religion, and without which all these things are Tain. 
 (a) True religion always arises from just views of God as he is ; not from him as an imaginary 
 being, (b) True religion must regard God as having moral attributes; as benevolent, and just, 
 and true, and holy, and not merely as powerful and great, (c) In all these things referred to, 
 there is necessarily no moral excellence on the part of those who thus admire God and his 
 works. The mere admiration of power implies in us no moral excellence. The admiration 
 of the wisdom which made the worlds and keeps them in their place ; of the beauties of poetry, 
 or of a flower, or landscape, though made by God, implies no moral excellence in us, and, there 
 fore, no true religion. There is no more religion in admiring God as an architect or painter 
 than there is in admiring Sir Christopher "Wren, or Michael Angelo; and the mere admiration 
 of the works of God as such, implies no more moral excellency in us than it does to admire St. 
 Paul s or St. Peter s. In religion, the heart does not merely admire the beautiful and the 
 grand; it loves that which is pure, and just, and good, and holy. It delights in God as a holy 
 being rather than as a powerful being ; it finds pleasure in his moral character, and not merely 
 in his greatness. 
 
 (8.) We may learn from this chapter (ver. 49), that when we are favoured with prosperity and 
 honour we should not neglect, or be ashamed of, the companions of our earlier days, and the 
 partakers of our fortune when we were poor and unknown. Joseph, when exalted to the pre 
 miership of Egypt, was not ashamed of his aged father, but, though he had been an bumble 
 ehepherd, presented him, with the deepest feelings of respect towards an aged parent, to 
 Pharaoh ; nor was he ashamed of his brethren, though they had done him so much wrong. 
 Daniel, when in a similar manner advanced to the most honourable post which one could 
 reach, in the most magnificent monarchy of the world, was not ashamed of the youthful 
 friends with whom he had shared the humble and severe lot of bondage. So we, if we are 
 made rich; if we are raised to honour; if we become distinguished for learning or talent; if 
 our names are known abroad, or we are entrusted with a high and honourable office, should 
 not forget the friends and companions of our earlier years. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1. AUTHENTICITY OP THE CHAPTER. 
 
 THE objections which have been urged against the authenticity of this chapter, are much 
 more numerous than those which have been alleged against the two previous chapters. 
 
 I. The first which deserves to be noticed is stated by De Wette (p. 383, under the general head 
 of improbabilities in the chapter), and Bleek, p. 268, as quoted by Hengstenberg, die Authentic 
 des Daniel, p. 83. The objection is, substantially, that if the account in this chapter is true, it 
 would prove that the Chaldeans were inclined to persecution on account of religious opinions, 
 which, it is said, is contrary to their whole character as elsewhere shown. So far as we have 
 any information in regard to them, it is alleged, they were fur from having this character, and 
 it is not probable, therefore, that Nebuchadnezzar would make a law which would compel the 
 worship of an idol under severe pains and penalties. 
 
 To this objection the following reply may be made : 
 
 (1.) Little is known, on any supposition, of the Chaldeans in general, and little of the 
 character of Nebuchadnezzar in particular, beyond what we find in the Book of Daniel. So 
 far, however, as we have any knowledge of either from any source, there is no inconsistency 
 between that and what is said in this chapter to have occurred. It is probable that no one 
 ever perceived any incongruity of this kind in the book itself, nor, if this were all, should 
 we suppose that there was any improbability in the account in this chapter. 
 
 (2.) There is properly no account of persecution in this narrative, nor any reason to suppose 
 that Nebuchadnezzar designed any such thing. This is admitted by Bertholdt himself (p. 261), 
 and is manifest on the face of the whole narrative. It is indeed stated that Nebuchadnezzar 
 demanded, on severe penalties, a recognition of the god that he worshipped, and required 
 that the reverence should be shown to that god which he thought to be his due. It is true, 
 also, that the monarch intended to be obeyed in what seems to us to be a very arbitrary and 
 unreasonable command, that they should, assemble and fall down and worship the image 
 which he had set up. But this does not imply any disposition to persecute on account of 
 religion, or to prevent in others the free exercise of their own religious opinions, or the wor- 
 ehip of their own gods. It is well known that it was a doctrine of all ancient idolaters, that 
 respect might be shown to foreign gods to the gods of other people without in the least 
 legree implying a want of rcgpect for their own gods, or violating any of their obligations to 
 
 them. The universal maxim was, that the gods of all nations were to be respected, and 
 a gods might be introduced for worship, and respect paid to thorn without in 
 
 Jienco foreign 
 
B.C. 580.] CHAPTEE III. 171 
 
 any degree detracting from the honour which was due to their own. Nebuchadnezzar, there- 
 fore, simply demanded that homage should be shown to the idol that he had erected ; that the 
 god whom he worshipped should be acknowledged as a god; and that respect should thus be 
 shown to himself, and to the laws of his empire, by acknowledging his god, and rendering to 
 that god the degree of homage which was his due. But it is nowhere intimated that he re 
 garded his idol as the only true god, or that he demanded that he should be recognized as 
 Buch, or that he was not willing that all other gods, in their place, should be honoured. 
 There is no intimation, therefore, that he meant to persecute any other one for worshipping 
 their own gods, nor is there any reason to suppose that he apprehended that there would be 
 any scruples on religious grounds about acknowledging the image that he set up to be worthy 
 of adoration and praise. 
 
 (3.) There is no reason to think that he was so well acquainted with the peculiar character 
 of the Hebrew religion as to suppose that its votaries would have any difficulty on this sub 
 ject, or would hesitate to unite with others in adoring his image- He knew, indeed, that 
 they were worshippers of Jehovah ; that they had reared a magnificent temple to his honour 
 in Jerusalem, and that they professed to keep his laws. But there is no reason to believe that 
 he was very intimately acquainted with the laws and institutions of the Hebrews, or that he 
 supposed that they would have any difficulty in doing what was universally understood to be 
 proper to show due respect to the gods of other nations. Certainly, if he had intimately 
 known the history of a considerable portion of the Hebrew people, and been acquainted with 
 their proneness to fall into idolatry, he would have seen little to make him doubt that they 
 would readily comply with a command to sbow respect to the gods worshipped in other lands. 
 There is no reason, therefore, to suppose that he anticipated that the Hebrew exiles, any 
 more than any other people, would hesitate to show to his image the homage which he 
 required. 
 
 (4.) The whole account agrees well with the character of Nebuchadnezzar. He was an 
 arbitrary monarch. He was accustomed to implicit obedience. He was determined in his 
 character, and resolute in his purposes. Having once formed the resolution to erect such a 
 magnificent image of his god one that would correspond with the greatness of his capital, 
 and, at the same time, show his respect for the god that he worshipped, nothing was more 
 natural than that he should issue such a proclamation that homage should be shown to it by 
 all his subjects, and that, in order to secure this, he should issue this decree, that whoever did 
 not do it should be punished in the severest manner. There is no reason to suppose that he 
 had any particular class of persons in his eye, or, indeedj that he anticipated that the order 
 would be disobeyed by any class of persons. In fact we see in this whole transaction just one 
 illustration of what usually occurred under the arbitrary despotisms of the East, where, 
 whatever is the order that is issued from the throne, universal and absolute submission is 
 demanded, under the threatening of a speedy and fearful punishment. The order of Nebu 
 chadnezzar was not more arbitrary and unreasonable than those which have been frequently 
 issued by the Turkish Sultan. 
 
 II. A second objection to the chapter, is the account of the musical instruments in ver. 5. 
 The objection is, that to some of these instruments Grecian names are given, and that this 
 proves that the transaction must have a later date than is attributed to it, or that the account 
 must have been written by one of later times. The objection is, that the whole statement 
 seems to have been derived from the account of some Greek procession in honour of the gods 
 of Greece. See Bleek, p. 259. 
 
 To this objection, it may be replied, (a) that such processions in honour of the gods, or such 
 assemblages, accompanied with musical instruments, were, and are, common among all people. 
 They occur constantly at the East, and it cannot, with any propriety, be said that one is bor 
 rowed from another. (6) A large part of these instruments have undoubtedly Chaldee names 
 given to them, and the names are such as vre may suppose that one living in the times of 
 Nebuchadnezzar would give them. See Notes on ver, 5. (c) As to those which are alleged to 
 indicate a Greek origin, it may be observed, that it is quite uncertain whether the origin of 
 the name was Greek or Chaldee. That such names are found given to instruments of music 
 by the Greeks, is certain ; but it is not certain whence they obtained the name. For anything 
 that can be proved to the contrary, the name may have had an Eastern origin. It is altogether 
 probable that many of the names of things among the Greeks had such an origin ; and if the 
 instrument of music itself as no one can prove it did not came in from the East, the name 
 came also from the East, (d) It may be further stated, that, even on the supposition that 
 the name had its origin in Greece, there is no absolute certainty that the name and the instru 
 ment were unknown to the Chaldeans. Who can prove that some Chaldean may not have 
 been in Greece, and may not have borne back to his own country some instrument of music 
 that he found there different from those which he had been accustomed to at home, or that he 
 may not have constructed an instrument resembling one which he had seen there, and given 
 it the same name? Or who can prove that some strolling Greek musician may not have 
 travelled as far as Babylon for the Greeks travelled everywhere and carried with him some 
 instrument of music before unknown to the Chaldeans, and imparted to them at the same time 
 the knowledge of the instrument and the name ? But until this is shown the objection has 
 no forco. 
 
 III. A third objection is, that the statement in ver. 22, that the persons appointed to execute 
 the orders of the king died from the heat of the furnace, or that the king issued an order 
 
i72 DANIEL. [B.C. 580. 
 
 to execute which perilled the lives of the innocent who were intrusted with its execution, is 
 improbable. 
 
 To this it may be paid (cr), that there is no evidence or affirmation that the king contemplated 
 their danger, or designed to peril their lives; but it is undoubtedly a fact that he was intent on 
 the execution of his own order, and that he little regarded the peril of those who executed it. 
 And nothing is more probable than this ; and, indeed, nothing more common. A general w he 
 orders a company of men to silence or take a battery, has no malice against them, and nc 
 design on their lives; but he is intent on the accomplishment of the object, whatever may be 
 the peril of the men, or however large a portion of them may fall. In fact, the objection which 
 is here made to the credibility of this narrative is an objection which would be with equal force 
 against most of the orders issued in battle, and not a few of the commands issued by arbitrary 
 monarchs in time of peace. The fact in this case was, the king was intent on the execution of 
 his purpose the punishment of the refractory and stubborn men who had resisted his com 
 mands, and there is no probability that, in the excitements of wrath, he would paut-e to inquire 
 whether the execution of his purpose would endanger the lives of those who were entrusted 
 with the execution of the order or not. (b) There is every probability that the heat would be 
 so great as to peril the lives of those who should approach it It is said to have been made 
 seven times hotter than usual (ver. 19) ; that is, as hot as it could be made, and, if this were so, 
 it is by no means an unreasonable supposition that those who were compelled to approach it so 
 near as to cast others in should be in danger. 
 
 IV. A fourth objection, urged by Griesinger, p. 41, as quoted by Ilengstenberg, Authentic des 
 Daniel, p. 92, is, that as Nebuchadnezzar had the furnace already prepared ready to throw 
 these men in, he must have known beforehand that they would not comply with his demand, 
 *nd so must have designed to punish them ; or that this representation is a mere fiction of the 
 writer, to make the delivery of these men appear more marvellous. 
 
 To this it may be replied (a), that there is not the slightest evidence, from the account in 
 Daniel, that Nebuchadnezzar had the furnace prepared beforehand, as if it were expected that 
 5ome would disobey, and as if he meant to show his wrath. He indeed (ver. 6) threatens this 
 punishment, bxit it is clear, from ver. 19, that the furnace was not yet heated up, and that the 
 >ccasion of its being heated in such a manner was the unexpected refusal of these three men to 
 obey him. (1) But if it should be admitted that there was a furnace thus glowing heated 
 with a view to punish offenders it would not be contrary to what sometimes occurs in the 
 East under a despotism. Sir John Chardin (Toy. en Perse, iv. p. 276), mentions in his time (in 
 the seventeenth century), a case similar to this. He says that during a whole month, in a 
 time of great scarcity, an oven was kept heated to throw in all persons who had failed to comply 
 with the laws in regard to taxation, and had thus defrauded the government. This was, in 
 fact, strictly in accordance with the character of Oriental despotism. We know, moreover, from 
 Jer. xxix. 22, that this mode of punishment was not unknown in Babylon, and it would seem 
 probable that it was not uncommon in the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Thus Jeremiah says, 
 " And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, 
 saying, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom, the king of Babylon roasted 
 in the fire." 
 
 V. A fifth objection is stated thus by Bertholdt : Why did the wonders recorded in this 
 chapter take place? It was only for this purpose that Nebuchadnezzar might be made to 
 appear to give praise to God, that he is represented as giving commandment that no one should 
 reproach him. But this object is too small to justify such an array of means. To this it may 
 be replied (a) that it does not appear from the chapter that this was the object aimed at. 
 ((>) There were other designs in the narrative beside this. They were to show the firmness of 
 the men who refused to worship an idol god; to illustrate their conscientious adherence to 
 their religion; to show their confidence in the divine protection; to prove that God will defend 
 those who put their trust in him, and that he can deliver them even in the midst of the 
 flames. These things were worthy of record. 
 
 VI. It has been objected that the expression in which Nebuchadnezzar (ver. 28), is repre 
 sented as breaking out, after the rescue of the three men, is altogether contrary to his dignity, 
 and to the respect for the religion of his fathers and of his country, which he was bound to 
 defend. Bertholdt, p. 253. But to this it may be replied (a) that if this scene actually oc 
 curred before the eyes of the king if God had thus miraculously interposed in delivering his 
 servants in this wonderful manner from the heated furnace, nothing would be more natural 
 than this. It was a manifest miracle, a direct interposition of God, a deliverance of the pro- 
 fes,-cd friends of Jehovah by a power that was above all that was human, and an expression 
 ofsurpri.se and admiration was in every way proper on such an occasion, (b) It accorded with 
 all the prevailing notions of religion, and of the respect due to the gods, to say this. As above 
 remarked, it was a principle recognized among the heathen to honour the gods of other nations, 
 and if they had interposed to defend their own votaries, it was no more than was admitted 
 in all the nations of idolatry. If, therefore, Jehovah had interposed to save his own friends 
 and worshippers, every principle which Nebuchadnezzar held on the subject would make it 
 proper for him to acknowledge the fact, and to say that honour was due to him for his inter 
 position. In this, moreover, Nebuchadnezzar would be understood as sayinir nothing derog 
 atory to the gods that he himself worshipped, or to those adored in his own laud. All that 
 is necessary to be supposed in what he said is, that he now felt that Jehovah, the God whom 
 the Hebrews adored, had shown that he w,as worthy to be ranked among the gods, and that 
 in common with others, he had power to protect his own friends. To this it may be added 
 
B C. 580.] CHAPTER III. 173 
 
 (c) that, in his way, Nebiichadnezzar everywhere showed that he was a reli ffini s mnn: that is. 
 that he recognized the gods, and was ever ready to acknowledge their interference in human 
 affiiirs, and to render them the honour which was their due. Indeed, this whole afthir grew 
 out of his respect for religion, and what here occurred was only in accord mcc with his general 
 principle, that when any God had shown that he had power to deliver his people, he should be 
 acknowledged, and that no words of reproach should be uttered against hi n, ver. 29. 
 
 VII. A more plausible objection than those which have just been noticed is ursred by Liider- 
 wald. J;ihn, and Dereser, in regard to the account, which is given of the image which Nebuchad 
 nezzar is said to have erected. This objection has reference to the sizs of the image, to its 
 proportions, and to the material of which it is suid to have been composed. This objection, as 
 stated by Berlholdt (p. 2aO), is substantially the following : that the image had probably a human 
 torin, and yet that the proportions of the human figure are by no means observed the height 
 being represented to have been sixty cubits, and its breadth six cubits or its heighth being to 
 its breadth as ten to one, whereas the proportion of a man is only six to one: that the amount 
 of gold in such an image is incredible, being beyond any means which the king of Babylon 
 could have possessed ; and that probably the image here referred to was one that Herodotus 
 pays he saw in the temple of Belus of Babylon (I. 183), and which Diodorus Siculus describes 
 (II. 9), and which was only forty feet ia height. See Notes on ver. 1. In regard to this 
 objection, we may observe, then. 
 
 (a) That there "is no certainty that this was the same image which is referred to by Herodotus 
 and Diodorus Siculus. That image was in the temple : this was erected on the plain of Dura. 
 See Notes on ver. 1. But so far as appears, this may have been erected for a temporary pur 
 pose, and the materials may then have been employed for other purposes; that in the temple 
 was permanent. 
 
 (/>) As to the amount of gold in the image it is not said or implied that it was of soh J gold. 
 It is well known that the images of the gods were made of wood or clay, and overlaid with gold 
 or silver, and this is all that is necessarily implied here. See Notes on ver. 1. 
 
 (c) The heif/ht of the alleged image can be no real objection to the statement. It is not neces 
 sary to assume that it had the human form though that is probable but if that be admitted, 
 there can be no objection to the supposition that, either standing by itself, or raised on a 
 pedestal, it may have been as lofty as the statement here implies. The colossal figui c at Hhodes 
 was an hundred and five Grecian feet in height, and, being made to stride the mouth of the 
 harbour, was a work of much more difficult construction than this figure would have been. 
 
 (d) As to the alleged disprnp trtion in the figure of the image, ree Notes on ver. 1. To what 
 is there said may be added: (1) It is not necessary to suppose that it Lad the human form. 
 Nothing of this kind is affirmed, though it may be regarded as probable. But if it had not, of 
 course the objection would have no force. (2) If it had the human form, it is by no means 
 clear whether it had a sitting or a standing posture. Nothing is said on this point in regard to 
 the image or statue, and until this is determined, nothing can be said properly respecting the 
 proportions. (3) It is not said whether it stood by itself, or whether it rested on a basis or 
 pediment and until this is determined, no objections can be valid as to the proportion of the 
 statue. It is every way probable that the image was reared on a lofty pedestal, and for any 
 thing that appears, the proportions of the image itself, whether sitting or standing, may have 
 been well preserved. But (4) in addition to this it should be said, that if the aceoxint here is to 
 be taken literally as stating that the image was ten times as high as it was broad thus failing 
 to observe the proper human proportions the account would not be incredible. It is admitted 
 by Gesenius (Ency. von Ersch. und Gruber, art. Babylon, Th. vii. p. 24), that the Babylonians 
 had no correct taste in these matters. The ruins, says he, are imposing by their colossal 
 greatness, not by their beauty; all the ornaments are rough and barbarian. The Babylonians, 
 indeed, possessed a taste for the colossal, the grand, the imposing, but they also had a taste for 
 the monstrous and the prodigious, and a mere want of proportion is not a sufficient argument 
 to prove that what is stated here did not occur. 
 
 VIII. But one other objection remains to be noticed. It is one which is noticed by Bertholdt 
 (pp. 251, 252), that, if this is a true account, it is strange that Daniel himself is not referred to; 
 that if he was, according to the representation in the last chapter, a high officer at court, it is 
 unaccountable that he is not mentioned as concerned in these affairs, and especially that he did 
 not interpose in behalf of his three friends to save them. To this objection it is sufficient to reply 
 (a) that, as Bertholdt himself (p. 287) suggests. Daniel may have been absent from the capital 
 at this time on some business of state, and consequently the question whether he would woi - 
 ehip the image may not have been tested. It is probable, from the nature of the case, that lie 
 would be employed on such embassies, or be sent to some other part of the empire from time 
 to time, to arrange the affairs of the provinces, and no one can demonstrate that he was not 
 absent on this occasion. Indeed, the fact that he is not mentioned at all in the transaction 
 would serve to imply this, since he was at court it is to be presumed that he himself would 
 have been implicated as well as his three friends. Comp. ch. vi. He was not a man to 
 ehrink from duty, or to decline any proper method of showing his attachment to the reli 
 gion of his fathers, or any proper interest in the welfare of his friends. But (/>) it is possible 
 that even if Daniel were at court at that time, and did not unite in the worship of the image, 
 he might have escaped the danger. There were undoubtedly many more Jews in the province 
 of Babylon who did not worship this image, but no formal accusation was brought against 
 him, and their case did not come before the king. For some reason, the accusation was made 
 specific againiit these three men /or they were rulers in the province (ch. ii. 49), and being fo- 
 
 15* 
 
174 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 580. 
 
 reigners, the people under them may have gladly seized the occasion to complain of them to the 
 king. But so little is known of the circumstance*, that it is not possible to determine the mattei 
 with certainty. All that needs to be said is, that the fact that Daniel was not implicated in the 
 affair, is no proof that the three persons referred to were not; that it is no evidence that what 
 is said of them is not true because nothing is said of Danid. 
 
 \ 2. ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER. 
 
 THIS chapter, which is complete in itself, or which embraces the entire narrative relating to 
 an important transaction, contains the account of a magnificent brazen image erected by Ne 
 buchadnezzar, and the result of attempting to constrain the conscientious Hebrews to worship 
 it. The narrative comprises the following points : 
 
 I. The erection of the great image in the plain of Dura. ver. 1. 
 
 II. The dedication of the image in the presence of the great princes and governors of the 
 provinces, the high officers of state, and an immense multitude of the people, accompanied with 
 solemn music, vs. 2 7. 
 
 III. The complaint of certain Chaldeans respecting the Jews, that they refused to render 
 homage to the image, reminding the king that he had solemnly enjoined this on all persons, on 
 penalty of being cast into a burning furnace in case of disobedience, vs. 8 12. This charge 
 was brought particularly against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abcd-nego. Daniel escaped the accu 
 sation, for reasons which will be stated in the Notes on ver. 12. The common people of the 
 Jews also escaped, as the command extended particularly to the rulers. 
 
 IV. The manner in which Nebuchadnezzar received this accusation, vs. 13 15. He was filled 
 with rage; he summoned the accused into his presence; he commanded them to prostrate them 
 selves before the image on penalty of being cast at once into the fiery furnace. 
 
 V. The noble answer of the accused, vs. 16 18. They stated to the king that his threat did 
 not alarm them, and that they felt no solicitude to answer him in regard to the matter (v. 16) ; 
 that they were assured that the God whom they served was able to deliver them from the fur 
 nace, and from the wrath of the king (ver. 17); but that even if he did not, whatever might be 
 the issue, they could not serve the gods of the Chaldeans, nor worship the image which the 
 king had set up. 
 
 VI. The infliction of the threatened punishment, vs. 19 23. The furnace was commanded 
 to be heated seven times hotter than usual ; they were bound and thrown in with their usual 
 apparel on ; and the hot blast of the furnace destroyed the men who were employed to perform 
 this service. 
 
 VII. Their protection and preservation, vs. 24 27. The astonished monarch who had com 
 manded three, men to be cast in bound, saw four men walking in the midst of the flames loose , 
 and satisfied now they had a divine protector; awed by the miracle ; and doubtless dreading 
 the wrath of the divine being that had become their protector, he commanded them suddenly 
 to come out. The princes, and governors, and captains were gathered together, and these men, 
 thus remarkably preserved, appeared before them uninjured. 
 
 VIII. The effect on the king, vs. 2630. As in the case when Daniel had interpreted hia 
 dream (chap, ii.), he acknowledged that this was the act of the true God, ver. 26. He issued a 
 solemn command that the God who had done this should be honoured, for that no other God 
 could deliver in this manner, ver. 27. He again restored them to their honourable command 
 over the provinces, ver. 30. 
 
 1 Nebuchadnezzar the king a made 
 an image of gold, whose height was 
 
 * 2 Ki. 19. 17, 18. Ps. 115. 4, &c. Is. 40. 19, &c. 
 
 Je. 16. 20. Ac. 19. 26. 
 
 1. Nebuchadnezzar the king made an 
 iinar/c of gold. The time when he did 
 this is not mentioned ; nor is it stated in 
 whose honour, or for what design, this 
 colossal image was erected. In the Greek 
 and Arabic translations, this is said to 
 have occurred in the eighteenth year of 
 Nebuchadnezzar. This is not, however, 
 in the original text, nor is it known on 
 what authority it is asserted. Dean 
 Prideaux (Connex. I. 222,) supposes that 
 \t was at first some marginal comment on 
 the Greek version that at last crept into 
 
 threescore cubits, and the breadth 
 thereof six cubits : he set it up in 
 the plain of Dura, in the province 
 of Babylon. 
 
 the text, and that there was probably 
 some good authority for it. If this is the 
 correct account of the time, the event here 
 recorded occurred B. C. 587, or, according 
 to the chronology of Prideaux, about nine 
 teen years after the transaction recorded 
 in the previous chapter. Hales makes th 
 chronology somewhat different, though no^ 
 essentially. According to him, Daniel 
 was carried to Babylon B. C. 586, and 
 the image was setup B. C. 569, making an 
 interval from the time that he was car 
 ried to Babylon of seventeen years ; and 
 
B C. 580.] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 175 
 
 if the dream (ch. ii.) was explained with 
 in three or four years after Daniel was 
 taken to Babylon, the interval between 
 that and this occurrence would be some 
 thirteen or fourteen years. Calmet makes 
 the captivity of Daniel 602 years before 
 Christ; the interpretation of the dream 
 598; and the setting up of the image 556 
 thus making an interval of more than 
 forty years. It is impossible to deter 
 mine the time with certainty; but allow 
 ing the shortest mentioned period as the 
 interval between the inierpretation of the 
 dream (ch. ii.) and the erection of this 
 statue, the time would be sufficient to 
 account for the fact that the impression 
 made by that event on the mind of Nebu 
 chadnezzar, in favour of the claims of the 
 true God, (ch. ii. 46, 47,) seems to have 
 been entirely etfaced. The two chapters, 
 in order that the right impression may be 
 received on this point, should be read 
 with the recollection that such an inter 
 val had elapsed. At the time when the 
 event here recorded is supposed by Pri- 
 deaux to have occurred, Nebuchadnezzar 
 had just returned from finishing the 
 Jewish war. From the spoils which he 
 had taken in that expedition in Syria and 
 Palestine, he had the means in abundance 
 of rearing such a colossal statue ; and at 
 the close of these conquests, nothing 
 would be more natural than that he should 
 wish to rear in his capital some splendid 
 work of art that would signalize his reign, 
 record the memory of his conquests, .and 
 add to the magnificence of the capital. 
 The word which is here rendered imatje 
 Chald. aSx Greek tiicdva, in the usual 
 form in the Hebrew, means a shade, 
 shadow; then that which shadows forth 
 anything; then an image of anything, 
 and then an idol, as representing the 
 deity worshipped. It is not necessary 
 to suppose that it was of solid gold, for 
 the amount required for such a structure 
 would have been immense, and probably 
 beyond the means even of Nebuchad 
 nezzar. The presumption is, that it was 
 merely covered over with plates of gold, 
 for this was the usual manner in which 
 statues erected in honour of the gods 
 were made. See Isa. xl. 19. It is not 
 known in honour of whom this statue 
 was erected. Grotius supposed that it 
 was reared to the memory of Nabopo- 
 aassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, and 
 observes that it was customary to erect 
 tatues in this manner in honour of pa 
 
 rents. Prideaux, Hales, the Editor of the 
 Pict. Bible, and most others, suppose that 
 t was in honour of Bel, the principal 
 deity worshipped in Babylon. See Notes 
 on Isa. xlvi. 1. Some have supposed 
 that it was in honour of Nebuchadnezzar 
 siimself, and that he purposed by it to be 
 worshipped as a god. But this opinion 
 las little probability in its favour. The 
 opinion that it was in honour of Bel, the 
 principal deity of the place, is every way 
 the most probable, and this derives some 
 confirmation from the well-known fact 
 that a magnificent image of this kind 
 was, at some period of his reign, erected 
 by Nebuchadnezzar in honour of this god, 
 n a style to correspond with the magni 
 ficence of the city. The account of this 
 given by Herodotus is the following : 
 The temple of Jupiter Belus, whose 
 huge gates of brass may still be seen, is a 
 square building, each side of which is two 
 furlongs. In the midst rises a tower, of 
 the solid depth and height of one fur 
 long; upon which, resting as upon a 
 base, some other lesser towers are built 
 in regular succession. The ascent is on 
 the outside ; which, winding from the 
 ground, is continued to the highest 
 tower; and in the middle of the whole 
 structure there is a convenient resting- 
 place. In the last tower is a large chapel, 
 in which is placed a couch, magnificently 
 adorned, and near it a table of solid gold; 
 but there is no statue in the place. In 
 this temple there is also a small chapel, 
 lower in the building, which contains a 
 figure of Jupiter, in a sitting posture, 
 with a large table before him; these, with 
 the base of the table and the seat of the 
 throne, are all of the purest gold, and are 
 estimated by the Chaldeans to be worth 
 eight hundred talents. On the outside 
 of this chapel there are two altars ; one 
 is gold, the other is of immense size, and 
 appropriated to the sacrifice of full grown 
 animals : those only which have not yet 
 left their dams may be offered on the 
 golden altar. On the larger altar, at the 
 anniversary festival in honour of their 
 God, the Chaldeans regularly consume in 
 cense to the amount of a thousand talents. 
 There was formerly in this temple a sta 
 tue of solid gold twelve cubits high ; 
 this, however, I mention from the infor 
 mation of the Chaldeans, and not from 
 my own knowledge." Clio, 183. Diodo- 
 rus Siculus, a much later writer, speaks 
 to this effect: "Of the tower of Jupiter 
 
176 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 580 
 
 Belus, the historians who have spoken 
 have given different descriptions; and 
 this temple being now entirely destroyed, 
 we cannot speak accurately respecting it. 
 It was excessively high ; constructed 
 throughout with great care ; built of 
 brick and bitumen. Semiramia placed 
 on the top of it three statues of massy 
 gold, of Jupiter, Juno, and Rhea. Jupi 
 ter was erect in the attitude of a man 
 walking; he was forty feet in height; 
 and weighed a thousand Babylonian 
 talents; Rhea, who sat in a chariot of 
 gold, was of the same weight. Juno, 
 who stood upright, weighed eight hun 
 dred talents." B. II. The temple of Bel 
 or Belus in Babylon, stood until the time 
 of Xerxes ; but on his return from the 
 Grecian expedition, he demolished the 
 whole of it, and laid it in rubbish, having 
 first plundered it of its immense riches. 
 Among the spoils which he took from 
 the temple, are mentioned several images 
 and statues of massive gold, and among 
 them the one mentioned by Diodorus 
 Siculus, as being forty feet high. See 
 
 j Strabo. lib. 16, p. 738; Herodotus lib. 1 
 I Arrian de Expe. Alex. lib. 7, quoted by 
 j Prideaux I. 240. It is not very probable 
 i that the image which Xerxes removed 
 j was the same which Nebuchadnezzar 
 i reared in the plain of Dura (coinp. the 
 j Intro, to this chapter, $ 1, VII. a,); but 
 j the fact that such a colossal statue was 
 i found in Babylon may be adduced as one 
 ! incidental corroboration of the proba- 
 | bility of the statement here. It is not 
 | impossible that Nebuchadnezzar was led, 
 as the Editor of Calmet s Dictionary has 
 remarked, (Taylor vol. hi. p. 194.) to the 
 construction of this image by what he 
 bad seen in Egypt. He had conquered 
 and ravaged Egypt but a few years be 
 fore this, and had doubtless been struck 
 with the wonders of art which he had 
 seen there. Colossal statues in honour 
 of the gods abounded, and nothing would 
 be more natural than that Nebuchad 
 nezzar should wish to ma,ke his capital 
 rival everything which he had seen in 
 Thebes. Nor is it improbable that, while 
 he sought to make his image more mag- 
 
 GOLDKN IMAGES. 
 
B. C. 580.] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 177 
 
 nificent and costly than even those in 
 Egypt were, the views of sculpture would 
 
 be about the same, and the figure of the ~~ r . - T .. _,__ 
 
 statue might be borrowed from what height; that is, if it had stood upright it 
 
 the difficulty, Taylor himself supposes 
 that the height referred to in the descrip- 
 ather proportional than actual 
 
 tion was n 
 
 had been seen in Egypt. It may per 
 haps furnish some illustration, therefore, 
 of the subject before us, to copy here some 
 figures from Calmet, representing 
 
 would have been sixty cubits, though the 
 actual elevation in a sitting posture may 
 have been but little more than thirty 
 cubits, or fifty feet. The breadth, he sup 
 
 poses, was rather the depth or thickness 
 measured from the breast to the back 
 
 of the usual forms of statuary in Egypt. 
 The cut on page 176 represents two 
 "colossal figures which yet remain stand- j than the breadth measured from shoulder 
 ing at the ancient Thebes," and is copied | to shoulder. His argument and illustra- 
 from Norden, who thus describes the i tion may be seen in Calmet, vol. iii. 
 figures. " The figure A seems to be Frag. 156. It is not absolutely certain, 
 
 however, that the image was in a sitting 
 
 that of a man; the figure B that of 
 
 a woman. They are about fifty Danish 
 
 feet in height, from the basis of the I the passage is, that the statue was actu- 
 
 pedestals to the summit of the head ; ally sixty cubits in height. No one can 
 
 posture, and the natural construction of 
 
 from the sole of the feet to the knees is 
 
 doubt that an image of that height could 
 
 fifteen feet; the pedestals are five feet in be erected; and when we remember the 
 height, thirty-six and a half long, nine- one at Rhode?, which was 105 Grecian 
 teen and a half broad." f Whose heiyltt \ feet in height, (see Art. Colossus, in 
 was threescore cubits. Prideaux and Anthon s Class. Die.,) and the desire of 
 others have been greatly perplexed at the Nebuchadnezzar to adorn his capital in 
 proportions of the image here represented. | the most magnificent manner, it is not to 
 Prideaux says on the subject, (Connex. | be regarded as improbable that an image 
 1.240, 241,) " Nebuchadnezzar s golden i of this height was erected. What was 
 image is said indeed in Scripture to have j the height of the pedestal, if it stood on 
 been sixty cubits, that is, ninety feet ! any, as it probably did, it is impossible 
 high ; but this must be understood of the j now to tell. The length of the cubit was 
 image and pedestal both together; for [ not the same in every place. The length 
 that image being said to be but six cubits ! originally was the distance between the 
 broad or thick, it is impossible that the | elbow and the extremity of the middle 
 image would have been sixty cubits high ; j finger, about eighteen inches. The He- 
 for that makes its height to be ten times brew cubit, according to Bishop Cumber- 
 its breadth or thickness, which exceeds land and M. Pclletier, was twenty-one 
 
 inches; but others fix it at eighteen. 
 Calmet. The Talmudists say that the He 
 brew cubit was larger by one quarter than 
 the Roman. Herodotus says that the 
 cubit in Babylon was three fingers longer 
 
 all the proportions of a man, no man s 
 height being above six times his thick 
 ness, measuring the slenderest man living 
 at the waist. But where the breadth of 
 this imago was measured is not said ; 
 perchance it was from shoulder to shoul 
 der ; and then the proportion of six cubits 
 breadth will bring down the height exactly 
 to the measure which Diodorus has men 
 tioned; for the usual height of a man 
 being four and an half of his breadth 
 between the shoulders, if the image were 
 six cubits broad between the shoulders, 
 it must, according to this proportion, 
 have been twenty-seven cubits high, 
 which is forty and an half feet." The 
 statue itself, therefore, according to Pri 
 deaux, was forty feet high ; the pedestal, 
 fifty feet. But this, says Taylor, the 
 Editor of Calmet, is a disproportion of parts 
 which, if not absolutely impossible, is 
 utterly contradictory to every principle 
 of art, even of the rudest sort. To meet 
 
 than the usual one. 
 
 there 
 subject. 
 
 Still, 
 
 not absolute certainty on that 
 The usual and probable mea 
 
 surement of the cubit, would make the 
 image in Babylon about ninety feet high. 
 ^[ And the breadth thereof six cubits. 
 About nine feet. This would, of course, 
 make the height ten times the breadth, 
 which Prideaux says is entirely contrary 
 to the usual proportions of a man. It is 
 not known on what 2 )ar t of the image 
 this measurement was made, or whether 
 it was the thickness from the breast to 
 the back, or the width from shoulder to 
 shoulder. If the thickness of the image 
 here is referred to by the word " breadth," 
 the proportion would be well preserved. 
 "The thickness of a well-proportioned 
 
178 
 
 D A N I E L . 
 
 [B. C. 580 
 
 2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king 
 sent to gather together the princes, 
 the governors, and the captains, the 
 
 man," says Scheuchzer (Knupfer Bibel, 
 in loc.) " measured from the breast to the 
 back is one-tenth of his height." This 
 was understood to be the proportion by 
 Augustine, Civi. Dei, L. xv. c. 26. The 
 word which is here rendered breadth 
 T2 occurs nowhere else in the Chaldean 
 of the Scriptures, except in Ezra vi. 3 : 
 " Let the house be builded the height 
 thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth 
 thereof threescore cubits." Perhaps this 
 refers rather to the depth of the temple 
 from front to rear, as Taylor has re 
 marked, than to the breadth from one 
 side to another. If it does, it would cor 
 respond with the measurement of Solo 
 mon s temple, and it is not probable that 
 Cyrus would vary from that plan in his 
 instructions to build a new temple. If 
 that be the true construction, then the 
 meaning here may be, as remarked above, 
 that the image was of that thickness, and 
 the breadth from shoulder to shoulder 
 may not be referred to. ^\He set it up in 
 the plain of Dura. It would seem from 
 this that it was set up in an open plain, 
 and not in a temple ; perhaps not near a 
 temple. It was not unusual to erect im 
 ages in this manner, as the colossal figure 
 at Rhodes shows. Where this plain was, 
 it is of course impossible now to deter 
 mine. The Greek translation of the 
 word is Aetipa Deeira. Jerome says that 
 the translation of Theodotion is Deira ; 
 of Symmachus, Doraum, and of the Ixx. 
 Ttt.fiiSo hov which he says may be rendered 
 vinarium vel conclusum locum. (< Inter 
 preters commonly," says Gesenius, "com 
 pare Dura a city mentioned by Ammin. 
 Marcel. 25, 26, situated on the Tigris ; 
 and another of like name in Polyb. 5. 48, 
 on the Euphrates near the mouth of the 
 Chaboras." It is not necessary to sup 
 pose that this was in the city of Babylon ; 
 and, indeed, it is probable that it was not, 
 as the "province of Babylon" doubtless 
 embraced more than the city, and an 
 extensive plain seems to have been se 
 lected, perhaps near the city, as a place 
 where the monument would be more con 
 spicuous, and where larger numbers could 
 convene for the homage which was pro 
 posed to be shown to it. ^f.7h the pro- 
 
 judges, the treasurers, the coun 
 sellors, the sheriffs, and all the 
 rulers of the provinces, to come to 
 
 vince of fiabylon. One of the provinces, 
 or departments, embracing the capital, 
 into which the empire was divided, ch. 
 ii. 48. 
 
 2. Then Nebuchadnezzar the Jcing sent 
 to gather tor/ether the princes. It is diffi 
 cult now, if not impossible, to determine 
 the exact meaning of the words used here 
 with reference to the various officers 
 designated: and it is not material that 
 it should be done. The general sense is, 
 that he assembled the great officers of 
 the realm to do honour to the image. 
 The object was doubtless to make the 
 occasion as magnificent as possible. Of 
 course, if these high officers were assem 
 bled, an immense multitude of the people 
 would congregate also. That this was 
 contemplated, and that it in fact occurred, 
 is apparent from vs. 4, 7. The word 
 rendered princes N}Jj?"n ? n^ occurs only 
 in Daniel, in Ezra, and in Esther. In 
 Daniel iii. 2, 3, 27 j vi. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, it 
 is uniformly rendered princes; in Ezra 
 viii. 36, Esther, iii. 12, viii. 9, ix. 3, it 
 is uniformly rendered lieutenants. The 
 word means, according to Gesenius (Z ex.), 
 "satraps, the governors or viceroys of 
 the large provinces among the ancient 
 Persians, possessing both civil and mili 
 tary power, and being in the provinces 
 the representatives of the sovereign, 
 whose state and splendour they also 
 rivaled." The etymology of the word is 
 not certainly known. The Persian word 
 satrap seems to have been the foundation 
 of this word, with some slight modifica 
 tions adapting it to the Chaldee mode of 
 pronunciation. ^And governors. X^.JD- 
 This word is rendered governors in ch. 
 ii. 48. (See Notes on that place, and in 
 ch. iii. 2, 3, 27 ; vi. 7.) It does not else 
 where occur. The Hebrew word corres 
 ponding to this, cult? occurs frequently, 
 and is rendered rulers in every place ex 
 cept Isa. xli. 25, where it is rendered 
 princes. Ezra ix. 2; Neh. ii. 16, iv. 14, 
 v. 7, 17, vii. 5 ; Jer. Ii. 23, 28, 57 ; Ezek. 
 xxiii. 6, 12, 23, et al. The office was 
 evidently one that was inferior to thai 
 of the satrap, or governor of a whole 
 province. ^And captains. N^in.5. This 
 
B. C. 580.] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 179 
 
 the dedication of the image which 
 Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 
 3 Then the princes, the govern 
 ors and captains, the judges, the 
 treasurers, the counsellors, the she 
 riffs, and all the rulers of the pro 
 vinces, were gathered together unto 
 the dedication of the image that Ne 
 
 buchadnezzar the king had set up ; 
 and they stood before the image that 
 Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 
 
 4 Then a herald cried a aloud, To 
 you tit is commanded, c people, 
 nations, and languages, 
 
 a with might, c. 3. 14. 
 c c. 4. 1. 
 
 b they command. 
 6.25. 
 
 word, wherever it occurs in Daniel, is 
 rendered captains, ch. iii. 2, 3, 27, vi. 7 ; 
 wherever else it occurs it is rendered 
 governor, Ezra v. 3, 6, 14, vi. 6, 7, 13. 
 The Hebrew word corresponding to this, 
 nns, occurs frequently, and is also ren 
 dered indifferently governor or captain. 
 
 1 Kings x. 15: 2 Chron. ix. 14; Ezra 
 viii. 36 j 1 Kings xx. 24 ; Jer. li. 23, 28, 
 57, et al. It refers to the governor of a 
 province less than a satrapy, and is ap 
 plied to officers in the Assyrian empire, 
 
 2 Kings xviii. 24, Jer. xxxvi. 9 ; in the 
 Chaldean, Ezek. xxiii. 6, 23, Jer. li. 23, 
 and in the Persian, Est. viii. 9, ix. 3. 
 The word captains does not now very 
 accurately express the sense. The office 
 was not exclusively military, and was of 
 a higher grade than would be denoted by 
 the word captain with us. ^The judyes. 
 {Oi i nN. This word occurs only here, 
 and in ver. 3. It means properly great 
 or chief judges compounded of two 
 words signifying greatness, and judges. 
 See Gesenius, Lex. ^ The treasurers. 
 N^ana. This word occurs nowhere else. 
 The word "On Gisbar, however, the 
 same word with a slight change in the 
 pronunciation, occurs in Ezra i. 8, vii. 21, 
 and denotes treasurer. It is derived 
 from a word (TJJ) which means to hide, 
 to hoard, to lay up in store. ^[ The counsel 
 lors. Nn?rn. This word occurs no 
 where else, except in ver. 3. It means one 
 skilled in the law ; a judge. The office 
 was evidently inferior to the one denoted 
 by the word judges, f The sheriffs. A 
 sheriff with us is a county officer, to whom 
 is entrusted the administration of the 
 laws. In England the office is judicial 
 as well as ministerial. With us it is 
 merely ministerial. The duty of the 
 sheriff is to execute the civil and criminal 
 procetses throughout the county. He has 
 charge of the jail and prisoners, and 
 attends courts, and keeps the peace. It 
 is not to be supposed that the officer here 
 
 referred to in Daniel, corresponds pre 
 cisely with this. The word used x;npn 
 occurs nowhere else. It means, accord 
 ing to Gesenius, persons learned in the 
 law ; lawyers. The office had a close rela 
 tion to that of Mufti among the Arabs, 
 the term being derived from the same 
 word, and properly means "a wise man; 
 one whose response is equivalent to law." 
 ^And all the rulers of the provinces. The 
 term here used is a general term, and 
 would apply to any kind of officers or 
 rulers, and is probably designed to em 
 brace all which had not been specified. 
 The object was to assemble the chief 
 officers of the realm. Jacchides has com 
 pared the officers here enumerated with 
 the principal officers of the Turkish em 
 pire, and supposes that a counterpart to 
 them may be found iif that empire. See 
 the comparison in Grotius, in loc. He 
 supposes that the officers last denoted un 
 der the title of "rulers of the provinces," 
 were similar to the Turkish Zangiahos, 
 or viziers. Grotius supposes that the 
 term refers to the rulers of cities, and 
 places adjacent to cities a dominion of 
 less extent and importance than that of 
 the rulers of provinces. ^To the dedica 
 tion of the image, <fcc. The public set 
 ting it apart to the purposes for which it 
 was erected. This was to be done with 
 solemn music, and in the presence of the 
 principal officers of the kingdom. Until 
 it was dedicated to the god in whose 
 honour it was erected, it would not be 
 regarded as an object of worship. It is 
 easy to conceive that such an occasion 
 would bring together an immense con 
 course of people, and that it would be 
 one of peculiar magnificence. 
 
 3. And they stood before the image. In 
 the presence of the image. They were 
 drawn up, doubtless so as at the same time 
 to have the best view of the statue, and 
 to make the most imposing appearance. 
 
 4. Then a herald cried aloud. Marg., 
 as in Chald., with might. He made a loud 
 
180 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 580. 
 
 5 That at what time ye hear the 
 sound of the cornet, flute, harp, 
 sackbut, psaltery, a dulcimer, and all 
 
 a symphony, or, singing. 
 
 proclamation. A herald here means a 
 public crier. ^To you it ? commanded. 
 Marg., they commanded. Literally, to 
 you commanding (plural] ; that is, the 
 king has commanded. ^0 people, na 
 tions, and language*. The empire of 
 Babylon was made up of different nations, 
 speaking quite different languages. The 
 representatives of these nations were as 
 sembled on this occasion, and the com 
 mand would extend to all. There was 
 evidently no exception made in favour of 
 the scruples of any, and the order would 
 include the Hebrews as well as others. It 
 should be observed, however, that no oth 
 ers bnt the Hebrews would have any scru 
 ples on the subject. They were all accus 
 tomed to worship idols, and the worship 
 of one god did not prevent their doing 
 homage also to another. It accorded with 
 the prevailing views of idolaters that 
 there were many gods ; that there were 
 tutelary divinities presiding over particu 
 lar people; and thaj, it was not improper 
 to render homage to the god of any peo 
 ple or country. Though, therefore, they 
 might themselves worship other gods in 
 their own countries, they would have no 
 scruples about worshipping also the one 
 that .Nebuchadnezzar had setup. In this 
 respect the Jews were an exception. They 
 acknowledged but one God ; they believed 
 that all others were false gods, and it was 
 a violation of the fundamental principles 
 of their religion to render homage to any 
 other. 
 
 5. That at what time ye hear the sound 
 of the cornet. It would not be practicable 
 to determine with precision what kind of 
 instruments of music are denoted by the 
 words used in this verse. They were, 
 doubtless, in many respects different from 
 those which aro in use now, though they 
 may have belonged to the same general 
 class, and may have been constructed on 
 substantially the same principles. A full 
 inquiry into the kinds of musical instru 
 ments in use among the Hebrews, may be 
 found in the various treatises on the sub 
 ject in Ugolin s Thesau. Ant. Sacra, torn, 
 xxxii. Comp. also the Notes on Isa. v. 
 12. Thi? Chaldee word rendered cornet 
 *A"2 the same as the Hebrew word pp 
 
 kinds of music, ye fall doAvn and 
 worship the golden image that Ne 
 buchadnezzar the king hath set 
 up. 
 
 keren, means a horn, as e. g., of an ox, 
 stag, ram. Then it means a wind instru 
 ment of music resembling a horn, or per 
 haps horns were at first literally used. 
 Similar instruments are now used, as the 
 French horn, &c. ^Flute. x.TpnV S 
 mashrokitha. Gr. (rii/jiyydj. Vulg. fistula, 
 pipe. The Chaldee word occurs nowhere 
 else but in this chapter, vs. 5, 7, 10, 15, 
 and is in each instance rendered flute. It 
 probably denoted all the instruments of 
 the pipe or flute class in use among the 
 Babylonians. The corresponding Hebrew 
 word is SiSn hhalil. See this explained 
 in the Notes on Isa. v. 12. The following 
 remarks of the Editor of the Pictorial Bi 
 ble will explain the usual construction of 
 the ancient pipes or flutes : " The ancient 
 flutes were cylindrical tubes, sometimes 
 of equal diameter throughout, but often 
 wider at the off than the near end, and 
 sometimes widened at that end into a 
 funnel shape, resembling a clarionet. 
 They were always blown, like pipes, at 
 one end, never transversely; they had 
 mouth-pieces, and sometimes plugs or 
 stopples, but no keys to open or close the 
 holes beyond the reach of the hands. The 
 holes varied in number in the different 
 varieties of the flute. In their origin they 
 were doubtless made of simple reeds or 
 canes, but in the progress of improve 
 ment they came to be made of wood, 
 ivory, bone, and even metal. They were 
 sometimes made in joints, but connected 
 by an interior nozzle which was generally 
 of wood. The flutes were sometimes 
 double, that is, a person played on two 
 instruments at once, either connected or 
 detached ; and among the classical an 
 cients the player on the double-flute often 
 had a leathern bandage over his mouth tc 
 prevent the escape of his breath at the 
 corners. The ancient Egyptians used the 
 double-flute." Illustrations of the flute 
 or pipe may be seen in the Notes on Isa. 
 v. 12. Very full and interesting descrip 
 tions of the musical instruments whicb 
 were used among the Egyptians, may be 
 
 j found in Wilkinson s Manners and Cus 
 toms of the ancient Eg3 r ptians, vol. ii. 
 
 ! pp. 222327. The following cut will fur- 
 
B. C. 580.] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 181 
 
 ANCIENT EGYPTIAN FLUTES, SINGLE AND DOUBLE. 
 
 nish an illustration of the usual form of 
 this instrument among the ancient?. 
 ^1 Harp. On the form of the harp, see 
 Notes on Isa. v. 12. Cornp. Wilkinson, as 
 above quote !. The harp was one of the 
 earliest instruments of music that was 
 invented, Gen. iv. 21. The Chaldee word 
 here used is not the common Hebrew word 
 to denote the harp (~VU3, Jfi>,nor), but is a 
 word which does not occur in Hebrew 
 Dnrvf? kathros. This occurs nowhere 
 else in the Chaldee, and it is manifestly 
 the same as the Greek KiSdpa, and the La 
 tin citharrt, denoting a harp. Whether 
 the Chaldees derived it from the Greeks, 
 or the Greeks from the Chaldees, however, 
 cannot be determined with certainty. It 
 has been made an objection to the genu 
 ineness of the book of Daniel that the in 
 struments here referred to were instru 
 ments bearing Greek names. See Intro. 
 $ 2, IV. (c) (5). ^Sackbut. Vulg. Sam- 
 buca. Gr. like the Vulg. aa\tliii<t\. These 
 words are merely different forms of wri 
 ting the Chaldee word N;3? sabbechn. 
 The word occurs nowhere else except in 
 this chapter. It seems to have denoted 
 a stringed instrument similar to the lyre 
 or harp. Strabo affirms that the Greek 
 word aapfivKti scimbyk u, is of barbarian, 
 that is, of oriental origin. The Hebrew 
 word from which this word is not impro 
 bably derived "13p> sabach means to in 
 terweave, to entwine, to jylait, as e. g. 
 branches ; and it is possible that this in 
 strument may have derived its name from 
 the intertwining of the strings. Comp. 
 Gesemus on the word. Passow defines 
 
 1C 
 
 the Greek word aanftvvn sambuca (Lat.), 
 to mean a triangular stringed instrument 
 that made the highest notes, or had the 
 highest key ; but as an instrument which, 
 on account of the shortness of the strings, 
 was not esteemed as very valuable, and 
 had little power. Porphyry and Suidas 
 describe it as a triangular instrument, 
 furnished with cords of unequal length 
 and thickness. The classical writers men 
 tion it as very ancient, and ascribe its 
 invention to the Syrians. Musonius 
 describes it as having a sharp sound ; and 
 we are also told that it was often used to 
 accompany the voice in singing iambic 
 verses. Pict. Bib. It seems to have 
 been a species of triangular lyre or harp. 
 ^Psaltery. The Chaldee is jnrip? pe- 
 santerin, Gr. i}sa\rfipiov ; Vulg. psalterium. 
 All these words manifestly have the same 
 origin, and it has been on the ground 
 that this word among others is of Greek 
 origin, that the genuineness of this book 
 has been called in question. The word 
 occurs nowhere else but in this chapter, 
 vs. 5, 7, 10, 15. The Greek translators 
 often use the word ^aXrrjpiov psaltery 
 I for ^55 7ie&7<eJ,and "\U3 kinnor, and the 
 I instrument here referred to was doubtless 
 ! of the harp kind. For the kind of instru- 
 ! ment denoted by the Sp) nebhel, see 
 j Notes on Isa. v. 12. Comp. the illustra- 
 ! tions in the Pict. Bible on Psalm xcii. 3. 
 j It has been alleged that this word is of 
 j Greek origin, and hence an objection has 
 been urged against the genuineness of 
 the Book of Daniel, on the presumption 
 j that, at the early period when this book 
 
182 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 IB. c. 5sc. 
 
 is supposed to have been written, Greek 
 musical instruments had not been in- 
 troduced into Chaldea. For a general 
 reply to this, see the Intro. $ 2, IV. (e) (8.) 
 It may be remarked further in regard to 
 this objection, (1) that it is not absolutely 
 certain that the word is derived from the 
 Greek. See Pareau 1. c. p. 524, as 
 quoted in Hengstenberg Authentic des 
 Daniel, p. 16. (2) It cannot be demon 
 strated that there were no Greeks in the 
 regions of Chaldea as early as this. In 
 deed, it is more than probable that there 
 were. See Hengstenberg, p. 16. seq. 
 Nebuchadnezzar summoned to this cele 
 bration the principal personages through 
 out the realm, and it is probable that 
 there would be collected on such an oc 
 casion all the forms of music that were 
 known, whether of domestic or foreign 
 origin. ^[ Dulcimer. X\32D D snmponya. 
 This word occurs only here, and inverses 
 13, 15 of this chapter. In the margin it 
 is rendered symphony or singing. It is 
 the same as the Greek word av^wta 
 symphony, and in Italy the same instru 
 ment of music is now called by a name 
 of the same origin, zampogna, and in 
 Asia Minor zambonja. It answered pro 
 bably to the Hebrew 3J|1J?, rendered organ, 
 in Gen. iv. 21, Job xxi. 12, xxx. 31, Ps. 
 cl. 4. See Notes on Job xxL 12. Comp. 
 the tracts on Hebrew musical instruments 
 inscribed schiltc haggilborim in Ugolin, 
 Thesau. vol. xxxii. The word eeems to 
 have had a Greek origin, and is one of 
 those on which an objection has been 
 founded against the genuineness of the 
 book. Comp. the Intro. $ 2, IV. (c) (7.) 
 The word dulcimer means sweet, and 
 would denote some instrument of music 
 that was characterized by the sweetness 
 of its tones. Johnson (Die.) describes the 
 instrument as one that is "played by 
 striking brass wires with little sticks." 
 The Greek word would denote properly a 
 concert or harmony of many instruments ; 
 but the word here is evidently used to 
 denote a single instrument. Gesenius 
 describes it as a double pipe with a sack ; 
 a bagpipe. Servius (on Virg. Aen. xi. 
 27) describes the symphonia as a bagpipe : 
 and the Hebrew writers speak of it as a bag 
 pipe, consisting of two pipes thrust through 
 a leathern bag, and affording a mournful 
 sound. It may be added that this is the 
 same name which the bagpipe bore among 
 the Moors in Spain; and all these cir 
 
 cumstances concur to show that this 
 was probably the instrument intendeo 
 here. "The modern oriental bagpipe is 
 composed with a goat skin, usually with 
 the hair on, arid in the natural form, but 
 deprived of the head, the tail, and the 
 feet: being, thus of the same shape as 
 that used by the water carriers. The 
 pipes are usually of reeds, terminating in 
 the tips of cows horns slightly curved ; the 
 whole instrument being most primitively 
 simple in its materials and construction." 
 Pict. Bib. The annexed cut will furnish 
 
 an illustration of this instrument, f And 
 nil kinds of music. All other kinds. It 
 is not probable that all the instruments 
 employed on that occasion were actually 
 enumerated. Only the principal instru 
 ments are mentioned, and among them 
 those which showed that such as were of 
 foreign origin were employed on the oc 
 casion. From the following extract from 
 
 | Chardin it will be seen that the account 
 
 I here is not an improbable one, and that 
 such things were not uncommon in the 
 East: "At the coronation of Soliman, 
 king of Persia, the general of the mus- 
 
 | queteers having whispered some moments 
 in the king s ear, among several other 
 things of lesser importance gave out, that 
 
 j both the loud and soft music should play 
 in the two balconies upon the top of the 
 great building which stands at one end 
 of the palace royal, called kaisarie, or 
 
B. 0. 580.] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 183 
 
 6 And a whoso falleth not down 
 and worsb. ppeth shall the same 
 
 Re. 13. 15. 
 
 place imperial. No nation was dispensed 
 with, whether Persians, Indians, Turks, 
 Muscovites, Europeans, or others ; which 
 was immediately done. And this same 
 tintamarre, or confusion of instruments, 
 which sounded more like the noise of 
 war than music, lasted twenty days to 
 gether, without intermission, or the inter 
 ruption of night; which number of 
 twenty days was observed to answer the 
 number of the young monarch s years, 
 who was then twenty years of age." p. 51. 
 Quoted in Taylor s Fragments to Calinet s 
 Die. No. 485. It may be observed, also, 
 that in such an assemblage of instruments, 
 nothing would be more probable than that 
 there would be some having names of for 
 eign origin, perhaps names whose origin 
 was to be found in nations not represented 
 there. But if this should occur, it, would 
 not be proper to set the fact down as an 
 argument against the authenticity of the 
 history of Father Chardin, and as little 
 should the similar fact revealed here be 
 regarded as an argument against the 
 genuineness of the book of Daniel, f Ye 
 shall fall doicn and worship. That is, 
 you shall render religious homage. See 
 these words explained in the Notes on 
 eh. ii. 46. This shows, that whether this 
 image was erected in honour of Belus, or 
 of Nabopolassar, it was designed that he 
 in whose honour it was erected should be 
 worshipped as a god. 
 
 6 And loJtoso falleth not down and wor- 
 shippeth. The order in this verse seems 
 to be tyrannical, and it is contrary to all 
 our notions of freedom of religious opin 
 ion and worship. But it was much in 
 the spirit of that age, and indeed of 
 almost every age. It was an act to en 
 force uniformity in religion by the au 
 thority of the civil magistrate, and to 
 secure it by threatened penalties. It 
 should be observed, however, that the 
 command at that time would not be re 
 garded as harsh and oppressive by heathen 
 worshippers, and might be complied with 
 consistently with their views without in 
 fringing on their notions of religious 
 liberty. The homage rendered to one 
 god did not, according to their views, 
 conflict with any honour that was due to 
 another, and, though they were required 
 
 hour be cast into the midst of a 
 burning fiery b furnace. 
 t> Je. 29. 22. 
 
 to worship this divinity, that would not 
 be a prohibition against worshipping any 
 other. It was also in accordance with 
 all the views of heathenism that all pro 
 per honour should be rendered to the 
 particular god or gods which any people 
 adored. The nations assembled here 
 would regard it as no dishonour shown tc 
 the particular deity whom they wor 
 shipped, to render homage to the god 
 worshipped by Nebuchadnezzar, as this 
 command implied no prohibition against 
 worshipping any other god. It was only 
 in respect to those who held that there 
 is but one God, and that all homage ren 
 dered to any other is morally wrong, that 
 this command would be oppressive. Ac 
 cordingly the contemplated vengeance 
 fell only on the Jews all, of every other 
 nation, who were assembled, complying 
 with the command without hesitation. 
 It violated no principle which they held 
 to render the homage which was claimed. 
 for though they had their own tutelary 
 gods whom they worshipped, they sup 
 posed the same was true of every other 
 people, and that their gods were equally 
 entitled to respect; but it violated every 
 principle on which the Jew acted for he 
 believed that there was but one God rul 
 ing over all nations, and that homage 
 rendered to any other was morally wrong. 
 Comp. Hengstenberg Authentic des Da 
 niel, pp. 83, 84. ^[ Shall the same hour. 
 This accords with the general character 
 of an oriental despot, accustomed to en 
 join implicit obedience by the most sum 
 mary process, and it is entirely conform 
 able to the whole character of Nebuchad 
 nezzar. It would seem from this, that there 
 was an apprehension that some among 
 the multitudes assembled would refuse to 
 obey the command. Whether there was 
 any design to make this bear hard on the 
 Jews, it is impossible now to determine. 
 The word which is here rendered hour 
 NpJL f is probably from n;;E> to look, 
 and properly denotes a look, a glance of 
 the eye, and then the time of such a 
 glance a moment, an instant. It does not 
 refer to an hour, as understood by us, but 
 means instantly, immediately as quick 
 as the glance of an eye. The word is not 
 found in Hebrew, and occurs in Chaldee 
 
184 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 580. 
 
 the golden image that Nebuchad 
 nezzar the king had set up. 
 
 8 Wherefore at that time certain 
 Chaldeans came near, and accused 
 the Jews. 
 
 7 Therefore at that time, when 
 all the people heard the sound of 
 the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, 
 psaltery, and all kinds of music, all 
 the people, the nations, and the lan 
 guages, fell down and worshipped 
 
 only in Dan. iii. 6, 15; iv. 19, 33; v. 5, to terrify the bakers, and to prevent their 
 in each case rendered hour. Nothing can ! taking advantage of the scarcity to in- 
 be inferred from it, however, in regard to | crease their gains. See liosenmuller, 
 the division of time among the Chaldeans j A1 e neue Morgenland, loc. 
 into hour* though Herodotus says that | 7 " AU - e people, the nations, the Ian- 
 
 the Greeks received the division of the 
 day into twelve parts from them. Lib 
 2, c. 109. ^ Be cast into the midftt of a 
 burning fiery furnace. 
 rendered furnace pnN attun, is derived 
 from un tenon, to smoke; and may be 
 
 gna(jc8,fdl down, &c. All excepting the 
 Jews. An express exception is made in 
 regard to them in the following verses, 
 
 The wonTlaere an< * fc ( * oes not H PP ear ^ iat any of them 
 1 were present on this occasion. It would 
 seem that only the officers had been sum 
 moned to be present, and it is not im- 
 
 applied to any species of furnace, or large 
 
 probable that all the rest of the Jewish 
 
 nation absented themselves. 
 
 8. Wherefore at that time certain Choi- 
 deans came near and accused the Joes. It 
 does not appear that they accused the 
 
 oven. It does not denote the use to 
 which the furnace was commonly ap 
 plied, or the form of its construction. 
 Any furnace for burning lime if lime 
 
 was then burned, or for burning bricks, j Jews in general, but particularly Shadrach, 
 if they were burned, or for smelting ore, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ver. 12. They 
 would correspond with the meaning of | were present on the occasion, being sum- 
 the word. Nor is it said whether the I moned with the other officers of the 
 furnace referred to would be one that \ realm, (ver. 2,) but they could not unite 
 would be constructed for the occasion, or j in the idolatrous worship. It has been 
 one in common use for some other pur- i frequently said that the whole thing was 
 pose. The editor of Calmet (Taylor) arranged, either by the king of his own 
 supposes that the furnace here referred accord, or by the instigation of their ene- 
 to was rather a fire kindled in the open mies, with a view to involve the Jews in 
 court of a temple, like a place set apart j difficulty, knowing that they could not 
 for burning martyrs, than a closed fur- i conscientiously comply with the coni- 
 nace of brick. See Cal. Die. vol. iv. p. I tnand to worship the image. But nothing 
 330, seq. The more obvious representa- j of this kind appears in the narrative 
 tion, however, is, that it was a closed itself. It does not appear that the Jews 
 place in which the intensity of the fire were unpopular, or that there was any 
 could be greatly increased. Such a mode I less disposition to show favour to them 
 of punishment is not uncommon in the than to any other foreigners. They had 
 East. Chardin (vi. p. 118.) after speak- been raised indeed to high offices, but 
 ing of the common modes of inflicting there is no evidence that any office was 
 the punishment of death in Persia, re- 1 conferred on them which it was not re 
 marks that there are other modes of in- ! garded as proper to confer on foreigners; 
 flicting the punishment of death on those ; nor is there any evidence that in the dis- 
 who have violated the police laws, espe- i charge of the duties of the office they had 
 cially those who have contributed to pro- i given occasion for a just accusation. The 
 duce scarcity of food, or who have used j plain account is, that the king set up the 
 false weight, or who have disregarded, image, for other purposes, and with no ma- 
 the laws respecting taxes. The cooks, licious design towards them ; that when 
 says he, were fixed on spits, and roasted summoned to be present with the other 
 over a gentle fire, (Comp. Jer. xxix. 22), j officers of the realm at the dedication of 
 and the bakers were cast into a burning j the image they obeyed the command ; 
 oven. In the year 1668, when the famine i but that when the order was issued that 
 was raging, I saw in the royal residence they should render religions homage to 
 xn Ispahan one of those ovens burning the idol, everj principle of their religion 
 
B. C. 580.] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 185 
 
 9 They spake and said to the 
 king Nebuchadnezzar, king, live 
 a for ever. 
 
 10 Thou, king, hast made a de 
 cree, that every man that shall hear 
 the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, 
 sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, 
 and all kinds of music, shall fall 
 down and worship the golden im 
 age: 
 
 11 And whoso falleth not down 
 
 and worshippeth, 
 
 he should 
 
 be cast into the midst of a burning | fore the king, 
 fiery furnace. 
 
 a c. 2. 4. 6.21. Ko. 13. 7. ver. 4, 5. 
 
 12 There are certain Jews whom 
 thou hast set b over the affairs of 
 the province of Babylon, Shadraeh, 
 Meshach, and Abed-nego ; these 
 men, king, c have not regarded 
 d thee : they servo not thy gods, nor 
 worship the golden imago which 
 thou hast set up. 
 
 13 Tj Then Nebuchadnezzar in Jiis 
 e rage and fury commanded to bring 
 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. 
 Then they brought these men be- 
 
 revolted at it, .and they refused. For the 
 probable reasons why Daniel was not in 
 cluded in the number, see Note on ver. 12. 
 
 9. kiiiy, lire for ever. A customary 
 form of address to a monarch, implying 
 that long life was regarded as an eminent 
 blessing. See Notes on ch. ii. 4. 
 
 10. 11. Thou hunt made a decree, <tc. 
 See vs. 4, 5. As the decree included 
 every man who heard the sound of the 
 music, it of course embraced the Jews, 
 whatever religious scruples they might 
 have. Whether their scruples, however, 
 were known at the time, is not certain j 
 or whether they would have been re 
 garded if known, is no more certain. 
 
 12. There are certain Jeics whom thou 
 hast net over the province <>f Habylon, 
 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-neyo. Ch. 
 ii. 49. It is quite remarkable that the 
 name of Daniel does not occur in the re 
 cord of this transaction, and that he does 
 not appear to have been involved in the 
 difficulty. Why he was not, cannot now 
 be certainly known. We may be sure 
 that he would not join in the worship of 
 the idol, and yet it would seem, as Nebu 
 chadnezzar had summoned all the high 
 officers of the realm to be present, (ver. 2,) 
 that he must have been summoned also. 
 The conjecture of Prideaux (Con. I. 
 222,) is not improbable, that he occupied a 
 place of so much influence and authority, 
 and enjoyed in so high degree the favour 
 of the king, that they did not think it 
 prudent to begin with him, but rather 
 preferred at first to bring the accusation 
 against subordinate officers. If they were 
 condemned and punished, consistency 
 might require that he should be punished 
 also. If he had been involved at first in 
 16* 
 
 be. 2.40. 
 f. c. 6. 13. 
 
 : set no regard upon. 
 * ver. 19. 
 
 the accusation, his high rank, and his 
 
 favour with the king, might have screened 
 
 them all from punishment. It impossible, 
 
 however, that Daniel was absent on the 
 
 i occasion of the dedication of the image. 
 
 It should be remembered that perhaps 
 
 some eighteen years had elapsed since the 
 
 transaction referred to in ch. ii. occurred, 
 
 (See Notes on ch. iii. 1,) and Daniel may 
 
 have been employed in some remote part 
 
 of the empire on public business. Comp. 
 
 Intro, to the chapter % 1, VIII. fl These 
 
 men, kinc/, have not regarded thee. 
 
 Marg., set no regard upon. Literally, 
 
 they have not placed towards thee the 
 
 decree ; that i?, they have not made any 
 
 account of it ; they have paid no attention 
 
 to it. *[ They serve not thy yodn. Perhsips 
 
 it was inferred from the fact that they 
 
 would not pay religious homage to this 
 
 idol, that they did not serve the gods at 
 
 all that were acknowledged by the king; 
 
 or possibly this may have been known 
 
 from what had occurred before. It may 
 
 have been well understood in Babylon, 
 
 that the Hebrews worshipped Jehovah 
 
 only. Now, however, a case had occurred 
 
 which was a test case, whether they would 
 
 ! on any account render homage to the 
 
 ! idols that were worshipped in Babylon. 
 
 ! In their refusal to worship the idol, it 
 
 ! seemed much to aggravate the offence, 
 
 | and made the charge much more serious, 
 
 j that they did not acknowledge any of the 
 
 I gods that were worshipped in Babylon. 
 
 | It was easy, therefore, to persuade the 
 
 king that they had arrayed themselves 
 
 against the fundamental laws of the 
 
 realm. 
 
 13. Then, Nebuchadnezzar in his rage 
 I and fury. The word rendered fury, 
 
186 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 580. 
 
 14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, 
 said unto them, Is it a true, Sha- ye fall b down and worship the im- 
 drach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do j age which I have made ; c well: but 
 not ye serve rny gods, nor worship the if ye worship not, ye shall be r-ast 
 golden image which I have set up ? the same hour into the midst of a 
 
 15 Now if ye be ready that at burning fiery furnace; and d who is 
 what time ye hear the sound of the that God that shall deliver you out 
 
 cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, 
 
 or, of purpose, as Ex. 21. 13. b Lu. 4. 7, 
 
 of my hands ? 
 
 Ex. 32. 32. Lu. 13. 9. d Ex. 5. 2. 2 Ki. 18, 35. 
 
 means wrath. Every thing that wo learn they could make an apology for their 
 of this monarch shows that he was a man I con duct. The Chaldee word *ny oc- 
 of violent passmns, and that he vms easily i fa } T . rendered 
 
 excited, though he was susceptible also 
 to deep impressions on religious subjects. 
 
 by 
 
 brew word rnx means to lie in wait, 
 to waylay, Ex. xxi. 13 ; 1 Sam. xxiv. 11. 
 Comp. Num. xxxv. 20, 22. The true 
 meaning, seems to be, Is it your de- 
 
 There was much here to rouse his rage. 
 His command to worship the image was 
 positive. It extended to all who were 
 summoned to its dedication. Their re 
 fusal was a,n act of positive disobedience, 
 and it seemed necessary that the laws \terminedpurpose not to worship my gods ? 
 should be vindicated. As a man and a | Have you deliberately made up your 
 monarch, therefore, it was not unnatural j minds to this, and do you mean to abide 
 
 1 by this resolution ? That this is the 
 meaning, is apparent from the fact that 
 immediately proposes to try them on 
 
 that the anger of the monarch should 
 be thus enkindled. fl Commanded to 
 bring Shadrach, <fcc. It is remarkable 
 that he did not order them at once to be 
 
 ! the point, giving them still an oppor- 
 
 slain, as he did the magicians who could \ tunity to comply with his command to 
 not interpret his dream, ch. ii. 12. This worship the image if they would, or to 
 
 shows that he had some respect still for 
 these men, and that he was willing to 
 hear what they could say in their defence. 
 It is proper, also, to recognize the provi- 
 
 show whether they were finally resolved 
 not to do it. 1[ Do not ye serve my gmh? 
 It was one of the charges against them 
 that they did not do it, ver. 12. 
 
 dence of God in inclining him to this 
 
 course, that their noble reply to his ques- I time, &c. 
 
 tion might be put on record, and that the instant. 
 
 lull power of religious principle might be 
 developed. 
 
 14. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said 
 unto them, Is it trite. Marg., of purpose; 
 
 15. Now if ye be ready that at what 
 At the very time; on the very 
 It would seem probable from 
 
 this that the ceremonies of the consecra 
 tion of the image were prolonged for a 
 considerable period, so that there was still 
 an opportunity for them to unite in the 
 
 that is, have you done this intentionally ? service if they would. The supposition 
 
 Wintle renders this, Is it insultingly? that such services would be continued 
 
 Jacchiades says that the word is used to through several days, is altogether proba- 
 
 denote admiration or wonder, a,s if the ble, and accords with what was usual on 
 
 king could not believe that it was possi- 
 
 festival occasions. It is remarkable that 
 
 ble that they could disregard so plain a the king was willing to give them an- 
 command, when disobedience was accom- other trial to see whether they were dis- 
 panied with such a threat. De Dieu ren- posed or not to worship the golden image, 
 ders it, Is it a joke? That is, can you To this he might have been led by the 
 possibly be serious or in earnest that you j apprehension that they had not under 
 stood the order, or that they had not duly 
 considered the subject; and possibly by 
 
 disobey so positive a command? Aben 
 Ezra, Theodotion, and Saadias, render it 
 
 it is in the margin, Have you done 
 this of set purpose and design ? as if the 
 king had regarded it as possible that 
 there had been a misunderstanding, and 
 as if he was not unwilling to find that 
 
 respect for them as faithful officers, and 
 for their countryman Daniel. There 
 seems, moreover, to have been in the 
 bosom of this monarch, with all his pride 
 and passion, a readiness to do justice, 
 
B. C. 580.] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 187 
 
 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- 
 nego, answered and said to the king, 
 Nebuchadnezzar, we are not care 
 ful a to answer thee in this matter. 
 
 Matt. 10. 19. 
 
 and to furnish an opportunity of a fair 
 trial before he proceeded to extremities. 
 See ch. ii, 16, 26, 46, 47. f And who is 
 that God that shall deliver you out of my 
 hands. That is, he either supposed that 
 the God whom they adored would not 
 be able to deliver them, or that he would 
 not be disposed to do it. It was a boast 
 of Sennacherib, when he warred against 
 the Jews, that none of the gods of the 
 nations which he had conquered had 
 been able to rescue the lands over which 
 they presided, and he argued from these 
 premises that the God whom the Hebrews 
 worshipped would not be able to defend 
 their country: "Hath any of the gods 
 of the nations delivered his land out of 
 the hand of the king of Assyria ? Where 
 are the gods of Hamath, and of Arphad ? 
 where are the gods of Sepharvaim ? and 
 have they delivered Samaria out of my 
 hand? Who are they among all the gods 
 of these lands that have delivered their 
 land out of my hand, that JEHOVAH 
 should deliver Jerusalem out of my 
 hand ?" Isa. xxxvi. 1921. Nebuchad 
 nezzar seems to have reasoned in a simi 
 lar manner, and with a degree of vain 
 boasting that strongly resembled this, 
 calling their attention to the certain de 
 struction which awaited them if they did 
 not comply with his demand. 
 
 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- 
 ncgo, answered and said to the Icing. 
 They appear to have answered promptly, 
 and without hesitation, showing that they 
 had carefully considered the subject, and \ 
 that with them it was a matter of settled | 
 and intelligent principle. But they did j 
 it in a respectful manner, though they 
 were firm. They neither reviled the mon 
 arch nor his gods. They used no re 
 proachful words respecting the image 
 which he had set up, or any of the idols 
 which ho worshipped. Nor did they com 
 plain of his injustice or severity. They 
 calmly looked at their own duty, and re 
 solved to do it, leaving the consequences 
 with the God whom they worshipped. 
 ^ We are not careful to answer thee in 
 this matter. The word rendered careful 
 
 17 If it be so, our God whom t>we 
 serve is able to deliver us from the 
 burning fiery furnace, and he will 
 deliver us out of thy hand, king. 
 
 b Ps. 121. 5, 7. Ac. 27. 23, 25. 
 
 nc n means, according to Gesenius, to 
 be needed or necessary ; then, to have 
 need. The Vulgate renders it, non opor- 
 tet nos it does not behoove us ; it is not 
 needful for us. So the Greek, oi> xptiw 
 t\ontv we have no need. So Luther, Es 
 1st Nicht noth there is not necessity. The 
 meaning, therefore, is, that it was not 
 necessary that they should reply to the 
 king on that point; they would not give 
 themselves trouble or solicitude to do it. 
 They had made up their minds, and what 
 ever was the result, they could not wor 
 ship the image which he had set up, or 
 the gods whom he adored. They felt that 
 there was no necessity for stating the rea 
 sons why they could not do this. Per 
 haps they thought that argument in their 
 case was improper. It became them to 
 do their duty, and to leave the event with 
 God. They had no need to go into an 
 extended vindication of their conduct, for 
 it might be presumed that their princi 
 ples of conduct were well known. The 
 state of mind, therefore, which is indi 
 cated by this passage, is that their minds 
 were made up ; that their principles were 
 settled and well understood ; that they had 
 come to the deliberate determination, as a 
 matter of conscience, not to yield obedience 
 to the command ; that the result could not 
 be modified by any statement which they 
 could make, or by any argument in the 
 case; and that, therefore, they were not 
 anxious about the result, but calmly com 
 mitted the whole cause to God. 
 
 17. If it be so. Chald. >rnx ]H so it 
 is. That is, this is true, that the God 
 whom we serve can save us. The idea 
 is not, as would seem in our translation, 
 if we are to be cast into the furnace/ but 
 the mind is turned on the fact that the 
 God whom they served could save them. 
 Coverdale renders this whole passage, 
 " Nebuchadnezzar, we ought not to 
 consent unto thee in this matter, fo> why ? 
 our God whom we serve is able to keep 
 us," &c. ^ Our God whom we serve. Gr. 
 our God in the heavens, whom we serve. 
 This was a distinct avowal that they were 
 
188 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 580. 
 
 18 But if a not, be it kno\vn unto 
 thee, king, that we will not serve 
 b thy gods, nor worship the golden 
 
 visage was changed against Sha- 
 drach, Meshach. and Abed-nego : 
 therefore he spake, and commanded 
 
 image which thou hast setup. I e that they should heat the furnace 
 
 19 fl Then was Nebuchadnezzar . one seven times more than it was 
 r full of d fury, and the form of his wont to be heated. 
 
 Job 13. 15. Ac. 4. 19. ^Ex. 20. S 5. Le. 19. 4. 
 
 the servants of the true God, and they 
 were not ashamed to avow it, whatever 
 might be the consequences, f Is able to 
 deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. 
 This was evidently said in reply to the 
 question asked by the king (ver. 15), 
 " Who is that God that shall deliver you 
 out of my hands ?" They were sure that 
 the God whom they worshipped was able, 
 if he should choose to do it, to save them 
 from death. In what way they supposed 
 he could save them, is not expressed. 
 Probably it did not occur to them that he 
 would save them in the manner in which 
 he actually did, but they felt that it was 
 entirely within his power to keep them 
 from so horrid a death if he pleased. The 
 state of mind indicated in this verse, is 
 that of entire confidence in God. Their an 
 swer showed (a) that they had no doubt of 
 his ability to save them if he pleased ; 
 (6) that they believed he would do 
 what was best in the case; and (e) that 
 they were entirely willing to commit the 
 whole case into his hands, to dispose of 
 it as he chose. Comp. Isa. xliii. 2. 
 
 ]8. But if not. That is, if he should 
 not deliver us; if it should not occur 
 that he would protect us, and save 
 us from that heated oven. Whatever 
 may be the result in regard to us, our de 
 termination is settled. ^[ Be it knoion 
 tmfo thee, king, that we will not serve 
 thy gods, &c. This answer is firm and 
 noble. It showed that their minds were 
 made up, and that it was with them a 
 matter of principle not to worship false 
 gods. T-be state of mind which is de 
 noted by this verse, is that of a determi 
 nation to do their duty, whatever might be j 
 the consequences. The attention was 
 fixed on what was right, not on what would 
 be the result. The sole question which 
 was asked was, what ought to be done in 
 the case ; and they had no concern about 
 what would follow. True religion is a 
 determined purpose to do right, and not 
 to do wrong, whatever may be the conse- 
 
 c filled, d TP. 51. 13. Lti. 12. 4. 5. 
 Pr. 16. 14. 21.24. 27.3,4. 
 
 quences in either case. It matters not 
 what follows wealth or poverty ; honour 
 or dishonour ; good report or evil report ; 
 life or death ; the mind is firmly fixed on 
 doing right, and not on doing wrong. This 
 is the religion of principle; and when we 
 consider the circumstances of those who 
 made this reply; when we remember their 
 comparative youth, and the few opportu 
 nities which they had for instruction in the 
 nature of religion, and that they were 
 captives in a distant land, and that they 
 stood before the most absolute monarch of 
 the earth, with no powerful friends to sup. 
 port them, and with the most horrid kind of 
 death threatening them, we may well ad 
 mire the grace of that God who could so 
 amply furnish them for such a trial, and 
 love that religion which enabled them to 
 take a stand so noble and so bold. 
 
 19. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of 
 fury. "Marg.. filled. He was exceedingly 
 enraged. He evidently was not prepared 
 for a stand so firm and determined on 
 their part, and he did not appreciate their 
 motives, nor was he disposed to yield 
 to them the privilege and right of follow 
 ing their honest convictions. He was 
 deeply excited with anger when the com 
 plaint was made that they would not 
 worship his gods (ver. 13), but he had 
 hoped that possibly they had not un 
 derstood his command, and that what 
 they had done had not been by deliber 
 ate purpose (Notes on ver. 14) ; and he 
 had therefore given them an opportunity 
 to reconsider the subject, and, by com 
 plying with his will, to save themselves 
 from the threatened punishment. Ho 
 now saw, however, that what they had 
 done was done deliberately. He saw that 
 they firmly and intelligently refused to 
 obey, and supposing now that they not 
 only rebelled against his commands, but 
 that they disregarded and despised even 
 his forbearance (ver. 15), it is not won 
 derful that he was filled with wrath. 
 What was with them fixed principle, he 
 
B. C. 580.] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 189 
 
 20 And he commanded the most I 21 Then these men were bound 
 mighty men that were in his army in their b coats, their hosen, and 
 to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and their c hats, and their other gar- 
 Abed-nego, and to cast them into ; ments, and were cast into the midst 
 the burning fiery furnace. 
 
 a mighty of strength. 
 
 of the burning fiery furnace. 
 
 bor, mantles. 
 
 or, turban?. 
 
 probably regarded as mere obstinacy, and j were. No time was given them for pre- 
 he determined to punish them accord- paration ; no change was made in their 
 ingly. IT And the form of his visage was I dress . In auto .de-fes of later times, it 
 cltanyed. As the face usually is when 
 
 him from the 
 ing with his 
 
 ings. IT He spake and commanded that j 
 they should heat the furnace one seven I 
 times more than it was wont to be heated. 
 Chald., Than it was seen to be heated; 
 that is, than it was ever seen. The word 
 seven here is a perfect number, and the 
 meaning is, that they should make it as 
 hot as possible. He did not reflect pro 
 bably that by this command he was con 
 tributing to shorten and abridge their ! 
 sufferings. Wicked men, who are vio- ! 
 lently opposed to religion, often overdo I 
 the matter, and by their haste and iiu- 1 
 petuosity defeat the very end which they ; 
 have in view, and even promote the very 
 cause which they wish to destroy. 
 
 20. And he commanded the most mighty , 
 men that were in his army. Marg., mighty j 
 of strength. Chald. And to mighty men, 
 mighty men of strength who were in 
 his army, he said/ He employed the 
 strongest men that could be found for 
 this purpose. ^[ To bind Shadrach, &c. 
 Gill supposes that they were probably 
 bound together, as the king afterwards 
 was astonished to see them walking 
 separately in the furnace. But there is 
 no certain evidence of this, and in itself 
 it is not very probable. It is well re 
 marked by Gill, however, that there was 
 no need of binding them at all. They 
 would have made no resistance, and there 
 was no danger that they would make any 
 effort to escape. 
 
 21. Then these men were bound in their 
 oaf. They were seized just sue they 
 
 the furnace, however, only made the 
 miracle the more conspicuous, since not 
 even their garments were affected by the 
 fire. The word rendered coats, is in the 
 margin rendered mantles. The Chaldee 
 word t^yW means, according to Gese- 
 nius, the long and wide pantaloons which 
 are worn by the Orientals, from Sa-p 
 sarbel, to cover. The Greek word used 
 in the translation is derived from this 
 aapdfiapa^ and the word oapffapidts is still 
 used in modern Greek. The Chaldee 
 word is used only in this chapter. Tho 
 Vulgate renders this cum braccis suit 
 hence the word breeches, and brogues. The 
 garment referred to, therefore, seems 
 rather to be that which covered the lower 
 part of their person than either ft coat or 
 mantle, ^f Their hosen. This word was 
 evidently designed by our translators to de 
 note drawers, or trowsers not stockings, 
 for that was the common meaning of the 
 word when the translation was made. It 
 is not probable that the word is designed 
 to denote stockings, as they are not 
 commonly worn in the East. Harmer 
 supposes that the word here used means 
 properly a hammer, and that the refer 
 ence is to a hammer that was carried as 
 a symbol of office, and he refers in illus 
 tration of this to the plates of Sir John 
 Chardin of carvings found in the ruins 
 of Persepolis, among which a man is re 
 presented with a hammer or mallet in 
 each hand. He supposes that this waa 
 some symbol of office. The more com 
 mon and just representation, however, is 
 
190 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 580, 
 
 22 Therefore because the king s 
 a commandment was urgent, and the 
 furnace exceeding hot, the b flame 
 of the fire slew those c men that 
 
 i word. b or, spark. c 6. 24 
 
 to regard this as referring to an article 
 of dress. The Chaldee word B^BS 
 pattish, is from : E9 patash, to break, 
 to hammer (n-artiffCTco) ; to spread out, to 
 expand; and the noun means (1) a ham 
 mer, Isa. xli. 7; Jer. xxiii. 29, 1. 53, 
 and (2) a garment, probably with the idea 
 of its being spread out, and perhaps re 
 ferring to a tunic or under-garment. 
 Comp. Gesenius on the word. The Greek 
 is, nopals, and so the Latin Vulgate, 
 tiaris : the tiara, or covering for the 
 head, turban. The probable reference, 
 however, is to the under garment worn 
 by the Orientals ; the tunic, not a little 
 resembling a shirt with us. ^ And their 
 hats. Marg., or turbans. The Chaldee 
 word N^^HD is rendered by Gesenius 
 mantle, pallium. So the version called the 
 breeches Bible, renders it clokes. Cover- 
 dale renders it shoes, and so the Vulgate 
 calceainentis, sandals; and the Greek 
 KtpiKyrimaiv greaves, or a garment en 
 closing the lower limbs ; pantaloons. 
 There is certainly no reason for render 
 ing the word hats as hats were then un 
 known ; nor is there any evidence that 
 it refers to a turban. Buxtorf, (Chald. 
 Lex.) regards it as meaning a garment, 
 particularly an outer garment, a cloak, 
 
 and this is probably the correct idea. 
 WQ should then have in these three words 
 
 took up Shadrach, Meshach, and 
 Abed-nego. 
 
 23 And these three men, Sha 
 drach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, 
 
 the principal articles of dress in which 
 the Orientals appear, as is shown by the 
 cut, from the ruins of Persepolis the 
 large and loose trowsers ; the tunic, or 
 inner garment ; and the outer garment, 
 or cloak, that was commonly thrown over 
 all. IT And their other garments. What 
 ever they had on, whether turban, belt, 
 sandals, &c. 
 
 22. Therefore because the Icing s com 
 mandment was urgent. Marg., as in Chald., 
 word. The meaning is, that the king 
 would admit of no delay ; he urged on 
 the execution of his will, even at the 
 imminent peril of those who were en 
 trusted with the execution of his com 
 mand. TT And the furnace exceeding hot. 
 Probably so as to send out the flame so 
 far as to render the approach to it dan 
 gerous. The urgency of the king would 
 not admit of any arrangements, even if 
 there could have been any, by which the 
 approach to it would be safe. It The flame 
 of the Jlre slew those men. Marg., as in 
 Chaldee, spark. The meaning is, what 
 the fire threw out the blaze, the heat 
 Nothing can be more probable than this. 
 It was necessary to approach to the very 
 mouth of the furnace in order to cast 
 them in, and it is very conceivable that 
 a heated furnace would belch forth such 
 flames, or throw out such an amount of 
 heat, that this could not be done but at 
 the peril of life. The Chaldee word ren 
 dered slew here, means killed. It does 
 not mean merely that they were over 
 come with the heat, but that they actually 
 died. To expose these men thus to death 
 was an act of great cruelty, but we are 
 to remember how absolute is the charac 
 ter of an Oriental despot, and how much 
 enraged this king was, and how regard 
 less uch a man would be of any effects 
 on others in the execution of his own 
 will. 
 
 23. And these three men -fell down 
 bound, &c. That is, the flame did not 
 loosen the cords by which they had been 
 fastened. The fact that they were seen 
 to fall into the furnace bound, made the 
 miracle the more remarkable that they 
 
B. C. 580.] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 191 
 
 fell down bound into the midst of j a counsellors, Did not we cast three 
 the burning fiery furnace. men bound into the midst of the 
 
 24 If Then Nebuchadnezzar the ; fire ? They answered and said unto 
 
 Tl\ S\ ] 
 
 king was astonied, and rose up in 
 haste, and spake, and said unto his 
 
 should be seen walking loose in the midst 
 of the fire. 
 
 In the Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and 
 Latin Vulgate, there follow in this place 
 sixty-eight verses, containing " The Song 
 of the Tbree Holy Children." This is not 
 in the Chaldee, and its origin is unknown. 
 It is with entire propriety placed in the 
 Apocrypha, as being no part of the in 
 spired canon. With some things that 
 are improbable and absurd, the song 
 contains many things that are beautiful, 
 and that would be highly appropriate if 
 a song na d been uttered at all in the fur 
 nace. 
 
 24. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was 
 astonied. The word astonied, which 
 occurs several times in our translation, 
 (Ezra ix. 3 ; Job xvii. 8, xviii. 20 ; Ezek. 
 iv. 17; Dan. iii. 24, iv. 19, v. 9,) is but 
 another form for astonished, and ex 
 presses wonder or amazement. The rea 
 sons of the wonder here were . that the 
 men who were bound when cast into the 
 furnace were seen alive, and walking un 
 bound ; that to them a fourth person was 
 added, walking with them ; and that the 
 fourth had the appearance of a divine 
 personage. It would seem from this, that 
 the furnace was so made that one could 
 conveniently see into it, and also that the 
 king remained near to it to witness the 
 result of the execution of his own order. 
 ^l And rose up in haste. He would na 
 turally express his surprise to his coun 
 sellors, and ask an explanation of the 
 remarkable occurrence which he wit 
 nessed. *[ And spake, and said unto 
 his counsellors. Marg., governors. The 
 word used r" 1 ?"^ occurs only here 
 and in ver. 27, ch. iv. 36, vi. 7. It is 
 rendered counsellors in each case. The 
 Vulgate renders it optimatibus ; the Ixx. 
 nsyiardaiv his nobles, or distinguished 
 men. The word would seem to mean 
 those who were authorized to speak (from 
 131 ) j that is, those authorized to give 
 counsel j ministers of state, viziers, cabi 
 net-counsellors. ^[ Did not ice cast three 
 men bound, &c. The emphasis here is 
 
 the king, True, king. 
 
 25 lie answered and said, Lo, I 
 a or, governors. 
 
 on the words three, and bound. It was 
 now a matter of astonishment that there 
 were four, and that they were all loose. 
 It is not to be supposed that Nebuchad 
 nezzar had any doubt on this subject, or 
 that his recollection had so soon failed 
 him, but this manner of introducing the 
 subject is adopted in order to fix the 
 attention strongly on the fact to which 
 he was about to call their attention, and 
 which was to him so much a matter of 
 surprise. 
 
 25. He answered and said, Lo, I see 
 four men loose. From the fact that he 
 saw these men now loose, and that this 
 filled him with so much surprise, it may 
 be presumed that they had been bound 
 with something that was not combustible 
 with some sort of fetters or chains. In 
 that case, it would be a matter of surprise 
 that they should be loose, even though 
 they could survive the action of the fire. 
 The fourth personage now so mysteri 
 ously added to their number, it is evident 
 assumed the appearance of a man, and 
 not the appearance of a celestial being, 
 though it Avas the aspect of a man so no 
 ble and majestic that he deserved to be 
 called a son of God. IT Walking in the 
 midst of the fire. The furnace, therefore, 
 was large, so that those who were in it 
 could walk about. The vision must have 
 been sublime; and it is a beautiful image 
 of the children of God often walking uu- 
 hurt amidst dangers, safe beneath the 
 divine protection. ^[ And they have no 
 hurt. Marg., There is no hurt in them. 
 They walk unharmed amidst the flames. 
 Of course the king judged in this only 
 from appearances, but the result (ver. 27) 
 showed that it was really so. ^[ And the 
 form of the fourth. Chaldee, nn his 
 appearance (from Hfrn, to see); that is, 
 he seemed to be a son of God ; he looked 
 like a son of God. The word does not 
 refer to anything special or peculiar in 
 his/or?tt or figure, but it may be supposed 
 to denote something that was noble or 
 majestic in his mien; something in his 
 countenance and demeanour that declared 
 
102 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [fc. C. 580. 
 
 see four men loose, vralking * in the 
 midst of the fire, b and they have 
 
 3 Is. 43. 2. b Mere is no hurt in them. 
 
 him to be of heavenly origin. ^ Like the 
 Son of God. There are two inquiries which 
 arise" in regard to this expression : one 
 is, what was the idea denoted by the 
 phrase as used by the king, or who did 
 he take this personage to be ? the other, 
 who he actually was? In regard to 
 the former inquiry, it may be observed, 
 that there is no evidence that the king 
 referred to him to whom this title is so 
 frequently applied in the New Testament, 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. This is clear (1) 
 because there is no reason to believe that 
 the king had any knowledge whatever 
 that there would be on earth one to 
 whom this title might be appropriately 
 given ; (2) there is no evidence that the 
 title was then commonly given to the 
 Messiah by the Jews, or, if it was, that 
 the king of Babylon was so versed in 
 Jewish theology as to be acquainted with 
 it; and (3) the language which he uses 
 does not necessarily imply that, even if 
 he were acquainted with the fact that 
 there was a prevailing expectation that 
 fuch a being would appear on the 
 earth he designed so to use it. The 
 insertion of the article the, which 
 is not in the Cbaldee, gives a differ 
 ent impression from what the original 
 would if literally interpreted. There is 
 nothing in the Chaldce to limit it to any 
 1 son of God, or to designate any one to 
 whom that term could be applied as pe 
 culiarly intended. It would seem pro 
 bable that our translators meant to convey 
 the idea that the Son of God peculiarly 
 was intended, and doubtless they regarded 
 this as one of his appearances to men 
 before his incarnation ; but it is clear that 
 no such conception entered into the mind 
 of the king of Babylon. The Chaldee is 
 simply, prt ltf-nj ? nip"], like to a son of 
 God, or to a son of the gode as the 
 word fT^iS Elohin (Chald.), or Elohim 
 (Heb.), though often, and indeed usually 
 applied to the true God, is in the plural 
 number, and in the mouth of a heathen 
 would properly be used to denote the 
 gods that he worshipped. The article is 
 not prefixed to the word son, and the 
 language would apply to any one who 
 might properly bo called a ton of God. 
 
 no hurt ; and the form of the fourth 
 is like the Son of God. 
 
 c Prov. 30. 4. Lu. 1. 35. Ro. 1. 4. 
 
 The Vulgate has literally rendered it 
 liko to a son of God senrilis filio 
 Dei; the Greek in the same way 
 bfioia vlfp Scou; the Syrjac is like the Chal 
 dee ; Castellio renders it, quartus formam 
 habet Deo nati similem the fourth has 
 a form resembling one born of God,- Cov- 
 erdale, the fourth is like an angel to 
 look upon; Luther, more definitely, und 
 der vierte ist gleich, als ware er ein Sohn 
 der Gotter and the fourth as if he might 
 be a son of the gods. It is clear that 
 the authors of none of the other ver 
 sions bad the idea which our translators 
 supposed to be conveyed by the text, and 
 which implies that the Babylonian mon 
 arch supposed that the person whom he 
 saw was the one who afterwards became 
 incarnate for our redemption. In accord 
 ance with the common well known usage 
 of the word non in the Hebrew and Chal 
 dee languages, it would denote any one 
 who had a resemblance to another, and 
 would be applied to any being who was of 
 a majestic or dignified appearance, and 
 who seemed worthy to be ranked among 
 the gods. It was usual among the hea 
 then to suppose that the gods often ap 
 peared in a human form, and probably 
 Nebuchadnezzar regarded this as some 
 such celestial appearance. If it be sup 
 posed that he regarded it as some mani 
 festation connected with the Hebrew form 
 of religion, the most that would probably 
 occur to him would be, that it was some 
 angelic being appearing now for the pro 
 tection of these worshippers of Jehovah. 
 But a, second inquiry, and one that is not 
 so easily answered, in regard to this mys 
 terious personage, arises. Who in fact 
 ico* this being that appeared in the fur 
 nace for the protection of these three 
 persecuted men ? Was it an angel, or 
 was it the second person of the Trinity, 
 tlie Son of God? That this was the Son 
 of God the second person of the Trinity, 
 who afterwards became incarnate, Las 
 been quito a common opinion of exposi 
 tors. So it was held by Tertullian, by 
 Augustine, and by Hilary, among the 
 Fathers; and so it has been held by Gill, 
 Clarius, and others among the mod 
 ern*. Of those who have maintained 
 
B. C. 580.] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 that it was Christ, some have supposed 
 that Nebuchadnezzar had been made ac 
 quainted with the belief of the Hebrews 
 in regard to the Messiah ; others, that he 
 spoke under the influence of the Holy 
 Spirit, without being fully aware of what 
 his words imported, as Caiaphas, Saul, 
 Pilate, and others have done. Poole, 
 Syn. The Jewish writers, Jarchi, Saa- 
 diah, and Jacchides, suppose that it was 
 an angel, called a son of God in accord 
 ance with the usual custom in the Scrip 
 tures. That this latter is the correct 
 opinion, will appear evident, though there 
 cannot be exact certainty, from the fol 
 lowing considerations : (1) The language 
 used implies necessarily nothing more. 
 Though it might indeed be applicable to 
 the Messiah the second person of the 
 Trinity, if it could be determined from 
 other sources that it was he, yet there is 
 nothing in the language which necessa 
 rily suggests this. (2) In the explanation 
 of the matter by Nebuchadnezzar him 
 self (ver. 28), he understood it to be an 
 angel "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, 
 <fcc., ivho hath sent his angel," &o. This 
 shows that he had had no other view of 
 the subject, and that he had no higher 
 knowledge in the case than to suppose 
 that he was an angel of God. The know 
 ledge of the existence of angels was so 
 common among the ancients, that there 
 is no improbability in supposing that Ne 
 buchadnezzar was sufficiently instructed 
 on this point to know that they were sent 
 for the protection of the good. (3) The 
 belief that it was an angel accords with 
 what we find elsewhere in this book 
 (comp. ch. vi. 22, vii. 10, ix. 21), and in 
 other places in the sacred scriptures, re 
 specting their being employed to protect 
 and defend the children of God. Comp. 
 Ps. xxxiv. 7, xci. 11, 12; Matt, xviii. 10 ; 
 Luke xvi. 22 ; Heb. i. 14. (4) It may be 
 added, that it should not be supposed 
 that it was the Son of God in the peculiar 
 sense of that term without positive evi 
 dence, and such evidence does not exist. 
 Indeed, there is scarcely a probability 
 that it was so. If the Redeemer ap 
 peared on this occasion, it cannot be ex 
 plained why, in a case equally important 
 and perilous, he did not appear to Daniel 
 when cast into the lions den (ch. vi. 22) ; 
 and as Daniel then attributed his deliv 
 erance to the intervention of an angel, 
 there is every reason why the same ex- 
 
 ir 
 
 planation should be given of this passage. 
 As to the probability that an angel would 
 be employed on an occasion like this, it 
 may be observed, that it is in accordance 
 with the uniform representation of the 
 scriptures, and with what we know to be 
 a great law of the universe. The weak, 
 the feeble, and those who are in danger, 
 are protected by those who are strong ; 
 and there is, in itself, no more improba 
 bility in the supposition that an angel 
 would be employed to work a miraclo 
 than there is that a man would be. Wo 
 are not to suppose that the angel was able 
 to prevent the usual effect of fire by any 
 natural strength of his own. The miracle 
 in the case, like all other miracles, was 
 wrought by the power of God. At the 
 same time, the presence of the angel 
 would be a pledge of the divine protec 
 tion; would be an assurance that the 
 effect produced was not from any natural 
 cause ; would furnish an easy explanation 
 of so remarkable an occurrence ; and, 
 perhaps more than all, would impress the 
 Babylonian monarch and his court with 
 some just views of the divine nature, and 
 with the truth of the religion which was 
 professed by those whom he had cast 
 into the flames. As to the probability 
 that a miracle would be wrought on an 
 occasion like this, it may be remarked that 
 a more appropriate occasion for working a 
 miracle could scarcely be conceived. At 
 a time when the true religion was perse 
 cuted ; at the court of the most powerful 
 heathen monarch in the world; when the 
 temple at Jerusalem was destroyed, and 
 the fires on the altars had been put out, 
 and the people of God were exiles in a 
 distant land, nothing was more probable 
 than that God would give to his people some 
 manifest tokens of his presence, and some 
 striking confirmation of the truth of his 
 religion. There has perhaps never been 
 an occasion when we should more cer 
 tainly expect the evidences of the divine 
 interposition than during the exile of his 
 people in Babylon ; and during their long 
 captivity there it is not easy to conceive 
 of an occasion on which such an interpo 
 sition would be more likely to occur than 
 when, in the very presence of the mon 
 arch and his court, three youths of emi 
 nent devotedness to the cause of God 
 were cast into a burning furnace, be 
 cause they steadfastly refused to dishonour 
 him. 
 
194 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 . C. 580. 
 
 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came 
 near to the a mouth of the burning 
 fiery furnace, and spake, and said, 
 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, 
 ye b servants of the most high c God, 
 come forth, and come hither. Then 
 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, 
 came forth of the midst of the fire. 
 
 27 And the princes, governors, 
 and captains, and the king s coun 
 sellors, being gathered together, saw 
 
 door, b Ga. 1. 10. c Ge. 14. 18. 
 dls. 43. 2. He. 11. 34. 
 
 26. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near 
 the mouth, &c. Marg., door. The Chal- 
 dee word means door, gate, entrance. 
 The form of the furnace is unknown. 
 There was a place, however, through 
 which the fuel was cast into it, and this 
 is doubtless intended by the word door 
 or mouth here used. ^[ Ye servants of the 
 most high God. They had professed to 
 be his servants; he now saw that they 
 were acknowledged as such. The phrase 
 most high God implies that he regarded 
 him as supreme over all other gods, 
 though it is probable that he still retained 
 his belief in the existence of inferior 
 divinities. It was much, however, to 
 secure the acknowledgment of the mon 
 arch of the capital of the heathen world, 
 that the God whom they adored was su 
 preme. The phrase most high God is 
 not often employed in the Scriptures, but 
 in every instance it is used as an appel 
 lation of the true God. ^[ Come forth and 
 come hither. The reasons which seem to 
 have influenced this singular monarch to 
 recall the sentence passed on them, and 
 to attempt to punish them no further, 
 seem to have been, that he had some 
 remains of conscience ; that he was ac 
 customed to pay respect to what he 
 regarded as God ; and that he now saw 
 evidence that a true God was there. 
 
 27. And the princes, governors, and 
 captains. Notes, ver. 3. *| And the king s 
 counsellors. Notes, ver. 24. ^ Being 
 gathered together, saw these men. There 
 could be no mistake about the reality of 
 the miracle. They came out as they 
 were cast in. There could have been no 
 trick, no art, no legerdemain, by which 
 they could have been preserved and re 
 stored. If the facts occurred as they are 
 ttated here, then there can be no doubt 
 
 these men, upon whose bodies the 
 fire had d no power, nor was a hair 
 of their head singed, neither were 
 their coats changed, nor the smell 
 of fire had passed on them. 
 
 28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, 
 and said, Blessed be the God of Sha 
 drach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, 
 who hath sent his e angel, and de 
 livered his servants that trusted f in 
 him, and have changed the king s 
 
 Ge. 19. 15, 16. Ps. 34. 7, 8; 103. 20. He. 1.14. 
 fJe. 17. 7. c. 6.22, 23. 
 
 that this was a real miracle. f Upon 
 whose bodies the fire had no power. That 
 is, the usual power of fire on the human 
 body was prevented, f Nor was a hair 
 of their head singed. That which would 
 be most likely to have burned. The de 
 sign is to show that the fire had produced 
 absolutely no effect on them, ^f Neither 
 were their coats changed. On the word 
 coats, see Notes on ver. 21. The word 
 changed, means that there was no change 
 caused by the fire either in their colour 
 or their texture. ^[ Nor had the smell of 
 fire passed on them. Not the slightest 
 effect had been produced by the fire, not 
 even so much as to occasion the smell 
 caused by fire when cloth is singed or 
 burned. Perhaps, however, sulphur or 
 pitch had been used in heating the fur 
 nace, and the idea may be, that their 
 preservation had been so entire that not 
 even the smell of the smoke caused by 
 those combustibles could be perceived. 
 
 28. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and 
 said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, &c. 
 On the characteristic of mind thus evinced 
 by this monarch, see the Notes and Prac 
 tical Ptemarks on ch. ii. 46, 47. f Which 
 hath sent his angel. This proves that tho 
 king regarded this mysterious fourth per 
 sonage as an angel, and that he used the 
 phrase (ver. 25,) is like the son of God, 
 only in that sense. That an angel should 
 be employed on an embassage of this 
 kind, we have seen is in accordance with 
 the current statements of the Scriptures. 
 Comp. Excursas I. to Prof. Stuart on the 
 Apocalypse. See also Luke i. 11 20, 26 
 38; Matt. i. 20, 21, ii. 13, 19, 20, iv. 11, 
 xviii. 10: Acts xii. 715; Gen. xxxii. 
 1,2 , 2 Kings vi. 17; Ex. xiv. 19, xxiii. 
 20, xxxiii. 2; Num. xx. 16; Josh. v. 13; 
 Isa. Ixiii. 9 ; Dan. x. 513, 20,21, xii. 1. 
 
B. C. 580.] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 195 
 
 word, and yielded their a bodies, 
 that they might not serve nor wor 
 ship any God, except their own God. 
 29 Therefore b I make a e decree, 
 That every people, nation, and lan- 
 
 a Ro. 12. 1. He. 11. 37. b a decree, is made by me. 
 
 ^ And have changed the king s icord. 
 That is, his purpose or command. Their 
 conduct, and the divine protection in 
 consequence of their conduct, had had the 
 efl ect wholly to change his purpose to 
 wards them. He had resolved to destroy 
 them; he now resolved to honour them. 
 This is referred to by the monarch him 
 self as a remarkable result, as indeed it 
 was that an eastern despot who had re 
 solved on the signal punishment of any 
 of his subjects should be so entirely 
 changed in his purposes towards them. 
 ^[ And yielded their bodies. The Greek 
 adds here a s Kp to the "fire/ So the 
 Arabic. This is doubtless the sense of 
 the passage. The meaning is, that rather 
 than bow down to worship gods which 
 they regarded as no gods ; rather than 
 violate their consciences and do wrong, 
 they had preferred to be cast into the 
 flames, committing themselves to the 
 protection of God. It is implied here 
 that they had done this voluntarily, and 
 that they might easily have avoided it if 
 they had chosen to obey the king. He 
 had given them time to deliberate on the 
 subject (vs. 14, 15,) and he knew that 
 they had resolved to pursue the course 
 which they did from principle, no matter 
 what might be the results, vs. 16 18. 
 This strength of principle ; this obedience 
 to the dictates of conscience ; this de 
 termination not to do wrong at any 
 hazard, he could not but respect; and 
 this is a remarkable instance to show that 
 a firm and steady course in doing what 
 is right, will command the respect of 
 even wicked men. This monarch, with 
 all his pride, and haughtiness, and 
 tyranny, had not a few generous quali 
 ties, and some of the finest illustrations 
 of human nature were furnished by him. 
 ^[ That they might not serve nor worship 
 any God, except their own God. They 
 gave up their bodies to the flame rather 
 than do this. 
 
 29. Therefore I make a decree. Marg., 
 A decree is made by me. Chald. And 
 from me, a decree is laid down/ or en- 
 
 guage, which speak a any thing 
 amiss against the God of Shadrach, 
 Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be 
 e cut in f pieces, and their houses 
 shall be made a dunghill : because 
 
 A err or. e made. f c. 2. 5. 
 
 acted. This Chaldee word cyt? means 
 properly taste, flavour; then judgment, 
 the power of discerning apparently as of 
 one who can judge of wine, &c., by the 
 taste ; then the sentence, the decree 
 which is consequent on an act of judging 
 always retaining the idea that the de 
 termination or decree is based on a con 
 ception of the true merits of the case. 
 The decree in this case was not designed 
 to be regarded as arbitrary, but as being 
 founded on what was right and proper. 
 He had seen evidence that the God whom 
 these three youths worshipped was a true 
 God, and was able to protect those who 
 trusted in him, and regarding him as a 
 real God, he made this proclamation that 
 respect should be shown to him through 
 out his extended realm. ^ That every 
 people, nation, and language. This de 
 cree is in accordance with the usual style 
 of an Oriental monarch. It was, however, 
 a fact that the empire of Nebuchad 
 nezzar extended over nearly all of the 
 then known world. ^[ Which speak any 
 thing amiss. Marg., error. The Chaldee 
 word n^K* means error, wrong, and it 
 refers here to any thing that would bo 
 fitted to lead the minds of men astray in 
 regard to the true character of the God 
 whom these persons worshipped. The 
 Vulgate renders it blasphemy. So also it 
 is rendered in the Greek ,/?Aaa$/j/Lu ai . 
 The intention was, that their God was to 
 be acknowledged as a God of eminent 
 power and rank. It does not appear that 
 Nebuchadnezzar meant that he should be 
 regarded as the only true God, but he 
 was willing, in accordance with the pre 
 vailing notions of idolatry, that he should 
 take his place among the gods, and a 
 most honoured place. ^ Shall be cut in 
 pieces. Marg., made. This was a spe 
 cies of punishment that was common in 
 many ancient nations. Gesenius. IF And 
 their houses shall be made a dunghill. 
 Comp. 2 Kings x. 27. The idea is, that 
 the utmost possible dishonour and con 
 tempt should be placed on their houses 
 
196 
 
 there is no other God that can de 
 liver after this sort. 
 
 30 f Then the king a promoted 
 
 DANIEL. [B. C. 580. 
 
 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, 
 in the province of Babylon. 
 
 oy devoting ihem to the most vile and 
 offensive uses. IF Because there is no other 
 God that can deliver after this sort. He 
 does not say that there was no other god 
 at all, for his mind had not yet reached 
 this conclusion, but there was no other 
 one who had equal power with the God 
 of the Hebrews. He had seen a manifes 
 tation of his power in the preservation of 
 the three Hebrews, such as no other god 
 had ever exhibited, and he was willing 
 to admit that in this respect he surpassed 
 all other divinities. 
 
 30. Then the king promoted Shadrach, 
 &c. Marg., made to prosper. The 
 Chaklee means no more than made to 
 prosper. Whether he restored them to 
 their former places, or to higher honours, 
 does not appear. There would be, how 
 ever, nothing inconsistent with his usual 
 course in supposing that he raised them 
 to more exalted stations. IT In the pro 
 vince of Babylon. See Notes on ch. ii. 
 
 made to prosper. 
 
 49. The Greek and the Arabic add here, 
 "And he counted them worthy to preside 
 over all the Jews that were in his king 
 dom." But nothing of this is found in 
 the Chaldee, and it is not known by 
 whom this addition was made. 
 
 In the Vulgate and the Greek versions, 
 and in some of the critical editions of the 
 Hebrew Scriptures (Walton, Hahn, <fcc.), 
 the three first verses of the following 
 chapter are subjoined to this. It is well 
 known that the divisions of the chapters 
 are of no authority, but it is clear that 
 these verses belong more appropriately 
 to the following chapter than to this, as 
 the reason there assigned by the mon 
 arch for the proclamation is what occurred 
 to himself, (ver. 2,) rather than what he 
 had witnessed in others. The division, 
 therefore, which is made in our com 
 mon version of the Bible, and in the 
 Syriac and the Arabic, is the correct 
 one. 
 
 PRACTICAL REMARKS. 
 
 I. The instance recorded in this chapter (vs. 1 7.) is not improbably the first case Avhich 
 ever occurred in the world, of an attempt to produce conformity in idolatrous worship by penal 
 statute. It has, however, been .abundantly imitated since, alike in the heathen and in the 
 nominally Christian world. There are no portions of history more interesting than those which 
 describe the progress of religious liberty ; the various steps which have been taken to reach the 
 result which has now been arrived at, and to settle the principles which are now regarded as 
 the true ones. Between the views which were formerly entertained, and which are still enter 
 tained in many countries, and those which constitute the Protestant notions on the subject, 
 there is a greater difference than there is in regard to civil rights between the views which pre 
 vail under an Oriental despotism, and the most enlarged and enlightened notions of civil free 
 dom. The views which have prevailed on the subject are the following : 1. The general doc 
 trine among the heathen has been, that there were many gods in heaven and earth, and that 
 all were entitled to reverence. One nation was supposed to have as good a right to worship its 
 own gods as another, and it was regarded as at least an act of courtesy to show respect to the 
 gods that any nation adored, in the same way as respect would be shown to the sovereigns who 
 presided over them. Hence the gods of all nations could be consistently introduced into the 
 Pantheon at Koine; hence there were few attempts to proselyte among the heathen; and hence 
 it was not common to persecute those who worshipped other gods. Persecution of idolaters by 
 those who were idolaters, was, therefore, rarely known among the heathen, and toleration was 
 not contrary to the views which prevailed, provided the gods of the country were recognized. 
 In ancient Chaldee, Assyria, Greece, and Home in the earliest ages, persecution was rare, and the 
 toleration of other forms of religion was usual. 2. The views which have prevailed lead 
 ing to persecution, and which are a violation, as we suppose, of all just notions of liberty 
 on the subject of religion, are the following: (a) Those among the heathen which, as in 
 the case of Nebuchadnezzar, require all to worship a particular god that should be set up. 
 In such a case, it is clear that while all who were idolaters^ and who supposed that all the 
 gods worshipped by others should be respected, could render homage; it is also clear that 
 those who regarded all idols as false gods, and believed that none of them ought to be wor 
 shipped, could not comply with the command. Such was the case with the Jews who were 
 in Babylon (vs. 8 18,) for supposing that there was but one God, it was plain that they could 
 not render homage to any other. While, therefore, every idolater could render homage to any 
 Viol, the Hebrew could render homage to none, (b) The views among the heathen prohibiting 
 
B.C. 580.] CHAPTER III. 197 
 
 the exercise of a certain kind of religion. According to the prevailing views, no mode of reli 
 gion could be tolerated which would maintain that all the gods that were worshipped were 
 false. B01igk>B was supposed to be identified with the best interests of the state, and was 
 recognized by the laws, and protected by the laws. To deny the claim, therefore, of any and 
 of all the gods that were worshipped; to maintain that all were false alike; to call on men to 
 forsake their idols, and to embrace a new religion all this was regarded as an attack on the 
 state. This was the attitude which Christianity assumed towards the religions of the Roman 
 empire, and it was this which led to the fiery persecutions which prevailed there. While Rome 
 could consistently tolerate any form of idolatry that would recognize the religion established 
 by the state, it could not tolerate a system which maintained that all idolatry was wrong. It 
 would allow another god to be placed in the Pantheon, but it could not recognize a system which 
 would remove every god from that temple. Christianity, then, made war on the system of 
 idolatry that prevailed in the Roman empire in two respects : in proclaiming a purer religion, 
 denouncing all the corruptions which idolatry had engendered, and which it countenanced ; 
 and in denying altogether that the gods which were worshipped were true gods thus arraying 
 itself against the laws, the priesthood, the venerable institutions, and all the passions and pre 
 judices of the people. Those views may be thus summed up : (a) all the gods worshipped by 
 others were to be recognized; (b) new ones might be introduced by authority of the state; 
 (c) the gods which the state approved and acknowledged were to be honoured by all ; (d) if 
 any persons denied their existence, and their claims to homage, they were to be treated as 
 enemies of the state. It was on this last principle that persecutions ever arose under the 
 heathen forms of religion. Infidels, indeed, have been accustomed to charge Christianity 
 with all the persecutions on account of religion, and to speak in high terms of "the mild 
 tolerance of the ancient heathens ;" of " the universal toleration of polytheism ;" of " the Ro 
 man princes beholding without concern a thousand forms of religion subsisting in peace un 
 der their gentle sway." Gibbon. But it should be remembered that pagan nations required of 
 every citizen conformity to their national idolatries. When this was refused, persecution arose as 
 a matter of course. Stilpo was banished from Athens for affirming that the statue of Minerva 
 in the citadel was no divinity, but only the work of the chisel of Phidias. Protagoras received 
 a similar punishment for this sentence: "Whether there be gods or not, I have nothing to 
 offer." Prodicus, and his pupil Socrates, suffered death for opinions at variance with the estab 
 lished idolatry of Athens. Alcibiades and ^Eschylus narrowly escaped a like end for a similar 
 cause. Cicero lays it down as a principle of legislation entirely conformable to the laws of the 
 Roman state, that " no man shall have separate gods for himself; and no man shall worship by 
 himself new or foreign gods, unless they have been publicly acknowledged by the laws of the 
 state." De Legibus, 1L 8. Julius Paulus, the Roman civilian, gives the following as a leading 
 feature of the Roman law : " Those who introduced new religions, or such as were unknown in 
 their tendency and nature, by which the minds of men might be agitated, were degraded, if they 
 belonged to the higher ranks, and if they were in a lower state, were punished with death." 
 See Mcllvaiue s Lectures on the Evidences of Christianity, pp. 427 129. (p) The attempts 
 made to produce conformity in countries where the Christian system has prevailed. In such 
 countries, as among the heathen, it has been supposed that religion is an important auxiliary 
 to the purposes of the state, and that it is proper that the state should not only prefect it, but 
 regulate it. It has claimed the right, therefore, to prescribe the form of religion which shall 
 prevail; to require conformity to that, and to punish all who did not conform to the established 
 mode of worship. This attempt to produce conformity has led to most of the persecutions of 
 modern times. 3. The principles which have been settled by the discussions and agitations of past 
 times, and which are recognized in ail countries where there are any just views of religious liberty, 
 and which are destined yet to be universally recognized, are the following : (a) There is to be, 
 on the subject of religion, perfect liberty to worship God in the manner that shall be most in 
 accordance with the views of the individual himself, provided in doing it he does not interfere 
 with the rights, or disturb the worship of others. It is not merely that men are to be tolerated 
 in the exercise of their religion for the word tolerate would seem to imply that the state had 
 some right of control in the matter but the true word to express the idea is liberty, (b) The 
 state is to protect all in the enjoyment of these equal rights. Its authority does not go beyond 
 this; its duty demands this. These two principles compose all that are required on the subject 
 of religious liberty. They have been in our world, however, principles of slow growth. They 
 were unknown in Greece for Socrates died because they were cot unck rstccd; they were 
 unknown in Rome f6r the state claimed the power to determine what gods should be 
 admitted into the Pantheon ; they were unknown even in Judea for a national or state reli 
 gion was established there ; they were unknown in Babylon for the monarch there claimed 
 the right of enforcing conformity to the national religion; they were jinknown in Europe in 
 the middle ages for all the horrors of the inquisition grew out of the fact that they were not 
 understood; they are unknown in Turkey, and China, and Persia for the state regards reli 
 gion as under its control. The doctrine of entire freedom in religion ; of perfect liberty to worship 
 Uod according to our own views of right, is the last point which society is to reach in this direction. 
 It is impossible to conceive that there is to be anything beyond this which mankind are to 
 desire in the progress towards the perfection of the social organization ; and when this shall be 
 everywhere reached, the affairs of the world will be placed on a permanent footing. 
 
 II. In the spirit evinced by the three young men, and the answer which they gave, when 
 accused of not worshipping the- image, and when threatened with a horrid death, we have a 
 ocautif ul illustration of the nature and value of the religion of principle, vs. 1218. To enable ua 
 17* 
 
198 DANIEL. [B. C 380. 
 
 jo see the force of this example, and to appreciate its value, we are to remember that these 
 were yet comparatively young men ; that they were captives in a distant land ; that they had 
 no powerful friends at court; that they had had, compared with what we now have, few advan 
 tages of instruction ; that they were threatened with a most horrid death ; and that they had 
 nothing of a worldly nature to hope for by refusing compliance with the king s commands. 
 This instance is of value to us, because it is not only important to have religion, but to have the 
 best Jdnd of religion ; and it is doubtless in order that we may have this, that such examples 
 are set before us in the scriptures. In regard to this kind of religion, there are three inqxiiries 
 which would present themselves : on what is it founded ? what will it lead us to do? and what 
 is its value? (1) It is founded mainly on two things: an intelligent view of duty, and fixed 
 principle, (a) An intelligent view of duty ; an acquaintance with what is right, and what is 
 wrong. These young men had made up their ininds intelligently, that it was right to worship 
 God, and that it was wrong to render homage to an idol. This was not obstinacy. Obstinacy 
 exists where a man has made up his mind, and resolves to act, without any good reason, or 
 without an intelligent view of what is right or wrong, and where he adheres to his purpose not 
 because it is right, but from the influence of mere will. The religion of principle is always 
 found where there is an intelligent view of what is right, and a man can give a reason for what 
 he does, (ft) This religion is founded on a determination to do what is right, and not to do 
 what is wrong. The question is not what is expedient, or popular, or honourable, or lucrative, 
 or pleasant, but what is right. (2) What will such a religion lead us to do? This question 
 may be answered by a reference to the case before us, and it will be found that it will lead us to do 
 these things: (a) To do our duty without being solicitous or anxious about the results, ver.16. 
 
 (b) To put confidence in God, feeling that if he pleases, he can protect us from danger, ver. 17. 
 
 (c) To do our duty, whatever may be the consequences whether he protects us or not. ver. 18. 
 (3) What is the value of this kind of religion ? (a) It is the only kind in which there is any fixed and 
 certain standard. If a man regulates his opinions and conduct from expediency, or from respect 
 to the opinions of others, or from feeling, or from popular impulses, there is no standard ; there 
 is nothing settled or definite. Now one thing is popular, now another ; to-day the feelings may 
 prompt to one thing, to-morrow to another ; at one time expediency will suggest one course, 
 at another a different course, (b) It is the only kind of religion on which reliance can be 
 placed. In endeavouring to spread the gospel ; to meet the evils which are in the world : to 
 promote the cause of temperance, chastity, liberty, truth, and peace, the only thing on which 
 permanent reliance can be placed is the religion of principle. And (c) it is the only religion 
 which is certainly genuine. A man may see much poetic beauty in religion ; he may have much 
 of the religion of sentiment; he may admire God in the grandeur of his works; he may have 
 warm feelings easily enkindled on the subject of religion, and may even weep at the foot of the 
 cross in view of the wrongs and woes that the Saviour endured ; he may be impressed with the 
 forms, and pomp, and splendour of gorgeous worship, and still have no genuine repentance for 
 his sins, no saving faith in the Redeemer, no real love to God. 
 
 III. We have in this chapter (vs. 19 23,) an affecting case of an attempt to punish men for 
 holding certain opinions, and for acting in conformity with them. When we read of an instance 
 of persecution like this, it occurs to us to ask the following questions: What is persecution? 
 why has it been permitted by God ? and what effects have followed from it ? (1) What is persecu 
 tion? It is pain inflicted, or some loss, or disadvantage in person, family, or office, on account 
 of holding certain opinions. It has had two objects ; one to punish men for holding certain opi 
 nions, as if the persecutor had a right to regard this as an offence against the state; and the 
 other a professed view to reclaim those who are made to suffer, and to save their souls. In 
 regard to the pain or suffering involved in persecution, it is not material what kind of pain is 
 inflicted in order to constitute persecution. Any bodily suffering; any deprivation of comfort ; 
 any exclusion from office; any holding up of one to public reproach ; or any form of ridicule, 
 constitutes the essence of persecution. It may be added, that not a few of the inventions most 
 distinguished for inflicting pain, and known as refinements of cruelly, have been originated in 
 times of persecution, and would propably have been unknown if it had not been for the pur 
 pose of restraining men from the free exercise of religious opinions. The Inquisition has been 
 most eminent in this; and within the walls of that dreaded institution, it is probable that 
 human ingenuity has been exhausted in devising the most refined modes of inflicting torture 
 on the human frame. (2) Why has this been permitted ? Among the reasons why it has been 
 permitted, may be the following: (a) To show the power and reality of religion. It seemed 
 desirable to subject it to all kinds of trial, in order to show that its existence could not be ac 
 counted for except on the supposition that it is from God. If men had never been called on to 
 suffer on account of religion, it would have been ea^y for the enemy of religion to allege that 
 there was little evidence that it was genuine, or was of value, for it had never been tried. 
 Comp. Job i. 9 11. As it is, it has been subjected to every form of trial which wicked men could 
 devise, and has shown itself to be adapted to meet them all. The work of the martyrs has been 
 well done ; and religion in the times of martyrdom lias shown itself to be all that it is desirable 
 it should be. (ft) In order to promote its spread in the world. The blood of the martyrs 
 has been the seed of Ihe church, and it is probable that religion in past times has owed much 
 uf its purity, and of its diffusion, to the fact that it has been persecuted, (c) To fit the sufferers 
 for an exalted place in heaven. They who have suffered persecution needed trials as well as 
 others, for all Christians need them and theirs came in this form. Some of the most lovely 
 traits of Christian character have been brought out in connection with persecution, and some 
 01 the most triumphant exhibitions of preparation for heaven have been made at the stake. 
 
fl. C. 570.] CHAPTER IV. 199 
 
 ^3) What have been the effects of persecution? (a) It has been the settled point that the Chris 
 tian religion cannot be destroyed by persecution. There is no power to be brought against it 
 more mighty than, for example, was that of the Roman empire ; and it is impossible to conceive 
 that there should be grefiter refinements of cruelty than have been employed, (b) The effect 
 has been to diffuse the religion which has been persecuted. The manner in which the sufferings 
 inflicted have been endured, has shown that there is reality and power in it. It is also a law of 
 human nature to sympathize with the wronged and the oppressed, and we insensibly learn to 
 transfer the sympathy which we have for these persons to their opinions. When we see one 
 vrho is wronged, we soon find our hearts beating in unison with his, and soon find ourselves 
 taking sides with him in everything. 
 
 IV. We have in this chapter (vs. 24 27,) an instructive illustration of the protection which 
 God affords his people in times of trial. These men were thrown into the furnace on account 
 of their obedience to God, and their refusal to do that which they knew he would not approve. 
 The result showed, by a most manifest miracle, that they were right in the course which they 
 took, and their conduct was the occasion of furnishing a most striking proof of the wisdom of 
 trusting in God in the faithful performance of duty, irrespective of consequences. Similar 
 illustrations were furnished in the case of Daniel in the lion s den, (ch. vi. 16 22,) and of Peter, 
 (Acts xii. 1 10.) But a question of much interest arises here, which is, What kind of protection 
 may we look for now ? (1) There are numerous promises made to the righteous of every age and 
 countiy. They are not promises indeed of miraculous interference, but they are promises of 
 an, interposition of some kind in their behalf, which will show that " it is not a vain thing 
 to serve God." Among them, are those recorded in the following places : 2 Chron. xvi. 9 ; 
 Ps. iv. 3, v. 12, xv. 15, xxxvii.3 10, IT 26, 34 40, Iviii. 11, Ixxxiv. 11, xcii. 1215, xcvii. 11, 
 cxii. 15; Prov. iii. 3, 4, 3135, x. 2, 3, 69, 2530, xiii. 621, 22, xiv. 3034, xvi. 8, xx. 7, 
 xxi. 21 ; Isa. xxxii. 17, xxxiii. 15, 16; Matt, vi.33; 1 Tim. iv. 8, 9, vi. 6 ; 1 Pet. iii. 1013 ; John 
 xii. 26; Ex. xx. 5, 6; Ps. ix. 9, 10, xxiii. 4, xlvi. 1, Iv. 22; Isa. liv. 7, 8; Matt. v. 4; Job v. 19. 
 (2) In regard to the kind of interposition that we may look for now, or the nature of the favours 
 
 Implied in these promises, it may be observed: (a) That we are not to look for any miraculous 
 interpositions in our favour. (6) We arc not to expect that there will be on earth an exact 
 adjustment of the divine dealings according to the deserts of all persons, or according to the prin 
 ciples of a completed moral government, when there will be a perfect system of rewards and 
 punishments, (c) We are not to expect that there will be such manifest and open rewards of 
 obedience, and such direct and constant benefits resulting from religion in this world, as to lead 
 men merely from these to serve and worship God. If religion were always attended with pros 
 perity ; if the righteous were never persecuted, were never poor, or were never bereaved, multi 
 tudes would be induced to become religious, as many followed the Saviour, ; not because they 
 paw the miracles, but because they did cat of the loaves and fishes, and were filled, John vi. 26. 
 While, therefore, in the divine administration here it is proper that there should be so many 
 and so marked interpositions in favour of the good as to show that God is the friend of his peo 
 ple, it is not proper that there should be so many that men would be induced to engage in his 
 service for the love of the reward rather than for the sake of the service itself; because they are 
 to be happy, rather than because they love virtue. It may be expected, therefore, that while 
 the general course of the divine administration will be in favour of virtue, there may be much 
 intermingled with this that will appear to be of a contrary kind ; much that will be fitted to 
 test the faith of the people of God, and to show that they love his service for its own sake. 
 
 V. We have in vs. 28 30, a striking instance of the effect which an adherence to principle 
 will produce on the minds of worldly and wicked men. Such men have no love for religion, 
 but they can see that a certain course accords with the views which are professedly held, and 
 that it indicates high integrity. They can see that firmness and consistency are worthy of 
 commendation and reward. They can see, as Nebuchadnezzar did in this case, that such a 
 course will secure the divine favour, and they will be disposed to honour it on that account. 
 For a time, a tortuous course may seem to prosper, but in the end, solid fame, high rewards, 
 honourable offices, and a grateful remembrance after death, follow in the path of strict integrity 
 and unbending virtue. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1. AUTHENTICITY OF THE CHAPTER. 
 
 To the authenticity of this chapter, as to the preceding, objections and difficulties have been 
 urged, sufficient in the view of the objectors to destroy its credibility as a historical narrative. 
 Those objections, which may be seen at length in Bcrtholdt, (pp. 7072, 285309,) Bleek, (Theol. 
 Zeitscrift, Drittes Heft, 268, seq..) and Eichhorn (Einlei. iv. 471, seq.,) relate mainly to two 
 points : those derived from the want of historical proofs to confirm the narrative ; and those 
 derived from its alleged intrinsic improbability. 
 
200 DANIEL. [B. C. 570. 
 
 I. The former of these, derived from the want of historic confirmation of the truth of the 
 narrative, are summarily the following: (1) That the historical hooks of the Old Testament 
 give no intimation that these remarkable things happened to Nebuchadnezzar, that he was 
 deranged, and driven from his throne, and made to dwell under the open heaven with the beasts 
 of the field an omission which, it is said, we cannot suppose would have occurred if these things 
 had happened, since the Hebrew writers, on account of the wrongs which Nebuchadnezzar had 
 done to their nation, would have certainly seized on such facts as a demonstration of the divine 
 displeasure against him. (2) There is no record of these events among the heathen writers of 
 antiquity; no writer among the Greeks, or other nations, ever having mentioned them. (3) It 
 is equally remarkable that Josephus, in his narrative of the sickness of Nebuchadnezzar, makes 
 no allusion to any knowledge of this among other nations, and shows that he derived his infor 
 mation only from the sacred hooks of his own people. (4) It is acknowledged by Origen and 
 Jerome that they could find no historical grounds for the truth of this account. (5)1 f these 
 things had occurred, as here related, they would not have been thus concealed, for the king 
 himself took all possible measures by the edict referred to in this chapter, to make them known, 
 and to make a permanent record of them. How could it have happened that all knowledge 
 would have been lost if they had thus occurred? (6) If the edict was lost, how was it ever 
 recovered again? When, and where, and by whom, was it found? If actually issued, it was de 
 signed to make the case known throughout the empire. Why did it fail of producing that effect 
 so as not to have been forgotten? If it was lost, how was the event known? And if it was 
 lost, how could it have been recovered and recorded by the author of this book ? Comp. Ber- 
 tholdt, p. 298. 
 
 To these objections, it may he replied, (1) That the silence of the historical books of the Old 
 Testament furnishes no well-founded objection to what is said in this chapter, for none of them 
 pretend to bring down the history of Nebuchadnezzar to the close of his life, or to this period of 
 his life. The hooks of Kings and of Chronicles mention his invasion of the laud of Palestine 
 and of Egypt; they record the fact of his carrying away the children of Israel to Babylon, but 
 they do not profess to make any record of what occurred to him after that, nor of the close of 
 his life. The second hook of Chronicles closes with an account of the removal of the Jews to 
 Babylon, and the carrying away of the sacred vessels of the temple, and the burning of the 
 temple, and the destruction of the city, but does not relate the history of Nebuchadnezzar 
 any farther. 2 Chron. xxxvi. The silence of the book cannot, therefore, be alleged as an 
 argument against anything that may be said to have occurred after that. As the history 
 closes there ; as the design was to give a record of Jewish affairs to the carrying away to Baby 
 lon, and not a history of Nebuchadnezzar as such, there is no ground of objection furnished 
 by this silence in regard to anything that might be said to have occurred to Nebuchadnezzar 
 subsequently to this in his own kingdom. 
 
 In regard to profane writers, also, nothing can be argued as to the improbability of the 
 account mentioned here from their silence on the subject. It is not remarkable that in the 
 few fragments which are found in their writings respecting the kings and empires of the East, 
 an occurrence of this kind should have been omitted. The general worthlessness or Avant of 
 value of the historical writings of the Greeks in respect to foreign nations, from which we 
 derive most of our knowledge of those nations, is now generally admitted, and is expressly 
 maintained by Niebuhr, and by Sclosser (see Hengstenberg, Die Authentic des Daniel, p. 101), 
 and most of these writers make no allusion at all to Nebuchadnezzar. Even Herodotus, who 
 travelled into the East, and who collected all he could of the history of the world, makes no 
 mention whatever of a conqueror so illustrious as Nebuchadnezzar. How could it be expected 
 that when they have omitted all notice of his conquests; of the great events under him, 
 which exerted so important an effect on the world, there should have been a record of 
 an occurrence like that referred to in this chapter an occurrence that seems to have ex 
 erted no influence whatever on the foreign relations of the empire? It is remarkable that 
 Josephus, who searched for all that he could find to illustrate the literature and history of the 
 Chaldees, says (Ant. B. x. ch. xi. g 1,) that he could find only the following " histories as all 
 that he had met with concerning this king : Berosus, in the third book of his Chaldaic history ; 
 Philostratus, in the history of Judea and of the Phoenicians, who only mentions him in respect 
 to his siege of Tyre; the Indian history of Megasthenes lj/<5i*u in which the only fact which 
 is mentioned of him is that he plundered Lybiaand Iberia; and the Persian history of Diocles, 
 in which there occurs but one solitary reference to Nebuchadnezzar." To these he adds, in 
 his work against Appian (B. i. 20.) a reference to the " Archives of the Phoenicians," in which 
 it is said that " he conquered Syria and Phoenicia." Berosus is the only one who pretends to 
 give any extended account of him. See Ant. B. x. ch.xi. g 1. All those authorities mentioned by 
 Josephus, therefore, except Berosus, may be set aside, since they have made no allusion to many 
 undeniable facts in the life of Nebuchadnezzar, and, therefore, the events referred to in this 
 chapter may have occurred, though they have not related them. There remain two authors 
 who have noticed Nebuchadnezzar at greater length, Abydenus and Berosus. Abydenus was 
 n. Greek who lived 268 B. C. He wrote, in Greek, an historical account of the Chaldeans, Baby 
 lonians, and Assyrians, only a few fragments of which have teen preserved by Eus cbiup, Cyrill, 
 md Syncellus. Berosus was a Chaldean, and was a priest in the temple of Belus, in the time 
 .f Alexander, and having learned of the Macedonians the Greek language, he went to Greece, 
 and opened a school of astronomy and astrology in the island of Cos, where his productions 
 jcquired for him great fame with the Athenians. Abydenus was his pupil . Berosus wrote three 
 sooks relative to the history of the Chaldeans, of which only some fragments are preserved in 
 
B.C. 570.] CHAPTEK IV. 201 
 
 Josephus and Euscbius. As a priest of Bel us he possessed every advantage -which could be 
 desired for obtaining a knowledge of the Chaldeans, and if his work had been preserved it 
 would doubtless be of great value. Both these writers professedly derived their knowledge 
 from the traditions of the Chaldeans, and both should be regarded as good authority. 
 
 Berpsus is adduced by Josephus to confirm the truth of the historical records in the Old Tes 
 tament. He mentions, according to Josephus, the deluge in the time of Noah, and the account 
 of the resting of the ark on one of the mountains of Armenia. He gives a catalogue of the 
 descendants of Noah, and " at length comes down to Nabolasser, who was king of Babylon and 
 of the Chaldeans." He then mentions the expedition of his son, Nebuchodonosor (Nebuchad 
 nezzar), against the Egyptians; the capture of Jerusalem; the burning of the temple; and the 
 removal of the Jews to Babylon. He then mentions the manner in which Nebuchadnezzar 
 succeeded to the throne ; the way in which he distributed his captives in various parts of Baby 
 lonia; his adorning of the temple of Bolus; his rebuilding the old city of Babylon, and the 
 building of another city on the other side of the river ; his adding a new palace to that which 
 his father had built ; and the fact that this palace was finished in fifteen days. After these 
 statements respecting his conquests and the magnificence of his capital, Berosus gives the 
 following narrative : " Nebuchodonosor, after he had begun to build the forementioned wall, fell 
 sick inntautv ( { dppwtriav and departed this life /*77)AAaaro TOV @ioi>" [a phrase meaning 
 to die, see Passow on the word//rdAXa<7<rco] " when he had reigned forty-three years, whereupon 
 his son, Evil-Merodach, obtained the kingdom." Josephus against Apion, B. 1. g 20. Now this 
 narrative is remarkable, and goes in fact to confirm the statement in Daniel in two respects : 
 (a) It is manifest that Berosus here refers to some sickness in the case of Nebuchadnezzar that 
 was unusual, and that probably preceded, for a considerable time, his death. This appears 
 from the fact, that in the case of the other monarchs whom he mentions in immediate connec 
 tion with this narrative, no sickness is alluded to as preceding their death. This is the case 
 with respect to Neriglissor and Nabounedus successors of Nebuchadnezzar. See Jos. against 
 Ap. i. 20. There is no improbability in supposing that what Berosus here calls sickness, is the 
 same which is referred to in the chapter before us. Berosus, himself a Chaldean, might not be 
 desirous of stating all the facts about a monarch of his own country so distinguished, and might 
 not be willing to state all that he knew about his being deprived of reason, and about the 
 manner in which he was treated, and yet what occurred to him was so remarkable, and was so 
 well known, that there seemed to be a necessity of alluding to it in some way ; and this he did 
 in the most general manner possible. If this were his object, also, he would not be likely to 
 mention the fact that he was restored again to the throne. He would endeavour to make it 
 appear as an ordinary event a sickness which preceded death as it may have been the fact 
 that he never was wholly restored so far as to be in perfect health, (b) This statement of Be 
 rosus accords, in respect to time, remarkably with that in Daniel. Both accounts agree that 
 the sickness occurred after he had built Babylon, and towards the close of his reign. 
 
 The other author which is referred to, is Abydcnus. The record which he makes is preserved 
 by Eusebius, prsep. Evang. ix. 41, and Chronicon Armeno-latinum, I. p. 59, and is in the fol 
 lowing words: f/ra ravra 6i, Xiysrai rrpdj XuA^auoy, wj dva{3a$ irrl ra /3aoi\rjia, KaraaXt- 
 ^C r) $a> orOJ <5r?, $3yu/*J Of <? ilirtv ovrof yu) NaflovKodpooopos, cj Ba.#uAwj/ioi, rrv 
 lii\\ovaav Vfjilv TrpoayyfAAw <ru/u</>op>>, rty ore BjAof /*<>j rrpdyoi/Of, jr (3aai\ia BJjArtf 
 
 iv 7ra fa t>ov\oavvr)v, ov 6>i avvairio^ co-rat M7<J7j, TO Aaovptov avXlpa wj tl$e 
 sj* Jj fiofivai rouj TroAu;r<ij 5 Xi/pi/?<5<> nva^ % SaXaaaav i^e^a^.ivr]v. di anoaai 
 )j fjiv uAAaj o<5ou{ orpa(pci>Ta (pcpcoSat Aia rfjs pflp.oV) "iva ovrc aora, ovrs irdrof 
 9f;pj 6c vo^ov i xovffi KOI opviSts rrAuoi>7at, i v re nirprjoi ical x a P<*fynoi \tovvov 
 ffti T 5 nplv et j voov /3a\(r$ai 7ai)ra, rsAfoj d^civovof tcvprjaai. O filv SfaTriaaf 
 ftyavtffro. This passage is so remarkable, that I annex a translation of it, as I find 
 it in Prof. Stuart s work on Daniel, p. 122 : " After these things," [his conquests which the 
 writer had before referred to.] " as it is said by the Chaldeans, having ascended his palace, he 
 was seized by some god, and speaking aloud, he said: I, Nebuchadnezzar, Babylonians, 
 foretel your future calamity, which neither Belus, my ancestor, nor queen Belis, can persuade 
 the destinies to avert. A Persian mule will come, employing your own divinities as his aux 
 iliaries; and he will impose servitude [upon you]. His coadjutor will be the J/erfe, who is the 
 boast of the Assyrians. Would that, before he places my citizens in such a condition, some 
 Chary bdis or gulf might swallow him up with utter destruction ! Or that, turned in a different 
 direction, he might roam in the desert (where are neither cities, nor footsteps of man, but wild 
 beasts find pasturage, and the birds wander.) being there hemmed in by rocks and ravines! 
 May it be my lot to attain to a better end, before such things come into his mind! Having 
 uttered this prediction, he forthwith disappeared." This passage so strongly resembles tho 
 account in Dnniel iv., that even Bertholdt (p. 296) admits that it is identical identiscfi with 
 it, though he still maintains, that although it refers to mental derangement, it does nothing 
 to confirm the account of his being made to live with wild beasts, eating grass, and being 
 restored again to his throne. The points of agreement in the account of Abydenus and that 
 of Daniel are the following: (1) The account of Abydenus, as Bertholdt admits, refers to 
 mental derangement. Such a mental derangement, and the power of prophecy, were in the 
 
202 I) A N I E L . [B. C. 570. 
 
 <riew of the ancients closely connected, or were identical, and were believed to be produced by 
 the overpowering inlluem-e of the gods on the soul. The rational powers of the soul were sup 
 posed to he suspended, and the god took entire possession of the body, and through that com 
 municated the knowledge of future events. Comp. D. ile, do oraculis ethnicorum, p. 172. 
 Eusebius, Chron. Arm. lat. p. 01. In itself considered, moreover, nothing would be more natural 
 than that Nebuchadnezzar, in the malady that came upon him, or when it was coming upon 
 him. would express himself in the manner affirmed by Abydenus respecting the coming of the 
 Persian, and the change that would occur to his own kingdom. If the account in Daniel is 
 true respecting the predictions which he is said to have uttered concerning coming events (ch. 
 ii.), nothing would be more natural than that the mind of the monarch would be filled with 
 the anticipation of these events, and that he would give utterance to his anticipations in a 
 time of mental excitement. (2) There is a remarkable agreement between Abydenus and 
 Daniel in regard to the time and the place in which what is said of the king occurred. Accord 
 ing to Abydenus, the prophetic ecstacy into which he fell was at the close of ail his military 
 expeditions, and occurred in the same place, and in the same circumstances, which are men 
 tioned in the book of Daniel upon his palace apparently as he walked upon the roof, or upon 
 some place where he had a clear view of the surrounding city which he had built avalla*; ixi 
 ra I3a<n\fi ia. (3) The accounts in Abydenus and in Daniel harmonize so far as they relate to 
 the God by whom what occurred was produced. In Daniel it is attributed to the true God, and 
 not to any of the objects of Chaldean worship. It is remarkable that in Abydenus it is not 
 ascribed to an idol, or to any god worshipped by the Chaldees, but to God simply, as to a 
 God that was now known KnraaXt^cirj 5fw orso) 6rj. It would seem from this that even the 
 Chaldec tradition did not attribute what was said by Nebuchadnezzar, or what occurred to 
 him, to tiny of the gods worshipped in Babylon, but to a foreign god, or to one whom they were 
 not accustomed to worship. (4) In the language which Nebuchadnezzar is reported by Abyde 
 nus to have used respecting the return of the Persian king after his conquest, there is a 
 remarkable resemblance to what is said in Daniel, showing that, though the language is applied 
 to different things in Daniel and in Abydenus, it had a common origin. Thus, in the prophecy 
 of Nebuchadnezzar, as reported by Abydenus, it is said, may he, returning through other 
 ways, be borne through the desert where there are no cities, where there is no path for men, 
 where wild beasts graze, and the fowls live, wandering about in the midst of rocks and caves. 
 These considerations show that the Chaldean traditions strongly corroborate the account here; 
 or, that there are things in these traditions which cannot be accounted for except on the sup 
 position of the truth of some such occurrence as that which is here stated in Daniel. The 
 sum of the evidence from history is. (a) that very few things are known of this monarch 
 from, profane history; (b) that there is nothing in what is known of him which makes 
 what is here stated improbable; (c) that there are things related of him which har 
 monize with what is here affirmed ; and (d) that there are traditions which can be best ex 
 plained by sonic such supposition as that the record in this chapter is true. 
 
 As to the objection that if the edict was promulgated it would not be likely to be lost, or the 
 memory of it fade away, it is sufficient to observe that almost all of the edicts, the laws, and the 
 statutes of the Assyrian and Chaldean princes have perished with all the other records of their 
 history, and almost all the facts pertaining to the personal or the public history of these mon- 
 archs are now unknown. It cannot be believed that the few fragments which we now have 
 of their writings are all that were ever composed, and in the thing itself there is no more im 
 probability that this edict should be lost than any other, or that though it may have been kept 
 by a Hebrew residing among them, it should not have been retained by the Chaldeans themselves. 
 As to the question which has been asked, if this were lost how it could have been recovered 
 again, it is sufficient to remark that, for anything that appears, it never ivas lost in the sense 
 that no one had it in his possession. It would undoubtedly come into the hands of Daniel if 
 he were, according to the account in his book, then in Babylon ; and it is not probable that so 
 remarkable a document would be suffered by him to be lost. The fact that it was preserved by 
 him, is all that is needful to answer the questions on that point. It may have been swept 
 away with other matters in the ruin that came upon the Chaldean records in their own 
 country ; it has been preserved where it was most important that it should be preserved in a 
 book w hero it would be to all ages, and in all lands, a signal proof that God reigns over kings, 
 and that he has power to humble and abase the proud. 
 
 II. There is a second slass of objections to the credibility of the account, in this chapter quite 
 distinct from that just noticed. They are based on what is alleged to be the intrinsic improba 
 bility that the things which are said to have occurred to Nebuchadnezzar should have happened. 
 It cannot be alleged, indeed, that it is incredible that a monarch should become a maniac for 
 the kings of the earth arc no more exempt from this terrible malady than their subjects; but 
 the objections here referred to relate to the statements respecting the manner in which it is 
 said that this monarch was treated, and that he lived during this long period. These 
 objections may be briefly noticed. (1) It has been objected, that it is wholly improbable that 
 a monarch at the head of such an empire would, if he became incapable of administering 
 the affairs of government, be FO utterly neglected as the representation here would im 
 ply : that he would be suffered to wander from his palace to live with beasts: to fare as 
 they fared, and to become in his whole appearance so tike a beast. It is indeed admitted by 
 those who make this objection, that there is no improbability that the calamity would befall a 
 kJvg as well as other men ; and Michaelis has remarked that it is even more probable that a mon- 
 
B.C. 570.] CHAPTER IY. 203 
 
 arch would bo thus afflicted than others, (Anm. Z. Dan. p. 41, Comp. Bertholdt, p. 304,) but it 
 is alleged that it is wholly improbable that one so high in office and in power would be treated 
 with the utter neglect which is stated here. " Is it credible," says Bertholdt, (p. 300 303,) 
 " that the royal family, and the royal counsellor!*, should have shown so little care or concern 
 for a monarch who had come into a state so perfectly helpless ? Would no one have sought 
 him out, and brought him back, if he had wandered so far away? Could he anywhere in the 
 open plains, and the regions about Babylon, destitute of forests, have concealed himself so that 
 no one could have found him ? It could only have been by a miracle, that one could have wan 
 dered about for so long a time, amidst the dangers which must have befallen him, without 
 having been destroyed by wild beasts, or falling into some form of irrccovarable ruin. What an 
 unwise policy in a government to exhibit to newly conquered people so dishonourable a 
 spectacle !" 
 
 To this objection it may be replied, (a) that its force, as it was formerly urged, may be some 
 what removed by a correct interpretation of the chapter, and a more accurate knowledge of the 
 disease which came upon the king, and of the manner in which he was actually treated. Accord 
 ing to some views formerly entertained respecting the nature of the malady, it would have been 
 impossible, I admit, to have defended the narrative. In respect to these views, see Notes on 
 ver. 25. It may appear, from the fair interpretation of the whole narrative, that nothing more 
 occurred than was natural in the circumstances, (b) The supposition that he was left to wan 
 der without any kind of oversight or guardianship, is entirely gratuitous, and is unauthorized 
 by the account which Nebuchadnezzar gives of what occurred. This opinion has been partly 
 formed from a false interpretation of the phrase in ver. 36 and my counsellors and my lords 
 sought unto me," as if they had sought him when he was wandering with a view to find out 
 where he was; whereas the true meaning of that passage is, that after his restoration they 
 sought unto him, or applied to him as the head of the empire, as they had formerly done, 
 (c) There is some probability from the passage in ver. 15 " leave the stump of his roots in the 
 earth, even with a, band of iron and brass that Nebuchadnezzar was secxircd in the manner in 
 which maniacs often have been, and that in his rage he was carefully guarded from all danger 
 of injuring himself. See Notes on ver. 15. (c)0n the supposition that he was not, still there 
 might have been all proper care taken to guard him. All that may be implied when it is said 
 that he " was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen," &e., may have been that this was his 
 propensity in that state ; that he had this roving disposition, and was disposed rather to wander 
 in fields and groves, than to dwell in the abodes of men ; and that he was driven by this pro 
 pensity, not by men, to leave his palace, and to take up his residence in parks or groves any 
 where rather than in human habitations. This has been not an uncommon propensity with 
 maniacs, and there is no improbability in supposing that this was permitted by those who had 
 the care of him, as far as was consistent with his safety, and with what was due to him as a 
 monarch, though his reason was driven from its throne. In the parks attached to the palace; 
 in the large pleasure grounds, that were not impi obably stocked with various kinds of animals, 
 as a sort of royal menagerie, there is no improbability in supposing that he may have been 
 allowed at proper times, and with suitable guards, to roam, nor that the fallen and hum 
 bled monarch may have found, in comparatively lucid intervals, a degree of pleasant amuse 
 ment in such grounds, nor even that it might be supposed that this would contribute to his 
 restoration to health. Nor, on any supposition in regard to these statements, even admitting 
 that there was a great degree of criminal inattention on the part of his friends, would his treat 
 ment have been worse than what has usually occurred in respect to the insane. Up to quite a 
 recent period, and even now in many civilised lands, the insane have been treated with tho 
 most gross neglect, and with the severest cruelty, even by their friends. Left to wander where 
 they chose without a protector; unshaven and unwashed; the si ort of the idle and the 
 vicious ; thrown into common jails among felons ; bound with heavy chains to the cold walls 
 of dungeons; confined in cellars or garrets with no fire in the coldeut weather; with insuffi 
 cient clothing, perhaps entirely naked, and in the midst of the most disgusting filth, such 
 treatment, even in Christian lands, and by Christian people, may show that in a heathen land, 
 five hundred years before the light of Christianity dawned upon the world, it is not wholly in 
 credible that an insane monarch migJd have been treated in the manner described in this 
 chapter. If the best friends now may so neglect, or treat with such severity, an insane son or 
 daughter, there is no improbability in supposing, that in an age of comparative barbarism there 
 may have been as little humanity as is implied in this chapter. The following extracts from the 
 Second Annual Report of the Prison Discipline Society, (Boston*) will show what has occurred 
 in the nineteenth century, in this Christian land, and in the old commonwealth of Massachu 
 setts a commonwealth distinguished for morals, and for humane feeling, and will demostrate at 
 the same time that what is here stated about the monarch of heathen Babylon is not unworthy 
 of belief. They refer to the treatment of lunatics in that commonwealth before the establishment 
 of the hospital for the insane at Worcester. " In Massachusetts, by an examination made with 
 care, about thirty lunatics have been found in prison. In one prison were found three ; in an 
 other five ; in another six, and in another ten. It is a source of great complaint with the 
 sheriffs and jailers that they must receive such persons, because they have no suitable accom 
 modations for them. Of those last mentioned, one was found in an apartment in which he had 
 been nine years. He had a wreath of rags around his body, and another around his neck, 
 this was all his clothing. lie had no bed, chair, or bench. Two or three rough planks were 
 Btrewed around the room; a heap of filthy straw, like the nest of swine, was in tho corner. EEe 
 
204 DANIEL. [B. C. 570. 
 
 had built a bird s nest of mud in the iron grate of his den. Connected with his wretched apart 
 ment was a dark dungeon, having no orifice for the admission of light, heat, or air, except the 
 iron door, about two and a half feet square, opening into it from the prison. The other luna 
 tics in the same prison were scattered about in different apartments, with thieves and mur 
 derers, and persons under arrest, but not yet convicted of guilt. In the prison of five lunatics, 
 they were confined in separate cells, which were almost dark dungeons. It was difficult after 
 the door was open to see them distinctly. The ventilation was so incomplete that more than 
 one person on entering them has found the air so fetid as to produce nausea, and almost vomit 
 ing. The old straw on which they were laid, and their filth} garments, were such as to make 
 their insanity more hopeless, and at one time it was not considered within the province of the 
 physician to examine particularly the condition of the lunatics. In these circumstances any 
 improvement of their minds could hardly be expected. Instead of having three out of four 
 restored to reason, as is the fact in some of the favoured Lunatic Asylums, it is to be feared 
 that in these circumstances, some who might otherwise be restored would become incurable, 
 and that others might lose their lives, to say nothing of present c. iffering. In the prison 
 in which were six lunatics their condition was less wretched. But they were sometimes an 
 annoyance, and sometimes a sport to the convicts; and even the apartment in which the 
 females were confined opened into the yard of the men ; there was an injurious interchange of 
 obscenity and profanity between them, which was not restrained by the presence of the keeper. 
 In the prison, or house of correction, so called, in which were ten lunatics, two were found 
 about seventy years of age, a male and female, in the same apartment of an upper story. The 
 female was lying upon aheap of straw under a broken window. The snow in a severe storm 
 was beating through the window, and lay upon the straw around her withered body, which 
 was partially covered with a few filthy and tattered garments. The man was lying in the cor 
 ner of the room in a similar situation, except that he was less exposed to the storm. The 
 former had been in this apartment six, and the latter twenty-one years. Another lunatic in 
 the same prison was found in a plank apartment of the first story, where he had been eight 
 years. During this time he had never left the room but twice. The door of this apartment 
 had not been opened in eighteen months. The food was furnished through a small orifice 
 in the door. The room was warmed by no fire : and still the M oman of the house said he 7tad 
 never froze. As he was seen through the orifice of the door, the first question was, Is that a 
 human being? The hair was gone from one side of his head, and his eyes were like balls of 
 fire. In the cellar of the same prison were five lunatics. The windows of this cellar were no 
 defence against the storm, and, as might be supposed, the woman of the house said, We have 
 a sight to do to keep them from freezing. There was no fire in this cellar which could be felt 
 by four of these lunatics. One of the five had a little fire of turf in an apartment of the cellar 
 by herself. She was, however, infuriate, if any one came near her. The woman was com 
 mitted to this cellar seventeen years ago. The apartments are about six feet by eight. They 
 are made of coarse plank, and have an orifice in the door for the admission of light and air, 
 about six inches by four. The darkness was such in two of these apartments, that nothing 
 could be seen by looking through the orifice in the door. At the same time there was a poor 
 lunatic in each A man who has grown old was committed to one of them in 1810. and had 
 lived in it seventeen years. An emaciated female was fouud in a similar apartment, in the 
 dark, without fire, almost without covering, where she had been nearly two years. A coloured 
 woman in another, in which she had been six years; and a miserable man in another, in 
 which he had been four years." 
 
 (2) It is asked by Bertholdt as an objection, (p. 301,) whether "it is credible that one who 
 had been for so long a time a maniac, would be restored again to the throne; and whether the 
 government would be again placed in his hands, without any apprehension that he would 
 relapse into the same state ? Or whether it can be believed that the lives and fortunes of so 
 many millions would be again entrusted to his will and power?" To these questions it may be 
 replied : (a) That if he was restored to his reason he had a rigid to the throne, and it might not 
 have been a doubtful point whether he should he restored to it or not. (6) It is probable that 
 during that time a regency was appointed, and that there would be a hope entertained that 
 he would be restored. Undoubtedly during the continuation of this malady, the government 
 would be, as was the case during the somewhat similar malady of George III. of Great Britain, 
 placed in the hands of others, and unless there was a revolution, or an usurpation, he would 
 be of course restored to his throne on the recovery of his reason, (c) To this it may be added, 
 that he was a monarch who had been eminently successful in his conquests ; who had done 
 much to enlarge the limits of the empire, and to adorn the capital ; and that much was to be 
 apprehended from the character of his legal successor, Evil-Merodach (Hengstenberg 113,) ; and 
 that if he were displaced, they who were then the chief officers of the nation had reason to 
 suppose that, in accordance with oriental usage on the accession of a new sovereign, they would 
 lose their places. 
 
 (3) It has been asked also, as an objection, whether "it is not to be presumed that Nebuchad 
 nezzar, on the supposition that he was restored from so fearful a malady, would not have em 
 ployed all the means in his power to suppress the knowledge of it; or whether, if any commu 
 nication was made in regard to it, pains would not have been taken to give a colouring to the 
 account by suppressing the real truth, and by attributing the affliction to some other 
 rause ?" Bertholdt, 301. To this it may be replied : (a) that if the representation here made of 
 the cause of his malady is correct, that it was a divine judgment on him for his pride, and that 
 
B. 0. 670.] CHAPTER IV. 205 
 
 God s design in bringing it on him was that he himself might be made known, it is reasonable to 
 presume that, on his restoration, there would be such a divine influence on the mind of the 
 monarch, as to lead him to make this proclamation, or this public recognition of the Most High", 
 (6) that the edict seems to have been made, not as a matter of policy, but under the fresh recol 
 lection of a restoration from so terrible a calamity; (c) that Nebuchadnezzar seems to have been 
 a man who had a conscience that prompted him to a decided acknowledgment of divine inter 
 position ; (d) that he had a strong religious propensity (comp. ch. iii.), and was ready to make 
 any public acknowledgment of that which he regarded as divine ; and (e) that perhaps he sup 
 posed that, by stating the truth as it actually occurred, a better impression might be made 
 than already existed in regard to the nature of the malady. It may have been an object also 
 with him to convince his subjects that, although he had been deprived of his reason, he was 
 now in fact restored to a sound mind. 
 
 (4.) Another ground of objection has been urged by Eichhorn, Bertholdt, and others, derived 
 from the character of the edict. It is said that " the narrative represents Nebuchadnezzar at 
 one time as an orthodox Jew, setting forth his views almost in the very words used in the writ 
 ings of the Jews, and which only a Jew would employ, (see vs. 2, 3, 34 37,) and then again as 
 a mere idolater, using the language which an idolater would employ, and still acknowledging 
 the reality of idol gods, vs. 8, 9, 18." To this it may be replied, that this very circumstance is 
 rather a confirmation of the truth of the account than otherwise. It is just such an account 
 as we should suppose that a monarch, trained up in idolatry, and practising it all his life, and 
 yet suddenly, and in this impressive manner, made acquainted with the true God, would be 
 likely to give. In an edict published by such a monarch under such circumstances, it would 
 be strange if there should be no betrayal of the fact that he had been a worshipper of heathen 
 gods, nor wpuld it be strange that when he disclosed his dream to Daniel, asking him to inter 
 pret it, and professing to believe that he was under the influence of inspiration from above, he 
 should trace it to the gods in general, vs. 8, 9, 18. And, in like manner, if the thing actually 
 occurred, as is related, it would be certain that he would use such language in describing it as 
 an orthodox Jew might use. It is to be remembered that he is represented as obtaining his 
 view of what was meant by the vision from Daniel, and nothing is more probable than that he 
 would use such language as Daniel would have suggested. It could not be supposed that one 
 who had been an idolater all his life would soon efface from his mind all the impressions made 
 by the habit of idolatry, so that no traces of it would appear in a proclamation on an occasion 
 like this; nor could it be supposed that there would be no recognition of God as the true God. 
 Nothing would be more natural than such an intermingling of false notions with the true. 
 Indeed, there is in fact scarcely any circumstance in regard to this chapter that has more the 
 air of authenticity, nor could there well be anything more probable in itself, than what is here 
 stated. It is just such an intermingling of truth with falsehood as we should expect in a mind 
 trained in heathenism, and yet this is a circumstance which would not be very likely to occur 
 to one who attempted a forgery, or who endeavored to draw the character of a heathen mon 
 arch in such circumstances without authentic materials. If the edict was the work of a Jew, 
 he would have been likely to represent its author without any remains of heathenism in his 
 mind ; if it were the work of a heathen, there would have been no such recognition of the true 
 God. If it is a mere fiction, the artifice is too refined to have been likely to occur, to attempt 
 to draw him in this state of mind, where there was an intermingling of falsehood with truth ; 
 of the remains of all his old habits of thinking, with new and momentous truths that had just 
 begun to dawn on his mind. The supposition that will best suit all the circumstances of the 
 -\ise, and be liable to the fewest objections, is, that the account is an unvarnished statement 
 of what actually occurred. On the whole subject of the objections to this chapter, the reader 
 may consult Hengstenberg, Die Authentic des Daniel, pp. 100 119. For many of the remarks 
 here made, I ain indebted to that work. Comp. further the Notes on vs. 25, seq. of the chapter. 
 
 2. ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER. 
 
 THE chapter professes to be an edict published by Nebuchadnezzar after his recovery from a 
 long period of insanity which was brought upon him for his pride. The edict was promulgated 
 with a view to lead men to acknowledge the true God. It states, in general, that the approach 
 of his calamity was made known to him in a dream, which was interpreted by Daniel ; that his 
 own heart had been lifted up with pride in view of the splendid city which he had built; that 
 the predicted malady came suddenly upon him, even while he was indulging in these proud 
 reflections; that he was driven away from the abodes of men, a poor neglected maniac; that 
 he again recovered his reason, and then his throne : and that the God who had thus humbled 
 him, and again restored him. was the true God, and was worthy of universal adoration and 
 praise. The edict, therefore, embraces the following parts : 
 
 I. The reason why it was promulgated to show to all people, dwelling in all parts of tho 
 earth, the great things which the high God had done towards him, vs. 1 3. 
 
 II. The statement of the fact that he had had a dream which greatly alarmed him, and which 
 lone of the Chaldean soothsayers had been able to interpret, vs. 4 7. 
 
 III. The statement of the dream in full to Daniel, vs. 8 18. 
 
 IV. The interpretation of the dream by Daniel predicting the fact that he would become t 
 
 18 
 
206 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 570. 
 
 maniac, and would be driven from his throne and kingdom, and compelled to take up nil 
 abode with the beasts of the field a poor neglected outcast, vs. 19 20. 
 
 V. The solemn and faithful oounfel of Daniel to him to break off Li* fine, and to become a 
 righteous man, if possibly the terrible calamity might be averted. \er. J7. 
 
 VI. The fulfilment of the prediction of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar was walking on his palnce, 
 and, in the pride of his heart, surveying the great city which he had built, and suddenly a 
 voice from heaven addressed him announcing that his kingdom had departed, and his reason 
 left him, vs. 2833. 
 
 VII. At the end of the appointed time, his reason was restored, and he gratefully acknow 
 ledged the divine sovereignty, and was again reinstated on his throne, vs. 34 36. 
 
 VIII. for all this he says that he praised the God of heaven, for he had learned that all his 
 works are truth, and his ways judgment, and that those who walk in pride he is able to abase. 
 ver. 37. 
 
 1 Nebuchadnezzar the king, a un 
 to all people, nations, and languages, 
 that dwell in all the earth ; Peace 
 b be multiplied unto you. 
 
 a c.3.4; 6.25-27. 
 
 1. Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all 
 people, Ac. The Syriac here has, Ne 
 buchadnezzar the king wrote to all peo 
 ple/ <fec. Many manuscripts in the Chal- 
 dce have rhv sent, and some have 3ro 
 wrote, but neither of these readings are 
 probably genuine, nor are they necessary. 
 The passage is rather a part of the edict 
 of the king than a narrative of tbe author 
 of the book, and in such an edict the 
 comparatively abrupt style of the present 
 reading would be that which would be 
 adopted. The Septuagint has inserted 
 here a historical statement of the fact 
 that Nebuchadnezzar did actually issue 
 such an edict : " And Nebuchadnezzar, 
 the king, wrote an encyclical epistle 
 TrrroA7i> eyKVK\iof to all those nations in 
 every place, and to the regions, and to all 
 the tongues that dwell in all countries, 
 generations and generations : Nebuchad 
 nezzar the king, " &c. But nothing of this 
 is in the original, ^f Unto all people, na 
 tions, and languages that dwell in all the 
 earth. That is, people speaking all the 
 languages of the earth. Many nations 
 were under the sceptre of the king of 
 Babylon, but it would seem that he 
 designed this as a general proclamation, 
 not only to those who were embraced in 
 his empire, but to all the people of the 
 world. Such a proclamation would be 
 much in accordance with the Oriental 
 style. Comp. Notes on ch. iii. 4. ^ Peace 
 be multiplied unto you. This is in accor 
 dance with the usual Oriental salutation. 
 Comp. Gen. xliii. 23; Judges vi. 23 ; 1. 
 Sain. xxv. 6 ; Ps. cxxii. 7 ; Luke x. 5 j 
 
 2 c I thought it good to show the 
 signs and wonders that the high 
 d God hath wrought toward me. 
 
 c It was seemly before me. d c. 3. 26. 
 
 Eph. vi. 23 ; 1. Pet. i. 2. This is the salu 
 tation with which one meets another now 
 in the Oriental world the same word still 
 being retained, Shalom, or tialam. Tho 
 idea seemed to be, that every blessing was 
 found in peace, and every evil in conflict 
 and war. The expression included the 
 wish that they might be preserved from 
 all that would disturb them ; that they 
 might be contented, quiet, prosperous, 
 and happy. When it is said peace be 
 multiplied, the wish is that it might 
 abound, or that they might be blessed 
 with the numberless mercies which peace 
 produces. 
 
 2. / thought it good. Marg., it wa 
 seemly before me. The marginal reading 
 is more in accordance with the original 
 ^7i?. ">v^ The proper meaning of the 
 Chaldee word -\$ir is to be fair or 
 beautiful, and the sense here is that it 
 seemed to him to be appropriate or be 
 coming to make this public proclamation. 
 It was fit and right that what God had 
 done to him should be proclaimed to all 
 nations. ^[ To show the signs and tconders. 
 Signs and wonders as denoting mighty 
 miracles, are not unfrequently connected 
 in the Scriptures. See Ex. vii. 3; Deut. 
 iv. 34, xii. 1, xxxiv. 11; Isa. viii. 18; 
 Josh, xxxii. 20. The word rendered signs, 
 Heb. nix, Chaldee PK, means properly a 
 sign, as something significant, or some 
 thing that points out or designates any 
 thing, as Gen. i. 14, "Shall be for eiynt 
 and for seasons ;" that is, signs of sea 
 sons. Then the word denotes an ensign, 
 a military flag, Num. ii. 2 ; then a sign of 
 
B. C. 570.J 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 207 
 
 3 How great are his a signs ! and 
 how mighty are his b wonders ! his 
 kingdom is an everlasting c king- 
 
 * De. 4. 34. Ts. 105. 27. He. 2. 4. 
 
 dom, and his dominion A is from 
 generation to generation. 
 
 b Ps. 72. 18 ; 86. 10. Is. 25. 1 ; 23. 29. 
 ec.2.44. Re. 11. 15. d Job 25. 2. lPe.4.11 
 
 something past, a token or remembrancer, and wonderful are the things by which 
 Ex. xiii. 9, 16 ; Deut. vi. 8 ; then a sign he makes himself known in this manner ! 
 of something future, a portent, an omen, The allusion is doubtless to what had oc- 
 Isa. viii. 18 ; then a sign or token of what curred to himself the event by which a 
 is visible, as circumcision, Gen. xvii. 7, : monarch of such state and power had 
 
 or the rainbow in the cloud, as a token of 
 the covenant which God made with man, 
 Gen. ix. 12; then anything which serves 
 as a sign or proof of the fulfilment of 
 prophecy, Ex. iii. 12, 1 Sam. ii. 34; and 
 then it refers to anything which is a sign 
 or proof of divine power, Deut. iv. 34, vi. 
 2.2, vii. 19, et al The Hebrew word is 
 commonly rendered signs, but it is also 
 rendered token, ensign, miracles. As ap 
 plied to what God does, it seems to be 
 used in the sense of anything that is sig 
 nificant of his presence and power; any 
 thing that shall manifestly show that what 
 
 been reduced to a condition so humble. 
 With propriety he would regard this as 
 a signal instance of the divine interpo 
 sition, and as adapted to give him an 
 exalted view of the supremacy of the 
 true God. ^[ And how mighty are his won 
 ders ! The wonderful events which ho 
 does; the things fitted to produce admi 
 ration and astonishment. Comp. Ps. Ixxii. 
 18, Ixxxvi. 10; Isa. xxv. 1. ^ His king- 
 dom is an everlasting kingdom. Nebu 
 chadnezzar was doubtless led to this re 
 flection by what had occurred to him. 
 He, the most mighty monarch then on 
 
 occurs is done by him ; anything that is earth, had seen that his throne had no 
 beyond human ability, and that makes ! stability ; he had seen that God had power 
 known the being and the perfections of i at his will to bring him down from his 
 God by a direct and extraordinary mani- i lofty seat, and to transfer his authority 
 festation. Here the meaning is, that what j to other hands ; and he was naturally led 
 was clone in so remarkable a manner, was to reflect that the throne of God was the 
 
 signijicant of the agency of God; it was 
 that which demonstrated that he exists, 
 and that showed his greatness. The word 
 rendered iconders npjji means properly 
 that which is fitted to produce astonish 
 ment, or to lead one to wonder; and is 
 applied to miracles as adapted to produce 
 that effect. It refers to that state of mind 
 which exists where anything occurs out of 
 the ordinary course of nature, or which 
 indicates supernatural power. The He 
 brew word rendered wonders is often used 
 to denote miracles, Ex. iii. 20, vii. 3, xi. 9; 
 Deut. vi. 22, tt al. The meaning here is, 
 that what had occurred was fitted to ex 
 cite amazement, and to lead men to won 
 
 der at the mighty works of God. \ That 
 the high God. The God who is exalted, 
 
 only one that was stable and permanent. 
 He could not but be convinced that God 
 reigned over all, and that his kingdom 
 was not subject to the vicissitudes which 
 occur in the kingdoms of this world. 
 There have been few occurrences on the 
 earth better adapted to teach this lesson 
 than this. ^[ And his dominion is from 
 generation to generation. That is, it is 
 perpetual. It is not liable to be arrested 
 as that of man is, by death; it does not 
 pass over from one family to another as 
 an earthly sceptre often does. The same 
 sceptre; the same system of laws; the 
 same providential arrangements ; the 
 same methods of reward and punishment, 
 
 have always existed under his govern 
 ment, and will continue to do so to the 
 
 or lifted up ; that is, the God who is above cn * of time ^ here is P erha P s no more 
 all. See eh. iii. 26. T> - --ii.i | sublime view that can be taken of the 
 
 It is an appellation \ 
 which would be given to God as the Su 
 preme Being. The Greek translation of 
 this verse is, "And now I show unto you 
 the deeds jr/iufeij which the great God 
 has done unto me, for it seemed good to 
 me to show to you and your wise men " 
 
 government of God than this. All earthly 
 princes die; all authority lodged in the 
 hands of an earthly monarch is soon with 
 drawn. No one is so mighty that he can 
 prolong his own reign ; and no one can 
 make his own authority extend to the 
 
 j next generation. Earthly governments, 
 j therefore, however mighty, are of short 
 3. How great are his tigns! How great j duration ; and history is made up of the 
 
208 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C 570. 
 
 4 fl I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest 
 in mine house, and flourishing in my 
 palace : 
 
 5 I saw a dream which made me 
 afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed 
 
 records of a great number of such ad 
 ministrations, many of them exceedingly 
 brief, and of very various character. The 
 sceptre falls from the hand of the mon 
 arch, never to be resumed by him again ; 
 another grasps it to retain it also but a 
 little time, and then he passes away. But 
 the dominion of God is in all generations 
 the same. This generation is under the 
 government of the same sovereign who 
 reigned when Semiramis or Numa lived ; 
 and though the sceptre has long since 
 fallen from the hands of Alexander and 
 the Caesars, yet the same God, who ruled 
 in their age, is still on the throne. 
 
 4. I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest. Some 
 manuscripts in the Greek add here, " In 
 the eighteenth year of his reign, Nebu 
 chadnezzar said." These words, however, 
 are not in the Hebrew, and are of no au 
 thority. The word rendered at rest 
 rhw means to be secure ; to be free from 
 apprehension or alarm. He designs to 
 describe a state of tranquillity and secu 
 rity. Gr. at peace tiprivsvwv. enjoying 
 peace, or in a condition to enjoy peace. 
 His wars were over; his kingdom was 
 tranquil ; he had built a magnificent capi 
 tal ; he had gathered around him the 
 wealth and the luxuries of the world, 
 and he was now in a condition to pass 
 away the remainder of his life in ease and 
 happiness, f In mine house. In his royal 
 residence. It is possible that the two 
 words here house and palace may refer 
 to somewhat different things : the for 
 mer house more particularly to his own 
 private family his domestic relations as 
 a man ; and the latter palace to those 
 connected with the government who re 
 sided in his palace. If this is so, then 
 the passage would mean that all around 
 him was peaceful, and that from no source 
 had he any cause of disquiet. In his own 
 private family embracing his wife and 
 children ; and in the arrangements of the 
 palace embracing those who bad charge 
 of public affairs, he had no cause of un 
 easiness. ^[ And flourishing in my palace. 
 Or. tiSfji to* iiri TOV Spdrou ftov literally, 
 abundant upon my throne ; that is, he 
 
 and the visions of my head troubled 
 
 me. 
 
 6 Therefore made I a decree to 
 bring in all the wise men of Baby 
 lon before me, that they might make 
 
 was tranquil, calm, prosperous, on his 
 throne. The Chaldee word UJn 
 means properly green, as, for example, of 
 leaves or foliage. Comp. the Hebrew 
 word in Jer. xvii. 8 : " He shall be as a 
 tree planted by the waters her leaf shall 
 be green." Deut. xii. 2. "Under every 
 green tree," 2 Kings xvi. 4. A green 
 and flourishing tree becomes thus the em 
 blem of prosperity. See Ps. i. 3, xxxvii. 
 35, xcii. 12 14. The general meaning 
 here is, that he was enjoying abundant 
 prosperity. His kingdom was at peace, 
 and in his own home he had every means 
 of tranquil enjoyment. 
 
 5. / saic a dream. That is, he saw a 
 representation made to him in a dream. 
 There is something incongruous in our 
 language in saying of one that he saw a 
 dream. ^[ Which made me afraid. The 
 fear evidently arose from the apprehen 
 sion that it was designed to disclose some 
 important and solemn event. This was 
 in accordance with a prevalent belief then 
 (comp. ch. ii. 1), and it may be added that 
 it is in accordance with a prevalent be 
 lief now. There are few persons, what 
 ever may be their abstract belief, who are 
 not more or less disturbed by fearful and 
 solemn representations passing before the 
 mind in the visions of the night. Comp. 
 Job iv. 1217, xxxiii. 14, 15. So Virgil 
 (2En. iv. 9.) 
 
 Anna Soror, quae me suspensam insomnia 
 tcrrent ? 
 
 ^[ And the thoughts upon my bed. The 
 thoughts which I had upon my bed; to 
 wit, in my dream, ^f And the visions of m$ 
 head. "What I seemed to see. The vision 
 seemed to be floating around his head. 
 ^f Troubled me. Disturbed me ; produced 
 apprehension of what was to come: of 
 some great and important event. 
 
 6. Therefore made I a decree. The 
 word here rendered decree n>?K means 
 commonly taste, flavour, as of wine ; then 
 judgment, discernment, reason; and then 
 a judgment of a king, a mandate, edict. 
 Comp. ch. iii. 10. The primary notion 
 seems to be that of a delicate tatte en* 
 
B. C. 570.] 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 209 
 
 known unto me the interpretation of 
 the dream. 
 
 7 Then a came in the magicians, 
 the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and 
 the soothsayers : and I told the 
 dream before them ; but they did 
 not make known unto me the inter 
 pretation thereof. 
 
 abling one to determine the qualities of 
 wines, viands, <fec. ; and then a delicate 
 and nice discrimination in regard to the 
 qualities of actions. The word thus ex 
 presses a sound and accurate judgment, 
 and is applied to a decree or edict, as de 
 clared by one who had the qualifications 
 to express such a judgment. Here it 
 means that he issued a royal order to 
 summon into his presence all who could 
 be supposed to be qualified to explain the 
 dream. The Greek (Cod. Chisian.) omits 
 verses 6, 7, 8, and 9. ^[ To bring in all the 
 wise men, &c. Particularly such as are 
 enumerated in the following verse. Comp. 
 ch. ii. 12. It was in accordance with his 
 habit thus to call in the wise men who 
 were retained at court to give counsel, 
 and to explain those things which seemed 
 to be an intimation of the divine will. 
 See Notes on ch. ii. 2. Comp. also Gen. 
 xli. 8. 
 
 7. Then came in the magicians, &c. All 
 the words occurring here are found in ch. 
 ii. 2, and are explained in the Notes on 
 that verse, except the word rendered 
 soothsayers. This occurs in ch. ii. 27. 
 See it explained in the Notes on that 
 verse. All these words refer to the same 
 general class of persons those who were 
 regarded as endued with eminent wisdom; 
 who were supposed to be qualified to ex 
 plain remarkable occurrences, to foretel 
 the future, and to declare the will of 
 heaven from portents and wonders. At 
 a time when there was yet a limited re 
 velation ; when the boundaries of science 
 were not determined with accuracy ; when 
 it was not certain but that some way 
 might be ascertained of lifting the myste 
 rious veil from the future, and when it 
 was an open question whether that might 
 not be by dreams or by communication 
 with departed spirits, or by some undis 
 closed secrets of nature, it was not un 
 natural that persons should be found who 
 claimed that this knowledge was under 
 their control. Such claimants to preter- 
 18* 
 
 8 1[ But at the last Daniel came in 
 before me, whose name b was Belte- 
 shazzar. according to the name of 
 my god, and in whom is the spirit c of 
 the holy gods : and before him I told 
 the dream, saying, 
 
 a C. 2. 1,2. 
 
 c Nu. 11. 17, &c. 
 
 b c. 1. 7. 
 Is. 63. 11. 
 
 natural knowledge are found indeed in 
 every age ; and though a large portion of 
 them are undoubted deceivers, yet the 
 existence of such an order of persons 
 should be regarded as merely the eo-j-jo- 
 nent of the deep and earnest desire exist 
 ing in the human bosom to penetrate the 
 mysterious future ; to find something that 
 shall disclose to man, all whose great in 
 terests lie in the future, what is yet to be. 
 Comp. the remarks at the close of ch. ii. 
 5J And I told the dream before them, &c. 
 In their presence. In this instance he 
 did not lay on them so hard a requisition 
 as he did on a former occasion, when he 
 required them not only to interpret the 
 dream, but to tell him what it was. ch. ii. 
 But their pretended power here was 
 equally vain. Whether they attempted 
 an interpretation of this dream does not 
 appear ; but if they did, it was wholly un 
 satisfactory to the king himself. It would 
 seem more probable that they supposed 
 that the dream might have some reference 
 to the proud monarch himself, and that, 
 as it indicated some awful calamity, they 
 did not dare to hazard a conjecture in 
 regard to its meaning. 
 
 8. But at the last. After the others had 
 shown that they could not interpret the 
 dream. Why Daniel was not called with 
 the others does not appear; nor is it said 
 in what manner he was at last summoned 
 into the presence of the king. It is pro 
 bable that his skill on a former occasion 
 (ch. ii.) was remembered, and that when 
 all the others showed that they had no 
 power to interpret the dream, he was 
 called in by Nebuchadnezzar. The Latin 
 Vulgate renders this, Donee collega in- 
 gressus est " until a colleague entered." 
 The Greek I wf, until. Aquila and Syin- 
 machus render it, until another entered 
 before me, Daniel. The common ver 
 sion expresses the sense of the Chaldee, 
 with sufficient accuracy, though a more 
 literal translation would be, until after 
 wards. Whose name was JBelteshasxar* 
 
210 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 570. 
 
 9 Belteshazzar, master of the 
 magicians, because I know that the 
 spirit of the holy gods is in thee, 
 and no secret troubleth a thee, tell 
 
 That is, this was the name which he bore 
 at court, or which had been given him by 
 the Chaldeans. See Notes on ch. i. 7. 
 ^[ According to the name of my God. That 
 is, the name of my God Bel, or Belus, is 
 incorporated in the name given to him. 
 This is referred to here, probably, to show 
 the propriety of thus invoking his aid ; 
 because he bore the name of the God 
 whom the monarch had adored. There 
 would seem to be a special fitness in eutn- 
 moninghim before him to explain what was 
 supposed to be an intimation of the will of 
 the God whom he worshipped. There is a 
 singular, though not unnatural, mixture 
 of the sentiments of heathenism and of 
 the true religion in the expressions which 
 this monarch uses in this chapter. He 
 had been a heathen all his life. Yet he 
 had had some knowledge of the true God, 
 and had been made to feel that he was 
 worthy of universal adoration and praise. 
 ch. ii. That, in this state of mind, he 
 should alternately express such senti 
 ments as were originated by heathenism, 
 and those which spring from just views 
 of God, is not unnatural or improbable. 
 ^ And in whom is the spirit of the holy 
 (jods. It is not easy to determine who 
 he meant by the holy gods. It would 
 seem probable that this was such language 
 as was dictated by the fact that he had 
 been an idolater. He had been brought 
 to feel that the God whom Daniel wor 
 shipped, and by whose aid he had been 
 enabled to interpret the dream, was a true 
 God, and was worthy of universal ho 
 mage; but perhaps his ideas were still 
 much confused, and he only regarded 
 him as superior to all others, though he 
 did not intend to deny the real existence 
 of others. It might be true, in his ap 
 prehension, that there were other gods, 
 though the God of Daniel was supreme, 
 and perhaps he meant to say that the 
 spirit of all the gods was in Daniel : 
 that in an eminent degree he was the 
 favourite of heaven, and that he was able 
 to interpret any communication which 
 name from the invisible world. It is per 
 haps unnecessary to observe here that the 
 word spirit has no intended reference to 
 the Holy Spirit. It is probably used 
 
 me the visions of my dream that 1 
 have seen, and the interpretation 
 thereof. 
 
 * Is. 33. 18 ; 54. 14. 
 
 with reference to the belief that the gods 
 were accustomed to impart wisdom and 
 knowledge to certain men, and may mean 
 that the very spirit of wisdom and know 
 ledge which dwelt in the gods themselves 
 seemed to dwell in the bosom of Daniel. 
 ^f And before him I told the dream. Not 
 requiring him, as he did before (ch. ii.), to 
 state both the dream and its meaning. 
 
 9. Uclteshazzar, master of the magi 
 cians. Master in the sense that he was 
 first among them, or was superior to them 
 all. Or perhaps he still retained office 
 at the head of this class of men the 
 office to which he had been appointed 
 when he interpreted the former dream, 
 ch. ii. 48. The word rendered master 
 Dn Rab, is that which was applied to a 
 teacher, a chief, or a great man among the 
 Jews from whence came the title Jiabbi. 
 Comp. ch. ii. 48, v. 11. ^[ Because I know 
 that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee. 
 This he had learned by the skill which he 
 had shown in interpreting his dream on a 
 former occasion, ch. ii. ^ And no secret 
 troubleth thee. That is, so troubles you 
 that you cannot explain it; it is not be 
 yond your power to disclose its significa 
 tion. The word rendered secret T^ 
 occurs in ch. ii. 18, 19, 27, 28, 29, 30, 47. 
 It is not elsewhere found. It means that 
 which is hidden, and has reference here 
 to the concealed truth or intimation of 
 the divine will couched under a dream. 
 The word rendered troubleth the? 
 D3N means, to urge, to press, to compel ; 
 and the idea here is, that it did not so 
 press upon him as to give him anxiety. 
 It was an easy matter for him to disclose 
 its meaning. Gr. " No mystery is be 
 yond your power" OIIK divvarzt at. ^ Tell 
 me the visions of my dream. The nature 
 of the vision, or the purport of what I have 
 seen. He seems to have desired to know 
 what sort of a vision he should regard 
 this to be, as well as its interpretation 
 whether as an intimation of the divine 
 will, or as an ordinary dream. The 
 Greek and Arabic render this, "Hear 
 the vision of my dream, and tell me the 
 interpretation thereof." This accords 
 better with the probable meaning of tuo 
 
B. C. 570.] 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 211 
 
 10 Thus were the visions of my 11 The tree grew, and was strong, 
 head in ray bed ; I a saw, and be- and the height thereof reached unto 
 hold a b tree in the midst of the j heaven, and the sight thereof to tho 
 earth, and the height thereof icas end of all the earth. 
 
 great. 
 
 * was seeing. 
 
 b Eze.31.3, &c. 
 
 passage, though the word hear is not in 
 the Chaldee. 
 
 10. Thus were the visions of my head 
 in my bed. These are the things which 
 I saw upon my bed. When he says that 
 they were the visions of his head, he 
 states a doctrine which was then doubt 
 less regarded as the truth, that the head 
 is the seat of thought. ^ I saw. Marg., 
 Was seeing. Chald. seeing I saw. 
 The phrase would imply attentive and 
 calm contemplation. It was not a flitting 
 vision ; it was an object which he con 
 templated deliberately so as to retain a 
 distinct remembrance of its form and 
 appearance, ^f And behold a tree in the 
 midst of the earth. Occupying a central 
 position on the earth. It seems to have 
 been by itself remote from any forest : 
 to have stood alone. Its central position, 
 no less than its size and proportions, 
 attracted his attention. Such a tree, 
 thus towering to the heavens, and send 
 ing out its branches afar, and affording a 
 shade to the beasts of the field, and a 
 home to the fowls of heaven, (ver. 12,) 
 was a striking emblem of a great and 
 mighty monarch, and it undoubtedly 
 occurred to Nebuchadnezzar at once that 
 the vision had some reference to himself. 
 Thus in Ezek. xxxi. 3, the Assyrian king 
 is compared with a magnificent cedar: 
 " Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in 
 Lebanon, with fair branches, and with a 
 shadowing shroud, and of an high stature, 
 and his top was among the thick boughs." 
 Comp. also Ezek. xvii. 22 24, where " the 
 high tree and the green tree" refer proba 
 bly to Nebuchadnezzar. See Notes on 
 Isa. ii. 13. Comp. Isa. x. 18, 19 ; Jer. xxii. 
 7, 23. Homer often compares his heroes 
 to trees. Hector, felled by a stone, is 
 compared with an oak overthrown by a 
 thunderbolt. The fall of Simoisius is 
 compared by him to that of a poplar, 
 and that of Euphorbus to the fall of a 
 beautiful olive. Nothing is more obvious 
 than the comparison of a hero with a 
 lofty tree of the forest, and hence it was 
 natural for Nebuchadnezzar to suppose 
 
 12 The. leaves thereof were fair, 
 and the fruit thereof much, and in it 
 
 that this vision had a reference to him 
 self. ^ And the height thereof was great. 
 In the next verse it is said to have reached 
 to heaven. 
 
 11. The tree grew. Or the tree was 
 great n:n. It does not mean that tho 
 tree grew while he was looking at it so as 
 to reach to the heaven, but that it stood 
 before him in all its glory, its top reach 
 ing to the sky, and its branches extend 
 ing afar. ^[ And was strong. It was 
 well proportioned, with a trunk adapted 
 to its height, and to the mass of boughs 
 and foliage which it bore. The strength 
 here refers to its trunk, and to the fact 
 that it seemed fixed firmly in the earth. 
 ^[ And the height thereof reached unto hea 
 ven. To the sky; to the region of the 
 clouds. The comparison of trees reach 
 ing to heaven, is common in Greek and 
 Latin authors. Grotius. Comp. Virgil s 
 description of Fame. 
 
 Mox sesc attollit in auras, 
 Ingreditur solo, et caput inter nubila condit. 
 <3Zn. iv. 176. 
 
 1[ And the sight thereof to the end of all 
 the earth. It could be seen, or was visi 
 ble in all parts of the earth. The Greek 
 here for sight is Kvro$, breadth, capacious 
 ness. Herodotus (Polymnia) describes a 
 vision remarkably similar to this, as in 
 dicative of a wide and universal mon 
 archy, respecting Xerxes : " After these 
 things there was a third vision in his 
 sleep, which the magicians payoi hear 
 ing of, said that it pertained to all the 
 earth, and denoted that all men would be 
 subject to him. The vision was this : 
 Xerxes seemed to be crowned with a 
 branch of laurel, and the branches of 
 laurel seemed to extend through all the 
 earth." The vision which Nebuchadnez 
 zar had here of a tree so conspicuous as 
 to be seen from any part of the world, 
 was one that would be naturally applied 
 to a sovereign having a universal sway. 
 
 12. The leaves thereof were fair. Were 
 beautiful. That is, they were abundant, 
 
212 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 570. 
 
 was meat for all: the beasts a of the 13 I saw in the visions of my head 
 field had i> shadow under it, and the upon my bed, and, behold, a c watcher 
 fowls of the heaven dwelt in the j and a d holy one came down from 
 
 boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed 
 of it. 
 
 a Eze. 17. 23. 
 
 b La. 4. 20. 
 
 and green, and there wore no signs of 
 decay. Every thing indicated a vigorous 
 and healthy growth a tree in its full 
 beauty and majesty a striking emblem 
 of a monarch in his glory. ^T And the 
 fruit thereof much. It was loaded with 
 fruit showing that the tree was in its 
 full vigour. <H And in it was meat for all. 
 Food for all for so the word meat was 
 formerly used. This would indicate the 
 dependence of the multitudes on him 
 whom the tree represented, and would 
 also denote that he was a liberal dis 
 penser of his favours. ^[ The beasts of the 
 field had shadow under it. Found a 
 grateful shade under it in the burning 
 heat of noon a striking emblem of the 
 blessings of a monarchy affording protec 
 tion, and giving peace to all under it. 
 5[ And the folds of the heaven dwelt in the 
 boughs thereof. The fowls of the air. 
 They built their nests and reared their 
 young there undisturbed another strik 
 ing emblem of the protection afforded 
 under the great monarchy designed to be 
 represented. <[ And all Jlesh was fed of 
 it. All animals ; all that lived. It fur 
 nished protection, a home, and food for 
 all. Bertholdt renders this "all men." 
 In the Greek Codex (Chisian.) there is the 
 following version or paraphrase given of 
 this passage : Its vision was great, its 
 top reached to the heaven, and its breadth 
 KVTOS to the clouds they filled the 
 things TO. under the heaven there was 
 a sun and moon, they dwelt in it, and 
 enlightened all the earth. 
 
 13. / saw in the visions of my head upon 
 my bed. In the visions that passed before 
 me as I lay upon my bed. ver. 10. ^[ And 
 behold a watcher and a holy one. Or ra 
 ther, perhaps, even a holy one/ or, who 
 was a holy one. He evidently does not 
 intend to refer to **" beings a watcher, 
 and one who was holy, but he means to 
 designate the character of the watcher, 
 that he was holy, or that he was one of 
 he class of watchers who were ranked 
 as holy as if there were others to whom 
 Ihe name watcher might be applied 
 
 heaven. 
 
 c ver. 17. 23. d Matt. 25. 31. Re. 14. 10. 
 
 who were not holy. So Bertholdt, not 
 two, but only one, who was both a 
 watcher, and was holy; one of those 
 known as watchers and as holy ones. 
 The copulative (i) and may be so used as 
 to denote not an additional one or thing, 
 but to specify something in addition to, 
 or in explanation of, what the name ap 
 plied would indicate. Cornp. 1 Sam. 
 xxviii. 3 ; "In Raman, even (^) in hia 
 own city." 1 Sam. xvii. 40 : " And put 
 them in a shepherd s bag which he had, 
 even ()) in a scrip." Comp. Ps. Ixviii. 10; 
 Amos Hi. 11, iv. 10; Jer. xv. 13; Isa. ii. 
 13, 14; Ivii. 11; Ecc. viii. 2. Gesenius, 
 Lex. The word rendered watcher *vjj 
 is rendered in the Vulgate, vigil; in 
 the Greek of Theodotion the word is re 
 tained without an attempt to translate it 
 tip , the Codex Chisianus has ayyeAoj 
 an angel was sent in his strength from 
 heaven. The original word n^ 
 means properly a watcher, from Tip, to be 
 hot and ardent; then to be lively, or ac 
 tive, and then to awake, to be awake, to 
 be awake at night, to watch. Comp. 
 Cant. v. 2 : Mai. ii. 12. The word used 
 here is employed to denote one who 
 watches, only in this chapter of Daniel, vs. 
 13, 17, 23. It is in these places evidently 
 applied to the angels, but why this term 
 is used is unknown. Gesenius (Lex.) 
 supposes that it is given to them as watch 
 ing over the souls of men. Jerome (in 
 loc.) says that the reason why the name 
 is given, is, because they always watch, 
 and are prepared to do the will of God. 
 According to Jerome, the Greek tpta 
 Iris as applied to the rainbow, and 
 which seems to be a heavenly being sent 
 down to the earth, is derived from this 
 word. Comp. the Iliad, ii. 27. Theodo- 
 ret says that the name is given to an 
 angel, to denote that the angel is without 
 a body aawparov for he that is encom 
 passed with a body is the servant of 
 sleep, but he that is free from a body is 
 superior to the necessity of sleep. The 
 term watchers, as applied to the celestial 
 
B. C. 570.] 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 213 
 
 14 He cried a aloud, and said thus, | away from under it, and the fowls 
 Hew b down the tree, and cut off his from his branches : 
 
 branches, shake off his leaves, and 
 ucatter his fruit: let the beasts get 
 
 a with might, c. 3. 4. b Mat. 3. 10. Lu. 13. 7. 
 
 beings, is of Eastern origin, and not 
 improbably was derived from Persia. 
 "The seven Amhaspands received their 
 name on account of their great, holy 
 
 15 Nevertheless, leave the c stump 
 of his roots in the earth, even with 
 
 c Job 14. 79. 
 
 possibly the command may be understood 
 as addressed to his fellow-watchers (ver. 
 17), or to orders of angels over whom 
 this one presided. IT And cut off his 
 
 /yes, and so, generally, all the heavenly j branches, &c. The idea here, and in the 
 Izeds watch in the high heaven over j subsequent part of the verse, is, that the 
 the world, and the souls of men, and | tree was to be utterly cut up, and all its 
 on this account are called the watchers j glory and beauty destroyed. It was first 
 of the world." Zendavesta, as quoted by j to be felled, and then its limbs chopped 
 Bertholdt, in loc. " The Bun-Dehesh, a | off, and then these were to be stripped of 
 commentary on the Zendavesta, contains i their foliage, and then the fruit which it 
 an extract from it, which shows clearly j bore was to be scattered. All this was 
 the name and object of the icatchers in \ strikingly significant, as applied to the 
 the ancient system of Zoroaster. It runs ! monarch, of some awful calamity that was 
 thus : Ormuzd has set four watchers in ! to occur to him after he should have been 
 the four parts of the heavens, to keep j brought down from his throne. A process 
 their eye upon the host of the stars, of humiliation and desolation was to con- 
 They are bound to keep watch over the | tinue, as if the tree when cut down were 
 hosts of the celestial stars. One stands i not suffered to lie quietly in its grandeur 
 
 here, as the watcher of his circle ; the 
 other there. He has placed them at such 
 and such posts, as watchers over such and 
 
 upon the earth. ^ Let the leasts get 
 away, &c. That is, it shall cease to afford a 
 shade to the beasts and a home to the fowls. 
 
 such a circle of the heavenly regions ; i The purposes which it had answered in 
 and this by his own power and might, the days of its glory will come to an end. 
 Tashter guards the east, Satevis watches 15. Nevertheless, leave the stump of Ms 
 the west, Venant the south, and Haftorang i roots in the earth. As of a tree that is 
 the north. " Rhode, Die heilige Sage ! not wholly dead, hut which may send up 
 des Zendvolks, p. 267, as quoted by Prof. ! suckers and shoots again. See Notes on 
 Stuart, in loc. " The epithet good is pro- | Isa. xi. 1. In Theodotion this is, rfiv 
 bably added here to distinguish this class j ^v r &v fns-uv the nature, germ. Schleus- 
 of watchers from the bad ones ; for Ahri- j ner renders the Greek, the trunk of its 
 man, the evil genius, had Archdeva and j roots . The Vulgate is, germen radicum 
 Dews, who corresponded in rank with the , e jus, the germ of his roots. The Codex 
 Amhaspands and Izeds of the Zendavesta, ; Chis. has pi^av plat* a^sre aiirof, ev r>7 yn : 
 
 and who watched to do evil as anxiously 
 
 terms, as applicable to celestial beings, 
 would be known in the kingdom of Ba 
 bylon, and nothing is more natural than 
 that it should be so used in this book. 
 It is not found in any of the books of 
 pure Hebrew. 
 
 14. He cried aloud. Marg., as in the 
 
 leave one of his roots in the earth. The 
 original Chaldee word ~\$% means a 
 stump, trunk (Gesenius); the Hebrew 
 "TO tne same word with different 
 pointing, means a shrub, or shoot. It 
 occurs only once in Hebrew, (Lev. xxv. 
 47,) where it is applied to the stock of a 
 family, or to a person sprung from a for 
 eign family resident in the Hebrew ter 
 ritory: "the stock of the stranger s 
 
 Chaldee, with might. That is, he cried 
 
 with a strong Voice, f Hew down the tree, family." The Chaldee form of the word 
 This command does not appear to have j ccurs onl y in Ban. iv. 15, 23, 26, ren- 
 been addressed to any particular ones dered in each P lace 8tlim P> J et not mean - 
 who were to execute the commission, but I ing stump in the sense in which that 
 it is a strong and significant way of say- j word is now commonly employed. The 
 ing that it would certainly be done. Or | word ttump now means the stub of a 
 
214 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 570. 
 
 a band of iron and brass, in the ten 
 der grass of the field ; and let it be 
 wet with the dew of heaven, and let 
 
 tree ; the part of the tree remaining 
 in the earth, or projecting above it, 
 after the tree is cut down, without any 
 reference to the question whether it be 
 alive or dead. The word here used im 
 plies that it was still alive, or that there 
 was a germ which would send up a new 
 shoot so that the tree would live again. 
 The idea is, that though the mighty tree 
 would fall, yet there would remain vitality 
 in the root, or the portion that would re 
 main in the earth after the tree was cut 
 down, and that this would spring up again 
 a most striking image of what would 
 occur to Nebuchadnezzar after he should 
 be cast down from his lofty throne, and 
 be again restored to his reason and to 
 power. ^[ Even with a band of iron and 
 brass. This expression may be regarded 
 as applicable either to the cut-down tree, 
 or to the humbled monarch. If applied 
 to the former, it would seem that the idea 
 is, that the stump or root of a tree, deemed 
 so valuable, would be carefully secured 
 by an enclosure of iron or brass, either 
 in the form of a hoop placed round the 
 top of the stump, to preserve it from be 
 ing opened or cracked by the heat of the 
 sun, so as to admit moisture, which would 
 rot it; or around the roots, to bind it to 
 gether, with the hope that it would grow 
 again ; or it may refer to a railing or en 
 closure of iron or brass, to keep it from 
 being ploughed or dug up as worth 
 less. In either case, it would be guarded 
 with the hope that a tree so valuable 
 might spring up again. If applied to the 
 monarch an explanation not inconsistent 
 with the proper interpretation of the pas 
 sage it would seem to refer to some me 
 thod of securing the royal maniac in bonds 
 of iron and brass, as with the hope that his 
 reason might still be restored, or with a 
 view to keeping him from inflicting fatal 
 injury on himself. That the thing here re 
 ferred to might be practised in regard to a 
 valuable tree cut down, or broken down, is 
 by no means improbable ; that it might be 
 practised in reference to the monarch is 
 in accordance with the manner in which 
 the insane have been treated in all ages 
 and countries. ^[ In the tender grass of 
 the field. Out of doors ; under no shelter ; 
 exposed to dews and rains. The stump 
 
 his portion be with the beasts in the 
 grass of the earth : 
 
 would remain in the open field where the 
 grass grew, until it should shoot up again ; 
 and in a condition strongly resembling 
 that, the monarch would be excluded 
 from his palace and from the abodes of 
 men. For the meaning of this, as ap 
 plied to Nebuchadnezzar, see Notes on 
 ver. 25. The word which is rendered 
 tender grass, means simply young grass 
 or herbage. No emphasis should be put 
 on the word tender. It simply means 
 that he would be abroad, where the grass 
 springs up and grows, ^ And let it be 
 wet tvith the dew of heaven. As applied 
 to the tree, meaning that the dew would 
 fall on it and continually moisten it. The 
 falling of the dew upon it would contri 
 bute to preserve it alive and secure its 
 growth again.. In a dry soil, or if there 
 were no rain or dew, the germ would die. 
 It cannot Le supposed that in regard to 
 the monarch it could be meant that his 
 remaining under the dew of heaven would 
 in any way contribute to restore his rea 
 son, but all that is implied in regard to 
 him is the fact that he would thus be an 
 outcast. The word rendered let it be 
 we? )?3$9^. from J?JX means to dip in; 
 to immerse ; to tinge ; to dye ; though the 
 word is not found in the latter senses in 
 the Chaldec. In the Targuns it is often 
 used for to dye, to colour. The word 
 occurs only in this chapter of Daniel (vs. 
 15, 25, 33), and is in each place rendered 
 in the same way. It is not used in the 
 Hebrew scripture in the sense of to dye 
 or tinge, except in the form of a noun 
 yrnf in Judges v. 20: "to Sisera a 
 prey of divers colors, a prey of divers co 
 lors of needle-work, of divers colors of 
 needle-work." In the passage before 
 us, of course, there is no allusion of this 
 kind, but the word means merely that the 
 stump of the tree would be kept moist 
 with the dew ; as applicable to the tree 
 that it might be more likely to sprout up 
 again. ^[ And let his portion be with the 
 beasts in the grass of tJie earth. Here is 
 a change evidently from the tree to some 
 thing represented by the tree. We could 
 not say of a tree that its < portion was 
 with the beasts in the grass, though in 
 the confused and incongruous images of a 
 
B. C. 570.] 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 215 
 
 be given unto him ; and let seven 
 times b pass over him. 
 
 17 This matter is by the decree 
 
 16 Let his heart be changed 
 from man s, and let a beast s heart 
 
 Is. 6. 10. be. 12.7. 
 
 dream, nothing would be more natural a year, or any other measure of duration, 
 than such a change from a tree to some What measurement or portion is in- 
 object represented by it, or having some tended in any particular case, must be 
 resemblance to it. It is probable that it j determined from the connection in which 
 was this circumstance that particularly ; the word is found. The word used here 
 attracted the attention of the monarch ; j ,j oes no t occur in the Hebrew scripture, 
 for though the dream began with a tree, \ an d j s found only in the book of Daniel, 
 it ended with reference to a person, and : WQ ere it is uniformly rendered time and 
 evidently some one whose station would times. It is found only in the following 
 be well represented by such a magnificent j places, Dan. ii. 8, " that ye would gain 
 and solitary tree. The sense here is, let ih e time;" ii. 9, "till the time bo 
 him share the lot of beasts ; let him live 
 
 as they do ; that is, let him live on grass. 
 Coinp. ver. 25. 
 
 changed;" ii. 21, "and he changeth the 
 times;" iii. 5, 15, "at what time ye shall 
 hear;" iv. 16, 23, "and let seven times 
 
 16. Let his heart be changed from man s, pass over him;" 25, 32, "seven times 
 and let a Least s heart be given unto him. j s h a ll pass over him ;" vii. 12, "for a sea- 
 Here the same thing occurs in a more j S0 n and time;" vii. 28, "until a fi me, 
 
 marked form, showing that some 
 was represented by the vision, and indi 
 cating some change which was fitted to 
 attract the deepest attention as if the 
 
 and times, and the dividing of time." In 
 the place before us, so far as the meaning 
 of the word is concerned, it might mean 
 a day, a week, a month, or a year. The 
 
 person referred to should cease to be I more common interpretation is that which 
 a man, and become a beast. The word supposes that it was a year, and this will 
 
 heart here seems to refer to nature let 
 
 agree better with all the circumstances of 
 
 his nature or propensity cease to be that j the case than any other period. The 
 of a man, and become like that of a beast ; 
 
 let him cease to act as a man. and act as 
 the beasts do evincing as little mind, 
 and living in the same manner. ^ And 
 In this 
 condition, or until he is restored. It is 
 
 Greek of Theodotion here is, *al 
 icaipol aXXayrjaoirai iir avrbv And seven 
 times shall change upon him; that is, 
 until seven seasons revolve over him. 
 The most natural construction of this 
 
 not indeed said that he would be restored, 
 
 Greek phrase would be to refer it to 
 years. The Latin Vulgate interprets it 
 
 but this is implied (a) in the very expres- | in a s ; ra ii ar way _ e t septem tempora 
 sion until seven times shall pass over I mu tentur super eum And let seven 
 
 ~ j times be changed or revolve over him. 
 In the Cod. Chis. it is, Kal irrra srrj /?oa<f^3)7, 
 j avf avrois and let him feed with them 
 ! seven years. Luther renders it times. 
 
 Josephus understands by it seven years. 
 x. ch. x. 2 6. While the Chal- 
 
 him, as if he would then be restored in 
 some way, or as if this condition would 
 then terminate ; and (b) in the state 
 ment that the stump of the roots would 
 be left up in the earth as if it might still 
 germinate again. Everything, however, j 
 
 in the dream was fitted to produce per- j word ig itldete - rminate in respecfc to 
 plexity as to what it could mean. The ; the length of time> the mosfc natun|1 and 
 word rendered times W\y. sing, fiy, i obvious construction here and elsewhere, 
 is an important word in the interpreta- j in the use of the word, is to refer it 
 tion of Daniel. It is of the same class \ to years. Days or weeks would be 
 of words as the Hebrew -|J?;, to point out, j obviously too short, and though in this 
 to appoint, to fix ; and would refer pro- j P laco the word months would perhaps em- 
 perlv to time considered as appointed or \ brace a11 tbat would be necessary, yet in 
 designated; then it may mean any stated i the other places where the word occurs 
 or designated period, as a year. The i in Daniel, it undoubtedly refers to years, 
 idea is that of time considered as desig- i and t here is > therefore, a propriety in 
 naled or fixed by periods, and the word understanding it in the same manner here. 
 
 may 
 ever 
 
 refer 
 long 
 
 any such period, how- 
 short a day, a month, 
 
 17. This matter is by the decree of the 
 watchert. Noteg on ver. 13. They ar 
 
216 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 570. 
 
 of the watchers, and the demand kingdom of men, and giveth it to 
 by the word of the holy ones: to whomsoever d he will, and setteth 
 the intent that the living may b know up over it the basest eof men. 
 that the Most High c ruleth in the I 
 
 I d Ps. 75. 6, 7. e Ex. 9.16. 1 Ki.21. 25. 
 
 a ver. 13, 14. b Ps. 9. 16, 20. e ver . 25, 32, 35. | 2 Ki. 21. 6, &c. 2 Ch. 28. 22. 
 
 described here not only as watching over the Most High over such a monarch as 
 
 the affairs of men, but as entrusted with Nebuchadnezzar, f That the Most High. 
 
 the execution of high and important de- ! He who is exalted above all men ; all 
 
 signs of God. The representation is, angels ; all that pretend to be gods. The 
 
 that one of these heavenly beings was phrase here is designed to refer to the true 
 
 , T , , , . , . . . God, and the object was to show that he 
 
 seen by Nebuchadnezzar m his visions, wag the mogt e i alted of all bei and 
 
 and that this one stated to him that he hftd absolute control over al] . ^ KMl 
 had come to execute what had been de- ! ^ ^ U dom of ment Whoever reigns, 
 termined on by his associates, or in coun- he reign / over them . And (iceth it to 
 gel with others. The idea would seem to wllom f oever he wilL That j he ives 
 be, that the affairs of the^kingdom of dominion over men to whomsoever he 
 Nebuchadnezzar had been in important chooges> Ifc is not b human orderin g, 
 respects placed under the administration of b arrangements am0 ng men. It fs 
 of these beings, and that in solemn coun- nofc , hereditary r j g bt; not by a suc- 
 cil they had resolved on this measure. ; cesgio ; not b conquest; not by usur 
 It is not said that this was not m accord- ion , ^ b y election, that this matter 
 ance with, and under the direction of, a g fina]1 determined it is by the decree 
 higher power that of God ; and that is Qnd u of GocL He can remove the 
 
 rather implied when it is said that the hereditary prince by death . he can cause 
 great design of this was to show to the ; M t b t gide b granting succesg 
 living that < the Most Ugh ruleth in the | Qr ^ ^ Q f 
 
 kingdom of men/ In itself considered, b con ^ est . he can cut off the con- 
 there is no improbability m supposing , * jj death and transfcr the crown 
 that the affairs of this lower world, are in * ^ .^^ Qfficer he ^ ^^ ^ 
 gome respects placed under the adminis- j who wag the united choice Qf a le b 
 tration ot beings superior to man, nor that | death Rnd t another in hig jj^J g 
 events may occur as the result of their , the le Paul There ig no 
 
 deliberation, or, as it is here expressed, ; / butof God . the powers that be are 
 
 by their decree/ If, in any respect the , ^ rdained of God> Rom xiii- L f And 
 affairs of the world are subject to *h \ setteth up over it the latest of men. That 
 jurisdiction, there is every reason to sup- 
 
 pose that there would be harmony 
 
 of , 
 
 he 
 
 ut > w *v U P at his pleasure 
 
 counsel and of action, and an event of humbleg ^ or lo> 
 
 this kind might be so represented, ^f And 
 
 oyer fc kindom of me 
 
 the demand. 
 the business. 
 
 Or, the matter ; the affair ; 
 The Chaldee word properly 
 
 means a question, a petition ; then a sub 
 ject of inquiry, a matter of business. 
 
 thoge wl0 are of the 
 wegt rank> The allusion 
 
 here is not to Nebuchadnezzar as if he 
 were the basest, or the vilest of men, but 
 the statement is a general truth, that God, 
 at his pleasure, sets aside those of exalted 
 
 rank, and elevates those of the lowest 
 
 
 Here it means, that this matter, or this rank in theh . ]ace> There . g &Q idea 
 ^2? !^^-5?!*r 8t .TS- J 2! Ur attached commonly to the word 
 
 direction of the holy ones. ^| The holy j ^ a8e8t 
 
 ones. Synonymous with the watchers, I n 
 
 and referring to the same. See Notes on 
 
 ver. 13. ^[ To the intent that the living may 
 
 knoic. 
 
 live on the earth may understand this. 
 
 That is, the design was to furnish a proof 
 
 the word used here by 
 means conveys. It does not denote the 
 mean, the vile, the worthless, the illiberal, 
 
 j| 10 me wwu t . e wing muy | fc fc tfa f humble or low]y rank> Thia 
 
 With the design that those who ; ig the r meaning / the Chaldee 
 
 word SD ; , and so it is rendered in the 
 
 that it 
 more 
 
 of this, so impressive and striking, 
 could not be doubted by any. No 
 effectual way of doing this could occur 
 than by showing the absolute power of 
 
 Vulgate humillimum ho 
 
 The 
 
 Greek of Theodotion, however, is, that 
 which is disesteemed among men iov- 
 In the latter part of the 
 
fi C. 570. J 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 217 
 
 18 This dream I king Nebuchad 
 nezzar have seen. Now them, 
 Belteshazzar, declare the interpre 
 tation thereof, forasmuch a as all the 
 wise men of my kingdom are not 
 able to make known unto me the in 
 terpretation : but thou art able ; for 
 the spirit of the holy gods is in thee. 
 
 19 fl Then Daniel, whose name 
 
 Ter. 8. 
 
 dream (vs. 15, 16), we have an illustra 
 tion of what often occurs in dreams 
 their singular incongruity. In the early 
 part of the dream, the vision is that 
 of a tree, and the idea is consistently car 
 ried out for a considerable part of it 
 the height of the tree, the branches, the 
 leaves, the fruit, the shade, the stump ; 
 then suddenly there is a change to some 
 thing that is living and human the 
 change of the heart to that of a beast; 
 the being exposed to the dew of heaven ; 
 the portion with the beasts of the earth, &c. 
 Such changes and incongruities, as every 
 one knows, are common in dreams. So 
 Shakespeare : 
 
 True, I talk of dreams. 
 Which are the children of an idle brain, 
 Begot of nothing but vain fantasy ; 
 Which is as thin of substance as the air, 
 And more inconstant than the wind, who woos 
 Even now the frozen bosom of the North, 
 And, being angered, puffs away from them, 
 Turning his face to the dew-dropping South. 
 Romeo and Juliet. 
 
 18. This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar 
 have seen. This is the dream which I 
 saw. He had detailed it at length as it 
 appeared to him, without pretending to be 
 
 was Belteshazzar, was astonied for 
 one hour, and his thoughts troubled 
 b him. The king spake, and said, 
 Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or 
 the interpretation thereof, trouble 
 thee. Belteshazzar answered and 
 said, My lord, the dream be to them 
 c that hate thee, and the interpreta 
 tion thereof to thine enemies. 
 
 ver. 9. 
 
 2 Sam. 18. 32 ; Je. 29. 7. 
 
 Chaldean government, he would undoubt 
 edly be mentioned only by that name, yet 
 in a proclamation like this both the names 
 by which he was known would be used 
 the one to identify him among his own 
 countrymen; the other among the Chal 
 deans. This proclamation was designed 
 for people of all classes, and ranks, and 
 tongues (ver. 1.) ; it was intended to make 
 known the supremacy of the God wor 
 shipped by the Hebrews ; Nebuchadnez 
 zar had derived the knowledge of the 
 meaning of his dream from one who was 
 a Hebrew, and it was natural, therefore, 
 in order that it might be known by whom 
 the dream had been interpreted, that he 
 should so designate him that it would be 
 understood by all. ^ Was astonied. Was 
 astonished. The word astonied, now gone 
 out of use, several times occurs in the 
 common version : Ezra ix. 3 ; Job xvii. 8, 
 xviii.20; Ezek.iv.17; Dan. iii. 24, iv. 19, 
 v. 9. Daniel was amazed and overwhelmed 
 at what was manifestly the fearful import 
 of the dream. ^ For one hour. It is not 
 possible to designate the exact time de 
 
 noted by the word hour 
 
 Accord 
 
 ing to Gesenius ( L ex.), it means a moment 
 
 able to explain it. ^1 Forasmuch as all the j of time ; properly, a look, a glance, a 
 wise men of my kingdom, &c. ver. 7. f 2?u I Wink of the eye Germ, augenblick. In 
 thou art able, &c. Notes on ver. 9. j Arabic, the word means both a moment 
 
 19. Then Daniel, whose name was Bel- and an hour. In Dan. iii. 6, 15, it evi- 
 teshazzar. ver. 8. It has been objected dently means immediately. Here it would 
 that the mention in this edict of both the ! seem to mean a short time. That is, Dan- 
 names by which Daniel was known is an iel was fixed in thought, and maintained 
 improbable circumstance; that a heathen \ a profound silence, until the king ad- 
 monarch would only have -referred to him i dressed him. We are not to suppose thai 
 by the name by which he was known in j this continued during the space of time 
 Babylon the name which he had him- which we call an hour, but he was silent 
 
 self conferred on him in honour of the 
 
 od (Bclus), after whom he was called, 
 ee Notes on ch. i. 7. To this it may be 
 replied, that although in ordinary inter- 
 
 until Nebuchadnezzar addressed him. 
 He would not seem to be willing even tc 
 speak of so fearful calamities as he saw 
 were coming upon the king. <j[ And hit 
 
 course with him in Babylon ; in address- ! thoughts troubled him. The thoughts 
 ing him as an officer of state under tho | which passed through his mind respect- 
 19 
 
218 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 570 
 
 20 The tree *that thou sawest, 
 which grew, arid was strong, whose 
 height reached unto the heaven, and 
 the sight thereof to all the earth ; 
 
 21 Whose leaves were fair, and 
 the fruit thereof much, and in it was 
 meat for all ; under which the beasts 
 of the field dwelt, and upon whose 
 
 ver. 10 12. b c2. 38. 
 
 branches the fowls of the 
 had their habitation : 
 
 22 It is bthou, king, that art 
 grown and become strong : for thy 
 greatness is grown, and reacheth 
 
 I unto heaven, and thy dominion c tc 
 the end of the earth. 
 
 23 And whereas the king saw a 
 
 <=Je. 27. 6 8. dyer. 13, 14. 
 
 ing the fearful import of the dream. 
 <l The king spake, and said, &c. Per 
 ceiving that the dream had, as he had pro 
 bably apprehended, a fearful significance , 
 and that Daniel hesitated about explain 
 ing its meaning. Perhaps he supposed 
 that he hesitated because he appre 
 hended danger to himself if he should 
 express his thoughts, and the king, there 
 fore, assured him of safety, and encour 
 aged him to declare the full meaning of 
 the vision, whatever that might be. 
 ^[ Belteshazzar answered and said, My 
 lord, the dream be to them that hate thee. 
 Let such things as are foreboded by the 
 dream happen to your enemies rather 
 than to you. This merely implies that he 
 did not desire that these things should 
 come upon him. It was the language of 
 courtesy and of respect ; it showed that 
 he had no desire that any calamity should 
 befal the monarch, and that he had no 
 wish for the success of his enemies. There 
 is not, in this, anything necessarily im 
 plying a hatred of the enemies of the 
 king, or any wish that calamity should 
 come upon them; it is the expression of 
 an earnest desire that such an affliction 
 might not come upon him. If it must 
 come on any, such was his respect for the 
 sovereign, and such his desire for his 
 welfare and prosperity, that he preferred 
 that it should fall upon those who were 
 his enemies, and who hated him. This 
 language, however, should not be rigidly 
 interpreted. It is the language of an 
 Oriental; language uttered at a court 
 where only the words of respect were 
 heard. Expressions similar to this occur 
 not unfrequently in ancient writings. 
 Thus Horace, B. iii. Ode 27 : 
 
 Hostium uxores puerique caecos 
 Sentiant motus oricntis austri. 
 And Virgil, Georg. iii. 513. 
 
 Di meliora piis, erroremque hostibus ilium. 
 * Such rhetorical embellishments are 
 pointed at no individuals, have nothing 
 
 in them of malice or ill-will, are used as 
 marks of respect to the ruling powers, 
 and maybe presumed to be free from any 
 imputation of a want of charity." Win 
 kle, in loc. 
 
 20, 21. "The tree that thou sawest, <fcc. 
 In these two verses Daniel refers to the 
 leading circumstances respecting the tree 
 as it appeared in the dream, without any 
 allusion as yet to the order to cut it down. 
 He probably designed to show that he had 
 clearly understood what had been said, or 
 that he had attended to the most minute 
 circumstances as narrated. It was im 
 portant to do this in order to show clearly 
 that it referred to the king ; a fact which 
 probably Nebuchadnezzar himself appre 
 hended, but still it was important that 
 this should be so firmly fixed in his mind 
 ; that he would not revolt from it when 
 I Daniel came to disclose the fearful import 
 I of the remainder of the dream. 
 
 22. It is tliou, king. It is a repre 
 sentation of thyself. (Jomp. ch. ii. 38. 
 ^[ That art grown and become strong. Re 
 ferring to the limited extent of his domi 
 nion when he came to the throne, and the 
 increase of his power by a wise adminis 
 tration and by conquest. f For thy great 
 ness is grown. The majesty and glory of 
 the monarch had increased by all his con 
 quests, and by the magnificence which ho 
 had thrown around his court. H And 
 reacheth unto heaven. An expression 
 merely denoting the greatness of his au 
 thority. The tree is said to have reached 
 unto heaven (ver. 11), and the stateliness 
 and grandeur of so great a monarch might 
 be represented by language which seemed 
 to imply that he had control over all 
 things. 1[ And thy dominion to the end of 
 the earth. To the extent of the world as 
 then known. This was almost literally 
 true. 
 
 23. And whereas Hie king saio a watcher. 
 See Notes on ver. 13. The recapitula 
 tion in this verse is slightly varied from 
 
B. C. 570.] 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 219 
 
 watcher and a holy one coming down 
 from heaven, and saying, Hew the 
 tree down, and destroy it ; yet leave 
 the stump of the roots thereof in the 
 2arth, even with a band of iron and 
 brass, in the tender grass of the 
 field ; and let it be wet with the dew 
 of heaven, and let his portion be with 
 
 the statement in vs. 14 16, still so as not 
 materially to affect the sense. Daniel 
 seems to have designed to recall the prin 
 cipal circumstances in the dream, so as to 
 identify it in the king s mind, and so as 
 to prepare him for the statement of the 
 fearful events which were to happen to 
 him. 
 
 24. This is the decree of the Most High. 
 Daniel here designs evidently to direct 
 the attention of the monarch to the one 
 living and true God, and to show him 
 that he presides over all. The purpose 
 of the vision was, in a most impressive 
 way, to convince the king of his exist 
 ence and sovereignty. Hence, Daniel 
 says that all this was in accordance with 
 his decree. It was not a thing of chance ; 
 it was not ordered by idol gods ; it was 
 not an event that occurred by the mere 
 force of circumstances, or as the result of 
 the operation of secondary laws ; it was 
 a direct divine interposition the solemn 
 purpose of the living God that it should 
 be so. Nebuchadnezzar had represented 
 this, in accordance with the prevailing 
 views of religion in his land, as a decree 
 of the Watchers (ver. 17) ; Daniel, in ac 
 cordance with his views of religion, and 
 with truth, represents it as the decree of 
 the true God. *| Which is come upon my 
 lord the king. The decree had been pre 
 viously formed; its execution had now 
 come upon the king. 
 
 25. They shall drive thee from men. 
 That is, thou shalt be driven from the 
 habitations of men ; from the place which 
 thou hast occupied among men. The 
 prophet does not say who would do this, 
 but he says that it would be done. The 
 language is such as would be used of one 
 who should become a maniac, and be 
 thrust out of the ordinary society in which 
 he had moved. The Greek of Theodo- 
 tion here is, icai al *(5twou<n v. The Co 
 dex Chisian. has, And the Most High 
 and his angels shall run upon thee 
 
 the beasts of the field, till seven times 
 pass over him ; * 
 
 24 This is the interpretation, 
 king, and this is the decree of the 
 Most High, which is come upon my 
 lord the king: 
 
 25 That they shall drive a thee 
 from men, and thy dwelling shall 
 
 a ver. 33. 
 
 Kararpixo^aLv leading thee into prison/ 
 or into detention uj ^uXaxiji/ and shall 
 thrust thee into a desert place. The 
 general sense is, that he would be in such 
 a state as to be treated like a beast rather 
 than a man ; that he would be removed 
 from his ordinary abodes, and be a miser 
 able and neglected outcast. This com 
 mences the account of the calamity that 
 was to come upon Nebuchadnezzar, and 
 as there have been many opinions enter 
 tained as to the nature of this malady, it 
 may be proper to notice some of them. 
 Comp. Bertholdt, pp. 286-292. Some have 
 held that there was a real metamorphosis 
 into some form of an animal, though his 
 rational soul remained, so that he was able 
 to acknowledge God and give praise to 
 him. Cedrenus held that he was trans 
 formed into a beast, half lion and half ox. 
 An unknown author, mentioned by Justin, 
 maintains that the transformation was 
 into an animal resembling what was seen 
 in the visions of Ezekiel the Cheru- 
 ! bim composed of an eagle, a lion, an ox, 
 and a man. In support of the opinion 
 that there was a real transformation, an 
 appeal has been made to the common be 
 lief among ancient nations, that such me 
 tamorphoses had actually occurred, and 
 especially to what Herodotus (iv. 105) 
 says of the Neuri (Nenpoi): "It is said 
 by the Scythians, as well as by the Greeks 
 \vho dwell in Scythia, that once in every 
 year they are all of them changed into 
 wolves, and that after remaining in that 
 state for the space of a few days, they 
 resume their former shape." Herodotus 
 adds, however, " This I do not believe, 
 although they swear that it is true." An 
 appeal is also made to an assertion of 
 Apuleius, who says of himself that he was 
 changed into an ass; and also to the 
 metamorphoses of Ovid. This supposed 
 transformation of Nebuchadnezzar some 
 have ascribed to Satan. Job. Wier de 
 prsestigiis daemonum, I. 26, iv. 1. Other* 
 
220 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 570 
 
 be with the beasts of the field, and 
 they shall make*thee to eat grass a as 
 
 a Ps. 106. 20. 
 
 have attributed it to the arts of magic or 
 incantation, ;md suppose that it was a 
 change in appearance only. Augustine 
 (de Uivit. Dei, lib. xviii. cap. 17), refer 
 ring to what is said of Dioined and his 
 
 oxen, and they shall wet thee witfc 
 the dew of heaven, and seven times 
 
 another revolution, he was restored again 
 to the throne. It is not necessary to ex 
 amine these various opinions, and tc 
 show their absurdity, their puerility, or 
 their falsehood. Some of them are sim- 
 
 followers on their return from Troy, that I ply ridiculous, and none of them are 
 they were changed into birds, says that i demanded by any fair interpretation of 
 Varro, in proof of the truth of this, ap- 1 the chapter. It may seem, perhaps, to 
 peals to the fact that Circe changed ! be undignified even to refer to such opi- 
 Ulysses and his companions into beasts ; ! nions now ; but this may serve to illustrate 
 and to the Arcadians, who, by swimming j the method in which the Bible has been 
 over a certain lake, were changed into i interpreted in former times, and the steps 
 
 wolves, and that " if they are no man s 
 flesh, at the end of nine years they swam 
 
 which have been taken before men 
 at a clear and rational interpre- 
 
 arrivcd 
 
 over the same lake and became men tation of the sacred volume. It is indeed 
 again." Varro farther mentions the case ; painful to reflect that such absurdities 
 of a man by the name of Daemonetus, 
 
 who, tasting of the sacrifices which the Ar 
 cadians offered (a child), was turned into 
 a wolf, and became a man again at the 
 end of two years. Augustine himself 
 says, that when he was in Italy he heard 
 a report that there were women there, 
 who, by giving one a little drug in cheese, 
 had the power of turning him into an 
 ass. Sec the curious discussion of Augus 
 tine how far this could be true, in his work 
 de Civit. Dei, lib. xviii. cap. 18. He sup 
 poses that under the influence of drugs men 
 might be made to suppose they were thus 
 transformed, or to have a recollection of 
 what passed in such a state as if it were 
 so. Cornelius a Lapide supposes that the 
 transformation in the case of Nebuchad 
 nezzar went only so far that his knees were 
 bent in the other direction, like those of 
 animals, and that he walked like animals. 
 Origen, and many of those who have 
 coincided with him in his allegorial mode 
 of interpreting the Scriptures, supposed 
 that the whole of this account is an 
 allegory, designed to represent the fall 
 of Satan, and his restoration again to the 
 favour of God in accordance with his 
 belief of the doctrine of universal salva 
 tion. Others suppose that the statement 
 here means merely that there was a for 
 midable conspiracy against him; that he 
 was dethroned and bound with fetters ; 
 that he was then expelled from the court, 
 
 and puerilities have been in any way 
 connected with the interpretation of the 
 word of God; sad to reflect that so many 
 persons, in consequence of them, have 
 discarded the Bible and the interpreta 
 tions together as equally ridiculous and 
 absurd. The true account in regard to 
 the Ccilamity of Nebuchadnezzar, is un 
 doubtedly the following: (1.) He was a 
 maniac made such by a direct divine 
 judgment on account of his pride, vs. 
 30, 31. The essential thing in the state 
 ment is, that he was deprived of his rea 
 son, and that he was treated as a maniac. 
 Comp. Intro, to the chapter, II. (1). 
 (2.) The particular form of the insanity 
 with which he was afflicted, seems to 
 have been that he imagined himself to be 
 a beast; and, this idea having taken pos 
 session of his mind, he acted accordingly. 
 It may be remarked in regard to this, 
 (a) that such a fancj r is no uncommon 
 thing among maniacs. Numerous in 
 stances of this may be seen in the various 
 works on insanity or indeed may bo 
 seen by merely visiting a lunatic asy 
 lum. One imagines that he is a king, 
 and decks himself out with a sceptre and 
 a diadem ; another that he is glass, and 
 is filled with excessive anxiety lest he 
 should be broken ; others have regarded 
 themselves as deprived of their proper 
 nature as human beings ; others as hav 
 ing been once dead, and restored to life 
 
 and driven into exile ; and that, as such, again ; others as having been dead and 
 he lived a miserable life, finding a pre- sent back into life without a heart; 
 carious subsistence in woods and wilds, others as existing in a manner unlike 
 among the beasts of the forest, until, by | any other mortals ; others as having no 
 
B. C. 570.J 
 
 CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 221 
 
 shall pass ever thee, till thou know 
 
 that the Most Hi^h ruleth in the 
 
 Ps. S3. 18. 
 
 kingdom of men, and giveth it to 
 whomsoever he wil 
 
 rational soul. See Arnold on Insanity, 
 I. pp. 176 195. In all these cases, when 
 such a fancy takes possession of the 
 mind, there will be an effort on the part 
 of the patient to act in exact conformity 
 to this view of himself, and his whole 
 conduct will be adapted to it. Nothing 
 can convince him that it is not so ; and 
 there is no absurdity in supposing that, 
 if the thought had taken possession of 
 the mind of Nebuchadnezzar that he was 
 a beast, he would live and act as a wild 
 beast just as it is said that he did. 
 (6) In itself considered, if Nebuchad 
 nezzar was deprived of his reason, and 
 for the cause assigned his pride, no 
 thing is more probable than that he would 
 be left to imagine himself a beast, and to 
 act like a beast. This would furnish the 
 most striking contrast to his former state ; 
 would do most to bring down his pride ; 
 and would most effectually show the 
 supremacy of the Most High. (3) In 
 this state of mind, fancying himself a 
 wild beast, and endeavouring to act in 
 conformity with this view, it is probable 
 that he would be indulged as far as was 
 consistent with his safety. Perhaps the 
 regency would bo induced to allow this 
 partly from their long habits of deference 
 to the will of an arbitrary monarch; 
 partly because by this indulgence he 
 would be less troublesome; and partly 
 because a painful spectacle would thus 
 be removed from the palace. We are not 
 to suppose that he was permitted to roam 
 in forests at large without any restraint, 
 and without any supervision whatever. 
 In Babylon, attached to the palace, there 
 were doubtless, as there are all over the 
 East, royal parks or gardens ; there is 
 every probability that in these parks 
 there may have been assembled rare and 
 strange animals as a royal menagerie ; 
 and it was doubtless in these parks, and 
 among these animals, that he was allowed 
 to range. Painful as such a spectacle 
 would be, yet it is not improbable that to 
 such a maniac this would be allowed as 
 contributing to his gratification, or as a 
 means of restoring him to his right mind. 
 (4) A king, however wide his empire, or 
 magnificent his court, would be as likely 
 to be subject to mental derangement as 
 any other man. No situation in life can 
 19* 
 
 save the human mind from the liability 
 to so overwhelming a calamity, nor should 
 wo deem it strange that it should come 
 on a king as well as other men. The 
 condition of Nebuchadnezzar, as repre 
 sented by himself in this edict, was 
 scarcely more pitiable than that of 
 George III. of England though it is not 
 surprising that in the eighteenth century 
 of the Christian era, and in a Christian 
 land, the treatment of the sovereign in 
 such circumstances was different from 
 that which a monarch received in hea 
 then Babylon. (5) It cannot be shown 
 that this did not come upon Nebuchad 
 nezzar, as stated in this chapter, (vs. 
 30, 31,) on account of his pride. That he 
 was a proud and haughty monarch, is 
 apparent from all his history; that God 
 would take some effectual means to hum 
 ble him, is in accordance with his deal 
 ings with mankind; that this would be 
 a most effectual means of doing it, cannot 
 be doubted. No one can prove, in re 
 spect to any judgment that comes upon 
 mankind, that it is not on account of some 
 I sin reigning in the heart; and when it is 
 ! affirmed in a book claiming to be inspired, 
 | that a particular calamity is brought 
 upon men on account of their trans 
 gressions, it cannot be demonstrated that 
 the statement is not true. If these re 
 marks are correct, then no well-founded 
 objection can lie against the account 
 i here respecting the calamity that came 
 upon this monarch in Babylon. This 
 opinion in regard to the nature of the 
 affliction which came upon Nebuchad- 
 j nezzar, is probably that which is now 
 ! generally entertained, and it certainly 
 meets all the circumstances of the case, 
 1 and frees the narrative from material ob 
 jection. As a confirmation of its truth, 
 ! I will copy here the opinion of Dr. Mead, 
 j as it is found in his Medica Sacra : 
 " All the circumstances of Nebuchad 
 nezzar s case agree so well with an hypo- 
 chondriacal madness, that to me it ap 
 pears evident that Nebuchadnezzar was 
 seized with this distemper, and under its 
 influence ran wild into the fields; and 
 that, fancying himself transformed into 
 an ox, he fed on grass after the manner 
 of cattle. For every sort of madness is 
 the result of a disturbed imagination; 
 
222 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 570. 
 
 which this unhappy man laboured under 
 for full seven years. And through ne 
 glect of taking proper care of himself, his 
 hair and nails grew to an uncommon 
 length ; whereby the latter, growing 
 thicker and crooked, resembled the claws 
 of birds. Now the ancients called peo 
 ple affected with this kind of madness, 
 \VKav$pt.i)Troi wolf-men, or Kwav$p(tmoi 
 dog-men, because they went abroad in the 
 night imitating wolves or dogs ; particu 
 larly intent upon opening the sepulchres 
 of the dead, and had their legs much 
 ulcerated, either from frequent falls, or 
 the bites of dogs. In like manner are the 
 daughters of Proetus related to have been 
 mad, who, as Virgil says, JEn. vi. 48, 
 
 implerunt fnlsis mugitibus agros. 
 
 With mimic bowlings filled the fields. 
 
 For, as Servius observes, Juno possessed 
 their minds with such a species of fury, 
 that, fancying themselves cows, they ran 
 into the fields, bellowed often, and 
 dreaded the plough. Nor was this dis 
 order unknown to the moderns, for 
 Schneckius records a remarkahle instance 
 of a husbandman in Padua, who, imag 
 ining himself a wolf, attacked and even 
 killed several people in the fields ; and 
 when at length he was taken, he perse 
 vered in declaring himself a real wolf, 
 and that the only difference consisted in 
 the inversion of his skin and hair." The 
 same opinion as to the nature of the dis 
 ease is expressed by Dr. J. M. Good, in 
 his " Study of Medicine." So also Bur 
 ton (Anatomy of Melancholy, Part I. $ 1. 
 Memb. i. Subs. 4). Burton refers to sev 
 eral cases which would illustrate the 
 opinion. " Wierus," says he, "tells a 
 story of such a one in Padua, 1541, that 
 would not believe the contrary but that 
 he was a wolf. He hath another instance 
 of a Spaniard who thought himself a 
 bear. Such, belike, or little better, were 
 king Proetus daughters, that thought 
 themselves kine" an instance strikingly 
 resembling this case of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 who seems to have imagined himself some 
 kind of beast. Pliny, perhaps referring 
 to diseases of this kind, says, " Some 
 men were turned into wolves in my time, 
 and from wolves to men again." Lib. viii. 
 c. 22. See Burton as above. ^ And thy 
 dwelling shall be with the leasts of the 
 field. That is, as above explained, thou 
 wilt imagine thyself to be a beast, and 
 wilt act like a beast. Indulgence will be 
 
 given to this propensity so as to allow 
 you to range with the beasts in the park, 
 or the royal menagerie. *[f And they shall 
 make thee to eat grass as oxen. That is, 
 this shall be thy propensity, and thou 
 i shalt be indulged in it. Fancying him 
 self a benst of some kind probably, as 
 I appears from this expression, an ox 
 nothing would be more natural than that 
 | he should attempt to live as oxen do, 
 i on grass, that he should be so far in- 
 | dulged that his food would consist of 
 vegetables. Nothing is more common 
 among maniacs than some such freak about 
 food ; and it is just as likely that a king 
 I would manifest this as any other man. 
 The word grass here N^P ? Heb. 2i? # 
 means properly herbs; green herbs; vegeta 
 bles, represented, commonly, as furnish 
 ing food for man. Gen. i. 11, 12, ii. 5, 
 iii. 18; Ex. x. 12, 15; Ps. civ. 14. The 
 word grass, in our language, conveys an 
 idea which is not strictly in accordance 
 with the original. That word would de 
 note only the vegetable productions which 
 cattle eat; the Hebrew word is of a more 
 general signification, embracing all kinds 
 of vegetables those which man eats, ag 
 well as those which animals eat, and the 
 meaning here is, that he would live on 
 vegetable food; a propensity in which 
 they would doubtless indulge a man in 
 such circumstances painful and humili 
 ating as it would be. The phrase * they 
 shall make thee eat grass/ rather means, 
 they shall permit thee to do it/ or they 
 shall treat thee so that thou wilt do it. 
 It would be his inclination, and they 
 would allow him to be gratified in it. 
 ^[ And they shall wet thee icith the dew 
 of heaven. Or, shall suffer you to be wet 
 with the dew of heaven ; that is, to be out 
 in the open air no improbable treat 
 ment of a maniac, and especially likely 
 i to occur in a climate where it was no 
 uncommon thing for all classes of per- 
 ! sons to pass the night under the sky. 
 j ^f And seven times shall pass over thee. 
 Notes on ver 16. ^[ Till thou know, &c. 
 Until thou shalt effectually learn that the 
 true God rules ; that he gives authority 
 to whom he pleases ; and that he takes it 
 away when he pleases. Notes on ver. 17. 
 j Nothing could be better fitted to teach this 
 I lesson than to deprive, by a manifest 
 j judgment of heaven, such a monarch 
 I of the exercise of reason, and reduce 
 him to the pitiable condition here de 
 scribed. 
 
B. C. 570.] 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 223 
 
 26 And whereas they commanded after that thou shalt have known 
 to leave the stump of the tree roots ; that the a heavens do rule, 
 thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, j 27 Wherefore, king, let my 
 > Matt. 5. 34; LU. is. is, 21. I counsel be acceptable unto thee, and 
 
 26. And whereas they commanded. The j qualities as a man, but he was proud; he 
 watchers, ver. 15. Comp. ver. 17. f To \ was ambitious j he was arbitrary in his 
 leave the stump of the tree roots. Or, to government; he was passionate and re- 
 leaye roots to the stump of the tree ; that vengeful . and he was doubtless, addicted 
 is it was not to be dug up or wholly de- guch leasureg of life ag were com . 
 
 ! r^r^ t amon k ? ?T f his t ^T 
 
 , ,1 , r v lie had a certain kind oi respect for reh- 
 
 **TL?.S ! gion, whatever was the objecLf worship, 
 
 thee. That is, thou shalt not die under bl ? fc . t , hlS r , WaS " inconsistent with a 
 this calamity, but after it has passed i cked hfe The Word translated** 
 away shalt be restored to authority. It | ff P!>?> 1S rendered in the Vulgate re- 
 might have been supposed that this meant dime, redeem, and so in the Greek of 
 that the authority would survive in his Theodotion, \vrpuaat, and in the Codex 
 family, and that those who were to sue- Chis. From this use of the word in some 
 ceed him would reign as shoots spring of the versions, and from the fact that the 
 up after the parent tree has fallen ; but word rendered righteousness is often em- 
 Daniel was directed to an interpretation \ ployed in the later Hebrew to denote alms- 
 which is not less in accordance with the I giving, (comp. the margin in Matt. vi. 1, 
 fair meaning of the dream than this would j and the Greek text in Tittmann and Hahn 
 have been, f After that thou shalt have where the word fnKaioavvnv is used to de- 
 
 known that the heavens do rule. That 
 God rules. This was the great lesson 
 which the event was designed to teach, 
 and when that should have been learned, 
 there would be a propriety that he should 
 be restored to his throne, and should 
 proclaim this to the world. 
 
 27. Wherefore, Icing, let iny counsel 
 be acceptable unto thee. Daniel was per 
 mitted to see not only the fact that this 
 calamity impended over the king, but the 
 
 cause of it, and as that cause was his 
 
 note alms,) the passage here has been 
 adduced in favour of the doctrine of ex 
 piatory merits, and the purchase of abso 
 lution by almsgiving a favourite doc 
 trine in the Roman Catholic communion. 
 But the ordinary and common meaning 
 of the word is not to redeem, but to 
 break, to break off, to abandon. It is the 
 word from which our English word break 
 is derived, Germ, brecken. Comp. Gen. 
 
 40, " that thou shalt break his 
 yoke;" Ex. xxxii. 2, " Bre ak off the 
 proud and sinful heart, he supposed that j golden ear-rings;" Ex. xxxii. 3, "And 
 the judgment might be averted if the all the people brake off the golden ear- 
 king would reform his life. If the cause I rings ;" Ex. xxxii. 24, "Whosoever hath 
 were removed, he inferred, not unreason- j any gold let them break it off;" 1 Kings 
 ably, that there was a hope that the cala- j xix. 11, "A great and strong wind 
 mity might be avoided. We cannot but I rent the mountains;" Zech. xi. 16, "And 
 admire here the boldness and fidelity of tear their claws in pieces;" Ezek. xix. 
 Daniel, who not only gave a fair inter- 12, "his strong holds were broken" 
 pretation of the dream, in the case sub- j The word is rendered in our com 
 mitted to him, but who went beyond that | mon version, redeem once, (Ps. cxxxvi. 4,) 
 in a faithful representation to the most j" And hath redeemed us from our ene- 
 mighty monarch of the age, that this was mies." It is translated rending in Ps. 
 
 in consequence of his wicked life. 
 break off thy sins by righteousness. By 
 acts of righteousness or justice; by 
 abandoning a wicked course of life. 
 
 y 
 It 
 
 VH. 2, and deliver in Lam. v. 8. It 
 does not elsewhere occur in the Scrip 
 tures. The fair meaning of the word, is, 
 as in our version, to break off, and the 
 
 is fairly to be inferred from this that the j idea of redeeming the soul by acts of 
 life of the monarch had been wicked a J charity or almsgiving is not in the pas- 
 fact which is confirmed every where in I sage, "and cannot be derived from it. 
 his history. He had, indeed, some good | This passage, therefore, cannot be ad- 
 
224 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 570 
 
 break a off thy sins by righteousness, 
 and thine iniquities by showing 
 
 Is. 55.7. 
 
 b Ps. 41. 1, 2. 
 
 duced to defend the doctrine that the soul 
 may be redeemed, or that sins may be 
 expiated by acts of charity and almsgiv 
 ing. It means that the king was to break 
 otf his sins by acts of righteousness ; or, 
 in other words, he was to show by a right 
 eous life that he had abandoned his evil 
 course. The exhortation is, that he would 
 practice those great duties of justice and 
 charity towards mankind in which he 
 had been so deficient, if, perhaps, God 
 might show mercy, and avert the im 
 pending calamity. ^[ And thine iniqui 
 ties by showing mercy to the poor. The 
 peculiar iniquity of Nebuchadnezzar 
 may have consisted in his oppressing the 
 poor of his realm in the exorbitant exac 
 tions imposed on them in carrying on his 
 public works, and building and beauti 
 fying his capital. Life, under an Oriental 
 despot, is regarded as of little value. 
 Sixty thousand men were employed by 
 Mohammed Ali in digging the canal from 
 Cairo to Alexandria, in which work 
 almost no tools were furnished them but 
 their hands. A large portion of them 
 died, and were buried by their fellow- 
 labourers in the earth excavated in dig 
 ging the canal. Who can estimate the 
 number of men that were uselessly em 
 ployed under the arbitrary monarch of 
 Egypt on the useless work of building the 
 pyramids ? Those structures, doubtless, 
 cost millions of lives, and there is no im 
 probability in supposing that Nebuchad 
 nezzar had employed hundreds of thou 
 sands of persons without any adequate 
 compensation, and in a hard and oppres 
 sive service, in rearing the walls and the 
 palaces of Babylon, and in excavating 
 the canals to water the city and the ad 
 jacent country. No counsel, therefore, 
 could be more appropriate than that he 
 should relieve the poor from those bur 
 dens, and do justice to them. There 
 is no intimation that he was to attempt 
 to purchase release from the judgments 
 of God by such acts ; but the meaning 
 is, that if he would cease from his acts 
 of oppression, it might be hoped that 
 God would avert the threatened cala 
 mity. The duty here enjoined of show 
 ing mercy to the poor, is one that is 
 
 mercy to the poor ; if b it may be 
 c a lengthening of thy tranquillity. 
 
 c or, a healing of thine error. 
 
 everywhere commanded in the Scrip 
 tures. Ps. xli. 1 ; Matt. xix. 21 ; Gal. 
 ii. 10, et scepe. Its influence in obtain 
 ing the divine favour, or in averting 
 calamity, is also elsewhere stated. Comp. 
 Ps. xli. 1, " Blessed is he that considereth 
 | the poor ; the Lord will deliver him in 
 I time of trouble." It is a sentiment which 
 occurs frequently in the books of the 
 Apocrypha, and in these books there can 
 be found the progress of the opinion 
 to the point which it reached in the later 
 periods of the Jewish history, and which 
 it has obtained in the Roman Catholic 
 communion, that almsgiving or charity 
 to the poor would be an expiation for sin, 
 I and would commend men to God as a 
 | ground of righteousness ; or, in other 
 words, the progress of the doctrine to 
 wards that which teaches that works of 
 supererogation may be performed. Thus 
 in the Book of Tobit (iv. 810), "If 
 thou hast abundance, give alms accord 
 ingly j if thou have little, be not afrnid 
 to give according to that little : for thou 
 layest up a good treasure for thyself 
 against the day of necessity. Because 
 that alms do deliver from death, and suf- 
 fereth not to come into darkness." Tobit 
 xii. 9, 10, "For alms doth deliver from 
 death, and shall purge away all sin. Those 
 that exercise righteousness and alms shall 
 be filled with life; but they that sin 
 are enemies to their own life." Tobit 
 xiv. 10, 11, " Manasses gave alms, and 
 escaped the snares of death which they 
 had set for him ; but Amam fell into the 
 snare and perished. Wherefore now, mj 
 son, consider what alms doeth, and how 
 righteousness doth deliver." Ecclesi- 
 asticus xxix. 12, 13, "Shut up alms 
 in thy storehouses ; it shall deliver thee 
 from all affliction. It shall fight for thee 
 against thine enemies better than a 
 mighty shield and a strong spear." Eccle- 
 siasticus xl. 24. " Brethren and help are 
 against time of trouble ; but alms shall de 
 liver more than them both." In these pas 
 sages there is evidence of the progress of 
 the sentiment towards the doctrines of 
 supererogation ; but there is none what 
 ever that Dviniel attributed any such 
 efficacy to alms, or that he meant to teach 
 anything more than the common doctrine 
 
B.C. 570.] CHAPTER IV. 225 
 
 28 If All this came upon the king f he walked a in the palace of the 
 Nebuchadnezzar. kingdom of Babylon. 
 
 29 At the end of twelve months! *or,wpo. 
 
 of religion, that when a man breaks off j he would not break off from it, even while 
 from his sins it may be hoped that the > he admitted the fact that he was exposed 
 judgments which impended over him i on account of it to so awful a judgment 
 may be averted, and that doing good will j as multitudes do who pursue a course of 
 meet the smiles and approbation of God. j iniquity, even while they admit that it 
 Compare in reference to this sentiment | will be followed by poverty, disgrace, 
 the case of the Ninevites, when the | disease and death here, and by the wrath 
 threatening against them was averted by j of God hereafter; or, it may be, that he 
 their repentance and humiliation, Jonah | did not credit the representation which 
 iii. 10; the case of Hezekiah, when his j Daniel made, and refused to follow his 
 predicted death was averted by his tears ! counsel on that account; or, it may be, 
 and prayers, Isa. xxxviii. 15 ; and Jer. | that, though he purposed to repent, yet, 
 xviii. 7, 8, where this principle of the as thousands of others do, he suffered the 
 
 divine government is fully asserted. *[//" 
 it may be a lengthening of tliy tranquillity. 
 
 time to pass on until the forbearance of 
 God was exhausted, and the calamity 
 came suddenly upon him. A full year, 
 
 Marg., or, an healing of tliy error. The 
 
 Greek of Theodotion here is, " Perhaps it would seem (ver. 29), was given him to 
 
 God will be long-suffering toward thy see what the effect of the admonition 
 
 offences." The Greek of the Codex would be, and then all that had been pre- 
 
 Chis. is, And thou mayest remain a dieted was fulfilled. His conduct furnishes 
 
 long time -roXw;/jepof yivn upon the J a remarkable illustration of the conduct of 
 
 throne of thy kingdom. The Vulgate, sinners under threatened wrath: of the 
 
 Perhaps he wDl pardon thy faults. The fact that the y continue to live in sin when 
 
 Syriac, Until he may remove from thee 
 thy follies. The original word ren 
 dered lengthening SO")!* means pro 
 perly, as translated here, a prolongation ; 
 a drawing out; a lengthening; and th< 
 
 exposed to certain destruction, and when 
 warned in the plainest manner of what 
 will come upon them. 
 
 29. At the end of twelve months. After 
 the dream, and the interpretation giv 
 ing him ample opportunity to repent and 
 
 word is here correctly rendered. It has , to reform hig lif d to avoid the ca _ 
 not the meaning assigned to it in the | lamit * Hc walked {n th& la ^ 
 marginof AcaJtHflr .It would apply pro- 1 M Tfae in . g th f more 
 
 per y to a prolongation of anytbing-w corr ? ct / en dering. The roofs of houses 
 of hfe, peace, health, prosperity. The ! in the eagt are made flafcj and furnish a 
 word rendered frangrMtttity niSp means | common p i ace O f promenade, especially 
 properly security, safety, quiet; and the j in the cool of the evening. See Notes on 
 reference here is to his calm possession ! Matt. ix. 2. The Codex Chis. has here, 
 of the throne ; to his quietness in his j The king walked upon the walls of the 
 
 Ealace, and peace in his kingdom. There | city with all his glory, and went around 
 5 nothing in the text to justify the ver- j the towers, and answering, said. The 
 sion in the margin. | place, however, upon which he walked, 
 
 28. All this came upon the Icing Nebu- appears to have been the roof of his own 
 chadnezz.ir. That is, the threatened judg- palace doubtless reared so high that he 
 rnent came upon him in the form in which ! could have a good view of the city from 
 it was predicted. He did not repent j it. *[ Of the kingdom of Babylon. Ap- 
 and reform his life as he was exhorted i pertaining to that kingdom; the royal 
 
 to, and, having given him sufficient 
 time to show whether he was disposed to 
 follow the counsel of Daniel, God sud- 
 
 residence. As it is to be supposed that 
 this palace of the kingdom on the roof 
 of which the king walked, was that which 
 
 ienly brought the heavy judgment upon I he had himself reared, and as this con- 
 him. Vfhy he did not follow the counsel tributed much to the splendour of the 
 of Daniel is not stated, and cannot be ! capital of his empire, and doubtless 
 known. It may have been that he was I was the occasion in a considerable de- 
 so addicted to a life of wickedness that { gree of his vainglorious boasting when 
 
226 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 570. 
 
 30 The king a spake, and said, Is 
 not this great Babylon, that I have 
 built for the house of the kingdom 
 
 the judgment of heaven fell upon him 
 
 by the might of my power, and for 
 the honour of my majesty ? 
 
 Lu. 12. 19, 20. 
 
 trees, prodigious hollow piers were built 
 
 (vs. 30, 31), a brief description of that and filled with mould. From the Eu- 
 palaee seems to be not inappropriate. I phrates, which flowed close to the foun- 
 
 The description is copied from an article 
 on Babylon in Kitto s Cyclopaedia of Bibli 
 cal Literature, vol. i. pp. 270, 271 : " The 
 new palace built by Nebuchadnezzar was 
 prodigious in size, and superb in einbel 
 
 dation, water was drawn up by machinery. 
 The whole, Says Q. Curtius (v. 5.), had, 
 to those who saw it from a distance, the 
 appearance of woods overhanging moun 
 tains. The remains of this palace are 
 
 lishments. Its outer wall embraced six j found in the vast mound or hill called by 
 miles; within that circumference were the natives kasr. It is of irregular form, 
 two other embattled walls, besides a great 
 tower. Three brazen gates led into the 
 grand area, and every gate of conse 
 quence throughout the city was of brass. 
 The palace was beautifully decorated 
 with statues of men and animals, with 
 vessels of gold and silver, and furnished 
 with luxuries of all kinds brought thither 
 from conquests in Egypt, Palestine, and 
 Tyre. Its greatest boast were the hang 
 ing gardens, which acquired, even from 
 the Grecian writers, the appellation of 
 one of the wonders of the world. They 
 are attributed to the gallantry of Nebu 
 
 chadnezzar, who 
 compliance with 
 
 constructed them in 
 
 a wish of his 
 
 queen 
 
 Amytis to possess elevated groves, such 
 as she had enjoyed on the hills around 
 
 eight hundred yards in length, and six 
 hundred yards in breadth. Its appear 
 ance is constantly undergoing change 
 from the continual digging which takes 
 place in its inexhaustible quarries for 
 brick of the strongest and finest material. 
 Hence the mass is furrowed into deep ra 
 vines, crossing and recrossing each other 
 in every direction." 
 
 30. The king spake, and said. The 
 Chaldee, and the Greek of Theodotion and 
 of the Codex Chis., here is, the king 
 answered and said: perhaps he replied 
 made by his attendants 
 
 to some remark 
 
 in regard to the magnitude of the city; 
 or perhaps the word answered is used, as 
 it often seems to be in the Scriptures, to 
 denote a reply to something passing in 
 
 her native Ecbatana. Babylon was all the mind that is not uttered ; to some 
 flat, and to accomplish so extravagant a question or inquiry that the mind starts, 
 desire, an artificial mountain was reared, I He might merely have been thinking of 
 four hundred feet on each side, while ter- i the magnitude of this city, and he gave 
 races one above another rose to a height ! response to those thoughts in the language 
 
 which follows. ^ la not this great Baby 
 lon, that I haw built. In regard to the 
 situation and the magnitude of Babylon, 
 and the agency of Nebuchadnezzar in 
 beautifying and enlarging it, see the 
 Analysis prefixed to the Notes on the 
 
 that overtopped the walls of the city, that 
 is, above three hundred feet in elevation. 
 The ascent from terrace to terrace was 
 made by corresponding flights of steps, 
 while the terraces themselves were reared 
 to their various stages or ranges of regu 
 lar piers, which, forming a kind of vaulting, xiiith chapter of Isaiah. He greatly 
 rose in succession one over the other to the I enlarged the city ; built a new city on the 
 required height of each terrace, the whole west side of the river; reared a magnifi- 
 being bound together by a wa}l twenty- i cent palace : and constructed the cele- 
 two feet in thickness. The level of each | brated hanging gardens, and, in fact, 
 terrace or garden was then formed in the \ made the city so different from what it 
 following manner: the tops of the piers j was, and so greatly increased its splen- 
 were first laid over with flat stones, six- j dour, that he could say without im- 
 teen feet in length, and four in width ; i propriety that he had built it. f For 
 on these stones were spread beds of mat- ! the house of the kingdom. To be con- 
 ting, then a thick layer of bitumen, after i sidered altogether embracing the whole 
 which came two courses of bricks, which j city as a sort of palace of the kingdom, 
 were covered with sheets of solid lead, i He seems to have looked upon the whole 
 The earth was heaped on this platform, i city as one vast palace fitted to be an 
 and in order to admit the roots of large j appropriate residence of the sovereign of 
 
B. C. 570.] 
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 
 227 
 
 31 While the word was in the 
 king s mouth, there fell a voice from 
 heaven, saying, king Nebuchad 
 nezzar, to thee it is spoken ; The 
 kingdom is departed from thee. 
 
 32 And b they shall drive thee 
 from men, and thy dwelling shall 
 
 lTh. 5. 3. 
 
 bver. 25, 26. 
 
 be with the beasts of the field : thej 
 shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, 
 and seven times shall pass over thee, 
 until thou know that the Most High 
 ruleth in the kingdom of men, and 
 giveth it to whomsoever he will. 
 
 33 The same hour was the thing 
 fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar : and 
 
 so vast an empire. ^[ And for the honour 
 of my majesty. To ennoble or glorify iny 
 reign ; or where one of so much majesty 
 as I am may find an appropriate home. 
 
 31. While the word was in the king s 
 mouth. In the very act of his speaking 
 thus showing that there could be no doubt 
 as to the connection between the crime 
 and the punishment. ^[ There fell a voice 
 from heaven. There came a voice ; or, 
 perhaps, it seemed to fall as a thunder 
 bolt. It was uttered above him, and ap 
 peared to come from heaven. There was 
 an important sense in which it did fall 
 from heaven ; for it was the voice of God. 
 ^[ Saying, king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee 
 it is spoken. For you it is particularly 
 intended ; or what is predicted is now 
 spoken to thee. *[ The kingdom is de 
 parted from thee. Thou art about to 
 cease to reign. Up to this time he re 
 tained his reason that he might distinctly 
 understand the source from whence the 
 judgment was to come, and why it was 
 brought upon him, and that he might be 
 prepared, when he should be recovered 
 from his insanity, to testify clearly to 
 the origin and the nature of the judg 
 ment. The Codex Chis. has an impor 
 tant addition to what is said here, which, 
 though of no authority, as having no 
 thing corresponding to it in the original 
 text, yet states what is in itself not im 
 probable. It is as follows : * And at the 
 end of what he was saying, he heard a 
 voice from heaven, To thee it is spoken, 
 king Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom of 
 Babylon shall be taken away from thee, 
 and shall be given to another, a man de 
 spised or of no rank ovSi/>?//i> dj/Spwrrw 
 in thy house. Behold, I will place him 
 over thy kingdom, and thy power, and thy 
 glory, and thy luxury r)i/ rpvtyfiv he 
 shall receive, until thou shalt know that 
 the God of heaven has authority over the 
 kingdom of men, and gives it to whom- 
 goever he will : but until the rising of the 
 aun another king shall rejoice in thy 
 
 house, and shall possess thy power, and 
 thy strength, and thine authority, and 
 the angels shall drive thee away for seven 
 years, and thou shalt not be seen, and 
 shalt not speak with any man, but they 
 shall feed thee with grass as oxen, and 
 from the herb of the field shall be thy 
 support. 
 
 32. And they shall drive thee from men, 
 <fcc. See Notes on ver 25. 
 
 33. The same hour was the thing ful 
 filled. On the word hour, see Notes on 
 ver. 19. The use of the word here would 
 seem to confirm the suggestion there 
 made that it means a brief period of time. 
 The idea is clearly, that it was done 
 instantly. The event came suddenly 
 upon him, without any interval, as he 
 was speaking. ^[ Till his hairs were 
 grown like eagles feathers. By long ne 
 glect and inattention. The Greek ver 
 sion of Theodotion has in this place the 
 word lions instead of eagles : till his 
 hairs were grown long like that of lions; 
 and the passage is paraphrased by Jack 
 son thus, till his hair was grown long 
 and shagged like the main of a lion. 
 This would make good sense, but it is 
 not the reading of the Chaldee. The 
 Codex Chis. reads it, and my hairs 
 were like the wings of an eagle, and my 
 nails like those of a lion. The correct 
 idea is, that his hair was neglected until 
 in appearance it resembled the feathers 
 of a bird. ^[ And his nails like birds 
 claws. No unnatural thing, if he was 
 driven out and negtecteJ as the insane 
 have been in much later times, and in 
 much more civilized parts of the world. 
 In regard to the probability of the state 
 ment here made respecting the treatment 
 of Nebuchadnezzar, and the objection 
 derived from it against the authenticity 
 of the book of Daniel, see Intro, to the 
 Chapter, II. (1.) In addition to what is 
 said there, the following cases may be re 
 ferred to as showing that there is no im 
 probability in supposing that what is bore 
 
228 
 
 DANIEL. [B.C. 570. 
 
 he was driven from men, and did 
 eat grass as oxen, and his body was 
 wet with the dew of heaven, till his 
 hairs were grown like eagles fea 
 thers, and his nails like birds claws. 
 
 stated actually occurred. The extracts 
 are taken from the second annual Keport 
 of the Prison Discipline Society, and they 
 describe the condition of some of the 
 patients before they were admitted into 
 the insane asylum at Worcester. If these 
 things occurred in the commonwealth of 
 Massachusetts, and in the nineteenth 
 century of the Christian era, there is no 
 thing incredible in supposing that a 
 similar thing may have occurred in an 
 cient heathen Babylon. " No. 1. Had 
 been in prison twenty-eight years when 
 he was brought to the Institution. Dur 
 ing seven years he had not felt the influ 
 ence of fire, and many nights he had not 
 lain down for fear of freezing. He had 
 not been shaved for twenty-eight years, 
 and had been provoked and excited by 
 the introduction of hundreds to see the 
 exhibition of his raving. No. 2. Had 
 been in one prison fourteen years : he was 
 naked his hair and beard grown long 
 and his skin so entirely filled with the 
 dust of charcoal as to render it impossi 
 ble, from its appearance, to discover what 
 nation he was of. He was in the habit 
 of screaming so loud as to annoy the 
 whole neighbourhood, and was considered 
 a most dangerous and desperate man. 
 No. 3. An old man of seventy years of 
 age or more; had been chafiwdfor twenty- 
 Jive years, and had his chain taken 
 off but once in that time. No. 4. A 
 female : had so long been confined with a 
 short chain as wholly to lose the use of 
 her lower limbs. Her health had been 
 materially impaired by confinement, and 
 she was unable to stand, and had not 
 walked for years. No. 8. Had been 
 ten years without clothes : a most 
 inconceivably filthy and degraded be 
 ing : exceedingly violent and outrageous. 
 No. 9. Another female, exceedingly filthy 
 in her habits, had not worn clothes 
 for two years, during which time she had 
 been confined in a filthy cell, destitute of 
 everything like comfort, tearing every 
 thing in pieces that was given her. 
 No. 10. Has been insane eight years : 
 almost the whole of the time in jail and 
 ia a cage." 
 
 34 And at the end of the days 1 
 Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes 
 unto heaven, and mine understand 
 ing returned unto me, and I blessed 
 the Most High, and I praised and 
 
 34. And at the end of the days. That 
 is, the time designated, to wit : the * seven 
 times that were to pass over him. *[[ 2 
 Nebuchadnezzar lifted tip mine eyes unto 
 heaven. Probably the first thing that in 
 dicated returning reason. It would not 
 be unnatural, on the supposition that he 
 was deprived of reason at the very instant 
 that a voice seemed to speak to him from 
 heaven, and that he continued wholly in 
 sane or idiotic during the long interval 
 of seven years, that the first indication 
 of returning reason would be his looking 
 up to the place from whence that voice 
 seemed to come, as if it were still 
 speaking to him. In some forms of men 
 tal derangement, when it comes suddenly 
 upon a man, the effect is wholly to an- 
 nihilate the interval, so that, when rea 
 son is restored, the individual connects 
 in his recollection the last thing which 
 occurred when reason ceased with the 
 moment when it is restored. A patient 
 had been long an inmate of an insane 
 apartment in Providence, Rhode Island. 
 He was a seaman, and had been in 
 jured on the head when his vessel 
 was in a naval engagement, and it 
 was supposed that his brain had been 
 permanently affected. For many years 
 he was idiotic, and no hopes were en 
 tertained of his recovery. It was at 
 length suggested that the operation of 
 trepanning should be performed, and the 
 very instant that the bone was raised from 
 its pressure on the brain, he exclaimed, 
 Has she struck? The whole interval of 
 time was obliterated from his memory. 
 Similar instances are mentioned by Dr, 
 Abercrombie (Intellectual Powers, pp. 
 252, 253). A man had been employed 
 for a day with beetle and wedges in split 
 ting pieces of wood for erecting a fence. 
 j At night, before going home, he put the 
 beetle and wedges into the hollow of an 
 old tree, and directed his sons, who had 
 been at work in an adjoining field, to ac 
 company him next morning to assist in 
 making the fence. In the night he be 
 came maniacal, and continued in a state 
 of insanity for several years, during wbi^b 
 
B. C. 563.] 
 
 OHAPTER iv. 
 
 honoured him a that liveth for ever, 
 whose dominion is an b everlasting 
 dominion, and his kingdom is from 
 generation c to generation. 
 
 3 c. 12. 7 ; Re. 4. 10. 
 
 b Ps. 10. 16; Je. 10. 10; c. 2.44; 7. 14; Mi. 
 4. 7 ; Lu. 1. 33. 
 
 time his mind was not occupied with any 
 of the subjects with which he had been 
 conversant when in health. After several 
 years his reason returned suddenly, and 
 the first question he asked was, whether 
 his sons had brought home the beetle and 
 wedges. A lady had been intensely en 
 gaged for some time in a piece of needle 
 work. Before she had completed it she 
 became insane, and continued in that 
 state for seven years, after which her rea 
 son returned suddenly. ^One of the first 
 questions she asked related to her needle 
 work, though she had never alluded to 
 it, so far as was recollected, during her 
 illness. Another lady was liable to peri 
 odical paroxysms of delirium, which often 
 attacked her so suddenly, that in conver 
 sation she would stop in the middle of a 
 
 35 And d all the inhabitants of the 
 earth are reputed as nothing: and 
 he e doeth according to his will in 
 the army of heaven, and among the 
 
 Ps. 90. 1. d Is. 40. 15, 16. 
 
 e Ps. 115. 3; 135. 6. 
 
 recollecting the prediction, he could not 
 doubt that this was the way in which he had 
 been treated during the period of his dis 
 tressing malady. ^[ And I blessed the Moat 
 High. For his recovery, and in an hum 
 ble acknowledgment of his dependence. 
 "The acts of praise here referred to, are 
 the suitable returns of a mind truly peni 
 tent, and deeply sensible of its faults and 
 of its mercies." Winkle. ^ And I praised 
 and honoured him. That is, I honoured 
 him by rendering thanks for his restoring 
 mercy; by recognizing him as the true 
 God; and by the acknowledging of the 
 truth that he has a right to reign, and 
 
 that his kingdom 
 
 f That 
 
 liveth, forever. He is the -living God, as 
 he is often styled, in contradistinction 
 from all false gods who have no life; 
 
 story, or even of a sentence, and branch i and he lives forever in contradistinction 
 
 off into the subject of her hallucination. 
 On the return of her reason, she would 
 resume the subject of her conversation 
 on which she was engaged at the time of 
 the attack, beginning exactly where she 
 
 to his creatures on earth, all of whom are 
 destined to die. He will live when all 
 on earth shall have died; he will live for 
 ever in the future, as he has lived forever 
 in the past, ^f Whose dominion 
 
 had left off, though she had never alluded | everlasting dominion. His empire ex- 
 
 to it during the delirium ; and on the 
 next attack of delirium she would resume 
 the subject of hallucination with which 
 she had been occupied at the conclusion 
 of the former paroxysm. A similar thing 
 may have occurred to Nebuchadnezzar. 
 He was deprived of reason by a sudden 
 voice from heaven. Nothing was more 
 natural, or would be more in accordance 
 with the laws respecting insanity, than 
 that at the very instant when reason re- 
 
 tends through all time, and will continue 
 while eternal ages roll away. ^[ And his 
 kingdom is from generation to generation. 
 The generations of men pass away. Ono 
 succeeds another, and there is no perma 
 nency. Dynasties change, and monarchs 
 die. No human sovereign can extend 
 his own power over the next generation, 
 nor can he secure his authority in the 
 person of his successors. But the do 
 minion of God is unchanged while the 
 
 turned he should look up to the place generations of men pass away, and when 
 whence the voice had seemed to come. | one disappears from the earth he meets 
 ^ And mine understanding returned unto inc.. i the next with the same claim to the right 
 This shows that he regarded himself as of sovereignty ; with the same princi- 
 having been a maniac, though doubtless pies of government; carrying forward 
 he was ignorant of the manner in which through that and successive ages, the 
 he had been treated. It would seem | fulfilment of his great and glorious pur- 
 from the narrative, and from the proba 
 bilities of the case, that he found himself 
 
 driven out from his palace, herding with 
 cattle, and in the deplorable condition in 
 regard to personal appearance which he 
 hero describes. Seeing this in fact, and 
 20 
 
 poses. 
 
 35. And all the inhabitants of the earth 
 Are regarded as 
 ith him. Cornp. 
 
 are reputed as nothing. 
 
 nothing in comparison 
 
 Notes on Isa. xl. 15, 17. Precisely the 
 
 same sentiment occurs in Isaiah which is 
 
230 
 
 inhabitants of the earth: and none 
 can stay a his hand, or say unto him, 
 What b doest tlum ? 
 
 Is. 43. 13. b Job 9. 12 ; Is. 45. 9 ; Ro. 9. 20. 
 
 DANIEL. [B.C. 563 
 
 36 At the same time my reason 
 returned unto me ; and for the 
 glory of my kingdom, my honour 
 and brightness returned unto me ; 
 
 expressed here : "All nations before him and over all that pertains to any one and 
 are as nothing; and they are counted j every one. (4) That he will overrule all 
 unto him less than nothing and vanity." ; things so as to make them subservient to 
 ^ And he doeth according to his irill in \ his own plans. (5) That he will make 
 the army of heaven. In the host of I use of men to accomplish his own pur- 
 heaven Sin3 Gr. in the2>ower of heaven, poses. Comp. Notes on Isa. x. 7. (6) T hat 
 iv r>7, fordptt. The Chaldee word means ! ther ? ^ a g. rcat and glorious scheme of 
 properly strength, might, valour; and it! adruinistration which God is carrying 
 is then applied to an army as possessing I out b ^ the instrumentality of men. ^ And 
 strength, or valour, or force. It is here none ca " sta V Jns hond Literally, none 
 applied to the inhabitants of heaven, pro- | can smite u P on hls hand ( ^eseniua Lex.) 
 bably, considered as an army or host, of _ that ls none can restrain his hand; The 
 
 language is taken, says Bertholdt, from 
 the custom of striking children upon the 
 hand when about to do anything wrong, 
 in order to restrain them. The phrase 
 is common in the Targuns for to restrain, 
 to hinder. The Arabs have a similar ex 
 pression in common use. See numerous 
 instances of the use of the word Nnp in the 
 sense of restrain, or prohibit, in Buxtorf. 
 Lex. dial. The truth taught here is, 
 
 which God is the head, and which he 
 leads forth or marshals to execute his 
 purposes. In ch. iii. 20, the word is ren 
 dered army. The sentiment here is, that 
 in respect to the inhabitants of heaven, 
 represented as organized or marshalled, 
 God does his own pleasure. An intima 
 tion of his will is all that is needful to 
 control them. Thus sentiment is in ac 
 cordance with all the statements in the 
 Scripture, and is a point of theology 
 which must enter into every just view 
 of God. Thus in the Lord s prayer it 
 
 is implied : 
 
 as it is in heaven." So Eph. i. 11 
 " Who worketh all things after the coun 
 sel of his own will." In heaven the will 
 of God is accomplished in the most strict 
 
 that no one has power to keep back tho 
 hand of God when it is put forth to ac 
 complish the purposes which he intends 
 
 Thy will be done in earth j to execute ; that is, he will certainly ac 
 complish his own pleasure, ^f Or say 
 unto him, What doest thou? A similar 
 expression occurs in 2 Sam. xvi. 10: 
 So let him curse, because the Lord hath 
 
 said unto him, Curse David. Who shall 
 then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?" 
 Also in Job ix. 12: "Behold, he taketh 
 away, who can hinder him ? Who will 
 say unto him, What doest thou ?" See 
 Notes on that passage. The meaning 
 here is plain. God is supreme, and will 
 do his pleasure in heaven and in earth. 
 The security that all will be done right is 
 founded on the perfection of his nature; 
 and that is ample. Mysterious though 
 
 and absolute sense, for his will is law, and 
 
 the only law, to all the dwellers there. 
 
 The obedience is as entire as if the will 
 
 of each one of the dwellers there were but 
 
 a form or manifestation of the will of 
 
 God itself, fl And among the inhabitants 
 
 of the earth. This cannot mean, even as 
 
 understood by Nebuchadnezzar, that the 
 
 will of God is actually done among the 
 
 inhabitants of the earth in the same sense, 
 
 and to the same extent, as among those 
 
 who dwell in heaven. His design was, j his ways may seem to us, yet in that 
 
 undoubtedly, to assert the supremacy and j perfection of his nature we have the 
 
 absolute control of God ; a fact that had I fullest assurance that no wrong will be 
 
 been so strikingly illustrated in his own done to any of his creatures. Our duty, 
 
 case. The sentiment expressed by Ne- therefore, is calm submission to his holy 
 
 buchadnezzar is true in the following | will, with the deep conviction that 
 
 respects : (1) That man has no power to | whatever God does will yet be seen to be 
 
 prevent the fulfilment of the divine pur- j right. 
 
 poses. (2) That God will accomplish his 36. At the same time my reason returned 
 
 design in all things, whatever opposition I unto me. Showing that he regarded him- 
 
 man may make. (3) That he has abso- self as having been insane. ^ And for 
 
 lute control over every human being ; j the glory of my kingdom. That is, his 
 
B. C. 563.] 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 231 
 
 and my counsellors and my lords 
 sought unto me ; and I was estab 
 lished in my kingdom, and excel 
 lent majesty was added a unto me. 
 37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise 
 
 Job 42. 12. b DC. 32. 4 ; Ps. 33. 4 ; Re. 15. 3. 
 
 restoration to the exercise of his reason 
 contributed to the glory of his kingdom, 
 either by the acts of justice and benefi 
 cence which he intended should charac 
 terize the remainder of his reign, or by 
 his purpose to reform the abuses which 
 had crept into the government while he 
 was deprived of his reason, or by his de 
 termination to complete public works 
 which had been purposed or commenced 
 before his affliction. *[ My honour and 
 brightness returned unto me. Evidently 
 referring to his intellect. He was again 
 restored to that strength and clearness 
 of understanding by which, before his 
 affliction, he had been able to do so much 
 for the glory of his kingdom. ^[ And my 
 counsellors and mi/ lords sought unto me. 
 As they had done formerly. During his 
 state of mental alienation, of course, the 
 great lords of the empire would not resort 
 to him for counsel. ^ And excellent ma 
 jesty icas added unto me. Majesty and 
 honour appropriate to my state, instead 
 of the treatment incident to the condition 
 of a maniac. Theodotion renders this, 
 and greater majesty was added to me. 
 It is by no means improbable that addi 
 tional honour would be conferred on the 
 recovered monarch. 
 
 37. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and 
 extol and honour the King of heat-en. 
 Comp. ch. ii. 47, and vs. 1 3 of this 
 chapter. He felt himself called on, in this 
 public manner, to acknowledge the true 
 God, with whose supremacy he had been 
 made acquainted in so affecting a man 
 ner ; to praise him that he had pre 
 served him, and restored him to his rea 
 son and his throne ; to extol or exalt 
 him, by recognizing his sovereignty over 
 the mighty kings of the earth, and the 
 power to rule over all ; and to honour 
 him by making his name and attributes 
 known abroad, and by using all his in 
 fluence as a monarch to have him rever 
 enced throughout his extended empire. 
 ^[ All whose works are truth. See Deut. 
 xxxii. 4; Ps. xxxiii. 4 j Rev. xv. 3. The 
 meaning is, that all that he does is done 
 
 and extol and honour the King of 
 heaven, all whose works b are truth, 
 and his ways judgment : and those 
 that walk in pride c he is able to 
 abase. 
 
 c Ex. 18. 11 ; Job 40. 11, 12 ; c. 5. 20. 
 
 in accordance with the true nature of 
 | things, or with justice and propriety. 
 ! It is not based on a false estimate of 
 j things, as what is done by man often is. 
 I How often are the plans and acts of man, 
 
 even where there are the best intentions, 
 | based on some false estimate of things; 
 
 on some views which are shown by the 
 i result to have been erroneous ! But God 
 | sees things precisely as they are, and 
 i accurately knows what should be done in 
 I every case. ^[ And those that walk in 
 
 pride he is able to abase. What had oc 
 curred to Nebuchadnezzar might occur to 
 others, and as God had shown that he 
 could reduce the most exalted sovereign of 
 j the earth to the lowest condition in which 
 a human being can be, he inferred that 
 ; he could do the same thing to all, and 
 | that there was no one so exalted in rank, 
 so vigorous in health, and so mighty in 
 intellect, that he could not effectually hum 
 ble and subdue him. This is indeed an 
 affecting truth which is constantly illus 
 trated in the world. The reverses oc- 
 | curring among men, the sick bed, the 
 j loss of reason, the grave, show how easily 
 God can bring down rank, and beauty, 
 and talent, and all that the world calls 
 great, to the dust. 
 
 In the Greek Codex Chis. there is at 
 I the close of this chapter a beautiful 
 | ascription of praise to God, which has no 
 thing to correspond with it in the Chaldee, 
 and the origin of which is unknown. 
 I will translate it, because, although it is 
 
 not of divine authority, and is no part 
 of the sacred writings, it contains senti 
 ments not inappropriate to the close of 
 this remarkable chapter. It is as follows : 
 To the Most High I make confession, 
 and render praise to him who made the 
 heaven, and the earth, and the seas, and 
 the rivers, and all things in them ; I ac 
 knowledge him and praise him because 
 
 ; he is the God of Gods, and Lord of Lords, 
 and King of Kings, for he does signs and 
 wonders, and changes times and seasons, 
 taking away the kingdoms of kings, and 
 
 : placing others in their stead. From this 
 
DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 563 
 
 time I will serve him, and from the fear 
 of him trembling has seized me, and I 
 praise all his saints ; for the gods of the 
 heathen have not in themselves power to 
 transfer the kingdom of a king to an 
 other king, and to kill, and to make alive, 
 and to do signs, and great and fearful 
 wonders, and to change mighty deeds, 
 as the God of heaven has done to me, and 
 has brought upon me great changes. I, 
 during all the days of rny reign, on ac 
 count of nay life, will bring to the Most 
 High sacrifices for an odor of sweet 
 savor to the Lord, and I and my people 
 will do that which will be acceptable be 
 fore him my nation, and the countries 
 which are under my power. And who 
 soever shall speak against the God of 
 heaven, and whosoever shall countenance 
 those who speak anything, I will condemn 
 to death. Praise the Lord God of hea 
 ven, and bring sacrifice and offering to 
 him gloriously. I, King of Kings, confess 
 him gloriously, for so he has done with 
 me ; in the very day he set me upon my 
 throne, and my power, and my kingdom ; 
 among my people I have power, and my 
 majesty has been restored to me. And 
 he sent letters concerning all things that 
 were done unto him in his kingdom, to 
 all the nations that were under him. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar is supposed to have 
 lived but about one year after this ( Win 
 kle), but nothing is known of his subse 
 quent deeds. It may be hoped that he 
 continued steadfast in his faith in that 
 God whom he had thus been brought to 
 
 acknowledge, and that he died in thai 
 belief. But of this nothing is known. 
 After so solemn an admonition, however, 
 ! of bis own pride, and after being brought 
 I in this public manner to acknowledge the 
 j true God, it is to be regarded as not im- 
 | pfobable that he looked on the Babylon 
 I that he bad reared, and over his extended 
 | realms, with other feelings than those 
 | which he had before this terrible cala- 
 iinity came upon him. "Nebuchadnezzar 
 i was succeeded in his kingdom by his son 
 Iloarudam, according to Ptolemy, who is 
 i the Evil Merodach of Jeremiah, who innr- 
 i ried a discreet and prudent woman called 
 I Nitocris, from whom was born a son, whoso 
 : history is the subject of the next chapter. 
 After the death of Evil Merodnch, who 
 reigned two years, Niricassolassar. or Ne- 
 riglissar, who seems to have been the chief 
 of the conspirators against the last king, 
 succeeded him. He had married a daugh- 
 j ter of Nebuchadnezzar, and in the course 
 i of his reign made a great stand against the 
 (growing power of the Medes and Per- 
 I sians ; but at length, after a reign of four 
 I years, was killed in a battle with them un 
 der the command of Cyrus. His son Labo- 
 rosoarchod succeeded him, and having 
 reigned only nine months, and not reach 
 ing a Thoth, or beginning of an Egyptian 
 3 ear, he is not mentioned by Ptolemy, but 
 he is said to have been quite the reverse 
 of his father, and to have exercised many 
 acts of wanton cruelty, and was murdered 
 by his own subjects, and succeeded by hia 
 son Nabonadius, or Belshazzar." Winkle. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 (1.) The narrative in this chapter furnishes an illustration of the disposition among men to 
 make arrangements for their own ease and comfort, especially in view of advancing years, ver. 4. 
 Is ebuchadnezzar liad drawn around him all that it is possible, perhaps, for man to accumulate 
 with this view. He was at the head of the heathen world the mighty monarch of the mightiest 
 kingdom on the earth. He was at peace having iinii-hed his wars, and having teen satiated 
 with the glory of battle and conquest. He had enlarged and beautified his capita), so that it 
 was one of the wonders of the world. Ho had built for himself a palace, which surpassed in 
 richness, and elegance, and luxury, all the habitations of man in that age. He had accumulated 
 vast wealth, and there was not a production of any clime which he could not command, nor was 
 there anything that is supposed to be necessary to make man happy in this life which he had 
 not in his possession. All this was the result of arrangement and purpose. He had designed evi 
 dently to reach the point where he might feel that he was at ease, and flourishing in his palace. 
 
 What was true in his case on a large scale, is true of others in general, though on a much 
 gmaller scale. Most men would be glad to do the same thing; and most men seek to make such 
 an arrangement according to their ability. They look to the time when they may retire from 
 the toils and cares of life, with a competence for their old age, and that they may enjoy life, per 
 haps, many years, in the tranquillity of honourable and happy retirement. The merchant does 
 not expect always to be a merchant; the man in office to be always burdened with the cares 
 of state. The soldier does not expect always to be in the camp, or the marines on the sea. The 
 warrior hopes to repose on his laurels; the sailor to find a quiet Ifaven ; the merchant to have 
 enough to be permitted to sit down in tho evening of life free from care; and the lawyer, th 
 
B. C. 563.J CHAPTER IV. 23b 
 
 physician, the clergyman, the farmer, each one hopes, after the toils and conflicts of life are orcr, 
 to be permitted to spend the remainder of his days in comfort, if not in affluence. 
 
 This seems to be based on some law of our nature; and it is not to be spoken of harshly, or 
 despised as if it had no foundation in that which is great arid noble in our being. 1 see in this 
 a high and noble truth. It is th.it our nature looks forward to rent; that we are so made as 
 to pant for repose: to calm repose when the work of life is over. As our Maker formed us, tho 
 law was that we should seek this in the world to come in that blessed abode where we may be 
 free from all care, and where there shall be everlasting rest. But man, naturally unwilling to 
 look to that world, has abused this law of his being, and seeks to find the rest for which the 
 soul pants, in that interval, usually very short, and quite unfitted for tranquil enjoyment, be 
 tween the period when he toils, and lies down in the grave. The true law of his being would 
 lead him to look onward to everlasting happiness ; he abuses and perverts the law, and seeks to 
 satisfy it by making provision for a brief and temporary rest at the close of the present life. 
 
 (2) There is a process often going on in the case of these individuals to disturb or prevent that 
 state of ease. Thus there was in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, as intimated by the dream. 
 Even then, in his highest state of grandeur, there was a tendency to the sad result which fol 
 lowed when he was driven from his throne, and treated as a poor and neglected maniac. This 
 was intimated to him by the dream ; and to one who could sec all the future, it would be 
 apparent that things were tending to this result. The very excitements and agitations of his 
 life ; the intoxication of his pride ; and the circumstances of ease and grandeur in which he 
 was now placed, all tended by a natural course of things to produce what followed. 
 
 And so, in other cases, there is often a process going on. if it could be seen, destined to disap 
 point all those hopes, and to prevent all that anticipated ease and tranquillity. It is not always 
 visible to men, but could we see things as God sees them, we should perceive that there are 
 causes at work which will blast all those hopes of ease, and disappoint all those expectations of 
 tranquillity. There may be (a) the loss of all that we possess : for we hold it by an uncertain 
 tenure, and " riches often take to themselves wings." There may be (b) the loss of a wife, or a 
 child and all our anticipated comforts shall be tasteless, for there shall be none with whom 
 to share them. There may be (c~) the loss of reason, as in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, for no 
 human precaution can guard against that. There may be (d) the loss of health a loss against 
 which no one can defend himself which shall render all his preparations for comfort of no 
 value. Or (e) death itself may come for no one has any basis of calculation in regard to his own 
 life, and no one, therefore, who builds for himself a palace can have any security that he will 
 ever enjoy it. Men who build splendid houses for themselves may yet experience sad scenes 
 in their dwellings, and if they could foresee all that will occur in them, it would so throw a 
 gloom over all the future as to lead them to abandon the undertaking. Who could engage 
 cheerfully in such an enterprise if he saw that he was constructing a house in which a daugh 
 ter was to lie down and die, or from which his wife and children were soon to be borne forth to 
 the grave? In this chamber, your child may be long sick ; in that one, you or your wife may 
 liodown on a bed from which you will never ruse; from those doors yourself, your wife, your 
 child, will be borne forth to the grave ; and if you saw all this now, how could you engage with 
 so much zeal in constructing your magnificent habitation? 
 
 (3) Our plans of life should be formed with the feeling that this is possible. I say not with 
 the gloomy apprehension that these calamities will certainly come, or with no anticipation or 
 hope that there will be different scenes for then life would be nothing else but gloom, but that 
 we should allow the possibility that these things may occur to enter, as an element, into our 
 calculations respecting the future. Such a feeling will give us sober and just views of life ; will 
 break the force of trouble and disappointment when they come; and will give us just appre 
 hensions of our dependence on Him in whose hand are all our comforts. 
 
 (4) The dealings of God in our world are such as are eminently fitted to keep up the recogni 
 tion of these truths. What occurred to Nebuchadnezzar, in the humbling of his pride, and the 
 blighting of his anticipated pleasures, is just an illustration of what is constantly occurring on 
 the earth. What house is there into which trouble, disappointment, and sorrow never come? 
 What scheme of pride is there in respect to which something does not occur to produce mortifica 
 tion? What habitation is there into which sickness, bereavement, and death never find their 
 way? And what abode of man on earth can be made secure from the intrusion of these things? 
 The raovSt splendid mansion must soon be left by its owner, and never be visited by him again. 
 The most magnificent banqueting hall will be forsaken by its possessor, and neverwill he return 
 to it ag:iin; never go into the chamber where he sought repose; never sit down at the table 
 where he joined with others in revelry. 
 
 (5) The counsel given by Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar (ver. 2"), to break off his sins by righteous 
 ness, that there might be a lengthening out of his tranquillity, is counsel that may now be given 
 to all sinners, with equal propriety. For (I.) as in his case, there are certain consequences of 
 sin to which we must look forward, and on which the eye of a sinner should rest. Those con 
 sequences are (1) such as spring up in the course of nature, or which are the regular results 
 of sin in the course of events. They are such as can be foreseen, and can be made the basis 
 of calculation, or which a man can know beforehand will come upon him if he perseveres in 
 a certain course. Thus he who is intemperate, can look upon certain results which will in 
 evitably follow if he perseveres iu that course of life. As he looks upon the poverty, and bab 
 bling, and WOP, and sorrow, and misery, and death of an inebriate, he can see that that lot will 
 be certainly his own if he perseveres in his present course, and this can be made with him a 
 matter of definite calculation or anticipation. Or (2) there are all those consequences of sin 
 
 20* 
 
234 DANIEL. [B. C. 565 
 
 which are made known in the sacred Scriptures as sure to come upon transgressors. This, too, is a 
 large class; but these consequences are as certain as those which occur in the regular course 
 of events. The principal difference between the two is, that revelation has designated more fins 
 that will involve the sinner in calamity than can be ascertained in the ordinary course of 
 events, and that it has carried the mind forward, and discloses what will take place in the 
 future world as well as what will occur in this. But the cue is no more certain than the other ; 
 and alike in reference to what is sure to occur in the present life, and what we are tdd will 
 occur in the future state, the sinner should allow himself to be influenced by the anticipation 
 of what is to rome. (II.) Repentance, reformation, and a holy life would, in many case?, go 
 far to arrest these calamities or. in the language of Daniel, lengthen out tranquillity. This 
 is true in the following respects : (1) That impending temporal calamities may be often partially 
 or wholly turned away by reformation. An illustration of this thought occurred in the case 
 of Nineveh ; and the same thing now occurs. A young man who is in danger of becoming intem 
 perate, and who has already contracted some of the habits that lead to intemperance, could 
 avert a large class of impending ills by so simple a thing as signing the temperance pledge, and 
 adhering to it. All the evils of poverty, tears, crime, disease, and an early death, that intem 
 perance produces, he would certainly avert; that is, he would make it certain that the largo 
 class of ills that intemperance engenders would never come upon him. He might experience 
 other ills, but he would never suffer those. .So it is of the sufferings produced by licentiousness, 
 by gluttony, by the spirit of revenge; and so it is of all the woes that follow the violation of 
 human laws. A man may indeed be poor ; he may be sick ; he may be bereaved ; he may lose 
 his reason, hut these ills he will never experience. But what Daniel here affirms is true in 
 another sense in regard to temporal calamities. A man may, by repentance, and by breaking 
 off from his sins, do much to stay the progress of woe, and to avert the results which he had 
 ilready begun to experience. Thus the drunkard may reform, and may have restored health, 
 vigour, and prosperity; and thus the licentious may turn from the evil of his ways, and enjoy 
 health and happiness still. On this subject, see Notes on Job xxxiii. 14 25, particularly tho 
 Notes on ver. 25. But (2) by repentance and holy living a man may turn away all the results 
 of sin in the future world, and may make it certain that he will never experience a pang be 
 yond the grave. All the woe that sin would cause in the future state may be thus averted, 
 and he who has been deeply guilty may enter the eternal world with the assurance that 
 he will never suffer beyond the grave. "Whether, then, we look to the future in the pre 
 sent life, or to the future beyond the grave, we have the highest conceivable motives to 
 abandon the ways of sin, and to lead lives of holiness. If a man were to live only on the earth, 
 it would be for his welfare to break off from the ways of transgression ; how much higher is 
 this motive when it is remembered that he must exist forever! 
 
 (f.) AVe have an illustration in the account in this chapter of the evil of pride, vs. 29, 30, 31. The 
 pride which we may have on account of beauty, or strength, or learning, or accomplishments; 
 which we feel when we look over our lands that we have cultivated, or the houses that we have 
 built, or the reputation which we have acquired, is no less offensive in the sight of a holy God 
 than was the pride of the magnificent monarch who looked out on the towers, and domes, and 
 walls, and palaces, of a vast city, and said Is not this great Babylon that I have builded. 
 
 (7) And in view of the calamity that came upon Nebuchadnezzar, and the treatment which 
 he received in his malady, we make the following remarks : (a) AYe should be thankful for the 
 continuance of reason. AVhen we look on such a case as this, or when we go into a lunatic 
 asylum, and see the wretchedness that the loss of reason causes, we should thank God daily 
 that we are not deprived of this inestimable blessing, (b) We should be thankful for science, 
 and for the Christian religion, and for all that they have done to give comfort to the maniac, 
 or to restore him to a sound mind. AVhen we compare the treatment which the insane now re 
 ceive in the lunatic asylums with that which they everywhere meet with in the heathen world, 
 and with that which they have, up to a very recent period, received in Christian lands, there 
 is almost nothing in which we see more marked proof of the interposition of God, than in the 
 great change which has been produced. Ther<; are few persons who have not, or may not 
 have, some friend or relative who is insane, and there is no one who is not, or may not be, 
 personally interested in the improvement which religion and science have made in the treat 
 ment of this class of unfortunate beings. In no one thing, so far as I know, has there been 
 so decided progress in the views and conduct of men; and on no one subject has there been 
 so evident an improvement in modern times, as in the treatment of the insane, (c) Tho 
 possibility of the loss of reason should be an element in our calculations about the future. 
 On this point we can have no security. There is no such vigour of intellect, or clearness 
 of mind, or cultivation of the habits of virtue, and even no such influence of religion, as to 
 make it certain that we may not yet be reckoned among the insane ; and the possibility that 
 this may be so, should be admitted as an element in our calculations in regard to the future. 
 We should not jeopard any valuable interest by leaving that undone which aught to be done, 
 on the supposition that we may at a future period of life enjoy the exercise of reason. Let uj 
 remember that there may be in our case, even in youth or middle life, the loss of this faculty; 
 that there will be, if we reach old age, in all probability, such a weakening of our menta? 
 powers as to unfit us for making any preparation for the life to come, and that on the bed of 
 death, whenever that occurs, there is often an entire loss of the mental powers, and commonly 
 60 much pain, distress, or prostration, as to unfit the dying man for calm and deliberate 
 thought, and let us, therefore, while we have reason and health, do all that we know we ought 
 to do to make preparation for our eternal state. For what is our reason more certainly given 
 Xis, than to prepare for another world t 
 
B.C. 538.1 CHAPTEK V 235 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 g 1. AUTHENTICITY OF THE CHAPTER. 
 
 MUCH fewer objections have been made to the authenticity of this chapter, and much fewer 
 difficulties started, than in regard to chapter iv. Those which have been urged may be classed 
 under the following heads : 
 
 I. The first is substantially stated in this manner by Bertholdt, that Daniel is represented 
 as speaking to the king in such a tone, that if it had actually occurred he would have been cut 
 to pieces by an arbitrary Babylonian despot ; but instead of that, he is not only unpunished, 
 but is suffered to announce to the king the certain destruction of his kingdom by the Medes and 
 Persians; and not only this, but he is immediately promoted to be a minister or officer of a 
 state of exalted rank. p. 345. 
 
 To this it may be replied, (1) That the way in which Daniel addressed him was entirely in 
 accordance with the manner in which he addressed Nebuchadnezzar, in which Nathan addressed 
 David, in which Isaiah addressed Ahaz, and Jeremiah the kings in his time. (2) Belshazzar 
 was overpowered with the remarkable vision of the hand-writing on the wall ; his conscience 
 smote him, and he was in deep alarm. lie sought the meaning of this extraordinary revela 
 tion, and could not but regard it as a communication from heaven. In this state of mind, pain 
 ful as was the announcement, he would naturally receive it as a divine communication, and 
 he might fear to treat with indignity one who showed that he had the power of disclosing the 
 meaning of words so mysterious. (3) It was in accordance with the custom of those times to 
 honour those who showed that they had the power of penetrating the divine mysteries, and of 
 disclosing the meaning of dreams, prodigies, and omens. (4) It is not impossible, as Heng- 
 stenberg (Authentic des Dan. 120) suggests, that, smitten with the consciousness of guilt, and 
 knowing that he deserved punishment, he may have hoped to turn away the wrath of God 
 by some act of piety ; and that he resolved, therefore, to honour Daniel, who showed that he was 
 a favourite of heaven. The main security of Daniel, however, in these bold and fearful an 
 nouncements, was undoubtedly to be found in the smitten conscience of the trembling monarch, 
 and in the belief that he was a favourite of heaven. 
 
 II. The improbability that all this should occur in one night that so many scenes should 
 have been crowded into so short a time embracing the feast, the writing, the calling in of 
 
 he magicians, the investing of Daniel with his new office, the taking of the city, &c. Why, says 
 Bertholdt, was not the proclamation in regard to the new minister deferred to the following 
 lay ? Why did all this occur in the midst of the scenes of revelry which were then taking 
 place? pp. 345, 346. 
 
 To this it may be replied, (1) That there is, indeed, every appearance of haste and confusion 
 in the transactions. This was natural. But there was assuredly no want of time to accomplish 
 all that it is said was accomplished. If it was true that Cyrus broke into the city in the latter 
 part of the night, or if, as historians say was the fact, he had entered the city, and made con 
 siderable progress in it before the tidings were communicated to Belshazzar, there is no impro 
 bability in supposing that all that is said of the feast, and of the hand-writing, and of the calling 
 in of the magicians, and of their failure to decyplier the meaning of the writing, and of the 
 summoning of Daniel, and of the interpretation which he gave, actually occurred, for there was 
 time enough to accomplish all this. (2) As to the other part of the objection, that it is impro 
 bable that Daniel would be so soon invested with office, and that a proclamation would be 
 made in the night to this effect, it may be replied, that all that is fairly meant in the chapter 
 (ver. 29) may be that an order was made to that effect, with a purpose to carry it into execution 
 on the following day. Bertholdt himself translates the passage (ver. 29), Then Belshazzar 
 gave command that thy should clothe Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold around his 
 neck, &c. Hierauf gal) Belschazar den Befehl dem Daniel den purpurmantel und den goldenen 
 Halsschmuck umzuhangen, &c. On the one hand, nothing forbids the supposition that the 
 execution of this order might have been deferred ; or on the other, that the order was executed 
 at once. But little time wou d have been necessary to do it. See, however, Notes on ver 29. 
 
 III. A third objection or difficulty arises from the writing itself. It is, that it is wholly im 
 probable that Daniel could have had sufficient knowledge to enable him to interpret these 
 words when no one of the Chaldean sages could do it. "Where, it is asked, could he have ob 
 tained this knowledge ? His instruction in reading languages he must have received in Babylon 
 itself, and it is wholly improbable that among so many sages and wise men who were accus 
 tomed to the languages spoken in Babylon and in other countries, no one should have been 
 found who was as able to interpret the words as he. Bertholdt. p. 346. 
 
 To this it is obvious to reply, that the whole narrative supposes that Daniel owed his ability 
 to interpret these words, not to any natural skill, or to any superior advantages of genius or educa 
 tion, but to the fact that he was directly endowed from on high. In other cases, in the times of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, he always disclaimed any power of his own of revealing the meaning of 
 dreams and visions (ch. ii. 27 30), nor did he set up any claim to an ability to do it of himself 
 
236 DANIEL. [B. C. 538 
 
 on this occasion. If he received his knowledge directly from God, all the difficulty in this 
 objection vanishes at once ; but the whole book turns on the supposition that he was under 
 divine teaching. 
 
 IV. It has been objected that there was no object to be accomplished worthy of such a mira 
 cle as that of writing in this mysterious manner on the wall. It is asked by Bertholdt (p. 347), 
 Is the miracle credible ? What purpose was it designed to serve? What end would it accom 
 plish ? Was the design to show to Belshazzar that the city was scon to be destroyed ? But cf 
 what use could this be but a couple of hoxirs before it should occur? Or was it the design to 
 make Belshazzar acquainted with the power of Jehovah, and to punish him for his desecrating 
 the vessels of the temple service ? But who could attribute to the all-perfect being such a 
 weakness that he could be angry, and take this method to express his anger, for an act that 
 could not be regarded as so heinous as to be worthy of such an interposition? 
 
 To this it may be replied, (1) That the objection here made would lie in some degree against 
 almost any single miracle that is recorded in the scriptures. Or (2) It may have been the inten 
 tion to warn the king of the impending danger, not so much with a view that the danger 
 should be averted, as to show that it came from God. Or (3) it may have been the intention to 
 show him the enormity of his sins, and even then to bring him to repentance. Cr (4) it may 
 have been the intention to connect quite distinctly, in the apprehension of all present, and in 
 the view of all future ages, the destruction of Babylon with the crimes of the monarchs. and 
 especially their crimes in connection with the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, the burning 
 of the temple, and the carrying away the people into a long captivity. There can be no doubt, 
 from many parts of the prophetic writings, that the overthrow of Babylon, and the subversion 
 of the Chaldean power, was in consequence of their treatment of the Hebrew people, rnd 
 nothing was better fitted to show this than to make the destruction of the city coincident with 
 the destruction of the sacred vessels of the temple. Or (5) it may have been the intention to 
 recall Daniel into notice, and to give him authority and influence again preparatory to the 
 restoration of his countrymen to their own land. It would seem from the whole narrative 
 that, in accordance with a custom which still prevails in Persia (Chardin, as referred to by 
 Hcngstenberg, Authentic des Dan. p. 123), all the magicians and astrologers had been dis 
 missed from court on the death of Nebuchadnezzar, and that Daniel with the others had 
 retired from his place. Yet it may haA e been important, in order to the restoration cf the 
 Hebrew people to their land at the appointed time, that there should be one of their own 
 nation occupying an influential station at court, and Daniel was thus, in consequence of his 
 ability to interpret this mysterious language, restored to his place, and was permitted to keep 
 it until the time of the return of the Hebrews to their country arrived fcce oh. vi. 2, 3, 28. 
 And (6) it may have been the intention to furnish an impressive demonstration that Jehovah 
 is the true God. Other objections it will be more convenient to notice in the course of the ex 
 position of the chapter. 
 
 $ 2. BELSHAZZAR. 
 
 OF Belshazzar, the closing scene of whose reign is described in this chapter, little more is 
 known than is recorded here. lie is mentioned by Daniel as the last king of the Cbaldees, 
 under whom Babylon was taken by the Modes and Persians. Herodotus (i. >) calls this king and 
 also his father. Labynetus, which is undoubtedly a corruption of Nabonncdus, the name by which 
 he was known to Berosus. Jozeplnts against Apicn, i. 20. Josephus himself (Ant. x. ch. >i. \ ~2) 
 fays that the name of this king, whom he calls Baltasar, rmcng the Babylonians, was Naboan- 
 delus. Nabonadius in the canon of Ptolemy, Kaboncdus in Kv.sebius, ((* hron. Aimen. i. p. 0,) 
 and Nabonnidochus in fcuscbius, (Prep. Evang. ix. 41,) are remarked by Winer as only varieties 
 of his name. Winer conjectures that in the name Belthazzar, the element zhazzar means tb* 
 principle of fire. See Kitto s Cyclop. 
 
 The accounts which we have of this king are very meagre, and yet mcr.grc as they are, they nro 
 by no means uniform, and it is difficult to reconcile them. That which is given by Jcsc-vbus as his 
 own account of tbesucccsfors cf >cbuchcdr.ezzar, is in thcfelkvirg]Frj.ur.e: "After the c eath 
 of Nebuchadrezzar, Kvil-Mercc ach. his fen, succeeded in the king 1 ?>. who immediately set 
 Jeconiah at liberty, and esteemed him among his most intimate friends. "W 1 en Kvil-Mercctach 
 was dead, after a reign of eighteen years, Niglissar, his son, tcok the government, and retained 
 it forty years, and them ended his life; and after him the succession rrme to his sen, l.abcsor- 
 dacus, who continuc-d it in all but nine months; and when he WES desd. it csme to Baltasnr, 
 who by the Babylonians was called Nabcandelus; against him Jid Cyrus the king of Persia, 
 and Darius the king of Media, make war; and when he was besieged in Babylon there hap 
 pened a wonderful and trcdipicus vision. He was sat clcwn at supper in a large rccm, and 
 there were a great many vessels of silver, such as were made for royal entertainments, nnd he 
 had with him his conculines and his friends; whcreuron he ermc to a resolution, and com 
 manded that those vessels of God which Nebuchadnezzar had plundered out of Jerusalem, and 
 had not made use of. but had put th<m into his own temple, should le brought out of that 
 temple-." Ant. B. x. ch. xi. # 2. Joscphus then proceeds to give an account of the appearance of 
 the hand, and of the writing, ar.d of the result in the taking of Babylon, substantially the taino 
 as that which is found in this chapter of Daniel. 
 
 The account which Berosus gives as preserved by Josephus (against Apion, B. i. $ 20), varies 
 from this in some important particulars. For an account of Berosus, sec the Introduction ta 
 
B.C. 538.] CHAPTER V. 237 
 
 ch. iv. 1 1. 1. (2.) Ho says " Nabuchodonosar (Nebuchadnezzar), after he had begun to build the 
 forementioned wall, fell sick, and departed this life, when he had reigned forty-three years; 
 whereupon his son. Kvil-.Merodach, obtained the kingdom, lie governed public affairs after an 
 illegal and impure manner, and had a plot laid against him by Neriglissor, his sister s husband, 
 and was slain by him when he had reigned but two years. After he was slain, Neriglissor, the 
 person who plotted against him, succeeded him in the kingdom, and reigned four years; 
 but his son Laborosoarchad obtained the kingdom, though he were but a child, and kept it but 
 nine months; but by reason of the very ill- temper, and the ill-pi actices he exhibited to the 
 world, a plot was laid against him also by his friends, and he was tormented to death. After 
 his death the conspirators got together, and by common consent put the crown upon the head 
 of Nabonnedus, a man of Babylon, and one who belonged to that insurrection. In his reign it 
 was that the walls of the city of Babylon were curiously built with burnt brick and bitumen; 
 and when he was come to the seventeenth year of his reign, Cyrus came out of Persia with a great 
 army, and having already conquered the rest of Asia, he came hastily to Babylonia. When 
 Nabonnedus perceived he was coming to attack him, he met him with his forces, and joining 
 battle with him, was beaten, and fled away with a few of his troops with him, and was shut up 
 in the city of BorsSppus. Hereupon Cyrus took Babylon, and gave orders that the outer walla 
 of the city should be demolished, because the city had proved very troublesome to him, and cost 
 him a great deal of pains to take it. He then marched away to Borsippus to besiege Nabonne 
 dus; but as Nabonnedus did not sustain the siege, but delivered himself into his hands, he waa 
 at first kindly used by Cyrus, who gave him Canmania as a place for him to inhabit in, but sent 
 him out of Babylonia. Accordingly, Nabonnedus spent the rest of his time in that country, 
 and there died." 
 
 Roos (Exposition of Daniel, p. 65,) supposes that Evil-Merodach, who succeeded Nebuchad 
 nezzar, did not reign more than one year, and that this accounts for the reason why he was not 
 mentioned by Daniel ; and that Belshazzar was a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, though, accord 
 ing to the idiom of Scripture, he is called his son, and Nebuchadnezzar his father, Dan. v. 11. 22. 
 Belshazzar, he supposes, must have reigned more than twenty years. 
 
 The succession in the Babylonian Chaldean kingdom, according to Dr. Hales, was as follows : 
 Nabonassar reigned 14 years, from 747, B.C.; Nadius, 2, 733; Chiuzirus, 5, 731; lugaus, 5, 
 726; Mardok Empad. or Merodach Baladan, 12, 721 ; Arcianus, 5, 709 ; 1st interregnum, 2, 704 ; 
 Belibus, 3, 702; Aphronadius, 6, 599; Regibelus, 1, 693; Mesesscmordach, 4, 692; 2d inter 
 regnum, 8, 688 ; Asaradin, or Esar-h:iddon, 13, 680 ; Saosduchin, 20, 667 ; Cbyneladon, 22, C47 ; 
 Nabopolassar, or Labynetus I.. 21, 625; Nineveh taken by the Babylonians and Modes, 606, B. C. 
 Then follows the Babylonian dynasty, to wit, Nabopolassar, Labynetus I., Boktanser, or Nebu 
 chadnezzar, who reigned 43 years from 604, B. C. ; Ilverodam, or Evil Merodach, 3, 561, B. C. ; 
 Nericassolassar, Neriglissar, or Belshazzar, 5, 558, B. C. ; Nabonadius, or Labynetus II., ap 
 pointed by Darius the Mede, 17, 553, B. C. ; Babylon taken by Cyrus, 536, B. C. 
 
 Dr. Hales remarks in connection with this, " Nothing can exceed the various and perplexed 
 accounts of the names and reigns of the princes of this dynasty (the Babylonian) in sacred and 
 profane history." 
 
 Jahn, following Ptolemy, chiefly thus enumerates the kin^s of Babylon from the reign of 
 Nebuchadnezzar : Nabocholassar, or Nebuchadnezzar, 46, 605, B. C. ; lluarodamus, or Evil-Mero 
 dach, 2, 562, B.C.: Nerichassolassar, or Neriglissor, 4, 560, B. C.; Laborasoarchad, 9 months, 556. 
 B. C. ; Nabounned, 17 years, 556, B. C. ; Babylon taken by the Medes and Persians, 540, B. C. 
 
 In this confusion and discord respecting the chronology of these princes, the following re 
 marks may be made in regard to the credibility of the statements in the book of Daniel ; 
 (1) It is clear that it was not uncommon for the same prince to have more names than one. 
 This has not been unusual, especially among Oriental princes, who seem to have often prided 
 themselves on the number of epithets which they could use as designating their royal state. 
 Mncc this was the case, it would not be strange if the names of the same kings should be so 
 used by writers, or in tradition, as to leave the impression that there were several; or if one 
 writer should designate a king by one name, and another by another. (2) It would seem pro 
 bable, from all the accounts, that Belshazzar was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, but little is 
 known of the king or kings whose reign intervened between that of Nebuchadnezzar and Bel- 
 shazzar. (3) The testimony of Daniel in the book before us should not be set aside by tho 
 statement of Berosus, or by the other confused accounts which have come down to us. For 
 anything that appears to the contrary, the authority of Daniel is as good as that of Berosus, and 
 he is as worthy of belief. Living in Babylon, and through a great part of the reigns of this dynasty ; 
 present at the taking of Babylon, and intimate at court; honoured by some of these princes 
 more than any other man in the realm, there is no reason why he should not have had access 
 to the means of information on the subject, and no reason why it should not be supposed that 
 ho has given a fair record of what actually occurred. Though the account in regard to the last 
 days of Belshazzar, as given by Berosus, does not agree with that of Daniel, it should not be 
 assumed that that of Berosus is correct, and that of Daniel false. The account in Daniel is, to 
 say the least, as probable as that of Berosus, and there are no means of proving that it is false 
 except by ths testimony of Berosus. (4) The statement in Daniel of the manner in which Baby 
 lon vvas taken, and of the death of Belshazzar, is confirmed by Xenophon (Cyrop. vii.) an au 
 thority quite equal, at least, to that of Berosus. See Notes on ver. 30 of the chapter. In the 
 record iu Daniel of the close of the life of Belshazzar, there is nothing that might not have 
 been supposed to occur, for nothing is more probable than that a king might have been cele 
 brating a feast in the manner described, or that the city might be suiprised in such a night of 
 "ivelry, or that, being surprised, the monarch might be slain. 
 
238 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 g 3. ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER. 
 
 THE chapter comprises a record of the series of events that occurred in Babylon on the night In 
 which it was taken by the Medes and Persians. The scene may be supposed to open in the early 
 evening, at a time when a festival would probably be celebrated, and to continue through a 
 considerable part of the night. It is not known precisely at what time the city was taken, yet 
 it may be supposed that Cyrus was making his approaches \vhile the revel was going on in 
 the palace, and that even while Daniel was interpreting the hand-writing on the wall, he was 
 conducting his armies along the channel of the river, and through the open gate on the banks 
 of the river, toward the palace. The order of the events referred to is as follows : (1) The feast 
 given by Belshazzar in his palace, vs. 14 ; (2) the mysterious appearance of the part of the hand 
 on the walls, ver. 5 ; (3) the summoning of the soothsayers to interpret the hand-writing, and 
 their inability to do it, vs. 6 9 ; (4) the entrance of the queen into the banqueting-hall 
 on account of the trouble of the king, and her reference to Daniel, as one qualified to 
 interpret the vision, vs. 10 12; (5) the summoning of Daniol by the king, and his address to 
 him, vs. 13 16; (6) the answer of Daniel, declining any rewajds for his service, and his solemn 
 address to the king, reminding him of what had occurred to Nebuchadnezzar, and of the fact 
 that he had forgotten the lessons which the divine dealings with Nebuchadnezzar were adapted 
 to teach, and that his own heart had been lifted up with pride, and that his conduct had been 
 eminently wicked, vs. 17 23 ; (7) the interpretation of the words by Daniel, vs. 24 28 ; (8) the 
 order to clothe Daniel in a manner appropriate to one of high rank, and the appointment to the 
 third office in the kingdom, ver. 29 ; and (9) the taking of the city, and the death of Belshazzar, 
 vs. 30, 31. 
 
 1 Belshazzar the king made a 
 great feast a to a thousand of his 
 
 1. Belshazzar the king. See Intro, to 
 the chapter, g 2. In the Introduction to 
 the chapter here referred to, I have stated 
 what seemed to be necessary in order to 
 illustrate the history of Belshazzar, so far 
 as that can be now known. The state 
 ments in regard to this monarch, it is well 
 understood, are exceedingly confused, and 
 the task of reconciling them is now hope 
 less. Little depends, however, in the in 
 terpretation of this book, on the attempt 
 to reconcile them, for the narrative here 
 given is equally credible, whichever of 
 the accounts are taken, unless that of Be- 
 rosus is followed. But it may not be im 
 proper to exhibit here the two principal 
 accounts of the successors of Nebuchad- 
 nezznr, that the discrepancy may be dis 
 tinctly seen. I copy from the Pictorial 
 Bible. " The common account we shall 
 collect from L Art de Verifier les Dates, 
 and the other from Hales Analysis, dis 
 posing them in opposite columns for the 
 sake of comparison : 
 
 From L Artde Verifier? 
 
 B.C. 
 
 605 Nebuchadnezzar, 
 who was succeeded 
 by his son 
 
 162 Evil-Merodach, 
 who having pro 
 voked general in 
 dignation by hia 
 tyranny and atro- 
 
 From Hales Analysis. 
 
 B.C. 
 
 604 Nebuchadnezzar 
 was succeeded by 
 his eon 
 
 561 Evil-Merodach, or 
 Ilverodam, who 
 was slain in a 
 battle against the 
 Medes and Per- 
 
 lords, and drank wine before the 
 thousand. 
 
 cities, was, after a sians, and was sue- 
 short reign of a- ceeded by his eon 
 bout two years, as 
 sassinated by his 
 brother-in law 
 
 560 Nerigilassar, or No- 558 Neriglissar, Neri- 
 ricassolassar, who cassolassar, or Bel- 
 was regarded as a 
 deliverer, and suc- 
 ceeded by the 
 choice of the na 
 tion. He perished 
 in a battle by Cy 
 rus, and was suc 
 ceeded by his son 
 
 shazzar, the com 
 mon accounts of 
 whom seem to com 
 bine what is said 
 both of Neriglis 
 sar, and his son, 
 opposite, lie was 
 killed by conspira 
 tors on the night 
 of the impious 
 feast, leaving a 
 son (a boy), 
 
 555 L a b o r o soarchad, 553 Laborosoarchad, on 
 notorious for h:g whose death, nine 
 cruelty and oppres- months after, the 
 sion, and who was dynasty became ex- 
 assassinated by two tinct, and the king- 
 nobles, Go bry as dom came peacea- 
 andGadatas.whose blyto "Darius the 
 sons he had slain. Mede,"orCyaxares 
 The vacant throne who, on the well- 
 was then ascended known policy of the 
 by Modes and Per 
 
 sians, appointed a 
 Babylonian noble 
 man, named Nabo- 
 nadius, or Labyne- 
 tns, to be king, or 
 viceroy. This per 
 son revolted 
 against Cyrus, who 
 had gucceeded to 
 the united empire 
 
B, C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 239 
 
 2 Belshazzar, while he tasted the | b father Nebuchadnezzar had c taken 
 wine, commanded to bring the I out of the temple which was in Je- 
 golden and silver vessels a which his rusalem ; that the king, and his 
 
 Je. 52. 19. c.l. 2. 
 
 of the Medes and 
 Persians. Cyrus 
 could not immedi 
 ately attend to 
 hiu., but at last 
 marched to Baby 
 lon, took the city, 
 B. C. 5*6, as fore 
 told by the pro 
 phets. 
 
 or, grandfather, as Je. 27. 7. 2 Sa.9. 7. 
 ver. 11, 18. c brought forth. 
 
 654 Nabonadius, the 
 Labynetus of He 
 rodotus, the Nabo- 
 ondel of Josephus, 
 and the Belshazzar 
 of Daniel, who was 
 the son of Evil- 
 Merodach, and who 
 now succeeded to 
 the throne of his 
 father. After a vo 
 luptuous reign, his 
 city was taken by 
 the Persians under 
 Cyrus, on which 
 occasion he lost his 
 life. 
 
 " It will be observed that the principal 
 point of difference in these accounts is, 
 that Hales contends that the succession 
 of Darius the Mede to the Babylonian 
 throne was not attended with war; that 
 Belshazzar was not the king in whose 
 time the city was taken by Cyrus ; and 
 consequently, that the events which took 
 place this night were quite distinct from, 
 and anterior to that siege and capture of 
 the city by the Persian king, which Isaiah 
 and Jeremiah so remarkably foretold." 
 ^[ Made a great feast. On what occasion 
 this feast was made, is not stated, but it 
 was not improbably an annual festival in 
 honour of some of the Babylonian deities. 
 This opinion seems to be countenanced 
 by the words of the Codex Chis. Bel 
 shazzar the king made a great festival, 
 iv i)iispa. et Katviffpou ruiv 0aai\ti<i)l> on the 
 day of the dedication of his kingdoms ; 
 and in ver. 4, it is said that they praised 
 the gods of gold, of silver, and of brass, 
 Ac. ^ To a thousand of his lords. The 
 word thousand here is doubtless used as a 
 general term to denote a very large num 
 ber. It ii not improbable, however, that 
 this full number was assembled on such 
 an occasion. " Ctesias eays, that the 
 
 king of Persia furnished provisions daily 
 for twenty-five thousand men. Quintua 
 ! Curtius says that ten thousand men were 
 : present at a festival of Alexander tho 
 i Great ; and Statius says of Domitian, that 
 j he ordered, on a certain occasion, his 
 I guests 4 to sit down at a thousand tables. " 
 Prof. Stuart, in loc. f And drank wine 
 before the thousand. The Latin Vulgate 
 here is, And each one drank according to 
 his age. The Greek of Theodotion, tho 
 Arabic, and the Coptic is, and wine was 
 before the thousand. The Chaldee, how 
 ever, is, as in our version, he drank 
 wine before the thousand. As he was 
 the lord of the feast, and as all that oc 
 curred pertained primarily to him, the 
 design is undoubtedly to describe his con 
 duct, and to show the effect which the 
 drinking of wine had on him. He drank 
 it in the most public manner, setting an 
 example to his lords, and evidently drink 
 ing it to great excess. 
 
 2, 3. lielshazzar, while he tasted the wine. 
 As the effect of tasting the wine stating 
 a fact which is illustrated in every age 
 and land, that men, under the influence 
 of intoxicating drinks, will do what they 
 would not do when sober. In his sober 
 moments, it would seem probable that 
 he would have respected the vessels con 
 secrated to the service of religion, and 
 would not have treated them with dis 
 honour by introducing them for pur 
 poses of revelry. ^[ Commanded to bring 
 the golden and silver vessels. These ves 
 sels had been carefully deposited in some 
 place as the spoils of victor} , (see ch. i. 2,) 
 and it would appear that they had not 
 before been desecrated for purposes of 
 feasting. Belshazzar did what other men 
 would have done in the same condition. 
 He wished to make a display; to do 
 something unusually surprising; and, 
 j though it had not been contemplated 
 | when the festival was appointed to make 
 I use of these vessels, yet under the excite 
 ment of wine, nothing was too sacred to 
 be introduced to the scenes of intoxica- 
 I tion ; nothing too foolish to be done. In 
 j regard to the vessels taken from the tem 
 ple at Jerusalem, see Notes on ch. i. 2. 
 ^ Which his father Nebuchadnezzar had 
 
240 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 princes, his wives, and his concu 
 bines, might drink therein. 
 
 3 Then they brought the golden 
 vessels that were taken out of the 
 
 taken. Marg., grandfather. According to 
 the best account which wo have of Bel- 
 shazzar, be was the son of Evil-Mero- 
 dacb, who was the son of Nebuchad 
 nezzar, (see the Intro, to the chnpter, $2,) 
 and therefore the word is used here, as in 
 the margin, to denote grandfather. Comp. 
 Jer. xxvii. 7. See Notes on Isa. xiv. 22. 
 The word father is often used in a large 
 signification. See 2 Sam. ix. 7 ; also 
 Notes on Matt. i. 1. There is no impro 
 
 bability in supposing that 
 
 word 
 
 would be used to denote a grandfather, 
 
 when applied to one of the family or 
 
 dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar. The fact | feast advanced. The wives and concu- 
 
 temple of the house of God which 
 was at Jerusalem ; and the king, 
 and his princes, his wives, and his 
 concubines drank in them. 
 
 seem that Nebuchadnezzar had some re 
 spect for these vessels as having been 
 employed in the purposes of religion at 
 least so much respect as to lay them 
 up as trophies of victory, and that this 
 respect had been shown for them un 
 der the reign of his successor, until 
 the exciting scenes of this impious feast 
 occurred, when all veneration for them 
 vanished. It was not very common for 
 females in the East to be present at such 
 festivals as this, but it would seem that 
 all the usual restraints of propriety and 
 decency came to be disregarded as the 
 
 that Belshazzar is here called the son of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, has been made a ground 
 
 bines were probably not present when 
 
 the feast began, for it was made for his 
 
 of objection to the credibility of the book lords (ver. 1), but when the scenes of 
 of Daniel, by Lengerke, p. 204. The revelry had advanced so far that it was 
 objection is, that the "last king of Baby- proposed to introduce the sacred vessels 
 i . .,* o^v, ~F XT^U,,/.!,.,,!.^.,,,.,.. " o f the temple, it would not be unnatural 
 
 to propose also to introduce the females 
 of the court. A similar instance is re 
 lated in the book of Esther. In the feast 
 which Ahasuerus gave, it is said that " on 
 the seventh day when the heart of the 
 king was merry with wine, he com 
 manded Mehuman, Biztha, &c., the seven 
 chamberlains that served in the presence 
 of Ahasuerus the king, to bring Vashti, 
 the queen, before the king, with the crown 
 
 Ion was not a son of 
 But, in reply to this, in addition to the 
 remarks above made, it may be observed 
 that it is not necessary in vindicating the 
 assertion in the text to suppose that he 
 was the immediate descendant of Nebu 
 chadnezzar, in the first degree. "The 
 Semitic use of the word in question goes 
 far beyond the first degree of descent, 
 
 and extends the a{ 
 designation grandson, 
 most remote posterity. 
 
 ion of son to the 
 and even of the 
 In Ezra v 
 
 14, 1 royal, to show the people and the princes 
 
 the prophet Zechariah is called the son j her beauty," &c. Esther i. 10, 11. Comp. 
 of Iddo ; in Zech. i. 1, 7, the same per- Joseph. Ant. B. xi. ch 
 son is called the son of Barachiah, the 
 
 The 
 females that were thus introduced to the 
 
 of Iddo. So Isaiah threatens Hezekiah j banquet, were those of the harem, yet it 
 (xxxix. 7,) that the sons whom he shall j would seem that she who was usually 
 beget shall be conducted as exiles to Baby- called the queen by way of eminence, 
 Ion ; in which case, however, four gene- or the queen-mother, (Comp. Notes on 
 rations intervened before this happened, ver 10,) was not among them at this time. 
 So in Matt. i. 1, Jesus Christ, the son The females in the court of an Oriental 
 of David, the son of Abraham. And so i monarch were divided into two classes ; 
 we speak every day : The sons of Adam, ! those who were properly concubines, and 
 the sons of Abraham, the sons of Israel, | who had none of the privileges of a wife; 
 the sons of the Pilgrims, and the like." j and those of a higher class, and who were 
 Prof. Stuart, Com. on Daniel p. 144. spoken of as wives, and to whom apper- 
 That the king, and his princes, his I tained the privileges of that relation. 
 
 wives, and his concubines, might drink 
 therein. Nothing is too sacred to be pro 
 faned when men are under the influence 
 
 Among the latter, also, in the court of a 
 king, it would seem that there was one 
 to whom properly belonged the appella 
 
 tion of queen that is, probably, a favourite 
 wife whose children were heirs to the 
 
 of wine. They do not hesitate to dese 
 crate the holiest things, and vessels taken | wife 
 from the altar of God are regarded with I crown. See Bertholdt, in loc. Comp. 
 as little raverenco as any other. It would j 2 Sam. v. 13 ; 1 Kings xi. 3 ; Cant vi. 8. 
 
B.C. 538.] CHAPTER V. 241 
 
 4 They drank wine, and praised i 5 fl In the same hour t> came forth 
 the gods of gold, a and of silver, fingers of a man s hand, and wrota 
 of brass, of iron, of wood, and of | over against the candlestick upon 
 stone. i the plaster of the wall of the king s 
 
 a Re. 9. 20. b c . 4. 31. 
 
 4. They drank wine, and praised the i mind that this must be either to rebuke 
 gods of gold, and of silver, &c. Coinp. | them for their sin, or to announce some 
 Notes on ver. 1. Idols were made among i fearful calamity, all these things must 
 the heathen of all the materials here men- have combined to produce an overwhelm- 
 tioned The word praised .here means . J fffc th u Perhaps, from 
 
 what they had done. Nothing can well j re ard to ^ e " m . e of sacrilege, 
 be conceived more senseless and stupid i havc con cted this mystenous appear- 
 than what it is said they did at this feast, ! ance Wlth the Pfane act which they were 
 and yet it is a fair illustration of what j then committing that of desecrating the 
 occurs in all the festivals of idolatry, j vessels of the temple of God. How natural 
 And is that which occurs in more civi- | would it be to suppose recognizing as 
 lized, Christian lands, in the scenes of j they did the gods of other nations as 
 carousal and festivity, more rational than real, as truly as those which they wor- 
 this? It was not much worse to lavish ; shipped that the God of the Hebrews, 
 praises on idol gods in a scene of revelry seeing the vessels of his worship profaned, 
 than it is to lavish praises on idol men j had come forth to express his displeasure, 
 now ; not much less rational to toast and to intimate that there was impending 
 gods than it is to toast men. wrath for such an act. The crime of 
 
 5. In the same hour. On the word hour, sacrilege was regarded among the heathen 
 see Notes on ch. iv. 19. ^ Came forth as one of the most awful which could be 
 fingers of a man s hand. Not the whole j committed, and there was no state of 
 hand, but only the parts usually employed j mind in which men would be more likely 
 in writing. Not a man writing; not even j to bo alarmed than when they were, even 
 an arm, but fingers that seemed to move i in the midst of scenes of drunken revelry, 
 
 themselves. They appeared to come forth 
 from the walls, and were seen before they 
 
 engaged in such an act. "The heathen," 
 says Grotius, "thought it a great impiety 
 
 began to write. It was this that made it to convert sacred things to common 
 so impressive and alarming. It could uses." Numerous instances are on record 
 not be supposed that it was the work I of the sentiments entertained among the 
 of man, or that it was devised by man heathen on the subject of sacrilege, and 
 for the purpose of producing consterna- j of the calamities which were believed to 
 tion. It was perfectly manifest to all come upon men as a punishment for it. 
 who were there that this was the work of j Among them we may refer to the misera- 
 some one superior to man ; that it was j ble end of the Phocians, who robbed the 
 designed as a divine intimation of some ! temple of Dclphos, and whose act was the 
 kind in regard to the scene that was then j occasion of that war which was called the 
 occurring. But whether as a rebuke for I holy war; the destruction of the Gauls in 
 the sin of revelry and dissipation, or j their attempt upon the same temple ; and 
 for sacrilege in drinking out of the con- of Crassus, who plundered the temple of 
 secrated vessels, or whether it was an Jerusalem, and that of the Syrian god- 
 intimation of some approaching fear- j dess. See Lowth, in loc. That a convic- 
 ful calamity, would not at once be ap- i tion of the sin of sacrilege, according to 
 parent. It is easy to imagine that it ! the prevalent belief on the subject, may 
 would produce a sudden pause in their ! have contributed to produce consterna- 
 revelry, and diffuse seriousness over their ! tion when the fingers of the hand ap- 
 minds. The suddenness of the appear- | peared at Belshazzar s feast, there is no 
 ance ; the fingers, unguided by the hand I good reason to doubt, and we may sup- 
 of man, slowly writing in mysterious pose that the minds of the revellers were 
 sharacters on the walls ; the conviction at once turned to the insult which they 
 .vhich must have flash ed across the j had thus offered to th* God of the He- 
 21 
 
242 
 
 DANIEL. [B. 0. 538 
 
 palace : and the king saw the part 
 of the hand that wrote. 
 
 G Then a the king s countenance 
 
 was changed, and his thoughts 
 
 troubled him, so that the d joints of 
 
 his loins were loosed, and his knees 
 
 e smote one against another. 
 
 * Is. 21. 2 4. b brightnesses, ver. 9. c changed it. 
 d bindings, or, knots ; or, girdles. Is. 5. 27. 
 
 brews. ^[ And wrote over against the can 
 dlestick. The candlestick, or lamp-bearer, 
 perhaps, which had been taken from the 
 temple at Jerusalem, and which was, as 
 well as the sacred vessels, introduced into 
 this scene of revelry. It is probable that 
 as they brought out the vessels of the 
 temple to drink in, they would alse bring 
 out all that had been taken from the tem 
 ple in Jerusalem. Two objects may 
 have been contemplated in the fact that 
 the writing was over against the can 
 dlestick : one was that it might be clearly 
 visible, the other that it might be more 
 directly intimated that the writing was a 
 rebuke for the act of sacrilege. On the 
 probable situation where this miracle oc 
 curred, the reader may consult Taylor s 
 Fragments to Calmet s Dictionary, No. 
 205. He supposes that it was one of the 
 large inner courts of the palace that part 
 of the palace which was prohibited to 
 persons not sent for. See Notes on ver. 10. 
 ^ Upon the plaster of the wall. The Chal 
 dee word means lime, not inappropriately 
 rendered here plaster. The manner of 
 the writing is not specified. All that is 
 necessary to suppose is, that the letters 
 were traced along on the wall so as to be 
 distinctly visible. Whether they seemed 
 to be cut into the plaster, or to be traced 
 in black lines, or lines of light, is not 
 mentioned, and is immaterial. They 
 were such as could be seen distinctly by 
 the king and the guests. Compare, 
 however, the remarks of Taylor in the 
 Fragment just referred to. f And 
 the king saw the part of the hand that 
 wrote. It is not necessary to suppose 
 that the others did not see it also, but 
 the king was the most important person 
 age there, and the miracle was intended 
 particularly for him. Perhaps his eyes 
 were first attracted to it. 
 
 6. Then the Icing a countenance teas 
 changed. The word rendered counte 
 nance, is in the margin, as in ver. 9, bright- 
 
 7 The king cried { aloud to bring 
 in the & astrologers, the Chaldeans, 
 and the soothsayers. And the king 
 spake, and said to the wise men of 
 Babylon, Whosoever shall read this 
 writing, and show me the interpre 
 tation thereof, shall be clothed with 
 
 e Na. 2. 10. f with might. 
 
 g c. 2. 2. Is. 47. 13. 
 
 nesses. The Chaldee word means bright 
 ness, splendor VI, and the meaning here 
 is bright looks, cheerfulness, hilarity. 
 The word rendered icas changed, is in the 
 margin changed it ; and the meaning is, 
 that it changed itself: probably from a 
 jocund, cheerful, and happy expression, 
 it assumed suddenly a deadly paleness. 
 I *\And his thoughts troubled him. Whether 
 I from the recollection of guilt, or the dread 
 of wrath, is not said. He would doubt 
 less regard this as some supernatural in 
 timation, and his soul would bo troubled. 
 *\\So that the joints of his loins were loosed. 
 Marg., bindings, or knots, or girdles. The 
 Chaldee word rendered joints, Sgp, means 
 properly knots; then joints of the bones, 
 as resembling knots, or apparently an 
 swering the purposes of knots in the hu 
 man frame, as binding it together. The 
 word loina in the Scriptures refers to the 
 part of the body around which the girdle 
 was passed, the lower part of the back; 
 and Gesenius supposes that the meaning 
 here is, that the joints of his back, that is, 
 the vertebrae, are referred to. This part 
 of the body is spoken of as the seat of 
 strength. When this is weak, the body has 
 no power to stand, to walk, to labour. The 
 simple idea is, that he was greatly terrified, 
 and that under the influence of fear his 
 strength departed. ^[ And his knees smote 
 one against another. A common effect 
 of fear, Nah. ii. 10. So Horace, Et corde, 
 et genibus tremit. And so Virgil, Tarda 
 trementi gcnua labant. " Belshazzar had 
 as much of power, and of drink withal to 
 lead him to bid defiance to God as any 
 ruffian under heaven ; and yet when God, 
 as it were, lift but up his finger against 
 him, how poorly did he crouch and shiver. 
 How did his joints loose, and his knees 
 knock together !" South s Sermons, vol. 
 iv. p. 60. 
 
 7. The king cried aloud. Marg., as in 
 the Chaldee, with might. This indicates 
 a sudden and an alarming cry. The king 
 
P. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 243 
 
 * scarlet, and have a chain of goldj 
 about his neck, and shall be the 
 third b ruler in the kingdom. 
 
 8 Then came in all the king s 
 a or, purple. 
 
 was deeply terrified ; and, unable himself j 
 to divine the meaning of the mysterious 
 appearance of the hand, he naturally 
 turned at once to those whose office it 
 was to explain dreams and supernatural 
 appearances. ^[ To bring in the astrolo 
 gers, &c. See Notes on ch. ii. 2, iv. 7. 
 ^[ And said to the wise men of Babylon. 
 Those just referred to the astrologers, Ac. 
 Having the power, as was supposed, of 
 interpreting the indications of coming 
 events, they were esteemed as eminently 
 wise. ^[ Whosoever shall read this writ 
 ing. It would seem from this that even 
 the characters were not familiar to the 
 king and to those who were with him. 
 Evidently the letters were not in the 
 ordinary Chaldee form, but in some form 
 which, to them was strange and unknown. 
 Thus there was a double mystery hang 
 ing over the writing a mystery in re 
 gard to the language in which the words 
 were written, and to the meaning of the 
 words. Many conjectures have been 
 formed as to the language employed in 
 this writing, (Comp. Notes on ver. 24,) 
 but such conjectures are useless, since it is 
 impossible now to ascertain what it was. 
 As the writing, however, had a primary 
 reference to the sacrilege committed in re 
 gard to the sacred vessels of the temple, 
 and as Daniel was able to read the letters 
 at once, it would seem not improbable that 
 the words were in the Hebrew character 
 then used a character such as that found 
 now in the Samaritan Pentateuch for 
 the Chaldee character now found in the 
 Bible has not improbably been substituted 
 for the more ancient and less elegant 
 character now found in the Samaritan 
 Pentateuch alone. There is no improba 
 bility in supposing that even the astrolo 
 gers and the soothsayers were not familiar 
 with that character, and could not readily 
 read it. ^[ And show me the interpretation 
 thereof. The meaning of the words. 
 <[[ Shall be clothed with scarlet. The 
 colour worn usually by princes and by 
 persons of rank. The margin is purple. 
 So the Greek of Theodotion nop^vpav. 
 Bo also the Latin Vulgate purpura. On 
 the nature and uses of this colour, see 
 
 wise men : but they could not read 
 the writing, nor make known to the 
 king the interpretation thereof. 
 9 Then was king Belshazzar 
 
 be. 6. 2. 
 
 Notes on Isa. i. 18. ^ And have a chain 
 of gold about his neck. Also indicative 
 of rank and authority. Comp. Gen. xli. 
 42. When Joseph was placed over the 
 land of Egypt, the king honoured him 
 in a similar manner, by putting " a gold 
 chain about his neck." This was com 
 mon in Persia. See Xen. Cyrop. I. 3, 
 2, II. 4, 6, VII. 5, 18; Anab. I. 5, 8. 
 Upon most of the figures in the ruins of 
 Persepolis the same ornament is now 
 found. Prof. Stuart renders this, "a 
 collar of gold." ^f And shall be the third 
 ruler in the kingdom. Of course, the 
 king was first. Who the second was, or 
 why the one who could disclose the mean 
 ing of the words should not be raised to 
 the second rank, is not stated. It may 
 be, that the office of prime minister was 
 so fixed, or was held by one whose ser 
 vices were so important to the king, that 
 he could not be at once displaced. Or 
 the meaning may be, that the favoured 
 person who could interpret this, would be 
 raised to the third rank of dignity, or 
 placed in the third class of those who 
 held offices in the realm. The Chal 
 dee is, and shall rule third in the king 
 dom/ and the idea would seem rather to 
 be that he should be of the third rank or 
 grade in office. So Bertholdt understands 
 it. Grotius understands it as the third 
 person in rank. He says the first was the 
 king; the second the son of the king; 
 the third the prince of the Satraps. 
 
 8. Then came in all the king s wise men. 
 The classes above referred to, ver. 7. 
 ^[ Sut they could not read the writing. 
 The character was an unknown character 
 to them. It may have been a character 
 which was not found in any language, 
 and which made the power of Daniel to 
 read it the more remarkable, or it may 
 have been, as suggested in the Notes on 
 ver. 7, a foreign character with which 
 they had no acquaintance, though fami 
 liar to Daniel. 
 
 9. Then icas king Belshazzar greatly 
 troubled. Not doubting that this was a 
 divine intimation of some fearful event, 
 and yet unable to understand its mean 
 ing. We are quite as likely to be trou- 
 
244 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 greatly troubled, and his a counte 
 nance was changed in him, and his 
 lords were astonished. 
 
 10 fl Now the queen by reason of 
 the words of the king and his lords 
 camo into the banquet house : and 
 
 a 1/rigMnesses. ver. 6. 
 
 bled by what is merely mysterious in re 
 gard to the future by anything that 
 gives us some undefined foreboding, as 
 \ve are by that which is really formidable 
 when we know what it is. In the latter 
 case, we know the worst; we can make 
 some preparation for it; we can feel 
 assured that when that is past, all is past 
 that we fear but who can guard him 
 self, or prepare himself, when that which 
 is dreaded is undefined as well as awful ; 
 when we know not how to meet it, or how 
 long it may endure, or how terrific and 
 wide may be the sweep of its desolation ? 
 ^ And his countenance teas changed in 
 him. Marg., brightnesses. See Notes on 
 ver. 6. ^[^l?ic his lords tcere astonied. 
 Amazed. The Chaldee word means to 
 perplex, disturb, trouble. They were 
 doubtless as much perplexed and troubled 
 as the king himself. 
 
 10. Now the queen. u Probably the 
 queen-mother, the Nitocris of Herodotus, 
 as the king s wives were at the entertain 
 ment." Winkle. Comp. vs. 2, 3. So Prof. 
 Stuart. The editor of the Pictorial Bible 
 also supposes that this was the queen- 
 mother, and thinks that this circumstance 
 will explain her familiarity with the oc 
 currences in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. 
 He says, " We are informed above, that 
 the wives and concubines of the king 
 were present at the banquet. It there 
 fore seems probable that the queen who 
 now first appears, was the queen-mother; 
 and this probability is strengthened by 
 the intimate acquaintance which she ex 
 hibits with the affairs of Nebuchadnezzar s 
 reign ; at the latter end of which, she, as 
 the wife of Evil-Merodach, who was re 
 gent during his father s alienation of 
 mind, took an active part in the internal 
 policy of the kingdom, and in the comple 
 tion of the great works which Nebuchad 
 nezzar had begun in Babylon. This she 
 continued during the reigns of her hus 
 band and son, the present king Belshaz- 
 zar. This famous queen, Nitocris, there 
 fore, could not but be well acquainted 
 frith the character and services of Dan- 
 
 the queen spake and said, king, 
 live for ever : let not thy thoughts 
 trouble thee, nor let thy countenance 
 be changed : 
 
 11 There b is a man in thy king- 
 dom, in whom is the spirit of the holy 
 
 . 4. 8,9. 
 
 iel." On the place and influence of the 
 queen -mother in the Oriental courts, see 
 Taylor s Fragments to Calmet s Diction 
 ary, No. 16. From the extracts which 
 Taylor has collected, it would seem that 
 she held an exalted place at court, and 
 that it is every way probable that she 
 would be called in, or would come in, on 
 such an occasion. See also Knolles His 
 tory of the Turks, as quoted by Taylor, 
 Fragments, No. 50. ^ By reason of the 
 words of the king and his lords. Their 
 words of amazement and astonishment. 
 This would doubtless be conveyed to her, 
 as there was so much alarm in the palace, 
 and as there was a summons to bring in the 
 wise men of Babylon. If her residence 
 was in some part of the palace itself, 
 nothing would be more natural than that 
 she should be made acquainted with the 
 unusual occurrence, or if her residence 
 was, as Taylor supposes, detached from 
 the palace, it is every way probable that she 
 would be made acquainted with the con 
 sternation that prevailed, and that recol 
 lecting the case of Nebuchadnezzar, and 
 the forgotten services of Daniel, she 
 would feel that the information which 
 was sought respecting the mysterious 
 writing could be obtained from him. 
 ^[ And the queen spake and said, king 
 live for ever. A common salutation in 
 addressing a king, expressive of a desire 
 of his happiness, and prosperity, f Let, 
 I not tliy thoughts trouble th.ec, &c. That 
 j is, there is a way by which the mystery 
 may be solve^, and you need not, there- 
 ! fore, be alarmed. 
 
 11. There is a man in thy kingdom. To 
 
 | wit, Daniel. As the queen-mother had 
 
 I lived in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, and 
 
 recollected the important service which 
 
 I he had rendered in interpreting the dream 
 
 of the king, it was natural that her niind 
 
 ! should at once recur to him. It would 
 
 ! seem, also, that though Daniel was no 
 
 longer employed at court, yet that she 
 
 j still had an acquaintance with him, so 
 
 far at least as to know that he was acces- 
 
 I sible, and might be called in on this oc- 
 
B. C. 538.J 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 245 
 
 gods ; and in the days of thy a father 
 light and understanding, and wisdom, 
 like the wisdom of the gods, was 
 found in him ; whom the king Ne 
 buchadnezzar thy a father, the king, 
 / say, thy a father, made master of 
 the magicians, astrologers, Chal 
 deans, and soothsayers. 
 
 12 Forasmuch as an excellent 
 
 a or, grandfather, ver. 2. 
 
 jasion. It may be asked, perhaps, how it 
 was that Belshazzar was so ignorant of all 
 this as to need this information ? For it is 
 clear from the question which the king 
 asks in ver. 13, Art thou that Daniel ? 
 that he was ignorant of him personally, 
 and probably even of his services as an 
 officer in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. 
 An ingenious and not improbable solution 
 of this difficulty has been proposed as 
 founded on a remark of Sir John Char- 
 din : " As mentioned by the queen, Daniel 
 had been made by Nebuchadnezzar mas 
 ter of the magicians, astrologers, Chal 
 deans, and soothsayers. Of this employ 
 ment Chardin conjectures that he had 
 been deprived on the death of the king, 
 and obtains this conclusion from the fact 
 that when a Persian king dies, both his 
 astrologers and physicians are driven from 
 court the former for not having pre 
 dicted, and the hitler for not having pre 
 vented, his death. If such was the eti 
 quette of the ancient Babylonian, as it 
 is of the modern Persian court, we have 
 certainly a most satisfactory solution of 
 the present difficulty, as Daniel mustthen 
 be supposed to have relinquished hi?pre- 
 sent employments, and to have lived re 
 tired in private life during the eight years 
 occupied by the reigns of Evil-Merodach 
 and Belshazzar." Harmar, as quoted by 
 Rosenmuller, (Morgenland, on Dan. v. 13.) 
 ^[ In ichom is the spirit of the holy gods. 
 This is language such as a heathen would 
 be likely to use when speaking of one who 
 had showed extraordinary knowledge of 
 divine things. See Notes on ch. iv. 9. 
 ^ And in the days of tliy father. Marg., 
 grandfather. See Notes on vs. 1, 2. 
 ^ Light, and under standing, and wisdom. 
 Light is the emblem of knowledge, as it 
 makes all things clear. The meaning 
 here is, that he had showed extraordinary 
 Wisdom in interpreting the dream of Ne- 
 Ducliadnezzar. ^ Like the wisdom of the 
 21* 
 
 b spirit, and knowledge, and under 
 standing, c interpreting of dreams, 
 and showing of hard sentences, and 
 d dissolving of e doubts, were found 
 in the same Daniel, whom the king 
 named Belteshazzar : now let Dan 
 iel be called, and he will show the 
 interpretation. 
 
 c or, of an interpreter. d or, of a dissolver. 
 e knots. 
 
 gods. Such as the gods only could pos 
 sess. *[ When the king Nebuchadnezzar 
 thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made 
 master of the magicians, &o. See ch. 
 ii. 48. This is repeated here, and dwelt 
 on, in order to call the attention of the 
 [ king to the fact that Daniel was worthy 
 to be consulted. Though now living in 
 obscurity, there was a propriety that one 
 j who had been placed at the very head of 
 the wise men of Babylon by a prince so 
 | distinguished as Nebuchadnezzar, should 
 be consulted on the present occasion. 
 
 12. Forasmuch as an excellent spirit. 
 I Not an excellent spirit in the sense in 
 i which that phrase is sometimes used now, 
 as denoting a good and pious spirit, but 
 a spirit or mind that excels; that is, that 
 is distinguished for wisdom and know 
 ledge, ^f Interpreting of dreams. Marg., 
 or OH interpreter. This was regarded 
 | as a great attainment, and was supposed 
 j to prove that one Avho could do it was in- 
 ! spired by the gods. ^ And shoicing of 
 hard sentences. The meaning of enigma 
 tical or obscure sentences. To be able to 
 do this was supposed to indicate great 
 attainments, and was a knowledge that 
 was much coveted. Comp. Prov. i. 6 : 
 "To understand a proverb, and the inter 
 pretation ; the words of the wise, and their 
 dark sayings." ^T And dissolving of doubts. 
 Marg., or o dissolver of knot-?. So the 
 Chaldee. This language is still common 
 in the East, to denote one who has skill 
 in explaining difficult subjects. " In 
 the copy of a patent given to Sir John 
 Chardin in Persia, we lind it is addressed 
 to the Lord of lords, who have the pres 
 ence of a lion, the aspect of Deston ; the 
 princes who have the statue of Tahem- 
 teri-tcn, who seem to be in the time of 
 Ardevon, the regents who carry the ma 
 jesty of Fcrribours. The conquerors of 
 kingdoms. Superintendents that unloose 
 all manner of knots, and who are under 
 
246 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 53a 
 
 13 Then was Daniel brought in 
 before the king. And the king 
 spake and said unto Daniel, Art 
 thou that Daniel, which art of the 
 children of the captivity of Judah, 
 whom the king my a father brought 
 out of Jewry ? 
 
 14 I have even heard of thee, that 
 the spirit of the gods is in thee, and 
 that light and understanding and 
 excellent wisdom is found in thee. 
 
 15 And now the wise men, the 
 astrologers, have been brought in 
 before me, that they should read 
 
 a or, grandfather, ver. 2. 
 
 this writing, and make known unto 
 me the interpretation thereof: but 
 they could not show the interpreta 
 tion of the thing. 
 
 16 And I have heard of thee, that 
 thou canst b make interpretations, 
 and dissolve doubts : now if thou 
 canst read the writing, and make 
 known to me the interpretation 
 thereof, thou shalt be clothed with 
 scarlet, and have a chain of gold 
 about thy neck, and shalt be the 
 third ruler in the kingdom. 
 
 17 fl Then Daniel answered and 
 
 b interpret. 
 
 the ascendant of Mercury, " &c. Taylor s 
 Fragments to Calrnet s Diet. No. 174. 
 The language used here would be appli 
 cable to the explanation of any difficult 
 and perplexing subject. ^f Whom the 
 king named JJelteshazzar. That is, the 
 name was given to him by his authority, 
 (see Notes on ch. i. 7,) and it was by this 
 name that he called him when he ad 
 dressed him, ch. iv. 9. 
 
 13. Then was Daniel brought in before 
 the king. From this it is clear that he 
 lived in Babylon, though in comparative 
 obscurity. It would seem to be not im 
 probable that he was still known to the 
 queen mother, who perhaps kept up an 
 acquaintance with him on account of his 
 former services. ^[ Art thou that Daniel. 
 This is a clear proof that Belshazzar was 
 not acquainted personally with him. See 
 Notes on ver 11. ^[ Which art of the 
 children of the captivity of Judah. Be 
 longing to those of Judah, or those Jews 
 who were made captives, and who reside 
 in Babylon. See Notes on ch. i. 3. He 
 could not be ignorant that there were 
 Jews in his kingdom, though he was 
 not personally acquainted with Daniel. 
 ^f Whom the king my father. Marg., as in 
 VS. 2, 11, grandfather. ^Brought out of 
 Jewry ? Out of Judea. See ch. i. 1 3. 
 
 14. / have even heard of thee, &c., 
 ver. 11. 
 
 15. And now the wise men, Ac., vs. 7, 8. 
 
 16. And I have heard of thee, <fec., ver. 
 11. ^ Canst make interpretations. Marg., 
 interpret. Chald., Interpret interpreta 
 tions. The meaning is, that he was 
 skilled in interpreting or explaining 
 dreams, omens, <fcc. ^ And dissolve doubts. 
 
 Notes on ver. 12. ^ Noio if thou canst 
 read the writing, &c., thou shalt be clothed 
 with scarlet, &c. This was the reward 
 which at the first he had promised to any 
 one that was able to do it, and as all 
 others had failed, he was willing that it 
 should be offered to a Jew. 
 
 17. Then Daniel answered and said 
 before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself. 
 That is, I do not desire them ; I do not 
 act from a hope of reward. Daniel 
 means undoubtedly to intimate that what 
 he would do would be done from a higher 
 motive than a desire of office or honour. 
 The answer is one that is eminently dig 
 nified. Yet he says he would read the 
 writing, implying that he was ready to 
 do anything that would be gratifying to 
 the monarch. It may seem somewhat 
 strange that Daniel, who here disclaimed 
 all desire of office or reward, should so 
 soon (ver. 29) have submitted to be 
 clothed in this manner, and to have re 
 ceived the insignia of office. But, it may 
 be remarked that when the offer was pro 
 posed to him he stated his wishes, and 
 declared that he did not desire to be hon 
 oured in that way; when he had per 
 formed the duty, however, of making 
 known the writing, he could scarcely feel 
 at liberty to resist a command of tho 
 king to be clothed in that manner, and 
 to be regarded as an officer in the king 
 dom. His intention, in the verse before 
 us, was modestly to decline the honours 
 proposed, and to intimate that he was 
 not influenced by a desire of such honours 
 in what he would do ; yet to the king s 
 command afterwards that he should be 
 clothed in robes of office, ho could not 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 247 
 
 said before the king, Let thy gifts 
 be to thyself, and give thy b rewards 
 to another ; yet I will read the writ 
 ing c unto the king, and make known 
 
 to him the interpretation. 
 18 thou king, the most 
 
 high 
 
 God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy fa 
 ther a kingdom, and majesty, and 
 glory, and honour. 
 
 19 And for the majesty that he 
 gave him, all d people, nations, and 
 languages, trembled and feared be 
 fore him : whom he would he slew ; 
 and whom he would he kept alive ; 
 and whom he would he set up ; and 
 whom he would he put down. 
 
 * Go. 14. 23. 
 Ps. 119. 46. 
 
 b or, fee, as c. 2. 6. 
 dJe.27. 7. c. 4. 22. &c. 
 
 with propriety make resistance. There 
 is no evidence that he took these honours 
 voluntarily, or that he would not have 
 continued to decline them if he could have 
 done it with propriety. ^[ And give thy re 
 wards to another. Marg., or fee, as in ch. 
 ii. 6. Gesenius supposes that the word 
 used here H3pj is of Persian origin. 
 It means a gift, and, if of Persian origin, 
 is derived from a verb meaning to load 
 with gifts and praises, as a prince does 
 an ambassador. The sense here seems 
 to be, that Daniel was not disposed to 
 interfere with the will of the monarch if 
 he chose to confer gifts and rewards 
 on others, or to question the propriety of 
 his doing so, but that, so far as he was 
 concerned, he had no desire of them for 
 himself, and could not be influenced by 
 them in what he was about to do. ^f Yet 
 I will read the writing, &c. Expressing 
 no doubt that he could do it without dif 
 ficulty. Probably the language of the 
 writing was familiar to him, and he at 
 once saw that there was no difficulty, in 
 the circumstances, in determining its 
 meaning. 
 
 18. 6 thou king, the most high God 
 gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a king 
 dom, &c. This reference to Nebuchad 
 nezzar is evidently designed to show to 
 Belshazzar the wickedness of his own 
 course, and the reason which he had to 
 apprehend the divine vengeance because 
 he had not learned to avoid the sins 
 which brought so great calamities upon 
 his predecessor. As he was acquainted 
 with what had occurred to Nebuchad 
 nezzar; as he had doubtless seen the pro 
 clamation which he had made on his 
 recovery from the dreadful malady which 
 God had brought upon him for his pride ; 
 and as he had not humbled hims-elf, but 
 had pursued the same course which Ne 
 buchadnezzar did, he had the greater 
 reason to apprehend the judgment of 
 heaven. See vs. 22, 23. Daniel here 
 
 traces all the glory which Nebuchad 
 nezzar had to the most high God/ re 
 minding the king that whatever honour 
 and majesty he had he was equally in 
 debted for it to the same source, and that 
 he must expect a similar treatment from 
 him. 
 
 19. And for the majesty that he gave 
 him. That is, on account of his great 
 ness, referring to the talents which God 
 had conferred on him, and the power 
 which he had put in his hands. It 
 was so great that all people and nations 
 trembled before him. ^ All people, na 
 tions, and languages, trembled and feared 
 before him. Stood in awe of him. On 
 the extent of his empire, see Notes on ch. 
 iti. 4, iv. 1, 22. ^ Whom he would he 
 slew, &c. That is, he was an arbitrary 
 an absolute sovereign. This is exactly 
 descriptive of the power which Oriental 
 despotic monarchs have. ^[ Whomhe would 
 he kept alive. Whether they had, or had 
 not, been guilty of crime. He had the ab 
 solute power of life and death over them. 
 There was no such instrument as we call a 
 constitution to control the sovereign as 
 well as the people ; there was no tribunal 
 to which he was responsible, and no law by 
 which ho was bound ; there were no judges 
 to determine on the question of life and 
 death in regard to those who were ac 
 cused of crime, whom he did not appoint, 
 and whom he might not remove, and 
 whose judgments he might not set aside 
 if he pleased; there were no juries of 
 peers to determine on the question of 
 fact whether an accused man was guilty 
 or not. There were none of those safe 
 guards which have been originated to pro 
 tect the accused in modern times, and 
 which enter so essentially into the no 
 tions of liberty now. In an absolute des 
 potism all power is in the hands of one 
 man, and this was in fact the case in 
 Babylon. ^[ Whom he would he set up. 
 That is, in places of trust, of office, of 
 
248 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 20 But when his heart was lifted 
 up, and his mind hardened a in pride, 
 he was b deposed from his kingly 
 throne, and they took his glory from 
 
 22 And thou his son, Belshaz 
 zar, hast not humbled d thy heart, 
 though thou knewest all this ; 
 
 23 But "hast lifted 
 
 up 
 
 thyself 
 
 against the Lord of heaven ; and they 
 
 have brought the vessels of his house 
 
 him. 
 
 21 And he was driven from the 
 
 sons of men ; and c his heart was made | before thee, and thou, and thy lords, 
 like the beasts, and his dwelling was I thy wives and thy concubines, have 
 with the wild asses : they fed him drunk wine in them ; and thou hast 
 with grass like oxen, and his body | f praised the gods of silver and gold, 
 was wet with the dew of heaven ; till I of brass, iron, wood, and stone, 
 he knew that the most high God which B see not, nor hear, nor know : 
 
 ruled in the kingdom of men, and 
 that he appointeth over it whomso 
 ever he will. 
 
 3 or, to deal proudly. Ex. 18. 11. b made to 
 come down. c or, he made his heart equal. 4 2 ch. 
 33. 23 ; 36. 12 ; Ja. 4. 6. ver. 3, 4. f Ju. 16. 23. 
 
 and the God in whose hand thy 
 h breath is, and whose are all thy 
 i ways, hast thou not j glorified. 
 
 s Ps. 115. 5-8 ; Is. 37. 19. h Ac, 17. 28, 29. 
 iJe. 10. 23. jKo. 1.21. 
 
 rank, &c. f And whom he would he put 
 down. No matter what their rank or 
 office. 
 
 20. But when his heart was lifted vp. 
 See ch. iv. 30. ^ And his mind hardened 
 in pride. Marg., to deal proudly. The 
 state of mind indicated here is that in 
 which there is no sense of dependence, 
 but where one feels that he has all re 
 sources in himself, and need only look 
 to himself, ^f He was deposed from his 
 kingly throne. Marg., made to come down. 
 That is, he was so deposed by the provi 
 dence of God, not by the acts of his own 
 subjects. 
 
 21. And Tie was driven, &c. See this 
 fully explained in ch. iv. 25, 33. 
 
 22. And thou his son, Belshazzar, 
 hast not humbled thy heart, &c. As thou 
 shouldst have done in remembrance of 
 these events. The idea is, that we ought 
 to derive valuable lessons from what has 
 taken place in past times ; that, from the 
 events which have occurred in history, 
 we should learn what God approves and 
 what he disapproves; that we should 
 avoid the course which has subjected 
 others to his displeasure, and which has 
 brought his judgments upon them. The 
 course, however, which Belshazzar pur 
 sued has been that of kings and princes 
 commonly in the world, and indeed of 
 mankind at large. How little do men 
 profit by the record of the calamities 
 which have come upon others for their 
 crimes ! How little are the intemperate 
 of one generation admonished by the ca 
 lamities which have come upon those of 
 
 another ; how little are the devotees of 
 pleasure ; how little are those in places 
 of power ! 
 
 23. But hast lifted up thyself against 
 the Lord of heaven. The God who had 
 so signally rebuked and humbled Nebu 
 chadnezzar. The monarch had done this, 
 it would seem, during the whole of his 
 reign, and now by a crowning act of im 
 piety, he had evinced special disregard 
 of him, and contempt for him, by pro 
 faning the sacred vessels of his temple. 
 ^[ And they have brought the vessels of his 
 house before thee, &c. See Notes on vs. 
 2 4. ^[ And the God in whose hand thy 
 breath is. Under whose power, and at 
 whose disposal, is thy life. While you 
 have been celebrating the praises of idol 
 gods, who can do you neither good nor 
 evil, you have been showing special con 
 tempt for that great Being who keeps you 
 in existence, and who has power to take 
 away your life at any moment. What is 
 here said of Belshazzar is true of all men 
 high and low, rich and poor, bond and 
 free, princes and people. It is a deeply 
 affecting consideration, that the breath, 
 on which our life depends, and which is 
 itself so frail a thing, is in the hand of 
 a Being who is invisible to us ; over whom 
 we can have no control; who can arrest 
 it when he pleases ; who has given us no 
 intimation when he will do it, and who 
 often does it so suddenly as to defy all 
 previous calculation and hope. Nothing 
 is more absolute than the power which 
 God holds over the breath of men, ye* 
 there is nothing which is lees recognized 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 249 
 
 24 Then was the part of the hand ! 25 fl And this is the writing that 
 Bent from him ; and this writing was written, MENE, MENE, TE- 
 was written. KEL, UPHARSIN. 
 
 than that power, and nothing which men already remarked, because it was in the 
 are less disposed to acknowledge than their ! ancient Hebrew character a character 
 dependence on him for it. *[ And whose , quite familiar to him, though not known 
 are all thy loays. That is, he has power , to the Babylonians whom Belshazzar con- 
 to control thee in all thy ways. You can \ suited. It is every way probable that 
 go nowhere without his permission ; you that character would be used on an occa- 
 can never, when abroad, return to your ; sion like this, for (a) it is manifest that it 
 home without the direction of his Provi- was intended that the true God, the God 
 dence. What is here said, also, is as true of the Hebrews, should be made known, 
 of all others as it was of the Chaldean and this was the character in which his 
 prince. " It is not in man that walketh communications had been made to men ; 
 to direct his steps." "A man s heart de- j (I) it was clearly the design to honour 
 viseth his way, but the Lord directeth his his own religion, and it is morally certain 
 steps." None of us can take a step with- 1 that there would be something which would 
 out his permission ; none can go forth on show the connection between this occur- 
 a journey to a distant land without his , rencc and his own agency, and nothing 
 constant superintending care; none can j would do this better than to make use of 
 return without his favour. And yet how j such a character; and (c) it was the di- 
 little is this recognized ! How few feel ! vine intention to put honour on Daniel, 
 it when they go out and come in ; when : and this would be well done by making 
 they go forth to their daily employments ; use of a character which he understood, 
 when they start on a voyage or journey ; There have been, indeed, many conjec- 
 when they propose to return to their | tures respecting the characters which 
 
 were employed on this occasion, and the 
 reasons of the difficulty of interpreting 
 the words used, but it is most probable 
 that the above is the true statement, and 
 this will relieve all the difficulties in re 
 gard to the account. Prideaux supposes 
 that the characters employed were the 
 ancient Phoenician characters, that were 
 used by the Hebrews, and that are found 
 now in the Samaritan Pentateuch ; and 
 that, as above suggested, these might be 
 unknown to the Babylonians, though fa 
 miliar to Daniel. Others have supposed 
 that the characters were those in common 
 use in Babylon, and that the reason why 
 the Babylonians could not read them was 
 that they were smitten with a sudden 
 blindness, like the inhabitants of Sodom, 
 Gen. xix. 11. The Talmudists suppose 
 that the words were written in a caba 
 listic manner, in which certain letters 
 were used to stand for other letters, on 
 the principle referred to by Buxtorf (Lex. 
 
 homes ! ^ Hast thon not glorified. That 
 is, thou hast not honoured him by a suita 
 ble acknowledgment of dependence on 
 him. 
 
 24. Then was the part of the hand sent 
 from him. To wit, the fingers. See ver. 5. 
 The sense is, that when it was fully per 
 ceived that Belshazzar was not disposed 
 to learn that there was a God in heaven ; 
 when he refused to profit by the solemn 
 dispensations which had occurred in re 
 spect to his predecessor; when his own 
 heart was lifted up with pride, and when 
 he had gone even farther than his prede 
 cessors had done by the sacrilegious use 
 of the vessels of the temple, thus showing 
 especial contempt for the God of heaven, 
 then appeared the mysterious hand-writ 
 ing on the wall. It was then an appro 
 priate time for the Most High God, who 
 had been thus contemned and insulted, 
 to come forth and rebuke the proud and 
 the impious monarch. 
 
 25. And this is the writing that was\ Chal. Rabb. et Talm. p. 248), and known 
 written. The Babylonians, it would j as ao.iN that is, where the alphabet is 
 
 principle re 
 il. Rabb. et 
 
 seem, were unacquainted with the charac 
 ters that were used, and of course unable 
 to understand the meaning. See ver. 8. 
 The first thing, therefore, for Daniel to do 
 Was to read the writing, and this he was 
 
 reversed, and x (-A-) is used for n 
 3 (B) for & (S), &c., and that on account 
 of this cabalistic transmutation the Baby 
 lonians could not read it, though Dan. 
 iel might have been familiar with that 
 
 tble to do without difficulty, probably, as j mode of writing. Rabbi Jochanan sup. 
 
250 DANIEL. [B. C. 53a 
 
 26 This u- the interpretation of jbered thy kingdom and finished 
 tho thing: MENE ; God hath num- it. 
 
 posed that there was a change of the order 
 in which the letters of the words were 
 written; other Rabbins that there was a 
 change merely in the order of the first and 
 second letters; other?, that the words 
 
 were written backwards ; others, that the 
 
 N;p. Buxtorf, Lex. It would be liter 
 ally translated numbered, and would ap 
 ply to that of which an estimate was 
 taken by counting. We use now an ex 
 pression 
 
 which would convey a similar 
 
 words were written, not in the usual j idea, w h en we sa y of one that his days 
 horizontal manner, but perpendicularly ;! are numbered; that is, he has not long 
 and others, that the words were not writ- to live, or is about to die. The idea 
 ten in full, but that only the first letters seems to be taken from the fact that the 
 of each were written. See Bertholdt, pp. I duration of a man s life cannot usually be 
 349,350. All these are mere conjectures, j known, and in the general uncertainty 
 and most of them are childish and impro- I we can form no correct estimate of it, 
 bable suppositions. There is no real j but when he is old, or when he is 
 difficulty in the case if we suppose that dangerously sick, we feel that we can 
 the words were written in a character fami- with some degree of probability number 
 liar to Daniel, but not familiar to the Baby- his days, since he cannot now live long, 
 lonians. Or, if this is not admitted, then we Such is the idea here, as explained by 
 may suppose that some mere marks were | Daniel. All uncertainty about the dura- 
 
 employed Avhose signification was made 
 
 known to Daniel in a miraculous manner. 
 
 26. This is the interpretation of tlie 
 
 thinrj. It may seem not to have been 
 
 tion of the kingdom was now removed, 
 for, since the evil had come, an exact 
 estimate of its whole duration of the num 
 ber of the years of its continuance 
 
 difficult to interpret the meaning of the could be made. In the Greek of Theo- 
 communication when one was able to dotion there is no attempt to translate 
 read the words, or when the sense of the j this word, and it is retained in Greek 
 words was understood. But, if the words ! letters Ma>>). So also in the Codex 
 are placed together, and considered in j Chis., and in the Latin Vulgate. ^[ God 
 their abstract form, the whole communi- hath numbered tJiy kingdom. The word 
 cation would be so enigmatical that the | which is used here, and rendered num- 
 interpretation would not be likely to oc- \lered rgn is the verb of which the 
 cur to any one without a divine guidance. previoua word is the participle. Daniel 
 1 his will appear more clearly by arrang- lies it to the kingdom or rei of the 
 ing the words together, as has been done n i 0na rc" 
 by Hales : 
 
 MENE, MENE, TEKEL, 
 
 NUMBER, NUMBEK, WEIGHT, 
 
 [PERES] UPHARSIN. 
 
 [DIVISION] DIVISIONS ; 
 
 or, as it is explained more accurately by 
 Bertholdt and Gesenius, 
 
 Mene, Mene, Tekel, UpJiarsin, 
 
 Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, Divided. 
 
 From this arrangement, it will be at once 
 seen that the interpretation proposed by 
 Daniel was not one that would have been 
 likely to have occurred to any one. 
 ^f Mene xjp. This word is a participle 
 passive from n;p to number, to review. 
 Gesenius, Lex. The verb is also written 
 
 monarch, as being a thing of more im 
 portance than the life of the king him 
 self. It is evident, if, according to the 
 common interpretation of ver. 30, Bel- 
 shazzar was slain that very night, it 
 might have been applied to the king him 
 self, meaning that his days were num 
 bered, and that he was about to die. 
 But this interpretation (see Notes) is not 
 absolutely certain, and perhaps the fact 
 that Daniel did not so apply the word may 
 be properly regarded as one circumstance 
 showing that such an interpretation is 
 not necessary, though probably it is the 
 correct one. ^[ And finished it. This 
 is not the meaning of the word Mene, 
 but is the explanation by Daniel of the 
 thing intended. The word in its interpre 
 tation fairly implied that; or that might 
 be understood from it. The fact that tho 
 kingdom in its duration was Slumbered, 
 properly expressed the idea that it was 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 251 
 
 27 TEKEL ; Thou art weighed 
 
 Job. 31. 6. Ps. 62. 9. b Mat. 22. 11, 12. 
 
 1 Co. 3. 13. 
 
 now to come to an end. It did actually 
 then come to an end by being merged in 
 that of the Medes and Persians. 
 
 27. Tekcl. This word S|?.ip is also, 
 according to Gesenius, a passive parti 
 ciple (from Sf2^, to poise, to weigh,) and 
 means weighed. It would be used with 
 reference to anything placed in a balance 
 to ascertain its weight; and hence, like 
 the word measure, would denote that 
 the extent, dimensions, true worth, or 
 rharactcr of anything was ascertained. 
 As by the use of scales the weight of 
 anything is known, so the word is ap 
 plied to any estimate of character or 
 of actions, and a balance becomes the 
 emblem of justice. Thus God, in his 
 judgments of men, is represented as 
 weighing their actions. 1 Sam. ii. 3. 
 
 in the balances, and art found 
 b wanting. 
 
 " The Lord is a God of knowledge, and 
 by him actions are weighed." Comp. 
 Job vi. 2, 
 
 " Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, 
 And my calamity laid in the balance together." 
 
 Job xxxi. 6, 
 
 " Let me be weighed in an even balance, 
 That God may know mine integrity." 
 
 The balance thus used to denote judg 
 ment in this life, became also the emblem 
 of judgment in the future state, when the 
 conduct of men will be accurately esti 
 mated, and justice dealt out to them 
 according to the strict rules of equity. 
 To illustrate this, I will insert a copy of 
 an Egyptian Death Judgment, with the 
 remarks of the Editor of the Pictorial 
 j Bible in regard to it. " Tho Egyptians en. 
 
 ANCIENT EGYPTIAN DEATH JUDGMENT. 
 
 ertained the belief that the actions of the ; ushered into Amenti. The four genii 
 *ead were solemnly weighed in balances stand before him on a lotus-blossom [ours 
 Before Osiris, and that the condition of i has the lotus without the genii,] the female 
 Jhe departed was determined according i Cerberus sits behind them, and Harpoc- 
 
 to the preponderance of good or evil. 
 Such judgment scenes are very frequently 
 represented in the paintings and papyri 
 of ancient Egypt, and one of them we 
 have copied as a suitable illustration of 
 
 rates on the crook of Osiris. Thoth, the 
 god of letters, arrives in the presence of 
 Osiris bearing in his hand a tablet, on 
 which the actions of the deceased are 
 noted down, while Horus and Arceris are 
 
 the present subject. One of these scenes, employed in weighing the good deeds 
 as represented on the walls of a small | t f the J ud S ed against the ostrich feather, 
 temple at Dnyr-el-Medeeneh, has been the symbol of truth and justice. A cyno- 
 BO well explained by Mr. Wilkinson, that c *phalus, the emblem of truth, is eeated 
 we shall avail ourselves of his descrip- on the to P of tfa e balance. At length 
 tion ; for although that to which it refers I arri ves the deceased, who appears between 
 is somewhat different from the one which I two figures of the goddess, and beara in 
 we have engraved, his account affords an 
 
 adequate elucidation of all that ours con- ^ jtfSSSS S Sf^St^M 
 tains. Osiris, seated on his, throne, have put upon it _ a type of the good ac ti OM 
 iwaits the arrival of thc\se souls that are of the deceased." 
 
DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538 
 
 his hand the symbol of truth,* indicating 
 his meritorious actions, and his fitness for 
 admission to the presence of Osiris. 
 
 "If the Babylonians entertained a simi 
 lar notion, the declaration of the prophet, 
 Thou art weighed in the balances, and 
 art found wanting ! must have appeared 
 exceedingly awful to them. But again, 
 there are allusions in this declaration to 
 some such custom of literally weighing 
 the royal person, as is described in the 
 following passage in the account of Sir 
 Thomas Roe s embassy to the Great Mo 
 gul : The first of September, (which 
 was the late Mogul s birth-day,) he, re 
 taining an ancient yearly custom, was, 
 in the presence of his chief grandees, 
 weighed in a balance : the ceremony was 
 performed within his house, or tent, in a 
 fair spacious room, whereinto none were 
 admitted but by special leave. The scales 
 in which he was thus weighed were plated 
 with gold; and so was the beam, on 
 which they hung by great chains, made 
 likewise of that most precious metal. 
 The king, sitting in one of them, was 
 weighed first against silver coin, which 
 immediately afterwards was distributed 
 among the poor; then was he weighed 
 against gold; after that against jewels 
 (as they say,) but I observed (being there 
 present with my ambassador) that he was 
 weighed against three several things, 
 laid in silken bags in the contrary scale. 
 
 When I saw him in the balance, I thought 
 on Belshazzar, who was found too light. 
 By his weight (of which his physicians 
 
 ANCIENT EGYPTIAN SCALES. 
 
 yearly keep an exact account,) they pre 
 sume to guess of the present state of his 
 body, of which they speak flatteringly, 
 however they think it to be." 
 
 SCALES. FROM AN EGYPTIAN PAINTING ENGRAVED IN ROSELLINI. 
 
 The cut on page 253 from the Sarcopha 
 gus of Alexander, will further show how 
 commonly this opinion prevailed, and 
 how natural is the representation here. 
 If the Babylonians entertained such 
 notions in regard to the dead as are 
 
 * " Sometimes, instead of the ostrich-feather, 
 fhe deceased bears a vase (which is placed in 
 the other scale.) and it has thon a similar im 
 port." 
 
 here represented, the declaration made 
 by the prophet must have been exceed 
 ingly solemn. But whether this were so 
 or not, the language of Daniel in inter 
 preting the word, must have been over 
 whelming to the monarch. It could be 
 understood by him as denoting nothing 
 less than that a solemn sentence had 
 been passed upon his character and con- 
 I duct by the great Judge of all, and that 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 253 
 
 28 PERES ; Thy kingdom is di- 
 
 Foretold, Is. 21.2. b ver. 31. c c. 6. 28. 
 
 vided, and given to the b Medea 
 and c Persians. 
 
 DEATH, JUDGMENT, ETC., FROM THE SARCOPHAGUS OF ALEXANDER. 
 
 he was found to have failed in the re 
 quirements which had been made of him, 
 and was now condemned. He had no 
 righteousness when his actions camo to 
 be estimated as in a balance, and no 
 thing awaited him but an awful con 
 demnation. Who is there now who would 
 not tremble at seeing the word Tel-el 
 weighed written on the wall of his cham 
 ber at midnight? ^[ Thou art weighed in 
 the balances. That is, this, in tbe cir 
 cumstances, is the proper interpretation 
 of this word. It would apply to any 
 thing whose value was ascertained by 
 weighing it; but as the reference here 
 was to the king of Babylon, and as the 
 whole representation was designed for 
 him, Daniel distinctly applies it to him : 
 thou art weighed. On the use and ap 
 plication of this language, see 1 Sam. ii. 
 3, "The Lord is a God of knowledge, and 
 by him actions are weighed." Comp. also 
 Job xxxi. 6; Prov. xvi. 2, 11. ^\ And 
 art found icanting. This is added, like 
 the previous phrase, as an explanation. 
 Even if the word could have been read 
 by the Chaldeans, yet its meaning could 
 not have been understood without a 
 divine communication, for though it were 
 
 | supposed to be applicable to the monarch, 
 it would still be a question what the re 
 sult of the weighing or trial would be. 
 That could have been known to Daniel 
 only by a communication from on high. 
 
 28. Peres. In ver. 25 this is Uphar- 
 sin. These are but different forms of the 
 same word the word in ver. 25 being in 
 the plural, and here in the singular. 
 The verb (D^p) means to divide, and in 
 this form, as in the previous cases, it is, 
 according to Gesenius, a participle, mean- 
 j ing divided. As it stands here, it would 
 ! be applicable to anything that was divided 
 or sundered whether a kingdom, a pal- 
 ace, a house, a territory, <fcc. What was 
 i divided, could be known only by divine 
 revelation. If tbe icord had been un 
 derstood by Belshazzar, undoubtedly it 
 would have suggested the idea that there 
 was to be some sort of division or sunder 
 ing, but what that was to be would not be 
 indicated by the mere use of the word. 
 Perhaps to an affrighted imagination 
 there might have been conveyed the idea 
 that there would be a revolt in some of 
 ! the provinces of the empire, and that a 
 I part would be rent away, but it would 
 I not have occurred that it would be so rent 
 
254 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538 
 
 29 Then commanded Belshazzar, 
 and they clothed Daniel with scar 
 let, and put a chain of gold about 
 his neck, and made a proclamation 
 
 concerning him, that * he should be 
 the third ruler in the kingdom. 
 
 30 T[ In that night t was Belshaz 
 zar the king of the Chaldeans slain. 
 
 ayer. 7. b Je. 51. 31, 39. 
 
 that the whole would pass under the do- \ one person as another, and in the palaces 
 minion of a foreign power. Josephus of kings such garments were always on 
 (Ant. B. x. ch. xi. $ 3) says, that the | hand. See Hnrmar s Observations in tho 
 word "Phares in the Greek tongue means 
 a fragment K\aana God will, therefore, 
 
 break thy kingdom in pieces, and divide the third ruler, &c. See Notes on ver. 7. 
 it among the Medes and Persians." ^[ Thy \ 30. In that ni;/ht was Belshazzar the 
 kingdom is divided. That is, the proper \ki-ng of the Chaldeans slain. On the tak- 
 interpretation of this communication is, j ing of Babylon, and the consequences, 
 that the kingdom is about to be rent i see Notes on Isa. xiii. 17 22, and ch. 
 asunder, or broken into fragments. It is ! xlv. 1, 2. The account which Xenophon 
 
 East, vol. ii. 392, seq. Comp. Rosen inuller, 
 Morgenland, in foe. ^ That he should be 
 
 to be separated or torn from the dynasty 
 that has ruled over it, and to be given to 
 
 (Cyrop. vii. c.) gives of the taking of 
 Babylon, and of the death of the king 
 
 another. ^ And given to the Medes and I though without mentioning his name, 
 Persians. On this united kingdon, see j agrees so well with the statement here, 
 Notes on Isa. xiii. 17. It was given to ! that it may be regarded as a strong con- 
 the Medes and Persians when it was i firmation of its correctness. After de- 
 taken by Cyrus, and when the kingdom of j scribing the preparation made to take the 
 Babylon became extinct, and thencefor- city by draining off the waters of the 
 ward became a part of the Medo-Persian Euphrates so as to leave the channel dry 
 empire. See Notes on Isa, xiii. 17, 19. j beneath the walls for the army of Cyrus, 
 29. Then commanded Behhazzar. In and after recording the charge which 
 compliance with his promise, ver. 16. i Cyrus gave to his generals Gadates and 
 Though the interpretation had been so I Gobryas, he adds, "And indeed those 
 fearful in its import, and though Daniel : who were with Gobryas said that it would 
 had been so plain and faithful with him, i not be wonderful if the gates of the pal- 
 yet he did not hesitate to fulfil his pro- ace should be found open, as the whole 
 inise. It is a remarkable instance of the <% that <7** seemed to be given np to 
 result of fidelity, that a proud monarch revelry" MS r. v KW//M yap io K ei h ffdAij vava 
 should have received such a reproof, and ! civai rnftt rfj WKTI. He then says that as 
 such a prediction in this manner, and j they passed on, after entering the city, 
 it is an encouragement to us to do our I " of those whom they encountered, part 
 duty, and to state the truth plainly to being smitten died, part fled again back, 
 wicked men. Their own consciences tes- j and part raised a clamor. But those who 
 tify to them that it is the truth, and they j were with Gobryas also raised a clamor 
 will see the truth so clearly that they j as if they also joined in the revelry, and 
 cannot deny it. f And they clothed \ going as fast as they could, they came 
 
 Daniel with scarlet, &c. All this, it 
 would seem, was transacted in a singl 
 night, and it has been made an objection, 
 
 soon to the palace of the king. But those 
 who were with Gobryas and Gadates 
 being arrayed, found the gates of tho 
 
 as above remarked, to the authenticity j palace closed, but those who were ap- 
 of the book, that such events are said to pointed to go against the guard of the 
 have occurred in so short a space of time, ! palace fell upon them when drinking 
 and that Daniel should have been so soon before a great light, and were quickly 
 clothed with the robes of office. On this , engaged with them in hostile combat. 
 objection, see Intro, to the chapter, Then a cry arose, and they who were 
 $ 1. II. In respect to the latter part of ! within having asked the cause of the 
 the objection, it may be here further re- tumult, the king commanded them to see 
 marked, that it was not necessary to fit \ what the affair was, and some of them 
 him with a suit of clothes made expressly ] rushing out opened the gates. As they 
 for the occasion, for the loose, flowing robes j who were with Gadates saw the gates 
 of the Orientals were as well adapted to j open, they rushed in, and pursuing those 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 255 
 
 31 
 
 c. 9 
 
 And 
 i. 
 
 Darius a the Median took 
 
 b he, as tJic son of. c or, now. 
 
 the kingdom, 
 score and two 
 
 "*> being c about 
 years old. 
 
 three- 
 
 who attempted to return, and smit 
 ing them, they came to the king, and 
 they found him standing with a drawn 
 sabre -dKivamiv. And those who were lieush > or 
 with Gadates and Gobryas overpowered 
 him cxeipovvTo and those who were with 
 
 that it is the same as $p6iipftf jftta&nt 
 
 Grotefend, who has found it in the cuni- 
 form inscriptions at Persepolis, as Dar- 
 ( Heeren s Ideen, i. 2, 
 
 him were slain one opposing, and one 
 
 Da > 
 
 part being an abbreviation of 
 T jord, and the latter portion 
 
 fleeing, and one seeking his safety in the : *"**% from kshah > Mn P ^ *?** 
 
 reads the name as Daretouscn- Vyschtas- 
 
 best way he could. And Cyrus sent cer 
 tain of his horsemen away, and com 
 manded that they should put to death 
 those whom they found out of their dwel 
 lings, but that those who were in their 
 house?, and could speak the Syriac Ian- 1 
 
 ponca on the Persepolitan inscriptions ; 
 that is, Darius, son of Vishtaspo. Las- 
 sen, however, gives Darhatcus Vistaspaha, 
 the latter word being equivalent to the 
 Gustasp of the modern Persian, and 
 
 guage7 should" be" suffered ^remain/but I "<"" ono ^ose employment is 
 3.-/"Jt_i- , , , , ,. .. ,! about horses. See Anthon, Class. Diet., 
 
 and Kitto s Cyclo. Art. Darius. Comp. 
 Niehbuhr s Reisebeschr. Part ii. Tab. 24, 
 G., and B. Gesenius, Lex. This Darius is 
 supposed to be Cyaxares II. (Intro, to ch. vi. 
 
 that whosoever should be found without 
 should be put to death. 
 
 " These things they did. But Gadates 
 and Gobryas came up; and first they 
 rendered thanks to the gods because they 
 
 had taken 
 king o 
 Paai\ia. Then 
 
 vengeance on 
 
 t riaav 
 they kissed 
 
 the 
 
 mpous 
 
 TOU dvo&tov 
 the hands 
 
 and feet of Cyrus, weeping with joy, and 
 rejoicing. When it was day, and they 
 who had the watch over the towers 
 learned that the city was taken, and that 
 the king was dead idv (3aai\ia re^vijKdra 
 they also surrendered the towers." These 
 extracts from Xenophon abundantly con 
 firm what is here said in Daniel respect 
 ing the death of the king, and will more 
 than neutralize what is said by Berosus. 
 See Intro, to the chapter, g 2. 
 
 31. And Darius the Median took the 
 kingdom. The city and kingdom were 
 
 $2,) the son and successor of Astyages, 
 the uncle and father-in-law of Cyrus, who 
 held the empire of Media between Asty 
 ages and Cyrus, B. C. 569536. ^[Being. 
 Marg. Ho as son of. The marginal read 
 ing is in accordance with the Chaldee 
 -g3. It is not unusual in the language of 
 the Orientals to denote the age of any ono 
 by saying that he is the son of so many 
 years. <j About. Marg., or, now. The 
 word both in the text and the margin is 
 designed to express the supposed sense 
 of his being the son of sixty years. 
 The language of the original would, how 
 ever, be accurately expressed by saying 
 that he was then sixty years old. Though 
 Cyrus was the active agent in taking Baby- 
 
 actually taken by Cyrus, though acting m i ^ t it was done - the name and 
 the name and by the authority of Darius, the authoritv of Cyaxares or Darius, and 
 or Cyaxares, who was his uncle. For a ag he wag the actual sovere ig n , the name 
 full explanation of the conquests of Cyrus, of hig general Cyrus is not mentioned 
 and of the reason why the city is said to h though he was in fact the most 
 have been taken by Darius, see Notes on j importnnt agent i n taking the city, and 
 Isa. xli. 2. In regard to the question j became ultimate i y mucn more celebrated 
 
 than Darius was. 
 
 who Darius the Median was, see the 
 Introduction to ch. vi. $ 2. The name 
 Darius & : V T "?"J or Darjavesh, is the name 
 under which the three Medo-Persian 
 kings are mentioned in the Old Testa 
 ment. There is some difference of opin 
 ion as to its meaning. Herodotus (vi. 
 98) says, that it is equivalent to ipfi>5, 
 one who restrains, but Hesychius says 
 
 This portion of history the closing 
 scene in the reign of a mighty monarch, 
 and the closing scene in the independent 
 existence of one of the most powerful 
 kingdoms that has ever existed on the 
 earth, is full of instructive lessons, and, 
 in view of the chapter as thus explained, 
 we may make the following 
 
256 DANIEL. [B. C. 538. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 (1.) WE have "here an impressive illustration of the sin of sacrilege, vs. 2, 3. In all ages, and 
 nmong all people, this has hecn regarded as a sin of peculiar enormity, and it is quite evident 
 that God in this solemn scene meant to confirm the general judgment of mankind on the sub 
 ject. Among all people, where any kind of religion has prevailed, there are places and objects 
 which are regarded as set apart to sacred use, and which arc not to be employed for common 
 and profane purposes. Though in themselves in the gold and silver, the wood and stone of 
 which they are made there is no essential holiness, yet they derive a sacredness from being 
 set apart to divine purposes, and it has always been held to be a high crime to treat them with 
 indignity or contempt; to rob altars, or to desecrate holy places. This general impression of 
 mankind it was clearly the design of God to confirm in the case before us, when the sacred 
 vessels of the temple vessels consecrated in the most solemn manner to the worship of Jeho 
 vah were profanely employed for the purposes of carousal. God had borne it patiently when 
 those vessels had been removed from the temple at Jerusalem, and when they had been laid 
 up among the spoils of victory in the temples at Babylon, but when they were profaned for 
 purposes of revelry when they were brought forth to grace a heathen festival, and to be em 
 ployed in the midst of scenes of riot and dissipation, it was time for him to interpose, and to 
 ehow to these profane revellers that there is a God in heaven. 
 
 (2.) We may see the peril of such festivals as that celebrated by Belshaz/ar and his lords, 
 Ver. 1, seq. It is by no means probable that, when the feast was contemplated and arranged, 
 anything was designed like that which occurred in the progress of the affair. It was not a 
 matter of set purpose to introduce the females of the harem to this scene of carousal, and still 
 less to make use of the sacred vessels dedicated to the worship of Jehovah, to grace the mid 
 night revelry. It is not improbable that they would have been at first shocked at such an 
 outrage on what was regarded as propriety, or what would have been deemed sacred by all 
 people. It was only when the king had tasted the wine that these things were proposed ; and 
 none who attend on such a banquet as this; none who come together for pu rposes of drinking 
 nnd feasting, can foretel what they may be led to do under the influence of wine and strong 
 drink. No man is certain of not doing foolish and wicked things who gives himself up to such 
 indulgences ; no man knows what he may do that may be the cause of bitter regret and painful 
 mortification in the recollection. 
 
 (3.) God has the means of access to the consciences of men, ver. 5. In this case, it was by writ 
 ing on the wall with his own fingers certain mysterious words which none could interpret, 
 but which no one doubted were of fearful import. No one present, it would appear, had any 
 doubt that somehow what was written was connected with some awful judgment, and the 
 fearfulness of what they dreaded arose manifestly from the consciousness of their own guilt. 
 It is not often that God comes forth in tins way to alarm the guilty ; but he has a thousand 
 methods of doing it, and no one can be sure that in an instant he will not summon all the sins of 
 his past life to remembrance. He could write our guilt in letters of light before us in the 
 chamber where we sleep; in the hall where we engage in revelry; on the face of the sky at 
 night ; or he can make it as plain to our own minds as if it were thus written out. To Belshaz- 
 zar in his palace, surrounded by his lords, he showed this ; to us in society or solitude be can do 
 the same thing. No sinner can have any security that he may not in a moment be overwhelmed 
 i with the conviction of his own depravity, and with dreadful apprehension of the wrath to 
 come. 
 
 (4.) We have in this chapter (ver. 6) a striking illustration of the effects of a sudden alarm 
 to the guilty. The countenance of the monarch was changed ; his thoughts troubled him ; 
 the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote together. Such effects are not un 
 common when a sinner is made to feel that he is in the presence of God, and when his thoughts 
 are led along to the future -world. The human frame is so made that these changes occur 
 as indicative of the troubles which the mind experiences, and the fact that it is thus agi 
 tated shows the power which God has over us. No guilty man can be secure that he will 
 not thus be alarmed when he comes to contemplate the possibility that he may soon bo 
 called before his Maker, and the fact that he may thus be alarmed should be one of the consid 
 erations bearing on his mind to lead him to a course of virtue and religion. Such terror is 
 proof of conscious guilt, for the innocent have nothing to dread, and if a man is sure that he is 
 prepared to appear before God, he is not alarmed at the prospect. They who live in fin ; they 
 who indulge in revelry : they who arc profane and sacrilegious; they who abuse the mercies 
 of God and live to deride sacred things, can never be certain that in a moment, by the revela 
 tion of their guilt to their own souls, and by a sudden message from the eternal world, they 
 may not be overwhelmed with the deepest consternation. Their countenances may become 
 deadly pale, their joints may be loosed, and their limbs tremble. It is only the righteous who 
 can look calmly at the judgment. 
 
 (5.) We may see from this chapter one of the effects of the terror of a guilty conscience. It is not 
 Baid, indeed, that the mysterious fingers on the wull recorded ihc guilt of the monarch. But they 
 recorded something; they were making some record that manifestly pertained to him. How na 
 tural was it to suppose that it was a record of his guilt ! And who is there that could bear a record 
 made in that manner of his own thoughts and purposes; of his desires nud feelings; of what 
 he is conscious is passing within the chambers of his own soul ? There is no one who would 
 not turn pale if he saw a mysterious hand writing all his thoughts and purposes all the deeds 
 of his past life on the wall of his chamber at night, and bringing at once all his concealed 
 though to, and all his forgotten deeds before his mind. And if this is so, how will tho sinner 
 War the disclosures that will be mad* at the day of judgment? 
 
B.C.638.1 CHAPTER VI. 257 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 $ 1. AUTHENTICITY OF THE CHAPTER. 
 
 THIS chapter, like the previous ones, has not escaped serious objections as to its authen 
 ticity and crebibility. The objections which have been made to it have been derived from what 
 is regarded as incredible in its statements. It is important, as in the previous chapters, 
 to inquire whether the objections are insuperable, or whether this is so free from reasonable 
 objection as to be worthy to be received as a portion of divine truth. The objections, as urged 
 by Bertholdt (Daniel aus dem Hebraish-Aramaischen neu iibersetzt, &c., pp. 72 75, and pp. 
 357 364,) and by Bleek, are capable of being reduced to the four following : 
 
 I. That it is wholly improbable that a monarch, in the circumstances of Darius, would give 
 an order so tinreasonable and foolish as that no one of his subjects should present any petition 
 for a month to any one, God or man, but to himself. It is alleged that no good end could have 
 been proposed by it ; that it would have perilled the pence of the empire ; that among a people 
 who worshipped many gods who had gods in all their dwellings it would have been vain 
 to hope that the command could have been cai ried peaceably into execution ; and that, 
 whoever proposed this, it could not have been executed without shaking the stability of the 
 throne. Bertholdt asks (p. 357, seq.), Can one believe that, among a people so devoted to reli 
 gion as the Babylonians were, it should have been forbidden them to address their gods for one 
 single day ? Is it credible that the counsellors of the king were so irreligious that without fear 
 of the avenging deities they would endeavour to enforce such an order as that here referred to 
 that no petition should be addressed to God or man for a month, except to the king? And was 
 Cyaxares so destitute of religion as not to refuse to sanction such a mandate? And does this 
 agree with the fact that in the issue itself he showed so much respect to a foreign God the 
 God of the Jews? Under what pretence could the ministers of the king give him this counsel ? 
 Could it be under any purpose of deifying his own person? But it remains to be proved that 
 cither then, or soon after that time, it was customary in Asia to attribute divine honours to a 
 monarch, whether deceased or living. 
 
 To this objection, Ilengstenberg (Die Authentic des Daniel, p. 125, seq.) replies, by an en 
 deavour to show that it was a common opinion in Persia that the king was regarded as a rep 
 resentative, and an incarnation of Ormuzd ; and that nothing is more probable than that such a 
 monarch coming to the throne of Babylon, would be willing to appear in that character, claim 
 ing divine honours, and early testing the intelligence of his new subjects to receive him in 
 that character in which he was recognized in his own land. In confirmation of this, he quotes 
 two passages from Ileeren (Ideen 3te Ausg. I. i. p. 440, 51), in proof that these ideas thus pre 
 vailed. The person of the king, Ileeren says, is in Asiatic kingdoms the middle point around 
 which all revolves. He is regarded, according to the Oriental notions, not so much the ruler 
 as the actual owner of the people and land. All their arrangements are formed on this funda 
 mental idea, and they are carried to an extent which to Europeans appears incredible and ridi 
 culous. The idea of citizenship, according to the European nations, is altogether a strange 
 idea to them; all, without exception, from the highest to the lowest, are the servants of the 
 king, and the right to rule over them, and to deal with them as he pleases, is a right which is 
 never called in question. Ilengstenberg then remarks, that it is capable of the clearest proof 
 that the, kings of the Medcs and Persians were regarded and honoured as the representatives and 
 incarnations of Ormuzd. In proof of this, he quotes the following passage from Ileeren (p. 474), 
 showing that this idea early prevailed among the followers of Zoroaster. Zoroaster, says he, 
 saw the kingdom of light and of darkness both developed upon the earth ; Iran, the Mcdish- 
 Bactrish kingdom, under the sceptre of Gustasp, is to him the image of the kingdom of Ormuzd* 
 the king himself is an image of him; Turun, the Northern Komadland, when Afrasiab reigned; 
 is the image of the kingdom of darkness, under the dominion of Ahriman. This idea, says 
 Ilengstenberg, the magi made use of when they wished to bring the king to their own interests, 
 or to promote any favourite object of their own. The king was regarded as the representative, 
 the visible manifestation of Ormuzd, ruling with power as uncircumscribed as his; the seven 
 princes standing near him were representatives of the seven Amhaspands, who stood before 
 the throne of Ormuzd. The evidence that the Persian kings were regarded as an embodiment 
 of the deity, or that they represented him on earth, Ilengstenberg remarks (p. 126), is clear in 
 the classic writings, in the Scriptures, and in the Persian monuments. Jn proof of this, 
 he appeals to the following authorities among the classic writers, Plutarch (Themistocl. 
 cap. 27) ; Xcr>ophon (Agcsil.) ; Isocrates (Panegyri de Pers. princ. p. 17); Arrian, 6. 29; Cur- 
 tins, 8. 5. Curtius says, Persas reges suos inter dens colere. For the same purpose, Ilengsten 
 berg (pp. 128, 129.) appeals to the following passage of Scripture, Esther iii. 4, and the conduct 
 of Mordecai in general, who refused, as he supposes, the respect which Hainan demanded as the 
 first minister of the king, on religious grounds, and because more was required and expected 
 of him than mere civil respect or that a degree of homage was required entirely inconsistent 
 with that due to the true God. In proof of the same thing, Henstcnberg appeals to Persian monu 
 ments, pp. 129 132. The proof is too long to be inserted here. These monuments show that 
 22* 
 
258 DANIEL. |B. C. 538, 
 
 the Persian kings were regarded and adored as impersonations of Onnuzd. To this may b 
 added many of their inscriptions. In the work by de Sacy, Mcmoircs s. divers. Antiq. de It 
 Perse, PI. i. p. 27, 31, the Persian kings are mentioned as *yoot Setovy IK yivovs SsoDi , and 
 Ssoi both as offsprings of the gods, as of the race of the gods, and as gods. 
 
 If this is correct, and the Persian kings were regarded as divine; as an impersonation or in 
 carnation of the God that was worshipped, then there is no improbability in the supposition 
 that it might be proposed to the king that for a given space of time he should allow no petition 
 to be presented to any one else, God or man. It would be easy to persuade a monarch having 
 such pretensions to issue such a decree, and especially when he had subjected a foreign people 
 like the Babylonians, to be willing thus to assert his authority over them, and show them what 
 respect and homage he demanded. In judging, also, of the probability of what is here said, we 
 are to remember the arbitrary character of Oriental monarchs, and of the Persian kings no less 
 than others. Assuredly there were as strange things in the character and conduct of Xerxes, 
 one of the successors of this same Darius, as any that are recorded in this chapter of the book 
 of Daniel ; and if these acts of folly, which he perpetrated, had been written in a book claim 
 ing to be divinely inspired, they would have been liable to much greater objection than any 
 thing which is stated here. The mere fact that a thing is in itself foolish and unreasonable, 
 and apparently absurd, is no conclusive evidence that a man clothed with absolute authority 
 would not be guilty of it. 
 
 To all that has been said on this point, there should be added a remark made by Bertholdt 
 himself (p. 357) respecting Darius, which will show that what is here said of him is really not 
 at all inconsistent with his character, and not improbable. He says, speaking of Darius or 
 Cyaxares, that from his character, as given by Xcnophon, a man of weak mind, (Cyrop. i. 4, 
 22. iv. 1, 13,) a man passionate and peevish, (iii. 3, 29, iv. 5, 8, v. 5, i. 8,) a man given to wine and 
 women, (iv. 5, 52, v. 5, 44,) we are not to expect much wisdom. There is nothing stated here 
 by Daniel which is inconsistent with the character of such a man. 
 
 II. A second objection made to the probability of this statement, is drawn from the character 
 of the edict which Darius is said to have proclaimed, commanding that honour should be ren 
 dered to Jehovah, vs. 25 27. It is alleged that if such an edict had been published, it is in 
 credible that no mention is made of it in history ; that the thing was so remarkable that it must 
 have been noticed by the writers who have referred to Darius or Cyaxares. 
 
 To this it may be replied, (1.) that, for anything that appears to the contrary, Daniel may 
 be as credible a historian as Xenophon or Herodotus. No one can demonstrate that the account 
 here is not as worthy of belief as if it had appeared in a Greek or Latin classic author. When 
 will the world get over the folly of supposing that what is found in a book claiming to be in 
 spired should be regarded as suspicious until it is confirmed by the authority of some heathen 
 writer; that what is found in any other book should be regarded as necessarily true, however 
 much it, may conflict with the testimony of the sacred writers? Viewed in any light, Daniel is 
 as worthy of confidence as any Greek or Latin historian ; vrh.it he says is as credible as if it had 
 been found in the works of Sancboniathon or Berosus. (2) There are, in fact, few things pre 
 served in any history in regard to Darius the Mede. Comp. g2. The information given of him 
 by Xenophon consists merely of a few detached and fragmentary notices, and it is not at all 
 remarkable that the facts here mentioned, and the proclamation which he made, should be un 
 noticed by him. A proclamation respecting a foreign god, when it was customary to recognize 
 so many gods, and indeed to regard all such gods as entitled to respect and honour, would not be 
 likely to arrest the attention of a Greek historian even if he knew of it, and, for the same reason, 
 it would be scarcely probable that he would know of it at all. Nothing would be more likely 
 to pass away from the recollection of a people than such an edict, or less likely to be known to 
 a foreigner. So far as the evidence goes, it would seem that the proclamation made no dis 
 turbance in the realm ; the injunction was generally acquiesced in by all except Daniel ; and 
 it was soon forgotten. If it was understood, as it was not improbable, that this was designed 
 as a sort of test to see whether the people would receive the commands of Darius as binding 
 on them ; that they would honour him, as the Persian monarch was honoured in his own pro 
 per kingdom, it would seem to have been entirely successful, and there was no occasion to 
 refer to it again. 
 
 III. A third objection urged by Bertholdt (p. 361), is derived from the account respecting the 
 lions in this chapter. It is alleged by him that the account is so full of improbabilities, that it 
 cannot be received as true ; that though the fact that they did not fall on Daniel can be ex 
 plained from the circumstance that they were not hungry, &c.; yet that it is incredible that 
 they should have fallen on the enemies of Daniel us soon as they were thrown into the den; 
 that the king should expect to find Daniel alive after being thrown among them ; that he should 
 have called in this manner to Daniel, <fcc. 
 
 To all this it is sufficient to reply, that no one can suppose that the facts stated here can be 
 explained by any natural causes. The whole representation is evidently designed to leave the 
 impression that there was a special divine interposition a miracle in the case, and the only 
 explanation which is admissible here is that which would be proper in the case of any other 
 miracle. The only questions which could be asked, or which would be proper, are these 
 two; whether a miracle is possible; and whether this was a suitable occasion for the miracu 
 lous exertion of divine power. As to the first of these questions, it is not necessary to argue 
 that here for the objection might lie with equal force against any other miracle referred to in 
 the Bible, As to the second, it may be observed, that it is not easy to conceive of a case whea 
 
B. C.538.J CHAPTER VI. 259 
 
 a miracle would bu more proper. If a miracle was ever proper to protect the innocent ; or to 
 vindicate the claims of the true God against all false gods ; or to make a deep and lasting impres 
 sion on the minds of meii that Jehovah is the true God, it is not easy to conceive of a more 
 appropriate occasion than this. No situation could be conceived to be more appropriate than 
 when an impression was designed to be made on the mind of the sovereign of the moat mighty 
 empire on the earth; or than when, through a proclamation issued from the throne, the na 
 tions subject to his sceptre should be summoned to acknowledge him as the true God. 
 
 IV. A fourth objection urged by Bleek, Theologische Zeitschrift, pp. 262264, is, substan 
 tially, the following: that it is remarkable that there is in this account no allusion to the three 
 companions of Daniel ; to those who had been trained with him at the Chaldean court, and had 
 been admitted also to honour, and who had so abundantly shown that they were worshippers 
 of the true God. The whole story, says Bleek, appears to have been designed to produce a moral 
 effect on the mind of the Jews, by the unknown author, to persuade them in some period of 
 persecution to adhere to the God of their fathers in the midst of all persecution and opposition. 
 
 To this objection it may be replied, (1) That it is wholly probable that there were many 
 other pious Jews in Babylon at this time beside Daniel Jews who would, like him, adhere to 
 the worship of the true God, regardless of the command of the king. We are not to suppose, 
 by any means, that Daniel was the only conscientious Jew in Babylon. The narrative evidently 
 does not require that we should come to such a conclusion, but that there was something pecu 
 liar in regard to Daniel. (2) As to the three companions and friends of Daniel, it is possible, 
 as Hengstenberg remarks (Authentic, &c. p. 135), that they may either have been dead, or may 
 have been renioved from office, and were leading private lives. (3) This edict was evidently 
 aimed at Daniel. The whole narrative supposes this. For some cause, according to the narra 
 tive and there is no improbability that such an opposition might exist against a foreigner 
 advanced to honour at court there was some ground of jealousy against him, and a purpose 
 formed to remove or disgrace him. There does not appear to have been any jealousy of others, 
 or any purpose to disturb others in the free enjoyment of their religion. The aim was to hum 
 ble Daniel ; to secure his removal from office, and to degrade him ; and for this purpose a plan was 
 laid with consummate skill. He was known to be upright; and they who laid the plot felt 
 assured that no charge of guilt, no accusation of crime, or unfaithfulness in his office, could be 
 alleged against him. ~IIe was known to be a man who would not shrink from the avowal of his 
 opinions, or from the performance of those duties which he owed to his God. He was known to 
 be a man so much devoted to the worship of Jehovah, the God of his people, that no law what 
 ever would prevent him from rendering to him the homage which was his due, and it was be 
 lieved, therefore, that if a law were made, on any pretence, that no one in the realm should ask 
 anything of either God or man, except the king, for a definite space of time, there would be a 
 moral certainty that Daniel would be found to be a violator of that law, and his degradation 
 and death would be certain. What was here proposed was a scheme worthy of crafty and 
 jealous and wicked men ; and the only difficulty, evidently, which would occur to their mind 
 would be to persuade the king to enter into the measure so far as to promulgate such a law. 
 As already obserred, plausible pretences might be found for that, and when that was done, 
 they would naturally conclude that their whole scheme was successful. (4) There is no impro 
 bability, therefore, in supposing that, as the whole thing was aimed at Daniel, there might have 
 been many pious Jews who still worshipped God in secret in Babylon, and that no one would 
 give information against them. As the edict was not aimed at them, it is not surprising that 
 we hear of no prosecution against them, and no complaint made of them for disregarding the 
 law. If Daniel was found to violate the statute ; if he was ensnared and entrapped by the cun 
 ning device; if he was humbled and punished, all the purposes contemplated by its authors 
 would be accomplished, and we need not suppose that they would give themselves any trouble 
 about others. 
 
 2. THE QUESTION WHO \VAS DARIUS THE JIEDE. 
 
 Considerable importance is to be attached to the question who was Darius the Medo, as it 
 has been made a ground of objection to the Scripture narrative, that no person by that name 
 is mentioned in the Greek writers. 
 
 There are three Medo-Persian kings of the name of Darius mentioned in the Old Testament. 
 One occurs in the Book of Ezra (iv. 5, xxv. 1, vi. 1, 12, 15), in Haggai (i. 1, ii. 10), and in 
 Zech. (i. 17), as the king who, in the second year of his reign, effected the execution of those 
 decrees of Cyrus which granted the Jews the liberty of rebuilding the temple, the fulfilment 
 of which had been obstructed by the malicious representations which their enemies had made 
 to his immediate successors. It is commonly agreed that this king was Darius Hystaspis, who 
 succeeded the usurper Smerdis, B. C. 521, and reigned thirty-six years. 
 
 A second is mentioned as Darius the Persian, in Neh. xii. 22. All that is said of him is, 
 that the succession of prieste was registered up to his reign. This was cither Darius Nothus, 
 B. C. 423, or Darius Codomaifus, B. C. 336. See Kitto s Cyclo. Art. Darius. 
 
 The remaining one is that mentioned in Daniel only as Darius the Median. In ch. ix. 1, 
 He is mentioned as Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes. Much difference 
 Of opinion has prevailed as to the person here intended; but a strict attention to what Is 
 actually expressed in, or fairly deduced from, the terms used in Daniel, tends to narrow the field 
 of conjecture very considerably, if it does not decide the question. It appears from the 
 
260 DANIEL. [B. C. 538, 
 
 in ch. T. 30, 31, and vi, 28, that Darius the Mede obtained the dominion over Babylon on the death 
 of Belshazzar, who was the last Chaldean king, and that he was the immediate predecessor 
 of Koresh (Cyrus) in the sovereignty. The historical juncture here defined belongs, therefore, 
 to the period when the Medo-Persian army led by Cyrus took Babylon (B. C. 538), and Darius 
 the Mede must denote the first king of a foreign dynasty who assumed the dominion over the 
 Babylonian empire before Cyrus. These indications all concur in the person of Cyaxares the 
 Second, the son and successor of Astyages [Ahasucrus], and the immediate predecessor of Cyrus. 
 Kitto s Cyclo. Art. Darius. 
 
 In reference to the question, who was Darius the Mede, Bertholdt has examined the different 
 opinions which have been entertained in a manner that is satisfactory, and I cannot do better 
 than to present his views on the subject. They are found in his Vierter Excurs iiber den Darius 
 Medus, in his Commentary on Daniel, pp. 843 858. I will give the substance of the Excursus, 
 in a free translation. 
 
 Who was Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, of whom mention is made in the sixtli 
 chapter of the Book of Daniel, and again in ch. ix. 1 and xi. 1 ? It is agreed on all hands that h 
 was the immediate successor of Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans (ch. v. 30). Comp. ch. vi. 1. 
 But, notwithstanding this, there is uncertainty as to his person, since history makes no men 
 tion of a Median Darius. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at that various opinions have 
 been entertained by commentators on the Scriptures, and by historical inquirers. Conring 
 (Advers. Chronol. c. 13), whom many have followed, particularly Harenberg (Aufklarung des 
 Buches Daniel, s. 454, seq.), has endeavoured to show that Darius the Mede was the fourth 
 Chaldean monarch, Neriglissar, and that Belshazzar, his predecessor, was Evil-Merodach. 
 .T. Scaliger (De emendat. temporum, p. 579, seq.) recognized in Darius the Mede the last Chaldean 
 king in Babylon, Nabonned, and in Belshazzar, the one before the last, Laborosoarchod, which 
 hypothesis also Calvisius, Petavius, and Buddeus adopted. On the other hand, Syncellus 
 (Chronogr. p. 232), Cidrenus (Chron. p. 142), the Alexandrine Chronicle, Marshani (Can. Chron. 
 p. 604, seq.), the two most recent editors of yEschylus, Schutz (in zweiten Excurs zu jftschy- 
 lus s TTEpaai,) and Bothe (j3Esch. dramata, p. 671), held that Darius the Mede was the Median 
 king Astyages, the maternal grandfather of Cyrus. DCS Vignolles (Chronologic, T. 2, p. 495), 
 and Schroer (Kegnum Babyl. Sect. C, 12, seq.), held him to be a prince of Media, a younger 
 brother of Astyages, whom Cyrus made king over Babylon. Another opinion, however, deserves 
 more respect than this, which was advanced by Marianus Scotus, a Benedictine monk of the 
 eleventh century, though this hypothesis is not tenable, which opinion has found, in modern 
 times, a warm advocate in Beer (Kings of Israel and Judah, p. 22, seq.). According to tins opi 
 nion, it was held that Darius the Mede is the same person as the third Persian king after Cyrus, 
 Darius Hystaspis, and that Belshazzar was indeed the last Chaldean king, Nabonned. but that in 
 the first capture of Babylon under Cyrus, according to the account of Berosus (in Jos. c. A p. i. 20), 
 and Megasthencs (in Euseb. Prasp. Evang. ix. 44,) he was not put to death, but was appointed 
 by Cyrus as a vassal-king; and then in the second taking of Babylon under Darius llystaspis, 
 (Herod, iii. 150, seq.), from, whom he had sought to make himself independent, he was slain . 
 This opinion has this advantage, that it has in its favour the fact that it has the undoubted 
 name of Darius, but it is not conformable to history to suppose that Darius llystaspis was a 
 eon of Ahasuerus, the Mede; for his father, llystaspis, was a native born prince of Persia, 
 (Xeno. Cyrop. iv. 2, 46,) of the family of the Achaenienidcs, Herod, i. 209. 210. Darius Hystappis 
 was indeed remotely related by means of the mother of Cyrus, Mandane, with the royal family ; 
 but this relation could not entitle him to be called a Mede, for since she was the mother of 
 Cyrus, it is altogether inexplicable that since both were thus connected with each other that 
 Cyrus should be called the Persian (N^CHD), and Darius the Mede (Ni^Jp), Dan vi. 29. The sup 
 position, moreover, that Nabonned, after the taking of Babylon, was appointed as a tributary 
 king by Cyrus, is wholly gratuitous; since Nabonned, according to the express testimony of 
 Xenophon (Cyrop. vii. 5, 26, seq.), was slain at the taking of Babylon. 
 
 There is yet one other opinion respecting Darius the Mede, to which I will first prefix the 
 following remarks: (1) Darius the Mede is mentioned in ch, vi. 29, as the immediate pre 
 decessor of Cyrus in Babylon; (2) Belshazzar as the last Babylonish Chaldee king; (3) the 
 account of the violent death of Belshazzar, with which the fifth chapter closes, stands in direct 
 historical connection with the statement in the beginning of the sixth chapter that Darius the 
 Mede had the kingdom ; (4) Darius the Mede must, therefore, be the first foreign prince after 
 the downfall of the Chaldean dynasty, which directly reigned over Babylon ; (5) the chronolo 
 gical point, therefore, where the history of Belshazzar and of Darius the Mede coincide, developes 
 itself: the account falls in the time of the downfall of Babylon through the Medo-Persian army, 
 and this must be the occasion as the connecting fact between the fifth and sixth chapters. 
 According to this, Darius the Mede can be no other person than the Medish king Cyaxares II., 
 the son and successor of Astyages, and the predecessor of Cyrus in the rule over Babylon ; and 
 Belshazzar is the last Chaldee monarch, Nabonned, or Labynct. With this agrees the account 
 of Josephus (Ant. x. 11, 4); and later this opinion found an advocate in Jerome. 
 
 The existence of such a person as Cyaxares II. has been indeed denied, because, according 
 to Herodotus (i. 109), and Justin (i. 4, 7), Astyages had no son. But, it should be remarked, 
 that the latter of these writers only copies from the former, and what Herodotus states respect 
 ing Astyages has so much the appearance of fable that no reliance is to be placed on it. It has 
 been objected also that Dionysius of Halicarnassus, (B. i. g 2) says that the Medish kingdom 
 Continued only through four reigns, so that if we reckon the names of the reigning kings, J)e 
 
B.C. 538.] CHAPTER VI. 261 
 
 joces, Phraortes, Cyaxares (the contemporary of Nebuchadnezzar), and Astyages, ihere -will be 
 no place for a second Cyaxares. But is it not probable that Dionysius meant, by these words, 
 only that the Media kingdom came to an end under the fourth dynasty ? Finally, it has 
 been objected that, according to Herodotus (i. 128, seq.}, and Ctesias (HtpatK. 2 and 5), no Me 
 dian prince sat upon the throne in Ecbatana after Astyages, but that with Astyages the king- 
 dom of the Medes came to an end, and with Cyrus, his immediate successor, the Persian king 
 dom took its beginning. Therewith agree nearly all the historians of the following times, 
 Diodorus (ii. 34), Justin (i. 6, 16, 17, vii. 1), Strabo (ix. p. 795, xv. p. 1662), Polyan (vii. 7), and 
 many others. But these writers only copy from Herodotus and Ctesias, and the whole rests 
 only on their authority. But their credibility in this point must be regarded as doubtful, for 
 it is not difficult to understand the reasons why they have omitted to make mention of Cy 
 axares II. They commenced the history of the reign of Cyrus with the beginning of his world- 
 renowned celebrity, and hence it was natural to connect the beginning of his reign, and the 
 beginning of the Persian reign, with the reign of his grandfather Astyages, for so long as his 
 uncle Cyaxares II. reigned, he alone acted, and he in fact was the regent. But if the silence 
 of Herodotus and Ctesias is not to be regarded as proof that no such person as Cyaxares II. lived 
 nnd reigned, there are in favour of that the following positive arguments : 
 
 (1.) The authority of Xenophon, who not only says that a Cyaxares ascended the throne after 
 Astyages, but that he was a son of Astyages (Cyr. i. 5, 2), and besides relates so much of this 
 Cyaxares (i. 4, 7, iii. 3, 20, viii. 5, 19), that his Cyropaedia may be regarded as in a measure a 
 history of him. Yea, Xenophon goes so far (viii. 7, 1), that he reckons the years of the reign 
 of Cyrus from the death of Cyaxares II. Can any one conceive a reason why Xenophon had a 
 motive to weave together such a tissue of falsehood as this unless Cyaxares II. actually lived ? 
 If one should object, indeed, that he is so far to be reckoned among fictitious writers that he 
 gives a moral character to the subjects on which he writes, and that he has passed over the dif 
 ference between Cyrus and his grandfather Astyages, yet there is no reason why he should 
 have brought upon the stage so important a person, wholly from fiction, as Cyaxares. What 
 a degree of boldness it must have required, if he, who lived not much more than a century 
 after the events recorded, had mentioned to his contemporaries so much respecting a prince of 
 whom no one whatever had even heard. But the existence of Cyaxares II. may be proved 
 
 (2.) From a passage in JJschylus (Pers. v. 76, seq.), 
 
 Mj<5of yap rjv b Trpojroj j/y/jtoi> arpwrov 
 AXXof (5e CKtvov rraif TO 6 tpyov rjvvce 
 Tpiroj 6 a aurou Kvpog, ciaifjLWi> ai rjp K. T. \. 
 
 The first who is here mentioned as the Mode (Mrjtfoj) is manifestly no other than Astyages, 
 whom, before Cyrus, his son succeeded in the government, and who is the same whom we, after 
 Xenophon, call Cyaxares. This testimony is the more important as ^Sschylus lived before 
 Xenophon, in the time of Darius Hystaspis, and is free from all suspicions from this circum 
 stance. that according to the public relations which JSschylus sustained, no accounts of the for 
 mer Persian history could be expected from any doubtful authorities to have been adduced by 
 him. But the existence of Cyaxares II. does not depend solely on the authority of Xenophou, 
 in his Cyropaedia. For 
 
 (3.) Josephus (Ant. x. 11, 4), who speaks of this person under the name of Darius, adds 
 r)v Aoruayou vto^^ irepov fit rcapa TOIJ EAArjini sxaXeiTO opojia he was the son of Astyages. 
 but had another name among the Greeks. This name, which he had among the Greeks, can 
 be found only in their own Xenophon. 
 
 (4.) To all this should be added, that many other data of history, especially those taken from 
 the Hebrew writings, so set out the continuance of the reign of the Medes over Upper Asia, that 
 it is necessary to suppose the existence of such a person as the Mcdish king, Cyaxares. after the 
 reign of Astyages. Had Cyrus, after the death of Astyages, immediately assumed the govern 
 ment over Upper Asia, how happened it that until the downfall of the Babylonian-Chaldee 
 kingdom, mention is made almost always of the Medes, or at least of the Persians, of whom 
 there is special mention ? "Whence is it that the passage of Abydenus, quoted from Megas- 
 thenes, p. 295, speaks of a Mede, who, in connection with a Persian, overthrew the Babylonish 
 kingdom ? Is not the Mede so represented as to show that he was a prominent and lead 
 ing person? Js it not necessary to attribute to this fragment a higher authority, and to 
 suppose that a Medish monarch, in connection with a Persian, brought the kingdom of 
 Babylon to an end? Whence did Jeremiah, chs. 1. and li., expressly threaten that the Jews 
 would be punished by a Median king? Whence does the author of Isa. xiii. and xiv. mention 
 that the destruction of the Chaldean monarchy would be effected by the Medes? The acces 
 sion of Cyrus to the throne was no mere change of person in the authority, but it was a 
 change of the reigning nation. So long as a Mede sat on the throne, the Persians, though 
 they acted an important part in the affairs of the nation, yet occupied only the second place. 
 The court was Medish, and the Medes were prominent in all the affairs of the government, as 
 every page of the Cyropajdia furnishes evidence. Upon the accession of Cyrus, the whole thing 
 was changed. The Persians were now the predominant nation, and from that time onward, as 
 has been remarked, the Persians are always mentioned as having the priority, though before they 
 had but a secondary place. Ag the reign of Astyages, though ho reigned thirty -fivo years (Herod. 
 
262 DANIEL. [B. C. 538. 
 
 i. 130) , could not have embraced the -whole period mentioned to the accession of Cyrus, go the 
 royal race of the Modes, and the kingdom of the Medes, could not have been extinguished with 
 him, and it, is necessary to suppose the existence of Cyaxares II. as his successor, and the pre 
 decessor of Cyrus. 
 
 These considerations, suggested hy Bertholdt, are sufficient to demonstrate that such a person 
 as Cyaxares II. lived between the reign of Astyages and Cyrus, and that, after the destruction 
 of Babylon, he was the immediate successor of Belshazzar, or Nabonned, and was the prede 
 cessor of Cyrus. He was the first of the foreign princes who reigned over Babylon. It has been 
 made a question why, in the Book of Daniel, he is mentioned under the name of Darius, and 
 not by his other name Cyaxares. It may be difficult to answer this question, but it will be 
 sufficient to remark (a) that it was common for Oriental kings to have many names, and, as we 
 have seen, in regard to the kings of Babylon, one writer might designate them by one name, 
 and another by another. This is indeed the occasion of much confusion in ancient history, but 
 this is inevitable, (b) As we have seen, Josephus (Ant. x. 11, 4) expressly says that this Darius 
 had another name among the Greeks, and, as Bertholdt remarks, it is natural to seek that 
 name in the writings of their own Xenophon. (c) Darius was a common name in Persia, and 
 it may have been one of the names by which the princes of Persia and Media were commonly 
 known. Three of that name are mentioned in the Scriptures, and three who were distinguished 
 are mentioned in profane history Darius Hystaspis, Darius Ochus, or Darius Nothus, as he 
 was known among the Greeks, and Darius Codomanus, who was overthrown by Alexander the 
 Great. 
 
 An important statement is made by Xenophon respecting Cyaxares II., the son of Astyages, 
 which may account for the fact that his name was omitted by Herodotus and Ctesias. He de 
 scribes him as a prince given up to sensuality, and this fact explains the reason why he came 
 to surrender all authority so entirely into the hands of his enterprising son-in-law and nephew 
 Cyrus, and why his reign was naturally sunk in that of his distinguished successor. Cyrop. 
 i. 5, viii. 7. 
 
 g 3. ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER. 
 
 This chapter contains the history of Daniel under the government, or during the reign of 
 Darius the Mede, or Cyaxares II., from a period, it would seem, soon after the accession of 
 Dai-ius to the throne in Babylon, or the conquest of Babylon, till his death. It is not indeed 
 said how soon after that event Daniel was exalted to the premiership in Babylon, but the nar 
 rative would lead us to suppose that it was soon after the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, acting 
 under the authority of Cyaxares. As Daniel, on account of the disclosure made to Belshazzar 
 of the meaning of the handwriting on the wall, had been exalted to high honour at the close 
 of the life of that monarch (ch. v.), it is probable that he would be called to a similar station 
 under the reign of Darius, as it cannot be supposed that Darius would appoint Medes and Per 
 sians entirely to fill the high offices of the realm. The chapter contains a record of the follow 
 ing events : (1) The arrangement of the government after the conquest of Babylon, consisting 
 of one hundred and twenty officers over the kingdom, so divided as to be placed under the care 
 of three superior officers, or presidents, of whom Daniel held the first place, vs. 1 3. (2) The 
 dissatisfaction or envy of the officers so appointed, against Daniel, for causes now unknown, and 
 their conspiracy to remove him from office, or to bring him into disgrace with the king, ver. 4. 
 (3) The plan which they formed to secure this, derived from the known piety and integrity of 
 Daniel, and their conviction that, at any hazard, he would remain firm to his religious princi 
 ples, and would conscientiously maintain the worship of God. Convinced that they could find 
 no fault in his administration ; that he could not be convicted of malversation or infidelity in 
 office ; that there was nothing in his privateer public character that was contrary to justice and 
 integrity, they resolved to take advantage of his well-known piety, and to make that the occasion 
 of his downfall and ruin, ver. 5. (4) The plan that was artfully proposed was, to induce the 
 king to sign a decree that if any one for thirty days should ask any petition for anything of 
 God or man, he should be thrown into a den of lions that is, should be, as they supposed, 
 certainly put to death. This proposed decree they apprehended they could induce the king to 
 sign, perhaps because it was flattering to the monarch, or perhaps because it would test the 
 disposition of his new subjects to obey him, or perhaps because they knew he was a weak and 
 effeminate prince, and that he was accustomed to sign papers presented to him by his coun 
 sellors without much reflection or hesitation, vs. 6 9. (5) Daniel, when he was apprised of the 
 contents of the decree, though he saw its bearing, and perhaps its design, yet continued his 
 devotions as usual praying, as he was known to do, three times a day, with his face toward 
 Jerusalem, with his windows open. The case was one where he felt, undoubtedly, that it 
 was a matter of principle that he should worship God in his usual manner, and not allow him 
 self to be driven from the acknowledgment of his God by the fear of death, ver. 10. (6) They 
 who had laid the plan, made report of this to the king, and demanded the execution of the 
 decree. The case was a pl*Jn one, for though it had not been intended or expected by the 
 king that Daniel would have been found a violator of the law, yet as the decree was positive, 
 and there had been no concealment on the part of Daniel, the counsellors urged that it was 
 necessary that the decree should be executed, vs. 11 13. (7) The king, displeased with him 
 self, and evidently enraged against these crafty counsellors, desirous of sparing Daniel, and yet 
 feeling the necessity of maintaining a law positively enacted, sought some way by which Daniel 
 might be saved, and the honour and majesty of the law preserved. No method, however, oc 
 curring to him of securing both objects, he was constrained to submit to the execution of the 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 263 
 
 decree, and ordered Daniel to be cast into the den of lions, vs. 1417. (8) The king returned 
 to his palace, and passed the night fasting, and overwhelmed with sadness, ver. 18. (9) In the 
 morning he caine with deep anxiety to the place where Daniel had been thrown, and called to 
 see if he were alive, vs. 19, 20. (10) The reply of Daniel, that he had been preserved by the 
 intervention of an angel, who had closed the mouths of the lions, and had kept him alive, 
 vs. 21, 22. (11) The release of Daniel from the den, and the command to cast those in who had 
 thus accused Daniel, and who had sought his ruin, vs. 23, 24. (12) An appropriate proclama 
 tion from the kins to all men to honour that God who had thus preserved his servant, vs. 
 2527. (13) A statement of the prosperity of Daniel, extending to the reign of Cyrus, ver. 28. 
 
 1 It pleased Darius to set over f 2 And over these, three preai- 
 the kingdom an hundred and twenty dents, of whom Daniel was first; 
 b princes, which should be over the that the princes might give accounts 
 whole kingdom. 
 
 1. It pleased Damns to set over the 
 kingdom. Evidently over the kingdom 
 of Babylon, now united to that of Media 
 and Persia. As this was now subject to 
 him, and tributary to him, it would be 
 natural to appoint persons over it in 
 whom he could confide, for the adminis 
 tration of justice, for the collection of 
 revenue, <fcc. Others, however, suppose 
 that this relates to the whole kingdom of 
 Persia, but as the reference here is mainly 
 to what was the kingdom of Babylon, it is 
 rather to be presumed that this is what 
 
 lPe. 2. 14. 
 
 bEs. 1. 1. 
 
 (iii. 12, viii. 9, ix. 3), and in Ezra (viii. 
 36) ; in Esther and Ezra uniformly ren 
 dered lieutenant*. In Daniel (iii. 2, 3, 
 27, vi. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7,) it is as uniformly 
 rendered princes. It is a word of Per 
 sian origin, and is probably the Hebrew 
 mode of pronouncing the Persian word 
 satrap, or, as Gesenius supposes, the Per 
 sian word was pronounced ksatrap. For 
 the etymology of the word, see Gesenius, 
 Lex. The word undoubtedly refers to 
 the Persian satraps, or governors, or vice 
 roys in the large provinces of the em- 
 
 is particularly alluded to. Besides, it is ir possess i n g both civil and military 
 hardly probable that he would have exalted ! rs> They were officers high in rank, 
 
 Daniel, a Jew, and a resident in Baby- j and bei tho representatives of the 
 Ion, to so important a post as that of sovereign they rivalled his state and 
 
 tho premiership over the whole empire, 
 though from his position and standing in 
 
 splendor. Single parts, or subdivisions 
 of these provinces, were under inferior 
 
 Babylon there is no improbability in officers . the satraps governed whole pro- 
 supposing that he might have occupied, j yinces> Th0 word ig rendered Ratraps 
 under the reign of Darius, a place similar in the Greekj and the Latin Vulgate, 
 to that which ho had occupied under Nebu- 2> And over thc8C ihrce presidenl8 . 
 
 IW ^is word is found only in the 
 
 officers over each department, Darius ! P lural - The etymology is uncertain, but 
 followed tho same plan which Xenophon I lts meaning is not doubtful. The word 
 tells us that Cyrus did over the nations President expresses it with sufficient ac 
 curacy, denoting a high omcer that pre 
 sided over others. It is not improbable 
 
 conquered by him, Cyrop. viii. 
 
 dorco aarpairaj r\6rj TTE^TEU/ inl ra KareaTpap.- 
 
 nifa Zdvr) : It seemed good to him to 
 
 that these presided over distinct depart 
 ments, corres 
 
 , sponding somewhat to what 
 
 appoint satraps over the conquered na- j arc now called , Secretaries as Secreta- 
 tions. Comp. Esth. i. 1. Archbishop ries of gtat of the Treasurv O f Foreign 
 Usher ( Annal. vol. i. p 82) thinks that j Affai & th h thig ig nofc pai . ticu i ar l v 
 the plan was first instituted by_ Cyrus, ; c}ficcL f O f whom Daniel was first. 
 and was followed at his suggestion. It , rirgfc in rank _ This office ho probabl y 
 was a measure of obvious prudence in j held from the rank which ho wfl known 
 order to maintain so extended an empire tohaveoccup i ed undcr the kings of Baby- 
 in subjection, f n hundred and twenty { and on account of his repu tation for 
 prices. The word here rendered^nnccs- ; ability and integritVi ^ That the prillcea 
 ;i9")3v d occurs only in Daniel in the j m {ght give accounts unto them. Bo iin- 
 Chaldee form, though in the Hebrew j mediately responsible to them ; the ac- 
 form it is found in tho book of Esther ! counts of their own administration, and 
 
2G4 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 537. 
 
 unto them, and * the king should 
 have no damage. 
 
 3 Then this Daniel was preferred 
 above the presidents and princes, 
 because an excellent b spirit was in 
 
 > Lu. 19. 13, &c. 1 Co. 4. 2. bPr.17.27. c5.12. 
 
 of the state of the empire. ^ And the Ionia, since Daniel (ver. 2,) was already 
 king should have no damage. Either in placed at the head of all these princes, 
 the loss of revenue, or in any mal-admin- Yet, in consequence of his talents and 
 
 him ; and the king thought to set 
 him over the whole realm. 
 
 4 T[ Then c the presidents and 
 princes d sought to find occasion 
 against Daniel concerning the king- 
 
 c EC. 4. 4. d Ps. 37. 12, &c. 
 
 istration of the affairs. Comp. Ezra iv. 
 13. "They pay not toll, tribute, and 
 custom, and so thou shalt endamage the 
 revenue of the kings." The king was 
 regarded as the source of all power, and 
 as in fact the supreme proprietor of the 
 realm, and any malfeasance or malversa 
 tion in office was regarded as an injury 
 to him. 
 
 3. Then this Daniel was preferred 
 above the pretidentt and princes. That 
 is, he was at their head, or was placed 
 in rank and office over them, f Because 
 an excellent spirit was in Mm. This may 
 refer alike to his wisdom and his inte 
 grity both of which would bo necessary 
 in such an office. It was an office of 
 great difficulty and responsibility to man 
 age the affairs of the empire in a proper 
 manner, and required the talents of an 
 accomplished statesman, and, at the same 
 time, as it was an office where confidence 
 was reposed by the sovereign it de 
 manded integrity. The word excellent 
 Nynj means properly that which hangs 
 over, or which is abundant, or more than 
 enough, and then anything that is very 
 great, excellent, pre-eminent. Lat. Vulg. 
 Spiritus Dei Amplior the spirit of 
 God more abundantly. Gr. nvtvpa. nepioaov. 
 It is not said here to what trial of his 
 abilities and integrity Daniel was sub 
 jected before he was thus exalted, but it 
 is not necessary to suppose that any such 
 trial occurred at once, or immediately on 
 the accession of Darius. Probably, as he 
 was found in office as appointed by Bel- 
 shazzar, he was continued by Darius, 
 and as a result of his tried integrity was 
 in due time exalted to the premiership. 
 ^And the king thought to set him over the 
 whole realm. The whole kingdom over 
 which he presided, embracing Media, 
 Persia, Babylonia, and all the dependent, 
 conquered provinces. This shows that 
 the princes referred to in ver. 1, were 
 those which were appointed over Baby- 
 
 fidelity the king was meditating the im 
 portant measure of placing him over the 
 whole united kingdom as premier. That 
 ho should form such a purpose in re 
 gard to an officer so talented and faithful 
 as Daniel was, is by no means improba 
 ble. The Greek of Theodotion renders 
 this as if it were actually done KOI b 
 rdv K. r. A. And 
 the king placed him over all his king 
 
 dom. But the Chalde 
 
 . indi 
 
 cates rather a purpose or intention to do 
 it; or rather, perhaps, that he was actu 
 ally making arrangements to do this. 
 Probably it was the fact that this design 
 was perceived, and that the arrangements 
 were actually commenced, that aroused 
 the envy and the ill-will of his fellow- 
 officers, and induced them to determine 
 on his ruin. 
 
 4. Then the presidents and princca 
 sought to find occasion against Daniel. 
 The word rendered occasion rhy 
 means a pretext or pretence. "The 
 Arabs use the word of any business or 
 affair which serves as a cause or pretext 
 for neglecting another business." Gese- 
 nius, Lex. The meaning is, that they 
 sought to find some plausible pretext or 
 reason in respect to Daniel by which the 
 contemplated appointment might be pre 
 vented, and by which he might be effec 
 tually humbled. No one who is ac 
 quainted with the intrigues of cabinets 
 and courts can have any doubts as to the 
 probability of what is here stated. No 
 thing has been more common in the 
 world than intrigues of this kind to hum 
 ble a rival, and to bring down those Avho 
 are meritorious to a state of degradation. 
 The cause of the plot here laid seems to 
 have been mere envy and jealousy and 
 perhaps by the consideration that Daniel 
 was a foreigner, and was one of a de 
 spised people held in captivity. ^[ Con 
 cerning the kingdom. In respect to the 
 administration of the kingdom. They 
 
tf. C. 537.] 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 265 
 
 <iom ; but they could find none oc- not find any occasion aguii si this 
 casion nor fault; forasmuch as he Daniel, except we find it against 
 was faithful, neither was there any : him concerning the law of his* God. 
 error or fault found in him. ; 6 Then these presidents and princes 
 
 5 Then said these men, We shall . assembled together to the king, and 
 
 1 or, came tumultiioiisly. 
 
 sought to find evidence of malversation prohibited by the laws of the realm, and 
 in office, or abuse of power, or attempts it would not be easy to procure a law 
 at personal aggrandizement, or inatten- directly and avowedly prohibiting that, 
 tion to the duties of the office. This is It is not probable that the king would 
 literally from the side of the kingdom ; j have consented to pass such a law di- 
 and the meaning is, that the accusation ] rectly proposed a law which would 
 was sought in that quarter, or in that re- have been so likely to produce disturb- 
 spect. No other charge would be likely ance, and when no plausible ground 
 to be effectual, except one which pertained could have been alleged for it. There 
 to maladministration in office. f But I was another method, however, which 
 they could find none occasion nor fault. \ suggested itself to these crafty counsel- 
 This is an honourable testimony to the j lors which was, while they did not seem 
 fidelity of Daniel, and the uprightness to aim absolutely and directly to have 
 of his character. If there had been any ! that worship prohibited, to approach tho 
 malversation in office, it would have been j king with a proposal that would be fiat- 
 detected by these men. j tering to his vanity, and that, perhaps, 
 
 5. We shall not find any occasion, &c. 
 We shall not find any pretext, or any 
 cause by which he may be humbled and 
 degraded. They were satisfied of his 
 
 might bo suggested as a test question, 
 showing the degree of esteem with which 
 he was held in tho empire, and the wil 
 lingness of his subjects to obey him. 
 
 integrity, and they saw it was vain to I Bv . proposing a law that, for a limited 
 hope to accomplish their purposes by any j period, no one should be allowed to present 
 attack on his moral character, or any a petition of any kind to any one except 
 charge against him in respect to the man- to the kin S himself, the object would bo 
 ner in which he had discharged tho du- accomplished. A vain monarch could be 
 
 ties of his office. f Except we find it 
 against him concerning the law of his 
 God. Unless it be in respect to his reli 
 gion ; unless we can so construe his 
 
 prevailed on to pass such a law, and this 
 could be represented to him as a measure 
 not improper, in order to test his subjects 
 as to their willingness to show him re- 
 
 known conscientiousness in regard to his s P ecfc and obedience ; and at the samo 
 religion as to make that a proof of his | time ifc w o. uld be certain to effect the pur- 
 unwillingness to obey the king. It j P oso against Daniel for tney had no 
 
 doubt that he would adhere stedfastly 
 
 occurred to them that such was his 
 well-understood faithfulness in his reli 
 gious duties, and his conscientiousness, 
 that they might expect that, whatever 
 should occur, he would bo found true to 
 
 to the principles of his religion, and to 
 his well-known habits of worship. This 
 plan was, therefore, crafty in the ex 
 treme, and was the highest tribute that 
 
 his God, and that this might be a basis could . bo P aid . to Daniel. It would be 
 of calculation in any measure they might ^ e11 if the religious character, and the 
 propose for his downfall. His habits fixed habits of all who profess religion 
 seem to have been well understood, w< f so wel1 understood that it was ab- 
 and his character was so fixed, that ; s . olu tely certain that no accusation could 
 they could proceed on this as a set- " e against them on any other ground, 
 tied matter in their plans against him. | . * tnat their adherence to their reli- 
 The only question was, how to con- S ious principles could be calculated on 
 strue his conduct in this respect as ! as a basis of action, whatever might bo 
 criminal, or how to make the king listen ! the consequences. 
 
 to any accusation against him on this *>. Then these presidentt and princes at- 
 account, for his religious views were well * em Wed together. Marg., came tumultu- 
 known when he was appointed to office ; OM *fy The margin expresses the proper 
 the worship of the God of Daniel was not meaning of the original word Bg^ to 
 
266 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 537 
 
 taid thus unto him, King Darius, the counsellors, and the captains, 
 
 live * for ever. have consulted together b to establish 
 
 7 All the presidents of the king- j a royal statute, and to make a firm 
 
 dom, the governors, and the princes, c decree, that whosoever shall ask a 
 
 Ne. 2. 3 ; vcr. 21. b Ps 2 . 2. c or interdict. 
 
 run together with tumult. Why they came j Marg., interdict. The word used ">DN 
 
 together in that manner is not stated, j f rom -^x, to bind, make fast, means pro- 
 Bertholdt suggests that it means that | perly a lindin then a thin g which is 
 they camo in a procession, or in a body, j binding or obligatory as a prohibition, an 
 to the king ; but there is undoubtedly the ! interdict, a law. ^ That whosoever shall ask. 
 idea of their doing it with haste, or with j Any one of any rank. The real purpose 
 an appearance of great earnestness or ex- j was to involve Daniel in disgrace, but in 
 citcment. Perhaps they imagined that j order to do this it was necessary to make 
 they would be more likely to carry the \ the prohibition universal as Herod, in 
 measure if proposed as something that j P rder to be sure thafc fa e had cut off the 
 demanded immediate action, or something I "ant king of the Jews, was under a ne- 
 wherein it appeared that the very safety of j cessity of destroying all the children in 
 the king was involved, than if it were pro- the Place, f Of any god or man. This 
 posed in a sedate and calm manner. If it | would include all the gods acknowledged 
 were suggested in such a way as to seem to m Babylon, and all foreign divinities. 
 
 admit of deliberation, perhaps the suspicion 
 of the king might be aroused, or he might 
 have asked questions as to the ground of 
 the necessity of such alaw, which it might 
 not have been easy to answer, f King 
 Darius, live forever. The usual way of 
 saluting a monarch. See Notes ch. ii. 4. 
 
 7. All the president! of the kingdom, 
 the governors, &c. Several functionaries 
 are enumerated here which are not in the 
 previous verses, as having entered into 
 the conspiracy. It is possible, indeed, 
 that all these different classes of officers 
 had been consulted, and had concurred in 
 asking the enactment of the proposed law, 
 but it is much more probable that the 
 leaders merely represented or affirmed 
 what is here said in order to be more 
 certain of the enactment of the law. If 
 represented as proposed by all the offi 
 cers of the realm, they appear to have 
 conceived that there would be no hesita 
 tion on the part of Darius in granting the 
 request. They could not but be con 
 scious that it was an unusual request, and 
 that it might appear unreasonable, and 
 hence they seem to have used every pre 
 caution to make the passage of the law 
 certain. ^[ Have consulted together to es 
 tablish a, royal statute. Or, that such a 
 statute might be established. They knew 
 that it could be established only by the 
 king himself, but they were in the habit, 
 doubtless, of recommending euch laws as 
 they supposed would be for the good of 
 the realm. ^ And to make a firm decree. 
 
 thirty days. The object of this 
 limitation of time was perhaps two-fold ; 
 (1) They would be sure to accomplish 
 their purpose in regard to Daniel, for 
 they understood his principles and habits 
 so well that they had no doubt that within 
 that time he would be found engaged in 
 the worship of his God, and (2) it would 
 not do to make the law perpetual, and 
 to make it binding longer than thirty 
 days might expose them to the danger 
 of popular tumults. It was easy enough 
 to see that such a law could not be long 
 enforced, yet they seem to have supposed 
 that the people would acquiesce in it for 
 so brief a period as one month. Unrea 
 sonable though it might be regarded, yet 
 for so short a space of time it might bo 
 expected that it would be patiently sub 
 mitted to. \ Save of thee, king. Perhaps 
 either directly, or through some minister 
 of the realm. ^[ He shall be cast into the 
 den of lions. The word den j J means 
 properly a pit, or cistern, and the idea is 
 that the den was under ground, probably 
 a cave constructed for that purpose. It 
 was made with so narrow an entrance 
 that it could be covered with a stone and 
 made perfectly secure, ver. 17. The en 
 closure of wild beasts/ says Bertholdt, 
 pp. 397,398, especially of lions, which tho 
 lungs of Asia and of Northwestei-n Africa 
 formerly had, as they have at the present 
 day, were generally constructed under 
 ground, but were ordinarily caves which 
 had been excavated for the purpose, walled 
 
B. C. 537.] 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 267 
 
 petition of any god or man for thirty 
 days, save of thee, king, he shall 
 be cast into the den of lions. 
 
 up at the sides, enclosed within a wall 
 through which a door led from the outer 
 wall to the space lying between the walls, 
 within which persons could pass round 
 and contemplate the wild beasts. The 
 emperor of Morocco/ says Host (Besebrei- 
 bung Von Morokos und Fetz, p. 290, as 
 quoted in Rosenmiiller s Morgenland, in 
 loc.}, has a cave for lions Lowengrube 
 into which men sometimes, and especially 
 Jews, are cast; but they commonly came 
 up again uninjured, for the overseers of 
 the lions are commonly Jews, and they 
 have a sharp instrument in their hands, 
 and with this they can pass among them, 
 if they are careful to keep their faces to 
 wards the lions, for a lion willnotallow one 
 to turn his back to him. The other Jews 
 will not allow their brethren to remain 
 longer in such a cave than one night, for 
 the lions would be too hungry, but they 
 redeem their brethren out of the cave by 
 the payment of money which, in fact, is 
 the object of the emperor. In another 
 place (p. 77,) he describes one of these 
 caves. In one end of the enclosure is a 
 place for ostriches and their young ones, 
 and at the other end towards the moun 
 tain is a cave for lions, which stands in a 
 large cavern in the earth that has a di 
 vision wall, in the midst of which is a 
 door, which the Jews who have the charge 
 of the lions can open and close from above, 
 and, by means of food, they entice the 
 lions from one room into another, that they 
 may have the opportunity of cleaning the 
 cage. It is all under the open sky. Un 
 der what pretext the crafty counsellors 
 induced the king to ratify this statute is 
 not stated. Some one or all of the fol 
 lowing things may have induced the 
 monarch to sign the decree : (1) The law 
 proposed was in a high degree flattering 
 to the king, and he may have been ready 
 at once to sign a decree which for the 
 time gave him a supremacy over gods and 
 men. If Alexander the Great desired to 
 be adored as a god, then it is not impro 
 bable that a proud and weak Persian 
 monarch would be willing to receive a 
 similar tribute. Xerxes did things more 
 foolish than what is here attributed to 
 Darius. Instances of this are not want- 
 aag. Of Holofernes, in Judith iii. 8, it is 
 
 8 Now, king, establish the de 
 cree, and sign the writing, that it be 
 not changed, according to the law 
 
 said that he " had decreed to destroy all 
 j the gods of the land, that all nations 
 shouid worship Nabuchodonosor only, and 
 that all tongues and tribes should call 
 upon him as god." (2) It may have oc- 
 curred to him, or may have been sug- 
 ! gested, that this was an effectual way to 
 i test the readiness of his subjects to obey 
 and honour him. Some such test, it may 
 have been urged, was not improper, and 
 this would determine what wag the spirit 
 of obedience as well as any other. 
 (3) More probably, however, it may have 
 been represented that there was some 
 danger of insubordination, or some con 
 spiracy among the people, and that it was 
 necessary that the sovereign should issue 
 some mandate which would at once and 
 effectually quell it. It may have been 
 urged that there was danger of a revolt, 
 and that it would be an effectual way of 
 preventing it to order that whoever should 
 solicit any favour of any one but the king 
 should be punished, for this would bring 
 all matters at once before him, and secure 
 order. The haste and earnestness with 
 which they urged their request, would 
 rather seem to imply that there was a 
 representation that some sudden occasion 
 had arisen which made the enactment of 
 such a statute proper. Or (4) the king 
 may have been in the habit of signing 
 the decrees proposed by his counsellors 
 w r ith little hesitation, and, lost in ease and 
 sensuality, and perceiving only that this 
 proposed law was flattering to himself, 
 and not deliberating on what might be its 
 possible result, he may have signed it at 
 once. 
 
 8, 9. Now, Icing, establish the decree. 
 Ordain, enact, confirm it. ^[ And sign the 
 writing. An act necessary to make it the 
 law of the realm. ^[ That it be not changed. 
 That, having the sign manual of the sove 
 reign, it might be so confirmed that 
 it could not bo changed. With that 
 sign it became so established, it seems, 
 that even the sovereign himself could not 
 change it. *[ According to the law of tht, 
 Medea and Persians, which altereth not. 
 Marg., pasaeth. Which does not past 
 away ; which is not abrogated. A simi 
 lar fact in regard to a law of the Medea 
 and Persians is mentioned in Esther yiii., 
 
268 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 537. 
 
 a of the Medes and Persians, -which [ 10 ^Now when Daniel knew 
 
 taltereth not. ;c that the writing was signed, ho 
 
 9 Wherefore king Darius signed j went into his house ; and his Avin- 
 
 the writing and the decree. dows being open in his chamber 
 
 iEa.l. 19; 8.8. 
 
 passeth. 
 
 c Lu. 14. 26. Ac. 4. 1719. 
 
 
 in which the king was unable to recall an ; the consequences, it was to be executed, 
 order which had been given for the mas- j It is evident, however, that such a cus- 
 sacre of the Jews, and in which he at- j torn might have some advantages. It 
 tempted only to counteract it as far as I would serve to prevent hasty legislation, 
 possible by putting the Jews on their and to give stability to the government 
 guard, and allowing them to defend them- by its being known what the laws were, 
 selves. Diodorus Siculus (Lib. iv.,) refers thus avoiding the evils which result when 
 to this custom, where he says that Darius, i they are frequently changed. It is often 
 the last king of Persia, would have par- : preferable to have permanent laws, 
 doned Charidemus after he was con- i though not the best that could be framed, 
 dcmned to death, but could not reverse j than those which would be better if there 
 what the law had passed against him. j were no stability. There is only ono 
 Lowth. When the king of Persia, says Being, however, whose laws can be safely 
 Montesquieu (Spirit of Laws, as quoted j unchanging and that is God, for his laws 
 by Ilosenmuller, Morgenland, in loc.) has j are formed with a full knowledge of all 
 condemned any one to death, no one dares j the relations of things, and of their bear- 
 speak to him to make intercession for ! ing on all future circumstances and times, 
 him. Were he even drunk when the j It serves to confirm the statement here 
 crime was committed, or were he insane, ! made respecting the ancient custom in 
 
 the command must nevertheless be exe 
 cuted, for the law cannot be counter 
 manded, and the laws cannot contradict 
 themselves. This sentiment prevails 
 throughout Persia. It may seem singu 
 lar that such a custom prevailed, and that 
 the king, who was the fountain of law, 
 
 Media and Persia, that the same idea of 
 tho inviolability of the royal word has 
 remained, in a mitigated form, to modern 
 times. A remarkable example of this is 
 related by Sir John Malcolm, of Aga 
 Mahonimed Khan, the last but one of tho 
 Persian kings. After alluding to tho 
 
 and whose will Avas law, could not change present case, and that in Esther, he ob- 
 a statute at his pleasure. But this cus 
 tom grew out of the opinions which pre 
 vailed in the East in regard to the mon 
 
 serves. " The character of the power of 
 the king of Persia has undergone no 
 change. Tho late king, Aga Mahommed 
 
 Khan, when encamped near Shiraz, said 
 that he would not move till the snow was 
 off the mountains in the vicinity of his 
 camp. The season proved severe, and 
 the snow remained longer than was ex 
 pected ; the army began to suffer distress 
 
 arch. His will was absolute, and it was 
 a part of the system which prevailed then 
 to exalt the monarch, and leave the im 
 pression on the mind of tho people that 
 he was more than a man that he was 
 infallible and could not err. Nothing was 
 
 better adapted to keep up that impression and sickness, but the king said while tho 
 than an established principle of this kind [ snow remained upon the mountain, ho 
 that a law once ordained could not be | would not move ; and his word was as 
 repealed or changed. To do this would I law, and could not be broken. A multi- 
 be a practical acknowledgment that there j tude of labourers were collected and sent 
 was a defect in the law ; that there was a to remove the snow; their efforts, and a 
 want of wisdom in ordaining it; that all ! few fine days, cleared the mountains, and 
 the circumstances were not foreseen ; and Aga Mohammed Khan marched." His- 
 
 that the king was liable to be deceived 
 and to err. With all the disadvantages 
 attending such a custom, it was judged 
 better to maintain it than to allow that 
 the monarch could err, and hence when 
 a law was ordained it became fixed and 
 unchanging. Even the king himself 
 could not alter it, and whatever might bo 
 
 tory of Persia i. 268, quoted in the Pict. 
 Bible, in loc. 
 
 10. Now when Daniel knew that the 
 writing was signed. Probably there was 
 some proclamation made in regard to the 
 decree, ^f He went into Ms house. That 
 is, he went in in his usual manner. He 
 made no change in his habits on account 
 
B.C. 537.] CHAPTER VI. 269 
 
 toward * Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times >a day, and 
 
 i. 8. 44, 48. Ps. 5. 7. Jo. 2. 4. 
 
 of the decree. ^[ And his windows being 
 open in his chamber. Open in the usual 
 manner. It does not mean that he took 
 
 b Ps. 55. 17. ver. 13. Ac. 2. 15. 3. 1. 10. 
 
 again (vs. 46 49), If they sin against 
 thee, and thou bo angry with them, and 
 deliver them to the enemy, so that they 
 
 pains to open them for the purpose -of os- carry them away captives unto the land 
 tentation, or to show that he disregarded j o f the enemy, far or near ; if they shall 
 the decree, but that he took no care to bethink themselves in the land whither 
 ;lose them with any view to avoid the con- j they were carried captives, and repent 
 
 TT .1 _ _ _. 1- ^^T>_1,__ i ... i ,1 . i i 
 
 sequences. In the warm climate of Baby 
 lon, the windows probably were commonly 
 Houses among the Jews in later 
 
 open, 
 times 
 
 were usually constructed with an upper 
 chamber virtpwov which was a room not 
 in common use, but employed as a guest 
 chamber, where they received company 
 and held feasts, and where at other times 
 they retired for prayer and meditation. 
 See Notes on Matt. ix. 2. Those upper 
 rooms are often the most pleasant and 
 airy part of the house. Dr. Robinson 
 (Researches, vol. iii. p. 417,) describing the 
 
 and pray unto thee toward their land 
 which thou gavest unto their fathers, the 
 city which thou hast chosen, and the 
 
 if not in the time of the exile, j house which I have built for thy name, 
 
 then honr thou their prayer," &c. Comp. 
 vs. 33, 35, 38. So in Ps. v. 7: "As for 
 me, I will come into thy house in the 
 multitude of thy mercy, and in thy fenr 
 will I worship toward thy holy temple." 
 So Jonah ii. 4 : " Then I said, I am cast 
 out of thy sight; yet I will look again 
 toward thy holy temple." So in the first 
 book of Esdras (Apocrypha), iv. 58 : " Now 
 when this young man was gone forth, he 
 
 house of the American consular-agent in I lifted up his face to heaven, toward Jcru- 
 Sillon, says, "His house was a large one, I salem, and praised the king of heaven." 
 built upon the eastern wall of the city ; j Comp. Intro, g 2. v. Daniel, therefore, 
 the rooms were spacious, and furnished ! in turning his face toward Jerusalem 
 with more appearance of wealth, than when ho prayed, was acting in accord- 
 any I saw in the country. An upper ance with what Solomon had anticipated 
 
 parlour with many windows, on the roof 
 of the proper house, resembled a summer 
 palace; and commanded a delightful 
 
 as proper in just such a supposed case, 
 and with the prevailing habit of his peo 
 ple when abroad. This was not, indeed, 
 
 view of the country towards the East, particularly prescribed as a duty, but it 
 full of trees, and gardens, and country was recognized as proper ; and it was 
 houses, quite to the foot of the moun- j not only in accordance with the instinc- 
 tains." Toward Jerusalem. It is not tive feelings of love to his country and 
 
 improbable that the windows were open 
 on each side of the chamber, but this is 
 particularly mentioned because he turned 
 his face toward Jerusalem when he prayed. 
 This was natural to an exile Hebrew in 
 prayer, because the temple of God had 
 stood at Jerusalem, and that was the 
 place where he abode by a visible symbol. 
 It is probable that the Jews in their own 
 country always in their prayers turned the 
 face toward Jerusalem, and it was anti 
 cipated when the temple was dedicated, 
 that this would be the case in whatever 
 lands they might bo. Thus in the prayer 
 of Solomon, at the dedication, ho says, 
 "If thy people go out to battle against 
 their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt 
 send them, and shall pray unto the Lord 
 toward the city which thou hast chosen, 
 and toward the house which I have built 
 in thy name," <fcc. 1 Kings viii. 44. And 
 23* 
 
 the temple, but a foundation was laid for 
 this in the fact that Jerusalem was re 
 garded as the peculiar dwelling-place of 
 God on earth. In the Koran it is en 
 joined as a duty on all Mussulmen, in 
 whatever part of the earth they may be, 
 to turn their faces towards the Caaba at 
 Mecca when they pray: "The foolish 
 men will say, What hath turned them 
 
 from their keblah 
 formerly prayed ? 
 longeth tho East 
 
 toward which they 
 Say, Unto God be- 
 and the West; ho 
 
 directeth whom ho plcasoth in the right 
 way. Thus have we placed you, Ara 
 bians, an intermediate nation, that yo 
 may be witnesses against tho rest of 
 mankind, that tho apostle may be a wit 
 
 ness against you. 
 
 appointed the 
 
 keblah towards which thou didst formerly 
 pray, only that we might know him who 
 followeth the apostle, from him that 
 
270 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 537. 
 
 prayed, and gave thanks a before 
 his God, as he did aforetime. 
 
 11 Then these men assembled, 
 and found Daniel pra}~ing and mak 
 ing supplication before his God. 
 
 12 Then they came b near, and 
 
 turneth back on his heels : though this 
 change seem a great matter, unless unto 
 those whom God hath directed. But God 
 will not render your faith of none effect ; j 
 for God is gracious and merciful unto 
 man. We have seen thee turn about thy 
 face towards heaven with uncertainty, 
 but we will cause thee to turn thyself 
 towards a keblah that will please thee. 
 Turn, therefore, thy face towards the holy 
 temple of Mecca ; and wherever ye be, 
 turn your faces towards that place." 
 Sale s Koran, ch. ii. Wherever Mus- 
 sulmcn are, therefore, they turn their 
 faces towards the temple of Mecca when 
 they pray. Daniel complied with what 
 was probably the general custom of his 
 countrymen, and what was natural in his 
 case, for there was, in the nature of the 
 case, a reason why he should turn his 
 face towards the place where God had 
 been accustomed to manifest himself. It 
 served to keep up in his mind the re 
 membrance of his beloved country, and 
 in his case could be attended with no 
 evil. As all visible symbols of the divine 
 Being are now, however, withdrawn from 
 any particular place on the earth, there 
 is no propriety in imitating his example, 
 and when we pray it is wholly immaterial 
 in what direction the face is turned. 
 ^[ He kneeled upon his knees three times a 
 day. In accordance doubtless with his 
 usual custom. The amount of the state 
 ment is, that he did not vary his habit 
 on account of the command. He, evi 
 dently, neither assumed a posture of 
 ostentation, nor did he abstain from what 
 he was accustomed to do. To have de 
 parted from his usual habit in any way 
 would have been a yielding of principle 
 in the case. It is not mentioned at what 
 time in the day Daniel thus kneeled and 
 prayed, but we may presume that it was 
 evening, and morning, and noon. Thus 
 the Psalmist says : "Evening, and morn 
 ing, and at noon, will I pray, and cry 
 aloud; and he shall hear my voice." 
 Ps. Iv. 17. No one can doubt the pro 
 priety of thus praying to God; and it 
 Would be well for all thus to call upon 
 
 spake before the king concerning 
 the king s decree ; Hast thou not 
 signed a decree, that every man that 
 shall ask a petition of any God or 
 man within thirty days, save of thee, 
 
 Ph. 4. 6. 
 
 b c. 3. 8. 
 
 their God. f As Tie did aforetime. With 
 out making any change. He neither in 
 creased nor diminished the number of 
 times each day in which he called upon 
 God; nor did he make any change in the 
 manner of doing it. He did not seek 
 ostentatiously to show that he was a wor 
 shipper of God, nor was he deterred by 
 the fear of punishment from doing as he 
 had been accustomed to do. If it should 
 be said that Daniel s habit of worship 
 was ostentatious; that his praying with 
 his windows open was contrary to tho 
 true spirit of retiring devotion, and espe 
 cially contrary to tho spirit required of 
 worshippers in the New Testament where 
 the Saviour commands us when we pray 
 to enter into the closet, and to shut the 
 door, (Matt. vi. 6,) it may be replied, 
 (1) that there is no evidence that Daniel 
 did this for the purpose of ostentation, 
 and the supposition that he did it for that 
 purpose is contrary to all that we know 
 of his character; (2) as we have seen, 
 this was the customary place for prayer, 
 and tho manner of the prayer was that 
 which was usual; (3) the chamber, or 
 upper part of the house was in fact the 
 most retired part, and was a place where 
 one would be least likely to be heard or 
 seen ; and (4) there is no evidence that 
 it would not have been quite private and 
 unobserved if these men had not gone to 
 his house and listened for the very pur 
 pose of detecting him at his devotions. 
 No one could well guard against such a 
 purpose. 
 
 11. Then these men assembled, <fcc. 
 Evidently with a design of finding him 
 at his devotions. 
 
 12. Then they came near. That is, they 
 came near the king. They had detected 
 Daniel, as they expected and desired to 
 do, in a palpable violation of the law, 
 and they lost no time in apprising the 
 king of it, and in reminding him of the 
 law which he had established. Informers 
 are not apt to lose time, f The king an- 
 sicered and said, The thing is true, &c. 
 It is undeniable, whatever may bo the 
 
 j consequences. There is no reason to 
 
B. C. 537.] 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 271 
 
 king, shall be cast into the den 
 of lions ? The king answered and 
 said, The thing is true, according 
 to the law of the Medes and Per 
 sians, which altereth a not. 
 
 13 Then answered they, and said 
 oefore the king, That Daniel, which 
 
 * ver. 8. 
 
 b c. 5. 13. 
 
 suppose that he as yet had any suspicion 
 of their design in asking this question. 
 It is not improbable that ho apprehended 
 there had been some violation of the law, 
 but it does not appear that his suspicions 
 rested on Daniel. 
 
 13. Then answered they That Daniel, 
 which is of the children of the captivity 
 of Judah. Who is one of the captive 
 Jews. There was art in thus referring 
 to Daniel, instead of mentioning him 
 as sustaining an exalted office. It would 
 serve to aggravate his guilt to remind 
 the king that one who was in fact a 
 foreigner, and a captive, had thus dis 
 regarded his solemn commandment. If 
 he had been mentioned as the prime 
 minister, there was at least a possibility 
 that the king would be less disposed to 
 deal with him according to the letter of 
 the statute than if he were mentioned as 
 a captive Jew. ^[ Reyardeth not thec, <fec. 
 Shows open disregard and contempt for 
 the royal authority by making a petition 
 to hia God three times a day. 
 
 14. Then the king, ichen he heard these 
 words, was sore displeased with himself. 
 That is, for having consented to such a 
 decree without deliberation, or with so 
 much haste or for having consented to 
 it at all. It is remarkable that it is not 
 said that he was displeased with them for 
 having proposed it; but it is clear that 
 he saw that the guilt was his own for 
 having given his assent to it, and that 
 he had acted foolishly. There is no evi 
 dence as yet that he saw that the de 
 cree had been proposed for the purpose 
 of securing the degradation and ruin of 
 Daniel though he ultimately perceived 
 it (ver. 24); or if he did perceive it, 
 there was no way of preventing the con 
 sequences from coming on Daniel and 
 that was the point that now engrossed his 
 attention. He was doubtless displeased 
 with himself, (1) because he saw that he 
 had done wrong in framing such a decree, 
 which interfered with what had been tole 
 rated the free exercise of religion by his 
 
 b is of the children of the captivity 
 of Judah, regardeth c not thee, 6 
 I king, nor the decree that thou hast 
 signed, but maketh his petition 
 three times a day. 
 
 14 Then the king, when he heard 
 these words, was sore displeased 
 
 c. 3.12. Ac. 5. 29. 
 
 subjects; (2) because he now saw that it 
 was foolish, and unworthy of a king, thus 
 to assent to a law for which there was no 
 good reason, and the consequences of 
 which he had not foreseen, and (3) be 
 cause he now saw that he had involved 
 the first officer of the realm, and a man 
 of unsullied character in ruin, unless some 
 way could be devised by which the con 
 sequences of the statute could be averted. 
 It is no uncommon thing for men to be 
 displeased with themselves when they ex 
 perience the unexpected consequences of 
 their follies and their sins. An instance 
 strongly resembling that here stated, in 
 its main features, occurred at a later pe 
 riod in the history of Persia an instance 
 showing how the innocent may be in 
 volved in a general law, and how much 
 perplexity and regret may be caused by the 
 enactment of such a law. It occurred ill 
 Persia, in the persecution of Christians, 
 A. D. 344. "An edict appeared, which 
 commanded, that all Christians should be 
 thrown into chains and executed. Many 
 belonging to every rank died as martyrs. 
 Among these was a eunuch of the palace, 
 named Azades, a man greatly prized by 
 the king. So much was the latter affected 
 by his death, that he commanded that 
 the punishment of death should be in 
 flicted from thenceforth only on the lead 
 ers of the Christian sect; that is, only on 
 persons of the clerical order." Neander s 
 Church History, Torrey s Translation, vol. 
 ii. p. 110. ^[ And set his heart on Daniel 
 to deliver him. In what way he sought 
 to deliver him is not said. It would seem 
 probable from the representation in the 
 following verse, that it was by an inquiry 
 whether the statute might not properly 
 be changed or cancelled, or whether the 
 penalty might not be commuted for it 
 s said that his counsellors urged as a 
 reason for the strict infliction of the pun 
 ishment the absolute unchangeableness 
 of the statute. Perhaps he inquired 
 whether a precedent might not be found 
 for the abrogation of a law enacted by a 
 
272 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 537. 
 
 with himself, and set Aw heart on 
 Daniel to deliver him : and he la- 
 
 a Ma. 6. 26. 
 
 king by the same authority that enacted 
 it; or whether it did not come within 
 the king s prerogative to change it; or 
 whether the punishment might not be 
 commuted without injury; or whether 
 the evidence of the guilt was perfectly 
 clear; or whether he might not be par 
 doned without anything being done to 
 maintain the honour of the law. This is 
 one of the most remarkable instances on 
 record of the case of a monarch seeking 
 to deliver a subject from punishment when 
 the monarch had absolute power, and is 
 a striking illustration of the difficulties 
 which often arise in the administration 
 of justice, where the law is absolute, and 
 where justice seems to demand the inflic 
 tion of the penalty, and yet where there 
 are strong reasons why the penalty should 
 not be inflicted ; that is, why an offender 
 should be pardoned. And yet, there is 
 no improbability in this statement about 
 the perplexity of the king, for (1) there 
 were strong reasons, easily conceivable, 
 why the penalty should not be inflicted 
 in the case, because () the law had been 
 evidently devised by the crafty enemies 
 of Daniel to secure just such a result; 
 (6) Daniel had been guilty of no crime 
 no moral wrong, but had done only that 
 which should commend him more to fa 
 vour and confidence ; (c) his character 
 was every way upright and pure : (d) the 
 very worship which he had been detected 
 in had been up to that period allowed, 
 and there was no reason why it should 
 now be punished, and (e) the infliction of 
 the penalty, though strictly according to 
 the letter of the law, would be manifestly 
 a violation of justice and equity ; or, in 
 other words, it was every way desirable 
 that it should not be inflicted. Yet 
 (2) there was great difficulty in pardon 
 ing him who had offended, for (a) the 
 law was absolute in the case ; (b) the evi 
 dence was clear that Daniel had done 
 what the law forbade ; (c) the law of the 
 realm prohibited any change ; (d) the char 
 acter and government of the king were 
 involved in the case. If he interposed 
 and saved Daniel, and thus suffered the 
 law to be violated with impunity, the re 
 sult would be that there would be a want 
 of stability in his administration, and any 
 other subject could hope that he might 
 
 boured till the going do\vn of the 
 sun to deliver them. 
 
 violate the law with the same impunity. 
 Justice, and the honour of the govern 
 ment, therefore, seemed to demand that 
 the law should be enforced, and the pen 
 alty inflicted. (3) It may be added, that 
 cases of this kind are frequently occur 
 ring in the administration of law cases 
 where there is a conflict between justice 
 and mercy, and where one must be sacri 
 ficed to the other. There are numerous 
 instances in which there can be no doubt 
 that the law has been violated, and yet in 
 which strong reasons exist why the of 
 fender should be pardoned. Yet there 
 are great difficulties in the whole subject 
 of pardon, and there are more embar 
 rassments in regard to this than anything 
 else pertaining to the administration of 
 the laws. If an offence is never pardoned, 
 then the government is stern and inex 
 orable, and its administration violates 
 some of the finest and most tender feelings 
 of our nature for there are cases when 
 all the benevolent feelings of our nature 
 demand that there should be the remission 
 of a penalty cases, modified by youth, or 
 age, or sex, or temptation, or previous 
 character, or former service rendered to 
 one s country. And yet, pardon in any 
 instance always does just so much to 
 weaken the strong arm of the law. It is 
 a proclamation that in some cases crime 
 may be committed with impunity. If 
 often exercised, law loses its force, and 
 men are little deterred from crime by fear 
 of it. If it were always exercised, and a 
 proclamation were sent forth that any one 
 who committed an offence might be par 
 doned, the authority of government would 
 be at an end. Those, therefore, who 
 are entrusted with the administration 
 of the laws are often substantially in 
 the same perplexity in which Darius was 
 in respect to Daniel all whose feelings 
 incline them to mercy, and who yet see no 
 way in which it can be exercised con 
 sistently with the administration of jus 
 tice and the prevention of crime. 5[ And 
 he laboured. He sought to devise some 
 way in which it might be done. ^[ Till the 
 going down of the sun. Houbigant under- 
 stands this, " Till the sun arose;" but the 
 common rendering is probably the correct 
 one. Why that hour is mentioned, is not 
 known. It would seem from the follow- 
 
B. C. 537.] 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 273 
 
 15 Then these men assembled 
 unto the king, and said unto the 
 king, Know, O king, that the law 
 of the Medes and Persians is, That 
 no decree nor statute which the king 
 establisheth may be changed. 
 
 a Je. 26. 14. Ac. 25. 11. 
 
 16 Then the king commanded, 
 and they brought a Daniel, and cast 
 him into the den of lions. Now the 
 king spake, and said unto Daniel, 
 Thy God, whom thou servest con 
 tinually, he will deliver b thee. 
 
 b Ps. 37. 39,40; c. 3. 15, 17. 
 
 ing verse that the king was pressed by by three in breadth. The head has been 
 his counsellors to carry the decree into j lately knocked off; but when Mr. Rich 
 execution, and it is probable that the king j saw it, the statue was in a perfect state, 
 saw that the case was a perfectly clear ! and he remarks that "the mouth had a 
 one, and that nothing could be hoped for ! circular aperture into which a man might 
 from delay. The law was clear, and it i introduce his fist." The second is from 
 was equally clear that it had been vio- 1 an engraved gem, dug from the ruins of 
 lated. There was no way then but to | Babylon by Captain Mignan. It exhibits 
 suffer it to take its course. j a man standing on two sphinxes, and en- 
 
 15. Then these men assembled unto the gaged with two fierce animals, possibly 
 king. The Chaldee here is the same as intended for lions. The third is from a 
 in ver. 6, they came tuumltuously. 5 block of white marble found near the 
 They were earnest that the law should i tomb of Daniel at Susa, and thus de- 
 be executed, and they probably appre- I scribed by Sir Robert Ker Porter in his 
 hended that if the king were allowed to 4 Travels/ (vol. ii. p. 416). "It does not 
 dwell upon it, the firmness of his own i exceed ten inches in width and depth, 
 mind would give way, and that he would \ measures twenty in length, and is hollow 
 release Daniel. Perhaps they dreaded ! within, as if to receive some deposit, 
 the effect of the compunctious visitings j Three of its sides are cut in bas relief, 
 which he might have during the silence two of them with similar representations 
 of the night, and they, therefore, came of a man apparently naked, except a 
 tumultuously to hasten his decision, i sash round his waist, and a sort of cap 
 ^Know, king, that the law, &c. That | on his head. His hands are bound be- 
 is a settled matter about which there can hind him. The corner of the stono 
 be no debate or difference of opinion. It forms the neck of the figure, so that its 
 would seem that this was a point so well head forms one of its ends. Two lions 
 settled that no question could be raised ; in sitting postures appear on either side 
 in regard to it, and, to their minds, it; at the top, each having a paw on the 
 was equally clear that if this were so, it ! head of the man." See Pict. Bible in 
 was necessary that the sentence should ! loc. [ Now the king spake and said unto 
 be executed without delay. ! Daniel, Thy God, &c. What is here stated 
 
 16. Then the king commanded, <fcc. Sec i is in accordance with what is said in 
 Notes on ver. 7. Some recent discoveries j ver. 14, that the king sought earnestly 
 among the ruins of Babylon have shown | to deliver Daniel from the punishment, 
 that the mode of punishment by throwing ; He had entire confidence in him, and he 
 offenders against the laws to lions was expressed that to the last. As to the 
 actually practised there, and these dis- question of probability whether Darius, 
 coveries may be classed among the nu- ! a heathen, would attempt to comfort 
 merous instances in which modern inves- j Daniel with the hope that he would be de- 
 tigations have tended to confirm the state- livered, and would express the belief that 
 ments in the Bible. Three interesting this would bo done by that God whom he 
 figures illustrating this fact may be seen in served, and in whose cause he was about 
 the Pictorial Bible, vol. iii. p. 232. The to be exposed to peril, it may be remarked 
 first of those figures, from a block of stone, (1) That it was a common thing among 
 was found at Babylon near the great ] the heathen to believe in the interposi- 
 mass of ruin that is supposed to mark i tion of the gods in favour of the righte- 
 the site of the grand western palace. It \ ous, and particularly in favour of their 
 represents a lion standing over the body i worshippers. See Homer, passin. Hence 
 f a prostrate man, extended on a pedes- j it was that they called on them; that 
 lal which measures nino feet in length ! they committed themselves to them in 
 
274 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 537. 
 
 17 And a stone a was brought, 
 and laid upon the mouth of the den ; 
 and the king sealed b it with his own 
 signet, and with the signet of his 
 lords, that the purpose might not 
 be changed concerning Daniel. 
 
 battle and in peril; that they sought 
 their aid by sacrifices and by prayers. 
 No one can doubt that such a belief pre 
 vailed, and that the mind of Darius, in 
 accordance with the prevalent custom, 
 might be under its influence. (2) Darius, 
 undoubtedly, in accordance with the pre 
 vailing belief, regarded the God whom 
 Daniel worshipped as a god, though not 
 as exclusively the true God. He had the 
 eamo kind of confidence in him that he 
 had in any god worshipped by foreigners 
 and probably regarded him as the tute 
 lary divinity of the land of Palestine, 
 and of the Hebrew people. As he might 
 consistently express this belief in refer 
 ence to any foreign divinity, there is no 
 improbability that he would in reference to 
 the God worshipped by Daniel. (3) He 
 had the utmost confidence both in the in 
 tegrity and the piety of Daniel ; and as 
 he believed that the gods interposed in 
 human affairs, and as he saw in Daniel 
 an eminent instance of devotedness to 
 Jiis God, he did not doubt that in such a 
 case it might be hoped that he would 
 save him. 
 
 17. And a stone was brought) and laid 
 upon the mouth of the den. Probably a 
 large flat stone sufficient to cover the 
 mouth of the cave, and so heavy that 
 Daniel could not remove it from within 
 and escape. It was usual then, as it is 
 now, to close up the entrance to sepul 
 chres with a large stone. See John 
 xi. 38; Matt, xxvii. 60. It would be 
 natural to endeavour to secure this 
 vault or den in the same way on the 
 one hand so that Daniel could not escape 
 from within, and on the other so that 
 none of his friends could come and rescue 
 him from without. ^[ And the king sealed 
 it with his own signet. With his own seal. 
 That is, he affixed to the stone, probably 
 by means of clay or wax, his seal, in such 
 a way, that it could not be removed by 
 any one without breaking it, and conse 
 quently without the perpetration of a 
 crime of the highest kind for no greater 
 offence could be committed against his 
 
 18 fl Then the king went to his 
 palace, and passed the night fast 
 ing : neither were c instruments of 
 music brought before him ; and his 
 sleep went from him. 
 
 a La. 3. 53. t> Mat. 27. 66. or, table. 
 
 authority, than thus to break his seal, 
 and there could be no greater security 
 ! that the stone would not be removed, 
 i On the manner of sealing a stone in such 
 | circumstances, comp. Notes on Matt. 
 ; xxvii. 66. ^[ And with the signet of his 
 \ lords. That it might have all the security 
 I which there could be. Perhaps this was 
 i at the suggestion of his lords, and the 
 j design, on their part may have been so 
 to guard the den that the king should 
 I not release Daniel, f That the purpose 
 ! might not be changed concerning Daniel. 
 ! By the king. Probably they feared that 
 if there was not this security, the king 
 might release him ; but they presumed 
 that he would not violate the seal of the 
 great officers of the realm. It would seem 
 that some sort of concurrence between the 
 king and his nobles was required in mak 
 ing and executing the laws. 
 
 18. Then the king went to his palace, 
 and patted the night fasting. Daniel was 
 | probably cast into the den soon after the 
 going down of the sun, ver. 14. It was not 
 unusual to have suppers then late at night 
 as it is now in many places. The great 
 ; anxiety of the king, however, on account 
 i of what had occurred, prevented him 
 from participating in the usual evening 
 i meal. As to the jirobability of what ig 
 : here affirmed, no one can have any doubt 
 who credits the previous statements. In 
 ! the consciousness of wrong done to a 
 worthy officer of the government; in 
 the deep anxiety which he had to de 
 liver him; in the excitement which must 
 have existed against the cunning and 
 j wicked authors of the plot to deceive the 
 i king and to ruin Daniel ; and in his soli 
 citude and hope that after all Daniel 
 ! might escape, there is a satisfactory rea- 
 | son for the facts stated that ho had no 
 ! desire for food ; that instruments of music 
 j were not brought before him; and that 
 j he passed a sleepless night. ^Neither 
 I were instruments of music brought before 
 i him. It was usual among the ancients 
 to have music at their meals. This cus 
 tom prevailed among the Greeks and 
 
B. C. 537.J 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 275 
 
 19 Then the king arose very early | vant of the living God, is thy God, 
 in the morning, and went in haste whom thou servest continually, able 
 unto the den of lions. to deliver thee from the lions? 
 
 20 And when he came to the den, j 21 Then said Daniel unto the 
 he cried with a lamentable voice king, king, live forever. 
 
 unto Daniel : and the king spake j 22 My God hath sent his * angel, 
 and said to Daniel, O Daniel, ser- i a( , 3 28 
 
 Romans, and doubtless was common in 
 the Oriental world. It should be ob- 
 lerved, however, that there is consider 
 able variety in the interpretation of the 
 reord hero rendered instruments of music 
 l)Cn. The margin is table. The Latin 
 Vulgate, He slept supperless, neither 
 was food brought before him. The Greek 
 renders it food cdor/iara. So the Syriac. 
 Bertholdt and Gesenius render it concu 
 bines, and Saadias dancing girls. Any 
 of these significations would be appro 
 priate ; but it is impossible to determine 
 which is the most correct. The word 
 does not occur elsewhere in the Scrip 
 tures. 
 
 19. Then the king arose very early in 
 the morning, &c. No one can doubt the 
 probability of what is here said, if the 
 previous account be true. His deep 
 anxiety; his wakeful night; the re 
 morse which he endured, and his hope 
 that Daniel would be after all preserved, 
 all would prompt to an early visit to the 
 place of his confinement, and to his earn 
 estness in ascertaining whether he were 
 gtill alive. 
 
 20. He cried with, a lamentable voice. 
 A voice full of anxious solicitude. Liter 
 ally a voice of grief. Such a cry would 
 be natural on such an occasion. ^ 
 Daniel, servant of the living God. The 
 God who has life ; who imparts life ; and 
 who can preserve life. This was the 
 appellation, probably, which he had heard 
 Daniel use in regard to God, and it is 
 one which he would naturally employ on 
 such an occasion as this, feeling that the 
 question of life was entirely in his hands. 
 ^f Whom thou servest continually. At all 
 times, and in all circumstances : as a 
 captive in a distant land; in places of 
 honour and power; when surrounded by 
 the great who worship other gods ; and 
 when threatened with death for your de 
 votion to the service of God. This had 
 been the character of Daniel, and it was 
 aatural to refer to it now. 
 
 21. Then aid Daniel unto the king, 
 
 \king, live forever. The common form of 
 i salutation in addressing the king. See 
 ! Notes on ch. ii. 4. There might be more 
 than mere form in this, for Daniel may 
 have been aware of the true source of the 
 calamities that had come upon him, and 
 of the innocence of the king in the mat 
 ter ; and he doubtless recalled the interest 
 , which the king had shown in him when 
 , about to be cast into the den of lions, and 
 his expression of confidence that his God 
 would be able to deliver him (ver. 16), 
 i and he could not but have been favour 
 ably impressed by the solicitude which 
 the monarch now showed for his wel 
 fare in thus early visiting him, and by 
 his anxiety to know whether he were 
 ; still alive. 
 
 22. My God hath sent his angel. It 
 was common among the Hebrews to attri 
 bute any remarkable preservation from 
 danger to the intervention of an angel 
 sent from God, and no one can demon 
 strate that it did not occur as they sup 
 posed. There is no more absurdity in 
 supposing that God employs an an 
 gelic being to defend his people, or to 
 impart blessings to them, than there 
 is in supposing that ho employs one 
 human being to render important aid, 
 and to convey important blessings to an- 
 ! other. As a matter of fact, few of the 
 favours which God bestows upon men 
 are conveyed to them directly from him 
 self, but they are mostly imparted by 
 the instrumentality of others. So it is in 
 the blessings of liberty, in deliverance 
 from bondage, in the provision made for 
 our wants, in the favour bestowed on us 
 in infancy and childhood. As this prin- 
 ciple prevails everywhere on the earth, 
 it is not absurd to suppose that it may 
 prevail elsewhere, and that on important 
 occasions, and on instances above the 
 rank of human intervention, God may 
 employ the instrumentality of higher 
 beings to defend his people in trouble, 
 and rescue them from danger. Comp. 
 Ps. xxxiv. 7, xci. 11 ; Dan. ix. 21 ; Matt 
 
276 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 537. 
 
 and hath shut the a lions mouths, 
 that they have not hurt me : foras 
 much as before him innoeency b was 
 found in me ; and also before thee, 
 king, have I done no hurt. 
 
 23 Then was the king exceeding 
 glad for him, and commanded that 
 
 * He. 11. 33. * Pa. 18. 20, 24; 26. 6. 
 
 they should take Daniel up out of 
 the den. So Daniel was takon up 
 out of the den, and no manner of 
 hurt was found upon him, because 
 he believed in his God. 
 
 241J And the king commanded, and 
 they brought those men c which had 
 
 c De. 19. 19. 
 
 xviii. 10; Luke xvi. 22; Heb. i. 14. 
 Daniel does not say whether the angel 
 was visible or not, but it is rather to bo 
 presumed that he was, as in this way it 
 would bo more certainly known to him 
 that he owed his deliverance to the inter 
 vention of an angel, and as this would be 
 to him a manifest token of the favour 
 find protection of God. ^[ And hath shut 
 the lion* mouths. It is clear that Daniel 
 supposed that this was accomplished by 
 a miracle ; and this is the only satisfac 
 tory solution of what had occurred. 
 There is, moreover, no more objection to 
 the supposition that this was a miracle 
 than there is to any miracle whatever, 
 for (a) there is no more fitting occasion 
 for the divine intervention than when a 
 good man is in danger, and (6) the object 
 to be accomplished on the mind of the 
 king, and through him on the minds of 
 the people at large, was worthy of such 
 an interposition. The design was evi 
 dently to impress the mind of the mon 
 arch with the belief of the existence of the 
 true God, and to furnish in the court of 
 Babylon proof that should be convincing 
 that he is the only God. ^[ Forasmuch 
 as before him innocency icas found in me. 
 
 (1) Absolute innocency in reference to 
 the question of guilt on the point in which 
 ho had been condemned he having done 
 only that which God approved ; and 
 
 (2) general integrity and uprightness of 
 character. We need not suppose that 
 Daniel claimed to be absolutely perfect 
 (comp. ch. ix.), but we may suppose that 
 he means to say that God saw that 
 ho was what he professed to be, and 
 that his life was such as he approved. 
 1[ And also before thee, ki<j, have I 
 done no hurt. That is, he had in no man 
 ner violated his duty to the king; he 
 bad done nothing that tended to over 
 throw his government, or to spread dis 
 affection among his subjects. 
 
 23. Then the king was exceeding glad 
 for him. On account of Daniel. That 
 
 is, he was rejoiced for the sake of Daniel 
 that he had received no hurt, and that 
 he might be restored to his place, and 
 , be useful again in the government. 
 
 24. And the Icing commanded, and they 
 brought those men which had accused Dan- 
 \ iel, &c. It would seem probable that the 
 | king had been aware of their wicked de- 
 | signs against Daniel, and had been satis- 
 | fied that the whole was the result of a 
 I conspiracy, but he felt himself under a 
 I necessity of allowing the law to take its 
 ] course on him whom he believed to be 
 i really innocent. That had been done. All 
 | that the law could be construed as requiring 
 | had been accomplished. It could not be 
 | pretended that the law required that any 
 \ other punishment should be inflicted on 
 Daniel, and the way was now clear to 
 deal with the authors of the malicious 
 plot as they deserved. No one can rea 
 sonably doubt the probability of what is 
 here said in regard to the conspirators 
 against Daniel. The king had arbitrary 
 power. He was convinced of their guilt. 
 His wrath had been with difficulty re 
 strained when he understood the nature 
 of the plot against Daniel. Nothing, 
 therefore, was more natural than that he 
 should subject the guilty to the same pun 
 ishment which they had sought to bring 
 upon the innocent; nothing more natural 
 than that a proud despot who saw that, 
 by the force of a law which he could not 
 control, he had been made a tool in sub 
 jecting the highest officer of the realm, 
 and the best man in it, to peril of 
 death, that he should, without any delay, 
 wreak his vengeance on those who had 
 thus made use of him to gratify their own 
 malignant passions. 1[ Them, and their 
 children, and their wives. This was in 
 accordance with Oriental notions of jus. 
 tice, and was often done. It is said ex 
 pressly by Ammianus Marcellinus (23. 6. 
 81,) to have been a custom among the 
 Persians : The laws among them [th 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 B. C. 537.] 
 
 accused Daniel, and they cast them 
 into the den of lions, them, their 
 * children, and their wives ; and the 
 lions had the b mastery of them, and 
 brake all their bones in pieces or 
 ever they came at the bottom of the 
 den. 
 
 DC. 24. 16 ; 2 Ki. 14. 6 ; Es. 9. 10. * Pa. 54. 5. 
 
 Persians] are formidable: among which 
 those which are enacted against the un 
 grateful and deserters, and similar abom 
 inable crimes, surpass others in cruelty, 
 by which, on account of the guilt of one, 
 all the kindred perish per quas ob noxam 
 unius omnis propinquitas perit. So Cur- 
 tius says of the Macedonians : It is en- 
 Rcted by law that the kindred of those 
 who conspire against the king shall be 
 put to death with them. Instances of 
 this kind of punishment are found among 
 the Hebrews (Josh. vii. 24 ; 2 Sam. xxi. 5, 
 eeq.), though it was forbidden by the law 
 of Moses, in judicial transactions. Deut. 
 xxiv. 16. Comp. also Ezek. xviii. Mauer, 
 in loc. In regard to this transaction, we 
 may observe fa) that nothing is more pro 
 bable than that this would occur, since, 
 as appears from the above quotations, it 
 was often done, and there was nothing in 
 the character of Darius that would prevent 
 it, though it seems to us to be so unjust. 
 (b) It was the act of a heathen monarch, 
 and it is not necessary in order to defend 
 the Scripture narrative, to vindicate the 
 justice of the transaction. The record 
 may be true, though the thing itself was 
 evil and wrong, (c) Yet the same thing 
 substantially occurs in the course of Pro 
 vidence, or the administration of justice 
 now. Nothing is more common than that 
 the wife and children of a guilty man 
 should suffer on account of the sin of the 
 husband and father. Who can recount 
 the woes that come upon a family 
 through the intemperance of a father? 
 And in cases where a man is condemned 
 for crime, the consequences are not con- 1 
 fined to himself. In shame, and mortifi- j 
 cation, and disgrace; in the anguish ex- 1 
 perienced when he dies on a gibbet; in; 
 the sad remembrance of that disgraceful 
 death; in the loss of one who might have j 
 provided for their wants, and been their ! 
 protector and counsellor, the wife and j 
 Children always suffer; and, though this 
 look another form in ancien/ times, and 
 24 
 
 277 
 
 25 ^ Then c king Darius wrote unto 
 all people, nations, and languages, 
 that dwell in all the earth ; Peace be 
 multiplied unto you. 
 
 26 I make a decree, That in every 
 dominion of my kingdom men d trem 
 ble and fear before the God of Dan- 
 
 c c. 4. i. d PS. 99.1. 
 
 when adopted as a principle of punish 
 ment, is not in accordance with our sense 
 of justice in administering laws, yet it is 
 a principle which pervades the world 
 for the effects of crime cannot and do not 
 terminate on the guilty individual him 
 self. ^| And the lions had the mastery of 
 them. As the divine restraint furnished 
 for the protection of Daniel was with 
 drawn, they acted out their proper nature. 
 ^[ And brake all their bones in pieces or 
 ever, &c. Literally, they did not come to 
 the bottom of the den until the lions had 
 the mastery of them, and brake all their 
 bones. They seized upon them as they 
 fell, and destroyed them. 
 
 25. Then kiny Darius wrote unto all 
 people, &c. Comp. Notes on chs. ii. 47, 
 iii. 29, iv. 1. If there is a probability that 
 Nebuchadnezzar would make such a pro 
 clamation as he did, there is no less pro 
 bability that the same thing would be 
 done by Darius. Indeed, it is manifest 
 on the face of the whole narrative that 
 one great design of all that occurred was 
 to proclaim the knowledge of the true 
 God, and to secure his recognition. That 
 object was worthy of the divine interposi 
 tion, and the facts in the case show that 
 God has power to induce princes and 
 rulers to recognize his existence and per 
 fections, and his government over the 
 earth. 
 
 26. I make a decree. Comp. ch. iii. 29. 
 ^[ That in every dominion of my kingdom. 
 Every department, or province. The en 
 tire kingdom or empire was made up of 
 several kingdoms, as Media, Persia, Ba 
 bylonia, &c. The meaning is, that he 
 wished the God of Daniel to be honoured 
 and reverenced throughout the whole em 
 pire. ^[ Men tremble and fear before the 
 God of Daniel. That they honour and 
 reverence him as God. There is no cer 
 tain evidence that he meant that he should 
 be honoured as the only God, but the pro 
 bability is, that he meant that he should 
 be recognized as a God of great power and 
 
27S 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 537, 
 
 iel : for he is the living God, and in heaven and in earth, \vho hath 
 steadfast for ever, and his kingdom delivered Daniel from the e power 
 *that which shall not be destroyed, of the lions. 
 
 28 So this Daniel prospered in 
 the reign of Darius, and in the reign 
 of f Cyrus the Persian. 
 
 and his dominion shall be even unto 
 the end. 
 
 27 He c delivereth and rescueth, 
 and he worketh d signs and wonders 
 
 c. 4. 34. b c.2.44. cp s .is. 50; 32. 7. 
 
 glory, and as worthy of universal rever- far above all human power. If he had 
 How far this heathen monarch done it on earth in the case of Daniel, it 
 
 d c. 4. 3. 
 fc. 1.21. 
 
 e hand. 
 Ezr. 1. 1, 2. 
 
 heaven. Comp. Notes ch iv. 2, 3. 
 power of the lions. Marg., hand. 
 
 might still regard the other deities wor 
 shipped in the empire as gods, or how far 
 his own heart might be disposed to hon 
 our the God of Daniel, there are no means 
 of ascertaining. It was much, however, 
 that so great a monarch should be led to 
 make a proclamation acknowledging the 
 God of Daniel as having a real existence, 
 and as entitled to universal reverence. 
 5f For he is the living God. An appella 
 tion often given to God in the Scriptures, 
 and probably learned by Darius from 
 Daniel. It is not, however, absolutely 
 certain that Darius would attach all the 
 ideas to these phrases which Daniel did, 
 or which we would. The attributes here 
 ascribed to God are correct, and the views 
 expressed are far beyond any that pre 
 vailed among the neathen, but still it 
 would not be proper to suppose that Da 
 rius certainly had all the views of God 
 which these words would convey to us now. 
 ^[ And steadfast forever. That is, he is 
 always the same. He ever lives ; he has 
 power over all; his kingdom is on an im 
 movable foundation. He is not, in his 
 government, to cease to exist, and to be 
 succeeded by another who shall occupy 
 his throne. ^ And his kingdom that which 
 thall not lie destroyed, &c. See Notes on 
 ch. iv. 3, 34. The similarity between the 
 language used here, and that employed 
 by Nebuchadnezzar, shows that it was 
 probably derived from the same source. 
 It is to be presumed that both monarchs 
 expressed the views which they had 
 learned from Daniel. 
 
 27. He delivereth and rescueth. As in 
 the case of Daniel. This attribute would 
 of course be prominent in the view of Da 
 rius, since so remarkable an instance of his 
 power had been recently manifested in j 
 
 rescuing Daniel. ^[ And he worketh signal xrom luis uuapier we may 
 tind wonders, &c. Performs miracles I following instructive practical 
 
 was fair to infer that he did it also in 
 
 I The 
 The 
 
 hand is the instrument of power. The 
 word paw would express the idea here, 
 and would accord with the meaning, as 
 it is usually with the paw that the lion 
 strikes down his prey before he de 
 vours it. 
 
 28. So this Daniel prospered in the 
 reign of Darius. That is, to the end of 
 his reign. It is fairly implied here that 
 he was restored to his honours. ^[ And 
 in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Cyrus 
 the Great, the nephew and successor of 
 Darius. For an account of Cyrus, see 
 Notes on Isa. Ixi. 2. How long during the 
 reign of Cyrus, Daniel prospered or lived 
 is not said. During a part of the reign of 
 Darius or Cyaxares, he was occupied 
 busily in securing by his influence the 
 welfare of his own people, and making 
 arrangements for their return to their 
 land; and his high post in the nation to 
 which, under divine Providence, he had 
 doubtless been raised for.this purpose, en 
 abled him to render essential and invalu 
 able service at the court. In the third 
 year of Cyrus, we are informed (ch. 
 x xii.), he had a series of visions re 
 specting the future history and sufferings 
 of his nation to the period of their true 
 redemption through the Messiah, as also a 
 consolatory direction to himself to proceed 
 calmly and peaceably to the end of his 
 days, and then await patiently the resur 
 rection of the dead, ch. xii. 12, 13. From 
 that period the accounts respecting him 
 are vague, confused, and even strange, 
 and little or nothing is known of the time 
 or circumstances of the death. (Cotnp. 
 Intro. 1.) 
 
 From this chapter we may derive tb 
 
B.C. 537.] CHAPTER VI 279 
 
 (1) We have an instance of what often occurs in the world of envy on account ( the excel 
 lency of others, and of the honours which they obtain by their talent and their worth, vs. 1 4. 
 Nothing is more frequent than such envy, and nothing more common, as a consequence, than 
 a determination to degrade those who are the subjects of it. Knvy always seeks in some way 
 to humble and mortify those who are distinguished. It is the pain, mortification, chagrin, and 
 regret which we have at their superior excellence or prosperity, and this prompts us to endea 
 vour to bring them down to our own level, or below it; to calumniate their characters; to hin 
 der their prosperity ; to embarrass them in their plans; to take up and circulate rumours to 
 their disadvantage; to magnify their faults, or to fasten upon them the suspicion of crime. In 
 the instance before us, we see the effect in a most guilty conspiracy against a man of incorrupti 
 ble character ; a man full in the confidence of his sovereign ; a man eminently the friend of 
 virtue and of God. 
 
 Envy will merit, as its shade, pursue ; 
 
 But like a shadow, proves the substance true. 
 
 [Pope, Essay on Criticism. 
 
 Base envy withers at another s joy, 
 
 And hates that excellence it cannot reach. 
 
 [Thompson, Seasons. 
 
 Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, 
 
 Thou shalt not escape calumny. [Shakespeare. 
 
 That thou art blamed shalt not be thy defect ; 
 
 For slander s mark was ever yet the fair ; 
 
 So thou be good, slander doth yet approve 
 
 Thy worth the greater. [Shakespeare. 
 
 (2) We have in this chapter (vs. 4 9), a striking illustration of the nature and the evils of a 
 conspiracy to ruin others. The plan here was deliberately formed to ruin Daniel the best man 
 in the realm a man against whom no charge of guilt could be alleged, who had done the con 
 spirators no wrong ; who had rendered himself in no way amenable to the laws. A conspiracy* 
 is a combination of men for evil purposes ; an agreement between two or more persons to commit 
 some crime in concert, usually treason, or an insurrection against a government or state. In 
 this case, it was a plot growing wholly out of envy or jealousy ; a concerted agreement to ruin a 
 good man, where no wrong had been done or could be pretended, and no crime had been committed. 
 The essential things in this conspiracy, as in all other cases of conspiracy, were two : (a) that the 
 
 Purpose was evil ; and (b) that it was to be accomplished by the combined influences of numbers. 
 he means on which they relied, or the grounds of calculation on the success of their plot, were 
 the following: (1) that they could calculate on the unwavering integrity of Daniel on his firm 
 and faithful adherence to the principles of his religion in all circumstances, and in all times of 
 temptation and trial ; and (2) that they could induce the king to pass a law, irrepealable from the 
 nature of the case, which Daniel would be certain to violate, and to the penalty of which, there 
 fore, he would be certainly exposed. Now in this purpose there was every element of iniquity, 
 and the grossest conceivable wrong. There were combined all the evils of envy and malice ; 
 of perverting and abusing their influence over the king ; of secresy in taking advantage of one 
 who did not suspect any such design ; and of involving the king himself in the necessity of 
 exposing the best man in his realm, and the highest officer of state, to the certain danger of 
 death. The result, however, showed, as is often the case, that the evil recoiled on themselves, 
 and that the very calamity overwhelmed them and their families which they had designed for 
 another. 
 
 (3) We have here a striking instance of what often occurs, and what should always occur, 
 among the friends of religion, that no occasion can be found against them except in regard to 
 the law of their God on the score of their religion, ver. 5. Daniel was known to be upright. 
 His character for integrity was above suspicion. It was certain that there was no hope of bring 
 ing any charge against him that would lie, for any want of uprightness or honesty ; for any 
 failure in the discharge of the duties of his office ; for any malversation in administering the 
 affairs of the government; for any embezzlement of the public funds, or for any act of injustice 
 towards his fellow-men. It was certain that his character was irreproachable on all these 
 points; and it was equally certain that he did and would maintain unwavering fidelity in the 
 duties of religion. Whatever consequences might follow from it, it was clear that they could 
 calculate on his maintaining with faithfulness the duties of piety. Whatever plot, therefore, 
 could be formed against him on the basis either of his moral integrity, or his piety, it was cer 
 tain would be successful. But there was no hope in regard to the former, for no law could have 
 been carried prohibiting his doing what was right on the subject of morals. The only hope, 
 therefore, was in respect to his religion ; and the main idea in their plot the thing which con 
 stituted the basis of their plan was, that it was certain that Daniel would maintain his fidelity to 
 his God irrespective of any consequences whatever. This certainty ought to exist in, regard to 
 every good man ; every man professing religion. His character ought to be so well-understood ; 
 his piety ought to be so firm, unwavering, and consistentMbatit could be calculated on just as 
 certainly as we calculate on the stability of the laws of tuBnrev that ho will be found faithful 
 
280 DANIEL. [B. C. 537 
 
 /o his religious duties and obligations. There are such men. and the character of every mat 
 should be such. Then indeed we should know what to depend on in the world ; then religion 
 would be respected as it should be. 
 
 (4) "We may learn what is our duty when we arc opposed in the exercise of our religion, or 
 when we arc in any way threatened with loss of office, or of property, on account of our religion, 
 ver. 10. We arc to persevere in the discharge of our religious duties, whatever may be the conse 
 quences. So far as the example of Daniel goes, this would involve two things : (a) not to swerve 
 from the faithful performance of duty, or not to be deterred from it ; and (b) not to change our 
 course from any desire of display. These two things were manifested by Daniel. lie kept 
 steadily on his way. He did not abridge the number of times of his daily devotion ; nor, as far 
 as appears, did he change the form or the length. He did not cease to pray in an audible voice ; 
 he did not give up prayer in the day time, and pray only at night; he did not even close his 
 windows ; he did not take any precautions to pray when none were near; he did not withdraw 
 into an inner chamber. At the same time, he made no changes in his devotion for the sake of 
 ostentation. He did not open his windows before closed; he did not go into the street; he did 
 not call around him his friends or foes to witness his devotions ; he did not, as far as appears, 
 either elevate his voice, or prolong his prayers, in order to attract attention, or to invite perse 
 cution. In all this he manifested the true spirit of religion, and set an example to men to be 
 followed in all ages. Not by the loss of fame or money; by the dread of persecution, or con 
 tempt of death ; by the threatenings of law or the fear of shame, are we to be deterred from 
 the proper and the usual performance of our religious duties ; nor by a desire to provoke perse 
 cution, and to win the crown of martyrdom, and to elicit applause, and to have our names bla 
 zoned abroad, are we to multiply our religious acts, or make an ostentatious display of them, 
 when we are threatened, or when we know that our conduct will excite opposition. We are to 
 ascertain what is right and proper ; and then we are modestly and firmly to do it, no matter 
 what may be the consequences. Comp. Matt. v. 16; Acts iv. Ib 20, v. 29. 
 
 (5) We have, in the case of Darius, an instance of what often happens, the regret and anguish 
 which the mind experiences in consequence of a rash act, when it cannot be repaired, ver. 14. 
 The act of Darius in making the decree was eminently a rash one. It was done without 
 deliberation, at the suggestion of others, and probably under the influence of some very im 
 proper feeling the desire of being esteemed as a god. But it had consequences which he did 
 not foresee consequences which, if he had foreseen them, would doubtless have prevented his 
 giving a sanction to this iniquitous law. The state of mind which he experienced when he saw 
 how the act involved the best officer in his government, and the best man in his realm, was just 
 what might have been expected, and is an illustration of what often occurs. It was too late 
 now to prevent the effects of the act ; and his mind was overwhelmed with remorse and sorrow. 
 lie blamed himself for his folly; and he sought in vain for some way to turn aside the conse 
 quences which he now deplored. Such instances often occur : (a) many of our acts are rasJt. 
 They are performed without deliberation ; under the influence of improper passions ; at the 
 suggestion of others who would be thought to be our friends; and without any clear view of 
 the consequences, or any concern as to what the result may be. (b) As an effect, they often 
 have consequences which we did not anticipate, and which would have deterred us in each in 
 stance had we foreseen them, (c) They often produce regret and anguish when too late, and 
 when we cannot prevent the evil. The train of evils which has been commenced it is now too 
 late to retard or prevent, and they now inevitably come upon us. We can only stand and weep 
 over the effects of our rashness and folly ; and must now feel that if the evil is averted, it will 
 be by the interposition of God alone. 
 
 (6) We have in this chapter an affecting instance of the evils which often arise in a human 
 government from the want of something like an atonement, ver. 14, seq. As has been remarked 
 in the Notes, cases often arise when it is desirable that pardon should be extended to the vio 
 lators of law. See Notes on ver. 14. In such cases, some such arrangement as that of an atone 
 ment, by which the honour of the law might be maintained, and at the same, time the merciful 
 feelings of an executive might be indulged, and the benevolent wishes of a community grati 
 fied, would remove difficulties which are now felt in every human administration. The 
 difficulties in the case, and the advantage which would arise from an atonement, may be seen 
 by a brief reference to the circumstances of the case before us: (a) the law was inexorable. 
 It demanded punishment, as all law does for no law in itself makes any provision for par 
 don. If it did it would be a burlesque on all legislation. Law denounces penalty ; it does 
 not pardon, or show mercy. It has become necessary indeed to lodge a pardoning power with 
 some man intrusted with the administration of the laws, but the pardon is not extended by the 
 law itself. (/y)The anxiety of the king in the case is an illustration of what often occurs in the 
 administration of law, for, as above observed, there are cases where, on many accounts, it would 
 *eem to be desirable that the penalty of the law should not be inflicted. Such a case was that 
 of Dr. Dodd, in London, in which a petition, signed by thirty thousand names, was presented, 
 praying for the remission of the penalty of death. Such a case was that of Major Andre, when 
 Washington shed tears at the necessity of signing the death-warrant of so young and so accom 
 plished an officer. Such cases often occur, in which there is the deepest anxiety in the bosom 
 of an executive to see if there is not some way by which the infliction of the penalty of the law 
 may be avoided, (c) Yet there was^n the case of Darius no possibility of a change, and this 
 too is an illustration of what often occurs. The law was inexorable. It could not be repealed. 
 Bo now there are instances where the penalty of law cannot be avoided consistently with 
 the welfare of a community. Punishment must be inflicted, or all law become a nullity. An 
 
B. C. 537.] CHAPTER VI. 281 
 
 instance of this kind was that of Dr. Dodd. He was convicted of forgery. So important had it 
 been deemed for the welfare of a commercial community that that crime should be prevented, 
 that no one ever had been pardoned for it, and it was felt that no one should be. Such an in 
 stance was that of Major Andre. The safety and welfare of the whole army, and the success of 
 the cause, seemed to demand that the offence should not go unpunished. Yet (c) there arc 
 difficulties in extending pardon to the guilty : (I) if it is done at all, it always does HO much to 
 weaken the strong arm of the law, and if often done, it makes law a nullity, and (2) if it is never 
 done, the law seems stern and inexorable, and the finer feelings of our nature, and the benevo 
 lent wishes of the community, are disregarded, (d) These difficulties are obviated by an atone 
 ment. The things which are accomplished in the atonement made under the divine govern 
 ment, we think, so far as this point is concerned, and which distinguishes pardon in the divine 
 administration from pardon everywhere else, relieving it from all the embarrassments felt in 
 other governments, are the following : (1) there is the utmost respect paid to the law. It is 
 honoured (a) in the personal obedience of the Lord Jesus, and (fc)in the sacrifice which he made 
 on the cross to maintain its dignity, and to show that it could not bo violated with impunity 
 more honoured by far than it would be by the perfect obedience of man himself, or by its pen 
 alty being borne by the sinner. (2) Pardon can be offered to any extent, or to any number of 
 offenders. All the feelings of benevolence and mercy can be indulged and gratified in the most 
 free manner for now that an atonement is made, all proper honour has been shown to the 
 law and to the claims of justice, and no interest will suffer though the most ample proclama 
 tion of pardon is issued. There is but one government in the universe that can safely to itself 
 make an unlimited offer of pardon that is the government of God. There is not a human 
 government that could safely make the offer which we meet everywhere in the Bible, that 
 all offences may be forgiven ; that all violators of law may be pardoned. If such a procla 
 mation were made, there is no earthly administration that could hope to stand; no com 
 munity which would not soon become the prey of lawless plunder and robbery. The reason, 
 and the sole reason, why it can be done in the divine administration is, that an atonement has 
 been made by which the honour of the law has been secured, and by which it is shown that, 
 while pardon is extended to all, the law is to be honoured, and can never be violated with 
 Impunity. (3) The plan of pardon by the atonement secures the observance of the law on 
 the part of those who are pardoned. This can never be depended on when an offender against 
 human Laws is pardoned, and when a convict is discharged from the penitentiary. So far as 
 the effect of punishment, or any influence from the act of pardon is concerned, there is no 
 security that the pardoned convict will not, as his first act, force a dwelling or commit murder. 
 But in the case of all who are pardoned through the atonement, it is made certain that they 
 will be obedient to the laws of God, and that their lives will be changed from sin to holiness 
 from disobedience to obedience. This has been secured by incorporating into the plan a provi 
 sion by which the heart shall be changed before pardon is granted : not as the ground or reason 
 of pardon, but as essential to it. The heart of the sinner is renewed by the Holy Ghost, and ho 
 becomes in fact obedient, and is disposed to lead a life of holiness. Thus every hindrance which 
 exists in a human government to pardon is removed in the divine administration : the honour of 
 law is secured; the feelings of benevolence are gratified, and the sinner becomes obedient and 
 holy. 
 
 (7) \Ve have in this chapter (ver. 16) an instance of the confidence which wicked men are con 
 strained to express in the true God, Darius had no doubt that the God whom Daniel served 
 was able to protect and deliver him. The same may be said now. Wicked men know that it 
 is safe to trust in God ; that he is able to save his friends ; that there is more security in the 
 ways of virtue than in the ways of sin ; and that when human help fails, it is proper to repose 
 Dn the Almighty arm. There is a feeling in the human heart that they who confide in God 
 are safe, and that it is proper to rely on his arm; and even a wicked father will not hesitate to 
 exhort a Christian son or daughter to serve their God- faithfully, and to confide in him in the 
 trials and temptations of life. Ethan Allen of Vermont, distinguished in the American revo 
 lution, was an infidel. His wife was an eminent Christian. When he was about to die, he was 
 asked which of the two he wished his son to imitate in his religious views his father or his 
 mother. He replied, His mother. 
 
 (8) The righteous may look for the divine protection and favour (ver. 22); that is, it is 
 an advantage in this world of danger, and temptation, and trial, to be truly religious; or, 
 in other words, those who are righteous may confidently expect the divine interposition in 
 their behalf. It is, indeed, a question of some difficulty, but of much importance, to what 
 extent, and in what forms we are authorized now to look for the divine interposition in our 
 behalf, or what is the real benefit of religion in this world, so far as tho divine protection is 
 concerned; and on this point it seems not inappropriate to lay down a few principles that 
 may be of use, and that may be a proper application of the passage before us to our own cir 
 cumstances : 
 
 (A) There is then a class of Scripture promises that refer to such protection, and that lead us 
 to believe that we may look for the divine interference in favour of the righteous, or that there 
 is, in this respect, an advantage in true religion. In support of this, reference may be made 
 to the following, among other passages of Scripture: Ps. xxxiv. 7, 17 22; Iv. 22; xci. 1 8; 
 Isa. xliii. 1, 2; Luke xii. 6,7; Heb. i. 14, xiii. 5, 6. 
 
 (B) In regard to the proper interpretation of these passages, or to the nature and extent of 
 the divine interposition which we may expect in behalf of the righteous, it nuy be remarked 
 
 24* 
 
282 DANIEL. [B. C. 537, 
 
 J. That vre fire not to expect now the following things : 
 
 (a) The divine interposition by miracle. It is the common opinion of the Christian -world 
 that the age of miracles is past, and certainly there is nothing in the Bible that authorizes us 
 to expect that God will now interpose for us in that manner. It would be a wholly illogical 
 inference, however, to maintain that there never has been any such interposition in behalf of 
 the righteous since a reason may have existed for such an interposition in former times -which 
 may not exist now. 
 
 (6) \Ve are not authorized to expect that God will interpose by sending his angels visibly to 
 protect and deliver us in the day of peril. The fair interpretation of those passages of Scripture 
 which refer to that subject, as Ps. xxxiv. 7, Heb. i. 14, does not require us to believe that there 
 will be such interposition, and there is no evidence that such interposition takes place. This 
 fact, however, should not be regarded as proof, cither (1) that no such visible interposition has 
 ever occurred in former times since it in no way demonstrates that point ; or (2) that the 
 angels may not interpose in our behalf now, though to us invisible. For any thing that can be 
 proved to the contrary, it may still be true that the angels may be, invisibly, ministering 
 spirits to those who shall be heirs of salvation, and that they may be sent to accompany the 
 souls of the righteous on their way to heaven, as they were to conduct Lazarus to Abraham s 
 bosom. Luke xvi. 22. 
 
 (c) We are not authorized to expect that God will set aside the regular laws of nature in our 
 behalf that he -will thus interpose for us in regard to diseases, to pestilence, to storms, to mil 
 dew, to the ravages of the locust or the caterpillar for this would be a miracle, and all the 
 interposition which we are entitled to expect must be consistent with the belief that the laws 
 of nature will be regarded. 
 
 (d) We are not authorized to expect that the righteous will never be overwhelmed with the 
 wicked in calamity that in an explosion on a steamboat, in a shipwreck, in fire or flood, in an 
 earthquake or in the pestilence, that they will not be cut down together. To suppose that God 
 would directly interpose in behalf of his people in such cases, would be to suppose that there 
 would be miracles still, and there is nothing in the Bible, or in the facts that occur, to justify 
 such an expectation. 
 
 II. The divine interposition which we are authorized to expect, may be referred to under the 
 following particulars : 
 
 (a) All events, great and small, are under the control of the God who loves righteousness 
 the God of the righteous. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without his notice; not an event 
 happens without his permission. If, therefore, calamity comes upon the righteous, it is not 
 because the world is without control ; it is not because God could not prevent it; it must be 
 because he sees it best that it should be so. 
 
 (b) There is a general course of events that is favourable to virtue and religion ; that is, there 
 is a state of things on earth which demonstrates that there is amoral government over men. 
 The essence of such a government, as Bishop Butler (Analogy) has shown, is, that virtue, in the 
 course of things, is rewarded as virtue, and that vice is punished as vice. This course of things 
 is so settled and clear as to show that God is the friend of virtue and religion, and the enemy 
 of rice and irreligion that is, that, under bis administration, the one, as a great law, has a 
 tendency to promote happiness ; the other to produce misery. But if so, there is an advantage 
 in being righteous; or there is a divine interposition in behalf of the righteous. 
 
 (c) There are large classes of evils which a man will certainly avoid by virtue and religion, 
 and those evils are among the most severe that afflict mankind. A cours* of virtue and reli 
 gion will make it certain that those evils will never come upon him or his family. Thus, for 
 example, by so simple a thing as total abstinence from intoxicating drinks, a man will certainly 
 avoid all the evils that afflict the drunkard the poverty, disease, disgrace, wretchedness, and ruin 
 of body and soul which are certain to follow from intemperance. By chastity, a man will avoid 
 the woes that come, in the righteous visitation of God, on the debauchee, in the form of the 
 most painful and loathsome of the diseases that afflict our race. By integrity, a man will avoid 
 the evils of imprisonment for crime, and the disgrace which attaches to its committal. And 
 by religion pure religion by the calmness of mind which it produces: the confidence in 
 God; the cheerful submission to his will; the contentment which it causes, and the hopes of a 
 better world which it inspires, a man will certainly avoid a large class of evils which unsettle 
 the mind, and which fill with wretched victims the asylum for the insane. Let a man take up 
 the report of an insane asylum, and ask what proportion of its inmates would have been saved 
 from so fearful a malady by true religion by the calmness which it produces in trouble ; by 
 its influence in moderating the passions and restraining the desires; by the acquiesence in 
 the will of God which it produces, and he will be surprised at the number which would have 
 been saved it from the dreadful evils of insanity. As an illustration of this, I took up the 
 Report of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane for the year 18,50, which happened to bo 
 lying before me, and looked to see what were the causes of insanity in regard to the inmates 
 of the Asylum, with a view to the inquiry what proportion of them would probably have been 
 saved from it by the proper influence of religion. Of 1599 patients whose cases were referred 
 to, I found the following, a large part of whom, it may be supposed, would have been saved 
 from insanity if their minds had been under the proper influence of the gospel of Christ, re 
 straining them from sin, moderating their passions, checking their desires, and giving them 
 calmness and submission in the midst of trouble: 
 
B.C. 555.] CHAPTER VII. 283 
 
 Intemperance, ...... -65 
 
 Loss of property, - - 72 
 
 Dread of poverty, ..... -2 
 
 Intense study, .......19 
 
 Domestic difficulties, ....... 48 
 
 Grief for the loss of friends, ...... 77 
 
 Intense application to business, - - - 13 
 
 Religious excitement, ...... 61 
 
 Want of employment, - - - - - . -24 
 
 Mortified pride, ....... 3 
 
 Use of opium and tobacco, - - iO 
 
 Mental anxiety, ....... 77 
 
 (d) There are cases where God seems to interpose in behalf of the righteous directly, ia 
 answer to prayer, in. times of sickness, poverty, and danger raising them up from the bor 
 ders of the grave; providing for their wants in a manner which appears to be as providential 
 as when the ravens fed Elijah, and rescuing them from danger. There are numerous such 
 cases which cannot be well accounted for on any other supposition than that God does directly 
 interpose in their behalf, and show them these mercies because they are his friends. These are 
 not miracles. The purpose to do this was a part of the original plan when the world was made, 
 and the prayer and the interposition are only the fulfilling of the eternal decree. 
 
 (e) God does interpose in behalf of his children in giving them support and consolation ; in 
 fiustaining them in the time of trial ; in upholding them in bereavement and sorrow, and in 
 granting them peace as they go into the valley of the shadow of death. The evidence here is 
 clear, that there is a degree of comfort and peace given to true Christians in such seasons, and 
 given in consequence of their religion, which is not granted to the wicked, and to which the de 
 votees of the world are strangers. And if these things are so, then it is clear that there is an 
 advantage in this life in being righteous, and that God does now interpose in the course of 
 events, and in the day of trouble, in behalf of his friends. 
 
 (9) God often overrules the malice of men to make himself known, and constrains the wicked 
 to acknowledge him, vs. 25 27. Darius, like Nebuchadnezzar, was constrained to acknowledge 
 him as the true God, and to make proclamation of this throughout his vast empire. So, often 
 by his providence, God constrains the wicked to acknowledge him as the true God, and as 
 ruling in the affairs of men. His interpositions are so apparent; his works are so vast; the 
 proofs of his administration are so clear ; and he so defeats the counsels of the wicked, that 
 they cannot but feel that he rules, and they cannot but acknowledge and proclaim it. It is in 
 this way that from age to age God is raising up a great number of witnesses even among the 
 wicked to acknowledge his existence, and to proclaim the great truths of his government ; and 
 it is in this way, among others, that he is constraining the intellect of the world to bow before 
 him. Ultimately all this will be so clear, that the intellect of the world will acknowledge it, 
 and all kings and people will see, as Darius did, that he is the living God, and steadfast for 
 ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be unto th 
 end. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 \ 1. ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER. 
 
 THIS chapter contains an account of a remarkable prophetic dream which Daniel had in the 
 first year of the reign of Belshazzar, and of the interpretation of the dream. After a brief state 
 ment of the contents of the chapter, it will be proper, in oMer to its more clear exposition, to 
 state the different methods which have been proposed for interpreting it, or the different views 
 of its application which have been adopted. The chapter comprises the following main points : 
 the vision, vs. 1 14, and the explanation, vs. 15 28. 
 
 I. The vision, vs. 1 14. The dream occurred in the first year of the reign of Belshazzar, and 
 was immediately written out. Daniel is represented as standing near the sea, and a violent 
 wind raged upon the sea, tossing the waves in wild commotion. Suddenly he sees four mon- 
 pters emerge from the agitated waves, each one apparently remaining fora little time, and then 
 disappearing. The first, in its general form, resembled a lion, but had wines like an eagle. On 
 this ho attentively gazed, until the wings were plucked away, and the beast was made to stand 
 upright as a man, and the heart of a man was given to it. Nothing is said as to what became 
 of the beast after this. Then there appeared a second beast, resembling a bear, raising itself up 
 on one side, and having three ribs in its mouth, and a command was given to it to arise and 
 devour much flesh. Nothing is said further of what became of this beast. Then there arose 
 another beast like a leopard, with four wings, and four heads, and to this beast waa given wid 
 
284 DANIEL. [B. C. 555. 
 
 dominion. Nothing is said as to what became of this animal. Then there arose a fourth beast 
 more remarkable still. Its form is not mentioned, but it was fierce and strong. It had great 
 iron teeth. It trampled down everything before it, and devoured and brake in pieces. This 
 beast had at first ten horns, but soon there sprang up in the midst of them another a smaller 
 horn at first, but as this increased three of the ten horns were plucked up by the roots appa 
 rently either by this, or in order to give place to it. What was more remarkable still, in this 
 smaller horn their appeared the eyes of a man emblematic of intelligence and vigilance, and a 
 mouth speaking great things indicative of pride and arrogance. Daniel looked on this singu 
 lar vision till a throne was set up or established, and then the Ancient of Days did sit till the 
 old forms of domination ceased, and the reign of God was introduced and established. Ha 
 contemplated it till, on account of the great words which the horn spake, the beast was 
 c-lain, and his body was destroyed, and given to burning flame. In the meantime the dominion 
 was taken away from the other beasts ; though their existence was prolonged for a little time. 
 Then appeared in vision one in the form of man, who came to the Ancient of Days, and 
 there was given to him universal dominion over all people a kingdom that should never bo 
 destroyed. 
 
 II. The interpretation of the vision, vs. 15 28. Daniel was greatly troubled at the vision 
 which he had seen, and he approached one who stood near, and asked him the meaning of it, 
 vs. 15, 16. The explanation with which he was favoured, was, in general, the following: That 
 those four beasts, which he had seen, represented four kings or kingdoms which would exist on 
 the earth, and that the great design of the vision was to state the fact that the saints of the 
 Most High would ultimately possess the kingdom, and would reign forever, vs. 17, 18. Tho 
 grand purpose of the vision was to represent the succession of dynasties, and the particular 
 character of each one, until the government over the world would pass into the hands of the 
 people of God, or until the actual rule on the earth should bo in the hands of the righteous. 
 The ultimate object, the thing to which all revolutions tended, and which was designed to be 
 indicated in the vision, was the final reign of the saints on the earth. There was to be a time 
 when the kingdom under the whole heaven was to be given to the people of the saints of the 
 Most High; or, in other words, there would be a state of things on the earth, when all 
 dominions, or all rulers (Magin, ver. 27) would obey him. This general announcement 
 in reference to the ultimate thing contemplated, and to the three first kingdoms, repre 
 sented by the three first beasts, was satisfactory to Daniel, but he was still perplexed in regard 
 to the particular thing designed to be represented by the fourth beast, so remarkable in its 
 structure, so unlike all the others, and undergoing so surprising a transformation, vs. 19 22. 
 The sum of what was stated to him, in regard to the events represented by the fourth beast, is 
 as follows : (1) that this was designed to represent a fourth kingdom or dynasty which would 
 arise upon the earth, in many respects different from the three which would precede it. It was 
 to be a kingdom which would be distinguished for oppressive conquests. It would subdue the 
 whole earth, and it would crush, and prostrate, and trample down those whom it invaded. 
 The description would characterize a dominion that would be stern, and mighty, and cruel, 
 and successful ; that would keep the nations which it subdued under its control by the terror 
 of arms rather than by the administration of just laws, ver. 23. (2) The ten horns that Daniel 
 saw spring out of its head, denoted ten kings that would arise, or a succession of rulers that 
 would sway the authority of the kingdom, ver. 24. (3) The other horn that sprang up among 
 the ten, and after them, denoted another dynasty that would arise, and this would have pecu 
 liar characteristics. It would so far have connection with the former that it would spring out 
 of them, but in most important respects it would differ from them. Its characteristics may be 
 Bummed up as follows : (a) it would spring from their midst, or be somehow attached, or con 
 nected with them as the horn sprang from the head of the beast and this would properly 
 denote that the new power somehow sprung from the dynasty denoted by the fourth beast as 
 the horn sprang from the head of that beast ; (/>) though springing from that, it would be diverse 
 from it, having a character to be determined, not from the mere fact of its origin, but from some 
 thing else : (c) it would subdue three of these kings ; that is, it would overcome and prostrate 
 a certain portion of the power and authority denoted by the ten horns perhaps meaning that 
 it would usurp something like one-third of the power of the kingdom denoted by the fourth 
 beast ; (d) it would be characterized by arrogance and haughtiness so much so that the fair con 
 struction of its claims would be that of speaking against the Most High; (e)it would wear 
 out the saints of the Most High evidently referring to persecution ; (/) it would claim legis 
 lative authority so as to change times and laws or clearly referring to some claim set up 
 over established laws, or to unusual authority, vs. 24, 25. (4) Into the hand of this new power, 
 all these things would be given for a time, and times, and half a time : implying that it would 
 not be permanent, but would come to an end, ver. 25. (5) After that there would be a judg 
 ment a judicial determination in regard to this new power, and the dominion would be taken 
 away, to be utterly destroyed, ver. 26. (6) There would come a period when the whcle do 
 minion of the earth would pass into the hands of the saints; or, in other words, there would 
 be a universal reign of the principles of truth and righteousness, ver. 27. 
 
 In the conclusion of the chapter (vcr. 28), Daniel says that these communications deeply 
 affected his heart. He had been permitted to look far into futurity, and to contemplate vast 
 Changes in the progress of human affairs, and even to look forward to a period when all the 
 nations would be brought under the dominion of the law of God, and the friends of the Most 
 High would be put in possession of all power. Such events were fitted to fill the mind with 
 solemn thought, and it is not wonderful that he contemplated thm with deep emotion. 
 
B. C. 555.] CHAPTER VII. 285 
 
 g2. VARIOUS METHODS OF INTERPRETING THIS CHAPTER. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say that there have been very different methods of interpreting this 
 chapter, and that the views of its proper interpretation are by no means agreed on by exposi 
 tors. It may be useful to refer to some of those methods before we advance to its exposition, 
 that they may be before the mind in its consideration. We shall be the better able to ascer 
 tain what is the true interpretation by enquiring which of them, if any, accords with the fair 
 exposition of the language employed by the sacred writer. The opinions entertained may be 
 reduced to the following classes : 
 
 I. Hardt supposes that the four beasts here denote four particular kings Nebuchadnezzar, 
 Evil-Merodach, Belshazzar, and Cyrus. 
 
 II. Ephraem, who is followed by Eichhorn, supposes that the first beast referred to the Baby 
 lonish-Chaldean kingdom; the second the Medish empire under Cyaxares II., the three ribs 
 of which denote the Medish, Persian, and Chaldean portions of that empire; the third the Per 
 sian empire, the four heads and wings of which denote the spread of the Persian empire to 
 wards the four regions under heaven, or to all parts of the world; the fourth to the Grecian 
 :>mpire under Alexander and his successors, the ten horns of which denote ten eminent kings 
 among the successors of Alexander, and the little horn that sprang up among them, Antio- 
 chus Epiphanes. The succeeding state of things, according to Ephraem and Eichhorn, refers to 
 the kingdom of the Messiah. 
 
 III. Grotius, representing another class of interpreters, whom Iletzel follows, supposes that 
 the succession of the kingdoms here referred to is the Babylonish-Chaldean; the Persian; the 
 kingdom of Alexander and his successors. The fifth is the Roman empire. 
 
 IV. The most common interpretation which has prevailed in the church is that which sup 
 poses that the first beast denotes the Chaldean kingdom; the second the M edo- Persian ; the 
 third the Greek empire under Alexander and his successors; the fourth the Roman empire. 
 The dominion of the saints is the reign of the Messiah and his laws. But this opinion, particu 
 larly as far as pertains to the fourth and fifth of these kingdoms, has had a great variety of 
 modifications, especially in reference to the signification of the ten horns, and the little horn 
 that sprang up among them. Some, who under the fifth kingdom, suppose that the reign of 
 Christ is referred to, regard the fourth kingdom as relating to Rome under the Caesars, and that 
 the ten horns refer to a succession of ten regents, and the little horn to Julius Caesar. Others, 
 who refer the last empire to the personal reign of Christ on the earth, and the kingdom which 
 he would set up, suppose that the ten horns refer to ten kings or dynasties that sprang out of 
 the Roman power either a succession of the emperors ; or those who came in after the inva 
 sion of the northern hordes; or certain kingdoms of Europe which succeeded the Roman power 
 after it fell, and by the little horn, they suppose that either the Turkish power with its various 
 branches is designated, or Mohammed, or the Papacy, or Antichrist. 
 
 V. The Jews, in general, suppose that the fifth kingdom refers to the reign of the Messiah; 
 but still there has been great diversity of views among them in regard to the application of 
 particular parts of the prophecy. Many of the older interpreters among them supposed that 
 the ten horns denoted ten Roman Caesars, and that the last born referred to Titus Vespasian. 
 Most of the later Jewish interpreters refer this to their fabulous Gog and Magog. 
 
 VI. Another interpretation which has had its advocates is that which supposes that the first 
 kingdom was the Chaldean ; the second the Persian; the third that of Alexander; the fourth 
 that of his successors, and the fifth that of the Asmonean princes who rose up to deliver the 
 Jewish nation from the despotism of the Syrian kings. 
 
 VII. As a specimen of one mode of interpretation which has prevailed to some extent in the 
 church, the opinion of Cocteius may be referred to. lie supposes that the first beast, with the 
 eagle s wings, denoted the reign of the Christian emperors in Rome, and the spread of Chris 
 tianity under them into remote regions of the East and West; the second, with the three ribs 
 in his mouth, the Ariam Goths, Vandals, and Lombards ; the third, with the four heads and 
 four wings, the Mohammedan kingdom with the four Caliphates; the fourth, th kingdom of 
 Charlemagne, and the ten horns in this kingdom, the Carolingians, Saxons, Salish, Swedish, 
 Hollandish, English, &c., princes and dynasties or people ; and the little horn, the Papacy as 
 the actual Antichrist. 
 
 The statement of these various opinions, and methods of interpretation, I have translated 
 from Bertholdt, Daniel, pp. 419 4215. To these should be added the opinion which Bertholdt 
 himself maintains, and which has been held by many others, and which Bertholdt has explained 
 and defended at length, pp. 426 446. That opinion is, substantially, that the first kingdom is 
 the Babylonish kingdom under Nebuchadnezzar, and that the wings of the first beast denote 
 the extended spread of that empire. The second beast, with the three ribs. or fangs, denotes 
 the Median, Lydian, and Babylonish kingdoms, which were erected under one sceptre, the Per 
 sian. The third beast, with the four wings and four heads, denotes the Grecian dynasty under 
 Alexander, and the spread of that kingdom throughout the four parts of the world. The fourth 
 beast denotes the kingdom of the Lagidas and Seleucidae, under which the Hebrews suffered so 
 much. The statement respecting this kingdom (ver. 7). that it was diverse from all that went 
 Before it, refers to the plurality of the fourth kingdom, or the fact that it was an aggregate 
 made up of many others a kingdom in a collective sense. The ten horns denote ten suc 
 cessive princes or kings in that kingdom, and Bertholdt enumerates them in the following 
 order: 1. Seleucus Nicator ; 2. Antiochus Soter; 3. Antiochus Theos; 4. Seleucus Kallinicus; 
 6. Seloucus Keraunus : 6. Antiochus the Great ; 7. Selrmcus Philopatcr: 8. Heliodorus; 9. Pto 
 
286 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555. 
 
 lemy Philometer; 10. Demetrius. The eleventh denoted by the little horn was Antioehus 
 JSpiphanes, who brought so many calamities upon the Hebrew people. His rtign lasted, ac 
 cording to Bertholdt, a time, and times, and half a time or three years and a half; and then 
 the kingdom was restored to the people of God to be a permanent reign, and, ultimately, under 
 the Messiah, to fill the world and endure to the end of time. 
 
 The interpretation thus stated, supposing that the little horn refers to Antioehus Epiphancs, 
 is also maintained by Prof. Stuart. Hints on prophecy, 2d. ed. pp. 85 98. Compare also Com- 
 Tientary on Daniel, pp. 17" 194, and 205 211. 
 
 Amidst such a variety of views, the only hope of arriving at any satisfactory conclusion respect 
 ing the meaning of this chapter is by a careful examination of the text, and the fair meaning of 
 the symbols employed by Daniel. 
 
 1 In the first year of Belshazzar I his bed : then he wrote the dream, 
 king of Babylon, Daniel had a and told the sum of the c matters. 
 
 b dream and visions of his head upon 
 
 1. In the first year of Belshazzar, Icing 
 of Babylon. On the character and reign 
 of Belshazzar, see Intro, to ch. v. # 2. 
 He was the last of the kings of Baby 
 lon, and this fact may cast some light 
 on the disclosures made in the dream. 
 f Daniel had a dream. Marg. as in 
 Heb. saw. He saw a series of events in 
 vision when he was asleep. The dream 
 refers to that representation, and was of 
 such a nature that it was proper to speak 
 of it as if he saw it. Comp. Notes on ch. 
 ii. 1. ^f And visions of his head upon his 
 bed. Notes on ch. iv. 5. Then he wrote 
 the dream. He made a record of it at the 
 time. He did not commit it to tradition, 
 or wait for its fulfillment before it was re 
 corded, but long before the events referred 
 to occurred he committed the prediction 
 to writing, that when the prophecy was 
 fulfilled they might be compared with it. 
 It was customary among the prophets to 
 record their predictions, whether commu 
 nicated in a dream, in a vision, or by 
 words to them, that there might be no 
 doubt when the event occurred that there 
 had been an inspired prediction of it, and 
 that there might be an opportunity of a 
 careful comparison of the prediction with 
 the event. Often the prophets were com 
 manded to record their predictions. See 
 Isa. viii. 1, 16, xxx. 8, Hab. ii. 2. Com 
 pare Rev. i. 19, xiv. 13, xxi. 5. In many 
 instances, as in the case before us, the 
 record was made hundreds of years before 
 the event occurred, and as there is all the 
 evidence that there could be in a case that 
 the record has not been altered to 
 it to the event, the highest proof is thus 
 furnished of the inspiration of the pro 
 phets. The meaning here is, that Daniel 
 wrote ?wf the dream as soon as it occurred. 
 f And told the sum of the mattert. Chal., 
 
 b Nu. 12. 6; c. 2. 28; Am. 3. 7. 
 c or, -words. 
 
 And spake the head of the words. That 
 is, he spake or told them by writing. He 
 made a communication of them in this 
 manner to the world. It is not implied 
 that he made any oral communication of 
 them to any one, but that he communica 
 ted them to wit, in the way specified. 
 The word sum here fc ! iO means head ; 
 and would properly denote such a record 
 as would be a heading up, or a summary 
 as stating in a brief way the contents of 
 a book, or the chief points of a thing with 
 out going into detail. The meaning here 
 seems to be that he did not go into de 
 tail as by writing names, and dates, and 
 places ; or, perhaps, that he did not en 
 ter into a minute description of all that 
 he saw in regard to the beasts that came 
 up from the sea, but that he recorded 
 what might be considered as peculiar, 
 and as having special significancy. The 
 Codex Chisia. renders this, sypatyev tit 
 K0dAaia \6yuv He wrote in heads of 
 words/ that is, he reduced it to a sum 
 mary description. It is well remarked 
 i by Lengerke, on this place, that the pro 
 phets, when they described what was to 
 occur to tyrants in future times, conveyed 
 j their oracles in a comparatively dark and 
 j obscure manner, yet so as to be clear when 
 j the events should occur. The reason of 
 this is obvious. If the meaning of many 
 of the predictions had been understood 
 by those to whom they referred, that fact 
 
 * d fe . nt them, and as the 
 \ fulfilment depended on their voluntary 
 j agency, the prophecy would have been 
 void. It was necessary, therefore, in gen- 
 eral, to avoid direct predictions, and the 
 mention of names, dates, and places, and to 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 287 
 
 2 Daniel spake and said, I saw I the four winds of the heaven strove 
 in my vision by night, and behold, ! upon the great sea. 
 
 make use of symbols whose meaning would storms, would be a natural emblem to 
 be obscure at the time when the predic- j denote a nation, or nations, agitated with 
 tion was made, but which would be plain internal conflicts, or nations in the midst 
 when the event should occur. A com- j of revolutions. Among the sacred poets 
 
 parison of vs. 4, 9, 11, 14, will show that 
 only a nummary of what was to occur was 
 recorded. If Matters. Marg., as in Chald., 
 words. The term words, however, is of 
 ten used to denote things. 
 
 and the prophets, hosts of armies invad 
 ing a land are compared to overflowing 
 waters, and mighty changes among the 
 nations to the heaving billows of the 
 ocean in a storm. Coinp. Jer. xlvi. 7, 8, 
 
 2. Daniel spake and said. That is, he j xlvii. 2; Isa. viii. 7, 8, xvii. 12, lix. 19; 
 spake and said in the manner intimated Dan. xi. 40 ; Rev. xiii. 1. The classic 
 
 in the previous verse. It was by a record 
 
 made at the time, and thus he might be 
 
 said to speak to his own generation and 
 
 to all future times, f" I saw -in my vision 
 
 by niyht. I beheld in the vision; that Qua data portaruunt,et terras turbine perflant. 
 
 is, he saw represented to him the scene j Incubuere mari, totumque a sedibus imis 
 
 reader will be reminded in the descrip 
 tion here of the words of Virgil, 
 I. 82, seq. 
 
 Ac ycluti agmine facto 
 
 which ho proceeds to describe. He 
 seemed to see the sea in a tempest, and 
 these monsters came up from it, and the 
 strange succession of events which fol 
 lowed. ^[ And behold, the four winds of 
 
 UnaEurus, Notusque ruunt, creberquc procellii 
 Africus, et vastos volvunt ad littora fluctus. 
 
 Com. also Ovid, Trist. I. 2, 25, seq. It 
 was from this agitated sea that the beasts 
 
 v .,_ y _ __ ^ that Daniel saw, representing successive 
 
 "the Aeavcn." ?he*windV "that" blow under I kingdoms, seemed to rise; and the fair 
 the heaven, cw that seem to come from interpretation of this part of the symbol 
 the heaven or the air. Comp. Jer. j is > that there was r would be, as it ap- 
 xlix. 36. The number of the winds is peared in vision to Daniel, commotions 
 hero referred to as four as they are now, ! among the nations resembling the sea 
 as blowing mainly from the four quarters | driven b 7 storms, and that from these 
 of the earth. Nothing is more common ! commotions there would arise succes- 
 now than to designate them in this man- sive kingdoms having the characteristics 
 ner, as the East, the South, the West, specified by the appearance of the four 
 the North wind. So the Latins Eu- | beasts. We naturally look, in the fulfil- 
 rus, Auster, Zephyrus, Boreas, f Strove. \ ment of this, to some state of things in 
 JTOD. Burst, or rushed forth ; seemed \ wh . icl \ th . e nat on , s r agitated and con- 
 11 : _. . . . I vulseu ; in which they struggled aerainst 
 
 to conflict together The winds burst, each Qth ag the ^ JJJJJ ^ 
 
 rushed from all quarters, and seemed to a state of th - wMch * ded 
 
 met on the sea, throwing it into wild the rige of thege foi succeggiv ; king . 
 commotion. The Hebrew word no doms. Without now pretending to de 
 means to break or burst forth, as a foun- termine whether that was the time 
 tain or stream of waters, Job xl. 23; an j denoted by this, it is certain that all 
 infant breaking forth from the womb, I that is here said would find a coun- 
 Job xxxviii. 8 ; a warrior rushing forth I terpart in the period which immedi- 
 to battle, Ezek. xxxii. 2. Hence the j ately preceded the reign of Nebuchad- 
 Chaldean to break forth ; to rush forth as | nezzar, or the kingdom which he founded 
 the winds. The symbol here would na- j and adorned. His rapid and extensive 
 turally denote some wild commotion | conquests ; the agitation of the nations 
 among the nations as if the winds of hea- in self-defence, and their wars against 
 ven should rush together in confusion, one another, would be well denoted by 
 ^f Upon the great sea. This expression j the agitation of the ocean as seen in 
 would properly apply to any great sea or ! vision by Daniel. It is true that there 
 ocean, but it is probable that the one . have been many other periods of the 
 that would occur to Daniel would be the : world to which the image would bo appli- 
 Mediterranean sea, as that was best known cable, but no one can doubt that it was 
 
 to him and his contemporaries. A hea 
 ving ocean or an ocean tossed with 
 
 applicable to this period, and that would 
 bo all that would be necessary if the de- 
 
288 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555. 
 
 3 And four great beasts came 
 up from the sea, diverse one from 
 another. 
 * Re. 13. 1. bJo. 4. 7. 
 
 4 
 
 had 
 the 
 
 The first was like a blion, and 
 eagle s c wings : I beheld till 
 wings thereof were plucked. 
 
 cDe.28.49. Eze.17.3. Hab. 1. 8. 
 
 sign was to represent a series of king 
 doms commencing with that of Nebu 
 chadnezzar. 
 
 3. And four great beasts came up from 
 the sea. Not at once, but in succession. 
 See the following verses. Their parti 
 cular form is described in the subsequent 
 verses. The design of mentioning them 
 here, as coming up from the sea, seems to 
 have been to show that this succession 
 of kingdoms sprang from the agitations 
 and commotions among the nations re 
 presented by the heaving ocean. It is ; 
 not uncommon for the prophets to make 
 use of animals to represent or symbolize 
 kingdoms and nations usually by some 
 animal which was in a manner peculiar 
 to the land that was symbolized, or which 
 abounded there. Thus in Isa. xxvii. 1, 
 leviathan, or the dragon, or crocodile, is 
 used to represent Babylon. See Notes on 
 that passage. In Ezek. xxix. 3 5, the 
 dragon or the crocodile of the Nile is put 
 for Pharaoh ; in Ezek. xxxii. 2, Pharaoh 
 is compared to a young lion, and to a 
 whale in the seas. In Ps. Ixxiv. 13, 14, 
 the kingdom of Egypt is compared to 
 the dragon and the leviathan. So on 
 ancient coins, animals are often used as j 
 emblems of kingdoms, as it may be added, I 
 the lion and the unicorn represent Great ! 
 Britain now, and the eagle the United j 
 States. It is well remarked by Lengerke, ! 
 (in loc) that whm the prophets design to 
 represent kingdoms that are made up of 
 other kingdoms, or that are combined by j 
 being brought by conquest under the j 
 power of others, they do this, not by any ! 
 single animal as actually found in na 
 ture, but by monsters fabulous beings 
 that are compounded of others, in which j 
 the peculiar qualities of different animals , 
 are brought together as in the case of j 
 "the lion with eagle s wings. Thus in 
 Rev. xiii. 1, the Romish power is repre 
 sented by a beast coming out of the 
 sea having seven heads and ten horns. 
 Comp. ii. Ezra (Apocry.) xi. 1, where 
 an eagle is represented as coming from 
 tho sea with twelve feathered wings and 
 three heads. As an illustration of the 
 attempts made in the apocryphal writ 
 ings to imitate the prophets, the whole 
 
 of ch. xi. and ch. xii. of the second book 
 of Ezra may be referred to. ^ Diverse 
 one from another. Though they all came 
 up from the same abyss, yet they differed 
 from each other denoting doubtless that 
 though the successive kingdoms referred 
 to would all rise out of the nations re 
 presented by the agitated sea, yet that 
 in important respects they would differ 
 from each other. 
 
 4. The first was like a lion. It is to be 
 assumed in explaining and applying these 
 symbols, that they are significant that 
 is, that there was some adaptedness or 
 propriety in using these symbols to de 
 note the kingdoms referred to; or that 
 in each case there was a reason why the 
 particular animal was selected for a sym 
 bol rather than one of the others ; that is, 
 there was something iu the lion that was 
 better fitted to symbolize tho kingdom 
 referred to, than there was in the bear or 
 the leopard, and this was the reason why 
 this particular symbol was chosen in the 
 case. It is to be further assumed that all 
 the characteristics in the symbol were 
 significant, and we are to expect to find 
 them all in the kingdom which they were 
 designed to represent, nor can the symbol 
 be fairly applied to any kingdom unless 
 something shall be found in its character 
 or history that shall correspond alike to 
 the particular circumstances referred to 
 in the symbol, and to the grouping or 
 succession. In regard to the first beast, 
 there were five things that entered into 
 the symbol, all of which it is to be pre 
 sumed were significant : the lion, the 
 eagle s wings the fact that the wings 
 were plucked the fact that the beast 
 was lifted up so as to stand up as a man 
 and the fact that the heart of a man was 
 given to it. It is proper to consider 
 these in their order, and then to enquire 
 whether they find a fulfillment in any 
 known state of things. 
 
 (a) The animal that was seen : the lion. 
 The lion, the king of beasts, is the sym 
 bol of strength and courage, and becomes 
 the proper emblem of a king as when 
 the Mussulmans call Ali, Mohammed s 
 son-in-law, The Lion of God, always 
 victorious. Thus it is often u*0d in tho 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 289 
 
 and it was lifted up from the earth, 
 and made stand upon the feet as a 
 
 a or, wherewith. 
 
 man, and a man s heart was given 
 
 to it. 
 
 Scriptures, Gen. xlix. 9, "Judah is a guished for his power, his dominion, hi 
 lion s whelp ; from the prey, my son, art keeping other animals in awe his spring, 
 thou gone up; he stooped down, he i and the severity of his blow is not re- 
 couched as a lion, and as an old lion : ; inarkable for his speed, nor for going forth 
 who shall rouse him up?" The warlike to conquest. He does not range far to 
 character, the conquest, the supremacy, j accomplish his purpose, nor are his movc- 
 of that tribe are here undoubtedly de- j ments eminent for fleetness. Hence there 
 noted. So in Ezek. xix. 2, 3. "What is were attached to the lion the wings of an 
 thy mother ? A lioness : she lay down : eagle. A cut may give a more distinct 
 among lions, she nourished her whelps j impression of the image as it appeared to 
 among young lions." Here is an allu- J Daniel. The proper notion, therefore, of 
 sion, says Grotius, to Gen. xlix. 9. Judea 
 was among the nations like a lioness 
 among the beasts of the forest; she had 
 strength and sovereignty. The lion is 
 an emblem of a hero : 2 Sam. xix. 20, 
 "He slew two lion-like men of Moab." 
 Com. Gesenius zu Isa. i. 851. So Her 
 cules and Achilles are called by Homer 
 SityioXtoj/ra, or Aeovrodu/jov lion-hearted. 
 II. . 639, i,. 288, Odys. X. 766. See the 
 character, the intrepidity, and the habits j 
 of the lion fully illustrated in Bochart, 
 Hieroz. Lib. iii. c. 2, pp. 723745. Cred- 
 ner, der Prophet Joel, s. 100, f. Com- 
 pare also the following places in Scrip- | thls symbol, would be that of a dominion or 
 ture, Ps. vii. 3, xxii. 22, Ivii. 4, Iviii. 7, 1 con q u est rapidly secured, as if a. lion, the 
 Ixxiv. 4; 1 Sam. xvii. 37; Job iv. 8 ; I kin S of beasts, should move, not as he 
 Jer. iv. 7, xlix. 19; Joel i. 6; Isa. xxix. 2. | commonly does, with a spring or bound, 
 The proper notion here, so far as the i confining himself to a certain space or 
 emblem of a lion is concerned, is that of I ran S e > but should move as the eagle does, 
 a king or kingdom that would be dis- ! Wlth ra P ld and prolonged flight, extend- 
 tinguished for power, conquest, dominion ; ! m S his conquests afar. The meaning of 
 that would be, in relation to other kings ! the symbol may be seen by comparing 
 and kingdoms, as the lion is among the ! this Passage with Isa, xlvi. 11, where Cy- 
 beasts of the forest keeping them in rus is compared to a ravenous bird 
 awe, and maintaining dominion " call i n " * ravenous bird f , n t. 
 
 them marching where he pleased, with 
 none to cope with him or to visit him. 
 
 (b) The eagles wings: and had ea 
 gle* wings. Here appears one peculi 
 arity of the emblem the union of things 
 which are not found joined together in 
 nature the representation of things or 
 qualities which no one animal would re- 
 
 calling a ravenous bird from the east, 
 the man that executeth my counsels from 
 a far country." The eagle is an emblem 
 of swiftness : Jer. iv. 13, " his horses are 
 swifter than eagles;" xlviii. 40, " Behold, 
 he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread 
 his wings over Moab." See also ch. xlix. 
 22, Lam. iv. 19, Hab. i. 8. 
 
 (c) The clipping of the wings : I beheld 
 
 present. The lion would denote one thing, j titt the win 9 8 thereof were plucked. The 
 or one quality in the kingdom referred h word used to^n means to pluck or pull, 
 to power, dominion, sovereignty but ! as to pull out the beard, comp. Neh. xiii. 
 
 there would be some characteristic in 
 that king or kingdom which nothing in 
 the lion would properly represent, and 
 which could be symbolized only by at 
 taching to him qualities to be found in 
 
 some other animal. 
 25 
 
 25, Isa. 1. 6, and would here be properly 
 applied to some process of pulling out the 
 feathers or quills from the wings of the 
 eagle. The obvious and proper meaning 
 of this symbol is, that there was some 
 
 The lion, distin- j check put to the progress of the conqueror 
 
290 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555. 
 
 as there would be to an eagle by pluck 
 ing off the feathers from his wings; that 
 is, the rapidity of his conquests would 
 cease. The prophet says, that he looked 
 on until this was done, implying that it 
 was not accomplished at once, but leaving 
 the impression that these conquests were 
 extended far. They were, however, 
 checked, and we see the lion again with 
 out the wings; the sovereign who has 
 ceased to spread his triumphs over the 
 earth. 
 
 (d) The lifting up from the earth : and 
 it ivas lifted up from the earth, and made 
 stand upon the feet as a man. That is, the 
 lion, with the wings thus plucked off, was 
 made to stand upright on his hind feet 
 an unusual position, but the meaning of 
 the symbol is not difficult. It was still 
 the lion the monarch but changed as 
 
 image here may be well represented by 
 the preceding cut. It is indeed an im 
 age which does not occur in nature, but 
 it will, therefore, all the better represent 
 the great change referred to. In ch. iv. 
 16, it is said of Nebuchadnezzar, that his 
 heart should be changed from man s, and 
 a beast s heart should be given to him; 
 here, if the symbol refers to him, it does 
 not refer to that scene of humiliation when 
 ho was compelled to eat grass like a beast, 
 but to the fact that he was brought to 
 look at things as a man should do ; he 
 ceased to act like, a ravenous beast, and 
 was led to calm reflection, and to think 
 and speak like a man a rational being. 
 Or, if it refers to the empire of Babylon, 
 instead of the monarch, it would mean 
 that a change had come over the nation 
 under the succession of princes, so that 
 
 if the lion was changed to a man; that | the fierceness and ferocity of the first 
 is, as if the ferocity, and the power, and | princes of the empire had ceased, and the 
 the energy of the lion had given place j nation had not only closed its conquests, 
 to the comparative weakness of a man. but had actually become, to some extent, 
 There would be as much difference in the moderate and rational, 
 case referred to as there would be if a | Now, in regard to the application of 
 
 lion so fierce and powerful should be made 
 so far to change his nature as to stand 
 upright, and to walk as a man. This 
 
 this symbol, there can bo but little diffi 
 culty, and there is almost no difference of 
 opinion among expositors. All, or nearly 
 
 would evidently denote some remarkable j all, agree that it refers to the kingdom of 
 change something that would be unu- | Babj lon, of which Nebuchadnezzar was 
 sual something where there would be a j the head, and to the gradual diminution 
 diminution of ferocity, and yet perhaps a of the ferocity of conquest under a suc- 
 change to comparative weakness as a cession of comparatively weak princes. 
 
 man is feebler than a lion. 
 
 (e) The giving to it of a man s heart : 
 and a man s heart icas given to it. The 
 
 Whatever view may be taken of the Book 
 of Daniel whether it be regarded as in 
 spired prophecy composed by Daniel him- 
 
 word heart in the Scriptures often has a self, and written at the time when it 
 closer relation to the intellect or the un- \ professes to have been, or whether it be 
 derstanding than it now has commonly j supposed to have been written long af- 
 with us; and here perhaps it is a general j ter his time by some one who forged it 
 
 term to denote something like human na 
 ture thatis, there would 
 be as great a change in 
 the case as if the na 
 ture of the lion should 
 be transformed to that 
 of a man ; or, the mean 
 ing may be that this 
 mighty empire, carrying 
 its arms with the ra 
 pidity of an eagle, and 
 the fierceness of a lion 
 through the world, would 
 be checked in its career ; 
 its ferocity would be 
 tamed, and it would be 
 jharactarized by coinpa- 
 ative moderation and humanity, 
 
 in his name, there can be no doubt that 
 it relates to the head of the Babylonian 
 empire, or to that to which the head of 
 gold/ in the image referred to in ch. iL, 
 represents. The circumstances all so well 
 agree with that application that, although 
 in the explication of the dream (vs. 16 
 27) this part of it is not explained for 
 the perplexity of Daniel related pnrticu 
 jlarly to the fourth beast (ver. 19), yet 
 i there can be no reasonable doubt as to 
 ! what was intended. For (a) the lion 
 i the king of beasts would accurately sym- 
 j bolize that kingdom in the days of Nebu- 
 1 chadnezzar a kingdom occupying tho 
 same position among other kingdoms 
 which the lion does among other beasts, 
 and well represented in its power and 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTEK VII. 
 
 291 
 
 5 And behold another a beast, a 
 second, like to a bear, and it raised 
 
 ferocity by the lion. See the character 
 and position of this kingdom fully illus 
 trated in the Notes on ch. ii. 37, 38. 
 
 up b itself on one side, and it had 
 
 a c. 2. 39. b or, one dominion. 
 
 that is, the character of wildness and 
 fierceness denoted by an untamed beast 
 was succeeded by that which would be 
 
 iriilUU. 1U LUC J.XULCQ UU UU. U. ij I , 00. I TIT V. Ti 
 
 (6) The eagles wings would accurately i better represented by a human being. It 
 El. A! LSJ ~ , ..* w, : is not the character of the lion changed 
 
 denote the rapid conquests of that king- 
 
 j to that of the bear, or the panther, or the 
 
 dom-its leaving, as it were, its own na- , lg d nQr . g ifc man considered as a 
 tive domain, and flying abroad. The lion | warrior or conqueror, but man as he is 
 
 alone would have represented the char 
 acter of the kingdom considered as already 
 having spread itself, or as being at the 
 head of other kingdoms ; the wings of 
 
 distinguished from the wild and ferocious 
 beast of the desert. The change in the 
 character of the empire, until it ceased 
 under the feeble reign of Belshazzar, 
 
 the eagle, the rapidity with which the j would be well denoted by this symbol. 
 
 arms of the Babylonians were carried into 
 
 IcTiold another least, a second, 
 
 . 
 
 Palestine, Egypt, Assyria, Ac. It is true j nj fe to a bear. That is, q/Verthe lion had 
 that tliis symbol alone would not desig- j appeared, and he had watched it until it 
 nate Babylon any more than it would the { h ad undergone these surprising transfer- 
 conquests of Cyrus, or Alexander, or mations. There are several circurn- 
 Cassnr, but it is to be taken in the con- stances, also, in regard to this symbol, 
 nection in which it is here found, and ! a \\ O f w hich, it is to be supposed were 
 no one can doubt that it has a striking ! significant, and all of which demand ex- 
 applicability to Babylon, (c) The clip- j plication before it is attempted to apply 
 
 them. In regard to this symbol, also, it 
 may aid in the explanation to have a cut 
 that shall represent it. 
 
 ping or plucking of these wings would 
 denote the cessation of conquest; as if 
 it would extend no farther; that is, we 
 see a nation once distinguished for the 
 invasion of other nations, now ceasing 
 its conquests ; and remarkable, not for 
 its victories, but as standing at the head of 
 all other nations as the lion stands among 
 the beasts of the forest. All who are 
 acquainted with history know that, af 
 ter the conquests of that kingdom under 
 Nebuchadnezzar, it ceased characteristi 
 cally to be a kingdom distinguished for (a) The animal seen : the bear. For 
 conquest, but that, though under his sue- ] a full description of the bear, see Bochart, 
 cessors, it held a pre-eminence or head- ; Hieroz. Lib. iii. c. ix. The animal is 
 ship among the nations, yet that its vie- ! well-known, and has properties quite dis- 
 tories were extended no farther. The j tinct from the lion and other animals, 
 successors of Nebuchadnezzar were com- : There was doubtless some reason why 
 paratively weak and indolent princes this symbol was employed to denote a 
 as if the wings of the monster had been ; particular kingdom, and there was some- 
 plucked, (rf) The rising up of the lion j thing in the kingdom that corresponded 
 on the feet, and standing on the feet as a with these peculiar properties, as there 
 man, would denote, not inappropriately, was in the- case of the lion. The 
 the change of the kingdom under the sue- i bear might, in some respects, have 
 cessors of Nebuchadnezzar. See above in been a proper representative of Baby- 
 the explanation of the symbol, (e) The Ion, but it would not in all nor in the 
 giving of a man s heart to it would not main respects. According to Bochart 
 be inapplicable to the change produced in (Hieroz. vol. i. p. 812), the bear is dis- 
 the empire after the time of Nebuchad- ; tinguished mainly for two things, cun- 
 nezzar, and under a succession of com- j ning and ferocity. Aristotle says that 
 paratively weak and inefficient princes, j the bear is greedy as well as silly and 
 Instead of the heart of the lion of being ; foolhardy. (Wemyss, key to the symbolic 
 lion-hearted it had the heart of a man ; j language of Scripture.) The name in 
 
292 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555 
 
 Jerome (on Hos. iii. 13,) re- 
 It is said by those who heave 
 
 three ribs in the mouth of it be 
 tween the teeth of it : and they said 
 
 Hebrew is taken from his grumbling or 
 growling. Comp. Isa. lix. 11 : 
 " V"o roar all like bears." 
 Coinp. Horace, Epod. 16, 51. 
 
 Nee Ycspertiuus circumgemit Ursus ovile. 
 Virgil mentions their ferocity : 
 
 Atque in pracsepibus ursi 
 Saevire. JSn. vii. 17. 
 
 The bear is noted as especially fierce 
 when hungry, or when robbed of its 
 whelps, 
 marks, 
 
 studied the nature of wild beasts, that 
 none among them is more ferocious than 
 the bear when deprived of its young, 
 or when hungry. Comp. 2 Sam. xvii. 8; 
 Prov. xvii. 12 ; Hos. xiii. 8. The cha 
 racteristics of the kingdom, therefore, 
 that would be denoted by the bear, would 
 be ferocity, roughness, fierceness in war 
 especially when provoked; a spirit less 
 manly and noble than that denoted by 
 the lion ; severe in its treatment of ene 
 mies, with a mixture of fierce and sav 
 age cunning. 
 
 (6) Its rising up on one of its sides : 
 and it raised up itself on one side. The 
 Chaldee word here used ~\<2& occurs 
 nowhere else. It means side (Gcsenius), 
 and would be applied here to the side of 
 an animal as if he lifted up one side 
 before the other when he rose. The 
 Latin Vulgate renders it, in parte stetit. 
 The Greek (Walton), el s pipes ?" iordSr, 
 it stood on one part; or, as Thompson 
 fenders it, he stood half erect. The 
 Codex Chisi. inl TOU % n\evpov <mi37 
 it stood upon one side. Maurer renders 
 this, on one of its forefeet it was re 
 cumbent, and stood on the other, and 
 says that this is the figure exhibited on 
 one of the stones found in Babylon, an 
 engraving of which may be seen in Mun- 
 ter, Religion d. Babyl. p. 112. The ani 
 mal referred to here, as found in Babylon, 
 
 thus unto it, Arise, devour much 
 flesh. 
 
 the animal was in the act of raising itself 
 up from a recumbent posture, aud rested 
 on one of its forefeet while the other was 
 reached out, and the body on that side 
 was partially raised. This position would 
 naturally denote a kingdom that had been 
 quiet and at rest, but that was now rous 
 ing itself deliberately for some purpose, 
 as of conquest or war as the bear that 
 had been couching down would rise when 
 hungry, or when going forth for prey. 
 
 (c) The ribs in its mouth : and it had 
 three ribs in the mouth of it between the 
 teeth of it. Bertholdt understands this 
 of fangs or tusks or fangs crooked or 
 bent like ribs, p. 451. But the proper 
 meaning of the Chaldee y^ is the- same 
 as the Hebrew J^X a rib. (Gesenius.) 
 The Latin Vulgate is tres ordines three 
 rows; the Syriac and the Greek, three 
 ribs. This would be sufficiently charac 
 teristic of a bear, and the attitude of the 
 animal here seems to be, that it had killed 
 some other animal, and had, in devour 
 ing it, torn out three ribs from its side, 
 and now held them in its mouth. It was 
 slowly rising from a recumbent posture 
 with these ribs in its mouth, and about 
 to receive a command to go forth and 
 devour much flesh. The number three, 
 in this place, Lengerke supposes to be 
 a round number, without any special sig- 
 nificancy; others suppose that it denotes 
 the number of nations or kingdoms which 
 the people here represented by the bear 
 had overcome. Perhaps this latter would 
 be the more obvious idea as suggested 
 by the symbol, but it is not necessary in 
 order to a proper understanding of a sym 
 bol to press such a point too closely. 
 The natural idea which would bo sug 
 gested by this part of the symbol would 
 be that of a kingdom or people of a fierce 
 and rough character having already sub 
 dued others, and then, after reposing, 
 rising up with the trophies of its former 
 conquests to go forth to new victories, or 
 
 Bays Lengerke, lies kneeling on the I to overcome others. The symbol would 
 
 be a very striking one to represent a 
 conquering nation in such a posture. 
 (d) The command given to this beast: . 
 
 right forefoot, and is in the act of rising 
 on the left foot. Bertholdt and IlJiver- 
 nick understand this as meaning that the 
 animal stood on the hindfeet, with the 
 forepart raised, as the bear is said to do; 
 but probably the true position is that re 
 ferred to by Maurer and Lengerke, that 
 
 and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour 
 much flesh. That is, it was said to it; or 
 some one having authority said it. A 
 voice was heard commanding it to go 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 293 
 
 forth and devour. This command is | as compared with the lion, see Notes 
 
 wholly in accordance with the nature of 
 
 the bear. The bear is cabled by Aristotle 
 
 oapKOij>ayu>v flesh-eater, and faov n-ii/^ayof 
 
 a beast devouring everything (Hist. Nat. 
 
 viii. 5), and no better description could 
 
 be given of it. As a. symbol, this would 
 
 properly bo applicable to a nation, about 
 
 receiving, as it were, a command from 
 
 God to go forth to wider conquests than 
 
 it had already made ; to arouse itself 
 from its repose and to achieve new 
 triumphs. 
 
 The application of this symbol was not 
 explained by the angel to Daniel ; but if 
 the former appertained to Babylon, there 
 can be little difficulty in understanding 
 to what this is to be applied. It is evi 
 dently to that which succeeded the Baby 
 lonian the Medo-Persinn, the kingdom 
 ruled successively by Cyrus, Cambyse?, 
 Smerdis, Darius, Xerxes, Artaxerxes, and 
 Darius Nothus, until it was overthrown 
 by Alexander the Great. The only en 
 quiry now is, as to the pertinency of the 
 symbol here employed to represent this 
 kingdom. 
 
 (a) The symbol of the bear. As 
 
 on ch. ii. 39. No one acquainted with 
 the history of that nation can doubt the 
 propriety and applicability of the emblem. 
 (L>) The rising up on its side or from 
 a recumbent posture, as if it had been in 
 a state of repose, and was now arousing 
 itself for action. Different interpreta 
 tions have been adopted of this emblem 
 as applicable to the Medo-Persians. The 
 ancient Hebrew interpreters, as Jerome 
 remarks, explain it as meaning that that 
 kingdom was on one side in the sense 
 of separate; that is, that this kingdom 
 kept itself aloof from Judea, or did not 
 inflict injury on it. Thus also Grotius ex 
 plains it as meaning that it did not injure 
 Judea Judese nihil nocuit. Ephrene, 
 the Syrian, and Theodorit, explain it as 
 meaning that the empire of the Medo- 
 Persians was situated on tie side of 
 Judea, or held itself within its proper 
 bounds, in the sense that it never ex 
 tended its dominion like Babylon over 
 the whole earth. Rosen iniiller explains 
 it as meaning that in relation to the 
 kingdom represented by the lion, it was 
 at its side, both occupying the regions of 
 
 already seen, the bear would denote any the East. J. D. Michselis understands 
 fierce, rough, overbearing, and arbitrary it as denoting that, as the bear was rais- 
 kingdom, and it is clear that while it ing itself up, one part being more raised 
 miyhthave applicability to any such king- | than the other, the Medo-Persian empire 
 
 dorn, it would better represent that of 
 Medo-Persia than the lion would for 
 while, in some respects, either symbol 
 would be applicable to either nation, the 
 Medo-Persian did not stand so decidedly 
 at tho head of nations as the Babylonian. 
 As to its character, however, the bear was 
 not an inappropriate symbol. Taking 
 the whole nation together, it was fierce 
 and rough, and unpolished, little disposed 
 to friendliness with the nations, and dis 
 satisfied while any around it had peace 
 or prosperity. In the image seen in 
 ch. ii., this kingdom, denoted by the breast 
 and arms of silver (ver. 32), is described 
 in the explanation (ver. 39) as inferior 
 to thee ; that is, to Nebuchadnezzar. 
 For a sufficiently full account of this 
 kingdom of the mad projects of Cam- 
 byses, and his savage rage against the 
 Ethiopians well represented by the fero 
 city of the bear; of the ill-starred expe 
 dition to Greece under Xerxes an expe 
 dition in its fierceness and folly well conquests. 
 
 represented by the bear, and of the de- 
 
 was composed of two kingdoms, one of 
 which was more exalted or advanced 
 than the other. Comp. Lengerke. The 
 true meaning, however, is that, as seen 
 by Daniel, the nation that had been in a 
 state of repose was now preparing itself 
 for new conquests a state descriptive in 
 every way quite applicable to the condition 
 of the Medo-Persian empire, after the 
 conquests by Cyrus, as he overran the 
 kingdom of Lydia, &c., then reposing, 
 and now about arousing to the conquest 
 and subjugation of Babylon. The pre 
 cise time, therefore, indicated would be 
 about B. C. 544 (Calmet), when having 
 overcome tho Medes, and having secured 
 the conquest of Lydia, and the dethrone 
 ment of Croesus, he is meditating the 
 destruction of Babylon. This interval 
 of repose lasted about a year, and it is 
 this time that the united empire is seen, 
 under the image of the bear rising on its 
 side, arousing itself to go forth to new 
 
 (c) The ribs in the mouth of the beast. 
 
 goneracy of the national character after j This, as above remarked, would properly 
 Xerxes well represented by the bear I refer to some previous conquest as a 
 25* 
 
294 DANIEL. [B. C. 555. 
 
 6 After this I beheld, and lo an- other, like a leopard, which had 
 
 bear appearing in that manner would in 
 dicate that some other animal had been j 
 overcome and slain by him, and torn in j 
 pieces. The emblem would be fulfilled j 
 if the power here symbolized had been j 
 successful in former wars, and had rent 
 kingdoms or people asunder. That this ; 
 description would apply to the Medo- 
 Persian power before its attack on Baby 
 lon, or before extending its dominion | 
 over Babylon, and its establishment as ] 
 the Medo-Persian kingdom, no one can i 
 doubt. Comp. the Notes on ch. ii. 39. j 
 It has been commonly supposed that I 
 Cyrus succeeded to the throne of Media 
 without war. But this is far from being 
 the case though so represented in what 
 may be regarded as the romance of the 
 Cyropgedia.. In the Anabasis of Xeno- j 
 phon, however, the fact of his having 
 subdued Media by arras, is distinctly | 
 admitted, iii. 4, 7, 12. Herodotus, Ctesias, 
 Isocrates, and Strabo, all agree also in the ; 
 fact that it was so. The Upper Tigris! 
 was the seat of one campaign, where the 1 
 cities of Larissa and Mespila were taken ; 
 by Cyrus. From Strabo we learn that j 
 the decisive battle was fought on the spot [ 
 where Cyrus afterwards built Pasar- 1 
 gardae, in Persia, for his capital. See j 
 Kitto, Cyclo. Art, Cyrus. In addition to j 
 this, we are to remember the well-known j 
 conquests of Cyrus, in Lydia and else- j 
 where, and the propriety of the emblem ; 
 will be apparent. It may not be certain I 
 that the number three is significant in 
 the emblem, but it is possible that there 
 may have been reference to the three 
 kingdoms of Persia, Media, and Lydia, 
 that were actually under the dominion | 
 of Cyrus when the aggressive movement 
 was made on Babylon. 
 
 (d) The command to arise and devour j 
 much flesh. No one can fail to see the 
 appropriateness of this, considered as 
 addressed to the Medo-Persian power ! 
 that power which subdued Babylon ; I 
 which brought under its dominion a con- j 
 siderable part of the world, and which, j 
 under Darius and Xerxes, poured its mil- ! 
 lions on Greece. The emblem here used 
 is, therefore, one of the most striking and ! 
 appropriate that could be employed, and j 
 it cannot be doubted that it had reference j 
 to this kingdom, and that, in all the par- i 
 ticulars, there was a clear fulfillment. 
 
 6. After this I beheld, and lo another, 
 lilce a leopard. That is, as before, after 
 the bear had appeared in indicating tha* 
 this was to be a succeeding kingdom or 
 power. The beast which now appeared 
 was a monster, and, as in the former 
 cases, so in regard to this, there are 
 several circumstances which demand ex 
 planation in order to understand the 
 symbol. It may assist us, perhaps, in 
 forming a correct idea of the symbol here 
 introduced to have before us a represen 
 tation of the animal as it appeared to 
 Daniel. The following cut will furnish a 
 sufficiently correct representation. 
 
 (a) The animal itself: a leopard. The 
 word hero used ">~3 or in Heb. 11:3 
 denotes a panther or leopard, so called 
 from his spots. This is a well known beast 
 of prey, distinguished for blood-thirsti 
 ness and cruelty, and these characteris 
 tics are especially applicable to the female 
 panther. The animal is referred to in the 
 Scriptures as emblematic of the following 
 things, or as having the following charac 
 teristics : (1) As next in dignity to tho 
 lion of tho same general nature. Comp. 
 Bochart, Hieroz. P. I. Lib. iii. c. vii. 
 Thus the lion and the panther, or leopard, 
 are often united in the Scriptures. Comp. 
 Jer. v. 6, Hos. xiii. 7. See also in the 
 Apocrypha, Ecclesias. xxviii. 23. So also 
 they are united in Homer, II. p. 
 
 "Ovre ovf 7rap<3aAiO{ r6anov [icvof^ovre XCOJTOJ. 
 
 Neither had tho leopard nor tho lion 
 such strength. (2) As distinguished for 
 cruelty, or a fierce nature, as contrasted 
 with the gentle and tame animals. Isa. 
 xi. 6, "And the leopard shall lie down 
 with the kid." In Jer. v. 6, it is com 
 pared with the lion and the wolf: "A 
 lion out of tho forest shall slay them, and 
 a wolf of the evening shall spoil them, a 
 
B. C. 555.} 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 295 
 
 upon the back of it four wings of a 
 
 c. 8. 8, 22. 
 
 leopard shall watch over their cities." 
 Comp. Hos. xiii. 7. (3) As distinguished 
 for swiftness or fleetness. Habuk. i. 8 : 
 " Their horses are swifter than the leop 
 ards." Comp. also the quotations from 
 the classics in Bochart as above, p. 
 788. His fleetness is often referred to; 
 the celerity of his spring or bound espe 
 cially, by the Greek and Roman writers. 
 (4) As insidious, or as lying in wait and 
 springing unexpectedly upon the unwary 
 traveller. Comp. Hos. xiii. 7: "As a 
 leopard by the way will I observe them ;" 
 that is, I will icatch -ni! N them. So 
 Pliny says of leopards : Insidunt pardi 
 condensa arborum, occultatique eantm ra- 
 mis in prcetereuntia desiliunt. (5) They 
 are characterized by their spots. In the 
 general nature of the animal there is a 
 strong resemblance to the lion. Thus, 
 an Arabic writer quoted by Bochart, de 
 fines the leopard to be an animal resem 
 bling the lion, except that it is smaller, 
 and has a skin marked by black spots. 
 The proper idea in this representation, 
 when used as a symbol, would be of a nation 
 or kingdom that would have more noble 
 ness than the one represented by the bear, 
 but a less decisive headship over others 
 than that represented by the lion ; a na 
 tion that was addicted to conquest, or 
 that preyed upon others ; a nation rapid 
 in its movements, and springing upon 
 others unawares, and perhajwin its spots 
 denoting a nation or people made up, not 
 of homogeneous elements, but of various 
 different people. See below in the appli 
 cation of this. 
 
 (b) The four wings : ichicli had upon 
 the back of it four icings of a fowl. The 
 first beast was seen with the wings of an 
 eagle, but without any specified number ; 
 this appears with wings, but without spe 
 cifying any particular kind of wings, 
 though the number is mentioned. In both 
 of them celerity of movement is undoubt 
 edly intended celerity beyond what 
 would be properly denoted by the animal 
 itselfthe lion or the leopard. If there 
 is a difference in the design of the repre 
 sentation, as there would seem to be by 
 mentioning the kind of wings in the one 
 case, and the number in the other, it is 
 probable that the former would denote a 
 Hore bold and extended flight; the latter 
 
 fowl; the beast had also four a heads; 
 and dominion was given to it. 
 
 a flight more rapid, denoted by the four 
 wings. We should look for the fulfil 
 ment of the former in a nation that ex 
 tended its conquests over a broader space ; 
 in the latter, to a nation that moved with 
 more celerity. But there is some dan 
 ger of pressing these similitudes too far. 
 Nothing is said in the passage about tho 
 arrangement of the wings, except that 
 they were on the back of the animal. It 
 is to be supposed that there were two on 
 each side. 
 
 (c) The four heads : the beast had also 
 four heads. This representation must 
 have been designed to signify either that 
 the one power or kingdom denoted by 
 the leopard was composed of four sepa 
 rate powers or nations now united in one ; 
 or that there were four successive kings 
 or dynasties that made up its history; 
 or that the power or kingdom actually ap 
 peared, as seen in its prevailing character 
 istic, as a distinct dominion, as having four 
 heads, or as being divided into so many 
 separate sovereignties. It seems to me 
 that either one of these would be a pro 
 per and natural fulfilment of the design 
 of the image, though the second sug 
 gested would be less proper than either 
 of the others, as the heads appeared on 
 the animal not in succession as the lit 
 tle horn sprung up in the midst of the 
 other ten, as represented in the fourth 
 beast but existed simultaneously. The 
 general idea would be, that in some way 
 the one particular sovereignty had four 
 sources of power blended into one, or 
 actually exerted the same kind of do 
 minion, and constituted, in fact, the one 
 kingdom as distinguished from the others. 
 
 (d) The dominion given to it : and 
 dominion teas given to it. That is, it was 
 appointed to rule where the former had 
 ruled, and until it should be succeeded 
 by another the beast with the ten 
 horns. 
 
 In regard to the application of this, 
 though the angel did not explain it t( 
 Daniel, except in general that a kingdom 
 was represented by it (ver. 17), it would 
 seem that there could be little difficulty, 
 though there has been some variety in the 
 views entertained. Maurer, Lengerke, 
 and some others, refer it to the Modo- 
 Persian empire supposing that the se. 
 
296 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555. 
 
 cond symbol referred to the kingdom of r with the conquests of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 Media. But the objections to this are so and the other with those of Alexander, 
 obvious, and so numerous, that it seems j (c) The four heads united to one body. 
 
 t is well known that when Alexander 
 died, his empire was left to four of his 
 
 to me the opinion cannot be entertained ; 
 for (1) the kingdom of Media did not, in 
 
 any proper sense, succeed that of Baby- generals, and that they came to be at the 
 Ion; (2) the representation of the bear j head of as many distinct dominions, yet 
 with three ribs has no proper applica- : all springing from the same source, and 
 bility to Media; (3) the whole descrip- j all, in fact, but the Macedonian empire, 
 tion, as we have seen above, of the j This fact would not be so well represented 
 second beast, accords entirely with the j by four distinct and separate animals as 
 history of the Medo-Persian empire. If j by one animal with four heads ; that is, 
 this be so, then we naturally look for the I as the bead represents authority or do- 
 
 fulfilment of this symbol the third head 
 in the kingdom or dynasty that fol 
 lowed directly that of Medo-Persia the 
 Macedonian dynasty or kingdom founded 
 by Alexander the Great, extending over 
 
 minion, one empire in fact now ruling by 
 four distinct authorities. The one empire 
 considered as Macedonian continued its 
 sway till it was swallowed up by the Ro 
 mans ; that is, the Macedonian power or 
 
 the same countries before occupied by dominion as distinct from that of Baby- 
 
 Babylon and the Medo-Persian empire, 
 and continuing till it was swallowed up 
 in the conquests of Rome. We shall find 
 that all the circumstances agree with this 
 
 supposition : 
 
 (a) The animal the 
 
 leopard. The 
 
 compai ative nobleness of the animal; a 
 beast of prey ; the celerity of its move 
 ments; the spring or bound with which 
 it leaps upon its prey, all agree well with 
 the kingdom of which Alexander was 
 the founder. Indeed there was no other 
 kingdom among the ancients to which 
 it could bo better applied; and it will be 
 admitted that, on the supposition that it 
 was the design of Daniel to choose a sym 
 bol that would represent the Macedonian 
 empire, he could not have selected one 
 that was better adapted to it than the 
 leopard. All the characteristics of the 
 animal that have been noticed (1) as 
 next in dignity to the lion ; (2) as distin 
 guished for a fierce nature ; (3) as charac 
 terized by fleetness; (4) as known for 
 
 Ion or Medo-Persia; as having charac 
 teristics unlike these; as introducing a 
 new order of things, continued, though 
 that power was broken up and exercised 
 under distinct manifestations of sove 
 reignty. The fact was, that, at the death 
 of Alexander, to whom the founding of 
 this empire was owing, " Philip Aridteus, 
 brother of Alexander, and his infant son 
 by Roxana, were appointed by the gen 
 erals of the army to succeed, and Perdic- 
 cas was made regent. The empire was 
 divided into thirty-three governments, 
 distributed among as many general offi 
 cers. Hence arose a series of bloody, 
 desolating wars, and a period of confu 
 sion, anarchy and crime ensuerl, that is 
 almost without a parallel in the history 
 of the world. After the battle of Ipsus, 301 
 B. C., in which Antigonus was defeated, 
 the empire was divided into four king 
 doms Thrace and Bythinia under Lysi- 
 machus; Syria and the East under Seleu- 
 cus; Egypt under Ptolemy Soter, and 
 
 lying in wait, and springing suddenly j Macedonia under Cassandar." Lyman, 
 upon its prey ; and (5) in the point to be no- | Hist. Chart. It was these four powers, 
 ticed soon their spots all agree with j thus springing out of the one empire 
 the characteristics of Alexander, and his j founded by Alexander, that was clearly 
 movements among the nations, and with j represented by the four heads, (d) The 
 the kingdom that was founded by him in i dominion given to it. No one can doubt 
 the East, (b) The four wings. These that a dominion was given to Alexander 
 represent well the rapidity of the con- j and the Macedonian dynasty, which would 
 quests of Alexander, for no more rapid j fully correspond with this. In fact the 
 conquests were ever made than were his | dominion of the world was practically 
 in the East. It was noticed that the conceded to that kingdom, (c) There is 
 
 leopard had four wings, as contrasted 
 with the first beast, in reference to which 
 the number is not mentioned; the one de 
 noting a broader flight, and the other a 
 wore rapid one ; and the one agrees well 
 
 only one other circumstance to be noticed, 
 though perhaps we are not to seek an ex 
 act accomplishment for that in any spe 
 cific events. It is the fact that the leop 
 ard is marked by spots a circumstance 
 
B. C, 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 297 
 
 7 After this 1 .saw in the night 
 visions, and behold a fourth a beast, 
 
 dreadful and terrible, and strong 
 
 ac. 2. 40. rer. 19, 23. 
 
 which many have supposed had a fulfil- up of a new horn ; the might and terror 
 
 ment in the fact that numerous nations, 
 not homogeneous, were found in the em 
 pire of Alexander. So Bochart, Hieroz. 
 P. i. Lib. iii. c. vii. p. 789, says: The 
 spots of the leopard refer to the different 
 
 of the beast, and the long duration 
 of its dominion upon the earth, at 
 tracted and fixed the attention of Dan 
 iel, led him into a more minute explana 
 tion of the appearance of the animal, and 
 
 customs of the nations over which he induced him particularly to ask an ex- 
 ruled. Among these, besides the Mace- planation of the angel of the meaning of 
 
 donians, Greeks, Thracians, and Illyrians, this part of the vision, ver. 19. 
 in Europe, there were in Africa the Ly- j behold a fourth beast. This beast had 
 bians, Egyptians, and Troglodites ; in \ peculiar characteristics, all of which were 
 Asia almost all the nations to the Ganges. j regarded as symbolical, and all of which 
 But, without insisting on this, no one can j demand explanation in order that we 
 compare the other particulars which were I may have a just view of the nature and 
 clearly designed to be symbolical, with- I design of the symbol. As in the cases 
 out perceiving that they had a full ac- of the other beasts, so in this we may 
 complishment in the Macedonian em- be assisted in the explanation by hav- 
 
 pire. 
 
 ing before us a cut representing in 
 
 7, 8. After this I saw in the night vi- general its appearance. It is indeed in 
 siont. The other beasts were seen also some degree imaginary, for we are not 
 in a dream (ver. 1), and this probably in | told as to the exact appearance of the 
 the same night, though as a subsequent ! beast whether it was a lion or some other 
 part of the dream, for the whole vision j form, but it is sufficiently accurate to 
 evidently passed before the prophet in a j furnish the main idea in the vision. The 
 
 single dream. The succession, or the 
 fact that he saw one after the other, in- 
 
 first cut represents the animal as he first 
 appeared with the ten horns; the second 
 as he may have appeared with another 
 
 dicates a succession in the kingdoms. 
 
 They were not to be at the same time j horn springing up in the midst of them. 
 
 upon the earth, but one was to arise after j As in reference to the three former 
 
 another in 
 though they were 
 occupy the same territory. 
 
 beasts, also, so in regard to this, it will 
 first the signi- 
 
 be proper to explain 
 
 character of the beast that now appears ; 
 
 symbol, and then in the exposition (vs. 
 
 the number of the horns ; the springing 
 
 19, scq.) to inquire into the application. 
 
 The particulars of this symbol are more 
 
 itself, (ver. 7) : 
 
 numerous, more striking, and more im- fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and 
 portant than in either of the previous strong exceedingly. The form or nature 
 Dnos. These particulars are the follow- of the beast is not given as in the pro- 
 
 oag, TS. 711 
 
 ceding caees the lion, the bear, and thd 
 
298 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555 
 
 exceedingly ; and it had great iron I the feet of it : and it was diverse 
 teeth : it devoured and brake in from all the beasts that were before 
 pieces, and stamped the residue with ! it ; and it had ten a horns. 
 
 a c. 2. 41, 42. 
 
 leopard but it is left for the imagination | godly ;" Ivii. 4, "whose teeth are spears 
 to fill up. It was a beast more terrific and arrows ;" Iviii. 6, "break their teeth 
 in its appearance than either of the others, | in their mouth ; break out the great teeth 
 and was evidently a monster such as | of the young lions." 
 could not be designated by a single name. (c) The stamping with the feet (ver. 
 The terms which are used here in de- 7): it devoured and brake in pieces, and 
 scribing the beast dreadful, terrible, ex- stamped the residue with the feet of it. 
 ceedingly strong, are nearly synonymous, I That is, like a fierce monster, whatever 
 and are heaped together in order to give it could not devour it stamped down and 
 
 an impressive view of the terror inspired 
 by the beast. There can be no doubt as 
 to the general meaniny of this, for it is 
 explained (ver. 23,) as denoting a king 
 dom that should devour the whole 
 earth, and tread it down, and break it in 
 
 crushed in the earth. This indicates a 
 disposition or purpose to destroy, for 
 the sake of destroying, or where no other 
 purpose could be gained. It denotes 
 rage, wrath, a determination to crush all 
 in its way, to have universal dominion ; 
 
 pieces/ As a symbol, it would denote and would be applicable to a nation that 
 some power much more fearful and much ; subdued and crushed others for the mere 
 more to be dreaded ; having a wider : sake of doing it, or because it was un- 
 dominion; and more stern, more oppres- j willing that any other should exist and 
 sive in its character, more severe in its j enjoy liberty even where itself could 
 exactions, and more entirely destroying i not hope for any advantage, 
 the liberty of others ; advancing more j (d) The fact that it was different from 
 by power and terror, and less by art and \ all that went before it (ver. 7) : and it 
 cunning, than either. This character- j was diverse from all the beasts that were 
 istic is manifest throughout the symbol, i before it. The prophet does not specify, 
 (b) The teeth (ver. 7) : and it had great j particularly, in what respects it was dif- 
 iron teeth. Not only teeth or tusks, such ferent, for he does not attempt to give 
 as other animals may have, but teeth j its appearance. It was not a lion, a 
 made of iron. This is characteristic of a ! bear, or a leopard, but he does not say 
 monster, and shows that there was to be I precisely what it was. Probably it was 
 something very peculiar in the dominion | such a monster that there were no ani- 
 that was here symbolized. The teeth are nials with which it could be compared, 
 of use to eat or devour ; and the symbol j He states some circumstances, however, 
 here is that of devouring or rending j in which it was different as in regard to 
 as a fierce monster with such teeth might j the ten horns, the little horn, the iron 
 be supposed to rend or devour all that ! teeth, &c., but still the imagination is 
 
 was before it. This too would denote a 
 nation exceedingly fierce; a nation of 
 savage ferocity j a nation that would be 
 signally formidable to all others. For 
 illustration, comp. Jer. xv. 12 ; Micah 
 
 left to fill up the picture in general. 
 The meaning of this must be, that the 
 fourth kingdom, represented by this beast, 
 would be materially different from those 
 which preceded it, and we must look for 
 
 iv. 13. As explained in ver. 23, it is said \ the fulfilment in some features that 
 that the kingdom denoted by this would j would characterize it by which it would 
 devour the whole earth. Teeth great ; be unlike the others. There must be 
 teeth, are often used as the symbols of j something marked in the difference 
 cruelty, or of a devouring enemy. Thus ! something that would be more than the 
 in Prov. xxx. 14, "There is a generation j common difference between nations, 
 whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw (e) The ten horns (ver. 7) : and it had 
 *eeth are as knives, to devour the poor ten horns. That is, the prophet saw on 
 from off the earth, and the needy from it ten horns as characterizing the beast, 
 among men." So David uses the word The horn is a symbol of power, and is 
 to denote the cruelty of tyrants : Ps. iii. 7. | frequently so used as an emblem or sym- 
 " Thou hast broken the teeth of the un- j bol in Daniel (vii. 7, 8, 20, 24, viii. 3 9, 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 299 
 
 8 I considered the horns, and, 
 behold, there came up among them 
 
 2022), and Revelation v. 6, xiii. 1, 11, 
 xvii. 3, 12, 16. It is used as a symbol 
 because the great strength of horned 
 
 another little horn, before \\hom 
 
 aver. 20, 21, 24. 
 
 the same general characteristic would 
 remain, there would spring up ten kings, 
 or dynasties, or kingdoms, in which the 
 
 animals is found there. Thus in Amos ! ld b conce ntratcd. 
 
 r no :i.* u 
 
 (f) The springing up of the little 
 i horn (ver. 8) : / considered the horns, 
 
 vi. 13, it is said, 
 
 Ye that rejoice in a thing of nought 
 
 . _^ -, 
 
 So in Deut, xxxui. If. 
 
 His beauty shall be that of a young bull, 
 
 tremities of the land, 
 Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim, 
 Such the thousands of Manasseh. Wcnyss. 
 
 So in 1 Kings xxii. 11, wo find horns 
 
 another little horn. There are several 
 points to be noticed in regard to this : 
 (1) The fact that he considered the 
 horns ; that is, he looked on them until 
 another sprang up among them. This 
 implies that when he first saw the mon 
 ster, it had no such horn, and that tho 
 horn sprang up a considerable time after 
 
 used in a symbolical action on the part he first s it-intimating that it would 
 of the false prophet Zedekiah. " He | occur Perhaps far on in the history of the 
 made him horns of iron, and said, Thus kingdom that was symbohzed. It is 
 
 saith Jehovah, With these thou shalt push 
 
 implied that it was not an event which 
 
 the Syrians, until thou have consumed would so n occur - ( 2 ) Ifc s P ran S U P 
 
 them." In Zech. i. 18, the four horns among the others; jn^i3 starting 
 
 that are seen by the prophet are said to from the same source, and appertaining 
 
 be the four great powers which had scat- to the same animal, and, therefore, a de- 
 
 tered and wasted the Jews. Comp. We- ; velopment or putting forth of the same 
 
 myss on the symbolical language of power. The language here used does not 
 
 Scripture, Art. horns. There can be no designate, with any degree of certainty, 
 
 doubt as to the meaning of the symbol the precise place which it occupied, but 
 
 here, for it is explained in a subsequent it would seem that the others stood close 
 
 part of the chapter (ver. 26), the ten together, and that this sprang out of the 
 
 horns are the ten kings that shall arise. 
 It would seem, also, from that explana 
 tion, that they were to be ten kings that 
 would arise or spring out of that king 
 dom at some period of its history. " And 
 the ten horns, out of this kingdom, are 
 
 centre, or from the very midst of them, 
 implying that the new dominion sym 
 bolized would not be a foreign dominion, 
 but one that would spring out of the 
 kingdom itself, or that would eeem to 
 grow up in the kingdom. (3) It was a 
 
 ten kings that shall arise;" that is, not I little horn ; that is, it was small at first, 
 that the kingdom itself would spring out though subsequently it grew so as to be 
 of ten others that would be amalgamated j emblematic of great power. This would 
 or consolidated into one, but that out of denote that the power symbolized would 
 that one kingdom there would spring up be small at first springing up gradually. 
 
 ten that would exercise dominion, or in 
 which the power of the one kingdom 
 
 The fulfilment of this would be found, 
 neither in conquest, nor in revolution, 
 
 would be ultimately lodged. Though Dan- j nor in a change of dynasty, nor in a sud- 
 iel appears to have seen these horns as ap- j den change of a constitution, but in some 
 pertaining to the beast when he first saw power that had an obscure origin, and 
 him, yet the subsequent explanation is, : that was feeble and small at the begin- 
 that these horns were emblems of the , ning, yet gradually increasing, till, by its 
 manner in which the power of that one j own growth, it put aside a portion of the 
 kingdom would be finally exerted ; or [ power before exercised, and occupied its 
 lhat ten kings or dynasties would spring place. We should naturally look for the 
 out of it. We are, then, naturally to fulfilment of this in the increase of some 
 look for the fulfilment of this in some one power within the state that had an humble 
 great kiagdom of huge power that would j origin, and that slowly developed itself 
 crush the nations, ind from which, while i until it absorbed a considerable portion 
 
300 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555. 
 
 there were three of the first horns 
 plucked up by the roots: and be 
 hold, in this horn were eyes like the 
 
 Re. 9. 7. 
 
 eyes of a man, and a mouth b speak 
 ing great things. 
 
 9 fl I beheld till the thrones were 
 
 b Re. 13. 5. 
 
 mouth 
 things. 
 
 -and a month speaking great 
 A mouth indicating pride and 
 
 of the authority that essentially resided j means that the object referred to would 
 in the kingdom represented by the mon- j be a man, as the eyes of men are keener 
 ster. (4) In the growth of that horn, land sharper than those of other animals. 
 three of the others were plucked up by But the more correct interpretation is that 
 the roots. The proper meaning of the above referred to that it denotes intelli- 
 word used to express this np^ gence, shrewdness, sagacity. (6) The 
 is, that they were rooted out as a tree is 
 overturned by the roots, or the roots are 
 
 turned out from the earth. The process arrogance. This is explained in ver. 2o, 
 by which this was done seems to have j as meaning that he to whom it refers 
 been by growth. The gradual increase i would speak great words against the 
 of the horn so crowded on the others i Most High ; that is, would i be guilty of 
 that a portion of them was forced out, j blasphemy. There would be such arro- 
 and fell. What is fairly indicated by this | g anc . e and such claims set up and such 
 was not any act of violence, or any sud- a *V" l \ evinced, that it would be m fact 
 den convulsion or revolution, but such a i a speaking against God. We naturally 
 gradual growth of power that a portion i } ok * r th fulfilment of this to some 
 of the original power was removed, and baughty and blaspheming power: some 
 this new power occupied its place. There I P? wer that 1 would r , ea "y blaspheme reh- 
 was no revolution, properly so called ; l S lon > and that would be opposed to its 
 no change of the whole dynasty, for P r ,S r f% and prosperity m the world 
 a large portion of the horns remained, | The Se P t m Cod Uus adds here , and 
 but the erndual rise of a new power that sha11 mak , e * "gainst the saints ; but 
 
 1 
 
 would wield a portion of that formerly ! these words are not found in the original 
 wielded by others, and that would now Chaldee. They accord, however, well 
 wield the power in its place. The num- ! th the explanation in yer. 2o. What 
 ber three would either indicate that three has been here Considered embraces all 
 parts out of the ten were absorbed in this that pertains pi iperly to this symbol- 
 way, or that a considerable, though an | tbe s / mbo1 of , the four , th beast except 
 indefinJke portion, was thus absorbed. the fact stated in ver 11, that the beast 
 (5) The *ycs: ad behold, in this hornl slam > and * liat "* was ? lven 
 were eyes like the eyes of a man. Eyes *? tbe burning flame. The inquiry as to 
 denote intelligence, as we see objects by the fulfilment will be appropriate when 
 their aid. The rims of the wheels in we come J consider the explanation 
 Ezekiel s vision were full of eyes (Ezek. S lven at the request of Daniel, by the 
 i. 18), as symbolic of intelligence. This ; an f el V in 7 s ; 7 Tr .- ^ , , 
 would denote that the power here re- u 9 *** I continued looking on 
 ferred to, would be remarkably sagacious. ! t j ese stran / e sights, and contemplating 
 We should naturally look for the fulfil- | these transformations This implies that 
 ment of this in a power that laid its plans ! f_ ome time ela P s d before all these things 
 wisely and intelligently; that had large I bad occurred He looked on till he saw 
 and clear views of policy; that ^g a solemn judgment passed on this fourth 
 shrewd and far-seeing in its counsels | beasfc particularly as ,/ God had come 
 and purposes; that was skilled in diplo- i forth in his ma J est y and glory to pro- 
 
 macy, or that was eminent for statesman 
 like plans. This part of the symbol, if 
 
 nounce that judgment, and to bring the 
 power and arrogance of the beast to an 
 
 rfstoodTaione, would" find"i ts ^fulfilment I end f Til1 the throne * were cast down " 
 in any wise and shrewd administration ; j The Chaldee word np^ means pro 
 as it stands here, surrounded by others, j perly thrones seats on which monarchs 
 it would seem that this, as contrasted sit. So far as the word is concerned, it 
 with them, was characteristically shrewd would apply either to a throne occupied 
 
 and far-seeing in its policy. Lengerke, 
 following Jerome, supposes that this 
 
 by an earthly monarch, or to the throne 
 of God. The use of the plural here would 
 
B.C. 555.] CHAPTER VII. 301 
 
 oast a down, and the Ancient b of white d as snow, and the hair of his 
 days did sit, whose garment c was head like the pure wool: his throne 
 
 c. 2. 44 ; 1 Co. 15. 24, 25. b Is. 9. 6 ; ver. 22. i c Ps. 45. 8 ; Ph. 3. 9. <* Re . 1. 14. 
 
 *eem to imply, at least, that the reference divine judgment was to be passed on the 
 <>s not to the throne of God, but to some | beast, or when some events were to 
 other throne. Maurer and Lengerke sup- i take place, as if such a judgment were 
 pose that the allusion is to the thrones | pronounced. The events pertaining to 
 on which the celestial beings sit in the I the fourth beast were to be the last in the 
 solemn judgment that was to be pro- serie spre p arat ory to there! gn of the saints, 
 nounced-the throne of God, and the , or the ^ of thfl dom of tbe 
 
 thrones or seats of the attending inhabit- , Messiah an J ti rcfore it is introduced in 
 ants of heaven, coming with him to the this ma ^ . f ft golemn jud fc 
 
 solemn judgment. Lengerke refers for ; gcene were to ^ And the Ancient 
 illustra turn to 1 Kings xxn. 19 ; Isa. y.. 1 , o/rf rf . rf . w ^ d f h 
 
 Job i. and Rev. v. 11, 12. But the word /, . -V T , o , ia t A * 
 
 itself might be properly applied to the 
 thrones of earthly monarchs as well as to 
 
 of judgment. The phrase Ancient of 
 J is one that denotes an 
 
 the throne of God. The phrase were elderly or old person ; meaning, he who 
 
 cast down roi in our translation, \\< most a c e " ( as * d "^ and is ^q 
 ., Ment to the French Ltternel. or English 
 
 would seem to suppose that there *\ The Eternul It occurs only in this chap- 
 some throwing down, or overturning of ! (Q 13 22) d . representation of 
 thrones, at this period and that the so- | one Venerable in years, sitting down for 
 lemn judgment would follow this, or be ; tfae scs of ju -; ]gment . T he app ella- 
 
 consequent on this. The Chaldee word- | tion p doe l 8 not of j tse f f denoto eter ,J ( ^ but 
 N??n means, as explained by Gesenms, it j s employed, probably, with reference 
 to cast, to throw, Dan. iii. 21, 24 j vi. 17 ; J to the fact that God is eternal. God is 
 to set, to place, e. g. thrones; to impose often represented under some such appel- 
 tribute, Ezra vii. 24. The passage is ren- ; lation, as he that is from everlasting to 
 dered by the Latin Vulgate, throni positi everlasting (Ps. xc. 2), the first and the 
 eunt thrones were placed; by the Greek, j last (Isa. xliv. 6), <fcc. There can be no 
 ircSwai were placed. So Luther, stiilile \ doubt that the reference here is to God as 
 gesetzt ; and so Lengerke, stithle aufyes- j a judge, or as about to pronounce judg- 
 tellet the thrones were placed, or set up. j ment, though there is no necessity of sup- 
 The proper meaning, therefore, of the , posing that it will be in a visible and 
 phrase would seem to be not, ns in our literal form, any more than there is 
 translation, that the thrones would be ! for supposing that all that is here rep- 
 cast down as if there was to be an over- j resented by symbols will literally take 
 turning of thrones on the earth to mark ! place. If it should be insisted on that 
 this particular period of history but that the proper interpretation demands that 
 there was, in the vision, a setting up, or there will be a literal and visible judg- 
 a placing of thrones for the purpose of ad- ment, such as is here described, it may be 
 ministering judgment, <fcc., on the beast, replied that the same rigid interpretation 
 The use of the plural is, doubtless, in ac- ! would demand that there, will be a literal 
 cordance with the language elsewhere em- ; slaying of the beast, and a giving of his 
 ployed, to denote the fact that the great body to the flame (ver. 11), and more 
 Judge would be surrounded with others generally still, that all that is here re- 
 who would be, as it were, associated in forred to by symbols will literally occur, 
 administering justice either angels or The fact, however, is, that all these 
 redeemed spirits. Nothing is more com- events are referred to by symbols syin- 
 mon in the Scripture than to repre- bols which have an expressive meaning, 
 sent others as thus associated with God but which, by their very nature and de- 
 in pronouncing judgment on men. ; sign, are not to be literally understood. 
 Comp. Matt. xix. 28, Luke xxviii. 30, All that is fairly implied here is, that 
 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3, 1 Tim. v. 21, Rev. ii. 26, events would occur in regard to this fourth 
 iv. 4. The era, or period, therefore, beast aa if God should sit in solemn judg- 
 tuarked here, vould be when a solemn j merit on it, and should condemn it in the 
 28 
 
302 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555. 
 
 *was like the fiery flame, and his 
 wheels b as burning fire. 
 
 10 A fiery c stream issued and 
 
 a Ac. 2. 30, 33. b Eze. 1. 15, 16. 
 
 manner here referred to. We are, doubt 
 less, in the fulfilment of this, to look for 
 some event that will be of so decisive 
 and marked a character that it may be 
 regarded as a divine judgment in the case, I 
 or that will show the strongly-marked 
 divine disapprobation as really as if the 
 judgment-seat were formally set, and God 
 should appear in majesty to give sen 
 tence. Sitting was the usual posture 
 among the ancients, as it is among the 
 moderns, in pronouncing judgment. 
 Among the ancients the judge sat on a 
 throne or bench while the parties stood 
 before him (comp. Zech. i. 3), and with 
 the Greeks and Romans so essential was 
 the sitting posture for a judge, that a sen 
 tence pronounced in any other posture 
 was not valid. Lengerke. It was a maxim, 
 Animus sedendo magis sapit, or as Servius 
 on the JE,n. i. 56, remarks, Est enim CH- 
 rantis ct sol/iciti sedere. ^ Whose gar 
 ment was white as snow. Whose robe. 
 The reference here is to the long flowing 
 robe that was worn by ancient princes, 
 noblemen, or priests. See Notes on Isa. 
 vi. 1. Comp. Notes on Rev. i. 13. White 
 was an emblem of purity and honour, and 
 was not an improper symbol of the purity 
 of the Judge, and of the justness of the 
 sentence which he would pronounce. So 
 in his celebrated speech against employ 
 ing Indians in the war with the American 
 people, the elder Pitt besought the Bish 
 ops to * interpose the unsullied purity of 
 their lawn. Lengerke supposes as Prof. 
 Stuart does, on Rev. i. 13, that the white 
 ness here referred to was not the mere 
 colour of the material of which the robe 
 was made, but was a celestial splendour 
 or brightness, as if it were lightning or 
 fire such as is appropriate to the divine 
 majesty. Lengerke refers here to Ex. 
 xix. 1824, Daniel ii. 22, Matt. xvii. 2, 
 1 Tim. vi. 16, Ezra vii. 55, Ascension of 
 Isa. viii. 2125, Prov. i. 13, iv. 2. But the 
 more correct interpretation is to suppose 
 that this refers to a pure white robe, such 
 as judges might wear, and which would 
 not be an improper symbol of their office. 
 ^[ And the hair of his head like the pure 
 wool. That is, for whiteness a charac 
 teristic of venerable age. Comp. Notes 
 
 came forth from before him : thou 
 sand thousands ministered unto 
 him, and ten thousand times ten 
 
 cPs. 50. 3. Is. 66. 15, 16. 
 
 on Rev. i. 14. The image here set be 
 fore us is that of one venerable by years 
 and wisdom. <[ His throne was like the 
 fiery flame. The seat on which he sat 
 seemed to be fire. That is, it was brilliant 
 and splendid, as if it were a mass of flame. 
 <[ And his icheels as burning fire. The 
 wheels of his throne for, as in Ezek. i. 10, 
 the throne on which Jehovah sat appeared 
 to be on wheels. In Ezekiel (i. ]6, x. 9), 
 the wheels of the throne appeared to be 
 of the colour of beryl; that is, they were 
 i like precious stones. Here, perhaps, they 
 ! had only the appearance of a flame as 
 I such wheels would seem to flash flames. 
 So Milton, in describing the chariot of 
 the Son of God: 
 
 Forth rush d with -whirlwind sound 
 The chariot of Paternal Deity, 
 Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel un 
 drawn, 
 
 Itself instinct with spirit, but conveyed 
 By four cherubic shapes ; four faces each 
 ! Had wondi-ous ; as with stars their bodies all, 
 j And wings were set with eyes; with eyes the 
 
 wheels 
 Of Beryl, and careening fires between. 
 
 Par. Lost, B. vi. 
 
 10. A fiery stream issued and came forth 
 from before him. Streams of fire seemed 
 to burst forth from his throne. Repre 
 sentations of this kind abound in the 
 I Scriptures to illustrate the majesty and 
 I glory of God. Comp. Rev. iv. 5, "And 
 j out of the throne proceeded lightnings, 
 and thundering?, and voices." Ex. xix. 
 16 ; Habak. iii. 4; Ps. xviii. 8. f Thou 
 sand thousands ministered nnto him. A 
 thousand of thousands ; that is, thou 
 sands multiplied a thousand times. The 
 mind is struck with the fact that there 
 [ are thousands present and then the 
 j number seems as great as if those thou- 
 i sands were multiplied a thousand times. 
 | The idea is that there was an immense 
 : a countless host. The reference here is 
 to the angels, and God is often repre 
 sented as attended with great numbers 
 | of these celestial beings when he comes 
 | down to our world. Deut. xxxiii. 2. 
 j lie came with ten thousands of saints ; 
 that is, of holy ones. Ps. Ixviii. 17. 
 I " The chariots of God are twenty thou- 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 503 
 
 thousand stood before him; the 
 judgment >was set, and the books 
 were opened. 
 
 >1 Ki. 22. 19 ; Ps. 68. 17 ; He. 12. 22. 
 
 11 I beheld then because of the 
 voice of the great words which the 
 horn spake : I beheld even till the 
 
 bRe. 20. 4, 12. 
 
 On 
 
 the fulfilment, see the Notes 
 ver. 26. 
 
 11. / beheld then because of the voic 
 
 sands, even thousands of angels." Comp. 
 Jude, ver. 14. The word ministered 
 means that they attended on him. ^ And 
 
 ten thousand times ten thousand stood be- \ the great words which the horn spake. I 
 fore him. An innumerable host. These | was attracted by these words by their 
 were not to be judged, but were attend- arrogance, and haughtiness, and pride ; 
 ants on him as he pronounced sentence and I saw that it was on account of these 
 The judgment here referred to was not I mainly that the solemn judgment pro- 
 on the world at large, but on the beast, ] ceeded against the beast. The attitude 
 preparatory to giving the kingdom to the j of the Seer here is this he heard arro- 
 one who was like the Son of Man, vs. i gant and proud words uttered by the 
 13, 14. ^[ The judgment was set. That | horn, and he waited in deep attention, 
 is, all the arrangements for a solemn act j and in earnest expectation, to learn what 
 of judgment were made, and the process | judgment could be pronounced. He had 
 
 of the judgment commenced. ^[ And the 
 
 books 
 
 were openei 
 
 As containing the 
 
 record of the deeds of those who were to 
 be judged. Comp. Rev. xx. 12. The 
 
 great Judge is represented as having be 
 fore him the record of all the deeds on 
 
 grow 
 
 (ver. 8) that horn spring up and 
 to great power, and utter great 
 
 things; he had then seen, immediately 
 on this, a solemn and sublime preparation 
 
 for judgment, and he now waited anx 
 iously to learn what sentence would be 
 which judgment was to be pronounced, pronounced. The result is stated in the 
 and to be about to pronounce sentence subsequent part of the verse. \ / beheld. 
 according to those deeds. The judgment ! I continued beholding. This would seem 
 here referred to, seems to have been some j to imply that it was not done at once, 
 solemn act on the part of God transfer- but that some time intervened, ^f Even 
 ring the power over the world, from that j till the beast was slain. The fourth beast: 
 which had long swayed it, to the saints. | that which had the ten horns, and on 
 As already remarked, the necessary in- 3 which the little horn had sprung up. 
 tcrpretation of the passage does not re- j This was the result of the judgment. It 
 quire us to understand this of a literal j is evidently implied here that the beast 
 and visible judgment of a personal ap- j was slain on account of the words uttered 
 pearing of the Ancient of Days of a I by the horn that sprang up, or that the 
 formal application to him by one like ! pride and arrogance denoted by that 
 the Son of Man (ver. 13) or of a public symbol were the cause of the fact that 
 and visible making over to him of a king- < the beast was put to death. It is not said 
 dom upon the earth. It is to be rernem- i by whom the beast would be slain, but the 
 bered that all this passed in vision before fair meaning is, that the procuring cause 
 the mind of the prophet that it is a sym- ! of that death would be the divine judg- 
 bolical representation and that we are j ment on account of the pride and arro- 
 to find the fulfilment of this in some j gancy of the horn that sprang up in 
 event changing the course of empire | the midst of the others. If the beast* 
 putting a period to the power represented j represents a mighty monarchy that would 
 by the beast and the horn and caus- | exist on the earth, and the little horn 
 ing that power to pass into other hands n new power that would spring out of 
 producing a change as great on the earth | that, then the fulfilment is to be found 
 
 as 7/such a solemn act of judgment were 
 passed. The nature of the representation 
 requires that we should look for the ful 
 filment of this in some great and mo 
 mentous change in human affairs some 
 events that would take away the power 
 of the beast, and that would cause the 
 dominion to pass into other hands. 
 
 in such a fact as this that this power so 
 mighty and terrible formerly, and that 
 crushed down the nations, would, under 
 the divine judgment, be ultimately de 
 stroyed on account of the nature of the 
 authority claimed. We are to look for 
 the accomplishment of this in some such 
 state of things as that of a, new power 
 
304 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555, 
 
 Deasi. was slain, and his body de 
 stroyed, and given to the burning 
 flame. 
 
 Re. 19, 20. 
 
 t> a prolonging in life was given them. 
 
 12 As concerning the rest of the 
 beasts they had their dominion 
 taken away: yet b their lives were 
 prolonged for a season and time. 
 
 springing out of an existing dominion, existed, but they were subdued and 
 that the existing dominion still remains, j quiet. It was possible to discern them, 
 but was so much controlled by tho new | Du ^ they no longer acted the conspi- 
 povrer that it would be necessary to de- j cuous part which they had done in the 
 stroy the former on account of the arro- i days of their greatness and grandeur, 
 gance and pride of that which sprang | Their power had passed away. This 
 from it. In other words, the destruction I cannot be difficult of interpretation. We 
 of the kingdom represented by the fourth should naturally look for the fulfilment 
 
 1, _ . _ 111 -i. . .1 /Ar*V\ie.iv^4-UrtA4.*U4.AT i.: -T .1 
 
 beast, would be, as a divine judgment, 
 account of the arrogancy of that repre 
 sented by the little horn. ^ And his 
 body destroyed. That is, there would be 
 a destruction of the kingdom here repre 
 sented as much as there would be of the 
 beast if his body was destroyed. The 
 power of that kingdom, as such, is to 
 
 of this in the fact that the nations referred 
 to by these first three beasts were still in 
 being, and could be recognized as na 
 tions in their boundaries, or customs, or 
 languages, but that the power which they 
 had wielded had passed into other hands. 
 \ Yet their lives were prolonged. Marg., 
 as in Chald. a prolonging in life was 
 
 come to an end. 
 
 And 
 
 gven 
 
 to tJie given them. That is, they were not 
 
 burning flame. Consumed. This would 
 represent, in strong terras, that the power 
 here symbolized by the beast would be 
 utterly destroyed. It is not, however, 
 necessary to suppose that this is to be 
 the mode in which it would be done, or 
 that it would be by fire. It is to be re 
 membered that all this is symbol, and no 
 one part of the symbol should be taken 
 literally more than another, nor is it con 
 gruous to suppose there would be a literal 
 consumingjfo-e in the case any more than 
 that there would be literally a least, or 
 ten horns, or a little horn. The fair 
 meaning is, that there would be as real a 
 destruction as if it were accomplished by 
 fire ; or a destruction of which fire would 
 be the proper emblem. The allusion is here, 
 probably, to the fact that the dead bodies 
 of animals were often consumed by fire. 
 
 12. As concerning the rest of the beasts. 
 They had been superseded, but not de 
 stroyed. It would seem that they were 
 Btill represented in vision to Daniel, as 
 
 utterly destroyed and consumed as the 
 
 power of the fourth 
 the solemn judgment. 
 
 beast was after 
 The meaning is, 
 
 that in these kingdoms there would be 
 energy for a time. They had life 
 still, and the difference between them 
 and the kingdom represented by the 
 fourth beast, was that which would exist 
 between wild animals subdiied but still 
 living, and a wild animal killed and 
 burned. We should look for the fulfil 
 ment of this in some state of things where 
 the kingdoms referred to by the three 
 beasts were subdued and succeeded by 
 others, though they still retained some 
 thing of their national character, while 
 the other kingdom had no successor of a 
 civil kind, but where its power wholly 
 ceased, and the dominion went wholly 
 into other hands so that it might be 
 said that that kingdom as such had 
 wholly ceased to be. f for a season and 
 time. Comp. Notes on ver. 25. The 
 time mentioned here is not definite. 
 
 retaining their existence, though their The phrase used jnjn |PT-1J7 refers to 
 power was taken away, and their fierce- j a definite period, both the words in 
 ness subdued, or that they still seemed to j the original referring to a designated or 
 remain alive for a time, or while the appointed time, though neither of them 
 
 vision was passing. They were not cut 
 down, destroyed, and consumed as the 
 They had their 
 They were super 
 
 seded, or they no longer exercised power. 
 Ihey no more appeared, exerting a 
 control over the nations. They still 
 
 fourth beast was. 
 dominion taken aicay. 
 
 indicates anything about the length of 
 the time, any more than our word time 
 does. Luther renders this, for there 
 was a time and an hour appointed to them 
 how long each one should continue. 
 Grotius explains this as meaning, be 
 yond the time fixed by God thej could 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 305 
 
 and a came to the Ancient i> of days, 
 and they brought him near before 
 him. 
 
 b ver. 9. 
 
 13 I saw in the night visions, 
 and, behold, one like the Son of man 
 came with the clouds of heaven, 
 
 Matt. 24. 30 ; 25. 31 ; 26. 64 ; Ee. 1. 7, 13 ; 14. 14. 
 
 not continue. The true meaning of the used does not elsewhere occur in the Old 
 Chaldee is probably this : for a time, | Testament as applicable to the personage 
 even a definite time. The mind of the j intendecL As OCC urring here, it is im- 
 prophet is at first fixed upon the fact that por tant to explain it, not only in view of 
 they continue to live; then upon the t fc e events connected with it in the 
 
 fact, somehow apparent, that it is for a 
 definite period. Perhaps in the vision 
 he saw them one after another die or dis 
 appear. In the words here used, how 
 ever, there is nothing by which we can 
 determine how long they were to con 
 tinue. The time that the power repre 
 sented by the little horn is to continue, 
 is explained in ver. 25, but there is no 
 clue by which we can ascertain how long 
 the existence of the power represented 
 by the first three beasts was to continue. 
 
 prophecy, but as having done much to 
 mould the language of the New Testa 
 ment. There are three questions in re 
 gard to its meaning. What does it sig 
 nify ? 
 what 
 
 To whom does it refer? And 
 would be its proper fulfilment? 
 
 (1) The phrase is more than a mere He 
 brew or Chaldee expression to denote 
 man, but is always used with some pecu 
 liar significant^, and with relation to 
 some peculiar ch. iracteristic of the per 
 son to whom it is applied, or with some 
 
 All that is clear is, that it was to be special design. To ascertain this de- 
 lengthened out for some period, but that s ig n , regard should be had to the ex- 
 
 that was a definite and fixed period. 
 
 13. / saw in the night visions. EvU 
 dently in the same night visions, or on 
 the same occasion, for the visions are designations of sex, 
 
 pression of the original. "While the 
 
 wordg ^ &nd 
 
 ftre used gi , flg 
 jg, which is etymo- 
 
 connected. See vs. 1, 7. The meaning j logically akin to &*, is employed with 
 is, that he continued beholding, or that | constant reference to its original mean- 
 new vision passed before him. [ And, \ ing? to be tceak sick . it is the ethical 
 
 fstem arU^that Da^el tS tt al ! * of -,.-, but o* denotes man 
 tempt to represent this by any symbol, j * to his physical, natural condition, 
 The representation by symbols ceases whence the use of the word in such pas- 
 with the fourth beast, and now the de- i sa S es as Ps - V11U 4 5 Job xxv - 6 > and also 
 scription assumes a literal form the set- ! its connection with j3, are satisfactorily 
 ting up of the kingdom of the Messiah : explained. The emphatic address Son 
 and of the saints. Why this change of of Man is therefore [in Ezekiel] a con 
 form occurs is not stated or known, but tinned admonition to the prophet to re- 
 the sacred writers seem carefully to have member that he is a man like all the rest." 
 avoided any representation of the Mes- j Havernick, com. on Ezek. ii. 1, 2, quoted 
 siah by symbols. The phrase the Son in the Bibliotheca Sacra, v. 718. The 
 of Man C ^s -Q does not occur else- expression here used is BHI JN n3, and 
 where in the Old Testament, in such a would properly refer to man as weak and 
 connection, and with such a reference as feeble, and as liable to be sick, <fec. Ap- 
 it has here, though it is often found in plied to any one as the Son of Man, it 
 the New, and is, in fact, the favourite would be used to denote that he partook 
 term by which the Saviour designates of the weakness and infirmities of the 
 himself. In Dan. iii. 25, we have the race; and, as the phrase Son of Man* is 
 phrase the Son of God, (see Notes on used in the New Testament when applied 
 that passage,) as applicable to one who by the Saviour to himself, there is an 
 appeared with the three children that undoubted reference to this fact that he 
 were cast into the burning furnace, and sustained a peculiar relation to our race; 
 in Ezekiel the phrase Son of Man often that he was in all respects a man ; that 
 occurs as applicable to himself as a pro- , he was one of us ; that he had so taken 
 phet, being found more than eighty times our nature on himself that there was a 
 in his prophecies, but the expression here ] peculiar propriety that a ter which 
 26* 
 
30(5 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555 
 
 would at once designate this should Tbe ] days of these kings shall the God of Jieaven 
 given to him. The phrase here used by set tip a kingdom which shall never be de> 
 Daniel would denote some one (a) in the \ strayed," &c. So in the Talmud, and so 
 human form ; (I) some one sustaining a the majority of the ancient Jewish Rab- 
 peculiar relation to man as if human ! bins. See Gill, com., in loc. It is true 
 nature were embodied in him. (2) The [ that this interpretation has not been uni- 
 next inquiry here is, to whom this refers? form among the Jewish Rabbins, but still 
 Who, in fact, was the one that was thus it has prevailed among them, as it has 
 seen in vision by the prophet? Or who among Christian interpreters, (c) A sanc- 
 was designed to be set forth by this ? j tion seems to be given to this interpreta- 
 This inquiry is not so much, Who did; tion by the adoption of the title Son of 
 Daniel suppose or understand this to j Man by the Lord Jesus, as that by which 
 be, as, Who was in fact designed to be he chose to designate himself. That title 
 represented? Or in whom would the ful- 1 was such as would constantly suggest this 
 filment be found? For, on the supposition I place in Daniel as referring to himself, 
 that this was a heavenly vision, it is clear | and especially as he connected with it the 
 that it was intended to designate some one i declaration that the Son of Man would 
 in whom the complete fulfilment was to be : come in the clouds of heaven/ &c. It 
 found. Now, admitting that this was a j was hardly possible that he should use 
 heavenly vision, and that it was intended the title in such a connection without 
 to represent what would occur in future suggesting this place in Daniel, or with- 
 times, there are the clearest reasons for out leaving the impression on the minds 
 supposing that the Messiah was referred , of his hearers that he meant to be under- 
 to, and indeed this is so plain, that it stood as applying this to himself, (rf) It 
 may be assumed as one of the indisput- j may be added, that it cannot with pro- 
 able things by which to determine the priety be applied to any other. Porphyry, 
 character and design of the prophecy, indeed, supposed that Judas Maccabeus 
 
 Among thes reasons are the follow 
 ing: (a) The name itself, as a name as 
 sumed by the Lord Jesus the favourite 
 name by which he chose to designate 
 himself when on the earth. This name 
 
 was intended; Grotius that it referred to 
 the Roman people; Aben Ezra to the 
 people of Israel ; and Cocceius to the peo 
 ple of the Most High (Gill) ; but all these 
 are unnatural interpretations, and are con- 
 be used technically; housed it as one trary to that which one would obtain by 
 that would be understood to denote the allowing the language of the New Testa 
 ment to influence his mind. The title 
 so often used by the Saviour himself; the 
 attending circumstances of the clouds of 
 
 Messiah ; he used it as if it needed no 
 explanation as having a reference to the 
 Messiah. But this usage could have been 
 derived only from this passage in Daniel 
 
 for there is no other place in the Old Tes 
 tament where the name could refer with 
 propriety to the Messiah, or would be un 
 derstood to be applicable to him. (b) This 
 interpretation has been given to it by the 
 Jewish writers, in general, in all ages. 
 I refer to this, not to say that their ex 
 planation is authoritative, but to show 
 
 heaven; the place which the vision occu 
 pies so immediately preceding the set 
 ting up of the kingdom of the saints ; 
 and the fact that that kingdom can be 
 set up only under the Messiah, all point 
 to him as the personage represented in 
 the vision. (3) But if it refers to the 
 Messiah, the next enquiry is, What is to 
 be regarded as the proper fulfilment of 
 
 that it is the natural and obvious mean- : the vision ? To what precisely does 
 ing, and because, as we shall see, it is; relate? Are we to suppose that there 
 that which has given shape and form to ; will be a literal appearing of the Son 
 the language of the New Testament, and of Man the Messiah in the clouds of 
 is fully sanctioned there. Thus in the heaven, and a passing over of the king- 
 ancient Book of Zohar it is said, " In the | dom in a public and solemn manner into 
 times of the Messiah, Israel shall be one the hands of the saints? In reply to 
 people to the Lord, and he shall make i these questions, it may be remarked, 
 them one nation in the earth, and they () that this cannot be understood as re- 
 shall rule above and below; as it is writ- lating to the last judgment for it is not 
 ten, behold one like the Son of Man came | introduced with reference to that at all. 
 with the clouds of heaven ; this is the king The Son of Man is not here represented 
 Messiah, of whom it is written, and in the as coming with a view to judge the world 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 307 
 
 at the winding up of human affairs, but 
 for the purpose of setting up a kingdom, 
 or procuring a kingdom for his saints. 
 There is no assembling of the people of 
 the world together; no act of judging the 
 righteous and the wicked; no pronounc- 
 mg of a, sentence on either. It is evident 
 that the world is to continue much longer 
 under the dominion of the saints. (I) It 
 is not to be taken literally; that is, we 
 are not, from this passage, to expect a 
 literal appearance of the Son of Man in 
 the clouds of heaven, preparatory to the 
 setting up of the kingdom of the saints. 
 For if one portion is to be taken lit 
 erally, there is no reason why all should 
 not be. Then we are to expect, not 
 merely the appearing of the Son of Man 
 in the clouds, but also the following 
 things, as a part of the fulfilment of the 
 vision, to wit : the literal placing of a 
 throne, or seat; the literal streaming 
 forth of flame from his throne ; the literal 
 appearing of the Ancient of days, with 
 a garment of white, and hair as wool ; a 
 literal approach of the Son of Man to him 
 as seated on his throne to ask of him a 
 kingdom, &c. But no one can believe 
 that all this is to occur; no one does 
 believe that it will, (c) The proper in 
 terpretation is to regard this, as it was 
 Been by Daniel, as a vision a represen 
 tation of a state of things in the world as 
 if what is here described would occur. 
 That is, great events were to take place, 
 of which this would be a proper symboli 
 cal representation or as if the Son of 
 Man, the Messiah, would thus appear; 
 would approach the Ancient of days; 
 would receive a kingdom, and would 
 make it over to the saints. Now, there 
 is no real difficulty in understanding what 
 is here meant to be taught, and what we 
 are to expect ; and these points of fact 
 are the following, viz : 1. That he who 
 is here called the Ancient of days, is 
 the source of power and dominion. 
 2. That there would be some severe ad 
 judication in the power here represented 
 by the beast, and the horn. 3. That the 
 kingdom or dominion of the world is to 
 be in fact given to him who is here called 
 the Son of Man the Messiah a fact 
 represented here by his approaching the 
 Ancient of days, and who is the source of 
 all power. 4. That there is to be some 
 passing oyer of the kingdom or power 
 into the hands of the saints; or some set 
 ting up of a kingdom u the earth, of , 
 
 which he is to be the head, and in which 
 the dominion over the world shall be in 
 fact in the hands of his people, and the 
 laws of the Messiah everywhere prevail. 
 What will be the essential characteristics 
 of that kingdom we may learn by the ex 
 position of ver. 14, compared with ver. 27. 
 ^[ Came with the clouds of heaven. That 
 is, he seemed to come down from the sky 
 encompassed with cloude. So the Saviour, 
 probably intending to refer to this lan 
 guage, speaks of himself, when he shall 
 come to judge the world, as coming in 
 clouds, or encompassed by clouds. Matt. 
 xxiv. 30, xxvi. 64, Mark xiii. 26, xiv. 62. 
 Comp. Rev. i. 7. Clouds are an appro 
 priate symbol of the divinity. See Ps. 
 xcvii. 2, civ. 3. The same symbol was em 
 ployed by the heathen, representing their 
 deities as appearing covered with a cloud : 
 
 Tandem venias, precamur, 
 Nube candentes humeros amictus, 
 Augur Apollo. 
 
 The allusion in the place before us, is not 
 to the last judgment, but to the fact that 
 a kingdom on the earth would be passed 
 over into the hands of the Messiah. Ho 
 is represented as coming sublimely to the 
 world and as receiving a kingdom that 
 would succeed those represei ted by the 
 beasts. f And came to tlie Ancient of 
 days, ver. 9. This shows that the passage 
 cannot refer to the final judgment. He 
 comes to the Ancient of days to God 
 as the source of power, as if to ask a pe 
 tition for a kingdom ; not to pronounce a 
 judgment on mankind. The act here 
 appropriately denotes that God is the 
 source of all power ; that all who reign 
 derive their authority from him, and that 
 even the Messiah, in setting up his king 
 dom in the world, receives it at the hand 
 of the Father. This is in accordance 
 with all the representations in the New 
 Testament. We are not to suppose that 
 this will occur literally. There is to be 
 no such literal sitting of one with the 
 appearance of age denoted by the An 
 cient of days on a throne; nor is there 
 to bo any such literal approaching him 
 by one in the form of a man to receive a 
 kingdom. Such passages show the ab 
 surdity of the attempts to interpret the 
 language of the Scriptures literally. All 
 that this symbol fairly means must be, 
 that the kingdom that was to be set up un 
 der the Messiah on the earth was received 
 from God. 1[ And they brought him near 
 
308 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555 
 
 14 And there \vas given him do 
 minion, and glory, and a kingdom, 
 that all people, nations, and lan 
 guages should serve him : his do- 
 
 l Ps. 2 68; Matt. 28.18; Jn. 3.35; 1 Co. 15. 27; 
 Ep. 1. 20. 22. 
 
 before him. That is, he was brought near 
 before him. Or, it may mean that his 
 attendants brought him near. All that 
 the language necessarily implies is, that 
 he came near to his seat, and received 
 from him a kingdom. 
 
 14. And there was given liim domin 
 ion. That is, by him who is represented 
 as the Ancient of days. The fair inter 
 pretation of this is, that he received the 
 dominion from him. This is the uniform 
 representation in the New Testament. 
 Comp. Matt, xxviii. 18; John iii. 35; 
 1 Cor. xv. 27. The word dominion here 
 means rule or authority such as a prince 
 exercises. He was set over a kingdom 
 as a prince or ruler, ^f And glory. That 
 is, the glory or honor appropriate to one 
 at the head of such an empire. ^[ And a 
 kingdom. That is, he would reign. He 
 would have sovereignty. The nature and 
 the extent of this kingdom is immediately 
 designated as one that would be uni 
 versal and perpetual. What is properly 
 implied in this language as to the ques 
 tion whether it will be literal and visible, 
 will be appropriately considered at the 
 close of the verse. All that is necessary 
 to be noticed here is, that it is everywhere 
 promised in the Old Testament that the 
 Messiah would be a. king, and have a 
 kingdom. Comp. Ps. ii., Isa. ix. 6. 7. 
 ^[ That all people, nations, and languages 
 should serve him. It would be univer 
 sal: would embrace all nations. The 
 language here is such as would emphati 
 cally denote universality. See Notes on 
 ch. iii. 4; iv. 1. It implies that that king 
 dom would extend over all the nations of 
 the earth, and we are to look for the ful 
 filment of this only in such a. universal 
 reign of the Messiah. ^[ His dominion is 
 an everlasting dominion, &c. The others, 
 represented by the four beasts, would all 
 pass away, but this would be permanent 
 and eternal. Nothing would destroy it. 
 It would not have, as most kingdoms of 
 the earth have had, any such internal 
 weakness or source of discord as would 
 be the cause of its destruction, nor would 
 there be any external power that would 
 
 minion is an everlasting ^dominion, 
 which shall not pass away, and his 
 kingdom that which shall not c be 
 destroyed. 
 
 t> Ps. 145. 13. 
 
 He. 12. 28. 
 
 invade or overthrow it. This declaration 
 affirms nothing as to the form in which 
 the kingdom would exist, but merely as 
 serts the fact that it would do so. Re 
 specting the kingdom of the Messiah, to 
 which this undoubtedly alludes, the same 
 thing is repeatedly and uniformly affirmed 
 in the New Testament. Comp. Matt. xvi. 
 18 ; Ileb. xii. 28 ; Rev. xi. 15. The form 
 and manner in which this will occur, is 
 more fully developed in the New Testa 
 ment; in the vision seen by Daniel the 
 fact only is stated. 
 
 The question now arises, What would 
 be a fulfilment of this prediction respect 
 ing the kingdom that will be given to the 
 saints? What, from the language used 
 in the vision, should we be legitimately 
 authorized to expect to take place on the 
 earth ? In regard to these questions, 
 there are but two views which can be 
 taken, and the interpretation of the pas 
 sage must sustain the one or the other. 
 (a) One is that which supposes that this 
 will be literally fulfilled in the sense that 
 the Son of God, the Messiah, will reign 
 personally on earth. According to this, 
 he will come to set up a visible and glori 
 ous kingdom, making Jerusalem his cap 
 ital, and swaying his sceptre over the 
 world. All nations and people will be 
 subject to him; all authority will be 
 wielded by his people under him. (b) Ac 
 cording to the other view, there will be 
 a spiritual reign of the Son of God over 
 the earth ; that is, the principles of his 
 religion will everywhere prevail, and the 
 J righteous will rule, and the laws of the 
 I Redeemer will be obeyed everywhere. 
 j There will be such aprevalence of his gos- 
 ! pel on the hearts of all rulers and peo 
 ple ; the gospel will so modify all laws, 
 and control all customs, and remove all 
 abuses, and all the forms of evil; men will 
 be so generally under the influence of that 
 gospel, that it may be said that he reigns 
 on the earth, or that the government ac 
 tually administered is his. 
 
 In regard to these different views, and 
 to the true interpretation of the passage, 
 it may be remarked, (1.) that TVO are 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VJ 
 
 309 
 
 15 fl I Daniel was grieved in my 
 spirit in the midst of my a body, and 
 the visions of my head troubled me. 
 
 16 I came near unto one of them 
 
 * sheath. 2 Pe. 1. 14. 
 
 that stood by, and asked him the 
 truth of all this. So he told me, 
 and made me know the interpreta 
 tion of the things. 
 
 17 These great beasts, which are 
 
 not to look for the literal fulfilment of ray body. Marg., as in the Chald., sheath. 
 this j we are not to expect that what is j The body is undoubtedly referred to, and 
 here described will literally occur. The I is so called as the envelope of the mind 
 whole is evidently a symbolical represen- j or as that in which the soul is inserted, as 
 tation, and the fulfilment is to be found j the sword is in the sheath, and from 
 in something that the symbol would pro 
 perly denote. No one can pretend that 
 there is to be an actual sitting on the 
 throne, by one in the form of an old man 
 the Ancient of days or that there is to 
 be a literal coming to him by one like 
 the Son of Man, to receive a kingdom. 
 But if one part of the representation is 
 not to be literally interpreted, why should 
 the other be ? It may be added, that it 
 is nowhere said that this would literally 
 occur. (2) All that is fairly implied 
 here is found in the latter interpreta 
 tion. Such a prevalence of the princi 
 ples of the gospel, would meet the force 
 of the language, and every part of 
 the vision would find a real fulfilment in 
 that, (a) The fact that it proceeds from 
 God represented as the Ancient of 
 days. (b) The fact that it is given by 
 him, or that the kingdom is made over 
 
 which it is drawn out by death. Tho 
 same metaphor is employed by Pliny : 
 Donee cremato eo inimici remeanti animce 
 velut vaginam ademerint. So, too, a cer 
 tain philosopher, who was slighted by 
 Alexander the Great, on account of his 
 ugly face, is said to have replied, Corpus 
 agina gladii, in qua 
 n vagina reconditnr. 
 
 hominis nil est ns 
 tannam 
 
 Gescnius. Comp. Lengerke, in loc. See 
 also Job xxvii. 8, "When God taketh 
 away his soul;" or rather draws out his 
 soul, as a sword is drawn out of the 
 sheath. Comp. Notes on that place. See 
 also Buxtorf s Lex. Tal. p. 1307. The 
 meaning here is plain that Daniel felt 
 sad and troubled in mind, and that this 
 produced a sensible effect on his body. 
 }\ And the visions of my head troubled me. 
 The head is here regarded as the seat of 
 the intellect, and he speaks of these visions 
 
 by him to the Messiah, (c) The fact j as if they were seen by the head. That 
 that the Messiah would have such a king- j is, they seemed to pass before his eyes, 
 dom ; that is, that he would reign on the 16. / came near unto one of them that 
 earth, in the hearts and lives of men. stood by. That is, to one of the angels 
 (d) The fact that that kingdom would be j who appeared to stand near the throne, 
 universal extending over all people, ver. 10. Comp. ch. viii. 13, Zech. iv. 4, 5, 
 And (e) the fact that it would be per- Rev. vii. 13. It was natural for Daniel 
 petual ; that is, that it would extend to suppose that the angels who were seen 
 down to the end of time, or the consuin- | encircling the throne, would be able to 
 mation of all things here, and that it j give him information on the subject, and 
 would be then eternal in the heavens. For the answers which Daniel received show 
 & very full and ample illustration of this that he was not mistaken in his expecta- 
 
 passage so full and ample as to super 
 sede the necessity of any additional illus- 
 
 tion. God has often employed angels to 
 communicate important truths to men, or 
 
 tration hero, see the notes on ch. ii. 44, 45. has made them the medium of communi- 
 15. / Daniel was grieved in my spirit, eating his will. Comp. liev. i. 1, Acts 
 That is, I was troubled; or the heart was vii. 53, Heb. ii. 2. ^ 80 he told me, and 
 made heavy and sad. This was probably j made me know the interpretation of the 
 in part because he did not fully under- j things. He explained the meaning of tho 
 stand tho meaning of the vision, and i symbols so that Daniel understood them, 
 partly on account of the fearful and j It would seem probable that Daniel has 
 momentous nature of that which was in- | not recorded all that the angels cominu- 
 
 dicated by it. So the apostle John, 
 (Rev. v. 4), says, " And I wept much be 
 cause no man was found worthy to open 
 and to read the book." f In tlie midst of 
 
 nicated respecting the vision, but he has 
 preserved so much that we may under 
 stand its general signification. 
 
 17. These great beasts, which are four, 
 
310 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555. 
 
 four, are four kings, which shall j possess the kingdom b for ever, even 
 arise out of the earth. j for ever and ever. 
 
 18 But the saints of the * Most I 19 Then I would know the truth 
 High shall take the kingdom, and | of the fourth beast, which was di- 
 
 a High ones, i. e. things or places. Ep. 1. 3 ; 6. 12. 
 
 are four kings. Four kings or four dy 
 nasties. There is no reason for suppos 
 ing that they refer to individual kings, 
 but the obvious meaning is, that they re 
 
 fer to four dominions 
 
 or empires 
 
 that 
 
 succeed one another on the earth. 
 So the whole representation leads us to 
 
 b Re. 3. 21. 
 
 but there can bo no doubt that it refers 
 here to God, and is given to him as tho 
 word Elohim is (Gen. i. 1, et sore.), to de 
 note majesty or honor jihtralis cxccllen- 
 tice. The word rendered saints means 
 the holy, and the reference is undoubtedly 
 to tho people of God on the earth, mean- 
 
 suppose, and so the passage has been al- , ing here that they would take possession 
 ways interpreted. The Latin vulgate O f the kingdom, or that they would rule, 
 renders it regna; the Sept. fiaatXZiai ; i When true religion shall everywhere prc- 
 Luther, Reiche, Lengerke, Konigreiche. I vail, and when all offices shall be in the 
 This interpretation is confirmed, also, by j hands of good men of men that fear God 
 ver. 23, where it is expressly said that i and that keep his commandments in- 
 the fourth beast shall be the fourth stead of being in the hands of bad men 
 kingdom upon earth. See also ver. 24. as they generally have been, then this 
 <[ Which shall arise out of the earth. In I prediction will be accomplished in respect 
 ver. 2 the beasts are represented as com- to all that is fairly implied in it. And 
 
 ing up from the sea the emblem of agi 
 tated nations. Here the same idea is 
 presented more literally that they would 
 seem to spring up out of the earth, thus 
 thrown into wild commotion. These dy 
 nasties were to be upon the earth, and 
 they were in all things to indicate their 
 earthly origin. Perhaps, also, it is de 
 signed by these words to denote a marked 
 contrast between these four dynasties, 
 and the one that would follow which 
 would be of heavenly origin. This was 
 
 possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever 
 and ever. This is a strong and emphatic 
 declaration, affirming that this dominion 
 will bo perpetual. It will not pass away, 
 like the other kingdoms, to be succeeded by 
 another one. What is here affirmed, as 
 above remarked, will be true if such a 
 reign should continue on earth to tho 
 winding up of all things, and should then 
 be succeeded by an eternal reign of holi 
 ness in the heavens. It is not necessary 
 to interpret this as meaning that there 
 
 the general intimation which was given ! would be literally an eternal kingdom on 
 to the meaning of the vision, and he was ! this earth for it is everywhere taught in 
 satisfied at once as to the explanation, so the Scriptures that tho present order of 
 far as the first three were concerned, but ; things will come to a close. But it does 
 the fourth seemed to indicate more mys- seem necessary to understand this as 
 terious and important events, and re- j teaching that there will be a state of pro 
 specting this he was induced to ask a ] valent righteousness on the earth here- 
 more particular explanation. after, and that when that is introduced it 
 18. But the saints of the Most High 1 will continue to the end of time. 
 
 9lta.ll take the kingdom. That is, they 
 shall ultimately take possession of the 
 rule over all the world, aad shall control 
 it from that time onward to the end. 
 This is tho grand thing which the vision 
 is designed to disclose, and on this itw y as 
 evidently tho intention to fix the mind. 
 Every thing before was preparatory and 
 stiDordinate to this, and to this all things 
 tended. Tho phrase rendered the Most 
 Hiyh in the margin high ones. i. e. 
 
 things or places 
 
 is in tho plural 
 
 number, and means literaly hiyh ernes, 
 
 19. Then I would know the truth of the 
 fourth beast. I desired to know particu 
 larly what was symbolized by that. Ho 
 appears to have been satisfied with tho 
 most general intimations in regard to tho 
 first three beasts, for the kingdoms repre 
 sented by them seemed to have nothing 
 very remarkable. But it was different in 
 regard to the fourth. The beast itself 
 was so remarkable so fierce and terrific ; 
 the number of the horns was so great; 
 the springing up of the little horn was so 
 surprising; the character of that horn 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 wiAPTER VII 
 
 311 
 
 verse from all a the others, exceeding 
 dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, 
 and his nails of brass ; which de 
 voured, brake in pieces, and stamped 
 the residue with his feet ; 
 
 20 And of the ten horns that were, 
 in his head, and of the other which 
 
 up, 
 
 and before 
 
 a Those. 
 
 whom three 
 
 was so unusual; the judgment passed on 
 it was so solemn ; and the vision of one 
 like the Son of Man coming to take 
 possession of the kingdom all these 
 things were of so fearful, and so uncom 
 mon a character, that the mind of Daniel 
 was peculiarly affected in view of them, 
 and he sought earnestly for a further ex 
 planation. In the description that Dan 
 iel here gives of the beast and the horns, 
 he refers in the main to the same circum 
 stances which he had before described, 
 but ho adds a few which he had before 
 
 fell ; even o/that horn that had eyes, 
 and a mouth that spake very great 
 things, whose look was more stout 
 than his fellows. 
 
 21 I beheld, and b the same horn 
 made war with the saints, and pre 
 vailed against them ; 
 
 22 Until the Ancient of days 
 
 b Re. 13. 7, Ac. 
 
 the others until it became the most pro 
 minent. This would clearly denote that 
 the kingdom or the authority referred to 
 by this eleventh horn would be more dis 
 tinct and prominent than either of the 
 others would become so conspicuous and 
 important as in fact to concentrate and 
 embody all the power of the beast. 
 
 21. / beheld, and the same horn made 
 war with the saints. I continued to look 
 on this until I saw war made by this horn 
 with the people of God. This circum 
 stance, also, is not referred to in the first 
 
 omitted, all tending to impress the mind description, and the order of time in the 
 more deeply with the fearful character, | description would seem to imply that the 
 and the momentous import of the vision ! W ar with the saints would be at a consi- 
 as for instance, the fact that it had nails i derablo period after the first appearance 
 of brass, and made war with the saints. o f the horn or would bo only when it 
 f Which was diverse from all the others. J had grown to its great size and power. 
 Different in its form and character : so j This war might refer to open hostilities, 
 different as to attract particular attention, j carried on in the usual manner of war; 
 
 and to leave the impression that some 
 thing very peculiar and remarkable was 
 denoted by it. Notes ver. 7. Exceed- 
 
 tw/ dreadful. Notes ver. 
 
 And his 
 
 nails of brass. This circumstance is not 
 mentioned in the first statement, ver. 7. 
 It accords well with the other part of the 
 description that his teeth were of iron, 
 and is designed to denote the fearful and 
 terrific character of the kingdom, sym- 
 
 or to persecution, or to any invasion 
 of the rights and privileges of others. 
 As it is a war with the saints it would 
 
 | be most natural to refer it to persecution. 
 
 I ^[ And prevailed against them. That is, 
 he overcame and subdued them. He was 
 stronger than they were, and they were 
 not able to resist him. The same events 
 are evidently referred to, and in almost 
 similar language borrowed probably 
 
 from Daniel in Rev. xiii. 5 7 : "And 
 there was given him a mouth speaking 
 
 bolized by the beast. ^[ Which devoured, 
 
 &c. See Notes on ver. 7. ..__ o r o 
 
 20. And of the ten horns, &c. See | great things and blasphemies, and power 
 Notes on vs. 7, 8. ^[ Whose look was | Wa8 given unto him to continue forty and 
 more stout than his fellows. Literally, ! two months. And he opened his mouth 
 whose aspect was nreater than that of i n blasphemy against God, to blaspheme 
 its companions. This does not mean j his name, and his tabernacle, and them 
 that its look or aspect was more fierce or j that dwell in heaven. And it was given 
 severe than that of the others, but that j him to make war with the saints, and to 
 the appearance of the horns was yreater j overcome them: and power was given 
 
 In ver. 8, this is described as a little 
 horn, and to understand this, and recon 
 cile the two, we must suppose that the 
 seer watched this as it grew until it be 
 came the largest of the number. Three 
 fell before it, and it outgrew in size all 
 
 him over jOl kindreds, and tongues, and 
 nations." 
 
 22. Until the Ancient of days came. 
 Notes ver. 9. That is, this was to occur 
 after the horn grew to its full size ; and 
 after the war was made with the saints, 
 
312 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555. 
 
 came, and judgment was given to [earth, which shall be diverse from 
 
 >t j i^ . I Tl T i TT 1 1 ll 1 1 1 1 II 1 .1 
 
 the saints of the Most High ; and 
 the time came that the saints pos 
 sessed the kingdom. 
 
 23 Thus he said, The fourth beast 
 shall be the fourth kingdom upon 
 
 and they had been overcome. It does 
 not affirm that this would occur imme 
 diately, but that at some subsequent pe 
 riod the Ancient of days would come, 
 and would set up a kingdom on the earth, 
 or would make over the kingdom to the 
 saints. There would be as real a trans 
 fer and as actual a setting up of a pecu- 
 
 all kingdoms, and shall devour the 
 whole earth, and shall tread it down, 
 and break it in pieces. 
 
 24 And the ten horns out of this 
 kingdom are ten kings that shall 
 
 tends still into the future ; and it is of im 
 portance, therefore, to determine if pos 
 sible, what is its true meaning. The two 
 points of inquiry which are properly be 
 fore us are, first, What do the words of 
 explanation as used by the angel, fairly 
 imply ; that is, what, according to the 
 fair interpretation of these words, would 
 
 liar kingdom, as if God himself should j be the course of events referred to, or 
 appear on the earth, and should publicly j what should we naturally expect to find 
 make over the dominion to them. IT And \ as actually occurring on the earth in the 
 judgment was yiven to the saints of the \ fulfilment of this; and secondly, To what 
 Most High. That is, there was a solemn I events the prophecy is actually to be ap- 
 act of judgment in the case by which the j plied whether to what has already oc- 
 kingdora was given to their hands. It j curred, or what is yet to occur; whether 
 
 was as real a transfer as if there had been 
 a judgment pronounced on the beast, and 
 he had been condemned and overthrown, 
 
 we can find anything in what is now past 
 which would be an accomplishment of 
 this, or whether it is to be applied to 
 
 and as if the dominion which he once | events a part of which are yet future. 
 
 had should be made over to the servants 
 of the Most High. ^ And the time came 
 that the saints j) ssesse d the kingdom. 
 That they ruled on the earth ; that good 
 men made and administered the laws; 
 that the principles of religion prevailed 
 influencing the hearts of all men, and 
 causing righteousness and justice to be 
 done. The universal prevalence of true 
 religion in controlling the hearts and 
 
 This will lead us into a statement of the 
 points which it is affirmed would occur in 
 regard to this kingdom ; and then into an 
 inquiry respecting the application. 
 
 I. What is fairly implied in the expla 
 nation of the angel. This would em 
 brace the following points : 
 
 (1) There was to be a fourth kingdom 
 on the earth : the fourth beast shall be the 
 fourth kingdom upon earth, ver. 23. 
 
 lives of men, and disposing them to do j This was to succeed the other three, sym- 
 what in all circumstances ought to be j bolized by the lion, the bear, and the leo- 
 done, would be a complete fulfilment of | parcl. No further reference is made to 
 all that is here said. Thus far the de- | them, but the characteristics of this are 
 Bcription of what Daniel saw, of which he | fully stated. Those characteristics, which 
 was so desirous to obtain an explanation. | have been explained in the Notes on ver. 
 The explanation follows, and embraces j 7, are, as here repeated, (a) that it would 
 the remainder of the chapter. be in important respects different from 
 
 23 27. Thus he said, &c. That is, in the others; (6) that it would devour or 
 explanation of the fourth symbol which j subdue the whole earth; (c) that it would 
 appeared the fourth beast, and of the i tread it doAvn, and break it in pieces : 
 
 events connected with his appearing. 
 This explanation embraces the remainder 
 of the chapter, and as the whole subject 
 appeared difficult and momentous to Da 
 niel before the explanation, so it may bo 
 said to be in many respects difficult, and 
 in all respects momentous still. It is 
 
 that is, it would be a universal dynasty, 
 of a fierce and warlike character, that 
 would keep the whole world subdued and 
 subject by power. 
 
 (2) Out of this sovereignty or domin 
 
 ion, ten powers would 
 
 (ver. 24): 
 
 and the ten horns out of this kingdom are 
 
 a question on which expositors of the 1 ten kings that shall arise. Comp. Notes 
 Scriptures are by no means agreed, to on ver. 7. That is, they would spring 
 what it refers, and whether it has been j out of this one dominion, or it would be 
 already accomplished, or whether it ex- 1 broken up into these minor sovereignties, 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 arise: and another shall rise after 
 them ; and he shall be diverse from 
 the first; and he shall subdue three 
 kings. 
 
 yet all manifestly springing from the one 
 kingdom, and wielding the same power. 
 We would not naturally look for the ful 
 filment of this in a succession of kings 
 for that would have been symbolized by 
 the beast itself representing the entire 
 dominion or dynasty, but rather to a 
 number of contemporaneous powers that 
 had somehow sprung out of the one 
 power, or that now possessed and wielded 
 the power of that one dominion. If the 
 kingdom here referred to should be broken 
 up into such a number of powers, or if in 
 any way these powers became possessed 
 of this authority, and wielded it, such a 
 fact would express what we are to expect 
 to find in this kingdom. 
 
 (3) From the midst of these sovereign 
 ties or kingdoms there was to spring up 
 another one of peculiar characteristics, 
 vs. 24, 25. These characteristics are the 
 following : () That it would spring out 
 of the ethers, or be, as it were, one form 
 of the administration of the same power 
 as the eleventh horn sprang from the 
 same source as the ten, and we are, there 
 fore, to look for the exercise of this power 
 somehow in connection with the same 
 kingdom or dynasty, (b) This would not 
 spring up contemporaneously with the 
 ten, but would after them and we are 
 to look for this power as in some sense 
 succeeding them, (c) It would be small 
 at first as was the horn (ver. 8), and 
 we are to look for the fulfilment in some 
 power that we*ild be feeble at first, (d) It 
 would grow to be a mighty power for 
 the little horn became so powerful as to 
 pluck up three of the others (ver. 8), 
 and it is said in the explanation (ver. 
 24), that he would subdue three of 
 the kings. (e) It would subdue three 
 kings ; that is, three of the ten, and 
 we are to look for the fulfilment in some 
 manifestation of that power by which, 
 either literally three of them were over 
 thrown, or by which about one-third of 
 their power was taken away. The 
 mention of the exact number of three, 
 however, would rather seem to imply that 
 we are to expect some such exact fulfil 
 ment, or some prostration of three sove 
 reignties by the new power that would 
 27 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 313 
 
 25 And he shall speak great 
 words against the Most High, and 
 shall wear out the saints of the Most 
 High, and think to change timea 
 
 arise. (/) It would be proud, and am 
 bitious, and particularly arrogant against 
 God : and he shall speak great wordi 
 against the Most High, ver. 25. The 
 Chaldee here rendered against ix 1 ? 
 means, literally, at, or against the part 
 of it, and then against. Vulg. Contra. Gr. 
 Trpdf. This would be fulfilled in one who 
 would blaspheme God directly; or who 
 would be rebellious against his govern 
 ment and authority; or who would com 
 plain of his administration and laws ; or 
 who would give utterance to harsh and 
 reproachful words against his real claims. 
 It would find a fulfilment obviously in 
 an open opposer of the claims and the 
 authority of the true Ged ; or in one the 
 whole spirit and bearing of whose pre 
 tensions might be fairly construed as in 
 fact an utterance of great words against 
 him. (g) This would be a persecuting 
 power : and shall wear out the saints of 
 the Most High, ver. 25. That is, it would 
 be characterized by a persecution of the 
 real saints of those who were truly 
 the friends of God, and who served him. 
 (h) It would claim legislative power, the 
 power of changing established customs 
 and laws : and think to change times and 
 laws, ver. 25. The word rendered think 
 gp means more properly to hope; and 
 the idea here is, that he hopes and trusts 
 to be able to change times and laws. 
 Vulg., Putabit quod possit mutare tern- 
 pora, &c. The state of mind here re 
 ferred to would be that of one who would 
 desire to produce changes in regard to 
 the times and laws referred to, and who 
 would hope that he would be able to 
 effect it. If there was a strong wish to 
 do this, and if there was a belief that 
 in any way he could bring it about, 
 it would meet what is implied in the 
 use of the word here. There would 
 be the exercise of some kind of authority 
 in regard to existing times for festivals, 
 or other occasions, and to existing laws, 
 and there would be a purpose so to 
 change them as to accomplish his own 
 ends. The word times pjsr would 
 seem to refer properly to some stated or 
 designated times as times appointed for 
 
314 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555, 
 
 and laws : and they shall be given 
 
 festivals, &c. Gesenius, time, specially 
 an appointed time, season. Eccl. iii. 1; 
 Neb. ii. 6; Esther ix. 27, 31. Lengerke 
 renders the word Fcst-Zeiten festival 
 times/ and explains it as meaning the 
 holy times, festival days, Lev. xxiii. 2, 4, 
 37, 44. The allusion is, undoubtedly, to 
 such periods set apart as festivals or 
 fasts seasons consecrated to the services 
 of religion; and the kind of jurisdiction 
 which the power here referred to would 
 hope and desire to set up would be to have 
 control of these periods, and so to change 
 and alter them as to accomplish his own 
 purposes either by abolishing those in 
 existence, or by substituting others in 
 their place. At all times these seasons 
 have had a direct connection with the 
 state and progress of religion, and he who 
 has power over them, either to abolish 
 existing festivals, or to substitute others 
 in their places, or to appoint new festi 
 vals, has an important control over the 
 whole subject of religion, and over a na 
 tion. The word rendered laics here 
 D? while it might refer to any law, would 
 more properly designate laws pertaining 
 to religion. See Dan. vi. 6, 9, 13 ; Ezra 
 vii. 12, 21. So Lengerke explains it as 
 referring to the laws of religion, or to 
 religion. The kind of jurisdiction, there 
 fore, referred to in this place, would be 
 that which would pertain to the laws and 
 institutions of religion ; it would be a 
 purpose to obtain the control of these ; it 
 would be a claim of right to abolish such 
 as existed, and to institute new ones ; it 
 would be a determination to exert this 
 power in such a way as to promote its 
 own ends, (i) It would continue for a 
 definite period : and they shall be given 
 into his hands until a time and times and 
 the dividing of a time, ver. 25. They ; that 
 is, either those laws, or the people, the 
 powers referred to. Maurer refers this 
 to the saints of the Most High/ as 
 meaning that they would be delivered 
 into his hands. Though this is not de 
 signated expressly, yet perhaps it is 
 the most natural construction, as mean 
 ing that he would have jurisdiction over 
 the saints during this period, and if so, 
 then the meaning is, that he would have 
 absolute control over them, or set up a 
 tominion over them, for the time speci- 
 
 into his hands until a time and times 
 and the dividing of time. 
 
 fied the time, and times, &a. In re 
 gard to this expression a time and 
 times/ <fec., it is unnecessary to say that 
 there has been great diversity of opinion 
 among expositors, and that many of the 
 controversies in respect to future events 
 turn on the sense attached to this and to 
 the similar expressions which occur IE 
 the book of Revelation. The first and 
 main inquiry pertains, of course, to its 
 literal and proper signification. Tho 
 word used here rendered time, times, time 
 1?* my. is a word which, in itself, would 
 no more designate any definite and fixed 
 period than our word time does. See 
 ch. ii. 8, 9,21, iii. 5, 15, iv. 16, 23,25, 32, 
 vii. 12. In some of these instances, the 
 period actually referred to was a year, 
 (ch. iv. 16, 23), but this is not necessarily 
 implied in the word used, but the limita 
 tion is demanded by the circumstances 
 of the case. So far as the word is con 
 cerned, it would denote a day, a week, a 
 month, a year, or a larger or smaller 
 division of time, and the period actually 
 intended to be designated must be de 
 termined from the connection. The 
 Latin Vulgate is indefinite ad tempus ; 
 so the Greek, ?a>j Kaipoii , so the Syriac, 
 and so Luther eine Zeit, and so Len 
 gerke, cine Zeit. The phrase for a 
 time, expresses accurately the meaning 
 of the original word. The word rendered 
 times is the same word in the plural, 
 though evidently with a dual significa 
 tion, Gesenius, Lex. Lengerke, in loc. 
 The obvious meaning is two such times 
 as is designated by the former time. The 
 phrase and the dividing of a time/ 
 means clearly half of such a period. 
 Thus, if the period denoted by a time 
 here be a year, the whole period would 
 j be three years and a half. Designations 
 of time like this, or of this same period, 
 occur several times in the prophecies 
 J (Daniel and Revelation), and on their 
 meaning much depends in regard to the 
 interpretation of the prophecies pertain 
 ing to the future. This period of three 
 years and a half equals forty-two months, 
 or twelve hundred and sixty days the 
 periods mentioned in Rev. xi. 2, xii. 5, 
 and on which so much depends in the in 
 terpretation of that book. The only 
 question of importance in regard to the 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 315 
 
 26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, 
 
 period of time here designated is, whether 
 this is to be taken literally to denote 
 three years and a half, or whether a sym 
 bolical method is to be adopted, by 
 making eah one of the days represent 
 a year, thus making the time referred 
 to, in fact, twelve hundred and sixty 
 years. On this question expositors are 
 
 years and a half; that is, regarding each 
 day as standing for a year, and thus con 
 sidering it as denoting twelve hundred 
 and sixty years. This could not be shown 
 to be a violation of prophetic usage, or to 
 be forbidden by the nature of prophetio 
 language, because nothing is more com 
 mon than symbols, and because there are 
 
 divided, and probably will continue to be, | actual instances in which such an inter- 
 and according as one or the other view is pretation must be understood. Thus in 
 
 adopted they refer the events here to An- 
 tiochus Epiphanes, or to the Papal power; 
 or perhaps it should be said more accu 
 rately, according as they are disposed to 
 refer the events here to Antiochus or to 
 the Papacy, do they embrace one or the 
 other method of interpretation in regard 
 to the meaning of the days. At this 
 point in the examination of the passage, 
 the only object is to look at it exegeticalfy ; 
 to examine it as language apart from the 
 application, or unbiassed by any purpose of 
 application ; and though absolute certainty 
 cannot perhaps be obtained, yet the fol 
 lowing may be regarded as exegetically 
 
 Ezekiel iv. 6, where the prophet was com 
 manded to lie upon his right side forty 
 days, it is expressly said that it was sym 
 bolical or emblematical : " I have ap 
 pointed thee each day for a year." No 
 one can doubt that it would be strictly 
 consistent with prophetic usage, to sup 
 pose that the time here might bo symboli 
 cal, and that a longer time might be re 
 ferred to than the literal interpretation 
 would require. (4) It maybe added that 
 there are some circumstances, even con 
 sidering the passage with reference only 
 to the interpretation of the language, and 
 with no view to the question of its appli- 
 
 probable : (1) The word time may be j cation, which would make this appear 
 viewed as denoting a year; I mean a probable. Among these circumstances 
 year rather than a week, a month, or any I are the following : (a) The fact that, in 
 other period because a year is a more the prophecies, it is unusual to designate 
 
 marked and important portion of time, 
 and because a day, a week, a month, is so 
 short that it cannot be reasonably sup 
 posed that it is intended. As there is no 
 larger natural period than a year no 
 cycle in nature that is so marked and ob- 
 
 the time literally. Very few instances 
 can be referred to in which this is done. 
 It is commonly by some symbol ; some 
 mark; some peculiarity of the time or 
 e referred to, that the designation is 
 made, or by some symbol that may bo 
 
 vious as to be properly suggested by the 
 word time, it cannot be supposed that any 
 such cycle is intended. And as there is so 
 
 much particularity in the language used j bol the beasts, the horns, 
 here, a time, and times, and half a time/ j horn, <fec., and it would 
 it is to be presumed that some definite 
 and marked period is intended, and that 
 it is not time in general. It may be pre 
 sumed, therefore, that in some sense of 
 
 the term, the period of a year is referred 
 to. (2) The language does not forbid 
 
 understood when the event has occurred. 
 (b) This designation of time occurs in 
 the midst of symbols where all is sym- 
 tho little 
 seem to be 
 
 much more probable that such a method 
 would be adopted as designating the time 
 referred to than a literal method, (c) It 
 is quite apparent on the mere perusal of 
 
 the passage here that the events do ac 
 tually extend far into the future far be- 
 
 the application to a literal year, and then yond what would be denoted by the brief 
 the actual time designated would be three I period of three and a half years. This 
 
 years and a half. No laws of 
 
 nothing in the language itself could be 
 
 exegesis ; 
 
 will be considered more fully in another 
 place in the inquiry as to the meaning 
 
 of these prophecies. 
 
 (4) A fourth point in the explanation 
 
 regarded as violated, if such an interpre 
 tation were given to the language, and so 
 
 far as this point is concerned, there would j given by the interpreter to Daniel is, thac 
 be no room for debate. (3) The same 1 there would be a solemn judgment in re- 
 remark maybe made as to the symbolical gard to this power, and that the domin- 
 application of the language taking it for ion conceded to it over the saints for a 
 a muct longer period than literally three j time would be utterly taken away, and 
 
316 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555. 
 
 to consume and to destroy it unto 
 the end. 
 
 27 And the kingdom and domin 
 ion, and the greatness of the king 
 dom under the whole heaven, shall 
 be given to the people of the saints 
 of the Most High, whose kingdom 
 is an everlasting kingdom, and all 
 
 a dominions shall serve and obey 
 him. 
 
 28 Hitherto is the end of the mat 
 ter. As for me, Daniel, my cogita 
 tions much troubled me, and my 
 countenance changed in me : but I 
 kept the matter in my heart. 
 
 a or, rulers. 
 
 the power itself destroyed : but the judg 
 ment shall sit, and they shall take away 
 his dominion, to consume, and to destroy 
 it unto the end, ver. 26. That is, it 
 shall le taken away; it shall come en 
 tirely to an end. The interpreter does 
 not say by ichom this would be done, but 
 be asserts the fact, and that the destruc 
 tion of the dominion would be final. 
 That is, it would entirely and forever 
 cease. This would be done by an act of 
 divine judgment, or as if a solemn judg 
 ment should be held, and a sentence pro 
 nounced. It would be as manifestly an 
 act of God as if he should sit as a judge, 
 and pronounce sentence. See Notes on 
 vs. 911. 
 
 (5) And a fifth point in the explana 
 tion of the interpreter is, that the domin 
 ion under the whole heaven would be 
 given to the saints of the Most High, and 
 that all nations should serve him ; that 
 is, that there would be a universal preva 
 lence of righteousness on the earth, and 
 that God would reign in the hearts and 
 lives of men, (ver. 21.) See Notes on vs. 
 13, 14. 
 
 28. Hitherto is the end of the matter. 
 That is, the end of what I saw and heard. 
 This is the sum of what was disclosed to 
 the prophet, but he still says that he 
 meditated on it with profound interest, 
 and that he had much solicitude in regard 
 to these great events. The words ren 
 dered hitherto, mean, so far, or thus far. 
 The phrase end of the matter/ means 
 the close of the saying a thing; that is, 
 this was all the revelation which was 
 made to him, and he was left to his own 
 meditations respecting it. f As for me 
 Daniel. So far as I was concerned; or 
 80 far as this had any effect on me. It 
 was not unnatural, at the close of this 
 remarkable vision, to state the effect that 
 it had on himself, ^f My cogitations much 
 troubled me. My thoughts in regard to 
 It It was a subject which he could not 
 avoid reflecting on, and which could not 
 
 but produce deep solicitude in regard to 
 the events which were to occur. Who 
 could look into the future without anx 
 ious and agitating thought? These events 
 were such as to engage the profoundest 
 attention; such as to fix the mind in so 
 lemn thought. Comp. Notes on Rev. 
 v. 4. ^[ And wy countenance changed in 
 me. The effect of these revelations de 
 picted themselves on my countenance. 
 The prophet does not say in what way 
 whether by making him pale, or care 
 worn, or anxious, but merely that it pro 
 duced a change in his appearance. The 
 Chaldee is brightness VT and the mean 
 ing would seem to be that his bright and 
 cheerful countenance was changed; that 
 is, that his bright looks were changed, 
 either by becoming pale (Gesenius, Len- 
 gerke), or by becoming serious and 
 thoughtful. ^ But I kept the matter in 
 my heart. I communicated to no one the 
 cause of my deep and anxious thoughts. 
 He hid the whole subject in his own 
 mind, until he thought proper to make 
 this record of what he had seen and heard. 
 Perhaps there was no one to whom ho 
 could communicate the matter who would 
 credit it; perhaps there was no one at 
 court who would sympathize with him; 
 perhaps he thought that it might savour 
 of vanity if it were known ; perhaps he 
 felt that as no one could throw any new 
 light on the subject there would be no 
 use in making it a subject of conversa 
 tion ; perhaps he felt so overpowered that 
 he could not readily converse on it. 
 
 We are prepared now, having gone 
 through with an exposition of this chap 
 ter, as to the meaning of the symbols, 
 the words, and the phrases, to endeavor 
 to ascertain what events are referred to 
 in this remarkable prophecy, and to ask 
 what events it was designed should be 
 portrayed. And in reference to this there 
 are but two opinions, or two classes of in 
 terpretations, that require notice that 
 which refers it primarily and exclusively 
 
B. C. 555.J 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 317 
 
 to Antiochus Epiphanes, and that which 
 refers it to the rise and character of the 
 Papal power; that which regards the 
 fourth beast as referring to the empire 
 of Alexander, and the little horn to 
 Antiochus, and that which regards the 
 fourth beast as referring to the Ko- 
 man empire, and the little horn to the 
 Papal dominion. In inquiring which of 
 these is the true interpretation, it will 
 be proper, first, to consider whether it is 
 applicable to Antiochus Epiphanes; se 
 cond, whether it in fact finds a fulfilment 
 in the Roman empire and the Papacy; 
 and, third, if such is the proper applica 
 tion, what are we to look for in the future 
 in what remains unfulfilled in regard to 
 the prophecy. 
 
 I. The question whether it is applica 
 ble to the case of Antiochus Epiphanes. 
 A large class of interpreters of the most 
 respectable character, among whom are 
 Lengerke, Maurer, Prof. Stuart (Hints on 
 the Interpretation of Prophecy, p. 86, 
 seq ; also Com. on Daniel, pp. 205 211,) 
 Eichhorn, Bertholdt, Bleek, and many oth 
 ers, suppose that the allusion to Antiochus 
 is clear, and that the primary, if not the 
 exclusive, reference to the prophecy is to 
 him. Prof. Stuart (Hints, p. 86) says, 
 " The passage in Dan. vii. 25 is so clear 
 as to leave no reasonable room for doubt. 
 In vs. 8, 20, 24, the rise of Antiochus 
 Epiphanes is described; for the fourth 
 beast is beyond all reasonable doubt the 
 divided Grecian dominion which suc 
 ceeded the reign of Alexander the Great. 
 From this dynasty springs Antiochus, vs. 
 8, 26, who is most graphically described 
 in ver. 25 "as one who shall speak great 
 words against the Most High," &c. 
 
 The facts in regard to Antiochus, so far 
 as they are necessary to be known in the 
 inquiry, are briefly these : Antiochus Epi 
 phanes (the Illustrious, a name taken on 
 himself, Prideaux, III. 213), was the son 
 of Antiochus the Great, but succeeded 
 his brother, Seleucus Philopator, who 
 died B. C. 176. Antiochus reigned over 
 Syria, the capitol of which was Antioch, 
 on the Orontes, from B. C. 176 to B. C. 
 164. His character, as that of a cruel 
 tyrant, and a most blood-thirsty and bit 
 ter enemy of the Jews, is fully detailed 
 in the first and second Book of Macca 
 bees. Comp. also Prideaux, Con. Vol. 
 III. 213234. The facts in the case 
 of Antiochus, so far as they are sup 
 posed to bear on the application of the 
 27* 
 
 prophecy before us, are thus stated by 
 Prof. Stuart (Hints on the Interpretation 
 of Prophecy, pp. 89, 90) : " In the year 
 168 before Christ, in the month of May, 
 Antiochus Epiphanes was on his way to 
 attack Egypt, and he detached Apol- 
 lonius, one of his military confidents, 
 with 22,000 soldiers, in order to subdue 
 and plunder Jerusalem. The mission was 
 executed with entire success. A terrible 
 slaughter was made of the men at Jerusa 
 lem, and a large portion of the women and 
 children being made captives, were sold 
 and treated as slaves. The services of 
 the temple were interrupted, and its joy 
 ful feasts were turned into mourning. 
 1 Mac. i. 3739. Soon after this the 
 Jews in general were compelled to eat 
 swine s flesh, and to sacrifice to idols. In 
 December of that same year, the temple 
 was profaned by introducing the statue 
 of Jupiter Olympius ; and on the 25th of 
 that month sacrifices were offered to that 
 idol on the altar of Jehovah. Just three 
 years after this last event, viz. Dec. 25, 
 165 B. C. the temple was expurgated by 
 Judas Maccabeus, and the worship of 
 Jehovah was restored. Thus three years 
 and a half, or almost exactly this period, 
 passed away, while Antiochus had com 
 plete possession and control of every 
 thing in and around Jerusalem and the 
 temple. It may be noted, also, that just 
 three years passed, from the time when 
 the profanation of the temple was carried 
 to its greatest height, viz., by sacrificing 
 to the statue of Jupiter Olympius on the 
 altar of Jehovah, down to the time when 
 Judas renewed the regular worship. I 
 mention this last circumstance in order 
 to account for the three years of Antio 
 chus profanations, which are named as 
 the period of them in Josephus, Ant. xii. 
 7, $ 6. This period tallies exactly with 
 the time during which the profanation as 
 consummated was carried on, if we reckon 
 down to the period when the temple wor 
 ship was restored by Judas Maccabeus. 
 But in Proem, ad Bell. Jud. g 7, and Bell. 
 Jud. L. 1, g 1, Josephus reckons 3 
 years as the period during which Antio 
 chus ravaged Jerusalem and Judah." 
 
 In regard to this statement, while the 
 general facts are correct, there are some 
 additional statements which should be 
 made, to determine as to its real bearing 
 on the case. The act of detaching Apollo- 
 nius to attack Jerusalem was not, as is 
 stated in this extract, when Antiochus 
 
318 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555. 
 
 was on his way to Egypt, but was on his 
 return from Egypt, and was just two years 
 after Jerusalem had been taken by Anti- 
 ochus. Prideaux, III. 239. The occasion 
 
 be better fitted to represent that than the 
 character of Antiochus Epiphanes. Comp. 
 Prideaux, Con. III. 213, 214. (b) His 
 arrogance and blasphemy speaking 
 
 of his detaching Apollonius, was thai! t words insfc tho Mogt Hi L> 
 Antiochus was enraged because he had. Nothi . . b fl tofindwhatw ould 
 been defeated in Egypt by the Romans, , f jt, , ,,. . . 
 and resolved to vent all his wrath upon ! b A * foment of this m the character of 
 the Jews, who, at that time, had given : Antiochus in his sacrilegious entrance 
 him no particular offence. When, two : mto the most holy places; m his setting up 
 years before, Antiochus had himself taken ! the statue of Jupiter; in his offering a 
 Jerusalem, he slew forty thousand per- ! swine as a sacrifice on the great altar; in 
 sons ; he took as many captives, and sold his sprinkling the broth of a swine on the 
 them for slaves ; he forced himself into | temple in contempt of the Hebrews and 
 the temple, and entered the most holy | their worship, and in his causing the daily 
 place; he caused a great sow to be offered . sacrifice at the temple to cease, (c) His 
 on the altarof burnt-offering, to show his making war with the saints, and wear- 
 contempt for tho temple and the Jewish , ing out the saints of the Most High 
 religion ; he sprinkled the broth over all this could be found accomplished in 
 every part of the temple for the purpose ! the wars which Antiochus waged against 
 of polluting it; he plundered the temple the Jews in the slaughter of so many 
 of the altar of incense, the show-bread thousands, and in sending so many into 
 table, and tho golden candlestick, and hopeless slavery, (d) His attempt to 
 then returned to Antioch, having sip- change times and laws this could bo 
 pointed Philip, a Phrygian, a man of a found to have been fulfilled in the case 
 cruel and barbarous temper, to be gov- of Antiochus in his arbitrary character, 
 ernor of the Jews. Prideaux, iii. 231. and in his interference with the laws of 
 When Apollonius again attacked the city, the Hebrews, (e) The time, as above 
 two years afterwards, he waited quietly stated, is the most remarkable coinci- 
 until the Sabbath, and then made his as- dence. If this is not to be regarded 
 sault. He filled the city with blood, set as referring exclusively to Antiochus it 
 
 it on fire, demolished the houses, pulled 
 d^wn the walls, built a strong fortress 
 over against the temple, from which the 
 garrison could fall on all who should at 
 tempt to go to worship. From this time 
 the temple became deserted, and the 
 daily sacrifices were omitted, until the 
 service was restored by Judas Maccabeus, 
 three years and a half after. The time 
 
 must be explained on one of two sup 
 positions either that it is one of those 
 coincidences which will be found to hap 
 pen in history as coincidences happen 
 in dreams; or as having a double refer 
 ence intended to refer primarily to An 
 tiochus, but in a secondary and more im 
 portant sense referring also to other 
 events having a strong resemblance to 
 
 during which this continued was, in fact, this ; or, in other words, that the language 
 just three years and a half, until Judas j was designedly so couched as to rebate to 
 Maccabeus succeeded in expelling the j two similar classes of events. It is not 
 heathen from the temple and from Jeru- to be regarded as very remarkable, how- 
 salem, when the temple was purified, and ever, that it is possible to find a fulfil- 
 
 was solemnly reconsecrated to the wor 
 ship of God. See Prideaux, Con. III. 
 240, 241, and the authorities there cited. 
 Now, in reference to this interpretation, 
 supposing that the prophecy relates to 
 Antiochus, it must be admitted that there 
 
 ment of these predictions in Antiochus r 
 though it be supposed that the design 
 was to describe the Papacy, for some of 
 the expressions are of so general a char 
 acter that they could be applied to many 
 events which have occurred, and, from 
 
 are coincidences which are remarkable, the nature of the case, there were strong 
 and it is on the ground of these coinci- I points of resemblance between Antiochus 
 dences that the prophecy has been ap- and the Papal power. It is not abso- 
 plied to him. These circumstances arejlutely necessary, therefore, to suppose 
 such as the following: (a) The general j that this had reference to Antiochus Epi- 
 character of the authority that would ex- ! phanes, and there are so many oljectioni 
 ist as denoted by the little horn, as to this view as to make it, it seems to me, 
 that of severity and cruelty. None could morally impossible that it should have 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 319 
 
 had such a reference. Among these ob 
 jections are the following : 
 
 (1) This interpretation makes it neces 
 sary to divide the kingdom of the Medes 
 and Persians, and to consider them two 
 kingdoms, as Eichhorn, Jahn, Dereser, De 
 Wette, and Bleek, do. In order to this 
 interpretation, the following are the king 
 doms denoted by the four beasts by the 
 first, the Chaldee ; by the second, the 
 Medish ; by the third, the Persian ; and by 
 the fourth, the Macedonian, or the Mace 
 donian-Asiatic kingdom under Alexander 
 the Great. But to say nothing now of 
 any other difficulties, it is an insuperable 
 objection to this, that so far as the king 
 doms of the Medes and Persians are men 
 tioned in Scripture, and so far as they 
 play any part in the fulfilment of pro 
 phecy, they are always mentioned as one. 
 They appear as one; they act as one; 
 they are regarded as one. The kingdom 
 of the Medes does not appear until it is 
 united with that of the Persians, and 
 this remark is of special importance when 
 they are spoken of as succeeding the king 
 dom of Babylon. The kingdom of the 
 Medes was contemporaneous with that of 
 Babylon ; it was the Medo-Persian king 
 dom that was in any proper sense the suc 
 cessor of that of Babylon, as described in 
 these symbols. The kingdom of the Medes, 
 as Hengstenberg well remarks, could in no 
 sense be said to have succeeded that of 
 Babylon any longer than during the reign 
 of Cyaxares II., after the taking of Baby 
 lon; and even during that short period of 
 two years, the government was in fact in 
 the hand of Cyrus. Die Authentic des 
 Daniel, p. 200. Schlosser, p. 243, says 
 the kingdom of the Medes and Persians 
 is to be regarded as in fact one and the 
 same kingdom, only that in the change 
 of the dynasty another branch obtained 
 the authority/ See particularly Rosen- 
 muller, Alterthumkunde, i. 200, 201. 
 These two kingdoms are in fact always 
 blended their laws, their customs, their 
 religion, and they are mentioned as one. 
 Comp. Esther i. 3, 18, 19 ; x. 2 ; Dan. v. 
 28; vi. 8, 12, 15. 
 
 (2) In order to this interpretation, it is 
 necessary to divide the empire founded 
 by Alexander, and instead of regarding 
 it as one, to consider that which ex 
 isted when he reigned as one, and that 
 of Antiochus, one of the successors of 
 Alexander, as another. This opinion is 
 maintained by Bertholdt, who supposes 
 
 that the first beast represented the Baby 
 lonian kingdom ; the second, the king 
 dom of the Medes and Persians ; the third, 
 that of Alexander, and the fourth the 
 kingdoms that sprang out of that. In 
 order to this it is necessary to sup 
 pose that the four heads and wings, and 
 the ten horns, equally represent that king 
 dom, or sprang from it the four heads, 
 the kingdom when divided at the death 
 of Alexander, and the ten horns powers 
 that ultimately sprang up from the same 
 dominion. But this is contrary to the 
 whole representation in regard to the 
 Asiatic-Macedonian empire. In ch. viii. 
 8, 9, where there is an undoubted refer 
 ence to that empire, it is said "the he- 
 goat waxed very great, and when ho was 
 strong the great horn was broken, and 
 from it came up four notable ones, toward 
 the four winds of heaven. And out of 
 one of them came forth a little horn, 
 which waxed exceeding great, toward the 
 South," &c. Here is an undoubted allu 
 sion to Alexander, and to his followers, and 
 particularly to Antiochus, but no mention 
 of any such division as is necessary to be 
 supposed if the fourth beast represents the 
 power that succeeded Alexander in the 
 East. In no place is the kingdom of the 
 successors of Alexander divided from his 
 in the same sense in which the kingdom 
 of the Medes and Persians is from that 
 of Babylon, or the kingdom of Alexander 
 from that of the Persians. Comp. Heng 
 stenberg, as above, pp. 203205. 
 
 (3) The supposition that the fourth 
 beast represents either the kingdom of 
 Alexander, or, according to Bertholdt and 
 others, the successors of Alexander, by 
 no means agrees with the character of 
 that beast as compared with the others. 
 That boast was far more formidable, and 
 more to be dreaded, than either the 
 others. It had iron teeth and brazen 
 claws ; it stamped down all before it, and 
 broke all to pieces, and manifestly re 
 presented a far more fearful dominion 
 than either of the others. The same is 
 true in regard to the parallel representa 
 tion in ch. ii. 33, 40, of the fourth king- 
 dam represented by the legs and feet of 
 iron, as more terrific than either of those 
 denoted by the gold, the silver, or the 
 brass. But this representation by no 
 means agrees with the character of the 
 kingdom of either Alexander or his suc 
 cessors, and in fact would not be true of 
 them. It would agree well, as wo shaU 
 
320 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555. 
 
 Bee, with the Roman power, even as con 
 trasted with that of Babylon, Persia, or 
 Macedon, but it is not the representation 
 which would, with propriety, be given 
 of the empire of Alexander, or his suc 
 cessors, as contrasted with those which 
 
 view, that these are lists of successive 
 kings rising up one after the other; 
 whereas the representation of the ten 
 horns would lead us to suppose that they 
 existed simultaneously ; or that somehow 
 there were ten powers that sprang out of 
 
 preceded them. Cornp. Hengstenberg, the one great power represented by the 
 
 as above, pp. 205 207. Moreover, this 
 does not agree with what is expressly 
 said of this power that should succeed 
 that of Alexander, in a passage un 
 doubtedly referring to it, in ch. viii. 22, 
 where it is said, " Now that being broken, 
 whereas four stood up for it, four king 
 doms shall stand up out of the nation, 
 but not in his power" 
 
 (4) On this supposition, it is impossible 
 to determine who are meant by the ten 
 horns of the fourth beast (ver. 7), and 
 the ten kings (ver. 24,) that are repre 
 sented by these. All the statements in 
 
 fourth beast. 
 
 (5) Equally difficult is it, on this sup 
 position, to know who are intended by 
 the three horns that were plucked up 
 by the little horn that sprang up among 
 the ten, ver. 8. Grotius, who regards the 
 little horn as representing Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, supposes that the three horns 
 were his elder brothers, Seleucus, Deme 
 trius the son of Seleucus, and Ptolemy 
 Philopator, king of Egypt. But it is an 
 insuperable objection to this that the 
 three kings mentioned by Grotius are not 
 all in his list of ten kings, neither Pto- 
 
 Daniel that refer to the Macedonian I lemy Philometor (if Philometor be meant), 
 kingdom (ch. vii. 6, viii. 8, 22), imply j nor Demetrius being of the number. 
 that the Macedonian empire in the East, j Newton on the Proph., p. 211. Neither 
 
 when the founder died, would be divided 
 into four great powers or monarchies 
 in accordance with what is well-known to 
 have been the fact. But who are the ten 
 kings or sovereignties that were to exist 
 under this general Macedonian power, on 
 the supposition that the fourth beast re 
 presents this ? Bertholdt supposes that 
 the ten horns are ten Syrian kings, 
 and that the eleventh little horn is An 
 tiochus Epiphanes. The names of these 
 kings, according to Bertholdt, (pp. 432, 
 433,) are Seleucus Nicator, Antiochus 
 Soter, Antiochus Theos, Seleucus Cal- 
 linicus, Seleucus Ceraunos, Antiochus 
 the Great, Seleucus Philopator, llelio- 
 dorus, Ptolemy Philometor, and Deme 
 trius. So also Prof. Stewart, Com. on 
 Dan. p. 208. But it is impossible to 
 make out this exact number of Syrian 
 kings from history, to say nothing now 
 
 were they plucked up by the roots by An 
 tiochus, or by his order. Seleucus was 
 poisoned by his treasurer, Heliodorus, 
 whose aim it was to usurp the crown fee 
 himself, before Antiochus came from 
 Rome, where he had been detained as a 
 hostage for several years. Demetrius 
 lived to dethrone and murder the son of 
 Antiochus, and succeeded him in the 
 kingdom of Egypt. Ptolemy Philopator 
 died king of Egypt almost thirty years 
 before Antiochus came to the throne of 
 Syria; or if Ptolemy Philometor, as is 
 most probable, was meant by Grotius, 
 though he suffered much in the wars with 
 Antiochus, yet he survived him about 
 eighteen years, and died in possession of 
 the crown of Egypt. Newton ut supra. 
 Bertholdt supposes that the three kings 
 were Heliodorus, who poisoned Seleucus 
 Philopator, and sought, by the help of 
 
 of the improbability of supposing that I party, to obtain the throne; Ptolemy Phi- 
 their power was represented by the lometor, king of Egypt, who, as sister s 
 
 fourth beast. These kings were not of 
 the same dynasty, of Syria, of Mace 
 donia, or of Egypt, but the list is 
 made up of different kingdoms. Gro 
 tius (in loc.) forms the catalogue of ten 
 kings out of the lists of the kings of 
 Syria and Egypt five out of one, and 
 five out of the other ; but this is mani 
 festly contrary to the intention of the 
 
 son to the king, laid claim to the throne; 
 and Demetrius, who, as son of a former 
 king, was legitimate heir to the throne. 
 But there are two objections to this view: 
 (a) That the representation by the pro 
 phet is of actual kings which these were 
 not; and (b) that Antiochus ascended the 
 throne peaceably ; Demetrius, who would 
 have been regarded as the king of Syria, 
 
 prophecy, which is to represent them not being able to make his title good, and 
 as springing out of one and the same | was detained as a hostage at Rome, 
 power. It is a further objection to this ! Hengstenberg, pp. 207, 208. Prof. Stuart, 
 
B. 0. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 321 
 
 Com. on Dan., pp. 208, 209, supposes that 
 the three kings referred to were Heliodo- 
 rus, Ptolemy Philometor, and Deme 
 trius I. ; but in regard to these it should 
 be observed, that they were mete pretend 
 ers to the throne, whereas the text in 
 Daniel supposes that they would be actual 
 kings. Comp. Hengstenberg, p. 208. 
 
 (6) The time here mentioned, on the 
 supposition that literally three years and 
 a half (ver. 25) are intended, does not 
 agree with the actual dominion of Antio 
 chus. In an undoubted reference to him 
 in ch. viii. 13, 14, it is said that the vis 
 ion concerning the daily sacrifice, and 
 the transgression of desolation/ would 
 be unto two thousand and three hun 
 dred days; then shall the sanctuary be 
 cleansed; that is, one thousand and forty 
 days, or some two years and ten months 
 more than the time mentioned here. I am 
 aware of the difficulty of explaining this 
 (see Prof. Stuart, Hints on the Interpre 
 tation of Prophecy, p. 98, seq.), and the 
 exact meaning of the passage in ch. viii. 
 13, 14, will come up for consideration 
 hereafter; but it is an objection of some 
 force to the application of the time, and 
 times, and dividing of a time (ver. 25) 
 to Antiochus, that it is not the same time 
 which is applied to him elsewhere. 
 
 (7) And one more objection to this ap 
 plication is, that, in the prophecy, it is 
 said that he who was represented by the 
 little horn, would continue till the An 
 cient of days should sit, and evidently 
 till the kingdom should be taken by the 
 one in the likeness of the Son of Man, vs. 
 9, 10, 13, 14, 21, 22, 26. But if this re 
 fers to Antiochus, then these events must 
 refer to the coming of the Messiah, and 
 to the setting up of his kingdom in the 
 world. Yet, as a matter of fact, Antio 
 chus died about 164 years before the Sa 
 viour came, and there is no way of show 
 ing that he continued until the Messiah 
 came in the flesh. 
 
 These objections to the opinion that 
 this refers to Antiochus Epiphanes, seem 
 to me to be insuperable 
 
 II. The question whether it refers to 
 the Roman empire and the Papal power. 
 The fair inquiry is, whether the things 
 referred to in the vision actually find such 
 a correspondence in the Roman empire 
 and the Papacy, that they would fairly 
 represent them if the symbols had been 
 made use of after the events occurred. 
 Are they such as we might properly use 
 
 now as describing the portions of those 
 events that are passed, on the supposi 
 tion that the reference was to those 
 events? To determine this, it will be 
 proper to refer to the things in the sym 
 bol, and to inquire whether events cor 
 responding to them have actually occurred 
 in the Roman empire and the Papacy. 
 Recalling the exposition which has been 
 above given of the explanation furnished 
 by the angel to Daniel, the things there 
 referred to will find an ample and a strik 
 ing fulfilment in the Roman empire and 
 the Papal power. 
 
 (1) The fourth kingdom, symbolized by 
 the fourth beast, is accurately represented 
 by the Roman power. This is true in 
 regard to the place which that power 
 would occupy in the history of the world, 
 on the supposition that the first three re 
 ferred to the Babylonian, the Medo-Per- 
 sian, and the Macedonian. On this sup 
 position there is no need of regarding the 
 Medo-Persian empire as divided into two, 
 represented by two symbols ; or the king 
 dom founded by Alexander the Asiatic- 
 Macedonian as distinct from that of his 
 successors. As the Medo-Persian was in 
 fact one dominion, so was the Macedonian 
 under Alexander, and in the form of the 
 four dynasties into which it was divided 
 on his death, and down to the time when 
 the whole was subverted by the Roman 
 conquests. On this supposition, also, 
 everything in the symbol is fulfilled. 
 The fourth beast, so mighty, so terrific, 
 so powerful, so unlike all the others 
 armed with iron teeth, and with claws of 
 brass trampling down and stamping on 
 all the earth well represents the Roman 
 dominion. The symbol is such an one 
 as we would now use appropriately to 
 represent that power, and in every respect 
 that empire was well represented by the 
 symbol. It may be added, also, that this 
 supposition corresponds with the obvious 
 interpretation of the parallel place in 
 chapter ii. 33, 40, where the same empire 
 is referred to in the image by the legs 
 and feet of iron. See Notes on that pas 
 sage. It should be added, that this fourth 
 kingdom is to be considered as prolonged 
 through the entire continuance of the 
 Roman power, in the various forms in 
 which that power has been kept up on the 
 earth alike under the empire, and when 
 broken up into separate sovereignties, and 
 when again concentrated and embodied 
 under the Papacy. That/rf power or 
 
822 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555, 
 
 dominion was to \>Q continued, according 
 to the prediction here, until the establish 
 ment of the kingdom of the saints. 
 Either, then, that kingdom of the saints 
 has come, or has been set up, or the fourth 
 kingdom, in some form, still remains. 
 The truth is, that in prophecy the entire 
 Roman dominion seems to be contem 
 plated as one one mighty and formida 
 ble power trampling down the liberties 
 of the world ; oppressing and persecuting 
 the people of God the true church ; and 
 maintaining an absolute and arbitrary do 
 minion over the souls of men as a 
 mighty domination standing in the way 
 of the progress of truth, and keeping 
 back the reign of the saints on the earth. 
 In these respects the Papal dominion is, 
 and has been, but a prolongation, in an 
 other form, of the influence of heathen 
 Rome, and the entire domination may 
 be represented as one, and might be sym 
 bolized by the fourth beast in the vision 
 of Daniel. When that power shall cease, 
 we may, according to the prophecy, look 
 for the time when the kingdom shall be 
 given to the saints/ or when the true 
 kingdom of God shall be set up all over 
 the world. 
 
 (2) Out of this one sovereignty, repre 
 sented by the fourth beast, ten powers or 
 sovereignties, represented by the ten 
 horns, were to arise. It was shown in the 
 exposition, that these would all spring 
 out of that one dominion, and would 
 wield the power that was wielded by that; 
 that is, that the one great power would 
 be broken up and distributed into the 
 number represented by ten. As the horns 
 all appeared at the same time on the beast, 
 and did not spring up after one another, 
 so these powers would be simultaneous, 
 and would not be a mere succession ; and 
 as the horns all sprang from the beast, so 
 these powers would all have the same 
 origin, and be a portion of the same one 
 power now divided into many. The 
 question then is, whether the Roman 
 power was in fact distributed into so many 
 sovereignties at any period such as would 
 be represented by the springing up of the 
 little horn if that refers to the Papacy. 
 Now, one has only to look into any his 
 torical work, to see how in fact the Ro 
 man power became distributed and broken 
 up in this way into a large number of 
 kingdoms, or comparatively petty sove 
 reignties, occupying the portions of the 
 world once governed by Rome. In the 
 
 [ decline of the empire, and as the new 
 (power, represented by the little horn/ 
 arose, there was a complete breaking up 
 of the one power that was formerly 
 wielded, and a large number of states 
 and kingdoms sprang out of it. To see 
 that there is no difficulty in making out 
 the number ten, or that some such distri- 
 I bution and breaking up of the one power is 
 ! naturally suggested, I cast my eye on the 
 historical chart of Lynian, and found the 
 following kingdoms or sovereignties spe 
 cified as occupying the same territory 
 which was possessed by the Roman em 
 pire, and springing from that, viz : The 
 Vandals, Alians, Suevi, Heruli, Franks, 
 Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Burgundians, Lom 
 bards, Britons. The Roman empire as 
 such had ceased, and the power was dis 
 tributed into a large number of compara 
 tively petty sovereignties well repre 
 sented at this period by the ten horns on 
 the head of the beast. Even the Romanists 
 themselves admit that the Roman empire 
 was, by means of the incursions of the 
 northern nations, dismembered into ten 
 kingdoms, (Calmet on Rev. xiii. 1 ; and 
 he refers likewise to Berangaud, Bossuet, 
 and DuPin. See Newton, p. 209) ; and 
 Machiaveli (Hist, of Flor. 1. i.), with no 
 design of furnishing an illustration of 
 this prophecy, and probably with no re 
 collection of it, has mentioned these 
 names: 1. The Ostrogoths in Moesia; 
 2. the Visigoths in Pannonia; 3. the 
 Sueves and Alans in Gascoign and 
 Spain ; 4. the Vandals in Africa ; 5- the 
 Franks in Fran< e ; 6. the Burgundians 
 in Burgundy; 7. the Heruli and Turingi, 
 in Italy; 8. the Saxons and Angles in 
 Britain; 9. the Huns in Hungary; 10. 
 the Lombards at first upon the Danube, 
 afterwards in Italy. The arrangement 
 j proposed by Sir Isaac Newton is the fol 
 lowing : 1. the kingdom of the Vandals 
 and Alans in Spain and Africa ; 2. the 
 kingdoms of the Suevians in Spain ; 3. 
 the kingdom of the Visigoths; 4. the 
 kingdom of the Alans in Gallia; 5. the 
 kingdom of the Burgundians; 6. the 
 kingdom of the Franks ; 7. the kingdom 
 of the Britons; 8. the kingdom of the 
 Huns; 9. the kingdom of the Lombards; 
 10. the kingdom of Ravenna. Comp. also 
 Duffield on the prophecies, pp. 279, 280. 
 For other arrangements constituting _the 
 number ten, as embracing the ancient 
 power of the Roman empire, See Newton 
 on the prophecies, pp. 209, 210. There 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 323 
 
 is some slight variation in the arrange 
 ment proposed by Mr. Mede, Bishop 
 Lloyd, and Sir Isaac Newton, but still it 
 is remarkable that it is easy to make out 
 that number with so good a degree of cer 
 tainty, and particularly so that it should 
 have been suggested by a Romanist him 
 self. Even if it is not practicable to 
 make out the number with strict exact 
 ness, or if all writers do not agree in 
 regard to the dynasties constituting the 
 number ten, we should bear in remem 
 brance the fact that these powers arose 
 in the midst of great confusion; that 
 one kingdom arose and another fell in 
 rapid succession; and that there was 
 not that entire certainty of location and 
 boundary which there is in old and estab 
 lished states. One thing is certain, that 
 there never has been a case in which an 
 empire of vast power has been broken up 
 into small sovereignties, to which this 
 description would so well apply as to the 
 rise of the numerous dynasties in the 
 breaking up of the vast Roman power; 
 and another thing is equally certain, that 
 if we were now to seek an appropriate 
 symbol of the mighty Roman power of 
 its conquests, and of the extent of its 
 dominion, and of the condition of that 
 empire about the time that the Papacy 
 arose, we could not find a more striking 
 or appropriate symbol than that of the 
 terrible fourth beast with iron teeth and 
 brazen claws stamping the earth beneath 
 his feet, and with ten horns springing out 
 of his head. 
 
 (3.) In the midst of these there sprang 
 up a little horn that had remarkable char 
 acteristics. The inquiry now is, if this 
 does not represent Antiochus, whether it 
 finds a proper fulfilment in the Papacy. 
 Now, in regard to this inquiry, the slight 
 est acquaintance with the history and 
 claims of the Papal power will show 
 that there was a striking appropriateness 
 in the symbol such an appropriateness, 
 that if we desired now to find a symbol 
 that would represent this, we could find no 
 one better adapted to it than that em 
 ployed by Daniel, (a) The little horn 
 would spring up among the others, and 
 stand among them as dividing the power 
 with them, or sharing or wielding that 
 power. That is, on the supposition that 
 it refers to the Papacy, the Papal power 
 would spring out of the Roman empire ; 
 would be one of the sovereignties among 
 which that vast power would be divided, 
 
 and share with the other ten in wield 
 ing authority. It would be an eleventh 
 power added to the ten. And who can 
 be ignorant that the Papal power at the 
 beginning, when it first asserted civil au 
 thority, sustained just such a relation to 
 the crumbled and divided Roman empire 
 as this ? It was just one of the powers 
 into which that vast sovereignty passed. 
 (6) It would not spring up contemporane 
 ously with them, but would arise in their 
 midst, when they already existed. They 
 are seen in vision as actually existing to 
 gether, and this new power starts up 
 among them. What could be more strik 
 ingly descriptive of the Papacy as a 
 power arising when the great Roman 
 authority was broken to fragments, and 
 distributed into a large number of sove 
 reignties ? Then this new power was seen 
 to rise small at first, but gradually gain 
 ing strength, until it surpassed any one 
 of them in strength, and assumed a posi 
 tion in the world which no one of them 
 had. The representation is exact. It is 
 not a foreign power that invaded them ; 
 it starts up in the midst of them spring 
 ing out of the head of the same beast, and 
 constituting a part of the same mighty 
 domination that ruled the world, (c) It 
 would be small at first, but would soon 
 become so powerful as to pluck up and 
 displace three of the others. And could 
 any symbol have been better chosen to 
 describe the Papal power than this ? 
 Could we find any now that would better 
 describe it? Any one needs to have but 
 the slightest acquaintance with the his 
 tory of the Papal power, to know that it 
 was small at its beginnings, and that its 
 ascendency over the world was the conse 
 quence of slow bat steady growth. In 
 deed, so feeble was it at its commence 
 ment, so undefined was its first appear 
 ance and form, that one of the most diffi 
 cult things in history is to know exactly 
 when it did begin, or to determine the ex 
 act date of its origin as a distinct power. 
 Different schemes in the interpretation 
 of prophecy turn wholly on this. We. 
 see, indeed, that power subsequently 
 strongly marked in its character, and ex 
 erting a mighty influence in the world 
 having subjugated nations to its control ; 
 we see causes for a long time at work 
 tending to this, and can trace their gra 
 dual operation in producing it, but the 
 exact period when its dominion began, 
 what was the first characteristic act of 
 
324 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555. 
 
 the Papacy as such, what constituted its 
 precise beginning as a peculiar power 
 blending and combining a peculiar civil 
 and ecclesiastical authority, no one is 
 able with absolute certainty to determine. 
 Who can fix the exact date ? Who can 
 tell precisely when it was ? It is true 
 that there were several distinct acts, or 
 the exercise of civil authority, in the 
 early history of the Papacy, but what 
 was the precise bee/inning of that power, 
 no one has been able to determine with 
 so much certainty as to leave no room for 
 doubt. Any one can see with what pro 
 priety the commencement of such a power 
 would be designated by a little horn 
 
 springing up among others, 
 grow to be mighty, for the 
 
 (d) It would 
 little horn 
 
 thus grew to be so powerful as to pluck 
 up three of the horns of the beast. Of 
 the growth of the power of the Papacy, 
 no one can be ignorant who has any ac 
 quaintance with history. It held na 
 tions in subjection, and claimed and 
 exercised the right of displacing or dis 
 tributing crowns as it pleased. (e) It 
 would subdue three kings; that is, three 
 of the ten represented by the ten horns. 
 The prophet saw this at some point in its 
 progress when three fell before it, or were 
 overthrown by it. There might have 
 been also other points in its history when 
 it might have been seen as having over 
 thrown more of them perhaps the whole 
 ten, but the attention was arrested by the 
 fact that, soon after its rise, three of the 
 ten were seen to fall before it. Now, in 
 regard to the application of this, it may 
 be remarked, (1) that it does not apply, 
 as already shown, to Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes there being no sense in which 
 
 of certainty in the history of the Pa 
 pacy. If applicable to the Papal power, 
 what seems to be demanded is, that 
 three of these ten kingdoms, or sovereign 
 ties, would be rooted up by that power; 
 that they would cease to exist as sepa 
 rate sovereignties; that they would be 
 added to the sovereignty that should 
 spring up; and that, as distinct kingdoms, 
 they would cease to play a part in the 
 history of the world. The three sove 
 reignties thus transplanted, or rooted up, 
 are supposed by Mr. Mede to have been 
 the Greeks, the Longobards, and the 
 Franks. Sir Isaac Newton supposes they 
 were the Exarchate of Ravenna, the Lom 
 bards, and the senate and dukedom of 
 Rome. The objections which may be 
 made to this supposition, may be seen in 
 Newton on the Prophecies, pp. 216, 217. 
 The kingdoms which he supposes are 
 to be referred to, were the following: 
 First. The Exarchate of Ravenna. This 
 of right belonged to the Greek emperors. 
 This was the capitol of their dominions 
 in Italy. It revolted at the instigation 
 of the Pope, and was seized by Aistul- 
 phus, king of the Lombards, who thought 
 to make himself master of Italy. The 
 Pope in his exigency applied for aid to 
 Pepin, king of France, who marched into 
 Italy, besieged the Lombards in Pavia, 
 and forced them to surrender the Exar 
 chate and other territories in Italy. 
 These were not restored to the Greek 
 emperor, as they in justice should have 
 been, but, at the solicitation of the Pope, 
 were given to St. Peter and his succes- 
 
 for perpetual 
 says Platina, 
 
 possession. "And 
 "the name of the 
 
 Exarchate, which had continued from 
 
 he overthrew three of the princes that the time of Narses to the taking of Ra- 
 
 occupied the throne in the succession 
 from Alexander, to say nothing of the 
 fact that these were contemporaneous 
 kings or kingdoms. (2) There is no 
 other period in history, and there are no 
 other events to which it could be applied 
 except either to Antiochus or the Papacy. 
 (3) In the confusion that existed on the 
 breaking up of the Roman empire, and 
 the imperfect accounts of the transactions 
 which occurred in the rise of the Papal 
 power, it would not be wonderful if it 
 should be difficult to find events distinctly 
 recorded that would be in all respects an 
 accurate and absolute fulfilment of the 
 vision. Yet (4) it is possible to make out 
 the fulfilment of this with a good degree 
 
 venna, one hundred and seventy years, 
 was extinguished." Lives of the Popes. 
 This, according to Sigonius, was effected 
 in the year 755. See Gibbon, Dec. 
 and Fall, II. 224, III. 332, 334, 338. 
 From this period, says Bp. Newton, 
 the Popes, being now become temporal 
 princes, no longer date their epistles 
 and bulls by the year of the emperor s 
 reign, but by the years of their own ad 
 vancement to the Papal chnir. Second. 
 The kingdom of the Lombards. This 
 kingdom was troublesome to the Popes. 
 The dominions of the Pope were in 
 vaded by Desiderius, in the time of 
 Pope Adrian I. Application was again 
 made to the king of France, and Charles 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTEK VII. 
 
 325 
 
 the Great, the son and successor of 
 Pepin, invaded the Lombards, and de 
 sirous of enlarging his own dominions, 
 conquered the Lombards, put an end to 
 their kingdom, and gave a great part of 
 their territory to the Pope. This was 
 the end of the kingdom of the Lombards, 
 in the 206th year after their obtaining 
 possessions in Italy, and in the year of 
 our Lord 774. See Gibbon, Dec. and 
 Fall. III. 335. Third. The Koman 
 States subjected to the Popes in a 
 civil sense. Though subject to the Pope 
 spiritually, yet for a long time the 
 
 Gaussen (Discourse on Popery, Geneva, 
 1844), supposes that the three kings or 
 kingdoms here referred to were the He- 
 ruli, the Ostrogoths, and the Lombards. 
 According to Bower (Lives of the Popes, 
 II. 108, Dr. Cox s Edition, Note), the 
 temporal dominions granted by Pepin to 
 the Pope, or of which the Pope became 
 possessed in consequence of the inter 
 vention of the kings of France, were the 
 following: (1) The Exarchate of Ra 
 venna, which comprised, according to 
 Sigonius, the following cities : Ravenna, 
 Bologna, Imola, Fienza, Forlimpoli, Forli, 
 
 Roman people were governed by a Cesena, Bobbio, Ferrara, Commachio, 
 Senate, and retained many of their old ! Adria, Servia, and Secchia. (2) The 
 privileges, and elected both the Western ! Pentapolis, comprehending Rimini, Pe- 
 emperors and the Popes. This power, I saro, Concha, Fano, Sinigalia, Ancono, 
 however, as is well known, passed into j Osimo, Umona, Jesi, Fossombrone, Mon- 
 the hands of the Popes, and has been re- i teferetro, Urbino, Cagli, Lucoli, and Eu- 
 tained by them to the present time, the | gubio. (3) The city and dukedom of 
 Pope having continued to bo the civil as I Rome, containing several cities of note, 
 well as the ecclesiastical head. See Bp. which had withdrawn themselves from 
 Newton, pp. 319, 320. All semblance of all subjection to the emperor, had sub- 
 
 the freedom of ancient Rome passed 
 away, and this Roman dominion, as such, 
 ceased to be, being completely absorbed in 
 the Papacy. The Saxons, the Franks, &c., 
 continued their independence as civil 
 
 mitted to St. Peter ever since the time 
 of Pope Gregory II. See also Bower, 
 II. 134, where he says, " The Pope had, 
 by Charlemagne, been put in possession 
 of the Exarchate, the Pentapolis, and 
 
 powers; these States passed entirely into the dukedom of Spoleti," [embracing the 
 the dominion of the Pope, and, as in- city and dukedom of Rome]. And again, 
 dependent kingdoms or sovereignties, on the same page (Note). " The Popo 
 ceased to be. This is the solution in re- possessed the Exarchate, the Pentapolis, 
 gard to the three horns that were to be | and the dukedom of Spoleti, with the 
 plucked up, as given by Bp. Newton, city and dukedom of Rome." It should 
 Absolute certainty in a case of this kind be remembered that these statements are 
 is not to be expected in the confusion made by historians with no reference to 
 
 and indefiniteness of that portion of his 
 tory, nor can it be reasonably demanded. 
 
 any supposed fulfilment of this prophecy, 
 and no allusion to it, but as matters of 
 
 If there were three of these powers planted I simple historical fact, occurring in the 
 
 in regions that became subject to the 
 Papal power, and that disappeared or 
 were absorbed in that one dominion con 
 stituting the peculiarity of the Papal 
 dominion, or which entered into the Ro 
 man Papal state, considered as a sove 
 reignty by itself among the nations of the 
 earth, this is all that is required. Mr. 
 Faber supposes the three to have been 
 these : the Ilerulo-Turingic, the Ostro- 
 gothic. and the Lombardic, and says of 
 them, that they " were necessarily eradi 
 cated in the immediate presence of the 
 Papacy, before which they were geogra 
 phically standing and that the temporal 
 principality which bears the name of St. 
 Peter s patrimony, was carved out of the 
 mass of their subjugated dominions." 
 
 Sacred Calendar, vol. II. p. 102. 
 28 
 
 Prof. 
 
 regular course of history. The material 
 fact to be made out in order to show that 
 this description of the little horn is 
 applicable to the Papacy is, that at the 
 commencement of what was properly the 
 Papacy that is, as I suppose, the union 
 of the spiritual .and temporal power, or 
 the assumption of temporal authority by 
 him who was Bishop of Rome, and who 
 had been before regarded as a mere spi 
 ritual or ecclesiastical ruler, there was a 
 triple jurisdiction assumed or conceded; 
 a three-fold domination ; or a union un 
 der himself of what had been three sove 
 reignties, that now disappeared as inde 
 pendent administrations, and whose dis 
 tinct governments were now merged in 
 the one single sovereignty of the Pope. 
 Now, that there was, just at this time, or 
 
326 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555 
 
 even a generous enemy, -would have been 
 less impatient to divide the spoils of the 
 Barbarian ; and if the emperor had en 
 trusted Stephen to solicit in his name the 
 restitution of the Exarchate, I will not 
 absolve the Pope from the reproach of 
 treachery and falsehood. But, in the 
 
 at the beginning of the Papacy, or when 
 it had so increased that it could be re 
 cognized as having a place among the 
 temporal sovereignties of the earth, such 
 a united domination, or such a union of 
 three separate powers under one, will be 
 apparent from an extract from Mr. Gib 
 bon. He is speaking of the rewards con- | rigid interpretation of the laws, every one 
 ferrcd on the Pope by the Carlovingian j may accept, without inquiry, whatever 
 race of kings, on account of the favour his benefactor may bestow without injus- 
 shown to them in his conferring the . tice. The Greek emperor had abdicated 
 crown of France on Pepin the Mayor of ; or forfeited his right to the Exarchate ; 
 the palace directing in his favour over ; and the sword of Astolphus was broken 
 Childeric, the descendant of Clovis. j by the stronger sword of the Carlovingian. 
 Of this transaction, Mr. Gibbon ob- j It was not in the cause of the Iconoclast 
 serves, in general (III. 336), that "The j that Pepin had exposed his person and 
 mutual obligations of the Popes and j army in a double expedition beyond the 
 the Carlovingian family, form the im- Alps ; he possessed and he might law- 
 portant link of ancient and modern, of | fully alienate his conquests; and to the 
 civil and ecclesiastical history." He then importunities of the Greeks he piously re- 
 proceeds, I. to specify the gifts or favours plied that no human consideration should 
 
 which the Popes conferred on the Carlo 
 vingian race, and II. those which, in re 
 turn, Pepin and Charlemagne bestowed 
 on the Popes. In reference to the latter, 
 he makes the following statement (III. 
 
 338) : " The gratitude of the Carlovingi- 
 
 ans was adequate to these obligations, 
 
 and their names are consecrated as the prerogatives 
 
 saviours and benefactors of the Roman 
 
 Church. Her ancient patrimony of farms 
 
 and houses was transformed by their 
 
 bounty into the temporal dominion of cities 
 
 and provinces, and the donation of the 
 
 Exarchate was the first fruits of the con- 
 
 tempt him to resume the gift which he 
 had conferred on the Roman pontiff for 
 the remission of his sins and the salva 
 tion of his soul. The splendid donation 
 was granted in supreme and absolute do- 
 
 quests of Pepin. Astolphus [king of the 
 Lombards] with a sigh relinquished his 
 prey ; the keys and the hostages of the 
 principal cities were delivered to the 
 French ambassador; and in his master s 
 name he presented them before the tomb 
 of St. Pt .er. The ample measure of 
 the Exarchate might comprise all the 
 provinces of Italy which had obeyed 
 
 minion, and the world beheld for the first 
 time a Christian bishop invested with the 
 of a temporal prince, the 
 choice of magistrates, the exercise of 
 justice, the imposition of taxes, and the 
 wealth of the palace of Ravenna. In the 
 dissolution of the Lombard kingdom, the 
 inhabitants of the duchy of Spoleti 
 sought a refuge from the storm, shaved 
 
 their heads after the Ravenna fashion, de 
 clared themselves the servants and sub 
 jects of St. Peter, and completed by this 
 voluntary surrender, the present circle of 
 the Ecclesiastical State." The following 
 things are apparent from this extract : 
 (a) That here, according to Mr. Gibbon, 
 was the beginning of the temporal power 
 of the Pope, (b) That this was properly, 
 
 the emperor or his vicegerent; but its in the view above taken, the commence- 
 strict and proper limits were included in ment of the Papacy as a distinct and pe- 
 the territories of Ravenna, Bologna, and culiar dominion, (c) That in this there 
 Ferrara; its inseparable dependency was was a three-fold government, or three 
 the Pentapolis, which stretched along the temporal sovereignties united under him, 
 
 Adriatic from Remini to Ancona, and 
 advanced into the midland country as far 
 as the ridge of the Apennine. In this 
 transaction, the ambition and avarice of 
 the Popes had been severely condemned. 
 Perhaps the humility of a Christian priest 
 should have rejected an earthly kingdom, 
 which it was not easy for him to govern 
 without renouncing the virtues of his 
 profession. Perhaps a faithful subject, or 
 
 and constituting at that time, in the lan 
 guage of Mr. Gibbon, "the present circle 
 of the ecclesiastical state." There was 
 first the Exarchate of Ravenna: second, 
 the Pentapolis, which, he says, was its 
 inseparable dependency; and third, the 
 duchy of Spoleti/ which, be says, com- 
 pleted the present circle of the ecclesias 
 tical State. This was afterwards, Mr. 
 Gibbon goes on to say, greatly r en- 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 327 
 
 larged, but this was the form in -which large number of separate and independent 
 the Papal power first made its appear- sovereignties most naturally and obvi- 
 ance among the temporal sovereignties j ously described by ten, or such as would 
 of Europe. I do not find, indeed, that | appear in a prophetic vision to be ten, and 
 the kingdom of the Lombards was, as is such as is actually so represented by histo- 
 commonly stated, among the number of | rians having no interestin the fulfilment of 
 the temporal sovereignties that became the prophecy, and no designed reference to 
 subject to the authority of the Popes, but what may be symbolized by the ten horns; 
 I do find that there were three distinct (3) that there was another peculiar and dis- 
 temporal sovereignties that lost their in- , tinct power that sprang out of them, and 
 dependent existence, and that were united i that grew to be mighty a power unlike 
 under that one temporal authority con- the others, and unlike any thing that had 
 stituting by the union of the spiritual before appeared in the world combining 
 
 and temporal power that one peculiar 
 kingdom. In Lombardy the power re 
 mained in the possession of the kings of 
 the Lombards themselves, until that king 
 dom was subdued by the arms of Pepin 
 and Charlemagne, and then it became 
 
 qualities to be found in no other sove 
 reignty having a peculiar relation at tho 
 same time to the one original sovereignty, 
 and to the ten into which that was divided 
 the prolongation, in an important sense, 
 of the power of the one, and springing up 
 
 subject to the crown of France, though i in a peculiar manner among the others- 
 for a time under the nominal reign of its j that peculiar ecclesiastical and civil power 
 See Gibbon, iii. 334, 335, the Papacy well represented by the 
 
 own kii 
 
 338. If it should be said, that in the in 
 terpretation of this passage respecting the 
 * three horns that were plucked up, or the 
 three kingdoms that were thus destroyed, 
 it would be proper to look for them among 
 the ten into which the one great kingdom 
 was divided, and that the three above re 
 ferred to the Exarchate of Ravenna, the 
 Pentnpolis, and the dukedom of Spoleti 
 and Rome, were not properly of that num 
 ber, according to the list above given, it 
 is necessary in reply to this, to advert 
 only to the two main facts in the case : 
 (1) that the great Roman power was ac 
 tually divided into a large number of 
 sovereignties ; that sprang up on its ru 
 ins usually, but not in fact exactly, re 
 presented by ten ; and (2) that the Papacy 
 began its career with a conceded domin 
 ion over the three territories above referred 
 
 little horn ; (4) that in fact this one power 
 absorbed into itself three of these sove 
 reignties annihilating them as independ 
 ent powers, and combining them into one 
 most peculiar dominion properly repre 
 sented by plucking them up; (5) that 
 aa a proper symbol, or emblem of some 
 such domination, a crown or diadem is 
 still worn, most naturally and obviously 
 suggesting such a three-fold absorption of 
 dominion; (6) that all this is actually 
 prefigured by the symbols employed by 
 the prophet, or that the sj^mbols are such 
 as would be naturally employed on the 
 supposition that these events were de 
 signed to be referred to; and (7) that 
 there have been no oilier historical events 
 to which these remarkable symbols could 
 bo naturally and obviously applied. And 
 if these things are so, how are they to be 
 
 to a part, in fact, of the one great do- explained except on the supposition that 
 minion constituting the Roman power, j Daniel was inspired ? Has man any nat- 
 and are the same territory. It is a re- | ural sagacity by which such symbols rep- 
 markable fact, that the Popes to this day | resenting the future could be suggested? 
 wear a triple crown a fact that exists in i (/) It would be arrogant and proud, 
 
 regard to no other rnonarchs as if they 
 had absorbed under themselves three se 
 parate and distinct sovereignties, or as if 
 they represented three separate forms of 
 dominion. The sum of what is said in 
 the exposition of these verses may be 
 thus expressed : (1) That there was ori 
 ginally one great sovereignty represented 
 here by the fourth beast the Roman 
 empire. (2) That, in fact, as is abund 
 antly confirmed by history, this one great 
 *nd united power was broken up into a 
 
 speaking great words against the Most 
 High. No Protestant will doubt that 
 this is true of the Papacy; no one ac 
 quainted with history will presume to 
 call it in question. The arrogant preten 
 sions of the Papacy have been manifested 
 in all the history of that power, and no 
 one can doubt that its assumptions have 
 been, in fact, by fair construction, a 
 speaking of great words against God. 
 The Pope has claimed, or allowed to be 
 conferred on him, names and preroga- 
 
328 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555. 
 
 lives which can belong only to God. See 
 this fully shown in the Notes on 2 Thess. 
 ii. 4. The facts there referred to are all 
 that is necessary to illustrate this passage, 
 on the supposition that it refers to the 
 Papacy. Comp. also the Literalist, vol. 
 i. pp. 2427. (</) This would he a perse 
 cuting power making war with the 
 saints/ and wearing out the saints of 
 the Most High. Can any one doubt that 
 this is true of the Papacy ? The Inqui 
 sition; the persecutions of the Walden- 
 ses ; the ravages of the Duke of Alva ; 
 the fires of Smithfield; the tortures at 
 Goa indeed, the whole history of the 
 Papacy may be appealed to in proof that 
 this is applicable to that power. If any 
 thing could have worn out the saints of 
 the Most High could have cut them off 
 from the earth so that evangelical religion 
 would have become extinct, it would 
 have been the persecutions of the Papal 
 power. In the year 1208, a crusade was 
 proclaimed by Pope Innocent III. against 
 the Waldenses and Albigenses, in which 
 a million of men perished. From the be 
 ginning of the order of the Jesuits, in 
 the year 1540 to 1580, nine hundred 
 thousand were destroyed. One hundred 
 and fifty thousand perished by the Inqui 
 sition in thirty years. In the Low coun 
 tries fifty thousand persons were hanged, 
 beheaded, burned, and buried alive, for 
 the crime of heresy, within the space of 
 thirty-eight years from the edict of 
 Charles V., against the Protestants, to 
 the peace of Chateu Cambreses in 1559. 
 Eighteen thousand suffered by the hand 
 of the executioner, in the space of five 
 years and a half, during the administra 
 tion of the Duke of Alva. Indeed, the 
 slightest acquaintance with the history 
 of the Papacy, will convince any one that 
 what is here said of making war with 
 the saints (ver. 21), and wearing out 
 the saints of the Most High (ver. 25), is 
 strictly applicable to that power, and will 
 accurately describe its history. There 
 have been, indeed, other persecuting 
 powers, but none to which this language 
 would be so applicable, and none which 
 it would so naturally suggest. In proof 
 of this, it is only necessary to refer to the 
 history of the Papacy, and to what it has 
 done to extirpate those who have pro 
 fessed a different faith. Let any one re 
 call (a) the persecution of the Waldenses ; 
 (6) the acts of the Duke of Alva in the 
 Low countries j (c) the persecution in 
 
 England under Mary; (d) the Inquisi 
 tion ; (e) the attempts, too successful, to 
 extinguish all the efforts at Reformation 
 in Italy and Spain in the time of Luther 
 and Calvin (see McKrie), and (/) the at 
 tempts to put down the Reformation in 
 Germany and Switzerland, all which were 
 either directly originated or sanctioned 
 by the Papacy, and all for the same end, 
 nnd he will see no reason to doubt that 
 the language here is strictly applicable to 
 that power, and that there has been no 
 government on earth which would be so 
 naturally suggested by it. Cunninghame, 
 in the Literalist, i. 27, 28. Indeed, who 
 can number up all that have perished in 
 the Inquisition alone? (h) It would 
 claim legislative power thinking to 
 change times and laws. The original 
 Chaldee here may be rendered, as is done 
 by Gesenius and De Wette, set times, 
 stated times, or festival seasons. The word 
 here, says Gesenius (Lex.), is spoken of 
 sacred seasons, festivals, and there can 
 be no doubt that in this place it refers to 
 religious institutions. The meaning is, 
 that he would claim control over such in 
 stitutions or festivals, and that he would 
 appoint or change them at his pleasure. 
 He would abolish or modify existing in 
 stitutions of that kind, or he would insti 
 tute new ones, as should seem good to 
 him. This would be applicable, then, to 
 some power that should claim authority 
 to prescribe religious institutions, and to 
 change the laws of God. No one, also, 
 can fail to see a fulfilment of this in the 
 claims of the Papacy, in setting up a ju 
 risdiction over seasons of festival and 
 fast; and in demanding that the laws of 
 kingdoms should be so moulded as to 
 sustain its claims, and modifying the laws 
 of God as revealed in the Bible. The 
 right of deposing and setting up kings ; 
 of fixing the boundaries of nations ; of 
 giving away crowns and sceptres ; and 
 of exercising dominion over the sacred 
 seasons, the customs, the amusements of 
 nations all these, as illustrated under 
 the Papacy, will leave no doubt that all 
 this would find an ample fulfilment in the 
 history of that power. The Pope has 
 claimed to be the head of the church, and 
 has asserted and exercised the right of 
 appointing sacred seasons; of abolishing 
 ancient institutions ; of introducing num 
 berless new festival occasions, practically 
 abrogating the laws of God on a great va 
 riety of subjects. Wo need only refer, in 
 
CHAPTER VII, 
 
 B. C. 555.] 
 
 illustration of thu, (a) to the claim of in 
 fallibility, by which, an absolute jurisdic 
 tion is asserted that covers the whole 
 ground ; (6) to all the laws pertaining to 
 image-worship, so directly in the face of 
 the laws of God; (c) to the celibacy of 
 the clergy, rendering void one of the laws 
 of heaven in relation to marriage ; (d) to 
 the whole doctrine respecting purgatory; 
 (e) to the doctrine of transubstantiation ; 
 (/) to the practical abolition of the Chris 
 tian sabbath by appointing numerous 
 saints days to be observed as equally 
 sacred ; (g) to the law withholding the 
 cup from the laity contrary to the com 
 mandment of the Saviour, and (h) in 
 general to the absolute control claimed 
 by the Papacy, over the whole subject of 
 religion. Indeed, nothing would better 
 characterize this power than to say that 
 it asserted the right to change times and 
 laws/ And to all this should be added 
 another characteristic (ver. 8), that it 
 would have the eyes of a man ; that is, 
 would be distinguished for a far-seeing 
 sagacity. Could this be so appropriately 
 applied to anything else as to the deep, 
 the artful, and the far-reaching diplomacy 
 of the court of Rome ; to the sagacity of 
 the Jesuit; to the skilful policy which 
 Bubdued the world to itself? 
 
 These illustrations will leave no doubt, 
 it seems to me, that all that is here said 
 will find an ample fulfilment in the Pa 
 pacy, and that it is to be regarded as 
 having a reference to that power. If so, 
 it only remains 
 
 III. To inquire what, according to this 
 interpretation, we are to expect will yet 
 occur, or what light this passage throws 
 on events that are yet future. The 
 origin, the growth, the general charac 
 ter and influence of this poner up to a 
 distant period, are illustrated by this in 
 terpretation. What remains is the in 
 quiry, from the passage before us, how 
 Jong this is to continue, and what wo are 
 to anticipate in regard to its fall. The 
 following points, then, would seem to be 
 clear, on the supposition that this refers 
 to the Papal power. 
 
 It is to continue a definite period from 
 its establishment, ver 25. This duration 
 is mentioned as a time, and times, and 
 the dividing of a time : three years and 
 a half twelve hundred and sixty days 
 twelve hundred and sixty years. See 
 the Notes on that verse. The only diffi 
 culty in regard to this, if that interpreta- 
 28* 
 
 329 
 
 tion is correct, is to determine the time 
 when the Papacy actually began the 
 terminus a quo -and this has given rise 
 to all the diversity of explanation among 
 Protestants. Assuming any one time as 
 the period when the Papal power arose, 
 as a date from which to calculate, it is 
 easy to compute from that date, and to 
 fix some period terminus ad quem to 
 which this refers, and which may be 
 looked to as the time of the overthrow of 
 that power. But there is nothing more 
 difficult in history than the determination 
 of the exact time when the Papacy pro 
 perly began : that is, when the peculiar 
 domination which is fairly understood by 
 that system, commenced in the world; 
 or what were its first distinguishing acts. 
 History has not so marked that period that 
 there is no room for doubt. It has not 
 affixed definite dates to it ; and to this day 
 it is not easy to make out the time when 
 that power commenced, or to designate any 
 one event at a certain period that will 
 surely mark it. It seems to have been a 
 gradual growth, and its commencement 
 has not been so definitely characterized 
 as to enable us to demonstrate with 
 absolute certainty the time to which 
 the twelve hundred and sixty years will 
 extend. 
 
 Different writers have assigned differ 
 ent periods for the rise of the Papacy, 
 and different acts as the first act of that 
 power ; and all the prophecies as to its 
 termination depend on the period which 
 is fixed on as the time of its rise. It ia 
 this which has led to so much that is 
 conjectural, and which has been the oc 
 casion of so much disappointment, and 
 which throws so much obscurity now 
 over all calculations as to the termi 
 nation of that power. In nothing is 
 the Scripture more clear than that that 
 power shall be destroyed ; and if we could 
 ascertain with exactness the date of its 
 origin, there would be little danger of 
 erring in regard to its close. The dif 
 ferent periods which have been fixed on 
 as the date of its rise, have been princi 
 pally the following: (1) An edict pub 
 lished by Justinian (A. D. 533), and a 
 letter addressed by him at the same time 
 to the Pope, in which he acknowledged 
 him to be the head of the churches, thus 
 conferring on him a title belonging only 
 to the Saviour, and putting himself and 
 empire under the dominion of the Bishop 
 of Rome. Duffield on the Prophecies, 
 
330 DANIEL. [B. C. 555 
 
 p. 281. (2) The decree of lie emperor | larged, but in that junction of the two, 
 Phocas (A. D. 606), confirmi Jg what had when, in virtue of a pretended divine 
 been done by Justinian, and giving his right, a temporal dominion grew up, that 
 sanction to the code of laws promulgated ultimately extended itself over Europe, 
 by him : a code of laws based on the I claiming the authority to dispose of 
 acknowledged supremacy of the Pope, j crowns ; to lay kingdoms under interdict, 
 and which became the basis of European [ and to absolve subjects from their alle- 
 legislation for centuries ; and conferring giance. If we can find the beginning of 
 on him the title of Universal Bishop/ . this claim the germ of this peculiar kind 
 
 (3) The act of Pope Stephen, by which, \ of domination we shall doubtless have 
 when appealed to by the claimant to the found the commencement of the Papacy 
 crown of France, he confirmed Pepin in the terminus a quo as it was seen by the 
 the kingdom, and set aside Childeric III., prophets the point from which we are 
 and, in return, received from Pepin the j to reckon in determining the question of 
 Exarchate of Ravenna and the Penta- j its duration. 
 
 polis. See Ranke s Hist, of the Papacy, [ With this view, then, of the nature of 
 vol. I. 23. This occurred about A. D. 752. j the Papacy, it is proper to inquire when 
 
 (4) The opinion of Mr. Gibbon (IV. 363,) j it commenced, or which of the periods 
 that Gregory the Seventh was the true , referred to, if either, can be properly re- 
 founder of the Papal power. " Gregory garded as the commencement. 
 
 the Seventh," says he, " who may be | (I) The Edict of Justinian, and the 
 adored or detested as the founder of the j letter to the Bishop of Rome, in which 
 Papal monarchy, was driven from Rome, j he acknowledged him to be the head of 
 and died in exile at Salerno." Gregory j the church, A. D. 533. This occurred 
 became Pope A. D. 1073. These different i under John II., reckoned as the fifty- 
 dates, if assumed as the foundation of the \ fifth Bishop of Rome. The nature of this 
 Papal power, would, by the addition to application of Justinian to the Pope, and 
 each of the period of 1260 years, lead re- the honour conferred on him, was this : 
 spectively to the year 1793, 1866, 2105, On an occasion of a controversy in the 
 and 2333, as the period of the termination church, on the question whether " one 
 of the Papal dominion. As this is a ! person of the Trinity suffered in the 
 
 point of great importance in the expla 
 nation of the prophecies, it may be pro 
 per to examine these opinions a little 
 
 flesh," the monks of Constantinople, fear 
 ful of being condemned under an edict 
 of Justinian for heresy in denying this, 
 
 more in detail. But in order to this, it is i applied to the Pope to decide the point, 
 necessary to have a clear conception of | Justinian, who took great delight in in- 
 what the Papacy as a distinct domina- j quiries of that nature, and who main- 
 tion is, or what constitutes its peculiarity, j tained the opposite opinion on that sub- 
 as seen by the sacred writers, and as it ject, also made his appeal to the Pope, 
 has in fact existed, and does exist in the j Having, therefore, drawn up a long creed, 
 world; and in regard to this there can j containing the disputed article among 
 be little difference of opinion. It is not the rest, he despatched two bishops with 
 a mere ecclesiastical power not a mere ] it to Rome, and laid the whole matter 
 spiritual domination not the control of before the Pope. At the same time he 
 a bishop as such over a church or a dio- wrote a letter to the Pope, congratulating 
 cese nor is it a mere temporal dominion, him on his election, assuring him that 
 but it is manifestly the union of the two : the faith contained in the confession 
 that peculiar domination which the Bishop | which he sent him was the faith of the 
 of Rome has claimed, as growing out of ; whole eastern church, and entreating 
 his primacy as the head of the church, \ him to declare in his answer that he re- 
 and of a temporal power also, asserted at ! ceived to his communion all who pro- 
 first over a limited jurisdiction, but ulti- 1 fessed that faith, and none who did not. 
 mately, and as a natural consequence, j To add weight to the letter, he accorn- 
 over all other sovereignties, and claim- ! panied it with a present to St. Peter, 
 ing universal dominion. We shall not j consisting of several chalices, and other 
 find the Papacy, or the Papal dominion ! vessels of gold, enriched with precious 
 as such, clearly, in the mere spiritual rule i stones. From this deference to the Pope, 
 of the first Bishop of Rome, nor in that j on the part of the emperor, and this sub- 
 ticro epiritual dominion, however en- j mitting to him, as the head of the 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 331 
 
 church, of an important question to be 
 determined, it has been argued that this 
 was properly the beginning of the Pa 
 pacy, and that the twelve hundred and 
 
 tions to our regarding this as properly 
 the commencement of the Papacy as such. 
 For (a) this was not the beginning of that 
 peculiar domination, or form of power, 
 
 sixty years are to be reckoned from that. | which the Pope has asserted and main- 
 
 But against this opinion the objections 
 are iusupenible : for (a) there was here 
 nothing of that which properly constitutes 
 the Papacy the peculiar union of the 
 temporal and spiritual power ; or the 
 peculiar domination which that power 
 has exerted over the world. All that 
 occurred was the mere deference which 
 an emperor showed to one who claimed 
 to be the spiritual head of the church, 
 and Avho had long before claimed that. 
 There was no change no beginning, pro 
 perly so called no commencement of a 
 new form of domination over mankind, 
 such as the Papacy has been, (b) But, 
 as a matter of fact, there was, after all, 
 little real deference to the Pope in this 
 case. " Little or no account," says Bower, 
 "ought to be made of that extraordinary 
 
 tained. If this title were conferred, it im 
 parted no new power; it did not change 
 the nature of this domination ; it did not, in 
 fact, make the Roman bishop different from 
 what he was before. He was still, in all 
 respects, subject to the civil power of the 
 emperors, and had no control beyond that 
 which he exercised in the church, (b) And 
 even this little was withdrawn by the 
 same authority which granted it the au 
 thority of the emperor of Constantinople 
 though it has always since been claimed 
 and asserted by the Pope himself. See 
 Bower, I. 427. It is true that, as a con 
 sequence of the fact that this title was 
 conferred on the Popes, they began to 
 grasp at power, and aspire to temporal 
 dominion ; but still there was no formal 
 grasp of such power growing out of the 
 
 deference [the deference shown by car- j assumption of this title, nor was any such 
 rying this question before the Pope], temporal dominion set up as the immedi- 
 Justinian paid great deference to the ate result of such a title. The act, there- 
 Pope, as well as to all other bishops, when I fore, was not sufficiently marked, distinct, 
 they agreed with him ; but none at all and decisive, to constitute an epoch, in 
 when they did not; thinking himself, at the beginning of an era, in the history of 
 least, as well qualified as the best of them, j the world, and the rise of the Papacy can- 
 and so ho certainly was, to decide con 
 troversies concerning the faith ; and we 
 
 not with any propriety be dated from thai. 
 This was undoubtedly one of the stem bv 
 
 shall soon see him entering the lists with which that peculiar power rose to its 
 
 his holiness himself." Lives of the greatness, or which contributed to lay the 
 
 Popes, I. 336. foundation of its subsequent claims, its 
 
 II. The second date which has been arrogance, and its pride ; but it is doubt- 
 
 ful whether it was so important an event 
 characterizing the Papacy as to be re 
 garded as the origin, or the terminus a quo 
 in ascertaining the time of its continu 
 ance.* It was, however, in view of this, 
 
 *Mr. Hallam (Middle Ages, 1, 420, Note) 
 urges the following arguments substantially, 
 against the supposition that the Papal suprem 
 acy had its rise from this epoch, and is to be 
 dated from the concession of the title of Uni 
 versal Bishop made by Phocas to Boniface III. 
 
 assigned to the origin of the Papacy, is the 
 decree made by the emperor Phocas (A. D. 
 606), by which, it is said, he confirmed 
 the grant made by Justinian. This act 
 was the following: Boniface III., when 
 he had been made bishop of Rome, rely 
 ing on the favour and partiality which 
 Phocas had shown him, prevailed on him 
 to revoke the decree settling the title of 
 Universal Bishop on the bishop of Con 
 stantinople, and obtained another settling 
 
 that title on himself and his successors. ; pcars more than quest ionable. (2) "But if the 
 I he decree of Phocas, conferring this j strongest proof could be advanced for the au- 
 title, has not indeed come down to us ; j thenticity of this circumstance, we may well 
 but it has been the common testimony of ! den y its importance. The concession of Phocas 
 historians that such title was conferred. ! ? uld have , be( : n of no y alidit y in.Lombardy, 
 See Mosheim I. 513, Bower I. 426. The 
 fact asserted here has been doubted, and 
 Mosheim supposes that it rests on the 
 authority of Baronius. " Still," says he, 
 " it is certain that something of this kind 
 occurred." But there are serious objec- 
 
 France, and other western countries, where 
 nevertheless, the Papal supremacy was incom 
 parably more established than in the east." 
 (3) " Even within the empire it could have had 
 no efficacy after the violent death of that usurp 
 er, which occurred soon afterwards." (4; " The 
 title of Universal Bishop i3 not very intelligible, 
 but whatever it means the patriarchs of Coa- 
 
332 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B, C. 555 
 
 and with this considered as properly the 
 origin of the Papacy, that the Rev. Rob 
 ert Fleming, in his work on the ( Rise and 
 Fall of the Papacy/ first published in 1701, 
 uttered the following remarkable lan 
 guage, as based on his calculations re 
 specting the continuance of that power : 
 " If we may suppose that Antichrist be 
 gan his reign in the year 606, the addi 
 tional one thousand two hundred and 
 sixty years of his duration, were they 
 Julian or ordinary years, would lead down 
 to the year 1866, as the last period of the 
 seven-headed monster. But seeing they 
 are prophetical years only [of 360 days], 
 we must cast away eighteen years in or 
 der to bring them to the exact measure 
 of time that the Spirit of God designs in 
 this book. And thus the final period of 
 the Papal iisurjyations (supposing that he 
 did indeed rise in the year 606) must con 
 clude with the year 1848." P. 25. Ed. 
 New York. Whether this be considered 
 as merely a haf>py conjecture the one 
 successful one among thousands that have 
 failed, or as the result of a proper calcu 
 lation respecting the future, no one in 
 comparing it with the events of the year 
 1848, when the Pope was driven from 
 Rome, and when a popular government 
 was established in the very seat of the 
 Papal power, can fail to see that it is re 
 markable considered as having been ut 
 tered a century and a half ago. Whether 
 it is the correct calculation, and that tem 
 porary downfall of the Papal Government 
 is to be regarded as the first in a series 
 of events that will ultimately end in its 
 destruction, time must determine. The 
 reasons mentioned above, however, and 
 those which will be suggested in favour 
 of a different beginning of that power, 
 make it, at present, more probable that a 
 different period is to be assigned as its 
 close. 
 
 III. The third date which has been 
 assigned as the beginning of the Papacy, 
 
 stantinople had borne it before, and continued to 
 bear it afterwards." (5) " The preceding Popes, 
 Pelagius II. and Gregory I., had constantly dis 
 claimed the appellation ; nor does it appear to 
 have been claimed by the successors of Boniface, 
 at least for some centuries." (6.) " The Popes had 
 undoubtedly exercised a species of supremacy 
 for more than two centuries before this time, 
 which had lately reached a high point of au 
 thority under Gregory I." (7.) "There are 
 no sensible marks of this supremacy making 
 a more rapid progress for a century and a half 
 fter the pretended grant of this emperor." 
 
 is the grant of Pepin above referred to, 
 A. D. 752. This grant conferred by Pe 
 pin was confirmed also by Charlemagne 
 and his successors, and it was undoubt 
 edly at this period that the Papacy began 
 to assume its place among the sovereign 
 ties of Europe. In favour of this opin 
 ion that this was properly the rise of 
 the papacy the terminus a quo of pro 
 phecy, the following considerations may be 
 urged : (a) We have here a definite act 
 an act which is palpable and apparent, as 
 characterizing the progress of this domi 
 nation over men. (6) We have here pro 
 perly the beginning of the temporal do 
 minion, or the first acknowledged exercise 
 of that power in acts of temporal sove 
 reignty in giving laws, asserting domin 
 ion, swaying a temporal sceptre, and 
 wearing a temporal crown. All the acts be 
 fore had been of a spiritual character, and 
 all the deference to the Bishop of Rome 
 had been of a spiritual nature. Hence 
 forward, however, he was acknowledged 
 as a temporal prince, and took his place 
 as such among the crowned heads of Eu 
 rope, (c) This is properly the beginning 
 of that mighty domination which tho 
 Pope wielded over Europe a beginning, 
 which, however small at first, ultimately 
 became so powerful and so arrogant as to 
 claim jurisdiction over all the kingdoms 
 of the earth, and the right to absolve sub 
 jects from their allegiance, to lay king 
 doms under interdict, to dispose of crowns, 
 to order the succession of princes, to tax all 
 people, and to dispose of all newly discov 
 ered countries, (d) This accords better 
 with the prophecies than any other one 
 eventwhich has occurred in the world es 
 pecially with the prophecy of Daniel of tho 
 springing up of the little horn, and the 
 fact that that little horn plucked up three 
 others of the ten into which the fourth 
 kingdom was divided. And (e) it should 
 be added that this agrees with tho idea 
 all along held up in the prophecies, that 
 this would be properly the fourth empire 
 prolonged. The fifth empire or kingdom 
 is to be the reign of the saints, or tho 
 reign of righteousness on the earth: the 
 fourth extends down in its influences and 
 power to that. As a matter of fact, this 
 Roman power was thus concentrated in 
 the Papacy. The form was changed, but 
 it was the Roman power that was in tho 
 eye of the prophets, and this was contem 
 plated under its various phases, as hea 
 then and nominally Christian, until the 
 
B. C. 555.] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 333 
 
 reign of the saints should commence, or 
 the kingdom of God should be set up. 
 But it was only in the time of Stephen, 
 and by the act of Pepin and Charlemagne, 
 that this change occurred, or that this 
 dominion of a temporal character was set 
 tled in the Papacy and that the Pope 
 was acknowledged as having this temporal 
 power. This was consummated indeed in 
 Hildebrand, or Gregory VII. (Gibbon iii. 
 353, iv. 363), but this mighty power 
 properly had its origin in the time of 
 Pepin. 
 
 IV. The fourth date assigned for the 
 origin of the Papacy is the time of Hil 
 debrand, or Gregory VII. This is the 
 period assigned by Mr. Gibbon. Respect 
 ing this, he remarks (vol. iv. p. 363), 
 "Gregory the Seventh, who may be 
 adored or detested or* the founder of the 
 Pajial monarchy, was driven from Rome, 
 and died in exile at Salerno." And again 
 (vol. iii. p. 353), he says of Gregory, 
 "After a long series of scandal, the apos 
 tolic See was reformed and exalted, by 
 the austerity and zeal of Gregory VII. 
 That ambitious monk devoted his life to 
 the execution of two projects : I. To fix 
 in the college of Cardinals the freedom 
 and independence of election, and for 
 ever to abolish the right or usurpation of 
 the emperors and the Roman people. 
 II. To bestow and resume the Western 
 empire as a fief or benefice of the church, 
 and to extend his temporal dominion 
 over the kings and kingdoms of the earth. 
 After a contest of fifty years, the first of 
 these designs was accomplished by the 
 firm support of the ecclesiastical order, 
 whose liberty was connected with that of 
 the chief. But the second attempt, 
 though it was crowned with some appa 
 rent and partial success, has been vig 
 orously resisted by the secular power, 
 and finally extinguished by the improve 
 ment of human reason." 
 
 If the views above suggested, however, 
 are correct ; or if we look at the Papacy 
 as it was in the time of Hildebrand, it 
 must be apparent that this was not the 
 rise or origin of that peculiar domination, 
 but was only the carrying out and com 
 pleting of the plan laid long before to set 
 up a temporal dominion over mankind. 
 
 It should be added, that whichever of 
 the three first periods referred to be re 
 garded as the time of the rise of the Papacy, 
 if we add to them the prophetic period of 
 1260 years, we are now in the midst of 
 
 scenes on which the prophetic eye rested, 
 and we cannot, as fair interpreters of 
 prophecy, but regard this mighty domi 
 nation as hastening to its fall. It would 
 seem probable, then, that according to 
 the most obvious explanation of the sub 
 ject, we are at present not far from the 
 : termination and fall of that great power, 
 and that events may be expected to oc 
 cur at about this period of the world 
 which will be connected with its fall. 
 
 (B) Its power is to be taken away aa 
 by a solemn judgment as if the throne 
 was set, and God was to come forth to 
 pronounce judgment on this power to 
 overthrow it, vs. 10, 11, 26. This de 
 struction of the power referred to is to be 
 absolute and entire as if the " beast 
 were slain, and the body given to the 
 burning flame" "and they shall take 
 away his dominion, to consume and de 
 stroy it unto the end." This would de 
 note the absolute destruction of this pe 
 culiar power its entire cessation in the 
 world ; that is, the absolute destruction 
 of that which had constituted its peculi 
 arity the prolonged power of the beast 
 of the fourth kingdom concentrated and 
 embodied in that represented by the little 
 horn. If applied to the Roman power, 
 or the fourth kingdom, it means that 
 that power, which would have been pro 
 longed under the dominion of that repre 
 sented by the little horn, would wholly 
 cease as if the body of the beast had 
 been burned. If applied to the power 
 represented by the little horn the Pa 
 pacy it means that that power which 
 sprang up amidst the others, and which 
 became so mighty embodying so much 
 of the power of the beast, would wholly 
 pass away as an ecclesiastico-civil power. 
 It would cease its dominion, and as one 
 of the ruling powers of the earth would 
 disappear. This would be accomplished 
 by some remarkable divine manifesta 
 tion as if God should come in majesty 
 and power to judgment, and should pro 
 nounce a sentence ; that is, the overthrow 
 would be decisive, and as manifestly the 
 result of the divine interposition, as if 
 God should do it by a formal act of judg 
 ment. In the overthrow of that power, 
 whenever it occurs, it would be natural, 
 from this prophecy, to anticipate that 
 there would be some scenes of commo 
 tion and revolution bearing directly on 
 it, as if God were pronouncing sentence 
 on it ; <>me important changes in the 
 
334 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555, 
 
 nations that Tiad acknowledged its au 
 thority, as if the great Judge of nations 
 was coming forth to assert his own power, 
 and his own right to rule, and to dis 
 pose of the kingdoms of the earth as he 
 pleased. 
 
 (C) It is to be anticipated that the 
 power referred to, will be destroyed on 
 account of its pride and arrogance. See 
 Notes on ver. 11. That is, whatever 
 power there is upon the earth at the time 
 referred to that shall be properly that of 
 the fourth beast or kingdom, will be 
 taken away on account of the claims set 
 up and maintained by the little horn : 
 " I beheld because of the voice of the great 
 words which the horn spake; I beheld 
 till the beast was slain," <fcc., ver. 11. 
 On the supposition that this refers to the 
 Papacy, what is to be expected would be, 
 that the pride and arrogance of that 
 power as such that is, as an ecclesiasti 
 cal power claiming dominion over civil 
 things, and wielding civil authority, would 
 be such that the Roman power the lin 
 gering power of the fourth kingdom 
 would be taken away, and its dominion 
 over the world would cease. That vast 
 Roman domination that once trod down the 
 earth, and that crushed and oppressed 
 the nations, would still linger, like the 
 prolonged life of the beast, until, on ac 
 count of the arrogance and pride of the 
 Papacy, it would be wholly taken away. 
 If one were to judge of the meaning of 
 this prophecy without attempting to ap 
 ply it to particular passing events, he 
 would say that it would be fulfilled by 
 some such events as these : if the peo 
 ple over whom the prolonged Roman 
 civil power would be extended, and over 
 whom the ecclesiastical or Papal sceptre 
 should be swayed, would on account of 
 the pride and arrogance of the Papacy 
 rise in their might, and demand liberty 
 that would be in fact an end of the pro 
 longed power of the fourth beast ; and it 
 would be on account of the great words 
 which the horn spake/ and would be in 
 all respects a fulfilment of the language 
 of this prophecy. Whether such an end 
 of this power is to occur, time is to de 
 termine. 
 
 (D) Simultaneously with this evebi, as 
 the result of this, we are to anticipate 
 inch a spread of truth and righteousness, 
 and such a reign of the saints on the 
 earth, as would be properly symbolized 
 Sy the coming of the Son of Man to the 
 
 Ancient of days to receive the kingdom, 
 vs. 13, 14. As shown in the interpreta 
 tion of those verses, this does not neces 
 sarily imply that there would be any visi 
 ble appearing of the Son of Man, or any 
 personal reign (see the Notes on these 
 verses), but there would be such a mak 
 ing over of the kingdom to the Son of 
 Man and to the saints, as would be pro 
 perly symbolized by such a representa 
 tion. That is, there would be great 
 changes; there would be a rapid pro 
 gress of the truth ; there would be a 
 spread of the gospel ; there would be a 
 change in the governments of the world, 
 so that the power would pass into the 
 hands of the righteous, and they would 
 in fact rule. From that time the saints 
 would receive the kingdom, and the af- 
 | fairs of the world would be put on a new 
 I footing. From that period it might bo 
 I said that the reign of the saints would 
 commence; that is, there would be such, 
 changes in this respect thai, that would 
 constitute an epoch in the history of the 
 world the proper beginning of the reign 
 of the saints on the earth the setting up 
 of the new and final dominion in the 
 world. If there should be such changes 
 such marked progress such facilities 
 for the spread of truth such new me 
 thods of propagating it and such cer 
 tain success attending it, all opposition 
 giving way, and persecution ceasing, as 
 would properly constitute an epoch or era 
 in the world s history which would be 
 connected with the conversion of the 
 I world to God, this would fairly meet the 
 interpretation of this prophecy j this oc 
 curring, all would have taken place which 
 could be fairly shown to be implied in 
 the vision. 
 
 (E) We are to expect a reign of righte 
 ousness on the earth. On the character 
 of what we are fairly to expect from the 
 words of the prophecy, see Notes on ver. 
 14. The prophecy authorizes us to anti 
 cipate a time when there shall be a gen 
 eral prevalence of true religion; whet 
 the power in the world shall be in the 
 hands of good men of men fearing God ; 
 when the divine laws shall be obeyed 
 being acknowledged as the laws that are 
 to control men; when the civil institu 
 tions of the world shall be pervaded by 
 religion, and moulded by it; when there 
 shall be no hindrance to the free exercise 
 of religion, and when in fact the reign 
 ing power on the earth shall bo the king- 
 
B.C. 553.] CHAPTER VIII. 335 
 
 dom which the Messiah shall set up. 
 There is nothing more certain in the fu 
 ture than such a period, and to that all 
 things are tending. Such a period would 
 fulfil all that is fairly implied in this 
 wonderful prophecy, and to that faith and 
 hope should calmly and confidently look 
 
 forward. For that they who love their 
 God and their race should labour and pray ; 
 and by the certain assurance that such a 
 period will come, we should be cheered 
 amidst all the moral darkness that exists 
 in the world, and in all that now discour 
 ages us in our endeavours to do good. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ANALYSIS OP THE CHAPTER. 
 
 THIS chapter contains an account of a vision seen by the prophet in the third year of the 
 reign of Belshazzar. The prophet either was, or appeared to be, in the city of Shushan after 
 wards the capital of the Persian empire, in the province of Elam. To that place, then an im 
 portant town, there is no improbability in supposing that he had gone, as he was then uncon 
 nected with the government, or not employed by the government (ch. v.), and as it is not un 
 reasonable to suppose that he would be at liberty to visit other parts of the empire than Baby 
 lon. Possibly there may have been Jews at that place, and he may have gone on a visit to 
 them. Or perhaps the scene of the vision may have been laid in Shushan, by the river Ulai, 
 and that the prophet means to represent himself as if he had been there, and the vision had 
 seemed to pa?s there before his mind. But there is no valid objection to the supposition that he 
 was actually there, and this seems to be affirmed in ver. 2. While there, he saw a ram with 
 two horns, one higher than the other, pushing westward, and northward, and southward, so 
 powerful that nothing could oppose him. As he was looking on this, he saw a he-goat come 
 from the West, bounding along, and scarcely touching the ground, with a single remarkable 
 horn between his eyes. This he-goat attacked the ram, broke his two horns, and overcame him 
 entirely. The he-goat became very strong, but at length the horn was broken, and there came 
 up four in its place. From one of these there sprang up a little horn that became exceeding 
 great and mighty, extending itself toward the South, and the East, and the pleasant land the 
 land of Palestine. This horn became so mighty that it seemed to attack the host of heaven 
 the stars ; it cast some of them down to the ground ; it magnified itself against the Prince of the 
 host ; it caused the daily sacrifice in the temple to cease, and the sanctuary of the Prince of the 
 host was cast down. An earnest inquiry was made by one saint to another how long this was 
 to continue, and the answer was, unto two thousand and three hundred days, and that then the 
 sanctuary would be cleansed. Gabriel is then sent to explain the vision to the prophet, and he 
 announces that the ram with the two horns represented the kings of Media and Persia ; the 
 goat the king of Greece ; the great horn between his eyes the first king ; the four horns that should 
 spring up after that was broken, the four dynasties into which the kingdom would be divided, 
 and the little horn a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, and that 
 would stand up against the Prince of princes, and that would ultimately be destroyed. The 
 effect of this was, that Daniel was overcome by the vision for a certain time; afterward he ro- 
 viveJ, and attended to the business of the king, but none understood the vision. 
 
 This is one of the few prophecies in the Scriptures that are explained to the prophets them- 
 selvo 3 , and it becomes, therefore, important as a key to explain other prophecies of a similar 
 character. Of the reference to the kingdom of Media and Persia, and to the kingdom of Greece, 
 there is an express statement. The application of a portion of the prophecy to Alexander the 
 Great, and to the four monarchies into which his kingdom was divided at his death, is equally 
 certain. And there can be as little doubt of the application of the remainder to Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, and in this nearly all expositors are agreed. Indeed, so striking and clear is the 
 application to this series of historical events, that Porphyry maintained that this, as well as 
 other portions of Daniel, were written after the events occurred. One of two things, indeed, is 
 certain either that this was written after the events here referred to occurred ; or that Daniel 
 yas inspired. No man by any natural sagacity could have predicted these events with so much 
 accuracy and particularity. 
 
 The portion of Daniel which follows is in pure Hebrew. The portion of the book from tho 
 fourth verse of the second chapter to the end of the seventh chapter was written in Chaldee. 
 On this point see Intro. g4. III. (1). 
 
336 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 553. 
 
 1 In the third year of the reign 
 of kingBelshazzar a vision appeared 
 unto me, even unto me Daniel, after 
 that which appeared unto me at the 
 first. 
 
 1. In the third year of the reign of ^Bel 
 shazzar. In regard to Belshazzar, see 
 Intro, to ch. v. $ 2. ^[ A vision appeared 
 unto me. This vision appears to have 
 occurred to him when awake, or in an 
 ecstacy; the former one occurred when 
 he was asleep, ch. vii. 1. Comp. vs. 17, 
 18, of this chapter, where the prophet 
 represents himself as overpowered, and 
 as falling down to the earth on account 
 of the vision. The representation would 
 seem to have heen made to pass before 
 his mind in open day, and when he was 
 fully awake. Comp. the case of Balaam, 
 Num. xxiv. 4: "Which saw the vision 
 of the Almighty, falling into a trance, 
 out having his eyes open." ^ After that 
 which appeared unto me at the first. That 
 occurred in the first year of Belshazzar, 
 ch. vii. 1. 
 
 2. And I saw in a vision, I looked as 
 the vision appeared to me ; or I saw cer 
 tain things represented to me in a vision. 
 On the word vision, see Notes on ch. i. 17. 
 The meaning hero would seem to bo that 
 a vision appeared to Daniel, and that he 
 contemplated it with earnestness to un 
 derstand what it meant. ^ That I was 
 at Shushan. As remarked in the intro 
 duction to this chapter, this might mean 
 that he seemed to be there, or that the 
 vision was represented to him as being 
 there, but the most natural construction 
 is to suppose that Daniel was actually 
 there himself. Why he was there, he 
 has not informed us directly, whether he 
 was on public business, or on his own. 
 From ver. 27, however Afterward I 
 rose up, and did the king s business 
 it would seem most probable that he was 
 then in the service of the king. This 
 supposition will not conflict with the 
 statement in ch. v. 10, 11, in which the 
 queen of Belshazzar, when the hand writ 
 ing appeared on the wall of the palace, 
 informs the king that there was " a man 
 in his kingdom in which was the spirit 
 of the holy gods," Ac. from which it 
 might be objected that Daniel was at that 
 time unknown to the king, and could not 
 have been in his employ, for it might have 
 been a fact that he was in the employ of the 
 
 2 And I saw in a vision ; and it 
 
 came to pass, when I saw, that I 
 
 was at Shushan in the palace, which 
 
 is in the province of Elam ; and I 
 
 ES. l, 2. 
 
 king as an officer of the government, and 
 yet it may have been forgotten that he 
 had this power of disclosing the meaning 
 : of visions. He may have been employed 
 i in the public service, but his services to 
 j the father of the king, and his extraordi 
 nary skill in interpreting dreams and vis- 
 I ions may not at once have occurred to the 
 i affrighted monarch and his courtiers. 
 Shushan, or Susa, the chief town of Susi- 
 ana, was the capitol of Persia after the 
 time of Cyrus, in which the kings of Per 
 sia had their principal residence. Neh i. 1. 
 I Esther i. 2 5. It was situated on the 
 1 Eulaeus or Choaspes, probably on the spot 
 l now occupied by the village Shus. Ren- 
 ! nel, Geog. of Herodotus ; Kinneir, Mem. 
 ! Pers. Empire ; K. Porter s Travels, II. 
 I 4, 11 j Bitter, Erdkunde, Asien, ix. 294. 
 j Pict. Bib. in loc. At Shus there are ex- 
 i tensive ruins, stretching perhaps twelve 
 miles from one extremity to the other, and 
 consisting, with tho other ruins in that 
 country, of hillocks of earth, and rubbish, 
 covered with broken pieces of brick and 
 coloured tile. At the foot of these mounds 
 is the so-called tomb of Daniel, a small 
 building erected on the spot where the 
 ! remains of Daniel are believed in that re- 
 | gion to rest. It is apparently modern, 
 ! but nothing but the belief that this was 
 ! the site of the prophet s sepulchre could 
 have led to its being built in the place 
 where it stands. Malcom, Hist, of Per 
 sia, i. 255, 256. The city of Shus is now 
 a gloomy wilderness, inhabited by lions, 
 hyenas, and other beasts of prey. Kitto, 
 Cyclop. Art. Shushan. Sir John Kin 
 neir says that the dread of these animals 
 compelled Mr. Monteith and himself to 
 take shelter for the night within the walls 
 that encompass Daniel s tomb. Of that 
 tomb, Sir John Malcolm says, "It is a 
 small building, but sufficient to shelter 
 some dervishes who watch the remains of 
 the prophet, and are supported by the 
 alms of pious pilgrims, who visit the 
 holy sepulchre. The dervishes aid now 
 the only inhabitants of Susa; and every 
 species of wild beast roams at large over 
 the spot on which some of the proudest 
 palaces ever raised by human art once 
 
B. C. 553.] 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 337 
 
 saw in a vision, and I was by the 
 river of Ulai. 
 
 stood." Vol. I. pp. 255, 256. For a de 
 
 3 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and 
 saw, and, behold, there stood before 
 
 appearance of that city, f In the palace. 
 
 scription of the ruins of Susa, see Pict. 
 
 Bib. in Inc. This city was about 450 Ro-r-;: ""T ." "" -, , 
 man miles from Seleucia, and was built, i castle > a fortlfied P^ace. Gesenius. See 
 according to Pliny, 6. 27, in a square of i Neh - l - l - Esth - * 5 i 5 j viii. 14; ix. 
 about 120 stadia. It was the summer! 6, 11, 12. It would seem to have been 
 residence of the Persian kings, (Cyrop. ! given to the city because it was a forti- 
 8, 6,10), as they passed the spring in j fied place. The word applied not only to 
 Ecbatana, and the autumn and winter in j the palace proper, a royal residence, but 
 Babylon. See Lengerke, in loc. It was j to the whole adjacent city. It is not ne- 
 in this city that Alexander the Great cessary to suppose that Daniel was in the 
 
 married Stateira, daughter of Darius Co- 
 domanus. The name means a lily, and 
 was probably given to it on account of 
 its beauty. Lengerke. Rosenmiiller sup 
 poses that the vision here is represented to 
 have appeared to Daniel in this city be 
 cause it would be the future capitol of Per 
 sia, and because so much of the vision per 
 tained to Persia. See Maurer, in loc. 
 The annexed cut represents the present 
 
 palace proper, but only that he was in 
 the city to which the name was given. 
 f Which is in the province of Elam. See 
 Notes on Isa. xi. 11. This province was 
 bounded on the east by Persia proper, on 
 the west by Babylonia, on the north by 
 Media, and on the south by the Persian 
 Gulf. It was about half as large as Per 
 sia, and not quite as large as England. 
 Kitto s Cyclo. It was probably con 
 
 quered by Nebuchadnezzar, and in tlie j sa, and fell into the united stream of the 
 time of Belshazzar was subject to the ! Tigris and the Euphrates. It is called 
 
 Babylonian dominion. Shushan had been 
 doubtless the capitol of the kingdom of 
 Elam while it continued a separate king 
 dom, and remained the capitol of the 
 province while it was under the Babylo- 
 
 by Pliny (Nat. Hist. vi. 81) Eulaens; but 
 it is described by Greek writers generally 
 under the name of Choaspes. Herod, v. 
 49. Strabo, xv. p. 728. It is now known 
 by the name Kerah, called by the Turks 
 
 nian yoke, and until it was subdued as a ! Keraso. It passes on the west of the ru- 
 part of the empire, by Cyrus. It was ins of Shus (Susa), and enters the Shat- 
 then made one of the capitals of the j ul-Arab about twenty miles below Korna 
 united Medo-Persian empire. It was | Kinneir. Geog. Mem. of the Persian em- 
 
 when it was the capitol of a province that 
 it was visited by Daniel, and that he saw 
 the vision there. Possibly he may have 
 dwelt there subsequently, and died there. 
 ^ And I jcas by the river of Ulai. This 
 river flowed by the city of Shushan or Su- 
 
 pire, pp. 96, 97. See Kitto s Cyc. Art. Ulai. 
 
 3. Then I lifted up 
 
 eyes and saw. 
 
 And saw in vision, or there seemed to be 
 before me. IT There stood before the river. 
 On the bank of the river. ^ A ram, 
 which had two horns. There can be no 
 
338 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 553 
 
 the river a ram which hac two horns : | before him, neither was there 
 and the two horns were high; but I that could deliver out of his hand; 
 
 one was higher than the other, and 
 the higher came up last. 
 
 4 I saw the ram pushing west 
 ward, and northward, and south 
 ward ; so that no beast might stand 
 * second. 
 
 but he did according to his i> will, 
 and became great. 
 
 5 And as I was considering, be 
 hold, a he-goat c came from the west 
 on the face of the whole earth, and 
 
 bis. 10. 13, 14; c. 5. 19. 11; 3,16. ver. 21. 
 
 error in explaining the design of this sym- | 5. And as I was considering. As I was 
 bol, for in ver. 20, it is expressly said that j looking on this vision. It was a vision 
 it denoted the two kings of Media and Per- ; which would naturally attract attention, 
 sia. The united power of the kindom was | and one which would not be readily un- 
 denoted by the rain itself; the fact that derstood. It evidently denoted some 
 
 there were two powers or kingdoms com 
 bined by the two horns of the ram. ^[ And 
 the two horns were high. Both indicating 
 great power. ^[ But the one was higher 
 than the other, and the higher came vj) last. 
 The higher horn springing up last denotes 
 Persia, that became the more mighty 
 power of the two, so that the name Me 
 dia became finally almost dropped, and 
 the united kingdom wag known in Gre 
 cian history as the Persian. The Median 
 or Assyrian power was the older, but the 
 
 combined power that was attempting 
 conquest, but we are not to suppose that 
 Daniel would readily understand what 
 was meant by it. The whole scene was 
 future for the Medo-Persian power was 
 not yet consolidated in the time of Bel- 
 shazzar, and the conquests represented 
 by the ram continued through many 
 years, and denoted by the he-goat ex 
 tended still much further into futurity. 
 ^[ Behold, a he-gnat came from the w>ent. 
 In ver. 21, this is called the rough- 
 
 Persian became the most mighty. | goat. There can be no doubt as to the 
 
 4. / saw the ram pushing icestward, and j application of this, for in ver. 21, it is ex- 
 northwardf and southward. Denoting the pressly said 
 conquests of the united kingdom. The Grecia. The 
 
 east is not mentioned, for none of the con 
 quests of the Medo-Persian empire ex 
 tended in that direction. Yet nothing 
 could better express the conquests actu 
 ally made by the Medo-Persian empire 
 than this representation. On the west 
 the conquests embraced Babylonia, Mes- 
 
 power represented is that 
 of Greece when it was consolidated under 
 Alexander the Great, and when he went 
 forth to the subjugation of this vast Per 
 sian empire. It may serve to illustrate 
 this, and to show the propriety of repre 
 senting the Macedonian power by the 
 symbol of a goat, to remark that this 
 
 opotamia, Syria and Asia Minor; on the symbol is often found, in various ways, 
 north, Colchis, Armenia, Iberia, and the in connection with Macedon. and that, 
 regions around the Caspian sea; and on j for some reason, the goat was used as 
 the south, Palestine, Ethiopia, Egypt, and i emblematic of that power. A few facts, 
 Lybia. Lengerke. This Medo-Persian j furnished to the Editor of Calmet s Die- 
 power is represented as coming from the | tionary, by Taylor Combe, Esq., will 
 east, Isa. xli. 2 : " Who raised up the show the propriety of this allusion to 
 righteous man from the east," Ac. Isa. Macedonia under the emblem of a goat, 
 xlvi. 11 : " Calling a ravenous bird and that the allusion would be readily 
 from the east, <fcc. f He did according to ! understood in after times. They aro 
 his will, and became great. This expresses condensed here from his account in Tay- 
 well also the character of the Medo-Per- j lor s Calmet, V. 410412. (1) Caranus, 
 Bian empire. It extended over a great i the first king of the Macedonians, com 
 part of the known world, subduing to it- menccd his reign 814 years before tho 
 self a large portion of the earth. In its Christian era. The circumstance of his 
 early conquests it met with no successful being led by goats to the city of Edessa, 
 opposition, nor was it stayed until it was the name of which, when he established 
 subdued by Greece as at Leuctra and | there the seat of his kingdom, he con- 
 
 Marathon, and then as it was finally over- 
 $hro,wn by Alexander the Great 
 
 verted into jEg<x t is well worthy of re 
 mark, UrLem Edessaxi, ob memorial* 
 
B. C. 553.] 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 339 
 
 * touched not the ground : and the 
 
 a or, none touched him in the earth. 
 fc a horn of sight. 
 
 muneris, ^Egas, populnm sEgeadas. Jus 
 tin Lib. vii. c. 1. The adoption of the 
 goat as an emblem of Macedon, would 
 have been early suggested by an important 
 event in their history. (2) Bronze figures 
 of a goat have been found as the symbol 
 of Macedon. Mr. Combe says, " I have 
 lately had an opportunity of procuring 
 an ancient bronze figure of a goat with 
 one horn, which was the old symbol of 
 Macedon. As figures representing the 
 types of ancient countries are extremely 
 rare, and as neither a bronze nor marble 
 symbol of Macedon has been hitherto 
 noticed, I beg leave to trouble you with 
 the few following observations," &c. He 
 then says, " The goat which is sent for 
 your inspection, was dug up in Asia 
 Minor, and was brought, together with 
 other antiquities, into this country by a 
 poor Turk." The following cut is a re 
 presentation of this figure. The slightest 
 
 goat had a t notable horn between 
 
 his eyes. 
 
 nearly 300 years after Caranus, and about 
 547 years before Christ, the Macedonians, 
 upon being threatened with an invasion/ 
 became tributary to the Persians. In 
 one of the pilasters of Persepolis, this 
 very event seems to be recorded in a 
 manner that throws considerable light on 
 this subject. A goat is represented with 
 an immense horn growing out of the 
 middle of his forehead, and a man in a 
 Persian dress is seen by his side, hold 
 ing the horn with his left hand, by which 
 is signified the subjection of Macedon. 
 The following is the figure referred to, 
 and it strikingly shows how early this 
 
 i 
 
 inspection of this figure will show the 
 propriety of the representation before 
 us. Mr. Combe then says, "Not only 
 many of the individual towns in Mace 
 don and Thrace employed this type, but 
 the kingdom itself of Macedon, which is 
 the oldest in Europe, of which we have 
 any regular and connected history, was 
 represented also by a goat, with this 
 peculiarity, that it had but one horn." 
 (3) In the reign of Amyntas the first, 
 
340 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 553 
 
 symbol was used. In the reign of Ar- 
 cbelaus of Macedon, B. C. 413, there 
 occurs, on the reverse of a coin of that 
 
 king, the head of a goat baring only ona 
 horn. Of this coin, so remarkable for 
 the single horn, there are two varieties, 
 
 one, No. 1, engraved by Pellerin, and the the late Dr. W. Hunter. (5) "There ia 
 other, No. 2, preserved in the cabinet of a gem," says Mr. Combe, " engraved in 
 
 the Florentine collection, which, as it con 
 firms what has been already said, and 
 has not hitherto been understood, I think 
 worthy of mention. It will be seen by 
 the drawing of this gem that nothing 
 more or less is meant by the ram s head 
 with two horns, and the goat s head with 
 one, than the kingdoms of Persia and 
 Macedon, represented under their appro 
 priate symbols. From the circumstance, 
 however, of these characteristic types 
 being united, it is extremely probable 
 that the gem was engraved after the con 
 quest of Persia by Alexander the Great." 
 
 These remarks and illustrations will show 
 the propriety of the symbol used here, 
 and show also how readily it would be 
 
 understood in after times. There is no 
 | evidence that Daniel understood that this 
 ever had been a symbol of Macedonia, or 
 that, if he had, he could have conjectured, 
 by any natural sagacity, that a power re 
 presented by that symbol would have 
 become the conqueror of Media and Per 
 sia, and every circumstance, therefore, 
 connected with this, only shows the more 
 clearly that ho was under the influence 
 of inspiration. It is affirmed by Jose- 
 phus (Ant. B. xi. ch. viii.) that when 
 Alexander was at Jerusalam, the pro 
 phecies of Daniel respecting him were 
 ! shown to him by the high priest, and 
 i that this fact was the means of his con- 
 j ferring important favours on the Jews. 
 | If such an event occurred, the circum 
 stances here alluded to show how readily 
 Alexander would recognize the reference 
 to his own country, and to himself, and 
 how probable the account of Josephus is, 
 that this was the means of conciliating 
 him towards the Jewish people. The 
 credibility of the account, which has been 
 called in question, is examined in New 
 ton on the Prophecies, pp. 241246. 
 f On the face of the lohole earth. He 
 seemed to move over the whole world 
 well representing the movements of Alex- 
 
B. C. 553.] 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 341 
 
 6 And he came to the ram that 
 had two horns, which I had seen 
 standing before the river, and ran 
 unto him in the fury of his power. 
 
 ander, who conquered the known world, 
 and who is said to have wept because 
 there were no other worlds to conquer. 
 f And touched not the ground. Marg., 
 none touched him in the earth. The 
 translation in the text, however, is more 
 correct than that in the margin. He 
 seemed to bound along as if he d 
 touch the ground denoting the rapidity 
 of his movements and conquests. A 
 similar description of great beauty occurs 
 in Virgil, Jn. vii. 806, seq. of Camilla : 
 
 Cursu pedum praevertere ventos, 
 Ilia vel iutacta segetis per surnma volaret 
 Gramma, nee tenerascursu lossisset aristas, 
 Vel inare per medium fluctu suspensa tumenti 
 Ferret Her, celeres nee tingeret sequore plautas. 
 
 Nothing would better express the rapid 
 conquests of Alexander the Great, than 
 the language employed by Daniel. He 
 died at the early age of thirty-three, and 
 having been chosen generalissimo of the 
 Greeks against the Persians at the age 
 of twenty-one, the whole period occupied 
 by him in his conquests; and in his pub 
 lic life, was but twelve years, yet in that 
 
 7 And I saw him come close unto 
 the ram, and he was moved with 
 choler against him,, and smote the 
 ram, and brake his two horns : and 
 
 The margin is, a horn of sight. This 
 corresponds with the Hebrew, the word 
 rendered notable m;n meaning pro 
 perly look, appearance, and then some 
 thing conspicuous, or remarkable. Tho 
 literal translation would be, a horn of 
 a *f j appearance; that is, conspicuous, large. 
 
 6. And he came to the ram, &c. Rep 
 resenting the Medo-Persian power. ^ A nd 
 ran unto him in the fury of his power. 
 Representing the fierceness and fury with 
 which Alexander attacked the Persians 
 at the Granicus, at Issus, and at Arbela, 
 with which he invaded and overthrew 
 them in their own country. Nothing 
 would better express this than to say 
 that it was done in the fury of power. 
 
 7. And I saw him come close unto the 
 ram. The ram standing on the banks of 
 the Ulai, and in the very heart of the em 
 pire. This representation is designed un 
 doubtedly to denote that the Grecian 
 power would attack the Persian in its 
 own dominions. Perhaps the vision was 
 represented at the place which would be 
 
 time be brought the world in subjection j the capital of the empire in order to de- 
 
 to his arms. A single glance at his rapid 
 movements will show the propriety of 
 the description here. In the year 334 
 B. C., he invaded Persia, and defeated 
 the Persians in the battle of the Granicus; 
 in the year 333, ho again defeated them 
 at the battle of Issus, and conquered 
 
 note this. ^[ And he ivas moved with 
 choler against the ram. With wrath or 
 anger. That is, he acted as if he were 
 
 furiously enraged. 
 per representation 
 
 This is not an impro 
 Alexander, though 
 
 spurred on by ambition as his ruling mo 
 tive, yet might be supposed without im- 
 
 Parthia, Bactria, Hyrcania, Sogdiana, propriety to represent the concentrated 
 and Asia Minor. In the year 332, wrath of all Greece on account of the re- 
 he conquered Tyre and Egypt, and peated Persian invasions. It is true the 
 built Alexandria. In the year 331, j Persians had been defeated at Leuctra, 
 he defeated Darius Codomannus, and in and at Marathon, and at Salamis, and 
 
 that their hosts had been held in check 
 at Thermopylae, and that they had never 
 
 Porus, king of India, and pursued his j succeeded in subduing Greece, and that 
 march to the Ganges. In these few years, the Grecians in defending their country 
 therefore, he had overrun nearly all the I had covered themselves with glory. But 
 then known world, in conquests more j it is true, also, that the wrongs inflicted 
 
 330 completed the conquest of the Per 
 sian empire. In the year 328, ho defeated 
 
 rapid and more decisive than had ever 
 before been made. ^ And the goat had a 
 notable horn between his eyes. Tho goat 
 represented the Macedonian power, and 
 all this power was concentrated in the 
 person of Alexander undoubtedly de 
 noted by the single horn as if all the 
 power of Greece was concentrated in him. 
 29* 
 
 or attempted on the Greeks had never 
 been forgotten, and it cannot be doubted 
 that the remembrance of these wrongs 
 was a motive that influenced many a 
 Greek at the battle of the Granicus and Is 
 sus, and at Arbela. It would be one of the 
 most powerful motives to which Alexan 
 der could appeal in stimulating his army. 
 
342 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 553 
 
 there was no power in the ram to 
 stand before him, but he cast him 
 down to the ground, and stamped 
 upon Trim ; and there was none that 
 
 ^[ And brake his two horns. Completely 
 prostrated his power as Alexander did 
 when he overthrew Darius Codomannus, 
 and subjugated to himself the Medo-Per- 
 sian empire. That empire ceased at that 
 time, and was merged in that of the son 
 of Philip. ^ And there was no power in 
 the ram to stand before him. To resist him. 
 ^[ But lie cast him doivii to the ground, and 
 ttampcdupon him. An act strikingly ex- 
 
 could deliver the ram out of hia 
 hand. 
 
 8 Therefore the h-goat waxed 
 very great : and when he was strong, 
 
 pressive of the conduct of Alexander. 
 The empire was crushed beneath hia 
 power, and, as it were, trampled to the 
 earth. ^[ And there was none that could 
 deliver the ram out of his hand. No aux 
 iliaries that the Persian empire could call 
 to its aid that could save it from the Gre 
 cian conqueror. The following is the 
 usual representation of the head of Alex 
 ander the Great. 
 
 8. Therefore 
 
 he-fjoat waxed very 
 
 ander. Its power did not pine away; it 
 
 was not enfeebled, as monarchies are of 
 ten, by nge, and luxury, and corruption ; 
 it was most flourishing and prosperous just 
 
 great. The Macedonian power, especially 
 under the reign of Alexander. *[ And 
 when he was strong, the great horn was 
 
 broken. In the time, or at the period, of at the period when broken by the death 
 its greatest strength. Then an event oc- of Alexander. Never afterwards did it 
 curred which broke the horn in which I recover its vigour ; never was it consoli- 
 was concentrated its power. It is ensy dated again. From that time this mighty 
 to see the application of this to the Ma- empire, broken into separate kingdoms,, 
 cedonian power. At no time was the | lost its influence in the world. ^ And 
 empire so strong as at tho death of Alex- | for it came up four notable one. In the 
 
B. C. 553.] 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 343 
 
 the great horn was broken ; and for j 9 And b out of one of them came 
 it came up four a notable ones to- 1 forth a little horn, which waxed ex- 
 
 ward the four winds of heaven. 
 
 i c. 7. 6, &c. 
 
 place of this one horn in which all the 
 
 power was concentrated, there sprang up 
 
 four others that were distinguished and 
 
 remarkable. On the word notable, see 
 
 Notes on ver. 5. This representation 
 
 would lead us to suppose that the power 
 
 which had thus been concentrated in one 
 
 monarchy, would be divided and distri- j Lagus, and had assumed the crown. 
 
 buted into four, and that instead of that one | Against him and his usurpations, Pto 
 lemy, Cassander, and Lysinachus, com 
 bined their forces, and the result was his 
 complete overthrow at the battle of Ipsus. 
 
 city of Phrygia, was fought between An- 
 tigonus and his son Demetrius, on tho 
 one side, and the combined forces of these 
 princes on the other. Antigonus had 
 aimed at universal sovereignty; he had 
 taken and plundered the island of Cy 
 prus ; had destroyed the fleet of Ptolemy 
 
 power there would bo four kingdoms that 
 would fill up about the same space in the 
 world, occupy about the same territory, 
 and have about the same characteristics 
 so that they might bo regarded as the 
 succession to the one dynasty. The same 
 representation we have of this one power 
 in ch. vii. 6: "And the beast had four 
 heads." See also ch. xi. 4: " His king- 
 
 Lengerke, in lac. In this battle, Antigo 
 nus lost all his conquests and his life. 
 In the division of the empire, Seleucus 
 Nicator obtained Syria, Babylonia, Me 
 dia and Susiana, Armenia, a part of Cap- 
 padocia, Celicia, and his kingdom, in name 
 
 dom shall bo broken, and shall be divided j at least, extended from the Hellespont to 
 towards the four winds of heaven." This j the Indies. The kingdom of Lysina 
 chus extended over a part of Thrace, 
 
 accords with the accounts in history of 
 the effect of Alexander s death, for though 
 the kingdom was not by him divided into 
 four parts, yet, from the confusion and 
 conflicts that arose, power was ultimately 
 concentrated into four dynasties. At his 
 death, his brother Aridjeus was declared 
 king in his stead, and Perdiccas regent. 
 But the unity of the Macedonian power 
 was gone, and disorder and confusion, 
 and a struggle for empire, immediately 
 succeeded. The author of the books of 
 Maccabees (1 Mac. i. 7, 8, 9,) says : "So 
 
 Asia Minor, part of Cappadocia, and the 
 countries within the limits of Mount 
 Taurus. Cassander possessed Macedo 
 nia, Thessaly, and a part of Greece. 
 Ptolemy obtained Egypt, Cyprus, and 
 Gyrene, and ultimately Coelo-Syria, Phoe 
 nicia, Judea, and a part of Asia Minor 
 and Thrace. Lengerke, in loc. ^ To 
 ward the four winds of heaven. Towards 
 the four quarters of the world. Thus tho 
 dominions of Seleucus were in the East; 
 those of Cassander in the West ; those of 
 
 Alexander reigned twelve years, and then j Ptolemy in the South, and those of Lys- 
 
 died. And his servants have rule every 
 one in his place. And after his death, 
 they all put crowns upon themselves; so 
 
 inachus in the North. 
 
 9. And out of one of them came forth a 
 little horn. 
 
 did their sons after them many years ; i that should spring up. 
 
 This little horn 
 
 Emblematic of a new power 
 Comp. Notes on 
 
 and evils were multiplied in the earth." j ch. vii. 8. This little horn sprang up 
 Alexander died B. C. 323 ; Antipater sue- i out of one of the others ; it did not spring 
 ceeded Perdiccas, B. C. 321; Ptolemy I up in the midst of the others as the little 
 Lagus the same year took possession of j horn in ch. vii. 8, did among the ten oth- 
 Egypt; Cassander assumed the govern- : ers. This seemed to grow out of one of 
 ment of Macedon, B. C. 317; Seleucus | the four, and the meaning cannot be mis- 
 Nicator took possession of Syria, B. C. i understood. From one of the four pow- 
 311 ; in 305 B. C. the successors of Alex- I ers or kingdoms into which the empire of 
 ander took the title of kings, and in 301 Alexander would be divided, there would 
 B. C. there occurred the battle of Ipsus, spring up this ambitious and persecuting 
 in which Antigonus, who reigned in Asia ; power. *[ Which waxed exceeding great. 
 Minor, was killed, and then followed in j Which became exceedingly powerful. It 
 that year a formal division of Alexander s was comparatively small at first, butulti- 
 empire between the four victorious princes, mately became mighty. There can be no 
 Ptolemy, Seleucus, Cassander, and Lys- doubt that Antiochus Epiphanes is de- 
 inachus. This great battle of Ipsus, a noted here. All the circumstances of 
 
344 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 555 
 
 ceeding great, toward the south, and 
 
 Ps. 48. 2 ; Eze. 20. 15. 
 
 ihe prediction find a fulfilment in him, 
 and if it were supposed that this was 
 written after he had lived, and that it was 
 the design of the writer to describe him 
 by these symbols, he could not have found 
 symbols that would have been more 
 striking or appropriate than this. The 
 Syriac version has inserted here, in the 
 Syriac text, the words Antiochus Epi 
 phanes/ and almost without exception, 
 expositors have been agreed in the opin 
 ion that he is referred to. For a general 
 account of him, see Notes on ch. vii. 24, 
 seq. The author of the Book of Maccabees, 
 after noticing in the passage above quoted, 
 the death of Alexander, and the distrac 
 tions that followed his death, says, "And 
 there came out of them a wicked root, 
 Antiochus, surnamed Epiphanes, son of 
 Antiochus the king, who had been a host 
 age at Rome, and he reigned in the hun 
 dred and thirty and seventh year of the 
 kingdom of the Greeks." 1 Mac. i. 10. 
 A few expositors have supposed that this 
 passage refers to Antichrist what will 
 not expositors of the Bible suppose? But 
 the great body of interpreters have under 
 stood it to refer to Antiochus. This prince 
 was a successor of Seleucus Nicator, who, 
 in the division of the empire of Alexander, 
 obtained Syria, Babylonia, Media, &c., 
 (see above on ver. 8), and whose cnpitol 
 was Antioch. The succession of princes 
 who reigned in Antioch from Seleucus to 
 Antiochus Epiphanes was as follows : 
 
 1. Seleucus Nicator, B. C. 312280. 
 
 2. Antiochus Soter, his son, 280 261. 
 
 3. Antiochus Theus, his son, 261247. 
 
 4. Seleucus Callinicus, his son, 247 
 226. 
 
 5. (Alexander), or Seleucus Ceraunus, 
 his son, 226223. 
 
 6. Antiochus the Great, his brother, 
 223187. 
 
 7. Seleucus Pbilopator, his son, 187 
 176. 
 
 8. Antiochus Epiphnnes, his brother, 
 176 164. Clinton s Fasti Hellenici, vol. 
 III. appendix, ch. iii. The succession 
 of the Syrian kings reigning in Antioch 
 was continued, until Syria was reduced 
 to the form of a Roman province by Pom- 
 pey, B. C. 63. Seleucus Philopator, the 
 immediate predecessor of Antiochus, hav 
 ing been assassinated by one of his cour- 
 
 toward the ei.st, and toward the plea 
 sant a land. 
 
 tiers, his brother Antiochus hastened to 
 occupy the vacant throne, although the 
 natural heir, Demetrius, son of Seleucus, 
 was yet alive, but a hostage at Rome. 
 Antiochus assumed the name of Epi 
 phanes, or Illustrious. In Dan. xi. 21, it 
 I is intimated that he gained the kingdom 
 j ly flatteries ; and there can be no doubt 
 i that bribery, and the promise of reward to 
 others, was made use of to secure his 
 I power. See Kitto s Cyclo. i. 168 170. 
 i Of the acts of this prince there will be oc 
 casion for a fuller detail in the Notes on 
 the remainder of this chapter, and ch. xi. 
 ^f Toward the south. Toward the coun 
 try of Egypt, &c. In the year B. C. 171, 
 he declared war against Ptolemy Philo- 
 metor, and in the year 170 he conquered 
 Egypt, and plundered Jerusalem. 1 Mac. 
 i. 16 19: "Now when the kingdom was 
 established before Antiochus, he thought 
 to reign over Egypt, that he might have 
 the dominion of two realms. Wherefore 
 he entered Egypt with a great multitude, 
 with chariots, and elephants, and horse 
 men, and a great navy. And made war 
 against Ptolemee king of Egypt: but 
 Ptolemee was afraid of him, and fled ; and 
 many were wounded to death. Thus they 
 got the strong cities in the land of Egypt, 
 and he took the spoils thereof." ^f And 
 toward the east. Toward Persia and the 
 ( countries of the east. He went there 
 | these countries being nominally subject 
 to him according to the author of the 
 book of Maccabees (1 Mac. iii. 28 37), 
 in order to replenish his exhausted treas 
 ury, that he might carry on his wars with 
 the Jews, and that he might keep up the 
 splendour and liberality of his court : 
 "He saw that the money of his treasures 
 failed, and that the tributes in the coun 
 try were small, because of the dissension 
 and plague which he had brought upon 
 the land, and he feared that he should not 
 be able to bear the charges any longer, nor 
 to have such gifts to give so liberally as 
 he did before, wherefore being greatly 
 perplexed in his mind, he determined to 
 go into Persia, there to take the tributes 
 of the countries, and to gather much mo- 
 ney. So the king departed from Anti 
 och, his royal city, the hundred, fifty and 
 seventh year ; and having passed the river 
 Euphrates, he went through the high 
 
B. C. 553.] 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 345 
 
 10 And it waxed great, even * to | stars to the ground, and stamped 
 the host b of heaven ; and it cast | upon them. 
 
 down c some of the host and of the! 11 Yea, he d magnified himself 
 *or,against. b is.u. 13. c He. 12. 4. even <= to the prince of the host, and 
 
 d ver. ^o. e or, against. 
 
 countries." ^[ And toward the pleasant 
 land. The word here used -a? means I 
 properly splendour, beauty. Isa. iv. 2 ; [ 
 xxiv. 16 ; xxviii. 1, 4, 5. It is applied in j 
 Isa. xiii. 19, to Babylon the glory of I 
 kingdoms. Here it evidently denotes the 
 land of the Israelites, or Palestine so 
 often described as a land of beauty, as 
 flowing with milk and honey, &e. This 
 is such language as a pious Hebrew would 
 naturally use of his own country, and es 
 pecially if he was an exile from it as Dan 
 iel was. Nothing more would be neces 
 sary to designate the land so as to be 
 understood, than such an appellation as 
 nothing more would be necessary to de 
 signate his country to an exile from China 
 than to speak of the flowery land. j 
 Antiochus, on his return from Egypt, : 
 turned aside and invaded Judea, and ulti 
 mately robbed the temple, destroyed Jeru 
 salem, and spread desolation through the 
 land. See 1 Mac. i. 
 
 10. And it waxed great. It became 
 very powerful. This was eminently true 
 of Antiochus, after having subdued Egypt, 
 <fcc. <[ Even to the host of heaven. Marg., 
 against. The Hebrew word 1 means 
 to or unto, and the natural idea would 
 seem to be that he wished to place him 
 self among the stars, or to exalt himself 
 above all that was earthly. Comp. Notes 
 on Isaiah xiv. 13: "For thou hast said 
 in thine heart, I will ascend unto heaven. 
 I will exalt my throne above the stars of 
 God." Lengerke supposes that the mean 
 ing here is, that he not only carried his 
 conquests to Egypt and to the East, and 
 to the holy land in general, but that he 
 made war on the holy army of God the 
 priests and worshippers of Jehovah, here 
 spoken of as the host of heaven. So 
 Maurer understands it. In 2 Mac. ix. 
 10, Antiochus is described in this lan 
 guage : " And the man that thought a 
 little afore he could reach the stars of 
 heaven," &c. The connection would seem 
 to demand the interpretation proposed by 
 Lengerke and Maurer, for it is immedi 
 ately said that he cast down some of the 
 host and the stars to the ground. And 
 
 such an interpretation accords with the 
 language elsewhere used of the priests 
 and rulers of the Hebrew people. Thus 
 in Isa. xxiv. 21, they are called "the 
 host of the high ones that are high." 
 See Notes on that passage. This lan 
 guage is by no means uncommon in the 
 Scriptures. It is usual to compare princes 
 and rulers, and especially ecclesiastical 
 rulers, with the sun, moon, and stars. 
 Undoubtedly it is the design here to de 
 scribe the pride and ambition of Antio 
 chus, and to show that he did not think 
 any thing too exalted for his aspiration. 
 None were too high or too sacred to be 
 secure from his attempts to overthrow 
 them, and even those who, by their posi 
 tion and character, seemed to deserve to 
 be spoken of as suns and stars, as "the 
 host of heaven," were not secure. ^[ And 
 it cast down some of the host and of the 
 stars to the ground. The horn seemed to 
 grow up to the stars, and to wrest them 
 from their places, and to cast them down 
 to the earth. Antiochus, in the fulfilment 
 of this, cast down and trampled on the 
 princes, and rulers, and people, of the holy 
 host or army of God. All that is implied 
 in this was abundantly fulfilled in what 
 he did to the Jewish people. Comp. 1 
 Mac. i. and 2 Mac. viii. 2. ^ And 
 stamped upon them. With indignation 
 and contempt. Nothing could better ex 
 press the conduct of Antiochus towards 
 the Jews. 
 
 11. Yea, he magnified himself even to 
 the prince of the host. Grotius, Ephrsem 
 the Syrian, and others, understand this 
 of Onias the high priest, as the chief 
 officer of the holy people. Lengerke 
 supposes that it means God himself. This 
 interpretation is the more probable, and 
 the idea in the phrase prince of the host 
 is, that as God is the ruler of the host of 
 heaven leading on the constellations^ 
 and marshalling the stars, so he may bd 
 regarded as the ruler of the holy armw 
 here below the ministers of religion^ 
 and his people. Against him as the Ru 
 ler and Leader of his people Antiochus 
 exalted himself, particularly by attempt 
 ing to change his laws, and to cause his 
 
346 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 553 
 
 by him the daily *> sacrifice was j 12 And ca host was given him 
 taken away, and the place of his j against the daily sacrifice by reason 
 sanctuary was cast down. 
 
 j or, the host was given aver for the. transgres- 
 *OT ) from. Ex. 29, 38. sion against the daily sacrifice. 
 
 worship to cease. ^ And by him. Marg., 
 from him. The meaning is, that the 
 command or authority to do this pro 
 ceeded from him. ^[ The daily sacrifice 
 teas taken away. The sacrifice that was 
 offered daily in the temple, morning and 
 evening, was suspended. A full account 
 of this may be found in 1 Mac. i. 2024, 
 2932, 4450. In the execution of the 
 purposes of Antiochus, he " entered the 
 sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, 
 and tho candlestick, and all the vessels 
 thereof; and the table of shew-bread, the 
 pouring vessels, &c., and stripped the 
 temple of all the ornaments of gold." 
 After two years he again visited the city, 
 and " smote it very sore, and destroyed 
 much people of Israel, and when he had 
 taken the spoils of the city he set it on 
 fire, and pulled down the walls thereof 
 on every side." Everything in Jerusalem 
 was made desolate. " Her sanctuary was 
 laid waste like a wilderness, her feasts 
 were turned into mourning, her Sabbaths 
 into reproach, her honour into contempt." 
 Subsequently, by a solemn edict, and by 
 more decisive acts, he put a period to the 
 worship of God in the temple, arid pol 
 luted and defiled every part of it. Tor 
 the king had sent letters by messengers 
 unto Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, 
 that they should follow the strange laws 
 of the land, and forbid burnt-offerings, 
 and sacrifices, and drink-offerings in the 
 temple ; and that they should profane the 
 Sabbaths and festival days ; and pollute 
 the sanctuary and holy people ; set up 
 altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, 
 and sacrifice swine s flesh, and unclean 
 beasts; that they should also leave their 
 children uncircumcised, and make their 
 souls abominable with all manner of un- 
 cleanness and profanation; to the end 
 they might forget the laws, and change 
 all the ordinances." 1 Mac. i. 44 49. 
 It was undoubtedly to these acts of Anti 
 ochus that the passage before us refers, 
 and the event accords with the words of 
 fhe prediction as clearly as if what is a 
 prediction had been written afterwards, 
 and had been designed to represent what 
 actually occurred as a matter of histo 
 rical record. Tho word which is rendered 
 
 daily sacrifice the word sacrifice be 
 ing supplied by the translators TJ?$ 
 means properly continuance, perpetuity, 
 and then that which is continuous or con 
 stant as a sacrifice or service daily oc 
 curring. The word sacrifice, is pro 
 perly inserted here. Gesenius, Lex. The 
 meaning of the word here rendered was 
 taken away Din (Hophal from D^> to 
 exalt, to lift up), here is, that it was 
 lifted up, and then was taken away ; that 
 is, it was made to cease as if it had 
 been carried away. Gesenius. ^ And 
 the 2)lace of his sanctuary. Of the sanc 
 tuary or holy place of the Prince of tho 
 host/ that is, of God. The reference is 
 to the temple. ^ Was cast down. The 
 temple was not entirely destroyed by 
 Antiochus, but it was robbed and rifled, 
 and its holy vessels were carried away. 
 | The walls indeed remained, but it was 
 i desolate, and the whole service then was 
 abandoned. See the passages quoted 
 above from 1 Mac. 
 
 12. And a host icas given him. The 
 Vulgate renders this, and strength 
 robur was given him, &c. Theodotion, 
 and sin was permitted itioSr) against 
 the sacrifice ; and this righteousness was 
 i cast on the ground ; so he acted and 
 was prospered. Luther renders it, and 
 such might (or power, maclit) was given 
 j him. The Syriac renders it, and 
 strength was given him, &c. Bertholdt 
 renders it, Staff jenes stellte man den 
 Greuel aiif, instead of this [the temple] 
 there was set up an abomination. Dathe, 
 and the stars were delivered to him 
 tradita ei fuerunt astra, c populns Ju- 
 daicuK. Maurer understands it also of 
 the Jewish people, and interprets it, 
 and an army exercitus the people of 
 the Jews was delivered to destruction, 
 at the same time with the perpetual sacri 
 fice, on account of wickedness, that is, 
 for a wicked thing, or for impure sacri 
 fices/ Lengerke renders it, as in our 
 translation, an host ein Heer wsis 
 given up to him at the same time with 
 the daily offering, on account of evil. 
 The word host N^X is doubtless to be 
 taken here in the same sense as in ver. 
 
B.C. 553.] CHAPTER VIII. 347 
 
 of transgression, and it cast down [ 13 fl Then I heard one saint a speak- 
 tlie truth to the ground ; and it | ing, and another saint said unt- 
 practised and prospered. 1 Pet, i 12. 
 
 10, where it is connected with heaven trate. This was fully accomplished by 
 the host of heaven. If it refers there i Antiochus. See 1 Mac. i. f And itprac- 
 to the Jewish people, it doubtless does tised. Heb. it did/ or it acted. That 
 hero, and the appellation is such an one , is, it undertook a work and was success- 
 as would not unnaturally be used. It is ; ful. So in Ps. i. 3, where the same ex- 
 equivalent to saying the army of the i pression occurs : "And whatsoever he 
 Lord, or the people of the Lord, and it j doeth shall prosper." This was fully 
 should have been rendered here, and the \ accomplished in Antiochus, who was en- 
 host was given up to him ; that is, the tirely successful in all his enterprises 
 people of God, or the holy people, were \ against Jerusalem. See 1 Mac. i. 
 given into his hands. ^[ Against the daily j 13. Then I heard one saint speaking. 
 sacrifice. This does not convey any clear ; One holy one. The vision was now ended, 
 idea. Lengerke renders it, eammt den and the prophet represents himself now 
 bentandigen opfer at the same time j as hearing earnest inquiries as to the 
 with the permanent sacrifice. He re- | length of time during which this desola- 
 marks that the preposition SjJj (rendered i tion was to continue. This conversation, 
 in our version agatiut) like the Greek or ^ Gse . inquiries, he represents himself 
 i, may denote a connection with any- | as hearing among those whom he calls 
 thing, or a being with a thing Zusam- saints or holy ones &\ifr This word 
 menseyn and thus it would denote ft might refer to a saint on earth, or to an 
 union of time, or that the things occurred angel to any holy being. As one of 
 together. Gen. xxxii. 12; Hos. xiii. 14; j these, however, was able to explain the 
 Amos iii. 15. Comp. Gesenius, Lex. on I vision, and to tell how long the desola- 
 the word "?J. 3. According to this, the tion was to continue, it is more natural 
 meaning is,\bat the host, or the Jewish 1*^^ a "S els - So Lengerko un 
 people, were given to him at the same time, ******* it. The representation is, that 
 or in connection with the daily sacrifice. one holy one or angel, was heard by Darnel 
 The conquest over the people, and the peaking on this subject, but nothing is re- 
 A ..*; t. A j.fi- ..:. corded of what he said. It is implied 
 
 command respecting the daily sacrifice, 
 were simultaneous. Both passed into his 
 hands, and he exercised jurisdiction over 
 them both. *^By reason of transgression 
 
 only that he was conversing about the 
 desolations that were to come upon the 
 holy city and the people of God. To him 
 
 I thus speaking, and who is introduced as 
 That is, all this was on account ; havin | p()we fe r to explain - t another hf)] 
 
 of the transgression of the people, or one approaches, and asks how long thii 
 on account of abounding iniquity. God j state of things was to continue. Theanswer 
 gave up the people, and their temple, 
 
 and their sacrifices, into the hands of 
 Antiochus, on account of the prevailing 
 impiety. Comp. 1 Mac. i. 1116. The 
 author of that book traces all these 
 
 to this question (ver. 14) is made, not to 
 the one who made the inquiry, but to 
 Daniel, evidently that it might be re 
 corded. Daniel does not say where this 
 vision occurred whether in heaven or 
 
 calamities to the acts of certain wicked j on earth. It was so near to him, how- 
 
 men, who obtained permission of Anti 
 ochus to introduce heathen customs into 
 Jerusalem, and who actually established 
 many of those customs there, f And 
 it cast down the truth to the ground. 
 The true system of religion, or the true 
 method of worshipping God represented 
 here as truth in the abstract. So in Isa. 
 lix. 14, it is said : " Truth is fallen in the 
 street, and equity cannot enter." The 
 
 ever, that he could hear what was said. 
 ^ And another saint. Another holy 
 one probably an angel. If so, we may 
 conclude, what is in itself every way pro 
 bable, that one angel has more knowledge 
 than another, or that things are commu 
 nicated to some which are not to oth 
 ers. <| Unto that certain saint which spake. 
 Palmoni, or, the nnmberer of secrets, or, 
 
 meaning here is, that the institutions of the wonderful numierer. Tho Hebrew 
 the true religion would be utterly pros, word wfrf palmoni, occurs nowhere 
 
345 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 553 
 
 that certain saint which spake, j transgression of b desolation, to give 
 How long shall be the vision cow- 1 both the sanctuary and the host tc 
 cerning the daily sacrifice, and the be trodden under foot ? 
 
 * Palmoni, or, the numberer of secrets, or, the\ 14 And he Said unto me, Unto 
 wonderful numberer. b or. maldng desolate ; c. 11. 31, 12. 11. 
 
 Ruth 
 
 else in the Hebrew scriptures. 
 
 lar form ^ Ss peloni, occurs in 
 
 iv. 1 : " Ho, such 
 
 I Sam. xxi. 2: "appointed my 
 
 to such and such a place ;" and 2 
 
 vi. 8 : "In such and such a place." 
 
 Italic words denote the corresponding ! 
 
 Hebrew word. The word, according to ! 
 
 Gesenius, means some one t a certain one ; 
 
 in Arabic, one who is distinct or definite, 
 
 The simi- holy city and the temple how long is 
 that to continue ? ^[ To give loth the 
 \ sanctuary. The temple : the holy place 
 where God dwelt by a visible symbol, and 
 
 host. The people of God the Jewish 
 people, ^f To be trodden underfoot. To 
 utterly despised and prostrated as 
 any thing which is trodden under our 
 feet. 
 
 14. And lie said unto me. Instead of 
 
 The 
 
 whom one points out as with the finger, i answ eri the one who mad ; the inquiry, 
 and not by name. It is derived from an . made tQ Danjel> doubtleS3 
 
 > 
 
 obsolete noun, ff>| palon, from the verb, I thafc be m j g ht make a record of it, or com- 
 rhs pala, to distinguish, and is united j municate it to others. If it had been 
 commonly with the word o cSs mean- ! made to the inquirer, the answer would 
 ing properly one concealed, or unknown. I have remained with him, and could have 
 It is language, therefore, which would be been of no use to the world. For the en- 
 properly addressed to an unknown per- couragement, however, of the Hebrew 
 son with whom we would desire to speak, j people, when their sanctuary and city 
 or whom we would designate by the finger,! would be thus desolate, and in order to 
 or in some such way, without being able j furnish an instance of the clear fulfilment 
 to call the name. Thus applied in the of a prediction, it was important that it 
 passage here, it means that Daniel did should be recorded, and hence it was 
 rmf. know th* nnmns of thfi nprsons thus I made to Daniel. f Unto two thousand 
 
 nd three hundred days. Marg., evening, 
 
 not know the names of the persons thus 
 speaking, but simply saw that one was 
 speaking to another. He had no other 
 way of designating or distinguishing them, 
 than by applying a term which was com 
 monly used of a stranger, when one wished 
 to address him, or to point him out, or to 
 call him to him. There is no foundation 
 in the word for the meaning suggested in 
 the margin. Theodotion does not attempt 
 to translate the word, but retains it 
 <pt\,jioi>\ Phelmoni. The Latin Vulgate 
 well expresses the meaning, dixit unit 9 
 sanctus alteri nescio cut loquenti. The 
 full sense is undoubtedly conveyed by the 
 two ideas, (a) that the one referred to 
 was unknown by name, and (6) that he 
 wished to designate him in some way, or 
 to point him out. If How long shall be 
 the vision. Concerning the daily sacrifice. 
 How long is that which is designed to be 
 represented by the vision to continue; 
 that is, how long in fact will the offering 
 of the daily sacrifice in the temple be sus 
 pended, ^f And the transgression of deso 
 lation. Marg., making desolate. That is, 
 the act of iniquity on the part of Antio- 
 chu producing such desolation in the 
 
 morning. So the Hebrew, "V? : 3"ty So 
 the Latin Vulgate, ad vesperam et mane. 
 And so Theodotion ea>$ iaxcpas KOI jrpa>: 
 to the evening and morning. The lan 
 guage here is evidently that which was 
 derived from Gen. i., or which was com 
 mon among the Hebrews, to speak of the 
 evening and the morning as constituting 
 a day. There can be no doubt, however, 
 that a day is intended by this, for this is 
 the fair and obvious interpretation. The 
 Greeks were accustomed to denote the 
 period of a day in the same manner by 
 
 the word 
 
 (see 2 Cor. xi. 25), in 
 
 order more emphatically to designate one 
 complete day. See Prof. Stuart s Hints 
 on Prophecy, pp. 99, 100. The time then 
 specified by this would be six years and 
 an hundred and ten days. Much difficulty 
 has been felt by expositors in reconciling 
 this statement with the other designations 
 of time in the book of Daniel supposed to 
 refer to the same event, and with the ac 
 count furnished by Josephus in regard to 
 the period which elapsed during which 
 the sanctuary was desolate, and the 
 
B. C. 553.] 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 349 
 
 two thousand and three hundred 
 
 a evening, morning. 
 
 * justified. 
 
 a days ; then shall the sanctuary bo 
 b cleansed. 
 
 daily sacrifice suspended. The other de- fur by the supposition that separate epochs 
 signations of time which have been sup- j arc referred to at the starting point in tho 
 posed to refer to the same event in Dan- ; calculation the terminus a quo. The 
 iel, are ch. vii. 25, where the time men- j truth was, there were several decisive 
 tioned is three years and a half or | acts in the history of Antiochus that led 
 twelve hundred and sixty days, and chap- \ to the ultimate desolation of Jerusalem, 
 ter xii. 7, where the same time is men- j and at one time a writer may have con- 
 tioned, a time, times, and an half, or templated one, and at another time an- 
 
 three years and an half, or, as before, 
 twelve hundred and sixty days, and ch. 
 xii. 14, where the period mentioned is a 
 thousand two hundred and ninety days, 
 and ch. xii. 12, where the time mentioned 
 is a thousand three hundred and thirty 
 days. The time mentioned by Josephus 
 is three years exactly from the time when 
 their divine worship was fallen off, and 
 was reduced to a profane and common 
 
 other. Thus, there was the act by which 
 Jason, made high priest by Antiochus, 
 was permitted to set up a gymnasium in 
 Jerusalem after the manner of the hea 
 then (Prideaux iii. 216; 1 Mac. i. 11 
 15); the act by which he assaulted and 
 took Jerusalem, entering the most holy 
 place, stripping the temple of its treasures, 
 defiling the temple, and offering a great 
 swine on the altar of burnt offerings, 
 
 use, till the time when the lamps were | (Prideaux iii. 230, 231; 1 Mac. i. 2028) ; 
 lighted again, and the worship restored, I the act, just two years after this, by 
 for he says that the one event happened which having been defeated in his expp- 
 precisely three years after the other, on dition to Egypt, be resolved to vent all 
 the same day of the month. Ant. B. xii. his wrath on the Jews, and, on his re- 
 ch. vii. $ 6. In his Jewish wars, however, j turn, sent Apollonius with a great army 
 B. i. ch! i. g 1, he says that Antiochus | to ravage and destroy Jerusalem when 
 spoiled the temple, and put a stop to the i Apollonius, having plundered the city, 
 constant practice of offering a daily sacri- | set it on fire, demolished the houses, 
 lice of expiation for three years and six pulled down the walls, and with the ru- 
 months. Now, in order to explain the ins of the demolished city built a strong 
 passage before us, and to reconcile the j fortress on Mount Acra which overlooked 
 account?, or to show that there is no con- j the temple, and from which he could at- 
 tradiction between them, the following tack all who went to the temple to wor- 
 remarks may be made: (1) We may ship (Prideaux iii. 239, 240; 1 Mac. i. 
 lay out of view the passage in ch. vii. 25. J 29 40) ; and the act by which Antiochus 
 See Notes on that passage. If the rea- ! solemnly forbade all burnt offerings, and 
 soning there be sound, then that passage j sacrifices, and drink offerings in the tern- 
 had no reference to Antiochus, and though, ! pie. Prideaux iii. 241, 242; 1 Mac. i. 44 
 according to Josephus, there is a remark- 51. Now, it is evident, that one writ 
 ing of these calamitous events, and men 
 
 tioning 
 
 long they would continue, 
 
 might at one time contemplate one of 
 these events as the beginning the termi- 
 
 able coincidence between the time men- 
 *ioned there and the time during which the 
 daily sacrifice was suspended, yet that does 
 not demonstrate that the reference there is 
 
 to Antiochus. (2) We may lay out of I nus a quo, and at another time, another 
 view, also, for the present, the passages in of these events might be in his eye. 
 ch. xii. 11, 12. Those will bo the subject ! Each one of them was a strongly marked 
 of consideration hereafter, and for the ; and decisive event, and each one might 
 present ought not to be allowed to embar- be contemplated at a period which, in an 
 rass us in ascertaining the meaning of ; important sense, determined the destiny 
 the passage before us. (3) On the as- j of the city, and put an end to the wor 
 sumption, however, that those passages ship of God there. (4) It seems proba- 
 refer to Antiochus, and that the accounts j ble that the time mentioned in the pas- 
 in Josephus above referred to are correct j sage before us, is designed to take in th<j 
 though he mentions different times, whole series of disastrous events, from 
 nnd though different periods are referred i the first decisive act which led to the 
 to by Daniel, the variety may be accounted i offering the daily sacrifice, or the ter* 
 3D 
 
350 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 553 
 
 mination of the worship of God there, to j mother a demand which was the origin 
 the time when the sanctuary was cleans- of the war between Antiochus and the 
 ed. That this is so, would seem to be , king of Egypt, and the beginning of all 
 
 the disturbances. Prideaux iii. 218. In 
 the year 172 B. C., Antiochus bestowed 
 the office of high priest on Menelaus, who 
 was the brother of Jason the high priest. 
 
 his attack on the pleasant land (ver. 9), Jason had sent Menelaus to Antioch to 
 
 pay the king his tribute money, and 
 while there Menelaus conceived the de- 
 
 probable from the series of visions pre 
 sented to Daniel in the chapter before us. 
 The acts of the little horn representin{ 
 Antiochus, as seen in vision, began witl 
 
 and the things which attracted the atten 
 tion of Daniel were, that he waxed 
 great, and made war on the host of j sign of supplanting his brother, and by 
 heaven/ and cast some of the host and offering for it more than Jason had, he 
 of the stars to the ground (ver. 10), and l procured the appointment and returned 
 magnified himself against the prince of j to Jerusalem. Prideaux iii. 220 222. 
 the host (ver. 11) acts which refer i Up to this time all the intercourse of An- 
 manifestly to his attack on the people of j tiochus with the Jews had been of a 
 God, and the priests or ministers of reli- j peaceful character, and nothing of a hos- 
 gion, and on God himself as the prince ! tile nature had occurred. In 171 B. C. 
 of the host unless this phrase should be ; began the series of events which finally 
 understood as referring rather to the high | resulted in the invasion and destruction 
 priest. "We are then rather to look to the j of the city, and in the cessation of the 
 
 whole series of events as included within 
 the two thousand and three hundred days, 
 than the period in which literally the daily 
 sacrifice was forbidden by a solemn sta 
 tute. It was practically suspended, and 
 
 public worship of God. Menelaus, having 
 procured the high-priesthood, refused to 
 p:ty the tribute money which he had pro 
 mised for it, and was summoned to An 
 tioch. Antiochus being then absent, 
 
 the worship of God interrupted during Menelaus took advantage of his absence, 
 all that time. (5) The terminus ad | and having, by means of Lysimachus, 
 quern the conclusion of the period, is j whom he had left at Jerusalem, procured 
 marked and settled. This was the cleans- j the vessels out of the temple, he sold 
 ing of the sanctuary. This took place, ! them at Tyre, and thus raised money to 
 under Judas Maccabeus, Dec. 25, 165 B. i pay the king. In the meantime, Onias 
 C. Prideaux iii. 265268. Now, reck- | III., the lawful high-priest, who had fled 
 oning back from this period two thousand j to Antioch, sternly rebuked Menelaus for 
 and three hundred days, we come to Au- his sacrilege, and soon after, at the insti- 
 gust 5, 171 B. C. The question is, I gation of Menelaus, was allured from his 
 whether there were in this year, and at retreat at Daphne, where he had sought 
 about this time, any events in the series an asylum, and was murdered by Andro- 
 
 of sufficient importance to constitute a 
 
 nicus, the vicegerent of Antiochus. At 
 
 period from which to reckon ; events an- the same time, the Jews in Jerusalem, 
 swering to what Daniel saw as the com- i highly indignant at the profanation by 
 mencement of the vision, when some of j Menelaus, and the sacrilege in robbing 
 the host and the stars were cast down j the temple, rose in rebellion against Lysi- 
 and stamped upon. Now, as a matter machus and the Syrian forces who de- 
 of fact, there commenced in the year 171 j fended him, and both cut off this sacri- 
 B. C., a series of aggressions upon the legions robber (Prideaux), and the guards 
 priesthood, and temple, and city of the j by whom he was surrounded. This as- 
 Jews on the part of Antiochus, which ter- I sault on the officer of Antiochus, and re- 
 minated only with his death. Up to this ; bellion against him, was the commence- 
 year, the relations of Antiochus and the ment of the hostilities which resulted in 
 Jewish people were peaceful and cordial, the ruin of the city, and the closing of 
 In the year 175 B. C., he granted to the : the worship of God. Prideaux iii. 224 
 Jewish people, who desired it, permission 226; Stuart s Hints on Prophecy, p. 1 02. 
 to erect a gymnasium in Jerusalem, as Here commenced a series of aggressions 
 above stated. In the year 173 B. C., I upon the priesthood, and the temple. 
 demand was made of Antiochus of the : and the city of the Jews, which, with oc- 
 provinces of Coele- Syria and Palestine by casional interruption continued to the 
 the young Philometor of Egypt, who had death of Antiochus, and which led to all 
 just come to the throne, and by his j that was done in profaning the temple,. 
 
B. C. 553.] 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 351 
 
 15 fl And it came to pass, when I, 
 even I Daniel, had seen the vision, 
 and sought for the meaning, then, 
 
 behold, there stood before me as the 
 appearance of a man. 
 
 16 And I heard a man s voice be- 
 
 and in suspending the public worship of 
 God, and it is doubtless to this time that 
 
 the victory. See Bertholdt, pp. 501503. 
 The reckoning here is from the time of 
 
 the prophet here refers. This is the nat- founding the kingdom of the Seleucidre, 
 ural period in describing the series of i or the era of the Selucidse. <[ Then shall 
 events which were so disastrous to the the sanctuary be cleansed. Marg. justified. 
 Jewish people ; this is the period at which . The Hebrew word pny means to be right 
 one who should now describe them as j or straight, and then to be just or right- 
 
 history would begin. It may not, indeed, 
 
 eous ; then to vindicate or justify. In 
 
 be practicable to make out the precise num- the form here used (Niphal),"it means to 
 ber of dayt, for the exact dates are not | be declared just; to be justified or vindi 
 preserved in history, but the calculation | catcd> and> as app ij ec i to t he temple or 
 brings it into the year 171 B. C., the i sanc tuary, to be vindicated from violence 
 year which is necessary to be supposed m or injury; that is, to be cleansed. Seo 
 order that the two thousand and three Qesenius, Lex. There is undoubtedly 
 hundred days should be completed, j re f er ence hero to the act of Judas Mncca- 
 Comp. Lengerke, in loc. p. 388. \anous I beus> in so lcmnly purifying the temple, 
 attempts have been made to determine j and repa iring it, and re-dedicating it, af- 
 the exact number of the days by historic ter tho p ii ut ions brought upon it by An- 
 records. Bertholdt, whom Lengerke fol- | tiochus. For a description of this, see 
 lows, determines it m this manner. He j p r jdeaux, Connexion, iii. 265269. Ju- 
 regards the time referred to as that from} das designated a priesthood again to 
 the command to set up heathen altars to j serve in ho temple ; pulled down the al- 
 the victory over Nicanor, and the solemn tars wllich the heathen had erected ; boro 
 celebration of that victory, as referred to 
 
 in 1 Mac. vii. 48, 49. According to this 
 reckoning, the time is as follows : The 
 command to set up idol altars was issued 
 in the year 145, on the 15th of the month 
 Kisleu. There remained of that year, 
 after the command was given, 
 Half of the month Kisleu, 15 days 
 
 The month Thebet, 30 
 
 Shebath, 29 
 
 Adar, 30 
 
 The year 146 354 
 
 147 354 
 
 148 354 
 
 149 354 
 
 150 354 
 The year 151 to the 13th day 
 
 of the month Adar, when 
 the victory over Nicanor was 
 achieved, 317 
 
 Two intercalary months du 
 ring this time, according to 
 the Jewish reckoning 60 
 
 2271 
 
 This would leave but twenty-nine days 
 of the 2300 to be accounted for, and this 
 would be required to go from the place 
 of the battle between Beth-Horon and 
 
 out all the denied stones into an un 
 clean place ; built a new altar in place of 
 the old altar of burnt offerings which they 
 had defiled ; hallowed the courts ; made 
 a new altar of incense, table of shew- 
 bread, golden candlestick, &c., and sol 
 emnly re-consecrated the whole to th$ 
 service of God. This act occurred on 
 the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, 
 (Kisleu), and the solemnity continued for 
 eight days. This is the festival which is 
 called " the feast of dedication" in the 
 New Testament (John x. 22), and which 
 our Saviour honoured with his presence. 
 See 1 Mac. iv. 4158, 2 Mac. x. 17. 
 Josephus, Ant. B. xii. ch. vii. 6, 7. 
 j 15. And it came to pass, &c. Daniel 
 ! saw the vision, but was unable to explain 
 | it. *j And sought for the meaning. Evi- 
 | dently by meditating on it, or endeavour 
 ing in his own mind to make it out. 
 ^[ There stood before me as the appearance 
 of a man. One having the appearance of 
 a man. This was evidently Gabriel (ver. 
 16), who now assumed a human form, and 
 who was addressed by the voice from 
 between the banks of the Ulai, and com 
 menced to make known the meaning of 
 the vision. 
 
 Adasa (1 Mac. vii. 39, 40) to Jerusalem, 16. And I heard a man s voice leticeen 
 and to make arrangements to celebrate I the banks of Ulai. Notes on vei. 2. The 
 
352 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 |B. C. 553 
 
 tween the banks of Ulai, which 
 called, and said, a Gabriel, make this 
 man to understand the vision. 
 
 17 So he came near where I stood : 
 and when he came, I was afraid, 
 and fell upon my face: but he said 
 
 unto me, Understand, son of man : 
 for at the time of the end shall bt 
 the vision. 
 
 18 Now as he was speaking with 
 me, I was in a deep sleep b on my 
 
 aLu. 1. 19, 26. 
 
 be. 10. 9, 10. 
 
 voice seemed to come from the river as if guilt of the wicked would be punished, 
 it were that of the Genius of the river, and : and the virtue of the saints would be 
 to address Gabriel, who stood near to Dan- | tried, to wit, the time of Antiochus 
 icl on the shore. This was doubtless the i Epiphanes. Lengerke supposes that the 
 voice of God. The speaker was invisible, ! end of the existing calamities the suf- 
 and this method of explaining the vision ferings of the Jews, is referred to, and 
 was adopted, probably to make the whole ! that the meaning is, that in the time of 
 scene more impressive. J[ Which called, j the Messiah, to which the vision is ex- 
 and said, Gabriel. Gabriel is mentioned tended, there would be an end of their 
 in the scripture only in Daniel viii. 16; ! sufferings and trials. The design of the 
 ix. 21; Luke i. 19, 26. In Luke i. 19, he ! angel, says he, is to support and comfort 
 is mentioned as saying of himself. " I am j the troubled seer, as if he should not 
 Gabriel, that stand in the presence of jbe anxious that these troubles were to 
 God." The word means, properly :" man ! occur, since they would have an end, 
 of God." Nothing more is known of him, i or, as Michselis observes, that the seer 
 and be is mentioned only as bearing I should not suppose that the calamities 
 messages to Daniel, to Zacharias the fa- ] indicated by the vision would have no 
 
 ther of John the Baptist, and to Mary. 
 f Jl/nke this man to understand the vision. 
 Explain it to him so that he will under 
 stand its meaning. 
 
 17. So lie came near where I stood. 
 He had seen him, evidently, at first in 
 
 end. Perhaps the meaning may be this: 
 The vision is for the time of the end; 
 that is, it has respect to the closing period 
 of the world, under which the Messiah is 
 to come, and necessarily precedes that, 
 and leads on to that. It pertains to a 
 
 the distance. He now drew near to Dan- I series of events which is to introduce the 
 iel, that he might communicate with him latter times, when the kingdom of God 
 the more readily. ^[ -^-"^ when he came, shall be set up on the earth. In justifi- 
 / ions a/aid, and fell upon my face. \ cation of this view of the passage, it may 
 Doubtless perceiving that he was a celcs- j he remarked that this is not only the 
 tial being. See Notes on Rev. i. 17. j most obvious view, but is sustained by 
 Comp. Ezek. i. 28, and Dan. x. 8, 9. all those passages which speak of the 
 He was completely overpowered by the j coming of the Messiah as the end, the 
 presence of the celestial stranger, and last days, &c. Thus 1 Cor. x. 11: 
 sank to the ground, ^f But he said vnto\ "upon whom the ends of the world are 
 me, Understand, son of man. Give come." Comp. Notes on Isa. ii. 2. Ac- 
 attention, that you may understand the | cording to this interpretation, the mean- 
 vision. On the phrase son of man, j ing is> the vision pertains to the end, 
 eee Notes on ch. vii. 13. It is here sirn- j or the closing dispensation of things; 
 ply an address to him as a man. ^For at\ that is, it has a bearing on the period 
 the time of the end shall be the vision. \ when the end will come, or will introduce 
 The design of this expression is undoubt- that period. It looks on to future times, 
 edly to cheer and comfort the prophet even to those times, though now remote 
 with some assurance of what was to oc- 1 (comp. ver. 26), when a new order of 
 cur in future times. In what way this | things will exist, under which the affairs 
 was done, or what was the precise idea j of the world will be wound up. Comp. 
 indicated by these words, interpreters Notes on Heb. i. 2. 
 
 have not been agreed. Maurer explains 
 it, for this vision looks to the last time ; 
 that is, the time which would immediately 
 precede the coming of the Messiah, which 
 would be a time of calamity in which the 
 
 18. Now as he was speaking icith me, 
 I teas in a deep sleep on my face toward 
 the around. Overcome and prostrate with 
 the vision. That is, he had sunk down 
 stupefied or senseless. Seo ch. z. 9. Hia 
 
B. C. 553.] 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 353 
 
 23 And in the latter time of their 
 
 made me stand upon my standing. 
 b Hab. 2. 3 ; Ke. 10. 7. c TCP. 3. 
 
 face toward the ground : but he king of Grecia : and the great horn 
 touched me, and => set me upright, that is between his eyes is the first 
 
 19 And he said, Behold, I will iking. 
 
 make thee know what shall be in the j 22 Now that being broken, where- 
 last end of the indignation : for at j as four stood up for it, four king- 
 the time appointed b the end shall be. doms shall stand up out of the na- 
 
 20 The ram c which thou sawest tion, but not in his power, 
 having two horns are the kings of 
 
 Media and Persia. 
 
 21 And the rough goat is the 
 
 strength had been entirely taken away 
 by the vision. There is nothing impro 
 bable in this, that the sudden appearance 
 of a celestial vision, or a heavenly being, 
 should take away the strength. Comp. 
 Gen. xv. 12; Job iv. 13, seq. ; Judg. vi. 
 22, xiii. 22; Isa. vi. 5; Luke i. 12, 29, 
 ii. 9 ; Acts ix. 3, 8. <f t But he touched me, 
 and set me upright. Marg., as in Heb., 
 made me stand upon my standing. He 
 raised me up on my feet. So the Saviour 
 addressed Saul of Tarsus, when he had 
 been suddenly smitten to the earth, by 
 his appearing to him on the way to Da 
 mascus : "Rise, and stand upon thy 
 feet," &c. Acts xxvi. 16. 
 
 19. And he said, Behold, I will make 
 thce know what shall be in the last end of 
 the indignation. In the future time when 
 the divine indignation shall be manifest 
 toward the Hebrew people ; to wit, by suf 
 fering the evils to come upon them which 
 Antiochus would inflict. It is every 
 where represented that these calamities 
 would occur as a proof of the divine dis 
 pleasure on account of their sins. Comp. 
 ch. ix. 24, xi. 35 ; 2 Mac. vii. 33. f For at 
 the time appointed the end shall be. It shall 
 not always continue. There is a definite 
 period marked out in the divine purpose, 
 and when that period shall arrive, the 
 end of all this will take place. See Notes 
 on ver. 17. 
 
 20. The ram which thou sawest, &c. See 
 Notes on ver. 3. This is one of the in 
 stances in the Scriptures in which sym 
 bols are explained. There can be no 
 doubt, therefore, as to the meaning. 
 
 21. And the rough goat. Notes on 
 ver. 5. In ver. 5, he is called a he-goat. 
 Here the word rough, or hairy "Vi t? 
 is applied to it. This appellation is often 
 given to a goat, Lev. iv. 24, xvi. 9 ; Gen. 
 xxxvii. 31. It would seem that either 
 term a he-goat, or a hairy-goat, would 
 eorve to designate the animal, and it is 
 
 30* 
 
 probable that the terms were used indis 
 criminately. ^[ Is the king of Grecia. 
 Represents the king of Greece. The 
 word here rendered Grecia \V r Javan, 
 denotes usually and properly Ionia, the 
 western part of Asia Minor, but this 
 name was extended so as to embrace the 
 whole of Greece. See ^Eschyl. Acharn. 
 504, ibique Schol. Pers. 176, 561. Ge- 
 senius, Lex. The Latin Vulgate, and 
 Theodotion, here render it the king of 
 the Grecians, and there can be no doubt 
 I that the royal power among the Greeks 
 is here referred to. See Notes on ver. 5. 
 ^ And the great horn that is between his 
 I eyes is the first king. Alexander the 
 Great. The first that consolidated the 
 whole power, and that was known in the 
 ! East as the king of Greece. So he is ex 
 pressly called in 1 Mac. i. 1 : The first 
 ! over Greece. Philip, his father, was 
 I opposed in his attempts to conquer Greece, 
 [and was defeated. Alexander invaded 
 j Greece, burnt Thebes, compelled the 
 Athenians to submit, and was declared 
 generalissimo of the Grecian forces against 
 the Persians. 
 
 22. Now that being broken. By the 
 death of Alexander. ^[ Whereas four 
 
 | stood up for it. Stood up in its place. 
 j ^f Four kingdoms shall stand up. Ulti- 
 \ mately. It is not necessary to suppose 
 that this would be immediately. If four 
 such should in fact spring out of this ono 
 | kingdom, all that is implied in the pro- 
 I phecy would be fulfilled. On the fulfilment 
 of this, see Notes on ver. 8. ^f But not in 
 his power. No one of these four dynas 
 ties had at any time the power which 
 was wielded by Alexander the Great. 
 
 23. And in the latter time of their king 
 dom. When it shall bo drawing to an 
 end. All these powers were ultimately 
 absorbed in the Roman power ; and the 
 meaning here is, that taking the time 
 
 ! from the period of their formation the 
 
354 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 553 
 
 kingdom, -when the transgressors are 
 come to the full, a king of fierce 
 countenance, and understanding 
 dark sentences, shall stand up. 
 24 And his power shall be mighty, 
 
 accomplished. 
 
 division of the empire after the battle of 
 Ipsus (Notes on ver. 8), till the time 
 when all would be swallowed up in the 
 Roman dominion, what is here stated to 
 wit, the rise of Antiochus, would be in 
 the latter portion of that period. The 
 battle of Ipsus was fought 301 B. C., and 
 the Roman power was extended over all 
 those regions gradually from 168 B. C. 
 the battle of Pydna, when Perseus was 
 defeated, and Macedonia was reduced to a 
 Roman province, to 30 B. C., when 
 Egypt was subjected the last of these 
 kingdoms that submitted to the Roman 
 arms. Antiochus began to reign 175 B. 
 C. so that it was in the latter part of 
 
 b but not by his own power : and 
 he shall destroy wonderfully, arid 
 c shall prosper, and practise, and 
 shall destroy the mighty and the 
 people. 
 
 * lie. 17. 13, &c. c yer. 10, 12, &c. 
 d people of the hoJy ones. 
 
 held the kingly office, and no one can 
 doubt that it may be applied with strict 
 propriety to Antiochus. ^[ And under 
 standing dark sentences. Gesenius (Lex.) 
 explains the word here rendered dark 
 sentences to mean artifice, trick, strata 
 gem. This will better agree with the 
 character of Antiochus, who was more 
 distinguished for craft and policy than ho 
 was for wisdom, or for explaining enig 
 mas. The meaning seems to be that he 
 would be politic and crafty, seeking to 
 make his way, and to accomplish his 
 purpose, not only by the terror that he 
 inspired, but by deceit and cunning. 
 That this was his character is well known. 
 
 this period. <$ When the transgressors j Comp. Notes on ver. 25. ^ Shall stand 
 are come to the full. Marg., accomplished, up. Shall succeed, or there shall be such 
 
 That is, when the state of things the 
 prevalence of wickedness and irreligion 
 in Judea shall have been allowed to 
 
 a king. 
 
 24. And his poicer shall be mighty. He 
 shall be a powerful monarch. Though not 
 
 continue as long as it can be or so that I as mighty as Alexander, yet his conquests 
 the cup shall be full then shall appear J of Egypt and other places show that he 
 this formidable power to inflict deserved j deserved to be numbered among the 
 punishment on the guilty nation. The j mighty kings of the earth. ^ But not btj 
 saored writers often speak of iniquity as j his oicn poicer. That is, it shall not bo 
 being/wW of the cup of iniquity as be- j by any strength of his own, but by the 
 ing full as if there was a certain limit j power which God gives him. This is 
 or capacity beyond which it could not be i true of all kings and princes (Comp. John 
 
 allowed to go. When that arrives, God 
 interposes, and cuts off the guilty by some 
 heavy judgment. Comp. Gen. xv. 16 : 
 
 xix. 11 ; Isa. x. 5, seq.), but it seems to be 
 referred to here particularly to show that 
 the calamities which he was about to 
 
 " The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet i bring upon the Hebrew people were by 
 
 full." Matt, xxiii. 32 : " Fill ye up then 
 the measure of your fathers." 1 Thess. ii. 
 16: " to fill up their sins alway." The 
 idea is, that there is a certain measure or 
 amount of sin which can be tolerated, but 
 beyond that the divine compassion can 
 not go, with safety to the universe, or 
 consistently with the honour of God, and 
 that the punishment maybe expected; 
 then punishment must como. This is 
 true, doubtless, of individuals and nations, 
 and this period had arrived in regard to 
 the Jews when Antiochus was permitted 
 to lay their temple, city, and country 
 waste. ^[ A kiny of fierce countenance. 
 otcrn aifJ severe. This expression 
 would be applicable to many who have 
 
 divine direction and appointment. This 
 great power was given him in order that 
 he might be an instrument in the divine 
 hand of inflicting deserved punishment 
 
 them for their sins, 
 
 And he shall 
 
 destroy wonderfully. In a wonderful or 
 extraordinary manner shall he spread 
 desolation. This refers particularly to 
 the manner in which he would lay waste 
 the holy city, and the land of Judea. 
 The history in the books of Maccabees 
 shows that this was literally fulfilled. 
 ^f And shall prosper. Antiochus was 
 among the most successful kings in his 
 various expeditions. Particularly was 
 he successful in his enterprises against 
 the holy land, ^f And pract ise. Heb., do. 
 
B. C. 553.] 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 355 
 
 25 And through his policy also 
 he shall cause craft to prosper in his 
 hand ; and he shall magnify Jiimself 
 
 i 1 _ _ i J T .^,1.^.11 
 
 up against the Prince of princes ; 
 but he shall be broken without hand. 
 2G And the vision of the evening 
 
 flclllU , illlU IJUBllcIll lllclgiiiij mmnwoj - - f ~- Vj 
 
 in his heart, and by a peace shall and the morning which was told is 
 destroy many: he shall also stand] true: wherefore shut Mhou up the 
 * or, prosperity. 
 
 That is, he shall be distinguished not 
 only for forming plans, but for executing 
 them ; not merely for purposing, but for 
 doing. ^ And shall destroy the mighty 
 and the holy people. The people of God 
 the Jewish nation. See Notes on vs. 
 912. 
 
 25. And through liis policy. The word 
 rendered policy here Spfr means, pro 
 perly, intelligence, understanding, wis 
 dom, and then, in a bad sense, craft, cun 
 ning. So it is rendered here by Gesenius, 
 and the meaning is, that, he would owe i 
 his success in a great measure to craft 
 and subtilty. *\\ He shall cause craft to 
 prosper in his hand. He shall owe his 
 success in a great measure to a crafty 
 policy, to intrigue, and to cunning. 
 This was true in an eminent sense of 
 Antiochus. See his history in Prideaux, 
 above referred to, and the books of Mac 
 cabees. Comp. Notes on ch. xi. 21. The 
 same character is given of him by Poly- 
 bius, Relig. lib. xxxi. c. 5. Tom. iv. p. 
 501. Ed. Schweighaouser. Appian, de. 
 reb. Syr. xlv. T. 1. p. 604. Ed. Schweigh. 
 Corap. 2 Mac. v. 24 26. He came to the 
 kingdom by deceit (Prideaux III. 212), 
 and a great part of his success was owing 
 to craft and policy. 5!" And he shall mag 
 nify himself in his heart. Shall be lifted 
 up with pride, or esteem himself of great 
 consequence, ^f And ly peace shall de- 
 itroy many. Marg., prosperity. The He 
 brew word n^U means, properly, 
 tranquillity, security, ease, carelessness. 
 Here the phrase seems to mean < in the 
 midst of security (Gesenius, Lex.), that 
 is, while they were at ease, and regarded 
 themselves as in a state of safety, he 
 would come suddenly and unexpectedly 
 upon them, and destroy them. He would 
 make sudden war on them, invading 
 their territories, so that they would have 
 no opportunity to make preparation to 
 meet him. Comp. ch. xi. 21, 24. It i 
 would seem to mean that he would en 
 deavour to produce the impression that 
 tie was coming in peace ; that he pre 
 
 tended friendship, and designed to keep 
 those whom he meant to invade and de 
 stroy in a state of false security, so that 
 he might descend upon them unawares. 
 This was his policy rather than to declare 
 war openly, and so give his enemies fair 
 warning of what he intended to do. Thia 
 description agrees every way with the 
 character of Antiochus, a leading part of 
 whose policy always was to preserve the 
 appearance of friendship, that he might 
 accomplish his purpose while his enemies 
 were off their guard. ^[ He shall also 
 stand tip against the Prince of princes. 
 Notes ver. 11. Against God, the Ruler 
 over the kings of the earth, f JJnt he 
 shall be broken ivithont hand. That is, 
 without the hand of man, or by no visi 
 ble cause. He shall be overcome by a 
 divine, invisible power. According to 
 the author of the first book of Maccabees 
 (ch. vi. 8 16), he died of grief and re 
 morse in Babylon. He was on an expe 
 dition to Persia, and there laid siege to 
 Elymais, and was defeated, and fled to 
 Babylon, when learning that his forces 
 in Palestine had been repulsed, pene 
 trated with grief and remorse, ho sick 
 ened and died. According to the account 
 in the second book of Maccabees (ix.), his 
 death was most distressing and horrible. 
 Comp. Prideaux III. 272275. All the 
 statements given of his death, by the au 
 thors of the books of Maccabees, by Jose- 
 phus, by Polybius, by Q. Curtius, and by 
 Arrian (see the quotations in Prideaux), 
 agree in representing it as attended with 
 every circumstance of horror that can be 
 well supposed to accompany a departure 
 from this world, and as having every 
 mark of the just judgment of God. The 
 divine prediction in Daniel was fully ac 
 complished, that his death would be with 
 out hnnd, in the sense that it would not 
 be by human instrumentality, but that it 
 would be by a direct divine infliction. 
 When Antiochus died, the opposition to 
 the Jews ceased, and their land again 
 had peace and rest. 
 
 26. And the vition of the evening and 
 
356 
 
 vision 
 days. 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 553. 
 
 for it shall be for many 
 
 27 And I Daniel fainted, and was 
 sick certain days ; afterward I rose 
 
 the morning. That is, of the two thou 
 sand three hundred days. See ver. 14, 
 
 and the margin on that verse. The considerable period. ^ Afterwards I rose 
 
 meaning here is, the vision pertaining 
 to that succession of evenings and morn 
 ings. Perhaps this appellation was given 
 to it particularly because it pertained so 
 much to the evening and morning sacri 
 fice. ^[ Is true. Shall be certainly ac 
 complished. This was said by the angel, 
 giving thus to Daniel the assurance that 
 what he had seen (vs. 9 14,) was no 
 illusion, but would certainly come to pass. 
 ^[ Wherefore shut thou up the vision Seal 
 it up. Make a record of it, that it may 
 be preserved, and that its fulfilment may 
 be marked. See Notes on Isa. viii. 16. 
 ^[ For it shall be for many days. That is, 
 
 up, and did the king s business; 
 and I was astonished at the vision, 
 but none understood it. 
 
 The exact time is not specified. The na 
 tural interpretation is, that it was for 
 
 , and did the king s business. Comp. 
 Notes on ver. 2. From this it would ap 
 pear that he had been sent to Shushan on 
 some business pertaining to the govern 
 ment. What it was we are not informed. 
 As a matter of fact, he was sent there for 
 a more important purpose than any which 
 pertained to the government at Babylon 
 to receive a disclosure of most momen 
 tous events that were to occur in distant 
 times. Yet this did not prevent him from 
 attending faithfully to the business en 
 trusted to him as no views which we 
 take of heavenly things, and no disclo 
 sures made to our souls, and no absorp- 
 
 ruany days will elapse before it will be | tion in the duties and enjoyments of re- 
 accomplished. Let a fair record, there- j ligion, should prevent us from attending 
 fore, be made of it, and let it be sealed up, ; with fidelity to whatever secular duties 
 that it may be preserved to prepare the \ may be entrusted to us. Sickness justi- 
 people for these events. When these j fies us, of course, in not attending to them ; 
 things would come thus fearfully upon the the highest views which we may have of 
 
 people of Judea, they would be the better 
 able to bear these trials, knowing the pe- 
 
 God and of religious truth, should only 
 make us more faithful in the discharge 
 
 riod when they would terminate. of our duties to our fellow men, to our 
 
 27. And I Daniel fainted. Heb., < I country, and in all the relations of life, 
 was \7ivnj. Comp. Dan. ii. 1. The He who has been favoured with the clear- 
 
 meaning, according to Gesenius (Lex.} 
 is, <I was done up and was sick; I was 
 done over, &c. Perhaps the reason of 
 
 est views of divine things, will be nono 
 the less prepared to discharge with faith 
 fulness the duties of this life; he who is 
 
 his using this verb here is, that he repre- Permitted and enabled to look far into 
 sents himself as having been sick, and j f fl ^. ure Wl11 be none the less llkel y to 
 then as fainting away, as if his life had be dlll g ent > faithful, and laborious in 
 departed. The Latin Vulgate renders it, meetin S the responsibilities of the present 
 langui. Theodotion, ewrfSfiv was laid moment. If a man could see all that 
 in my bed. The general idea is plain, i there 1S *<*ven, ,t would only serve to 
 that he was overcome and prostrate at|LW"! h th a deeper conviction of 
 the effect of the vision. He had been ; hls ,f h S atl n t i "? 1 *"** . *! - f ,5 
 
 permitted to look into the future, and the I cou d B . ee a * tbat f ther , e . is *? com m tho 
 scenes were so appalling the changes 7 ast ^nuty before him, it would only 
 that were to occur were s? great-the ca- ; m P ress hira Wlth a profounder sense of 
 lamities were so fearful in their charac- ^ e consequences which may follow from 
 ter, and, above all, his mind was so af- ! the discharge of present duty ^ And I 
 fected that the daily sacrifice was to cease, I tca * a io hed <** the io. He was stu- 
 and the worship of God be suspended ! P^ed-he wasovercome-at the splendid 
 that he was entirely overcome. And who | appearance, and the momentous natura 
 of us, probably, could bear a revelation of the disclosures. Comp. Notes on ch. 
 of what is to occur hereafter? Where is 1 1V - 19 V But none understood it. It 
 
 there strength that could endure the dis 
 closure of what may happen even in a 
 
 would seem probable from this, that he 
 communicated it to others, but no one 
 
 ew years ? ^ And was tick certain dayt. was able to explain it. Its general fe* 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 357 
 
 tures were plain, but no one could follow 
 out the details, and tell precisely what 
 would occur, before the vision was ful 
 filled. This is the general nature of 
 prophecy; and if neither Daniel nor any 
 of his friends could explain this vision 
 iy detail, are we to hope that we shall be 
 successful in disclosing the full meaning 
 of those which are not yet fulfilled ? The 
 truth is, that in all such revelations of 
 the future, there must be much in detail 
 which is not now fully understood. The 
 general features may bo plain as, in 
 this case, it was clear that a mighty king 
 would rise ; that he would be a tyrant; 
 that he would oppress the people of God ; 
 that he would invade the holy land ; that 
 he would for a time put a period to the 
 offering of the daily sacrifice ; and that 
 this would continue for a definite period; 
 and that then he would bo cutoff without 
 human instrumentality; but who from 
 
 this would have been able to draw out, in 
 detail, all the events which in fact oc 
 curred? Who could have told pre 
 cisely how these things would come to 
 pass? Who could have ventured on a 
 biography of Antiochus Epiphanes ? Yet 
 these three things are true in regard to 
 this : (1) that no one by human sagacity 
 could have foreseen these events so as to 
 have been able to furnish these sketches 
 of what was to be; (2) that these were 
 sufficient to apprise those who were in 
 terested particularly, of what would oc 
 cur; and (3) that when these events oc 
 curred, it was plain to all persons that 
 the prophecy had reference to them. So 
 plain is this so clear is the application 
 of the predictions in this Book, that Por 
 phyry maintained that it was written 
 after the events had occurred, and that 
 the book must have been forged. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ANALYSIS OP THE CHAPTER. 
 
 THIS chapter is properly divided into three parts, or comprises three things : 
 
 I. The inquiry of Daniel into the time that the desolations of Jerusalem were to continue, 
 and his determination to seek the Lord to pray that his purpose in regard to the restoration of 
 the city and temple might be speedily accomplished, vs. 1 3. Daniel says (ver. 1), that thii 
 occurred in the first year of Darius of the seed of the Medes. He was engaged in the study of 
 the books of Jeremiah. He learned from these books that seventy years were to elapse during 
 which the temple, the city, and the land were to be desolate. By a calculation as to the time 
 when this commenced, he was enabled to ascertain the period when it would close, and he found 
 that that period was near, and that, according to the prediction, it might be expected that the 
 time of the restoration was at hand. His mind was, of course, filled with the deepest solicitude. 
 It would seem not improbable that he did not perceive any preparation for this, or any ten 
 dency to it, and it could not but be that he would be filled with anxiety in regard to it. He does 
 not appear to have entertained any doubt that the predictions would be fulfilled, and the fact 
 that they were so clear and so positive, was a strong reason why he should pray, and was the 
 reason why he prayed so earnestly at this time. The prayer which he offered is an illustration 
 of the truth that men will pray more earnestly when they have reason to suppose that God in 
 tends to impart a blessing, and that an assurance that an event is to occur is one of the strongest 
 encouragements and incitements to prayer. So men will pray with more faith when they see 
 that God is blessing the means of restoration to health, or when they see indications of an 
 abundant harvest ; so they will pray with the more fervour for God to bles* his word when they 
 see evidences of a revival of religion, or that the time has come when God is about to display 
 his power in the conversion of sinners ; and so undoubtedly they will pray with the more earn 
 estness as the proofs shall be multiplied that God is about to fulfil all his ancient predictions 
 in the conversion of the whole world to himself. A belief that God intends to do a thing is 
 never any hindrance to real prayer; a belief that he is in fact about to do it does more than 
 anything else can do to arouse the soul to call with earnestness on his name. 
 
 II. The prayer of Daniel, vs. 4 19. This prayer is remarkable for its simplicity, its fervour, 
 its appropriateness, its earnestness. It is a frank confession that the Hebrew people, in whose 
 name it was offered, had deserved all the calamities which had come upon them, accompanied 
 with earnest intercession that God would now hear this prayer, and remove the judgments from 
 th< people, and accomplish his purpose of mercy towards the city and temple. The long cap 
 tivity of nearly seventy years; the utter desolation of the city and temple during that tim; 
 
558 DANIEL. [B. C. 53a 
 
 the numberless privations and evils to which during that period they had been exposed, had 
 demonstrated the greatness of the sins for which these calamities had come upon the nation, 
 and Daniel now, in the name, and uttering the sentiments, of the captive people, confessed 
 their guilt, and the justness of the divine dealings with them. Never has there been an in 
 stance in which punishment has had more of its designed and appropriate effect than in prompt 
 ing to the sentiments which are uttered in this prayer: and the prayer, therefore, is just the 
 expression of what we should feel when the hand of the Lord has been long and severely laid 
 upon us on account of our sins. The burden of the prayer is confession ; the object which ho 
 who offers it seeks is, that God would cause the severity of his judgments to cease, and the city and 
 tcini,i<* to be restored. The particular points in the prayer will be more appropriately eluci 
 dated in the exposition of this part of the chapter. 
 
 111. The answer to the prayer, vs. 20 27. The principal difficulty in the exposition of the chapter 
 is in this portion; and indeed there is perhaps no part of the prophecies of the Old Testament 
 that is, on some accounts, more difficult of exposition, as there is, in some respects, none 
 more clear, and none more important. It is remarkable, among other things, as not being a 
 direct answer to the prayer, and as seeming to have no bearing on the subject of the petition 
 that the city of Jerusalem might be rebuilt, and the temple restored, but it directs the mind 
 onward to another and more important event the coming of the Messiah, and the final closing 
 of sacrifice and oblation, and a more entire and enduring destruction of the temple and city, 
 after it should have been rebuilt, than had yet occurred. To give this information, an angel 
 the same one whom Daniel had seen before, was sent forth from heaven, and came near to him 
 and touched him, and said that he was commissioned to impart to him skill and understanding, 
 vs. 20 23. " The speediness of his coming indicates a joyful messenger. The substance of that 
 message is as follows : As a compensation for the seventy years in which the people, the city, 
 and the temple had been entirely prostrate, seventy weeks of years, seven times seventy years 
 cf a renewed existence would be secured to them by the Lord ; and the end of this period, far 
 from bringing the mercies of God to a close, would for the first time bestow on them the Theo 
 cracy in their complete and full measure." Ilengstenberg, Chistology, I. 293. The points of 
 information which the angel gives in regard to the future condition of the city are these: 
 
 (a) That the whole period determined in respect to the holy city, to finish transgression, and 
 to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for the people, and to bring in everlasting 
 righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy, was seventy 
 weeks evidently seventy prophetic weeks, that is, regarding each day as a year, four hundred 
 and ninety years, ver. 24. The time when this period would commence terminus a quo is 
 not indeed distinctly specified, but the fair interpretation is, from that time when the vision 
 appeared to Daniel, the first year of Darius, ver. 1. The literal meaning of the phrase seventy 
 weeks, according to Prof. Stuart (Hints on the Interpretation of Prophecy, p. 82), is seventy 
 sevens, that is, seventy sevens of years, or four hundred and ninety years. "Daniel," says he, 
 <; had been meditating on the accomplishment of the seventy years of exile for the Jews, which 
 Jeremiah had predicted. At the close of the fervent supplication for the people which he makes, 
 in connection with his meditation, Gabriel appears, and announces to him that seventy sevens 
 are appointed for his people, as it respects the time then future, in which very serious and 
 very important events are to take place. Daniel had been meditating on the close of the seventy 
 years of Hebrew exile, and the angel now discloses to him a new period of seventy times seven, 
 in which still more important events are to take place." 
 
 (6) This period of seventy sevens, or four hundred and ninety years, is divided by the angel 
 into smaller portions, each of them determining some important event in the future. He says, 
 therefore, (ver. 25,) that from the going forth of the command to rebuild the temple, until the 
 time when the Messiah should appear, the whole period might be divided into two portions 
 one of seven sevens, or forty nine years, and the other of threescore and two sevens sixty- 
 two sevens, or four hundred and thirty-four years, making together four hundred and eighty- 
 three years. This statement is accompanied with the assurance that the " street would be built 
 again, and the wall, even in troublous times." Of these periods of seven weeks, sixty-two weeks, 
 and one week, the close of the first is distinguished by the completion of the rebuilding of the 
 city ; that of the second by the appearing of the Anointed One, or the Messiah, the Prince; that 
 of the third by the finished confirmation of the covenant with the many for whom the saving 
 blessings designated in ver. 24, as belonging to the end of the whole period, are designed. The 
 last period of one week is again divided into two halves. While the confirmation of the cove 
 nant extends through it, from beginning to end, the cessation of the sacrifice and meat-offer 
 ing, and the death of the Anointed One, on which this depends, take place in the middle of it. 
 
 (c) The Messiah would appear after the seven weeks reaching to the time of completing the 
 rebuilding of the city, and the sixty-two weeks following that that is, sixty-nine weeks alto 
 gether, would have been finished. Throughout half of the other week, after his appearing, he 
 would labour to confirm the covenant with many, and then die a violent death, by which tho 
 sacrifices would be made to cease, while the confirmation of the covenant would continue even 
 after his death. 
 
 (d) A people of a foreign prince would come and destroy the city and the sanctuary. The 
 end of all would be a flood an overflowing calamity, till the end of the desolations should be 
 determined, vs. 26, 27. This fearful desolation is all that the prophet sees in the end, except 
 that there is an obscure intimation that there would be a termination of that. But the design 
 of the vision evidently did not reach thus far. It was to show the series of events after th 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 359 
 
 rebuilding of the city and temple up to the time when the Messiah would come; when the 
 great atonement would be made for .sin, and when the oblations and sacrifices of the templo 
 would finally cease: cease, in fact and naturally, for the one great sacrifice, superseding them 
 all, had been offered, and because the people of a foreign prince would come and sweep the 
 temple and the altar away. 
 
 The design of the whole annunciation is, evidently, to produce consolation in the mind of the 
 prophet,. lie was engaged in profound meditation on the present state, and the long-continued 
 desolations of the city and temple. He gave his mind to the study of the prophecies to learn 
 whether these desolations were not soon to end. He ascertained beyond adoubt that the period 
 arew near. He devoted himself to earnest prayer that the desolation might not longer continue ; 
 that God, provoked by the sins of the nation, would no longer execute his fearful judgments, 
 but would graciously interpose, and restore the city and temple. He confessed ingenuously and 
 humbly the sins of his people; acknowledged that the judgments of God were just, but plead 
 earnestly, in view of his former mercies to the same people, that he would now have compas 
 sion, and fulfil his promises that the city and temple should be restored. An answer is not 
 given directly, and in the exact form in which it might have been hoped for, but an answer is 
 given in which it is implied that these blessings so earnestly sought would be bestowed, and in 
 which it is promised that there would be far greater blessings. It is assumed in the answer 
 (ver. 25). that the city would be rebuilt, and then the mind is directed onward to the assurance 
 that it would stand through seven times seventy years seven times as long as it had now 
 been desolate, and that then that which had been the object of the desire of the people of God 
 would be accomplished; that for which the city and temple had been built would be fulfilled 
 the Messiah would come, the great sacrifice for sin would be made, and all the typical arrange 
 ments of the temple would come to an end. Thus, in fact, though not in form, the communi 
 cation of the angel was an answer to prayer, and that occurred to Daniel which often occurs to 
 those who pray that the direct prayer which is offered receives a gracious answer, and that 
 there accompanies the answer numberless other mercies which are drawn along in the train ; or, 
 in other words, that God gives us many more blessings than we ask of him. 
 
 1 In the first year of a Darius the 
 son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the 
 
 c. 5. 31. 
 
 b or, in which he. 
 
 Medes, b which was made king over 
 the realm of the Chaldeans. 
 
 2 In the first year of his reign I 
 
 1. In the first year of Darius. See ; Babylon was taken by Cyrus, acting un- 
 Notos on ch. v. 31, and Intro, to eh. vi. I der the authority of Cyaxares, B. C. 538, 
 
 2. The king here referred to under this 
 
 and, of course, the reign of Cyaxares, or 
 
 name was Cyaxares II., who lived be- Darius, over Babylon commenced at that 
 tween Astyages and Cyrus, and in whom P oint ancUhat would be reckoned as the 
 was the title of king. He was the imme- ! ^st y* & * of his rei S n - Ho died B - ? 
 diate successor of Bolshazzar, and was !^6, and Cyrus succeeded him; and as the 
 the predecessor of Cyrus, and was the i rder to re J u JL ld the temple was in the 
 first of the foreign princes that reigned ! first year of Cyrus, the time referred to 
 over Babylon. On the reasons why he | this chapter, when Daniel represents 
 is called in Daniel Darius, and not Cy- i himself as meditating on the close of the 
 axares, see the Intro, to ch. vi. ? 2. Of , Captivity and offering this prayer, can- 
 course, as he preceded Cyrus, who gave i ot i lon & have preceded that order. He 
 the order to rebuild the temple (Ezra i. 1), i had ascertained that the period of the 
 this occurred before the close of the sev- captivity was near its close, and he na- 
 enty years of the captivity, f The son , turally inquired in what way the restora- 
 of Ahasuerus. Or the son of Astyages. j tl " of * he Jews to their own land was 
 See Intro, to ch. vi. 2. It was no unu- to b * effected, and by what means the 
 
 to be rebuilt. 
 
 K -. - 
 
 sual thing for the kings of the East to have j tem P^ 
 
 eeveral names, and one writer might refer ! 2- 7 Da 1 understood by booh. By 
 to them under one name, and another un- i the sacred books > and especially by the 
 f Of the seed of the Medea, writings of Jeremiah. It has been made 
 
 der another. 
 
 Of the race of the Medes. 
 
 See as above. 
 
 ^ Which, was made king over the realm of 
 the Chaldeans. By conquest. He suc 
 ceeded Belshazzar, and was the immedi 
 ate predecessor of Cyrus. Cyaxares II. 
 ascended the throne of Media, according 
 to th common chronology, B. C. 561. 
 
 a ground of objection to the genuineness 
 of Daniel that he mentions books in this 
 place anp D as if there were at that 
 time a collection of the sacred books, or 
 as if they had been enrolled together in 
 
 volume. 
 
 speaks 
 
 The objection is, that the writer 
 if the canon of the Scriptures 
 
360 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538 
 
 Daniel understood by books the num 
 ber of the years, whereof the word 
 of the Lord came to Jeremiah a the 
 prophet, that he would accomplish 
 
 a Je. 25. 11, 12. 
 
 was completed, or that he uses such 
 language as the Hebrews did when the 
 
 seventy years in the desolations of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 3 fl And b I set my face unto the 
 Lord God, to seek by prayer and 
 
 b Ne. 1. 4, Ac. ; Jc. 29. 1013. 
 
 tions and the captivity the terminus a 
 quo and according as one or another of 
 
 canon of the Scriptures was finished, them was fixed on the close would be re- 
 and thus betrays himself. See Bertholdt, ! garded as nearer or more remote. Daniel, 
 
 Comm. p. 78. Comp. De Wette, Einl. 
 13. This objection has been examined 
 by Hengstenberg, Beitrag. pp. 32 35. 
 It is sufficient to reply to it, that there is 
 every probability that the Jews in Baby 
 lon would be in possession of the sacred 
 books of their nation, and that, though 
 the canon of the Scriptures was not yet 
 completed, there would exist private col 
 lections of those writings. The word here 
 used by Daniel is just such as he would 
 employ on the supposition that he referred 
 to a private collection of the writings 
 of the prophets. Comp. Lengerke, in 
 loc. See the Intro., where the objection 
 is examined. ^The number of the years 
 whereof the word of the Lord came to 
 Jeremiah. The number of the years in 
 respect to which the word of the Lord 
 came to Jeremiah ; that is, which he had 
 revealed to Jeremiah. The books referred 
 to, therefore, were evidently a collection of 
 the writings of Jeremiah, or a collection 
 
 which embraced his writings. 
 would accomplish seventy y 
 
 That he 
 in the de 
 
 solations of Jerusalem. That Jerusalem 
 would so long lie waste. This was ex 
 pressly declared by Jeremiah (ch. xxv. 
 11, 12) : " And the whole land shall be a 
 desolation and an astonishment; and 
 these nations shall serve the king of Ba 
 bylon seventy years. And it shall come 
 to pass, when seventy years are accom 
 plished, that I will punish the king of 
 Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, 
 for their iniquity," &c. So also Jer. 
 xxix. 10 : " For thus saith the Lord, That 
 after seventy years be accomplished at 
 Babylon, I will visit you, and perform 
 my good word toward you, in causing you 
 to return to this place." The time of the 
 desolation and of the captivity, therefore, 
 
 it seems, by close study, had satisfied his 
 own mind on that subject, and had been 
 able to fix upon some period that was 
 undoubtedly the proper beginning, and 
 hence the time when it would close. 
 The result showed that his calculation 
 was correct, for at the time he expected, 
 the order was given by Cyrus to rebuild 
 the city and temple. When he instituted 
 this inquiry, and engaged in this solemn 
 act of prayer, it would have been impos 
 sible to have conjectured in what way 
 this could be brought about. The reign 
 ing monarch was Cyaxares II., or, as he 
 is here called, Darius, and there was 
 nothing in his character, or in anything 
 that he had done, that could have been a 
 basis of calculation that he would favour 
 the return of the Jews, and the rebuild 
 ing of the city, and there was then no 
 probability that Cyrus would so soon 
 come to the throne, and nothing in hi 
 character, as known, that could be a 
 ground of hope that he would voluntarily 
 interpose, and accomplish the divine pur 
 poses and promises -in regard to the holy 
 city. It was probably such circumstances 
 as these which produced the anxiety in 
 the mind of Daniel, and which led him to 
 offer this fervent prayer ; and his fervent 
 supplications should lead us to trust in 
 God that he will accomplish his purposes, 
 and should induce us to pray with fer 
 vour and with faith when we see no way 
 in which he will do it. In all cases he 
 can as easily devise a way in answer to 
 prayer, as he could remove Cyaxares from 
 the throne, and incline the heart of Cy 
 rus to undertake the rebuilding of Jeru 
 salem and the temple. 
 
 3. And I set my face unto the L ord God. 
 Probably the meaning is, that he turned 
 
 was fixed and positive, and the only dif- his face toward Jerusalem, the place 
 ficulty in determining when it would j where G-od had dwelt; the place of his holy 
 close, was in ascertaining the exact year abode on earth. See Notes on ch. vi. 10. 
 when it commenced. There were several I The language, however, would not be in- 
 occurrences which might, perhaps, be re- I appropriate to denote prayer without such 
 garded aa the beginning of the desola-J a supposition. We turn to one whom w* 
 
B. C. 538.J CHAPTER IX. 361 
 
 supplications, uith fasting, and sack- 4 And I prayed unto the Lord 
 cloth, and ashes. my God, and made ni}^ confession, 
 
 address, and so prayer may be described i courageraent to pray except in the pur- 
 by setting the face toward God. The I P oses and promises of God, for we have no 
 essential idea here is, that he engaged in power ourselves to accomplish the things 
 a set and formal prayer; he engaged in i for wbidl we P rn J. nnd all must depend 
 earnest devotion. He evidently set apart ! on his will. When that will is known it 
 a time for this, for he prepared himself | is the very thing to encourage us in our 
 by fasting, and by putting on sackcloth approaches to him, and is all the assur- 
 and ashes. f To seek by prayer and sup- i ance that we need to induce us to pray. 
 plication. To seek his favour; to pray l 4 And I prayed unto the Lord my God. 
 that he would accomplish his purposes. ; Evidently a set and formal prayer. It 
 The words prayer and supplication, j would seem probable that he offered this 
 which are often found united, would \ prayer, and then recorded the substance of 
 seem to denote earnest prayer, or prayer I ifc afterwards. We have no reason to sup- 
 when mercy was implored the notion ! P ose that we have the whole of it, but we 
 of mercy or favour implored entering j ha ve doubtless its principal topics. ^ And 
 into the meaning of the Hebrew word ! ntads m y confession. Not as an Individ- 
 rendered Application. | With fast- I " al > r not ot hi * own sins onl y, but a con- 
 ing. In view of the desolations of ! fession in behalf of the people, and in their 
 the city and temple; the calamities i name. There is no reason to suppose 
 that had come upon the people; their | that what he here says did not express 
 sins, Ac. ; and in order also that the i their feelings. They had been long in 
 mind might be prepared for earnest and ! captivity far away from their desolate 
 fervent prayer. The occasion was one ! cit y and temple. They could not but be 
 of great importance, and it was proper i sensible that these calamities had come 
 that the mind should be prepared for it u P on them on account of their sins ; and 
 by fasting. It was the purpose of Dan- | they could not but feel tbat the calamitie3 
 iel to humble himself before God, and to j could not be expected to be removed but 
 recall the sins of the nation for which j b J confession of their sins, and by ac- 
 they now suffered, and fasting was an knowledging the justice of the divine 
 appropriate means of doing that, f" And ! dealings towards them. When we have 
 sackcloth. Sackcloth was a coarse kind : been afflicted when we are called to pass 
 of cloth, usually made of hair, and em- j through severe trials and when borne 
 ployed for the purpose of making sacks, i down b ? trial > we S to God > and P ra J 
 bags, Ac. As it was dark, and coarse, j that the evil may be removed, the first 
 and rough, it was regarded as a proper i thing that is demanded is, that we should 
 badge of mourning and humiliation, and ! confess our sins and acknowledge the jus- 
 was worn as such usually by passing or I tice of God in tho judgments that have 
 girding it around the loins. See Notes i come u P on us - If we attempt to vindi- 
 on Isa. iii. 24; Job xvi. 15. f And ashes. I cate and J ustif > ourselves, we can have 
 It was customary to cast ashes on the I no h P e that the Judgment will be averted, 
 head in a time of great grief and sorrow, j Daniel, therefore, in the name of the peo- 
 The principles on which this was done 1 P le be S a . n bis prayer with tho humble 
 seem to have been, (a) that the external i and penitent acknowledgment that all 
 appearance should correspond with the t_ bat r the j bad suffered was deserved, 
 state of the mind and the heart, and ^\ Lord, tl>e great and dreadful God. A 
 
 (b) that such external circumstances 
 would have a tendency to produce a state 
 of heart corresponding to them or would 
 produce true humiliation and repentance 
 
 God great, and to be feared or venerated. 
 Nniirv This does not mean dreacffulin 
 tho sense that there is anything stern or 
 unamiable in his character, but mainly 
 
 for sin. Corap. Notes on Job ii. 8. The j that he is to be regarded with veneration, 
 practical truth taught in this verse, in ; f[ Keeping the covenant and mercy. Keep- 
 coniiection with the preceding is, that the i ing his covenant and showing mercy, 
 fact that a thing is certainly predicted, ! This is often ascribed to God, that he is 
 and that God means to accomplish it, is faithful to his covenant; that is, that he 
 
 an encouragement to prayer, and will 
 lead to prayer. We could have no en- 
 * 
 
 is faithful to his promises to his people, or 
 to those who sustain a certain relation to 
 
362 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. 0. 538. 
 
 and said, Lord, the great and 
 dreadful God, keeping b the covenant 
 and mercy to them that love him, 
 and to them that keep his command 
 ments ; 
 
 5 We c have sinned and have com 
 mitted iniquity, and have done wick 
 edly, and have rebelled, even by de- 
 
 a Nc. 9. 32, &c. b Ex. 20. 6. 
 cP?. 106.6; Is. 64. 6, 7. 
 
 I parting from thy precepts and from 
 jthy judgments: 
 
 6 Neither d have we hearkened 
 ! unto thy servants the prophets, 
 
 which spake in thy name to our 
 kings, our princes, and our fathers, 
 ; and to all the people of the land. 
 
 7 Lord, righteousness e belong 
 
 i eth unto f thee, but unto us confusion 
 
 d 2 Ch. 36. 15, 16. e or, thou hast, f Ps. 51. 4. 
 
 him, and who are faithful to their cove- every way possible. The mind, in a state 
 nant vows. If there is alienation and es- I of true repentance, dwells on its sins, and 
 trangement, and want of faithfulness on recounts the various forms in which ini- 
 either side, it does not begin with him. quity has been done, and multiplies ex- 
 He is faithful to all his promises, and his j pressions of regret and sorrow on account 
 fidelity may always be assumed as a basis ! of transgression. ^[ from thy precepts. 
 
 of calculation in all our intercourse with 
 him. See the word covenant in Cruden s 
 Concordance. The word mercy seems to 
 
 Thy commands ; thy laws. ^[ Thy judg 
 ments. Thy laws the word judgments 
 in the Scripture denoting what God judges 
 
 be added here to denote that mercy enters j to be right for us to do, as well as what it 
 into his dealings with us even in keeping I is right for him to inflict. 
 
 the covenant. We are so sinful, and so 
 unfaithful ourselves, that if he is faithful 
 to his covenant, it must be by showing 
 mercy to us. ^[ To them that love him, &c. 
 The conditions of the covenant extend no 
 farther than this, since, in a compact of 
 any kind, one is bound to bo faithful only 
 while the terms are maintained by the 
 other party. So God binds himself to 
 show favour only while we are obedient, 
 and we can plead his covenant only when 
 we are obedient, when we confess our 
 sins, and plead his promises in this sense 
 that he has assured us that he will re 
 store and receive us if we are penitent. 
 It was this which Daniel plead on this 
 occasion. He could not plead that his 
 people had been obedient, and had thus 
 any claims to the divine favour, but he 
 could cast himself and them on the mercy 
 of a covenant-keeping God, who would 
 remember his covenant with them if they 
 were penitent, and who would graciously 
 pardon. 
 
 5. We have sinned. Though Daniel 
 was alone, ho spake in the name of the 
 people in general doubtless recounting 
 the long series of crimes in the nation 
 which had preceded the captivity, and 
 which were the cause of the ruin of 
 the city and temple. IT And have com 
 mitted iniquity, &c. These varied forms 
 of expression are designed to give in 
 tensity to what he says. It is equiva 
 lent to saying that they had sinned in 
 
 6. Neither have we hearkened nnto th$ 
 servants the prophets. Who called upon 
 us to turn from our sins; who made known 
 the will of God, and who proclaimed that 
 these judgments would come upon us if 
 we did not repent. ^ Which spake in 
 thy name to our kings, &c. To all classes 
 of the people, calling on kings and rulers 
 to turn from their idolatry, and the peo 
 ple to forsake their sins, and to seek the 
 Lord. It was a characteristic of the 
 prophets that they spared no classes of the 
 nation, but faithfully uttered all the word 
 of God. Their admonitions had been un 
 heeded, and the people now saw clearly that 
 these calamities had come upon them be 
 cause they had not hearkened to their voice. 
 
 7. Lord, righteousness belongeth nnto 
 thee. Marg., or, thou hast. The He 
 brew is, to thee is righteousness, to us 
 shame, <fec. The state of mind in him 
 who makes the prayer is that of ascribing 
 righteousness or justice to God. Daniel 
 feels and admits that God has been right 
 in his dealings. He is not disposed to 
 blame him, but to take all the shame and 
 blame to the people. There is no mur 
 muring or complaining on his part as if 
 God had done wrong in any way, but there 
 is the utmost confidence in him, and in his 
 government. This is the true feeling with 
 which to come before God when we are 
 afflicted, and when we plead for his mercy 
 and favour. God should be regarded as 
 righteous in all that he has done, and 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 363 
 
 of faces, as at this day ; to the men j 8 Lord, to us belongeth b confu- 
 ofJudah, and to the inhabitants of sion of face, to our kings, to our 
 Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, thai princes, and to our fathers, because 
 are near, and that are far off, through we have sinned against thee. 
 all the countries whither a thou hast | 9 To the Lord our God ^belong 
 driven them, because of their tres- mercies and forgiveness, though we 
 pass that they have trespassed have rebelled against him ; 
 
 against thee. a Le. 26. 33, 34. b Eze. 16. 63. c Ps. 130, 4, 7. 
 
 holy in all his judgments and claims, and | Judah properly so called, but all who ap- 
 there should be a willingness to address ! pertain to the nation. They were all of 
 him as holy, and just, and true, and to ! one blood. They had had a common 
 take shame and confusion of face to our- j country. They hud all revolted, and a 
 selves. Comp. Ps. li. 4. f But unto us \ succession of heavy judgments had come 
 confusion of faces. Heb., shame of j upon the nation as such, and all had oc- 
 faces ; that is, that kind of shame which | casion for shame and confusion of face, 
 we have when we feel that we are guilty, | ^[ That are near, and that are far off. 
 and which commonly shows itself in the j Whether in Babylon, in Assyria, or in 
 countenance, ^f As at this day. As we i more remote countries. The ten tribes 
 actually are at this time. That is, he felt j had been carried away some two hundred 
 that at that time they were a down-trod- I years before this prayer was offered by 
 den, an humbled, a contemned people, j Daniel, and they were scattered in far 
 Their country was in ruins; they were | distant lands. ^[ Through all the coun- 
 captives in a far-distant land, and all on ; tries whither thou hast driven them, <fec. 
 which they had prided themselves was j In Babylonia, in Assyria, in Egypt, or in 
 laid waste. All these judgments and hu- other lands. They were scattered every 
 where, and wherever they were they had 
 common cause for humiliation and shame. 
 Lord, to us belongeth confusion, 
 To all of us ; to the whole people, 
 
 miliating things he says they had de 
 served, for they had grievously sinned , 
 To the men of Judah. j 
 
 tin 
 
 tribe of Judah, but to i &c. 
 
 against God. 
 
 Not merely to ____. , 
 
 the kingdom of that name. After the re- j high and low, rich and poor, the rulers 
 volt of the ten tribes which became j and the ruled. All had been partakers of 
 known as the kingdom of Ephraim be- \ the guilt ; all were involved in the ca- 
 cause Ephraim was the largest tribe, or j lamities consequent on the guilt. As all 
 
 the kingdom of Israel, the other portion 
 of the people the tribes of Judah and 
 Benjamin, were known as the kingdom 
 of Judah, since Judah was by far the 
 largest tribe of the two. This kingdom 
 
 had sinned, the judgments had come 
 upon all, and it was proper that the con 
 fession should be made in the name of all. 
 9. To the Lord our God belong mercies 
 and forgivenesses. Not only does right 
 eousness belong to him in the sense that 
 
 is referred to here, because Daniel be 
 longed to it, and because the ten tribes i he has done right, and that he cannot be 
 had been carried away long before, and I blamed for what he has done, but mercy 
 scattered in the countries of the East, and forgiveness belong to him in the sense 
 
 The ten tribes had been carried to As 
 syria. Jerusalem always remained as 
 the capitol of the kingdom of Judah, and 
 it is to this portion of the Hebrew people 
 that the prayer of Daniel more especially 
 appertains. ^[ And to the inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem. Particularly to them, as the 
 heaviest calamities had come upon them, 
 
 that he only can pardon, and that these 
 are attributes of his nature. ^[ Though 
 we have rebelled against him. The word 
 here used and rendered though >3 may 
 mean either though, or for. That is, the 
 passage may mean that mercy belongs to 
 God, and we may hope that he will show 
 it, although we have been so evil and re- 
 
 and as they had been prominent in the j bellious ; or it may mean that it belongs 
 
 sins for which these judgments had come 
 upon the people. ^ And unto all Israel. 
 All the people who are descendants of Is 
 rael or Jacob, wherever they may be, em 
 bracing not only those of the kingdom of 
 
 to him, and he only can show it, for we have 
 rebelled against him ; that is, our only 
 hope now is in his mercy, for we have sin 
 ned, and forfeited all claims to his favour. 
 Either of these interpretations make good 
 
364 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 10 Neither have we obeyed the 
 voice of the Lord our God, to walk 
 in his laws, which he set before us 
 by his servants the prophets. 
 
 11 Yea, all * Israel have trans 
 gressed thy law, even by departing, 
 that they might not obey thy voice ; 
 therefore the curse is poured upon 
 us, and the oath that is written in 
 the law of Moses the servant of God, 
 because we have sinned against him. 
 
 Is. 1. 46. 
 
 sense, but the latter would seem to be 
 most in accordance with the general strain 
 of this part of the prayer, which is to make 
 humble and penitent confession. So the 
 Latin Vulgate qm a. So Theodotion, on. 
 So Luther and Lengerke, denn. In the 
 same way, the passage in Ps. xxv. 11, 
 is rendered, " For thy name s sake, Lord, 
 pardon mine iniquity, for o it is 
 great," though this passage will admit 
 of the other interpretation, although it 
 is great. 
 
 10. Neither have we obeyed the voice of 
 the L ord. The commands of God as made 
 known by the prophets, ver. 6. 
 
 11. Yea, all Israel have transgressed, <fcc. 
 Embracing not only the tribe and the 
 kingdom of Judah, but the whole nation. 
 The calamity, therefore, had corno upon 
 them all. ^ Even by departinq. By de 
 parting from thy commandments ; or by 
 rebellion against thee. ^ That they might 
 not obey thy voice. By refusing to obey 
 thy voice, or thy commands, ^f Therefore 
 the curse is poured upon us. As rain de 
 scends, or as water is poured out. The 
 curse here refers to that which was so sol 
 emnly threatened by Moses in case the 
 nation did not obey God. See Deut. 
 xxviii. 15-68. f And the oath that is 
 written in the law of Moses, <fcc. The 
 word here rendered oath n^ ur means 
 properly a swearing, or an oath, and hence, 
 either an oath of promise or in a covenant, 
 or an oath of cursing or imprecation ; 
 that is, a curse. It is evidently used in 
 the latter sense here. See Gesenius, Lex. 
 Daniel saw clearly that the evils which 
 had been threatened by Moses (Deut. 
 xxviii.), had actually come upon the na 
 tion, and he as clearly saw that the cause 
 of all these calamities was that which 
 Moses had specified. He, therefore, frank- 
 
 12 And he hath confirmed hm 
 words, which he spake against us, 
 and against our judges that judged 
 us, by bringing upon us a great evil: 
 for under the whole heaven hath not 
 been done as hath been done upon 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 13 As it is written bin the law 
 of Moses, all this evil is come upon 
 us : yet c made we not our prayer 
 
 b Lc. 26. 14, Ac.; De. 28. 15, &c.; La. 2. 1517. 
 c entreated ive not the face of. 
 
 ly and penitently confessed these sins in 
 the name of the whole people, and earn 
 estly supplicated for mercy. 
 
 12. And he hath confirmed, his words, 
 &c. By bringing upon the people all that 
 he had threatened in case of their disobe 
 dience. Daniel saw that there was a com 
 plete fulfilment of all that he had said 
 would come upon them. As all this had 
 been threatened, he could not complain; 
 and as he had confirmed his words in re 
 gard to the threatening, he had the same 
 reason to think that he would in regard 
 to his promises. What Daniel here says 
 was true in his time, and in reference to 
 his people will be found to be true at all 
 times, and in reference to all people. 
 Nothing is more certain than that God 
 will confirm all the words that he has 
 ever spoken, and that no sinner can hope 
 to escape on the ground that God will be 
 found to be false to his threatenings, or 
 that he has forgotten them, or that ho 
 is indifferent to them. ^[ Against our 
 judges that judged us. Our magistrates or 
 rulers. ^[ For under the whole heaven. 
 In all the world. ^ Hath not been done at 
 hath been done upon Jerusalem. In respect 
 to the slaughter, and the captivity, and 
 the complete desolation. No one can show 
 that at that time this was not literally 
 true. The city was in a state of complete 
 desolation ; its temple was in ruins ; its 
 people had been slain or borne into cap 
 tivity. 
 
 13. As it is written in the law of Moses. 
 The word law was given to all the writ 
 ings of Moses. See Notes on Luke xxiv. 
 44. ^[ Yet made we not our prayer before 
 the. Lord our God. Marg., entreated we 
 not the face of. The Hebrew word here 
 used rV?n means properly to be pol 
 ished; then to be worn down in strength, 
 
B C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 365 
 
 before the Lord our God, that we 
 might tarn from our iniquities, and 
 understand thy truth. 
 
 14 Therefore hath the Lord 
 watched upon the evil, and brought 
 it upon us : for the Lord our God 
 in righteous 3 in all his works which 
 
 he doeth; for we obeyed not his 
 voice. 
 
 15 And now, Lord our God, 
 that hast brought thy people forth 
 out of the land of -Egypt with a 
 mighty hand, and hast b gotten theo 
 
 No. 9. S3. 
 
 bmadetheea name. 
 
 to be weak ; then to be sick, or diseased ; fer is that we have sinned. This will bo 
 
 then in Piel, (the form used here) to rub 
 or stroke the face of any one, to soothe or 
 caress, and hence to beseech, or suppli 
 cate. See Gesenius, Lex. Here it means, 
 that, as a people, they had failed, when 
 
 they had sinned, to call upon God for 
 
 found to bo true always, and whatever 
 calamities we suffer, it should be a fixed 
 principle with us to "asci ibe righteous 
 ness to our Maker." Job xxxvi. 3. 
 
 pardon ; to jonfess their sins ; to implore I 
 his mercy; to deprecate his wrath. 
 It would have been easy to turn aside 
 his threatened judgments if they had 
 been penitent, and had sought his mercy, 
 
 I 
 
 15. 
 
 Andnow, Lord our God, that Jiast 
 thy people forth out of the land of 
 
 but they had not done it. What s 
 here said of them, can and will be said of 
 
 Egypt. In former daj-g. The reference 
 to this shows that it is proper to use argu 
 ments before God when we plead with 
 him (Comp. Notes on Job xxiii. 4) ; that 
 is, to suggest considerations or reasons 
 
 why the prayer should be granted. Those 
 , reasons must be, of course, such as will 
 
 all sinners when the divine judpnent I. to Qur Qwn mindg ag 6ufficient to 
 comes upon them, fl That ice mujht turn m ^ Q ifc for Qod to ^^ ^ Q 
 
 from our equities. That we might seek ; blessi anf / wh(jn th are presented 
 grace to turn from our transgressions | bcfore hi H mugj . be wkh submission to 
 
 l&t 5&&J*-J^t \ his hi S her view ^ the subject. The argu- 
 
 which God had revealed ; equivalent to 
 saying that they might be righteous. 
 14. Therefore hath the Lord watched 
 
 merits which it is proper to urge are those 
 derived from the divine mercy and faith 
 fulness; from the promises of God; from 
 
 upon the evil. The word here used, and j hig fori j er dealiog ; with ^ his poople . from 
 
 rendered watched 1[5C means properly 
 
 Then 
 
 our sins and misery; from the great 
 sacrifice made for sin ; from the desira- 
 
 to wake; to le sleepless ; to watch. 
 it means to watch over anything, or to j bleness that his name should be glorified, 
 be attentive to it, Jer. i. 12; xx.xi. 28; Here Daniel properly refers to the former 
 xliv. 27. Gesenius, Lex. The meaning divine interposition in favour of the He- 
 
 here is, that the Lord had not been inat 
 tentive to the progress of things, nor un 
 mindful of his threatening. He had 
 never slumbered, but had carefully ob 
 served the course of event?, and had been 
 attentive to all that they had done, and 
 to all that he had threatened to do. The 
 practical truth taught here and it is one 
 
 brew people, and he pleads the fact that 
 God had delivered them from Egypt as a 
 reason why he should now interpose and 
 save them. The strength of this argu 
 ment may be supposed to consist in such 
 things as the following: (a) in the fact 
 that there was as much reason for in 
 terposing now, as there was then ; 
 
 of great importance to sinners is that i (6) in the fact that his interposing then 
 God is not inattentive to their conduct, j might be considered as a proof that he 
 though he may seem to be, and that in j intended to be regarded as their pro- 
 due time he will show that he has kept an j tector, and to defend them as his peo- 
 unsluuibering eye upon them. See Notes j pie ; (o) in the fact that he who had 
 on Isa. xviii. 4. ^For the Lord our God i evinced such mighty power at that 
 is riyhteoua in all his icorks, &c. T ris is ! time, must be able to interpose and save 
 the language of a true penitent ; language them now, <fcc. ^[ And hunt gotten thvz 
 which is always used by one who has renown. Marg., made thee a name. So 
 right feelings when he reflects on the the Hebrew. The idea is, that that great 
 divine dealings towards him. God is seen j event had been the means of making him 
 to be righteous in his law and in his j known as a faithful God, and a God 
 dealings, and the only reason why we suf-j able to deliver. As he was thus known, 
 31* 
 
366 
 
 DANIEL. [B. C. 538 
 
 renown, as at this day ; we have 
 sinned, we have done wickedly. 
 
 16 f Lord, according to all thy 
 righteousness, I beseech thee, let 
 thine anger and thy fury be turned 
 away from thy city Jerusalem, thy 
 holy mountain: because for our 
 sins, and for the iniquities of our 
 
 Daniel prayed that he would again inter 
 pose, and would now show that he 
 was as able to deliver his people as in 
 former times. ^[ As at this day. That 
 is, as God was then regarded. The re 
 membrance of his interposition had been 
 diffused abroad, and had been transmitted 
 from age to age. ^ We have sinned, &c. 
 This turn in the thought shows how 
 deeply the idea of their sinfulness pressed 
 upon the mind of Daniel. The natural 
 and obvious course of thought would 
 have been, that, as God had interposed, 
 when his people were delivered from 
 Egyptian bondage, he would now again 
 interpose ; but, instead of that, the mind 
 of Daniel is overwhelmed with the thought 
 that they had sinned grievously against 
 one who had shown that ho was a God 
 eo great and glorious, and who had laid 
 them under such obligations to love and 
 serve him. 
 
 16. Lord, according to all thy righte 
 ousness. The word righteousness here 
 seems to refer to all that was excellent 
 and glorious in the character of God. 
 The eye of Daniel is fixed upon what he 
 had formerly done; upon his character 
 of justice, and mercy, and goodness ; 
 upon the faithfulness of God to his peo 
 ple, and, in view of all that was excellent 
 and lovely in his character, he plead that 
 
 fathers, Jerusalem and thy people 
 are become a reproach to all that are, 
 about us. 
 
 17 Now therefore, our God, 
 hear the prayer of thy servant, and 
 his supplications, and cause thy 
 face to shine upon thy sanctuary 
 that is desolate for the Lord s sake. 
 
 he would interpose and turn 
 anger from his people now. 
 
 away his 
 It is the 
 
 structian of their city, f Thy holy moun 
 tain. Jerusalem was built on hills, and 
 the city in general might be designated 
 by this phrase. Or, more probably, there 
 is allusion either to Mount Zion, or to 
 MountMoriah. <[ Because for our sins, Ac. 
 There is, on the part of Daniel, no dispo 
 sition to blame God for what he had done. 
 There is no murmuring or complaining, 
 as if he had been unjust or severe in his 
 dealings with his people. Jerusalem was 
 indeed in ruins, and the people were cap 
 tives in a distant land, but he felt and 
 admitted that God was just in all that he 
 had done. It was too manifest to be de 
 nied that all these calamities had come 
 upon them on account of their sins, and 
 this Daniel, in the name of the people, 
 humbly and penitently acknowledged. 
 ^[ A reproach to all that are about us. All 
 the surrounding nations. They reproach 
 us with our sins, and with the judgments 
 that have come upon us, as if we were 
 peculiarly wicked, and were forsaken of 
 heaven. 
 
 17. Now, therefore, O our God, hear 
 the prayer of thy servant. In behalf of 
 the people. He plead for his people, and 
 country, and earnestly entreated the 
 Lord to be merciful. His argument is 
 based on the confession of sin; on the 
 character of God ; on the condition of the 
 city and temple; on the former divine 
 interpositions in behalf of the people; 
 
 character of God that is the ground of ! and by all these considerations, he pleads 
 his plea and what else is there that can I with God to have mercy upon his people 
 give us encouragement when we come and land. ^[ And cause thy face to shine 
 before him in prayer ? *[ Let thine anger j upon thy sanctuary. Upon the temple. 
 and thy fury be turned away, &c. The That is, that ho would look upon it be- 
 anger which had come upon the city, and ! nignly and favourably. The language 
 which appeared to rest upon it. Jeru- I is common in the Scriptures, when favour 
 salem was in ruins, and it seemed still to [and kindness are denoted by lifting up 
 be lying under the wrath of God. The i the light of the countenance, and by 
 
 word rendered /> ?/, is the common one 
 to denote wrath or indignation. It im 
 plies no more than anger or indignation, 
 
 similar phrases. The allusion is, origi 
 nally, perhaps, to the sun, which, when 
 it shines brightly, is an emblem of favour 
 
 ;ind refers here to the divine displeasure and mercy; when it is overclouded, is an 
 igainst their sins, manifested in the de-j emblem of wrath. ^ For the Lord s take. 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 367 
 
 18 my God, incline thine ear, 
 and hear; open thine eyes, and be 
 hold our desolations, and the city 
 which is called by thy name: ^ for 
 we do not b present our supplications 
 before thee for our righteousnesses, 
 but for thy great mercies. 
 
 whereupon thy name is called fall. 
 
 19 Lord, hear ; Lord, forgive ; 
 Lord, hearken and do ; defer not, 
 for thine own sake, my God : for 
 thy city and thy people are called 
 by thy name. 
 
 20 f And while I was speaking, 
 and praying, and confessing my 
 
 b cause to. 
 
 That is, that ho would be propitious for 
 his own sake; to wit, that his glory might 
 be promoted ; that his excellent character 
 might be displayed; that his mercy and 
 compassion might be shown. All true 
 prayer has its seal in a desire that the 
 glory of God may be promoted, and the 
 excellence of his character displayed. 
 That is of more consequence than our 
 welfare, and the gratification of our wishes, 
 and that should be uppermost in our 
 hearts when we approach the throne of 
 grace. 
 
 18. my God, incline thine ear and 
 hear. Pleading earnestly for his atten 
 tion and his favour, as one does to a man. 
 5[ Open thine eyes. As if his eyes had 
 been closed upon the condition of the 
 city, and he did not see it. Of course, 
 all this is figurative, and is the language 
 of strong and earnest pleading when the 
 heart is greatly interested. f[ And the 
 city which is called by thy name. Marg., 
 whereupon thy name is called. The mar 
 gin expresses the sense more literally, 
 but the meaning is, that the city had 
 been consecrated to God, and was called 
 his the city of Jehovah. It was known 
 as the place of his sanctuary the city 
 where his worship was celebrated, and 
 which was regarded as his peculiar dwell 
 ing-place on the earth. Cotnp. Ps. xlviii. 
 1, 2, 3 ; Ixxxvii. 3. This is a new ground 
 of entreaty, that the city belonged to 
 God, and that ho would remember the 
 close connection between the prosperity 
 of that city and the glory of his own 
 name. 
 
 19. Lord, hear, &c. The language 
 in this verse does not require any parti 
 cular explanation. The repetition the 
 varied forms of expression indicate a 
 mind intent on the object ; a heart greatly 
 interested; an earnestness that cannot 
 be denied. It is language that is re 
 spectful, solemn, devout, but deeply 
 earnest. It is not vain repetition, for its 
 force is not in the words employed, but in 
 
 the manifest fervour, earnestness, and 
 sincerity of spirit which pervade the 
 pleading. It is earnest intercession and 
 supplication that God would hear that 
 he would forgive, that he would hearken 
 and do, that he would not defer his gra 
 cious interposition. The sins of the peo 
 ple ; the desolation of the city ; the pro 
 mises of God; the reproach that the ra 
 tion was suffering all these come rushing 
 over the soul, and prompt to the most 
 earnest pleading that perhaps ever pro 
 ceeded from human lips. And these 
 things justified that earnest pleading 
 for the prayer was that of a prophet, a 
 man of God, a man that loved his country, 
 a man that was intent on the promotion 
 of the divine glory as the supreme object 
 of his life. Such earnest intercession; 
 such confession of sin ; such a dwelling 
 on arguments why a prayer should be 
 heard, is at all times acceptable to God ; 
 I and though it cannot be supposed that 
 I the divine mind needs to be instructed, 
 ! or that our arguments will convince God 
 j or influence him as arguments do men, 
 i yet it is undoubtedly proper to urge them 
 as if they would, for it may be only in 
 this way that our own minds can be 
 brought into a proper state. The great 
 argument which toe are to urge why our 
 prayers should be heard, is the sacrifice 
 which has been made for sin by the Re 
 deemer, and the fact that he has pur 
 chased for us the blessings which we 
 need; but in connection with that it is 
 proper to urge our own sins and necessi 
 ties; the wants of our friends or our 
 country ; our own danger and that of 
 others; the interposition of God in times 
 past in behalf of his people, and his own 
 gracious promises and purposes. If we 
 have the spirit, the faith, the penitence, 
 the earnestness of Daniel, we may be sure 
 that our prayers will be heard as his 
 was. 
 
 20. And ichile I was speaking, Ac. In 
 the very time when I was thus pleading. 
 
368 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 IB. C. 
 
 sin and the sin of my people Israel, 
 and presenting my supplication be 
 fore the Lord my God for the holy 
 mountain of my God ; 
 
 21 Yea, while I was speaking in 
 
 Frayer, even the man Gabriel, whom 
 had seen in the vision at the be- 
 
 *with weariness, or, flight. 
 
 *[ For the holy mountain of my God. Notes 
 on ver. 16. 
 
 21. Yea, while I was speaking in prayer. 
 How long the prayer continued, we are 
 not informed. It is probable tbat we 
 have only the substance of it, and that 
 Daniel has recorded only the topics on 
 which he dwelt more at length. The 
 subject was of great importance, and it 
 is reasonable to suppose that a day had 
 been devoted to an examination of the 
 prophecies, and to solemn prayer. ^[ Even 
 the man Gabriel. Who had the appear 
 ance of a man, and hence so called. 
 * Whom I had seen in the vision at the 
 beginning. That is, in & former vision. 
 See Notes on ch. viii. 16. It cannot refer 
 to what is mentioned in this (the ninth) 
 chapter, for (a) he had as yet had no vis 
 ion, but all that is recorded is a prayer ; 
 (b) there is no intimation that Gabriel had 
 appeared to him at the beginning of the 
 prayer ; and (c) it is declared that at the 
 beginning of the prayer, Gabriel, then evi 
 dently in heaven, had received command 
 ment to go to Daniel, and to communicate 
 the message to him, ver. 23. The mean 
 ing undoubtedly is, tbat the personage 
 who now appeared to him he recognized 
 to be the same who had appeared in a 
 former vision on the banks of the Ulai. 
 The proper meaning of the Hebrew here 
 is, in a vision at the beginning/ as in 
 our translation. So the Vulgate, a prin- 
 cipio ; and so Theodotion iv T?J dp**?. 
 The Hebrew word rVjnn means properly 
 beginning, Hos. i. 2; Prov. ix. 10; but, in 
 connection with the preposition, as here, 
 nSnn? it means also before, formerly, 
 Geni xiii. 3 ; xli. 21; xliii. 18, 20 ; Isa. i. 26. 
 ^[ Being caused to fly swiftly. Marg., with 
 weariness, or Jlight. On the difficult He 
 brew expression here *! ? 1> T P Len- 
 g-erkc may be consulted, in loc. The 
 words, according to Gesenius, and derived 
 from *$;, to go swiftly, and then, to be 
 
 ginning, being caused to fly a swiftly, 
 touched me about the time of the 
 evening oblation. 
 
 22 And he informed me, and 
 talked with me, and said, Daniel, 
 I am now come forth b to give thee 
 skill and understanding. 
 
 b make thee skilful of 
 
 wearied, to faint, either with running, 
 Jer. ii. 24, or with severe labor, Isa. xl. 
 28, or with sorrows, Isa. 1. 4. If derived 
 from this word, the meaning in Hopbal, 
 the form here used would be, wearied 
 icith swift running, and the sense is, that 
 Gabriel had borne the message swiftly to 
 him, and appeared before him as one does 
 who is wearied with a rapid course. If 
 this be the idea, there is no direct allu 
 sion to his flying, but the reference is to 
 the rapidity with which he had come on 
 the long journey, as if exhausted by his 
 journey. The Latin Vulgate renders it 
 cito volans quickly flying ; Theodotion, 
 flying; the Codex Chis. ra\i\. 
 borne swiftly. The Syriac, with 
 a swift flying he flew and came from 
 heaven. It cannot be determined with 
 certainty, from the words used here, that 
 the coming of Gabriel xvas by an act of 
 flying as with wings. The common rep 
 resentation of the angels in the old Testa 
 ment is not with wings, though the Cher 
 ubim and Seraphim (Isa. vi. 1, scq.) are 
 represented with wings, and in Ilev. xix. 
 6, we have a representation of an angel 
 flying. Probably the more exact idea 
 here is that of a rapid course, so as to pro 
 duce weariness, or such as would naturally 
 produce fatigue. ^[ Touched me. Dan 
 iel was doubtless at this time engaged in 
 prayer. ^[ About the time of the evening 
 oblation. The evening sacrifice. This 
 was at the ninth hour of the day, or about 
 ! three o clock in the afternoon. 
 
 22. And he informed me. Heb., Gave me 
 intelligence or understanding. That ia, 
 about the design of his visit, and abcut 
 what would be hereafter. ^ And talked 
 with me. Spake unto me. ^ Daniel, I 
 am now come forth to give thee skill. 
 Marg., make thee skilful of. The He 
 brew is literally, to make thee skilful, or 
 wise, in understanding. The design was 
 to give him information as to what was t6 
 occur. 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 369 
 
 23 At the beginning of thy sup 
 plications the a commandment came 
 forth, and I am come to show thee ; 
 for thou art b greatly beloved : there- 
 
 a word. b a man of desires. 
 
 23. At the beginning of thy supplica 
 tions. We arc not informed at what time 
 Daniel began to pray, but, as remarked 
 above, it is most natural to suppose that 
 he devoted the day to prayer, and had 
 commenced these solemn acts of devotion 
 in the morning. ^ The commandment 
 came forth. Marg., word. That is, the 
 word of God. This evidently means, in 
 heaven ; and the idea is, that as soon as 
 he began to pray a command was issued 
 from God to Gabriel that he should visit 
 Daniel, and convey to him the important 
 message respecting future events. It is 
 fair to conclude that he had at once left 
 heaven in obedience to the order, and on 
 this high embassage, and that he had 
 passed over the amazing distance between 
 heaven and earth in the short time during 
 which Daniel was engaged in prayer. If 
 so, and if heaven the peculiar seat of 
 God the dwelling place of angels and 
 of the just, is beyond the region of the 
 fixed stars some central place in this vast 
 universe, then this may give us some idea 
 of the amazing rapidity with which celes 
 tial beings may move. It is calculated 
 that there are stars so remote from our 
 earth, that their light would not travel 
 down to us for many thousand years. If 
 so, how much more rapid may bo the 
 movements of celestial beings than even 
 light; perhaps more than that of the 
 lightning s flash than the electric fluid 
 on telegraphic wires though that moves 
 at the rate of more than 200,000 miles 
 in a second. Comp. Dick s Philosophy 
 of a Future State, p. 220. "During the 
 few minutes employed in uttering this 
 prayer," says Mr. Dick, "this angelic 
 messenger descended from the celestial 
 regions to the country of Babylonia. 
 This was a rapidity of motion surpass 
 ing the comprehension of the most vig 
 orous imagination, and far exceeding 
 even tho amazing velocity of light." 
 "With such a rapidity it may be our pri 
 vilege 3 et to pass from world to world, 
 on errands of mercy and love, or to 
 survey in distant parts of the universe 
 the wonderful works of God. C And 
 
 fore understand the matter, and con 
 sider the vision. 
 
 24 c Seventy d weeks are deter- 
 
 c They bcprin from the 20th of Artaxerxes. 
 d Nu. 14. 34 ; Eze. 4. 6. 
 
 / am come to show thee. To make thee 
 acquainted with what will yet be. *j[ For 
 thou art greatly beloved. Marg., as in 
 Heb., a man of desires. That is, ho 
 was one whose happiness was greatly 
 desired by God ; or a man of God s de 
 light ; that is, as in our version, greatly 
 beloved. It was on this account that his 
 prayer was heard, and that God sent to 
 I him this important message respecting 
 what was to come. ^[ Therefore under 
 stand the matter. The matter respecting 
 what was yet to occur in regard to his 
 people. [ And consider the vision. This 
 vision the vision of future things which 
 ho was now about to present to his view. 
 From this passage describing the appear 
 ance of Gabriel to Daniel, we may learn 
 
 (a) that our prayers, if sincere, are heard 
 in heaven as soon as they are offered. 
 They enter at once into the ears of God, 
 and he regards them at the instant. 
 
 (b) A command, as it were, may bo at 
 once issued to answer them a if he di 
 rected an angel to bear the answer at 
 once, (c) Tho angels are ready to hasten 
 down to men, to communicate the will of 
 God. Gabriel came evidently with plea 
 sure on his embassage, and to a benevo 
 lent being anywhere there is nothing 
 more grateful than to bo commissioned 
 to bear glad tidings to others. Possibly 
 that may be a part of tho employment of 
 the righteous forever, (d) The thought 
 is an interesting one, if we are permitted 
 to entertain it, that good angels may be 
 constantly employed as Gabriel was ; that 
 whenever prayer is offered on earth they 
 may be commissioned to bring answers 
 of peace and mercy, or dispatched to ren 
 der aid, and that thus the universe maj 
 be constantly traversed by these holy be 
 ings ministering to those who are heirs 
 of salvation. Heb. i. 1, 4. 
 
 24. Seventy weeks are determined. 
 Here commences the celebrated prophecy 
 of tho SEVENTY WEEKS a portion of 
 Scripture which has excited as much at 
 tention, and led to as great a variety of 
 interpretation, as perhaps any other. Of 
 this passage, Prof. Stuart (Hints on the 
 
370 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 
 
 mined upon thy people and upon 
 thy holy city, to * finish the trans- 
 Interpretation of Prophecy, p. 104), re 
 marks, " It would require a volume of 
 considerable magnitude, even to give a 
 history of the ever-varying and contra 
 dictory opinions of critics respecting this 
 locus vex a tissimus / and perhaps a still 
 larger one to establish an exegesis which 
 would stand. I am fully of opinion, that 
 no interpretation as yet published, will 
 stand the test of thorough grammatico- 
 historical criticism ; and that a candid, 
 and searching, and thorough critique here 
 is still a desideratum. May some expo 
 sitor, fully adequate to the task, speedily 
 appear!" After these remarks of this 
 eminent Biblical scholar, it is with no 
 great confidence of success that I enter on 
 the exposition of the passage. Yet, per 
 haps, though all difficulties may not be 
 removed, and though I cannot hope to 
 contribute anything new in the exposi 
 tion of the passage, something may be 
 written which may relieve it of some of 
 the perplexities attending it, and which 
 may tend to show that its author was 
 under the influence of divine inspiration. 
 The passage may bo properly divided into 
 two parts. The first, in ver. 24, contains 
 a general statement of what would occur 
 in the time specified the seventy weeks ; 
 the second (vs. 25-27), contains a parti 
 cular statement of the manner in which 
 that would be accomplished. In this 
 statement, the whole time of the seventy 
 weeks is broken up in three smaller 
 portions of seven, sixty-two and one 
 designating evidently some important 
 epochs or periods, ver. 25, and the last 
 one week is again sub-divided in such a 
 way that, while it is said that the whole 
 work of the Messiah in confirming the 
 covenant would occupy the entire week, 
 yet that he would be cut off in the middle 
 of the week, ver 27. In the general 
 statement (ver. 24), it is said that there 
 wns a definite time seventy weeks 
 during which the subject of the predic 
 tion would be accomplished ; that is, dur 
 ing which all that was to be done in 
 reference to the holy city, or in the holy 
 city, to finish the transgression, to make 
 an end of sin, <fce., would be effected. 
 The things specified in this verse are what 
 was to be done, as detailed more particu 
 larly in the subsequent verses. The de 
 
 gression, and to b make an end of 
 
 a or, restrain. b or, seal up. 
 
 sign in this verse seems to have been to 
 furnish a general statement of what was 
 to occur in regard to the holy city of 
 that city which had been selected for the 
 peculiar purpose of being a place where 
 an atonement was to be made for human 
 transgression. It is quite clear that when 
 Daniel set apart this period for prayer, 
 and engaged in this solemn act of devo 
 tion, his design was not to inquire into 
 the ultimate events which would occur in 
 Jerusalem, but merely to pray that the 
 purpose of God, as predicted by Jeremiah, 
 respecting the captivity of the nation, and 
 the rebuilding of the city and temple, 
 might be accomplished. God took occa 
 sion from this, however, not only to give 
 an implied assurance about the accom 
 plishment of these purposes, but also to 
 state in a remarkable manner the whole 
 ultimate design respecting the holy city, 
 and the great event which was ever on 
 ward to characterize it among the cities 
 of the world. In the consideration of the 
 whole passage (vs. 24 27), it will be 
 proper, first, to examine into the literal 
 meaning of the words and phrases, and 
 then to inquire into the fulfilment. ^[ Sev 
 enty iveeks. D>J?T? D<l p"V Vulg. Septua- 
 ginta hebdomades. So Theodotion, E,#<5o- 
 fjifiKovra ,#<5o//d<5fj. Prof. Stuart (Hints, 
 p. 82) renders this seventy sevens; that 
 is, seventy times seven years : on the 
 ground that the word denoting weeks in 
 the Hebrew is not D gatr, but mpatf . " The 
 form which is used here," says he, "which 
 is a regular masculine plural, is no doubt 
 purposely chosen to designate the plural 
 of seven; and with great propriety here, 
 inasmuch as there are many sevens Avhich 
 are to be joined together in one common 
 sum. Daniel had been meditating on the 
 close of the seventy years of Hebrew ex 
 ile, and the angel now discloses to him a 
 new period of seventy times seven, in which 
 still more important events are to take 
 place. Seventy sevens, or (to use the Greek 
 phraseology), seventy heptades, are deter 
 mined upon thy people. Heptades of 
 what? Of days, or of years? No one 
 can doubt what the answer is. Daniel 
 had been making diligent search respect 
 ing the seventy years; and, in such a 
 connection, nothing but seventy heptades 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 371 
 
 sins, and to make reconciliation for 
 
 of years could be reasonably supposed to 
 
 iniquity, and to bring in * everlast- 
 
 * He. 9. 12. 
 
 considerations : (a) This is not uncom 
 mon in the prophetic writings. See Notes 
 
 be meant by the angel." The inquiry 
 
 about the gender of the word, of which so I on ch. vii. 2428. (6) Daniel had been 
 much has been said (Hengstenberg, Chris, making inquiry respecting the seventy 
 11. 297,) does not seem to be very im-Uear*,a<| it is natural to suppose that 
 portant, since the same result is reached I the answer of the angel would have re- 
 whether it be rendered seventy sevens, or spe ct to years also, and, thus understood, 
 seventy weeks. In the former case as pro- the answer would have met the inquiry 
 posed by Prof. Stuart, it means seventy | pertinently" not seventy years, but a 
 sevens of years, or 490 years ; in the j week of years seven times seventy 
 other, seventy iceeJu of years ; that is, as j years." Comp. Matt, xviii. 21, 22. "In 
 a week of years is seven years, seventy j suc h a connection, nothing but seventy 
 such weeks, or, as before, 490 years, j heptades of years could be reasonably 
 The usual and proper meaning of the | supposed to be meant by the angel. 
 word here used, however JPU^ is a Prof. Stuart s Hints, Ac., p. 82. (c) Years, 
 
 seven, t/Wo/uaj, hebdomad, i. e. a week, as Prof. Stuart remarks, are the measure 
 
 Gesenius, Lex. From the examples where of all considerable periods of time. When 
 
 the word occurs it would seem that the tne angel speaks, then, in reference to cer- 
 
 - tain events, and declares that they are to 
 
 masculine or the feminine forms were used 
 indiscriminately. The word occurs only 
 in the following passages, in all of which 
 it is rendered week, or weeks, except in 
 
 take place during seventy heptades, it is a 
 matter of course to suppose that he means 
 years, (d) The circumstances of the case 
 
 Ezek. xlv. 21, where it is rendered sevtn, \ demand this interpretation. Daniel was 
 to wit, days. In the following passages Decking comfort in view of the fact that 
 the word occurs in the masculine form tne city and temple had been desolate 
 plural, Dan. ix. 24, 25, 26 j x. 2, 3 ; in the 1 now f r a period of seventy years. The 
 following in the feminine form plural, j angel comes to bring him consolation, 
 
 Ex.xxxiv.22; Num. xxviii.26: Deut.xvi. 
 9, 10, 16: 2 Chron. viii. 13; Jer. v. 24; 
 Ezek. xlv. 21 ; and in the following in the 
 singular number, common gender, ren 
 dered week, Gen. xxix. 27, 28, and in the 
 dual masculine in Lev. xii. 5, rendered 
 two weeks. From these passages it is evi 
 dent that nothing certain can be deter 
 mined about the meaning of the word 
 from its gender. It would seem to de 
 note weeks, periods of seven days hebdo 
 mads in either form, and is doubtless so 
 used here. The fair translation would be 
 weeks seventy are determined; that is, 
 seventy times seven days, or four hundred 
 and ninety days. But it may be asked 
 
 and to give him assurances about the re 
 building of the city, and the great events 
 that were to occur there. But what con 
 solation would it be to be told that the 
 city would indeed bo rebuilt, and that it 
 would continue seventy ordinary weeks 
 that is, a little more than a year, before 
 a new destruction would come upon it ? 
 It cannot well be doubted, then, that by 
 the time here designated, the angel meant 
 to refer to a period of four hundred and 
 ninety years, and if it be asked why this 
 number was not literally and exactly spe 
 cified in so many words, instead of choos 
 ing a mode of designation so obscure com 
 paratively, it may be replied, (1) that the 
 
 here whether tiiis is to be taken literally j number seventy was employed by Daniel 
 as denoting four hundred and ninety as the time respecting which he was 
 days ? If not, in what sense is it to be making inquiry, and that there was a 
 understood ? and wli3 r do we understand 
 it in a different sense ? It is clear that 
 it must be ex 
 four hundr 
 
 xplained literally, as denoting 
 ed and ninety days, or that 
 these days must stand for years, and that 
 the period is four hundred and ninety 
 years. That this latter is the true inter- 
 
 propriety that there should be a reference 
 to that fact in the reply of the angel 
 number seventy had been fulfilled in the 
 desolations of the city, there would be 
 another number seventy in the events yet 
 to occur ; (2) this is in the usual pro 
 phetic style, when there is, as Hengsten- 
 
 pretation, as it has been held by all com- | berg remarks (Chris. II. 299), often a 
 mentators, is apparent from the following j concealed definiteness. It is usual to 
 
372 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 
 
 ing righteousness, and to seal up the vision and a prophecy, and to 
 
 a prophet. 
 
 anoint the Most Holy. 
 
 designate numbers in this way. (3) The j which Daniel belonged. This allusion is 
 term was sufficiently clear to be under- j mado because he was inquiring about 
 stood, or is, at all events, made clear by the close of their exile, and their restora- 
 the result. There is no reason to doubt tion to their own land. ^T And upon thy 
 that Daniel would so understand it, or j holy city. Jerusalem, usually called the 
 that it would be so interpreted, as fixing ! fa o ty ci t y> because it was the place where 
 in the minds of the Jewish people the ; the worghip of Qod wag celebrated< Isa . 
 
 period when the Messiah was about to 
 appear. The meaning, then, is, that 
 there would be a period of four hundred 
 and ninety years, during which the city, 
 after the order for the rebuilding should 
 go forth (ver. 25), until the entire con 
 summation of the great object for which 
 itshould be rebuilt, and that then the pur- 
 
 Hi. 1; Neh. xi. 1, 18; Matt, xxvii. 53. 
 It is called thy holy city the city of 
 Daniel, because he was here making es 
 pecial inquiry respecting it, and because 
 he was one of the Hebrew people, and the 
 city was the capitol of their nation. As 
 one of that nation, it could be called his. 
 It was then, indeed, in ruing, but it was to 
 
 ... T r_ i i i j ! nMwiij miAtcu, iii runic, uui/ it was tu 
 
 pose would be accomplished, and it would j be rebuilt and it wag o to k of ifc 
 be given up to a greater ruin. There was , ;r u *, . *u~ ;,; mu-. : c 
 
 given up to a greater 
 to be this long period in which most im 
 portant transactions were to occur in the 
 city. If Are determined. The word here 
 
 used 
 
 from Tl~n, occurs nowhere 
 
 else in the Scriptures. It properly means, 
 according to tJesenius, to cut off, to di 
 vide; and hence, to determine, to des 
 tine, to appoint. Theodotion renders it, 
 u are cutoff, decided, defined. 
 
 The Vulgate renders it, abbreviates siint. 
 
 Luther, Sind bestimmet are determined. 
 
 The meaning would seem to bo, that this 
 
 portion of time the seventy weeks was 
 
 cut ojffrom the whole of duration, or cut 
 
 out of it, as it were, and set by itself for 
 
 a definite purpose. It does not mean that 
 
 it was cut off from the time which the 
 
 city would naturally stand, or that this 
 
 time was abbreviated, but that a portion 
 
 of time, to wit, four hundred and ninety 
 
 years was designated or appointed with 
 
 reference to the city, to accomplish the 
 
 great and important object which is im- ! ined by Kennicott, it is nS 3 . The reading 
 
 mediately specified. A certain, definite ! in the text is undoubtedly the correct one, 
 
 period was fixed on, and when this was but still there is not absolute certainty as 
 
 passed, the promised Messiah would come, to the signification of the word, whether 
 
 In regard to the construction here the it means to finish, or to restrain. Tho 
 
 singular verb with a plural noun, see i proper meaning of the word in the com- 
 
 Hengstenberg, Christ, in loc. The true mon reading of the text N^D, is to shut 
 
 meaning seems to be, that the seventy j upj con fine, restrain as it is rendered in 
 
 weeks are spoken of collectively as de- tne margin. The meaning of the other 
 
 noting a period of time ; that is, a period i wor(J found in ffianv mgg- n L, ? _ 5g to be 
 
 as if it were then a city. The meaning of 
 upon thy people and city Sj? is, re 
 specting, or concerning. The purpose re 
 specting the seventy Aveeks^e>-fcm) to thy 
 people and city; or there is an important 
 period of four hundred and seventy years 
 determined on, or designated, respecting 
 that people and city, ^f To finish the trans 
 gression. The angel proceeds to state 
 what was the object to be accomplished in 
 this purpose, or what would occur during 
 that period. The first thing to finish the 
 transgression. The margin is, restrain. 
 The Vulgate renders it, ut consummetur 
 prcevaricatio. Theodotion, rur) awTt\&iii a.i 
 anaprlav to finish sin. Thompson ren 
 ders this, to finish sin offerings. The 
 difference between the marginal reading 
 
 estrain, and the text jinifth, arises 
 from a doubt as to the meaning of the 
 original word. The common reading of 
 the text is N.S?, but in 39 Codices exam- 
 
 of seventy weeks is determined. The i 
 
 completed, finished, closed and in Piel, 
 
 prophet, in the use of the singular verb, coP"*u uuuc, i ... , 
 
 *A 1,0. mf* m nltP,l t.h t.i , th f rln USed her6 tO Complete, to finish 
 
 seems to have contemplated the time, not 
 
 ats separate weeks, or as particular por- j . 
 
 dons, but as one period. <[ Upon th/peo- \ S10Q Geseni " s 
 
 fU. The Jarieh people; the nation to i word here is for 
 
 > as it is translated in the common ver- 
 
 O su PP OSeS th f ^ 
 meaning to finish, 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTEil IX. 
 
 373 
 
 or complete. Hengstenberg, who is fol 
 lowed in this view by Lengerke, supposes 
 that the moaning is to shut up transgres 
 sion/ and that the true reading is that in 
 the text- N>3 though as that word is not 
 used in Piel, and as the Masorites had 
 some doubt as to the derivation of the 
 word, they gure to it, not its appropriate 
 pointing in this place which would have 
 been sS;p, but the pointing of the other 
 word nSj, in the margin. According to 
 Hengstenberg, the sense here of shutting 
 up is derived from the general notion of 
 restraining or hindering, belonging to the 
 word; and he supposes that this will best 
 accord with the other words in this number 
 of the verse to cover, and to seal up. The 
 idea according to him is, that sin, which 
 hitherto lay naked and open before the 
 eyes of a righteous God, is now by his 
 inercy shut up, scaled, and covered, so 
 that it can no more be regarded as exist 
 inga figurative description of the for 
 giveness of sin. So Lengerke renders it, 
 Urn- einzKschliessen [deii\ Abfall. Ber- 
 tholdt, Bis der Frevcl vollbracht. It 
 seems most probable that the true idea 
 here is that denoted in the margin, and 
 that the sense is not that of finishing, but 
 that of restraining, closing, shutting up, 
 &c. So it is rendered by Prof. Stunrt 
 " to restrain transgression." Com. on Dan 
 iel, in loc. The word is used in this sense 
 of shutting up, or restraining, in several 
 places in the Bible: 1 Sam. vi. 10, and 
 shut up their calves at home ; Jer. xxxii. 
 3, Zedekiah had shut him up;" Ps. 
 Ixxxviii. 8, I am shut up, and I cannot 
 come forth; Jer. xxxii. 2, Jeremiah the 
 prophet was shut up. The sense of shut 
 ting up, or restraining, accords better 
 with the connection than that of finishing. 
 The reference of the whole passage is un 
 doubtedly to the Messiah, and to what 
 would be done sometime during the 
 seventy weeks; and the meaning here 
 is, not that he would finish transgres 
 sion which would not be true in any 
 proper sense, but that he would do a work 
 which would restrain iniquity in the 
 world, or, more strictly, which would shut 
 it up enclose it as in a prison, so that 
 it would no more go forth and prevail. 
 The effect would be that which occurs 
 when one is shut up in prison, and no 
 longer goes at large. There would be a 
 restraining power and influence which 
 would check the progress of sin. This 
 
 I does not, I apprehend, refer to the par 
 ticular transgressions for which the Jew 
 ish people had suffered in their long cap 
 tivity, but sin ("E^n) in general the sin 
 of the world. There would be an influ 
 ence which would restrain and curb it, or 
 which would shut it up so that it would 
 no longer reign and roam at large over 
 the earth. It is true that this might not 
 have been so understood by Daniel at the 
 time, for the language is so general, that 
 it might have suggested the idea that it 
 referred to the sins of the Jewish people. 
 This language, if there had been no far 
 ther explanation of it, might have sug 
 gested the idea that in the time specified 
 seventy weeks there would be some 
 process some punishment some divine 
 discipline by which the iniquities of 
 that people, or their propensity to sin, for 
 which this long captivity had come upon 
 them, would be cohtbitcd or restrained. 
 But the language is not such as necessa 
 rily to confine the interpretation to that, 
 and the subsequent statements, and the 
 actual fulfilment in the work of the Mes 
 siah, lead us to understand this in a much 
 higher sense, as having reference to sin 
 in general, and as designed to refer to 
 some work that would ultimately be an 
 effectual check on sin, pmd which would 
 tend to cohibit or restrain it altogether in 
 the world, Thus understood, the lan 
 guage will well describe the work of tho 
 Redeemer that work which, through the 
 sacrifice made on the cross, is adapted and 
 designed to restrain sin altogether. ^[ And 
 to make an end of sins. Marg., to seal 
 up. The difference here in the text and 
 the margin arises from a difference in the 
 readings in the Hebrew. The common 
 reading in the text is arn, from ann 
 to seal, to seal up. But the Hebrew mar 
 ginal reading is a different word ann 
 from CCri to complete, to perfect, to finish. 
 The pointing in the text in the word arn 
 is not the proper pointing of that word, 
 which would have been a n n, but the 
 ! Masorites, as is not unfrequently the 
 I case, gave to the word in the text the 
 | pointing of another word which th^y 
 i placed in the margin. The margii.al 
 reading is found in 55, MSS. (Len 
 gerke), but the weight of authority is de 
 cidedly in favour of the common reading 
 in the Hebrew text to scaf, and not to 
 finith, as it is iu our translation. Ta0 
 
S74 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 53&, 
 
 marginal reading to finish, was doubtless | 
 eubstituted by some transcribers, or j 
 rather suggested by the Masorites because | 
 it seemed to convey a better signification i 
 to say that sin would be finished, than 
 to say that, it would be nealed. The Vul 
 gate has followed the reading in the 
 margin et finem accipiat peccatum ; 
 Theodotion has followed the otherrending, 
 atppayiaai a/jiapriaf. Luther also has it, 
 to seal. Coverdale, that sin may have 
 an end. The true rendering is, doubtless, 
 to seal sin ; and the idea is that of re 
 moving it, from sight; to remove it from 
 view. The expression is taken, says j 
 Lengerke, from the custom of sealing j 
 up those things which one lays aside, I 
 and conceals. Thus in Job ix. 7, And 
 sealeth up the stars ; that is, he so shuts 
 them up in the heavens as to prevent 
 their shining so as to hide them from 
 the view. They are concealed, hidden, 
 made close as the contents of a letter, a| 
 package, seal, indicating that no one is 
 to examine them. See Notes on that 
 passage. So also in Job xxxvii. 7, re 
 ferring to winter, it is said, He sealeth 
 up the hand of every man, that all men \ 
 may know his work. That is, in the 
 winter, when the snow is on the ground, 
 when the streams are frozen, the labours 
 of the husbandman must cease. The 
 hands can no more be used in ordinary 
 toil. Every man is prevented from going 
 abroad to his accustomed labour, and is, 
 as it were, sealed up in his dwelling. 
 Comp. Jer. xxxii. 11, 14; Isa. xxix. 11; 
 Cant. iv. 12. The idea in the passage j 
 before us is, that the sins of our nature 
 will, as it were, be sealed up, or closed, 
 or hidden, so that they will not be seen, 
 or will not develop themselves; that is, 
 " they will be inert, inefficient, powerless." 
 Prof. Stuart. The language is appli 
 cable to anything that would hide them 
 from view, or remove them from sight 
 as a book whose writing is so sealed that 
 we cannot read it; a tomb that is so 
 closed that we cannot enter it and see its 
 contents; a package that ia so sealed, 
 that we do not know what is within it ; 
 a room that is so shut up that we may 
 not enter it, and see what is within. It 
 is not to be supposed that Daniel would 
 see clearly how this was to be done, but 
 we, who have now a full revelation of 
 the method by which God can remove 
 ein, can understand the method in which 
 it is accomplished by the blood of the 
 
 atonement, to wit, that by that atonement 
 sin is now forgiven, or is treated as if it 
 were hidden from the view, and a seal, 
 which may not be broken, placed on that 
 which covers it. The language thus used, 
 as we are now able to interpret it, is 
 strikingly applicable to the work of the 
 Redeemer, and to the method by which 
 God removes sin. In not a few MSS. 
 and editions, the word rendered sins is in 
 the singular number. The amount of 
 authority is in favour of the common 
 reading sins though the sense is not 
 materially varied. The work would have 
 reference to sin, and the effect would be 
 to seal it, and hide it from the view. 
 ^[ And to make reconciliation for iniquity. 
 More literally, and to cover iniquity. 
 The word which is rendered to make 
 reconciliation 193 kajthar, properly 
 means to cover (whence our English word 
 cover) ; to cover over, to overlay, as with 
 pitch, Gen. vi. 14; and hence to cover 
 over sin ; that is, to atone for it, pardon 
 it, forgive it. It is the word which is 
 commonly used with reference to atone 
 ment or expiation, and seems to have 
 been so understood by our translators. 
 It does not necessarily refer to themeana 
 by which sin is covered over, <fec., by an 
 atonement, but is often used in the gene 
 ral sense of to pardon or forgive. Comp. 
 Notes on Isa. vi. 7, and more fully, Notes 
 on Isa. xliii. 3. Here there is no neces 
 sary allusion to the atonement which the 
 Messiah would make in order to cover over 
 sin ; that is, the word is of so general a 
 character in its signification that it docs 
 not necessarily imply this, but it is the 
 word which would naturally be used on 
 the supposition that it had such a refer 
 ence. As a matter of fact, undoubtedly, 
 the means by which this was to be done 
 was by the atonement, and that was re 
 ferred to by the Spirit of inspiration, but 
 this is not essentially implied in the 
 meaning of the word. In whatever way 
 that should be done, this word would be 
 properly used as expressing it. The 
 Latin Vulgate renders thus, et deleatur ini- 
 quitas. Theodotion, anaXtufrat ras ddiKias 
 to wipe out iniquities. Luther, to re 
 concile for transgression. Here are three 
 things specified, therefore, in regard to 
 sin, which would be done. Sin would be 
 
 Restrained, 
 Sealed up, 
 Covered over. 
 
B. C. 538.1 
 
 CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 375 
 
 These expressions, though not of the 
 nature of a climax, are intensive, and 
 show that the great work referred to 
 pertained to sin, and would be designed 
 to remove it. Its bearing would be on 
 human transgression ; on the way by 
 which it might be pardoned; on the 
 methods by which it would be removed 
 from the view, and be kept from rising 
 np to condemn and destroy. Such ex 
 pressions would undoubtedly lead the 
 inind to look forward to some method 
 which was to be disclosed by which sin 
 could be consistently pardoned and re 
 moved. In the remainder of the verse, 
 there are three additional things which 
 would be done as necessary to complete 
 the work : 
 
 To bring in everlasting righteousness / 
 To seal up the vision and prophecy ; and 
 To anoint the Most Holt/. 
 ^[ And to bring in everlasting righteousness. 
 The phrase to bring in literally, to 
 cause to come/ refers to some direct 
 agency by which that righteousness would 
 be introduced into the world. It would 
 be such an agency as would cause it to 
 exist, 1 or as would establish it in the 
 world. The mode of doing this is not 
 indeed here specified, and so far as the 
 word here used is concerned, it would be 
 applicable to any method by which this 
 would be done whether by making an 
 atonement; or by setting an example; 
 or by persuasion ; or by placing the sub 
 ject of morals on a better foundation ; or 
 by the administration of a just govern 
 ment or in any other way. The term 
 is of the most general character, and its 
 exact force here can be learned only by 
 the subsequently revealed facts as to the j 
 way by which this would be accomplished. 
 The essential idea in the language is that 
 this would be introduced by the Mes 
 siah, that is, that he would be its author. 
 The word righteousness here also p"i?f, 
 is of a general character. The fair 
 meaning would be, that some method 
 would be introduced by which men 
 would become righteous. In the for 
 mer part of the verse, the reference was 
 to em to the fact of its existence to the 
 manner in which it would be disposed of 
 to the truth that it would bo coerced, 
 sealed up, covered over. Here the state 
 ment is, that, in contradistinction from 
 that, a method would be introduced by 
 which man would become, in fact, righte 
 
 ous and holy. But the word implies 
 nothing as to the method by which this 
 would be done. Whether it would be by 
 a new mode of justification, or by an in 
 fluence that would make men personally 
 holy whether this was to be as the re 
 sult of example, or instruction, or an 
 atoning sacrifice is not necessarily im 
 plied in the use of this word. That, as 
 in the cases already referred to, could be 
 learned only by subsequent developments. 
 It would be, doubtless, understood that 
 there was a reference to the Messiah for 
 that is specified in the next verse; and it 
 would be inferred from this word that, 
 under him, righteousness would reign, or 
 that men would be righteous, but nothing 
 could be argued from it as to the methods 
 by which it would be done. It is hardly 
 necessary to add, that, in the prophets, 
 it is constantly said that righteousness 
 would characterize the Messiah and his 
 times; that he would come to make men 
 righteous, and to set up a kingdom of 
 righteousness in the earth. Yet the ex 
 act mode in which it was to be done, 
 would be, of course, more fully explained 
 when the Messiah should himself actually 
 appear. The word everlasting is used 
 here to denote that the righteousness 
 would be permanent and perpetual. In 
 reference to the method of becoming 
 righteous, it would be unchanging 
 the standing method ever onward by 
 which men would become holy ; in re 
 ference to the individuals who should 
 become righteous under this system, it 
 would be a righteousness which would 
 continue forever. This is the character 
 istic which is every where given of the 
 righteousness which would be introduced 
 by the Messiah. Thus in Isa, li. 6 8 : 
 " Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and 
 look upon the earth beneath ; for the 
 heavens shall vanish away like smoke, 
 and the earth shall wax old like a gar- 
 inent, and they that dwell therein shall 
 die in like manner, but my salvation 
 shall be forever, and my righteousness 
 shall not be abolished. Hearken unto 
 me, ye that know righteousness, the peo 
 ple in whose heart is my law; fear ye not 
 the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid 
 of their revilings. For the moth shall eat 
 them up like a garment, and the worm 
 shall eat them like wool ; but my righte 
 ousness shall be forever, and my salva 
 tion from generation to generation." So 
 Isa. xlv. 17 : " For Israel shall be caved 
 
376 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538 
 
 in the Lord with an everlasting salvation ;! the fulfilment would, as it were, close 
 ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded, j them up forever. Till that time they 
 world without end." Comp. Jer. xxxi. 3. i would be open for perusal and study ; 
 The language used in the passage before [ then they would be closed up as a sealed 
 us, moreover, is such as could not pro- j volume which one does not read, but 
 perly be applied to any thing but that j which contains matter hidden from the 
 righteousness which the Messiah would view. Comp. Notes on Isa, viii. 16: 
 introduce. It could not be used in refer- j "Bind up the testimony; seal the law 
 ence to the temporal prosperity of the ! among my disciples." See also Dan. viii. 
 Jews on their return to the holy land, nor j 26 ; xii. 4. In Isaiah (viii. 16), the mean- 
 to such righteousness as the nation had ing is, that the prophecy was complete, and 
 in former times. The fair and proper the direction was given to bind it up. or roll 
 meaning of the term is, that it would be ! it up like a volume, and to seal it. In Dan. 
 eternal that which would endure forever , viii. 26, the meaning is, seal up the pro- 
 Dip^ y pn?. It would place righteous- j phecy, or make a permanent record of 
 
 ness on a permanent and enduring foun 
 dation ; introduce that which would en 
 dure through all changes, and exist when 
 the heavens would be no more. In tho 
 plan itself there would be no change ; in 
 the righteousness which any one would 
 possess under that system there would bo 
 
 it, that, when 
 
 fulfilled, the event 
 
 may be compared with the prophecy, and 
 it may be seen that the one corresponds 
 with the other. In the passage before us, 
 Gesenius (Lex.) renders it, to complete, 
 to finish meaning that the prophecies 
 would be fulfilled. Hengstenberg sup- 
 
 perpetual duration it would exist forever \ P oses tnat i fc means that as soon as tho 
 and ever. This is the nature of that 
 righteousness by which men are now jus 
 tified ; this is that which all who are in 
 
 takes place, the prophecy, al 
 though it retains, in other respects, its 
 
 great importance, reaches the end of its 
 
 terestcd in the scheme of redemption destination, in so far as the view of be- 
 actually possess. The tooy in which this ^ evers J w ho stand in need of consolation 
 everlasting righteousness would be in- anc ^ encouragement, is no longer directed 
 troduced, is not stated here, but is reserved to ! fc> to t ^ le future prosperity, but to that 
 for future revelations. Probably all that i w ^i c h has appeared. Lengerke supposes 
 the words would convey to Daniel would! tnat ifc means to confirm, corroborate, ra- 
 be, that there would be some method dis 
 closed by which men would become righte 
 ous, and that this would not be tempo- 
 
 _ _1- _ * i -. i 
 
 i-y or changing, but would be permanent 
 and eternal. It is not improper that ice 
 should understand it, as it is explained by 
 the subsequent revelations in the New 
 Testament, as to the method by which sin 
 ners are justified before God. ^ And to 
 seal up the vision and prophecy. Marg., 
 as in the Heb., prophet. The evident 
 meaning, however, here is prophecy. The 
 word seal is found, as already explained, 
 in the former part of the verse to seal 
 up sins. The word vision (for its mean 
 ing, see Notes on Isa. i. ],) need not be 
 understood as referring particularly to the 
 visions seen by Daniel, but should be un 
 derstood, like the word prophecy or pro 
 phet here, in a general sense as denoting 
 all the visions seen by the prophets the 
 series of visions relating to the future, 
 which had been made known to the pro- 
 
 tify bekriiftigen, bestatigen ; that is, the 
 eternal righteousness will be given to the 
 pious, and the predictions of the prophets 
 will be confirmed and fulfilled. To seal, 
 
 says he, has also the idea of confirming, 
 since the contents of a writing are se 
 cured or made fast by a seal. After all, 
 perhaps, the very idea here is that of 
 making fast, as a lock or seal does for, 
 as is well known, a seal was often used 
 by the ancients where a lock is with us, 
 and the sense may be, that, as a seal or 
 lock made fast and secure the contents 
 of a writing or a book, so the event, when 
 the prophecy was fulfilled, would make 
 it fast and secure. It would be, as it 
 were, locking it up, or sealing it, forever. 
 It would determine all that seemed to be 
 undetermined about it; settle all that 
 seemed to be indefinite, and leave it nc 
 longer uncertain what was meant. Ac 
 cording to this interpretation, the mean- 
 would be that the prophecies would 
 
 - 
 
 phets. The idea seems to be that they j bo sealed U P or settled by the coming of 
 would at that time be all sealed, in the j tho Messiah. The prophecies terminated 
 sense that they would be closed or shut! on hi m (Comp. Rev. xix. 10); they would 
 up tio longer open matter* but that j find their fulfilment in him ; they would be 
 
B. C. 538.] CHAPTER IX. 377 
 
 completed in him and might then be ! by others the consecration of the Chria- 
 regarded as closed and consummated as tian church by his presence. The phrase 
 a book that is fully written and is sealed properly means Holy of Holies, or Most 
 up. All the prophecies, and all the Holy. It is applied often in the Scrip- 
 visions, had a reference more or less ! ttires to the inner sanctuary, or the por- 
 direct to the coming of the Messiah, and tion of the tabernacle and temple con- 
 when he should appear they might be taining the ark of the covenant, the two 
 regarded as complete. The spirit of pro- j tables of stone, &c. See Notes on Matt, 
 phecy would cease, and the facts would i xxi. 12. The phrase occurs in the fol- 
 confirm and seal all that had been written. lowing places in the Scripture, Ex. xxvi. 
 ^ And to anoint the Most Holy. There 33,34; xxix. 37; xxx. 29, 36; xl. 10; 
 has been great variety in the interpreta- I Lev. ii. 3, 10, et al in all, in about 
 tion of this expression. The word ren- j twenty-eight places. See the English- 
 dered anoint nvi? infinitive from ntrip : man s Hebrew Concordance. It is not 
 (whence the word Messiah ver. 25), ! necessarily limited to the inner sane- 
 means properly to strike or draw the ^7 of the temple, but ma J b e P- 
 hand over any thing; to spread over with P hed to the whole house > or to anv - 
 anything, to smear, to paint, to anointJ thm that wa ? ? Derated to God in 
 It is commonly used with reference to a a manner peculiarly sacred. In a large 
 sacred rite, to anoint, or consecrate by fenso, possibly it might apply to Jorusa- 
 unction or anointing to any office or use ; Iem > thou S h I am not aware that !t ever 
 as e.g. a priest, Ex. xxviii. 41 ; xl. 15 ; occ , ur . s m tbls se . nse in tho . Scriptures, 
 a prophet, 1 Kings xix. 16; Isa. Ixi. 1; and in a fi S uratlve sense ll mi S b J be 
 a king, 1 Sam. x. 1 ; xv. 1 ; 2 Sam. ii.4; a PP hed undoubtedly, as Hengstenberg 
 1 Kings i. 34. So it is used to denote su PP oses to the Christian church, though 
 tho consecration of a stone or column as ifc is certain that U is not elsewhere 
 a future sacred place, Gen. xxxi. 13 ; or tbus used In re S ard to tho meaning of 
 vases and vessels as consecrated to God, i th f expression-an important and diffi- 
 Ex. xl. 9, 11 ; Lev. via. 11 ; Num. vii. 1. < lfc one > as 1S admitted by all there are 
 The word would then denote a setting \ five P" ipal opinions which it may be 
 apart to a sacred use, or consecrating a ? ve11 to notice The truth wil1 be found 
 person or place as holy. Oil, or an un- m one of them - C 1 ) Tbat lfc refers to the 
 guent, prepared according to a specified consecration by oil or anointing of the 
 rule, was commonly employed for this tom P le that would b rebuilt after the 
 purpose, but tho word may be used in a ca P tlvlt J> b J Zerubbabel and Joshua, 
 figurative sense as denoting to set apart J hls was the P inion f Michselis and 
 or consecrate in any way without the use Jahn> But to tbls P inion there ar e in- 
 of oil as in the case of the Messiah, i su P erab le objections : (a) that, according 
 So fur as this word, therefore, is con- to the unif rm tradition of the Jews, tho 
 corned, what is here referred to may have hol y oil was wan ting in the second tern- 
 occurred without the literal use of oil P le< In tbc case of tbe first temple there 
 byanyactof consecration or dedication to Ini S ht have been a literal anointing, 
 a holyuse. The phrase the Most Holy thou h there is no evidence of that, as 
 ,** ^p-has been very variously in- ^jiX^^l^tt 
 terpreted. Ly some it has been under- in the secon(l ten le there ig e ey ._ 
 
 stood to apply uerally ^ to the Most Holy i dence that there can be, that there was 
 place the Holy of Holies, in the tern- no literal ano i n ting. (I) The time here 
 
 pie ; by others to the whole temple, 
 garded as holy : by others to Jerusalem 
 
 referred to is a fatal objection to thia 
 opinion. The period is seventy weeks 
 
 at large as a holy place ; and by others, of ye or four hun(lred an / ninety 
 
 as Hengstenberg, to the Christian church years. This cannot bo doubted f 4 
 
 us holy place. By some the thing here Jf otes on the firgt t of the verse) ^ be 
 
 referred to is supposed to have been the the period re ferred to; but it is absurd 
 
 consecration of the Most Holy place after to s thafc the consecration of tho 
 
 the rebuilding of the temple ; by others new temple would be dcferr ed f ( ,r so long 
 
 the consecration of tho whole temple ; by a time> a nd thero is not the sH ,, htest ,, 
 
 others the consecration of the temple and dence that it war. This opinion, thcre- 
 nty by the presence of the Messiah, and] fore, cannot be entertained. (2) Tho 
 
 32* 
 
378 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 second opinion is, that it refers to the ] Notes on Heb. ix. 2) ; but it might be 
 re-consecrntion and cleansing of the tern- | applied to the whole temple as conse- 
 ple after the abominations of Antiochus crated to the service of God. If it be 
 Epiphanes. See Notes on ch. viii. 14. [ asked, then, what anointing, or conse- 
 But this opinion is liable substantially to | cration is referred to here, the rep?y, as 
 the same objections as the other. The it seems to me, is, not that it was then 
 cleansing of the temple, or of the sane- to be set apart anew, or to be dedicated ; 
 
 tuary, as it is said in ch. viii. 14, did not 
 occur four hundred and ninety years 
 after the order to rebuild the temple 
 (ver. 25), but at a much earlier period. 
 By no art of construction, if the period 
 here referred to is four hundred and 
 ninety years, can it be made to apply to 
 the re-dedication of the temple after An 
 tiochus had defiled it. (3) Other? have 
 supposed that this refers to the Messiah 
 himself, and that the meaning is, that he, 
 
 not that it was literally to be anointed 
 with the consecrating oil, but that it was 
 to be consecrated in the highest and 
 best sense by the presence of the Mes 
 siah that by his coming there was to be 
 a higher and more solemn consecration 
 of the temple to the real purpose for 
 which it was erected, than had occurred 
 at any time. It was reared as a holy 
 place ; it would become eminently holy 
 by the presence of him who would come 
 
 as the anointed of God, and his coming 
 to it would accomplish the purpose for 
 which it was erected, and with reference 
 to which all the rites observed there had 
 
 who was most holy, would then be con 
 secrated or anointed as the Messiah. It 
 is probable, as Hengstenberg (Christ, ii. 
 321, 322) has shown, that the Greek 
 translators thus understood it, but it is a been ordained, and then, this work having 
 sufficient objection to this that the phrase, been accomplished, the temple, and all 
 though occurring many times in the j the rites appertaining to it, would pass 
 Scriptures, is never applied to persons, \ away. In confirmation of this view, it 
 unless this be an instance. Its uniform j may be remarked, that there are repeated 
 and proper application is to things, or j allusions to the coming of the Messiah to 
 places, and it is undoubtedly so to be un- j the second temple, reared after the return 
 derstood in this place. (4) Hengsten- from the captivity as that which would 
 berg supposes (pp. 325 328), that it i give a peculiar sacredness to the temple, 
 refers to the Christian church as a holy and which would cause it to surpass in glory 
 place, or the New Temple of the Lord, j all its ancient splendour. So in Haggai ii. 
 the church of the New Covenant, as : 7 9: "And I will shake all nations, and 
 consecrated and supplied with the gifts | the desire of all nations shall come ; and I 
 of the Spirit. But it is a sufficient refu- j will fill this house with glory, saith the 
 tation of this opinion that the phrase is ( Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter 
 nowhere else so used; that it has in the j house shall be greater than the former 
 Old Testament a settled meaning as refer- \ saith the Lord of hosts ; and in this place 
 ring to the tabernacle or the temple ; that j will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts." 
 it is nowhere employed to denote a col- j So Mai. iii. 1, 2 : " The Lord, whom ye 
 lection of people, any more than it is an > seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, 
 individual person an idea which Hengs- j even the messenger of the covenant whom 
 tenberg himself expressly rejects (p. 322) ; | ye delight in ; behold he shall come, saith 
 and that there is no proper sense in which \ the Lord of hosts. But who may abide 
 it can be said that the Christian church | the day of his coming? And who shall 
 is anointed. The language is undoubtedly j stand when he appeareth ? For he is 
 to be understood as referring to some | like a refiner s fire, and like the fuller s 
 place that is to be thus consecrated, and soap," &c. Comp. Matt. xii. 6 : "But I 
 
 pla 
 
 the uniform Hebrew usage would lead to 
 the supposition that there is reference, in 
 some sense, to the temple at Jerusalem. 
 (5) It seems to me, therefore, that the 
 obvious and fair interpretation is, to refer 
 
 soap, 
 
 say unto you, that in this place is one 
 greater than the temple." Using the 
 word anoint, therefore, as denoting to con 
 secrate, to render holy, to set apart to a 
 sacred use, and the phrase holy of 
 
 it to the temple as the holy place of to designate the temple as such, it seems 
 God; his peculiar abode on earth. Strictly j to me most probable that the reference 
 
 and properly speaking, the phrase would 
 apply to the inner room of the temple 
 the sanctuary properly so called (see 
 
 here is to the highest consecration which 
 could be made of the temple in the esti 
 mation of a Hebrew, or in fact, the prea- 
 
B.C. 538.] CHAPTER IX. 379 
 
 25 Know therefore and under- stand, that from the going forth of 
 
 ence of the Messiah, as giving a sacred- 
 ness to that edifice which nothing else did 
 give or could give, and, therefore, as meet 
 ing all the proper force of the language 
 used here. On the supposition that it 
 was designed that there should be a refer 
 ence to this event, this would be such 
 language as would have been not unnat 
 urally employed by a Hebrew prophet. 
 And if it be so, this may be regarded 
 as the probable meaning of the passage. 
 In this sense, the temple which was to be 
 reared again, and about which Daniel felt 
 so solicitous, would receive its highest 
 its truest consecration as connected with 
 an event which was to bring in everlasting 
 righteousness, and to seal up the vision 
 and the prophecy. 
 
 25. Know, therefore, and understand. 
 
 commence which would result in the en 
 tire destruction of the city. ^[ That /row* 
 the going forth of the commandment. Heb. 
 of the word njn. It is used, however, 
 as in ver. 23, in the sense of command 
 ment or order. The expression gone 
 forth N^ c would properly apply to 
 the issuing O f an order or decree. So in 
 ver. 23, 
 went forth. 
 
 the commandment 
 The word properly means a 
 
 going forth, and is applied to the rising 
 sun, that goes forth from the east, Ps. 
 xix. 7 ; then a place of going forth, as a 
 gale, a fountain of waters, the east, &c. 
 Ezek. xlii. 11; Is. xli. 18; Ps. Ixxv. 7. 
 The word here has undoubted reference 
 to the promulgation of a decree or com 
 mand, but there is nothing in the words 
 
 Hengstenberg renders this, and thou to determine by whom the command 
 wilt know and understand ; and supposes 
 that the design of Gabriel is to awaken 
 the attention and interest of Daniel by 
 the assurance that, if he would give atten 
 tion, he would understand the subject by 
 the explanation which he was about to 
 
 give. 
 
 So also Theodotion renders it in 
 
 the future tense. The Hebrew is in the 
 future tense, and would probably convey 
 the idea that he might or would know 
 and understand the matter. So Lengerke 
 renders it, Und so mogest du wissen, &c. 
 The object is doubtless to call the atten 
 tion of Daniel to the subject, with the as 
 surance that he might comprehend the 
 great points of the communication which 
 he was about to make respecting the 
 seventy weeks. In the previous verse, 
 the statement was a general one; in this, 
 the angel states the time when the period 
 of the seventy weeks was to commence, 
 and then that the whole period was to be 
 broken up or divided into three smaller 
 portions or epochs, each evidently mark- 
 
 to be issued. So far as the language is 
 concerned, it would apply equally well to 
 a command issued by God, or by the Per 
 sian king, and nothing but the circum 
 stances can determine which is referred 
 to. Hengstenberg supposes that it is the 
 former, and that the reference is to the 
 divine purpose, or the command issued 
 from the heavenly council to rebuild 
 Jerusalem. But the more natural and 
 obvious meaning is, to understand it of 
 the command actually issued by the Per 
 sian monarch to restore and build the city 
 of Jerusalem. This has been the inter 
 pretation given by the great body of ex 
 positors, and the reasons for it seem to be 
 perfectly clear: (a) This would be the 
 interpretation affixed to it naturally, if 
 there were no theory to support, or if it 
 did not open a chronological difficulty not 
 easy to settle. (6) This is the only in 
 terpretation which can give any thing 
 like definiteness to the passage. Its 
 purpose is to designate some fixed and 
 
 ir.g so in o important event, or constituting ! certain period from which a reckoning 
 an important era. The first period of could be made to the time when the Mes- 
 seven weeks was evidently to be charac- j siah would come. But, so far as appears, 
 
 there was no such definite and marked 
 
 terized by something in which it would 
 be different from that which would follow, 
 or it would reach to some important 
 epoch, and then would follow a continu 
 ous period of sixty two weeks, after 
 which, during the remaining one week, 
 to complete the whole number of seventy, 
 the Messiah would come and would be 
 cut off, and the series of desolations would 
 
 command on the part of God ; no period 
 which can be fixed upon when he gave 
 commandment to restore and build Jeru 
 salem ; no exact and settled point from 
 which one could reckon as to the period 
 when the Messiah would come. It seems 
 to me, therefore, to be clear, that the allu 
 sion ia to some order to rebuild the 
 
580 DANIEL. [B. C. 538. 
 
 the commandment to restore and | to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah 
 
 a or, build again. 
 city, and as this order could come only and the fair sense is, that some such or- 
 
 der would be issued, and the reckoning 
 of the seventy weeks must begin at the 
 issuing of this command. The proper 
 interpretation of the prophecy demands 
 that that time shall be assumed in endea 
 vouring to ascertain when the seventy 
 
 from one who had at that time juris 
 diction over Jerusalem and Juden, and 
 who could command the resources neces 
 sary to rebuild the ruined city, that order 
 must be one that would emanate from the 
 reigning power; that is, in fact, the Per 
 sian power for that was the power that j weeks would terminate. In doing this, 
 had jurisdiction at the close of the sev- it is evidently required in all fairness that 
 enty years exile. But, as there were we should not take the time when the 
 several orders or commands in regard to [ Messiah did appear or the birth of the 
 the restoration of the city and the temple, | Lord Jesus, assuming that to be the 
 and as there has been much difficulty in ! terminus ad quern the point to which the 
 ascertaining the exact chronology of the ! seventy weeks were to extend and then 
 events of that remote period, it has not j to reckon backward for a space of four 
 been easy to determine the precise order j hundred and ninety years, to see whether 
 referred to, or to relieve the whole sub- j we cannot find some event which by 
 ject from perplexity and difficulty. Len- j a possible construction would bear to be 
 gerke supposes that the reference here is applied as the terminus a quo, the point 
 the same as in ver. 2, to the promise , from which we are to begin to reckon, but 
 made to Jeremiah, and that this is the true j we are to ascertain when, in fact, the or- 
 point from which the reckoning is to be der was given to rebuild Jerusalem, and 
 
 to make that the terminus a quo the 
 starting point in the reckoning. The 
 
 made. The exact edict referred to will 
 be more properly considered at the close 
 of the verse. All that is necessarily im- 
 
 consideration in the fulfilment of thi 
 
 plied here is, that the time from which jmay with propriety bo reserved to the 
 the reckoning is to be commenced is some iclose of the verse. ^ Unto the Mensiah. 
 command or order issued to restore and |The word Messiah occurs but four times 
 build Jerusalem. ^ To restore. Marg., | in the common version of the Scriptures : 
 build again. The Hebrew is properly to \ Dan. ix. 25, 26; John i. 41; iv. 25. 
 cause to return U"? ^. Th word might I It is synonymous in meaning with the 
 beapplied to the return of the captives to I ? rd ^,-^ the Anointed, Notes on Matt, 
 their own land, but it is evidently here I 1 L Messiah 1S the Hebrew word; Christ 
 used with reference to the city of Jerusa- i the Greek. The Hebrew word rrtro 
 lem, and the meaning must be, to restore occurs frequently in the Old Testa- 
 it to its former condition. It was evi- ment, and with the exception of these two 
 dently the purpose to cause it to return, j places in Daniel, it is uniformly trans- 
 as it were, to its former splendour; to re- lated anointed, and is applied to priests, 
 instate it in its former condition as a holy to prophets, and to kings, as being origi- 
 city the city where the worship of God nally set apart to their offices by solemn 
 would be celebrated, and it is this pur- acts of anointing. So farns the language 
 pose which is referred to here. The word, is concerned here, it might be applied to 
 in Hipliil, is used in this sense of restoring any one who sustained their offices, and 
 to a former state, or to renew, in the fol- the proper application is to be determined 
 lowing places, Ps. Ixxx. 3 : " Turn ns \ from the connection. Our translators 
 again npnrn and cause thy face to have introduced the article unto the 
 Bhine." So vs. 7, 19, of the same Psalm, i Messiah. This is wanting in the He- 
 Isa. i. 26: "And I will restore thy judges brew and should not have been intr - 
 as at the first," Ac. The meaning here i duced > as lfc e ives a defimteness to the 
 would be met by the supposition that Je- P r P hec y which the original language 
 rusalem was to be put intoits former con- ! d es not necessarily demand. Our trans- 
 dition. ^ And to build Jerusalem. It lators undoubtedly understood it ns refer- 
 was then in ruins. The command, which ing to him who is known as the Messiah, 
 is referred to here, must be one to build but this is not necessarily implied in the 
 it up again its houses, temple, walls ; ; original. All that the language fairly 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 381 
 
 shall a be built again, and the 
 even c in d troublous times. 
 
 c Ne. 4. 8. &c.; 6. 15. * strait of. 
 
 the Prince shall be seven weeks, and 
 threescore and two weeks : the street 
 
 a return and be buildcd. b or, breach, or, ditch. 
 
 conveys is, Until an anointed one. j vious, since an accurate date had been 
 Who that was to be, is to be determined j given." Christol. ii. 334, 335. The Vul- 
 from other circumstances than the mere i gate renders this, Usque ad Christum du- 
 
 use of the language, and in the interpre 
 tation of the language it should not be 
 assumed that the reference is to any par 
 ticular individual. That some eminent 
 personage is designated, some one who 
 by way of eminence would be properly re- 
 
 cem even to Christ the leader, or ruler. 
 The Syriac, to the advent of Christ the 
 king. Theodotion, ius Xpiarov $y*pi* 
 to Christ the leader, or ruler. The 
 question whether this refers to Christ, 
 will be more appropriately considered at 
 
 gardedas anointed of God; some one who the close of the verse. The inquiry will 
 would act so important a part as to char- then occur, also, whether this refers 
 
 acterize the age, or determine the epoch 
 
 to his birth, or to his appearance as the 
 
 which he should live; some one so ! anointed one his taking upon himself 
 prominent that he could be referred to ; publicly the office. The language would 
 as anointed, with no more definite ap- ! apply to either, though it would perhaps 
 pellation; some one who would be un- j more properly refer to the latter to the 
 derstood to be referred to by the mere j time when he should appear as such or 
 use of this language, may be fairly con- should be anointed, crowned, or set apart 
 eluded from the expression used for 
 
 the angel clearly meant to imply this, 
 find to direct the mind forward to some 
 
 to the office, and be fully instituted in it. 
 It could not be demonstrated that either 
 of these applications would be a departure 
 
 one who would have such a prominence from the fair interpretation of the words, 
 in the history of the world. The olject j and the application must be determined 
 now is merely to ascertain the meaning by some other circumstances, if any are 
 of the language. All that is fairly im- j expressed. What those are in the case, 
 plied is, that it refers to some one who 
 
 would have such aprominenceas anointed, 
 or set apart to the office of prophet, priest, 
 or king, that it could be understood that 
 he was referred to by the use of this 
 language. The reference is not to the 
 anointed one, as of one who was already 
 known or looked forward to as such for 
 then the article would have been used, 
 but to some one who, when he appeared, 
 would have such marked characteristics 
 that there would be no difficulty in deter 
 mining that he was the one intended. 
 Hengstenberg well remarks, " We must, 
 
 therefore, translate, an 
 
 ted 
 
 Prince, and assume that the prophet, in 
 accordance with the uniform character of 
 his prophecy, chose the more indefinite, 
 instead of the more definite designation, 
 and spoke only of an anointed one, a 
 prince, instead of the anointed one, the 
 prince /car i]-ox>i* and left his hearers 
 to draw a deeper knowledge respecting 
 him, from the prevailing expectations, 
 grounded on earlier prophecies of a fu 
 ture great king, from the remaining de 
 clarations of the context, and from the 
 fulfilment, the coincidence of which with 
 the prophecy must hero be the more ob- 
 
 will be considered at the close of the 
 verse, f The Prince. TOJ T . This word 
 properly means a leader, a prefect, a 
 prince. It is a word of very general 
 character, and might be applied to any 
 leader or ruler. It is applied to an over- 
 seer, or, as we should say, a secretary of 
 the treasury, 1 Chron. xxvi. 24, 2 Chron. 
 xxxi. 12 ; an overseer of the temple, 
 1 Chron. ix. 11, 2 Chron. xxxi. 13; of 
 the palace, 2 Chron. xxviii. 7, and of 
 military affairs, 1 Chron. xiii. ], 2 Chron. 
 xxxii. 21. It is also used absolutely to 
 denote a prince of a people, any one of 
 royal dignity, 1 Sam. ix. 16, x. 1, xiii. 14. 
 Gesenius. So far as this icord, therefore, 
 is concerned, it would apply to any prince 
 or leader, civil or military; any one of 
 royal dignity, or who should distinguish 
 himself, or make himself a leader in civil, 
 ecclesiastical, or military affairs, or who 
 should receive an appointment to any 
 such station. It is a word which would 
 be as applicable to the Messiah as to any 
 other leader, but which has nothing in 
 itself to make it necessary to apply it to 
 him. All that can be fairly deduced from 
 its use here is, that it would be some 
 prominent leader; some one that would 
 
382 
 
 DANIEL. [B. C.53H 
 
 be known without any more definite de 
 signation ; some one on whom the mind 
 would naturally rest, and some one to 
 whom when he appeared it would be ap 
 plied without hesitation and without dif 
 ficulty. There can be no doubt that a 
 Hebrew, in the circumstances of Daniel, 
 and with the known views and expecta 
 tions of the Hebrew people, would apply 
 such a phrase to the Messiah. ^[ Shall 
 be seven weeks. See Notes on ver. 24. 
 The reason for dividing the whole period 
 into seven weeks, sixty-two weeks, and 
 one week, is not formally stated, and will 
 be considered at the close of the verse. 
 All that is necessary here in order to an 
 explanation of the language, and of what 
 is to be anticipated in the fulfilment, is 
 this : (a) That according to the above in 
 terpretation (ver. 24), the period would 
 be forty-nine years. (6) That this was to 
 be the first portion of the whole time, not 
 time that would be properly taken out of 
 any part of the whole period, (c) That 
 there was to be some event at the end of 
 the forty-nine years which would desig 
 nate a period, or a natural division of 
 the time, or that the portion which was 
 designated by the forty-nine years was to 
 be distinctly characterized from the next 
 period referred to as sixty-two weeks, 
 and the next period as one week, (d) No 
 intimation is given in the words as to the 
 nature of this period, or as to what would 
 distinguish one portion from the others, 
 and what that was to be is to be learned 
 from subsequent explanations, or from 
 the actual course of events. If one pe 
 riod was characterized by war, and an 
 other by peace ; one in building the city 
 and the walls, and the other by quiet 
 prosperity; one by abundance, and the 
 other by famine ; one by sickness, and 
 the other by health, all that is fairly im 
 plied in the words would be met. It is 
 foretold, only, that there would be some 
 thing that would designate these periods, 
 and serve to distinguish the one from the 
 other. ^[ And threescore and two weeks. 
 Sixty-two weeks; that is, as above ex 
 plained (ver. 24), four hundred and thirty- 
 four years. The fair meaning is, that 
 there would be somet jicg which would 
 characterize that long period, and serve 
 to distinguish it from that which pre 
 ceded it. It is not indeed intimated what 
 that would be, and the nature of the case 
 seems to require that we should look to 
 the events to the facts in the course of 
 
 the history to determine what that was. 
 Whether it was peace, prosperity, quiet, 
 order, or the prevalence of religion as 
 contrasted with the former period, all that 
 the words fairly imply would be fulfilled 
 in either of them, ^f The street shall be 
 built again. This is a general assertion 
 or prediction, which does not seem to 
 have any special reference to the time 
 when it would be done. The fair inter 
 pretation of the expression does not re 
 quire us to understand that it should be 
 after the united period of the seven weeks 
 and the sixty-two weeks, nor during either 
 one of those periods ; that is, the language 
 is not such that we are necessarily re 
 quired to affix it to any one period. It 
 seems to be a general assurance designed 
 to comfort Daniel with the promise that 
 the walls and streets of Jerusalem, now 
 desolate, would be built again, and that 
 this would occur sometime during this pe 
 riod. His mind was particularly anxious 
 respecting the desolate condition of the 
 city, and the declaration ia here made that 
 it would be restored. So far as the lan 
 guage the grammatical construction, is 
 concerned, it seems to me that this would 
 be fulfilled if it were done either at the 
 time of the going forth of the command 
 ment, or during either of the periods de 
 signated, or even after these periods. It is, 
 however, most natural, in the connection, 
 to understand it of the first period the 
 seven weeks or the forty-nine years, 
 since it is said that the commandment 
 would go forth to restore, and to build 
 Jerusalem/ and since, as the whole sub 
 sequent period is divided into three por 
 tions, it may be presumed that the thing 
 that would characterize the first portion, 
 or that which would first be done, would 
 be to execute the commandment; that is, 
 to restore and build the city. These 
 considerations would lead us, therefore, to 
 suppose, that the thing which would 
 characterize the first period the forty- 
 nine years would be the rebuilding of 
 the city; and the time a time which, 
 considering the extent and entireness of 
 the ruins, the nature of the opposition 
 that might be encountered, the difficulty 
 of collecting enough from among the ex- 
 iles to return and do it, the want of 
 means, and the embarrassments which 
 such an undertaking might be supposed 
 to involve, cannot, probably, be regarded 
 as too long. The word rendered street 
 3iri} means a street, so called from it* 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 383 
 
 }radth, and would properly, therefore, be I lent to within and without meaning that 
 applied to a icide street. Then it denotes i the city would be thoroughly and en- 
 a market-place, or a forum, tho broad j tirely rebuilt. The Hebrew word )*nn 
 open place at the gates of Oriental cities I _ means pro perly that which is cut in, or 
 
 Ezra x. 9, the word refers to the area or 1S translated thorp pointed things in Job 
 court before the temple : "And all the j xh - 80 > (/old, fine gold, choice gold, m Ps. 
 
 people sat In the street- aims -of the I* ^ P T Hi I 4 * V" 10 19 
 
 = , ... , 16, Zech. ix. 3: a threshi 
 house of God," Ac. Comp. ft eh. viu. 1, { Iga xxviu 
 
 g instrument, 
 
 2 7, Amos i. 3 ; sharp (refer- 
 3, 16. The reference m this place, there- \ . to a threshi instrum ent,) Isa. xli. 15, 
 
 , . . , 
 
 fore, may be to that area or court; or it j wall Dan ix 2 5 ; and decision, Joel iii. 
 may be to any place of concourse, or any 
 thoroughfare. It is such language as 
 
 would be naturally used to denote that 
 
 u> It doeg nofc elsewhere occur in tbe 
 g criptures . The notion of ld as con . 
 
 wou e naturay use o enoe a nected with the WQrd . g babl derived 
 
 the city would be restored to its former from the fact of Ug bein r d f _ 
 
 condition. The phrase shall be built = 
 
 again, is, in the margin, return and be 
 
 builded. This is in accordance with the es that it 
 
 Hebrew. That is, it would be restored to h f fortified . Thig 
 
 er] ht b men . a idea is> f 
 
 courg(?> nQt applicable here> Gesen i us 
 here means a ditch or 
 
 its former state; it would, as it were, 
 come back, and be built up again. Heng- 
 
 me to be the probable signification. At 
 all events, this has the concurrence of tho 
 
 bod 
 
 of interpreters ; and this ac- 
 with the connection. The 
 
 stenberg renders it, a street is restored j 
 and built. The phrase properly implies 
 
 that it would assume its former condition, word doeg not } mean wall and it 
 
 the word built here being used in the j ig neyer elsewhere so used< It need nofc 
 sense of made as we speak of mak^y a j be gaid tfaat u wag com if nofc uni _ 
 
 road. Lengerke renders it, wird wieder j in walled dti to make d 
 
 hergestdlet- shall be again restored ditch > Qr ^^ ^^ them ^ 
 
 Theodotion renders it, "<"P^ < ll I the approach of an enemy, and such ^- 
 shall return, understanding it as mean- j guage WQuld naturally be employed in 
 
 ing that there would be a return, to wit, 
 
 speaking of the rebuilding of a city. 
 
 with broad 
 
 from the exile. But the more correct 
 
 meaning, undoubtedly, is, that the street , eg and narrow Umita > f Eve 
 
 would return to its former state, and be I irou ^i ous ^ 
 
 rebuilt, f And the wall. Marg., ditch. 
 Hengstenberg renders this, and firmly is 
 it determined, maintaining that the word 
 pnnhere means fixed, determined, re 
 solved on, and that the idea is, that the 
 
 Prof. Stuart renders it, 
 its 
 Marg., strait of. Hengs- 
 
 tenberg, in a time of distress. Len 
 gerke, Im Druck der Zeiten " in a pres 
 sure of times." Vulg. In anyuutia tem- 
 pontm. Theodotion, in the Septuagint, 
 renders it, And these times shall be 
 
 purpose that the city should be rebuilt was emptied out ( Thompson) *ai 
 firmly resolved on in the divine mind, and aovrai ol icaipoi. The proper meaning of 
 that the dwign of what is here said was to [ the Hebrew W0 rd p^X is distress, trou- 
 comfort and animate the returned Hebrews ! bl anguish> and the reference is, doubt- 
 in their efforts to rebuild the city, in all leggj to timeg that would be characterized 
 the discouragements and troubles which b trouble perplexity and distress. The 
 would attend such an undertaking. The allusion is clearly to the rebuilding of tho 
 interpretation, however, has been it and th uge f thi language would 
 
 ~f~~. * rt A ^;*,.l^ +^/\rtl- /M* Ttroll _" . 1 
 
 lead us to anticipate that such an enter- 
 
 common in 
 
 that it refers" to a ditch, trench, or wall, 
 that would be constructed at the time of 
 the rebuilding of the city. So the Vul 
 gate, muri, walls. So Theodotion, rti\oi 
 icaM. The Syriac renders it, Jerusa 
 lem, and the villages, and the streets. 
 Luther, Mauren, walls. Lengerke ren 
 ders it, as Hengstenberg does, and it is 
 determined. Maurer understands the two 
 expressions, street and wall, to be equiva- 
 
 prise would meet with opposition or em 
 barrassment; that there would be diffi 
 culty in accomplishing it; that the work 
 would not be carried on easity, and that 
 a considerable time would be necessary to 
 finish it. 
 
 Having gone through with an inves 
 tigation of the meaning of the words 
 
284 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 and phrases of this verso, we are now 
 prepared to inquire more particularly 
 what things are referred to, and whether 
 the predictions have been fulfilled. The 
 points which it is necessary to examine 
 are the following : To whom reference 
 is made by the Messiah the Prince ; .the 
 time designated by the going forth of the 
 commandment* or the terminus a quo j 
 the question whether the whole period 
 extends to the birth of him here referred 
 to as the Messiah the Prince, or to his 
 assuming the office or appearing as such ; 
 the time embraced in the first seven 
 weeks and the fulfilment or the ques 
 tion whether, from the time of the going 
 forth of the commandment to the appear 
 ing of the Messiah, the period of the four 
 hundred and ninety years can be fairly 
 made out. These are evidently important 
 points, and it need not be said that a 
 great variety of opinions has prevailed in 
 regard to them, and that they are attended 
 with no little difficulty. 
 
 I. To whom reference is made by the 
 Messiah the Prince. In the exposition of 
 the meaning of the words, we have seen 
 that there is nothing in the language itself 
 to determine this. It is applicable to any 
 one who should be set apart as a ruler or 
 prince, and might be applied to Cyrus, to 
 any anointed king, or to him who is pro 
 perly designated now as the Messiah 
 the Lord Jesus. Comp. Notes on Isa. 
 xlv. 1. It is unnecessary to show that a 
 great variety o.f opinion has been enter 
 tained both among the Jewish Rabbins, 
 and among Christian commentators, re 
 specting the question to whom this refers. 
 Among the Jews, Jarchi and Ja-cchides 
 supposed that it referred to Cyrus; Ben 
 Gersoin, and others, to Zerubbabel; Aben 
 Ezra to Nehemiah; Rabbi Azariah to 
 Artaxcrxes. Bertholdt, Lengerke, Mau- 
 rer, and this class of expositors generally, 
 suppose that the reference is to Cyrus, who 
 is called the Messiah, or the Anointed, 
 in Isa. xlv. 1. According to this inter 
 pretation, it is supposed that the refer 
 ence is to the seventy years of Jeremiah, 
 and that the meaning is, that seven 
 weeks/ or forty-nine years would elapse 
 from the desolation of the city till the 
 time of Cyrus. See Maurer in loc. Comp. 
 also Lengerke, pp. 444, 445. As speci 
 mens of the views entertained by those 
 who deny the reference of the passage to 
 the Messiah, and of the difficulties and 
 absurdities of those views, wo may notice 
 
 those of Eichhorn and Bertholdt. Eich- 
 horn maintains that the numbers referred 
 to are round numbers, and that we are 
 not to expect to be able to make out an 
 exact conformity between those numbers 
 and the events. The commandment 
 mentioned in ver. 25, he supposes refers 
 to the order of Cyrus to restore and re 
 build the city, which order was given, 
 according to Usher, A. M. 3468. From 
 this point of time must the seven weeks, 
 or the forty-nine years, be reckoned ; but 
 according to his view, the reckoning must 
 be backwards and forwards; that is, it 
 is seven weeks, or forty-nine years, back 
 ward to Nebuchadnezzar, who is here 
 called Messiah the prince, who destroyed 
 the temple and city, A. M. 3416 or about 
 fifty-two years before the going forth of 
 the edict of Cyrus. From that time, the 
 reckoning of the sixty-two weeks must be 
 commenced. But again, this is not to bo 
 computed literally from the time of Ne- 
 buchadnezxar ; but since the Jews, in ac 
 cordance with Jeremiah xxv. 11, 12, 
 reckoned seventy years, instead of the 
 true time, the point from which the esti 
 mate is to begin is the fourth year of the 
 reign of Jehoiakim, and this occurred, ac 
 cording to Usher, A. M. 3397. Reckon 
 ing from this point onward, the sixty- 
 two weeks, or 434 years, would bring us 
 to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes 
 (A. M. 3829). At the end of the sixty- 
 two weeks, in the first year of Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, the high priest, Onias III., 
 | (the Messiah of ver. 26,) was displaced 
 I cut ofi rn.3? and Jason was ap 
 pointed in his place, and Menelaus the 
 year after removed him. Thus Onias had 
 properly no successor, &c., &c. This ab 
 surd opinion Bertholdt (p. 605, neq.) at 
 tempts to set aside a task which is very 
 easily performed, and then proposes his 
 own an hypothesis not less absurd and 
 improbable. According to his theory 
 (p. 613, seq.), the seventy years have in 
 deed a historical basis, and the time em 
 braced in them extends from the destruc 
 tion of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar to 
 the death of Antiochus Epiphanes. It is 
 divided into three periods : (a) The seven 
 first hebdomads extend from the destruc 
 tion of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar to 
 king Cyrus, who gave the exiles permission 
 to return to their land. This is the period 
 during which Jerusalem must lie waste 
 (ver. 2) ; and after the close of this, by the 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 385 
 
 favour of Cyrus (ver. 25), the premise of 
 Jeremiah (ver. 25 -an command 
 ment ) that Jerusalem shall be fulfilled, 
 goes forth, (h) The following sixty-two 
 weeks extend from the return of the ex 
 iles to the beginning of the troubles and 
 persecutions under Antiochus. This - 
 
 expectation that such a deliverer would 
 come, and its hopes were centered on 
 him. In all times of national trouble and 
 calamity ; in all their brightest visions 
 of the future, they were accustomed to 
 look to him as one who would deliver 
 from their troubles, and who would 
 
 persecutions under Antiochus. This is inem irom tneir troubles, and who would 
 the period of the rebuilding of Jerusalem exa lt their people to a pitch of glory and 
 (ver. 25). (c) The last period of one of honour, such as they had never known 
 week, extends from the time of the op- Before. Unless, therefore, there was some- 
 pressions and wrongs commenced under thing in the connection, which would de- 
 Antiochus, to the death of Antiochus. j mand a different interpretation, the Ian- 
 See this view fully explained and illus- | ua g? wou l d be of course applied to the 
 trated in Bertholdt, ut supra. The great ! Messiah. But it cannot be pretended that 
 mass of Christian interpreters, however, I thereisany thing in the connection that de- 
 have supposed that the reference is to the ! man ds such a limitation, nor which forbids 
 Messiah properly so called the promised sucn an application. 
 
 Shuviniii* s\f *V/\ *,-/-,.!, 1 4-U . T J T Clftnt Vfirsirmc tKrrn 
 
 . (3) So far as the an 
 cient versions throw any lighten the sub 
 ject, they show that this is the correct inter 
 pretation. So the Latin Vulgate, usque ad 
 Christum ducem. So the Syriac, unto 
 Messiah, the most holy literally, holy 
 
 
 Saviour of the world the Lord Jesus. 
 In support of this opinion, the following 
 considerations may be suggested, which 
 
 eeem to me to be conclusive: (l)Thelan- - -. 
 
 guage itself is such as is properly appli- Messiah, the most holy lit 
 cable to him, and such as would naturally j f holies. So Theodotion !_> ,,., 
 suggest him. It is true, as we see in Isa. where there can be little doubt that the 
 xlv. 1, that the term Messiah may be ap- i Messiah was understood to be referred 
 nliftfl fr nnruhpr no if ic fV..a * n,,~..~ to. The same is found in the Arabic 
 
 s Codex Chis. is in utter confusion on 
 whole passage, and nothing can be 
 made of it. (4) All the circumstances 
 
 . , may e ap- 
 
 plied to another, as it is there to Cyrus, 
 (see the Notes on the meaning of the word 
 in that place, and in the exposition of 
 this verse,) but it is also true that if the 
 
 LtAovs Vt-lftV tliclt 11 CUC \~/ " v V*A VWtUBMUlVCV 
 
 term stands by itself, and with no expla- re er red to in connection with him who 
 nation, it would naturally suggest him i is here called Messiah the 
 who, by way of eminence, is known as 
 the Messiah. In Isa. xlv. 1, it is ex 
 pressly limited to Cyrus, and there can 
 be no danger of mistake. Here there is 
 no such limitation, and it is natural, 
 therefore, to apply it in the sense in 
 which among the Hebrews it would be 
 obviously understood. Even Bertholdt 
 admits the force of this. Thus (p. 563) 
 ho says: That at the words -P.JJ n>u ; D 
 [Messiah the prince] we should be led to 
 think of the Messiah, Jesus, and at those, 
 ver. 26, iS f-x.i ryvy rn> [shall be cut 
 off but not for himself], of his crucifix 
 ion, though not absolutely necessary, is 
 still _ very natural. (2) This would be 
 the interpretation which would be given 
 to the words by the Jews. They were so 
 much accustomed to look forward to a 
 great prince and deliverer, who would be 
 
 unw yiAUV^y itlC 
 
 such as to be properly applicable to the 
 work which the Lord Jesus came to do, 
 and not to Cyrus, or Antiochus, or any 
 other leader or ruler. See the Notes on 
 ver. 25. To no other one, according to 
 the interpretation which the passage in 
 that verse seems to demand, can the ex 
 pressions there used be applied. In that 
 exposition it was shown that the verse is 
 designed to give a general view of what 
 would be accomplished, or of what is ex 
 pressed more in detail in the remaining 
 verses of the vision, and that the lan 
 guage there used can be applied properly 
 to the work which the Lord Jesus came 
 to accomplish. Assuredly to no one else 
 can the phrases to restrain transgres 
 sion, to seal up sins, to cover over 
 iniquity, to bring in everlasting righte 
 ousness, to seal up the vision and pro 
 phecy, and to consecrate the most holy 
 
 ,...._ nuuiu ue pnecy, ana to consecrate the most holv 
 
 by way of eminence, the anointed of the place/ be so well applied. The same is 
 
 Lord, that, unless there was some special true of the language in the subsequent 
 
 limitation or designation in the language, part of the prophecy, Messiah shall be 
 
 they would naturally apply it to the Mes- A -** " - - - - 
 iah, properly so called. Comp. Isa. ix. 
 
 cutoff/ not for himself/ shall confirm 
 cause the oblation to 
 
 the 
 
 f rt r " ". . , ; -T*3 ^uveuani, -cause tne ooiation to 
 
 6 7. Early in the history of the Jews, cease. Any one may see the perplexi- 
 tho nation had become accustomed to the j ties in which they are involved by adopt- 
 
386 DANIEL. [B. C. 53b. 
 
 ing another interpretation, by consulting [are a few points which may be regarded 
 Bertholdt or Lengerke on the passage. . as certain. They are such as these : 
 
 (5) The expression here used -prince (a) That the commandment referred to is 
 T0j is applied to the Messiah beyond one that is issued by some prince or king 
 all question in Isa. Iv. 4 : "I have given having authority, and not the purpose 
 him for a witness to the people, a leader- of God See Notes above on the first 
 ^-and a commander to the people." ; ^^Sd^ l^^S 
 
 (6) The perplexity attending any other j eru salem. This is specified, and there- 
 interpretation is an additional proof of , fore would seem to be distinguished from 
 this point. In full illustration of this, it is j a C0 mmand to build the temple, or to re- 
 necessary only to refer to the views of Ber- 1 store that from its state of ruin. It is 
 tholdt and Eichhorn as above exhibited, j true t ^ at t h e one m io-ht appear to be im- 
 Whatever may be said about the difficul- i plied in the other, and yet this does not 
 ties on the supposition that it refers to | nec essarily follow. For various causes 
 the Lord Jesus the true Messiah, no | it might be permitted to the Jews to 
 one can undertake to reconcile the apph- ; re build their temple, and there might be 
 cations which they have proposed with a royal ordinance commanding that, 
 any belief of the inspiration of the pas- ; while there was no purp ose to restore the 
 sage. These considerations seem to me ! city to its f ormer power and splendor, 
 to make it clear that the prophecy had and even while there might be strong ob- 
 reference to the Messiah properly so j ect ions to it. For the use of the Jews 
 
 called the hope and the expectation of 
 the Jewish people. There can be no 
 doubt that Daniel would so understand 
 
 who still resided in Palestine, and ibr 
 those who were about to return, it might 
 be a matter of policy to permit them to 
 
 it; there can be no doubt that it would re build their temple, and even to aid 
 be so applied by the Jews. | them in it> while yet it migllt be regarded 
 
 II. The next question is, From what ! as perilous to allow them to rebuild the 
 point are we to reckon in computing the j city, and to place it in its former condition 
 time when the Messiah would appear of strength and power. It was a place 
 the terminus a quo f It is important to j easily fortified; it had cost the Baby- 
 fix this, for the whole question of the Ionian monarch much time, and had oc- 
 
 fulfilment depends on it, and honesty re 
 quires that it should be determined with- 
 
 casioned them many losses, before they 
 had been able to conquer and subdue it, 
 
 out reference to the time to which four i and, even to Cyrus, it might be a matter 
 hundred and ninety years would reach of very questionable policy to allow it to 
 or the terminus ad quern. It is clearly be built and fortified again. Accordingly 
 not proper to do as Prideaux does, to as- we find that, as a matter of fact, the per- 
 sume that it refers to the birth of Christ, ! mission to rebuild the temple, and the 
 and then to reckon backward to a time j permission to rebuild the city, were quite 
 which may be made to mean the going j different things, and were separately 
 forth of the commandment. The true j granted by different sovereigns, and that 
 method, undoubtedly, would be to fix on a the work was executed by different per- 
 time which would accord with the expres- | sons. The former might, without im- 
 sion here, with no reference to the question ! propriety, be regarded as the close of the 
 of the fulfilment for in that way only can captivity or the end of the seventy 
 it be determined to be a true prophecy, and years of Jeremiah for a permission to 
 in that way only would it be of any use ! rebuild the temple was, in fact, a permis- 
 to Daniel, or to those who succeeded him. I sion to return to their own country, and 
 It need hardly be said, that a great an implied purpose to aid them in it, while 
 variety of opinions have been mentioned a considerable interval might, and perhaps 
 in regard to the time designated by the I probably would elapse, before a distinct 
 going forth of the commandment. Ber- j command was issued to restore and re- 
 tholdt (pp. 567, 568), mentions no less j build the city itself, and even then a long 
 than thirteen opinions which have been en- : period might intervene before it would 
 tertained on this point, and in such a va- ! be completed. Accordingly, in the edict 
 riety of sentiment, it seems almost hope- i published by Cyrus, the permission to 
 less to be able to ascertain the truth with rebuild the temple is the one that is care- 
 eertainty. Now, in determining this, there j fully specified : " Thus saith Cyrus, king 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 387 
 
 of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath 
 given me all the kingdoms of the earth; 
 and he hath charged me to build him an 
 house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 
 
 In order to see how this interpretation 
 accords with the facts in the case, and to 
 determine whether such a period can be 
 found Si i shall properly correspond with 
 
 Who is there among you of all his peo- this interpretation, and enable us to as- 
 
 ple ? His God be with him, and let him 
 go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, 
 and build the house of the Lord G)d of 
 Israel (he is the God), which is at Jeru 
 salem," Ezra i. 2, 3. In this order 
 there is nothing said of the restoration 
 of the city, and that in fact occurred at a 
 different time, and under the direction 
 of different leaders. The first enterprise 
 was to rebuild the temple; it was still a 
 question whether it would be a matter 
 of policy to allow the city to be rebuilt, 
 
 certain the point of time here referred 
 to the terminus a quo it is proper to in 
 quire what are the facts which history has 
 preserved. For this purpose, I looked 
 at this point of the investigation into 
 Jahn s Hebrew Commonwealth, (pp. 160 
 177), a work not written with any re 
 ference to the fulfilment of this prophecy, 
 and which, indeed, in the portion relat 
 ing to this period of the world, makes no 
 allusion whatever to Daniel. The in 
 quiry which it was necessary to settle 
 
 and that was in fact accomplished at a j was, whether under any of the Persian 
 different time. These considerations kings there was any order or command 
 seem to make it certain that the edict re- which would properly correspond with 
 ferred to here was not that which was | what we have ascertained to be the fair 
 issued by Cyrus, but must have been a | meaning of the passage. A very brief 
 subsequent decree bearing particularly synopsis of the principal events recorded 
 
 on the rebuilding of the city itself. It is 
 true that the command to rebuild the tem 
 ple would imply that either there were 
 persons residing amidst the ruins of 
 Jerusalem, or in the land of Palestine, 
 who were to worship there, and that there 
 would be inhabitants in Jerusalem, pro 
 bably those who would go from Babylon 
 for otherwise the temple would be of no 
 service, but still this might be, and there 
 
 by Jahn as bearing on the restoration of 
 the Jews to their own country, will be 
 all that is needful to add to determine 
 the question before us. 
 
 The kings of the Persian universal 
 monarchy, according to Ptolemy, were 
 ten, and the whole sum of their reign 
 two hundred and seven years from the 
 time of Cyaxares II., to the time of Al 
 exander the Great. But Ptolemy s spe- 
 
 538. Cyaxares II. reigned 
 536. Cyrus 
 
 529. Cambyses " 
 
 522. Sinerdis 
 
 521. Darius Hystaspis " 
 485. Xerxes I. " 
 
 464. Artaxerxes Longimanus 
 424. Xerxes II. " 
 
 424. Sogdianus " 
 
 423. Darius Nothus " 
 404. Artaxerxes Mnernon 
 358. Darius Ochus " 
 
 337. Arses " 
 
 335. Darius Codomanus " 
 
 ys. mos. 
 2 
 7 
 7 5 
 
 be no permission to rebuild the city with i cific object being chronology, he omitted 
 any degree of its ancient strength and | those who continued not on the throne a 
 splendor, and none to surround it with \ full year, and referred the months of their 
 walls a very material thing in the struc- 1 reign, partly to the preceding, and partly 
 ture of an ancient city, (c) This inter- to the succeeding monarch. The whole 
 pretation is confirmed by the latter part number of sovereigns was in reality four- 
 of the verse : the street shall be built teen, as appears by the following table : 
 again, and the wall, even in troublous 
 times. If the word rended wall, means 
 trench or ditch, as I have supposed, still 
 it was a trench or ditch which was de 
 signed as a defence of a city, or which 
 was excavated by making a wall, or for 
 the purpose of fortifying a walled city in 
 order to make it stronger, and the ex 
 pression is one which would not be ap 
 plied to the mere purpose of rebuilding the 
 temple, nor would it be used except in a 
 command to restore the city itself. We 
 are, then, in the fair interpretation of 
 the passage required now, to show that 
 $uch a command went forth from the 
 Persian king to restore and rebuild the 
 city itself that is, a permission to put it 
 
 36 
 21. 
 40 
 
 into such 
 Vas before. 
 
 condition of strength, as it 
 
 Under the reign of this last prince, 
 B. C. 331, the kingdom was entirely sub 
 dued by Alexander the Great 
 
DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 In respect to the question whether any | ing him, Ctesias x; Justin i. 9; Herod, 
 order or command was issued pertaining | iii. 61 67. " To this monarch the-Sama- 
 to the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem j ritans again addressed themselves, corn- 
 that corresponds with the meaning of the 
 prediction as above explained, the fol 
 lowing facts will probably furnish all the 
 knowledge which can he obtained: 
 
 ixares II. Of course there was 
 
 plaining that the Jews were building 
 (that is, fortifying) the city of Jerusalem, 
 which they had never thought of doing; 
 and in consequence of this false accusa 
 tion, Smerdis issued a positive prohibition 
 nothing in the time of Cyaxares II., the of their work." Ja/m. Two things, there- 
 Darius of Daniel (vi. 1 ; ix. 1), as it was fore, may be remarked respecting this 
 under him that Babylon was conquered, j reign : (1) The order or commandment 
 and there was no movement towards a j referred to by Daniel could not have been 
 restoration of the Jews to their own land j issued during this reign, since there was 
 commenced by him, the first movement an express prohibition again; 
 
 of that kind being under Cyrus. 
 
 (b) Cyrus. What was the nature of the 
 
 against the work 
 of building and fortifying the city; and 
 (2) This confirms what is said above 
 
 order issued by him we have seen above, about the improbability that any order 
 It was a command to build the temple and j would have been issued by Cyrus to re- 
 was limited to that, and involved no ref- j build and fortify the city itself. It could 
 erence to the city. The command as we j not but have been foreseen that such an 
 have seen above, did not extend to that, { order would be likely to excite opposition 
 and there were probably good reasons j from the Samaritans, and to cause inter- 
 why it was not contemplated that it nal dissensions and difficulties in Pales- 
 should be rebuilt in its former strength, \ tine, and it is not probable that the Per- 
 and fortified as it was before. The pur- | sian government would allow the rebuild- 
 pose to fortify the city, or to encompass j ing of a city that would lead to such col- 
 it by a wall or ditch, or even to build it ! lisions. 
 
 at all, could not have been brought with 
 in the order of Cyrus, as recorded in 
 Ezra, and that is the only form of the 
 
 (e) Daniel Hystaspis. He reigned thirty- 
 six years. He was a mild and benevolent 
 ruler. "As Smerdis was a mere usurper, 
 
 order which we have. The language of | his prohibition of rebuilding the temple 
 Daniel, therefore, seems to have been was of no authority." Jahn. In the 
 chosen of design when he says that the j second year of his reign, Haggai and 
 command would be issued to rebuild the Zechariah appeared, who plied the gov- 
 city, not the temple. At any rate, such is ernor, Zerubbabel, the high priest Joshua, 
 the language, and such was not the order and the whole people, with such powerful 
 
 of Cyrus. 
 
 (c) Cambyses. 
 
 After the death of Cy 
 
 rus, the Samaritans wrote to Cambyses 
 (called by Ezra, Ahasuerus) against the 
 Jews. We are not informed what effect 
 this letter produced, but we can easily 
 judge from the character of this degene 
 rate son of Cyrus, as it is represented in 
 history. He was a " thoughtless, glutton 
 ous, furious warrior, who was considered 
 as raving mad even by his own subjects." 
 Jahn. He madly invaded Egypt, and 
 on his return learned that Smerdis, his 
 brother, had usurped the throne in his 
 absence, and died of a wound received 
 from the falling of his sword from its 
 sheath, as he was mounting his horse. 
 No order is mentioned during his reign 
 
 city or the temple. 
 
 (d) Sm.erdis. He retained the throne 
 about seven months. In the Bible he has 
 the name of Artaxerxes. Comp., respect- 
 
 appeals to the divine commands, that the 
 building of the house of God was once 
 more resumed. Upon this Tatnai, the 
 Persian governor on the west side of the 
 Euphrates, came with his officers to call 
 the Jews to an account, who referred him 
 to the permission of Cyrus, and the Jews 
 were suffered to proceed. The whole 
 matter was, however, made known to 
 Darius, and he caused search to be made 
 among the archives of the State in refer 
 ence to the alleged decree of Cyrus. The 
 edict of Cyrus was found which directed 
 that a temple should be built at Jerusa 
 lem at the royal expense, and of much 
 larger dimensions than the former. A 
 copy of this was sent to Tatnai, and he 
 was commanded to see that the work 
 
 pertaining to the rebuilding either of the should be forwarded, and that the ex 
 
 penses should be defrayed from the royal 
 treasury, and that the priests should be 
 supplied with whatever was necessary to 
 keep up the daily sacrifice. The work 
 
B. C. ., 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 389 
 
 was, therefore, pressed on with renewed 
 vigour, and in tbe sixth year of his reign 
 the temple was completed and consecrated. 
 The remainder of his reign was spent in 
 unnecessary wars with Scytbia, Thrace, 
 India, and Greece. He suffered an over 
 throw at Marathon, and was preparing 
 for a more energetic campaign in Greece 
 when he died, and left his dominion and 
 his wars to Xerxes. No order was issued 
 during his reign for the rebuilding of the 
 city of Jerusalem. All his edicts pertain 
 to the original grant of Cyrus the per 
 mission to build the temple. 
 
 (/) Xerxes I. The career of Xerxes 
 is well known. He was distinguished for 
 gluttony, voluptuousness, and cruelty. He 
 is celebrated for his invasion of Greece, 
 for the check which he met at Ther 
 mopylae, and for the overthrow of his 
 naval forces at Salaniis by Themistocles. 
 In the twenty-first year of his reign he 
 was murdered by Artabanus, commander 
 of his life-guard. He died in the year 
 464 B. C. According to Jahn, it is pro 
 bable that " the Artaxerxes of Ezra, who 
 is mentioned next after Darius Hys- 
 taspis, and the Ahasuerus of Esther, are 
 names of Xerxes I." If so, it was under 
 him that the second caravan of Jews went 
 to Judea, under the direction of Ezra. 
 Ezra vii. Xerxes, if he was the prince 
 referred to, gave Ezra an ample commis 
 sion in regard to the temple at Jerusalem, 
 granting him full power to do all that was 
 necessary to maintain public worship 
 there, and committing to him the vessels 
 of gold and silver in Babylon pertaining 
 to the temple, <tc. The decree may be 
 found in Ezra vii. 1326. This decree, 
 however, relates wholly to the temple 
 the house of God. There was no order 
 for rebuilding the city, and there is no 
 evidence that any thing material was 
 done in building the city, or the walls. 
 Respecting this reign, Jahn remarks, 
 " The Hebrew colony in Judea seem never 
 to have been in a very flourishing condi 
 tion. The administration of justice was 
 particularly defective, and neither civil 
 nor religious institutions were firmly es 
 tablished. Accordingly the king gave 
 permission anew for all Hebrews to emi 
 grate to Judea." p. 172. Ezra made the 
 journey with the caravan in three months ; 
 deposited the precious gifts in the temple, 
 caused the Scriptures to be read and ex 
 plained; commenced amoral reformation, 
 but did nothing, BO far as appears, in re- 
 33* 
 
 constructing the city for his commission 
 did not extend to that. 
 
 (f/) Artaxerxes Lovgimanuf. Accord 
 ing to Jahn, he began to reign B. C. 464, 
 and reigned forty years and three months. 
 It was during his reign that Nehemiah 
 lived, and that ho acted as governor of 
 Judea. The colony in Judea, says Jahn, 
 i which had been so flourishing in the time 
 ! of Ezra, had greatly declined, in conse- 
 | quence of the fact that Syria and Phe- 
 nicia had been the rendezvous of the ar 
 mies of Artaxerxes. "Nehemiah, the 
 cup-bearer of Artaxerxes, learned the un 
 happy state of the Hebrews, B. C. 444, 
 from a certain Jew named Hanani, who 
 had come from Judea to Shushan with a 
 caravan. Of the regulations introduced 
 by Ezra 478 B. C. there was little re 
 maining, and, amid the confusions of 
 war, the condition of the Jews continu 
 ally grew worse. This information so 
 afflicted Nehemiah that the king observed 
 his melancholy, and inquiring its cause 
 he appointed him governor of Judea with 
 full power to fortify Jerusalem and thus 
 to secure it from the disasters to which 
 I unprotected places are always exposed in 
 I time of war. Orders were sent to the 
 royal officers west of the Euphrates to as- 
 \ sist in the fortification of the city, and to 
 furnish tbe requisite timber from the 
 j king s forest; probably on Mount Libanus, 
 ! near the sources of the river Kadisha, ag 
 ; that was the place celebrated for its ce- 
 ! dars. Thus commissioned, Nehemiah 
 i journeyed to Judea, accompanied by mil- 
 ; itary officers and cavalry." pp. 175, 176. 
 Jahn further adds, "as soon as Nehe- 
 ! miah, on his arrival in Palestine, had 
 i been acknowledged governor of Judea by 
 I the royal officers, he made known his pre- 
 i parations for fortifying Jerusalem to the 
 i elders who composed the Jewish council. 
 j All the heads of houses, and the high 
 ! priest Eliashib, engaged zealously in the 
 ; work. The chiefs of the Samaritans, 
 | Sanballet, Tobiah and Geshem, endea- 
 i voured to thwart their undertaking by 
 I insults, by malicious insinuations that it 
 ; was a preparation for revolt, by plots, and 
 j by preparations for a hostile attack. The 
 i Jews, notwithstanding, proceeded earn- 
 I estly in their business, armed the Ja- 
 j bourers, protected them still further by a 
 guard of armed citizens, and at length 
 happily completed the walls of their city." 
 We have reached a point, then, in the 
 history of the kings of Persia, when there 
 
390 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 was a distinct order to restore and fortify 
 Jerusalem, and when there wis an ex 
 press expedition undertaken to accom 
 plish this result. In the history of these 
 kings, as reported by Jahn, this is the 
 first order that would seem to compre 
 hend with the language of Daniel the 
 commandment to restore and rebuild Je 
 rusalem/ and the assertion that the 
 street should be built again, and the wall, 
 even in troublous times. It may be well, 
 therefore, to pause here, and to look more 
 distinctly at this order of Ataxerxes Lon- 
 gimanus, and inquire into its conformity 
 with the language of Daniel. The cir 
 cumstances, then, as stated in the book of 
 Nehemiah, are these: (a) Nehemiah 
 learned from Hanani the state of his 
 brethren in Judea, and the fact that the 
 "walls of the city were broken down, and 
 that the gates were burned with fire," 
 and that the people who were at Jerusa 
 lem were in a state of "great affliction 
 and reproach," and gave himself to weep 
 ing, and fasting, and prayer, on that ac- 
 co,unt. Neh. i. (b) On coming into the 
 presence of Artaxerxes, to perform the 
 usual duty of presenting the wine of the 
 king, the king saw the sadness and dis 
 tress of Nehemiah, and inquired the 
 cause. Neh. ii. 1, 2. This, Nehemiah 
 (ii. 1) is careful to remark, occurred in 
 the twentieth year of his reign, (c) He 
 states distinctly, that it was because Je 
 rusalem was still in ruins: "Why should 
 not my countenance be sad, when the 
 city, the place of my fathers sepulchres, 
 lieth waste, and the gates thereof are con 
 sumed with fire." ch. ii. 3. (d) The re 
 quest of Nehemiah, in accordance with 
 the language in Daniel, was, that he 
 might be permitted to go to Jerusalem 
 and rebuild the city : "And he said unto 
 the king, if it please the king, and if thy 
 eervant have found favour in thy sight, 
 that thou wouldst send me unto Judah, 
 nnto the city of my fathers sepulchre, 
 that I may build it." ch. ii. 5. (e) The 
 edict of Artaxerxes contemplated the 
 game thing which is foretold by the angel 
 to Daniel: "And a letter untoAsaph, the 
 keeper of the king s forest, that he may 
 give me timber to make beams for the 
 gates for the palace which appertained to 
 the gates of the house, and for the wall of 
 the city," <fec. ch. ii. 8. (/) The work 
 which Nehemiah did, under this edict, 
 was that which is supposed in the predic 
 tion in Daniel. His first work was to go 
 
 forth by night to survey the state of th 
 city. " And I went out by night, by the 
 gate of the valley, &c., and viewed the 
 walls of Jerusalem which were broken 
 down, and the gates thereof were con 
 sumed by fire." ch. ii. 13. His next 
 work was to propose to rebuild these 
 walls again: "Then said I unto them, 
 Ye see the distress that we are in, how 
 Jerusalem lieth waste; and the gates 
 thereof are burned with fire ; come and 
 let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, 
 that we be no more a reproach," ver. 17. 
 The next work was to rebuild those walls, 
 a full description of which we have in the 
 third chapter of Nehemiah, vs. 1 32, and 
 in ch. iv. 1 23. The city was thus for 
 tified. It was built again according to 
 the purpose of Nehemiah, and according 
 to the decree of Artaxerxes. It took its 
 place again as a fortified city, and the 
 promised work of restoring and rebuild 
 ing it was complete, (g) The building of 
 the city and the walls under Nehemiah, 
 occurred in just such circumstances as 
 are predicted by Daniel. The angel says : 
 " The wall shall be built again, even in 
 troublous times" Let any one read the 
 account of the rebuilding in Nehemiah 
 the description of the troubles which 
 were produced by the opposition of San- 
 ballatand those associated with him (Neh. 
 iv.), and he will see the striking accuracy 
 of this expression an accuracy as entire 
 as if it had been employed after the event 
 in describing it, instead of having been 
 used before in predicting it. 
 
 It may confirm this interpretation to 
 make three remarks : (1) After this de 
 cree of Artaxerxes there was no order is 
 sued by Persian kings pertaining to the 
 restoration and rebuilding of the city. 
 Neither Xerxes II., nor Sogdianus, nor 
 Darius Nothus, nor Artaxerxes Mnemon, 
 nor Darius Ochus, nor Arsos, nor Darius 
 Codomanus, issued any decree that cor 
 responded at all with this prediction, or 
 any that related to the rebuilding of Je 
 rusalem. There was no occasion for any, 
 for the work was done. (2) A second 
 remark is, that, in the language of Heng- 
 stenberg : " Until the twentieth year of 
 Artaxerxes, the new city of Jerusalem 
 was an open, thinly inhabited village, 
 exposed to all aggressions from its neigh 
 bours, sustaining the same relation to the 
 former and the latter city, as the huts 
 erected after the burning of a city for the 
 first prostration from rain and wind, do 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 391 
 
 to those which are still uninjured, or j its restoration. (6) That the angel does 
 which have been rebuilt." Chris, ii. 381. not profess to answer the precise point of 
 This is quite apparent from the remarks the inquiry which Daniel had suggested, 
 which have been already made respecting j The prayer of Daniel was the occasion of 
 
 the state of the city. The want of any per 
 mission to rebuild the city and the walls ; 
 the fact that the permission to return ex 
 tended only to a right to rebuild the 
 
 uttering a higher prophecy than the one 
 which he had been contemplating, (c) It 
 is not necessary to suppose that the de 
 sign was that Daniel should be able to 
 
 temple ; the improbabilities above stated j compute the exact time when the Mes- 
 that the rebuilding of the city in its siah would appear. It was sufficient for 
 
 strength would be allowed when they first 
 returned, and no account which Nehemiah 
 gives of the condition of Jerusalem at the 
 time when he asked leave to go and * build 
 it, all tend to confirm this supposition. See 
 Hengstenberg, as above, pp. 381 386. 
 (3) A third remark is, that a confirmation 
 of this may be found in the Book of Ec- 
 clesiasticus, showing how Nehemiah was 
 regarded in respect to the rebuilding of 
 the city : " And among the elect was Nee- 
 mias, whose renown is great, who raised 
 up for us the walls that were fallen, and 
 set up the gates and the bars, and raised 
 up our ruins again." ch. xlix. 13. On the 
 other hand, Joshua and Zerubbabel are 
 extolled only as rebuilders of the temple : 
 "How shall we magnify Zorobabel ? even 
 he was as a signet on the right hand : So 
 was Jesus the son of Josedec : who in 
 their time builded the house, and set up a 
 holy temple to the Lord." vs. 11, 12. 
 These considerations make the case clear, 
 it seems to me, that the time referred to 
 the terminus a quo according to the fair 
 interpretation, was the twentieth year of 
 Artaxerxes. To this we are conducted 
 by the proper and necessary exposition of 
 the language, and by the orders actually 
 issued from the Persian court in regard to 
 the temple and city. 
 
 If it should be objected the only ob 
 jection of importance that has been al 
 leged against it that this would not 
 meet the inquiry of Daniel ; that he was 
 seeking for the time when the captivity 
 would cease, and looking for its termina 
 tion as predicted by Jeremiah ; that it 
 would not console him to be referred to 
 a period so remote as is here supposed 
 the time of the rebuilding of the city; 
 and, still more, that, not knowing that 
 time, the prophecy would afford him no 
 basis of calculation as to the appearing 
 of the Messiah, it may be replied : (a) That 
 the prediction contained all the consola 
 tion and assurance which Daniel sought 
 
 him if he had the assurance that he would 
 appear, and if he were furnished with a 
 basis by which it might be calculated 
 when he would appear, after the order to 
 rebuild the city had gone forth, (d) At 
 any rate, the prophecy must have ap 
 peared to Daniel to have a m\ich more 
 important meaning than would be implied 
 merely by a direct answer to his prayer 
 pertaining to the close of the exile. 
 The prophecy indubitably stretched far 
 into future years. Daniel must have seen 
 at once that it contained an important 
 disclosure respecting future events, and, 
 as it implied that the exile ivould close, 
 and that the city would be rebuilt, and as 
 he had already a sufficient intimation 
 when the exile would close, from the pro 
 phecies of Jeremiah, we may suppose that 
 the mind of Daniel would rest on this as 
 more than he had desired to know a 
 revelation far beyond what he anticipated 
 when he set apart this day for special 
 prayer. 
 
 The only remaining difficulty as to the 
 time referred to as the beginning of the 
 seventy weeks the terminus a quo is that 
 of determining the exact chronology of the 
 twentieth year of Artaxerxes the point 
 from which we are to reckon. The time, 
 however, varies only a few years according 
 to the different estimates of chronology, 
 and not so as materially to affect the result. 
 The following are the principal estimates : 
 
 Jahn, 
 
 Hengstenberg, 
 Hales, . 
 Calmet, 
 Usher, . 
 
 444 B. C. 
 454 " 
 444 " 
 449 " 
 454 
 
 It will be seen from this, that the differ 
 ence in the chronology is, at the greatest, 
 but ten years, and in such a matter, whero 
 the ancient records are so indefinite, and 
 so little pains were taken to make exact 
 dates, it cannot perhaps be expected that 
 the time could be determined with exact 
 
 the assurance that the city would be re- j accuracy. Nor, since the numbers used 
 built, and that an order would go forth for j by the angel are in a sense round num- 
 
392 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 bers seventy weeks, sixty-two weeks, ! If, notwithstanding the confusion of an- 
 one week, is it necessary to suppose that cient dates, the time is so nearly deter- 
 the time could be made out with the ex- mined with accuracy, is it not rather 
 actness of a year, or a month though j to bo presumed that if the facts of ancient 
 this has been often attempted. It is suf- J history could be ascertained that the ex- 
 ficient if the prediction were so accurate act period would be found to have been 
 and determinate that there could be no j predicted by the angel ? 
 doubt, in general, as to the time of the III. The next point properly is, what 
 
 appearing of the Messiah, and so that 
 when he appeared it should be manifest 
 that he was referred to. Hengstenberg, 
 however, supposes that the chronology 
 can be made out with literal accuracy. 
 See Chris, ii. 394408. 
 
 Taking the dates above given as the 
 terminus a quo of the prophecy the time 
 from which to reckon the beginning of 
 the sixty-nine weeks to the Messiah the 
 Prince or the four hundred and eighty- 
 three years, we obtain, respectively, the 
 following results : 
 The period of 444 B. C., the period of 
 
 Jahn and Hales, would extend to A. D. 
 
 39. 
 
 is the time referred to by the phrase unto 
 the Messiah the prince the terminus ad 
 quern. Here there can be but two opin 
 ions : that which refers it to his birth, 
 and that which refers it to his public 
 manifestation as the Messiah, or his taking 
 the office upon himself. The remarks 
 under the last head, have conducted us to 
 the probability that the latter is intended. 
 Indeed, it is morally certain that this is 
 so if we have ascertained the terminus a 
 quo with accuracy. The only question 
 then is, whether this is the fair construc 
 tion, or whether the language can prop 
 erly be so applied. We have seen, in the 
 interpretation of the phrase above, that 
 
 That of 454 B. C., the period of Heng- the grammatical construction of the Ian- 
 stenberg and Usher, to A. D. 29. \ff?S* > s su <* a / mi S h T t Wlthout "?P r - 
 
 Tbat of 449 B. C., the period of Calmet, ! P net y be *&** * & even ;- . g ** 
 
 mains only to look at the probabilities 
 that the latter was the design. It mny 
 
 to A. D. 34. 
 
 It is remarkable how all these periods 
 terminate at about the time when the Lord 
 Jesus entered on his work, or assumed, 
 at his baptism, the public office of the 
 Messiah when he was thirty years of 
 
 age. It is undeniable 
 
 whichever 
 
 be admitted, perhaps, that before the 
 event occurred there might have been 
 some uncertainty on the subject, and that 
 with many, on reading the prophecy, the 
 supposition would be that it referred to 
 the birth of the Messiah. But a careful 
 consideration of all the circumstances of 
 
 reckoning be correct, or whatever com 
 putation we may suppose to have been Jhrpassage^mTghTeven^tnen liaveied to 
 employed by the Jews, the expectation diffe V ent expectation, and might have 
 
 would have been excited in the public 
 mind that the Messiah was about to ap 
 pear at that time. Perhaps the real truth 
 may bo seen in a stronger light still by 
 supposing that if a sagacious imposter 
 had resolved to take upon himself the of 
 fice of the Messiah, and had so shaped 
 
 shown that tho probabilities were that it 
 was the public manifestation of the Mes 
 siah that was intended. Those mnj 7 be 
 regarded as stronger now, and mny be 
 such as to leave no reasonable doubt on 
 tho mind; that is, we may now see what 
 would not likely to have been seen then 
 
 his plans as to meet the national expec- ag in the cage of all the prop becies. 
 tations growing out of this prediction of ; Among these considerations arc the fol- 
 Damel, he would have undoubtedly set lowin? ._/) g uc h an interpretation may 
 up his claims at about the time when the b after ftll the Inost prot)a ble. If we 
 Lord Jesus publicly appeared as the Mes 
 siah. According to the common chrono 
 logies there would not have been a vari 
 ance of more than nine years in the cal 
 culation, and, perhaps, after all, when we 
 consider how little the chronology of an- 
 
 conceiveof one who should have predicted 
 the appearance or coming of Jenghio 
 Khan, or Alaric, or Attila, as conquerors, 
 it would not be unnatural to refer this to 
 their public appearing in that character, 
 as to the time when they became known 
 
 dent times has been regarded or settled, it | as suc h, and still more true would this be 
 is much more to be wondered at that there ! if one who should be inaugurated or set 
 
 should be so great accuracy than that the 
 time is ro more certainly determined. 
 
 apart to a public office. If, for example, 
 there had been a prophecy of Gregory 
 
B. C. 538.] CHAPTER IX. 393 
 
 tho Great, or Leo X. as Popes, it would [appears from the more accurate determi- 
 be most natural, unless there was a dis- i nation in ver. 27, in the middle of tho 
 tinct reference to their birth, to refer this j seventieth, he shall be cut off. As now, 
 to their election and consecration a* | according to the passage before us, sixty- 
 Popes, for that would in fact be the pe- nine weeks shall elapse before the Mes- 
 riod when they appeared as such, (b) In \ siah, there remains from that event to the 
 
 the case of this prophecy there is no 
 allusion to the birth of the Messiah. It 
 is not to his birth/ or to his incarna 
 tion, but unto the Messiah the Prince: 
 that is, most manifestly, when he appeared 
 as such, and was in fact such. In many 
 instances in the prophecies there are 
 allusions to the birth of the Messiah, and 
 
 completion of salvation, only a period of 
 seven, until his violent death of three and 
 a half years ; a certain proof that unto 
 the Messiah must refer, not to his birth, 
 but to the appearance of the Messiah as 
 such." Christol. ii. 337. 
 
 IV. The next question, then is, whether 
 according to this estimate the time can 
 
 so numerous and accurate had they be- i be made out with any degree of accuracy, 
 come that there was a general expecta- j The date of the decrees of Artaxerxes are 
 tion of the event at about the time when j found to be, according to the common 
 he was actually born. But in the pas- reckoning of chronologists, either 444, or 
 sage before us, the language is that which 454, or 449 B. C. The addition of 483 
 would be used on the supposition that the j years to them we found also to reach, re 
 designed reference was to his entering as j spectively, to A. D. 39, to A. D. 29, and 
 Messiah on the functions of his office, | to A. D. 34. One of these (29) varies 
 and not such as would have been so natu- ! scarcely at all from the time when the 
 rally employed if the reference had been i Saviour was baptized, at thirty years of 
 to his birth, (c) His taking upon him- j age ; another (34) varies scarcely at all 
 self the office of the Messiah by baptism from the time when he was put to death ; 
 and by the descent of the Holy Spirit on J and either of them is so accurate that the 
 him, was in fact the most prominent ! mind of any one who should have made 
 event in his work. Before that he had j the estimate when the command to build 
 passed his life in obscurity. The work the city went forth, would have been 
 which he did as Messiah, was commenced directed with great precision to the ex 
 it that time, and was to be dated from pectation of the true time of his appear- 
 *hat period. In fact he was not the Mes- ance; and to those who lived when he 
 siah as such till he was set apart to the j did appear, the time was so accurate that, 
 office any more than an heir to a crown j in the reckoning of any of the prevailing 
 is king until he is crowned, or an elected i methods of chronology, it would have 
 chief magistrate is President before he been sufficiently clear to lead them to the 
 has taken the oath of office. The position expectation that he was about to come, 
 which he occupied was, that he was de- i Two or three remarks, however, may be 
 signaled or destined for the office of tho made in regard to this point. () One is, 
 Messiah, but had not in fact entered on I that it is now, perhaps, impossible to de- 
 it, and could not as yet be spoken of as | termine with precise accuracy the histori- 
 such. (d) This is the usual method j cal period of events so remote. Time 
 of recording the reign of a king not j was not then measured as accurately as 
 from his birth, but from his coronation. ! it is now; current events were not as dis- 
 Thus in the table above respecting the i tinctly recorded; chronological tables 
 Persian kings, tho periods included are ! were not kept as they are now; there was 
 those from the beginning of the reign, not | no uniform method of determining the 
 from the birth, to the decease. So in all length of the year, and the records were 
 statutes and laws, as when wo say the ; much less safely kept. This is manifest 
 lirst of George III., or the second of Vic- : because, even in so important an event aa 
 toria, Ac. (e) To these considerations j the issuing of the command to rebuild the 
 may be added an argument stated by i city in the time of Artaxerxes an event 
 Hengstenberg, which seems to make the { which it would be supposed was one of 
 proof irrefragable. It is in the following sufficient moment to have merited an ex- 
 words : "After the course of seventy act record, at least among the Jews, there 
 
 weeks shall the whole work of salvation 
 
 is now, among the best chronologists, a 
 
 to bo performed by the Messiah, be com- difference of ten years as to the computa- 
 pletod j after sixty-nine weeks, and, as it | tion of the time, (b) There is a variation 
 
394 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 arising from the difference of the lunar or 
 the solar year some nations reckoning 
 by the one, and some by the other, and 
 the difference between them, in the pe 
 riod now under consideration, would be 
 greater than that which now occurs in 
 the ordinary reckonings of chronology, 
 (c) Till the exact length of the year, as 
 then understood, is ascertained, there 
 could be no hope of fixing the time with 
 the exactness of a month or a day, and if 
 the usual and general understanding of 
 the length of the year be adopted, then 
 the time here referred to would be so 
 intelligible that there would be no dif- 
 
 to the highest pitch, when it appears 
 from an accurate examination of these 
 determinations, that the only one among 
 them, which is correct, makes the pro 
 phecy and history correspond with each 
 other, even to a year. 
 
 " Happily, to attain this end, -we are not 
 compelled to involve ourselves in a laby 
 rinth of chronological inquiries. We 
 find ourselves, in the main, on 
 
 ground. All chronologists agree, 
 
 sure 
 that 
 
 the commencement of the reign of Xer 
 xes falls in the year 485 before Christ, 
 the death of Artaxerxes, in the year 423. 
 The difference concerns only the year of 
 
 ficmlty in ascertaining at about what time the commencement of the reign jf Ar- 
 the Messiah was to appear, or when he taxerxes. Our problem is completely 
 
 solved, when we have shown that this 
 falls in the year 474 before Christ. For 
 then the twentieth year of Artaxerxes ia 
 the year 455 before Christ, according to 
 
 did appear in determining that it was he. 
 This was all that was really necessary in 
 regard to the prophecy. Yet (d) it has 
 been supposed that the time could 
 
 be 
 
 made out, even under these disadvan 
 tages, with almost entire accuracy. The 
 examination in the case may be seen at 
 length in Hengstenberg, Chris, ii. 394 
 408. It is agreed on all hands that the 
 commencement of the reign of Xerxes 
 occurred in the year 485, before Christ, 
 
 the usual reckoning,* =299 U. C. 
 Add to this, 483 years. 
 
 783 U. C. 
 
 "We should probably have been saved 
 the trouble of this investigation, had not 
 the error cf an acute man, and the want 
 
 and that Artaxerxes died in 423. The j O f independence in his successors, dark- 
 difference concerns only the beginning of j e ned what was in itself clear. Accord- 
 the reign of Artaxerxes. If that occurred ; i ng to Thucydides, Artaxerxes began to 
 in the year 464 B. C. then the problem is j reign shortly before the flight of The- 
 solved, for then the decree of the twen- ; rnistocles to Asia. Deceived by certain 
 tieth year of Artaxerxes would occur 444 ; specious arguments, hereafter to be ex- 
 B. C., and if 483 be added to that, the re- ; amined, Dodwell, in the Annall. Thncyd., 
 suit is A. D. 29 a difference then, even i placed both events in the year 465 before 
 in reckoning whole years, and round num- ; Christ. The thorough refutation of Vi- 
 bers, of only one year between that and tringa, in the cited treatise, remained, 
 the time when Jesus was baptised by strange as it may appear, unknown to 
 John. The full proof of this point, about the philologians and historians, even as 
 the beginning of the reign of Artaxerxes, it seems to those of Holland, as Wessel- 
 niay be seen in Hengstenberg as above, ing. The view of Dodwell, adopted also 
 
 The argument, 
 portant, and 
 
 though long, is so im- 
 clear, that it may with 
 
 out impropriety 
 place. 
 
 be inserted in this 
 
 According to the prophecy, the ter 
 minus a quo, the twentieth year of Arta 
 xerxes, is separated from the terminus ad 
 qucm, the public appearance of Christ, by 
 a period of 69 weeks of years, or four 
 
 by Corsini in the Fasta Attica, became 
 the prevailing one, at which we cannot 
 wonder, when we consider how seldom, 
 in modern times, chronological investi 
 gations in general have been fundamental 
 and independent ; when, e. g., we observe 
 that Poppo, a generally esteemed recent 
 editor of Thucydides, in a thick volume en 
 titled in Thucydidem Commentarii politici, 
 
 *The intelligent reader will perceive that 
 the author has intentionally made his investi 
 gation entirely independent of the difficult 
 
 hundred and eighty-three years. If, now, 
 we compare history with this, it must 
 appear, even to the most prejudiced, in 
 the highest degree remarkable, that 
 among all the current chronological de 
 terminations of this period, not one dif- ; times.~ by~tne introduction of uncertain astro- 
 fers over ten years from the testimony ! U0 imcal combinations, particularly by Muntef 
 f the prophecy. This wonder must rise j and Idelcr, been led far aatray. 
 
B. C. 538.J CHAPTER IX. 
 
 sonable efforts of Pausanias first com 
 menced ; the flight of Themistoclcs, how 
 ever, was a consequence of the complaint, 
 which was raised against him, out of the 
 documents found after the death of Pau 
 sanias. But Isocrates says, in the Pana- 
 thenaikos, that the dominion of the Lace 
 demonians had endured ten years. The 
 
 f/cograpJi., cJironologici, furnishes, in re 
 ference to the last, nothing more than a 
 reprint of the school edition of the chro 
 nological tables collected from Dodwell, 
 excusing himself with an odio quodam 
 inveterato totiua IiKjus disciplines ! Clin 
 ton also (Fasti Hellein ci, Int. vert. Kriiger, 
 Leipz., 1830), though he clearly perceives, 
 
 that Dodwell has confused the whole j expedition of Xerxes taken as the ter- 
 chronology of this period (comp., e. g., minus a quo, this transfer falls in the 
 pp. 248 253), has not been able to free ; year 470." But we may spare ourselves 
 himself from him in the most important ! the labour, which Vitringa takes, to in- 
 points, though he successfully opposed \ validate this alleged testimony of Iso- 
 him in several ; and thus the confusion ! crates, since all recent scholars, in part 
 only becomes still greater, since now j independent of one another, agree that 
 neither the actual chronological succes- j Isocrates speaks of a ten years dominion, 
 sion of events, nor the one ingeniously j not before, but after that of the Athe- 
 invented by Dodwell, any longer remains, nians ; comp. Coray, on Pan. c. 19. 
 Nevertheless, the truth is advanced by j Dahlmann, Forschungen, I. p. 45. Kru- 
 this increased confusion. For now the j ger, p. 221, Clinton, p. 250, ff. 2. That 
 harmony introduced by Dodwell into the | Themistocles in the year 472 was still ir 
 fictitious history is destroyed. The hon- j Athens, Corsini infers (Fasti Att. Ill 
 our, however, of having again discovered I p. 180) from JEl. lib. 9. c. 5. According 
 the true path, belongs to Kruger alone, to this, Themistocles sent back Hiero, 
 who, after more than a hundred years, j who was coming to the Olympic games, 
 as an entirely independent inquirer, co- asserting, that, whoever had not taken 
 incides with Vitringa, in the same result, part in the greatest danger, could not be 
 and in part in the employment of the a sharer of the joy. (The fact is also re- 
 same arguments. In the acute treatise, lated by Plutarch.) Now, as Hiero 01. 
 Ueber den Cimonischen Fricdcn, (in the 75, 3 (478) began to reign, only the 01. 
 Archiv f. Philoloyie und Padagog. von 77 (472) could bo intended. But who 
 Seebodc, I. 2. p. 205, ff.,) he places the does not at once perceive, that the refer- 
 death of Xerxes in the year 474 or 473, ence to the games of the 01. 76 (476) was 
 and the flight of Themistocles a year far more obvious, since the occurrence 
 later. This treatise may serve to shame j pre-supposed that the /^yiarof rdv Kivfovuv 
 those, who reject in the mass the grounds i was still fresh in remembrance ? 3. Ac- 
 of our opinion, (to the establishment of , cording to this supposition, Xerxes would 
 which we now proceed,) with the remark, i reign only eleven years; Artaxerxes, on 
 that the author has only found what he j the contrary, fifty-one. This is in oppo- 
 sought. Whoever does not feel capable j sition to the testimony of the Can. Pto- 
 of entering independently upon the inves- | l em . (comp. thereon Ideler, I. p. 109, ff.), 
 tigation, should at least be prevented which gives to Xerxes twenty-one, and 
 
 from condemning, by the circumstance, 
 that a learned man, who has no other 
 
 to Artaxerxes forty-one years; and of 
 Ctesias, who gives to Artaxerxes forty- 
 
 design in view, than to elucidate a chro- two years, and of some other writers ; 
 nologically confused period of Grecian compare the passages in Bahr on Ctesias, 
 history, gives, for the event which serves p. 184. Ceten s paribns, this argument 
 to determine the terminus a quo of our j would be wholly decisive. But when 
 prophecy, the precise year, which places j other weighty authorities are opposed to 
 prophecy and fulfilment in the most exact j it, it is not of itself sufficient to outweigh 
 harmony. j them. The canon has high authority, 
 
 ; We examine first the grounds which only where it rests on astronomical ob- 
 
 seam to favour the opinion, that the reign 
 of Artaxerxes commenced in the year 
 
 servations, which is here not the case. 
 Otherwise it stands on the same ground 
 
 465. 1. "The flight of Themistocles ! as all other historical sources. The whole 
 must precede the transfer of the dominion J error was committed, as soon as only an 
 of Greece from Athens to Sparta by se- <* in an ancient authority was confounded 
 veral years. For this happened during j with a \d ; for when a reign of twenty - 
 the siege of Byzantium, when the trea- j one years had thus been attributed to 
 
396 I A N I E L . [B. C. 538. 
 
 Xerxes, the shortening of the reign of the account soncerning Nebuchadnezzar 
 Artaxerxes to forty-cue years, necessarily , eomp. Beitr. I. p. 63). But we find 
 followed. Wesseling (on Diod. 12, 64,) I even in the book of Esther itself, plain 
 attributes forty-five years to Artaxer- indications of this mole of reckoning, 
 xes, thus without hesitation rejecting the j The account of the great feast, chap. 1, 
 authority of the canon. To these argu- | is placed in its true light by this supposi- 
 ruents, already adduced by others, we j tion. The occasion of it was the actual 
 subjoin the following. 4. It seems to bo I commencement of the reign of Xerxes, 
 evident from Ctesias, chap. 20, that Arta- though we need not on this account ex- 
 xerxcs was born a considerable time after elude, what has hitherto been regarded 
 the commencement of the reign of Xer- j as the exclusive object, consultations with 
 xes. Ctesias, after relating it, proceeds : the nobles respecting the expeditions 
 ya/m (5e Hep^r/f Qv6$a Snyarcpa "ApioTpiv ! about to be undertaken. What is related, 
 KCU yivtrai airu ira?j Aa/i(a?o;, Kal trrpoj I chap. 2 : 16, then falls precisely in the 
 lura ovo srij Tord<r;rr)?, Kal sri Aprajepfrjf, I time of the return of Xerxes from Greece, 
 If he relates the events in the true chro- | while otherwise, and this is attended with 
 nological order, Artaxerxes in the year | difficulty, about two years after that 
 474 could at most have been seven years i event. 
 
 old. On the contrary, however, all ac 
 counts agree, that at the death of Xerxes, 
 although still young, (comp. Justin, 3, 1,) 
 he was yet of a sufficient age to be capa 
 ble of reigning himself. We must not be 
 
 " We now proceed to lay down the posi 
 tive grounds for our view ; and in the 
 first place, the immediate, and then the- 
 mediate proofs, which latter are far more 
 numerous and strong, since they show, 
 
 satisfied with the answer, that it is very j that the flight of Themistocles, which 
 improbable that Xerxes, who was born at must precede the reign of Artaxerxes, 
 the beginning of the thirty-sixth year of i cannot possibly be placed later than 473 
 the reign of Darius, (comp. Herod. 7, 2,) before Christ. 
 
 and was already 3435 years old at his \ "To the first class, belong the following, 
 death, was not married until so late a 1- It must appear very strange to those, 
 period. Ctesias himself frees us from the ; who assume a twenty-one years reign 
 embarrassmentinto which we were thrown I of Xerxes, that the whole period from 
 by his inaccuracy. According to chap, j the eleventh year, is a complete tabula 
 22, Megabyzus was already married, be- j rasa. The biblical accounts stop short 
 fore the expedition against Greece, with \ at the close of the tenth year. Ctesias 
 a daughter of Xerxes, who, already men- ! relates only one inconsiderable event after 
 tioned, chap. 20, if Ctesias is there chro- I the Grecian war, chap. 28, which oc- 
 nologically accurate, could not have been curred immediately after its termination, 
 born before that time. According to No later writer has ventured to introduce 
 chap. 28, Megabyzus, immediately after anything into the ten years, which, ac- 
 the return of Xerxes from Greece, com- cording to our view, the permutation of 
 plained to him of the shameful conduct ! an and * adds to his age. 
 of this wife of his. 5. There can be no j "We possess atwofbld testimony, which 
 doubt that the Ahasuerus of the book of places the return of Xerxes from Greece, 
 Esther, is the same as Xerxes. But the j and his death, in so close connection, that, 
 twelfth year of this king is there ex- without rejecting it, we cannot possibly 
 pressly mentioned, chap. 3 : 7, and the ! assume a fifteen years reign after this 
 events related in the following context ! return, but are rather compelled to place 
 fall, in part, about the end of the same | his death not beyond the year 474. The 
 year. But this difficulty vanishes, as first is that of Julian, For. Hist. 13, 3 : 
 soon as we include the years of the co- tlra iitavt^uv^ aivxiara dvSpunuv dn-tSa/ tv, 
 regency of Xerxes with Darius. Accord- i dTroo-^aytij vvxrup iv rrj cvvfj {md rov mov. 
 ing to the full account in Herodot. 7. 
 chap. 2 4, Xerxes, two years before the 
 
 The second, that of Justin, 3, 1. "Xer 
 xes rex Persarum, terror ontea gentium, 
 bello in Grceciam infeliciter gesto, etiam 
 
 death of Darius, was established by him, 
 
 as king, comp. e. g. chap. 4. : dnifcle <5t j siria contemtui esse coepit. Qiiippe Arta- 
 j3a<riA/ja nipogoi Aaptij -.i-rfca. Of the lames prcefectus ejtts, deficiente quotidie 
 custom of the Hebrew writers to include regia majestate, in ftpem regni adductus, 
 the years of a co-regency, where it ex- j cum septem robustissirnis Jiliitt," etc. 
 leted, we have a remark;) Lie example in j " 3. The testimonies of Justin, L c.* ro- 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 397 
 
 specting the age of his sons at his death, ] the fact, that Nehenmh, at his return, 
 are not reconcilable with the twenty-one j according to v. 23, found a great many 
 years reign of Xerxes. " Secnrior de foreign women in the colony. That these 
 Arlnxerxe, puero admodum, fingit regem marriages had already existed for some 
 a Dnrio, qui erat adoleseens, quo matu- \ time, appears from v. 24, where it is said, 
 riua regno jwtiretur, occisum." If Xerxes j that the children of them had spoken 
 reigned twenty-one years, his first born, j half in the language of Ashdod, and could 
 Darius, according to a comparison of not speak Hebrew. A long absence is also 
 
 Ctesias, chap. 22, could not at his death 
 have been an adolescens, but at least 
 thirty- one years old. On the contrary, 
 if eleven years reign be assumed, these 
 determinations are entirely suitable. Da 
 rius was then towards twenty-one years 
 old. Artaxerxes, according to Ctesias, 
 chap. 20, near four years younger than 
 Darius, about seventeen. This determi 
 nation shows also, that it cannot be ob 
 jected against a fifty-one years reign of 
 Artaxerxes, that it would give him too 
 
 implied in the other abuses which Nehe 
 miah, according to chap. 13 : 10 sq., 
 found on his return. He saw the fruits 
 of the former labours almost destroyed. 
 The same is also evident from the pro 
 phecies of Malachi, which were delivered 
 exactly in the time between the two 
 periods of Nehemiah s presence at Jeru 
 salem ; comp. Vitringa s excellent Dis 
 sert, de ^State Mai., in his Obss. ss. VI. 
 7. t. 2. p. 353 sq. The condition of the 
 people appears here, as it could have 
 
 great an age. The suggestion can be re- I been only after they had already been 
 futed by the simple remark, that the deprived, for a considerable time, of their 
 length of his life remains exactly the | two faithful leaders, Ezra, who, having 
 same, whether he reigned fifty-one or arrived thirteen years earlier, had co- 
 fortv-one years. If he ascended the operated for a considerable time with 
 
 .,* . t 1 / i A 1 XT -I. 1_ .1 XT .1 1- 1 - _ 1 / Tk i 
 
 throne at seventeen, his life terminated 
 at sixty-eight. 
 
 "4. According to the most numerous 
 and weighty testimonies, the peace of 
 Cimon was probably concluded after the 
 battle of the Eurymedon (before Christ 
 470). Now as all agree that this peace 
 was concluded with Artaxerxes, the com 
 mencement of his reign must, in any 
 event, be placed before 470. Comp. 
 Kiirger, 1. c. p. 218. 
 
 " 5. The history of Nehemiah is scarcely 
 reconcilable with the supposition, that 
 Artaxerxes reigned only forty-seven years. 
 After Nehemiah had accomplished all 
 that is related in chap. 1 12 of his book, 
 he returned to Persia to discharge the 
 
 duties of his oSice, at court. This hap- 1 
 
 pened, according to 13: 6, in_the thirty- of a]1 thege abuseg< 
 
 Nehemiah, and Nehemiah himself. But, 
 if we consider barely the first-mentioned 
 fact, the marriages with foreign women, 
 it will be evident, that a longer period 
 than nine years would be required. For 
 each change, there will then only three 
 years be allowed, and as this is undeni 
 ably too little for the third, according to 
 v. 24, the two first must be still moro 
 shortened, which is inadmissible. Be 
 sides, wo do not even have nine years 
 for these events, if the reign of Arta 
 xerxes is fixed at forty-one years. For 
 the relation of Nehemiah pre-supposes, 
 that Artaxerxes was yet living at the 
 time of its composition. This, however, 
 cannot be placed in the time immediately 
 after the return of Nehemiah, since it 
 
 second year of Artaxerxes. The time of 
 his return is not accurately determined. It 
 gays merely, after a considerable time, the 
 D^DJ ff?S- That his absence, however, 
 must have continued a whole series of 
 
 If, however, we are 
 
 conducted by the authority of Nehemiah, 
 which is liable to no exception, since he 
 was contemporary, and closely connected 
 with Artaxerxes, a few years over forty- 
 one, we have gained much. For then 
 
 years, appears from the relation of that | the only objection to our determination, 
 which took place in the mean time. The I the testimony of the canon, is completely 
 law against marriage with foreign wo- set aside, 
 men, to the observance of which the peo- j " We must premise a remark, before we 
 
 ?le had bound themselves ane\v, chap, bring forward our indirect proofs, in order 
 : 30, was first violated during his ab- : to justify the connection, in which we 
 sence ; then again by a decree of the place the commencement of the reign of 
 people, executed in all severity, 13: 13, Artaxerxes with the flight of Theinisto- 
 und then again broken, as appears from j cles. This connection has not, indeed, 
 34 
 
398 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538, 
 
 the unanimous testimony of the ancient 
 writers in its favour. The vouchers for it 
 are, Thucydides, chap. 137, where it is said 
 of Themistocles, who had come into Asia, 
 ianivmti Ypa^ara ig J3a<ji\ta A p />$>// 
 rov Efyifou, I tuarl /JaaiXEVoira, and Charon 
 of Lampsacus, who, according to Plu 
 tarch, Thent. chap. 27, makes him in like 
 manner fly to Artaxerxes. On the con 
 trary, others, as Ephorus, Dinon, Kli- 
 tarch, and Heraclides (comp. Plut. 1. c.), 
 represent him as going to Xerxes. If, 
 now, we examine these testimonies, ac 
 cording to the authority of the witnesses, 
 the decision will unquestionably he in 
 favour of that of Thucydides and Charon. 
 Thucydides was contemporary with Ar 
 taxerxes, and was born about the time 
 of the flight of Themistocles. This prince 
 of Greek historians gives, chap. 97, as 
 the cause, why he relates the events be 
 tween the Median and Peloponnesian war, 
 that all his predecessors had passed over 
 these events in silence, and that the only 
 one who touched upon them, Hellanicus, 
 
 rfpaXCUf T KOI TOlf XP l S OlIK dKplfi&S 
 
 inenvfiaSr) them, from which it is evident, 
 first, how little certain are the accounts of 
 this period in later authors, because they 
 can have no credible contemporary vouch 
 er, since he could not have been unknown 
 to Thucydides; and second, that Thucydi 
 des himself claims to be regarded as a care 
 ful and accurate historian of this period, 
 and therefore must be esteemed such, be 
 cause so honest a man would assume no 
 thing to himself, which did not belong to 
 him. The other witness, Charon, was the 
 less liable to err, since, at the very time of 
 this event, he was a writer of history, and 
 even lived in Asia. On the other hand, 
 the oldest witnesses for the opposite sup 
 position, lived more than a century after 
 the event. Ephorus (see on his Akrisic, 
 Dahlmann) outlived the dominion of Al 
 exander in Asia; Dinon was father of 
 Klitarch, who accompanied Alexander. 
 
 " In weighing these grounds, the au 
 thority of Thucydides and Charon was 
 unhesitatingly followed in ancient times. 
 Plutarch, 1. c. does this, with the remark, 
 that the testimony of Thucydides agrees 
 better with the chronological works. 
 Nepos says: " Scio plerosque ita scrip- 
 s\Hne, Themistoclem Xerxe regnnnte in 
 A.si<im tranaiisse : Bed ego potixximum 
 Thucydidi credo, quod cetate proximua de 
 it*, qui illortim, temporum Tiiatorias reli- 
 
 qucrunt et cjusdem civitatis fuit." Suidas, 
 and the Scholiast on Ariatoph. Equites, 
 from which the former borrowed verbatim 
 his second article on Themistocles, makes 
 him flee, ffpoj TOV Apra^tp^rif^ -rov Etpfou 
 rov Ittpaov ffau?a, without even mention 
 ing the other supposition. And in this 
 respect, we have the less fear of contra 
 diction, since, as far as we know, all mo 
 dern critics, without exception, follow 
 Thucydides and Charon. We only still 
 remark, that the opposite view can the 
 more easily be rejected, since us origin 
 can so readily be explained, either from 
 the fact, that this event fell on the bor 
 der of the reign of Xerxes and of Arta 
 xerxes, or from a simple confounding of 
 the two names, the assumption of which 
 is more easy, the more frequently it oc 
 curs ; we find it even in Aristotle, the 
 contemporary of those writers, Pol. 5, 8, 
 and twice in Ctesias, chap. 35, where 
 Bahr would make a change in opposition 
 to all the manuscripts, and chap. 44. 
 Comp. Biihr on the passage, and Reima- 
 rus on Dio Cnas. II. p. 1370. Finally, 
 the error might arise also from the circum 
 stance, that the flight of Themistocles 
 was placed in the right year, but twenty- 
 one years were attributed to Xerxes, 
 from which it necessarily follows, that he 
 j took refuge with Xerxes. This last opi 
 nion is favoured by the coincidence of 
 several contemporary writers in the same 
 error, which pre-supposes some plausible 
 reason for it. 
 
 "We now proceed to lay down our indi 
 rect proofs. 1. We begin with the testi 
 mony which gives precisely the year of 
 the flight of Themistocles, that of Cicero, 
 Lcel. chap. 12. It is true, Corsini, 1. c. 
 3, p. 180, asserts, that Cicero speaks of 
 the year in which Themistocles was ban 
 ished from Athens; but we need only 
 examine the passage, to be convinced of 
 the contrary : " Themistocles -fecit idem, 
 quod 20. annis ante a pud iws feccrat Co- 
 riolanus." The flight of Coriolanus to 
 the Volci falls in the year 263 U. C., B. 
 C. 492. The flight of Themistocles is 
 accordingly placed by Cicero in the year 
 472, a year later than by us, which is of 
 no importance, since the round number 
 twenty was the more suitable to the ob 
 ject of Cicero, as the more accurate nine 
 teen, for the Chronologies. If Dodwell s 
 view were correct, there would be the 
 space of twenty-seven years between the 
 two events. 
 
B.C. 538.] CHAPTER IX. 399 
 
 "2. DiodorusSiculus,wh o,l 1,55, places iference to the assumed termination. 
 the flight of Themistocles in 01. 77, 2 Also, Thucyd. chap. 128, the expedition 
 (B. C. 471), in any event favours our against Cyprus, and that against Byzan- 
 determination, which ascends only two tium, are connected as immediately suc- 
 years higher, far more than the opposite | ceeding each other. If, however, Dod- 
 one. We remark, however, that he also well were compelled by the force of the 
 places in the same year the residence of arguments to acknowledge, that these 
 Themistocles at Magnesia, and his death; events, which he compresses into one 
 and thus it is evident, that whether by year, do not, as he assumes, (p. 61,) be- 
 mistake or design, he compresses the long to the year 470, but to the year 477, 
 events in the life of Themistocles, which he would surely be compelled, perceiving 
 filled up some years, into the year of his it to be impossible to lengthen out the 
 death. If this took place in the year thread of the events until the year 465, 
 471, the flight must be dated at least as to give up the whole hypothesis. The 
 far back as 473. Our determination dif- dissatisfaction of the allies was followed 
 fers only a single year from that of Euse- by the recall of Pausanias. That thia 
 bius, who relates the flight of Themis- j belongs still to the same year, plainly 
 tocles in 01. 77, 1. i appears, partly from the nature of the 
 
 3. But that which forms the chief ar- case itself, since it pre-supposea a con- 
 gument, the whole series of transactions, tinuance of supremacy, partly from Thu- 
 as they have been recorded in accurate i cydides, chap. 95: iv rourw 6 i ol 
 order, especially by Thucydides, compels &a.Kt&ain6vioi ^mn-^Troi/ro Tlavaaviav dvax- 
 ns without reserve to place the flight of i piixtovres u>v Tft.pl inwSavovro, Pausanias 
 rhemistocles not below the year 473. having come to Sparta, and been there 
 Chat the expedition of the allied Greeks j set atliberty, now betook himself privately 
 xinder the direction of Pausanias, against j in a galley to Byzantium. This cannot 
 Cyprus and Byzantium, the capture of j have happened long afterwards, for Thu- 
 the latter city, and the transfer of the cydides, chap. 128, immediately subjoins 
 supremacy from the Lacedemonians to j it, and what is of the most importance, 
 the Athenians, occasioned by the inso- j Pausanias finds the fleet still at Byzan- 
 lence of Pausanias, fall in the year 477, i tium. That his residence there did not 
 we may regard as established beyond i long continue, appears from the account 
 dispute by Clinton, p. 270 sq.# The of Thucydides, chap. 131, that he was 
 view of 0. Miiller (Dorier, II. p. 498), | forcibly expelled thence by the Atheni- 
 who distributes these events into a period j ans. He now retired to the colony in 
 of five years, is contradicted by the ex- Troas; frcm there, he was recalled to 
 pression if r/}<k rrj /jye/*oi>t a of Thucydides, Sparta, after it had been reported that 
 chap. 94, whereby the capture of Byzan- i he kept up an understanding with the 
 tium is brought into the same year with ! barbarians. The Ephori threw him into 
 the expedition against Cyprus. That prison, but soon after released him. At 
 these words cannot be connected with this time, his intercourse with Themis- 
 what follows, without a change of the : tocles took place, who, being at the time 
 text in opposition to all critical authority, already expelled from Athens, resided at 
 is shown by Poppo. Moreover, the very Argos, and thence made excursions into 
 last of these events is placed, by the the rest of the Peloponnesus. That Pau- 
 unanimous testimony of antiquity, in the J sanias then for the first time drew The- 
 year 477. Clinton shows, p. 249, that all i mistocles into his plan, when the latter 
 reckonings of the time of the supremacy j had been driven from Athens, is asserted 
 of the Athenians, setting out from this by Plutarch, and a personal intercourse 
 year, differ from one another only in re- i between them is rendered certain by all 
 
 | accounts. That there was no consider- 
 
 *The grounds are thus briefly summed up I ablt : P eriod between this release of Pau- 
 by Win., p. 252. " Dodwelli ration! neutiquam S! ) nias > antl his death, is clear. Pausa- 
 favet Isocratia auctoritas. Repugnat rerum j nias was not condemned, because there was 
 Kestarum series, repugnat quod Thucyd. sign!- j no certain proof against him. It is, how- 
 ficat, Plutarchus et Aristides diserte tradunt, ever? psychologically improbable, that 
 repugnat demque teinpons spatmm, quod I i J-j f i *u 
 
 Atheniensium imperio assignant Lysias, Iso- n "f , not s ? n a ?. u > tnat . no P ru - 
 
 erates ipse, Plato, Demosthenes, Aristides, qui- 
 bus fortasse addeudus est Lycurgufl." 
 
 dently kept himself from giving open 
 offence for a series of years, when we 
 
400 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 consider thafc he was deprived of all pru 
 dence by his haughtiness, arising to mad 
 ness, that he himself rendered the execu- 
 
 aiirov Aa*jatju^t io( , 
 
 TU>V 7roXird>j>) would cause the decision to 
 be hastened as much as possible. The- 
 
 tion of his treasonable plan impossible ; \ migtocles, persecuted both by the Athe- 
 that, according to Thucydides, chap. 130, ! n i ans an( j Lacedemonians, now flees 
 
 he went about in a Median dress, and 
 caused himself to be accompanied on a 
 journey through Thrace with Median 
 and Egyptian satellites, spread a Persian 
 table, made difficult the access to his per 
 son, gave free course to his passions, of 
 whom Thucydides himself very signifi 
 
 from the Peloponnesus to Corcyra. Be 
 ing denied a residence there, he retires 
 to the opposite continent. In danger 
 of being overtaken by his persecutors, 
 (Thucyd. chap. 136 : KUI ^IUKO/^OJ vnd 
 T&V TrpoirTriiyniva)v Kara TTVOTIV 77 X (J P"7)) 
 he sees himself compelled to flee to Ad- 
 
 metus, the king of the Molossians. Nor 
 can he have long resided there, for, ac- 
 npalttv, \ cording to Thucydides, chap. 137, he was 
 
 cantly remarks, *ai MH^X rrjv 
 tiiiK rifovaro dXX e pyoij 
 
 and of whose senseless arrogance the j sent forward by Admetus, as soon as his 
 same historian, chap. 132, gives an ex- j persecutors came. And how can we sup- 
 ample, even out of the time immediately ! pose, that they would have been long be- 
 after the battle of Platea. The discovery j hind him? How long could his place 
 was effected by him who was to bring to ! of residence have remained a secret? It 
 
 Artabazus the 
 
 letters to the king. 
 
 With what haste the transactions were 
 carried on, and that by no means a space 
 of four years was consumed, is evident 
 
 is expressly said by Thucydides, that the 
 coming of his persecutors, and the flight 
 of Themistocles to Asia, very soon hap 
 pened (wrrepov ov TroXXw). It is true, that 
 
 from the fact, that the king, in order to I if we could credit the account of Stesim- 
 accelerato them, had expressly sent Ar- | brotus, in Plut. chap. 24, we must assume 
 
 tabazus to Asia Minor. His death im 
 mediately followed the discovery (comp. 
 Thucyd. 133). We surely do not assume 
 
 that the residence of Themistocles with 
 Admetus continued some months. For he 
 related that his friends brought to him 
 
 too little, when we give to these events a j there, his wife and children, whom they 
 period of three years. That we need not . had secretly conducted out of Athens, 
 go beyond this, is shown by Diodorus, j But that no dependence is to be placed 
 who compresses all these events into the upon this, is evident from the absurd fic- 
 year 477 (01. 75, 4.) How could he j tion of Stesimbrotus that immediately 
 have done this, or how could such an i follows, which, to the surprise even of 
 error have arisen, if the beginning and j Plutarch, tir oiiK olti oTrwj x " 
 end had been separated from each other 
 by a period of 8 9 years ? How impos- 
 
 sible it was for him, with his sources, to 
 place the destruction of the Pausanias 
 
 TrXfiWi ipriaiv K. T. X.,) he brings forward, 
 without observing that the one fable does 
 away the other, viz., that Themistocles 
 
 far beyond this time, appears from his wag sent by Admetus to Sicily, and had 
 fiction, which can in no other way be | des i red O f Hiero his daughter in marriage, 
 explained, of a twofold accusation of j with the p rom { so to bring Greece under 
 Themistocles. If, now, we must place I su bjection to him. Plutarch designates 
 the death of Pausanias about the year | Stesimbrotus as a shameless liar. Peri- 
 474, and in no event later, the flight of j cle ^ chap> 13> That the sons of Themis- 
 Themistocles cannot be placed farther tocles rema i ne a in Athens, is manifest 
 back than the year 473. For Themis- i from a re l a tion in Suidas, and the testi- 
 tocles at the death of Pausanias had mony of Thucydides, chap. 137, and of 
 already been a considerable time in the pi utarc h, that the gold was first sent to 
 Peloponnesus. His accusation followed j Themistocles by his friends, after his 
 immediately after the event; comp. Ihu- I arr i va i j n Asia, to enable him to reward 
 cydides, 1, 135 ; and the combined in- j the serv i ce O f the captain who brought 
 terests of the Lacedemonians, to whom him to Asia> shows at the same time the 
 nothing could be more desirable than to ! incorrectness of the assertion of Stesim- 
 have the Athenians share their disgrace, brotns, and confirms the opinion, that 
 and of the enemies of Themistocles at i Themistocle? remained in no one place 
 Athens (Plut Them. c. 23: nartftfav <i ! of his flight long enough for his friendi 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 401 
 
 to send to him there the necessary gold. 
 Themistocles was conducted by Admctus 
 to Pidna, and from there he betook him 
 self in a boat directly to Asia. This, 
 accordingly, since between the death of 
 Pausanhi?, and the coming of Themisto 
 cles into Asia, there could at most be 
 only a year, can at latest have happened 
 in the year 473, perhaps in 474; and 
 even in the former case, we are com 
 pletely justified in placing the beginning 
 of the reign of Artaxerxes, which still can 
 not have immediately coincided with the 
 
 Athenians against the Persians, the -war 
 with whom formed the only ground for 
 the important requisitions which they 
 made upon their allies; comp. Thucyd. 
 1, 94. Hitherto, since the supremacy 
 had passed over to the Athenians, scarcely 
 anything had been done against the Per 
 sians, except the taking of the unimport 
 ant JEgon. Thucydides also leads us to 
 about the same year as that given by 
 Diodorus, who connects the defection of 
 Thasos (467) with \p6vw vcrrepov. which 
 cannot stand where events immediately 
 
 coming of Themistocles, in the year 474. j succeed each other. Even for these rea- 
 "4. On the supposition that the com- sons the siege of Naxos and the flight of 
 mencement of the reign of Artaxerxes, j Themistocles do not fall after 471. If, 
 and the flight of Themistocles, fall in however, we consider, that Naxos was 
 465, an extravagant old age must be attri- the first confederate city with which the 
 buted to Charon of Lampsacus. Accord- j Athenians were involved in discord, 
 ing to Suidas, he was still flourishing; comp. Thucyd. P. 1, 98, (which, from the 
 under the first Darius, 01. 69, 504 B. C. ; nature of the case, as is rendered espe- 
 Since now, in his history, he mentions j cially clear by the remarks of Thucydides 
 the flight of Themistocles to Artaxerxes, and a comparison of the later historians, 
 this being placed in 465, he must have j could scarcely have first happened after 
 been employed in writing history at least seven years), and if we farther consider 
 forty years. This is not, indeed, abso- the way in which Thucydides, chap. 98, 
 lutcly impossible ; but in a doubtful case connects the events, from the transfer 
 it must be rejected as the more improba- j of the supremacy until the capture of 
 ble alternative. " Histories cnim non aunt Naxos, with one another, we shall, with- 
 expHcandcE, says Vitringa, (Proll. in j out hesitation, place the latter some years 
 Zach. p. 29,) ex raris et innolentibus ex- earlier, in the year 474 or 473. 
 emplis, sed ex communi vivendi leije et\ "6. The flight of Themistocles falls at 
 ordine. Si res secus se habeat, in ipsn \ least three years earlier than the battlo 
 liifitoria ascribitur ne fallat incautos." on the Eurymedon, because in all proba- 
 
 Compare his farther excellent remarks on 
 this subject. That this argument is not 
 without force, is evident even from the 
 
 bility he was dead before the latter event. 
 His death, however, must have been some 
 years subsequent to his coining into Asia, 
 
 efforts of some advocates of the false chro- comp. Thucyd. chap. 138. One year 
 nology, to set it aside by cutting the knot, passed in learning the language, and 
 
 Suidas, after he has cited the abovernen- 
 tioned determination of the time of Cha 
 
 ron, as he found it in 
 authorities, subjoins, 
 
 his more ancient 
 
 6i 
 
 Creuzer, on thofrac/m.historr. 
 
 some time, in any event, was required for 
 
 what is implied in ravrrjg 
 
 r/7j x<<>P<*s 
 
 K. r. X. Thucydides relates, that, 
 according to the account of some, Themis 
 tocles took poison, d^vvarov vofiiaavra tivai 
 
 Grtec. p. 95, rejects this date without I irrtT\Eaai ftaoti.tl a vrtetrxero. This pre- 
 farther examination, because it gives too supposes that Themistocles was compelled 
 great an age to Charon. | to fulfil his promises, and had this not 
 
 "5. According to Thucyd. 1,136, The- j been the case at his death, the report, 
 mistocles, on his passage to Asia, fell in | that Thucydides only in this instance re- 
 with the Athenian fleet, which was be- j lied upon himself, could not have arisen, 
 sieging Naxos. This siege of Naxos, j Plutarch expressly connects the death of 
 however, according to the testimony of Themistocles with the expedition of Ci- 
 Thucydides, chap. 100, which makes all mon. This is done by several writers, 
 other arguments superfluous, happened j with the mention of the most special cir- 
 befure tho great victory of the Athenians cumstances, compare the passages in Sta- 
 on the Eurymedon, which, according to | veren on Nep. Them. 10, all of which may 
 Diodorus, belongs to the year 470, and j be regarded as they are by Cicero, Brut. 
 cannot be placed later, because this was j chap. 11, and Nepos, as fictitious, and 
 the first considerable undertaking of the j yet tho historical basis on which alone 
 34* 
 
402 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538 
 
 very thing depends, the fact that Thu- 
 cydides died before the battle on the 
 Eurymedon, is firmly established. 
 
 "7. Kriiger, 1. c. p. 218, has shown 
 that the account of Plutarch, that The- 
 mistocles reached an age of sixty-five 
 years, forbids us to place his death be 
 yond the year 470, and therefore his 
 flight beyond the year 473. According 
 to an account which has internal evidence 
 of credibility in ^Elian, Far. Hist. III. 
 21, Themistocles, as a small boy coming 
 from school, declined going out of the 
 way of the tyrant Pisistratus. Assuming 
 that this happened in the last year of 
 Pisistratus, B. C. 529, and that Themis 
 tocles was at that time six years old, he 
 must have been born 535, and died 470. 
 Nor is it a valid objection, that according 
 to Plutarch, Themistocles was still living 
 at the time of the Cyprian expedition of 
 Cimon (449, B. C.), and was still young 
 at the battle of Marathon. For the former 
 rests on a manifest confounding of the 
 former event, with the victory over the 
 Persian fleet at Cyprus, which is supposed 
 to have immediately preceded the victory 
 on the Eurymedon, (comp. Diodor. 11, 60, 
 Dahlmann, Forschungen, I. p. 69,) and 
 the latter merely on a conclusion drawn 
 from this error. Whoever, remarks 
 Dahlmann, p. 71, reads without preju 
 dice the passage, Thucyd. 1, 138, will 
 perceive that the death of Themistocles 
 followed pretty soon after his settlement 
 in Persia ; probably in the second year, 
 if Thucydides is worthy of credit/ 
 
 " Until all these arguments are refu 
 ted, it remains true, that the Messianic 
 interpretation of the prophecy is the only 
 correct one, and that the alleged Pseudo 
 Daniel, as well as the real Daniel, pos 
 sessed an insight into the future, which 
 could have been given only by the Spirit 
 of God ; and hence, as this favour could 
 have been shown to no deceiver, the 
 genuineness of the book necessarily fol 
 lows, and the futility of all objections 
 against it is already manifest."* 
 
 V. Tho only remaining point of in 
 quiry on this verse is, as to the division 
 of the whole period of sixty-nine weeks 
 into two smaller portions of seven weeks 
 and sixty-two weeks; that is, of the four 
 hundred and eighty-three years into one 
 period of four hundred and thirty-four 
 years, and one of forty-nine years. This 
 Uiquiry resolves itself into another, 
 
 * Christ. II. 394408. 
 
 whether, after the issuing of the com 
 mand in the twentieth yenr of Artaxerxes 
 there was a period of forty-nine years 
 that was in any manner distinguished 
 from that which followed, cr any reason 
 why an epoch should be made there. If 
 the command in the twentieth of Arta 
 xerxes was in the year B. C. 454, then the 
 subtraction of forty-nine years from this 
 would make the year 405 B. C., the 
 marked period ; that is, about that time 
 some important change would occur, or a 
 new series of affairs would commence 
 which would properly separate the previ 
 ous period from that which followed. 
 I Now the fair interpretation of this pas- 
 I sage respecting the seven weeks, or forty - 
 | nine years, undoubtedly is, that that time 
 | would be required in rebuilding the city, 
 and in settling its affairs on a permanent 
 foundation, and that, from the close of 
 | that time, another period of sixty-two 
 weeks, or four hundred and thirty-four 
 j years would elapse to the appearing of 
 the Messiah. It is true that this is not 
 distinctly specified in the text, and true 
 that in the text the phrase the street 
 shall be built again, and the wall, even 
 in troublous times, is not limited ex 
 pressly to either period, but it is also said 
 in the next verse that the period of 
 ! sixty-two weeks would be terminated by 
 the appearing of the Messiah, or by his 
 being cut off, and, therefore, it is fair to 
 presume that the previous period of seven 
 weeks was to be characterized particu 
 larly as the troublous times in which 
 the street and the wall were to be built 
 again. The inquiry now is, whether that 
 jtime was actually occupied in rebuilding 
 ! and restoring the city. In regard to this, 
 it may be remarked (1) that there is a 
 strong probability that a considerable 
 time would be necessary to rebuild the 
 walls of the city, and to restore Jerusalem 
 to a condition like that in which it was 
 before the captivity. We are to remem 
 ber that it had been long lying in ruins ; 
 that the land was desolate; that Jeru 
 salem had no commercial importance t > 
 make its growth rapid ; that there were 
 few in the city on whom reliance could 
 be placed in rebuilding it; that a large 
 portion of the materials for rebuilding it 
 was to be brought from a distance; that 
 the work was opposed with much deter 
 mination by the Samaritans ; that it was 
 necessary, as Nehemiah informed us, in 
 building tho walls, that the workmea 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 403 
 
 should have a -weapon of defence in one 
 hand whilst they laboured with the other, 
 and that those who were engaged on it 
 were mostly poor. When these things 
 are considered, it is at least not improba 
 ble that the period of forty-nine years ; 
 would be required before it could be said 
 that the work was fully completed. (2) A I 
 more material question, however is, | 
 whether the facts in the case confirm ; 
 this, or whether there was such a termi 
 nation of the rebuilding of the city at 
 about that period, that it could be said 
 that the time occupied was seven weeks 
 rather than, for example, six, or five, 
 or nine. It may not be necessary so to 
 make this out as to determine the precise j 
 year, or the termination of forty-nine : 
 years, but in a general division of the time, ! 
 it is necessary, undoubtedly, so to deter- j 
 mine it as to see that that time should have 
 been designated, rather than one equally 
 general at the close of one week, or two, ! 
 or six, or nine, or any other number. 
 Now that that was the period of the com- : 
 pletion of the work contemplated by the 
 decree issued under Artaxerxes, and the j 
 work undertaken by Nehemiah, it is not j 
 difficult to show : (a) It is reasonable to 
 presume that the time referred to in the 
 seven weeks would be the rebuilding of 
 the city, and the restoration of its affairs 
 to its former state or the completion of 
 the arrangements to restore the nation 
 from the effects of the captivity, and to 
 put it on its former footing. This was 
 the main inquiry by Daniel; this would 
 be a marked period; this would be that 
 for which the commandment would go 
 forth; and this would constitute a natural 
 division of the time, (b) As a matter of 
 fact, the completion of the work under 
 taken by Nehemiah, under the command 
 of the Persian kings, reached to the pe 
 riod here designated, and his last act as 
 Governor of Judea, in restoring the peo 
 ple, and placing the affairs of the nation 
 o& its former basis, occurred at just about 
 the period of the forty-nine years after 
 the issuing of the command by Artaxerxes 
 Lougimanus. That event, as is supposed 
 above, occurred B. C. 454. The close of 
 the seven weeks, or of the forty-nine 
 years, would therefore be B. C. 405. 
 This would be about the last year of the j 
 reign of Darius Nothus. See the table 
 above. Nehemiah was twice Governor 
 of Judea, and the work of restoration which 
 he undertook was not completed until his 
 
 being the second time in that office. The 
 first time he remained twelve years in 
 office, for he received his commission in 
 the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, and 
 in the thirty-second year he returned 
 again to him. Neh. xiii. 6. This, ac 
 cording to the computation above, would 
 bring it down to B. C. 442. How long ho 
 then remained with the king of Persia, 
 he does not definitely state himself, but 
 says it was certain days. Neh. xiii. 6. 
 After this, he again obtained permission 
 of the king to return to Jerusalem, and 
 went back the second time as Governor of 
 Judea. Neh. xiii. 6, 7. The time from his 
 first return to Persia, after the twelve years 
 that he spent in Judea to the year 405 B. 
 C.. would be thirty-seven years. Ac 
 cording to this, the close of the seven 
 weeks, and the completion of the enter 
 prise of rebuilding and restoring the city, 
 must have been at the end of that thirty- 
 five years. In reference to this, it may 
 bo remarked (1) that Nehemiah is known 
 to have lived to a great age (Jotephut), 
 yet, supposing he was thirty years old 
 when he was first appointed governor of 
 Judea, and that the time referred to at 
 the close of the seven weeks or forty- 
 nine years was the completion of his 
 work on the restoration of the affairs of 
 Jerusalem, the whole period would only 
 reach to the seventy-ninth year of his 
 age. (2) The last act of Nehemiah in 
 restoring the city occurred in the fifteenth 
 year of the reign of Darius Nothus ac 
 cording to Prideaux (Con. II. 206, aeq.) 
 that is, 408 B. C. This would make, ac 
 cording to the common computation of 
 chronology, a difference from the esti 
 mate above of only three years, and, per 
 haps, considering that the time of seven 
 weeks is a reckoning in round numbers, 
 this would be an estimate of sufficient ac 
 curacy. But besides this it is to be re 
 membered that the exact chronology to a 
 year or a month cannot be made out with 
 absolute certainty, and taking all the cir 
 cumstances into consideration it is re 
 markable that the period designated in 
 the prophecy, coincides so nearly with 
 the historical record. The only remain 
 ing inquiries, therefore, are, whether tho 
 last act of Nehemiah referred to occurred 
 at the time mentioned the fifteenth of 
 Darius Nothus, or 408 B. C. and whether 
 that was of sufficient prominence and 
 importance to divide the two periods of 
 the prophecies, or to be a proper closing 
 
404 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 26 And after threescore and two 
 
 3 Lu. 24. 26, 46. 
 
 weeks shall Messiah be cut off, b but 
 
 b or, and shaU have nothing. 
 
 up of the work of restoring and rebuild- termination of that captivity in the fullest 
 ing Jerusalem. What he did in his office sense, and divided the past from the fu- 
 as governor of Judea at his second vifita- ture or constituted a peri odor epoch in the 
 tion to Jerusalem, is recorded in Neh. xiii. history of the Jewish people. It remains 
 7 31. The particular acts which he only to add, on this verse and the remark 
 performed consisted in removing certain will be equally applicable to the exposition 
 abuses which had been suffered to grow up ! of the two remaining verses of the chap- 
 in his absence respecting the temple ser- ter that, on the supposition that this had 
 
 vice, by which the temple had become 
 greatly polluted (ch. xiii. 7 14) ; in 
 restoring the Sabbath to its proper ob 
 servance, which had become greatly 
 disregarded (ch. xiii. 15 22), and in 
 constraining those Jews who had con 
 tracted unlawful marriages to separate 
 
 been written after the coming of lue Mes 
 siah, and it had been designed to frame 
 what would seem to be a prophecy or pre 
 diction of these events, the language here 
 would be such as would have been appro 
 priately employed. From the time of the 
 going forth of the command to rebuild 
 
 themselves from their wives (ch. xiii. 23 ! the city, the whole duration would have 
 31). These acts were necessary to put been accurately divided into two great 
 the affairs of the temple, and the condi- [portions that requisite for the completion 
 tion of the city, on its former basis. The of the work of restoring the city, and that 
 last of these acts the separation of those ] extending to the coming of the Messiah, 
 who had contracted unlawful marriages j and the former would have been made to 
 from their wives, is that which designates I terminate where it is now supposed the 
 the close of the seven weeks, and respect- | period of seven weeks, or forty-nine 
 ing which the date is to be sought. This ! years did actually terminate. If this 
 is stated in the book of Nehemiah (xiii. would have been the correct apportion- 
 28) to have occurred in the time of * one ! ment in a historic review, it is correct aa 
 of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib & prophetic review, 
 the high-priest, son-in-law to Sanballetthe 
 
 Horonite. That is, it occurred when Joi 
 ada was high-priest. But, according to the 
 
 26. And after threescore and tico iccelct. 
 After the completion of the last period 
 of four hundred and thirty four years. 
 
 Chron. Alexandrinum, Joiada succeeded ! The angel had shown in the previous 
 his father in the office in the eleventh year j ver se what would be the characteristic of 
 of Darius Nothus, and Prideaux supposes, j the first period of seven weeks that du- 
 without improbability, that this event may ! r i n g t h at time the wall and the street 
 have occurred as long as four years after j wou id be built in circumstances of general 
 he entered on the office of high-priest, I distress and anxiety, and he now proceeds 
 which would bring it to the fifteenth to state what would occur in relation to the 
 
 remaining sixty-two weeks. The particu- 
 
 it to 
 of Darius Nothus, or 408 B. C. 
 
 Comp. 
 
 Jahn (Heb. Com.) p. 179182, and Pri 
 deaux, Con. II. 206210. The time, then, 
 if this be the event referred to, is suffi 
 ciently accurate to make it coincide with 
 the prophecy sufficiently so to divide the 
 previous period from that which succeeded 
 it. The event itself was of sufficient im 
 portance to have a place here. It was, 
 in fact, finishing what was necessary to 
 be done in order to a completion of the 
 purpose to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. 
 It was in fact the restoration of Jewish af 
 fairs under the Persian edict, or what was 
 accomplished in fact under that edict in 
 placing the Jewish affairs on the proper ba 
 sis basis on which they were substan 
 tially before the captivity. This was the j would be, that this would be Mie next 
 
 lar thing which would characterize that pe 
 riod would be, that the Messiah would be 
 cut off, and that the series of events would 
 commence which would terminate in the 
 destruction of the city and the temple. Ho 
 does not say that this would be immediately 
 on the termination of the sixty-two weeks, 
 but he says that it would be after nnx 
 subsequent to the close of that period. 
 The word does not mean necessarily im 
 mediately, but it denotes that which is to 
 succeed to follow and would be well 
 expressed by the word afterwards. Gen. 
 xv. 14, xxiii. 19, xxv. 26, et at. See Ge- 
 senius, Lex. The natural meaning here 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 405 
 
 not for himself: and a the people of j the prince that shall come shall de- 
 
 a or, and they (the Jews) shall be rt. more his people, Ho. 1. 9 ; or, the prince s (Messiah s, ver. 
 
 25,) future people. 
 
 event in the order of events to be reck 
 oned ; it would be that on which the pro 
 phetic eye would rest subsequent to the 
 close of the period of sixty-two weeks. 
 There are two circumstances in the pro 
 phecy itself which go to show that it 
 is not meant that this would immedi 
 ately follow : (a) One is, that in the pre 
 vious verse it is said that the sixty-two 
 weeks would extend unto the Messiah; 
 that is, either to his birth or to his mani 
 festation as such, and it is not implied 
 anywhere that he would be cut off at 
 once on his appearing, nor is such a sup- 
 
 The proper notion or meaning here is, 
 undoubtedly, that of being cut off by 
 death, and would suggest the idea of 
 a violent death, or a death by the agency 
 of others. It would apply to one who 
 was assassinated, or murdered in a mob, 
 or who was appointed to death by a 
 judicial decree; or it might be applied to 
 one who was cut down in battle, or by the 
 pestilence, or by lightning, or by ship 
 wreck, but it would not naturally or prop 
 erly be applied to one who had lived out 
 his days and died a peaceful death. We 
 always now connect with the word the 
 
 position reasonable, or one that would j idea of some unu sual interposition, as 
 have been embraced by an ancient stu- when we speak of one who is cut down in 
 dent of the prophecies; (6) the other is, middle life< The anc i ent translators un- 
 that, in the subsequent verse, it is ex- derstood it O f a violent death. So tho 
 pressly said that what he would accom- | Latin Vulgate, occidetur christm. Syriac, 
 
 plish in causing the oblation to cease 
 would occur in the midst of the week ; 
 that is, of tho remaining one week that 
 would complete the seventy. This could 
 
 not occur if ho. were to 
 
 cut off im- 
 
 the Messiah shall be slain or put to 
 death. It need not be here said that this 
 phrase would find a complete fulfilment 
 in the manner in which the Lord Jesus 
 was put to death, nor that this is the very 
 
 mediately at the close of the sixty-two | language in wh ich it is proper now to de- 
 weeks. The careful student of this pro- , gcribe the manner in wnic h he was re- 
 phecy, therefore, would anticipate that the I moved . H e was cut off by violence ; by 
 Messiah would appear at the close of the a judicial decree; by a mob; in the midst 
 sixty-two weeks, and that he would con- o / his &c> If it should be adm itted 
 
 tinue during a part, at least, of the re- I that the a } meant to desC ribe the man- 
 main ing one week before he would be cut j ner of his death he could not have found 
 
 1! l en / a S! * single word that would have better ex- 
 pressed it. f But not for himself . Marg., 
 and shall have nothing. This phrase has 
 given rise to not a little discussion, and 
 not a little diversity of opinion. The 
 Latin Vulgate is, et non erit ejits populus, 
 qui eum negaturns est and they shall 
 
 made out from the prophecy before the 
 
 Messiah came, ^f Shall Messiah. Notes 
 
 ver. 25. f Be cut off. The word here 
 
 used rO3 means properly to cut, to cut 
 
 off, as a part of a garment, 1 Sam. xxiv. 
 
 5, 12 ; a branch of a tree, Num. xiii. 23; 
 
 the prepuce, Ex. iv. 25 ; the head, 1 Sam. j not be his people who shall deny him. 
 
 Theodotion (in the Sept.) KUI xpi^a ov* 
 c<Tiv iv ctorw and there is no crime in 
 him. Syriac, And it is not with him. 
 
 xvii. 51, v. 4 ; to cut down trees, Deut. 
 xix. 5, Isa. xiv. 8, xliv. 14, Jer. x. 3, 
 xxii. 7. Then it means to cut off persons, 
 to destroy, Deut. xx. 20, Jer. xi. 19, Gen. 
 ix. 11, Ps. xxx vii. 9, Prov. ii. 22, x. 31, 
 et al. eospe. The phrase that soul shall 
 be cut off from his people, from the 
 
 The Hebrew is, iS j-xv and the interpre 
 tation turns on the meaning of the word 
 px- Hengstenberg maintains that it is 
 midst of the people/ from Israel/ from never used in the sense of & (not), but 
 
 the congregation/ <fcc., occurs frequently 
 in the Scriptures (comp. Gen. xvii. 14, 
 Lev. vii. 20, 21, Num. xv. 20, xix. 13, 20, 
 Ex. xii. 19, et al.), and denotes the pun 
 ishment of death in general, without de- 
 
 fining the manner, 
 punishment of exile." 
 
 It is never the 
 Gesenius, Lea 
 
 that it always conveys the idea of nothing, 
 or non-existence, and that the meaning 
 here is, that, then, there was nothing to 
 him; that is, that he ceased to have au 
 thority and power, as in the cutting off 
 of aprince or ruler whose power comes to 
 an end. Accordingly he renders it, and 
 
406 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 etroy the city and the sanctuary ; and 
 the end thereof shall be with a flood, 
 
 is not to him; that is, his dominion, au 
 thority, or power over the covenant peo 
 ple as an anointed prince, should cease 
 when he was cut off, and another one 
 would come and desolate the sanctuary, 
 
 arid unto the end of the war => deso 
 lations are determined. 
 
 a or, it sJiall le cut off by desolations. 
 
 "bo cut off as the Prince the Messiah. 
 This interpretation appears to be con 
 firmed by what is immediately said, that 
 another would come and would destroy 
 the city and the sanctuary, or that the 
 
 and take possession. Bertholdt renders I possession would pass into his hands. It 
 
 it, Ohne NacJifolger von den Seinigen zu 
 habcn without any successors of his 
 own meaning that his family, or that 
 the dynasty would be cut off, or would 
 
 seems probable to me that this is the fair 
 interpretation. The Messiah would come 
 as a prince/ It might be expected that 
 he would come to rule to set up a king- 
 
 end with him. Ho maintains that the ! dom. But he would be suddenly cut 
 whole phrase denotes * a sudden and an un- off by a violent death. The antici- 
 expected death, and that it here means pated dominion over the people as a 
 that he would have no successor of his prince would not be set up. It would 
 own family. He applies it to Alexander | not pertain to him. Thus suddenly 
 the Great. Lengerke renders it, vnd j cut off, the expectations of such a rule 
 nicht ittt vorhanden, der ihm angeJioret [ would be disappointed and blasted. He 
 and explains the whole to mean The an- would in fact set up no such domin- 
 nointed one [as the lawful king] shall be j ion as might naturally be expected of an 
 cut off, but it shall not then be one who ! anointed prince; he would have no suc- 
 belongs to his family [to wit, upon thelcessor; the dynasty would not remain in 
 throne], but a Prince shall corne to whom his hands or his family, and soon the 
 the crown did not belong, to whom the people of a foreign prince would come, 
 name anointed could not properly belong. j and would sweep all away. This inter- 
 Maurer explains it, there shall be to him pretation does not suppose that the real 
 no successor or lawful heir. Prof. Stu- j object of his coming would be thwarted, 
 art renders it, " One shall be cut off, and or that he would not set up a kingdom in 
 there shall be none for it" (the people). ! accordance with the prediction properly 
 C. B. Michaelis, " and not to be, will be j explained, but that such a kingdom as 
 his lot." Jack, and Hitzig, "and no one j would be expected by the people, would 
 remained to him." Rosch, "and no one j not be setup. He would be out off soon 
 was present for him." Our translation ; after he came, and the anticipated do- 
 but not for himself was undoubtedly I minion would not pertain to him, orthere 
 adopted from the common view of the would be nothing of it found in him. 
 atonement that the Messiah did not die j and soon after a foreign prince would come 
 for himself, but that his life was given as j and destroy the city and the sanctuary. 
 a ransom for others. There can be no i This interpretation, indeed, will take 
 doubt of that fact to those who hold the | this passage away as a proof-text of 
 common doctrine of the atonement, and I the doctrine of the atonement, or as 
 yet it may be doubted whether the trans- affirming the design of the death of the 
 lators did not undesignedly allow their Messiah, but it furnishes a meaning as 
 views of the atonement to shape the inter- much in accordance with the general 
 pretation of this passage, and whether it J strain of the prophecy, and with the facts 
 can be fairly made out from the Hebrew, j in the work of the Messiah. For, it was 
 
 The ordinary meaning of the Hebrew 
 word ^X is undoubtedly nothing, emp 
 tiness in the sense of there being nothing 
 (See Gesenius, Lex.), and, thus applied, 
 
 a natural expectation that when he came 
 he would set up a Kingdom a temporal 
 reign and this expectation was exten 
 sively cherished among the people. He 
 
 the sense here would be that, after he was was > how ^er, soon cut off, and all such 
 cut off, or in consequence of his being cut ! h P es at once Pd the "nds f 
 off, that which he before possessed would \ his true followers (comp. Luke xxiv. 21), 
 cease, or there would be nothing to j and in the minds of the multitudes who, 
 him; that is, either his life would cease, though not his true followers, began to 
 tr hi dominion would cease, or he would j inquire whether he might not be the pro- 
 
B. C. 538.J CHAPTER IX. 407 
 
 dieted Messiah the prince to sit on the ! this clearly refers to one that was to fol- 
 throne of David. But of such an antici- ; lowj (6) the phrase that is to come 
 pated dominion or rule, there was noth- N2n would also imply this. It would 
 ing to him. All these expectations were j na t ura ll y suggest the idea that he would 
 blighted by his sudden death, and soon, | come from abroad or that he would be a 
 instead of his delivering the nation from | foreign prin ce for he would come for 
 bondage and setting up a visible king- | the purposes of destruction. No one can 
 dom, a foreign prince would cotne with fail to gee the applicability of this to tbo 
 his forces, and would sweep away every- destruction of Jerusalem by the Koman 
 thing. Whether this would be the inter- | powers after the Lord Jegus wag t to 
 pretation affixed to these words before the j deafch< If that wag the design of the 
 advent of the Messiah, cannot now bo de- j propbecy> or j f j t be admitted that the 
 termined. We have few remains of the : prophecy contemplated that the language 
 methods in which the Hebrews inter- | could not haye befin bcfcter chosen> or the 
 preted the ancient prophecies, and we > pre di c tion more exact. No one can rea- 
 raay readily suppose that they would not , sonably do ubt, that, if the ancient He- 
 be disposed to embrace an exposition j brewg had unde rstood the former part of 
 which would show them that the reign the prophecy as mea ning that the true 
 of the Messiah, as they anticipated it, j Messiah would be pufc to death soon after 
 would not occur, but that almost as soon j hig appearin g, they cou ld not fail to an 
 as ho appeared, he would be put to death, ticipate that a f ore ig n prince would soon 
 and the dominion pass away, and the na- , come and lay wftste tbeir dt and ganc . 
 tion be subjected to the ravages of a for- | tu Slmil de8troy the city and the 
 
 eign power, f And the people of the , anctuary . The < boly p l ace the tem- 
 prince that shall come. Marg., And they le> Thig is the termination of the pro- 
 (the Jews) shall be no more his people; j phecy> j t beg ins with the command to 
 or, the Prince s (Messiah s) future peo- 1 < rebu ild and restore the city, and ends 
 pie. This seems to be rather an expla- j wifch itg dest ruction. The time is not 
 nation of the meaning, than a translation ! fixed> nor ig there in the propbec y any 
 of the Hebrew. The literal rendering | direct i nt i mation wben j t wou i d occur) 
 would be, and the city, and the sane- 1 unlegg it be found in tbe general declara- 
 tuary, the people of a prince that comes, j tion in ven 2 4, that seventy weeks were 
 shall lay waste. On the general suppo- 1 determined upon the people and the city. 
 sition that this whole passage refers to j The who]e scope of the prophecy> how . 
 the Messiah and his tune, the language ! ever> would lead to the suppos i t ion that 
 here used is not difficult of interpretation, ! thig wag 80on to OCC ur after the Messiah 
 and denotes with undoubted accuracy the sbou i d be cut off. The series of events 
 events that soon followed the cutting under the R oraans which led to the de- 
 off of the Messiah. The word people i struct i on o f tbe c j ty and temple, in fact, 
 Dj? is a word that may well be applied ; be gan very soon after the death of the 
 to subjects or armies such a people as \ Lord Jesus, and ceased only when the 
 an invading prince or warrior would lead temple was wholly demolished, and the 
 with him for purposes of conquest. It city was rased to its foundations, f And 
 denotes properly () people, or tribe, or! the end thereof. Heb., its end, or, his 
 race in general; and then (6) the people end Tip. It is not certain to what the 
 as opposed to kings, princes, rulers (comp. | word it ^ bere re f e rs. It may be either 
 Xadj the people as opposed to chiefs in , the end of the city> or of the prin ce, or 
 Homer, II. ii. 365, xiii. 108, xxiv. 28) ; of tbe prop hecy, so far as the grammati- 
 and then as soldiers, Judges v. 2. Hence . ca j construction is concerned. As the 
 it may be applied, as it would be under- j pr i nc i pa i and immediate subject of the 
 stood to be here, to the soldiers of the j prop hecy, however, is the city, it is more 
 prince that should come. f Of the na tural to refer it to that. Hengs tenberg 
 prince that shall come. The word prince j ren ders it, it will end, supposing, with 
 bere -\\^ is the same which occurs in j Vitringa, that it refers to the subject of 
 ver. 25, Messiah the prince. It is clear, | the discourse : the thing the whole af- 
 however, that another prince is meant < fair all that is here predicted in this se- 
 here for (a) it is just said that that prince j ries of events will end with a flood. 
 the Messiah would be cut off, and! This accords well with the whole design 
 
408 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 27 A.. \ he shall confirm the cove- 
 
 a or, a. 
 
 nnnt with many for one -week : and 
 
 of the prophecy. ^ With a flood. close. There would be no intermission ; 
 1^3 That is, it shall be like an over- ! no cessation. It is hardly necessary to 
 flowing flood. The word here used means s< ? y that this was in fact, precisely the 
 a gushing, outpouring, as of rain, Job charactei ; O f the war which the Romans 
 
 xxxviii. 25; of a torrent, Prov. xxvii. 4: ! **&" with the JeWS after the death of 
 an overflowing, inundation, flood, Ps. ! the Saviour > and .which ended in the de- 
 
 xxxii. 6, Neh. i. 8. Hence it would ap 
 propriately denote the ravages of an array, 
 sweeping everything away. It would be 
 like a sudden inundation, carrying every- 
 
 struction of the city and temple ; the over 
 throw of the whole Hebrew polity, and 
 the removal of great numbers of the peo 
 ple to a distant and perpetual captivity. 
 
 thing away. No one can doubt that this ! No War > P erha P s > has been in its progress 
 language is applicable in every respect to I r ? ore marked b y desolation ; in none has 
 
 the desolations brought upon Jerusalem n "" fWf """ f; - K 
 
 by the Roman armies, f And unto the 
 end of the war desolations are determined. 
 Marg., it shall be cut off by desolations. 
 Hengstenberg renders this, and unto the 
 end is war, a decree of ruins. So Len- 
 gerke und bis aufs Ende krieg und Be- 
 schluss der Wiisten. Bertholdt renders it, 
 And the great desolations shall continue 
 unto the end of the war. The Latin 
 Vulgate renders it, et post finem belli sta- 
 tuta desolatio and after the end of the 
 war desolation is determined. Prof. 
 
 the purpose of destruction been more per- 
 severingly manifested to its very close. 
 The language here, indeed, might apply 
 to many wars in a certain sense to all 
 wars ; in none, however, would it be moro 
 appropriate than to the wars of the Ro 
 mans with the Jews. 
 
 27. And Jie shall confirm the cove 
 nant. Literally, he shall make strong 
 V3,?nv The ideais that of giving strength, 
 or stability; of making firm and sure. 
 The Hebrew word here evidently re 
 fers to the covenant* which God is said 
 
 Stuart translates it, And unto the end I to establish with his people so often re- 
 shall be war, a decreed measure of deso- 1 f err ed to in the Scriptures as expressing 
 lations. Ihe literal meaning of the pas- tv>o voiot; i^*,,, u,- , *i . 
 
 sage is, And unto the end of the war, 
 desolations are decreed, or determined. 
 The word rendered determined pnn 
 means properly to cut, cut in, engrave ; 
 
 the relation between Him and them, 
 and hence used, in general, to denote the 
 laws and institutions of the true religion 
 the laws which God has made for his 
 church ; his promises to be their protec- 
 
 then to decide, to determine, to decree, to tor, <fec., and the institutions which grow 
 pass sentence. See Notes on ver. 24. ! ou t of that relation. The margin reads 
 Here the meaning naturally is, that such i it, more in accordance with the Hebrew, 
 desolations were settled or determined j a> meaning that he would confirm or es- 
 as by a decree or purpose. There was I tablish a covenant with the many. Ac- 
 something which made them certain ; cording to this, it is not necessary to sup- 
 that is, it was a part of the great plan ! pose that it was any existing covenant 
 here referred to in the vision of the sev- ! that it referred to, but that he would rat- 
 enty weeks, that there should be such 
 desolations extending through the war. 
 The things which would, therefore, be 
 anticipated from this passage would be 
 (a) that there would be war. This is 
 implied also in the assurance that the 
 people of a foreign prince would come 
 
 ify what was understood by the word 
 covenant; that is, that he would lead 
 many to enter into atrue and real covenant 
 with God. This would be fulfilled if he 
 should perform such a work as would 
 bring the many into a relation to God 
 corresponding to that which was sus- 
 
 and take the city. ~(b) That this war I tained to him by his ancient people; that 
 would be of a desolating character, or i ? > bring them to be his true friends and 
 that it would in a remarkable manner ex 
 tend and spread ruin over the land. All 
 
 wars are thus characterized ; but it would i ~r -- v . ~~ 
 
 seem that this would do it in a remarka- referred to), would, for one week pur- 
 ble manner, (c) That these desolations sue such a course as would tend to es- 
 would extend through the war, or to its I tablish the tru religion ; to render it 
 
 worshippers. The meaning of the expres 
 sion here cannot be mistaken, that during 
 the time specified, he (whoever may bo 
 
B.C. 538.] CHAPTER IX. 409 
 
 in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation 
 
 more stable and firm; to give it higher 
 sanctions in the approbation of- the ma 
 ny, and to bring it to bear more decidedly 
 and powerfully on the heart. Whether 
 this would be by some law enacted in its 
 favour; or by protection extended over 
 the nation; or by present example; or by 
 instruction; or by some work of a new 
 kind, and new influences which he would 
 set forth, is not mentioned, and before 
 hand perhaps it could not have been 
 well anticipated in what way this would 
 be. There has been a difference of opin 
 ion however, as to the proper nominative 
 to the verb confirm "P3JH whether it is 
 the Messiah, or the foreign prince, or 
 the one week. Hengstenberg prefers 
 the latter, and renders it, And one 
 week shall confirm the covenant with 
 many. So also Lengerke renders it. 
 Bertholdt renders it he, that is, he 
 shall unite himself firmly with many 
 for one week or, a period of seven 
 years, ein Jahrsiebend lang. It seems 
 to me that it is an unnatural construc 
 tion to make the word week the nom 
 inative to the verb, and that the more 
 obvious interpretation is to refer it to 
 some person to whom the whole subject 
 relates. It is not usual to represent time 
 as an agent in accomplishing a work. 
 In poetic and metaphorical language, in 
 deed, we personate time as cutting down 
 men, as a destroyer, &c., but this usage 
 would not justify the expression that 
 time would confirm a covenant with 
 many. That is, evidently, the work of a 
 conscious, intelligent agent; and it is most 
 natural, therefore, to understand this as 
 of one of the two agents who are spoken 
 of in the passage. These two agents are 
 the Messiah, and the Prince that 
 should como. But it is not reasonable to 
 suppose that the latter is referred to, be 
 cause it is said (ver. 26), that the effect 
 and the purpose of his coming would be 
 to destroy the city and the sanctuary. 
 He was to come with a flood, and the 
 effect of his coming would be only deso 
 lation. The more correct interpretation, 
 therefore, is to refer it to the Messiah, 
 who is the principal subject of the pro 
 phecy ; and the work which, according to 
 this, he was to perform was, during that 
 one week, to exert such an influence as 
 would tend to establish a covenant bo- 
 Si 
 
 tween the people and God. The effect of 
 his work during that one week would be 
 to secure their adhesion to the true reli 
 gion; to confirm to them the divine pro 
 mises, and to establish the principles of 
 that religion which would lead them to 
 God. Nothing is said of the mode by 
 which that would be done; and anything, 
 therefore, which would secure this would 
 be a fulfilment of the prophecy. As a 
 matter of fact, if it refers to the Lord Je 
 sus, this was done by his personal instruc 
 tions, his example, his sufferings and 
 death, and the arrangements which he 
 made to secure the proper effect of his 
 work on the minds of the people all da- 
 signed to procure for them the friendship 
 and favour of God, and to unite them to 
 him in the bonds of an enduring cove 
 nant, f With many. D^nS- Or, for 
 i many; or, unto many. He would per 
 form a work which would pertain to 
 many, or which would bear on many, lead 
 ing them to God. There is nothing in 
 the word here which would indicate who 
 they were, whether his own immediate fol 
 lowers, or those who already were in the 
 covenant. The simple idea is, that this 
 would pertain to many persons, and it 
 would be fulfilled if the effect of his work 
 were to confirm many who were already 
 in the covenant, or if he should bring 
 many others into a covenant relation with 
 God. Nothing could be determined from 
 the meaning of the word used here as to 
 which of these things are designed, and 
 consequently a fair fulfilment would be 
 found if either of them occurred. If it 
 refers to the Messiah, it would be fulfilled 
 if in fact the effect of his coming should 
 be either by statute or by instructions to 
 confirm and establish those who already 
 sustain this relation to God, or if he 
 gathered other followers, and confirmed 
 them in their allegiance to God. <[ For 
 one week. The fair interpretation of 
 this, according to the principles adopted 
 throughout this exposition, is, that this 
 includes the space of seven years. See 
 Notes on ver. 24. This is the one week 
 that makes up the seventy seven of 
 them, or forty-nine years, embracing the 
 period from the command to rebuild the 
 city and temple to its completion under 
 Nohemiah; sixty-two, or four hundred 
 and thirty-two years, to the public appear- 
 
410 
 
 DANIEL 
 
 [B. C. 538 
 
 to cease, and for the overspreading | desolate, even until the consumma- 
 of abominations he shall make it , tion, and that determined shall be 
 
 the battlements shaUbetheidoU of P OUred U P 0n the "desolate. 
 
 ^or,d-esolater. 
 
 a or, upon 
 the desolater. 
 
 ing of the Messiah, and this one week to ! 
 complete the whole seventy, or four hun- | 
 dred and ninety years until the trans- j 
 gression was finished, and an end was j 
 made of sins, and reconciliation was made j 
 for iniquity, and everlasting righteous- ! 
 ness was brought in, &c. ver. 24. It is i 
 essential, therefore, to find something 
 done, occupying these seven years, that 
 would go to confirm the covenant in the 
 sense above explained. In the considera- 
 tion of this, the attention is arrested by ; 
 the announcement of an important event ! 
 which was to occur in the midst of the 
 week, to wit, in causing the sacrifice ; 
 and the oblation to cease, showing that ; 
 there was to be an important change 
 occurring during the week, or that! 
 while he would be in fact confirming ! 
 the covenant through the week in some j 
 proper sense, the sacrifice and obla 
 tion would cease, and therefore the 
 confirming of the many in the cove 
 nant must depend on something else 
 than the continuation of the sacrifice and 
 oblation. In regard to this language, as 
 in respect to all the rest of the prophecy, 
 there are in fact just two questions : One 
 is, what is fairly to be understood by the 
 words, or what is the proper interpreta 
 tion, independent of anything in the re 
 sult j the other is, whether anything oc 
 curred in that which is regarded as t the 
 fulfilment which corresponds with the 
 language so interpreted. (1) The first 
 inquiry, then, is, What is the fair mean 
 ing of the language ? Or what would 
 one who had a correct knowledge of the 
 proper principles of interpretation under 
 stand by this? Now, in regard to this, 
 while it may be admitted, perhaps, that 
 there would be some liability to a differ 
 ence of view in interpreting it with no 
 reference to the event, or no shaping its 
 meaning?)?/ the event, the following things 
 seem tp be clear : (a) that the one wuek 
 would comprise seven years, immediately 
 succeeding the appearance of the Mes 
 siah, or the sixty-two weeks, and that 
 there was something which he would do 
 in confirming the covenant, or in estab 
 lishing the principles of religion, which 
 would extend through that period of 
 
 seven years, or that that would be, in 
 some proper sense, A period of time, hav 
 ing a beginning to wit, his appearing, 
 and some proper close or termination ut 
 the end of the seven years : that is, that 
 there would be some reason why that 
 should be a marked period, or why the 
 whole should terminate there, and not at 
 some other time, (b) That in the middle 
 of that period of seven years, another im 
 portant event would occur, serving to di 
 vide that time into two portions, and es 
 pecially to be known as causing the sacri 
 fice and oblation to cease ; in some way 
 affecting the public offering of sacrifice 
 so that from that time there would be in 
 fact a cessation. And (c) that this would 
 be succeeded by the consummation of 
 the whole matter expressed in the words, 
 and for the overspreading of abomina 
 tion he shall make it desolate, <fec. It 
 is not said, however, that this latter would 
 immediately occur, but this would be one 
 of the events that would appertain to the 
 fulfilment of the prophecy. There is no 
 thing, indeed, in the prediction to forbid 
 the expectation that this would occur at 
 once, nor is there anything in the words 
 which makes it imperative that we should 
 so understand it. It may be admitted 
 that this would bo the most natural in 
 terpretation, but it cannot be shown that 
 that is required. It may be added, also, 
 that this may not have appertained to the 
 direct design of the prophecy which 
 was to foretell the coming of the Messiah, 
 but that this was appended to show the 
 end of the whole thing. When the Mes 
 siah should have come, and should have 
 made an atonement for sin, the great de 
 sign of rebuilding Jerusalem and the 
 temple would have been accomplished, 
 and both might pass away. Whether 
 that would occur immediately or not, 
 might be in itself a matter of indifference, 
 but it was important to state here that 
 would occur, for that was properly a com 
 pletion of the design of rebuilding the 
 city, and of the purpose for which it had 
 ever been set apart as a holy city. (2) The 
 other inquiry is, whether there was rh.-jt 
 j in what is regarded as the fulfilment of 
 I |hiS; whicli fairly corresponds with the 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 411 
 
 predietion. I have attempted above (on 
 ver. 25) to show that this refers to the 
 Messiah properly so called the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. The inquiry now is, there 
 fore, whether we can find in his life and 
 death what is a fair fulfilment of these 
 reasonable expectations. In order to see 
 this, it is proper to review these points 
 in their order: (a) The period, then, 
 
 which is embraced in the prophecy, is j as confirming the covenant; that is, it 
 seven years, and it is necessary to find would be strengthening the principles of 
 in his life and work something which -~- ^ ft_i 
 
 the things occurred, but still there are a 
 number of circumstances which will show 
 that this interpretation is not only plau 
 sible, but that it has in its very nature 
 strong probability in its favour. They 
 are such as these : (1) The ministry of 
 the Saviour himself was wholly among 
 the Jews, and his work was what would, 
 in their common language, be spoken of 
 
 would be accomplished during these seven 
 years which could be properly referred 
 to as confirming the covenant with 
 many. The main difficulty in the case 
 is on this point, and I acknowledge that 
 this seems to me to be the most embar 
 rassing portion of the prophecy, and that 
 
 religion, bringing the divine promises to 
 bear on the mind, and leading men to 
 God, <fcc. (2) This same work was con 
 tinued by the apostles as they laboured 
 among the Jews. They endeavoured to 
 do the same thing that their Lord and 
 Master had done, with all the additional 
 sanctions now derived from his life and 
 
 the solutions which can be given of this I death. The whole tendency of their 
 are less satisfactory than those that per- | ministry would have been properly ex- 
 tain to any other part. Were it not that j pressed in this language : that they en- 
 the remarkable clause in the midst of the deavouredto confirm the covenant with 
 week, he shall cause the sacrifice and ob- 1 the Hebrew people ; that is, to bring 
 lation to cease were added, I admit that i them to just views of the character of 
 the natural interpretation would be that their natural covenant with God ; to show 
 
 he would do this personally, and that we 
 
 them how it was confirmed in the Mes- 
 
 might look for something which he would siah; to establish the ancient promises; 
 himself accomplish during the whole j and to bring to bear upon them the sane- 
 
 period of seven years. That clause, how 
 
 ever, looks as if some remarkable event and ratified, and enlarged through the 
 were to occur in the middle of that Messiah. Had the Saviour himself suc- 
 period for the fact that he would cause 
 
 the sacrifice and oblation to cease that 
 is, would bring the rites of the temple to 
 a close, shows that what is meant by 
 confirming the covenant is different 
 from the ordinary worship under the an 
 cient economy. No Jew would think of 
 expressing himself thus, or would see 
 
 tions of their law as it was now fulfilled 
 
 ceeded in this, or had his apostles, it 
 would have been in fact only confirm 
 ing the ancient covenant the covenant 
 made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; 
 the covenant established under Moses, 
 and ratified by so many laws and customs 
 among the people. The whole bearing 
 of the Saviour s instructions, and of his 
 
 followers, was to carry out and fulfill the 
 real design of that ancient institution- 
 
 how it was practicable to confirm the 
 
 covenant at the same time that all his 
 
 sacrifices were to cease. The confirming | to show its true nature and meaning, and 
 
 of the covenant, therefore, during that to impress it on the hearts of men. 
 
 one week must be consistent with some 
 
 work or event that would cause the sacri 
 
 fice and oblation to cease in the middle 
 of that period, (b) The true fulfilment, 
 it seems to me, is to be found in the bear- 
 
 (3) This was continued for about the 
 period here referred to ; at least for a 
 period so long that it could properly be 
 represented in round numbers as one 
 week, or seven years. The Saviour s own 
 
 ing of the work of the Saviour on the \ ministry continued about half that time ; 
 Hebrew people the ancient covenant ; and then the apostles prosecuted the same 
 people of God for about the period of i work, labouring with the Jews, for about 
 seven years after he entered on his work, j the other portion before they turned their 
 Then the particular relation of his work I attention to the Gentiles, and before the 
 to the Jewish people ceased. It may not ! purpose to endeavour to bring in the 
 be practicable to make out the exact time ! Jewish people was abandoned. They 
 of seven years in reference to this, and j remained in Jerusalem; they preached 
 it may be admitted that this would not ; in the synagogues; they observed the 
 bo understood from the prophecy before i rites of the temple service ; they directed 
 
412 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 their first attention everywhere to the 
 Hebrew peopb ; they had not yet learned 
 that they were to turn away from the 
 covenant people/ and to go to the Gen 
 tiles. It was a slow process by which they 
 were led to tliis. It required a miracle to 
 convince Peter of it, and to show him that 
 it was right to go to Cornelius (Acts x.), as 
 a representative of the Gentile people, and 
 it required another miracle to convert 
 Saul of Tarsus, the apostle of the Gen 
 tiles. and to prepare him for the work of 
 carrying the gospel to the heathen world, 
 and a succession of severe persecutions 
 was demanded to induce the apostles to 
 leave Jerusalem and to go abroad upon 
 the face of the earth to convey the mes 
 sage of salvation. Their first work wns 
 among the Jewish people, and they would 
 have remained among them if they had 
 not been driven away by these persecu 
 tions, and been thus constrained to go to 
 other lands. It is true that it cannot be 
 shown that this was a period of exactly 
 * half a week, or three years and a half 
 after the ascension of the Saviour, but, in 
 a prophecy of this nature, it was a period 
 that might, in round numbers, be well ex 
 pressed by that; or the whole might be 
 properly described by seventy weeks or 
 four hundred and ninety years, and the 
 last portion after the appearing of the 
 Messiah as one of these weeks. There 
 has been much needless anxiety to make 
 out the exact time to a month or a day in 
 regard to this prophecy not remember 
 ing its general design, and not reflecting 
 how uncertain are all the questions in 
 ancient chronology. Compare the sensi 
 ble remarks of Calvin on ver. 25. 
 (4) When this occurred; icJicn the apostles 
 turned away from the Hebrew people, and 
 gave themselves to their labours among the 
 Gentiles, the work of confirming the co 
 venant with those to whom the promises 
 had been made, and to whom the law was 
 given, ceased. They were regarded as 
 broken off and left, and the hope of 
 success was in the Gentile world. See 
 the reasoning of the apostle Paul in 
 Rom. xi. Jerusalem was given up soon 
 after to destruction, and the whole work, 
 as contemplated in this prophecy, ceased. 
 The object for which the city and temple 
 were rebuilt was accomplished, and here 
 was a proper termination of the prophecy. 
 It was not necessary, indeed, that these 
 should be at once destroyed, but they were 
 henceforth regarded as having fulfilled 
 
 the work designed, and as being now left 
 to ruin. The ruin did not at once occur, 
 but the sacrifices thenceforward offered 
 were without meaning, and the train of 
 events was constantly preparing that 
 would sweep away city and temple to 
 gether. I suppose, therefore, that this 
 last one week embraced the period from 
 the beginning of the ministry of the Sa 
 viour to that when the direct and exclu 
 sive efforts to bring the principles of his 
 religion to bear on the Hebrew people, 
 as carrying out the design of the cove 
 nant made by God with their fathers, 
 and confirmed with so many, promises, 
 ceased, and the great effort was com 
 menced to evangelize the heathen world. 
 Then was the proper close of the seventy 
 weeks ; what is added is merely a state 
 ment of the winding up of the whole af 
 fair in the destruction of the city and 
 temple. That occurred, indeed, some 
 years after, but at this period all that 
 was material in regard to that city had 
 taken place, and consequently that was 
 all that was necessary to specify as to the 
 proper termination of the design of re 
 building the city and the temple. ^[ And 
 in the midst of the week. The word here 
 rendered in the midst xn mean? 
 properly half, the half part, Ex. xxiv. 6, 
 Num. xii. 12; then, the middle, or the 
 midst, Judges xvi. 3. The Vulgate ren 
 ders it, in dimidio ; the Greek, in rw 
 fjftiati. Hengstenberg, the half. So Len- 
 gerke, die Hal/te. Luther, mitten. The 
 natural and obvious interpretation is that 
 which is expressed in our translation, and 
 that will convey the essential idea in the 
 original. It refers to something which 
 was to occur at about the middle portion 
 of this time, or when about half of this 
 period was elapsed, or to something which 
 it would require half of the one week, 
 or seven years, to accomplish. The 
 meaning of the passage is fully met by 
 the supposition that it refers to the Lord 
 Jesus and his work, and that the exact 
 thing that was intended by the prophecy 
 was his death, or his being cut off, and 
 thus causing the sacrifice and oblation to 
 cease. Whatever difficulties there may 
 be about the precise time of our Lord s 
 ministry, and whether he celebrated three 
 passovers or four after he entered on his 
 public work, it is agreed on all hands that 
 it lasted about three years and a half 
 the time referred to here. Though a few 
 
B:C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 413 
 
 have supposed that a longer period was 
 occupied, yet the general belief of the 
 Church has coincided in that, and there 
 are few points in history better settled. 
 On the supposition that this pertains to 
 the death of the Lord Jesus, and that it 
 was the design of the prophecy here to 
 refer to the effects of that death, this is 
 the very language which would have 
 been used. If the period of a week 
 were for any purpose mentioned, then it 
 would be indispensable to suppose that 
 there would be an allusion to the import- 
 apt event in fact, the great event which 
 was to occur in the middle of that period, 
 when the ends of the types and ceremo 
 nies of the Hebrew people would be ac 
 complished, and a sacrifice made for the 
 sins of the whole world, f He shallcause 
 the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. 
 The word Tie, in this place, refers to the 
 Messiah, if the interpretation of the 
 former part of the verse is correct, for 
 there can be no doubt that it is the same 
 person which is mentioned in the phrase 
 he shall confirm the covenant with ma 
 ny. The words sacrifice and oblation, 
 refer to the offerings made in the temple. 
 The former word more properly denotes 
 bloody offerings ; the latter, offerings of 
 any kind whether of flour, fruits, grain, 
 <tc. See these words explained in the 
 Notes on Isa. i. 11, 13. The word ren 
 dered "cease" n s 3"y s 2 means properly 
 to rest (whence the word Sabbath), and . 
 
 then in Hiphil, to cause to rest, or to tlon of desolation. The Greek, And 
 cause to cease. It conveys the idea of u P on the temple shall be an abomination 
 putting an end to, us, fur example, war, f desolations/ The Syriac, And upon 
 Ps. xlvi. 9, contention, Prov. xviii. 18, j tho extremities of the abomination, shall 
 exultation, Isa, xvi. 10. Gesenius. The I rest desolation/ The Arabic, And over 
 literal signification here would be met by | the sanctuary shall tiler* be the abomi- 
 the supposition that an end would be I natlon of rum - Luther renders it, And 
 made of these sacrifices, and this would j u P on lhe W1 "S S sha11 stand the abomina- 
 occur either by their being made wholly I tlon of desolation/ Lengerke and Ileng- 
 x_ A _ i,_ .rr j _x iu_i. I- -_ i.__ I stenborL render it. And upon tho sum- 
 comes the destroyer/ 
 tho water shall be over 
 
 forward"th ey would "be useless and wouTd 1 * J in ged fowl of abominations/ These 
 die away. As a matter of fact, so far as I different translations show that there is 
 the divine intention in the appointment ! S rcat obscurity in the original, and por- 
 of these sacrifices and offerings was con- j ha Pf exclude the hope of being able en- 
 ccrned, they ceased at the death of Christ ~**J to free the passage from all difficul- 
 in the middle of the week/ Then the t ^ es - A" examination of the ?orc?s,how- 
 great sacrifice, which they had adum- over, may perhaps enable us to form a 
 brated, was offered. Then they ceased to I judgment of its meaning. The literal 
 have any significancy, no reason existing i and obvious sense of the original as I un- 
 for their longer continuance. Then, as derstand it, is, And upon the wing of tho 
 they never had any efficacy in themselves j abominations one causing desolation 
 35* 
 
 they ceased also to have any propriety as 
 types for the thing which they had pre 
 figured had been accomplished. Then, 
 too, began a series of events and influ 
 ences which led to their abolition, for 
 soon they were interrupted by the Ro 
 mans, and the temple and the altars were 
 swept away to be rebuilt no more. The 
 death of Christ was, in fact, the thing 
 which made them to cease, and the fact 
 that the great atonement tad been made, 
 and that there was now no further need 
 of those offerings, is the only philosophi 
 cal reason which can be given why the 
 Jews have never been able again to re 
 build the temple, and why for eighteen 
 hundred years they have found no place 
 where they could again offer a bloody 
 sacrifice. The sacrifice and the obla 
 tion were made, as the result of the 
 coming of the Messiah, to cease forever, 
 and no power of man will be able to re 
 store them again in Jerusalem. Comp. 
 Gibbons account of the attempt of Ju 
 lian to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. 
 Dec. and Fall, ii. 3537. f And for the 
 overspreading of abominations he shall 
 make it desolate. The marginal reading 
 here is very different, showing clearly the 
 perplexity of the translators: Upon tho 
 battlements shall be the idols of the deso- 
 latcr/ There is great variety, also, in 
 tho ancient versions in rendering this 
 passage. The Latin Vulgate is, And 
 there shnll be in the temple the abomina- 
 
 occur either by their being made wholly I tlon , 01 
 to cease to be offered at that time, or by stenberg render it, 
 the fact that the object of their appoint- mib of abomination c 
 ment was accomplished, and that hence- * rof otuart, nd tl 
 
414 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 538. 
 
 r.? *?> The word rendered 
 overspreading ^3 means properly a 
 >i H<7 so called as covering, or because it 
 covers from e\)3 } to cover, to hide. Then 
 it denotes any thing having a resemblance 
 to a wing, as an extremity, a corner, as 
 (a) of a garment, the skirt, or flap, 1 Sam. 
 xxiv. 5, 12, Num. xv. 38, and hence, as 
 the outer garment was used by the Ori 
 entals to wrap themselves in at night, 
 the word is used for the extremity or bor 
 der of a bed-covering. Deut. xxiii. 1 ; 
 Ruth iii. 9. (6) It is applied to land, or 
 to the earth as the earth is compared 
 with a garment spread out. Isa. xxiv. 16 ; 
 Job xxxvii. 3, xxxviii. 13. (c) It is used 
 to denote the highest point, or a battle 
 ment, a pinnacle as having a resem 
 blance to a wing spread out. So the 
 word itrtpyiov is used in Matt. iv. 5. See 
 Notes on that passage. It would seem 
 most probable that the allusion by the 
 word as applied to a building would not 
 be, as supposed by Gesenius (Lex.), and 
 by Hengstenberg and Lengerke, to the 
 pinnacle or summit, but to some roof, 
 porch, or piazza that had a resemblance 
 to the wings of a bird as spread out a 
 use of the word that would be very natu 
 ral and obvious. The extended porch 
 that Solomon built on the eastern side of 
 the temple would, not improbably, have, 
 to one standing on the opposite Mount of 
 Olives, much the appearance of the wings 
 of a bird spread out. Nothing certain 
 can be determined about the allusion here 
 from the use of this ivord, but the connec 
 tion would lead us to suppose that the 
 reference was to something pertaining to 
 the city or temple, for the whole pro 
 phecy has a reference to the city and 
 temple, and it is natural to suppose that 
 in its close there would be an allusion to 
 it. The use of the word icing here 
 would lead to the supposition that what 
 is said would pertain to something in con 
 nection with the temple having a resem 
 blance to the wings of a bird, and the 
 word upon h% would lead us to sup 
 pose that what was to occur would be 
 somehow upon that. The word rendered 
 abominations tPJn^& means abomina 
 ble things, things to be held in detesta 
 tion, as things unclean, filthy garments, 
 Ac., and then idols, as things that are to 
 be held in abhorrence. The word fiptf 
 
 shik-kootz, is rendered abomination in 
 Deut. xxix. 17, 1 Kings xi. 5, 7, 2 Kinga 
 xxiii. 13, 24, Isa. Ixvi. 3, Jer. iv. 1, vii. 
 30, xiii. 27, xxxii. 34, Ezek. v. 11, vii. 20, 
 xx. 7, 8, 30, Dan. ix. 27, xi. 31, xii. 11, 
 Hos. ix. 10, Zech. ix. 7; abominable idols, 
 2 Chron. xv. 8, in the margin abomina 
 tions; detestable, in Jer. xvi. 18, Ezek. xi. 
 18, 21, xxxvii, 23 ; an abominable Jilth in 
 Nah. iii. C. It does not occur elsewhere. 
 In most of these places it is applied to 
 idols, and the current usage would lead us 
 so to apply it, if there were nothing in the 
 connection to demand a different inter 
 pretation. It might refer to any thing 
 that was held in abomination, or that was 
 detestable and offensive. The word is 
 one that might be used of an idol god, or 
 of anything that would pollute or defile, 
 or that was from any cause offensive. It 
 is not used in the Old Testament with 
 reference to a banner or military standard, 
 but there can be no doubt that it might 
 be so applied as denoting the standard of 
 a foe of a heathen planted on any 
 part of the temple a thing which would 
 be particularly detestable and abomi 
 nable in the sight of the Jews. The 
 word rendered he shall make it de 
 solate opt- p is he making desolate ; 
 that is, a desolater. It is a Poel partici 
 ple from assp to be astonished, to be 
 laid waste ; and then, in an active sense, 
 to lay waste, to make desolate. Gesenins. 
 The same word, and the same phrase, 
 occurs in ch. xi. 31: And they shall 
 place the abomination that maketh deso 
 late, or, as it is in the margin, astonish- 
 eth. There, also, the expression is used 
 in connection with taking away the 
 daily sacrifices. The word would be 
 more properly rendered in this place de 
 solater, referring to some one who would 
 produce desolation. There is great ab 
 ruptness in the entire expression, and it 
 is evident that it was not the intention 
 to give so clear a prediction in this that 
 it could be fully understood beforehand. 
 The other portions of the prophecy, re 
 specting the building of the city, and the 
 coming of the Messiah, and the work 
 that he would accomplish, are much more 
 clear, and their meaning could have been 
 made out with much more certainty. 
 But, in reference to this, it would seem, 
 perhaps, that all that was designed 
 was to throw out suggestions frag 
 ments of thought, that would rather hint 
 
B. C. 538.] 
 
 CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 415 
 
 at the subject than give any continuous I planted in any part of the temple, as 
 idea. Perhaps a much more abrupt me- an abomination; and no word would bet- 
 
 thod of translation than that which 
 attempts to express it in a continuous 
 grammatical construction capable of being 
 parsed easily, would better express the 
 
 ter denote the character of tho Roman 
 conqueror than the word desolater for 
 the effect of his coming was to lay the 
 whole city and temple in ruins, (c) The 
 
 state of the mind of the speaker, and the language of the Saviour in his reference 
 
 language which he uses, than the ordi- to this, would seem to demand such an 
 
 nary versions. The Masoretic pointing, interpretation, Matt. xxiv. 15: "When 
 
 also, may be disregarded, and then the ye, therefore, shall see the abomination 
 
 real idea would be better expressed by 
 some such translation as the following : 
 
 of desolation spoken of by Daniel the 
 prophet, stand in the holy place," &c. 
 
 He shall cause the sacrifice and the j There can be no reasonable doubt that 
 offering to cease. And upon the wing the Saviour refers to this passage in Dan- 
 the porch of the temple abominations ! iel (see Notes on Matt. xxiv. 15), or that 
 And a desolater ! That is, after the j events occurred in the attack on Jerusa- 
 
 ceasing of the sacrifice and the oblation, 
 the mind is fixed upon the temple where 
 they had been offered. The first thing 
 that arrests the eye is some portion of 
 the temple, here denoted by the word 
 winy. The next is something abomina 
 ble or detestable an object to be hated 
 and loathed in the very temple itself. 
 The next is a desolater one who had 
 come to carry desolation to that very 
 temple. Whether the abomination is 
 connected with the desolater or not, is 
 not intimated by the language. It might, 
 or might not be. The angel uses lan- 
 
 lem and the temple that would fully cor 
 respond with the language used here. 
 Josephus, for instance, says, that when 
 the city was taken, the Romans brought 
 their ensigns into the temple, and placed 
 them over the eastern gate, and sacrificed 
 to them there. "And now the Romans," 
 says he, " upon the flight of the seditious 
 into the city, and upon the burning of 
 the holy house itself, and all the build 
 ings round about it, brought their ensigns 
 into the temple, and set them over against 
 its eastern gate ; and there they did offer 
 sacrifices to them, and there did they make 
 
 guage as these objects strike the eye, and j Titus Liberator with the greatest accla- 
 he expresses himself in this abrupt man- mations of joy." Jewish Wars, b. vi. ch. 
 ner as the eye rests on one or the other. | vi. $ 1. This fact fully accords with the 
 The question then arises, what does this ! meaning of the language as above ex- 
 mean ? Or what is to be regarded as the plained, and the reference to it was de- 
 proper fulfilment? It seems to me that! inanded in order that the purpose of the 
 
 there can be no doubt that there is a re 
 ference to the Roman standard or ban 
 ners planted on some part of the temple, 
 or to the Roman army, or to some idols 
 set up by the Romans objects of abom 
 ination to the Jews as attracting the 
 eye of the angel in the distant future, 
 and as indicating the close of the series 
 of events here referred to in the prophecy. 
 The reasons for this opinion are, summa 
 rily, the following : () the place or order 
 in which the passage stands in the pro- 
 
 prophecy should be complete. Its proper 
 termination is the destruction of the city 
 and temple as its beginning is the order 
 
 to rebuild them. 
 
 ven until th 
 
 summation. Until the completion "ij?l 
 nSs. That is, the series of events in 
 the prophecy shall in fact reach to the 
 completion of everything pertaining to 
 the city and temple. The whole purpose 
 in regard to that shall be completed. 
 The design for which it is to be rebuilt 
 
 phecy. It is after the coming of the sball be consummated,- the sacrifices to 
 Messiah ; after the proper cessation of be offer ed * sha11 be finished, and 
 the sacrifice and oblation, and at the \ the y sha11 be no lon g er efficacious or pro- 
 close of the whole series of events the P er tbo whole clvil and religious polity 
 
 connected with the city and temple shall 
 pass away. ^[ And that determined. 
 See this word explained in the 
 
 termination of the whole design about re 
 building the city and the temple, (b) The 
 language is such as would properly re 
 
 present that. Nothing could be more 
 appropriate in the common estimation 
 of the Jews, than to speak of such an 
 object as a Roman military standard 
 
 Notes on vs. 24, 26. See also Notes on 
 Isa. x. 23. There seems to bo an allu 
 sion in the word here to its former use, 
 as denoting that this is the fulfilment of 
 
416 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C 538 
 
 the determination in regard to the city I there are seen abominable things idola- 
 and temple. The idea is, that that I trous ensigns, and the worship of for- 
 which was determined, or decided on, to ! eigners. A desolr.ter is there, also, come 
 wit, with reference to the closing scenes ! to spread destruction a foreign army or 
 of the city and temple, would be accom- j leader. And this shall continue even to 
 plished. f Shall be 2>oured. ^pn. The the end f the whole matter the end of 
 word here used means to pour, to pour the events contemplated by the prophecy 
 out, to overflow as rain, water, curses, | T i nd of the citv and the temple, 
 anger, &c. It may be properly applied ! And that which 1S determined on the 
 to calamity or desolation, as these things destruction decreed shall be poured out 
 may be represented as poured down upon llke a tempest on the city doomed to de, 
 a people, in the manner of a storm. solation desolate as surveyed at the be- 
 Comp. 2 Sam. xxi. 10, Ex. ix. 33, Ps. S mnin g of the prophecy desolate at the 
 xi. 6, Ezek. xxxviii. 22, 2 Chron. xxxiv. ! close > and therefore appropriately called 
 21, xii. 7, Jer. vii. 20, xlii. 18, xliv. 6. tlie desolate - 
 fZfee the desolate. Marg., dcsolater. After thls Protracted examination of 
 
 The Hebrew word-an^-is the eame, I the ^T^ / ^* pr phec ? a11 il [ e r . e 
 
 i mark which it seems proper to make is, 
 
 though in another form (Kal instead of that this prediction could have been the 
 Peel) which is used in the previous part ; result only of ins pi ration . There is the 
 of the verse, and rendered he shall make clearest evidence that the prophecy was 
 it desolate/ but which is proposed above i rec orded long before the time of the Mes- 
 to be rendered desolater. The verb apff j siah, and it is manifest that it could not 
 is an intransitive verb, and means, in Kal, have been the result of any natural sagn- 
 the form used here, to be astonished or city. There is not the slightest proof 
 amazed; then to be laid waste, to be that it was uttered as late as the coining 
 made desolate (Gesenius), and the mean- of Christ, and there is nothing better de- 
 ing in this place, therefore, is, that which termined in relation to any ancient mat- 
 is desolate or laid waste the wasted, the | ter than that it was recorded long before 
 perishing, the solitary. The reference is ! the birth of the Lord Jesus. But it is 
 to Jerusalem viewed as desolate or re- equally clear that it could have been the 
 
 duced to ruins. The angel, perhaps, con 
 templates it, as he is speaking, in ruins 
 or as desolate, and he sees this also as 
 
 result of no mere natural sagacity. How 
 could such events have been foreseen ex 
 cept by Him who knows all things? 
 
 the termination of the entire series of pre- j How could the order have been deter- 
 dictions, and, in view of the whole, speaks j mined ? How could the time have been 
 of Jerusalem appropriately as the desolate. : fixed ? How could it have been antici- 
 Though it would be rebuilt, yet it would j pated that the Messiah, the Prince would 
 be again reduced to desolation, for the I be cut off? How could it have been 
 purpose of the rebuilding the coming known that he would cause the sacrifice 
 of the Messiah would be accomplished, and oblation to cease? How could it 
 As the prophecy finds Jerusalem a scene | have been ascertained that the period 
 
 of ruins, so it leaves it, and the last word 
 in the prophecy, therefore, is appropri 
 ately the word desolate. The interme 
 diate state indeed between the condition 
 of the city as seen at first and at the close 
 is glorious for it embraces the whole 
 work of the Messiah ; but the beginning 
 is a scene of ruins, and so is the close. 
 The sum of the whole in the latter part 
 of the verse, may be expressed in a 
 
 during which he would be engaged in 
 this would be one week or about seven 
 years? How could it be predicted that 
 a remarkable event would occur in the 
 middle of that period that would in fact 
 cause the sacrifice and oblation ultimately 
 to cease ? And how could it be conjec 
 tured that a foreign prince would come, 
 and plant the standard of abomination 
 in the holy city, and sweep all away 
 
 free paraphrase: He, the Messiah, shall i laying the city and the temple in ruins, 
 
 cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease, 
 by having fulfilled in his own death the 
 design of the ancient offerings, thus ren 
 dering them now useless, and upon the 
 outspreading upon tho temple regarded 
 as apread out, or some wing or portico, 
 
 and bringing the whole polity to an end? 
 These things lie beyond the range of 
 natural sagacity, and if they are fairly 
 implied in this prophecy, they demon 
 strate that this portion of the book is 
 from God. 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 417 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER. 
 
 THIS chapter introduces the last revelation made to Daniel, and is merely introductory to the 
 disclosures made in the two following chapters. The whole extends to the time of the coming 
 of the Messiah, embracing a detail of the principal historical events that \vould occur, and closes 
 with some fearful allusions to the ultimate results of human conduct in the day of judgment, 
 and to the great principles on which God governs the world. The contents of this introductory 
 chapter are as follows : (a) the statement of the time when the revelation occurred, ver. 1. This 
 was in the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, subsequently, therefore, to the visions in tho 
 previous chapters, and after the order had been given by Cyrus for the restoration of the Jews, 
 Ezra i. 1. (b) The particular period when this occurred was when Daniel was observing a fast 
 that continued through three weeks, vs. 2, 3. This was at the Passover, the first month in their 
 ecclesiastical year, and the fast was observed by Daniel, evidently, on account of the sins and 
 the calamities of his people, (c) The place where this occurred, ver. 3. He was by the side of 
 the river of Iliddekel, or Tigris. Why he was there, he does not say. But it is to be remem 
 bered that he seems to have been employed on some occasions in other parts of the empire than 
 Babylon, and one of his former visions occurred on the banks of a river that flowed into the 
 Tigris the river Ulai. See Notes on ch. viii. 2. Indeed, it would appear that the banks of 
 rivers were not unfrequently the places to which the prophets resorted, or where they were favored 
 with their visions. They were retired places, and were on many accounts favourable for devo 
 tion. Comp. Ezek. i. 1 ; Acts xvi. 12. See also Rev. xxii. 1, 2. (a") While there, engaged in 1m 
 devotions, Daniel saw a man, who suddenly appeared to him, clothed in linen, and girded with 
 a belt of gold. Those who Avere with him fled astonished and left him alone to contemplate the 
 vision, and to receive the communication which this glorious stranger had to make to him. 
 The effect of this vision on himself, however, was wholly to overcome him s ^o prostrate him to 
 the earth, and to render him insensible, until the angel touched him, and raised him up, vs. 
 4 10. In all this there is nothing unnatural. The effect is such as would be produced in any 
 case in similar circumstances, and it has a striking resemblance to what occurred to Saul of 
 Tarsus on his way to Damascus, Acts ix. 3, 4; xxii. 7 9, and to John in the visions of Patinos, 
 Rev. i. 10 17. (e) He who had thus appeared to Daniel, proceeded to state to him the design 
 for which he had come, vs. 1114. The prayer of Daniel, he said, had been heard the first day 
 in which he had given himself to these solemn acts of devotion. He had himself been commis 
 sioned at that time to come to Daniel, and to disclose the events which were to occur. During 
 a period of twenty-one days, however, in which Daniel had been engaged in this season of de 
 votion, he had been withstood by the prince of the kingdom of Persia, and had been detained 
 until Michael, one of the chief princes, had interposed to release him, and he had now come, at 
 last, to make known to Daniel what would occur to his people in the latter days. The nature 
 of this detention will, of course, be considered in the Notes on ver. 13. (/) Daniel then (vs. 
 15 17), describes the effect which this vision had on him, rendering him unable to converse 
 with him who had thus appeared to him. (.17) The heavenly messenger then touched him, and 
 bade him he of good courage and be strong (vs. 18, 19), and then said that he would return and 
 fight with the prince of Persia, after having stated that which was noted in the Scripture of 
 truth, vs. 20, 21. 
 
 1 In the third year of Cyrus king 
 of Persia a thing was revealed unto 
 
 1. In the third year of Cyrus king of 
 Persia. In regard to Cyrus, see Notes 
 on Isa. xli. 2. In ch. i. 21, it is said that 
 Daniel continued even unto the first 
 year of king Cyrus. But it is not neces 
 sarily implied in that passage that ho 
 died there. It may mean only that he 
 continued in authority, and was em 
 ployed, in various ways, as a public offi 
 cer, until that time. See Notes on that 
 passage. For anything that appears, he 
 may have lived several years after, 
 though, for causes now unknown, he 
 may have retired from the coast after 
 toe accession of Cyrus. This vision may 
 
 Daniel, whose name was called Bel- 
 teshazzar ; and the thing was true, 
 
 have occurred when he was no longer a 
 public officer, though the whole narrative 
 leads us to suppose that he had not lost 
 his interest in the affairs of the Jewish 
 people. He may have retired on account 
 of age, though his declining years would 
 be naturally devoted to the welfare of his 
 people, and he would embrace any oppor 
 tunity which ho might have of doing 
 them good. ^[ A thing was revealed unto 
 Daniel. A revelation was made to him. 
 The occasion on which it was done is stated 
 in the next verse. It was when he wa,a 
 earnestly engaged in prayer for his peo 
 ple, and when his mind was deeply anx- 
 
418 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534, 
 
 but the time appointed was a long:| 2 And in those days I Daniel was 
 and he understood the thing, and I mourning three b full weeks, 
 had understanding of the vision. * great. b weeks of days. 
 
 Sous in regard to their condition. ^[ Whose 
 name was called Belteshazzar. See Notes 
 on ch. i. 7. The name Belteshazzar was 
 probably that by which he was known 
 in Babylon, and as this prophecy was per 
 haps published in his own time, the use 
 of this name would serve to identify the 
 author. The name Daniel would have 
 been sufficient to give it currency and au 
 thority among his own countrymen. 
 ^[ And the thing was true. That is, it 
 would be certainly accomplished. This 
 expresses the deep conviction of the wri 
 ter that what was revealed in this vision 
 would certainly come to pass. In his 
 own mind there was no doubt that it 
 would be so, though the time extended 
 through many years, and though it could 
 not be expected that it would bo com 
 plete until long after his own death. 
 Perhaps the declaration here is designed 
 to bring the weight of his own authority 
 and his well-known character; to pledge 
 his own word, that what is here said would 
 be accomplished : or, as we should say, to 
 stake his veracity as a prophet and a man, 
 on the fulfilment of what he had affirmed. 
 Such an assertion might be of great use in 
 consoling the minds of the Jews in the 
 troubles that were to come upon their na 
 tion. ^[ But the time appointed was long. 
 Marg., great. There is considerable va 
 riety in the translation and interpretation 
 of this passage. The Latin Vulgate ren 
 ders it fortitude magna. The Greek, 
 And the power was great/ The Syriac, 
 And the discourse was apprehended with 
 great effort, but he understood the vis 
 ion. Luther, And it was of great mat 
 ters. Lengerke, And the misery 
 (Elend) is great j that is, the distress of 
 the people. Bertholdt renders it, Whose 
 contents pertained to great wars. This 
 variety of interpretation arises from the 
 word rendered in our version the time 
 appointed N3S T - This word properly 
 means an army, host, as going forth to 
 war ; then the host of angels, of the stars, 
 and hence God is so often called Jeho 
 vah of hosts. Then the Avord means 
 warfare, military service, a hard service, 
 a season of affliction or calamity. See 
 Notes on Job vii. 1. It seems to me that 
 this is the meaning here, and that Gese- 
 
 nius (Lex.) has correctly expressed the 
 idea: "And true is the edict, and relates 
 to long warfare ; that is, to many calami 
 ties to be endured." It was not a thing 
 to be soon accomplished, nor did it per 
 tain to peaceful and easy times, but it 
 had reference to the calamities, the evils, 
 and the hardships of wars : wars at 
 tended with the evils to which they are 
 usually incident, and which were to be 
 conducted on a great scale. This inter 
 pretation will accord with the details in 
 the following chapters. ^[ And he under 
 stood the thing, &c. This seems to be said 
 in contradistinction to what had occurred 
 on some other occasions when the mean 
 ing of the vision which he saw was con 
 cealed from him. Of this he says he had 
 full understanding. The prophecy was, 
 in fact, more clearly expressed than had 
 been usual in the revelations made to 
 Daniel, for this is almost entirely a his 
 torical narrative, and there could be little- 
 doubt as to its meaning. 
 
 2. In those days I Daniel was mourning. 
 I was afflicting myself; that is, he had 
 set apart this time as an extraordinary 
 fast. He was sad and troubled. He does 
 not say on what account he was thus 
 troubled, but there can be little doubt 
 that it was on account of his people. 
 This was two years after the order had 
 been given by Cyrus for the restora 
 tion of the Hebrew people to their coun 
 try, but it is not improbable that they 
 met with many embarrassments in their 
 efforts to return, and possibly there may 
 have sprung up in Babylon some diffi 
 culties on the subject that greatly affected 
 the mind of Daniel. The difficulties at 
 tending such an enterprise as that of re 
 storing a captured people to their country, 
 when the march lay across a vast desert, 
 would at any time have been such as to 
 have made an extraordinary season of 
 prayer and fasting proper, f Three full 
 weeks. Marg., weeks of days. Heb., 
 Three sevens of days. He does not say 
 whether ho had designedly set apart that 
 time to be occupied as a season of fasting, 
 or whether he had, under the influence 
 of deep feeling, continued his fast from 
 day to day until it reached that period. 
 Either supposition will accord with the 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 419 
 
 3 I ate no * pleasant bread, nei 
 ther came flesh nor wine in my 
 mouth, neither did I anoint myself 
 at all, till three whole weeks were 
 fulfilled. 
 
 bread of desires, b one . 
 
 4 And in the four and twentieth 
 day of the first month, as I was by 
 the side of the great river, which is 
 Hiddekel ; 
 
 5 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and 
 looked, and behold b a certain man 
 
 circumstances of the case, and either dinary views of what would occur to them 
 would have justified such an act at any in future days. It may be added, that- 
 time, for it would be undoubtedly proper | we shall be more likely to receive divine 
 to designate a time of extraordinary de- I communications to our souls at the close 
 votion, or, under the influence of deep j of seasons of sincere and prolonged devo- 
 feeling, of domestic trouble, of national ; tion than at other times, and that, though 
 affliction, to continue such religious ex- i we may set apart such seasons for differ- 
 
 ercises from day to day 
 
 3. I ate no pleasant bread. Marg., bread 
 of desires. So the Hebrew. The mean 
 ing is, that he abstained from ordinary 
 food, and partook of that only which was 
 
 ent purposes, the Spirit of God may take 
 occasion from them to impart to us clear 
 and elevated views of divine truth, and of 
 the divine government. A man is in a 
 better state to obtain such views, and is 
 
 coarse and disagreeable. ^ Neither came j more likely to obtain them, in such cir- 
 jiesJt nor icine in my mouth. That is, he j cumstances than he is in others, and he 
 lived on bread or vegetables. It is not | who desires to understand God and his 
 to be inferred from this that Daniel ordi- ways should wait upon him with intense 
 narily made use of wine, for it would and prolonged devotion. The time here 
 Seem from chapter i. that that was not his | specified is the first month the month 
 custom. What would appear from this j Nisan, answering to a part of our month 
 passage would be, that he practised on ! April. This was the month in which the 
 this occasion the most rigid abstinence, j Passover was celebrated, and was a time, 
 ^[ Neither did I anoint myself. The use j therefore, which a Jew would be likely 
 of unguents was common in the East, to select as a season of extraordinary de- 
 (See Notes on Matt. vi. 17), and Daniel j votion. It was, for some reason, very 
 here says that he abstained during these j common for the prophets to record the 
 three weeks from that which he ordina- very day on which the visions which they 
 rily observed as promoting his personal saw appeared to them, or on which divine 
 comfort. He gave himself up to a course I communications were made to them, 
 of life which would be expressive of deep This was often of importance, because it 
 grief. Nature prompts to this when the I served to determine the time when a pro- 
 mind is overwhelmed with sorrow. Not j phecy was fulfilled. ^[ / was by the side 
 only do we become indifferent to our food, jo/ the great river, which is Hiddekel. 
 but it requires an effort not to be indiffer- | That is, the Tigris. The Syriac renders 
 ent to our dress, and to our personal ap- it the Euphrates. The name in the 
 
 pearance. 
 
 4. And in the four and twentieth day of 
 
 the first month. 
 son of fasting. 
 
 At the close of his sea- 
 Though he had not set 
 
 apart this season of fasting with any 
 view or expectation that it would be fol 
 lowed by such a result, yet there was 
 a propriety that an occasion like this 
 should bo selected as that on which the 
 communication which follows should be 
 made to his mind; for (a) his mind was 
 in a prepared state by this extraordinary 
 season of devotion, for such a communi 
 cation ; and (6) his attention during that 
 period had been turned towards the con 
 dition of his people, and it was a fit op 
 portunity to impart to him these extraor- 
 
 Scriptures, however, denotes the Tigris. 
 Why Daniel was there he does not say. 
 He was often away from Babylon (Comp. 
 Notes on ch. vii. 2 ), and he may have 
 been now among some of his people who 
 resided near the Tigris. Possibly he may 
 at that time have ceased to reside at the 
 court in Babylon, and have taken up his 
 residence in some place on the Tigris. 
 See Notes on verse 1. 
 
 5. Then I lifted up mine eyes, and 
 looked, &c. While ho was engaged ic 
 devotion. What is here said would lead 
 us to suppose that he had been occupied 
 in deep thought and meditation, perhaps 
 with his eyes fixed on the ground. ^ Be 
 hold a certain man clothed in linen. One 
 
420 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534. 
 
 clothed in linen, whose loins were 
 girded with fine gold of Uphaz. 
 
 His body a also 
 
 like the 
 
 beryl, and his face as the appear- 
 
 who had the form and appearance of a 
 man. The subsequent disclosures showed 
 that he was an angel, but when angels 
 have appeared on earth they have com 
 monly assumed the human form. The 
 margin is, one. So also is the Hebrew 
 one man. From ch. xii. 6, it would 
 seem that two other such beings appeared 
 
 ance of lightning, and his eyes aa 
 lamps of fire, and his arms and hia 
 feet like in colour to polished brass, 
 
 Re. 1. 1317. 
 
 green six sided prisms. It is identical 
 with the emerald, except that the latter 
 has a purer and richer colour." Dana, 
 in Webster s Die. The Hebrew word 
 here used is ">L v ")ri Tarshish Tartessua, 
 and properly refers to a country, sup 
 posed to be on the south of Spain, a 
 place where this mineral was probably 
 
 in the course of the vision, but either one j found> This was situated between the 
 only was manifest now to Daniel, or his j mO uth of the river Bjetis, or Guadal- 
 attention was particularly directed to qu iver, and was a flourishing mart of tho 
 
 him. The name of this celestial rnessen- 
 
 Phcenicians, Gen. x. 4; Ps. Ixxii. 10; Isa. 
 
 ger is not given, but all the circumstances j xx iii. ^ c, 10, &c. Gesenius. The name 
 of the case jead^to suppose that it was j was g i ven to this gem because it was 
 
 the same who had appeared to him on 
 tho banks of the Ulai, (ch. viii. 16), and 
 the same who had made the revelation 
 of the seventy weeks, ch. ix. 21, scq. 
 Linen was the common raiment of priests, 
 because it was supposed to be more pure 
 than wool, Ex. xxviii. 42; Lev. vi. 10; 
 xvi. 4, 23 ; 1 Sam. ii. 18. It was also 
 worn by prophets, Jer. xiii. 1, and is re 
 presented as the raiment of angels, Rev. 
 xv. 6. The nature of the raiment would 
 suggest the idea at once that this person 
 
 thus appearing was 
 saintly character. 
 
 one sustaining a 
 Whose loins were 
 
 girded with fine gold of Uphaz, With a 
 
 brought from that place. The true mean 
 ing of the word, as applied to a gem, is 
 supposed to be the chrysolite, that is, the 
 topaz of the moderns. " Tarshish, the 
 Chrysolith," says Rosenmiiller (Miner 
 alogy and Botany of the Bible, pp. 38, 
 39,) "is a chrystalline precious stone of 
 the quartz kind, of a glassy fracture. 
 The prevailing colour is yellowish green, 
 and pistachiogreen of every variety and 
 degree of shade, but always with a. yel 
 low and gold lustre. It is completely 
 diaphonous, and has a strong double re 
 fraction. Most commonly the chrysolite 
 is found solid and in grains, or in arigu- 
 
 girdle made of line gold ; that is, proba- i ar pieces. The Hebrew word Tarshish 
 bly, it was made of something in which j denotes the south of Spain, the Tartessus 
 fine gold was interwoven so as to give it j O f the Greeks and Romans, a place to 
 the appearance of pure gold. It was cus 
 tomary at the East, as it is now, to wear 
 a girdle around the loins. See Notes 
 
 Matt. v. 38. These girdles are often 
 made of rich material, and are highly 
 ornamented. Comp. Notes on Rev. i. 13. 
 Nothing is known of Uphaz, unless, as 
 Gesenius supposes, the word is a corrup- 
 
 which the Phoenicians traded even in the 
 earliest ages. Probably the Phoenicians 
 first brought the chrysolith from Spain 
 to Syria, and it was on that account 
 called Tarshish Stone." ^ And his face 
 as the appearance of lightning. Bright, 
 shining. In Rev. i. 16, it is, "and his 
 
 tion of Ophir, made by a change of a I his 
 single letter j for v Ophir was cele 
 brated for its gold, but its situation is 
 unknown. See Notes on Job xxii. 24. 
 
 6. His lody also was like the beryl. 
 There is a very striking resemblance be 
 tween the description here given and 
 
 countenance was as the sun shineth in 
 
 trength." See Notes on that pas 
 sage. If And his eyes as lamps of fire. 
 Keen, penetrating. So Rev. i. 14 : " His 
 eyes were as a flame of fire." IT And his 
 arms and his feet like in colour to pol 
 ished brass. So in Rev. i. 15 : "And his 
 feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned 
 
 that of the Saviour as he appeared to j in a furnace." See Notes on that pas- 
 John in Patmos, Rev. i. 131(5. See ! sage. The meaning is, that they wero 
 Notes on that passage. It contains, how- j bright like burnished metal. The He- 
 ever, no description of the appearance of ! brew here is, like the eye of brass; 
 the body. Beryl is "a mineral of great then, as the word eye comes to denoto 
 nardnoes, occurring in green, and bluish- J tho face or countenance, tho meaning is, 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 421 
 
 and the voice of his words like the 
 voice of a multitude. 
 
 7 And I Daniel alone saw the vi 
 sion : for the men that were with 
 me saw not the vision ; but a great 
 quaking fell upon them, so that they 
 fled to hide themselves. 
 
 8 Therefore I was left alone, and 
 saw this great vision, and there re 
 mained no strength in me : for my 
 
 comeliness was turned in me in 
 to corruption, and I retained no 
 strength. 
 
 9 Yet heard I the voice of his 
 words: and when I heard the voico 
 of his words, then was I in a deep 
 sleep on my face, and my face to 
 wards the ground. 
 
 a or, vigour. 
 
 like the face or appearance of brass. 
 Comp. Ex. x. 5, 15; Num. xxii. 5, 11. 
 It is easy to conceive of the appearance 
 which one would make whose arms and 
 feet resembled burnished brass. ^ And 
 the voice of his words like the voice of a 
 multitude. A multitude of people loud 
 and strong. So in Rev. i. 15 : " And his 
 voice as the sound of many waters." 
 
 7. And I Daniel alone saw the vision. 
 That is, ho only saw it distinctly. The 
 others who were with him, appear to 
 have seen or heard something which 
 alarmed them, and they fled. Who those 
 men were, or why they were with him, 
 he does not say. They may have been 
 his own countrymen, engaged with him 
 in the act of devotion, or they may have 
 been Babylonians occupied in the public 
 service ; but whoever they were, or what 
 ever was the reason why they were there, 
 they became alarmed and fled. The case 
 was somewhat different with the com 
 panions of Saul of Tarsus when the Sa 
 viour appeared to him on his way to 
 Damascus. These saw the light ; they 
 all fell to the earth together, but Saul 
 only heard the voice of him that spake, 
 Acts xxii. 9. 
 
 8. Therefore I was left alone, and saw 
 this great vision. That is, I distinctly 
 saw it, or contemplated it. He perceived 
 doubtless that it was a heavenly vision, 
 and as he had often been favoured with | 
 similar manifestations, he remained to 
 receive the communication which proba- ! 
 bly he understood was to be made. ^[ And j 
 (.here remained no strength in me. He : 
 was completely overcome. A similar j 
 effect was produced on John when he was j 
 in Patmos : "And when I saw him, I : 
 fell at his feet as dead," Rev. i. 17. That j 
 he should be overcome, and his strength 
 :aken away, was not an unnatural effect ; 
 ,md what occurred to Daniel and John 
 nay demonstrate that there may be such i 
 
 views of the divine character and glory 
 now as to prostrate our physical powers. 
 It is certain that such visions as those 
 which appeared to Daniel and John would 
 have this effect ; and, though we are not 
 to expect that they will now be vouch 
 safed to men, no one can doubt that there 
 may be such views of God, and heaven, 
 and eternal realities presented to the eye 
 of faith and hope; such joy in the evi 
 dence of pardoned sin; such a change 
 from a sense of condemnation to the peace 
 resulting from forgiveness, that the pow 
 ers of the body may be prostrated, and 
 sink from exhaustion. Indeed, it is not 
 much of the revelation of the divine cha 
 racter that in our present state we can 
 bear. ^[ For my comeliness. Marg., 
 vigour. Heb. TJH hodh. The word 
 means, properly, majesty, or splendour; 
 then beauty or brightness, as of the com 
 plexion. The meaning here is, that his 
 bright complexion (Gesenius, Lex.), was 
 changed upon him; that is, that he turned 
 pale. ^[ Into corruption. The phrase 
 hero used means literally into destruc 
 tion. The sense is, that by the change 
 that came over him, his beauty his 
 bright or florid complexion was com 
 pletely destroyed. He became deadly 
 pale. 
 
 9. Yet heard I the voice of his words. 
 What the angel said when he appeared 
 to him, Daniel has not recorded. He 
 says (ver. 6) that the voice of his words 
 was as the voice of a multitude. It is 
 probable that those who were with him 
 had heard that voice, and hearing it, and 
 being struck with the remarkable charac 
 ter of the vision, they had suddenly fled 
 in alarm. Daniel heard more distinctly 
 what he said, though it does not yet ap 
 pear that he had heard anything more 
 than the sound of his voice, ^f And when 
 I heard the voice of his words, then was I 
 in a deep sleep on my face. Comp. Kotos 
 
422 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534 
 
 10 f And behold, a hand touched 
 me, which > set me upon my knees 
 and upon the palms of my hands. 
 
 11 And he said unto me, Dan 
 iel, a man b greatly beloved, under 
 stand the words that I speak unto 
 
 had spoken this word unto me, I 
 stood trembling. 
 
 12 Then said he unto me, Fear 
 not, Daniel: for from the first day 
 that thou didst set thy heart to un 
 derstand, and to chasten thyself bc- 
 
 thee, and stand c upright : for unto | fore thy God, thy words were d heard, 
 
 thee am I now sent. And when he 
 
 a moved. 
 
 1 of desires. 
 
 on ch. viii. 18. Lengerke renders this, 
 I sank into a deep sleep, &o. This is 
 undoubtedly the meaning, that when he 
 heard this voice he was overcome, and 
 sank prostrate and senseless upon the 
 earth. The sense of the Hebrew may be 
 thus expressed: <I became >nn op 
 pressed with sleep, Ac. 
 
 10. And behold, a hand touched me. 
 The hand of the angel. Comp. ch. viii. 
 18. ^[ Which set me upon my knees, and 
 
 and 1 am come fur thy words. 
 
 : upon thy standing. 
 
 d Ac. 10. SO, 31. 
 
 what was his own dutj^ in the present 
 circumstances, or what methods he might 
 use to secure the return of his country 
 men to their own land. The circum 
 stances of the case were such as to make 
 cither of these inquiries proper, and the 
 angel now affirms that from the first day 
 when he entered on these investigations, 
 he was despatched to come to him, and 
 to assure him that his prayer was heard. 
 The reason why he had not sooner ar- 
 
 upon the palms of my hands. Not up- ,. 
 right/ as in ch. viii. 18. That is, he had tmu hls 
 not strength given him at once to stand 
 erect, but he was partially raised up, and 
 enabled to move, though in a feeble and 
 tottering manner. The word here used 
 J?ij means to move to and fro; to waver; 
 
 Ved and whv DanMfl . s lef to 
 
 , lon g vvlth ? ut *** 
 
 ver bein return , ed > 1S ****** in * 
 Com P Note " 
 
 following verses. 
 
 thy God. That is, by fasting and 
 liation. Literally, to afflict thyself. ^ Thy 
 words were heard. In heaven. Another 
 to vacillate ; and the sense here, as ex- | proof that prayer is at once heard, though 
 pressed by Gesenius (Lex.) is, lo, a hand i the answer maybe long delayed. The 
 touched me, and caused me to reel (i. e. I instance before us shows that the answer 
 to stand reeling and trembling,) upon my to prayer may seem to be delayed, from 
 
 knees and hands, 
 stored to strength 
 
 He was gradually re- 
 
 11. And he said unto me, Daniel, a 
 man greatly beloved. That is, in heaven. 
 
 causes unknown to us, though the prayer 
 ascends at once to heaven, and God de 
 signs to answer it. In this case, it was 
 deferred by the detention of the messen- 
 
 Marg., as in Heb., of desire. See Notes ger on the way (ver. 13); in other cases 
 on ch. ix. 23. ^Understand the rcords \ it may be from a different cause; but it 
 that I spenk unto thee. That is, attend should never be set down as a proof that 
 to them, implying that he would be able j prayer is not hoard, and that it will not 
 to understand them. ^ And stand up- j be answered, because the answer is not 
 right. Marg., as in Heb., upon thy stand- \ granted at once. Weeks, or months, or 
 ing. That is, stand erect. See Notes on years may elapse before the divine pur- 
 
 pose shall be made known, though, so to 
 
 ch. viii. 18. 
 
 12. Then said he unto 
 
 me, Fear not. speak, the messenger may be on his way 
 
 Be not alarmed at my presence ; do not | to us. Something may prevent the an- 
 fear that your devotions are not accepted, j swer being borne to us; some prince of 
 and that your prayers are not heard, j the kingdom of Persia may withstand 
 
 ^[ For from the first day that thou didst 
 set thy heart to understand. That is, by a 
 
 the messenger; some cause which we 
 may not know may hinder the immediate 
 
 season of extraordinary devotion. Daniel i answer of our prayer either in our own 
 had devoted three full weeks to such a \ hearts, or in outward events which can- 
 service (vs. 2, 3), and it would seem from j not at once be controlled without a mira- 
 this that one object which he had in I cle, or in the feelings and views of our 
 
 view was to make inquiry about the fu 
 ture condition of his people, or to learn 
 
 friends whom we seek to have converted 
 and saved, but the purpose to answer the 
 
B.C. 534.] CHAPTER X. 423 
 
 13 But the 
 
 j prince of the kingdom 
 ithstood me one and 
 
 Of Persia witiistuuu. me one ana * or, the first. Jude 9 ; Re. 12. 7. 
 
 twenty days : but lo, Michael, one 
 
 prayer may have been simultaneous with \ ^ ar states, this language would properly 
 its being offered, and a train of measures express that fact. Gesenius (Lex.) ex- 
 may have been commenced at once to pWw it in this passage as denoting the 
 bring about the result, though many weeks chiefs, princes and angels ; i. e. the arch- 
 or months of delay, of anxiety, of tears, angels acting as patrons and advocates 
 may elapse before we attain the object we f particular nations before God. That 
 desired. Daniel would have been cheered this is the proper meaning here as de- 
 :n his days of fasting and service if he duced from the words, is apparent, for 
 had known that an angel was on his way . () it is an angel that is speaking, and it 
 to him to comfort him, and to comrauni- ; would seem most natural to suppose that 
 cate to him an answer from God , often i he had encountered one of his own rank ; 
 why not always in our days of deepest ($) the mention of Michael who came to 
 anxiety and trouble; when our prayers his aid .1 name which, as we shall see, 
 seem not to penetrate the skies ; when properly denotes an angel, leads to the 
 we meet with no response; when the [ same conclusion ; (c) it accords, also, with 
 thing for which we pray seems to be j the prevailing belief on the subject. Un- 
 withheld ; when our friends remain un- | doubtedly one who takes into view all 
 converted; when irreligion abounds and i the circumstances referred to in this pas- 
 prevails; when we seem to be doing no sa ge, would most naturally understand 
 good, and when calamity presses upon this of an angelic being, having some 
 us, if we saw the arrangement which God kind of jurisdiction over the kingdom 
 was already making to answer the prayer, f Persia. What was the character of 
 and could see the messenger on the way, this prince, however; whether he was 
 our hearts would exult, and our tears a good or bad angel, is not intimated by 
 would cease to flow. And why, in our i the language. It is only implied that he 
 days of trouble and anxiety, should we ! had a chieftainship, or some species of 
 not believe that it is so, and that God, j guardian care, over that kingdom- 
 
 even though the delay may seem to be 
 long, will yet show himself to be a hearer 
 and an answerer of prayer? 
 
 13. But the 
 
 prince of the kingdom of 
 Persia. In explaining this very difficult 
 verse, it may be proper I. to consider the 
 literal sense of the words ; II. to deduce 
 the fair meaning of the passage as thus 
 
 watching over its interests, and directing 
 its affairs. As he offered resistance, how 
 ever, to this heavenly messenger on his 
 way to Daniel, and as it was necessary to 
 counteract his plans, and as the aid of 
 Michael was required to overcome his 
 opposition, the fair construction is, that 
 he belonged to the class of evil angels. 
 
 explained ; and III. to notice the practi- j f Withstood me. Heb., stood over 
 cal truths taught. The word rendered j against me. Vulgate, restitit mihi. The 
 prince Ti-* sdr, means properly a leader, fair meaning is, that he resisted or op- 
 commander, chief, as of troops, Gen. xxi. I ? sed h j l " ; , tha j T h . e stood over against 
 22 j of a king s body-guard, Gen. xxxvii. i . > and d . ela y ed him on his way to Dan- 
 36; of cup-bearers, Gen. xlix. 9; of a I ieL , In ^ at man " er he did this is not 
 prison, Gen. xxxix. 21, 22; of a flock, ? ta j d ; The most obvious interpretation 
 Gen. xlvii. 6. Then it means a prince, a 1S ; 5 afc . 1 1 n . order to ans L wer the Payers 
 noble, a chief in the state, Gen. xii. 15. ! of Damel V 1 res P ect to hls P 60 ? 1 ^ it was 
 In Dan. yiii. 25, in the phrase Prince of ! necessai T that some arrangement should 
 princes, it refers to God. So far as the ^ e made in reference to the kingdom of 
 word is concerned in the phrase prince Persia influencing the government to 
 of the kingdom of Persia, it might refer be favourable to the restoration of the 
 to a prince ruling over that kingdom, or ! Jews * their own Iand > or "moving 
 to a prime minister of the state, but the i so , ine obstacles to such return obstacles 
 language also is such that it is applicable I whlch h . ad S lven Daniel s ch disquietude 
 to an angelic being supposed to preside and wh ich had been thrown in his way 
 over a state, or to influence its councils, i bv th e presiding angel of that kingdom. 
 If this idea is admitted ; if it be believed If One and twenty days. During the 
 Miat angels do thus preside over particu- whole time in which Daniel was engaged 
 
424 DANIEL. [B. C. 534 
 
 of the chief princes, came to help I me ; and I remained there \vith the 
 
 kings of Persia. 
 
 in fasting and prayer, vs. 2, 3. The an- Comp . Notes on Jude 9. Tho word j/,-. 
 gel had been sent forth to make arrange- chae i f as a proper name, occurs several 
 ments to secure the answer to his prayer t i mes j n t ho Scriptures, Num. xiiu 13, 
 when be began to pray, but had been ele- , i Chron. v. 13, vi. 46, vii. 3, viii. 16, 
 layed during all that time by the opposi- I xi j. 2 0, xxvii. 18, 2 Chron. xxi. 2, Ezra 
 tion which he had met with in Persia. viii< 8> It is uscd as ap pii ca bl e to an an- 
 Thnt is, it required all that time to over- gel> or archangel, in the following places : 
 come the obstacles existing there to the ! j) an . x 13> 2 ], x ii. 1, Jude 9, Rev. xii. 7. 
 accomplishment of these purposes, and to i Little more is known of him, than (a) that 
 make these arrangements which were ne- | he occupies the rank which entitled him 
 
 cessary to secure the result. Meantime, 
 Daniel not knowing that these arrange- 
 
 to be called an archangel ; and (6) that he 
 sustained, in the time of Daniel the re- 
 
 ments were in a process of completion, or j i ation of pa tron of Israel before God, 
 that an angel was employed to secure the J D eu t. x . 21. That an angel is referred to 
 answer to his prayers, yet strong in faith, | here is man if es t, for (1) it occurs in the ac- 
 was suffered to continue his supplications i count of transactions conducted by an an- 
 with no intimation that his prayers were j gel . (2 ) the use of the word elsewhere 
 heard, or that he would be answered, j leads to this supposition j (3) what is said 
 How many arrangements may there be ! to have been done is the appropriate 
 in progress designed to answer our pray- j work of an angeL This is apparent be 
 ers of which we know nothing! How j cause Gabriel, the speaker, savs that what 
 many agents may be employed to bring i was done was beyond his power to ac- 
 about an answer ! What mighty obsta- 1 comp H s h. He was effectually resisted 
 cles may be in a process of removal, and and thwarted by the counsels of Persia, 
 what changes may be made, and what I until one of higher wisdom and rank 
 influences exerted, while we are suffered j than himself came to his aid. He could, 
 to pray, and fast, and weep, amidst many ; therefore, have been no less than an an- 
 discouragements, and many trials of our j gel> and was c i ear i y a being of a higher 
 faith and patience ! For a much longer rank than Gabriel himself. (4) Tho 
 period than Daniel was engaged in his j phrase one of the chief princes, sus- 
 devotions, may we be required often now , tains th j s interpretation. It implies that 
 to pray before the arrangements in the he was one of thoso who hc ld an exalted 
 course of Providence shall be so far com- | rank among those who are called princes, 
 plete that we shall receive an answer to and if th i s word in this connection de- 
 our supplications, for the things to be ! notes an(jds the n Michael was an angel, 
 done may extend far into future months or j and one of the most exa ] ted of the an- 
 years. [ But lo, Michael, one of the chief I ge]s> This accords with the appellation 
 pnncet. Marg., the first. That is, the given to him by j ude _< t he archangel/ 
 first in rank of the princes/ or the an- Came to }iefp mm He does not gtatc in 
 gels. In other words, Michael the arch- j what way this was done> but it is fairl 
 angel. The proper meaning of this name | implied that it was by securing better 
 7g39 is, Who as God/ and is a name j counsels at the court of Persia counsels 
 given, undoubtedly, from some resem- j more favourable to the Hebrews, and dif- 
 blance to God. The exact reason why i ferent from those which would have been 
 it is given is not anywhere stated; but carried out under the auspices of him who 
 may it not be this : that one looking on is called the prince of Persia/ There is 
 tho majesty and glory of the chief of the nothing in the passage to forbid the sup- 
 angels, would instinctively ask, Who, position that it was by so influencing the 
 after all, is like God? Even this lofty , mind of the king and his ministers as to 
 angel, with all his glory, cannot be com- j dispose them to favour the return of tho 
 pared to the high and lofty One/ What- Jews, or to afford them facilities to rebuild 
 ever may have been the reason of the ap- their temple, or to remove some of the 
 pellation, however, the name in the Scrip- obstacles which would tend to prevent 
 tures, has a definite application, and is | their restoration. ^[ And I remained there 
 given to the chief one of the angels, with the kings of J ersia. Tho kings of 
 
B. C 534.] CHAPTER X. 425 
 
 Persia here, in the plural, must mean the | pretation its real meanfhg the exact 
 rulers. There was properly but one king | truth taught in it, the following remarks 
 of that nation, though the name may have ; may be made : (1) There was early a pre- 
 been given to subordinate rulers, or per- | vailing opinion that special angels had 
 haps to those who had been kings in their j the charge of individuals, as their guar- 
 own country, and whose countries had | dians ; and the same idea existed respect- 
 been subdued by the Persian arms, and j ing nations, that their affairs were as- 
 who now resided, with more or less j signed to particular celestial beings. This 
 authority, at the Persian court. The j notion among the Hebrews was found in 
 phrase I remained there has been vari- i this form that they were angels, or cre- 
 ously translated. The Vulgate renders j ated beings of exalted rank who thus pre- 
 it as in our version. The Greek, And I sided over the affairs of men. Among 
 left him [to wit, Michael] there with the the Greeks, and other heathen nations" 
 prince of the kingdom of Persia/ The j the form which it took was, that they were 
 Syriac, And I was hindered there against | gods or tutelary divinities, and hence, 
 tho prince of the Persians. Luther, ! each people, each class, each family, each 
 Then obtained I the victory with the ! house, had its own God. The Hebrews 
 kings in Persia. Lengerke, * Then ob- never approximated this opinion so far as 
 tained I the ascendency ( Vorrang) among to suppose that these beings were divine, 
 the kings of Persia. That is, as he ex- I or that they occupied the place of the su- 
 plains it, I obtained the victory ; I se- j preme God JEHOVAH who was pecu- 
 cured this result that my counsel in be- | liarly their covenant God and who was 
 half of the Jewish people prevailed. p. | the only true God. They did admit tho 
 503. The same explanation is given i supposition, however, that there might 
 by Geyer, Gesenius, De Wette, Haver- be guardian angels of their own nation, 
 Dick. The word ~n; Yathar, prop- j and the same idea seems to have prevailed 
 crly means to hang out and over ; to be ! among them in regard to other nations, 
 redundant; to remain or be left; to be Th , ls 1S Dearly the idea in the passage 
 
 over and above, to excel, <fcc. Hence the 
 notion in Niphal, of excelling others, of 
 
 before us, that, while Michael was, in 
 peculiar sense, entrusted with the affairs 
 
 getting the ascendency, of obtaining a j of the Hebrew people, there were intelli- 
 victory. This is undoubtedly the mean- S ent invisible beings of angelic rank, 
 in* here, for he was not left with the who Presided over other nations, and who 
 kin^s of Persia ; he did not remain there, i influenced their counsels. It does not 
 The true idea is, that, by the help of Mi- 1 appear by any means that it was supposed 
 chael, who came to his aid, he was enabled j t , hafcin a11 cases these were ( J ood beings, for 
 so far to influence the Persian counsels i the counsels of the nations were too often 
 
 against the purposes of him who is called 
 the * prince of Persia, as to secure the 
 
 malignant and evil to admit of this sup 
 position. In the case before us, it is evi- 
 
 favours for the Hebrew people which | dcntlv supposed that the influence of tho 
 Daniel sought by prayer, and having I Presiding a ngel of Persia was adverse to 
 done this, ho came at once to him. The j ^ hat whlch was n S ht > and such as should 
 only delay in the case was that which I e counteracted by one who came from 
 was caused by the purposes of the Persian I h ea X cn Com P Notes on E P h 2 - 
 court, and by the difficulty of securing \ ( 2 ) No can demonstrate that this ia 
 such arrangements there as to favour the I l wt so The . existence of wicked angels 
 Hebrew people, and to facilitate their re- | 1S no more incredible in itself than tho 
 turn to their own country. Having done ! existence of wicked men, and that they 
 this, he came at once to Daniel to an- ! shou j d m fl uence nations and rulers is in 
 nounce the long series of events which \ ^ sclf . " raore improbable than that dis 
 would follow, pertaining to his people, i tmguished statesmen should. There may 
 and in reference to which his mind had \ Jji inde ed, no foundation for the opinion 
 
 that particular angels are assigned to par- 
 
 been so much affected during his pro 
 tracted period of devotion. 
 
 Such is the explanation of the literal 
 meaning of this difficult passage. Now, 
 
 ticular individuals or nations as peculiar 
 guardians, but it may be true notwith 
 standing that some one of these fallen spi 
 rits for if there are any such beings at all, 
 
 in reference to tho second point sug- j they are numerous may have special in 
 gested as necessary to itg proper inter- j fluence over a par ticular individual or na- 
 36* 
 
426 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534k 
 
 tion. If it be snid that we know too little 
 about this to enable us to make any posi 
 tive statements in favour of this opinion, 
 it should also be said that we know too 
 little to enable us to make any positive 
 statements against it; and for aught any 
 one can prove, it may be so. No one has 
 a right to assume that it is not so ; no one 
 can demonstrate that it is not so. It may 
 be said further, that things look as ?/*this 
 were so. There are many influences on 
 nations and individuals, many things that 
 occur that can be most easily accounted 
 for on the supposition that there is such an 
 agency from some invisible quarter. If 
 we admit the reality of such influence, and 
 such interpositions, the things which occur 
 are more easily explained than if we deny 
 it. There are measures taken; plans 
 proposed; influences exerted; schemes 
 adopted there are things from an un 
 seen quarter to give prosperity, or to 
 thwart the best laid plans, that cannot 
 be well explained without the supposition 
 of such an interference; things which 
 perplex all philosophers and all histo 
 rians in accounting for them ; things 
 which cannot be anticipated or explained \ 
 on any known principles of human na- j 
 ture. If we admit the reality of the in- j 
 fluence of invisible beings, as in the case | 
 before us, the solution becomes compara- j 
 tively easy; at least we find phenomena 
 just such as we should expect on such a 
 supposition. (3) It may be added, also, 
 in regard to the particular case before us, 
 (a) that the counsels against the Jews to 
 prevent their return to their own land, 
 and to embarrass them, were such as we 
 should anticipate on the supposition that 
 an evil angel an enemy of God and his 
 people had influenced the Persian ru 
 lers ; and (b) that the changes wrought 
 in those counsels in favour of the Jews, 
 facilitating their return to their own 
 land, were such as we should expect to 
 find on the supposition that those coun 
 sels and plans were overruled and 
 changed by the interposition say of Ga- j 
 briel and Michael. And similar events | 
 often happen. There are such changes 
 in the counsels of nations, and in the 
 minds of rulers, as would occur on the 
 supposition that superior beings were en 
 gaged in thwarting evil plans, and influ 
 encing those who have the power to do 
 right. In reference to the Jews in their 
 exile, there had been a long series of acts 
 of opposition and oppression pursued 
 
 by the governments of the East, as if 
 under the direction of some malignant 
 spirit; then a series of acts in their 
 favour followed, as if the change had 
 been brought about by the interposition 
 of some benignant angel. These facts are 
 the historical basis on which the repre 
 sentation is here made. 
 
 In reference to the third point sug 
 gested pertaining to this passage the 
 practical truths taught that may be of 
 use to us it may be remarked that the 
 great truth is, that the answer to prayer 
 is often delayed, not by any indisposition 
 on the part of God to answer it, and not 
 by any purpose not to answer it, and not 
 by the mere intention of trying our faith, 
 but by the necessary arrangements to bring 
 it about. It is of such a nature that it 
 cannot be answered at once. It requires 
 time to make important changes; to in 
 fluence the minds of men ; to remove 
 obstacles; to raise up friends; to put in 
 operation agencies that shall secure the 
 thing desired. There is some obstacle 
 to be overcome. There is some plan of 
 evil to be checked and stayed. There 
 is some agency to be used which is not 
 now in existence, and which is to be cre 
 ated. The opposition of the prince of 
 Persia could not be overcome at once, 
 and it was necessary to bring in the 
 agency of a higher power- that of Mi 
 chael to effect the change. This could 
 not be done in a moment, a day, or a 
 week, and hence the long delay of three 
 full weeks before Daniel had an assur 
 ance that his prayers would be answered. 
 So it often happens now. We pray for 
 the conversion of a child. Yet there 
 may be obstacles to his conversion, un 
 seen by us, which are to be patiently re 
 moved, and perhaps by a foreign influ 
 ence, before it can be done. Satan may 
 have already secured a control over his 
 heart which is to be broken gradually, 
 before the prayer shall be answered. Wo 
 pray for the removal of the evils of in 
 temperance, of slavery, of superstition, 
 of idolatry. Yet these may be so inter 
 locked with the customs of a country, 
 with the interests of men, and with the 
 laws, that they cannot be at once eradi 
 cated except by miracle, and the answer 
 to the prayer seems to be long delayed. 
 We pray for the universal spread of the 
 gospel of Christ. Yet how many obsta 
 cles are to be overcome, and how many 
 arrangements made before this prayer 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 427 
 
 14 Now I am come to make thee 
 understand what shall befall thy 
 people in the latter a days : for b yet 
 the vision is for many days. 
 
 15 And when he had spoken such 
 words unto me, I set my face to 
 ward the ground, and I became 
 dumb. 
 
 16 And, behold, one like the simi 
 litude of the sons of men touched 
 c my lips : then I opened my mouth, 
 and spake, and said unto him that 
 stood before me, my Lord, by 
 the vision my sorrows are turned 
 upon me, and I have retained no 
 d strength 
 
 Ge. 49. 1; 2 Ti. 3. 1. 
 
 be. 8. 26; He. 2. 3. 
 
 can be fully answered ; and how many 
 tears are to be shed, and perils encoun- 
 
 cls. 6. 7, 8; Je. 1.9. 
 
 ver. 8. 
 
 the ground in silence. Is there any one 
 of us who would not be awed into pro- 
 
 tered, and lives sacrificed, before the found silence if a heavenly messenger 
 prayer of the church shall be fully an- ! should stand before us to disclose what 
 swered, and the earth shall be filled with ! was to occur to us, to our families, to 
 the knowledge of the Lord. The duty, \ our friends, to our country, in far distant 
 then, which is taught, is that of patience, ! years ? 
 
 of perseverance, of faith in God, of a i 16. And, behold, one like the similitude. 
 firm belief that he is true to all his pro- of the sons of men touched my lips. In 
 mises, and that he is a hearer of prayer the form of a man. The reference here 
 though the blessing seems long delayed, is undoubtedly to Gabriel, appearing to 
 14. Now I am come to make thee under- Daniel in human form. Why he does 
 stand, Ac. After these long delays, and not name him is unknown ; nor is there 
 after the arrangements have been made | *"? intimation whether he changed his 
 necessary to bring about the objects form as he now approached the prophet, 
 sought by your prayers, f /* the latter Ifc would secm not improbable that, seo- 
 days. In future times extending down in the e ? ect of his presence and his 
 
 to the last period of the world. See 
 Notes on Isa. ii. 2. ^[ For yet the vision 
 is for many days. Extends far into fu- 
 
 words on Daniel, he laid aside some of 
 the manifestations of awe and majesty 
 in which he had at first appeared to him, 
 
 ture time. It is probable that the prayer and approached him as a man, and placed 
 of Daniel referred more particularly to ! hls hands on his lps as a sign that he 
 what he desired should soon occur the I should speak, or as imparting power to 
 restoration of the people to their own J to s P eak - See Notes on Isa - V1 - 6 7 - 
 land; the angel informs him that the Hi 7 P C) ^ d V mouth, and spake. His 
 disclosures which he was to make covered fear was removed, and he was now able to 
 
 a much more extended period, and em 
 braced more important events. So it is 
 often. The answer to prayer often in 
 cludes much more than we asked for, 
 and the abundant blessings that are con 
 ferred, beyond what we supplicate, are 
 vastly beyond a compensation for the 
 
 delay. 
 
 15. And whe> 
 
 he had spoken such 
 
 words, &c. Daniel was naturally over 
 come by the communication which had 
 been made to him. The manner in 
 which the prayer was answered seems to 
 
 have been entirely 
 he had expected. 
 
 different from what 
 The presence of a 
 
 heavenly being; the majesty of his ap 
 pearance; the assurance that he gave 
 that ho had come to answer his prayer, 
 and the fact that he had important reve 
 lations to make respecting the future, 
 overcame him, and he laid his face upon 
 
 address the heavenly messenger. 
 my Lord. A title of respectful address, 
 but without indicating the rank of him 
 to whom it is applied. ^ By the vision 
 my sorrows are turned upon me. The 
 word rendered sorrows on>X means 
 properly writhing*, throes, pains, as of a 
 woman in travail, Isa. xiii. 8 ; xxi. 3 ; 
 1 Sam. iv. 13 ; and then any deep pain 
 or anguish. Here it refers to terror or 
 fright, as so great as to prostrate the 
 strength of Daniel. The word rendered 
 are turned issru from 7|5n> means, in 
 Niphal, to turn oneself about, to turn 
 back, &c. The same phrase which is 
 here used occurs also in 1 Sam. iv. 19, 
 her pains turned upon her; thatis, came 
 upon her. Perhaps we should express 
 the idea by saying that they rolled upon 
 us, or over us like the surges of the 
 
428 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534, 
 
 17 For how can a the servant of 
 this my lord talk with this my lord ? 
 for as for me, straightway there re 
 mained no strength in me, neither 
 is there breath left in me. 
 
 18 Then there came again and 
 touched me one like the appearance 
 of a man, and he strengthened me. 
 
 19 And said, man greatly be- 
 
 a or, this servant of. 
 
 17. For how can the servant of this my 
 lord. Acknowledging his humble and 
 
 | loved, fear not: peace be unto thee, 
 ibe strong, yea, be strong. And 
 when he had spoken unto me, I was 
 strengthened, and said, Let my lord 
 speak ; for b thou hast strengthened 
 me. 
 
 20 Then said he, Knowest thou 
 wherefore I come unto thee? and 
 now will I return to fight with the 
 
 b 2 Co. 12. 9. 
 
 poses the question here, and as the silence 
 of Daniel seems to have been construed 
 
 lowly condition and rank in the presence as a declaration that he did understand 
 of an angel a messenger now sent from i the purpose of the visit, he proceeds to 
 heaven. ^ Neither is there breath left in \ unfold fully the purport of his message. 
 me. That is, he was utterly overcome and j ^f And now will I return. That is, evi- 
 
 prostrate. He felt that he was incapable 
 of speaking in the presence of one who 
 had descended from God. 
 
 18. Then there came again and touched 
 
 clently, after he had made known to him 
 the message which he came to deliver. 
 He cannot mean that he would then leave 
 Daniel, and return immediately to Per- 
 
 me, <fcc. The same one is here referred j sia, for he proceeds at length (chs. xi. 
 to doubtless who is mentioned in ver. 16 j xii.) to deliver his message to him, and 
 the angel. He came to him again in ! to state what would occur in the world in 
 this condescending and familiar manner j future times, \ To fght with the prince 
 in order to allay his fears, and to prepare ; of Persia. In ver. 13, he says that he 
 him to receive his communications with : had had a contest with that prince, and 
 
 entire calmness. 
 
 that in consequence of that he had been 
 
 19. And said, man greatly beloved, delayed on his journey to Daniel. By the 
 See Notes on ch. ix. 23. ^f Fear not. \ interposition of Michael, the affairs of 
 Neither at my presence, nor at what I j Persia had been so arranged, that the op- 
 have to say. There was nothing in the position to what was desired by Daniel 
 visitation of an angel that could be a j had been in part removed so far, at 
 ground of dread to a good man ; there was j least, as to make it certain that his pray- 
 nothing in what he had to communicate ers would be answered. See Notes on 
 that could be a reasonable cause of alarm. ; that verse. But still it would seem that 
 f Be strong, yea, be strong. These are I the difficulty was not entirely overcome, 
 words of encouragement such as we ad- j and that it would be desirable for him to 
 dress to those who are timid and fearful. ! return, and to complete the arrangements 
 We exhort them not to yield ; to make a j which had been commenced. There were 
 vigorous effort to meet danger, difficulty, i still causes in existence in Persia which 
 or trial. ^[ Let my Lord speak. That is, might tend to frustrate all these plans 
 I am now prepared to receive what you j unless they were counteracted, and his 
 have to communicate. ^[ For thou hast presence might still be necessary there to 
 strengthened me. By your encouraging secure the safe return of the exiles to 
 
 words, and by the kindness of your man- 
 
 3r. 
 
 20. Then said he unto me, Knowest thou 
 wherefore I come unto thee ? This was 
 
 their own land, and the means required 
 to rebuild the city and temple. The sim 
 ple meaning of this is, that it would be 
 necessary to exert a farther influence at 
 
 known by what the angel had said in the Persian court in order to bring about 
 
 ver. 14. He seems to have called his at- the object desired, and this fact is ex- 
 
 tention to it, and to have proposed the pressed in language derived from the be- 
 
 question, because Daniel had been so lief that angelic beings, good and bad, 
 
 overcome by his fright that it might be j have much to do in controlling the minds 
 
 doubtful whether he had understood him of men. ^ And tchen I am gone forth. 
 
 distinctly when he had told him the ob- Literally, and I go forth. The mean- 
 
 ject of his coming. He therefore pro- ing seems to be that he would return to 
 
B. C. 534.J 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 429 
 
 prince a of Persia: and when I am 
 gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia 
 shall come. 
 21 But I will show thee that which 
 
 a ver. 13. 
 
 is noted in the scripture of truth : 
 and there is none that b holdeth with 
 me in these things, but Michael 
 c your prince. 
 
 b stren gtheneth MmseJf. 
 
 c ver. 13. 
 
 Persia, and would so direct .affairs there ! " prince of Greece here, there can be no 
 that the welfare of the Jews would be [ doubt that there is reference to Alexan- 
 
 promoted, and that protection would be 
 extended to them. Thij, he says, he 
 would continue as long as it was neces 
 sary, for when he should have gone forth, 
 the king of Greece would come, and the 
 affairs of Persia would be put on a new 
 
 der the Great, who conquered Persia. 
 See ch. xi. 1 4. The meaning here is, 
 that when he should come, and conquer 
 Persia, the opposition which the Hebrews 
 had encountered from that country would 
 cease, and there would then be no need of 
 
 footing, but on such a footing as not to I the interposition of the angel at the Persian 
 require his presence for the government cour t- The matter of fact was, that the 
 
 Hebrews were favoured by Alexander the 
 
 would be of itself favourable to the Jews. 
 The sense is, that up to the time when 
 this king of Grecia should come, there 
 would be a state of things in the Persian 
 court that would demand the presence 
 of some being from heaven exerting 
 some constant influence to prevent an 
 outbreak against the Jews, and to secure 
 their peace and prosperity, but that when 
 the f king of Grecia should come he would 
 himself favour their cause, and render the 
 
 Great, and that whatever there was in the 
 Persian or Chaldean power which they 
 had had reason to dread, was then brought 
 to an end, for all those Eastern govern 
 ments were absorbed in the empire oi 
 Alexander the Macedonian monarchy. 
 21. But I will show thee that which it 
 noted in the scripture of truth. The word 
 noted here means written, or recorded. 
 The 
 
 scripture of truth means the true 
 
 presence of the angel unnecessary. No j writing, and the reference is doubtless to 
 one can prove that this is not a correct the divine purposes or decrees in this 
 representation, or that the favour shown j master for (a) there is no other writing 
 to the Jews at the Persian court during where these things were then found ;(6) the 
 all the time of the rebuilding of the city angel came to make known what could be 
 and the temple, was not to be traced to known in no other way, and therefore 
 
 some presiding influence from above, or 
 
 wa s not yet found in any book to 
 
 that that was not put forth in connection | which man had access; (c) this language 
 with the ministration of an angelic being, accords with common representations in 
 Indeed, it is in accordance with all the tne Scriptures respecting future events. 
 
 teachings of the Bible that the disposi 
 tion of kings and princes to show favour 
 to the people of God, like all else that is 
 good in this world, is to be traced to an 
 influence from above ; and it is not con 
 trary to any of the laws of analogy, or 
 any thing with which we are acquainted 
 pertaining to the spiritual world, to sup 
 pose that angelic interposition may be 
 employed in any case in bringing about 
 
 They are described as written down in a 
 book that is in the hands of God, in which 
 are recorded all future events the names 
 of those that shall be saved and all the 
 deeds of men. Comp. Deut. xxxii. 34; 
 Mai. iii. 16; Ps. cxxxix. 16; Rev. v. 1. 
 The representation is figurative, of course, 
 and the meaning is, that, in the view of 
 the divine mind, all future events are as 
 certain as if they were actually recorded 
 
 that which is good. ^ Lo, the prince of J as history, or as if they were now all 
 Grecia shall come. Heb., Javan p> | written down. The angel came that he 
 There can be no doubt that Greece is in- 1 ^*!!S5!? ** P 01 ?? ? f that . volume > 
 tended. The word properly denotes 
 Ionia (derived from this word), the name 
 of which province, says Gesenius, as be 
 ing adjacent to the East, and better known, 
 was extended so as to comprehend the 
 
 a . 1 
 
 and iisc l s f .^o contents of its secret 
 paGS tbat 1S descnbe an important 
 interest to the 
 
 series of events of _ 
 
 Jewish people and to the world at large. 
 
 <[ And there is none that holdeth with me in 
 
 " f dthe these things. Marg., strer, gtheneth himself. 
 
 whole of Greece, as u expressly said by I So the Hebrew. The idea is, that there 
 ttreek writers themselves. L*x. By the | was none that rendered aid in this matter, 
 
430 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534 
 
 or that stood by him, and would accomplish Irected by them; as God raises up for the 
 
 j:t - i: -~ : - orphan, and the widow, and the insane, 
 
 and the sorrowful, and the feeble, those 
 of wealth and power and learning who 
 can better guard their interests than they 
 
 the designs which he was meditating in 
 their behalf pertaining to Persia. The 
 angel saw that there were powerful in 
 fluences against the interests of the He 
 
 brew people at work in the court of Persia; ; could themselves, and as these relations 
 that it was necessary that they should be j are often sustained, and these favours 
 counteracted; that unless this were done, conferred by those who are invisible to 
 
 fearful calamities would come upon the 
 Jewish people, and they would be sub 
 jected to great embarrassments in their 
 effort to rebuild their city and temple, and 
 he says that there was no one whose aid 
 could be permanently and certainly relied 
 on but that of Michael. He himself was 
 to return to the court of Persia to en 
 deavour to counteract the influence of the 
 prince of Persia, but, as in the former 
 case when on his way to Daniel (ver 13,) 
 he would not have been able to counter 
 act the machinations of that prince if it 
 had not been for the interposition of Mi 
 chael, so he felt now that reliance was still 
 to be placed on his assistance in the mat 
 ter. ^[ But Michael your prince. See 
 Notes on ver. 13. The patron, or guar 
 dian of your people, and of their inter- 
 
 the recipients, so it gives, in a higher 
 sense, a new beauty to the arrangements 
 of the universe to suppose that this be 
 nevolent office is often undertaken and 
 discharged by angelic beings. Thus 
 they may defend us from danger; ward 
 off the designs of our enemies; de 
 feat their machinations, and save us from 
 numberless evils that would otherwise 
 come upon us. This view receives addi 
 tional confirmation if it be admitted that 
 there are evil angels, and that they seek 
 the ruin of mankind. They are malig 
 nant; they tempt the race of man; 
 they have power far superior to our own ; 
 they can set in operation a train of evil 
 influences which we can neither foresee 
 nor counteract; and they can excite the 
 minds of wicked men to do us injury in a 
 
 ests. The idea intended to be conveyed j way which we cannot anticipate, and 
 here undoubtedly is, that Michael was a against which we cannot defend ourselves. 
 
 guardian angel for the Jewish people; 
 
 In these circumstances, any one can per- 
 
 that he had special charge of their affairs ; ce i ve that there is concinnity and pro- 
 that his interposition might be depended ! prietyin the supp osition that there are 
 on m the time of trouble and danger, and d b j of ft hi her order who f j an 
 
 ! ^^"^^"2 in the Ht of r- and ; ho 
 
 so ; and as on earth some of the most im- come to us > on their Benevolent errand, to 
 portant favours that we enjoy are con- defend us from dan S er > and to aid us in 
 ferred by the instrumentality of others ; j our efforts to escape from the perils of our 
 as we are often defended when in danger | fallen condition, and to reach the king- 
 by them; as we are counselled and di-j dom of heaven. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER. 
 
 THIS chapter contains a portion of those things which the angel said were written in the 
 Scripture of truth, and which he came to disclose to Daniel. The revelation also embraces the 
 twelfth chapter, and the two comprise the last recorded communication that was made to 
 Daniel. The revelation which is made in these chapters not only embraces a large portion of 
 history of interest to the Jewish people of ancient times, and designed to give instruction as to 
 the important events that would pertain to their nation, but nlso, in its progress, alludes to im 
 portant periods in the future as marking decisive eras in the world s history, and contains hints 
 as to what would occur down to the end of all things. 
 The chapter before us embraces the following definitely marked periods : 
 I. The succession of kings in Persia to the time of a mighty king who should arouse all the 
 trength of his kingdom to make war on Greece referring doubtless to Xerxes, Y. 1, 2. Of 
 
B.C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 431 
 
 those kings in Persia there would be three three so prominent as to deserve notice in the rapid 
 glance at future events Cambyses, Smerdis, and Darius Hystaspes. 
 
 II. After this succession of kings, one would stand up or appear who would be characterized 
 as ruling with great dominion, and according to his will, ver. 3. The dominion evidently 
 would pass into his hand, and he would be distinguished from all that wont before him. There 
 can be no doubt, from the connection, and from what is said in ver. 4, that the reference here 
 is to Alexander the Great. 
 
 III. The state of the empire after the death of this mighty king, ver. 4. His kingdom would 
 be broken, and would be divided into four parts referring doubtless to the division of the em 
 pire of Alexander after his death. 
 
 IV. The history then proceeds to notice the events that would pertain to two of these portions 
 of the empire the conflicts between the king of the South, and the king of the North or be 
 tween Egypt and Syria, vs. 5 19. This portion of the history embraces, in detail, an account 
 of the policy, the negotiations, and the wars of Antiochus the Great, till the time of his death. 
 These kingdoms are particularly referred to, probably because their conflicts would effect the 
 holy land, and pertained ultimately to the history of religion, and its establishment and triumph 
 in the world. In the notice of these two sovereignties, there is considerable detail so much so 
 that the principal events could have been readily anticipated by those who were in possession 
 of the writings of Daniel. The destiny of the other two portions of the empire of Alexander 
 did not particularly affect the history of religion, or pertain to the holy land, and, therefore, 
 they are not introduced. In a particular manner, the history of Antiochus the Great is traced 
 with great minuteness in this portion of the prophecy, because his doings had a special bearing 
 on the Jewish nation, and were connected with the progress of religion. The commentary on 
 this portion of the chapter will show that the leading events are traced as accurately as would 
 be a summary of the history made out after the transactions had occurred. 
 
 V. A brief reference of the successor of Antiochus the Great, Seleucus IV. ver. 20. As he 
 occupied the throne, however, but for a short period, and as his doings did not particularly effect 
 the condition of the Hebrew people, or the interests of religion, and his reign was, in every 
 respect, unimportant, it is passed over with only a slight notice. 
 
 VI. The life and acts of Antiochus Epiphanes, vs. 2145. There can be no doubt that this 
 portion of the chapter refers to Antiochus, and it contains a full detail of his character and of 
 his doings. The account here, though without naming him, is just such as would have been 
 given by one who should have written after the events had occurred, and there is no more diffi 
 culty in applying the description in this chapter to him now than there would have been in 
 such an historical narrative. The revelation is made, evidently, to prepare the Jewish people 
 for these fearful events, and these heavy trials, in their history; and also to assure them that 
 more glorious results would follow, and that deliverance would succeed these calamities. In 
 the troubles which Antiochus would bring upon the Hebrew people, it was important that they 
 should have before them a record containing the great outlines of what would occur, and the 
 assurance of ultimate triumph just as it is important for us now in the trials which we have 
 reason to anticipate in this life, to have before us in the Bible the permanent record that we 
 shall yet find deliverance. In the twelfth chapter, therefore, the angel directs the mind on 
 ward to brighter times, and assures Daniel that there would be a day of rejoicing. 
 
 1 Also I in the first a year of Da-|rius the Mede, even I, stood to con- 
 a c . 9. 1. firm and to strengthen him. 
 
 1. Also L I the angel. He alludes 
 here to what he had done on a former oc 
 casion to promote the interests of the 
 Hebrew people, and to secure those ar 
 rangements which were necessary for 
 their welfare particularly in the favour 
 able disposition of Darius the Mede to 
 wards them. ^[ In the first year of Darins 
 the Mede. See Notes on ch. v. 35. He 
 does not hero state the things contem 
 plated or done by Darius in which he had 
 confirmed or strengthened him, but there 
 can be no reasonable doubt that it was the 
 purpose which be had conceived to re 
 store the Jews to their own land, and to 
 give them permission to rebuild their city 
 and temple. Comp. ch. ix. 1. It was in 
 that year that Daniel offered his solemn 
 prayer, as recorded in ch. ix.; in that 
 
 year that, according to the time predicted 
 by Jeremiah (see Dan. ix. 2), the cap 
 tivity would terminate; and in that year 
 that an influence from above led the mind 
 of the Persian king to contemplate the 
 restoration of the captive people. Cyrus 
 was, indeed, the one through whom the 
 edict for their return was promulgated, 
 but as he reigned under his uncle Cyax- 
 ares or Darius, and as Cyaxares was the 
 source of authority, it is evident that hit 
 mind must have been influenced to grant 
 this favour, and it is to this that the an 
 gel here refers, ^f / stood to confirm and 
 strengthen him. Comp. Notes on ch. x. 
 13. It would seem that the mind of Da 
 rius was not wholly decided; that there 
 were adverse influences bearing on it; 
 that there were probably counsellors of hit 
 
432 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534, 
 
 2 And now will I show thee the \ yet three kings in Persia ; and the 
 truth. Behold, there shall stand up *Am.3. 
 
 realm who advised against the proposed 
 measures, and the angel here says that 
 lie stood by him, and confirmed him in his 
 
 next in order, and by the fourth is un 
 doubtedly meant Xerxes. There were 
 several kings of Persia after Xerxes, as 
 
 purpose, and secured the execution of his Artaxerxes Longimanus, Darius Nothus, 
 benevolent plan. Who can prove that an | Artaxerxes Mneinon, Ochus, and Darius 
 
 angel may not exert an influence on the 
 heart of kings? And what class of men 
 is there who, when they intend to do good 
 and right, are more likely to have their 
 purposes changed by evil counsellors than 
 kings j and who is there that more needs 
 a heavenly influence to confirm their de 
 
 sign to do right? 
 
 2. And now will I show thee tin 
 
 truth. 
 
 Codomanus, but these are not enume 
 rated because the real ground of the in 
 vasion of Alexander, the thing which 
 connected him with the affairs of Persia, 
 did not occur in their reign, but it was the 
 invasion of Greece by Xerxes, ^f And 
 the fourth shall be far richer than they all. 
 That is Xerxes for he was the fourth in 
 order, and the description here agrees 
 
 That is, the truth about events that are entirely with him. He would of course 
 
 to occur in the future, and which will ac 
 cord with what is written in the Scrip 
 tures of truth, ch. x. 21. f Behold, there 
 shall stand up yet three Icings in Persia. 
 The phrase stand tip means that there 
 would be so many kings in Persia; that 
 is, there would be three before the fourth 
 which he mentions. The same Hebrew 
 word here rendered stand tip "tyj? oc 
 curs in vs. 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16, (twice), 
 17, 20, 21, 25, 31 j also ch. xii. 1. 13. In 
 verse 8 it is rendered continue; in verse 
 15, withstand; in the other cases stand 
 up, or simply stand. Gesenius says it is 
 a word used particularly of a new prince, 
 as in Dan. viii. 23, xi. 2, 3, 20. He does 
 not say that there would be none after 
 wards, but he evidently designs to touch 
 on the great and leading events respect 
 ing the Persian empire, so far as they 
 
 inherit the wealth accumulated by these 
 kings, and it is here implied that he 
 would increase that wealth, or that, in 
 some way, he would possess more than 
 they all combined. The wealth of this 
 king is here mentioned probably because 
 the magnificence and glory of an Oriental 
 monarch was estimated in a considerable 
 degree by his possessions, and because 
 his riches enabled him to accomplish his 
 expedition into Greece. Some idea of 
 the treasures of Xerxes may be obtained 
 by considering (a) that Cyrus had col 
 lected a vast amount of wealth by the 
 conquest of Lydia, and the subjugation 
 of Croesus its rich king, by the conquest 
 of Asia Minor, of Armenia and of Babylon 
 for it is said respecting him, "I will 
 give thee the treasures of darkness, and 
 hidden riches of secret places" (Isa. xlv. 
 
 would effect the Hebrew people, and so i 3 - Sec Notes on that P^sage). (b) That 
 far as they would constitute prominent Cambyses increased that wealth which he 
 
 points in the history of the world. He 
 does not, therefore, go into all the details 
 
 inherited from Cyrus by his victories, and 
 
 by his 
 
 plundering the temples Avherever 
 he came. A single case occurring in his 
 
 respecting the history, nor does he men- , 
 
 tion all the kings that would reign. The conquests may illustrate the amount of 
 
 prominent the material points would wealth which was accumulated. On his 
 
 be the reign of those three kings; then 
 
 return from Thebes, in Egypt, he caused 
 all the temples in that city to be pillaged 
 
 the rei-n of the fourth, or Xerxes, as his ail e nai CI W D( 
 
 mad expedition to Greece would lay the | and *>ur nt to the ground. But he saved 
 
 real foundation for the invasion of Per- f m & e flame S gl d to the amount of 
 
 sia by Alexander, and the overthrow of 
 the Persian empire ; then the life and 
 conquests of Alexander, and then the 
 wars consequent on the division of his 
 empire, at his death. The three kings 
 here referred to, were Cambyses, Smer- 
 dis, and Darius Hystaspes. As this com 
 munication was made in the third year 
 of Cyrus (cb. x. 1,) these would be the 
 
 three hundred talents, and silver to the 
 amount of two thousand and five hundred 
 j talents. He is also said to have carried 
 I away the famous circle of gold that en- 
 | compassed the tomb of king Ozymandias, 
 being three hundred and sixty-five cubits 
 in circumference, on which were repre 
 sented all the motions of the several con 
 stellations. Universal History, iv. 140. 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 433 
 
 fourth shall be far richer than they j riches he shall stir up all against the 
 all : and by his strength through his realm of Grecia. 
 
 3 And a mighty king shall stand 
 
 (c) This was further increased by the con 
 quests of Diirius Hystaspes, and by his 
 heavy taxes on the people. So burden 
 some were these taxes, that he was called 
 by the Persians, 6 KaTri]\o^ the mer 
 chant, or, hoarder. One of the first acts 
 of Darius was to divide bis kingdom into 
 provinces for the purpose of raising trib 
 ute. "During the reign of Cyrus, and 
 indeed of Cambyses, there were no spe 
 cific tributes ; but presents were made to 
 the sovereign. On account of these and 
 similar innovations, the Persians call Da 
 rius a merchant, Cambyses a despot, but 
 Cyrus a parent." Herodotus, B. III. 
 Ixxxix. A full account of the taxation 
 of the kingdom and the amount of the 
 revenue under Darius, may be seen in 
 Herodotus, B. III. xc xcvi. The sura of 
 the tribute under Darius, according to 
 Herodotus, was fourteen thousand five 
 hundred and sixty talent?. Besides this 
 sum received from regular taxation, He 
 rodotus enumerates a great amount of gold 
 and silver and other valuable things 
 which Darius was accustomed to receive 
 annually from the Ethiopians, from the 
 people of Colchos, from the Arabians, and 
 from India. All this vast wealth was 
 inherited by Xerxes, the son and succes 
 sor of Darius, and the fourth king here 
 referred to. Xerxes was full four years 
 in making provision for his celebrated 
 expedition into Greece. Of the amount 
 of his forces, and his preparation, a full 
 account may be seen in Herodotus, B. VII. 
 Of his leealth Justin makes this remark : 
 Si regem specie*, divitias, non ducem 
 laudes : quorum tanta copia in regno ejits 
 fuit, tit cum flumina multitudine consume- 
 renfnr, opes tamen regies superessent. Hist, 
 ii. 10. Comp. Diod. Sic. x. c. 3 ; Pliny 
 His. Nat. xxiii. 10 ; JE1. xiii. 3 ; Herod, 
 iii. 96, vii. 27 29. In the city of Celcenae, 
 Herodotus says, there lived a man named 
 Pythius, son of Atys, a native of Lydia, 
 who entertained Xerxes and all his army 
 with great magnificence, and who farther 
 engaged to supply the king with money 
 for the war. Xerxes on this was induced 
 to inquire of his Persian attendants who 
 this Pythius was, and what were the re 
 sources which enabled him to make these 
 offers. " It is the same," they replied, 
 " who presented your father Darius with 
 3f 
 
 a plane tree and a vino of gold, and who, 
 next to yourself, is the i-ichest of man 
 kind." Herod, vii. 27. f And by his 
 strength through his richea Tie shall stir tip 
 all against the realm of Grecia. That is, 
 all his kingdom. He was enabled to do 
 this by his great wealth : collecting and 
 equipping, probably, the largest army that 
 was ever assembled. The expedition of 
 ! Xerxes against Greece, is too well known 
 to need to be detailed here, and no one 
 ; can fail to see the applicability of this dc- 
 1 scription to that invasion. Four years 
 ; was spent in preparing for this expedition, 
 I and the forces that constituted the army 
 were gathered out of all parts of the vast 
 i empire of Xerxes, embracing, as was then 
 ; supposed, all the habitable world except 
 Greece. According to Justin, the army 
 was composed of seven hundred thousand 
 of his own, and three hundred thousand 
 ! auxiliaries. Diodorus Siculus makes it to 
 | be about three hundred thousand men ; 
 \ Prideaux, from Herodotus and others, 
 computes it to have amounted, putting 
 \ all his forces by sea. and land together, to 
 I two millions six hundred and forty-one 
 ! thousand six hundred and ten men; and 
 [ he adds that the servants, eunuchs, sut- 
 j tiers, and such persons that followed the 
 , camp, made as many more, so that the 
 whole number that followed Xerxes could 
 not have been less than five millions. 
 Connexion, P. 1. B. iv. vol. i. p. 410. 
 Grotius reckons his forces at five millions 
 two hundred and eighty-two thousand. 
 These immense numbers justify the ex 
 pression here, and show with what pro 
 priety it is applied to the hosts of Xerxes. 
 On the supposition that this was written 
 | after the event, and that it was history, 
 j instead of prophecy, this would be the 
 i very language which would be employed. 
 3. And a mighty king shall stand up. 
 So far ns the language here, is concerned, 
 it is not said whether this would be in 
 Persia, as a successor of the fourth king 
 (ver. 2), or whether it would be at some 
 other part of the world. The next verse, 
 however, shows that the reference is to 
 Alexander the Great for to no other one 
 is it applicable. There were several 
 monarchs of Persia, indeed, that suc 
 ceeded Xerxes, before the kingdom was 
 invaded and subdued by Alexander (s 
 
434 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534. 
 
 up, that shall rule with great do- 1 his kingdom shall be broken, and 
 minion, and do according to his j shall be divided toward the four 
 
 winds of heaven; and not to his 
 
 a c. 8. 4, &C. 
 
 will. 
 
 4 And when he shall stand up, 
 
 Notes on ver. 2), and these are here j by adding that to their empire, to have 
 entirely passed over withoutbeing alluded I the earth under their control. When, 
 to. It must be admitted that one who therefore, Alexander had conquered Per- 
 should have read this prophecy before ! eia, it was supposed that he had subdued 
 the events had occurred, would have in- the world, nor was it an unnatural feeling 
 ferred naturally that this mighty king ! that, having done this, he, whose sole 
 that should stand up/ would appear im- 1 principle of action was ambition, should 
 mediately after the fourth, and proba- j sit down and weep because there were no 
 bly that he would be his successor in the more worlds to conquer. In fact, 
 
 realm, but it may be remarked (a) that 
 the language here is not inconsistent with 
 the facts in the case it being literally 
 true that such a mighty king did 
 stand up who ruled with great do 
 minion, and according to his will; (b) that 
 there was no necessity in the prophetic 
 
 then swayed a sceptre more extended 
 and mighty than any before him had 
 done, and it is with peculiar propriety 
 that the language here is used in regard 
 to him. ^ And do according to his will. 
 Would be an arbitrary prince. This also 
 true of the Persian kings, and of 
 
 history of referring to the acts of these Oriental despots generally; but it 
 intermediate kings of Persia, since they ! eminently so of Alexander who, in sub- 
 did not contribute at all to the result it i duing kingdoms, conquering mighty ar- 
 being well known that the reason alleged mies, controlling the millions under his 
 by Alexander for his invasion of the Per- j sway, laying the foundations of cities, 
 
 sian empire, was not anything which 
 they had done, but the wrongs sustained 
 by Greece in consequence of the invasion 
 by Xerxes and his predecessor. The 
 real succession of events in the case was 
 that last invasion of Greece by Xerxes, 
 and the consequent invasion of the Per 
 sian empire by Alexander. It was these 
 transactions which the angel evidently 
 meant to connect together, and hence all 
 that was intermediate was omitted. Thus 
 Alexander, in his letter to Darius, says, 
 " Your ancestors entered into Macedonia, 
 and the other parts of Greece, and did us 
 damage, when they had received no af 
 front from us as the cause of it ; and now 
 I, created general of the Grecians, pro 
 voked by you, and desirous of avenging 
 the injury done by the Persians, have 
 passed over into Asia." Arrian, Expe. 
 Alex. i. 2. f That shall rule with great 
 dominion. That shall have a wide and 
 extended empire. The language here 
 would apply to any of the monarchs of 
 Persia that succeeded Xerxes, but it 
 would be more strictly applicable to Al 
 exander the Great than to any prince of 
 ancient or modern times. The whole 
 world, except Greece, was supposed to be 
 subject to the power of Persia, and it was 
 one of the leading and avowed purposes 
 c f Darius and Xerxos in invading Greece, 
 
 and newly arranging the boundaries of 
 empires, seemed to consult only his own 
 will, and felt that everything was to be 
 subordinate to it. It is said that this 
 passage was shown to Alexander by tlie 
 high priest of the Jews, and that th^se 
 prophecies did much to conciliate his 
 favour towards the Hebrew people. 
 
 4. And when lie shall stand tip. In the 
 might and power of his kingdom. When 
 his power shall be fully established. I 
 understand this, with Rosenmu ller and 
 Hiivernick, as meaning, when he shall be 
 at the height of his authority and power, 
 then his kingdom would be broken up. 
 The reference is, undoubtedly, to the 
 sudden death of Alexander, and the sense 
 is, that his empire would not gradually 
 diminish and decay, but that some event 
 would occur the effect of which would be 
 to rend it into four parts. ^[ His king 
 dom shall be broken. To wit, by his 
 death. The language is such as is pro 
 perly applicable to this, and indeed im 
 plies this, for it is said that it would not 
 be to his posterity an event which 
 might be naturally expected to occur; 
 or, in other words, the allusion to his pos 
 terity is such language as would be em 
 ployed on the supposition that the refer 
 ence here is to his death, ^f And shall 
 be divided toward the four winds of Aea- 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 B. C. 534.] 
 
 posterity, nor according to his do 
 minion which he ruled : for his 
 kingdom shall be plucked up, even 
 for others beside those. 
 
 435 
 
 ven. Into four parts. For the remark 
 able fulfilment of this prediction, see the 
 Notes on ch. viii. 8. ^f And not to his 
 posterity. See also the Notes on ch. 
 viii. 8. *[[ Nor according to hits dominion 
 which he ruled. This was literally true 
 of the division of the empire. No one of 
 his successors ever obtained as wide a 
 dominion as he did himself, ^f For his 
 kingdom shall be plucked i<j9. By his 
 death. This does not naturally mean 
 that it would be by conquest, for it is said 
 that it would be divided towards the 
 four winds of heaven language which is 
 
 All 
 
 not properly expressive of conquest. 
 that is implied is met by the supposition 
 that at his decease, the kingdom, which 
 had been founded by him, and which had 
 been sustained by his valor and political 
 
 5 fl And the king of the sonth 
 shall be strong, and one of his prin 
 ces ; and he shall be strong above 
 him, and have dominion ; his do 
 minion shall be a great dominion. 
 
 dictions, to two parts of it the kingdom 
 of the south, and the kingdom of the 
 north; or the kingdoms to the north and 
 the south of Palestine that of Syria and 
 that of Egypt ; or that of the Seleucida), 
 and that of the Ptolemies. The reason 
 why he does this is not stated, but it is 
 doubtless because the events pertaining 
 to these kingdoms would particularly af 
 fect the Jewish people, and be properly 
 connected with sacred history. Comp. 
 Notes on ch. viii. 7, 8. The king of the 
 south hero is, undoubtedly, the king of 
 Egypt. This part of the empire was ob 
 tained by Ptolemy, and was in the hands 
 of his successors, until Egypt was sub 
 dued by the Romans. Between the king 
 doms of Egypt and Syria, long and bloody 
 wars prevailed, and the prospective his- 
 
 wisdom, would fall to pieces. *{, Even for tory of these wars it is the design of the 
 others beside those. That is, to others be- 1 angel here to trace. As the remainder 
 side those to whom it should be at first j O f the chapter refers to these two dynas- 
 divided. Literally, exclusively, or to the j ties, to the death of the great persecutor, 
 exclusion of "laV.p- The word those re- Antiochus Epiphanes, and as the events 
 
 fers to his posterity, and the meaning is, 
 that the process of division would not 
 
 referred to were very important in his- 
 tor} r , and as introductory to what was to 
 
 stop with them, or that the four portions ! follow in the world, it may be useful here, 
 of the empire, as thus divided, would not I in order to a clear exposition of the whole 
 remain in their hands, or pass to their I chapter, to present a list of these two 
 posterity. There would be other changes, j lines of princes. It is necessary only to 
 and other divisions ; and it was not to be j premise that the death of Alexander the 
 expected that just four, and no more, em- Great occurred B. C. 323; of that of his 
 pires would grow out of the one which | brother, Philip Aridaeus, B. C. 316; of 
 had been founded, or that when that one | taat of nis son > Alexander ^Egus, by 
 should be divided into four parts, that, Roxana, B. C. 30; andttiat^a shorUJmo 
 partition would always continue. There 
 would be other divisions, and other princes 
 besides those who first obtained the em 
 pire would come in, and the process of 
 division would ultimately be carried much 
 farther. It is unnecessary to say that 
 this occurred in the empire founded by 
 Alexander. It was, soon after his death, 
 separated into four parts, but at no dis 
 tant period this arrangement was broken 
 up, and all traces of the empire, as estab 
 lished by him, or as divided among his 
 four successors, wholly disappeared. 
 
 5. And the king of the south. The an 
 gel here leaves the general history of the 
 smpire, and confines himself, in his pre- 
 
 afterthis (about B. C. 306), the chief Ma 
 cedonian governors and princes assumed 
 the royal title. The following list of the 
 succession of the Seleucidas and the Pto 
 lemies or the kings of the North and the 
 South of Syria and Egypt, is copied 
 from Elliott on the Apocalypse, iv. 123 : 
 
 The Ptolemies. The Seleuddce. 
 
 B. C. B. C. 
 
 323 Ptolemy Soter, son 323 Seleucus Nieator, 
 of Ptolemy Lagus, governor of Baby- 
 governor of Egypt. Ion. 
 
 306 takes the 312 .... recovers Ba- 
 
 title of king of E- by Ion, and the JEra 
 gypt. of the Seleucidaa 
 
 begins. 
 
 284 Ptolemy Philadel- 280 Antiochus Soter. 
 
436 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534. 
 
 C And in the end of years they 
 shall a join themselves together ; for 
 the king s daughter of the south 
 
 shall come to the king of the north 
 to make an t agreement: but she 
 
 3 associate. 
 
 phus. (It was un 
 der him ihat the 
 Septuagint Greek 
 translation of the 
 Old Testament was 
 made. 
 246 Ptolemy Euer- 261 Antiochus Theus. 
 
 getes. 
 221 Ptolemy Philopa- 246 Selcucus Callini- 
 
 ter. cus. 
 
 204 P t o 1 e m y E p i - 226 Seleucus Ceraunus. 
 
 phanes. 
 
 180 Ptolemy Philome- 225 Antiochus the 
 tor. Great 
 
 187 Seleucus Philopa- 
 
 tor. 
 175 Antiochus Epi- 
 
 phanes. 
 
 164 Antiochus Eupator, 
 of whom the Ro 
 mans assumo the 
 guardianship. 
 
 "After this, fourteen more Syrian kings 
 reigned, in reigns of short and uncertain 
 power, till Syria was occupied and formed 
 
 into a Roman province under Pompey, at j 0" end of VairsTThaT TsT afte? 
 which time the A^rn of the beleucida; pro 
 perly ends ; and six more Egyptian prin 
 ces, to the death of Ptolemy Auletes, who 
 dying B. C. 51, left his kingdom and chil 
 dren to Roman guardianship one of 
 these children being the Cleopatra so fa 
 mous in the histories of Caesar and An 
 thony." Elliott, ut snpra. f Shall be 
 strong. This is in accordance with the 
 well known fact. One of the most pow 
 erful of those monarchies, if not the most 
 powerful, was Egypt. ^ And one of his 
 princes; and he shall be strong above him. 
 The meaning of this passage I?, that there 
 would be one of his princes, that is, of 
 the princes of Alexander, who would be 
 more mighty than the one who obtained 
 Egypt, or the South, and that he would 
 have a more extended dominion. The ref 
 erence is, doubtless, to Seleucus Nicator, 
 or the conqueror. In the division of thc 
 empire he obtained Syria, Babylonia, Me 
 dia, Susinna, Armenia, a part of Cappa- j 
 
 , , , - 
 
 docia, and Celicia, and his kingdom i south sllal1 come to tlte H "-7 / th 
 
 [the princes of Alexander] also there 
 shall be [one] who shall be mightier than 
 he, and he shall reign, and his dominion 
 shall be a great dominion. It was of 
 these two dominions that the angel spake, 
 and hence follows, through the remain 
 der of the chapter, the history pertaining 
 to them and their successors. Seleucus 
 Nicator reigned from B. C. 312 to B. C. 
 280 or thirty-two years. In his time 
 lived Berosus and Megasthenes, referred 
 to in the Introduction to ch. iv. 
 
 6. And in the end nf years. In the fu 
 ture periods of the history of these two 
 kingdoms. The event here referred to 
 did not occur during the lives of these 
 two kings Seleucus Nicator and Ptolemy 
 Soter, but in the reign of their successors, 
 Ptolemy Philadelphus and Antiochus 
 Theos or Theus. The phrase the end 
 of years would well denote such a future 
 period. The Vulgate renders it, after 
 
 many 
 
 years have elapsed. The meaning is, 
 after a certain course or lapse of years. 
 The word end in Daniel pf? often 
 seems to refer to a time when a predicted 
 event would be fulfilled, whether near or 
 remote; whether it would be really the 
 end or termination of an empire or of the 
 world, or whether it would be succeeded 
 by other events. It would be the end 
 of that matter of the thing predicted ; 
 and in this sense the word seems to be 
 employed here. Comp. ch. viii. 17, ver. 
 13, of this chapter (margin), and ch. xii. 
 13. ^[ They shall join themselves together. 
 Marg., associate. The meaning is, that 
 there would be an alliance formed, or an 
 attempt made to unite the two kingdoms 
 more closely by a marriage between dif 
 ferent persons of the royal families. The 
 word they refers to the two sovereigns of 
 Egypt and Syria the South and the 
 f For the king s daughter of the 
 e north 
 
 stretched from the Hellespont to the In- 
 
 to mal e 
 
 - 
 ff r <*et. Marg., rights. 
 
 - 
 
 dus. See Notes on ch. viii. 8. Comp. I The HebrtW word properly means recti. 
 Arrian Exp. Alex. vii. 22, Appian, p. 618, i tudes or rights (in the plural 
 
 and Lengerke, in loc. The proper trans 
 lation of this passage probably would be, 
 And the king of the South shall be 
 mighty. But from among his princes 
 
 but here it seems to be used in the sense 
 of peace, or an alliance. The act of mak 
 ing peace was regarded as an act of jus 
 tice, or doing right, and hence the word 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 437 
 
 shall not retain the power of the 
 arm ; neither shall he stand, nor his 
 arm : but she shall be given up, and 
 
 came to be used in the sense of making 
 an alliance or compact. This idea we 
 should now express by saying that the 
 design was to make things right or 
 straight as if they were wrong and 
 crooked before, giving occasion to dis 
 cord, and misunderstanding, and wars. 
 The intention now was to establish peace 
 on a permanent basis. The compact here 
 referred to was one formed between Bere 
 nice, the daughter of Ptolemy Philndel- 
 phus, king of Egypt, and Antiochus 
 Theos, king of Syria. Ptolemy, in order 
 to bring a war in which ho was engaged 
 to an end, and to restore peace, gave his 
 daughter in marriage to Antiochus, in 
 hopes of establishing a permanent peace 
 and alliance between the two kingdoms. 
 One of the conditions of this alliance 
 was, that Antiochus should divorce his 
 former wife, Laodicea, and that the chil 
 dren of that former wife should be ex 
 cluded from the succession to the throne. 
 In this way Ptolemy hoped that the 
 kingdom of Syria might become ulti 
 mately attached to that of Egypt, if there 
 should be children by the marriage of 
 Berenice with Antiochus. Ptolemy, how 
 ever, died two years after this marriage 
 was consummated, and Antiochus re 
 stored again his former wife Laodicea, 
 and put away Berenice, but was himself 
 murdered by Laodicea, who feared the 
 fickleness of her husband. The officers 
 of the court of Syria then planned the 
 death of Berenice and her children, but 
 she fled with them to Daphne, and was 
 there put to death, with her children. 
 Appian, c. Ixv. Lengerke, in loc. She 
 was put to death by poison. See Gill, 
 in loc. 1 But she shall not retain the 
 power of the arm. The word retain here 
 is the same as in ch. x. 8, " I retained no 
 strength." The word arm, is a word of 
 frequent use in the Old Testament, both 
 in the singular and plural, to denote 
 strength, power, whether of an individual 
 or an army. So Job xxii. 8, A man of 
 arm, that is, strength; Gen. xlix. 34, 
 "The arms [power] of his hands were 
 made strong by the God of Jacob." 
 Comp. Isa. li. 9, and Ixii. 8. It is fre 
 quently used in this chapter in the sense 
 37* 
 
 they that brought her, and a he that 
 begat her, and he that strengthened 
 her in these times. 
 
 a or, whom she brought forth. 
 
 of strength, or power. See vs. 15, 22, 31. 
 | This alliance was formed with the hope 
 that the succession might be in her. She 
 | was, however, as stated above, with her 
 | children, put to death. While queen of 
 j Syria, she, of course, had power, and had 
 | the prospect of succeeding to the supreme 
 authority. ^[ Neither shall he stand. 
 The king of the south; to wit, Egypt. 
 That is, he would not prosper in his am 
 bitious purpose of bringing Syria, by this 
 marriage alliance, under his control. 
 ^[ Nor his arm. What he regarded as his 
 strength, and in which he placed reli 
 ance, as one does on his arm in accom 
 plishing any design. The wordorn* here 
 is used in the sense of help, or alliance ; 
 that is, that on which he depended for 
 the stability of his empire, \ But she 
 shall be given up. That is, she shall be 
 given up to death, to wit, by the command 
 of Laodicea. ^[ And thei/ that bronyht 
 her. That is, those who conducted her 
 to Daphne; or those who came with her 
 j into Syria, and who were her attendants 
 I and friends. Of course they would be 
 surrendered or delivered up when she 
 was put to death. ^ And he that begat 
 her. Marg., or, ichom she brought forth. 
 The margin expresses the sense more 
 correctly. The Latin Vulgate is, adoles- 
 centes ejus. The Greek, f) navi^. So tho 
 Syriac. The Hebrew rr\y->n) will ad 
 mit of this construction. The article in 
 the word has the force of a relative, and 
 is connected with the suffix, giving it a 
 relative signification. See E \vald, as 
 quoted by Lengerke, in loc. According 
 to the present pointing, indeed, the literal 
 meaning would be, and he who begat 
 her; but this pointing is not authorita 
 tive. Dathe, Bertholdt, Dereser, De 
 Wette, and Rosenmuller suppose that 
 the reading should be rn^ny Then the 
 sense would be her child/ or her off 
 spring. Lengerke and Ewald, however, 
 supposes that this idea is implied in the 
 present reading of the text, and that m 
 change is necessary. The obvious mean 
 ing is, that she and her child, or her off 
 spring would be thus surrendered. Tho 
 matter of fact was, that her little son was 
 
438 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534 
 
 7 But out of a branch of her roots j deal against them, and shall pre* 
 shall one stand up in his a estate, I vail: 
 
 which shall come with an army, 
 and shall enter into the fortress of 
 the king of the north, and shall 
 
 place, or, office ver. 20. 
 
 slain with her. See Prideaux, Connex. 
 III. 120. \ And Tie that strengthened her 
 in these times. It is not known who is 
 here referred to. Doubtless, on such an 
 occasion, she would have some one who 
 would be a confidential counsellor or ad 
 viser, and, whoever that was, he would 
 be likely to be cut off with her. 
 
 7. But out of a branch of her roots. 
 Comp. Notes on Isa. xi. 1. The mean 
 ing is, that as a branch or shoot springs 
 up from a tree that is decayed and fallen, 
 so there would spring up some one of her 
 family, who would come to avenge her. 
 That is, a person is indicated who would 
 be of a common stock with her; or, in 
 other words, if taken strictly, a brother. 
 The phrase branch of her roots, is 
 somewhat peculiar. The words her 
 roots must refer to her family; that 
 from which she sprung. We speak thus 
 of the root or stem of a family or house : 
 and the meaning here is not that one of 
 her descendants, or one that should spring 
 from her would thus come, but a branch 
 of the same family; a branch springing 
 from the same root or stem. The fact in 
 the case a fact to which there is un 
 doubted reference here is, that her re 
 venge was undertaken by Ptolemy Eu- 
 ergetes, her brother. As soon as he 
 heard of the calamities that had come upon 
 her, ho hastened with a great force out 
 of Egypt to defend and rescue her. But 
 it was in vain. She and her son were 
 cut off before he could arrive for her 
 help, but, in connection with an army 
 which had come from Asia Minor for the 
 same purpose, he undertook to avenge 
 her death. He made himself master not 
 only of Syria and Cilicia, but passed over 
 the Euphrates, and brought all under 
 subjection to him as far as the river Ti 
 gris. Having done this, he marched 
 back to Egypt, taking with him vast 
 treasures. See Prideaux, Con. III. 120, 
 121. ^ Shall one stand up. Shall one 
 arise. Notes, ver. 2. That is, there 
 shall be one who shall appear for that 
 purpose. ^ In Ms estate. Marg., place, 
 
 And shall also carry captives 
 into Egypt their gods, with their 
 princes, and with b their precious 
 
 b vesiels of their desire. 
 
 or office. The word }3 means, prop 
 erly, stand, station, place; then base, 
 pedestal. Comp. vs. 20, 21, 38. See also 
 Gen. xl. 13: "In those days Pharaoh 
 shall restore thee again to thy place." 
 And again, Gen. xli. 13, "to my office." 
 Here it means, in his place or stead. 
 That is, he would take the place which 
 his father would naturally occupy the 
 place of protector, or defender, or avenger. 
 Ptolemy Philadelphus her father, in fact, 
 died before she was put to death, and his 
 death was the cause of the calamities that 
 came upon her, for as long as he lived 
 his power would be dreaded. But when 
 he was dead, Ptolemy Euergetes stood up 
 in his place as her defender and avenger. 
 ^[ Which shall come with an army. As 
 Ptolemy Euergetes did. See above. He 
 came out of Eg} 7 pt, as soon as he heard 
 of these calamities, to defend her. f And 
 shall enter into the fortress of the king of 
 the north. Her strongholds. In fact, he 
 overran Syria and Cilicia, and extended 
 his ravages to the Euphrates and the Ti- 
 gris. Polybius (Hist. 1. 5), says that he 
 j entered into the fortified cities of Syria, 
 I and took them. In the passage before 
 ! us, the singular; fortress is put for the 
 plural, ^f And shall deal against them. 
 Shall act against them. Literally, shall 
 do against them. ^[ And shall prevail. 
 Shall overcome, or subdue them. As 
 seen above, he took possession of no small 
 part of the kingdom of Syria. He was 
 recalled home by a sedition in Egypt, and 
 had it not been for this, Justin says, ho 
 would have made himself master of the 
 whole kingdom of Seleucus. 
 
 8. And shall also carry captive into Egypt 
 their gods, &c. That is, their idols. Je 
 rome (in loc.) says that Ptolemy took 
 with him on his return, forty thousand 
 talents of silver, avast number of precious 
 vessels of gold, and images to the num 
 ber of two thousand four hundred, among 
 which were many of the Egyptian idols, 
 which Cambyses, on his conquering 
 Egypt, had carried into Persia. These 
 Ptolemy restored to the temple to which 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 vessels of silver and of gold ; and he 
 shall continue more years than the 
 king of the north. 
 
 9 So the king of the south shall 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 439 
 
 10 But his sons shall be stirred 
 up, and shall assemble a multitude 
 of great forces: and one shall cer 
 tainly come, and b overflow, and pass 
 
 come into his- kingdom, and shall re- j through : then shall he c return, and 
 turn into his own land. j be stirred up, even to his d fortress. 
 
 a or, war. bis. 8. 8; c. 9.26. c or, be stirred up again. dver.7. 
 
 they belonged, and by this much endeared 
 himself to his people. It was on account | 
 of the service which he thus rendered to 
 his country, that he was called Euergetes, ; 
 that is, the Benefactor. Prideaux III. 
 
 121. In 1631 an inscription on an an 
 cient marble in honor of this action of 
 Euergetes, was published by Allatius : 
 Sacris qnce ab Egypto Persce abstulerunt 
 receptis, etc cam reliqua congestii zara in 
 Egyptum relatis. Wintle. ^ And he 
 shall continue more years than the king of 
 the north. Ptolemy Euergetes survived 
 Seleucus about four years. Prideaux III. 
 
 122. He reigned twenty-five years. 
 
 9. So the king of the south shall come 
 into his kingdom. That is, into the king 
 dom of the north, or the kingdom of 
 Syria. This verse seems to be a summary 
 of what had been said about his invading 
 Syria. He would come on account of the 
 wrongs done to his sister into the king 
 dom of the north, and would then return 
 again to his own land. 
 
 10. But his sons shall be stirred up. 
 Marg., or war. The Hebrew word 
 nan? from rn J, means to be rough ; then 
 in Piel, to excite, stir up; and then, in 
 Hithpa, to excite oneself, to be stirred 
 up to anger, to make war upon, <fcc. 
 Here it means, according to Gesenius 
 (Lex.), that they would be excited, or 
 angry. The reference here, according to 
 Lengerke, Maurer, Gill, and others is to 
 the son of the king of the north, Seleu 
 cus Callinichus. He was killed, according ! 
 to Justin (Lib. xxvii. C. 3), by a fall from | 
 his horse. The war with Egypt was con- j 
 tinned by his two sons, Seleucus Cerau- ] 
 nus and Antiochus the Great, until the ] 
 death of the former, when it was prose 
 cuted by Antiochus alone. See Prideaux 
 III. 136. Seleucus Ceraunus succeeded 
 his father assuming the name of Cerau 
 nus, or the Thunderer, but, dying soon, 
 he left the crown to his brother, Antiochus 
 the Great, then only fifteen years of age, 
 by whom the war with Egypt was suc 
 cessfully prosecuted, f And shall assem 
 
 ble a multitude of great forces. Against 
 Egypt. In such a war they would natu 
 rally summon to their aid all the forces 
 which they could command. ^ And one 
 shall certainly come. There is a change 
 here in the Hebrew from the plural to the 
 singular number, as is indicated in our 
 translation by the insertion of the word 
 one. The fact was that the war was pros 
 ecuted by Antiochus the Great alone. 
 Seleucus died in the third year of his 
 reign in Phrygia, being slain, according 
 to one report (Jerome), through the treach 
 ery of Nicator and Apaturius, or, accord 
 ing to another, was poisoned. See Pri 
 deaux, III. 137. Antiochus succeeded to 
 the empire and prosecuted the war. This 
 was done for the purpose of recovering 
 Syria from the dominion of Ptolemy of 
 Egypt, and was conducted with various 
 degrees of success until the whole was 
 brought under the control of Antiochus. 
 See Prideaux, Con. III. 138. seq. ^f And 
 overflow. Like a torrent. ^ And pass 
 th rough. Through the land not the land 
 of Egypt, but every part of Syria. ^[ Then- 
 shall he return. Marg., be stirred up 
 again. The margin is the more correct 
 rendering the Hebrew word being the 
 same as that which is used in the first 
 part of the verse. The idea would seem 
 to be that he would be aroused or stirred 
 up after a defeat, and would on the second 
 expedition enter into the strongholds or 
 fortresses of the land. This was literally 
 true. Ptolemy marched into Syria with 
 an army of seventy thousand foot, five 
 thousand horse, and seventy-three ele 
 phants, and was met by Antiochus with 
 an army of sixty-two thousand foot, six 
 thousand horse, and one hundred and two 
 elephants. In a great battle, Antiochus 
 was defeated, and returned to Antioch 
 (Prideaux, Con. III. 151 153), but tho 
 following year he again rallied his forces, 
 and invaded Syria, took Gaza and the 
 other strongholds, and subdued the 
 whole country of Syria, including Pales 
 tine, to himself. Prideaux, Con. III. 176, 
 177. ^ Even to his fortress. The eingu- 
 
440 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534. 
 
 11 And the king of the south shall | 12 And when he hath taken away 
 be moved with choler, and shall ] the multitude, his heart shall be 
 come forth and fight with him, even, lifted up; and he shall cast down 
 
 with the king of the north: and he 
 shall set forth a great multitude ; 
 but a the multitude shall be given 
 into his hand. 
 
 lar for the plural ; perhaps using the word 
 fortress by way of eminence, as de 
 noting his strongest fortress, and therefore 
 including all the others. 
 
 11. And the king of the south shall le 
 moved with choler. With anger. That is, 
 that his provinces were invaded, and his 
 strongholds taken referring particularly 
 
 many ten thousands : but he shall 
 not be strengthened by it. 
 
 a Ps. 33. 16; EC. 9.11, 12. 
 
 of Antiochus, we are told that the cilies 
 of Coelesyria and Palestine vied with each 
 other in submitting themselves to Ptol 
 emy. They had been long under the gov 
 ernment of Egypt, and preferred that to 
 the government of Antioch. They had 
 submitted to Antiochus only by force, and 
 that force now being removed, they re- 
 
 ***** 
 
 the authonty of their 
 Had Ptolemy possessed 
 
 to the invasion of Syria and Palestine as 6 nw 
 
 mentioned in the previous verse, and the master s. . _ 
 
 attempt to wrest them out of the hands ?r cnpacity for government, it 
 of the king of Egypt, Nothing would be would have bee " 
 more natural than that this should occur. 
 ^[ And shall come forth and fight with him, 
 even with the king of the north. There ; T 
 
 were frequent and almost constant wars ! Len S e ^ e however renders this, And the 
 between these two kingdoms. Yet the I mu ! tltude shall lift themselves up, sup- 
 reference here is to Ptolemy Philopater, \ P 08in g lfc f. re ^ r P. the fact that the peo- 
 who succeeded Ptolemy Euergetes in j P Ie f a f , wel1 as the kl "S would be cited. 
 Egypt, and who was exasperated at the | f, ut . l . he more natui a l mterpretat.on is 
 conduct of Antiochus in invading Syria thafc ln our common version, and the 
 
 to h:ive retained 
 "^^"i * 7 er , ? countries - 
 
 \ 2 /. A , nd "*" 7 Jl " th ta \ en f ". ? / th 
 W**- ^ hen he has subdued them. 
 
 and Palestine. He assembled an army, 
 
 and marched with it to Raphia, where he 
 
 met Antiochus, and a battle was fought. 
 
 And he shall set forth a great multitude. 
 
 same sense of the word (N.iri) occurs in 
 Amos iv. 2. The reference is to the effect 
 which would be produced on him after 
 his defeat of Antiochus. ^ His heart 
 
 This army of Ptolemy, according to Po- shall be lifted up. That is, he will bo 
 libius, ch. 86, was led through Arabia | proud and self-confident. He was a man 
 Petrzea, and consisted of seventy thou- naturally indolent and effeminate a most 
 
 sand infantry, and five thousand cavalry, 
 and seventy-three elephants. The army 
 of Antiochus consisted of sixty-two thou 
 sand foot, six thousand horse, and a hun 
 dred and two elephants. Prideaux, Con. 
 III. 151. ^But the multitude shall be 
 given into his hand. That is, the multi 
 tude of the army of Antiochus. In the 
 battle that was fought at Raphia, Ptolemy 
 
 profligate and vicious prince. Prideaux, 
 Con. III. 146. The effect of such a vic 
 tory would be to lift him up with pride. 
 ^[ And he shall cast down many ten thou 
 sands. Or, rather, the meaning is, he 
 has cast down many myriads. The ob 
 ject seems to be to give a reason why his 
 heart was lifted up. The fact that ho 
 had been thus successful, is the reason 
 
 gained the victory. Ten thousand of the which is assigned, and this effect of 
 army of Antiochus were slain, four thou- 1 great victory has not been uncommon in 
 
 Band taken prisoners, and with the re 
 mainder of his forces Antiochus retreated 
 toAntiocb. Prideaux, III. 152, 153. Per- 
 
 the world. 
 <ied by it. 
 
 But he shall net be strength- 
 He was wholly given up to 
 
 luxury, sloth, and voluptuousness, and 
 
 haps also the expression the multitudes : returned immediately after his victory 
 shall be given intohis hand, may refer not i into Egypt, and surrendered himself up 
 only to the army, and his victory over it, to the enjoyment of his pleasures. The 
 
 consequence was, that he, by his conduct, 
 
 but to the fact that the inhabitants of 
 Coelesyria and Palestine would hasten to 
 
 excited some of his people to rebellion, 
 
 eubmit themselves to him. After this and greatly weakened himself in the affec- 
 f reat batU at Raphia, and the retreat i tions and confidence of the rest. After 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 441 
 
 13 For the king of the north shall 
 return, and shall set forth a multi 
 tude greater than the former, and 
 shall certainly come a after certain 
 years with a great army and with 
 much riches. 
 
 the victory, he concluded a truce with 
 Antiochus ; and the result was, that his 
 people, who expected much more from 
 
 14 And in those times there shall 
 many stand up against the king of 
 the south : also the & robbers of thy 
 people shall exalt themselves to es- 
 
 a at the aid of times, even years ; c. 4. 16 ; 12. 7. 
 
 b children of robbers. 
 
 mentto invade the dominions of Ptolemy 
 Epiphanes, and to divide them between 
 themselves. At the same time a treasona- 
 
 hiin, and supposed that he would have ! hie plot was laid against the life of Ptol- 
 prosecuted the war, became dissatisfied j emv by Scopas the JEtolian (Polyb. xvii.), 
 with his conduct, and broke out into re- 1 who had under his command the army of 
 bellion. As a matter of fact, he was less the ^Etolians, and who designed to take 
 strong in the confidence and affections of \ advantage of the youth of the king, and 
 his people, and would have been less able I seize upon the throne. This project was 
 towage a war, after his triumph over I defeated by the vigilance of Aristomenes, 
 Antiochus than he was before. See Pri- the prime minister. Prideaux, III. 181. 
 deaux, Con. III. 155, seq. \ See also the account of the conspiracy of 
 
 13. For the king of the north shall re- \ Agathocles, and his sister Agathoclea, 
 turn. That is, he shall come again into ; against Ptolemy, when an infant, in Pri- 
 the regions of Coelesyria and Palestine, to j deaux, III. 168, seq. These facts fully ac- 
 recover them if possible from the power j cord with what is said in thepassage before 
 of the Egyptian king. f And shall set forth j us - If Also the robbers of thy people shall 
 a multitude greater than the former. Than j exalt themselves. The angel here turns to 
 he had in the former war when he was I Daniel, and states what would be done in 
 defeated. The fact was, that Antiochus, ! these circumstances by his own people- 
 in this expedition, brought with him thej the Jews. It is to bo remembered that, 
 forces with which he had successfully in- in these times, they were alternately un- 
 vaded the East, and the army had been der the dominion of the Egyptian and the 
 raised for that purpose, and was much ! Syrian monarchs of Ptolemy or of An- 
 larger than that with which he had for- j tiochus. The principal seat of the wars 
 merly attacked Ptolemy. See Prideaux, j between Syria and Egypt was Palestine 
 
 III. 163 165. ^[ And shall certainly come 
 after certain years with a great army. 
 
 the border land between them and Judea, 
 therefore, often changed masters. Ptol- 
 
 Thia occurred B. C. 203, fourteen years em 7 Philopater had subdued Coelesyria 
 after the former war. Prideaux, III. 19. J and Palestine, and Ptolemy Epiphanes 
 
 his 
 
 ^f With much riches. Obtained in 
 conquests in Parthia and other portions 
 of the East. See Prideaux, ut supra. 
 The history of Antiochus corresponds pre 
 cisely with the statement here. 
 
 14. And in these times there shall many 
 stand up against the king of the south. 
 Against the king of Egypt. That is, not 
 only Antiochus the Great, who was al- 
 
 came into possession of them when he 
 ascended the throne. But the angel now 
 says that a portion of his people would 
 take occasion, from the weakness of the 
 youthful monarch of Egypt, and the con 
 spiracies in his own kingdom, and the for 
 eign combinations against him, to attempt 
 to throw off his authority, and to become 
 
 independent. That part of the people 
 
 ways opposed to him, and who was con- I who would attempt to do this is desig- 
 stantly waging war with him, but also nated in the common translation as, tho 
 othcrs with whom he would be particu- \ robbers of thy people. This, however, is 
 larly involved, or who would be opposed j scar cely a correct version, and does not 
 to him. The reference is especially to Pperly indicate the persons that would 
 Philip, king of Macedon, and to Agatho- be engaged in the plot. The marginal 
 cles, who excited a rebellion against him readin g 1S > children of robbers. The Latin 
 in Egypt. See Jerome on Dan. xi ; Po- Vulgate, filii quoque pra;varicatorum 
 lybius, xv. 20; Lengerke, in loc., and populi tui. The Greek renders it, 
 Prideaux, III. 1 98. Antiochus and l>i vtot row AOJ^WC ruu \adv oov the sons of 
 Philip of Macedon entered into an agree- the pests of thy people. Lengerke ron. 
 
442 
 
 tablish the vision 
 a fall. 
 
 Be. 17.17. 
 
 DANIEL. [B.C. 534 
 
 but they shall 
 
 ders it, the most powerful people of thy 
 nation die ycwaltsnmsten Leute deines 
 Volkes. The Hebrew word pis means 
 properly, rending, ravenous as of wild 
 beasts, Isa. xxxv. 9 ; and then violent, ra- 
 yxtcious ; an oppressor, robber. Gesenius, 
 Lex. The reference here seems to be to 
 the mighty ones of the nation ; the chiefs. 
 or rulers but a name is given them that 
 would properly denote their character for 
 oppression and rapacity. It would seem 
 what is indeed probable from the cir 
 cumstances of the case that the nation 
 was not only subject to this foreign au 
 thority, but that those who were placed 
 over it, under that foreign authority, and 
 who were probably mainly of their own 
 people, were also themselves tyrannical 
 
 15 So the king of the north shall 
 come, and cast up amount, and take 
 
 ter had a great influence on the series of 
 events that contributed to the accomplish 
 ment of that prediction. Lengerke sup 
 poses that the vision here refers to that 
 spoken of in ch. ix. 24. IT But they shall 
 fall. They shall not succeed in the ob 
 ject which they have in view. Their con 
 duct in the affair will indeed promote the 
 fulfilment of the vision, but it will not 
 secure the ends which they have in view 
 perhaps their own aggrandizement; or the 
 favour of Antiochus towards themselves ; 
 or the permanent separation of the nation 
 from the Egyptian rule, or the hope that 
 their country might become independent 
 altogether. As a matter of fact, Antio 
 chus subsequently, on his return from 
 Egypt (B. C. 198), took Jerusalem, and 
 
 and oppressive in their character. These slew man ^ of the P art ^ of Ft lemy, who 
 subordinate rulers, however, preferred the I had S lven themselves up to him, though 
 authority of Antiochus to that of Pto- I he snowe(i particular favour to those who 
 
 letuy, and on the occasion of his return 
 from the conquest of Coelesyriaand Soma- 
 ria, they met him, and professed submis 
 sion to him. Josephus, Ant. B. XII. ch. 
 iii. $ 3. " The Jews," says Josephus, 
 : of their own accord, went over to him, 
 
 had adhered to the observance of their 
 own law, and could not be prevailed on 
 by the king of Egypt to apostatize from 
 it. Prideaux, III. 198, Jos. Ant. B. xii. 
 ch. v. 3. 
 
 15. So the king of the north. Antiochua 
 
 and received him into the city [Jerusa- I the Great - 11 $ hal1 come - Sna ll come 
 lem], and gave plentiful provision to his j a f;i\ i t ^ esepro y i 1 nc f ;, This occur red 
 army, and to his elephants, and readily 
 assisted him when he besieged the garri 
 son which was in the citadel of Jerusalem. 
 
 after he had vanquished the army of the 
 Egyptians at Paneas. He then took Si- 
 don and Para, and made himself master 
 
 On this occasion, Josephus says that An- .&* whole country. Prideaux, III. 198. 
 tiochus bestowed man favours on the Thls ba PPened B. C. 198. Scopas, a gen- 
 
 on e , 
 
 Jews j wrote letters to the generals of his !, ral of Ptolem 7> hacl b ^en sent by him into 
 armies commendin their conduct ub- ! Coeles y na and Palestine, with a view of 
 
 commending their conduct; pub 
 lished a decree respecting the piety of 
 the Jewish people, and sent an epistle to 
 Ptolemy, stating what he had done for 
 them, and what he desired should be fur 
 ther done. See these statements and let 
 ters in Josephus, ut supra. ^ To establish 
 the vision. That is, to bring to pass what 
 is seen in the vision, and what had been 
 predicted in regard to the Hebrew people. 
 Their conduct in this matter shall have an 
 important bearing on the fulfilment of 
 
 subjecting those countries again to Egyp 
 tian rule. He was met by Antiochus at 
 Paneas, near the sources of the Jordan, 
 and defeated, and fled with ten thousand 
 men to Sidon, where he fortified himself, 
 but from whence he was expelled by An 
 tiochus. ^[ And cast up a mount. A for 
 tification. That is, he shall so entrench 
 himself that he cannot be dislodged. The 
 reference does not seem to be to any par 
 ticular fortification, but to the general 
 
 the prophecy pertaining to that people I fact that he would so entrench or fortify 
 shall be one of the links in the chain of | himself that he would make his conquests 
 events securing its accomplishment. The ! secure - * And take the most fenced cities. 
 angel does not say that it was a part of | M arg., city of munitions. Heb., city of 
 their design to establish the vision/ but ! fortifications. The singular is used here 
 that that would be the result of what they ; in a collective sense; or perhaps there is 
 4id. No doubt their conduct in this mat- ! allusion particularly to Sidon whore Sco- 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 443 
 
 the a most fenced cities : and the 
 arms of the south shall not with 
 stand, neither bhis chosen people, 
 neither shall there be any strength to 
 withstand. 
 
 16 But he that cometh against 
 
 * city of munitions. b people of his choices. 
 
 pas entrenched himself, making it as 
 strong as possible. 5F And the arms of 
 the south shall not withstand. Shall not 
 be able to resist him, or to dislodge him. 
 The power of the Egyptian forces shall 
 not be sufficient to remove him from his 
 entrenchments. The Hebrew is, shall 
 not stand ; that is, shall not stand against 
 him, or maintain their position in his ad 
 vances. The word arms rrijni is used 
 here in the sense of heroes, warriors, com 
 manders, as in Ezek. xxx. 22, 24, 25. 
 If Neither his chosen people. Marg., peo 
 ple of his choice. Those which he had 
 selected or chosen to carry on the war 
 referring, perhaps, to the fact that he 
 would deem it necessary to employ picked 
 men, or to send the choicest of his forces 
 in order to withstand Antiochus. Such 
 an occurrence is in every way probable. 
 To illustrate this, it is only necessary to 
 say that the Egyptians sent three of their 
 most distinguished generals, with a se 
 lect army, to deliver Sidon Eropus, Me- 
 nelaus, and Damoxenus. Lengerke, in 
 loc. ^f Neither shall there be any strength 
 to withstand. No forces which the Egyp 
 tians can employ. In other words, An 
 tiochus would carry all before him. This 
 is in strict accordance with the history. 
 When Scopas was defeated by Antiochus 
 at Paneas, near the sources of the Jordan, 
 he fled and entrenched himself in Sidon. 
 There he was followed and besieged by 
 Antiochus. The king of Egypt sent the 
 three generals above named, with a choice 
 army, to endeavour to deliver Scopas, but 
 they were unable. Scopas was obliged 
 to surrender, in consequence of famine, 
 and the chosen forces returned to Egypt. 
 16. But he that cometh against him shall 
 do according fo his own will. Th.it is, 
 Antiochus who came against Scopas, 
 the Egyptian general, sent out by Pto 
 lemy. The idea is, that Antiochus would 
 be entirely successful in the countries of 
 Coelesyria and Palestine. As a matter 
 of fact, as stated above, he drove Scopas 
 eut of those regions, and compelled him 
 
 him shall do according to his own 
 will, and none shall stand before 
 him : and he shall stand in the 
 c glorious land, which by his hand 
 shall be consumed. 
 
 c the land of ornament, or, goodly land, 
 vcr. 41, 45. 
 
 to take refuge in Sidon, and then be 
 sieged him, and compelled him to sur 
 render, ^f And none shall stand before 
 ! him. That is, neither the forces that 
 I Scopas had under his command, nor the 
 \ choice and select armies sent out from 
 ; Egypt for his rescue under Eropus, Meue- 
 | laus, and Damoxenus. ^And he shall 
 | stand in the glorious land. Marg., the 
 i land of ornament, or goodly land. The 
 I Hebrew word OS means properly 
 | splendour, beauty, and was given to the 
 I holy land, or Palestine, on account of 
 | its beauty, as being a land of beauty or 
 fertility. Comp. Ezek. xx. 6, 15 ; xxvi. 
 ;12; Jer. iii. 19, and Dan. xi. 45. Tho 
 meaning here is, that he would obtain 
 : possession of the land of Israel, and that 
 | no one would be able to stand against 
 ! him. By the defeat of Scopas, and of the 
 i forces sent to aid him when entrenched 
 I in Sidon, this was accomplished, f Which 
 by his hand shall be consumed. As would 
 be natural when his invading army should 
 pass through it. The angel does not 
 j seem to refer to any wanton destruction 
 of the land, but only to what would ne- 
 | cessarily occur in its invasion, and in 
 j securing provision for the wants of an 
 army. As a matter of fact, Antiochus 
 did many things to conciliate the favour 
 of the Jews, and granted to them many 
 privileges. See Josephus, Ant. B. XII. 
 ch. iii. $ 3. But, according to Josophus, 
 these favours were granted subsequently 
 to the wars with Scopas, and as a com 
 pensation for the injuries which their 
 country had suffered in the wars which 
 had been waged between him and Sco 
 pas within their borders. The following 
 language of Josephus respecting the effect 
 of these wars, will justify and explain 
 what is here said by the angel : " Now 
 it happened that, in the reign of Anti 
 ochus the Great, who ruled over all Asia, 
 the Jews, as well as the inhabitants of 
 Coelesyria, suffered greatlj , and their 
 land was sorely harassed ; for while ho 
 was at war with Ptolemy Philopater, and 
 
444 
 
 DANIEL. [B. C. 534 
 
 17 He shall also set his face * to 
 enter -with the strength of his whole 
 
 with his son who was called Epiphanes, 
 it fell out that these nations were equally 
 sufferers, both when he was beaten, and 
 when he beat the others : so that they 
 Tvero like to a ship in a storm which is 
 tossed by the waves on both sides, and 
 just thus were they in their situation in 
 the middle between Antiochus prosperity 
 and its change to adversity." Ant. B. 
 XII. ch. iii. $3. When Antiochus was 
 successful against Scopas, however, the 
 Jews "went over to him," says Josephus, 
 " of their own accord," and received him 
 into Jerusalem, and as a consequence of 
 the aid which they rendered him, he 
 granted them the favours and privi 
 leges mentioned by Josephus. The 
 immediate consequence of the wars, how 
 ever, was extended desolation, and it is 
 to this to which the passage before us 
 refers. Lengerke, however, supposes 
 that the meaning of the passage is, that 
 the whole land would be subdued under 
 him. The Hebrew word rendered shall 
 be consumed rhz means properly to 
 be completed, finished, closed; then to be 
 consumed, wasted, spent, destroyed : Gen. 
 xxi. 15; 1 Kings xvii. 16; Jer. xvi. 4; 
 Ezek. v. 13. The destruction caused by 
 invading and conflicting armies in a 
 land, would answer to all that is properly 
 implied in the use of the word. 
 
 17. He shall alno set hi face. Anti 
 ochus. That is, he shall resolve or de 
 termine. To set one s face in any direc 
 tion is to determine to go there. The 
 meaning hero is, that Antiochus, flushed 
 with success, and resolved to push his 
 conquests to the utmost, would make use 
 of all the forces at his disposal to over 
 come the Egyptians, and to bring them 
 into subjection to his sway. He had 
 driven Scopas from Coelesyria, and from 
 Sidon, had subjected the land of Palestine 
 to his control, and now nothing seemed 
 to prevent his extending his conquests 
 to the utmost limits of his ambition. 
 The reference here is to a purpose of An 
 tiochus to wage war with Egypt, and to 
 invade it. From that purpose, however, 
 he was turned, as we shall see, by hig 
 wars in Asia Minor, and he endeavoured, 
 as stated in the subsequent part of Mie 
 verse, if not to subdue Egypt and to 
 ring it under his control, at least \o 
 
 kingdom, and b upright ones -with 
 
 a Pr.!9. 21. 
 
 tor, muck uprightness, or, equal conditions. 
 
 neutralize it so that it would not inter 
 fere with his wars with the Romans. If 
 : his attention had not been diverted, how- 
 I ever, by more promising or more brilliant 
 j prospects in another direction, he would 
 ; undoubtedly have made an immediate 
 I descent on Egypt itself. 1[ With, the 
 | strength of his whole kingdom. Suinmon- 
 j ing all the forces of his empire. This 
 would seem to be necessary in invading 
 Egypt, and in the purpose to dethrone 
 j and humble his great rival. The armies 
 I which he had employed had been sufii- 
 J cient to drive Scopas out of Palestine, 
 and to subdue that country, but obviously 
 ! stronger forces would be necessary in 
 j carrying the war into Egypt, and at- 
 : tempting a foreign conquest, f And up 
 right ones with him. Marg., or, much 
 uprightness, or, equal conditions. The 
 I Hebrew word here used nrj means 
 properly straight, right; then that which 
 is straight or upright applied to per 
 sons, denoting their righteousness or in 
 tegrity, Job i. 1, 8 ; Ps. xi. 7. By way 
 of eminence it is applied to the Jewish 
 people, as being a righteous or upright 
 people the people of God and is lan- 
 ! guage which a Hebrew would naturally 
 : apply to his own nation. In this sense 
 I it is undoubtedly used here, to denote not 
 I the pious portion, but the nation as such ; 
 j and the meaning is, that, in addition to 
 i those whom he could muster from his 
 I own kingdom, Antiochus would expect 
 to be accompanied with large numbers 
 of the Hebrews the upright people 
 in his invasion of Egypt. This he might 
 1 anticipate from two causes, (a) the lact 
 that they had already rendered him so 
 much aid, and showed themselves so 
 friendly, as stated by Josephus in tho 
 passage referred to above; and (I) from 
 the benefit which ho had granted to them, 
 which furnished a reasonable presump 
 tion that they would withhold their aid 
 in his further attempts to subdue Egypt. 
 ! The Jews might hope at least that if 
 | Egypt were subjected to the Syrian 
 | sceptre, their own country lying between 
 < the two, would be at peace, and that they 
 would no more be harassed by its being 
 made the seat of wars the battle-field 
 of two great contending powers. It was 
 not without reason, therefore, that Ant!- 
 
B.C. 534..] CHAPTER XI. 445 
 
 him ; thus shall he do: and he shall ! corrupting her: but she shall not 
 give him the daughter of women, ! stand on his side, neither be for him, 
 
 * to corrupt 
 
 ochus anticipated that in his invasion of son of Ptolemy Philopater, then thirteen 
 Egypt, he would be accompanied and as- years of age. The valuable consideration 
 sisted by not a few of the Hebrew peo- in the view of Ptolemy in this marriage, 
 pie. As this is the natural and obvious | was, that, as a dowry, Coelesyria, Sama- 
 meaning of the passage, and accords en- ria, Judea, and Phoenicia, were given to 
 tirely with the sense of the Hebrew word, ; her. Josephus, Ant. B. XII. ch. 4. 1. 
 it is unnecessary to attempt to prove that This agreement or contract of marriage 
 the marginal rending is not correct, was entered into immediately after the 
 f Thus shall he do. That is, in the man- defeat of Scopas, B. C. 197. The contract 
 ner which is immediately specified. He ! was, that the marriage should take place 
 phall adopt the policy there stated by j as soon as the parties were of suitable 
 giving his daughter in marriage with an j age, and that Coelesyria and Palestine 
 Egyptian prince to accomplish the ends j should be given as a dowry. The mar- 
 which he has in view. The reference | riago took place B. C. 193, when Antio- 
 here is to another stroke of policy, made ; chus was making preparation for his wars 
 necessary by his new wars with the Ro- j with the Romans. Jahn, Heb. Common- 
 mans, and by the diversion of his forces, j wealth, ch. ix. $ 89, p. 246. In this way, 
 
 in consequence, in a new direction. The 
 natural step, after the defeat of the Egyp- 
 
 the neutrality of the king of Egypt was 
 secured, while Antiochus prosecuted his 
 
 tian armies in Palestine, would have been I work with the Romans. The appellation 
 to carry his conquests at once into Egypt, i here bestowed on Cleopatra daughter 
 and this he appears to have contemplated. [ of women seems to have been given to 
 But, in the meantime, he became engaged ; her by way of eminence, as an heiress to 
 in wars in another quarter with the Ro- ! the crown, or a princess, or as the prin- 
 mans, and as Ptolemy in such circum- j cipal one among the women of the land, 
 stances would be likely to unite with the j There can be no doubt of its reference to 
 Romans against Antiochus, in order to I her. ^[ Corrupting her. Marg., as in He- 
 bind the Egyptians to himself, and to brew, to corrupt. There has been sorno 
 
 neutralize them in these wars, this alli 
 ance was proposed and formed by which 
 he connected his own family with the 
 
 doubt, however, in regard to the word her, 
 in this place, whether it refers to Cleopatra 
 or to the kingdom of Egypt. Rosenmiil- 
 
 royal family in Egypt by marriage. ^ And ; ler, Prideaux, J. D. Michaelis, Bertholdt, 
 he shall give him. Give to Ptolemy. An- j Dereser, and others refer it to Cleopatra, 
 tiochus would seek to form a matrimonial j and suppose that it means that Antio- 
 alliance that would, for the time at least, ! chus had instilled into her mind evilprin- 
 secure the neutrality or the friendship of j ciples in order that she might betray her 
 the Egyptians. <[ The daughter of wo- \ husband, and that thus, by the aid of her 
 men. The reference here is undoubtedly j arts, he might obtain possession of Egypt, 
 to his own daughter, Cleopatra. The! On the other hand, Lengerke, Maurer, 
 historical facts in the case, as stated by j De Wette, Hiivernick, Elliott (Apocalypse 
 Lengerke (in loc.), are these : After An- j iv. 130), and others, suppose that the ref- 
 tiochus had subdued Coelesyria and i erence is to Egypt, and that the meaning 
 Palestine, he became involved in wars | is that Antiochus was disposed to enter 
 with the Romans in Asia Minor, in or- j into this alliance with a view of influenc- 
 ler to extend the kingdom of Syria to I ing the Egyptian government not to unite 
 the limits which it had in the time of Se- ! with the Romans and oppose him; that 
 leucus Nicator. In order to carry on his is, that it was on his part an artful device 
 designs in that quarter, however, it be- j to turn away the Egyptian government 
 eaine necessary to secure the neutrality j from its true interest, and to accomplish 
 or the co-operation of Egypt, for Ptolemy i his own purposes. The latter agrees best 
 
 would naturally, in such circumstances, 
 
 with the connection, though the Hebrew 
 
 favour the Romans in their wars with will admit of either construction. As a 
 Antiochus. Antiochus, therefore, ncgo- 1 matter of fact loth these objects seem to 
 tiated a marriage between his daughter j have been aimed at for it was equally 
 Cleopatra, and Ptolemy Epiphanes, the | true that in this way he sought to turn 
 
445 DANIEL. |B. C. 534 
 
 18 After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many : 
 
 away the Egyptian government and king 
 dom from its true interests, and that in 
 making use of his daughter to carry out 
 this project it was expected that she would 
 employ artifice to influence her future 
 husband. This arrangement was the 
 more necessary, as, in consequence of the 
 fame which the Romans had acquired in 
 overcoming Hannibal, the Egyptians had 
 applied to them for protection and aid in 
 their wars with Antiochus, and offered 
 them, as a consideration, the guardianship 
 of young Ptolemy. This offer the Ro 
 mans accepted with joy, and sent M. 
 jEmilius Lepidus to Alexandria as guar 
 dian of the young king of Egypt. Po- 
 lybius xv. 20, Appian, Syriac. i. 1, Livy 
 xxxi. 14, xxxiii. 19, Justin xxx. 2, 3, 
 xxxi. 1. The whole was on the part of 
 Antiochus, a stroke of policy, and it could 
 not be accomplished without that which 
 has been found necessary in political de 
 vises the employment of bribery or cor 
 ruption. It accords well with the charac 
 ter of Antiochus to suppose that he would 
 not hesitate to instil into the mind of his 
 daughter all his own views of policy, ^f But 
 she shall not stand on his side, neither be 
 for him. That is, she would become at 
 tached to her husband, and would favour 
 his interests rather than the crafty de 
 signs of her father. On this passage, Je 
 rome remarks: "Antiochus desirous of 
 possessing Syria, Cilicia, and Lycia., and 
 the other provinces which belonged to 
 Ptolemy, but to extend also his own scep 
 tre over Egypt itself, betrothed his own 
 daughter Cleopatra to Ptolemy, and pro 
 mised to give as a dowry Coelesyria and 
 Judea. But he could not obtain posses 
 sion of Egypt in this way, because Ptol 
 emy Epiphanes, perceiving his design, 
 acted with caution, and because Cleopa 
 tra favoured the purposes of her husband 
 rather than those of her father." So 
 Jahn, Heb. Commonwealth, p. 246, says: 
 "He indulged the hope that when his 
 daughter became queen of Egypt, she 
 would bring the kingdom under his influ 
 ence; but she proved more faithful to her 
 husband than to her father." 
 
 1 8. After this shall he turn his face unto 
 the inlev. The islands of the Mediterra 
 nean, particularly those in the neighbour 
 hood of and constituting a part of Greece. 
 Ibis he did in his wars with the Ko- 
 
 mans, for the Roman power then compre 
 hended that part of the world, and it was 
 the design of Antiochus, as already re 
 marked, to extend the limits of his em 
 pire as far as it was at the time of Seleu- 
 cus Nicator. This occurred after the de 
 feat of Scopas, for, having given his 
 daughter in marriage to Ptolemy, he sup 
 posed that he had guarded himself from 
 any interference in his wars with the 
 Romans from the Egyptians, and sent 
 two of his sons with an army by land to 
 Sardis, and he himself with a great fleet 
 sailed at the same time into the ^Egcan 
 sea, and took many of the islands in that 
 sea. The war which was waged between 
 Antiochus and the Romans lasted for 
 three years, and ended in the defeat 
 of Antiochus, and in the subjugation 
 of the Syrian kingdom to the Roman 
 power, though, when it became a Roman 
 province, it continued to be governed by 
 its own kings. In this war, Hannibal, of 
 the Carthagenians, was desirous that An 
 tiochus should unite with him in carrying 
 his arms into Italy, with the hope that 
 together they would be able to overcome 
 the Romans, but Antiochus preferred to 
 confine his operations to Asia Minor, and 
 the maritime parts of Greece, and the 
 consequence of this, and of the luxury 
 and indolence into which he sank, was his 
 ultimate overthrow. Comp. Jahn s Ileb. 
 Commonwealth, pp. 246 249. ^ And 
 shall, take many. Many of those islands; 
 many portions of the maritime country 
 of Asia Minor and Greece. As a matter 
 of fact, during this war which he waged, 
 he became possessed of Ephesus, JStolia, 
 the island of Euboea ; when in the year 
 191 B. C., he married Eubia, a young 
 lady of great beauty, and gave himself 
 up for a long time to festivity and amuse 
 ments and then entrenched himself 
 strongly at the pass of Thermopylae. Af 
 terwards, when driven from that strong 
 hold, he sailed to the Thracian Cherso- 
 nesus, and fortified Sestus, Abydos, and 
 other places, and, in fact, during these 
 military expeditions, obtained the mas 
 tery of no inconsiderable part of the 
 maritime portions of Greece. The pro 
 phecy was strictly fulfilled, that he should 
 take many of those places, ^f But a 
 prince for his own behalf. A Roman 
 prince, or a leader of the Roman armies. 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 447 
 
 but a prince for his own behalf 
 shall cause the b reproach offered by 
 
 him. 
 
 him to cease; without his own re 
 proach he shall cause it to turn upon 
 him. 
 
 * his reproach. 
 
 The reference is to Lucius Cornelius 
 Scipio, called Scipio Asiaticus, in contra- 
 
 discomfiture any imputation of want of 
 skill or valour. That is, he would so con- 
 
 called Africanus, from his conquest over j reputation. This was in all respects true 
 Hannibal and the Carthagenians. The j of Seipio. ^[ He shall cause it to turn 
 Scipio here referred to received the name | upon him. The reproach or shame which 
 Aiiaticus, on account of his victories in he seemed to cast upon the Romans would 
 
 the East, and particularly in this war 
 with Antiochus. He was a brother of 
 
 return upon himself. This occurred 
 the successive defeats of Antiochus 
 
 Scipio Africanus, and had accompanied i several engagements by water and by 
 him in his expedition into Spain andjlnnd, and in his final and complete over- 
 Africa. After his return he was rewarded j throw at the battle of Magnesia (B. G. 
 
 with the consulship for his services to the 
 state, and was empowered to attack An 
 tiochus, who had declared war against the 
 Romans. In this Avar he was prosperous, 
 and Succeeded in retrieving the honour 
 of the Roman name, and in wiping off the 
 reproach which the Roman armies had 
 suffered from the conquests of Antiochus. 
 When it is said that he would do this for 
 his own behalf, the meaning is, doubtless, 
 that he would engage in the enterprise for 
 his own glory, or to secure fame for him 
 self. It was not the love of justice, or 
 the love of country, but it was to secure 
 for himself a public triumph perhaps 
 hoping, by subduing Antiochus, to obtain 
 one equal to that which his brother had 
 received after his wars with Hannibal. 
 The motive here ascribed to this prince 
 was so common in the leaders of the Ro 
 man armies, and has been so generally 
 prevalent among mankind, that there can 
 be no hesitation in supposing that it was j 
 accurately ascribed to this conqueror, 
 Scipio, and that the enterprise in which 
 he embarked in opposing Antiochus was 
 primarily on his own behalf. ^ Shall 
 cause the reproach offered by him to cease. 
 The reproach offered by Antiochus to the 
 Roman power. The margin is, bis re 
 proach. The reference is to the disgrace 
 brought on the Roman armies by the con 
 quests of Antiochus. Antiochus had 
 seemed to mock that power; he had en 
 gaged in war with the conquerors of na 
 tions ; ho had gained victories, and thus 
 appeared to insult the majesty of the Ro 
 man name. All this was turned back 
 again, or caused to cease, by the victories 
 of Scipio. ^[ Without his own reproach. 
 Without any reproach to himself any 
 
 190), by Sripio. After being several 
 times overcome by the Romans, and 
 vainly sueing for peace, "Antiochus lost 
 all presence of mind, and withdrew his 
 garrison from all the cities on the Helles 
 pont, and, in his precipitate flight, left all 
 his military stares behind him. He re 
 newed his attempts to enter into negotia 
 tions for peace, but when he was required 
 to relinquish all his possessions west of 
 the Taurus, and defray the expense of the 
 war, be resolved to try his fortune once 
 more in a battle by land. Antiochus 
 brought into the field seventy thousand 
 infantry, twelve thousand cavalry, and a 
 great number of camels, elephants, and 
 chariots armed with scythes. To these 
 the Romans could oppose but thirty thou 
 sand men, and yet they gained a decisive 
 victory. The Romans lost only three 
 hundred and twenty-five men ; while, of 
 the forces of Antiochus, fifty thousand 
 infantry, four thousand cavalry, and fif 
 teen elephants, were left dead on the field, 
 fifteen hundred men were made prisoners, 
 and the king himself with great difficulty 
 made his escape to Sardis. He now 
 humbly sued for peace, and it was granted 
 on the terms to which he had formerly 
 refused compliance that he should sur 
 render all his possessions west of the Tau 
 rus, and that he should defray the ex 
 penses of the war. He farther obligated 
 himself to keep no elephants, and not 
 more than twelve ships. To secure the 
 performance of these conditions, the Ro 
 mans required him to deliver up twelve 
 hostages of their own selection, among 
 whom was his son Antiochus, afterwards 
 surnamed Epiphanes." Jahn s Heb. Com* 
 monwealth, pp. 248, 249. 
 
DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 634 
 
 19 Then he shall turn his face to- 1 b estate a c raiser of taxes in the 
 ward the fort of his own land: but glory of the kingdom: but within 
 
 days he shall be destroyed, 
 
 he shall stumble and fall, a and not 
 
 be found. 
 20 Then 
 
 - Ps. 37. 36. 
 
 shall stand up in his 
 b or, place, ver. 7. 
 
 few 
 
 neither in d anger nor in battle. 
 
 c one that causeth an exacter to pass over. Ful 
 filled, 171 B. C. Dangers. 
 
 19. Then lie shall turn his face toward j to impel, and it is then applied to one 
 the fort of his own land. The strong for- j who urges or presses a debtor, or who 
 tifications of his own land for the He- i exacts tribute of a people. The word is 
 brew word is in the plural. This he used with reference to money exactions 
 would do, of course, for protection. He in Deut. xv. 2, 3: "Every creditor that 
 would cease his attempts at conquest, and ilendeth aught unto his neighbour, shall 
 endeavour to find security in his own for- 1 not exact it of his neighbour or brother; 
 tresses. As a matter of fact, after this de- j of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again." 
 feat, Antiochus, in order to replenish his i So in 2 Kings xxiii. 35, Jehoiakiui taxed 
 exhausted coffers, and to find the means the land 4< to give the money according 
 of meeting the claims of the Romans, went to the commandment of Pharaoh; ho ex- 
 into certain provinces of his empire. He ; acted the silver and the gold of the people 
 
 attempted no other foreign wars, but 
 sought security in his own dominions. 
 f| But he shall stumble and fall, and not 
 le found. He died in an attempt to plun 
 der the temple of Elymais. In this ho 
 provoked the people to an insurrection, 
 and was slain, together with the soldiers 
 who were with him. What was his mo- 
 tire for plundering that temple is uncer 
 tain ; whether it was to meet the demands 
 of the Romans, or whether it was avarice 
 (Justin xxxiii. 2), but it was in this way 
 that he stumbled and fell, and passed 
 away. Jerome, Com. in Inc., Diod. Sic. 
 Fragment* xxvi. 30, 49, Justin xxxii. 2, 
 Strabo p. 744. The prophecy respecting 
 
 specified are as minute and accurate as 
 if it had been written after the event. 
 Indeed, the whole account is just such as 
 one would prepare now who should under 
 take to express in a brief compass the 
 principal events in the life of Antiochus 
 the Great. 
 
 20. Then shall stand up in his estate 
 Marg., place. The word used f3 
 
 of the land." In Zech. ix. 8, "And no 
 oppressor shall pass through them any 
 more," the same word is used. Here it 
 denotes one who would be mainly cha 
 racterized by his extorting tribute of his 
 people, or using means to obtain money. 
 ^| In the glory of the kingdom. The word 
 in here is supplied by our translators. 
 Lengerke renders it, who shall suffer 
 the tax-gatherer (eintreiber) to go through 
 the glory of the kingdom. This is evi 
 dently the meaning. He would lay the 
 richest and most productive parts of his 
 kingdom under contribution. This might 
 be either to pay a debt contracted by a 
 former monarch ; or to carry on war ; or to 
 
 him terminates here, and the particulars obtain the means of luxurious indulgence; 
 
 or for purposes of magnificence and dis 
 play. ^[ But within few days. A compa 
 rative brief period. Comp. Gen.xxvii. 44, 
 xxix. 20. It is impossible from this to 
 determine the precise period which he 
 would live, but the language would leave 
 the impression that his would be a short 
 reign. ^[ He shall be destroyed. Heb., 
 shall be broken. That is, his power .hall 
 be broken; he shall cease to reign. It 
 
 means properly a stand, station, place, ue *?i " ^"^ tu ^S- 
 (see No?es on ver. 2), and the idea here is would not be certainly inferred from this 
 
 iml*. *V,nt VIA wr.,,1,1 LA R ,iPPpH.H 5n t.Tlfl ! that h WOUld b P Ut t0 dClth Or W0uld 
 
 simply that he would be succeeded in the 
 kingdom by such an one. His successor 
 would have the character and destiny 
 which the prophecy proceeds to specify. 
 ^f A raiser of taxes. One who shall be 
 mainly characterized for this ; that is, 
 whose government would be distinguished 
 eminently by his efforts to wring money 
 out of the people. The Hebrew word 
 iTj; means properly to urge, to drive, 
 
 die at that time, but that his reign then 
 would come to an end, though it might 
 be in some peaceful way. ^[ Neither in 
 anger. Heb., angers. Not in any tu 
 mult or excitement, or by any rage of 
 his subjects. This would certainly im 
 ply that his death would be a peaceful 
 death. *j[ Nor in battle. As many kings 
 fell. The description would indicate a 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 449 
 
 reign of peace, and one whose end would 
 be peace, but who would have but a 
 brief reign. The reference here is, un 
 doubtedly, to Seleucus Philopator, the 
 
 payment of one thousand talents to the Ro 
 mans had reduced his finances to a very 
 low ebb. With the design, therefore, of 
 replenishing his exhausted treasury, he 
 
 eldest son of Antiochus the Great, and sent Heliodorus to Jerusalem to plunder 
 his immediate successor. The fulfilment the temple." Comp. Appian Syriac. xlv. 
 of the prediction is seen in the following 60 65. See also Prideaux, Conn. III. 20S, 
 
 /* t A _ v : / \ *_ _ . o ~\r T> _ j Ai _ *T !i.__ 
 
 facts in regard to him : (a) As an exac 
 tor of tribute. He was bound to 
 the tribute which his father had agreed 
 
 to pay 
 
 to the Romans. This tribute 
 
 amounted to a thousand talents annually, 
 and consequently made it necessary for 
 him to apply his energies to the raising 
 of that sum. The Jewish talent of silver 
 was equal to about $1505 of our money, 
 and consequently this thousand talents, 
 of the Jewish talent of silver here referred 
 to, was equal to about a million and a 
 half of dollars. The Greek talent of sil 
 ver was worth $1055 of our money, and, 
 if this was the talent, the sum would be 
 about a million. To raise this, in addi 
 tion to the ordinary expenses of the go 
 vernment, would require an effort, and, 
 as this was continued from year to year, 
 and as Seleucus was known for little else, 
 it was not unnatural that he should be 
 
 2 Mac. iii. Besides this, the necessity 
 of raising so much revenue, would give 
 him the character of raiser of taxes. 
 (c) This was done in what might properly 
 bo termed the glory of his kingdom/ 
 or in what would, in the language of an 
 Hebrew, be so called Ccelesyria and 
 Palestine. To the eye of a Hebrew this 
 was the glory of all lands, and the Jew 
 ish writers were accustomed to designate 
 it by some such appellation. Comp. 
 Notes on ver. 16. (rf) His reign con 
 tinued but a short time answering to 
 what is here said, that it would be for a, 
 few days. In fact, he reigned but 
 eleven or twelve years, but that, corn- 
 pared with the long reign of Antiochus 
 his father thirty-seven years was a 
 brief period. (e) The manner of his 
 death. Ho did not fall in battle, nor 
 was he cut off in a popular tumult. He 
 
 characterized as the raiser of taxes. was, in fact, poisoned. In the eleventh 
 (6) Especially would this be true in the ! year of his reign, he sent his only son 
 estimation of the Jews, for no small part ! Demetrius as a hostage to Rome, and re- 
 of these taxes, or this revenue, was de- leased his brother Antiochus, who had 
 rived from Palestine. Seleucus, taking resided twelve years in that city. As 
 advantage of the disturbances in Egypt, : the heir to the crown was now out of 
 had reunited to the Syrian crown the | the way, Heliodorus sought to raise him- 
 provinces of Coelesyria and Palestine, | self to the royal dignity, and for this 
 which his father Antiochus the Great had! purpose he destroyed the king by poi- 
 given in dowry to his daughter Cleopatra, I son. He attached a large party to his 
 who was married to Ptolemy Epiphanes. interests, and finally gained over those 
 Jahn, Heb. Commonwealth, p. 255. In who were in favour of submitting to the 
 the year 176 B. C., Simon, a Benja- king of Egypt. Antiochus Epiphanes re- 
 minite, who became governor of the tern- ! ceived notice of these transactions while 
 
 pie at Jerusalem, the farmer of the reve 
 nues of the Egyptian kings, attempted 
 to make some innovations, which were 
 
 he was at Athens on his return from 
 Rome. He applied himself to Eurnenes, 
 king of Pcrgamus, whom, with his bro- 
 
 steadily resisted by the high priest . ther Attalus, he easily induced to espouse 
 Onias III. Simon, in anger, went to ; his cause, and they, with the help of a 
 Apollonius, governor of Coelesyria under j part of the Syrian?, deprived Heliodorus 
 Seleucu?, and informed him of the great of his usurped authority. Thus, in the 
 treasures contained in the temple. The ! year 175 B. C., Antiochus Epiphanes 
 king, says Jahn, (Hob. Commonwealth, quietly ascended the throne, while the 
 p. 255,) - though a friend to the Jews, ; lawful heir, Demetrius, was absent at 
 and though he had regularly made dis- j Rome. Appian, Syriac. xlr. 60 65. 
 bursements, according to the directions I Jahn, Heb. Commonwealth ch. ix. $ 91. 
 of his father, towards sustaining the ex- The remainder of this chapter is occupied 
 penses of the sacrifices at Jerusalem, de- with a detail of the crimes, the cruelties, 
 termined to apply to his own use the ! and the oppressions of Antiochus Epi- 
 treasures of tho temple; for the annual j phanes, or Antiochus IV. 
 38* 
 
150 DANIEL. [B.C. 534 
 
 21 T[ And in his a estate shall stand 
 up a vile person, to whom they shall 
 
 a place, vcr. 7. 
 
 not give the honour of the kingdom : 
 but he shall come in peaceably, and 
 obtain the kingdom by flatteries. 
 
 21. And in his estate. In Iris place, streets, when he would throw his money 
 Notes on vs. 2, 20. ^ Shall stand tip a \ about, and practice various other fooler- 
 vile person. There shall succeed to the ies equally extravagant. He would pa- 
 throne. The reference here is to Antio- j rade the streets of his capitol in a long 
 chus Epiphanes, who reigned from B. C. j robe, and with a garland of roses upon 
 175 to B. C. 163. The epithet vile here I his head, and if any attempted to pass by 
 given him, was one which his subsequent I or to follow him, he would pelt them with 
 history showed was eminently appropriate stones which he carried concealed under 
 to him. in all respects, as a man and as a his garments," &c. See also Appian in 
 prince. The Hebrew word rendered vile* Syriacis xlv. 70 75; Eusebius in Chro- 
 n^3 properly means one despised or ; nicon; Athenceus, lib. v. p. 193, x. p. 438; 
 held in contempt. Isa. xlix. 7, Ps. xxii. 7. i Livy xli - 20 Diod - Sic - Frn S- xxvi - 65 > 
 The meaning here is, that he was one who xxxi - ^ 8 > Prideaux Con. iii. 212214; 
 deserved to be despised, and who would i l Mac - J - 9 - If To wlwm % ** "* 
 be held in contempt a man of a low, base, ! ff ive the honour of the kingdom. That is, 
 contemptible character. Vulg., despcctus. \ the people. Or, in other words, it should 
 Gr., ^ow&i/wSij. Luther, ein ungeachteter. ! not be conferred on him by any law or 
 Never were terms better applied to a man j act ? f the ****** <*** an y re g u1 ^ suc- 
 than these to Antiochus Epiphanes both ! cession or laim - The true heir to the 
 before and after his ascension to the crown was Demetrius, who was absent at 
 throne. The manner of his seizing upon Rome - " him the crown would have 
 the crown is stated above. He was sur- regularly devolved; but in his absence it 
 named Epiphanes ( Emda^j) the Illustri- \ was obtained b J Antiochus by arts which 
 o., because, if we believe Appian, he | he P^ct.sed and not by any voluntary 
 vindicated the claims of the royal family j ? rant of th . c nat on " .. ^ - J > 
 a-ainst the usurpations of the foreigner f peaceably Quietly j without war or 
 
 Heliodorus. He also bore the nameW I forc . e ft ar * ratho , r than , l * arms . Ge - 
 , ,.,. .. .. . semus (Lex.) renders the phrase here 
 
 God, which is still seen upon his coins. used , in the midst of security , that j 
 
 But by his subjects he was called Epi- unexp ected]y, suddenly. The idea seems 
 manes ( E*t#>*n) the Imane, instead of | to be thafc he woukl do itwhcn the nntion 
 Epiphanes a name which he much more wns not expecting it, or apprehending it: 
 richly deserved. The following state- when thcy would be taken off their d 
 ment from Jahn (Heb. Commonwealth J and ho would steal a rnarch upon them/ 
 ch. x. 92) will show with what propriety A11 this ac cordcd with fact. The na- 
 the term vde was applied to him : "He tion seem ed not to have anticipated that 
 often lounged like a mere idler about the ! Antiochus would attempt to ascend the 
 streets of Antioch, attended by two or; throne on the death of his brother. But 
 three servants, and not deigning to look he qu j e tly left Rome while Demetrius, 
 at the nobles; would talk with goldsmiths his nep hew, the true heir to the crown, 
 and other mechanics in their workshops, \ remained there came to Athens, and 
 engage in idle and trifling conversation i earne d what was the state of things in 
 with the lowest of the people, and mingle Svria) w here Heliodorus had usurped the 
 in the society of foreigners and men of authority; made an agreement with the 
 the vilest character. He was not ashamed j king of p er gamus to aid him, and, by 
 to go into the dissipated circles of the | the assistance of a part of the Syrians 
 young, to drink and carouse with them, j who were opposed to the usurper Helio- 
 and to assist their merriment by singing ; dorus, deprived him of the authority, and 
 songs and playing on his flute. lie often | himself took possession of the crown. No 
 appeared in the public baths among the; on e seemed to suspect that this was his 
 common people, engaged in every kind of aim, or to doubt that his object w;is to 
 foolish jest without the least regard to the remove an usurper that his nephew mighJ 
 dignity of his station and character. Not j be placed on the throne. ^[ And obtain 
 unfrequently he was seen drunk in the | the kingdom by flatteries. nip jpSn lu- 
 
B. C. 534.j CHAPTER XI. 451 
 
 22 And a- with the arms of a flood | him, and shall be broken ; yea, also 
 shall they be overflown from before I the prince of the covenant. 
 
 ver. 10. Fulfilled, 170 B. C. 23 And after the lea S ue made with 
 
 bricitatcs, blanditice. " The word," says vasion seemed to spread itself out like 
 Elliott (Apoc. iv. 133), "has a double waters, sweeping all away. ^ Shall they 
 sense, being applied both to the slipperi- \ be overflown from before him. The pro- 
 ness of a path, and tho slipperiness or : phet does not specify who they would be 
 flattering and deceit of the tongue. In j that would thus be overthrown. Some 
 the former sense it occurs in Ps. xxxv. 6, have supposed that the reference is to the 
 Let their way be dark and slippery; in i Hebrew, but the more correct interpreta- 
 the latter, its originating verb, Prov. ii. 6, | tion is that which refers it to Egypt. See 
 vit. 5, The stranger that flattereth or Notes on ver. 25. As a matter of fact, 
 dissembleth with his words ; and Prov. | the forces of Heliodorus, the forces of the 
 xxix. 5, A man that flattereth or dissem- ! Hebrews, and the forces of the Egyptians, 
 bleth to his neighbour. In this latter | were alike broken and scattered before 
 sense the verbal seems to be used both him. The eye of the prophet, however, 
 here and in the verses 32, 34, below, seems rather here to be on the invasion 
 arts of dissimulation. Gesenius." The of Egypt, which was one of the earliest 
 probable meaning here is, that he would | and most prominent acts of Antiochus, 
 obtain the throne by acts of dissembling, j and into the history of which the prophet 
 and by promises of rewards and offices. , goes most into detail. f Yea, also, the 
 Such promises he would probably make prince of the covenant. He also shall be 
 to Eumenes, king of Pergamus, and to j broken and overcome. There has been 
 the Syrian nobles and people who espoused I some diversity of opinion as to who is 
 his cause. It would not be difficult to se- 1 meant by the prince of the covenant 
 cure the aid of multitudes in this way, here. Many suppose that it is the high 
 and the character of Antiochus was just [priest of the Jews, as being the chief 
 such as to permit him to use any of these | prince or ruler under the covenant 
 arts to accomplish his ends. Perhaps which God made with them, or among 
 also he might hold out the hope of aid i the covenant people. But this appella- 
 from tho Romans, with whom he had j tion is not elsewhere given to the Jewish 
 long lived. It was no uncommon thing for j high priest, nor is it such as could with 
 an usurper to make his way by flattering much propriety -be applied to him. The 
 certain classes of a people, and by pro- i reference is rather to the king of Egypt, 
 
 mises of largesses, of offices, and of the 
 removal of oppressive burdens. Comp. 
 Prideaux, Con. III. 212. See also the 
 case of Absalom in 2 Sam. xv. 1 6. 
 22. And with the arms of a flood. The 
 
 reference here is to some mighty invasion 133. 
 
 of some country by Antiochus, which 
 would sweep every thing before him. 
 
 with whom a covenant or compact had been 
 made by Antiochus the Great, and who 
 was supposed to be united, therefore, to 
 the Syrians by a solemn treaty. See 
 Lengerke, in loc. So Elliott, Apoc. iv. 
 
 23. And after the leaf/tie made with him. 
 A treaty of peace and concord. The 
 
 There seems to be some confusion of me- great subject of contention between the 
 taphor in the phrase the arms of a flood. j kings of Syria and Egypt was the posses- 
 The idea in the mind of the writer ap- j sion of Coelesj ria and Palestine. This 
 pears to have been this. He saw an in- they often endeavoured to settle by con- 
 vasion of some country by hosts of men quest, as each of them claimed that in the 
 under the command of Antiochus. This ! original partition of the empire of Alex- 
 it was not unnatural to compare with an j andria this portion of the empire fell to 
 inundation of waters spreading over a himself; and often they endeavoured to 
 land. See Isa. viii. 8. Nor was it alto- ! settle it by treaty. Consequently this 
 gether unnatural to speak of an inunda- i region was const.-intly passing from one to 
 tion as having arms extending far and j the other, and was also the seat of fro- 
 near; sweeping everything to itself, or quent wars. The league here referred 
 
 carrying it away. Thus we speak of an 
 arm of the sea, an arm of a river, &c. 
 In this manner tho inundation the in 
 
 to seems to have been that respecting this 
 country the successive promises which 
 had been made to the king of Egypt that 
 
152 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534, 
 
 him he shall work * deceitfully: for 
 he shall come up, and shall become 
 strong with a small people. 
 
 Ccelesyria and Palestine should be made 
 over to him. These provinces had been 
 secured to Ptolemy Lagus by the treaty 
 made 301 B. C., and they had been again 
 pledged by Antiochus the Great, in dowry, 
 when his daughter Cleopatra should be 
 made queen of Egypt. Jahn, Heb. Com 
 monwealth p. 260. Antiochus Epiphanes, 
 however, was by no means disposed to 
 confirm this grant, and hence the wars 
 in which he was involved with the Egyp 
 tians. [ He shall icork deceilfidly. In 
 reference to the covenant or treaty above 
 referred to. He shall endeavour to evade 
 its claims: he shall refuse to comply with 
 its conditions; he shall not deliver up the 
 provinces according to the terms of the 
 compact. The history accords exactly 
 with this, for he did not intend to com 
 ply with the terms of the treaty, but 
 sought every means to evade it, and finally 
 waged a succession of bloody wars with 
 Egypt. In reference to the terms of this 
 treaty, and to secure their respective in 
 terests, both parties sent ambassadors to 
 Rome to urge their claims before the Ro 
 man Senate. Polybius, Legat. $ 78, 82. 
 Jerome, Com. in loc. As soon as Ptolemy 
 PhHometor had reached his fourteenth 
 year, he was solemnly invested with the 
 government; and ambassadors from all 
 surrounding countries came to congratu 
 late him on his accession to the throne. 
 " On this occasion Antiochus sent to 
 Egypt, Apollonius, the son of Mnestheus, 
 apparently to congratulate the king on 
 his coronation, but with the real intention 
 of sounding the purposes of the Egyptian 
 court. When Apollonius on his return 
 informed Antiochus that he was viewed as 
 an enemy by the Egyptians, he immedi 
 ately sailed to Joppa to survey his fron 
 tiers towards Egypt, and to put them in 
 a state of defence." Jahn, Heb. Common 
 wealth, p. 2GO. 2 Mac. iv. 21. The purpose 
 of Antiochus was undoubtedly not to sur 
 render Coelesyria and Palestine according 
 to the treaties which had been made, and 
 yet he designed to secure them if possible 
 without iin open rupture, and hence his { 
 arts of diplomacy, or his efforts to evade 
 compliance with the terms of the com 
 pact. Even when he had invaded Egypt, 
 and had obtained possession of the king, 
 
 24 He shall enter *> peaceably even 
 upon the fattest places of the prov- 
 
 a c. 8. 25. b or, into the peaceable and fat. 
 
 Ptolemy Philometor, he still "pretended 
 that he had corne .0 Egypt solely for the 
 good of king Ptolomy/to set the affairs of 
 his kingdom in order for him; and Ptol 
 emy found it expedient to act as though 
 he really thought him his friend. But he 
 must have seen, says Jahn, that Antio- 
 chus with all his professions of friendship, 
 was not unmindful of spoil, for he plun 
 dered Egypt in every quarter." Heb. 
 Commonwealth p. 263. ^ For lie shall 
 come up,. Come up on Egypt. The result 
 would be war. Rather than surrender 
 the provinces according to the treaty, he 
 would ultimately invade Egypt, and carry 
 war into its borders. ^ And shall become 
 strong with a email people. The meaning 
 of this seems to be that at first his own 
 forces would be small ; that he would 
 go up in such a way as not to excite sus 
 picion, but that, either by an increase of 
 his forces there, by uniting himself to 
 confederates, by alluring the people by 
 the promise of rewards, or by gradually 
 taking one town after another and adding 
 them to his dominions, he would become 
 strong then. Jahn (Heb. Commonwealth 
 p. 263), says, " with a small body of troop* 
 he made himself master of Memphis, and 
 of all Egypt as far as Alexandria, almost 
 without striking a blow." Comp. Diod. 
 Sic. xxvi. 75, 77 ; Jos. Ant. xii. 5, 2. The 
 fact in the case was, that Antiochus pre 
 tended in his invasion of Egypt to be the 
 friend of the Egyptian king, and that ho 
 came to aid him, and to settle him firmly 
 on the throne. By degrees, however, he 
 became possessed of one town after an 
 other, and subdued one place after an 
 other, until he finally became possessed 
 of the king himself, and had him entirely 
 in his power. 
 
 24. He shall enter peaceably even vpon 
 the fattest places of the province. The 
 margin is, into the peaceable and fat. 
 The version in the text, however, is the 
 more correct, and the sense is that he 
 would do this unexpectedly (Lengerke, 
 itnvernnithet) ; he would make gradual 
 and artful approaches until he had seized 
 upon the best portions of the land. Comp. 
 Gen. xxvii. 28, 39. The history is, that 
 he went there with different professions 
 than those of conquest, and one after nn- 
 
B.C. 534.] CHAPTER XI. 453 
 
 ince ; and he shall do that which his 
 fathers have not done, nor his fa 
 ther s fathers; he shall scatter 
 them the prey, and spoil, 
 
 his devices against the strongholds, 
 even for a time. 
 
 25 And he shall stir up his power 
 and his courage against the king of 
 
 among tnem tne prey, ana spoil, ana nis courage against me King 01 
 and riches : yea he shall * forecast j the south with a great army ; and 
 
 a think his thoughts. 
 
 other he took possession of the principal against the strongly fortified places of 
 towns of Egypt. In his first invasion of ; Egypt. f Against the strongholds. An- 
 that country, Diodorus Siculus and Jose- tiochua took possession of Pelusium, the 
 phus both say that Antiochus availed key of Egypt; he seized upon Memphis, 
 himself of a mean artifice/ without speci- land he then laid siege to Alexandria, 
 fying what it was. Jahn says that prob- ; supposing that if that were reduced the 
 ably it was that he pretended to come as whole country would bo his. Jos. Ant. 
 the friend of Ptolemy. It was to this B. xii. ch. v. 2. ^ Even for a time. 
 that the allusion is here, when it is said j Josephus (ut sup.) says that he was drives 
 that ho would enter peaceably, that is, from Alexandria, and out of all Egypt, 
 with some pretence of peace or friendship, j by the threatenings of the Romans, corn 
 er with some false and flattering art. ! manding him to let that country alone. 
 Josephus (Ant. xii. ch. v. $ 1.) says of j There were other reasons, also, which com- 
 Antiochus, that " be came with great I bined with this, inducing him to retire 
 forces to Pelusium, and circumvented Ptol- ! from that country. He was greatly en 
 emy Philoraetor by treachcn/, and seized ; raged by the effect which a report of hia 
 upon Egypt." The fact stated by Diodo- death in Judea had produced there. It 
 rus and Josephus, that he took possession was said that all the Jews rejoiced atthat 
 of Memphis and of all Egypt as far as j report, and rose in rebellion ; and he 
 Alexandria, fully illustrates what is said therefore resolved to inflict revenge on 
 here, that he would enter in the fattest i them, and left Egypt, and went to Jeru- 
 places of the province/ These were the j salein, and subdued it either by storm or 
 most choice and fertile portions of Egypt, j by stratagem. 
 
 ^ And Jie shall do that which his fathers j 25. And he shall stir up his power and 
 have not done, nor his father s fathers. \ his courage against the king of the south 
 Which none of his predecessors have been ; with a great army. This must refer to a 
 able to do; to wit, in the conquest of j subsequent invasion of Egypt by Antio- 
 Egypt. No one of them had it so com- | chus. In the course of his reign he four 
 pletely in his possession ; no one obtained times invaded that country with various 
 from it so much spoil. There can be no i degrees of success. In the first, he took 
 doubt that such was the fact. The wars : Pelusium, and having placed a garrison 
 of his predecessors with the Egyptians there, retired into winter quarters to 
 had been mostly waged in Coelesyria and j Tyre. In the second, a.bove referred 
 Palestine, for the possession of these to, he took Memphis and laid siege 
 provinces. Antiochus Epiphanes, how- | to Alexandria. The third invasion here 
 ever, at first took Pelusium, the key of referred to was after he had taken Jeru- 
 Egypt, and then invaded Egypt itself, j salem, and was caused by the fact that, 
 seized upon its strongest places, and made ! as Ptolemy Philometor was in the hands 
 the king a captive. Jahn, Heb. Common- j of Antiochus, the Egyptians hnd raised 
 wealth, p. 263. Comp. 1 Mac. i. 16. j Ptolemy Physcon (the Gross) to the throne. 
 ^f He shall scatter among them the prey, \ This prince assumed the name of Euer- 
 &c. Among his followers. He shall re- ! getes II. The pretended object of Antio- 
 ward them with the spoils of Egypt, chus in this invasion (B. C. 168) was to 
 Comp. 1 Mac. i. 19 : " Thus they got the support the claims of Ptolemy Philometor 
 strong cities in the land of Egypt, and he against the usurpation of his brother, but 
 took the spoils thereof." ^Aiid he shall his real purpose was to subject the whole 
 forecast his devices. Marg., think his country to his own power. He defeated 
 thought*. The margin is in accordance the Alexandrians by sea near Pelusium, 
 with the Hebrew. The meaning is, that and then drew up his land forces before 
 ho would form plans, or that this would the city of Alexandria. Ptolemy Phys- 
 be hi aim. He would direct the war ! con sent an embassy to Bomo to solicit 
 
454 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B C. 534 
 
 the king of the south shall be stirred | portion of his meat shall destroy 
 up to battle with a very great and | him, and his army shall overflow : 
 
 mighty army ; but he shall not 
 stand : for they shall forecast de 
 vices against him. 
 
 26 Yea, they that feed of the 
 
 and many shall foil down slain. 
 
 27 And both these kings a hearts 
 shall be to do mischief, and they 
 
 a their Jiearts. 
 
 the protection of the Senate, and at the could hold out, and should be disposed 
 
 same time entered into negotiations of 
 
 peace with Antiochus. The proposals 
 
 were rejected, but when he perceived 
 
 that the conquest of Alexandria would 
 
 be difficult, he retired to Memphis, and 
 
 pretended to deliver up the kingdom to 
 
 to make terms with the invader, ^f And 
 hia army shall overflow. The connection 
 here requires us to understand this of the 
 army of the king of Egypt. The mean 
 ing seems to be, that his forces would be 
 great, and would spread themselves out 
 
 Ptolemy Physcon, and having left a ; like overflowing waters, but that notwith- 
 strong garrison at Pelusium, he returned standing this many of them would be 
 to Antioch. This invasion is thus de- slain. ^ And many shall fall down slain. 
 scribed by the author of the Book of In battle. Notwithstanding the army 
 Maccabees (I Mac. i. 17.): " Wherefore would be numerous, and would, as it 
 he entered Egypt with a great multitude, i were, spread over the land, still it would 
 with chariots, and elephants, and horse- ! not be sufficient to keep out the invaders, 
 men, and a great navy." Porphyry, as but many of them would fall in the field, 
 quoted by Scaliger ; Polybius, Legat, $ SI, | The account in 1 Mac. i. 18, is, that 
 82, 84; Levy xliv. 19, xlv. ii; Justin :" Ptolemy was afraid of him [Antiochus], 
 xxxiv. 2; Prideaux, Con. III. 232 235. ! and fled; and many icere wounded to 
 ^f And the king of the south. Ptolemy j death." 
 
 Physcon, king of Egypt. ^ Shall le \ 27. And loth these kings hearts shall 
 stirred tip to battle with a very great and be to do mischief. Marg., their hearts, 
 mighty army. To oppose Antiochus. The meaning is, that their hearts were 
 5f But he shall not stand. He shall not set on some evil or unjust purpose. The 
 be able to resist him. His navy was de- , reference here is, evidently, to Antiochus 
 feated ; Antiochus still held possession | arid Ptolemy Philometor, and the time 
 of Memphis, and laid siege to Alexandria, i alluded to is when Ptolemy was in the 
 5[ For they shall forecast devices against \ possession of Antiochus, and when they 
 him. Heb., shall think his thoughts j were together forming their plans. An- 
 (See Notes on ver. 24); that is, they shall tiochus invaded the country under pre 
 form plans against him to defeat him. j tence of aiding Ptolemy and establishing 
 The reference here is to the invading forces, i him in the government, and for the same 
 that they would form sagacious plans for j reason, under pretence of protecting him, 
 
 the overthrow of the king of Egypt. 
 
 26. Yea, they that feed of the portion 
 of his meat shall destroy him. They of 
 his own family ; they who are nourished 
 
 he had him now in his possession. At 
 first, also, it would seem that Ptolemy 
 coincided with his plans, or was so far 
 deceived by the acts of Antiochus as to 
 
 at his table ; they who are his cabinet believe in his friendship, and to unito 
 counsellors, and professed and confiden- ; with him in his schemes, for it is ex- 
 tial friends. The meaning is, that they pressly said by the historians, as quoted 
 would prove treacherous and unfaithful, j above, that when Antiochus left Egypt, 
 This is by no means- improbable. Anti- j leaving Ptolemy at Memphis, and a 
 ochus was powerful, and had seized upon j strong garrison in Pelusium, Ptolemy 
 Pelusium, and upon Memphis, and upon began to see through his crafty designs, 
 the fairest portions of Egypt. He was j and to act accordingly. Until that time, 
 also in possession of the person of the j however, he seems to have regarded the 
 
 lawful king, and had a fair prospect of 
 subduing the whole country. In these 
 circumstances, nothing would be more 
 natural than the very inmates of the 
 palace the persons around the reigning 
 
 professions of Antiochus as sincere, and 
 to have entered fully into his plans. 
 To that fact there is allusion here, and 
 the meaning is, that they were forming 
 united schemes of evil of conquest, and 
 
 king should begin to doubt whether he I robbery, and oppression. The guiding 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 455 
 
 shall speak lies at one table ; but it 
 shall not prosper : for yet the end 
 shall be at the time appointed. 
 
 3 c. 8. 19. ver. 29, 35, 40. 
 
 spirit in this was, undoubtedly, Anti- 
 ochus, but Ptolemy seems to have con 
 curred in it. ^ And they shall speak lies 
 at one table. At the same table. Pto 
 lemy was a captive, and was entirely 
 in the possession of Antiochus, but 
 it was a matter of policy with the latter 
 to hide from him, as far as possible, the 
 fact that he was a prisoner, and to treat 
 him as a king. It is to be presumed, 
 therefore, that he would do so, and that 
 they would be seated at the same table ; 
 that is, that Ptolemy would be treated 
 outwardly with the respect due to a king. 
 In this familiar condition in this state 
 of apparently respectful and confidential 
 intercourse they would form their plans. 
 Yet the devices of both would be false 
 or would be, in fact, speaking lies. An 
 tiochus would be acting perfidiously 
 throughout, endeavouring to impose on 
 Ptolemy, and making promises, and giv 
 ing assurances, which he knew to be 
 false ; and Ptolemy would be equally 
 acting a deceitful part entering into en 
 gagements which, perhaps, he did not 
 intend to keep, and which would, at any 
 rate, be soon violated. It is impossible 
 now to know hoio he came into the hands 
 of Antiochus whether he surrendered 
 himself in war; or whether he was per 
 suaded to do it by the acts of his cour 
 tiers ; or whether he was really deceived 
 by Antiochus and supposed that he was 
 his friend, and that his protection was 
 necessary. On any of these suppositions 
 it cannot be supposed that he would be 
 very likely to be sincere in his transac 
 tions with Antiochus. ^ But it shall not 
 prosper. The scheme concocted, what 
 ever it was, would not bo successful. 
 The plan of Antiochus was to obtain 
 possession of the whole of Egypt, but in 
 this he failed; and so far as Ptolemy en 
 tered into the scheme proposed by Anti 
 ochus, on pretence for the good of his 
 country, it also failed. Whatever the 
 purpose was, it was soon broken up by 
 the fact that Antiochus left Egypt, and 
 made war in Jerusalem. ^[ For yet the end 
 shall be at the time appointed. See ver. 
 29. The end the result shall not be 
 
 28 Then shall he return into his 
 land with great riches ; and his 
 heart shall be against the holy cove- 
 
 now, and in the manner contemplated by 
 these two kings. It shall be at the time 
 appointed, to wit, by God, and in an 
 other manner. The whole case shnll 
 issue differently from what they design, 
 and at the time which an overruling Pro 
 vidence has designated. The reason im 
 plied here why they could not carry out 
 their design was, that there was an ap 
 pointed time when these affairs were to 
 be determined, and that no purposes of 
 theirs could be allowed to frustrate tho 
 higher counsels of the Most High. 
 
 28. Then shall he return into his land 
 with great riches. Enriched with the 
 spoils of Egypt. Having taken Mem 
 phis, and the fairest portions of Egypt, 
 he would, of course, carry great wealth 
 to his own country on his return. Thus 
 it is said in 1 Mac. i. 19 : " Thus they 
 got the strong cities in the land of Egypt, 
 and he took the spoils thereof." The 
 meaning here is, that he would set out to 
 return to his own land. As a matter of 
 fact, on his way he would pause to bring 
 desolation in Jerusalem, as is intimated 
 in the subsequent part of the verse. 
 ^ And his heart shall be against the holy 
 covenant. The words * holy covenant 
 are a technical expression to denote the 
 Jewish institutions. The Hebrew people 
 were called the covenant people, as 
 being a people with whom God had en 
 tered into covenant. All their privileges 
 were regarded as the result of that cove 
 nant, and hence the word came to be ap 
 plied to all the institutions of the nation. 
 When it is said that his heart was against 
 that covenant, the meaning is, that he 
 was enraged against it; and determined 
 to bring calamity upon the place and 
 people connected with it. The reason 
 of this was the following. When he was 
 in Egypt, a report was spread abroad that 
 he was dead. In consequence of this 
 rumour, Jason took the opportunity of 
 recovering the office of high priest, from 
 his brother Menelaus, and Avith a thou 
 sand men took Jerusalem, drove Mene 
 laus into the castle, and slew many whom 
 he took for his enemies. Antiochus, 
 hearing of this, supposed that all the 
 
456 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534. 
 
 nant ; and he shall do exploits, and I south ; but it shall not be as tho 
 
 return to his own land. 
 
 29 At the time appointed he 
 shall return, and come toward the 
 
 Jews had revolted, and determined to 
 inflict summary chastisement on them on 
 his way to his own land. See Jahn, 
 Heb. Commonwealth, p. 263. ^[ And lie 
 shall do exploits, and return to his own 
 land. The word exploits is supplied by 
 the translators. The Hebrew is, simply, 
 he shall do; that is, he shall accom 
 plish the purpose of his heart on the cove 
 nant people. In this expedition, be took 
 Jerusalem, whether by storm or by stra 
 tagem, 5s not quite certain. Diodorus 
 Siculus, and the author of the second book 
 of Maccabees, and Josephus, (Jewish 
 Wars, i. 1, 2, and vi. 10, 1,) say that it 
 was by storm. The account which he 
 gives in his Antiquities (B. xii. ch. v. $3) 
 is, that he took it by stratagem, but the 
 statement in the Jewish War is much 
 more probable, for Antiochus plundered 
 the city, slew eighty thousand persons, 
 men, women, and children, took forty 
 thousand prisoners, and sold as many 
 into slavery, 2 Mac. v. 5, 6, 1114. As 
 if this were not enough, under the guid 
 ance of the high priest Menelaus, he 
 went into the sanctuary, uttering blas 
 phemous language, took away all the 
 gold and silver vessels he could find there, 
 the golden table, altar and candlestick, 
 and all the great vessels, and that he 
 might leave nothing behind, searched 
 the subterranean vaults, and in this man 
 ner collected eighteen hundred talents 
 of gold. lie then sacrificed a swine on 
 the altar, boiled a piece of the flesh, and 
 sprinkled the whole temple with the 
 broth, 2 Mac. v. 15 21; 1 Mac. i. 21 
 28. Diodorus Sic. xxxiv. 1 ; Jahn, Heb. 
 Commonwealth, p. 264. 
 
 29. At the time appointed. In the pur 
 poses of God. See Notes on ver. 27. 
 That is, at the time when God shall de 
 sign to accomplish his own purposes in 
 regard to him. The idea is, that there 
 was a definite period in the divine mind 
 in which all this was to be done, and 
 that when this should occur Antioohus 
 would return again to invade Egypt. ^Jfe 
 shall return and come toward the south. 
 With an intention of invading Egypt. 
 The occasion of this invasion was, that 
 
 former, or as the latter. 
 
 GO f For the ships of Chittim 
 
 a Nu. 24. 24. 
 
 after the departure of Antiochus, leaving 
 Ptolemy in possession of Egypt, or hav 
 ing professedly given up the" kingdom to 
 him, Ptolemy suspected the designs of 
 Antiochus, and came to an agreement 
 with his brother Pbyscon, that they 
 should share the government between 
 them, and resist Antiochus with their 
 united power. To do this, they hired 
 mercenary troops from Greece. Anti 
 ochus, learning this, openly threw off the 
 mask, and prepared to invade Egypt 
 again, B. C. 167. He sent his fleet to 
 Cyprus to secure possession of that island, 
 and led his army towards Egypt to sub 
 due the two brothers, designing to annex 
 the whole country to his dominions. 
 f But it shall not be as the former, or as 
 the latter. At the first invasion or the 
 second. In these he was successful ; in 
 
 | this he would not be. The reason of his 
 want of success is stated in the following 
 
 | verse that by the aid which the two 
 brothers had obtained from abroad, as 
 expressed in the next verse, they would 
 be able to oppose him. 
 
 30. For the ships of Chittim shall come 
 against him. The word rendered Chit- 
 
 \ tim Q>n3 according to Gesenius, prop 
 erly means Cypricius, so called from a 
 celebrated Phoenician colony in the island 
 of Cyprus. In a wider acceptation the 
 name came to comprehend the islands 
 and coasts of the Mediterranean sea, es 
 pecially the northern parts, and there 
 fore stands for the islands and coasts of 
 Greece and the ^Igean Sea. See Gese 
 nius, Lex., and cotnp. Josephus Ant. B. I. 
 ch. vi. 1. The Egyptian government had 
 called in the aid of the Roman?, and An 
 tiochus, therefore, was threatened with a 
 
 j war with the Romans if he did not aban- 
 
 j don his enterprise against Egypt. The 
 reference in the passage before us, is to 
 the embassage which the Romans sent to 
 Antiochus in Egypt, requiring him to de 
 sist from his enterprise against Egypt. 
 
 j "When he had arrived at Leusine, about 
 
 i four miles from Alexandria, he met Caiua 
 Popilius Lasnas, Caius Decimius, and Ca- 
 ius Hostilius, ambassadors whom the Ro 
 man Senate had sent to him at the ear- 
 
B. C. 534.] CHAPTER XI. 457 
 
 shall como against him : therefore even return, and have intelligence 
 he shall he grieved, and return, and with them that forsake the holy 
 have indignation against the holy covenant. 
 
 covenant : so shall he a do ; he shall 
 
 * Fulfilled, 168. 169. 
 
 31 And arms shall stand on his 
 
 nest request of Ptolemy Physcon. They to wreak his vengeance on the holy land, 
 were instructed to assure Antiochus that j What was the immediate occasion of his 
 he must leave the kingdom of Egypt and | taking this opportunity to attack Jerusa- 
 the island of Cyprus in peace, or expect j lem is not certainly known, but in his 
 a war with the Romans. When Antiochus marching back through Palestine, he de- 
 said that he would lay the affairs before tached from his army twenty-two thou- 
 his council, Popetius, the head of the le- sand men, under the command of Apol- 
 gation, with his staff drew a circle about I lonius, and sent them to Jerusalem to 
 the king in the sand on which they stood, j destroy it. Prideaux, III. 239; Jahn, 
 and exclaimed, Before you leave that! Heb. Commonwealth, p. 266. Apollo- 
 circle, you must give me an answer which j nius arrived before Jerusalem B. C. 167, 
 I can report to the Senate. Antiochus I just two years after the city had been 
 was confounded, but on a little reflection, j taken by Antiochus himself. IF So shall 
 he said he would do whatever the Senate ! lie do. That is, in the manner described 
 required." Jahn, Heb. Commonwealth, I in this and the following verses. \ He 
 pp. 265, 266; Polyb. Legat. g 90, 92 ; j shall even return. On his way to his own 
 Livy xliv. 14, 29; 41 46; xlv. 10, 12. ! land, f And lave intelligence with them 
 These ambassadors came by the way of I that forsake the holy covenant. Have an 
 Greece, and in Grecian vessels, and their | understanding with them ; that is, with a 
 coming might properly be described as portion of the nation with those who 
 ships from Chittim. They went from were disposed to cast off the religion of 
 Rome to Brundusium, and then passed ! their fathers. There was a considerable 
 over to the Grecian shore, and from thence | part of the nation that was inclined to do 
 
 by the way of Chalcis, Delos and Rhodes, 
 to Alexandria, Prideaux, III. 237. 
 f Therefore he shall be grieved. The 
 word here used nN:j means properly 
 to become faint-hearted ; to be frightened ; 
 
 this, and to introduce the customs of the 
 Greeks (Comp. Jahn, Heb. Common 
 wealth, pp. 258 260); and it was natural 
 that Antiochus should seek to have an 
 understanding with them, and to make 
 
 to be dejected, sad, humbled. Job xxx. I use of them in accomplishing his designs 
 
 8 ; Ezek. xiii. 22 ; Ps. cix. 16. The mean 
 ing here is, that he became dispirited, 
 dej<?cted, cast-down, and abandoned his 
 
 It was very probably at the solicitation 
 of this infidel and disaffected party of the 
 Hebrew people that Antiochus had inter- 
 
 purpose. He saw that it would be vain j fered in their affilirs at alL Com P- * Mac - * 
 to attempt to contend with the Romans, j ** * 3 
 
 and he was constrained reluctantly to re- 31. And arm shall stand on his part. 
 linquish his enterprise. ^[ And return. < Up to this verse there is a general agree- 
 Set out to return to his own land, ^f And i nient among commentators, that the ref- 
 haae indignation against the holy covenant. \ erence is to Antiochus Epiphanes. From 
 Notes on ver. 28. That is, he would be | this verse, however, to the end of the 
 filled with wrath against Jerusalem and 
 
 the Jews. Polybius says that 
 Egypt in great anger, because 
 
 left 
 
 chapter, there is no little diversity of 
 opinion. One portion suppose that the 
 description of Antiochus and his deeds 
 
 compelled by the Romans to abandon his j continues still to be tho design of the 
 designs. In this condition he was, of j prophet; another that tho Romans are 
 course, in a state of mind to become irri- here introduced, and that a part of the 
 tated against any other people, and, if j predictions in the remainder of this chap- 
 an occasion should be given, would seek i ter are yet to be fulfilled ; another, as Je- 
 t.o vent his wrath in some other direction, i rome, and most of the Christian fathers, 
 This habitual state of feeling towards Je- j suppose that the reference is to Antiochus 
 rusalem and the Jews would make him : as the type of Antichrist, and that the 
 ready to seize upon the slightest pretext i description passes from the type to tho 
 39 
 
458 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534* 
 
 part, and they shall pollute the sanc 
 tuary of strength, and shall take 
 away the daily sacrifice, and they 
 
 shall place the abomination that 
 a maketh desolate. 
 
 a or, astonishdh. 
 
 antitype. In this last class are found look out for another interpretation/ 
 Bishop Newton, Gill, Calvin, Prideaux, j Accordingly, he says, that Jerome and 
 
 Wintle, Elliott (Apocalypse, iv. 137, *iq.) 
 and others; in the former, Grotius, Len- 
 gerke, Bertholdt, Maurer, <fcc. In this 
 same class is found the name of Porphyry 
 who maintained that the whole referred 
 to Anliochus, and that the allusion was 
 so clear as to prove that this portion of 
 the book was written after the events had 
 occurred. The reason suggested for the 
 change in the supposed reference, as al 
 leged by Bishop Newton on the Prophe 
 cies, p. 296, is, substantially, that what 
 follows can be applied only in part toAn- 
 
 the Christians of his time contend that 
 these things apply to Antichrist; and ho 
 himself adopts the view proposed by Sir 
 Isaac Newton, that it refers to the Ro 
 mans, and that the allusion is to the fact 
 that at the very time when Antiochus re 
 treated out of Egypt, the Romans con 
 quered Macedonia, " putting an end to 
 the reign of Daniel s third beast," and 
 that the prophet here leaves ofi the de 
 scription of the actions of the Greeks, and 
 commences a description of the Romans 
 in Greece. As, however, all that is here 
 
 tiochus. Whether this portion of the said is strictly applicable to what waa 
 chapter can be shown to refer to him, we done by Antiochus, such an interpreta- 
 
 shall be able to determine as we proceed. 
 Nothing can be clearer than the allusion 
 up to this point. The word rendered 
 arme, in the verse before us Djf nf. sing. 
 
 jrnt means properly the arm especially 
 the lower arm below the elbow; and then 
 comes to denote strength, might, power ; 
 and thence is applied to a military force, 
 or an army. See ver. 15. Such is un 
 doubtedly the meaning here, and the 
 reference is to the military force Avhich 
 Antiochus would employ to wreak his 
 vengeance on the Jews particularly by 
 the instrumentality of Apollonius. Oth 
 ers would apply this to the Romans, and 
 suppose that they are introduced here, 
 but this construction is forced and unnat 
 ural, for (a) the reference in the previous 
 verses was, undoubtedly, to Antiochus, 
 and the narrative seems to proceed as if 
 there were no change; (b) there is nothing 
 in the statement which does not agree 
 with what was done by Antiochus. As a 
 matter of fact, as attested by all history, 
 he detached Apollonius with twenty-two 
 thousand men, on his mortified return to 
 
 tion is unnecessary. ^ And they shall 
 pollute the sanctuary of strength. The 
 sanctuary of strength, seems to refer to 
 the fortifications or defences that had 
 been set up to protect Jerusalem, or the 
 temple. At various points the temple 
 was defended in this manner, not only by 
 the walls of the city, but by fortifications 
 erected within, and so as to prevent an 
 army from approaching the temple, even 
 if they should penetrate the outer wall. 
 Comp. 1 Mac. i. 36. The temple itself 
 might thus be regarded as fortified, or as 
 a place of strength and, as a matter of 
 fact, when Titus ultimately destroyed the 
 city, the chief difficulty was to obtain 
 possession of the temple a place that 
 held out to the last. When it is said that 
 they would pollute the sanctuary of 
 strength, the reference is to what was 
 done by Apollonius, at the command of 
 Antiochus, to profane the temple, and to 
 put an end to the sacrifices and worship 
 there. Comp. 1 Mac. i. 29, 3749 ; Jos. 
 Ant. B. xii. cb. v. 4. The account in 
 the book of Maccabees is as follows : 
 Thus they shed innocent blood on every 
 
 his own land, to attack and lay waste 6 id e of the sanctuary and defiled it, inso- 
 
 Jerusalem, and Apollonius did all that is 
 
 here said would be done, 
 ton concedes (p. 294), that 
 
 Bishop New- 
 this interpre 
 
 tation might be admitted, if the other 
 
 much that the inhabitants of Jerusalem 
 fled because of them, wherefore the city 
 was made a habitation of strangers, and 
 became strange to those who were born 
 
 parts were equally applicable to An- Jn h and fier Qwn childrcn left her . 
 tiochus; but, says he, the difficulty, Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wi i_ 
 or rather impossibility of applying them derness , and her feasts wore turned int* 
 to Antiochus, or any of the Syrian mou rning, her sabbaths into reproach, 
 kings, his successors, objigea us to j her honour into contempt. As had been 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 459 
 
 rupt by flatteries : but the people 
 
 a or, cause to dissemble. 
 
 tion, or the result of his having laid the 
 temple in ruins. The very expression 
 occurs in 1 Mac. i. 54: "Now, the fif 
 teenth day of the month Casleu, in the 
 hundred and forty-fifth year, they set up 
 the abomination of desolation upon the 
 altar, and builded idol-altars throughout 
 
 32 And such as do wickedly 
 against the covenant shall be a cor- 
 
 her glory, so was her dishonour increased, 
 and her excellency was turned into mourn 
 ing. Moreover, king Antiochus wrote to 
 hid whole kingdom that all should be one 
 people, and every one should learn his 
 laws; so all the heathen agreed accord 
 ing to the commandment of the king. 
 
 Yea many Israelites consented to his re- j the cities of Judah on every side." This 
 ligion, and sacrificed unto idols, and pro- ] would seem, from ver. 59, to have been 
 faned the sabbath. For the king had \ an idol-altar erected over or upon the altar 
 sent letters by messengers unto Jerusa- j of burnt-offerings. "They did sacrifice 
 lem and the cities of Judah, that they upon the idol-altar, which was upon the 
 should follow the strange laws of the land, altar of God." " At this time an old man 
 and forbid burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, | by the name of Athenaeus, was sent to 
 and drink-offerings, in the temple; and Jerusalem to instruct the Jews in the 
 that they should profane the sabbaths and Greek religion, and compel them to an 
 festival days, and pollute the sanctuary observance of its rites. He dedicated tho 
 and holy people ; set up altars, and ; temple to Jupiter Olympius, and on tho 
 groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice : altar of Jehovah he placed a smaller 
 swine s flesh, and unclean beasts ; that j altar, to be used in sacrificing to the hea- 
 they should also leave their children uncir- I then god." Jahn, Heb. Commonwealth, 
 cuincised, and make their souls abomina- j pp. 267, 268. The reference here is, pro- 
 ble with all manner of uncleanness and \ bably, to this altar, as being in itself, and 
 profanation, to the end they might forget ! in the situation where it was located, an 
 the law, and change all the ordinances." j abominable thing in the eyes of the He- 
 ^[ And shall takeaicay the daily sacrifices. \ brews, and as being placed there by a 
 That is, shall forbid them, and so pollute desolater, or waster. The same language 
 the temple and the altar, as to prevent which is here used is applied in ch. ix. 
 their being offered. See the quotation ] 27, and in the New Testament, with great 
 above. This occurred in the month of propriety to what the Romans set up in 
 June, B. C. 167. See Jahn, Heb. Com- 1 the temple as an indication of its conquest 
 monwealth, p. 267. f And they thall and profanation; but that fact does not 
 place the abomination that maketh desolate, j make it certain that it is so to be under- 
 
 Marg., or astonisheth. The Hebrew word 
 D5?p will bear either interpreta 
 tion, though the usage of the word is 
 in favour of the translation in the text. 
 The passage will also admit of this trans 
 lation, the abomination of desolation of 
 him who makes desolate, or of the deso- 
 later. See Gesenius, Lex. 3. The idea is, 
 that somehow the thing here referred to 
 would be connected with the desolation, 
 or the laying waste of the city and tem 
 ple, and the sense is not materially varied 
 whether we regard it as the abomina 
 tion that makes desolate, that is, that in 
 dicates tho desolation, or, the abomina 
 tion of the desolater, that is, of him who 
 has laid the city and temple waste. On 
 the meaning of the phrase abomination 
 of desolation, see Notes on ch. ix. 27. 
 The reference here is, undoubtedly, to 
 something that Antiochus set up in the 
 temple, that was an indication of desola- 
 
 stood here, for it is as applicable to what 
 Antiochus did, as it is to what was done 
 by the Romans. See Notes on ch. ix. 27. 
 32. And such as do wickedly against the 
 covenant. That is, among the Jews. They 
 who apostatized, and who became willing 
 to receive the religion of foreigners. 
 There was such a party in Jerusalem, and 
 it was numerous. See Jahn, Heb. Com 
 monwealth, pp. 258, 259. Comp. 1 Mac. 
 i. 52 : " Then many of the people were 
 gathered unto them, to wit, every one 
 that forsook for the law; and so they 
 committed evils in the land." ^[ Shall 
 be corrupt \>y flatteries. By flattering 
 promises of his favour, of office, of na 
 tional prosperity, <fcc. See Notes on ver. 
 21. Tho margin is, cause to dissemble. 
 The meaning of the Hebrew word ^n 
 is rather to profane, to pollute, to defile / 
 and the idea here is, that he would cause 
 them to become defiled ; that is, that h 
 
460 DANIEL. [B.C. 534 
 
 that do know their God shall be | many : yet they shall fall by the 
 strong, and do exploits. \ sword, and by "flame, by captivity, 
 
 33 And they that understand and by spoil, many days, 
 among the people shall instruct 34 Now when they shall fall, they 
 
 would seduce them to impiety and apostacy. By fire. That is, probably, their dwell- 
 1T But the people that do know their God. \ ings would be fired, and they would per- 
 They who adhere to the service and wor- i ish in the flames, or in caves where they 
 ship of the true God, and who are inca- j fled for shelter, or by being cast into 
 pable of being seduced to apostacy and | heated caldrons of brass. See 2 Mac. 
 sin. The reference here is, undoubtedly, j vi. 11 : "And others, that had run to- 
 to Judas Maccabeus and his followers a gether into caves near by" (when Anti- 
 full account of whose doings is to be ochus endeavoured to enforce on them 
 found in the books of the Maccabees. See the observance of heathen laws and cus- 
 also Prideaux, Con. III. 245, seq., and torus) " to keep the Sabbath-day secretly, 
 Jahn, Heb. Commonwealth, p. 268, seq. being discovered to Philip, were all burnt 
 ^[ Shall be strong. Shall evince great va- together, because they made a conscience 
 lour, and shall show great vigour in op- to keep themselves for the honour of the 
 posing him. ^ And do exploits. The most sacred day." 2Mac.vii.3 5: "Then 
 word exploits, as in ver. 28, is supplied the king being in a rage, commanded 
 by the translators, but not improperly, pans and caldrons to be made hot, which 
 The meaning is, that they would show j forthwith being heated, he commanded 
 great prowess and perform illustrious | to cut off the tongue of him that spoke 
 deeds in battle. See Prideaux, Con. III. ; first, and to cut off the utmost parts of 
 pp. 262, 263. | his body, the rest of his brethren and his 
 
 33. And they that understand among \ mother looking on. Now when he was 
 the people. Among the Hebrew people, thus maimed in all his members, he com- 
 The allusion is to those who, in those mandedhim, being yet alive, to be brought 
 times of so general corruption and apos- I to the fire, and to be fried in the pan," <fcc. 
 tacy, should have a proper understand- j ^[ By captivity. 1 Mac. i. 33: "But the 
 ing of the law of God and the nature of | women and children took they captive." 
 religion. There were those in the days [ See also 2 Mac. v. 24. ^[ And, by spoil. 
 of Judas Maccabeus, and it is reasonable By plunder, to wit, of the temple and 
 to suppose that they would endeavour to city. See 1 Mac. i. 20 24. ^[ Many 
 inculcate just views among the people, days. Heb., days. The time is not spe- 
 ^ Shall instruct many. In the nature of i cified, but the idea is that it would be 
 
 religion ; in their duty to their country, 
 and to God. See Prideaux, Con. III. 
 265. ^f Yet they shall fall by the sword. 
 They shall not be immediately nor al 
 ways successful. Their final triumph 
 would be only after many of them had 
 fallen in battle, or been made captives. 
 
 for a considerable period. Josephus says 
 it was three years. Ant. B. xii. ch. vii. 
 6, 7; 1 Mac. i. 59; iv. 54; 2 Mac. x. 
 17. 
 
 34. Noio tchen they shall fall, they 
 shall be holpen with a little help. By 
 small accessions to their forces. The 
 
 Mattathias, the father of Judas Macca- t armies of the Maccabees were never very 
 
 beus, who began the opposition to Anti- 
 ochus (1 Mac. ii. 1), having summoned 
 to his standard as many as he could in 
 duce to follow him, retired for security 
 to the mountains. He was pursued, and 
 
 numerous, but the idea here is, that when 
 they should be persecuted there would 
 be accessions to their forces so that they 
 would be able to prosecute the war. At 
 first the numbers were very few who took 
 
 refusing to fight on the Sabbath, his ene- j up arms, and undertook to defend the 
 mies came upon him, and slew many of j institutions of religion, but their numbers 
 his followers. 1 Mac. ii. 14 37. The j increased until they were finally victo- 
 author of the book of Maccabees (1 Mac. rious. Those who first banded together, 
 ii. 38) says of this : " So they rose up when the calamities came upon the na- 
 against them in battle on the Sabbath, j tion, were Mattathias and his few fol- 
 and they slew them, with their wives and | lowers, and this is the little help that is 
 
 children, and their cattle, to the number 
 of a thousand people." ^ And by flame. 
 
 here referred to. See 1 Mac. ii. ^ But 
 many shall cleave to them. As was the 
 
B.C. 534.] CHAPTER XI. 461 
 
 shall be holpen with a little help : | and to purge, and to make iTiem 
 but many shall cleave to them with j white, even to the time of the end : 
 flatteries. because it is yet for a time c ap- 
 
 35 And some of them of under- pointed, 
 standing shall fall, to a try b them, I 36 ^And the king shall do ac- 
 
 2 Ch. 32. 31. b or, ly them. 
 
 c Ilab. 2. 3. 
 
 case under Judas Maccabeus, when the mercenary motives. ^f To try them. 
 forces were so far increased as to be able \ Marg., or, by them. So the Hebrew 
 to contend successfully with Antiochus. ; D? a. The meaning, perhaps, is, that it 
 f With flatteries. Perhaps, with flatter- j would be , th ag ifc tha( . thfl 
 
 ing hopes of spoil or honour ; that is, ! w<m jj be tried> As th WQuld 
 
 that they would not unite sincerely with i fall - n bftttl and ag the cau / e WQuld 
 the defenders of the true religion, but seem to be doubtful this would tesfc the 
 would be actuated by prospect of plunder fidelifc of othergi The word here _ 
 or reward. For the meaning of the word, 
 
 see Notes on ver. 21. The sense here j "P -means Pperly to melt, to smelt-w 
 is not that Judas would flatter them, or rnetals ; then to prove any one ; and then 
 would secure their co-operation by flat- | to purify. [ And to purge. To purify; 
 teries, but that this would be what they to test the army and to make it pure, 
 would propose to their own minds, and , f And * make them white. To wit, by 
 what would influence them. Comp. ! thus allowing those who had joined tho 
 1 Mac. v. 55, 56, 57: "Now what time as i army from mercenary motives to with- 
 Judas and Jonathan were in the land of draw. Comp. 2 Mac. xii. 3941. f Even 
 Galaad, and Simon his brother in Gali- I to the time of the end. The end of the 
 lee before Ptolemais, Joseph the son of j war, or the conflict. There would be an 
 Zacharias, and Azarias, captains of the I end of these persecutions and trials, and 
 garrisons, heard of the violent acts and this process had reference to that, or 
 warlike deeds which they had done. : tended to bring it about. The act of 
 Wherefore they said, Let us also get us freeing the army from false friends 
 a name, and go fight against the heathen from those who had joined it from mer- 
 round about us." Comp. 2 Mac. xii. 40; cenary motives, would have a tendency 
 xiii. 21. There can be no doubt that to accomplish the result in the best way 
 many might join them from these mo- ! possible, and in the speediest manner. 
 
 tives. Such an event would be likely to 
 occur any where, when one was success 
 ful, and where there was a prospect of 
 spoils or of fame in uniting with a victo 
 
 Because it is yet for a time appointed. 
 See Notes on ver. 27. This seems to bo 
 designed for an assurance that the cala 
 mity would come to an end, or that there 
 was a limit beyond which it could not 
 pass. Thus it would be an encourage 
 ment to those who were engaged in tho 
 
 rious leader of an army. 
 
 35. And some of them of understand 
 ing shall fall. Some of those who have , 
 
 a correct understanding of religion, and struggle, for they would see that success 
 who have joined the army from pure must ultimately crown their labours, 
 motives. Tho idea seems to be that on 36. And the king shall do according to 
 some occasion they would meet with a his will. Shall be absolute and supreme, 
 temporary defeat, in order that the sin- j and shall accomplish his purposes. This 
 cerity of the others might be tested, or refers, it seems to me, beyond question, 
 that it might be seen who adhered to ! to Antiochus Epiphanes, and was exactly 
 the cause from principle, and who from fulfilled in him. He accomplished his 
 selfish purposes. If they should not al- ! purposes in regard to the city and tern- 
 ways be successful; if they should be ! pie in the most arbitrary manner, and was, 
 temporarily defeated; if some of the most j in every respect, an absolute despot. It 
 eminent among them should fall among; should be said, however, here, that most 
 the slain, and if the cause should at any . Christian interpreters suppose that the al- 
 time look dark, this would serve to try \ lusion here to Antiochus ceases, and that 
 tho sincerity of the remainder of tho henceforward it refers to Antichrist. So 
 army, and would be likely to t hi n it off Jerome, Gill, Bp. Newton, and others; and 
 
 of those who had joined it only from 
 39* 
 
 so Jerome says many of the Jews under- 
 
462 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534 
 
 cording to his will ; and a he shall I the indignation be accomplished . 
 exalt himself, and magnify him- j for that that is determined h shall 
 self above every god, and shall j be done. 
 
 speak marvellous things against the j 37 Neither shall he regard the 
 God of gods, and shall prosper till j ^is. 14. is, 14; Re. 13. 5, 6. 
 
 stood it. The only reason alleged for 
 
 the right which they must be supposed to 
 
 this is, that there are things affirmed claim to prescribe their own worship. 
 here of the king which could not be , ^[ And shall speak marvellous things. 
 true of Antiochus. But, in opposition to j The Hebrew word rriNSaj would pro- 
 this, it may be observed (a) that theallu-| } y denote things won derful, or fitted 
 sionm the previous verses is undoubtedly t . astonishment; things that are 
 
 A \ ,, 4- :.-,,.!-..,.-, T?I*^U rt *^n / /, \ T^rt*./* 10 /. o 
 
 to Antiochus Epiphanes. (b) There is 
 no indication of any change, for the pro 
 phetic narrative seems to proceed as if 
 the allusion to the same person continued, 
 (c) The word kiny is not a word to be 
 applied to Antichrist, it being nowhere 
 used of him. (d) Such a transition, 
 without any more decided marks of it, 
 would not bo in accordance with the usual 
 method in the prophetic writings, leaving 
 a plain prediction in the very midst of 
 the description, and passing on at once to 
 a representation of one who would arise 
 after many hundred years, and of whom 
 the former could be considered as in no 
 way the type. The most obvious and 
 honest way, therefore, of interpreting 
 this is, to refer it to Antiochus, and per 
 haps we shall find that the difficulty of 
 applying it to him is not insuperable. 
 ^ And he shall exalt himself. No one 
 can doubt that this will agree with Anti 
 ochus Epiphanes a proud, haughty, ab- 
 
 unusual and extraordinary : and the 
 meaning here is, that the things spoken 
 would be so impious and atrocious so 
 amazing and wonderful for their wicked 
 ness, as to produce amazement. IT Against 
 the God of gods. The true God, Jehovah ; 
 he is supreme, and is superior to all that 
 is called God, or that is worshipped as 
 such. Nothing could be better descrip 
 tive of Antiochus than this; nothing was 
 ever more strikingly fulfilled than this 
 was in him. ^ And shall prosper till the 
 indignation be accomplished. Referring 
 still to the fact that there was an ap 
 pointed time during which this was to 
 continue. That time might well be called 
 a time of indignation/ for the Lord 
 seemed to be angry against his temple 
 and people, and suffered this heathen 
 king to pour out his wrath without mea 
 sure against the temple, the city, and 
 the whole land. ^ for that that is de 
 termined shall be done. What is purposed 
 
 solute, and stern monarch, the purpose | in rd to tho city and temple> and to 
 ofwhos^rmgn was to exalt himself, and j all other things musfc be accomp i is bed, 
 
 Comp. ch. x. 21. The angel here states 
 a general truth that all that God has 
 ordained will come to pass. Tho appii- 
 
 to extend the limits of his empire. ^ And 
 maynify himself above every god. That 
 is, by directing what gods should or 
 
 should not be worshipped; attempting cation o f this truth here is, that the series 
 to displace the claim of every one who of evcnts must be suffered to run on, and 
 was worshipped as God at his pleasure, ! that i( . could not be expected that they 
 and establishing the worship ot other | wmi i,i KP nrrAstPfl until nil tW tmrt K 
 Thus he assumed 
 
 gods in their place, 
 the right to determine what God should 
 bo worshipped in Jerusalem, abolishing 
 the worship of Jehovah, and setting up 
 that of Jupiter Olympius in tho stead ; 
 and so throughout his whole dominion, 
 
 by a proclamation, he forbade the wor 
 ship of any god but his, 1 Mac. i. 44 51 ; 
 Jos. Ant. B. xii. ch. v. 4, 5. One who 
 assumes or claims the right to forbid the 
 adoration of any particular god, and to 
 
 would be arrested, until all thnt had been 
 determined in tho divine mind should be 
 
 effected. They who would suffer, there 
 fore, in those times must wait with pa 
 tience until the divine purposes should 
 be brought about, and when the period 
 should arrive, the calamities would cease. 
 
 37. Neither shall he regard the God of 
 his fathers. The God that his fathers or 
 ancestors had worshipped. That is, ho 
 would not be bound or restrained by the 
 
 order "divine homage to bo rendered to j religion of his own land, or by any of the 
 any one which he chooses, exalts himself j usual laws of religion. He would wor- 
 above the gods, as he in this way denies 1 ship any God that he ploased, or none as 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 God of his fathers, nor the desire of 
 
 2 Th. 2. 4. 
 
 he pleased. The usual restraints that 
 bind men the restraints derived from 
 the religion of their ancestors would in 
 his case be of no avail. Seo Notes on 
 ver. 36. This was in all respects true of 
 Antioehus. At his pleasure he worship 
 ped the gods commonly adored in his 
 country, or the gods worshipped by the 
 Greeks and Romans, or no gods. And, 
 in a special manner, instead of honouring 
 the God of his fathers, and causing the 
 image of that God to be placed in the 
 temple at Jerusalem, as it might have 
 been supposed he would, he caused the 
 altar of Jupiter Olyrapius to be set up 
 there and his worship to be celebrated 
 there. In fact, as Antioehus had been 
 educated abroad, and had passed his 
 early life in foreign countries, ho had 
 never paid much respect to the religion 
 of his own land. The attempt to intro 
 duce a foreign religion into Judea, was 
 an attempt to introduce the religion of the 
 Greeks (Jahn, Hob. Commonwealth, p. 
 267), and in no instance did he endeavour 
 to force upon them the peculiar religion 
 of his own nation. In his private feel 
 ings, therefore, and in his public acts, it 
 might be said of Antioehus, that he was 
 characterized in an eminent degree by a 
 want of regard for the faith of his ances 
 tors. The language used here by the an 
 gel is that which would properly denote 
 great infidelity and impiety. ^[ Nor the 
 desire of icomen. The phrase the de 
 sire of women is in itself ambiguous, and 
 may either mean what they desire, that is, 
 what is agreeable to them, or what they 
 commonly seek, and for which they would 
 plead ; or it may mean At* own desire ; 
 that is, that he would not be restrained 
 by the desire of women by any regard 
 for women, for honourable matrimony, 
 or by irregular passion. The phrase here 
 is probably to be taken in the former 
 sense, as this best suits the connection. 
 There has been great variety in the in 
 terpretation of this expression. Some 
 have maintained that it cannot be appli 
 cable to Antioehus at all, since he was a 
 man eminently licentious and under the 
 influence of abandoned women. Jerome, 
 in lac., J. D. Michaelis, Dereser, Geseniu?, 
 and Lengerke suppose that this means 
 that he would not regard tho beautiful 
 
 women, nor regard any god : for he 
 shall magnify himself above all. 
 
 statue of the goddess Venus whose tem 
 ple was in Elymais, which he plundered. 
 Staudlin and Dathe, that ho would not 
 regard the weeping or tears of women ; 
 that is, that he would be cruel. Bertholdt, 
 that he would not spare little children 
 the object of a mother s love; that is, 
 that he would be a cruel tyrant. Jerome 
 renders it, Et erit in concnpiscentiia foe- 
 minarum, and explains it of unbridled 
 lust, and applies it principally to Antio 
 ehus. Elliott, strangely it seems to me 
 (Apocalypse iv. 152), interprets it as re 
 ferring to that which was so much the 
 object of desire among the Hebrew wo 
 men the Messiah, the promised seed of 
 the woman ; and he says that he had 
 found this opinion hinted at by Faber 
 on the Prophecies (Ed. 5), i. 380 385. 
 Others expound it, as signifying that he 
 would not regard honourable matrimony, 
 but would be given to unlawful pleasures. 
 It may not be practicable to determine 
 | with certainty the meaning of the expres- 
 ; sion, but it seems to me that the design 
 j of the whole is to set forth the impiety 
 ! and hard-heartedncss of Antioehus. He 
 | would not regard the gods of his fathers ; 
 ! that is, he would not be controlled by any 
 | of the principles of the religion in which 
 he had been educated, but would set them 
 all at defiance, and would do as he pleased; 
 and, in like manner, he would be unaf 
 fected by the influences derived from the 
 female character would disregard the 
 objects that were nearest to their hearts, 
 their sentiments of kindness and com 
 passion ; their pleadings and their tears : 
 he would be a cruel tyrant, alike re 
 gardless of all the restraints derived from 
 heaven and earth the best influences 
 from above and from below. It is not 
 necessary to say that this agrees exactly 
 with the character of Antioehus. He 
 was sensual and corrupt, and given to 
 licentious indulgence, and was incapa 
 ble of honourable and pure love, and 
 was a stranger to all those bland and pure 
 affections produced by intercourse with 
 refined and enlightened females. If one 
 wishes to describe a high state of tyranny 
 and depravity in a man, it cannot be done 
 better than by saying that he disregards 
 whatever is attractive and interesting to 
 a virtuous female mind, f Nor regard 
 
464 
 
 38 But in his b estate shall he 
 
 1 as for the almighty Gr>d,inJris neat he. shaft 
 honour, yea,, he shall honour a God, &c. 
 
 DANIEL. [B. C. 534. 
 
 honour the god of c forces: and a 
 
 b or, stead. 
 c Mauzzim, or, God s protectors; or, munitions. 
 
 any god. Any religious restraints what- who would succeed another occupying 
 ever the laws of any god worshipped in i the same place, or the same seat or 
 his own land or elsewhere in heaven or I throne. See Notes on ver. 2. Here 
 on earth. That is, he would be utterly it seems to mean that he would hon- 
 irreligious in heart, and where it con- our the god referred to in the place 
 flicted with his purposes would set at i which he occupied, or, as it were, on hia 
 nought every consideration derived from I own throne, or in his own temple. The 
 reverence to God. This harmonizes well I margin is, or stead; but the idea is 
 
 with the previous declaration about wo 
 men. The two commonly go together. 
 He that is unrestrained by the attractive 
 virtues of the female mind and character ; 
 he that has no regard for the sympathies 
 and kindnesses that interest virtuous fe 
 males ; he that sees nothing lovely in 
 what commonly engages their thoughts ; 
 
 not that he would honour this god in- 
 stead of another, but that he would do it 
 in his own place. If, however, as Gese- 
 nius and De Wette suppose, the sense is, 
 in his place, or stead, the correct inter 
 pretation is, that he would honour this 
 god of forces, in the stead of honouring 
 the God of bis father?, or any other god. 
 
 and he that throws himself beyond the I The general idea is clear, that he would 
 restraints of their society, and the effects | show disrespect or contempt for all other 
 
 of their conversation, is commonly a man 
 who cuts himself loose from all religion, 
 and is at the same time a despiser of vir 
 tuous females, and of God. No one will 
 expect piety towards God to be found in 
 a bosom that sees nothing to interest him 
 in the sympathies and virtues of the fe 
 male mind ; and the character of a woman- 
 hater and a hater of God will uniformly 
 be found united in the same person. 
 Such a person was Antiochus Epiphanes; 
 and such men have often been found in 
 the world. ^ For he shall magnify him 
 self above alt. Above all the restraints I 
 
 gods, and pay his devotions to this god 
 alone, ^ Shall he honour. Pay respect 
 to; worship; obey. This would be hia 
 god. He would show no respect to tho 
 God of his fathers, nor to any of the idols 
 usually worshipped, but would honour 
 this god exclusively. ^[ The god of forces. 
 Marg., Maiizzim, or, gods protectors, or 
 munitions. Heb. D^i D , Mauzzim. Latin 
 Vulg., Manzim ; Gr. pawei/j ; Syriac, tho 
 strong God; Luther, mausim ; Lengerke, 
 der Vesten fastnesses, fortresses. The 
 Hebrew word Tf>r means, properly, a 
 
 of religion, and all those derived from the I stron g or fortified place; a fortress ; and 
 intercourse of virtuous social life setting | Gesemus (Lex.) supposes that the refer- 
 atnouchtall the restraints that usually cnce here is to "the god of fortresses, a 
 
 at nought all the restraints that usually 
 bind men. Comp. Notes on ch. viii. 10, 11. 
 
 deity of the Syrians obtruded upon the 
 
 m , . , Jews, perhaps Mars." So also Grotius, 
 
 The marginal ! C . B. MichaXis, Staudlin, Bertholdt, and 
 
 38. But m At* estate . . , , , 
 
 reading here is, Asfor the ahmghty God j Winer< De mvernick, and Len 
 
 ge rke explain it as referring to the Ju- 
 that Antiochus had 
 
 yea, he 
 
 in his seat, he shall honou 
 
 honour a god, &c. The more correct 
 
 rendering, however, is that in the text, 
 
 and the reference is to some god which 
 he would honour, or for which he would 
 show respect. The rendering proposed 
 by Lengerke is the true rendering, But 
 the god of forces [firm places, fastnesses 
 der Vesten ] he shall honour in their 
 foundation [auf seinem Gcatelle.] The 
 Vulgate renders this, But the God Mao- 
 zim shall he honour in his place. So 
 also the Greek. The phrase in his es 
 tate U3 Sj? means properly, upon 
 his base, or foundation. It occurs in vs. 
 20, 21, where it is applied to a monarch 
 
 piter 
 
 learned to worship by his long residence 
 in Rome, and whose worship he trans 
 ferred to his own country. There has 
 been no little speculation as to the mean 
 ing of this passage, and as to the god hero 
 referred to; but it would seem that the 
 general idea is plain. It is, that the only 
 god which he would acknowledge would 
 be force, or power, or dominion. He would 
 set at nought the worship of the God of 
 his fathers, and all the usual obligations 
 and restraints of religion ; he would dis 
 card and despise all the pleadings of hu 
 manity and kindness, as if they were the 
 
B. C. 534.] II A P T E R X 1 . 465 
 
 god whom his fathers knew not . ver, and with precious stones, and 
 shall he honour with gold, with sil- with a pleasant things. 
 
 a things desired. Is. 44. 9. 
 
 weaknesses ofwomen, and he would depend | it may be remarked that, when in Rome, 
 solely on force. He would, as it were, where Antiochus spent his early years, 
 adore only the god of force/ and carry I he had learned to worship the Jupiter of 
 his purposes, not by right, or by the claims the capitol, and that he endeavoured to 
 of religion, but by arms. The meaning j introduce the worship of that foreign god 
 is not, I apprehend, that he would for- i into Syria. Of this fact there can be no 
 mally set up this god of forces and adore J doubt. It was one of the characteristics 
 him, but that this would be, in fact, the- of Antiochus that ho imitated the man- 
 only god that he would practically ac- ners and customs of the Romans to a ri- 
 knowledge. In selecting such a god as j diculous extent (Diod. Sic. Frag. xxvi. 
 would properly represent his feelings, he j 65), and it was a fact that he sent rich 
 would choose such an one as would de- | gifts to Rome in honour of the Jupiter 
 note force or dominion. Such a god would . worshipped there (Livy Ixii. 6), and that 
 be the god of war, or the Roman Jupiter, | he purposed to erect a magnificent tem- 
 who, as being supreme, and ruling the pie in honour of Jupiter Capitolinus in 
 world by his mere power, would be a fit Antioch, Livy xli. 20. This temple, how- 
 representative of the prevailing purpose ; ever, was not completed. It will be re- 
 of the Messiah. The general sentiment | membered, also, that he caused an altar 
 is, that all obligations of religion, and i to Jupiter to be erected over the altar of 
 justice, and compassion, would be disre- j burnt-sacrifice in Jerusalem. It should 
 garded, and he would carry his purposes j be added that they who apply this to An- 
 by mere power, with the idea, perhaps, j tichrist, or the Pope, refer it to idol or 
 included, as seems to be implied in the i image worship. Elliott (Apocalypse, iv. 
 remainder of the verse, that he would j 153) supposes that it relates to the horn- 
 set up and adore such a foreign god as | age paid to the saints and martyrs under 
 would be a suitable representation of this j the Papacy, and says that an appellation 
 purpose. It is hardly necessary to say j answering to the word Jl/ahiizzim, was 
 that this was eminently true of Antiochus actually given to the departed martyrs 
 Epiphanes ; and it maybe equally said j and saints under the Papal apostacy. 
 to be true of all the great heroes and con- 1 Thus he remarks: "As to what is said 
 querors of the world. Mars, the god of i of the wilful king s honouring the god 
 war, was thus adored openly in ancient i Mahuzzim (a god whom his fathers knew 
 times, and the devotion of heroes and con- not) in place of his ancestors god, and 
 querors to that idol god, though less open j the true God, it seems to me to have 
 and formal, has not been less real by the j been well and consistently explained, by 
 heroes and conquerors of modern times; a reference to those saints, and their re- 
 
 and, as wo say now of an avaricious or 
 covetous man that he is a worshipper of 
 mammon, though he in fact formally wor- 
 
 tics and imaycs, which the apostacy from 
 its first development regarded and wor 
 shipped as the Mahuzzim, or fortresses 
 
 ships no god, a.nd has no altar, so it might of tho places where they were depos- 
 be affirmed of Antiochus, and may be of I ited." Apoc. iv. 157. But all this ap- 
 heroes and conquerors in general, that the I pears forced and unnatural ; and if it be 
 only god that is honoured is the god of supposed t..;at it was designed to refer to 
 
 war, of power, of force; and that setting 
 at naught all the obligations of religion, 
 
 Antichrist or the Papacy, no application 
 of the language can be found so obvious 
 
 and of worship of the true God, they pay j and appropriate as that which supposes 
 their devotions to this god alone. Next! that it refers to Antiochus, and to his re- 
 to mammon, the god that is most adored ; liance enforce rather than on justice and 
 in this world is the god of force this right. U And a god whom his fathers knew 
 Mauzzim that Antiochus so faithfully j not. This foreign god, Jupiter, whom he 
 
 served. In illustration of the fact that 
 seems here to bo implied, that he would 
 introduce such a god as would bo a fit 
 representative of this purpose of hie life, 
 
 had learned to worship at Rome, f Shall 
 he honour with gold, with silver, and with 
 precious stones, &c. That is, he shall 
 lavish these things on building a tempi* 
 
46b DANIEL. [B. C. 584 
 
 39 Thus shall he do in the a most, increase with glory: and he shall 
 strong holds with a strange god, ! cause them to rule over many, and 
 whom he shall acknowledge, and shall divide the land for b gain. 
 a fortresses of munitions. b a price. 
 
 for him, or in his image. This accords i pire the Jupiter of the capitol. He 
 with the account which Livy gives (xli. i seemed to be acting under the auspices 
 20) of the temple which he commenced j of this foreign god. [ Whom he shall 
 at Antioch in honour of Jupiter. Livy i acknowledge. By building temples and 
 says that, although in his conduct he was altars to him. <[ And increase with glory. 
 profligate, and although in many things ; That is, with honour. Ho would seein 
 it was supposed that he was deranged ; to increase or extend his dominion in 
 Quidam hand dubie insanire aiebant yet | the world, by introducing his worship 
 that in two respects he was distinguished ! in his own country and in the lands 
 for having a noble mind for his worship ! which he would conquer. Before, his 
 of the gods, and for the favour towards j dominion appeared to be only at Rome; 
 cities in adorning them : In dttabus tamen | Antiochus sought that it might be ex- 
 magnia honestisque rebus fere reghis erat j tended farther, over his own kingdom, 
 animus, in urbinm donis, et deornm cultu. j and over the countries that he would 
 He then adds, in words that are all the j conquer. f And he shall cause them to 
 commentary which we need in the pas- I rule over many. That is, the foreign 
 sage before us : Magnificcntice ve.ro in deos j gods. Mention had been made before 
 vel Jovis Olympii templum Athenis, uncem j of only one God ; but the introduction of 
 in terris inchoatum pro magnitudine del, \ the worship of Jupiter would be naturally 
 potest testis esse. Sed et Delonaris insig- connected with that of the other gods of 
 nibus statuarumque copia exornavit ; et j Rome, and they are, therefore, referred 
 Antiochice Jovis capitolini magnijicnm j to in this manner. The conquests of 
 templum, non laqueatum auro tantum, sed Antiochus would seem to be setting up 
 parietibus toti s lamina inauratum, et alia, j the dominion of these gods over the lands 
 nntlta in aliis locis pollicitus, quia per- \ which he subdued, ^j" And shall divide 
 breve tempus regni ejns fuit, non perfecit. \ the land, for gain. Marg., a price. The 
 *[ And with pleasant things. Marg., things \ reference here is, probably, to the holy 
 dcnired. That is, with ornaments, or sta- j land, and the idea is that it would be 
 tuary. or perhaps pictures. Comp. Notes j partitioned out among his followers for 
 on Isa. ii. 16. He meant that the temple I a price, or with a view to gain ; that is, 
 should be beautified and adorned in the j perhaps, that it would be farmed out 
 highest degree. This temple, Livy says, | for the purpose of raising revenue, and 
 he did not live to finish. j that, with this view, as often occurred, it 
 
 39. Thus shall he do in the most strong- j would be set up for sale to the highest 
 holds. Marg., fortresses of munitions. bidder. This was a common way of 
 The reference is to strongly fortified raising revenue, by farming out a con- 
 places ; to those places which had been I quered province ; that is, by disposing of 
 made strong for purposes of defence. j the privilege of raising a revenue in it to 
 
 The idea is, that he would carry on his 
 purposes against these places, as it were, 
 under the auspices of this strange god. 
 It was a fact, that in his wars Antiochus 
 came into possession of the strong places, 
 or the fortified towns of the nations which 
 he attacked Jerusalem, Sidon, Pelu- 
 
 the one who would offer most for it, and 
 the consequence was, that it gave rise to 
 vast rapacity in extorting funds from tho 
 people. Comp. 1 Mac. iii. 35, 36, where, 
 speaking of Lysias, whom Antiochus had 
 set to oversee the affairs of the king 
 from the river Euphrates unto the bor- 
 
 sium, Memphis then among the strong- i ders of Egypt/ it is said of Antiochus 
 est places in the world. ^ With a strange I that he " gave him [Lysias] charge of all 
 god. A foreign god whom his fathers did things that he would have done, as als> 
 not acknowledge; that is, according to ! concerning them that dwelt in Judea and 
 the supposition above, and according to ! Jerusalem, to wit, that he would send an 
 the fact, with the god whom he had j army against them, to destroy and root 
 adored at Rome, and whose worship he > out the strength of Israel, and the reni- 
 was ambitious to transfer to his own om-j nant of Jerusalem, and to take away 
 
B.C. 534.] CHAPTER XI. 467 
 
 40 fl And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at 
 
 their memorial from that place ; and that 
 he should place strangers in all their 
 quarters, and divide their land by lot." 
 
 40. And at the time of the end. See 
 ver. 35. The time of the end must 
 properly denote the end or consummation 
 of the series of events under considera 
 tion, or the matter in hand, and properly 
 and obviously means here the end or 
 consummation of the transactions which 
 had been referred to in the previous part of 
 the vision. It is equivalent to what wo 
 would say by expressing it thus : at 
 the winding up of the affair. In ch. xii. 
 4, 9, 13, the word end/ however, ob 
 viously refers to another close or consum 
 mation the end or consummation of the 
 affairs that reach far into the future 
 the final dispensation of this in this 
 world. It has been held by many that 
 this could not be understood as referring 
 to Antiochus, because what is here stated 
 did not occur in the close of his reign. 
 Perhaps the most obvious interpretation 
 of what is said in this and the subsequent 
 verses to the end of the chapter would 
 be, that, after the series of events referred 
 to in the previous verses ; after Anti 
 ochus had invaded Egypt, and had been 
 driven thence by the tear of the Romans, 
 he would, in the close of his reign, 
 again attack that country, and bring 
 it, and Lybia, and Ethiopia into subjec 
 tion (ver. 42) ; and that when there, tid 
 ings out of the north should compel him 
 to abandon the expedition and return 
 again to his own land. Porphyry (see 
 Jerome, in toe.), says that this was so, 
 and that Antiochus actually invaded 
 Egypt in the eleventh year of his reign/ 
 which was the year before he died ; and 
 he maintained, therefore, that all this 
 had a literal application to Antiochus, 
 and that being so literally true, it must 
 have been written after the events had 
 occurred. Unfortunately the thirteen 
 books of Porphyry are lost, and we have 
 only the fragments of his works preserved 
 which are to be found in the Commentary 
 of Jerome on the Book of Daniel. The 
 statement of Porphyry, referred to by 
 Jerome, is contrary to the otherwise uni 
 versal testimony of history about the last j 
 days of Antiochus, and there are such j 
 improbabilities in the statement as to 
 leaye tho general impression that Por 
 
 phyry in this respect falsified history in 
 order to make it appear that this must 
 j have been written after the events re 
 ferred to. If the statement of Porphyry 
 ! were correct, there would be no difficulty 
 : in applying this to Antiochus. The 
 | common belief, however, in regard to 
 Antiochus is, that he did not invade 
 i Egypt after the series of events referred 
 j to above, and after he had been required 
 : to retire by the authority of the Roman 
 ; ambassadors as stated in the Notes on 
 - ver. 30. This belief accords also with 
 all the probabilities of the case. Under 
 these circumstances, many commentators 
 ! have supposed that this portion of the 
 ; chapter (vs. 40 45) could not refer to 
 ; Antiochus, and they have applied it to 
 i Antichrist, or to the Roman power. Yet 
 how forced and unnatural such an appli 
 cation must be, any one can perceive by 
 examining Newton on the Prophecies, pp. 
 : 308 315. The obvious, and perhaps it 
 may be added the honest, application of 
 ! the passage must be to Antiochns. This 
 is that which would occur to any reader 
 of the prophecy ; this is that which ho 
 | would obviously hold to be the true ap- 
 \ plication; and this is that only which 
 would occur to any one, unless it were 
 deemed necessary to bend the prophecy 
 j to accommodate it to the history. Hon 
 esty and fairness, it seems to me, require 
 that we should understand this as refer 
 ring to the series of events which had 
 been described in the previous portion 
 of the chapter, and as designed to state 
 tho ultimate issue or close of the whole. 
 
 There will be no difficulty in this if we 
 may regard these verses (40 45) as con 
 taining a recapitulation, or a summing up 
 of the series of events, with a statement 
 of the manner in which they would close. 
 If so interpreted, all will be clear. It 
 will then be a general statement of what 
 would occur in regard to this remarkable 
 transaction that would so materially affect 
 the interests of religion in Judea, and be 
 such an important chapter in the history 
 of the world. This summing up, more 
 over, would give occasion to mention 
 some circumstances in regard to the con 
 quests of Antiochus which could not so well 
 be introduced in the narrative itself, and 
 to present, in few words, a summary of 
 all that would occur, and to state the 
 
468 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 531 
 
 him : and the king of the north f tries, and shall overflow and pass 
 shall come against him like a | over. 
 
 whirlwind, with chariots, and with I 41 He shall enter also into the 
 horsemen, and with many ships ; i b glorious c land and many countries 
 
 and he shall enter into the COUn-j ^ando/dd^cr, ornament, or, goodly land 
 i Zee. 9. 14. c ver. 16, 45. 
 
 manner in which all would be terminated. 
 Such a summing up, or recapitulation, is 
 not uncommon, and, in this way, the im 
 pression of the whole would be more dis- 
 dinct. With this view, the phrase and 
 at the time of the end (ver. 40), would 
 refer, not so much to the time of the 
 end of the reign of Antiochus, but the 
 time of the end of the whole series of 
 the transactions referred to by the angel 
 ns recorded in the Scriptures of truth, 
 (ch. x. 21), from the time of Darius the 
 Mede (ch. xi. 1), to the close of the reign 
 of Antiochus a series of events em 
 bracing a period of some three hundred 
 and fifty years. Viewed in reference to 
 this long period, the whole reign of An 
 tiochus, which was only eleven years, 
 might be regarded as the time of the 
 end. It was, indeed, the most disastrous 
 portion of the whole period, and in this 
 chapter it occupies more space than all 
 that went before it for it was to be the 
 time of the peculiar and dreadful trial of 
 the Hebrew people, but it was the end 
 
 of the land of Egypt, and when he ob 
 tained possession of the person of Ptol 
 emy. See Notes on fs. 25 27. f With 
 chariots, and with horsemen, and with 
 many ships. All this literally occurred 
 in the successive invasions of Egypt by 
 Antiochus. See the Notes above. ^ And 
 he shall enter into the countries. Into 
 Ccelesyria, Palestine, Egypt, and the ad 
 jacent lands. ^ And shall over/low, and 
 pass over. Like a flood he shall spread 
 his armies over these countries. See 
 Notes on ver. 22. 
 
 41. He shall enter also into the glorious 
 land. Marg., land of delight, or 07-710- 
 metit, or goodly land. The Hebrew is, 
 land of ornament; that is, of beauty, to 
 wit, Palestine, or the holy land. The 
 same word is used in ver. 16. See Notes 
 on that place. As to the fact that he 
 would invade that land, see Notes on vs. 
 28, 31 33. ^ And many countries shall 
 be overthrown. The word countries hero 
 is supplied by the translators. The He- 
 
 of the matter the winding up of the brew word ni2n may denote many 
 series theclosing of the events on which things/ and mightrefer to cities, dwellings, 
 the eye of the angel was fixed, and which I institutions, &c. The meaning is, that ho 
 were so important to be known before- would produce wide devastation which 
 
 hand. In these verses, therefore, (40 
 45,) he sums up what would occur in 
 what he here calls appropriately the 
 time of the end the period when the 
 predicted termination of this series of im 
 portant events should arrive to wit, in 
 the brief and eventful reign of Antiochus. 
 ^| Shall be king of the South. The king 
 of Egypt. See vs. 5, 6, 9. f Push at 
 him. As in the wars referred to in the 
 previous verse in endeavouring to ex 
 pel him from Coelesyria and Palestine, 
 and from Egypt itself, vs. 25, 29, 30. 
 See Notes on these verses, ^ And the 
 king of the north shall come against him. 
 
 The king of Syria Antiochus. Against 
 
 the king of Egypt. He shall repeatedly 
 
 invade his lands. See the Notes above. 
 
 ^f Like a tchfrlwind. As if he would 
 
 sweep everything before him. This he 
 
 did when he invaded Egypt; when ho i the Romans; he was also engaged with 
 
 Miad on MmphU, and tha tost portion ; the Jews, for Paleetine had been thebattl*- 
 
 was true of Antiochus, when, either per 
 sonally, or by his generals, he invaded the 
 land of Palestine. See the Notes above. 
 11 But these shall escape out of his hand, 
 &c. Intent on his work in Palestine, and 
 having enough there to occupy his atten 
 tion, the neighbouring lands of Edom, 
 Moab, and Ammon shall not be molested 
 by him. The wrath of Antiochus was 
 particularly against the Jews, and it is 
 not a little remarkable that no mention is 
 made of his invading these adjacent 
 countries. The route which he pursued 
 was to Egypt, along the shores of the 
 Mediterranean, and though he turned 
 from his course to wreak his vengeance 
 on the Jews, yet it does not appear that 
 he carried his arms farther from the main 
 line of his march. Antiochus was prin 
 cipally engaged with the Egyptians and 
 
B. C. 534.J 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 shall be overthrown: but these shall | also upon the countries; and the 
 escape out of his hand, even a Edom, ! land of Egypt shall not escape. 
 
 and Moiib, and the chief of the chil 
 dren of Ammon. 
 42 He shall b stretch forth his hand 
 
 Is. 11.14, 15. 
 
 43 Eut he shall have power over 
 the treasures of gold and of silver, 
 and over all the precious things of 
 
 b send forth. 
 
 field the main place and object of con 
 tention between the king of Syria and 
 the king of Egypt. Moab, and Edom, 
 and Ammon, were comparatively remote 
 from the scene of conflict, and were 
 left unmolested. It would seem most 
 probable, also, that these nations were 
 friendly to Antiochus, and were in alli 
 ance with him, or at least it is certain 
 that they were hostile to the Jews, which, 
 for the purposes of Antiochus, amounted 
 to the same thing. Judas Maccabeus is 
 represented as engaged with them in war, 
 and consequently they must have either 
 been in alliance with Antiochus, or in 
 some other way promoting his interests. 
 See 1 Mac. iv. 61, v. 3, 6, 8, 9. These 
 countries were, therefore, in fact, secure 
 from the invasions of Antiochus, and so 
 far the prophecy was literally fulfilled. 
 It may be added (a) that no occurrence 
 since that time has taken place to which 
 the prophecy can with propriety be ap 
 plied; and (6) that no natural sagacity 
 could have foreseen this, and that, there 
 fore, if the prediction was uttered before 
 the days of Antiochus, it must have been 
 the result of divine inspiration. As to 
 the former of these remarks, (a) if any 
 one is desirous of seeing how forced and 
 unnatural must be any attempt to apply 
 this to any other times than those of An 
 tiochus, he has only to consult Bishop 
 Newton on the Prophecies, (pp. 311 313,) 
 who explains it as referring to the Oth- 
 man empire, and to the fact that though 
 the Turks have been able to take Jerusa 
 lem, they have never been able to subdue 
 the Arabians, the Moabites, or the Ammon 
 ites. Aleppo, Damascus, and Gaza, says 
 he, were forced to submit, but these other 
 places escaped out of the hands of the 
 Turks. As to the other remark, (b) if 
 one writing after the events, had intended 
 to give a brief and striking view of what 
 Antiochus did, he could not find better 
 language to express it than to say in the 
 words of the passage before us, He shall 
 enter also into the glorious land, and 
 many countries shall be overthrown ; but 
 these shall escape out of his hand, even 
 40 
 
 Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the 
 children of Ammon fell. But it is clear 
 that there is no natural sagacity by which 
 this could be foreseen. There was no 
 thing in the character of those nations, or 
 in the nature of the case, which would lead 
 one to anticipate it for the presumption 
 j would be, that if a desolating Avar were 
 ; waged on Palestine by a cruel conqueror, 
 j his ravages would be extended to the 
 neighbouring countries also. 
 
 42. He shall stretch forth his hand aha 
 upon the countries. Marg., send forth. 
 Significant of war and conquest. Tho 
 idea is, that he would be an invader of 
 
 | foreign lands a characteristic which it is 
 I not necessary to show appertained to 
 
 Antiochus. ^ And the land of Egypt 
 i shall not escape. Moab and Edom, and 
 | the land of Ammon would escape, but 
 | Egypt would not. "We have seen in the 
 ! exposition of this chapter, (Notes on vs. 
 I 2528,) that he, in fact, subdued Mem- 
 
 phis and the best portions of Egypt, and 
 j even obtained possession of the person of 
 
 the king. 
 
 43. But he shall have poiver over the. 
 treasures of gold and of silver. See Notes 
 on ver. 28. Having seized upon the most 
 important places in Egypt, and having 
 possession of the person of the king, he 
 would, of course, have the wealth of 
 Egypt at his disposal, and would return 
 to his land laden with spoils, f And 
 over all the precioits things of Egypt. The 
 rich lands; the public buildings; the 
 contents of the royal palace; the works 
 of art, and the monuments, and books, 
 and implements of war. All these would, 
 of course, be at the disposal of the con 
 queror, ^f And the Libyans. The word 
 Libyans, in the Hebrew Scriptures, is 
 
 ! everywhere joined with the Egyptians 
 and Ethiopians. They are supposed to 
 have been a people of Egyptian origin, 
 and their country bordered on Egypt in 
 the West. See Tanner s Ancient Atlas. 
 A conquest of Egypt was almost in itself 
 a conquest of Libya. ^ And the Ethiopi 
 ans. Heb., Cashitet typb- On the gen 
 eral meaning of the word (Jrmh. or Etkio- 
 
470 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534 
 
 Egypt : and the Libyans and Ethio 
 pians shall be at his steps. 
 
 44 But tidings out of the east and 
 out of the north shall trouble him : 
 
 therefore he shall go forth with 
 great fury to destroy, and utterly 
 to make away many. 
 
 pia in the Scriptures, see Notes on Isa. j 
 xi. 11. The reference here, undoubt- , 
 edly, is to the African Cush or Ethiopia, j 
 which bounded Egypt on the south, j 
 This country comprehended not only 
 Ethiopia above Syene and the Cataracts, 
 but likewise Thebais or Upper Egypt. 
 A subjugation of Egypt would be in fact j 
 almost a conquest of this land, f Shall 
 bo at Ins steps. Gcsenius renders this, 
 in his company. The word means pro- j 
 perly step, or walk.. Comp. Ps. xxxvii. | 
 23 ; Prov. xx. 24. The Vulgate renders 
 this, And he shall pass also through 
 Libya and ^Ethiopia. The Gr., And he 
 shall have power over all the secret trea 
 sures of gold and of silver, and over all 
 the desirable things of Egypt, and of the 
 Libyans, and of the Ethiopians, in their 
 strongholds. Lengerke renders it, And 
 the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow 
 his steps. The proper sense of the He 
 brew would be, that they accompanied 
 him ; that they marched with him or fol 
 lowed him ; and the phrase would be ap 
 plicable either to those who were allies, or 
 who were led captive. The more proba 
 ble idea would be that they were allies, 
 or were associated with him, than that 
 they were captives. I do not know that 
 there are any distinct historical facts 
 which show the truth of what is here pre 
 dicted respecting Antiochus, but it can 
 not be considered as improbable that the 
 prophecy was fulfilled; for, () as already 
 observed, these nations, naturally allied 
 to Egypt, as being a part of the same 
 people, bounded Egypt on the west and 
 on the south; (b) in the days of Ezekiel 
 (Ezek. xxx. 4, 5), we find that they were 
 actually confederated with Egypt in a 
 league/ and that the calamity which fell 
 upon Egypt, also fell directly upon 
 Ethiopia and Libya; and (c) the posses 
 sion of Egypt, therefore, would be natu 
 rally followed with the subjugation of these 
 places, or it might be presumed that they 
 would seek the alliance and friendship of 
 one who had subdued it. 
 
 44. But tidings out of the east and out 
 of the north shall trouble him. Shall dis 
 turb him, or alarm him. That is, he will 
 hear something from those quarters that 
 
 will disarrange all his other plans, or that 
 will summon him forth in his last and 
 final expedition on that expedition in 
 which he will corne to his end (ver. 45), 
 or which will be the end of this series of 
 historical events. The reference hero 
 is to the winding up of this series of 
 transactions, and, according to the view 
 taken on ver. 40 (see Notes on that place), 
 it is not necessary to suppose that this 
 would happen immediately after what is 
 stated in ver. 43, but it is rather to be re 
 garded as a statement of what would oc 
 cur in the end, or of the manner in which 
 the person here referred to would finally 
 come to an end, or in which these events 
 would be closed. As a matter of fact, 
 Antiochus, as will be seen in the Notes 
 on ver. 45, was called forth in a warliko 
 expedition by tidings or reports from Par- 
 thia and Armenia regions lying to the 
 | east and the north, and it was in this ex- 
 ! pedition that he lost his life, and that (his 
 I series of historical events was closed. 
 | Lengerke says, Antiochus assembled an 
 i army to take vengeance on the Jews, who, 
 i after the close of the unfortunate cam- 
 : paign in Egypt, rose up, under the Mac- 
 1 cabees against Antiochus. (1 Mac. iii. 
 ! 10, seq.). Then the intelligence that the 
 ! Parthians in the east, and the Armenians 
 j in the north, had armed themselves for 
 | war against him, alarmed him. So Ta 
 citus (Hist. v. 8) says [Antiochus Judaeis], 
 j Dewere super stitionem et mores Grceconim 
 adnixus, quominus teterrimam gentem in 
 j melius inutarf.t, Parthorum be/lo prohibi- 
 tus est, nam ea tempestate arsaces defecerat. 
 In the year 147 15. C., Antiochus went on 
 , the expedition to Persia and Armenia, on 
 the return from which he died. The occa 
 sions for this were these : (a) Artaxias, the 
 ; king of Armenia, who was his vassal, hud 
 revolted from him, and (b) he sought to re 
 plenish his exhausted treasures, that he 
 might wage the war with Judas Macca 
 beus. See 1 Mac. iii. 27 37 ; Jos. Ant. B. 
 ! xii. ch. vii. $ 2 ; Appian Syriac. xlvi. 80 ; 
 1 Porphyry, in Jerome, in loc. ^ There- 
 ] fore shall he go forth with great fury to 
 destroy, fcc. Great fury at the revolt of 
 Artaxias, and especially at this juncture 
 when he was waging war with the Jews ; 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 471 
 
 45 And he shall plant the taber 
 nacles of his palaces between the 
 seas in the a glorious holy mountain: 
 
 yet b he shall come to his end, and 
 none shall help him. 
 
 a or, goodly, Heb. mountain r>f delight oj fyliness. 
 b21h.2. 8. 
 
 and great fury at tho Jews, with a j place in one of those quarters. The fact 
 determination to obtain the means ut- ] was, that he had two objects in view the 
 terly to destroy them. 1 Mac. iii. 27 : one was to put down the revolt in Arme- 
 * Now when king Antiochus heard these nia; and the other to replenish his ex- 
 things [the successes of Judas Mac- hausted treasures from Persia. The for- 
 cabeus], he was full of indignation." ; mer would be naturally that which he 
 In every way his wrath was kindled, would first, endeavour to accomplish, for 
 He was enraged against the Jews on | if he suffered the revolt to proceed, it 
 account of their success; he was en- j might increase to such an extent that it 
 raged against Artaxias for revolting would be impossible to subdue it. Be- 
 from him ; he was enraged because his sides, he would not be likely to go to Per- 
 trcasury was exhausted, and he had not sia when there was a formidable insur- 
 the means of prosecuting the war. In ; rection in his rear, by which he might be 
 this mood of mind he crossed the Eu- i harassed either in Persia, or on his return, 
 phrates (1 Mac. iii. 37) to prosecute the ! It is most probable, therefore, that he 
 war in the East, and, as it is said here, \ would first quell the rebellion in Armenia 
 utterly to make away many. Every j on his way to Persia, and that the place 
 thing conspired to kindle his fury, and, in here referred to where he would pitch his 
 this state of mind, he went forth on his royal tent, and where he would end his 
 
 last expedition to the east. Nothing, in 
 fact, could better describe the state of 
 mind of Antiochus, than the language 
 here used by the angel to Daniel. 
 
 45. And he shall plant the tabernacles 
 of his palaces. The royal tents ; the mi 
 litary tents of himself and his court. Ori 
 ental princes when they went forth, even 
 in war, marched in great state, with a 
 large retinue of the officers of their court, 
 and often with their wives and concu 
 bines, and with all the appliances of 
 luxury. Comp. the account of the inva 
 sion of Greece by Xerxes, or of the camp 
 of Darius, as taken by Alexander the 
 
 days, would be some mountain where ho 
 would encamp before he reached the con 
 fines of Persia. There have been various 
 conjectures as to the place here denoted by 
 tho phrase between the seas, and much 
 speculation has been employed to deter 
 mine the precise location. Jerome ren 
 ders it, And he shall pitch his tent in 
 Aphadno between the seas regarding 
 the words which our translators have ren 
 
 dered his palac 
 
 as a proper 
 So the Greek, 
 
 name denoting a place. 
 e^fluWrp. The Syriac renders it, in a 
 plain, between the sea and the mountain. 
 
 Great!" The" military stotionT of^Antio! i Theodoret takes it for a place near Jcru- 
 chus, therefore, in this march, would be, salem Jerome sa y lfc was near ISicopo- 
 
 for the time, the residence of the court, 
 
 lis, which was formerly called Emmaus, 
 
 and would be distinguished for as great a whore the mountainous parts of Judea 
 degree of royal luxury as the c ! rcum . i began to rise and that ,t lay between the 
 stances would allow. At the same time, j ]Dead Sea on the east > a " d th ? Medlt erra- 
 they would consist of tabernacles or tents, I n t ean A on t he . ? whe he supposes 
 as those stations were not designed to be j ^ Antichrist will pitch his tent; Por- 
 permanent. The meaning is, that the i P^ry and Calmet place it between the 
 royal temporary residence In this expedi- 1 two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates; 
 tion. and previous to the close the end ! the latter supposing it means Padan of 
 of the whole matter-that is, the death | two n T ers that is, some place in Meso- 
 of Antiochus, would bo in the mountain i P taini ? J *** P r - Goodwin supposes that 
 here referred to. f Between the seas. \ the Bntish Isles are "tended, "which 
 
 That is, between some seas in tho east/ 
 or north for it was by tidings from the 
 
 so eminently stand between the seas. " 
 Prof. Stuart understands this of the Me- 
 
 east and north that he would be disturbed, diterranean Sea, and that the idea is that 
 and summoned forth, ver. 44. We are, I the encampment of Antiochus was in some 
 therefore, most naturally to look for this I situation between this sea and Jerusalem, 
 
472 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534 
 
 mentioned here as the holy and beauti- I such as the following : (a) what is here 
 ful mountain. So far as the phrase here stated was to occur after the rumour from 
 used between the seas is concerned, ; the east and the north (ver. 44) should 
 there can be no difficulty. It might be call forth the person here referred to on 
 applied to anyplace lying between two this expedition ; (b) it would not be long 
 sheets of water, as the country between ; before his end, before the close of the 
 the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean ; or j series, and would be connected with that; 
 the Dead Sea and Persian gulf; or the j or would be the place where that would 
 Caspian and Euxino seas; or the Caspian occur ; (c) it would be on some moun- 
 sea and the Persian gulf, for there is tainous region, to which the appellation 
 nothing in the language to determine the | glorious holy might with propriety be 
 exact locality. There is no reason for j applied. The only question of difficulty 
 taking the word aphadno *J"75$ as a j is, whether it is necessary to interpret 
 proper name the literal meaning of it ! this of Jerusalem, or whether it may 
 being tent or tabernacle; and the simple j be applied to some other mountainous 
 idea in the passage is, that the transac- region where it may be supposed An- 
 tion here referred to the event which tiochus pitched his tents on his last ex- 
 would close this series, and which would pedition to the East, and near the close 
 constitute the end of these affairs, would of nis ife - Jerome renders this, Super 
 region sit- I m on tern inclytum et sanctum; the Greek, 
 
 occur in some mountainous 
 uated between two seas or bodies of wa 
 ter. Any such place, so far as the mean 
 ing of the word is concerned, would cor 
 respond with this prophecy. ^[ In the 
 glorious holy mountain. That is, this 
 would occur (a) in a mountain, or in a 
 mountainous region ; and (b) it would be 
 a mountain to which the appellation here 
 used glorious holy would be properly 
 given. The most obvious application of 
 this phrase, it cannot be doubted, would 
 be Jerusalem, as being the holy moun 
 tain, or the mountain of holiness, and 
 as the place which the word glorious 
 "OS would most naturally suggest. 
 Comp. vs. 16, 41. Bertholdt and Dereser 
 propose a change in the text here, and 
 understand it as signifying that he would 
 pitch his tent between a sea and a moun 
 tain, and would seize upon a temple ftHp) 
 there. But there is no authority for so 
 changing the text. Rosenmuller, whom 
 Lengcrke follows, renders it, between 
 some sea and the glorious holy mountain ; 
 Lengerke supposes that the meaning is, 
 that Antiochus, on his return from Egypt, 
 and before he went to Persia, pitched 
 
 on the holy mountain Sabcein - 
 The Syriac, in a plain, between a sea 
 and a mountain, and shall preserve his 
 sanctuary. The literal meaning of the 
 passage may be thus expressed, on a 
 mountain of beauty that is holy or sacred. 
 The essential things are, (a) that it would 
 be on a mountain, or in a mountainous 
 region; (b) that this mountain would bo 
 celebrated or distinguished for beauty 
 OX that is, for the beauty of its situa 
 tion, or the beauty of its scenery, or the 
 beauty of its structures or that it should 
 be regarded as beautiful ; (c) that it would 
 be held as sacred or holy r?p that is, 
 as sacred to religion, or regarded as a 
 holy place, or a. place of worship. Now 
 it is true that this language might be ap 
 plied to Mount Sion, for that was a moun 
 tain ; it was distinguished for beauty, or 
 was so regarded by those who dwelt there 
 (Comp. Ps. xlviii. 2) ; and it was holy, as 
 being the place where the worship of God 
 was celebrated. But it is also true, that, 
 so far as the language is concerned, it 
 might be applied to any other mountain 
 or mountainous region that was distin- 
 
 his tents in that region, somewhere along ; guished for beauty, and that was regarded 
 the coasts of the Mediterranean, for the ! as sacred or in any way consecrated to 
 purpose of chastising the Jews, and that ; religion. I see no objection, therefore, to 
 this is the reference here. But this, as I the supposition that this may be under- 
 well as the proposed rending of Dereser j stood of some mountain or elevated spot 
 and Bertholdt, is a forced interpretation, j which was held as sacred to religion, or 
 Gesenius (Lex.) supposes that the phrase | where a temple was reared for worship, 
 mean*, mount of holy beauty, i. e. Mount and hence it may have referred to some 
 Sion. There are some things which are mountain, in the vicinity of some temple 
 clear, and which the honest principles of dedicated to idol worship, where Antio- 
 interpretation demand in tiiis passage, j cbus would pitch his tent for the pur 
 
B.C.534.] CHAPTER XI. 473 
 
 pose of rapine and plunder. 1f Yet he I lybius in Excerpta Vnlesii de Yirtntflm 
 shall come to his end. Evidently in et Viliis, xxxi., and Appian, Syriac. xlvi. 
 the expedition referred to, and in the | 80. Now this account agrees substan- 
 vicinity referred to. Though he had gone tially with the prediction in the passage 
 full of wrath ; and though he was pre- before us in the following respects : 
 paring to wreak his vengeance on the (a) The circumstances which called him 
 people of God; and though he had every ; forth. It was on account of tidings 
 prospect of success in the enterprise, yet j or rumors out of the east and north that 
 he would come to an end there, or would j he went on this last expedition. (/>) The 
 die. This would be the end of his career, i place specified where the last scenes 
 and would be at the same time the end of i would occur, between the seas. Any 
 that series of calamities that the angel pre- \ one has only to look on a map of the 
 dieted. The assurance is more than once Eastern hemisphere, to see that the an- 
 given (vs>. 27, 35,) that there was an ap- ciont Persepolis, the capital of Persia, 
 pointed time during which these troubles \ where the rumour of the success of the 
 would continue, or that there would be Jews reached him which induced him to 
 an end of them at the appointed time, return, is between the seas the Cas- 
 and the design was, that when these in- pian sea and the Persian gulf, lying 
 iliotions came upon the Jews they should not far from midway between the two. 
 be permitted to comfort themselves with ; (c) The glorious holy mountain, or as 
 the assurance that they would have a ter- j the interpretation above proposed would 
 mination ; that is, that the institutions of j render it, the mountain of beauty, sa- 
 religion in their land would not be utterly ; cred to religion, or to worship. (1) The 
 overthrown, ^f And none shall help him. whole region was mountainous. (2) It is 
 None shall save his life ; none shall res- ! not unlikely that a temple would be raised 
 cue him out of his danger. That is, he on a mountain or elevated place, for this 
 would certainly die, and his plans of evil was the almost universal custom among 
 would thus be brought to a close. j the ancients, and it may be assumed as 
 
 The question now is, whether this can not improbable that the temple of Diana 
 be applied to the closing scenes in the life : atElymais,or Persepolis, which Antiochus 
 of Antiochus Epiphanes. The materials I robbed, and where he pitched his tent, 
 for writing the life of Antiochus are in- ! was on such a place. (3) Such a place 
 deed scanty, but there is little doubt as ! would be regarded as holy, and would 
 to the place and manner of his death, be spoken of as an ornament, or as 
 According to all the accounts, he received ; beautiful, for this was the language which 
 intelligence of the success of the Jewish I the Hebrews were accustomed to apply 
 arms under Judas Maccabeus, and the ; to a place of worship. I suppose, there- 
 overthrow of the Syrians, at Elymais or i fore, that the reference is here to the 
 Persepolis (2 Mac. ix. 2), in Persia, and J closing scene in the life of Antiocbus, 
 as he was detained there by an insurrec- j and that the account in the prophecy 
 tion of the people, occasioned by his rob- agrees in a most striking manner with the 
 bing the celebrated temple of Diana (Jos. i fnets of history, and consequently that it 
 Ant. B. xii. ch. ix. 1,) in which his j is not necessary to look to any other 
 father, Antiochus the Great, lost his life, | events for a fulfilment, or to suppose 
 his vexation was almost beyond endu- j that it has any secondary and ultimate 
 ranee. He set out on his return with a! reference to what would occur in far dis- 
 determination to make every possible tant years. 
 
 effort to exterminate the Jews ; but du- ! In view of this exposition, we may seo 
 ring his journey ho was attacked by a the force of the opinion maintained by 
 disease, in which he suffered excessive Porphyry, that this portion of the Book 
 pain, and was tormented by the bitterest of Daniel must have been written after 
 anguish of conscience, on account of his the events occurred. He could not but 
 sacrilege and other crimes. He finally S ee, as any one can now, the surprising 
 died at Tabae in Paratacene, on the fron- accuracy of the statements of the chapter, 
 tiers of Persia and Babylon, in the year and their applicability to the events of 
 163 B. C., after a reign of eleven years, history as they had actually occurred, 
 See the account of his wretched death in even seeing this, there was but one of two 
 2 Mac. ix; Jos. Ant. B. xii. ch. ix. 1., j courses to be taken either to admit the 
 Prideaux, Con. III. pp. 272, 273; Po- ! inspiration of the Book, or to maintain 
 40* 
 
474 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534. 
 
 that it was written after the events. He 
 chose the latter alternative ; and so far as 
 can be judged from the few fragments 
 which we have of his work in the com 
 mentary of Jerome on this Book, he did 
 it solely on the ground of the accuracy 
 of the description. He referred to no ex 
 ternal evidence ; he adduced no historical 
 proofs that the book was written subse 
 quent to the events; but he maintained 
 simply that an account so minute and ex 
 act could not have been written before 
 the events, and that the very accuracy of 
 the alleged predictions, and their entire 
 agreement with the history, was full 
 demonstration that they were written 
 after. The testimony of Porphyry, there 
 fore, may be allowed to be a sufficient 
 proof of the correspondence of this por 
 
 tion of the Book of Daniel with the facts 
 of history; and if the book was written 
 before the age of Antiochus Epiphanes, 
 the evidence is clear of its inspiration, for 
 no man will seriously maintain that these 
 historic events could be drawn out with 
 so much particularity of detail by any 
 natural skill three hundred and seventy 
 years before they occurred, as must have 
 been the case if written by Daniel. Hu 
 man sagacity does not extend its vision 
 thus far into the future with the power 
 of foretelling the fates of kingdoms, and 
 giving in detail the lives and fortunes of 
 individual men. Either the infidel must 
 dispose of the testimony that Daniel 
 lived and wrote at the time alleged, or, 
 as an honest man, he should admit that 
 he was inspired. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER. 
 
 THERE are several general remarks which may be made respecting this, the closing chapter 
 of the book of Daniel. 
 
 I. It is a part, or a continuation of the general prophecy or vision which was commenced in 
 ch. x., and which embraces the whole of the eleventh chapter. Except for the length of the pro 
 phecy there should have been no division whatever, and it should be read as a continuous 
 whole; or if a division were desirable, that which was made by Cardinal Hugo in the 13th 
 century, and which occurs in our translation of the Bible, is one of the most unhappy. On every 
 account, and for every reason, the division should have been at the rlose of the fourth verse of 
 this chapter, and the first four verses should have been attached to the previous portion. That 
 the beginning of this chapter is a continuation of the address of the angel to Daniel, is plain 
 from a mere glance. The address ends at ver 4 ; and then commences a colloquy between two 
 angels who appear in the vision, designed to cast farther light on what had been said. It will 
 contribute to a right uuderstanding of this chapter to remember that it is a part of the one vi 
 sion or prophecy which was commenced in. chapter x., and that the whole three chapters (x. xi. 
 xii.) should be read together. If chapter xi., therefore, refers to the historical events connected 
 with the reign of Antiochus, and the troubles under him, it would seem to be plain that this 
 does also, and that the angel meant to designate the time when these troubles would close, and 
 the indications by which it might be known that they were about to come to an end. 
 
 IT. At the same time that "this is true, it must also be admitted that the language which is 
 used is such as is applicable to other events, and that it supposed that there was a belief in the 
 doctrines to which that language would be naturally applied. It is not such language as would 
 have been originally employed to describe the historical transactions respecting the persecutions 
 under Antiochus, nor unless the doctrines which are obviously conveyed by that language were 
 understood and believed. 1 refer here to the statements respecting the resurrection of the dead 
 and of the future state. This language is found particularly in vs. 2, 3 : " And many of them 
 that sleep iu the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and 
 everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the- firmament; 
 and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." This language is ap 
 propriate to express such doctrine as the following: (a) that of the resurrection of the dead or 
 a being raised up out of the dust of the earth ; (b) that of retribution after the resurrection : a 
 part being raised to everlasting life, and a part to everlasting shame; (c) that of the eternity of 
 future retribution, or the eternity of rewards and punishments : awaking to everlasting life, and 
 to everlasting shame; (d)that of the high honours and rewards of those who would be engaged 
 in doing good, or of that portion of mankind who would be instrumental in turning the wicked 
 from the paths of sin: they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever. 
 It is impossible to conceive that this language would have been used unless these doctrines wm 
 
B.C. 534.] CHAPTER XII. 475 
 
 known and believed, and unless it be supposed that thoy were so familiar that it would be readily 
 understood. Whatever may have been the particular thing to which it was applied by the 
 angel, it is such language as could have been intelligible only where there was a belief of these 
 doctrines, and it may, therefore, be set down as an indication of a prevalent belief in the time 
 of Daniel on these subject?. Such would be understood now if the same language were used by us, 
 to whatever we might apply it, for it would not be employed unless there was a belief of the 
 truth of the doctrines which it is naturally adapted to convey. 
 
 III. If the angel intended, therefore, primarily to refer to events that would occur in the time 
 of Antiochus to the arousing of many to defend their country, as if called from the dust of the 
 earth, or to their being summoned by Judas Maccabeus from caves and fastnesses, and to the 
 honour to which many of them might be raised, and the shame and contempt which would 
 await others, it seems difficult to doubt that the mind of the speaker, at the same time, glanced 
 onward to higher doctrines, and that it was the intention of the angel to bring into view far 
 distant events, of which these occurrences might be regarded as an emblem, and that he meant 
 to advert to what would literally occur in the time of the Maccabees as a beautiful and striking 
 illustration of more momentous and glorious scenes when the earth should give up its dead, 
 and when the final judgment should occur. On these scenes, perhaps, the mind of the angel 
 ultimately rested, and a prominent part of the design of the entire vision may have been to 
 bring them into view, and to direct the thoughts of the pious onward far beyond the troubles and 
 the triumphs in the days of the Maccabees, to the time when the dead should arise, and when 
 the retributions of eternity should occur. It was no uncommon thing among the prophets to 
 allow the eye to glance from one object to another lying in the same range of vision, or having 
 such points of resemblance that the one would suggest the other; and it often happened that a 
 description which commenced with some natural event terminated in sonic more important 
 spiritual truth to which that event had a resemblance, and which it was adapted to suggest. 
 Comp. Intro, to Isaiah, $7, 111. (3) (4) (5). Three things occur often in such a case: (I) lan 
 guage is employed in speaking of what is to take place, which is derived from the secondary and 
 remote event, and which naturally suggests that; (2) ideas are intermingled in the description 
 which are appropriate to the secondary event only, and which should be understood as appli 
 cable to that; and (3) the description which was commenced with reference to one event or class 
 of events, often passes over entirely and terminates on the secondary and ul timate events. This 
 point will be more particularly examined in the Notes on the chapter. 
 
 IV. The contents of the chapter are as follows: 
 
 (1) The concluding statement of what would occur at the time referred to in the previous 
 chapter, vs. 1 3. This statement embraces many particulars : that Michael, the guardian an 
 gel, would stand up in behalf of the people; that there would be great trouble, such as there 
 had not been since the time when the nation began to exist ; that there would be deliverance 
 for all whose names were recorded in the book ; that there would be an awakening of those who 
 slept in the dust some coming to life and honour, and some to shame and dishonour, and that 
 distinguished glory would await those who turned many to righteousness. 
 
 (2) At this stage of the matter, all having been disclosed that the angel purposed to reveal, 
 Daniel is commanded to shut and seal the book; yet with the encouragement held out that 
 more would yet be known on the subject, ver. 3. The matter was evidently involved still in 
 mystery, and there were many points on which it could not but be desired that there should be 
 fuller information points relating to the time when these things would happen, and a more 
 particular account of the full meaning of what had been predicted, &c. On these points it is 
 clear that many questions might be asked, and it is probable that the mind of Daniel would be 
 left still in perplexity in regard to them. To meet this state of mind, the angel says to Daniel 
 that many would run to and fro, and that knowledge would be increased ; that is, that by in 
 tercourse with one another in future times; by spreading abroad the knowledge already ob 
 tained ; by diffusing information, and by careful inquiry, those of coming ages would obtain 
 much clearer views on these points: or, in other words, that time, and the intercourse of indi 
 viduals and nations, would clear up the obscurities of prophecy. 
 
 (3) In this state of perplexity, Daniel looked and saw two other personages standing on the 
 two sides of the river, and between them and the angel who had conversed with Daniel, a col 
 loquy or conversation ensues, respecting the time necessary to accomplish these things, vs. 
 5 7. They are introduced as interested in the inquiry as to the time of the continuance of 
 these, things that is. how long it would be to the end of these wonders? These were evidently 
 angels also, and they an- represented (a) as ignorant of the future a circumstance which we 
 must suppose to exist among the angels; and (b] as feeling a deep interest in the transactions 
 which were to occur, and the period when it might be expected they would have their comple 
 tion. To this natural inquiry the angel who had conversed with Daniel gives a solemn answer 
 (vc-r. 7), that the period would be a time, and times, and an half; and that all these things 
 would be accomplished when he to whom reference was made had finished his purpose of scat 
 tering the holy people. 
 
 (4) Daniel, perplexed and overwhelmed with these strange predictions, hearing what was said 
 about the time, but not understanding it, asks with intense interest when the end of these 
 things should be, vs. 8 13. He had heard the reply of the angel, but it conveyed no idea to his 
 mind. He was deeply solicitous to look into the future, and to ascertain when these events 
 would end, and what would be their termination. The answer to his anxious, earnest inquiry, 
 is contained in vs. 9 13, and embraces several points giving some further information, but 
 till evidently designed to leave the matter obscure in many respects : (a) The matter was 
 
476 DANIEL. [B. C. 534 
 
 scaled up, and his question could not be definitely answered, rer. 9. When the time of the end 
 should come, it is implied the matter would be clearer, and might be understood, but that all 
 had been communicated substantially that could be. (b) A statement is made (ver. 10) of the 
 general result of the trials on two classes of persons : the things that would occur would tend 
 to make the righteous more holy, but the wicked would continue to do wickedly, notwithstand 
 ing .all these heavy judgments. The latter too would, when these events took place, fail to un 
 derstand their design; but the former would obtain a just view of them, and would be inatie 
 wiser by them. Time, to the one class, would disclose the meaning of the divine dealings, and 
 they would comprehend them; to the other they would still be dark and unintelligible, (c) A 
 statement is, however, made as to the time when these things would be accomplished, but still so 
 obscure as to induce the angel himself to say to Daniel that he must go his way till the end 
 should be, vs. 11 13. Two periods of time are mentioned, both different from the one in ver. 
 10. In one of them (ver. 11), it is said that from the time when the daily sacrifice should be 
 taken away, and the abomination that inaketh desolate should be set up, would be a thousand 
 two hundred and ninety days. In the other (ver. 12), it is said that he would be blessed or 
 happy who should reach a certain period mentioned a thousand three hundred and thirty-five 
 days. What these different periods of time refers to, will of course be the subject of inquiry in 
 the Notes on the chapter, (d) The whole closes, therefore (ver. 13), with a direction to Daniel, 
 that, for the present, he should go his way. Nothing additional would be disclosed. Time 
 would reveal more ; time would explain all. Meantime there is an assurance given that, as for 
 himself, he would have rest, and would stand in his lot at the end of the days. This seems 
 to be a gracious assurance to him that he had nothing to fear from these troubles personally, 
 and that whatever should come, he would have peace, and would occupy the position in fu 
 ture times which was due to him. His lot would be happy and peaceful ; his name would be 
 honoured ; his salvation would be secured. It seems to be implied that, with this pledge, he 
 ought to allow his mind to be calm, and not suffer himself to be distressed because he could 
 not penetrate the future, and foresee all that was to occur; and the truth, therefore, with which 
 the book closes is, that, having security about onr own personal salvation or having no ground 
 of solicitude respecting that or having that matter made safe we should calmly commit all 
 events to God, with the firm conviction that in his own time his purposes will be accomplished 
 and that, being then understood, he will be seen to be worthy of confidence and praise. 
 
 1 And at that time shall Michael [pie: tand there shall be a time of 
 stand up, the great prince which trouble, such as never was since 
 
 Btandeth for the children of thy peo- 
 
 c. 10. 13, 21; Jude9. 
 
 there was a nation even to that same 
 
 b Matt. 24. 21. 
 
 1. And at that time. At the period re- would be supernatural or angelic aid ren- 
 ferred to in the preceding chapter. The dered to the people of God. No man can 
 fair construction of the passage demands ! prove that this would not be so, nor is 
 this interpretation, and if that refers to there any inherent improbability in tho 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, then what is here supposition that good angels may be em- 
 said must also; and we are to look for tho ployed to render assistance in the time 
 direct and immediate fulfilment of this j of trouble. Comp. Notes on ch. x. 13. 
 prediction in something that occurred j ^[ The great prince tchich standeth for the 
 under him, however it may be sup- 1 children of thy people. See Notes as 
 posed to have an ultimate reference j above on ch. x. 13. Tho meaning is, that 
 to other and more remote events. The he had the affairs of the Hebrew people, 
 phrase at that time, however, does I or the people of God, especially under his 
 not limit what is here said to any one | protection, or he Avas appointed to watch 
 part of his life, or to his death, but to the over them. This doctrine is in accord- 
 general period referred to in the time of ance with the notions that prevailed at 
 his reign. That reign was but eleven ! that time ; and no one can demonstrate 
 years, and the fulfilment must be found ! that it is not true. There is no authority 
 somewhere during that period. ^ Shall \ for applying this to the Messiah, as many 
 31-ichael. On the meaning of this word, j have done, for the term Michael is not 
 and the being here referred to, see Notes I elsewhere given to him, and all that the 
 on ch. x. 13. f Stand up. That is, he [language fairly conveys is met by the 
 shall interpose; he shall come forth to | other supposition. The simple meaning 
 render aid. This does not mean neces- is, that he who was the guardian angel 
 
 rily that he would visibly appear, but 
 that he would in fact interpose. In the 
 time of great distress and trouble, there 
 
 of that nation, or who was appointed tc 
 watch over its interests would at that 
 time of great trouble interpose and reudei 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 477 
 
 time : and at that time a thy people 
 shall be delivered, every one that 
 
 a Je. 30.7; Ro. 11. 26. 
 
 aid. ^[ And there shall be a time of trouble. 
 Under Antiochus Epiphanes. Sec Notes 
 on ch. xi. 21 45. Comp. the Books of 
 the Maccabees, passim. ^ Such as never 
 was since there was a nation even to that 
 tame time. This might be construed with 
 reference to the Jewish nation, as mean 
 ing that the trouble would be greater 
 than any that had occurred during its 
 history. But it may also be taken, as 
 our translators understand it, in a more 
 general sense, as referring to any or all 
 nations. In either sense it can hardly bo 
 considered as the language of hyperbole. 
 The troubles that came upon the land 
 under the persecutions of Antiochus, pro 
 bably surpassed any that the Hebrew na 
 tion ever experienced, nor could it be 
 shown that, for the same period of time, 
 they were surpassed among any other 
 people. The Saviour has employed this 
 language as adapted to express the inten 
 sity of the trials which would be brought 
 upon the Jews by the Romans (Matt, 
 xxiv. 21), but he does not say that as 
 used in Daniel it had reference originally 
 to that event. It was language appro 
 priate to express the thought which he 
 wished to convey, and he, therefore, so 
 employed it. f And at that time. When 
 these troubles are at their height. ^[ Thy 
 people shall be delivered. To wit, by the 
 valour and virtues of the Maccabees. See 
 the accounts in the Books of the Macca 
 bees. Comp. Prideaux, Con. III. 257, 
 seq. ^ Every one that shall be found writ 
 ten in the book. Whose names are en 
 rolled; that is, enrolled as among the 
 living. The idea is, that a register was 
 made of the names of those who were to 
 be spared, to wit, by God, or by the an 
 gel, and that all whose names were so re 
 corded would be preserved. Those not 
 so enrolled would be cut off under the 
 persecutions of Antiochus. The language 
 here does not refer to the book of eternal 
 life or salvation, nor is it implied that 
 they who would thus be preserved would 
 necessarily be saved, but to their preser 
 vation from death and persecution, a* if 
 their names were recorded in a book, or 
 were enrolled. We frequently meet with 
 similar ideas in the Scriptures. The idea 
 is, of course, poetical, but it expresses 
 
 shall be found written b in the book. 
 2 And many of them that sleep in 
 
 t>Ee. 13.8. 
 
 with sufficient clearness the thought that 
 there was a divine purpose in regard to 
 ] them, and that there was a definite num- 
 j her whom God designed to keep alive, 
 j and that these would be delivered from 
 I those troubles while many others would 
 be cut off. Comp. Notes on ch. x. 21. 
 
 2. And many of them. The natural and 
 obvious meaning of the word many here 
 aon is that a large portion of the per 
 sons referred to would thus awake, but 
 ! not all. So we should understand it if 
 ; applied to other things, as in such ex- 
 i pressions as these many of the people/ 
 | many of the houses in a city, many of 
 | the trees in a forest, many of the rivers 
 in a country, &c. In the Scriptures, 
 however, it is undeniable that the word 
 is sometimes used to denote the whole 
 considered as constituted of many, as in 
 Rom. v. 15, 16, 19. In these passages no 
 one can well doubt that the word many is 
 used to denote all, considered as com 
 posed of the many that make up the hu 
 man race, or the many offences that man 
 has committed. So if it were to be used 
 j respecting those who were to come forth 
 I from the caves and fastnesses where they 
 had been driven by persecution, or those 
 who sleep in their graves, and who come 
 forth in a general resurrection, it might be 
 used of them considered as the many, and 
 j it might be said the many or the mul- 
 I titude comes forth. Not a few interpre 
 ters, therefore, have understood this in 
 j the sense of all, considered as referring to 
 | a multitude, or as suggesting the idea of 
 a multitude, or keeping up the idea that 
 there would be great numbers. If this is 
 the proper interpretation, the word many 
 was used instead of the word all, to sug 
 gest to the mind the idea that there would 
 be a multitude, or that there would be a 
 great number. Some, as Lengerke, apply 
 it to all the Israelites who were not writ 
 ten in the book (ver. 1 ), that is, to a res 
 urrection of all the Israelites who had 
 died : some, as Porphyry, a coming forth 
 of the multitudes out of the caves and 
 fastnesses who had been driven there by 
 persecution; and some, as Rosenmuller 
 and Havernick, understand it as inean- 
 ! ing all, as in Rom. v. 15, 17. The sum 
 of all that can be said in regard to the 
 
478 DANIEL. |B. C. 534 
 
 the dust of the earth shall awake, j to b shame and everlasting con 
 some to everlasting a life, and some ! tempt. 
 
 a Matt. 25. 46. 
 
 b Is. 66. 24. 
 
 meaning of the word, it seems to me, is, lethargy and inaction, but its most obvi- 
 that it is so far ambiguous that it might ous, and its full meaning, would be to 
 be applied (a) to many, considered as a apply it to the resurrection of the dead, 
 large portion of a number of persons or considered as an awaking to life of those 
 things; or (b) in an absolute sense, to the i who were slumbering in their graves, 
 whole of any number of persons or things ^f Some. One portion of them. The re 
 considered as a multitude or great num- | lative number is not designated, but it is 
 ber. As used here in the visions of the implied that there would be two classes, 
 future, . would seem to denote that the They would not all rise to the same des- 
 eye of the angel was fixed on a great mul- ; tiny, or the same lot. ^ To everlasting 
 titude rising from the dust of the earth, ! life. So that they would live forever, 
 without any particular or distinct refer- | This stands in contrast with their sleep- 
 ence to the question whether all arose. I ing in the dust of the earth, or their be- 
 There would be a vast or general resur- ing dead, and it implies that that state 
 rection from the dust; so much so that would not occur in regard to them again, 
 the mind would be interested mainly in Once they slept in the dust of the earth; 
 the contemplation of the great hosts who now they would live forever, or would die 
 would thus come forth. Thus understood, no more. Whether in this world or in 
 the language might, of itself, apply either another is not here said, and there is 
 to a general arousing of the Hebrew peo- | nothing in the passage which would ena- 
 plo in the time of the Maccabees, or to a | ble one to determine this. The single 
 general resurrection of the dead in the last idea is that of living forever, or never dy- 
 day. IT That sleep. This expression is ing again. This is language which must 
 one that denotes either natural sleep, or j have been derived from the doctrine of 
 any thing that resembles sleep. In the | the resurrection of the dead, and of the 
 latter sense it is often used to denote j future state, and which must imply tho 
 death, and especially the death of the pi- I belief of that doctrine in whatever sense 
 pus who calmly slumber in their graves | it may be used here. It is such as in 
 in the hope of awaking in the morning of i subsequent times was employed by the 
 the resurrection. See Notes on 1 Thess. j sacred writers to denote the future state, 
 iv. 14. It cannot be denied that it and the rewards of the righteous. The 
 might be applied to those who, for any j most common term employed in the New 
 cause, were inactive, or whose energies Testament, perhaps, to describe true re- 
 were not aroused as we often employ the ligion, is life, and the usual phrase to de- 
 word sleep or slumber and that it might j note the condition of the righteous after 
 be thus used of those who seemed to slum- j the resurrection, is eternal or everlasting 
 ber in the midst of the persecutions which I life. Comp. Matt. xxv. 46. This Ian- 
 raged, and the wrongs that were commit- I guage, then, would most naturally be re- 
 ted by Aiitiochus; but it would be most | ferred to that state, and covers all the 
 natural to understand it of those who I subsequent revelations respecting the con- 
 
 -,.,.,../ 7 J Al- ? J _ _ _ _ 11 1 J!i - . Al__ 11 3 MT A J 
 
 were dead, and this idea would be par 
 ticularly suggested in the connection in 
 which it stands here. ^ In the dust of 
 the earth. Heb., In the ground, or earth 
 
 dition of the blessed. [ And some to 
 shame. Another portion in such a way 
 that they shall have only shame or dis 
 honour. The Hebrew word means re- 
 
 of dust najTn;r?N. The language de- proach, scorn, contumely ; and it may be 
 notes the ground" or earth considered as I PP lied to the reproach which one casts 
 composed of dust, and would naturally I ? n another > Job xvi - 10 > * s - XXX1X - 9 
 refer to those who are dead and buried lxxix 12 > or to the re P roach which rests 
 considered as sleeping there with the hope ! ? an y ^ De Isa - liv 4 Josb \ v " 9 . p er 
 
 . / i ji ,. -~ . r ~. T.nA \xrnrn Tnoana +no i-orrnfir*n nr nisriOTl- 
 
 of awaking in the resurrection. ^[ Shall 
 awake. This is language appropriate to 
 those who are asleep, and to the dead con- 
 idered as being asleep. It might, indeed, 
 be applied to an arousing from a state of 
 
 the word means the reproach or dishon 
 our which would rest on them for their 
 sins, their misconduct, their evil deeds. 
 The word itself would apply to any per. 
 sons who wero subjected to disgrace foi 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 479 
 
 3 And they that be wise shall 
 
 a or, teachers. b Mat. 13. 43. 
 
 their former misconduct. If it be under 
 stood here as having a reference to those 
 who would be aroused from their apathy, 
 and summoned from their retreats in the 
 times of the Maccabees, the meaning is, 
 that they would be called forth to public 
 shame on account of their apostacy, and 
 their conformity to heathen customs ; if 
 it be interpreted as applying to the resur 
 rection of the dead, it means that the 
 wicked would rise to reproach and shame 
 before the universe for their folly and 
 Vileness. As a matter of fact, one of the 
 bitterest ingredients in the doom of the 
 wicked will be the shame and confusion 
 with which they will be overwhelmed in 
 the great day on account of the sins and 
 follies of their course in this world. 
 ^f And everlasting contempt. The word 
 everlasting in this place is the same 
 which in the former part of the verse is 
 applied to the other portion that would 
 awake, and like that properly denotes 
 eternal; as in Matt. xxv. 46, the word 
 translated everlasting [punishment] is 
 the same which is rendered eternal 
 [life], and means that which is to endure 
 forever. So the Greek here, where the 
 same word occurs, as in Matt. xxv. 46 
 some to everlasting life eif o7* aiui/top, 
 and some to everlasting contempt 
 tlf aia\vvnv aUJviov, is one which would 
 denote a strict and proper eternity. The 
 word contempt p so 1 } means, pro 
 perly, a repuhe ; and then aversion, ab 
 horrence. The meaning here is aversion 
 or abhorrence : the feeling with which 
 we turn away from that which is loath 
 some, disgusting or hateful. Then it de 
 notes the state of mind with which we 
 contemplate the vile and the abandoned ; 
 and in this respect expresses the emotion 
 with which the wicked will be viewed on 
 the final trial. The word everlasting com 
 pletes the image, meaning that this feel 
 ing of loathing and abhorrence would 
 continue forever. In a subordinate sense 
 this language might be used to denote the 
 feelings with which cowards, ingrates, 
 and apostates are regarded on earth ; but 
 it cannot be doubted that it will receive 
 its most perfect fulfilment in the future 
 world in that aversion with which the 
 lost will be viewed by all holy beings in 
 the future world. 
 
 b shine as the brightness of the fir 
 mament ; and they that turn many 
 
 3. And they that be wise. This is lan 
 guage which, in the Scriptures is em- 
 j plo} r ed to denote the pious, or those who 
 ; serve God and keep his commandments. 
 | See the Book of Proverbs, passim. True 
 I religion is wisdom, and sin is folly, and 
 they who live for God and for heaven arc 
 the truly wise. The meaning is that they 
 have chosen the path which true wisdom 
 suggests as that in which man should 
 walk, while all the ways of sin are ways 
 of folly. The language here used is ex 
 pressive of a general truth, applicable in 
 itself to all the righteous at all times, and 
 nothing can be inferred from the term 
 employed as to what was designed by 
 the angel. ^[ Shall shine as the brightness 
 ] of the firmament. As the sky abovo 
 us. The image is that of the sky at 
 night, thick set with bright and beautiful 
 stars. No comparison could be more 
 striking. The meaning would seem to 
 be, that each one of the righteous will be 
 like a bright and beautiful star, and that 
 in their numbers, and order, and har 
 mony, they would resemble the heavenly 
 constellations at night. Nothing can be 
 more sublime than to look on the heavens 
 in a clear night, and to think of the num 
 ber and the order of the stars above us as 
 an emblem of the righteous in the heav 
 enly world. The word rendered firma 
 ment, means properly expanse, or that 
 which is spread out, and it is applied to 
 the sky as it appears to be spread out 
 above us. ^ And they that turn many to 
 righteousness. Referring to those who 
 would be instrumental in converting men 
 to the worship of the true God, and to the 
 ways of religion. This is very general 
 language, and might be applied to any 
 persons who have been the means of bring 
 ing sinners to the knowledge of the truth. 
 It would apply in an eminent degree to 
 ministers of the Gospel who were suc 
 cessful in their work, and to missionaries 
 among the heathen. From the mere 
 language, however, nothing certain can 
 be argued as to the original reference as 
 used by the angel, and it seems to have 
 been his intention to employ language so 
 general that it might be applied to all, 
 of all ages and countries, who would 
 be instrumental in turning men to God. 
 ^ At the tiara. As the stars that are 
 
480 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534 
 
 to righteousness as the stars 
 ever and ever. 
 
 4 But thou, Daniel, shut 
 
 a 1 Co. 15. 41, 42. b Re. 10. 4. 
 
 for- the words, and seal the book, even to 
 the time of the end : many shall run 
 
 up 
 
 to and fro, and knowledge shall be 
 increased. 
 
 distinguished by their size and lustre in 
 the firmament. In the former part of 
 the verse, when speaking of those who 
 were wise, the design seems to be to 
 compare them to the sky as it appears, 
 set over with innumerable stars, and in 
 their numbers and groupings constituting 
 great beauty; in this member of the sen 
 tence the design seems to be to compare 
 those who are eminent in converting men, 
 
 tion ; to call the attention of men to great 
 and important matters. The langnaye is 
 applicable to any methods of imparting 
 important knowledge, and it refers to a 
 time when this would be the character 
 istic of the age. There is nothing else to 
 which it can be so well applied !is to the 
 labours of Christian missionaries, and min 
 isters of the Gospel, and others who in 
 the cause of Christian truth go about to 
 
 to the particular beautiful and bright rouse the attention of men to the great 
 stars that strike us as we look on the subjects of religion; and the natural appli- 
 heavens those more distinguished in size cation of the language is to refer it to the 
 and splendour, and that seem to lead on | times when the gospel would be preached 
 the others. The meaning is, that amidst to the world at large. ^[ And knowledge 
 the hosts of the saved they will be con- j shall be increased. To wit, by this 
 spicuous, or they will be honoured in i method. The angel seems to mean that 
 proportion to their toils, their sacrifices, | in this way there would be an advance in 
 and their success. ^[ Forever and ever, j knowledge on all the subjects of religion, 
 To all eternity. This refers to those who and particularly on the points to which 
 ehall turn many to righteousness; and he had referred. This would be one of 
 
 the meaning is, that they shall continue 
 thus to be distinguished and honoured to 
 all eternity. 
 
 4. But thou, Daniel, shut up the 
 
 the characteristics of these times, and 
 this would be the means by which it 
 would be accomplished. Our own age 
 has furnished a good illuttration of the 
 
 words. To wit, by sealing them up, or! meaning of this language, and it will be 
 by closing the book, and writing no more j st M more fully and strikingly illustrated 
 in it. The meaning is, that all has been as the time approaches when the know- 
 comrnunicated which it was intended to ! ledge of the Lord shall fill the whole world. 
 
 communicate. The angel had no more to 
 say, and the volume might be sealed up. 
 ^| And seal the book. This would seem to 
 Lave been not an unusual custom in 
 closing a prophecy, either by affixing a 
 seal to it that should be designed to con 
 firm it as the prophet s work as we seal 
 a deed, a will, or a contract; or to secure 
 the volume, as we seal a letter. Comp. 
 Notes on ch. viii. 26 ; Isa. viii. 16. ^ Even 
 to the time of the end. That is, the period 
 when all these things shall be accom 
 plished. Then (a) one truth of the pre 
 diction now carefully sealed up will be 
 seen and acknowledged; (6) and then, 
 also, it may be expected that there will 
 be clearer knowledge on all these subjects, 
 for the facts will throw increased light on 
 the meaning and the bearing of the pre 
 
 dictions, f Ma 
 Shall pass up an 
 
 shall go from place to place. The refer 
 ence is clearly to those who should thus 
 
 shall run to and fro. 
 down in the world, or 
 
 Having thus gone through with an expo 
 sition of these, the closing words of the 
 vision (vs. 1 4), it seems proper that we 
 should endeavour to ascertain the mean 
 ing of the angel in what is here said, and 
 the bearing of this more particularly on 
 what he Lad said before. With this 
 view, therefore, several remarks may be 
 made here. (1) It seems clear that there 
 was in some respects, and for some pur 
 pose, a primary reference to Antiochus, 
 and to the fact that in his times there 
 would be a great rousing up of the friends 
 of God and of religion, as if from their 
 
 f raves, (a) The connection demands it. 
 f the close of the last chapter refers to 
 Antiochus, then it could not be denied 
 that this does also, for it is introduced in 
 immediate connection with that, and as 
 referring to that time : And at that 
 time. (6) The facts referred to would 
 require the same interpretation. Thus 
 it is said that it would be a time of trou- 
 
 go to impart knowledge: to give informa- j ble, such as there had never been since 
 
. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 481 
 
 the nation existed a state of things 
 which clenrly refers to the calamities 
 which would be brought upon them by 
 the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphancs. 
 (c) This interpretation seems to be in ac 
 cordance with the purpose of the angel to 
 
 mon article of belief. Comp. Notes on 
 Isa. xxvi. 19. This language is not found 
 in the Greek and Latin classic writers ; 
 nor in heathen writings in modern times; 
 nor is it found in the earlier Hebrew 
 Scriptures ; nor is it used by infidels even 
 
 give the assurance that these troubles : for illustration ; and the proof, therefore, 
 would come to an end, and that in the is clear that as employed in the time of 
 time of the greatest calamity, when every- Daniel the doctrine of the resurrection of 
 thing seemed tending to ruin, God would the dead was known and believed. If so, 
 interpose, and would secure the people, j it marks an important fact in the pro- 
 and would cause his own worship to be ! gress of theological opinion .and know- 
 restored. Porphyry, then, it appears to | ledge in his times. How it came to be 
 me, was so far right as to apply this to j known, is not intimated here, nor ex- 
 the times of Antiochus, and to the events | plained elsewhere, but of the fact no one 
 that occurred under the Maccabees, I can have any reasonable doubt. Even 
 Then/ says he, those who, as it were, I now, so clear and accurate is the Ian- 
 
 sleep in the dust of the earth, and are 
 pressed down with the weight of evils, 
 and as it were, hid in sepulchres of mis 
 ery, shall rise from the dust of the earth 
 to unexpected victory, and shall raise 
 their heads from the ground, the ob 
 servers of the law rising to everlasting 
 life, and the violaters of it to eternal 
 shame/ He also refers to the history, in 
 which it is said that, in the times of the 
 persecutions, many of the Jews fled to the 
 desert, and hid themselves in caves and 
 caverns, and that after the victories of the 
 
 guage, if we wish to express the doctrine 
 of the resurrection of the dead, that we 
 cannot do it better than to employ the lan 
 guage of the angel in addressing Daniel. 
 (3) ThQ/uIl meaning of the language is 
 not met by the events that occurred in the 
 times of the Maccabees. As figurative, 
 or, as Porphyry says, metaphorical, it 
 might be used to describe those events. 
 But what then occurred, would not come up 
 to the proper and complete meaning of the 
 prediction. That is, if nothing more was 
 intended, we should feel that the event 
 
 Maccabees they came forth, and that this j fell far short of the full import of the 
 was metaphorically itera$opiKu$ called language ; of the ideas which it was fitted 
 a resurrection of the dead. Jerome, in\ to convey; and of the hopes which it was 
 loc. According to this interpretation, the adapted to inspire. If that was all, then 
 meaning would be, that there would be a j this lofty language would not have been 
 general uprising of the people ; a general | used. There was nothing in the facts that 
 arousing of them from their lethargy, or ! adequately corresponded with it. In the 
 summoning them from their retreats and obvious and literal sense, there was no- 
 hiding places, as if the dead, good and thing which could be called a resurrection 
 bad, should arise from their dust. to everlasting life/ nothing that could 
 
 (2) This language, however, is derived be called an awaking to everlasting 
 
 from the doctrine of the literal 
 tion of the dead. It implies the belief of 
 that doctrine. It is such language as 
 would be used only where that doctrine 
 was known and believed. It would 
 onvey no proper idea unless it were 
 known and believed. The passage, then, 
 may be adduced as full proof of the 
 doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, 
 both of the just and the unjust, was un 
 derstood and believed in the time of Dan 
 iel. No one can reasonably doubt this. 
 Such language is not used in countries 
 where the doctrine of the resurrection of 
 the dead is not believed, and where used, 
 as it is in Christian lands, is full proof, 
 even when employed for illustration, that 
 the doctrine of the resurrection is a com- 
 41 
 
 shame and contempt. There was 
 thing which would justify literally the 
 language they shall shine as the bright 
 ness of the firmament, and as the stars 
 forever and ever. The language natur 
 ally has a higher signification than this, 
 and even when employed for illustration, 
 that higher signification should be recog 
 nized, and would be suggested to the 
 mind. 
 
 (4) The passage looks onward to a 
 higher and more important event than 
 any that occurred in the times of the 
 Maccabees to the general resurrection 
 of the dead, of the just and the unjust, 
 and to the final glory of the righteous. 
 The order of thought in the mind of the 
 angel would seem to have been this: 
 
482 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534. 
 
 5 fl Then I Daniel looked, and, ! river, and the other on that side of 
 behold, there stood other two, the | the bank of the river, 
 one on this side of the a bank of the ; > u p . 
 
 he designed primarily to furnish to Daniel 
 an assurance that deliverance would come 
 in the time of the severe troubles which 
 were to overwhelm the nation, and that 
 the nation would ultimately be safe. In 
 doing this, his mind almost unconsciously 
 glanced forward to a final deliverance 
 from death and the grave, and he ex 
 pressed the thought which he designed 
 to convey in the well known and familiar 
 language used to describe the resurrec 
 tion. Commencing the description in 
 this manner, by the laws of prophetic 
 suggestion (comp. Intro, to Isaiah, $ 7, 
 III.), the mind finally rested on the 
 ultimate event, and that which began 
 with the deliverance in the times of the 
 Maccabees, ended in the full contempla 
 tion of the resurrection of the dead, 
 and the scenes beyond the last judg 
 ment. 
 
 (5) If it be asked what would be the 
 pertinency or the propriety of this lan 
 guage, if this be the correct interpreta 
 tion, or what would be its bearing on the 
 design of the angel, it may be replied : 
 (a) that the assurance was in this way 
 convoyed that these troubles under An- 
 tiochus would cease an assurance as 
 definite and distinct as though all that 
 was said had been confined to that; 
 (6) that a much more important, and 
 more cheering general truth was thus 
 brought to view, that ultimately the peo 
 ple of God would emerge from all trou 
 ble, and would stand before God in glory 
 a truth of great value then, and at all 
 times; (c) that this truth was of so uni 
 versal a nature that it might be applied 
 in all times of trouble that when the 
 church was assailed ; when the people 
 of God were persecuted ; when they were 
 driven away from their temples of wor 
 ship, and when the rites of religion were 
 suspended ; when the zeal of many should 
 grow cold, and the pious should be dis 
 heartened, they might look on to brighter 
 times. There was to be an end of all 
 these troubles. There was to be a wind 
 ing up of these affairs. All the dead 
 were to be raised from their graves, the 
 good and the bad, and thus the righteous 
 would triumph, and would shine like the 
 brightness of the firmament, and the 
 
 wicked would be overwhelmed with shame 
 and contempt. 
 
 (6) From all this it follows that this 
 
 passage may be used to prove the doc 
 trine of the resurrection of the dead, and 
 the doctrine of eternal retribution. Not, 
 indeed, the primary thing in the use of 
 the language as applied by the angel; it 
 is, nevertheless, based on the truth and 
 the belief of these doctrines, and the 
 
 ! mind of the angel ultimately rested on 
 these great truths as adapted to awe the 
 wicked, and to give consolation to the 
 people of God in times of trouble. Thus 
 Daniel was directed to some of the most 
 
 glorious truths that would be established 
 and inculcated by the coming of the Mes 
 siah, and long before he appeared had a 
 glimpse of the great doctrine which he 
 came to teach respecting the ultimate 
 destiny of man. 
 
 5. Then I Daniel looked. My atten 
 tion was attracted in a new direction. 
 Hitherto, it would seem, it had been fixed 
 on the angel, and on what he was saying. 
 The angel now informed him that he 
 had closed his communication, and Daniel 
 was now attracted by a new heavenly vi 
 sion. ^[ And, behold, there stood other 
 two. Two other angels. The connection 
 requires us to understand this of angels, 
 though they are not expressly called so. 
 ^ The one on this side of the bank of the 
 river. Marg., as in Heb., lip. The word 
 is used to denote the bank of the river 
 from its resemblance to a lip. The river 
 referred to here is the Hiddekel or Ti 
 gris. Notes on ch. x. 4. These angels 
 stood on each side of the river, though 
 it does not appear that there was any 
 special significancy in that fact. It per 
 haps contributed merely to the majesty 
 and solemnity of the vision. The names 
 of these angels are not mentioned, and 
 their appearing is merely an indication 
 of the interest which they take in the 
 affairs of men, and in the divine purposes 
 and doings. They come here as if they 
 had been deeply interested listeners to 
 what the angel had been saying, and for 
 the purpose of making inquiry as to the 
 final result of all these wonderful events. 
 The angel which had been addressing 
 Daniel, stood over the river, ver. 6. 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 483 
 
 6 And one said to the man clothed 
 in linen, which was a upon the wa 
 ters of the river, How long shall it 
 be to the end of these wonders ? 
 
 7 And I heard the man clothed 
 in linen, which was upon the waters 
 
 of the river, when he b held up his 
 right hand and his left hand unto 
 heaven, and sware by him that liveth 
 forever that it shall be for a time, 
 times, and <=a half; and when he 
 
 or, from above. b Re. 10. 57. c or, a part. 
 
 6. And one said. One of these angels, heaven. Towards heaven : as if appeal- 
 It would seem that, though before un- ing to heaven for the sincerity and truth 
 seen by Daniel, they had been present, j of what he was about to utter. The act 
 
 and had listened with deep interest to 
 the communication respecting the future 
 which the angel had made to him. 
 Feeling a deep concern in the issue of 
 these wonderful events thus evincing 
 the interest which we are taught to be 
 lieve the heavenly beings take in human 
 affairs, (see Notes on 1 Pet. i. 12) one 
 of them now addressed him who had 
 been endowed with so much ability to 
 disclose the future, as to the termination 
 of these events. Such an inquiry was 
 natural, and accords with what we should 
 suppose an angel would make on an oc 
 
 casion like this, 
 linen. The angel 
 
 To the man clothed in 
 Notes on ch. x. 5. 
 
 <j[ Which was upon the icaters of the river. 
 Marg., from above. So the Hebrew. 
 The meaning is, the man seemed to stand 
 over the river. Comp. ch. viii. 16. Len- 
 gerke supposes that by this was intimated 
 the fact that the divine control was over 
 the waters, as well as over the land in 
 other words, over the whole earth. ^ How 
 long shall it be to the end of these won 
 ders. Nothing had been said on this 
 point that could determine it. The an 
 gel had detailed a succession of remark 
 able events which must, from the nature of 
 the case, extend far into future years; he 
 had repeatedly spoken of an end, and 
 had declared that that series of events 
 would terminate, and had thus given the 
 
 would be succeeded by brighter and hap 
 pier times, but he had said nothing by 
 which it could be determined when this 
 would be. It was natural to start this 
 inquiry, and as well for the sake of Daniel 
 as himself, the angel here puts the ques 
 tion when this would be. 
 
 7. And I heard the man, &c. That is, 
 he replied to the question at once, and in 
 a most solemn manner, as if he were com 
 municating a great and momentous truth 
 respecting the future. ^ When he held 
 up his right hand and his left hand unto 
 
 of swearing or taking an oath was often 
 accompanied with the lifting up the band 
 to heaven, usually the right hand (comp. 
 Gen. xiv. 22; Ex. vi. 8; Deut. xxxii. 40; 
 Ezek. xx. 5 ; Rev. x. 5), but here the angel 
 stretched both hands towards heaven, as 
 if he were about to make the affirmation 
 in the most solemn manner conceivable. 
 ^[ And sware by him that liveth forever. 
 By the eternal God. That is, he appealed 
 to him ; he made the solemn asseveration 
 in his presence; ho called him to witness 
 to the truth of what he said. The occa 
 sion ; the manner ; the posture of the 
 angel; the appeal to the eternal One, 
 all give great sublimity to this transac 
 tion, and all imply that the answer was 
 to one of great consequence in regard to 
 future times, f That it shall be for a 
 time, times, and a half. Marg., or, d 
 part. The word (v&n) means properly 
 half, the half part, that which is divided 
 (yxri to divide), s. c. in the middle. The 
 word times means two times, for it is 
 dual in its form, and the expression 
 means three times or periods and an half. 
 See the meaning of the language fully 
 considered and explained in the Notes 
 
 on ch. vii. 2428. 
 have accomplished. 
 
 And when he shall 
 When he shall have 
 
 finished his purpose in the matter; when 
 he shall have done all that he could do. 
 
 tuted the power their armies, means of 
 defence, &c. The word rendered power 
 ij means properly hand, but it is some 
 times used to denote a part of a thing 
 as a portion that we take up by the hand 
 a handful; that is, a part of a thing 
 taken up at once in dividing. Gesenius, 
 Lex. See Jer. vi. 3; 2 Kings xi. 7; 
 Gen. xlvii. 24. In accordance with this, 
 Gesenius, Lengerke, and De Wette sup 
 pose that the reference here is to the 
 scattering of a portion or part of the He 
 brew people in other lands, and to the 
 
484 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534. 
 
 ehall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy peopl 
 
 these things shall be finished. 
 
 all 
 
 hope that they would be restored again (See Intro, to Isaiah, 7, III .), more 
 to their own country ; and that the mean- important events were also referred to, 
 ing of the angel is, that when these dis- ! and were designed to be connected with 
 persions were ended, all this would have ! this statement. Those circumstances 
 been accomplished. The word has also are (a) the manner in which the angel 
 the sense of power, might, strength, (Ges. introduces the subject by a solemn ap- 
 Lex.), the hand being regarded as the peal, with outstretched arms, to heaven, 
 seat of strength, Isa. xxviii. 2 ; Job xxvii. ; This would look as if he regarded the an 
 il; Ps. Ixxvi. 6. Thus employed, it j swer as of momentous importance, and as 
 may denote whatever constituted their , if he were contemplating vast movements 
 strength, and then the idea in the pas- in the future, (b) The fact that the Ian- 
 sage before us is that all this would be ; guage here had a settled meaning refer- 
 scattered. When that should have been ring, as used elsewhere, to future events 
 done j when that dispersion should have : deeply affecting the welfare of the world, 
 been ended ; when these scattered forces The language is so couched, indeed, that 
 and people should be again restored, then it loould express the fact in regard to the 
 all this that was predicted would bo ac- . duration of the troubles under Antiochus, 
 complished, and these troubles cease, but it was also of such a nature that in its 
 This would be in the period designated , higher signification it would describe the 
 by the time, and times, and a half. If j duration of more momentous transactions, 
 it refers to Antiochus, it means that the and would designate a period when the 
 scattered forces and people of the He- j true religion would begin its universal 
 brews would be rallied under the Macca- : reign ; when the evils of a vast antichris- 
 bees, and that on their return victory tian power would come to an end, and 
 would crown their efforts, and the land j when the kingdom of the saints would be 
 would be again at peace. If it has a set up in the world. See the Notes on 
 higher and an ultimate signification, it j ch. vii. 24 28. (4) The full meaning of 
 would seem to imply that when the scat- the language would then seem to be, that 
 tered Hebrew people should be gathered, the angel designed to include all in the 
 into the Christian church when their I future to which those words, as intended 
 
 dispersions and their wanderings should 
 come to an end by their returning to the 
 
 by the Divine Spirit, would be applicable. 
 The period designated by the phrase, a 
 
 Messiah, and, under him, to the true time, and times, and a half/ was most 
 God, then tho series of predictions will i momentous. In that time the troubles 
 
 have received their complete fulfilment 
 for then religion, will triumph in the 
 world, and tho kingdom of God be set 
 up over all the nations, agreeably to 
 Rom. xi. 15 25. In reference, then, to 
 the meaning of the passage as used by 
 the angel here, the following remarks 
 may be made : (1) It had an applica 
 bility to tho times of Antiochus, and to 
 the duration of the calamities that would 
 come upon the Hebrew people under his 
 reign. If there had been nothing further 
 intended than this, tho mere language 
 employed would have found a literal ful 
 filment in these events, and there can be 
 no reasonable doubt that the primary re 
 ference of the angel was to them. See 
 this point fully considered and illustrated 
 in the Notes on ch. vii. 2428. Yet 
 (2) there are circumstances which lead 
 us to suppose that, at the same time, and 
 Vy the laws of prophetic suggestionj, 
 
 introduced by Antiochus would end, and 
 a state of peace and prosperity would suc 
 ceed ; and in that time, also, far greater 
 troubles and woes those connected with 
 a most fearful apostacy from the true re 
 ligion, and the setting up of a kingdom 
 of oppression and wrong over the people 
 of God, of which the oppressions and 
 wrongs under Antiochus would be but an 
 emblem, would also come to an end, and 
 there would be a state of peace a reign 
 of righteousnessa prevalence of religion 
 and a far-diffused happiness in the 
 world, of which the joy at the dedication 
 of the temple, and the triumphs over An 
 tiochus, would be but a symbol. The ul 
 timate reference, therefore, I suppose, is 
 to the downfall of that great antichristian 
 power, the papacy, and the spread and 
 triumphs of the true religion subsequent 
 to that, and consequent on that, in the 
 wirld. These were events that justi- 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 8 And I heard, but I understood 
 not : then said I, my Lord, what 
 shall be the end of these things f 
 
 9 And he said, Go thy way, Dan- 
 
 fied the solemn asseveration of the angel, 
 and that made it proper for him in refer 
 ring to them to stretch out both his hands 
 in this sublime manner to heaven. 
 
 8. And I heard, but I understood not. 
 He understood not the full significance of 
 the language employed a time, and 
 times, and a half. This would make it 
 probable that there was something more 
 intended than merely three years and a 
 half as the period of the continuation of 
 these troubles. Daniel saw, apparently 
 from the manner of the angel, as well as 
 from the terms which he used, that there 
 was something mystical and unusual in 
 those terms, and he says, therefore, that 
 he could not understand their full import. 
 1[ Then said I, my Lord. A term of 
 civil address. The language is such as 
 would be used by an inferior when re 
 spectfully addressing one of superior rank. 
 It is not a term that is peculiarly appro 
 priate to God, or that implies a divine 
 nature, but is here given to the angel as 
 an appellation of respect, or as denoting 
 one of superior rank, ^f What shall be 
 the end of these things ? Indicating great 
 anxiety to know what was to be the termi 
 nation of these wonders. The * end had 
 been often referred to in the communica 
 tion of the angel, and now he had used 
 an enigmatical expression as referring to 
 it, and Daniel asks, with great emphasis, 
 when the end was to be. 
 
 9. And he said, Go thy way, Daniel. 
 That is, make no further inquiries. All 
 has been disclosed that is to be. At the 
 close of his communication (ver. 4), he 
 had told Daniel to shut up, and seal the 
 book, for his revelations were ended. He 
 here repeats substantially the same thing, 
 and he assures him that no more could 
 be imparted on the subject. ^[ For the 
 words are closed up and sealed till the time 
 of the end. He had finished his commu 
 nication, and had directed Daniel to close 
 up the record which he made of it, and to 
 affix a seal to the volume, ver. 4. He 
 regarded the whole, therefore, as closed 
 and sealed, until the end should come. 
 The events themselves would unfold the 
 meaning of the prediction more fully, and | 
 
 41* 
 
 iel: for the words <z?e closed up and 
 sealed till the time of the end. 
 
 10 Many shall be purified, and 
 made white, and tried; but a the 
 
 Re. 22. 11. 
 
 would confirm its truth by their exact 
 correspondence with it. Yet, though the 
 revelation was closed, and all that the an 
 gel had designed to say had been said, he 
 does, in the subsequent verses, throw out 
 some suggestions as to the time, or as to 
 some important events which were to 
 mark the termination of the wonders re 
 ferred to. They are bare hints, however, 
 the meaning of which was to be reserved 
 till the time when the predictions would 
 be accomplished, and they are not of 
 such a nature that they can be supposed 
 to have furnished any additional light to 
 Daniel, or to have done any thing to re 
 lieve the perplexity of his mind in the case. 
 10. Many shall be purified. In future 
 times. That is, as the connection would 
 seem to require, there will be a system 
 introduced by which many will become 
 purified, and made holy. Daniel might 
 hope and expect that under the arrange 
 ments which God would make, many of 
 the human race would be cleansed from 
 sin. To what he would apply this, we 
 cannot determine, but it is a great truth 
 of immense importance in regard to the 
 human family, that, before the end, or 
 the consummation, many will be made 
 holy. ^[ And made white. White is the 
 emblem of innocence or purity, and hence 
 the term is so often applied to the righte 
 ous. They have washed their robes, and 
 made them white in the blood of the 
 Lamb, they shall walk before me in 
 white, &c. Hence the angels are repre 
 sented as appearing in white raiment. 
 The meaning here is, that many on the 
 earth would be made holy before the end 
 would come. The mind of Daniel was 
 thus directed onward to one of the most 
 glorious truths pertaining to future times 
 that multitudes of the human race 
 would be redeemed, and would be pre 
 pared for a holy heaven. ^[ And tried. 
 Tried as in a furnace ; that is, they will 
 be subjected to persecutions, and to va 
 rious other forms of suffering, that will 
 test the strength of their faith, and the 
 nature of their religion. This language, 
 also, is of a general character, and would 
 in itself apply to the times of Antiochus, 
 
486 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534 
 
 wicked shall do wickedly : and none 
 of the wicked shall understand; but 
 the wise shall understand. 
 
 but it is also fitted to describe what would 
 occur in other ages. Perhaps the mean 
 ing is, that it would be a prominent thing 
 in the future, in introducing the triumphs 
 of religion; and in preparing the people 
 of God for heaven, that they would be 
 subjected to various forms of trial. There 
 have been facts enough of this kind in 
 the history of the church to justify this de 
 scription, and to show that it would be a 
 marked feature in spreading religion on 
 the earth, that its friends would be perse 
 cuted, f But the wicked shall do wickedly. 
 They will continue to do wickedly. Not 
 withstanding all the judgments that will 
 come upon men; notwithstanding all that 
 will be done to purify the people of God; 
 and, notwithstanding the fact that many 
 will be of a different character will be 
 purified, and made white, and tried/ yet 
 
 11 And from the time tliat the 
 daily sacrifice shall be taken away, 
 
 their moral judgments, that they would 
 have no correct appreciation of the gov 
 ernment of God, and the nature of the di 
 vine plans and dispensations. Comp. 
 Notes on 1 Cor. ii. 14. The fact here as 
 serted has been always true, and always 
 will be, that sin prevents a clear percep 
 tion of divine truth, and that wicked men 
 have no appropriate views of the plans 
 and purposes of God. To comprehend 
 religion aright a man needs a pure heart; 
 and no one under the influence of de 
 praved feelings, and corrupt propensities 
 and appetites, can expect to have a just 
 appreciation of that which is good. 
 Doubtless it will be found to be true in 
 the days of millenial glory, when the true 
 religion shall spread over the world, and 
 when tho earth shall be filled with light, 
 that there will be wicked men who will 
 
 it will be a truth still, that there will be have no correct understanding of the na- 
 wicked men upon the earth, and that they ture of religion, and whose minds will be 
 
 will act out their nature. This remark 
 seems to have been thrown in by the an 
 gel to prevent the impression which Dan 
 iel might possibly get from what was 
 said, not only that the true religion would 
 generally prevail, but that wickedness 
 would ichoUy cease in the earth. Such a 
 time, perhaps, we are not authorized to 
 look far; but, while we may hope and 
 believe that there will be a period when 
 the worship of God will pervade the world, 
 and will supercede all other forms of 
 worship, yet we have no reason to expect 
 that every individual of the human family 
 at any one time will be converted, and 
 that none of the remains of the apostaey 
 will be seen on the earth. There will be 
 wicked men still, and they will act out 
 their nature, despite all that is done to 
 save them, and despite the fact that reli 
 gion will have the ascendency in the 
 hearts and lives of the great mass of 
 mankind. For an illustration of this see 
 Notes on Rev. ix. 20, 21, and xx. 7. 
 ^ And none of the wicked shall understand. 
 This, also, is a general declaration. It 
 means, that none of the wicked would un 
 derstand the import of these prophecies, 
 or the true nature of religion. Their de 
 pravity of heart would prevent it; their 
 purpose to lead a wicked life would so 
 cloud their understandings, and pervert 
 
 blind to all the evidences of the truth of 
 revelation which shall be diffused around 
 them. No man, unless he is converted, 
 has any proper conception of the beauty 
 of religion. ^ But the wise shall under 
 stand. They who serve God and love 
 him, and who, therefore, come under tho 
 denomination of the truly wise. Notes on 
 ver. 3. The meaning is, that religion 
 the love of God and a pure heart will 
 qualify them to perceive the import of 
 divine truth ; to appreciate what is re 
 vealed, and to obtain a just view of pass 
 ing events or to understand the signs 
 of the times. Humble and sincere piety 
 a heart and mind made pure and clear 
 by the influence of divine truth is the 
 best preparation for understanding the 
 works and ways of God. Comp. Notes 
 on 1 Cor. ii. 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15. 
 
 11. And from the time. Though the 
 angel had said (vs. 4, 9,) that his com 
 munication was closed, and that he im 
 parted all that he was commissioned to 
 communicate to Daniel, yet, as it would 
 seem, in reply to the earnest request of 
 Daniel, he volunteers an additional state 
 ment, in regard to certain important pe 
 riods that were to occur in the future. 
 The language, however, is very obscure, 
 and it would appear from ver. 13, that 
 the angel scarcely expected that Daniel 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 487 
 
 and * the abomination that > maketh ] desolate set up, there sliall be a thoir 
 
 1 to set up the abomination. b or, astonishdh. 
 
 sand two hundred and ninety days. 
 
 would understand it. The statement re 
 lates to certain periods that would suc 
 ceed the time when the daily sacrifice 
 would be taken away. Two such pe 
 riods are mentioned as marking import 
 ant epochs in the future. ^f That the 
 daily sacrifice shall be taken away. This 
 is the point of reckoning the terminus a 
 quo. The taking away of the daily 
 sacrifice refers, undoubtedly, to some 
 act, or some state of things, by which it 
 would be made to cease ; by which the 
 daily offerings at Jerusalem would be 
 cither temporarily suspended or totally 
 abolished. See Notes on ch. viii. 11, ix. 
 27, xi. 31. The language here is applica 
 ble to either of two events : -to the act 
 of Antiochus, causing the daily sacrifice 
 to cease in Jerusalem (chs. viii. 11. xi. 
 31), or to the final closing of those sacri 
 fices by the death of the Messiah as the 
 great offering to whom they are referred, 
 and the destruction of the temple and the 
 altar by the Romans, ch. ix. 27. The 
 view taken in the interpretation of this 
 passage will depend on the question to 
 which of these there is allusion here by 
 the angel, or whether there is an allusion 
 to both. The language evidently is appli 
 cable to both, and might bo employed 
 with reference to either. ^ And the abom 
 ination that maketh desolate set up. See 
 these words explained in the Notes on ch. 
 viii. 13, ix. 27, xi. 31. The same remark 
 may be made here which was made re 
 specting the previous expression that 
 the language is applicable to two quite 
 distinct events, and events which were 
 separated by a long interval of time : to 
 the act of Antiochus in setting up an im 
 age of Jupiter in the temple, and to a 
 similar act on the part of the Romans 
 when the temple was finally destroyed. 
 The view which is taken of the time re 
 ferred to here will depend on the question 
 which of these is to be regarded as the 
 stand-point or the terminus a quo, or 
 whether the language is designedly so 
 used that an important epoch was to occur 
 in both cases within a specified period 
 after these events. On these points there 
 has been great diversity of opinion 
 ^[ There shall be a thousand two hundred 
 and ninety days. If this is to be taken 
 literally, it would be three years and two 
 
 hundred and ten days, reckoning the 
 year at 360 days, and is thirty days more 
 ban the three years and a half referred 
 o in ver. 7. Prof. Stuart, who supposes 
 ;hat the time is to be taken literally, and 
 ,hat the passage refers exclusively to An- 
 ;iochus Epiphanes, explains the applica 
 tion of the language in the following 
 manner: "Antiochus took away the 
 daily sacrifice as is here declared. This 
 as in the latter part of May, B. C. 168. 
 Profane history does not indeed give us 
 the day, but it designates the year and 
 the season. As we have already seen 
 [compare the extract copied from Prof. 
 Stuart on ch. vii. 24 28], about three 
 and a half years elapsed, after the temple 
 worship was entirely broken up, before 
 Judas Maccabeus expurgated the temple 
 and restored its rites. The terminas ad 
 uem is not mentioned in the verse now 
 efore us ; but still it is plainly implied. 
 The end of the 1290 days must, of course, 
 be marked by some signal event, just as 
 the commencement of them is so marked. 
 And as the suppression of the temple-rites 
 constitutes the definite mark of the com 
 mencement, so it would seem plain that 
 the restoration of the same rites must 
 mark the conclusion of the period which 
 is designated. The time of the end, i. e. 
 the period at the close of which the per 
 secutions of Antiochus would cease, is 
 distinctly adverted to in vii. 25, xi. 30 
 35, and xii. 7. The nature of the case, in 
 the verse before us, shows that the same 
 period is tacitly referred to in the words 
 of the speaker. No doubt remains, that 
 his march [the march of Antiochus] from 
 Antioch to Egypt, for hostile purposes, 
 was in the spring of the year 168 B. C. 
 He was delayed for some time on this 
 inarch, by ambassadors from Egypt, who 
 met him in Ccelesyria. Very naturally, 
 therefore, we may conclude, that he ar 
 rived opposite Jerusalem in the latter 
 part of May, and that there and then ho 
 commissioned Apollonius to rifle and pro 
 fane the temple. The exact time from 
 the period when this was done, down to 
 the time of the expurgation, seems to have 
 been, and is designated as being 1290 
 days." Hints on Prophecy, pp. 94, 95. 
 It is evident, however, that there is 
 here no clear making out of the exact 
 
488 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534 
 
 12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and 
 cometh to the thousand three hun 
 dred and five and thirty days. 
 
 13 But go thou thy way till the 
 
 end be: a for thou shalt rest, and 
 stand in thy lot at the end of the 
 day. 
 
 a or, and. 
 
 time by any historical records, though it is 
 in itself not improbable. Still the great 
 difficulty is, that in the supposition that 
 the time, and times, and a half refers 
 to Antiochus, as denoting the period of 
 his persecutions, thus limiting it to three 
 years and a half a period which can be 
 made out "without material difficulty 
 (Comp. Notes on ch. vii. 2428), that 
 another time or period should be men 
 tioned here of thirty days more, concern 
 ing which there is no corresponding event 
 in the historical facts, or at least none 
 that can now be demonstrated to have 
 occurred. See the remarks at the close 
 of the next verse. 
 
 12. Messed is Tie that waiteth. This 
 indicates a patient expectation of an 
 event that was to occur, and the happy 
 state of him who would reach it. The 
 angel refers to another period different 
 from the time, and times, and a half, 
 and different also from the twelve hun 
 dred and ninety days. He speaks of this 
 as the consummation ; as the desirable 
 time, and pronounces him blessed who 
 shall be permitted to see it. The idea 
 here is that of one looking out for this as 
 a happy period, and that he would be re 
 garded as a happy man who should live 
 in that age. ^f And cometh to. Literally 
 touches. That is, whoso life would 
 reach to th.it time; or who would not be 
 cut off before that period. ^ The thou 
 sand three hundred and Jive and thirty 
 days. The article is not used in the ori 
 ginal, and its insertion here seems to 
 make the period more distinct and defi 
 nite than it is necessarily in the Hebrew. 
 There is much apparent abruptness in all 
 these expressions, and what the angel 
 says in these closing and additional com 
 munications has much the appearance of 
 afrngmentary character of hints, or de 
 tached and unexplained thoughts thrown 
 out on which he was not disposed to en 
 large, and which, for some reason, he was 
 not inclined to explain. In respect to 
 this period of 1335 days, it seems to 
 stand by itself. Nothing is said of the 
 time when it would occur; no intimation 
 is given of its commencement, as in the 
 former cases the terminus a quo ; and 
 
 nothing is said of its characteristics fur 
 ther than that he would be blessed who 
 should be permitted to see it implying 
 that it would be, on some accounts, a happy 
 period. 
 
 13. But go thy way till the end be. See 
 vs. 4, 9. The meaning is, that nothing 
 more would be communicated, and that 
 he must wait for the disclosures of future 
 times. When that should occur which is 
 here called the end, he would understand 
 this more fully and perfectly. The lan 
 guage implies, also, that he would be 
 present at the development which is here 
 called the end, and that then he would 
 comprehend clearly what was meant by 
 these revelations. This is such language 
 as would be used on the supposition that 
 the reference was to far distant times, and 
 to the scenes of the resurrection and the 
 final judgment, when Daniel would bo 
 present. Comp. Notes on vs. 2, 3. ^[ For 
 thou shalt rest. Best now ; and, perhaps, 
 the meaning is, shalt enjoy a long season 
 of repose before the consummation shall 
 occur. In ver. 2 he had spoken of those 
 who sleep in the dust of the earth, and 
 the allusion here would seem to be tho 
 same as applied to Daniel. The period 
 referred to was far distant. Important 
 events were to intervene. The affairs of 
 the world were to move on for ages before 
 the end should come. There would bo 
 scenes of revolution, commotion, and tu 
 mult momentous changes before that 
 consummation would be reached. But 
 during that long interval Daniel would 
 rest. He would quietly and calmly 
 sleep in the dust of the earth in the 
 grave. He would bo agitated by none of 
 these troubles ; disturbed by none of these 
 changes for he would peacefully slum 
 ber in the hope of being awaked in the 
 resurrection. This also is such language 
 as would be employed by one who be 
 lieved in the doctrine of the resurrection, 
 and who meant to say that he with whom 
 he was conversing would repose in the 
 tomb, while the affairs of the world would 
 move on in the long period that would 
 intervene between the time when ho was 
 then speaking, and the end or consum- 
 mation of all things the final resurrec- 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 489 
 
 tion. I do not see that it is possible to ex 
 plain the language on any other supposi 
 tion than this. The word rendered shalt 
 rest nu~i would be well applied to the 
 rest in the grave. So it is used in Job iii. 
 13 : " Then had I been at rest;" Job iii. 
 17 : " There the weary be at rest." f And 
 stand in thy lot. In thy place. The lan 
 guage is derived from the lot or portion 
 which falls to one as when a lot is cast, 
 or any thing is determined by lot. Comp. 
 Judges i. 3, Isa. Ivii. 6, Ps. cxxr. 3, 
 xvi. 5. Gesenius (Lex.) renders this, 
 " and arise to thy lot in the end of days ; 
 i. e. in the Messiah s kingdom. Comp. 
 Rev. xx. 6." The meaning is, that he 
 need have no apprehension for himself as 
 to the future. That was not now, indeed, 
 disclosed to him, and the subject was left 
 in designed obscurity. He would rest, 
 perhaps a long time, in the grave. But 
 in the far distant future he would occupy 
 his appropriate place ; he would rise from 
 his rest ; he would appear again on the 
 stage of action; he would have the lot 
 and rank which propei-ly belonged to him. 
 What idea this would convey to the mind 
 of Daniel, it is impossible now to deter 
 mine for he gives no statement on that 
 point; but it is clear that it is such lan 
 guage as would be appropriately used by 
 one who believed in the doctrine of the 
 resurrection of the dead, and who meant 
 to direct the mind onward to those far 
 distant and glorious scenes when the dead 
 would all arise, and when each one of the 
 righteous would stand up in his appro 
 priate place, or lot. ^ At the end of the 
 days. After the close of the periods re 
 ferred to when the consummation of all 
 things should take place. It is impossi 
 ble not to regard this as applicable to a res 
 urrection from the dead ; and there is 
 every reason to suppose that Daniel would 
 so understand it, for (a) if it be inter 
 preted as referring to the close of the per 
 secutions of Antiochus Epiphanes, it must 
 be so understood. This prophecy was 
 uttered about 534 years B. C. The death 
 of Antiochus occurred 164 B. C. The in 
 terval between the prophecy and that 
 event was, therefore, 370 years. It is 
 impossible to believe that it was meant by 
 the angel that Daniel would continue to 
 live during all that time so that he should 
 then stand in his lot, not having died, 
 or that he did continue to live during all 
 that period, and that at the end of it he 
 
 1 stood in his lot,* or occupied the post of 
 distinction and honour which is referred 
 to in this language. But if this had been 
 the meaning, it would have implied that 
 he would, at that time, rise from the dead. 
 (6) If it be referred, as Gesenius explains 
 it, to the times of the Messiah, the same 
 thing would follow for that time was 
 still more remote; and, if it be supposed 
 that Daniel understood it as relating to 
 those times, it must also be admitted that 
 he believed that there would be a resur 
 rection, and that ho would then appear 
 rn his proper place, (c) There is only 
 one other supposition, and that directly 
 involves the idea, that the allusion is to 
 the general resurrection, as referred to in 
 ver. 3, and that Daniel would have part 
 in that. This is admitted by Leugerke, 
 I by Maurer, and even by Bertholdt, to 
 be the meaning though he applies it 
 to the reign of the Messiah. No other 
 interpretation, therefore, can be affixed 
 to this than that it implies the doctrine 
 of the resurrection of the dead, and that 
 the mind of Daniel was directed onward 
 to that. With this great and glorious 
 doctrine, the book appropriately closes. 
 The hope of such a resurrection was fitted 
 to soothe the mind of Daniel in view of 
 all the troubles which he then experi 
 enced, and of all the darkness which rested 
 on the future for what we most want in 
 the troubles and in the darkness of tho 
 present life, is the assurance that, after 
 having rested in the grave in the calm 
 sleep of the righteous we shall awake 
 in the morning of the resurrection, and 
 shall stand in our loJL or in our appro 
 priate place as the acknowledged children 
 of God, at the end of days when time 
 shall be no more, and when the consum 
 mation of all things shall have arrived. 
 
 In reference to the application of this 
 prophecy, the following general remarks 
 may be made : 
 
 I. One class of interpreters explain it 
 literally as applicable to Antiochus Epi 
 phanes. Of this class is Prof. Stuart, 
 who supposes that its reference to Anti 
 ochus can be shown in the following 
 manner: "The place which this passage 
 occupies, shows that the terminus a quo, 
 or period from which the days designated 
 are to be reckoned, is tho same as that to 
 which reference is made in the previous 
 verse. This, as we have already seen, is 
 the period when Antiochus, by his mili 
 tary agent, Apollonius, took possession 
 
DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 534. 
 
 of Jerusalem, and put a stop to the tern- j ness in his bowels (probably the cholera) 
 pie-worship there. The author of the he died at Tabse, in the mountainous 
 first book of Maccabees, who is allowed i country, near the confines of Babylonia 
 by all to deserve credit as a historian, j and Persia. Report stated, even in an- 
 after describing the capture of Jerusalem cient times, that Antiochus was greatly 
 by the agent of Antiochus (in the year ; distressed on his death-bed by the sacri- 
 145 of the Seleucidro 168 B. C.), and j lego which he had committed, 
 setting before the reader the wide-spread | " Thus perished the most bitter and 
 devastation which ensued, adds, respect- ! bloody enemy which ever rose up against 
 ing the invaders: They shed innocent the Jewish nation and their worship, 
 blood around the sanctuary and defiled By following the series of events it is 
 the holy place; and the inhabitants of easy to see, that his death took place 
 Jerusalem fled away : the sanctuary j sometime in February of the year 164 
 thereof was made desolate; her feasts j B. C. Assuming that the commencement 
 were turned into mourning, her sabbaths or terminus a quo of the 1335 days is the 
 into reproach, and her honour into dis- ! same as that of the 1290 days, it is plain 
 grace : 1 Mac. i. 37 39. To the period j that they terminate at the period when 
 when this state of things commenced we i the death of Antiochus is said to have 
 must look, then, in order to find the date j taken place. It was long before the 
 from which the 1355 days are to be reck- | commencement of the spring/ says Froe- 
 
 oned. Supposing now that Apollonius 
 captured Jerusalem in the latter part of 
 May, B. C. 168, the 1355 days would ex 
 pire about the middle of February in the 
 year B. C. 164. Did any event take 
 place at this period, which would natur 
 ally call forth tho congratulations of the 
 prophet, as addressed in the text before 
 us to the Jewish people ? 
 
 "History enables us to answer this 
 question. Late in the year 165 B. C., or 
 at least very early in tho year 164 B. C., 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, learning that there 
 were great insurrections and disturbances 
 in Armenia and Persia, hastened thither 
 with a portion of his armies, while the 
 other portion was commissioned against 
 Palestine. He was victorious for a time ; 
 but being led by cupidity to seek for the 
 treasures that were laid up in the temple 
 of the Persian Diana at Elymais, he un 
 dertook to rifle them. The inhabitants 
 of the place, however, rose en masse and 
 drove him out of the city ; after which 
 he fled to Ecbatana. There he heard of 
 the total discomfiture by Judas Macca 
 beus of his troops in Palestine, which 
 were led on by Nicanor and Timotheus. 
 In the rage occasioned by this disappoint 
 ment, he uttered the most horrid blas 
 phemies against the God of the Jews, and 
 threatened to make Jerusalem the bury- 
 ing-place of the nation. Immediately he 
 directed his course toward Judea; and 
 designing to pass through Babylon, he 
 made all possible haste in his journey. 
 In the meantime he had a fall from his 
 chariot which injured him; and soon 
 after, being seized with a mortal sick- 
 
 lich, that Antiochus passed the Eu 
 phrates, and made his attack on Elymais : 
 so that no more probable time can bo 
 fixed upon for his death than at the ex 
 piration of the 1335 days ; i. e. some time 
 in February of 164 B. C. No wonder 
 that the angel pronounced those of the 
 pious and believing Jews to be blessed, 
 who lived to see such a day of deliver 
 ance." Hints on Prophecy, pp. 95 97. 
 There are, however, serious and ob 
 vious difficulties in regard to this view, 
 and to the supposition that this is all thai 
 is intended here objections and difficul 
 ties of so much force that most Christian 
 interpreters have supposed that some 
 thing further was intended. Among 
 these difficulties and objections are the 
 following : 
 
 (a) The air of mystery which is thrown 
 over the whole matter by the angel, as if 
 he were reluctant to make the communi 
 cation ; as if something more was meant 
 than the words expressed; as if he 
 shrank from disclosing all that he knew, 
 or that might be said. If it referred to 
 Antiochus alone, it is difficult to see why 
 so much mystery was made of it, and 
 why he was so unwilling to allude further 
 to the subject as if it were something 
 that did not pertain to the matter in 
 hand. 
 
 (b) Tho detached and fragmentary cha 
 racter of what is here said. It stands 
 aside from the main communication. It 
 is uttered after all that the angel had in 
 tended to reveal had been said. It is 
 brought out at the earnest request of 
 Daniel, and then only in hints, and in 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 491 
 
 enigmatical language, and in such a man- should be permitted to live then. Now 
 ner that it would convey no distinct con- it is true that with much probability this 
 ception to his mind. This would seem ] may be shown, as Prof. Stuart has done 
 to imply that it referred to something in the passage quoted above, to accord 
 
 else than the main point that had been 
 
 well with the time when Antiochus died, 
 
 under consideration. and that that was an important event, 
 
 (c) The difference of time specified and would be so regarded by those pious 
 now by the angel. This relates to two j Jews who would be permitted to live to 
 points : that time ; but it is true also that the 
 
 1. To what would occur after the main thing for rejoicing was the conquest 
 closing of the daily sacrifice, and the I of Judas Maccabeus and the cleansing 
 setting up of the abomination of desola- of the sanctuary, and that the death of 
 
 tion. The angel now says that what ho 
 here refers to would extend to a period 
 of twelve hundred and ninety days. But 
 in the accounts before given, the time 
 specified had uniformly been a time, 
 and times, and half a time ; that is, three 
 years and a half, or twelve hundred and 
 sixty days differing from this by thirty 
 days. Why should this thirty days have 
 been added hero if it referred to the time 
 when the sanctuary would be cleansed, 
 and the temple-worship restored? Prof. 
 Stuart (Hints on Prophecy, pp. 93, 94), 
 supposes that it was in order that the 
 exact period might be mentioned. But 
 this is liable to objections. For (a) the 
 period of three and a half years was suf 
 ficiently exact; (b) there was no danger 
 f mistake on the subject, and no such 
 error had been made as to require cor 
 rection ; (c)this was not of sufficient 
 importance to justify the manifest anx 
 iety of the angel in the case, or to fur 
 nish any answer to the inquiries of 
 Daniel, since so small an item of infor 
 mation would not relieve the mind of 
 Daniel. The allusion, then, would seem 
 to be something else than what had been 
 
 referred 
 years. 
 
 to by the three and a half 
 
 2. But there is a greater difficulty in 
 regard to the other period the 1335 
 days. For (a) that stands wholly de 
 tached from what had been said, (b) The 
 "beginning of that period the terminus a 
 quo is not specified. It is true that 
 Prof. Stuart (Hints on Prophecy, p. 95,) 
 supposes that this must be the same as 
 that mentioned in the previous verse, but 
 this is not apparent in the communica 
 tion. It is an isolated statement, and 
 would seem to refer to some momentous 
 and important period in the future which 
 would be characterized as a glorious or 
 blessed period in the world s history, 
 or of such a nature that he ought to re 
 gard himself as peculiarly happy who 
 
 Antiochus does not seem to meet the 
 fullness of what is said here. If that 
 were all, it is not easily conceivable 
 why the angel should have made so 
 much a mystery of it, or why he should 
 have been so reluctant to impart what 
 he knew. The whole matter, therefore, 
 appears to have a higher importance 
 than the mere death of Antiochus and 
 the delivery of the Jews from his perse 
 cutions. 
 
 II. Another class, and it may be said 
 that Christian interpreters generally, hare 
 supposed that there was here a reference 
 to some higher and more important events 
 in the far distant future. But it ia 
 scarcely needful to say, that the opinions 
 entertained have been almost as numer 
 ous as the writers on the prophecies, and 
 that the judgment of the world has not 
 settled down on any one particular 
 method of the application. It would not 
 be profitable to state the opinions which 
 have been advanced ; still less to attempt 
 to refute them most of them being fan 
 ciful conjectures. These may be seen de 
 tailed in great variety in Poole s Synop 
 sis. It is not commonly pretended, that 
 these opinions are based on any exact in 
 terpretation of the words, or on any cer 
 tain mode of determining their correct 
 ness, and those who hold them admit that 
 it must be reserved to future years to 
 their fulfillment to understand the exact 
 meaning of the prophecy. Thus Pri- 
 deaux, who supposes that this passage 
 refers to Antiochus, frankly says : "Many 
 things may be said for the probable solv 
 ing of this difficulty [the fact that the 
 angel here refers to an additional thirty 
 days above the three years and an half, 
 which he says can neither be applied to 
 Antiochus nor to Antichrist], but I shall 
 offer none of them. Those that shall 
 live to see the extirpation of Antiochua, 
 which will be at the end of those yeara, 
 will best be able to unfold these matters, 
 
492 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. 0. 534 
 
 it being of the nature of these prophecies 
 not thoroughly to be understood till they 
 are thoroughly fulfilled." Vol. iii. 283, 
 284. So Bp. Newton, who supposes that 
 the setting up of the abomination of des 
 olation here refers to the Mohammedans 
 invading and devastating Christendom, 
 and that the religion of Mohammed will 
 prevail in the east for the space of 1260 
 years, and then a great revolution 
 "perhaps the restoration of the Jews, 
 perhaps the destruction of Antichrist" 
 indicated by the 1290 years will occur; 
 and that this will be succeeded by an 
 other still more glorious event perhaps 
 "the conversion of the Gentiles, and the 
 beginning of the inilleniurn, or reign of 
 the saints on the earth" indicated by 
 the 1335 years says, notwithstanding, 
 "What is the precise time of their begin 
 ning, and consequently of their ending, 
 as well as what are the great and signal 
 events which will take place at the end 
 of each period, we can only conjecture ; 
 time alone can with certainty discover." 
 Prophecies, p. 321. These expressions 
 indicate the common feeling of those who 
 understand these statements as referring 
 to future events; and the reasonings of 
 those who have attempted to make a more 
 specific application, have been such as to 
 demonstrate the wisdom of this modesty, 
 and to make us wish that it had been im 
 itated by all. At all events, such specu 
 lations on this subject have been so wild 
 and unfounded; so at variance with all 
 just rules of interpretation, so much the 
 fruit of mere fancy, and so incapable of 
 solid support by reasoning, as to admon 
 ish us that no more conjectures should be 
 added to the number. 
 
 III. The sum of all that it seems to me 
 can be said on the matter is this : 
 
 (1) That it is probable, for the reasons 
 above stated, that the angel referred to 
 other events than the persecutions and 
 the death of Antiochus, for if that was all, 
 the additional information which he gave 
 by the specification of the period of 1260 
 days, and 1290 days, and 1335 days, was 
 quite too meagre to be worthy of a formal 
 and solemn revelation from God. In 
 other words, if this was all, there was no 
 correspondence between the importance 
 of the events, and the solemn manner in 
 which the terms of the communication 
 were made. There was no such import 
 ance in these three periods as to make 
 these separate disclosures necessary. If 
 
 | this were all, the statements were such 
 indeed as might be made by a iceak man 
 \ attaching importance to trifles, but not 
 such as would be made by an inspired 
 ! angel professing to communicate great 
 : and momentous truths. 
 
 (2) Either by design, or because the 
 language which he would employ to de- 
 
 ; signate higher events happened to be such 
 j as would note those periods also, the an- 
 : gel employed terms which, in the main, 
 j would be applicable to what would occur 
 under the persecutions of Antiochus, while 
 j at the same time, his eye was on more 
 important and momentous events in the 
 ! far distant future. Thus the three years 
 I and a half, would apply with suffi- 
 I cient accuracy to the time between the 
 I taking away the daily sacrifice, and the 
 | destruction of the temple by Judas Mac- 
 | cabeus, and then, also, it so happens 
 ! that the thirteen hundred and thirty-Jive 
 | days would designate with sufficient ac- 
 | curacy the death of Antiochus, but there 
 is nothing in the history to which the pe 
 riod of twelve hundred and ninety days 
 I could with particular propriety be ap- 
 i plied, and there is no reason in the his 
 tory why reference should have been 
 made to that. 
 
 (3) The angel had his eye on three 
 I great and important epochs lying appa 
 rently far in the future, and constituting 
 important periods in the history of the 
 church and the world. These were, 
 respectively, composed of 1260, 1290, 
 and 1335 prophetic days, that is years, 
 Whether they had the same beginning or 
 point of reckoning termini a quo and 
 whether they would, as far as they would 
 respectively extend, cover the same space 
 of time, he does not intimate with any 
 certainty, and, of course, if this is the 
 correct view it would be impossible now 
 to determine, and the development is to 
 be left to the times specified. One of 
 them, the 1260 years, or the three years 
 and an half, we can fix, we think, by ap 
 plying it to the Papacy. See Notes on 
 ch. vii. 24 28. But in determining even 
 this, it was necessary to wait until the 
 
 j time and course of events should disclose 
 i its meaning ; and in reference to the other 
 two periods, doubtless still future, it may 
 be necessary now to wait until events still 
 to occur, shall disclose what was intended 
 by the angel. The first has been made 
 clear by history ; there can be no doubt 
 that the others in the same manner will 
 
B. C. 534.] 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 493 
 
 be made equally clear. That this is the [ the joys of the blessed, and occupying the 
 true interpretation, and that this is the position which would be appropriate to 
 view which the angel desired to convey j him. With this cheering prospect the 
 
 to the mind of Daniel, seems to be clear 
 from such expressions as these occurring 
 in the prophecy : " Seal the book, to the 
 time of the end," ver. 4 j " many shall run 
 to and fro, and knowledge shall be in 
 creased," ver. 4; "the words are closed 
 up and sealed till the time of the end" 
 ver. 9 : " many shall be made wise," ver. 
 10; "the wise shall understand," ver. 10; 
 "go thou thy way till the end be," ver. 13. 
 This language seems to imply that these 
 things could not then be understood, but 
 that when the events to which they refer 
 should take place they would bo plain to 
 all. 
 
 (4) Two of those events or periods 
 the 1390 days, and the 1335 days seem 
 to lie still in the future, and the full un 
 derstanding of the prediction is to be re- 
 ^rved for developments yet to bo made 
 In the history of the world. Whether it 
 be by the conversion of the Jews and the 
 srentiles, respectively, as Bp. Newton sup 
 poses, it would be vain to conjecture, and 
 time must determine. That such periods 
 marked and important periods are to 
 occur in the future, or in some era now 
 commenced but not yet completed, I am | 
 constrained to believe; and that it will 
 
 communications of the angel to him are 
 closed. Nothing could be better fitted to 
 comfort his heart in a land of exile ; 
 nothing better fitted to elevate his 
 thoughts. 
 
 (6) In the same manner it is proper 
 that ice should look onward. All the rev 
 elations of God terminate in this manner; 
 all are designed and adapted to direct the 
 mind to far distant and most glorious 
 scenes in the future. We have all that 
 Daniel had; and we have what Daniel 
 had not the clear revelation of the Gos 
 pel. In that Gospel are stated in a still 
 more clear manner, those glorious truths 
 respecting the future which are fitted to 
 cheer us in time of trouble, to elevate our 
 mincis amidst the low scenes of earth, 
 and to comfort and sustain us on the bed 
 of death. With much more distinctness 
 than Daniel saw them, we are permitted 
 to contemplate the truths respecting the 
 resurrection of the dead, the scenes of 
 the final judgment, and the future hap 
 piness of the righteous. We have now 
 knowledge of the resurrection of the Re 
 deemer, and, through him, the assurance 
 that all his people will be raised up to 
 honour and glory and though, in refer- 
 
 be possible, in time to come, to determine ence to the resurrection of the dead, and 
 what they are, seems to me to be a un- the future glory of the righteous, there 
 doubted. But where there is nothing cer 
 tain to bo the basis of calculation, it is 
 idle to add other conjectures to those al 
 ready made, and it is wiser to leave the 
 matter, as much of the predictions respect 
 ing the future must of necessity be left 
 to time and to events to make them clear. 
 
 Let me add, in the conclusion of the 
 exposition of this remarkable book : 
 
 (a) That the mind of Daniel is left at 
 the close of all the divine communica 
 tions to him, looking into the far-distant 
 future, ver. 13. His attention is directed 
 onward. Fragments of great truths had 
 been thrown out, with little apparent con 
 nection, by the angel ; hints of momen 
 tous import had been suggested respecting 
 great doctrines to be made clearer in fu 
 ture ages. A time was to occur, perhaps 
 in the far-distant future, when the dead 
 were to be raised ; when all that slept in 
 the dust of the earth should awake ; when 
 the righteous should shine as the bright 
 ness of the firmament; and when he him 
 self should stand in his lot sharing 
 42 
 
 is much that is still obscure, yet there is 
 all that is necessary to inspire us with 
 hope, and to stimulate us to endeavour to 
 obtain the crown of life. 
 
 (c) It is not improper, therefore, to close 
 the exposition of this book with the expres 
 sion of a wish that what was promised to 
 Daniel may occur to us who read his 
 words that we may stand in our lot at 
 the end of days ; that when all the scenes 
 of earth shall have passed away in regard 
 to us, and the end of the world itself shall 
 have come, it may be our happy portion 
 to occupy a place among the redeemed, 
 and to stand accepted before God. To 
 ourselves, if we are truly righteous 
 through our Redeemer, we may apply the 
 promise made to Daniel; and for his 
 readers an author can express no higher 
 wish than that this lot may be theirs. If 
 the exposition of this book shall be so 
 blessed as to confirm any in the belief of 
 the great truths of revelation, and lead 
 their minds to a more confirmed hope in 
 regard to these future glorious scenes; if 
 
494 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 [B. C. 634 
 
 07 dwelling on the firm piety, the con 
 summate wisdom, and the steady confi 
 dence in God evinced by this remarkable 
 man, their souls shall be more established 
 in the pursuit of the same piety, wisdom, 
 and confidence in God; and if it shall 
 lead the minds of any to contemplate 
 with a more steady and enlightened faith 
 the scenes which are yet to occur on our 
 earth, when the saints shall reign, or in 
 heaven, when all the children of God shall 
 be gathered there from all lands, the 
 great object of these studies will have 
 been accomplished, and the labour which 
 has been bestowed upon it will not have 
 been in vain. To these high and holy 
 purposes I now consecrate these reflec 
 tions on the Book of Daniel, with an ear 
 nest prayer that He from whom all bless 
 ings come may be pleased BO to accept 
 
 this exposition of one of the portions of hit 
 revealed truth, as to make it the means of 
 promoting the interests of truth and piety 
 in the world; with a grateful sense of his 
 goodness in allowing me to complete it, 
 and with thankfulness that I have been 
 permitted for so many hours, in the pre 
 paration of this work, to contemplate the 
 lofty integrity, the profound wisdom, 
 the stern and unyielding virtue, and the 
 humble piety of this distinguished saint 
 and eminent statesman of ancient times. 
 He is under a good influence, and he is 
 likely to have his own piety quickened, 
 and his own purposes of unflinching in 
 tegrity and faithfulness, and of humble 
 devotion to God strengthened, who stu 
 dies the writings and the character of the 
 prophet Daniel. 
 
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