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DANIEL; 
 
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 THE APOCALYPSE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
DAlSflEL^ 
 
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 THE APOCALYPSE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 PHILIP S. DESPEEZ, B.D., 
 
 INCUMBENT OF ALVEDISTON, WILTS. 
 
 AN INTRODUCTION, 
 
 ROWLAND WILLIAMS, D.D., 
 
 VICAR OF BROAD-CHALKE, WILTS. 
 
 " Le Christianisme n'est vraiment dofcndu que par une science amoureuse de la verite. 
 Toute apologetique a priori se roufermant dans le cerele, etouffant des traditions et des prejuges 
 traditionels, fera desormais plCis de toi't a la cause de I'Evangile qu'elle ne lui procurera d'avan- 
 tages. ' Celui qui est de la verite entend ma voix,' a dit le Seigneur Jesus. II faut done d'abord 
 * etre de la verite ' pour venir a lui : et il est penible de se dire que tous les apologetes qui se 
 mettent a I'oeuvre avec le dessein precnnqu de defendre a tout prix, meme contre I'evidence, les 
 opinions theologiques dont I'Evangile peut etre la source, mais dont en soi-meme il est fort dis- 
 tinct, n'auraient pas entendu la voix du Christ s'ils eussent vecu de son temps : car ce n'est pas 
 'etre de la verite' que de se prescrire d'avance i soi-meme le but auquel W faut arriver." — 
 Reville. 
 
 WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, 
 
 14, HENRIETTA STREET, COYENT GARDEN, LONDON; 
 
 AND 
 
 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH. 
 
 1865. 
 [The Right of Translation is Reserved.'] 
 
HERTFORD : 
 J-RrSTED BY 8TEPHEN AUSTIK. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 [ntroduction V — ff'JOC^'' 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I. Date and Authorship of the Book of Daniel 1 — /-^' ^ 
 
 II. Daniel under Nebuchadnezzar 31 
 
 III. Daniel under Belshazzar and Daiius 57 
 
 IV. The Four Great Beasts 80 
 
 V. The Little Horn 112 
 
 VI. Judas Maccabeus 136 
 
 VII. Eschatological Periods of Daniel (l^ MT^ 
 
 VIII. Chronological Order and Historical Minuteness of Daniel XI 188 
 
 (1^ |Lnalogy between the Apocalypse of the Old and that of the N ew 
 
 Testament .^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 X. Messianic Ideas ^i^^^jv|-^ 
 
AN INTEODUCTION, 
 
 ETC., ETC. 
 
 " Nobis summopere studendum est, ut maneat vera et certa Scripturse intelligentia." 
 Calvtnus in Hoseam, 
 
 " I leave it to themselves to consider, whether they have in this first point, or not, 
 overshot themselves." — Hooker, Ecc. FoL, last paragraph of Book ii. 
 
 The author of the following treatise having been good 
 enough to wish that I should introduce it to the world, I imply 
 a readiness to carry out his wishes, rather than a concurrence 
 in his estimate of what was expedient, by offering some pre- 
 liminary remarks. 
 
 1. Those amongst us whose recollection goes back to their 
 earliest impressions of the Sacred Volume, can hardly fail to 
 remember that Daniel struck them from the beginning as im- 
 like the rest of the Prophets. "We may in some instances, or 
 at some times, have preferred stories of marvel to sublime 
 denunciations : yet the stir awakened in us at the word|, 
 ^' Hear, Heaven, and give ear, Earth, for the Lord hath 
 spoken," had but faint counterpart in the languid feeling with 
 which we listened to an enumeration of ^^ the princes, the 
 governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the coun- 
 sellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces gathered 
 together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar 
 the king had set up.'* The one had the trumpet- sound of song ; 
 the other drawled, like official prose. If we grew up within 
 the circle of ecclesiastical sayings, other differences could 
 hardly fail to be impressed upon us. Other Prophets had 
 
Vl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 foretold the sufferings and glory of Christ ; Daniel had marked 
 the time of his coming. The Jews might, with some violence, 
 explain the other Prophets away : despairing of Daniel, they 
 had removed him out of the roll of the Prophets into a. second- 
 ary place. Even Butler, whose sagacity needed only a larger 
 literary furniture to anticipate many difficulties of our time, 
 and who ought to he quoted on the side of conscience instead 
 of on that of tradition, formally excepted Daniel from the large 
 concessions which he contemplated as possible under the head 
 of Prophetic Interpretation. A question which involved the 
 honour of Christianity could hardly remain a question. If 
 digressions from Babylon to the Ottoman empire and the 
 Church of Rome were unlike the general style of the Prophets, 
 they were the more interesting, as long as they did not perplex 
 us. Sir John Marsham, whose " Canon Chronicus" seems to 
 have been more valued in foreign countries than in his own, 
 might explain the seven weeks as the period from the com- 
 mencement of the captivity (and if he had made this commence 
 at the destruction of the city, B.C. 588, he would have found 
 the period just forty-nine years down to C}tus, whom the 
 Isaiah of the Return calls the Anointed of God, B.C. 538) ; 
 similarly, he found sixty-two weeks, four hundred and thirty- 
 four years (which, with sabbatical allowances, might be made 
 more exact), down to Antiochus. Collins might go farther in 
 questioning the authorship of the book. Gibbon might write 
 in a feigned name a letter on the subject, not destined to be 
 fully answered by Bishop Hurd. " Such objections were as old 
 as Porphyry." It did not always occur to us that PorphjTy's 
 judgment as a critic in literature was infinitely superior to that 
 of almost any Christian Father, or that his opportunities of 
 information exceeded our own. Bentley, one of the few 
 scholars of the very highest eminence whom the English 
 Universities have produced, seems to have been imablc to 
 prevent himself from taking Porphyry's side, and might have 
 left us fuller disclosures if it had not been for a person who 
 
INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 promised to obey him.^ But this great scliolar, as Bishop 
 Monk has finely observed, does not appear to have lived under 
 the dominion of Christian principles. To Dr. Arnold belongs 
 the merit of first among English clergymen saying outright, 
 and without the possibility of his judgment being ascribed to 
 religious indifierence, that the same tests which on the whole 
 vindicate the genuineness of the larger part of the Prophets* 
 compel us to assign to Daniel a lower chronological rank, which 
 must afiect the degree in which history or prediction enter into 
 its contents. It was not Arnold's desire to draw dangerous 
 inferences; though he might not have been able to prevent 
 such from being di'awn. 
 
 If any such thing can be conceived as a question afiecting 
 religion, yet turning upon literary evidence, and opening one 
 course of investigation to all men independently of religious 
 creeds or theories, such was this question of the book of Daniel. 
 So the Church of the Reformation conceived, when, with a 
 noble simplicity, in an age- when such questions were already 
 
 1 " He was so far from being satisfied, that he immediately began to suppose that 
 his disappoiatment arose from the sacred books of Daniel and the Revelation them- 
 selves, and not only from his own, or the Bishop's, misunderstanding them 
 
 He pretended also that there had never been a version of Daniel made by the 
 
 Septuagint . Nay, when Dr. Bentley was courting his lady, who was a 
 
 most excellent Christian woman, he had like to have lost her, by stating to her an 
 objection against the book of Daniel, as if its author, in describing Nebuchadnezzar's 
 image of gold (Daniel vi.) to be sixty cubits high and but six cubits broad, knew no 
 better than that men's height were ten times their breadth, whereas it is well known 
 
 to be not more than sis times, which made the good lady weep He 
 
 aimed also to pick a quarrel with some small niceties in Daniel's chronology, and 
 supposed the book to have been written after the time of Onias, the high priest ; 
 and that Onias was Daniel's Messiah, and that the slaughter of this Onias at Antioch 
 was the cutting off of the Messiah. In short, he was very anxious to get clear of the 
 authority of the book of Daniel." — 1 IFhiston's Memoirs, 94-5. The passage oddly 
 suggests the antithesis of "a despotism of professors." 
 
 - " Equally paradoxical, my lords, and dialectically, as I conceive, suicidal, was 
 the use which the Queen's Advocate made of a passage in St. Augustine. ' Here,' 
 he says, ' are strong views of inspiration, in a passage known to our Reformers.' 
 Now, why did our Reformers, knowing St. Augustine's doctrine of election and 
 grace, insert it in their Articles ? Because, I presume, they believed it. Why did 
 the same Reformers, knowing also St. Augustine's doctrine of inspiration, not insert 
 it ? Because, I presume, they did not believe it with such a certainty as to think it 
 
Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 stirred, she declared lier acceptance of "four Prophets the 
 greater and twelve Prophets the less," but laid no restriction 
 upon investigations as to the interpretation, authorship, and 
 history. Still, if one theory of the book be called Christian, 
 while another is called the Jewish or rationalistic theory, it 
 may be foreseen that hardly one mind in a thousand will com- 
 pare evidence for the two dispassionately. The comfort which 
 men who practise their religion derive from it, and the awe 
 with which men who do not practise it regard it, are employed 
 to weight the scales ; until, paradoxical as it may soimd, thou- 
 sands who know nothing of the literary "Evidence but what 
 some one, a little less ignorant than themselves has told them, 
 will not only stake their salvation upon a point of literary 
 chronology, but will imagine this to be the only, or the 
 strongest, reason for believing things of an entirely different 
 kind, which their experience has taught them to value, and 
 without which they would have judged the literary matter 
 differently. If God wrote the book of Daniel so that it should 
 contain predictions to prove Christianity, a theory which ex- 
 plains the predictions and destroys the proof, may with no 
 greater extravagance than polemists allow themselves, be said 
 to place us in an attitude of defiance toward the Divine Majesty, 
 taking away from mankind their dearest hopes, or sapping the 
 
 proper for legislative imposition. I doubt if any argument on our side better de- 
 serves your lordships' attention than this which the Queen's Advocate has generously 
 suggested, for it is often assumed that our Reformers would have rejected with 
 horror any notions of Biblical freedom. Such an assumption always seemed to me 
 a violation of all canons of historical verisimilitude; for our Reformers lived in a 
 country where the free handling of Scripture by Reginald Pecock, Bishop of St. Asaph, 
 was well known, and had shared condemnation with the heresies of Wicliffe — and 
 while the atmosphere was rife with the rationalistic hints of Raleigh and Hariot. 
 Nothing is more certain than that their relations were most friendly with Luther, 
 whose Biblical freedom was such that his criticisms are often identical with those 
 for which the volume of F.ssa>js and lieviews is indicted. Yet our Reformers, equally 
 attached to Augustine on one side, and to Luther on the other, and having (we are 
 now told) strict views before them by the side of lax views, deliberately refrained 
 from recording a legislative preference for either, and by this indifference, or rather 
 wisdom, guaranteed, as I trust, our freedom." — Final Seply, before the Jtidicial 
 Committee. 
 
 i 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 foundation on which they rest. It is not wonderful that men 
 who have definite duties, and indefinite ideas of what criticism 
 means, should shrink from the appearance of such presumption 
 as is thus ascribed to them. "Who are we that the evidence 
 which satisfied Sir Isaac Newton should not content us ? 
 Whether he examined the evidence, or what he sometimes said 
 upon it, and whether his doctrinal views in general should be 
 our model, is a difierent thing. But why should we forfeit one 
 world, and risk another; that, too, one in which any hope of 
 an ending of penalties is itself penal ? 
 
 Per me si va nella citta dolente, 
 Per me si va tra la perduta gente : 
 Lasciate ogni speranza, voi che 'ntrate. 
 
 2. On the other hand, the grave nature of the interests 
 involved in what seemed at first only a question of sacred litera- 
 ture, tends to remove it out of the categor}^ of curiosity into 
 that of duty. If there are elements in our faith, practical or 
 speculative, which we are justified in refusing to prove, leaving 
 the burden of argument on whoever assails them, a literary 
 position, especially one considered as an outwork, can claim no 
 such immunity from account ; some investigation of the 
 evidence is in this case required by justice to the Jews, whose 
 tradition of the canon has been arraigned; by loyalty to the 
 faith of which we are ministers, whose evidences are supposed 
 to be jeopardied; above all, by reverence for the holy name 
 of God, which if not righteously invoked, has been wantonly 
 paraded. The strong language which the Oxford Regius Pro- 
 fessor of Hebrew has permitted himself to use on this subject 
 might not be too strong, though it would be needless, if the 
 critics against whom he directs it had either falsified their 
 statement of the evidence, or violated a sanctity antecedent and 
 paramount to all evidence. There should be some criterion by 
 which the tone of righteous indignation may be distinguished 
 from the gall of bitterness. Most men have some Rubicon of 
 sacredness in regard to Revelation : with one it has been the 
 
 b 
 
X I>:i'!t01)l'CT10X. 
 
 Anglican version ; with another it has been, in one stage of his 
 life, the voice of the English Episcopate, — surely a criterion 
 short of the highest ; with many men it is whatever the Bible 
 shall on due explanation be found to contain ; with others it 
 is the religious element in the Bible ; with others the spirit of 
 the Bible, the life out of which the book sprang, and which in 
 turn it has tended to generate in the world ; with some it is the 
 New Testament, independently of the Old ; with others, it is 
 the mind of Christ, to which the New Testament aflPords the 
 best approximative clue ; with others, it is the human conscience, 
 placed sensibly in presence of the heart-searching God ; or again, 
 the ultimate evidence, and a great point of sacredness, is the 
 perpetual coincidence between the words of Christ and the voice 
 of our conscience, whenever they are brought fairly into con- 
 tact : to some, the only trustworthy evidence of revelation seems 
 miracle ; to others, Divine illumination enforcing truth or fit- 
 ness of doctrine, appears, in the midst of undoubted miracles, to 
 be alone capable of implanting the faith that saves, and where 
 miracles are questioned, to be not merely their permitted sub- 
 stitute, but the rightful occupant of their place : again, men 
 of phlegmatic thought, without denying the Divine origin of 
 illumination, think its effects not different from such mental 
 operations as enable us to embrace moral evide'nce : almost any 
 of these views, or a combination of them, leaves place for the 
 Church, as harmonising the consciences, and embodying the 
 convictions, of the community. Can a reason be given why, 
 on any theory of Eevclation or of its evidences, one account of 
 the book of Daniel is to be preferred to another? Must the 
 preference be such, that the one accoimt has its place on the 
 sacred soil, and within the charmed bower, where none may lift 
 a spear ? or in this, as in other instances, is the life indepen- 
 dent of place and time, permitting us to settle history in what- 
 ever way the evidence may suggest ? Sujjpose a person pre- 
 disposed to believe whatever he ought ; take rather one who 
 believes all the articles of the Christian faith, but who doubts. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 j\yhether a particular accourit of the book of Daniel has a place 
 among them ; one who thinks, perhaps, that Christ would not 
 have his disciples seek such knowledge^ of the times and sea- 
 eons as one interpretation of the book seems to disclose ; yet 
 one, whose faith in the Divine power of inspiration, the his- 
 torical reality of miracles, and the prescience of prophecy, may 
 give to enquiries on such subjects an interest vital and ab- 
 sorbing. How is such a person to decide between accounts of 
 the book of Daniel so conflicting as the one set forth for English 
 readers in the following treatise, and another which has the 
 benefit of Dr. Pusey's exposition in a more academic form ? 
 Can he be certain that his choice may not be fatal to his own 
 soul ? Some attempt to answer these questions will be the 
 limited scoj)e of this Introduction ; which must not be under- 
 stood to imply adoption of the more general \dews of either one 
 of the two expositors. 
 
 3. On opening a common Hebrew Bible, we find three great 
 Prophets, followed by the twelve minor Prophets, in familiar 
 order. Only Daniel is wanting, and has to be sought in a 
 subsequent collection of books. Among its neighbours there 
 are, the Song of Songs, an ancient book, but one reckoned by 
 the Jews semi-canonical ; Ecclesiastes, whose signs of later 
 origin bring it within about two centuries of the Christian era ; 
 Esther, a hook unfixed, but falling low in the Persian, if not in 
 the Grecian, period ; the books of Chronicles, which are allowed 
 to contain genealogies implying interpolation or compilation 
 subsequent to Alexander the Great ;- and the collection of 
 Psalms, which is believed (though not without disj)ute, yet)" for 
 reasons which cannot be lightly set aside, to contain composi- 
 tions as late as the Maccabaic period. The " foolish man 
 
 1 Acts i. 7. 
 
 '^ 1 Chron. iii. 21-24, where six generations have an appearance of following 
 Zerubbabel (compare Jaddua, in Nehemiah xii. 11). 
 
 Dr. Pusey (p. 330) "gives to the section the appearance of an ancient gloss," — 
 a solution, which the passage, in common with others, may bear; but which its 
 sponsor might have been expected to deplore as rationalism, if not to describe as 
 " mere insolent assumption against Holy Scripture, grounded on unbelief" (p. S-td). 
 
xii iNTiioDUcrnoN. 
 
 blaspheming daily" of Psalm Ixxiv. (with which Psalm Ixxix. 
 should be compared) seems a direct allusion to the madman 
 {i'mfiavr]<;) Antiochus. Without laying undue stress on con- 
 jectures, the result of this arrangement of the book of Daniel 
 is as if the English reader found it half-way between Malachi 
 and St. Matthew. It is not an adequate explanation to say 
 that Daniel, though gifted with prophecy, was excluded as not 
 being a prophet by office. Neither was Amos a prophet, or a son 
 of a prophet ; yet his book is separated but by Joel from Hosea, 
 to whose age he belonged. Daniel would probably have been 
 placed by Ezekiel, if he had belonged to the same age. The in- 
 ference of a lower date, which is obviously suggested by a place 
 in the canon posterior to that of the prophets, is confirmed by 
 the observation, that neither Zechariah, nor Haggai, following 
 immediately the return from exile, contain any such allusion to 
 Daniel or his book, as a career so marvellous, and a book so 
 significant, if they had been known, would have rendered 
 natural, if not necessary. How could Ezra, or more strikingly 
 Nehemiah, describe his own relation to Artaxerxes, and not 
 be reminded of the eminence Avhicli Daniel had enjoyed in a 
 Persian court, and of the marvellous revelations by which it 
 had been won? If their thoughts called them in a different 
 direction, at least an enumeration of all the worthies of Israel 
 would not overlook so famous a name among the fathers that 
 had gone before. Yet the son of Sirach in chaps, xhiii., xlix. of 
 Ecclesiasticus, has a word for Elijah and Elisha, Isaiah and 
 Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Nehemiah, coming down to Simon, the 
 son- of Onias ; but with strange ingratitude, or natural uncon- 
 sciousness, omits mention of Daniel. This kind of omission is 
 exclusion, imtil at least some evidence appear on the other side. 
 Its exclusive tendency will be increased, if Zechariah, without 
 knowing Daniel, can be shown to enfold in germ what Daniel 
 will expand. 
 
 Among the evidences by which the Old Testament Scriptures 
 may to some extent, though not to a high antiquity, be tested, 
 
INTRODUCTIOK. Xlll 
 
 a prominent place belongs to ancient versions. Now, if we 
 turn from a Hebrew canon of the Prophets, in which Daniel 
 does not occiu', and from a catalogue of the greater Prophets 
 which does not mention him, to the Greek version, we are met 
 by a singular phenomenon. Daniel is the solitary book of 
 which Jerome^ tells us, the Church read a version by Theodo- 
 tion, in preference to the Septuagint, which required asterisks 
 and obelisks to mark its errors and redmidancies, though the 
 censorious of that day, who have so many wonderfid parallels in 
 our own, blamed St. Jerome for departing from it. He does 
 not explain why the Septuagint version of this book shoidd be 
 I worse than that of others, but if the book did not exist, or 
 had a doubtfid and hardly canonical recognition, at the time 
 when the Greek translation is supposed to have been made, we 
 [should have the groundwork of an explanation, the details of 
 j which may be filled in hereafter. 
 
 4. It can hardly be wrong at this stage of our enquiry to say 
 that the external yet Biblical evidence suggests on its first 
 blush a later origin for Daniel, than for the Prophets in 
 general. Will the contents of the book furnish any reason for 
 a contrary conclusion ? 
 
 That parts of. the book are written in Chaldee, that is in a 
 language difiering from Hebrew much as old lowland Scottish 
 (say in Bishop Douglas's Yirgil) differs from English, is not in 
 iitsclf conclusive of one date rather than another between B.C. 
 600 and b.c. 100. Can we, however, supposing Ezra under Arta- 
 xerxes about b.c. 460, and accepting the Targum called of On- 
 |l<:clos as falling at the earliest within the Christian era, detect a 
 Variation in the texture of the Chaldee, which would suggest for 
 Daniel a place anterior, or subsequent to Ezra ? No wide dif- 
 ference need be expected. A clear tendency of variation is 
 thought to have been traced. 
 
 (a). The earliest verse of Chaldee in the Bible (Jer. x. 11) 
 
 rives LeHoM as the pronoun for to Them. Ezra v. 3, 4, gives for 
 
XIV TXTRODUCTIOK. 
 
 the same, LeHoM, but also v. 2, 3, gives LeHoN. In Daniel the 
 latter form LelloN habitually occurs, c.(/. vi. 3 (comp. v. 2, 3, 23), 
 while the former, whatcA'er may be the reason, has vanished. 
 Xow in the Targum of Onkelos on Genesis xl. 22, it is LeHoN, 
 the latter foiin, the one current in Daniel, which is charac- 
 teristic, while the former, if ever, does not normally occur. 
 This implies something. More decidedly, the pronoun for to You 
 in the proportion of five times to one throughout Ezra, as in 
 chap. V. 3, and vii. 24, is LeCHoM, whereas in Daniel iii. 4 
 (comp. ii. 5-9) it is LeCHoN. It is difficult to explain this 
 particular variation otherwise than bj^ supposing Daniel the 
 later book. Turn to Onkelos on Genesis ix. 3 ; the word by 
 which he expresses To You is LeCHoN. This is his normal, I 
 believe his invariable usage. The first six verses of the 43rd 
 chaj^ter of Genesis give several instances for comparison of both 
 pronouns, (b). Again, in Ezra, the words This house of God, 
 are expressed Beith Eloho DeCH, and This city Kiriathah 
 DaCH ; the forms DeCH and DaCH representing the Hebrew 
 ZeH and ZoTH. It is not denied that the form DeNah also 
 occurs in Ezra. The point is, that on turning to Daniel the 
 forms DeCH and DaCH are no lo]iger fomid ; but are replaced 
 by DA or DeNah, commonly the latter, as in ii. 18 ; v. 24, 25, 
 and often (not to urge on either side a quasi-adverbial usage). 
 I have no wish to strain out of this, the most disputable of the 
 difierences, more than I fairly ought, but still must adhere to 
 those who see in it a later tendency of language. For how do 
 the Targums, alilce of Onkelos and of Jonathan Ben Uzziel, on 
 Genesis v. 1, express This Book, Hebr. ZeH SePHeR ? -They 
 use the form DeyN SePHaR. Similarly on Genesis xxviii. 
 16, 17, they express This Place by ATHRa HaDeyN, or 
 ITHRa HaDeyN. The form is even reduplicated into a sort 
 of plural, DeNaN (Gen. xxxi. 38). Let any one accustomed to 
 weigh such transitions say, whether the cardinal letters in the 
 Targums do not retain what is more characteristic of Daniel 
 than of Ezra. It is a partial, but not a complete, answer, that 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 on Gen. xxiv. 65, Onkelos expresses That man by Gavra Deijchi. 
 (c). Once more, the Hebrew word for These is ELeH. So in Jer. 
 X. 11, and in Ezra v. 15, we read for These, ELeH (for Those we 
 read in Ezra v. 9, ILLeCH). Whereas in Daniel we actually 
 find for These the form ILLeN, vi. 7, and its still later equiva- 
 lent ILLeyN (chaps, ii. 44 ; vi. 3 : vii. 17), with which may 
 be compared INNoN in ii. 44, and vi. 25. This is a most re- 
 markable variation, the nature of which is placed beyond rea- 
 sonable doubt by the form ILLeyN in Onkelos and Jonathan 
 Ben Uzziel on Gen. ii. 4 ; ix. 19 ; x. 1, and wherever, otherwise 
 than by Denan, the word These is expressed. The reader will 
 have the pith of the argimient before him, if he imagine him- 
 self opening a Eabbinical Bible, and observing this : 
 
 Hebrew Column. Targum Column. English. 
 
 Eleh Toledoth. Illeyn Toledath. These are the gene- 
 
 rations. 
 
 Eleh in Ezra and lUen, or Illeyn, in These. 
 
 Jeremiah. Daniel. 
 
 This juxtaposition of forms weighs with my idiosyncrasy more 
 than any multiplication of possibilities, or hard words. It is an 
 exact analogy, that the Hebrew for What is MeH or MaH, but 
 the Chaldee is MaN ; and it is a less obvious illustration that 
 the Hebrew for Mouth is PeH, but the Chaldee PouM. If any 
 one contends, that in their own homes the Chaldee forms may 
 have been the older, and that here is no euphonical change, nor 
 necessary afiinity, but only correspondence, my argument^ 
 makes no objection, provided it be allowed that in the Hebrew 
 Scriptui'es, of which our enquiry is, the Chaldee forms (mth 
 
 ^ Little as my argument needs it, I might suggest a hope of mercy for a philologer 
 who should doubt the doctrine that the singular DeN and the plurals DeNaN and 
 ILLeyN have the same element in their termination ; even if he appealed with 
 dubious success to such forms as Mah and j\[an, Dagah and Dagan, Nadah and 
 Nadan, Gaebah (?) and Gechan, for a different explanation. The question of 
 Daniel and Ezra does not turn on euphonic mutation, but on Biblical priority. If 
 James I. spoke ever so old Scotch, it might be late English. But viri docti sen- 
 tentise ut assentiar, a mc non impetru._ 
 
XVl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the disputed exception of Manna) appear later, and furnish 
 criteria of a book's lateness. The transition from S/eh in the 
 earlier Scriptiu'es and Ezra, to lUcyn in Daniel and the Tar- 
 gums, is complete ; whatever its analogies, fancied or real, in 
 external dialects. 
 
 Enough of these variations here to show that they arc not 
 insignificant ; they may not, apart from all other circumstances, 
 have a force approaching to demonstration ; their tendency is 
 to indicate in Daniel a stage of language subsequent to Ezra, 
 and advancing in the direction of the Targums. The greater 
 the differences are, the more favourably shall we be able here- 
 after to judge of the author's directness in writing suitably to 
 his time ; whereas, on the less favourable supposition of his 
 designedly imitating Ezra, we might find no differences. 
 
 A more striking, and for general readers available, charac- 
 teristic of style as indicating age, may be found in the nume- 
 rous Iranian, or Indo-European, words which occur in the 
 book under consideration. An useful list of these has been 
 appended, with the assistance of Professor Miiller, to Dr. 
 Pusey's recent lectures. In order however that the student 
 may derive from this list all the instruction which it is capable 
 of affording, he should remember a circumstance of which 
 neither the divine nor the philologer has informed him, that 
 Persian would have been as strange to Nebuchadnezzar, as 
 Grreek. We are not dealing with Ezra, who lived under 
 Artaxerxes, but with an author supposed to represent the Syro- 
 Chaldean age of Babylon. If anything is known of the distri- 
 bution of languages and races, we know for certain, that the 
 indigenous Babylonians of Nebuchadnezzar's age (if not of all 
 ages, for Mr. Rawlinson's supposed discovery would not here 
 affect us) were of that Syro- Arabian race, at the head of which 
 the Bible places Chesed, father of the Chasdim or Chaldtcans, 
 and whose patriarch is Shem.^ So the priests or astrologers 
 
 1 This is fully discussed in 1 Vater's Adelung, with which may be compared 
 Rosenmiiller's Note on Habbacuc i , the opinion in Layard's Nineveh, ii, p. 237, 
 
INTRODUCTION. XVll 
 
 (chap. ii. V. 4) are made to address the king Aramith, or XvpL<i\, 
 and (not to dwell on Strabo's identification (lib. xvi.) of the terms 
 Syrian and Assyrian) the existence of our Aramaic Chaldee in 
 large portions of this book is both significantly dramatic and 
 conclusive as to the author's conception of Chaldaean ethnology. 
 The supposition of an intrusive warrior caste of Kurds, though it 
 has had an occasional place among the conjectures of scholars, and 
 though it is now convenient to a class of writers who lately 
 called it " infidel," is on wider grounds more justly set aside. 
 Those w^io hold it, can least explain, how a position like that of 
 the Turkish troops under the Arabian Caliphs could be that of 
 a learned caste of astronomers. 
 
 How then are we to explain the occurrence of Iranian, i.e. 
 Indo-European, words in Daniel ? The opening verses give, in 
 connexion with a decree of Nebuchadnezzar's, partemim [i.e. 
 nobles), akin to the Sanscrit prathama, Pehlvi pardoni. There 
 are many others, an explanation of which was attempted by Dr. 
 Jahn in his excellent Introduction to the Old Testament, and 
 gently criticised by his episcopal editor in America. It was 
 taken from Dr. Jahn by Dr. Mill in his publication as " Chris- 
 tian Advocate," and is taken from Dr. Mill by Bishop Cotton,^ 
 of Calcutta, who now sends it from Asia to Eiu'ope as a novel 
 
 and the Article by Mr. Bevan oa Tongues, Dispersion of, in Smith's Bibl. Diet. The 
 most recent philologer on the Kurdish side seems to be M. Renan, whom I might 
 hesitate to contradict, if I had not observed (Lang. Sem., p. 66), that he quotes 
 among his authorities Mr. Layard, who has expressly summed up for the Semitic 
 theory ; while the difficulty, to !ny own mind very great, of making Abraham a Kurd, 
 and the weight of the Mosaic genealogies, which I am not neologist enough to desert 
 with Dr. Pusey, unless much graver reason compelled me, confirmed too, as these 
 are by the Aramaic of Daniel, almost conclude the question. In truth, M. Re'nan's 
 undoubted accomplishments as an Orientalist do not preserve him from a prone- 
 ness to conjecture in more provinces than one. He does not make the Chaldees 
 priests ; so that his alliance with Dr. Pusey is imperfect. 
 
 1 I prefer a glance at Bishop Cotton's philological discoveries to one at his 
 personal judgments ; though the latter, especially in so far as they blame a clergy- 
 man for imputing to " the great body of believers" certain exaggerations, which the 
 clergyman had complained of as exceptionally exacted from himself, in an age when 
 the great body of educated believers had expressly or tacitly surrendered them, 
 exemplify in a memorable measure what the good bishop justly calls " the guilt of 
 misrepresentation. ' ' 
 
XVlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 discovery, which it is only wonderful should not be known to 
 an essayist who had considered and, out of respect for some of 
 its advocates, passed it over in silence. No chronology brings 
 Cyrus to Babylon before 540. Suppose him there in 536. 
 Daniel would be at least eighty, apjoi'oaching ninet}^ years of 
 age (i. 1-3). If he equalled the highest historical instances of 
 longevity, it would be a strange employment for one on the 
 brink of the grave, first to learn Persian, then to translate into 
 it portions of his former work, and the edicts of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar. Would such a procedure be even consistent with 
 inspiration ? Without ^vearying the reader on this point, I 
 trust a moment's reflexion will show him, that Iranian words, 
 e.g. Parte mini, Sag an, Sarbal, {i.e. braccm, Gr. aapd^apa), 
 Achashdarpenim (satraps), etc., etc., tend greatly to strengthen 
 any previous presimiption in favour of the later date assigned 
 to the book of Daniel. 
 
 We have not yet exhausted our linguistic indications. 
 Ha^ing never myself consented to vote for depriving the word 
 kitharas of its Greek citizenship, I rejoice to see Professor 
 Midler set aside the desperate attempts to make it Persian. 
 Here the question is not, whether a stray Greek term might 
 float from Ionia to Babylon ; but how came other books of the 
 Bible, even those written at Babylon, to call a harp by its 
 Hebrew name kinnor (comp. Cinyras), and only the one which 
 external evidence places after Alexander's conquest, to use the 
 Greek word kithara (in what was probably its genitive form, 
 though punctuated cayihros) ? Ezekiel, captive by Chebar's 
 stream, wrote kinoraych, thy harp ; those daughters of Zion 
 who remembered their past tears at Babylon, had hung, they 
 say, " kinorotiieynotc, our harps," upon the trees that were 
 there. In Daniel the Hebrew word has vanished; a Greek 
 substitute appears. If this were not enough, we find the word 
 pesanieeryn, or psanteryon, which, whether its peculiar form be 
 certainly, or but probably, connected by Gesenius with the 
 Macedonian use of N for L (mentioned by Gregory of Corinth) 
 
INTRODUCTIO^r. XIX 
 
 must in any case be a modification of the Greek 2^salterio7i.^ 
 That a gentleman has been foimcl to suggest a Semitic root 
 PSaL, proves so little about the Greek inflexion, which was the 
 point, that it is difficult to imagine the suggestion serious, 
 though Reviews applaud it. The word SamBuCa retains too 
 much trace of its Asiatic original to be urged, though it is 
 probably on its return as a visitor from Greece, as our own 
 adoption from France of boire {bihere), if for an illustration's 
 sake I may so far follow Yoss, does not prevent our restoring it 
 in the form la bicre. A more certain word is Soumphonia, of 
 which, notwithstanding the alternative writing Siphonia, I 
 should feel the force needed no argument, if it were not emi- 
 nently significant, that Polybius (Athena^, x. p. 439) mentions 
 Antiochus (the tyrant symbolised by Nebuchadnezzar) as 
 dancing to the symphony, whether one instrument, or more; 
 Polybius, I think, meant it of one; as also did Livy. But 
 what shall we say of Ashaphim ; the wise men, or diviners ? 
 Hebrew lexicographers seldom scruple to invent roots, and in 
 the comparatively modern colluvies, called Syriac, the word has 
 been adopted out of Daniel. No Semitic warrant for it ap- 
 proaches within ages the time reqiured for a precedent, unless 
 any one chooses to make it a dialectic variation of the Hebrew 
 Cashaph, A more probable clue is furnished by the frequent 
 recurrence of (r6<po(; in the LXX. Ashaph, I suspect, can only 
 be Sophos, and it bears to its Greek original the same relation 
 as the Hebrew Ani, a ship, bears to its Greek and Sanscrit 
 cognate I^ati -s. I will not urge barer possibilities ; if the 
 above instances exhaust the Greek words in Daniel, they pre- 
 sent, standing alone, a chronological suggestion, which with 
 
 ^ Compare the Homeric yevro for eAero. Doric Pevrlov for ^eXrlov, fihTiaros for 
 Pe\Ti(7Tos. The Doric usage does not exclude the Macedonian, but renders it pro- 
 bable. The word i\ia.\Tr]piov could not have come from the Dorians, for it was not a 
 Dorian name, but was a comparatively modern substitute for the older name iidyaois, 
 which meant the lyre with some special number of strings. See Atheneeus, xiv. 
 p. 636 (v. 309, Schweighseuser). Dr. Pusey must pardon this correction, which I 
 would have spared, if his extreme confidence had not taken such a tone of rebuke» 
 not sparing even St. Gregory, a bishop and a father, as well as a grammarian. 
 
XX IKTRODTJCTION. 
 
 accompanying circumstances may bo a link of proof. If they 
 were possible under Nebuchadnezzar, they are natural after 
 Alexander. 
 
 5. To the common sense of the multitude a consideration of 
 the subject-matter of the book may furnish plainer ground. 
 There will be found in the following treatise abundant evi- 
 dence that the four kingdoms described in symbol by Daniel 
 are Babylonian, Persian, and Macedonian, with either a Median 
 as the second, or the Scleucid dynasty of Syria (and possibly 
 its Egyptian contemporaries) as the fourth. Either alterna- 
 tive leaves the "little horn" as the well-kno^^^l, widely-acknow- 
 ledged, representation of Epiphanes, who in his love of Greek 
 fashion thought to change Semitic times and seasons, and 
 who raised by his insults the splendid outburst of fanatical 
 valour which is the glory of the Maccabees. Expositors 
 so unlike as Porphyry and Jerome^ agree so nearly as this : 
 the one supposes Daniel to describe Antiochus ; the other 
 prefers Antichrist under the type of Antiochus ; in either view, 
 a knowledge of Antiochus is presupposed. All introductions 
 into the text of the Ottoman empire or the Pope — as a primary 
 meaning — as an historical form which the writer gives to his 
 thought, may safely be set aside. Some few scholars may con- 
 ceive allusion to Antiochus a proof that the book M'as as late as 
 his age ; a far larger number of divines imagine the predictive 
 form in which the allusion is conveyed abundantly demonstra- 
 tive that the book existed earlier ; otherwise, they say, it would 
 be deceptive.'^ A middle, and a moderate, course is, to ask on 
 
 ' Hieron. in Dan., vii., viii. 
 
 - A most reverend writer has said upon St. Luke : " It is painful to remark, how 
 the opinions of many commentators who refuse to fix the date of this Gospel earlier 
 than the destruction of Jerusalem, have been influenced by the determination that 
 nothing like prophecy shall be found in it. Believing that our Lord did really 
 prophesy that event, we have no diffieu!/i/ in believing that an evangelist reported the 
 prophecy before it was fulfilled." Now, supposing his grace to know by inspira- 
 tion, or otherwise, the motives of commentators, who might have deduced their 
 apparent axiom from previous instances, the laws of thought still permit us to see a 
 correspondent assumption on his grace's side. Granting that there are truths to 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 behalf of a book, for which prediction is claimed, that some 
 evidence, or a probability, however slight, of its existence 
 anterior to the event, should be shown. We have seen, in the 
 case of Daniel, the external evidence against a date earlier than 
 Antiochus. While this remains so, it is respectful to hope the 
 "intention" was not "deceptive," in a practice which even 
 Christian poets, Tasso, and our own Spenser, and Geoffry, who 
 was a bishop, have sanctioned ; and which can hardly surprise 
 us in a lower age, two centuries before the Christian era, when 
 it is known to have existed largely among Jews and Gentiles. 
 The books of the Sibylline Prophecies,^ formerly ranked by 
 church authority with David's Psalms, may exemplify the habit 
 for the Greeks, the book of Enoch (the date of which I do not 
 presume to fix) for the Jews, and Virgil's sixth JEneid for the 
 Romans. If the divinest inspiration is shown by manj^ in- 
 stances to include the free spontaneity of poetry, parable, 
 apologue, patriotism, and passion, we cannot, antecedently to 
 investigation, assume that it must exclude a play of imagina- 
 tion in prose, which we might call dramatic, but consistent 
 with the modes of thought of that age, and of many ages. At 
 least, on the side of " evidences," the predictive or sjTnbolical 
 form, in which the book of Daniel enfolds its allusions to the 
 period of Antiochus, is not sufficient to counteract the tendency 
 of those allusions in fixing the date as contemporary or subse- 
 quent to Antiochus. 
 
 It would be a departure from the principles which govern 
 this enquiry (and are inculcated by me elsewhere,) to assume 
 that the presence of miracles in a narrative disproves its 
 genuineness or its authenticity. Still, there are narratives in 
 
 which our assent properly commences in volition, it is not clear that the existence of 
 a prediction for near half a century before an event, if it is not attested until half a 
 century after the event, belongs to such an order of truths. At all events, the 
 acceptance of such a prediction is too much a result of faith o.- volition, to be a 
 foundation. It does not furnish that proof, for the sake of which it was alleged. I 
 only borrow here an illustration of reasoning, the two cases being manifoldly unlike 
 in themselves. 
 
 * Oracula Sibyllina. Friedlieb. Lipsise, 1852. 
 
XXll INTRODUCTION'. 
 
 Daniel, which even upon comparison with other miracles in the 
 Old Testament retain a certain air of strangeness; and in propor- 
 tion as things are strange, they require more evidence ; whereas 
 here the evidence is less than usual ; thus the book being on 
 other accomits questioned, if we proceed to ask what inherent 
 verification is afforded b}^ such narratives as represent the fire 
 not burning, and the lions not rending, the answer can hardly 
 avoid a tone of suspicion, which would make us rejoice to find 
 such an interval of elapse between the author and his subject- 
 matter, as on independent grounds we have already found. 
 Tliis would be stated more strongly by those who magnify the 
 presmnption in favour of an Order of Natm-e into a certainty 
 that exceptions from that order are precluded by its Divine 
 Author's all-suflB.cing omniscience. There is so Kttle likeli- 
 hood of that view's being confounded by any sincere mind with 
 my own, that I may venture to say, it does not appear to me 
 contemptible. It deserves more respectfid treatment than the 
 triple series of prejudications, Miracles are necessary ; Mii^acles 
 must haA''e occurred ; All records of miracles must be placed, 
 even without e^^dence, in such an order of time as may render 
 them available proofs. There is more consistency in saying 
 with the physical philosopher. Miracles, as we enlarge our grasp 
 upon Nature, become less probable ; and with the critical his- 
 torian, Hecords of miracle ought to be Adgilantly scrutinised ; 
 yet in no less maintaining, as a Christian divine, Nothing is 
 impossible with God ; and, at the same time, if all the miracles 
 of the Bible are undoubted and literal history, our faith in the 
 Supernatural does not depend upon them, since to ground faitli 
 in sensuous miracle is that very materialism which Christ re- 
 buked in Nicodemus^ (St. John iii. 2, 5, 10). 
 
 1 If Bishop Warburton and Archdeacon Hare (comp. " Mission of the Comforter," 
 pp. 212, 354-68) are adequate representatives of the two schools, to one of which the 
 foundation of faith seems phenomenal, and to the other spiritual, we not only see 
 that both schools are equally bound to produce historical evidence, and to limit their 
 affirmations in accordance with it, so that it is the merest polemical artifice to 
 ascribe to the spiritualist rather than the phenomenalist any ' assumptions ' de- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXlll 
 
 I hasten I'eluctantly by mauy questions of interest connected 
 with Daniel, a discussion of which would swell this Introduc- 
 tion into a treatise. It is disputed, whether the emphasis "with 
 which almsgiving and ascetic practices are prescribed, marks 
 a stage of Judaism intermediate between the Old Testament 
 and the New. At least it is in perfect consonance with a 
 period, when the received interpretation of righteousness as 
 ahnsgiving (See Beza, Mill, Elsley, on St. Matth. vi. 1) shows 
 the natiu'al sentiment of a " blessing on him who considereth 
 the poor" passing into that more formal code on the subject, 
 which finds countenance in the infant Christianity of the 
 Gospels, and which, though firmly rejected by St. Paul, has 
 been revived in parts of Christendom. A more difiicult enquir}' 
 is, how far Zoroastrianism appears? So much is certain, that 
 names and other distinctions of an angelic hierarchy come for- 
 ward in a way unknown to the older Scriptures ; if this change 
 may be ascribed to a fresh revelation, it is more naturally ex- 
 plained by contact with a faith likely to have suggested it, and 
 of high antiquity, although the books which now present it to 
 us do not yet admit a settlement of their age or interpretation. 
 The bearings of a great argument are not afiected by the possi- 
 bility of complicating its collateral or supplementary details. 
 The tendency, as it seems to me, of research up to our own 
 days, from the time when Dean Prideaux^ conceived of 
 Zoroaster as an apostate Jew, is to magnify the antiquitv, 
 importance, and spiritual force of the impulse which the East 
 received, when the great Bactrian reformer scattered the night 
 of Nature from eyes sealed in the slumber of Vedic infancy, 
 and out of the contrast of light and darkness evoked the per- 
 
 rogatory to history ; but in fact the spiritual school has often been the stronger on 
 the historical ground. We shall not arrive at an understanding, until the impartial 
 neutrality of the intellect is guaranteed by an habitual distinction between things 
 historical or ratiocinative, which are subject-matter of belief, and things spiritual, 
 which are objects of faith ; the latter being tests of cliaracter, inasmuch as our rela- 
 tion to them is affected by volition. 
 
 ' Conn. O. N. T. i. 4, with which his account of Judith, i. 1, is curious enough to 
 bear comparison. (Comp. Pusey, p. 97.) 
 
XXIV IMTROlirCTION. 
 
 sonalities, or foreshadowed the conflicts, of Milton's Paradise 
 Lost. 
 
 To those who would prosecute this part of the subject, 
 Heeren's Asiatic Researches, cap. ii., Lassen's Indische Alter- 
 thumskunde, and the brilliant chapters in Gibbon, and in Mil- 
 man's History of Christianity, with the authorities cited therein, 
 wiU afford the means of doing so. Yon Lengerkc's Daniel, and 
 Dr. Puscy's Lectures, may be considered in respect of our entire 
 book as the two authorities standing to each other in strongest 
 antithesis. The view taken by Mr. Desprez occupies an inter- 
 mediate and moderate position. Those who wish to contrast 
 the two sides, treated moderately, with exact equipoise of 
 ability (and after reading adverse criticisms I can add, with 
 considerable erudition and acumen), may compare two editions 
 of Dr. Da^adson, — the first, 1856, maintaining the earlier, and 
 the second, 1863, the later date. 
 
 6. There is one branch of evidence, hitherto but glanced at, 
 which deserves consideration from di%dnes of all schools. It 
 depends upon no modern theory, or scholar; is not only 
 "as old as Porphyry," but older. Tlie Greek version,^ 
 edited from the Vatican and Alexandrian MSS., whether it 
 were originally part of the Septuagint, or were borrowed from 
 any one else, presents in its existing form a book of Daniel 
 between Ezekiel and the Maccabees. This book of Daniel com- 
 mences with the apocryphal narrative of Susannah ; proceeds 
 subsequently, so as not to need remark, to the third chapter, in 
 which a long prayer of Azarias is introduced, and the song 
 which we call " the Song of the Three Children." Nebuchad- 
 nezzar hearing them sing, is astonied (as he might well be), 
 and rises up in haste. The book then proceeds until the end of 
 the twelfth chapter; when Astyages the Mede (whom the 
 writer probably identified with "Darius") dies, and Cyrus the 
 Persian succeeds. Then comes the story of Bel and the 
 
 ' Ozonii, MDCCCxvii. Accedit Introductio Carpzovii. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 Dragon, followed by that of Habbacuc the Prophet, who is borne 
 through the air by the hair of his head, in order to carry food 
 to Daniel in the den of lions. A brief recital of Daniel's de- 
 liverance closes the book. When Porphyry read this collection 
 of stories, he fairly argued, that it must have been written in 
 Greek, since the first tale of Susannah contains two Greek puns 
 {a-xjivov and <r')(^l(r€i, rrplvov and irpiaai). His argument is adopted 
 by our orthodox apologists, as a reason to the Church of Rome 
 for our not accepting the Apocrypha. Jerome fairly answered, 
 that the Greek puns in Susannah do not affect the portion of 
 j Daniel which is found in the Hebrew. His answer is generally 
 accepted. Still, he did not explain, why in the third chapter 
 Nebuchadnezzar was astonied and rose up in haste — a phe- 
 nomenon, of which the Greek, with its Song of the Three 
 Children, supplies an account : while the Hebrew, with its 
 omission of that song, supplies none. Hence it is an open, 
 though neglected, question, whether the Greek be not, after all, 
 the original of Daniel ; or to speak more closely to proba- 
 bility, whether it does not represent an ancient collection of 
 stories, out of which the Hebrew compiler in the Maccabean 
 age selected the most dignified for the purpose of encouraging 
 his countrymen to trust in the Lord God of their fathers ; not 
 expectiQg them to enquire, nor nicely enquiring for himself, 
 how much was documentary, and how much traditional. This 
 view would explain, why Citkaras appears in the genitive case ; 
 why such words as Sophos are retained ; especially, why Uphar- 
 sin is absent from the Greek text, though introduced into the 
 Hebrew ; its absence being more consistent than its presence, 
 with the conception, originally native to the writer, that the 
 Iranian dynasty in Babylon began with the Medes, and was 
 transferred to the Persians. Why should it be more startling 
 for Greek elements to find a way into the Hebrew Canon, than 
 for the New Testament to be in Greek? or to take a more 
 exact analogy, for the Greek of Aquila and Theodotion to be 
 imitated or replaced, as is believed, by the Hebrew transforma- 
 
XXVI INTRODUCTION- 
 
 tions ^ of Onkelos and Jonatlian ? Can any better explanation 
 be given of tbe circumstance, that Daniel's interpretation, w. 
 26-28, corresponds with the three words of the Greek, but not 
 with the four words of the Hebrew and English ? Priority on 
 part of the Greek would be an explanation ; and more so, if 
 we remember the Hebrew fondness for rhythmical response. 
 
 Tempting as may be that hj^othesis, it would have difficul- 
 ties of its owTi, and should not divert us from certainties ; 
 especially since to native inheritors of the Hebrew, who claim 
 a Hebrew original even for Susannah, it will hardly be welcome. 
 At all events, the incorporation of legendary stories in the 
 Greek Daniel proves how little the idea of sacredness prevented 
 such a thing, on the strictest theory, in this case ; or need have 
 prevented it in the case of the Older Prophets, on the theory of 
 their having received Daniel as a late addition. The argu- 
 ment from " deception," the most invidious of all to answer, is 
 destroyed by our Deutero- Canonical books, especially by such as 
 the book of Wisdom, called of Solomon, the author of which 
 writes with every appearance of piety, yet does not scruple in 
 his eighth and ninth chapters to personate the son of David. 
 An older, a more absolutely canonised, instance of the same 
 practice is presented in the book of Ecclesiastes. It is entitled 
 " The "Words of the Preacher, the Son of David, king of Jeru- 
 salem." Some may restrict the force of this title by under- 
 standing it to imply only a representation of the character of 
 Solomon : that the authorship does not belong to Solomon, is 
 allowed too generally for argimient upon it to be needful. If 
 the adoption of character seem more innocent than the inven- 
 tion of incidents, I am not contending for the latter ; although 
 examples of it, without going so far as the Cj^ropaodia of 
 Xenophon, abound in Jewish books of the period to which 
 Daniel probably belongs. 
 
 A friend once pointed out to me that the force of these con- 
 
 ' Geiger, pp, 162-163, Urschrift. Breslau, 1857. Compaie Carpzovius, as above, 
 p. Ixzxvii. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXVll 
 
 siderations is much increcased by a comparison of the Coptic 
 version of Daniel. On proceeding to an examination of this, I 
 found it framed upon the basis of the Greek, and divided into 
 thirteen visions, of which Susannah is the first ; although it 
 seems that by an act of judgment which, without disrespect to 
 a man of learning, it may be permitted to think mistaken, the 
 portions absent from the Hebrew have been placed in Archdeacon 
 Tattam's edition of the Coptic ^ at the end, under the head of 
 " Additions to Daniel." The most remarkable point is, that at 
 the end of the thirteenth vision appears a fourteenth, in which 
 the four Empires are re-cast into the forms of the Persian, 
 Roman, Byzantine, and Saracenic. Whether the writer of this 
 fresh vision were inspired, or uninspired (though it is hard to 
 say, why that Spirit which taught all nations of the earth their 
 languages should have any of its gifts confined to one language, 
 or two), he conceived of Daniel, afe of a book to which such an 
 addition might not irreverently be made, and thereby gave 
 some indication of what nature he conceived the book to be, and 
 rendered it -easier for us to throw ofi" the invidious topic of 
 deception. Nothing is more usual with Rabbinical writers, 
 both Jewish and Christian, than to re-adapt prophecies, whose 
 aspect was originally contemporaneous, to fresh events and new 
 enemies ; but this Coptic addition is more creative in its spirit, 
 and its place in Daniel eminently suggestive. 
 
 On returning from a comparison of the Versions, and of the 
 Deutero-Canonical books, to the Daniel of our Canon, the 
 reader will be less surprised at the fragmentary and half- 
 coherent plan on which this is composed. Since he is told, 
 " not even a rationalist now beKeves " that the materials of the 
 work are not all of the same age, he may be less disturbed on 
 
 ' Prophetse Majores, in dialecto ling. jEgypt. Memphitica sen Coptica, edidit 
 Henricus Tattam, S.T.P. Osonii, mdccclii. In the third chapter, the Editor has 
 permitted the cause of Nebuchadnezzar's astonishment to appear more fully than 
 in the Hebrew. The word TJpharsin in ch. v. is wanting. As this passes through 
 the press, I observe a possible subject for comparison, in the Persian Targum men- 
 tioned by Mr. Deutsch at p. 1664 of Smith's Diet. Bibl. 
 
XXVUl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 finding such an impression suggested to him by the book itself ; 
 at least, the unchronological order in which visions belonging to 
 Belshazzar's period follow the mention of Darius, and the third 
 year of Cyrus is appended to a career which had been pre- 
 viously implied to end in the first of Cyrus, may be observed as 
 indications of such a thing, however much a loose unity may 
 seem given by the final compiler. Also, the important sugges- 
 tion arises, that although our Church, in search of a boundary 
 which should limit sources of necessary doctrine, determined 
 wisely to make that boundary conterminous with the Hebrew 
 Canon, we are not justified on grounds of religious philosophy, 
 or of literature, in making all within that boundary Divine, nor 
 all external to it destitute of a Divine element. Let us at 
 length learn, the Spirit bloweth where it listeth. 
 
 The English reader, who imagines that a book invariably 
 retains the shape in which it first left its author's hand, may be 
 asked to consider some instances to the contrary. It is said, 
 though I have not ascertained it by comparison, that Jeremy 
 Taylor's Liberty of Prophesj'ing underwent considerable changes 
 in the edition after the Restoration. I have observed in Pro- 
 fessor Blunt's Sketch of the English Reformation, a gradual 
 raising of the ecclesiastical tone in successive editions, from the 
 old Anglican Protestantism of the earlier to the pronounced 
 Anglo-Catholicism of the later ; yet the change is produced by 
 very minute variations of phrase. A more marked instance is 
 Dr. Cooke Taylor's Manual of Modem History. Numerous 
 passages, containing reflexions or anecdotes, chiefly of that 
 kind which conductors of educational establishments a quarter 
 of a century ago thought proper, but which amidst the stronger 
 ecclesiasticism of our day seem less proper, have been gra- 
 dually withdrawn. Some of these changes (neither the autho- 
 rity nor fitness of which do I for a moment question), have 
 been made subsequently to the author's death. If it be said 
 that books employed in education enjoy a peculiar license of 
 epitome, the Chronicles of our Middle Ages present a more 
 
INTRODUCTION, XXIX 
 
 striking and instructive instance. Any one who compares the 
 Flores Historiarum and other specimens from Bede to Rud- 
 bome, many of them edited by Dr. Giles, mil find large pas- 
 sages adopted by the later from the earlier, but with such 
 freedom of recasting as the later writer's opportunities or in- 
 clination suggested. The circumstances under which some of 
 our chronicles were written, in religious societies, or with an 
 eye to some special cause, with little care to preserve the 
 author's name, and with occasional conjecture to supply the 
 absence of record of authorship, are so analogous, if not 
 parallel, to those under which our Canonical and Deutero- 
 Canonical writings came in succession into being, that some 
 resemblances in the uncertainty of authorship or compilation 
 cannot surprise us. My reader will be good enough to observe, 
 that I am here introducing only an illustration. The proof of 
 the thing illustrated is to be found in a comparison of the book 
 of Daniel, as our Bible gives it, with the other versions : e.g. 
 with either the Yulgate or the Septuagint ; the last mentioned 
 has been done in the Appendix to Dr. Pusey's volume, though 
 not nearly in so instructive a manner as any intelligent reader 
 will do it for himself. 
 
 It may be asked, are not the words Canon, Canonical, 
 Deutero- Canonical, a sufficient condemnation of such ideas as 
 are here suggested, whether a Greek original, or traditional 
 stories, or even innocent compilation, or gradual addition ? 
 Certainly, if the word canonical meant, as we have been told, 
 "written by the special and miraculous interposition of the 
 Almighty," we should be driven to imagine that the inter- 
 position, although miraculous, had taken place with a singular 
 adaptation to the appearance of a natural occurrence. Again, 
 if there were the slightest colour of any other than a rhe- 
 torical foundation for the statement that Ganonicity is by 
 the native pregnancy of the term a synonym for Inspiration, 
 the last word being taken in the most exaggerated sense, we 
 might seem forbidden to investigate the instrumentality of 
 
XXX IXTRODUCTTON. 
 
 circumstance, with, which He, who is the Poreseer and Arbiter 
 of events, as well as inspirer of thoughts, introduced his mani- 
 fold lessons into the world. 
 
 Unfortunately for all such theories — which, even if a violent 
 straining of law could have extorted authority for them, woidd 
 have remained without foundation in literature — ^but happily 
 for the truth of religion, and welfare of the Church, the well- 
 known meaning of the word Canon, in relation to objects 
 enumerated under it, is a list. When Ptolemy placed in his 
 "Canon" the names of certain Babylonian kings, he was not 
 aware that by making these monarchs canonical, he was consti- 
 tuting them, for the province of York, plenarily inspired. He 
 ignorantly thought, he was only stamping them genuine, by 
 placing them in the list. Sir Henry Rawlinson and his brother 
 equally give us canons, i.e. lists, of Assyrian kings, but have 
 not yet inferred inspiration from their canonicity. Within the 
 Christian Church, the historical sense, as distinct from devout 
 rhetoric formerly, and litigation of late, has never been doubt- 
 ful. Athanasius spoke of books canonised, and un-canonised ; 
 thereby showing the subject-matter of canonisation to be not 
 " tlie faith and manners of Christians," but the books en-listed, 
 or enumerated. Bishop Marsh, whose authority may be higher 
 in criticism than in doctrine, laid down with a direct eye to 
 both sides of the question, that " in the writings of the Fathers 
 of the fourth and following centuries, after the number of 
 sacred books which were to be read in the churches had been 
 determined by public authority, the word canon signifies a list, 
 or a catalogue." After exemplifying this from Gregory, of 
 Nazianzus, he proceeds : " Canonical books signify properly 
 those admitted by public authority into the catalogue of 
 writings destined for the service of the Church ; and (though 
 their divine origin was considered as a necessary qualification 
 to entitle them to this admission, yet) the words Canonical 
 and Inspired are by no means synonymous." 1 Michalis, pp. 
 375, 376. A writer, who passes as Cramner, though his 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXI 
 
 materials, but not their arrangement, may have come from the 
 Archbishop, says, " We believe the holy canon of the Bible^ 
 because that the primitive Church of the Apostles and eldest 
 writers, and next to their time, approved them in their registee, 
 that is, in their writings, which partly saw and partly heard 
 them from the Apostles." Conjut, TJmv}'. Verities, p. 59. Here 
 with a writer, whose slightly Genevan tone already verges more 
 toward the identification of the Word and the Record, than 
 either our General Exhortation and Absolution, taken together, 
 or the habitual recognition by Cranmer and Latimer of the 
 Gospel as the Word, or the spirit of Hooker's second book 
 would suggest, we still find register used either as the synonym, 
 or, on the least favourable construction, as the determinant of the 
 canon. Such is in connexion with Scripture, the historical, as 
 distinct from the polemical, meaning of the word canon. I 
 have too recently argued this verbal question under singularly^ 
 painful circumstances to care to linger over it. The thoughtful 
 reader will understand, that the church, as other societies, 
 enjoys a right to enumerate the books, which she will read in 
 her assemblies, or stamp with doctrinal authority; that as a 
 religious society she would naturally place on her list, books 
 fullest of the spirit of that faith, which it is her mission to keep 
 
 ' The diligence of the junior counsel on the other side has brought some quota- 
 tions from Suicer and another book. I accept those quotations, and ask, which way 
 do they point ? How could Athanasius and others apply such words as Kavoui(6/j.eva 
 and the Latin Canonizare to tlie sacred books, or how could the word aKavivia-Ta. have 
 arisen, unless the subject of canonization were the works themselves, and not, as in 
 the moralising rhetoric of divines, the faith and manners of Christians ? I conceive 
 such quotations agree with those which I ventured to adduce from Quintiliaa, Athana- 
 sius, Cranmer, and Bishop Marsh, in establishing a strong distinctiou between 
 canonicity and authority immediately Divine. The concurrence, my lords, of two 
 predicates in one subject does not prove the predicates to be synonymous terms. 
 The Scriptures are canonical and inspired : it does not follow that canonicity is 
 inspiration. If this seems only a verbal controversy, the inferences drawn from 
 words, especially in theology, may be so far-reaching, and it may be for some minds 
 so vitally important to feel, that in acknowledging a thing to be canonical they do 
 not assert it to be immediately Divine, that I would humbly suggest to your lord- 
 ships the great desirableness for the Church, of not narrowing her Articles by a 
 construction which, even if it be legal, is not historical, and which I believe to be as 
 harshly novel, as it is evidently strained. — linal Reply before the Judicial Committee. 
 
XXXll INTRODL'CTION. 
 
 alive ; that there may be a probability, greater in the eye of 
 her children than in that of mere enquirers, that her selection 
 will be divinely guided, or proceed upon a well-weighed claim 
 of antecedent sacredness ; yet that the mere canonicity, or 
 enrolment on the list of the church, in itself determines nothing 
 as to the inherent quality, whether human or divine, of the 
 book enrolled ; that the canonization of books of different kinds, 
 a history, a tradition, a chronicle, a psalm, a parable (and 
 though I hardly like to add it, possibly a legend^), recom- 
 mends to us each on its own ground, and leaves us free to 
 discriminate each ; not willingly excluding any from that 
 breath of God, by which all things noble and pure live, and 
 have being ; yet suffering us to think that the fierceness 
 of man in some parts praises God less acceptably than 
 the more excellent way in others ; and that as the liveliest 
 record of an insj)ired community left us in either Testament 
 discloses traces of infirmity (1 Cor. xiv. 23-32), so analogous 
 traces of an himianity not bereft of God, but working imper- 
 fectly imder His influence, may stamp the sacred writings of 
 the Canon. Thus, if the Church of the Maccabean period had 
 seen her afflicted children roused by tales current among them 
 of bye- gone suffering or deliverance, she might enroll a well- 
 weighed selection of such tales in her list, for future edification ; 
 thus the book, especially if its tales of older tyrants were cast 
 into parables with a vein of covert allusion to the living tyrant, 
 would mark the history of the time which adopted it, if only 
 the traditions of an older time. I do not write with a view of 
 unduly exalting the church ; still less a special order within it ; 
 nor do I apprehend the question of inspiration to be in this stage 
 
 ^ Has any one shown why a legend need be less inspired than a genealogy, or a 
 chronicle ? Might it not be more so ? especially if unconsciousness of feigning be 
 what distinguishes it from moral tale. Among a people of strong idioms of speech, 
 such as " bowing down to idols," "passing through fire and water," being " saved out of 
 the mouth of the lion," the literature may be so tinged by them, as to make interpre- 
 tation more a feeling than a certainty. All I would ask, in such a case, is that 
 things of the highest spiritual import should not be made dependent upon doubtful- 
 ness, or literary possibility. My own question is rather of fidelity of statement. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXIU 
 
 of our enquiry affected ; whatever theory of inspiration we hold, 
 from the strongest to the weakest, it is certain that the inner 
 gift was accompanied by Divine Providence with an outward 
 instrunientaKty of circumstance ; and religious societies, even if 
 the cry of their guilt in crushing the personal conscience has 
 gone up horrible before God, have yet played an important part 
 in educating individuals, collecting their devotions, elaborating 
 their experiences in the form of an historical canon. Our busi- 
 ness was with testimony as to the age of the book of Daniel ; 
 but the question was difficult to disentangle from various eccle- 
 siastical considerations. 
 
 7. Let us sum up the case. Our masters of reasoning, 
 whether profound as Butler, or narrowly acute as Whately, 
 have taught us that practical conviction may depend, not on a 
 single line of proof, but on an accumulation of particulars, some 
 of them collateral to each other. So the proof of the later of 
 the dates assigned to the book of Daniel does not depend solely 
 on the testimony of the Jewish Church, though that church 
 placed it among her latest writings ; it is not merely the silence 
 of witnesses anterior to the Maccabees, though some one of the 
 Canonical writers, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, or of the 
 Deutero-Canonical, as the Son of Sirach, in giving a sort of list 
 of the Prophets, might well have mentioned the book, if it had 
 been known to them ; it is not only that, if allusions are at all 
 traceable, it is rather from Daniel back to Zechariah ; it is not 
 that the Chaldee of Daniel permits itself to be marked off by 
 clear shades of variation from that of Ezra ; nor that Iranian 
 words stand out with significant prominence upon a page to 
 which the earlier date would suppose them unknown ; nor even 
 that Greek words, and those not merely musical names, defy all 
 attempts to explain them away; again, it is not merely, that 
 prediction requires some slight indication of its existence an- 
 terior to the event predicted : (far less will any one who 
 habitually governs his affirmations by evidence, ascribe to the 
 author of the present argument any assumption of the impossi- 
 
XXXIV INTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 bility, or even d priori unlikelihood of prediction) : nor is it 
 only, that some of the narratives in Daniel are peculiarly 
 strange, and unlike most of the Old Testament miracles, but 
 like those of the secondary canon, with which also the external 
 evidence of the age of their record associates them : (far less 
 has the present author given reason for being seriously sup- 
 posed to deny the possibility, or historical reality, of miraculous 
 occurrences, or shown any wish to disprove them) : nor again, 
 is it merely that the ancient Versions, the Greek and Coptic, 
 and the Vulgate in its representation of Theodotion present in 
 the case of Daniel peculiar and exceptional phenomena ; and 
 that these are of a kind suggesting the idea of a collection of 
 stories, rather than the unity of a contemporaneous record ; nor 
 is it altogether, that the manners are Persian more than Baby- 
 lonian, the religion. Judaising rather than Hebrew, the angelic 
 names novel, and possibly of Zoroastrian suggestion ; nor 
 simply that the history, though put in such a predictive form 
 as the third book of the Sibylline Oracles, contemporary with 
 the Maccabees, exemplifies, is still history, written with a pa- 
 triotic object, and histor}^ reaching to about that date, at which 
 the external evidence of the Hebrew Church (and of Hebrew 
 scholars, who are not bold to accimiulate exploded errors), 
 would lead us to place the origin of the book — the reign of 
 Antiochus Epiphanes — the death of the heroic^ and anointed 
 Maccabee — the struggle, still dubious, for the free worship of 
 God in Zion, against a foolish man blaspheming daily ; nor once 
 more, is it only that Livy and Polybius ascribe to Antiochus 
 what Daniel ascribes to Nebuchadnezzar, while Psalms ap- 
 parently contemporaneous illustrate, and receive light from, this 
 
 1 The 30th chapter of Livy's 41st book is in favour of " the anointed one cut off 
 without help, or successor," being Seleucus Philopator. " Seleucus insidiis Helio- 
 dori, unius ex purpuratis, oppressus interiit." Nor is the description of Antiochus 
 
 in the two following chapters unimportant : " Antiochus pravus et inconsultus 
 
 fuit ipse statim cum poculo et symphonia improvisus aderat, commissa- 
 
 bundus et lasciviens," etc. It is not, however, unreasonable to prefer applying the 
 term Anointed to a Jewish prince or priest j and Mr. Desprez believes himself to 
 have found one appropriate. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXV 
 
 Tiew of tlie origin of the book, to wliicli so many particulars 
 tend in convergence — it is the accumulation of all these things 
 in the aggregate which constitutes something very like a proof 
 of the later date of the hook ; a proof of such a kind as our 
 Maker has rendered it difficult for the human mind to resist : 
 one to which we may resign ourselves without fear that He who 
 knoweth whereof we are made, will blame his children for so 
 doing ; and in reliance upon which we turn from partisan male- 
 dictions, saying to Him, Lord, though they curse, yet bless Thou. 
 Our trust in doing so will be justified, in proportion as our 
 enquiry has been upon legitimate groTind, without assumption 
 opposed to any part, or evidence, of revelation. We should 
 have still to learn the meaning of Revelation at the feet of 
 Christ, if we fancied it to imply merit or duty in swerving an 
 iota from historical probability. 
 
 But is there nothing on the other side ? There is a passage 
 LQ Josephus, A. J. xi. 8, which declares that the high-priest 
 Jaddua, having appeared in a dream to Alexander, while yet in 
 Macedonia, and encouraged him to conquer Asia, subsequently 
 on his march from Tyre to Jerusalem showed hitn also the book 
 of Daniel, ia which he had been predicted. I can add nothing to 
 what two historians of Greece, the first manfully,^ the second 
 enigmatically, have suggested upon this passage. But if we 
 consider that the military companions of Alexander, so far as 
 their testimony is deKvered to us through good writers, knew 
 nothing of this march to Jerusalem, or of its results, and that 
 Arrian may be interpreted as negativing it, we may wonder 
 how Josephus, four centuries afterwards, was able to dress up 
 
 1 Mitford, chap, xlviii. \ iv.(vol. vii. p. 534) ; Thirlwall, chap. 1. (vol. vii. p. 206) ; 
 Comp. Lord A. Hervey, in Jaddua, Diet. Bibl. Some features in Josephus's account 
 of the Fall of Jerusalem (such as the fj.eTafiaivwfj.ev iurevOep) are suspiciously like 
 some in Alexander's siege of Tyre, though doubtless common to many ancient 
 cities; as Servius teaches on ^neid, ii. 351 ; 
 
 (Excessere omnes adytis arisque relictis 
 Di, quibus imperium hoc steterat; succurritis urbi 
 Incensae) 
 where Burmann makes the parenthesis stop too soon. 
 
XXXVl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the particulars so fully; say, we admit some act of grace to 
 have furnished a foundation for the tradition, and even go so 
 far as to imagine any part of the Old Testament shown to 
 Alexander, it does not follow that Josephus might not con- 
 jecture Daniel as a part likely to be shown ; and when we add 
 the obliquity of the man's character, atoning for flattery of the 
 Romans, by exaggerations as to the country and creed which he 
 had deserted, the whole passage becomes suspicious for reliance, 
 if not damaging. 
 
 It has been attempted to find a testimony of a far different 
 order in the language of the New Testament. We read in 
 Matth. xxiv. 15 (corroborated by a doubtful reading in Mark 
 xiii. 14) that " the abomination of desolation " which the Jews 
 should see in the last days of Jerusalem had been " spoken of 
 by Daniel the Prophet." This passage is employed, as if it 
 brought the whole authority of Christ and of God into the field 
 in favour of the earlier date of the book, and of such interpre- 
 tations as exclude a proper reference to the times of Antiochus. 
 Is not such employment of it a carrying of the Ark of God, 
 unbidden, into the battle? Certainly the passage proves the 
 canonical reception of Daniel at the time of the Gospel's 
 being written, and we may fairly assume, at that of Christ's 
 speaking ; but that such canonical reception was then estab- 
 lished, and had been so for a full century, is what no critic calls 
 in question. The passage may also prove that the standards of 
 Titus on the walls, or the statue of Caligula in the Temple, 
 brought homo to the Jews a vivid fulfilment of an old pro- 
 phetic saying. I discern no approach to even an indication, 
 that the book had originated in the time of Nebuchadnezzar 
 rather than of Epiphanes; or that the "abomination of deso- 
 lation" was not formally recognised by our Lord as denoting 
 acts of Antiochus which were before the eyes of the writer of 
 the book of Daniel, and which accurately tj'3)ified those of 
 Caligula and Titus. We cannot too carefully observe in Matth. 
 xxiv. 1 5 (where it is not important that the citation is tinged 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXVll 
 
 by the Greek ^Sekvy/Ma rf;? iprjfMoae(o<;) the remarkable phrase, 
 " let the reader understand'' The most approved explanation 
 of these words, apart from controversy, is, that they point out 
 the sjTnbolical adaptation of an ancient image to something 
 new, which could not be more distinctly expressed. So possi- 
 bly in Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar may stand for Epiphanes : 
 certainly in the Apocalj^se Babylon stands for Rome. If this 
 be so (and there seems neither scripture nor reason against it), 
 the authority of Christ and of the written Gospels comes round 
 to be in favour of the natural interpretation, which finds a 
 description of the abominations of Antiochus in Daniel, yet 
 acknowledges it, in the Gospel, applied to the Romans. It can 
 hardly be grudged as a concession that Christ unquestionably 
 describes the Baptist under the title of Elias ; this alone fur- 
 nishes a clue to a series of difficulties. It is therefore needless 
 to urge, that the New Testament quotes Zechariah imder the 
 name of the Prophet Jeremy, calls our second Psalm the first 
 Psabn, describes the rock of water as not only refreshing, but 
 following the Israelites through the wilderness ; although any 
 consideration of the manner in which our Lord's words are 
 reported, and of the interval which, with a growing consent of 
 critics,^ is thought to have intervened between their utterance 
 and their compilation, may suggest the un- wisdom of ex- 
 aggerating the burden which they are to bear. If we lived in 
 a time when there were no difficulty in making good the con- 
 temporaneousness of the narratives, such a burden as that of 
 proving the Babylonian date of Daniel might be much ; as it 
 is, we should rejoice that we need not ask it to be borne. 
 
 These are, I believe, the only two argimients antecedent to 
 such as arise from the interpretation of the book, in favour of 
 the earlier date claimed for its composition. If they have been 
 
 1 Westcott's Introduction to the Study of the Gospels, 1860. Reville, L' Evangile 
 selon St. Mathieu, 1862. These books, belonging to different schools, are equally 
 marked by fairness. A comparison of the two might enable a reader to understand 
 the method, not quite without data, yet not free on either side from arbitrariness, by 
 which that particular enquiry is conducted. 
 
XXXVlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 correctly stated, it would follow that an assertion of the Macca- 
 baic date is forbidden by no law, human or Divine, but may be 
 an exercise of the rights of orthodox Anglicanism ; and is not 
 only consistent with a strong sense of responsibility for belief, 
 but may be prompted by it. 
 
 The reader will observe, no stress has been laid upon the 
 hopelessness of identifying " Darius the Mede," or upon the 
 half-removed difficulty of the occurrence of no reigning king 
 in Babylon named Belshazzar (which is but a collateral issue), 
 or generally upon such questions (arising, like that of the 
 " Seventy Weeks," out of interpretation), as press with about 
 equal weight against whatever view is taken of the origin of 
 the book. To the defenders, however, of the earlier date, it 
 might seem a problem calling for their especial attention, to 
 explain how Daniel, if he wrote under Nebuchadnezzar, could 
 be comforted by the prospect of a period, which, not com- 
 mencing until the reign of Artaxerxes, would be as undefined 
 in its commencement as in its end. Suppose he lived under 
 Antiochus ; it might console him to have a view of Mes- 
 siah's coming at the end of certain weeks from the issue 
 of a decree enrolled in history : but if that decree yet lay 
 wrapped in the darkness of the Future's womb, the consolation 
 must have been to him at least an enigma. 
 
 8. The critic, employed in the discharge of his sacred office, 
 is not primarily concerned with the consequences of the con- 
 clusion to which literature conducts him. Yet in our practical 
 England, and for a clergyman, it is difficult to be altogether 
 deaf to the question, What is to follow from all this research ? 
 What is the result of proving that our book of Daniel must be 
 distinguished from the man Daniel, or that being written in 
 the era of Antiochus, it is one of the latest books, perhaps the 
 last, in the canon of the Old Testament ? The first and most 
 obvious result is, to clear up difficulties, and thereby to save the 
 clerical conscience from the burthen of appearing in the eyes 
 of the educated world to be misrepresenting literature for a 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXIX 
 
 religious end. We have that crisis of agony, one of the most 
 rousing which ever befell a nation, in which the Jews reclaimed 
 the free use of their Scriptures, and vindicated the shrine of 
 God, brought vividly before our eyes. We see a devout patriot 
 seeking to awaken his own faith, or stimulate that of his 
 countrymen, by going back to stories which he had received 
 of suffering in Babylon : meditating upon ancient promises, 
 and devising for them a fresh explanation, which by analogy, 
 if not otherwise, might suggest fresh hopes for the coming 
 time. If the form which he gave to his aspirations involves 
 I something of imagery, whether angelic or figurative, I do not 
 ( know that the absence of imagery can be predicated as a 
 I necessary condition of inspiration. All Christendom believes 
 I Christ to sit at the right hand of God ; yet all thoughtful 
 christians admit God has no hand such as ours : they would for 
 the most part add (though I observe such is not the view of 
 i some among the later Bampton Lecturers), that the Throne of 
 God is but an image for that presence, which if we go up into 
 heaven, is there ; and if we go down Into hell, is there also. 
 Why, then, the author of the book of Daniel should not typify 
 thoughts annunciative or conjectural of the Divine mercy, in 
 the forms of Gabriel or Michael, I confess myself not to 
 understand. He sees the great empires, or their lordly 
 monarchs, who had most nearly affected the history of his 
 own land, pass in the visions of memory before him. He 
 names to us Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon ( chap. ii. 37 ) ; he 
 appears to designate with equal clearness Alexander of Macedon 
 (chap. viii. 21) : if this is so, he suggests to us that we should 
 interpose as second and third, the Modes and Persians, especially 
 since he seems to have shared (and extended, we know not why, 
 to Babylon) the Greek conception of a Median hegemony in the 
 times preceding Cyrus. If the author of the following treatise 
 should be right in preferring a combination of Syro-Egyptian 
 princes as the fourth (and this is a view in favour of which 
 much may be properly said) : the result is essentially identical, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in that the oppressor of Judah, the king of fierce countenance, 
 understanding dark sentences, represents the hateful Epiphanes, 
 as he thought to change the Temple festivals, and wear out the 
 worshippers of Jehovah. The kingdom which succeeds is the 
 Asmonean kingdom, glorified in ideal anticipation, not as the 
 triumph of a djoiasty, but as an expression of national in- 
 dependence and religious liberty, while in its time, or in that 
 coming hour, which to the gleaming eye of faith is ever at 
 hand, the inspired writer discerns something greater than an 
 earthly form, a majesty of which all visible kingdoms are but 
 symbols, a liberty to which human liberty only tends — of all 
 of which he knew not the manner of its coming, but only that 
 it should come, and which in the event came. If we apply to 
 the entire matter the princij)le laid down by Bishop Butler, 
 that the correspondence of a picture to one object does not 
 necessarily exclude reference to a second object in which a 
 similar correspondence recurs ; then, although we may regret 
 that in this as in other cases Butler proved Christianity to be 
 possible, without proceeding to prove that it was true, we still 
 find ourselves at liberty to believe the nearer or earlier of the 
 two objects to have been in the eye of the painter or writer, 
 however much by a recurrence of likeness or of principle it may 
 have pleased an over-ruling Providence to bring about a poten- 
 tial applicability to a later or remoter object as well. External 
 evidence suggests a probability that the compiler lived in the 
 Maccabaic age ; the correspondence of that age with his picture 
 is almost a proof that he sketched it. How far the certain 
 designation of any ten princes as intended by the " ten horns" 
 is afiected by the large number and rapid transitions of the 
 provincial forms through which the fragments of Alexander's 
 empire flitted ; whether it be permissible to take princes from 
 both Syria and Egypt, or necessary to restrict ourselves to one 
 kingdom ; whether again the writer cared so much for dynas- 
 ties and kingdoms, as for relations to his own native land — are 
 questions on which I gladly leave to Mr. Desprez the office of 
 
INTRODUCTION. xH 
 
 instructing the readers of his treatise. Certainly it would be a 
 gratuitous increase of the difficulty, if we thought proper to 
 include all possible satrapies from Epirus to the Punjaub 
 within the horizon of a writer who is describing the fortunes 
 of a cit}'' in Judaea. Probably the points remaining as matters 
 of opinion will not in proportion to the extent of the book be 
 so numerous as present themselves in a single verse of Isaiah, 
 without impeding our apprehension of the passage. It is 
 written in Isaiah xiv. 29, that Philistia shoidd not rejoice, 
 because the rod that smote her is broken ; for out of the serpent 
 comes forth a cockatrice. Here it is doubted, whether the 
 striking rod is Judah, a Jewish king, or a king or general of 
 Assyria ; while as to the cockatrice, there are four correspond- 
 ing doubts. Yet no interpreter of the passage hesitates to 
 understand Isaiah in that verse as speaking of contemporary 
 objects. So little need the amphibolous nature of details afiPect 
 the certainty of the general reference. The readers of Mr. 
 Desprez's popular and lucid exposition will probably find the 
 difficulties in Daniel fewer than they expected. 
 
 The enigma of the "seventy weeks" retains the doubtfulness 
 incidental to a duration, the interpreters of which are not agreed 
 as to its date of commencing, or of ending. Suppose it to 
 commence with a decree of Artaxerxes, B.C. 460, or 445, and to 
 end during the life or ministry of Christ. It can hardly be 
 reconciled to Hebrew idiom, that Davar, the prophetic word, or 
 utterance of a Divinely-prompted presentiment, should be ap- 
 plied to a Persian king's decree. Let the English reader com- 
 jpare the twenty-fifth verse of Daniel ix., with the second verse 
 jof the same chapter. A comparison of the two verses will put 
 jhim on the probable track, that the writer was speaking of no 
 UPersian decree, but of a word of Jehovah to Jeremiah. It suits 
 all the analogies of Scripture, that Jeremiah, not enduring the 
 sight of Jerusalem desolate, should conceive a divine word for 
 aer restoration going forth at each step of her fall. It can 
 lardly be accidental, that just forty-nine or fifty years intervene 
 
xlii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 between the destruction at the commencement of the Captivity, 
 and the advent of Cyrus in Babylon, or the restoration under 
 Zerrubbabel, whether we follow the suggestion of Isaiah in 
 calling Cyrus the Anointed, or that of Zechariah in applying 
 the term to Zerubbabel ; and again that from certain epochs 
 of the Captivity to points in the Maccabean struggle should 
 be 434 years ; while the first period gives us seven weeks, and 
 the second gives sixty-two weeks. If we remember that even 
 the calculation of the seventy years at Babylon admits of some 
 disagreement, while the possibility of the omission of Sabbatical 
 years opens room for discrepancy, we shall find sufficient ap- 
 proximation here to induce us to give an interpreter on this 
 hj^othesis a candid hearing ; which is all I wish to bespeak for 
 Mr. Desprez. There is a difierence in the Hebrew and English 
 punctuation of the passage mentioning the seventy weeks 
 (Daniel, ix. 25), which (without arraigning, as Dr. Pusey does, 
 the good faith of either) suggests a possibility that both might 
 be amended. Is there any reason we should not construe thus : 
 vv. 23-26. 
 
 " At the beginning of thy supplications the word went forth, 
 and I am come to announce it (since thou art a ma7i of loves), 
 that thou mayest Tinderstand the word, and comprehend the 
 vision: Seventy weeks are determined (?) upon thy people, 
 and upon thy holy city, to biding the ofience to an end, and to 
 blot out sins, and to cover over iniquity, and to bring in 
 righteousness of ages, and to seal vision and prophecy (?) and to 
 anoint the holy of holies : And that thou mayest know and 
 xmderstand, from the going forth of the word to bring back 
 cajJtivity (?) and to restore Jerusalem, to an Anointed and a 
 Prince are seven weeks : and for sixty and two weeks shall be 
 builded again street and wall (?) ; but in distress of times and 
 after the sixty and two weeks shall be cut ofi" the Anointed, and 
 for him nought : and the peoi)le of the coming prince shall I 
 destroy the city and the sanctuary, and the end thereof shall bej 
 with flood, and to the end of the war is determined desolation.'* I 
 
INTRODUCTION. xlni 
 
 The slight change I have ventured to make in the punctua- 
 tion may assist some readers to vinderstand Mr. Desprez's argu- 
 ment upon the passage. It does not exclude the possibility of 
 other interpretations, or of a distinct one yet to be discovered ; 
 nor, in the face of the Regius Professor's disapproval, will I 
 say more than that it seems to me worth considering. 
 
 A greater difficidty than any connected with enigmas of 
 weeks may be thought to lie in the anticipation, which the last 
 chapter introduces, of a Resurrection immediately following 
 upon the other events: ^^ Many that sleep in the dust of the 
 earth shall aivake" (xii. 2). Are we not hence compelled to 
 throw forward the entire scenery of the book to that end of our 
 existing dispensation, which we describe, or symbolise, as the 
 general Resurrection? I can only suggest in extenuation of 
 this difficulty, that Ezekiel (xxxvii. 3-14) had already under the 
 parable of the " dry bones reviving" described the restoration 
 of Israel from Babylon; and Isaiah (xxvi. 9) had expressed 
 triumph over Moab under the same emphatical figure. Thy dead 
 men shall live. Whether, then, it were the fervour of poetry, 
 grasping all things in earth and heaven, or whether the " un- 
 searchable groaning" of our better nature, not consenting to 
 mortality (Romans viii. 22-26), made its foreboding felt by 
 lavishing on national restoration the imagery of something 
 higher, there seems even in earlier Prophets, and may well have 
 been in Daniel, the last, a habit of anticipating the Last Things 
 by adapting phraseology borrowed from them to the revolutionary 
 or djmastic events of a nearer time. Something of the same 
 kind must, to an ill-defined extent, be admitted of the lan- 
 guage, human in its simplicity. Divine in its grandeur, in which 
 the Gospels describe the Fall of Jerusalem (Matth. xxiv. 34 ; 
 Mark xiii. 30), for to no other event, before that generation 
 passed away, can their language be applied. No view, how- 
 ever, would seem to myself more fundamentally unsatisfactory, 
 than that which, in the manner of Schleiermacher, and of some, 
 apparently, in this country, regards the horizon of the Apostles 
 
xliv INTRODrCTIOX. 
 
 as altof^ether .temporal, and limits the kingdom of God to a 
 renovation of Earth. Not to dwell on the improbability (which 
 may be more a feeling than an argimient), that Christ's pro- 
 mises should fall below the aspirations of gifted servants of 
 God in Gentile lands, his own language seems a sufficient 
 proof, that ho neither misunderstood the Prophets spiritually, 
 nor acquiesced in their temporal applications, but inverted 
 them in a direction of which their authors had little idea, and 
 transformed them not only by the creation of a new centre, but 
 by the infusion of a wisdom beyond their own ; on the same 
 principle as, when he ' spoke of Moses in the bush, he won out 
 of the association of the patriarchs with Jehovah an assurance 
 of the eternity of Man's destiny. It is useless to argue this, 
 the only mode consistent with a reasonable respect for Scripture, 
 in which the vast majority of the New Testament applications 
 of prophecy can be justified, so long as the shorter and readier 
 mode, of which Dr. Pusey's Lectures contain so many curious 
 examples, continues in vogue. Enough in this place has been 
 said to limit the effect upon our interpretation of Daniel, which 
 need arise from its mention of a resurrection. A satisfactory 
 proof, that a Judaic kingdom, as of the Asmonean princes, how- 
 ever magnified in presentiment, was more intended by the 
 writer than such a spiritual and eternal kingdom as God set up 
 by Christ in the hearts of faithful men, may be found in chap, 
 ii. 44, " the kingdom shall not be left to another people." This 
 is the stumbling-block of national Messianism, which Christ 
 destroyed by inverting it, and by disappointing the expectation 
 of which He in part, if not principally, shocked the feelings of 
 his nation (Luke iv. 28 ; Luke iii. 8; Acts xxii. 22). 
 
 Upon the whole, the book falls so naturally into its Macca- 
 baic date, that the thoughtful reader might well ask, on which 
 side is there most danger of fighting against God ? Must it 
 not be on that which, apart from coercion built upon misrepre- 
 sentation, stands self- convicted of helplessness ? 
 
 9. It is by no meatis an absolute necessity that the more 
 
INTEODUCTION. xlv 
 
 marvellous narratives in Daniel should lose their liistorical 
 character from the placement of the book in a later age. They 
 may be accepted, as traditions historically handed down ; or 
 they may retain credence and authority from the character of 
 Inspiration, with which the book recording them is invested. 
 There seems no logical inconsistency in the position of one who, 
 otherwise persuaded of the Divine authority of Scripture, con- 
 tinues upon, its authority, or from religious associations, to 
 receive narratives for which he cannot secure independently an 
 impregnable basis. In such a case, the miracles will not be the 
 support of the religious feeling, but the burden borne by it. 
 Probably those of my readers, who are accustomed to analyse 
 their thoughts, will often have foimd, that convictions which 
 they might have been inclined to regard as primary, are in 
 reality dependent upon association with something simpler. 
 Such seems eminently the case with the miraculous narratives 
 of the Old Testament ; at least with such of them as, being 
 removed beyond easy means of verification, we believe actively 
 or passively from their associations with religion. Although it 
 has been said, that " it is certain, that no one ever believed in a 
 miracle for the sake of a moral lesson," I suspect that our 
 habitual assent to the fitness of the Ten Commandments dis- 
 poses us to receive whatever may be the scriptural accoimt of 
 the Passage of the Red Sea ; and that the Decalogue is in the 
 dialectics of conscience more fundamental than the Exodus. So 
 in other actions, more nearly attested, which the hope or afiec- 
 tion of generations has embraced too fondly to let them 
 willingly be questioned, we should certainly judge the testi- 
 mony with a difierent eye, if it exalted wicked persons, or 
 exemplified cruelty, or bade us practise crime, or tended to 
 despair. Thus Faith in the true supernatural everywhere gives 
 to phenomenal Miracle more than she receives from it. How- 
 ever little this principle may be apprehended by those who 
 prefer making phenomena the foundation of faith (either 
 because the bodily senses seem to them better guides than the 
 
xlvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 mental perceptions, or because they are conscious of straining 
 doctrine into so exaggerated a form that it no longer carries its 
 witness to the heart), they seldom in practice fail to give in- 
 voluntary sign of its truth. Their method, when they are 
 asked for proof, is not to strengthen the "e\ddence" (which in 
 consistency it should be), but to enlarge on professional obli- 
 gation, which is a form, and the coarsest form, of resohong 
 the question into religious associations. A similar testimony 
 is implied in the circumstance, that an ardent defender of tra- 
 ditional views of Prophecy could find no better proof of the gift 
 of prediction, than that the authors claimed — therefore must not 
 be doubted to have possessed it. Prediction^ here, as Miracle else- 
 where, had moral or personal sympathy as its ground of accept- 
 ance. The indignant language used at the possibilit}^ of Daniel's 
 intention being deceptive, though it proceeds on a misconcep- 
 tion, appeals fimdamentally to the same principle. The inten- 
 tion of these remarks is to point out, that whenever mii-acles 
 are believed on other ground than that of imbiassed assent to 
 testimony, they are no longer evidences, and cannot be founda- 
 tions of faith ; although they may stand on their own basis, if 
 the evidence bo adequate ; or may be accepted, through the 
 force of religious associations, as inseparably connected with a 
 faith otherwise established. Thus parts of the book of Daniel, 
 which judged by "a remorseless criticism" might be thought to 
 resemble the Deutero- Canonical narratives with which the Greek 
 Version associates them, may still be regarded as sacred history 
 by any one persuaded, not of the inspiration, but of the dic- 
 tation of the Bible, in so strong a sense as to make the Divine 
 veracity responsible for all the contents of the volume. 
 
 Still it may be a true, though undesired, presentiment, that 
 portions of the book will have their acceptance modified in the 
 judgment of many by a recognition of its Maccabaic origin. 
 Especially such may be the case with those who consider 
 Miracle the criterion of Revelation. Their case being that, 
 ^ Aids, etc., p. 95. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xlvii 
 
 antecedently to miracle, we have no knowledge of the super- 
 natural, they are bound to approach the enquiry without the 
 prepossessions of others by whom the supernatural is on truer 
 grounds honoured. They cannot, after systematic disparage- 
 ment of the faculties which apprehend moral and spiritual 
 goodness, refuse to fortify by facts that position of sensuous 
 phenomenon as the basis of dialectics, which they deliberately 
 chose as the best antidote to speculation, and as a substitute for 
 the reverence and aspiration which ground the faith of con- 
 science and of reason. They need not magnify the romantic 
 element in the manner of Hitzig and Yon Lengerke. If they 
 conduct their enquiry on the principle, which Sir Gr. C. Lewis, 
 with a steadiness tj^ical of the Anglo-British mind, exempli- 
 fied, of postulating evidence contemporaneous with events, 
 especially with strange events, an interval of nearly four cen- 
 turies (that normally fatal period for the fullest developement 
 of story), gives room for imagination, as well as brings the 
 book into contact with influences unfavourable to precise chroni- 
 cle. So little has the book the framework of chronicle, that it 
 presents four kings in succession, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, 
 Darius, and Cyrus, whom no discoverable history arranges in 
 that order, even if Belshazzar be sufficiently discovered for 
 hypothesis, and if Darius the Mede have his existence gratui 
 tously conceded. The historical critic in such a region will not 
 be induced by the great desirableness of miracles to except 
 them from the doubtfulness with which he regards the political 
 picture. If a clergyman sighs, he may feel bovmd to consider 
 the case of an historian who has a soul, and may be a member 
 of his congregation. Instead of wearying ourselves with pro- 
 testations that we neither desired such a result, nor are resj)onsi- 
 ble for it, we shall act more worthily, if we contemplate steadily 
 the probabilities of the case, and ask how far they afiect our 
 doctrinal position. We were examining the date of a book's 
 authorship ; but it has brought us into a question about par- 
 ticular miracles. Now, at worst, a result thus reached is utterly 
 
xlviii INTKODICTION. 
 
 different from prejudgment against possibility ; it implies no 
 exaggeration of physical science ; no Hegelian metaphysics ; 
 it rejects nothing effectual enough to have been providentially 
 designed as evidence ; it sets no limits to the power of the 
 Creator ; lessens in no way our childlike readiness to receive 
 His revelations ; by no strain of imagination can a devout mind 
 deem it to lessen the motives to prayer or personal religion, 
 unless any one chooses to take the element of resignation out of 
 prayer, by requiring miraculous answers to be co-extensive^ 
 
 ' "We know, O Lord, that there is no word impossible with thee, and that if thou 
 wilt, thou canst even yet raise him up ... . yet forasmuch as in all appearance the 
 time of his dissolution draweth near, so fit and prepare him against the hour of 
 death, that after his departure hence in peace his soul may be received," etc., etc. — 
 Church Service, for the Visitation of the Sick. 
 
 According to an argument, the bearings of which are ultimately and profoundly scep- 
 tical, though its hollowness in principle and in detail, except for personal purposes, is 
 too utter to need much exposition, our church ought to have taught us to pray for a mi- 
 racle in every sick room. For any thought which tends towards a subordination of 
 the human will to the Divine, it is argued with characteristic forgetfulness of Geth- 
 semane, " will not bear to be prayed." Except that nothing need despair of passing 
 in favourable circumstances, for argument, I would not point out, that the ever- 
 lasting compassion of God is a more logical ground of appeal to Him than histories 
 of byegone times ; yet our devotional feelings may be encouraged by recalling 
 instances of wants and prayers like our own : not the less would it be an inconsis- 
 tency in any one to make such instances evaporate in poetry, and still retain them as 
 main grounds of prayer. Nearer home, it may be a blemish, that we are not per- 
 mitted to ask of God a blessing of the sunshine, or of the early and latter rain, with- 
 out having expressions put in our mouths of such quaintness as to be rarely appro- 
 priate ; but in the case of "dearth and famine " we have a choice of prayers, the first 
 of which proceeds upon philosophical, the second upon historical, data, yet the first 
 acknowledges the true supernatural as fully as the second. 
 
 Turning from one who thought, as was natural for him to think, my suggestion of 
 prayer as a test of theology an appropriate subject for sardonic playfulness, I find 
 my Sarum Diocesan adopt it in simplicity, and attempt to retort it upon me. " Lex 
 orandi," he exclaims, " est lex eredendi." But could his lordship apply the maxim 
 which he has adopted from me, unless he modified it by much qualification, to 
 damnatory clauses which seem definitely directed against " heretical persons .' " 
 Should we pray, " Let Milton burn forever ; may Dr. Watts have no mitigation of 
 torment''? This adoption of a maxim, consistent in its author's hands, may b:- 
 inconvenient for others, who either employ it to raise a simple historical issue into 
 alarming proportions, or who associate it with formularies which require great 
 explanation, or greater thoughtlessness, before they will bear to be prayed ? A 
 combination of the two assumptions, that revelation must be proved by evidence not 
 moral but miraculous, yet that miracle and prediction must be assumed as intuitive 
 truths, unite? the extreme errors cf rationaUsm and superstition. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xHx 
 
 with our supplications ; nor has it any direct effect upon the 
 New Testament, or upon such other parts of Scripture as do 
 not fall within the literary conditions which have been found 
 here to apply. Indirectly it may tend to familiarise men's 
 minds with the concejotion of a larger play of imagination than 
 most of us had been prepared to expect within the limits of 
 the Bible ; thus it opens a door of interesting, but dangerous, 
 enquiry as to narratives in obscure antiquity, remote from con- 
 temporaneous verification ; still all this leaves the religion 
 essentially untouched, and is one out of many movements of 
 thought, which, starting ever so innocently, unite in forcing us 
 to consider fundamentally the meaning and limits of the Inspi- 
 ration of Holy Writ. The acknowledgement of this tendency 
 should not obscure the circimistance that questions of the au- 
 thorship and arrangement of the Sacred Volume are antecedent 
 to Inspiration, and independent of miracle : even if it be con- 
 venient for advocates of repression to precipitate them on to 
 ground where clergymen may have difficulty in following, it is 
 more logical ^ — may be more consistent with personal history — 
 that each question should stand upon its own basis ; but I have 
 no objection, without repeating what has been said elsewhere, to 
 glance at the natui*al consequences of the conclusion at which 
 we have arrived. 
 
 The antecedent probability of Revelation seems to depend 
 upon our greater need of aid in respect of the will of God and 
 
 ^ A. How beautiful is Nathan's parable to David ! — B. Most beautiful and 
 touching. — A. Is it not alone a proof, or are not such things proofs, of the inspira- 
 tion of the Bible ? — B. Of a certain spiritual influence, perhaps yes ; but yet within 
 the limits of humanity. — A. But does not it also prove that David vrrote the beau- 
 tiful Psalm, " By the waters of Babylon," which is a clear case of prediction, and so 
 all the cavils against the book of Daniel are removed ? — B. I hardly see that the one 
 question throws any light on the other. — A. Cruel man ! then you forbid my chil- 
 dren, or my clergy, to hope for a future life ! how can you read the service of the 
 Church, without believing in the resurrection of Christ, or of any one ? — B. BIy 
 dear Madam, or my dear Lord, I was not speaking of the resurrection, nor then 
 thinking of it ; though you are more likely to hurt the belief in it, than to help 
 improbable traditions about the Old Testament, by tying them all together. My 
 advice would be, whatever you do, avoid straining or overstating things. — A. Then, 
 has the Church of England no Ecclesiastical Courts ? etc. etc. 
 
1 IXTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 the expectations whicli He holds out of a life to come, than in 
 respect of ordinary business of the world. Hence if we imagine 
 what would be probable conditions of a supernaturally inspired 
 record, we should expect the supernatural element in it to bear 
 chiefly, if not exclusively, upon religion. Again, the finiteness 
 of man's facidties and knowledge would suggest many limita- 
 tions incidental to humanity as likely to affect even the subject- 
 matter of the supernatural aid, or the degree in which religious 
 knowledge would be communicated, or sensibility to it awakened. 
 Still more, if free agency, no less than limitation, be incidental 
 to humanity, we should expect the action of man's creative 
 facidties, imagination and the like, to be not destroyed, but 
 animated, by the supernatural influence which we suppose an 
 element in the religious record. Once more, if the religion 
 communicated, or divinely awakened in man, were to be not a 
 mere abstract of past events, but to involve the pei-manent 
 presence of a supernatural influence, in the form of light, 
 comfort, moral guidance, or any other — or if, which comes to 
 the same thing, the religion pre-supposed the immanence of a 
 supernatural agent, distributing gifts, whose diversity did not 
 prevent them from having a supernatural clement in common — 
 whatever limitations might in any case be imposed by con- 
 ditions of circumstance, we coidd not avoid an expectation, that 
 the supernatural element in the record would have in essence, if 
 not in degree, something in common with the permanent gift, 
 or distributor of gifts, whose presence in the hearts of faithful 
 men is by our hypothesis an everlasting presence. In other 
 words, Diviue Inspiration may be expected to impart religious 
 rather than general knowledge ; to teach what it teaches in 
 part, measure, and degree ; to leave the creative and spontane- 
 ous agency of the human faculties in unimpaired freedom ; and 
 to render its own nature and limits cognisable by the identical 
 nature — the analogous limits — of that supernatural aid whose 
 Giver is without change or shadow of turning. More briefly 
 still, it would be a spiritual animation, or insight, but not a 
 
INTRODUCTION. li 
 
 foiTual ctrouicle ; an inspiration, not a dictation. Harmonious 
 with reason, it would in some respects more resemble instinct. 
 
 Let us apply these probabilities to our Bible and Prayer 
 Book. The habit of restricting modern knowledge, and dwarf- 
 ing precedents of conduct, to the range and tj-pe of the Old 
 Testament, has so far passed away, that if it be still exacted in 
 remoter provinces (where its exaction is safe), it is disowned 
 in London or Calcutta as an injurious imputation. The right 
 of tracing diverse times and sundiy manners in the steps of 
 revelation, and personal variations in aj^ostolic views, may be 
 disliked, but is hardly denied. The freedom of authorship 
 which Scripture displays, as a vast literature containing tradi- 
 tion, chronicle, psalm, hymn, poetry, apologue, parable, with 
 every form of boldly anthropomorphic figiire and accom- 
 modation, involves too many enquiries to be observed at a 
 glance, or to be conceded when observed ; but a confession 
 of such freedom is slowly, sometimes reluctantly, forcing 
 through obstacles natural and artificial its hesitating but in- 
 evitable way. Once more, the eternal identity of that Spirit 
 which spake by the prophets, is taught in our Prayer Book 
 as still persuading the clergy to undertake their sacred office, 
 [imderlying the sacraments which they administer, animating 
 jwhatever holy thoughts and good desires come to good effect : 
 jand however sti-ange this doctrine may sound to men of the 
 world — with whatever reluctance, still stranger, it may be 
 admitted by prelates or judges who impose formularies teaching 
 it — this identity of the inspirer, if not of the inspiration, of the 
 rwriters of Scripture and of good men in all ages, will be found 
 the healing element arising out of the controversies of to-day. 
 
 It might aid the reader's apprehension of this point, to con- 
 isider what ought to be thought of the claims which ancient 
 doctors (of whom let Cyprian be an example) prefer to an 
 immediate inspiration. I give the utmost advantage to the 
 upholders of the negative, by acknowledging that the most 
 learned of our existing prelates has pronounced the citation of 
 
lii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 such claims " glaringly futile." Dr. Pusey, on the other hand, 
 recognizes the claims as earnest, and contends for their validity. 
 Dr. Conyers Middleton was too accurate a scholar not to recog- 
 nize the claim habitually made, and not devout enough to 
 believe it valid. Hence, in his hands it became an argument 
 against the Fathers. It may be an inconsistency in Dr. Pusey 
 that he believes the claim, and yet assails one who would apply 
 it to illustrate the doctrine of inspiration ; his own view, how- 
 ever, is more consistent with ecclesiastical history than that of 
 either Dr. Connop Thirlwall or Dr. Conyers Middleton. Sup- 
 pose the rhetorical exaggerations of Cj'prian's age render his 
 claims hardly available except as a passing illustration of the 
 way in which language on the subject has been used in the 
 church ; there is at least one doctrine which, if not in every 
 aspect fundamental, and if it has been abused by uncharitable 
 speculation, is still the most dogmatic developement of our 
 faith, and is so connected with our ecclesiastical framework of 
 thought, that neither inspiration, nor any other cardinal doc- 
 trine, in our communion, can be stated accurately without 
 reference to it. The Father, we hold, is everlasting, but un- 
 searchable. The eternal Word was manifested in time. The 
 Holy Spirit (Life, Breathing, let philosophers name it as they 
 will), is ever immanent in the church. It follows that the most 
 certainly permanent (bolder thinkers might say, the only per- 
 manent) element in Christianity is the supernatural ; and that 
 manifestation of the supernatural, with which we specially 
 associate inspiration. Yet its gifts to us now come by measure 
 and in part ; violate no law of consciousness ; interfere with 
 no instrumentality of Providence ; obey all limits of time, 
 place, circumstance, education ; dispense Avith no faculty of 
 earthly information ; lend themselves to each temperament ; 
 are so manifest in their effects, that no devout man doubts 
 them ; so unseen in their operation, that whoever pleases may 
 ignore them. 
 
 If it would be presumptuous a priori to say that the limita- 
 
INTEODUCTIOX. liii 
 
 tions within which, the Supernatui'al operates must have affected 
 its operations in th.e case of the writers of Scripture, it is con- 
 sistent with the utmost reverence to ascertain by investigation 
 how far such was the case. I do not speak of error/ th.e possi- 
 bility of which is no ground for assuming its existence, nor of 
 which is there such improbability that we must a p/'iori assume 
 its absence. The question is of poetical freedom, or of such a 
 form of it, as branches into legend ; and the point to which these 
 reflexions tend, is that the existence of such freedom, if made out 
 independently by argument, is not fatal to the co-existence of in- 
 spiration, so far as probability, the contents of the Bible, and the 
 doctrines of our Prayer-book, enable us to form a conception of 
 what inspiration properly means. A reader who may not have 
 studied the historical origin of the term, or who does not reflect 
 that the meaning above all, of ecclesiastical words, must be 
 influenced by their history, may ask, whether it would not be 
 better to abandon the doctrine, than to attempt so forced a 
 reconciliation. If such a one will turn to the book of Psalms, 
 the inspiration of which is on all sides allowed, and ask how the 
 freedom of the poetry originated, how the local and national 
 features can without violence be spiritualised, how the harsher 
 maledictions on the Psalmist's foes can be reconciled with a 
 theory of divine dictation, he may be led to conclude that the 
 error is on the side of those who import into the idea of 
 inspiration such an absence of human conditions as it was not 
 of old intended to convey.^ 
 
 ' Quseritur . . . quare Paulus maledixerit . . . Ut homo, et adhuc vasculo clausus 
 infirmo. Hieron in Galat. v. Cf. H. in Gal. iii. et ad Pammach: Ep. Ivii. de Marc. 
 Ev. i. 1. 
 
 ^ " Again, in the ■22nd Homily, part I., we are " forbidden to think to learn the 
 knowledge of God and of ourselves in any earthly man's work or writing sooner or 
 better than in the Holy Scriptures written by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.'' 
 But in the 1st Homily we are taught that " in reading of God's word he most 
 profiteth that is most inspired with the Holy Ghost." Now, my lords, it is vitally 
 essential to the argument of the other side, that the words " inspired" and " inspi- 
 ration" in these two Homilies should be used with such dilFerence, or rather with 
 such opposition of sense, as to denote two operations generically different ; the one 
 supernatural, and conferring infallibility, but the other natural, and leaving men 
 
liv 
 
 INTKODUCTION. 
 
 If it be asked, will not so free a notion of Inspiration reduce 
 many questions which divide religious denominations into mat- 
 ters of secondary importance, and even into anthropomorphic 
 shades of diction or conception ; will it not, while it greatly 
 lessens the reasons for religious division, take away the right 
 of aggravating it by anathema or misrepresentation ; and is 
 not its ultimate tendency to leave a clearer manifestation of the 
 supernatural the only thing permanent in Christianity ? — to 
 answer such questions with all due distinctions would require a 
 volvmie ; but if such results arise, it is not easy to see why any 
 humble believer in Divine Providence should lament them, or 
 desire them ignored. It here abundantly contents me, if other 
 more definite questions, as those about the book of Daniel, be 
 allowed to arrive at their natural solution by means of in- 
 vestigation, without prejudice from true but strained doctrines, 
 such as inspiration, or other more imaginary, inferences. On 
 which side the determination fall, so it be fairly, I believe 
 myself indifferent. Motive, temper, manner, are more im- 
 portant in such things, than the special conclusion arrived at. 
 
 More has been said of miracles here than might have been, if 
 circumstances, needless to explain, had not brought the topic 
 into greater prominence than naturally belonged to it. An 
 
 fallible. Where, my lords, has the church laid down, that she used the same words, 
 on the same class of subjects, with such a difference of sense ? Especially, when 
 our translators, having the Homilies and Liturgy before them, applied in their 
 version the word inspiration to Scripture (it being already applied both to Scripture, 
 and to other spiritual effects or influences of the Holy Ghost), it would have been 
 actually misleading men, if they had conceived so immense a difference to exist 
 between things which they described by one identical term. Grant that the one 
 inspiration may be distinguished as "special or extraordinary," and the other as 
 "general or ordinary," yet no man can define in what the distinction consists ; so 
 that I venture to repeat a question, which the other side has not answered, and 
 which may be submitted to all your lordships' legal acumen, how can an undefinable 
 distinction between two supernatural operations, one of which is mysterious, while 
 the other is said to have its " mode and limits unknown to man," be with any fair- 
 ness made the subject of penal requirement from a clergyman ? " — Final Reply 
 before the Judicial Committee. 
 
 Much illustration of this topic, with ample proof of the " supernaturalness" con- 
 sidered by our Reformers permanent, may be found in BuUinger's Decades ; and in 
 Knox's Christian Philosophy, as in several of the Homilies, e.g. for Whitsunday. 
 
INTRODUCTION. Iv 
 
 unhappy collision between our religion and men's consciences 
 may arise, if a powerful priesthood strains its doctrines into 
 an exaggerated form (say, the Sacramental Presence into Tran- 
 su.bstantiation, or Inspiration into Dictation), because it has a 
 surplus fund of miracles to fall back upon as a bond of com- 
 pulsory belief. A clergyman's fabric of doctrine must dij0Per in 
 spirit, if not in form, according as he persuades men by fitness, 
 with the grace of God, or as he presumptuously daimts them with 
 terror of the unknown. It is infinitely important for all men 
 that we should prefer Christ to Nicodemus, and be sure that God 
 wills not his candle in us quenched by power human or divine. 
 Within a narrower circle, the entanglements which arise from 
 requiring educated teachers to state the evidence for miracles 
 favourably to the prejudication of their necessity, have been 
 pointed out elsewhere. If such evils are not introduced, the 
 degree in which God's wonderful deliverances of His people of 
 old "were exceptional, is a question of evidence, which nothing 
 would be gained by resolving wantonly in the negative. It is 
 probable that our religious associations, which are but an un- 
 methodical trust in God, will often extend our belief beyond 
 the rigour of demonstration, and the faith which grasps prin- 
 ciples, or reverences persons, will become associated with inci- 
 dents. Still, it is well to remember, that such associations may 
 strike others difierently ; that of the fourteen centuries between 
 Moses and Christ, the second seven left little trace of miracle 
 on Palestine, yet did not estrange it from the Eternal Provi- 
 dence; that whether the greater abimdance of miracles in the 
 first seven be explained by the more poetical character of earlier 
 literature, or by the lesser need of a later period, what is deter- 
 mined in either case is no foimdation of our belief in the 
 supernatural, but a particular mode of action of Providence, to 
 which one view of the nature of inspiration may be more fa- 
 vourable than another ; that some believers in inspiration may 
 think it safest not to load the doctrine with unhistorical conse- 
 quences ; that St. PaiJ's abolition of the Law included not only 
 
Ivi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 its terrois, but its imperfections as of intellectual infancy ; that 
 precepts destined to be revoked by Christ may as well be 
 ascribed to tlie earlier hardness of men's hearts, as to a transient 
 enactment of the lUmighty ; that in any case the topics most 
 pregnant with religious instruction are such as the experience 
 of the spii-itual life in all ages permits us to verify afresh ; or 
 amongst things exceptional, those which possess features coming 
 nearest home to our daily wants. Thus, without denying the 
 vision of angels, or the ladder reaching into heaven, or the 
 bodily wrestler, we may find in the prayer of Jacob at Bethel 
 or Penuel our timer source of encouragement. The range of 
 the pictorial faculty of man in embodying things spiritual admits 
 of many a varying estimate, but never can be of fundamental 
 import. It is true, the New Testament has miracles, which 
 we should be reluctant to sm-render. I share all that reluctance, 
 but cannot admit the fairness of inviting any one who investi- 
 gates the date of the book of Daniel or the composition of the 
 Pentateuch, to disprove the omnipotence of God, as if that 
 were in question, or to deny the resurrection of Christ, as if 
 this belief, attested by the common voice of the Apostles (and 
 confirming our highest hope, but in no way contradicting our 
 conscience), stood on no firmer basis than obscure problems in 
 the obscurest parts of the Old Testament. Even in this case, 
 the principle of Faith before Miracle probably holds good. 
 Consciously to some miuds, if not unconsciously to others, 
 whose eagerness to draw conclusions which may sound ir- 
 reverent, seems a homage to a principle which they do not 
 recognise, the ground on which the miracles of the New 
 Testament are most convinciugly based, is reverence for some 
 one connected with them, whom we cannot bear to think of as 
 misleading or misled, — rather than the symmetrical cogency of 
 proof, which Warbvu'ton and Paley, with Renan and Baur 
 following them, could in a legal manner extract from the 
 records. If this be so, it harmonises with the practice of 
 Christ, who to relieve distress wrought many wonderful cures. 
 
INTRODUCTION. Ivii 
 
 on the condition of antecedent faith, but either -wrought 
 none to create faith, or rebuked those who would not be- 
 lieve ^ without them : as also in a most striking parable he 
 made the witness of conscience, awakened by Moses and the 
 Prophets, as strong a ground of belief in the life to come, as if 
 one should rise from the dead.^ The best proof to us now of 
 Chi'ist's own resurrection may be the Pentecostal gift of the 
 Spirit, including its ejffects and affinities. If to say this be to 
 make faith, and not knowledge, the ultimate standing- ground 
 of Christianity, this characteristic is shared with her by the 
 foundations of morality at least, and perhaps of those parts of 
 knowledge which are usually reckoned demonstrative. Thus, 
 on the assumption Avhich many will not concede to us, of the 
 reaKty of every miraculous occurrence in the New Testament, 
 it remains that Faith is neither logically nor spiritually 
 grounded in Miracle, although she may bear many miracles 
 joyfully; a fair inference is, that we act unwisely to select as 
 our main anchorage proofs which to many minds are harder 
 than the thing to be proved, while the weakest proof possible 
 would be to create miracles of slender occasion, attestation, and 
 result, in one age, into precedents for miracles in another, in 
 which the conditions of belief are on many accounts more 
 favourable. As I write, I feel the difficulty which most of us 
 have in disengaging our thoughts from the consideration of 
 consequences which may seem legitimate, or the repudiation of 
 inferences which may be extreme ; but I must beg my reader 
 to aid me, by endeavoui'ing to decide all questions of the book 
 of Daniel upon the evidence ; remembering, in what connexion, 
 and for what purpose only, miracles have been glanced at. 
 Not that a man believes miracles, but that he proves by their 
 
 ' John iv. 48. Matth. xxiv. 24. Mark vi. 5, 6; viii. 12. Revel, xiii. 14; xvi. 
 14. 1 Cor. i. 22. 2 Thess. \l 9. Matth. xv. 23 ; xvii. 20 ; xvi. 4 ; vii. 22, 23 ; xi 
 5, 6. John ix. 4 ; xiv. 12. 
 
 * Luke xvi. 31. Very striking on the same subject is Archdeacon Hare (Mission 
 of the Comforter, p. 354) whose historical belief can hardly be arraigned, because he 
 taught the subordination of miracles as pointedly as Pascal and Jeremy Taylor. 
 
Iviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 power a distorted revelation, instead, of recommending a true 
 one by its goodness ; and not that he forms any view of Scrip- 
 ture, but that he extorts, upon any ground except evidence, the 
 view most favourable to a peremptory demand for miracle, is 
 the source of perplexity and of the loss of soids, so far as eccle- 
 siastical mismanagement can wrest souls out of the hand of 
 
 God. If " the question is thus stated there can be no 
 
 room for rational hesitation," remarks the Bishop of St. David's: 
 I agree with his lordship, there can^ be none rationally; my 
 experience has not taught me that there is no room for practical 
 hesitation among those who hold the un-revealing theories of 
 revelation of Dr. Pusey and Mr. Mansel : or that such hesitation 
 may not be increased, and the question in a given controversy 
 metamorphosed, by one who starting with the assumption that 
 error must be foimd, sneers at the barrenness of the land until 
 he finds, or not finding, invents it. 
 
 10. The most serious apprehensions, arising out of a natural 
 interpretation of Daniel, hardly turn upon the mere efiect as 
 regards the marvellous stories, whose chief importance arises 
 from their bearing upon theories of inspiration. It is impos- 
 sible not to foresee some efiect upon the entire theory of pro- 
 phecy ; and this is not a mere adjunct, but a thing which 
 afiects the framework and kernel of the New Testament. We 
 need not disturb ourselves much about the Seventy Weeks, 
 which on any theory were too disputable to have much " evi- 
 dential" value. We might spare a certain amount of predic- 
 tion of secular events in ancient times, not perhaps without 
 damage to preconceptions, but with signal benefit to our inter- 
 pretation of a large part of the Old Testament. It is not only 
 
 ' It must be conceded, there might be room for even rational hesitation on the 
 subject, if we did not possess by nature or by grace the moral or spiritual capacity 
 of verifying internally the meaning and worthiness of a Divine message, as well as 
 its phenomenal or written attestation. But even the existence of God is a truth 
 hardly more fundamental to pure and undefiled religion, than that whatever mani- 
 festations he vouchsafes us of the Supernatural assume a form of reason, or bring 
 accompaniments of morality, rather than ever the opposite of either. 
 
INTRODUCTION. Hx 
 
 a possibility, but, whenever discussion ceases to be suspended or 
 prejudiced by extraneous influences, it will be a necessity, that 
 we should resign cheerfully, like mariners throwing infected 
 goods overboard with their own hands, all those " directly 
 Messianic" interpretations, in which, without the intervention 
 of any earlier person, or without broader suggestion of spiritual 
 principle, Jesus of Nazareth is held to be distinctly, personally, 
 foreseen as the Christ. So much will come of itself, from the 
 perusal of the Old Testament, translated by its context, without 
 regard to tradition. If, as most critics think, the appearances 
 of prediction in Daniel are, from their minute developments 
 and dramatic phantasmagoria, unlike the bidk of Old Testament 
 prophecies, it need not alarm us that such unique features have 
 an unique lateness of origin, not devised as their explanation, 
 but pre-existent as their cause. The far more serious ground 
 of alarm is that, if the horizon of Daniel's Messianic kingdom 
 was merely Maccabaic or temporal, it suggests a similar con- 
 struction for kindred passages in the Gospels, and raises the 
 question how far the horizon of these latter was eternal- 
 Considering the vast number of features in the Gospels and the 
 Apocalypse, which seem to identify Christ's second coining 
 with the fall of Jerusalem, and to shut up the completion of the 
 promises within the range of a renovation of society, or the 
 establishment of better sentiments and reformed institutions in 
 the world, have we any longer a Gospel to preach, not merely 
 of "the coming age," but of life eternal ? Does the whole story 
 resolve itself into the Idea bursting its mould, and developing a 
 new one ; the thought of God fulfilling itself in many ways ? 
 I can neither think such questions trivial, nor follow those who 
 resolve them in a merely temporal sense. 
 
 Before any one hastily concludes, that such a result arises 
 from our natural interpretation of Daniel, let him consider well 
 the language of Christ and the Apostles, on these several sub- 
 jects : on the nature of his kingdom ; on his relation to the Old 
 Testament ; on the warfare of his disciples ; on whether they 
 
Ix INTRODUCTION. 
 
 should fear what comes before death, or what follows death ; 
 and whether the rest remaining for them should be at Jeru- 
 salem, under David's throne ; or meeting the Lord in the air, 
 in some one of many mansions, not seen and temporal, but 
 unseen and eternal. 
 
 " My kingdom"^ says Christ, " is not of this world." " The 
 kingdom of God is within you^ Sin reigned, says St. Paul, 
 till Christ came, but henceforward grace reigns. Such things 
 were "said of old time," says Christ thrice on the moimt, 
 blaming the Old Testament, " hut I say unto you" he proceeds, 
 other things. There had been a temple made with hands ; 
 Christ promises one made without hands. St. Paid had been 
 a servant of the Old lestament in the letter which killed \ but 
 became a preacher of the New, in the Spirit which quickens. 
 He too had known temples and rites wrought with hands, but 
 thought them merely instrumental. Again, Christ's disciples 
 were not to return evil for evil, yet to fight the good fight ; 
 their enemies were not flesh and blood, the weapons of their 
 warfare not to be carnal ; they were not to fear ivhat could kill 
 the body, but ivhat could hurt the soul: not the fame that is 
 quenched, but the undying worm ; nor was the rest remaining 
 for them to be amongst walls already to a prescient eye crumb- 
 ling in destruction ; but where Christ ivas, they were to be ; in 
 the glory which he had from His Father, in a realm where 
 spirits made perfect know, as they have long ago been known. 
 
 The conclusion upon the whole (the details of which may be 
 found elsewhere) is that, although the New Testament must 
 not be called contrary to the Old (as the bright side of a cloud is 
 not contrary to the dark) there is sufficient difference in the 
 nature, genius, and horizon of each, for us to read the Prophets 
 
 •■ " Seek God alone, who is the true kingdom for which we and all men daily pray 
 when we say the Lord's prayer." .... " Therefore, children, seek first the kingdom 
 of God, which is God himself, and naught else." — Tauler's Sermon xxiv., for the 
 Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. 
 
 One of the most beautiful collects in our older Liturgy had, " Cui servire regnare 
 at." 
 
INTRODUCTION, Ixi 
 
 and the book of Daniel in their natural and undistorted sense, 
 yet believe that, in the fulness of the times, Christ threw light on 
 life and immortality. The view here suggested is not essen- 
 tially different from that of the earliest Fathers of the Church, 
 or from that of Milton in the Paradise Regained ; ^ though it 
 makes larger provision for the natural interpretation of the Old 
 Testament, than Justin Martyr's criticism rendered possible, or 
 Milton's design required. 
 
 Should it be thought that Mr. Desprez's ^ researches in this 
 volume, or elsewhere, tend too exclusively in the direction which 
 has been deprecated, it may be suggested that whatever scope 
 for variety of feeling is afforded by spiritual adaptations, their 
 indispensable preliminary in all cases must be a frank acknow- 
 ledgement of the natural sense of the document. Whatever 
 tends to bring about such acknowledgment, is in the first 
 instance a good, whatever may be afterwards built upon it. 
 One of the features most painful and injurious to the Church 
 in Dr. Pusey's recent Lectures, is that, in entire consistency 
 with his career, he labours to throw back interpretation, and fix 
 upon the Bible the seven seals of tradition which had hardly 
 for Englishmen been taken off it ; hence whatever possibility 
 might be of winning a right of adaptation, or of recasting 
 temporal images into a spiritual mould, is postponed or thrown 
 away, while traditional glosses upon the text are repeated, by 
 one who says he has considered these things for forty years. 
 
 ^ But to guide nations in the way of truth 
 By saving doctrine, and from error lead 
 To know, and knowing worship God aright. 
 Is yet more kingly ; this attracts the soul, 
 Governs the inner man, the nobler part ; 
 That other o'er the body only reigns. 
 
 —P. R., ii. 473. 
 Compare, less directly, De David quoque, licet multi de Domino nostro aestiment 
 prophetatum (quod nos etiam non negamus), Spir. Sanct. in typo venturi canit. Hier. 
 in Gal. v. Jerome is exceedingly inconsistent, and may suggest what he blames 
 elsewhere. 
 
 2 My perusal not having yet extended to the later chapters of the volume, I can 
 only refer to them from some intimation of their purport. 
 
Ixii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Thus it is laid down with authority (p. 483) that in Isaiah ix. 
 6, " No one can doubt that Mighty God is the natural meaning 
 "of the words El Gihbor. Any one acquainted with Hebrew 
 " would answer at once Mighty God; just as one acquainted with 
 " Latin would answer that ' Deus Omnipotens ' means God Al- 
 " mighty. There is no more real doubt about the one than the 
 " other, ... No one that believes the doctrine of the Trinity, 
 " doubts these passages .... No one who had not a repug- 
 " nance to the doctrine would hesitate." I feel almost imable to 
 resist such asseverations, and must suppose that no one doubts. 
 AU those, then, who feel innocent of repugnance to the doctrine 
 of the Trinity, may be assured that they agree with Dr. Pusey 
 about this verse, although they v/ere not aware of it. This 
 conclusion may have the incidental recommendation, that it 
 restores the Protestant Luther, who has been vulgarly supposed 
 orthodox, to his proper place among Unitarians : for Luther, 
 translated El, Gihbor, ' Kraft, Held,' Might, Hero, less happily 
 perhaps than De Wette's * Starker Held,' Mighty Hero. Still, if 
 any enquiring pupil should in an unlucky hour ask our autho- 
 rised version, in connexion with the Hebrew text of Gen. x. 9 ; 
 Daniel xi. 3 ; 2 Sam. xvii. 10 ; Proverbs xxx. 30 ; Isaiah v. 22 ; 
 1 Kings i. 8, what Hebrew word describes the mightiness of 
 Nimrod, and Alexander, and David chafed in his mind, or of 
 the lion among beasts, or of men "mighty to drink wine," he 
 might find the words to be Gib-bor and the plural of Gihbor. 
 He might begin to wonder, whether such persons, or David's 
 soldiers, enjoyed the attribute of omnipotence. If he pro- 
 ceeded to Psalms xxix. 1 ; Ixxxix. 7, weighing well what sons 
 of the mighty must mean ; or if he asked upon Ezekiel xxxi. 
 11, and xxxii. 21, whether a Hebrew Prophet would ascribe 
 very Deity to Gentile heroes, he might more than doubt 
 whether the Bible were wrong or only Dr. Pusey mistaken. 
 If such a one had time to argue out the context of Isaiah 
 ix. he would find it infinitely stronger against the Regius 
 Professor than the verbal argiunent can be, when taken alone. 
 
 I 
 
INTKODUCTION. Ixiii 
 
 If at such a stage of enquiry tlie doubts which Dr. Pusey has 
 pronounced impossible should begin to vindicate their right of 
 existence, they would not be conjured into non-entity by the 
 suggestion (for which we are also indebted to Oxford), that in 
 Isaiah vii. 15, the butter and honey eaten by the child who was 
 a sign to Ahab, express "the sorrows of the Incarnation." 
 If, returning for help to Dr. Pusey (pp. 476-78), we ask him 
 for an accurate account of St. Jerome's statement about the 
 second Psalm, or for reason to reject the rendering, Wors/iip 
 purely, which St. Jerome preferred, we shall not obtain what 
 we ask. He does not err so curiously as a leading English 
 critic, who thought that Jerome altered Kiss the Son, without 
 so much as finding it ; or altered Worship the Son, because it 
 was " indecent " to use such a phrase ; but he characteristically 
 omits to make it clear to his readers that Bar never elsewhere in 
 the Old Testament means So7i, except in a late and Chaldaized 
 postscript to the Proverbs : that if it could, in pure Hebrew, 
 mean Son, it would require the article ; that the Old Testa- 
 ment never in any place mentions The Son in the manner of 
 St. John, without some aflBx: or term of limitation (e.g. my son, 
 thy son) : that the verb kiss, or worship, joined with Bar here, 
 rarely takes a case without a preposition, and more rarely (if 
 1 Sam. X. 1 be admitted as a possible instance) denotes the kiss 
 of homage without a qualifying word ; that the ancient ver- 
 sions, Septuagint, Vvdgate, Chaldee, Arabic, Aquila, three at 
 least of them guided by pure Hebrew, found no possibility of a 
 son in the verse ; that the Syriac translators, naturally misled 
 by their own language, first fancied Bar to mean in Hebrew 
 what it means in Syriac; that the example once set, was fol- 
 lowed by Jews and Christians (as, after our last four years' 
 experience, it may be followed more largely) ; yet that the 
 great Pashi, whose Hebrew shoe-latchet it would require many 
 Professors to unloose worthily, reverted to the pure Hebrew so 
 far as to give in purity of heart {be-vor levav) as the equivalent 
 to Bar, though he took the word worship differently ; and that 
 
Ixiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in Isaiah xxxiii. 7, we find in Mar, bitterly, a justification for 
 our taking Bar adverbially. Instead of thus interpreting 
 Hebrew by Hebrew philology, or by critical history, our 
 Regius Professor flies to Phoenician, in order to tell us that 
 Bar, a son, "belongs to the earliest stock of the language." 
 It is a blemish which he would treat bitterly in another, that 
 his Phoenician instances are conjectures drawn by disputed 
 readings through the Latinisms of Plautus and Livy (the first 
 of them having the drawback of not being in the Manuscripts 
 of Plautus, which for Mebar give Mehar^), or else are names of 
 which not one appears to have belonged to the mother country ; 
 some are Carthaginian, the most probable Maltese. Since St. 
 Paul was shipwrecked at Malta, seldom a di^-ine has taken so 
 tortuous a course. Grant that such possibilities were certainties, 
 they are removed by centuries of time, and by geographical 
 region, and colonial development, from the Psalmist in Pales- 
 tine, a millennium before Christ : so that even if king Hiram, 
 instead of David, wrote the Psalms, our Professor's proofs 
 from " the earliest stock of the language," are as if he quoted 
 
 ^ My edition of Gesenius's Phoenicia is of Leipzig, 1838. I must presume the 
 Regius Professor uses a different one, unless he took a little liberty of citation in an 
 out of the way region. Though Gesenius gives Bar as one out of three explana- 
 tions of what was then thought to be in Plautus, and though he interprets Cartha- 
 ginian and Maltese names, some of them, as Bomilcar, not very probably, by the 
 same clue, he vouchsafes Bar no place in his Phoenician vocabulary (p 348), but 
 gives, as the native inscriptions sexcenties, Ben as the word for Son. Weise, on the 
 Poenulus, says, " Codd. non habent Mebar, sed Mehar." Similarly, our old friend 
 Farnabius's note might have preserved Dr. Pusey from mistranslating Seneca with 
 such an air of virtuous satisfaction (p. 624). He may have been thinking of 
 Ilebrew tenses instead of Latin. The Chorus in Medea, Act ii,, did not mean by 
 " Venient annis saecula seris," that remote ages had arrived, but that they would 
 come, big with voyages stranger than those of the Argonauts. The fabled past is 
 described by " Palluit Typhis;" the Poet's contemporaries by " Albim Persae, i;he- 
 numque bibunt ;" and ages to come by " Venient soecula." A comparison of the 
 Chorus with Dr. Pusey's Note (p. 624) might enable a mere classical scholar to 
 conceive how a Patristic philology introduces confusion into the Old Testament. If 
 it seem ungracious not to throw a completer veil over the multitudinous mistakes of 
 an elderly clergyman, I would suggest that the temper, the organisation, and the 
 connexion of events, with which dogmatism erects blunders into articles of faith, 
 may render it not only a temptation, but a duty, for the Christian Pastor to examine 
 them. 
 
INTRODUCTION. IxV 
 
 the newest Americanism to justify finding the steam-engine iu 
 the laws of King Alfred. Jerome's imhappy manner of de- 
 fending himself renders it tedious to repeat here his vindication 
 against the Ruffinus of his own day, or of ours ; and I need not 
 ask for proof that Hupfeld, a very eminent critic, proposed a 
 construction " well knowing it (Pusey, p. 477) to be imknown 
 in Hebrew," since if this were as true as it is improbable and 
 ungracious, it would in no way affect the meaning of the 
 Psalm. Suffice it, that Jerome felt he would lay himself open 
 to reprehension from Hebraists, if he retained Worship the Son 
 instead of altering it to Worship purely ; ^ and we see abundantly 
 from pure Hebrew, and from versions more ancient than the 
 Syriac corruption, what the grounds of such reprehension must 
 have been. Notwithstanding all the ostentation of crude material 
 in pp. 476-78, hardly one of Dr. Pusey's arguments — certainly 
 not the majority of them — will bear poising in impartial scales. 
 But alas ! Dii me terrent, et Jupiter hostis. 
 
 Those who attribute to me (as if I had a fancy for winnowing 
 chaff) pleasure in such disputes misjudge me. I have selected 
 two which concerned me out of numerous interpretations of an 
 erroneous kind ; the erroneousness of the mass need not be here 
 argued, and might, even in favourable circumstances require 
 time for its full evincement ; much more may do so at present. 
 If any of my readers meditate a study of Dr. Pusey's Chapter 
 on Prophecy, it may be convenient for them to have a distinc- 
 tion suggested of three elements in it. There are several 
 mystical adaptations, such as some of the proofs out of the 
 Psalms in favour of a resurrection, which one woidd prefer not 
 hurting, and which may be left unreproved for whoever is able 
 to receive them. Again, there are many assumptions as to 
 secular prediction in ancient times, which do not readily admit 
 of either proof or disproof, unless it were agreed, on which side 
 
 ' I do not know that there would be any fatal objection to treating Bar, in the 
 sense of chosen, as a subordinated or predicate accusative, " Worship as elect " — or 
 "Honour as elect" — Him who has been anointed (not, of course, worship the 
 elect). This, however, does not appear to have been proposed. 
 
Ixvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the onus probandi lay ; for instance, the high probability that 
 Nahum described the fall of Nineveh as an eye-witness of the 
 event, or of its preludes, may be met by an assumption that he 
 ought to have lived a century before. It might be called pro- 
 fane, or at least irreverent, in him if he did not do so. Those 
 things I set on one side, except so far as they are employed to 
 prevent study of the Bible. Once more, there are Dr. Pusey's 
 " direct Mcssianisms," which he places alike imder the protec- 
 tion of the Divine vengeance and of his own bitter misrepresen- 
 tations ; of this third category we may affirm, as the nett result 
 of a thousand enquiries, that every interpretation in it is wrong. 
 Some amongst us remember reading in the Christian Year : — 
 
 And what no more on Sion's fane 
 
 His visible ensign wave, 
 'Tis Sion, wheresoe'er they dwell, 
 Who, with his own true Israel, 
 
 Shall own Him strong to save. 
 
 Such applications are generally pleasing, and though men may 
 differ in the degrees of confidence with which they affirm them 
 divinely intended, few would deny the possibility of their 
 being so. Yet if any one therefore contended there was no 
 such place as Zion, we should think him too insane for argu- 
 ment. The reader will be good enough to xmderstand me as 
 implying analogy rather than parallel, when I lay down the 
 general proposition that personal Messianic prophecies apply to 
 the Lord Jesus only in a manner corresponding to that in 
 which what is said of Israel may be appKed to the church, the 
 land of Canaan represent heaven, the river Jordan stand for 
 death, the sojourn in the wilderness for human life, the passage 
 of the Red Sea for baptism. 
 
 Now the task which Dr. Pusey with erudite trifling and 
 serious acerbity has undertaken, is no less desperate than to 
 obliterate the primary, natural, sense of all quasi- Messianic 
 passages out of the Old Testament ; which is, mutatis mutandis, 
 the same as if he should affiim the land of Canaan not to exist, 
 the river Jordan not to flow, the history of Israel in the wilder- 
 
INTRODUCTION. Ixvii 
 
 ness to have been not a reality, but a prophetic dream. What- 
 ever differences exist between the class of subjects just men- 
 tioned, and Messianic prophecies of a strictly personal stamp, 
 do not affect the common principle of a primary reality. 
 Tradition, holding in abeyance that article of our Reformation 
 which made Scripture free, may prolong for such delusions as 
 Dr. Pusey's direct Messianisms a parasitical life ; but no pure 
 Anglican, who is a student, can permanently hold them. So 
 far are they from deserving shelter under the inspiration 
 of Scripture, that they are its very greatest dangers. The 
 whole question may seem to latitudinarians of an advanced 
 order worthy of no treatment more serious than quotations from 
 Joseph Wolff, who foimd Chaldees in Caledonia ; but the more 
 any one feels that the sacredness of the Bible imposes on 
 men the duty of studying it seriously, the more it will appear 
 to him a subject for regret or censure, that the hierarchy of a 
 church professing to be Protestant and learned, should, I do 
 not merely say have impeded, but not have judged it a sacred 
 duty to promote, the understanding of the Bible in a matter 
 vital to a reasonable faith. For only in proportion as the class 
 of interpretations here glanced at is absolutely surrendered, 
 win students or congregations have any key to the profound 
 moral significance of the Old Testament, or to the method by 
 which prophecy may become a persuasive,^ if not an argument, 
 in favour of Christianity. In the mean time, a view may be 
 useful as a preliminary which is far from exhausting the rela- 
 tions of the subject, and which, if assumed to do so, might be 
 very unsatisfactory. 
 
 In case the question should have arisen in a reader's mind, 
 was there a particle of truth in the asseverations above quoted 
 as to the effect upon interpretations of Isaiah ix., exercised by 
 disposition towards the doctrine of the Trinity, I will go back 
 
 1 "Christianity and Hinduism," chapters ix., x., xi. "Rational Godliness," 
 Sermons xii. and xiv. It was with exclusive reference to prophetic interpretations 
 in these volumes, that the phrase " Natural religion" and some declamation upon it 
 originated, though accident subsequently aided a skilful transfer to different ground. 
 
Ixviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to point out, this mucli may have been hidden ; any meditative 
 student of Scripture proofs of the Trinity will be likely to find 
 himself led, whether he wishes it or not (perhaps the more, the 
 less he wishes it) to a far more metaphysical and refined con- 
 ception of the distinctions in the Divine Being than that of the 
 corporeal grossness implied by technical prattlers about per- 
 sonalities ; but thereby he will exercise the right, if not dis- 
 charge the duty, of treading in the paths of Athanasius, Augus- 
 tine, Anselm, Aquinas, and not of any pretended heresy. If this 
 likelihood had not been stated by the asseverator in the inver- 
 sion most calculated to mislead plain people, it would have been 
 iinlike himself and his school. All their peculiarities in respect 
 of Sacrament, Scripture, Doctrine, Communion, are developed 
 in harmony with the fundamental conception involved in 
 Tertullian's question, Quis negabit Deum corpus esse ? etsi 
 spiritus est. That they should be adversely disposed towards 
 others whose system flows with equally dogmatic consistency 
 from the axiom that God is Spirit, may be natural ; but their 
 outcries of heresy, and their representations of Scripture and 
 the Church as necessarily on their side, are hardly ingenuous ; 
 certainly would find no countenance from power associated with 
 a high standard of moral obligation, and with a high estimate 
 of the inspired Volume. An historical study of the develop- 
 ment and meaning of our doctrines may be our best pre- 
 servative against the falling asunder of the system into a 
 dogmatism which hands on religion as the remains of some 
 extinct language, and a latitudinarianism whose delicate test 
 of credibility, with neither grasp of doctrine nor precision of 
 philology, is manipulation of the pulse of the hour. 
 
 The reader whose patience has accompanied me thus far, may 
 have observed an inclination to limit the consequences, con- 
 fessedly not unimportant, which arise from fixing a book of the 
 Old Testament in its natural place. This seems more pro- 
 voking to some persons, than if it were really accompanied by 
 doctrinal error. Yet it may be pardoned as a weakness in a 
 
INTRODUCTION. Ixix 
 
 clergyman, by philosophers who think it impossible to decline 
 joining in the most vulgar misrepresentations, without wishing 
 everything surrendered. The problem, whether the demon- 
 strations of criticism can be taken up into orthodoxy, may be 
 not free from complexity, yet deserve more attention than it 
 has received from any section in our church, or sect outside. 
 The' opposite habit of drawing consequences into their extremest 
 form, may be found in Dr. Pusey and M. Renan, as well as in 
 two publications by the Bishop of St. David's, who all, if their 
 premises and objects differ, yet in that exaggeration harmonise. 
 In whatever degree the author of Tancred is a theological 
 authority, he must be added to the three distinguished persons 
 already mentioned ; though one who perceives that churches 
 require belief as their spiritual basis, should explain what act 
 of volition can render it easier for faith to contradict literature, 
 than to commence in the spiritual region, where all probability 
 is in her favour. Those again, who inopportunely introduce 
 questions of the fortunes of religious institutions, can only by 
 such treatment of a neutral topic invest it with injurious con- 
 sequences, which were not inherent in its own nature. I feel 
 it superfluous for any reader who may have traced the argu- 
 ment, that I should digress into examination of accounts of my 
 creed and motives, which, if they are " a lawful exercise of the 
 poetical gift" of their authors, have historical value only as an 
 exhibition of animus} It is a weakness to feel such weapons, 
 but a consolation not to have used them. 
 
 ' Though it must be needless, it is right to testify that the account given of my views 
 on Inspiration in Lord Chancellor Westbury's judgment, was practically adequate ; 
 and, if not absolutely, in points of theory, coincident, was marked by more ingenuous- 
 ness, as well as penetration, than the distorting guesses of one who knows of me as 
 much as he does of the prophet Daniel. I wish to speak throughout of Dr. Pusey 
 vrith the respect due to the most consistent theologian remaining within our pale on 
 the obstructive, as distinct from the orthodox, side. Morally, he has lost, if he 
 ever possessed, the power of stating a question fairly, and betrays, from his first 
 page to his last, an incapacity of conceiving that a strong preference for orthodox 
 conclusions may consist with a refusal to misstate evidence in their favour. Hence 
 I feel no temptation to be rude enough to contradict his repeated statement, that 
 " our notions of honesty must be very widely different." He may guess why I am 
 
IxX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 If we may indulge in the not extravagant supposition, that 
 twenty years hence the educated laity of England (with a few 
 possible exceptions about Abergwili or Sarum) should have 
 arrived at the conclusion that Citharas, Symphonia, Psaltenon, 
 are Greek words, and that the aggregate of evidence external 
 and internal agrees to the later origin of the book, the question 
 may recur imder new auspices, Who counselled best for the 
 authority of Revelation, those who, seeing the futility of 
 building an eternal mansion on the shifting sands of literary 
 error, narrowed the range of consequences of each discovery, 
 and looked round at each step for some maxim of the New 
 Covenant to remedy the "vanishing away" of the Old, or those 
 who denied any other evidence of the Supernatural than certain 
 accidents of literature, thus basing the eternal on the transient, 
 the glory of God on the folly of grammarians. If no path out 
 of the entanglement of these subjects is altogether free from 
 diflSculties, that may present fewest, which keeps farthest aloof 
 from repression or indifference, each of them akin to a certain 
 kind of imbelief. 
 
 I should have ended, if a subtle, possibly a devout, partisan 
 had not invited readers of the book of Daniel to examine it in 
 the light of the last Judgment of God. That issue pleases me 
 better than the poco-curante tone. Truth is not changed, be- 
 cause we live in a mincing age. Whatever may be symbolical 
 in picturings of the Last Account, or whatever questions may 
 suggest themselves, how far the Judge of the whole earth 
 scatters by mysterious steps the retributions which inspired 
 
 unwilling to press the question, how far his erudition belongs to the prse-philologic 
 age. His almost oppressive civilities to me are second-hand, and easily forgiven ; 
 especially since they have the advantage of serving as my apology for any breach of 
 charity involved in my judgment of litigation, which in the name of the Bible 
 would close the Bible, and which extended far enough to include the authorship 
 of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the natural sense of Isaiah, the Anglican doctrine 
 of Baptism as a moral engagement, all views of Divine grace which leave this 
 life still a state of moral probation, and the omnipresence, or faithfulness of the 
 living God. A mind gentle or chivalrous might rejoice, that harshness impelled 
 by a stem sense of duty had been proved needless. But the Odisse quern leeseris is 
 as old as Tacitus. 
 
INTRODUCTIOX. IxXl 
 
 imagination assembles into a day of doom, that is the light — 
 (pointiag to sober investigation of realities, instead of to con- 
 jectural estimates from name, or station, or numbers), in 
 which questions should be examined, affecting fundamentally 
 the faith of Christendom. We may understand strange pro- 
 positions hereafter. Our present facilities can conceive no dis- 
 pensation, . in which it shall be our duty to believe one who 
 modestly calls himself " only a Semitic Scholar," when he tells of 
 us that "seeiag the face of God" (p. 499) must be understood of 
 the Resurrection, although it is the common Hebrew phrase for 
 attending Divine worship in this world, however much a tra- 
 dition of the Masora devised a punctuation which should ob- 
 literate what to a literalist ear sounded anthropomorphic (comp. 
 Psalm xlii. 2; Isaiah i. 12). So, if the Scripture applies Gib- 
 bor to Nimrod and Nebuchadnezzar, David and Doeg, drunken 
 men and wild beasts, it suggests to us no presentiment of con- 
 demnation, for doubting whether it necessarily expresses " om- 
 nipotence." If Hosea, having its fifth and sixth chapters 
 restored to their proper unity, makes the Hebrews pray in 
 common Hebrew idiom for a restoration in a little time, as on a 
 morrow or on a third day, we may trust that He who is not a 
 God of the dead but of the Kving, can give us a firmer hope of 
 immortality than any groimded on such an idiom of earth, 
 earthy, or on so conventional an expression of loyalty as that 
 of Bathsheba to a dying king, "Let my lord live for ever" 
 (comp. Pusey, 499, 505, 468). Nor need we fear that He 
 whose name is Holy and Just, will condemn us for not seeing 
 why the shepherd cut off in Zechariah, being " a man of God's 
 fellowship," need therefore be more than man, when Abraham 
 also is called the friend of God. 
 
 If all our criticisms in that light become as babblings of 
 infancy, there is at least a whiteness of the soul, a temper of 
 ingenuousness and charity, which will always be accepted. 
 How far this has been exemplified by the servant of another, 
 it is our duty to refrain, if possible, from judging. Still we 
 
Ixxii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 may question, whether any sentence in the structure of a book 
 could be changed to larger license, if a great commandment 
 were removed from the Decalogue ; we may remember that 
 speaking evil of the ruler of our people for not adjudging to us 
 our strife (Exodus xxii. 28) is condemned in another book, 
 with which it is safer to be of one mind than at variance ; we 
 may refrain from questioning the doctrine so far of one who 
 affirms the meaning of " Pharisaism " to be " faith without 
 love," yet feel that he exhibits these elements very imequally. 
 Again, some of us may think it truer reverence never to employ 
 goodly sentiments (still less, unfair imputation of feigned 
 assumptions), in order to evade a grapple upon fact. 
 
 The practical import of an appeal made with such solemnity 
 should be to convey assurance to m.en who believe there is any- 
 thing serious in religion, that the book of Daniel involves 
 questions which neither laity nor clergy can rightly disregard. 
 If religious duty, prudence, liberal curiosity, should awaken a 
 larger circle to study a subject, on which the Regius Professor's 
 Lectures contain a mass of distorted information, from Bp. 
 Newton and others, his book will have been laudable, as the 
 solitary serious attempt on the traditional side to place the 
 question in an argumentative phase ; interesting, as a collection 
 of materials which less prepossessed minds will employ dif- 
 ferently ; and also memorable, as the beginning of the end. 
 
 *^* It having been an object of this Introduction to invite 
 English readers to rely more on reasons than on names, and to 
 escape out of a saddening accumulation of darkening commen- 
 taries into the freedom of judging Scripture by its own purer 
 air, it cannot be disrespectful to eminent writers at home or 
 abroad, that their names, when not required by special reason, 
 have not been mentioned. 
 
DANIEL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 DATE AND AUTHORSHIP OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 
 
 In the attempt to elucidate so obscure a theme as the 
 Book of Daniel, which has been and continues to be a 
 fruitful source of theological controversy, we are aware 
 that we are entering upon a task of no common difficulty. 
 The A pocalypse of the Old Testament, as it is not unfre - 
 quently called, shares the mysteriousness of that of the 
 New. ''Calvin was wise (says Scaliger) because he did 
 not write on the Apocalypse ;" and perhaps it is no proof 
 of wisdom to venture upon a subject in the interpretation 
 of which, as before the walls of an impregnable fortress, 
 the energies of the best and bravest have been expended 
 to little purpose. We are reminded then at the outset, 
 by the nature of the work before us, to exercise caution 
 and sobriety ; to keep imagination, which is apt to run 
 wild on prophetic subjects, within due bounds; and to 
 abide by the rules of sound and careful criticism. 
 
 That such a perso n as Daniel existed/ and that the 
 
 1 We incline to the opinion that the writer is not describing a pseudo- Daniel, on 
 the ground that the particulars of his career are in keeping with the circumstances 
 under which he is said to have been placed. The scenes depicted in the first six 
 chapters agree with what is known from other sources of Babylonian and Persian 
 modes of life. The Magi, with their astronomical calculations and interpretation of 
 
A DANIEL. 
 
 writer of the book whic h bears his name designed to 
 draw a real and not a fictitious character^ are points 
 which, though not removed fr om the possibility of doubt, 
 we ourselves are disposed to admit The individuality 
 of the man appears to us no more disputable than that 
 of any other great master in Israel whose name has 
 descended to posterity. Daniel is spoken of as a real 
 person by his " companion in tribulation," Ezekiel ; and 
 classed by him with other historical characters, Noah and 
 Job. Ilis consummate wisdom is alluded to as a matter 
 of public notoriety by the same prophet in an ironical 
 contrast which is drawn between the boastings of the 
 prince of Tyre and the superlative wisdom of Daniel, 
 '■'• Behold thou art wiser than Daniel, and there is no 
 secret that they can hide from thee" (Ezek. xxviii. 3). 
 Our Lord himself expressly refers to the book of Daniel, 
 with which he was undoubtedly conversant, and accommo- 
 
 dreams, correspond with what is elsewhere said of the " wise men of the East," and 
 the " Babylonian numbers." The enforced worship of the golden image of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, and of Darius himself, finds a parallel in contemporaneous acts of regal 
 deification. The grotesque combinations of human and bestial figures (Dan. vii.), 
 evince a conception familiar to the Assyrian period ; and the modes of capital punish- 
 ment by means of a burning fiery furnace and a den of lions, do not seem at variance 
 with the cruel practices of the monarchs of Babylonia and Persia. Moreover, the 
 historical form of the book makes it imperative that the principal personage 
 should have had a real and not an imaginary existence ; nor is it probable that the 
 introduction of a hero-myth into the narrative would have answered the purpose it 
 w£is intended to serve. It is difficult also to conceive, on the supposition that the 
 events recorded are without foundation, how it could have gained its position 
 amongst the Hagiographa with a people scrupulously careful with regard to their 
 sacred writings. It may add weight to these considerations to find the names of 
 Daniel and his three companions, Azariah, Hananiah, and Mishael, among those 
 who returned with Ezra from the Babylonish captivity (Ezra viii. 2 ; Neh. x. 2, 6, 
 23; viii. 4). It is true there is a considerable interval between the Daniel of the 
 captivity and the Daniel " of the sons of Ithamar," the contemporary of Ezra ; yet 
 the recurrence of the name, like that of Zechariah so frequently mentioned in the 
 books of Ezra and Nehemiah, may show that it was not unknown to the period of 
 the exile. 
 
DATE AND AUTHOESHIP. O 
 
 dates tlie statement of the " abomination of desolation 
 standing in the holy place" in the days of Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes, to analogous impieties shortly about to happen at 
 Jerusalem. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews in- 
 cludes those who " through faith stopped the mouths of 
 lions, and quenched the violence of fire" (alluding pro- 
 bably to scenes described in the book) amongst the 
 martyrs " of whom the world was not worthy." The 
 author^ of the first book of the Maccabees declares that 
 " Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, by believing were saved 
 out of the flames, and that Daniel for his innocency was 
 delivered out of the mouth of the lions" (1 Mace. ii. 
 59-60). Josephus makes no question respecting the indi- 
 viduality and personal history of Daniel. He recapitu- 
 lates the principal events of Daniel's life, and declares 
 that '' he was favoured with many wonderful revelations, 
 and those as to one of the greatest of the prophets." 
 (Ant. X. 11.) "No reasonable ground appears to us for 
 doubt, in the face of such testimonies, that there was an] 
 original Daniel, whose remarkable life and siiperlativf 
 wisdom laid the foundation of the present narrative. 
 
 But an acceptance of the reality of Daniel's personal 
 existence does not involve any conclusion as to the au- 
 thorship and age of the book in which, for the most 
 part, his history is recorded. Evidence of a power- 
 
 1 The mention made by Mattathias, in his dying address to his sons, of the 
 "innocency" of Daniel, and the " belief" of his three companions, may have been 
 derived either from the Book of Daniel itself, or from legends of the captivity 
 common to both. The former of these theories would seem most probable, as the 
 Book of Daniel appears to have exercised a powerful influence, very perceptible in 
 the Greek, upon the writer of 1 Mace. (comp. 1 Mace. ii. 49, with Dan. xi. 36, 
 xii, 1 ; 1 Mace. i. 46-54, with Dan. xi. 31 ; 1 Mace. iv. 43, with Dan. viii. 14 ; 
 I Mace. ^1. 2, with Dan. viii. 21) ; the date of the composition of 1 Mace, b.c. 120- 
 100, affording sufficient space for the precedence of the Book of Daniel. 
 
4 DANIEL. 
 
 ful, and as ttg think, unanswerable kind, points to a 
 later period than that of the Babylonian Captivity as | 
 the time of authorship, and brings down the date of the ' 
 book in its present state to an age subsequent to the 
 events therein described. This, while it does not in- 
 validate the general history, is likely to have some 
 influence upon the way in which its particulars may 
 be interpreted. It transforms the book from a declara- 
 tion by anticipation of things yet future into an his- 
 torical relation of past occurrences.' It excludes the 
 predictive element altogether. It assigns limits for its 
 interpretation beyond which criticism dares not pass, and 
 demands that its meaning shall be sought in the past, 
 and not in the future. As a preliminary, then, of the 
 utmost importance towards a correct interpretation, it 
 will be necessary to state the arguments on which we 
 build the theory of a late authorship for the book of 
 Daniel. If these shall be found trustworthy we may 
 reject schemes of interpretation which have repeatedly 
 been found fallacious, for those pointed out by criticism 
 and the necessities of the case. And in so doing we 
 shall be guilty neither of rashness nor of a want of due 
 regard to the Sacred Eecord. " To suppose that we can 
 serve God's cause by shutting our eyes to the light ; 
 much more to suppose that we can serve it by asserting 
 that we see what we do not see, because we tvish to see 
 it^ is simply intellectual atheism." 
 
 • " I have long thought that the greater part of the book of Daniel is most cer- 
 tainly a very late work of the time of Maccabees, and the pretended prophecy about 
 the kings of Greece and Persia, and of the North and South, mere history. In fact, 
 you can trace distinctly the date when it was written, because the events up to that 
 date are given with historical minuteness totally unlike the character of real pro- 
 phecy."— Arnold. 
 
DATE AND AUTHORSHIP. O 
 
 Signs of a later authorship than the period of Daniel's 
 residence in Babylon are perceptible in the book itself. 
 To these we shall presently advert. But before we 
 adduce the internal evidence of a later date which the 
 book affords, it will be necessary to call attention to the 
 practice which prevailed, amongst apocalyptical writers 
 especially, of prefixing an assumed name, and assigning 
 an assumed era, to their compositions. In ancient 
 times authorship under false colours was adopted with 
 out any sense of moral or literary dishonesty. The 
 end, in the opinion of pious men of old, justified the 
 means, or, rather, the means themselves appeared unob- 
 jectionable, having the nature of a rhetorical imitation, 
 rather than a deception. To condemn, therefore, with 
 too great severity a practice which sinned against no 
 received code, or to apply to writers of a past age the 
 rules which govern modern^ literature, would be idle and 
 
 ' "In our day to put forth a writing under an honoured name, in order to recom- 
 mend its contents, is scouted as a literary fraud. But it was far otherwise in the 
 schools of the prophets. The prophet was no author. His words were not his own, 
 but those of Him by whom he was commissioned. His authority was entirely 
 derivative. His outpourings were often not written down by himself, but reported 
 
 by some disciple When prophecy was recognized as extinct, the ideas of 
 
 the prophets were reiterated by persons desirous of reforming their contemporaries, 
 and who borrowed the name as well as the thoughts and style of some master in 
 Israel. It was so imperative to do so, that for an unknown wKJter to appear under 
 his own name was the exception, not the rule. The affixed names were not pseu- 
 donyms, but eponyms " 
 
 " You know nothing was anciently more common, or held more innocent, than 
 such personations of authors. And if this in succeeding ages came to be the occa- 
 sion of some mistakes, especially among the vulgar and less critical readers, it is not 
 much to be wondered at ; but it is not then to be imputed as a crime to them who 
 had no thoughts of deceiving any by it, or (which is all one) of whom it doth not 
 appear that they had. Some of the first pieces of antiquity have been written in 
 this character ; the ancient academy were particularly famous for it. We do not 
 think the worse of Plato for his personating of Socrates, or of Cicero for his per- 
 sonating of Cato. And though the names of Plato and Cicero should have been 
 swept away with the torrent of time, yet not only the Book of Wisdom, but that of 
 
b DANIEL. 
 
 irrelevant. The question must be judged, not by existing 
 habits and modes of thought, but by those of a time 
 when such imitations were hekl as legitimate as our 
 academic exercises. The Second Book of Esdras is a 
 remarkable instance of the extent to which an edify- 
 ing purpose was held to excuse the assumption of an 
 unreal name and period of composition. This book, 
 written probably shortly after the destruction of Jerusa- 
 lem and abounding with quotations from the Gospels 
 and the Apocalypse, is assigned by its author to the 
 anachronous period of the Babylonish Captivity, and is 
 introduced under the assumed name and genealogy of 
 Ezra. The book of Enoch, quoted as it is by apos- 
 tolical men, has an equally doubtful parentage, unless, 
 indeed, any should be bold enough to refer its author- 
 ship to an antediluvian period. The same may be said 
 of the books of Wisdom and Ecclesiastes, ascribed, 
 indeed, by their authors to the son of David, who was 
 king over Israel in Jerusalem, but bearing evident marks 
 of a date subsequent to that of the Captivity There are 
 eminent living critics who would adduce what they term 
 the later Isaiah, written, as they conceive, by a different 
 author from the composer of the first thirty-nine 
 chapters, and occupied solely with a " sustained tone of 
 exultation for the glad tidings of the return;" or the 
 
 Job also, is supposed by some learned men to be of this kind without derogafing 
 
 from the authority of one, or the excellence of both The golden verses, 
 
 which we read under the name of Pythagoras, will not cease to be esteemed by the 
 ablest judges, though not written till many hundred years after the death of that 
 philosopher whose name they bear." — Ajwlcipomma. Dr. Francis Lee. 
 
 " Les auteurs de livres apocryphes (de Daniel, d' Henoch par example) hommes si 
 exaltcs, commettaient pour leur cause, et bien certainement sans ombre de scrupule, 
 un acte que nous appellerions un faux." — Renan. 
 
DATE AND AUTHORSHIP. 7 
 
 book of Deuteronomy, possibly a compilation of the age 
 which listened to the plaintive tones of Jeremiah, as 
 instances of the custom prevalent in former times of 
 conveying religious instruction under the covering and 
 authority of assumed names. 
 
 Under the new dispensation the same practice may 
 to some extent be also traced. Apostolical authority 
 declares that " many had taken in hand to set forth a 
 declaration of those things which were most surely be- 
 lieved." '' The very titles given to our Gospels — the 
 Gospel according to Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, 
 do not imply that the Gospels were written from one 
 end to the other by the persons whose names they bear ; 
 but that they contain the traditions arising from each of 
 these disciples, and cover themselves with their autho- 
 rity." Various degrees of acceptance with regard to 
 authorship speedily attached themselves to the second 
 Epistle of Peter, the Epistle of Jude, and the Apocalypse, 
 whilst false Gospels ascribed to Peter, Paul, or false 
 Apocalypses ascribed to Thomas, Stephen, or Elias, 
 abounded. In a word, it seems to have been desired, at 
 a time when oral tradition slowly made way for written 
 records, to clothe such records with every possible cir- 
 cumstance of authority ; and it appears to have been a 
 common practice, and one tacitly allowed, to employ 
 great names as an authoritative recommendation. 
 
 In distinguishing, then, between the prophet Daniel 
 and the book which bears his name, and in placing its 
 authorship at a considerable interval from the lifetime of 
 the individual to whom it is usually assigned ; no vio- 
 lence is offered to the good faith of the composer, or to 
 
8 DANIEL. 
 
 the literary habits of Jewish writers. Like that of 
 Ezra, or of any other illustrious master in Israel, the 
 name of the prophet may have been used with the view 
 of giving colour and importance to the history.^ And 
 in employing for this purpose the name and autho- 
 rity of Daniel, the writer sanctioned a literary artifice 
 rather than a breach of moral principle. He availed 
 himself of a practice common at the time, with the de- 
 sire of impressing his countrymen more deeply by the 
 use of a name and an authority qualified to command 
 respect. It need not, then, create surprise to find that 
 the book of Daniel has been dealt with in a way similar 
 to that attending the composition of other Hebrew 
 writings ; and it should rather be a matter of congratu- 
 lation that a solution for so difficult a question as the 
 date of this book, whose late authorship is required by the 
 necessities of the case, can easily be found. 
 
 In endeavouring to establish for the book of Daniel a 
 date later by more than four centuries than that usually 
 assigned to it ; and in attempting to show that, however 
 it may incorporate fragments of more ancient history, in 
 its present form it is not earlier than the age ^ of Antio- 
 
 ' " Cur Danielis personam susceperit scriptor, ratio patet e consilio, quod in 
 scribendo sibi propositum habuit. Neque enim qupe proraisit in hoc libro de venturo 
 post superata discrimina seculo aureo, ad erigendos et confirmandos oppresses 
 popularium animos multum valuissent, si, quo tempore divina vaticinandi virtus 
 dudum cesserat, suo ilia nomine protulisset." — Maurer. 
 
 - " Le caractcre des deux langues dans lesquelles le livre de Daniel est ocrit ; 
 I'usage des mots grecs ; I'annonce claire des evenements qui vont jusqu' au temps 
 d'Antiochus Epiphane ; les fausses images de la vieille Babylonie ; la couleur generale 
 du livre qui ne rappelle en rien les Merits de la captivite, qui repond au contraire k 
 I'epoque des Seleucides ■ le tour apocalyptique des visions ; la place du livre dans le 
 canon hebreu hors de la serie des prophotes, I'omission de Daniel dans les pancgyri- 
 ques de Ecclu?. xlix. ; ne permettent pas de doubter que le livre de Daniel ne soit le 
 fruit de la grande exaltation produite chez les Juifs par la persecution d'Antiochus." 
 — Renan. 
 
DATE AND AUTHORSHIP. 9 
 
 chus Epiphanes ; it will be necessary to enter into the 
 consideration of the following points of inquiry : — 
 
 I. The diversity of language in which the hook is written. 
 
 IT. The place occupied hj the hooJc in the Hebrew canon. 
 
 III. The use of Greek tvords. 
 
 IV. The style of the hook differing from the writings of 
 the Captivity. 
 
 Y, The historical character of the hook extending to^ hut 
 not far heyond^ the age of Antiochus Epiphanes. 
 
 VI. The seemingly marvellous narrations and historical 
 inaccuracies zvhich have aroused suspicion from the earliest 
 times. 
 
 I. The diversity of language in which the hook is written. 
 
 The language employed from chapter i. 1 to ver. 4 of 
 chap. ii. is Hebrew ; that used from ver. 4 of chap. ii. to 
 the end of chap. vii. is Chaldee ; ' the remaining five 
 chapters reverting to the original tongue. As a pro- 
 
 ^ The transition from Hebrew to Chaldee, where the wise men reply to the king 
 " in Syriack," is as natural as that the letters to and from the Persian monarchs 
 (Ezra iv., v.) should be written in Chaldee ; the introduction of Babylonian topics 
 into the subject demanding the use of a different dialect. A similar case is found 
 (Jer. X. 11) in which the captive Jews are bid to say in the Chaldee tongue to their 
 Babylonian conquerors, " The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, 
 even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens ;" a proverbial 
 expression repeated with slight variation in the Epistle of Jeremy, and forming the 
 burden of that song against idolatry. The clothing, therefore, of these ancient 
 recollections of Chaldea in their native tongue, would seem to be only in accordance 
 with previous usage; and added to this it may be remembered that the Chaldee 
 dialect, from the time of the Captivity, was even more familiar to the Jews than their 
 own language. It is more difficult to account for the continuation of its employ- 
 ment in chap, vii., unless for the purpose of connecting the vision of the Great 
 Image (chap, ii.) with the corresponding one of the four great beasts of chap. vii. ; 
 the imitation of Zechariah conspicuous in our author requiring the double vision of 
 the "four horns" and the "four chariots" to be answered by the correspondino- 
 duplicate of the four metallic kingdoms and the four great beasts. It is probably 
 with this intention that the vision of chap. vii. is dated back to the first year of 
 Belshazzar, the Babylonian kingdom, whose aflfairs required to be described in the 
 Chaldean tongue, not having then passed away. 
 
10 DANIEL. 
 
 bable reason for this diversity it has been conjectured 
 that the writer incorporated into his book fragments of 
 more ancient history, just as Ezra, who wrote in He- 
 brew, inserted into his narrative the letters of Rehum 
 and his companions to Artaxerxes (Ezra iv.), and of 
 Tatnai to Darius (Ezra v.), and the replies of these 
 monarchs to their respective correspondents (Ezra iv. vi. 
 vii.), all of which are written in Chaldec. A second, 
 although less likely, reason for this diversity may be 
 traced to the desire of the author to clothe the book 
 which he put forth under the name and authority of 
 Daniel with a style suitable to the peculiar situation of 
 that ancient prophet, who might be expected sometimes 
 to employ Hebrew as his native tongue, and sometimes 
 Chaldee (especially in delineating subjects connected 
 with the affairs of Babylonia), as the language which he 
 had been taught at the court of Babylon. And this 
 might the more easily have been the case inasmuch as 
 the two languages continued in use long after the Cap- 
 tivity : the Hebrew being employed, especially by the 
 learned; many of the post-exile books, as Chronicles, 
 Ecclesiastes, being written in that tongue, whilst the 
 lani^uacre of intercourse was Chaldee. This admixture 
 
 o o 
 
 of languages, although perhaps insufficient to warrant 
 the conclusion that the Book of Daniel is the production 
 of various authors, a remarkable uniformity^ of style 
 
 ' " Unum eundemque libri auctorem arguit porro illud, quod singulse libri partes 
 ita inter se cohserent ut posteriores sjepe respiciant ad priores, atque ex iis lucem 
 accipiant .... praecipuas et semper easdem partes per totum librum sustinent 
 angeli . . . prophetica libri pars, sive posteriora vi. capita, quatuor illius (Gabrielis) 
 visiones continent, quibus res una eademque, sed diversis modis, indicatur. Idem 
 angelus srepius apparet et rem eandem iterum iterumque denuntiat. Idem paene est 
 visionum omnium subjectum, quae routuam invicem lucem sibi afferunt. Quae 
 prius breviter, deinceps clarius et particularius explicantur," — RosENMaLLER. 
 
DATE AND AUTHORSHIP. 11 
 
 and design pervading the whole work, may permit ns to 
 infer that it is a compilation rather than an independent 
 original treatise, in which older documents have been 
 mixed up with newer additions. The song of the three 
 children introduced in the LXX. at chap. iii. 23 ; the 
 history of Susannah, and the destruction of Bel and the 
 dragon, entitled in the LXX. " Part of the prophecy of 
 Habbakuk'' (not to be found in the Hebrew, and cut off 
 from the end of Daniel), show that the book has been so 
 far tampered with as to become a repository of pieces 
 collected from divers quarters, and that liberties at vari- 
 ance with the profound respect with which the Jews 
 regarded their other sacred books have been taken with 
 it. In the version of the LXX. in which is found the 
 story of Susannah and the elders, there is a play^ upon 
 the names of the trees under which Susannah is said to 
 have been discovered. This jeu de mots^ natural enough 
 if the Greek be the original, cannot be rendered in 
 another language without changing the trees or the 
 sense. The Greek- of the LXX. moreover differs so 
 
 ' " 'Kirh Tov (TX^vov (TX'cat, Ka\ a-Kh tov irpivov irplffai." 
 
 - The LXX. Daniel has the character of a commentary rather than a translation, 
 inserting into the text passages of great length which are not found in the Hebrew, 
 and omitting others. It is exceedingly valuable as the earliest exposition of Daniel 
 made probably at no great length of time from the date of our present book. " The 
 ships of Chittira" (xi. 30) are paraphrased of the " Romans (under Popilius) who 
 shall come and expel him (Antiochus), and shall rebuke him strongly." The 
 seventy weeks (LXX., years) are expanded into seven, and seventy, and sixty-two 
 — one hundred and thirty-nine weeks (years) — in order to bring down the prophecy 
 to the one hundred and thirty-ninth year of the Seleucidse, being the second of that 
 of Antiochus Epiphanes, "Messiah cutoff" is interpreted of the unction extin- 
 guished, probably by the murder of Onias ; and the consummation ends not with the 
 destruetion of the city and the sanctuary, but with "the command that an answer shall 
 be made to Daniel's prayer, and that Jerusalem shall be built a city to tlie Lord." 
 The LXX. version appears to have been rejected by the church, and replaced by 
 that of Theodotion ; the cause of this rejection being possibly the liberty taken with 
 the Hebrew text, combined with the omission of all reference to the Messiah. The 
 
12 DANIEL. 
 
 completely from the Hebrew and the Chaldee, not only 
 in particular words and phrases but .in the insertion or 
 omission of whole narratives, as to render it impossible 
 for that version to have been made from the one now 
 in our possession ; thereby leaving room for the sup- 
 position either that the translator had access to other 
 annals than those incorporated into our book, or that 
 those which we now have existed under a different 
 form. 
 
 " The book of Daniel (says Sir Isaac Newton, perhaps 
 not the most reliable authority on prophetic subjects) is 
 a collection of papers written at several times : the six 
 last chapters contain prophecies written by Daniel him- 
 self; the first six are a collection of historical papers 
 written by others. The fourth chapter is a decree of 
 Nebuchadnezzar. The first chapter was written after 
 Daniel's death, for the author saith that Daniel continued 
 to the first year of Cyrus ; that is, his first year over 
 the Persians and Modes, and third year over Babylon. 
 And for the same reason, the fifth and sixth chapters 
 were also written after his death ; for they end with the 
 words, ' So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, 
 and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.' " A multiplicity 
 of literary materials is here admitted, and to this cause 
 we would assign the diversity of language as well as 
 the legendary form of portions of the book of Daniel. 
 Having probably a real basis in events which took place 
 
 exposition, however, is not the less valuable for its condemnation by some of the 
 ancient fathers. On the contrary, it affords a proof that the earliest commentary on 
 Daniel anticipated the results of modern criticism, and that its visions were inter- 
 preted of events connected with Antiochus at a period when the symbolic imagery in 
 which they were clothed was more likely to be understood than in more recent times. 
 
DATE AND AUTHORSHIP. 13 
 
 in Babylon during the lifetime of the original prophet, it 
 presents an epitome of traditions which flowed down 
 from that early period arranged in prophetic garb ; and 
 the probable position to be assigned to it is that of a 
 ^^ rifacimento or modernized edition, or remodelled ex- 
 pansion of old fragmentary remains," rather than an 
 independent and original history. To this it may be 
 added that from chap. i. to the end of chap. vi. the sub- 
 ject is carried on in the third person, giving the appear- 
 ance of being the reproduction of more ancient writings, 
 possibly extracts from the Chaldee annals. With the 
 commencement of chap. vii. to the end of chap, xii,, 
 Daniel is himself the speaker, and the remarkable ex- 
 pression, '' I Daniel," recurs with dramatic reiteration, 
 as if the employment of the first person would shelter 
 the prophetical as well as the biographical portion under 
 the name and authority of Daniel. To the objection 
 that the Hebrew, in which the prophetical part of the 
 book is for the most part written, was unintelligible to 
 the men of the Maccabean age, it may be answered 
 that Hebrew was the language of prophecy generall)^, 
 and that its use had not gone out at the time in ques- 
 tion ; the first part of the book of Baruch, possibly the 
 book of Enoch, and, according to Jerome, the first of 
 Maccabees, having been written in that tongue. 
 
 II. The place occujoied hj the hook in the Hehreiv canon. 
 
 It is remarkable that the book of Daniel does not 
 occupy the same position in the Hebrew canon as in our 
 ovm. There it appears as if withdrawn from the place 
 which it occupies with us as the fourth of the greater 
 prophets, and is classed with those writings called Ha- 
 
14 DANIEL. 
 
 giographa/ which were not considered of equal pro- 
 phetical authority with the other Scriptures. The ques- 
 tion to be decided by evidence is, did the Jews withdraw 
 the book from a place which it once occupied in the 
 prophetic roll, or did the Christians elevate it from its 
 original position in the Hagiographa, and install it in a 
 place to which it had no proper title ? Ought Malachi 
 or Daniel to stand as the latest book in the English Old 
 Testament ? Certainly the omission of the name of the 
 prophet Daniel from the catalogue of Jesus, the son of 
 Sirach, in which occur the names of Isaiah, Jeremiah, 
 Ezekiel, together with the mention of the twelve minor 
 prophets, shows that either the book was unknown^ to 
 
 ' " Illud admoneo, non haberi Danielem apud Hebraeos inter prophetas sed inter 
 eos qui ayi6ypa(pa conscripserunt." — Hieron. 
 
 " Unanimi consensu retulit gens nostra librum Danielis inter libros hagiographos, 
 non vero inter prophetas." — Maimonides. 
 
 In the Jewish canon the prophetical books are thus given: — 1. Joshua. 2. 
 Judges. 3. The books of Samuel. 4. The books of Kings. 5. The three greater 
 prophets (not Daniel or Lamentations). 6. The twelve minor prophets. Not 
 admitted by the Jews themselves among their prophetical writings, it finds a place 
 only among the Hagiographa, an indication at once of the lateness of its composition, 
 and of the secondary estimation in which it was held in the Jewish church. There is 
 no sufficient evidence to show that the Jews rejected the book of Daniel from a place 
 among the other prophets, in order to invalidate its authority in their controversy 
 with the Christians ; we must rather consider them justified, both from the lateness 
 of the date of the book and its other peculiarities, in not attributing to it the highest 
 proplietical inspiration. " The title (says Dean Stanley) is not the book of Daniel 
 the prophet, but the book of Daniel." 
 
 In the apocryphal book called the Ascension of Isaiah, probably the composi- 
 tion of a Christian Jew (a.d. 68), Daniel is classed with righteous Joseph, and 
 placed after the twelve minor prophets : " In the writings of Amos, my father, of 
 the prophet Hosea, of Micah, of Joel, of Nahum, of Jonah, of Obadiah, of 
 Habbakuk, of Haggai, of Sephaniah, of Zechariah, and of Malachi ; and in the 
 writings of righteous Joseph, and of Daniel " — Asccns. Isauc, i\. 22. 
 
 The Talmud mentions that " Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, had this above him 
 (Daniel); that they were proi)hets, and he was not a prophet;" explaining their 
 meaning by the words " that he was not sent to Israel for the office of prophecy." 
 
 - It is objected that David, equally with Daniel, is not classed among the prophets 
 by the son of Sirach, and that " what no one imagines to be a disparagement to the 
 patriarch David, cannot have been meant as a discredit to Daniel." This insidious 
 
DATE AND AUTHOESHIP. 15 
 
 the autlior of Ecclesiasticus, or was not recognized by him 
 as of like prophetical authority with the rest. It is difficult 
 to account for the neglect by this writer of so extraordinary 
 a book as that of Daniel, whilst the later books of Haggai, 
 Zechariah, and Malachi are deemed worthy of notice, 
 except on the supposition that the prophecy was of a 
 suspected character. The same thing may be said of the 
 exclusion of the book of Daniel from the Targum on the 
 prophets ascribed to Jonathan-ben-Uzziel, viz., Joshua, 
 Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel (Daniel 
 omitted), and the twelve minor prophets. The conjec- 
 ture that the book of Daniel was held in the greatest 
 credit amongst the Jews until the time of the Emperor 
 Hadrian, but that then its position in the canon was 
 changed by the later Jews, is one grave enough to re- 
 quire ample evidence, and for which no evidence seems 
 forthcoming. IS'or can much weight be assigned to the 
 statement that the book was translated into Greek in the 
 reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus ; the labours of the Jewish 
 transcribers who were sent by Eleazar, the high priest, 
 being confined to the translation of the law (Ant. xii. 2). 
 The assertion' of Josephus that the book of Daniel was 
 
 objection would seem answered by the fact that the writer sets out by saying, " Let 
 us now praise famous men .... such as did bear rule in their kingdoms, men 
 renowned for their power, giving counsel by their understandings, and dtclaring 
 prophecies ; leaders of the people by their counsels, and by th-ir knowledge of 
 learning meet for the people, wise and eloquent in their instructions '' (xliv. 1-4). 
 After having made special and repeated mention of David (xlvii. 2-11; xlix. 4), he 
 passes on to those who " declare prophecies." But the strange fact remains that 
 neither as a prophet, nor a protector of the people, )ior as one remarkable for learning 
 and wisdom (in which capacity we might expect to find him) is Daniel mentioned. 
 The writer not only omits him from the prophetic roll, but he gives him no place 
 among " the leaders of the people by their counsels," although the prophecy of 
 Ezekiel must have made him acquainted with the name and wisdom of Daniel. 
 
 ^ " The courtier-historian, it is well known, is not always trustworthy, particu- 
 larly in his Antiquities. He appears, in that work, too professedly the panegyrist 
 
16 DANIEL. 
 
 shown to Alexander npon the occasion of his visit to Jeru- 
 salem by Jaddiia, the high priest, is by far the strongest 
 argument in favour of its earlier date ; but this assertion 
 is not corroborated by the historians of Alexander, and 
 seems to have had its pardonable origin in a desire to 
 magnify the high priesthood in the eyes of the Gentiles 
 for whom the "courtier- historian" composed his book. 
 
 III. The Use of Greek Words. 
 
 Among the musical instruments, thrice mentioned, Dan. 
 iii. 5, 10, 15, are found the Greek' words kaithros^ xl^ap^g-, 
 harp, sabFka, (raiJ.^6xT), sackbut, pesanterm, ^aT^Tripiov, 
 psaltery, si/mphoma, o-y|u,<pajv/a, dulcimer, mentioned as the 
 name of a musical instrument by Polybius (Frag. xxxi. 1, 
 4) ; to these may be added as hap him, astrologers, a word 
 resembling the bi (r6(poi of the Greeks, and which, it is said, 
 has no derivation in Chaldee. Words of less certain origin, 
 
 of his nation to be altogether immaculate. It is not to be denied that he frequently 
 incorporates popular traditions into his history, and indulges in indefensible devia- 
 tions from the text of Canonical Scripture." — Rev. J. M. Poller, p. 341. 
 
 ' It is only fair to apprize the reader that attempts have been made to explain 
 these words by deriving them not from Greek but from the old Zend, a branch of 
 the Aryan or Indo-Europsean family of languages, therefore capable of resembling 
 Greek in virtue of its original affinity. The two ablest defenders of this view are 
 Dr. Jahn and the late Dr. W. H. Mill. The latter, in his "Appllcatio/i of Pan- 
 theistic principles to the Gospel,^^ pp. 6t-68, says: — "The many non-Semitic words 
 occurrin'" in the books of Daniel and of Estlier, which appeared to Grotius and to 
 other critics to be of Greek origin, and which, if so, might seem to point to the 
 times of thQ Seleucidae or of the Asmoneans, are now generally confessed (.') not to 
 belong to the Greek, but to other languages of the Indo-Europaean family ;" and in 
 an unquestionably learned note he specially rejects the supposed derivations from 
 kVu|, (pOfyfJ-a, irpSTtfioi, and questions, after Jahn, even the musical names, with 
 the exception of ffvucpaivia, which he concedes. But it must be remarked that all 
 this defence proceeds upon the assumption of the Chaldjeans having been a Japhetic 
 or Indo-Europsean, therefore non-Semitic race ; an assumption at best precarious, 
 and which the defenders of strict views ordinarily reject. See Rawlinson's '• Hero- 
 dotus." If in its most plausible parts the defence is doubtful, it certainly fails as 
 regards KiOapn, avfi(j)uivia, \\/a\T'i}piov. Various reasons, therefore, compel our 
 adherence to the general purport of the argument in the text, while we put our 
 reader on his guard by acknowledging some of its details to be disputable. 
 
DATE AND AUTHORSHIP. 17 
 
 such as xifpu|, (pQeyjuta, have been also adduced to establish 
 a later period for the date of the book than that usually- 
 assigned to it. To this it has been objected that the 
 Greeks had at that time considerable intercourse with 
 Asiatic nations, and that musical instruments invented 
 by the Greeks may have been used by the Babylonians ; 
 but it must be rejoined, that the employment of words 
 of such doubtful origin is confined to the book of 
 Daniel ; no prophet of the age previous or subsequent 
 to the exile introducing Greek, and, as some say, 
 Macedonian, words into his book; or differing so mate- 
 rially in style, composition, and language, from the 
 writers of his accredited time. " Granted," says Bleek, 
 '■ that it is difficult to determine whether such names 
 came to Greeks and Babylonians from some common 
 source, or even to the Greeks from the Babylonians ; 
 yet there can be no doubt that the writer of this book, 
 whether directly or indirectly, learnt them from the 
 Greeks. For in the first place it is very improbable that 
 the musical instruments of the Greeks were used in the 
 court of Nebuchadnezzar under their Greek names ; and 
 in the second, it is not likely that Daniel, or a Jew 
 of Palestine of that age^ would have been so familiar 
 with these Greek names as to have set them down unex- 
 plained or unaccompanied by some cognate term." If 
 the introduction of Latin words, such as "census," 
 "centurio," "quadrans," "colonia," into the Greek of 
 the New Testament, should be thought to furnish in- 
 disputable evidence of a date contemporaneous with the 
 development of the Eoman power in Judea, it may 
 appear as difficult to overthrow or evade the argument 
 
 2 
 
18 DANIEL. 
 
 to be drawn from the admixture of Greek words with 
 the Chaldee of Daniel. 
 
 IV. The Stijle of the Book differing from the Writings 
 of the Captivity. 
 
 Among the peculiarities in which the book of Daniel 
 differs from the writings of the exile we may notice 
 especially its mysterious and apocalyptic character — 
 the book being, as it were, the first Apocalypse, serving 
 as a model for all the rest. Frequent and appalling 
 manifestations of supernatural beings, half human, half 
 divine, are substituted for the direct communications 
 which came to the ancient prophets ; and tutelary 
 guardians, entrusted with the protection of nations, 
 play a part somewhat similar to that of the heavenly 
 champions who lead the Maccabean princes to victory 
 (2 Mace, passim). To this may be added the enig- 
 matical calculations which give a character of mys- 
 tery to this composition, contrasting with the simple, 
 though more vividly poetical, writing, of the other 
 prophets. We recognize no problems of this mysterious 
 nature in the works of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or 
 the minor prophets. Periods like those of " a time, 
 times, and an half,'' or the '' seventy weeks," which form 
 so conspicuous a feature in this book, give evidence of 
 different literary conceptions from those which actuated 
 Haggai and Ezekiel. We observe, moreover, the re- 
 currence of words and phrases which, although common 
 to the epoch of the Seleucidse, are for the most part 
 unknown to that of the captivity. We may instance 
 the apocalyptical sense in which the words ''beast" 
 and '' week " are employed ; the use of the term 
 
BATE AND AUTHORSHIP. 19 
 
 *^arms" iu u military sense; aud the unique expression 
 '^Ancient of days"^ (Antiquus dierum) peculiar to Daniel. 
 The angelology of the book, expanded from that of 
 the time of Zechariah and approaching that of the book 
 of Enoch, would also seem to indicate a later origin than 
 the period of the exile. " Watchers," or " holy ones,'' 
 come down from heaven. "The man Gabriel," an 
 angelic messenger of comfort, nowhere else mentioned 
 in the Old Testament, executes divine commissions ; and 
 Michael, " the great prince," found only in St. Jude and 
 the Apocalypse, stands up for the children of the (Jewish) 
 people. A further difference is discoverable in the 
 absence of those allusions to the return from Babylon, 
 which were ever on the lips of the prophets of the 
 captivity. Whilst they are continually telling of the 
 time when " the redeemed of the Lord shall return and 
 come with singing unto Zion;" whilst they invite even 
 material nature to sympathize with the liberated people, 
 and exclaim in rapturous ecstasy "Break forth into joy, 
 sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord 
 hath comforted his people," the thoughts and feelings of 
 the writer of this book are turned another way. He 
 sees but the dawn of a cleansed sanctuary and a restored 
 
 ' The expression " Ancient of days" is found repeatedly in the book of Enoch 
 (xlvi. 1; xlvii, 3; xlviii. 2; liv. 1; Ixx. J 2, 15, IG, 18), and the appellation of 
 " Son of man" also occurs continually. An apocalyptical sense is giren to the 
 word " week" (xcii.) and the symbolic term " horn" is used in the same sense as that 
 employed by Daniel (Ixxxix. 13, 18, 24). Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and Phanuel 
 xl. 8, 9) execute offices similar to those of the guardian angels of the prophet, 
 and the "watchers," or sleepless ones, are "angels who have deserted the lofty 
 sky and their everlasting station (Jude 6), and who have been polluted with women" 
 (Gen. vi. 2). These last are represented as sending Enoch to pray for them, to 
 whom the answer is given, " Go, say to the watchers of heaven who have sent thee to 
 pray for them : You ought to pray for men, and not men for you" (Enoch 
 xii. 5 ; XV. 1). 
 
20 DANIEL. 
 
 temple ; the idol altar set up by Antiochus broken down, 
 and the worship of Jehovah taking the place of the 
 impure sacrifices of the heathen. This is his return from 
 a worse than Babylonian captivity ; the all- engrossing 
 theme which leaves no room for the introduction of any 
 other. Besides this the conceptions of the writer of this 
 book differ from those of the " former prophets," in that 
 he appears to have individualized the general features of 
 more ancient prophecy, and to have centered them upon 
 a personal deliverer. To dwell once more in the land 
 from which they had been banished, under the protection 
 of the monarchs of the East for whose welfare they were 
 willing to pray and to offer sacrifice, appears to have 
 been the limit of the desires of those who returned from 
 Babylon ; whereas the theocratic dominion conceived by 
 Daniel contemplates the destruction of all opposing 
 powers, and the exaltation of the Jewish people to the 
 highest pitch of grandeur and national advancement. 
 It is also remarkable that no allusion is made to the 
 book of Daniel (Ezek. xiv. xxviii. excepted) in the later 
 writings of the Old Testament ; and it has been well 
 observed that '' had the book been composed by Daniel, 
 and so extant from the time of Cyrus and known among 
 the Jews, one should expect to find use made of it in the 
 prophets after the captivity" (Bleek). Jeremiah's pro- 
 phecy exercised an influence upon Zechariah (i. 4), and 
 also upon Daniel (ix. 2) ; but neither Daniel's visions 
 nor his miraculous personal history appear to be alluded 
 to in books written by his supposed contemporaries. It 
 is obvious that the assertion that Zechariah's visions of 
 the "four horns" and the "four chariots'' are taken from 
 
BATE AND AUTHORSHIP. 21 
 
 Daniel may be met by the more natural statement that 
 Daniel's visions of the "four kingdoms" and the "four 
 great beasts " are taken from Zechariah. That the last 
 mentioned theory is the more probable may be inferred 
 from the circumstance that the visions of Daniel occupy 
 a wider historical area than those of Zechariah — the 
 prophecies of the latter being concerned with the men- 
 tion of heathen invaders "which have scattered Judah, 
 Israel, and Jerusalem'' previous to the return from the 
 Babylonian captivity ; those of the former embracing the 
 interval from the captivity to the Syrian desolations, a 
 period not contemplated' in the visions of Zechariah. 
 
 ' Tbe vision of the " four horns '' (Zech. i. 18-21), analogous to that of the " four 
 chariots" (Zech. vi. 1), significant (possibly) of the invasions of Shalmanezer, 
 Sennacherib, Pharaoh-Necho, and Nebuchadnezzar ; after the last of which " the 
 earth sitteth still, and is at rest," because completely subdued (comp. vi, 8) ; ter- 
 minates with the restoration effected by the "four carpenters" or smiths, (possibly) 
 Zerubbabel, Joshua, Haggai, and Zechariah (comp. Ezra v. 2), and the anointing 
 of Joshua, the son of Josedech, betweeeu whom and Zerubbabel there should be a 
 "counsel of peace." On the other hand the visions of Daniel, starting from the 
 point where those of Zechariah end, give an epitome of heathen rule from the 
 period of the captivity to the time of Antiochus, terminating with the destruction 
 of the tyrant, and the restoration of the city and sanctuary by Judas Maccabeus ; the 
 " four horns " and the " four chariots" of the former being reproduced in the " four 
 (metallic) kingdoms," and the " four great beasts" of the latter, and the explana- 
 tion of the respective visions (not given by the Lord himself but by the angel of the 
 Lord) being repeated in the interpretations afforded to Daniel by the " man 
 Gabriel." A further parallelism may be traced in the employment made by each of 
 the word " horn," when used of heathen oppressors ; and in the " pleasant land " 
 and " holy land " of Zechariah, compared with the " goodly land " and " pleasant 
 land" of Daniel. Similarly, the colloquy between the two angels (Zech. ii. 3) finds 
 an echo in the angelic intercommunication of Dan. viii. 13 ; xii. 5 ; and the im- 
 patient interrogation " How long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem .'" (Zech 
 i. 12) is answered by the Danielic parallel, " How long shall it be to the end of 
 these wonders?" The prayer and answer of Zech. i. 12-17, would also seem 
 repeated (Dan. ix.), and the "stone laid before Joshua" (Zech. iii. 9; Hag. ii 
 20-23) in the stone which smites the image (Dan. ii.) and becomes a great moun- 
 tain filling the whole earth. It would seem probable that the picture drawn by the 
 former prophet of Zerubbabel is to a great extent the model after which the 
 Maccabean writer described his hero Judas Maccabeus ; the rebuilding of the city 
 and temple by the former, after the return from the Babylonian captivity, supplying 
 
22 DANIEL. 
 
 To invert this order, and to assume that the visions of 
 Daniel suggested those of Zechariahj is only to transfer 
 the charge of plagiarism, with no gain to the cause of 
 Inspiration, but ^yith confusion to the order of the 
 Hebrew canon. On the other hand there can be little 
 doubt that the book which passes under the assumed 
 name of Baruch does contain bond fide imitations of the 
 book of Daniel. The error which calls Balthasar the 
 son of Nebuchadnezzar, is reiterated by the author of 
 this apocryphal book, and the prayer of Daniel is quoted 
 " in whole verses and that in order," but as there are 
 no certain data whereby to fix the time of its compo- 
 sition, an epoch later than that of the book of Daniel 
 may be as suitable as any other.' It is idle therefore, 
 as some have done, to support the genuineness of one 
 doubtful book by another edited under equally sus- 
 picious circumstances, and the attempt savours of des- 
 peration and betrays the absence of better kind of proof. 
 On the contrary it may be conceived to be prejudicial to 
 tlie traditional view that the book of Daniel, although 
 not referred to in supposed contemporaneous writings, 
 should be cited in apocryphal books of the Maccabean 
 period, such as the book of Enoch, the third Jewish 
 Sybil, and the extraordinary compilation formed on the 
 model of Jeremiah, Daniel, Isaiah, and IS'ehemiah, en- 
 titled the book of Baruch. 
 
 V. The historical character of the hook extending to, hut 
 not far heyond the age of Aniiochiis Einphanes. 
 
 the basis on which the writer delineated the second restoration of the city and temple 
 by the latter. 
 
 ' The date is placed by Mr. Westcott about the time of the war of liberation, 
 B.C. ICO, or somewhat earlier. 
 
i 
 
 DATE AND AUTHOESHIP. 23 
 
 To a careful reader the book of Daniel will seem to 
 resolve itself into a grand climax ; one idea running like 
 a thread through the later visions to which the preceding 
 history is introductory and supplemental. Even the 
 earlier, and what may be called the historical portions of 
 this book, are but varied repetitions of one leading sub- 
 ject. The religious persecutions of N"ebuchadnezzar pre- 
 figure those of Antiochus. The golden image set up by 
 the former is conceived as a type of him who would 
 coerce all men to worship the idols of his adoration. 
 The insanity of the Babylonian monarch finds its anti- 
 type in the madness of him who was styled eVtyLtai;^?, a 
 madman, as well as eVt^ai'r;?^ illustrious ; and the carrying 
 away of the holy vessels to Babylon is significant of the 
 sacrilegious plunder of the sacred treasures by the Syrian 
 tyrant. Even the repentant humility of Nebuchadnezzar 
 for his recovered reason is not without its parallel in the 
 history of him who off'ered, but too late, to restore the 
 holy vessels, yea, and " to become a Jew himself, and to 
 go through all the world that was inhabited, and declare 
 the power of God'' (2 Mace. ix.). And as we cross the 
 boundary which separates the historical from the pro- 
 phetical portion of this book, the ruling idea stands out 
 with ever increasing clearness. The profanation of the 
 sanctuary by Antiochus, and its cleansing by Maccabeus, 
 coupled with the destruction of the tyrant and the sub- 
 sequent glories of the favoured people, is the consumma- 
 tion to which every vision points, and beyond Avhich the 
 prophecy does not extend. With the announcement of 
 these and contemporaneous events the book comes to an 
 abrupt close. It is silent respecting the subsequent vie- 
 
24 DANIEL. 
 
 tories of the Maccabean princes, and the exploits of a 
 splendid line of Asmonean kings. It is indifferent to 
 the aspect of events which are posterior to the reign of 
 the oppressor who compassed the desolation of Jacob, or 
 to the patriotic efforts of those who succeeded " the 
 valiant man that delivered Israel.'' " The time of the 
 end," so frequently alluded to, is that when "the indig- 
 nation shall be accomplished and the sanctuary cleansed'' 
 (xi. 36 ; viii. 14) ; and in reply to the inquiry in the 
 closing chapter, "How long shall it be to the end of 
 these wonders?" the answer is given, "When he shall 
 have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy 
 people, all these things shall be finished" (xii. 6, 7). 
 The significance of this internal evidence appeared so 
 striking to Porphyry, that he concluded the book to be 
 written after the time of Antiochus Epiphanes ; and, 
 indeed, a comparison of chap. xi. with other prophetical 
 Avritings will leave little doubt on the mind of an unpre- 
 judiced person that he is dealing, not with a predictive 
 declaration of future events, but with history in a prophetic 
 garb. The distinct announcement of the three kings of 
 Persia, who should precede Xerxes ; of the "fourth richer 
 than they all, who should stir up all against the realm of 
 Grecia ;" of the mighty king (Alexander), whose kingdom 
 should be divided not to his posterity but to the four winds 
 of heaven ; of those kings of the north and south (Syria 
 and Egypt) who preceded or were contemporary with 
 Antiochus ; of the rise of the " vile person," Antiochus 
 himself; his treacherous occupation of Judea ; his un- 
 principled invasions of Egypt ; his sacrilegious desola- 
 tions of the sanctuary, and his miserable and inglorious 
 
DATE AND AUTHORSHIP. 25 
 
 death ; of the well-defined period of a " time, times, and 
 an half," at the expiration of which the "indignation 
 should be accomplished," and the " scattering of the 
 power of the holy people, finished ;" all these are pointed 
 out in this chapter with an attention to particulars which 
 is not characteristic of prophecy generally. 
 
 It will also be noticed that events distant from the 
 time usually assigned for the composition of this book, 
 such as the profanations of Antiochus, are described at 
 great length and with astonishing minuteness ; ' whilst 
 those near the supposed times of the writer, as the 
 Babylonian invasion of Judea, are treated with succinct- 
 ness and brevity. We shall look in vain throughout the 
 rest of the prophetic literature for a similar phenomenon ; 
 its usual characteristic is precision and clearness on 
 subjects which approximate to the times of the writers, 
 accompanied with generality and indistinctness with 
 regard to distant events. The converse of this would 
 seem to be the plan adopted by the writer of this book, 
 upon the supposition of his having written in Babylon 
 B.C. 590; for he is diffuse where we should have expected 
 him to be concise, and concise where he ought to be dif- 
 fuse. On that supposition the copiousness of the later 
 visions is as fatal to a Babylonian, as the meagreness of 
 the earlier is corroborative of a Maccabean authorship ; 
 whilst the abrupt termination of the narrative at a specific 
 
 ' " Quae vero posteriori libri parte continentur prophetise hoc potissimum sibi 
 privum et summopere admirandum habent ; quod quum in antiquiorum prophetarum 
 vaticiniis futura generalius plenimque et obscurius significentur ; in hisce Da- 
 nielicis quae pluribus post Danielem seculis eventura assent, tam clare, aperte, et 
 sigillatim describuntur, ut librum aliquem historicum te legere crederes." — Rosen- 
 miIller. 
 
26 DANIEL. 
 
 period would seem to confine the subject within the limits 
 we have assigned. 
 
 YI. The seemingly marvellous narratives and historical 
 inaccuracies, ivhich have aroused suspicion from the earliest 
 times. 
 
 Amongst these we may mention the dream which 
 faded from the remembrance of Nebuchadnezzar, and of 
 which he demanded not only the interpretation but the 
 purport — a requisition too exacting even for an Eastern 
 despot, and contrary to the analogy of previous dreams 
 recorded in Holy Scripture. The astounding prodigy 
 recorded of the three children unscathed by the burning 
 fiery furnace, "upon whose bodies the fire had no power, 
 nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their 
 coats changed, nor the smell of fire had j)assed on 
 them," possibly an exaggerated account of a real de- 
 liverance. The monomania which induced I^ebuchad- 
 nezzar to eat grass like oxen for seven ! years ; a condi- 
 tion so plainly repugnant to nature, that the early 
 Christians were compelled to admit an allegorical inter- 
 pretation. The mysterious handwriting upon the wall, 
 interpreted apparently with regard to euphonious agree- 
 ment with Medes and Persians. The instantaneous 
 destruction of the accusers of Daniel, " their children 
 and their wives," by the lions who had refrained from 
 devouring the prophet, an event not sufficiently pro- 
 digious in the opinion of Josephus. These and similar 
 marvellous narratives, however calculated to command 
 respect in a dark ago, and to exalt the objects of 
 them above heathen soothsayers and astrologers, ac- 
 quire for the book in which they are found a legendary, 
 
DATE AND AUTHORSHIP. 27 
 
 rather than a prophetical, character not materially differ- 
 ing from the record of other prodigies of antiquity. 
 To these may be added the edicts of Nebuchadnezzar and 
 Darius (iii. 29 ; vi. 26), making known to all the princes 
 of their vast empire the veneration to be paid to the 
 one Supreme God, — decrees not only inconsistent with 
 Eastern polytheism, but productive of no result, and 
 unsupported by history. An unlimited exertion, more- 
 over, of supernatural power, as well as abundant angelic 
 interposition, prevails throughout the book. The dreams 
 (ii.-iv.) which the Magi cannot interpret are solved by 
 Daniel. The handwriting upon the wall, which they 
 cannot read, is read by the prophet. Daniel is over- 
 whelmed by the greatness of the visions, and is con- 
 tinually restored by angels (vii. 15, 16 ; viii. 17, 18, 27 ; 
 X. 8, 9, 16-19). The three children cast into the fiery 
 furnace are saved by an angel. An angel is sent to 
 Daniel in the lion's den. The visions of Daniel are 
 explained to him by angels (vii. 16; viii. 13-27; ix. 
 21, 22 ; xi. 2 ; xii. 5-13). The employment of such con- 
 tinuous angelology joined to ''prodigality of miraculous 
 development" presenting features differing from the 
 Scriptures generally, and affording room for the suppo- 
 sition that the book is the production of a period when 
 the manifestations of the spirit of prophecy were either 
 more tinged with human imagination, or cast in a dif- 
 ferent mould from that of an earlier age of the church. 
 
 Historical inaccuracies, such as would be likely to 
 arise from imperfect knowledge consequent upon a lapse 
 of many years from the original transactions, are also 
 apparent. " In the third year (it is said) of the reign of 
 
28 DANIEL. 
 
 Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Kebuchadnezzar, king* 
 of Babylon, unto Jerusalem, and besieged it." It is 
 elsewhere affirmed that " the fourth year of Jehoiakim, 
 the sou of Josiah, was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 king of Babylon" (Jer. xxv. 1), a statement which in- 
 validates the historical accuracy of the writer who calls 
 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon before he came to the 
 throne, and places the siege of Jerusalem in the third 
 year of Jehoiakim. The death of Belshazzar, at the time 
 of the capture of Babylon, presents an uncertain feature : 
 at least one, not confirmed, apart from dubiously-decy- 
 phered inscriptions, by history ; which relates that the 
 reigning prince of Babylon experienced the mercy of 
 the conqueror, and was subsequently entrusted with the 
 principality of Caramania. It is said (chap. x. 1) that a 
 vision was seen by Daniel *' in the third (corrected by the 
 LXX. translator to the ^ firsf) year of Cyrus, king of 
 Persia;'' a statement contradicted by chap. i. 21, which 
 limits Daniel's continuance in Babylon to the "first year 
 of king Cyrus." So again, Darius the Mede (a person of 
 whom no trace can be found in history) is called " the 
 son of Ahasuerus" (ix. 1); but on the supposition that he 
 
 * It does not help the case much to say that Nebuchadnezzar is here called king 
 prolepticaUij \ and that he was king " de facto" though not " de jure" during his 
 father's lifetime ; neither can the words "came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 
 unto Jerusalem and besieged it," be interpreted, without violence, merely of his 
 "setting out" for Jerusalem. We do not, however, wish to magnify these historical 
 iriaccuracies, if they be such, or to rest our argument mainly upon them. It is 
 sufficient for our purpose, if it should be thought that the book is in part a comjiila- 
 tion of older documents retouched and shaped into its present form by a Jew who 
 lived subsequently to the destruction of Antiochus Epiphanes. This view, while it 
 would allow for the similarity supposed to exist between the Chaldee of Daniel and 
 that of Ezra, would also account for the introduction of foreign words into the text, 
 as well as for a degenerate and elliptical mode of composition at variance with the 
 purer style of the prophets of the captivity. 
 
DATE AND ATJTHOESHIP. 29 
 
 is identical with Cyaxares IT., he is the son of Astyages. 
 These inaccuracies, and more might be added, are incon- 
 sistent with the assumption that the book in its present 
 form was written by an eye-witness of these scenes, and 
 agree better with the supposition that it is a resetting of 
 ancient annals by a later hand. It may also be observed 
 that the numerous dates recorded in the book afford no 
 proof of correctness; similar positiveness with regard to 
 dates being found in the apocryphal books of Esdras II. 
 and Baruch. 
 
 To recapitulate — 1, The diversity of languages in 
 which the book is written ; 2, The place it occupies in 
 the Hebrew canon ; 3, The use of Greek words ; 4, 
 The style of the book differing from the writings of the 
 captivity ; 5, The historical character of the book ex- 
 tending to but not beyond the age of Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes ; 6. The seemingly marvellous narrations and 
 historical inaccuracies which have aroused suspicion 
 from the earliest times ; are so many distinct and strong 
 reasons for affixing a date later than that usually as- 
 signed to the book of Daniel. N^ot that a Maccabean 
 date is felt by us to be necessary in order to secure an 
 interpretation suited to the times of Antiochus ; for 
 whether the book be predictive or historical, of the age 
 of the captivity or of a subsequent period, it can have 
 but one solution. It may not perhaps be unreasonable 
 to infer that it is partly a compilation and rearrangement 
 of more ancient annals, and partly the original composi- 
 tion of some learned and pious Jew, who lived at a 
 period subsequent to the scenes it describes — probably 
 whilst his countrymen were still engaged in their pa- 
 
30 DANIEL. 
 
 triotic struggle against Demetrius, and following up tlie 
 advantages they had won from Antiochus Epiphanes. 
 At this juncture, when the issue of the contest between 
 the Jews and their Syrian oppressors hung doubtful in 
 the balance, the writer of this remarkable book throws 
 the weight of prophetic influence into the scale, and by 
 recounting the heroic endurance of the sainted martyrs 
 of their race, oracularly animates the holy people to 
 perseverance in the strife. With this view he avails 
 himself of the prestige of a character celebrated in Jewish 
 story, and enunciates his historico-prophetic visions 
 under the name and authority of Daniel. It will not 
 require much argument to show that such a book at such 
 a time may have afforded material aid and encourage- 
 ment to the Jewish patriots — may have supported them 
 under trial by the remembrance of former interpositions 
 in behalf of the chosen people — may have reniinded 
 them that the Lord knows how to deliver his servants, 
 whether from a "burning fiery furnace," or from excru- 
 ciating tortures " wearing out the saints of the Most 
 High" — may have roused them to deeds of more than 
 mortal daring and evoked a spirit of devoted and almost 
 super-human courage — the prophetic word luring them 
 on to victory, and unfolding to their enthusiastic gaze 
 the triumphant consummation which was to crown their 
 efforts ; and " the kingdom, and dominion, and the 
 greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, given 
 to the people of the saints of the Most High." 
 
31 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 DANIEL UNDER NEBUCHADNEZZAE. 
 
 The historical portion of the Book of Daniel opens 
 with the invasion of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, in 
 the third year^ of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. 
 The monarchs of Nineveh had previously carried Israel 
 away captive, and "placed them in Halah and Habor, 
 by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes ;" 
 the king of Babylon completes the downfal of Judah and 
 carries them captive to Babylon as Israel had been taken 
 to Assyria. Amongst the exiles transplanted,- according 
 
 ' Much labour would seem to have been fruitlessly bestowed in the attempt to 
 reconcile the conflicting statements of Dan. i. 1, and Jar. xxv. 1 ; the former 
 asserting that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon in the third year of Jehoiakim 
 
 in opposition to the latter, which makes " the fourth year of Jehoiakim the 
 
 Jirst year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon ; '' or the equally adverse texts of 
 Dan. i. 1, and Jer. xxxvi. 9 ; the first stating that he besieged Jerusalem in the 
 third year of Jehoiakim, whereas, according to the latter, he had not come to Jeru- 
 salem by the ninth month of the Jifth year of Jehoiakim. On the supposition that 
 the book of Daniel is an inspired work of the time of the captivity, it must be con- 
 fessed that these apparent contradictions are not of easy solution. The difficulty, 
 however, is not greater than that presented (eh. x. 1 ), which represents Daniel as seeing 
 a vision in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, although the limit of his con- 
 tinuance as the prophet and prime minister of the kings of Babylon, was " the first 
 year of king Cyrus" (i. 21); or that of ch. ii. I, which places the dream of 
 Nebuchadnezzar which Daniel, at that time one of the tcise men of Baiylon (ch, ii. 
 13), is required to interpret, in the second year of the reign of that monarch ; it 
 having been previously stated (i. 5) that the young men did not stand before the 
 king until after the expiration of three years' training in " the learning and the tongue 
 of the Chaldeans." 
 
 2 An inscription has been found on the Bellino cylinder illustrative of the custom 
 of removing conquered nations from their own land, and locating them in separate 
 quarters. " In the name of Asshur, my lord, I destroyed seventy. nine fenced 
 cities, and eight-hundred and twenty-five smaller towns. I carried off the women ; 
 their skilful workmen and their children who were old enough to do hard work [ 
 carried off from the city of Belus, and I distributed them as slaves." Assyrian Texts 
 Translated.— H. F. Talbot. 
 
32 DANIEL. 
 
 to Assyrian custom, iuto a new country, were four young 
 men of great personal' beauty and royal parentage,^ "of 
 the king's seed and of the princes, children in whom was 
 no blemish, but well-favored, and skilful in all wisdom, 
 and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, 
 and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's 
 palace,^ and whom they might teach the learning and the 
 tongue^ of the Chaldeans" (comp. Acts vii. 22). With 
 this view Daniel and his companions are selected from 
 the rest, and with the intention of completely detaching 
 them from the peculiar habits of their own nation, they 
 are nourished with a daily provision of food from the 
 king's table. To remind them that they are now the 
 servants of a new master, their Jewish names, in each 
 of which is found the name of the true God, are changed 
 for those of Chaldean origin ; as the name of Joseph was 
 
 ' " Hominibus barbaris in corporum majestate veneratio, magnorumque operum 
 non alios capaces putant, quam quos eximiu specie donare natura dignata est" 
 (Curt. 17, 5, 29). 
 
 2 This statement respecting the royal parentage of Daniel and his companions in 
 captivity is confirmed by Josephus. " Now Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took 
 some of the most noble of the Jews that were children, and the kinsmen of Zedekiah 
 their king, such as were remarkable for the beauty of their bodies and the comeliness 
 of their countenances, and delivered into the hands of tutors, and to the improve- 
 ment to be made by them. Now amongst these were four of the family of Zedekiah* 
 the one of whom was called Daniel, another Ananias, another Misael, and the fourth 
 Azarias. — Ant. x. 10. 
 
 ^ A passage has been discovered on the Bellino cylinder descriptive of the custom 
 of educating young men within the palace of the king, to be afterwards employed as 
 provincial governors. " The man Belib, son of him that was governor over the 
 young men educated within my palace, I placed over the land as ruler of Bursa " 
 (comp. Neh. i. 11 ; 1 Esdras iii. 4). 
 
 ^ The Chaldean language, although cognate with the Hebrew, is a different 
 dialect, the two languages not being mutually intelligible to speakers of the two 
 nations. This may be seen from the request of Eliakim and Shebna to Habshakeh, 
 the Assyrian general, to confer with them in the Syrian or Chaldean language, which 
 they aline understood, and not in the vernacular tongue of those standing upon the 
 wall (2 Kings xviii. 26). 
 
kANIEL UlSTDER NEBUCHADXEZZAE. 33 
 
 changed to Zaphnatli-paaneah, that of Zerubbal3el to Shes- 
 bazzar, and of Esther to Hadassah (comp. 2 Kings xxiii. 
 34, xxiv. 17). Daniel is called Belteshazzar, '' according 
 to the name of my god," iv. 8 ; Azariah is changed to 
 Abednego, the servant of l!^ego — perhaps the same as 
 I^ebo (Isaiah xlvi. 1) ; Hananiah and Mishael to Shadrach 
 and Meshach, in which also the name of some Babylonian 
 deity is probably incorporated. Of these young men, 
 Daniel is conspicuous for his adherence to the religion of 
 his fathers. He purposes in his heart that he will not 
 defile himself with the portion of the king's meat which 
 had been offered in sacrifice to idols, nor with the wine 
 which had been poured out in libations ; he will not 
 ''eat defiled bread among the Gentiles," (Ezek. iv. 13) 
 nor "pollute his soul" with royal but unlawful dainties; 
 but desires of Ha-MeUar^ "the prince of the eunuchs," 
 (the Kislar Aga of the Turks) "that he and his com- 
 panions may be fed on pulse and water." Melzar, it 
 would seem, "consented to them in this matter, and 
 proved them ten days (some indefinite period, comp. i. 
 20) ; and at the end of ten days their countenances ap- 
 peared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children 
 which did eat the portion of the king's meat'' (i. 14, 15), 
 The design^ of the writer in introducing this refusal 
 
 ' It is worthy of notice that the narratives recorded in the biographical portion of 
 the book describe for the most part successful resistance to religious coercion ; those 
 subjects being selected by the writer which fit in with the peculiar circumstances 
 of his own times. Amongst these we may instance the rejection of the king's meat 
 and wine for pulse and water ; the refusal to worship the golden image ; the 
 non-compliance with the command to abstain from all worship, save regal deifica- 
 tion — no sufficient reason being apparent for the introduction of these topics, to the 
 exclusion of others, except their applicability to the coercion experienced by the 
 Jews in the days of Antiochus. 
 
34 DANIEL. 
 
 on the part of Daniel and his companions to partake of 
 meats offered in sacrifice unto idols is sufficiently trans- 
 parent on the supposition that the book is the production 
 of the Maccabean age. A somewhat similar decree had 
 gone forth against the Jews by the command of the 
 Syrian tyrant. "In the day of the king's birth, every 
 month they were brought by bitter constraint to eat of 
 the sacrifices ; and when the feast of Bacchus was kept, 
 the Jews were compelled to go in procession to Bacchus, 
 carrying ivy ; moreover there went out a decree to the 
 neighbouring cities of the heathen, by the suggestion of 
 Ptolemee, against the Jews, that they should observe 
 the same fashions and be partakers of their sacrifices ; 
 and whoso would not conform themselves to the manners 
 of the Gentiles should be put to death" (2 Mace. vi. 7-9). 
 In resistance to this unrighteous command to "forsake 
 the law and the ordinances,'' Judas Maccabeus "with 
 nine others, or thereabouts (himself the tenth), withdrew 
 himself into the wilderness, . . . and fed on herbs con- 
 tinually, lest they should be partakers of the pollution" 
 (2 Mace. V. 27). The position of the respective parties 
 would seem to be analogous. The pulse and water of 
 Daniel and his companions are significant of the herbs on 
 which the Maccabean patriots supported life, and the 
 daily provision of the king's wine and meat, of which 
 the former were compelled to partake, is repeated in the 
 "bitter constraint" with which the holy people were 
 forced to cat of things sacrificed to idols ; the successful 
 abstemiousness of Daniel and his companions being ad- 
 duced as an example to those placed in somewhat similar 
 circumstances. 
 
DANIEL UNDER NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 35 
 
 NEBUCHADNEZZAH'S DREAM. 
 
 Among a people whose tastes and habits led them to 
 cultivate an acquaintance with the occult sciences, it is 
 not a matter of surprise to find that dreams^ and their 
 interpretation should occupy an important place ; and it 
 is probable that in detaching these young men from the 
 society of their fellow captives, and in educating them at 
 the king's cost, special regard was had to their instruc- 
 tion in the Chaldean philosophy. Of Daniel, in parti- 
 cular, it is said that he "had understanding in all visions 
 and dreams." At the period of the original Daniel's 
 captivity in Babylon, it is well known that astrology 
 and kindred sciences extensively prevailed. The Chal- 
 deans taught "that a secret virtue streamed incessantly 
 from heaven to earth, and that a connection and sym- 
 pathy existed between planets in the heavenly bodies 
 and earth with its creatures ; that human affairs entirely 
 depend upon the stars, the planets especially being the 
 rulers of their destinies." These star-gazers appear to 
 have dwelt in a particular quarter of the city of Babylon ; 
 
 ' " The primitive belief was that dreams were seat men from the gods for their 
 instruction, warning, and encouragement. The whole history of antiquity is full of 
 dreams attaching to the weightiest and most decisive events. . . . With the Greeks 
 the interpretation of dreams formed a complete literature of itself. Artemidorus, 
 whose treatise on the subject is extant, assures us he compiled it at the express 
 bidding of Apollo, and that the science of interpretation of dreams occupied him day 
 and night. Mainly with the view of collecting dreams, he took long journeys into 
 Asia, Greece, and Italy, and he furnishes precise instructions for the method of 
 soliciting the grace of a prophetic dream from the gods. It was a dream which 
 determined the emperor Augustus to appear one day every year in the streets of 
 Rome as a beggar. Galba took the precaution to have expiation made for a dream 
 that disturbed him. This, too, was deemed necessary to avert ill consequences that 
 might result from menacing dreams to resort to certain deities called the Averrunci, 
 and offer them incense and salted cakes of meal. When harassed by a dream 
 people bathed in the sea, remained sitting a whole day on the ground, wallowed in 
 filth, or besmeared themselves with it." — Dollinger. 
 
36 DANIEL. 
 
 the temple of Belus, wliicli rose in eight graduated 
 stories of pyramidal form to a height of six hundred feet, 
 serving them for an observatory, from which they 
 watched the movements of the heavenly bodies ; thus 
 shaping astrology into a science in the closest relations 
 with religion. 
 
 Tlie peculiarity of the dream in question appears to 
 have been that the king had no remembrance of it after 
 it had passed. Like some beautiful picture which, once 
 seen, impresses the mind most deeply, but is now for- 
 gotten ; so this dream, once vividly presented to the 
 imagination, vanished from the memory of the king. 
 He requires of the wise men of Babylon, not only the 
 interpretation, but the dream itself. The wise men 
 answer that the king's request is unreasonable, and that 
 " the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh," (dii infir- 
 mitati humanse non obnoxii), could alone unravel such a 
 mystery. But the dream has taken such a hold on the 
 king's mind that he must know its purport and interpre- 
 tation, however unreasonable the demand may be ; and 
 accordingly he requires of the wise men of Babylon, who 
 affected an intercourse with Deity, the fulfilment of their 
 pretensions, promising them the highest honours in the 
 event of success, and threatening them with death in 
 case of failure.^ 
 
 ' The dreara of Nebuchadnezzar and its interpretation by Daniel present so close 
 an agreement between that of Pharaoh and its interpretation by Joseph as to have 
 suggested the conclusion that the former supplied the basis on which the latter was 
 founded. Nor can it be denied that a remarkable similarity exists between the 
 characters and the circumstances of the respective individuals. Of Joseph and 
 of Daniel it may be affirmed with equal fitness that both were carried young into 
 captivity ; both cast into the pit ; both compelled to assume heathen names ; that 
 both found favour in their house of bondage and conciliated their respective masters 
 Potiphar and Arioch, possibly the executioners of the kings of Egypt and Babylon ; 
 
DANIEL Um)ER NEBTJCHADNEZZAE. 37 
 
 That Nebuchadnezzar may have seen in a dream a 
 colossal image whose component parts were afterwards 
 broken to pieces, and "became like the chaff of the 
 summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them 
 away that no place was found for them" (comp. Eev. 
 XX. 11), is not more improbable than that a dream of a 
 great tree hewn down (chap, iv.) should have been sent 
 to the same monarch. The subsequent erection of the 
 image of gold, in which however there is an absence of 
 the metallic compounds of the first image, would seem to 
 favour such a supposition, and profane story adds its 
 testimony to the presentiment entertained by the Baby- 
 lonian autocrat of the approaching dissolution of his 
 kingdom. Neither does it appear contrary to the tenor 
 of divine communications that dreams should be sent to 
 a heathen prince. Dreams were sent to Pharaoh, king 
 of Egypt, and to Abimelech, king of Gerar. The wife 
 of Pilate " suffered many things in a dream" because of 
 Christ; and Cornelius saw "evidently'' an angel about 
 the ninth hour of the day. These revelations were, 
 however, distinct from the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, the 
 
 that both were raised to the highest honours in consequence of the interpretation of 
 dreams ; and that both confessed this power was not their own : the former saying, 
 " It is not in me : God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace ; " the latter, " This 
 secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living , . . . 
 there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets." But, whilst admitting the analogy 
 between them, we do not incline to the opinion that the author selected Joseph as a 
 type from which he drew an imaginary Daniel ; on the contrary we accept the latter 
 as a real and not a fictitious character, and would explain the similarity between 
 them of the similarity of the circumstances in which they were respectively placed. 
 We may add to this that the advancement of Jewish captives at the court of heathen 
 kings was by no means an event of unusual occurrence. Nehemiah was " the king's 
 cup-bearer" (Neh. i. 11); " Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus " 
 (Esth. X. 3); and Zerubbabel "spake wise sentences before Darius, the king of 
 Persia" (1 Esdras v. 6). 
 
38 DANIEL. 
 
 object of which appears to have been to present an out- 
 line of successive historical events from his own times 
 to those of Antiochus. The dream moreover is not so 
 much a personal revelation to the king himself, as a 
 vehicle of conveying ideas elsewhere enunciated — the 
 vision of the great image corresponding with that of the 
 four great beasts, as well as with other symbols scattered 
 throughout the book. It is therefore thought that the 
 dream of Nebuchadnezzar is only one phase of analogous 
 visions, moulded into its present shape with a view of 
 enabling the writer to append an historico-prophetic 
 interpretation accommodated to the circumstances of the 
 Maccabean period. 
 
 The purport of this dream, viz. the successive over- 
 throw of heathen kingdoms, the Babylonian being suc- 
 ceeded by the Persian, that, in its turn by the Mace- 
 donian, followed again by the divided kingdom of the 
 Seleucids and the Ptolemies, would seem to be previously 
 announced (ver. 21,), "He changeth the times and the 
 seasons ; he removeth kings and setteth up kings ;" and 
 a principal object of the writer may have been to con- 
 trast the temporary character of these kingdoms of gold, 
 and silver, and brass, and iron, which gave place in turn 
 to each other, with the enduring kingdom to be set up 
 by the God of heaven : a kingdom which shall not ex- 
 perience the vicissitudes which have overtaken others, 
 which " shall not be left to other people,'' as the Baby- 
 lonians were followed by the Persians, etc., but " which 
 shall stand for ever." 
 
 This idea of the successive replacement of the king- 
 doms of the heathen would seem, in common with many 
 
DANIEL UNDER NEBUCHAD^'EZZAR. 39 
 
 others, to have beeu borrowed from the prophets of the 
 period of the return. Influenced by the changes through 
 which the Jewish people had lately passed, Haggai is 
 commanded to " speak to Zerubbabel, saying, I will shake 
 the heavens and the earth, and I will overthrow the 
 throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of 
 the kingdoms of the heathen." These again, as in the 
 case of Daniel's vision, are to be followed by a Jewish 
 kingdom set up under Zerubbabel, " In that day (comp. 
 ''in the days of these kings," ii. 44), saith the Lord of 
 hosts, will I take thee, Zerubbabel, my servant, the 
 son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a 
 signet ; for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts" 
 (Hag. ii. 21-23). It will be noticed that the period of 
 the setting up of the Jewish kingdom by Zerubbabel 
 precedes that laid down for a similar event by Daniel, 
 thereby affording no slight argument in favour of the 
 late date of the book, the description of the latter being 
 possibly a transcript of the earlier prophet. 
 
 A further object of the writer may have been to exalt 
 the privileges of those who remained faithful to the cove- 
 nant over those who had apostatized under Antiochus. 
 The issue of the contest between Daniel and the wise 
 men of Babylon is favourable to the former, and ends by 
 showing that the dream which is unintelligible to the astro- 
 logers, magicians, and soothsayers, is easy of interpreta- 
 tion to the servant of Him who " giveth wisdom unto 
 the wise, and knowledge to them that know under- 
 standing." Similar trials of hermeneutical skill between 
 the prophet and the heathen magicians are of frequent 
 occurrence, and end invariably with the same result. In 
 
40 DANIEL. 
 
 chap. iv. Nebuchadnezzar dreams a second dream, which 
 is interpreted by Daniel after the Chaldean soothsayers 
 have been appealed to in vain. In chap. v. the wise 
 men fail to read the mysterious handwriting upon the 
 wall, which is deciphered by Daniel. The biographical 
 part of the book is little else than a series of contrasts 
 between the hermeneutical qualifications of the prophet 
 and those of the heathen Casdlm ; the wisdom of the 
 former being manifested in a conspicuous manner, and 
 rewarded with the most splendid gifts (ii. 48 ; v. 29 ; viz 
 3). And it may not be unreasonable to suppose that 
 narratives like these, asserting the superior knowledge' 
 of the servants of Jehovah over that of the worshippers 
 of false gods, were without influence at such a critical 
 period, by deterring the wavering from apostacy, and by 
 encouraging the faithful to a firmer trust in Him who is 
 a '' God of gods, and a Lord of kings." 
 
 NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S IMAGE OF GOLD. 
 
 ''Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold^ 
 whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth 
 thereof six cubits ; he set it up in the plain of Dura, in 
 the province of Babylon.'' This plain, it is said, still 
 bears the name of Dura; and here, it is thought, the 
 Babylonian monarch set up the image of gold, or, more 
 
 ^ The superior knowledge of the faithful over those who had lapsed to heathenism 
 would seem to be abundantly recognised throughout the book. Thus it is said, 
 " They that understand among the people shall instruct many" (xi, 33). " None 
 of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand" (xii. 10). "They 
 that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many 
 to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever" (xii. 3). "Many shall run to 
 and fro (shall read through this book), and knowledge shall be increased " (xii. 4). 
 Comp. ix. 22, 23. 
 
DANIEL UNDER NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 41 
 
 probably, overlaid with gold. This image may have 
 been a statue of himself;^ the practice of these eastern 
 despots to receive divine honours rendering such an act 
 not improbable on the part of this the greatest of them 
 all (comp. Judith vi. 2). 
 
 The stupendous height of the image, GO X 6, out of 
 proportion as it is with the breadth, does not appear so 
 incredible to ns as to some others. The image may 
 have been on a pedestal, or it may have resembled that 
 of the Amy clean Apollo, a column terminating in a head 
 and feet ; the want of proportion in its parts being not 
 entirely dissimilar from ill-shaped remains of Egyptian 
 or Assyrian art. The knowledge we have of those 
 ancient empires allows us to believe that the Assyrians 
 were sufficiently acquainted with mechanical science to 
 erect gigantic statues, as well as possessed of skill in the 
 use of the precious metals to overlay them. Indeed 
 everything about that superb dynasty was colossal. 
 Their ideas were as magnificent as their empire. "What 
 they could not accomplish by mechanical agency they 
 effected by numerical strength. They appear also to 
 have been expert in the working of gold and precious 
 jewels; "the engraved gems and cylinders discovered 
 in the ruins of Babylon bearing ample witness to the 
 skill of the Babylonian lapidaries" (Layard). 
 
 The dedication of this image appears to have been 
 attended by all the official ceremony which a rude age 
 could suggest. '' I^ebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather 
 
 1 The annals of Ashurakbal represent him as saymg that he had made an image 
 of himself, and had set it up as an object of worship. " I made an image of my 
 majesty ; the laws and emblems of my true religion upon it I wrote : and in the city 
 of Tzuri I set it up." — Assyrian Texts translated. 
 
42 DANIEL. 
 
 together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the 
 judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and 
 all the rulers of the provinces (Daniel excepted) to come 
 to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar 
 the king had set up.'' We may imagine, then, an 
 enormous multitude congregated in one of the vast level 
 tracts common to Babylonia. Men are there of different 
 countries, different races, different religions — the Chal- 
 dean, the haughty master of the soil ; the Tyrian from 
 his island home ; the Egyptian from his pyramids and 
 his Nile ; the Jew from his temple and his " pleasant 
 land;'' all to do homage to the golden representation 
 of the great Babylonian autocrat which his pride and 
 self-sufficiency had set up. 
 
 The inauguration of this image was accompanied by 
 the exciting din of drums, flutes, and other musical 
 instruments,' similar to the worship of the Syrian god- 
 dess at Hierapolis ; whilst an herald cried aloud, "To 
 you it is commanded, people, nations, and languages, 
 that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, 
 harp, sackbut, psaltery, .and all kinds of music, ye fall 
 down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar 
 the king hath set up; and whoso falleth not down and 
 
 ' These musical instruments are distinguished by the names of cornet, flute, 
 harp, sackbut, psaltery, with perhaps as much accuracy of description as the titles of 
 judi^es, treasurers, counsellors, and sheriffs, applied to the viziers of the province 
 of Babylon. A bas-relief discovered at Nineveh will perhaps give the most correct 
 idta of them. " First (says Mr. Layard) came four men. These carried harps of 
 many strings which they struck with both hands, dancing at the same time to the 
 measure. A fourth played on the double pipes blown at the ends The fifth carried 
 an instrument consisting of a number of strings passed over a hollow case, or 
 sounding board ; these strings, pressed with the fingers of the left hand to form the 
 notes, were struck with a hammer held in the right. The men were followed by si.\ 
 female musicians — four playing on harps, one on the double-pipes, and the sixtli on 
 a kind of drum beaten with both hands." 
 
DANIEL UNDER NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 43 
 
 worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst 
 of a burning fiery furnace." 
 
 To this universal idolatry there is an exception. 
 Amidst the obsequious multitudes assembled on that 
 plain, three young Jewish captives are found bold enough 
 to refuse this act of homage, and to decline compliance 
 with the customs of this heathen land. And this is 
 done in the face of a terrible alternative: "If ye wor- 
 ship not ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of 
 a burning fiery furnace, and who is that God that shall 
 deliver you out of my hands ?" 
 
 The reply of these young men is calm and dignified. 
 " Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee 
 in this matter : if it be so, our God whom we serve is 
 able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he 
 will deliver us out of thy hand, king.'' It would be 
 difficult to furnish adequate images of the fury of the 
 Babylonian autocrat at this unexpected refusal. Like 
 the "king of fierce countenance" (viii. 23), "the form of 
 his visage was changed" against the audacious recusants ; 
 he commands that the furnace should be heated one- 
 seven times (a Jewish number of perfection) more than 
 it was wont to be heated ; orders the most mighty men 
 that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and 
 Abednego, and to cast them into the midst of the burn- 
 ing fiery furnace. 
 
 We are disposed to think that this narrative, based on 
 tiie cruel practice^ of burning alive Jewish captives, may 
 record a real deliverance : an interval, however, of 
 
 ' This practice appears to have been so common with the kings of Babylon as to 
 have fallen into proverbial use. Two false prophets, according to Jeremiah, suffered 
 
44 DANIEL. 
 
 more than four centuries from the date of the original 
 transaction is sufficient to account for the prodigies 
 with which it is encircled, which may owe their origin 
 not to a desire on the part of the writer to exaggerate, 
 but to the mere force of accretion which is apt to 
 gather around tales of times gone by. The versions of 
 Tlieodotion and the LXX. exhibit a still stronger predi- 
 lection for the marvellous, by asserting that "the king's 
 servants that put them in ceased not to make the oven 
 hot with rosin, pitch, tow, and small wood : so that the 
 flame streamed forth above the furnace forty and nine 
 cubits, and it passed through and burned those Chal- 
 deans it found about the furnace" (Song of the Three 
 Holy Children, 23, 24, 25). In addition to this, a hymn 
 of some sixty-seven verses is put into the mouths of the 
 captives as they walked in the midst of the fire, to which 
 Nebuchadnezzar and his satraps are supposed to listen. 
 Nor is this to be wondered at. The age, which we 
 have concluded to be that of the writer, was credulous 
 in the extreme. The heathen were too much accustomed 
 to the prodigious marvels of their own mythology to 
 question the more sober narrations of Daniel. The Jews 
 were fast following in their steps, and nothing was 
 deemed incredible. 
 
 The coincidence between the scene we have depicted and 
 the circumstances of the holy people is too obvious to need 
 comment. A second Nebuchadnezzar had arisen in the 
 person of Antiochus, whose religious intolerance declared 
 
 this punishment ; and they of the captivity were to take up a curse against similar 
 impostors, and to say, " The Lord make thee like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom 
 the king of Babylon roasted in the fire " (Jer. xxix. 22). 
 
DANIEL UNDER NEBTJCHADNEZZAE. 45 
 
 itself in the attempt to coerce all those with whom he 
 came in contact to worship the gods of his own adoration. 
 With this view he spared neither bribes nor torture. 
 He conceived the insane idea of Hellenizing a nation pro- 
 verbially inflexible in its religious sentiments, and received 
 the superb answer: "Be it known unto thee, king, 
 that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden 
 image which thou hast set up." It would, indeed, be 
 difficult to find parallels more closely fitting with each 
 other than those which may be drawn between the 
 Babylonian and the Syrian tyrants. The dedication of 
 the golden image on the plain of Dura corresponds to 
 the dedication of the temple to Jupiter Olympius ; and 
 the compulsory worship of the three children to similar 
 religious coercion in the village of Modin. The destruc- 
 tion of the men who execute the king's commands re- 
 appears in the slaughter by Mattathias of the king's 
 commissioner; and the escape of Shadrach, Meshach, 
 and Abednego from the burning fiery furnace, in that of 
 Mattathias and his sons into the mountains. The faith- 
 fulness of the martyrs of the age of Daniel is reproduced 
 in the steadfastness of those of the days of Antiochus ; 
 and the reward of those who were "promoted in the 
 province of Babylon" exceeded by the promise of a 
 "better resurrection." In a word, it would appear 
 simply impossible to account for the reiterated descrip- 
 tions of patient endurance under trial and glorious de- 
 liverance out of trouble, which run like a thread through- 
 out the book of Daniel, except on the. hypothesis that cir- 
 cumstances had arisen demanding the exercise of similar 
 endurance, and fostering the hope of similar deliverance. 
 
46 DAICIEL. 
 
 The moral, worthy of all consideration, to be learnt 
 from the history of these parallel persecutors, is that 
 intolerance not nnfrequently defeats its own ends, and 
 weakens the cause it desires to uphold. Nay, the lesson 
 reaches to our own times, bidding us " for the truth's 
 sake" contemn the threats and learn the impotency of a 
 blind ecclesiolatry on the one hand, or an ignorant bib- 
 liolatry on the other ; asserting our sacred and inde- 
 feasible right to worship the God of our fathers in 
 '' perfect freedom," and conceding to others the privilege 
 we claim for ourselves. 
 
 NEBUCHADNEZZAE'S MADNESS. 
 
 The encyclical' letter contained in chap, iv., expressive 
 of contrition and deep humility, and addressed by Ne- 
 buchadnezzar to " all people, nations, and languages that 
 dwell in all the earth," represents that monarch con- 
 demned, on account of his pride, to lose his reason, and 
 to become a monomaniac for a period of seven years. 
 At the expiration of this time, during which his vast 
 empire is left without a ruler, a circumstance" unnoticed 
 by sacred or profane historians, his reason is said to be 
 restored to him, and he resumes the government of his 
 kingdom. The machinery made use of by the writer to 
 describe this extraordinary event is similar to that before 
 employed. The king, as in chap, ii., dreams a dream, 
 which none of the wise men of Babylon can interpret.^ 
 
 ' The fourth chapter appears to have the form of a letter addressed by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar to all the subjects of his vast empire. It is prefixed in the LXX. with the 
 words 'Apxv Tfis 'EniffToKrjr- The three first verses are not found in the LXX., and 
 are marked as doubtful by Theodotion. 
 
 2 " Hie ut supra, ii. 13, non abs re quaeritur, cur Daniel, quum tantam ex inter- 
 pretatione somniorum celebritatem jam esset indeptus i 20-ii. 47, n^'n primus 
 
DANIEL UKDER NEBUCHADNEZZAE. 47 
 
 He sees a '^ tree^ in the midst of the earth" (comp. Ezek. 
 xxxi.) whose height was great, and reached unto heaven. 
 In the '' visions of his head upon his bed'' he also sees 
 "a watcher" and an 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 earth, 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 beasts of the field, till seven 
 times pass over him" (iv. 23). Daniel is then sent for 
 to give the interpretation. He explains the tree of the 
 king himself, whose greatness had grown and reached 
 unto heaven. The hewing down of the tree, and the 
 stump left in the earth till seven times should pass over 
 it, is interpreted of the deposition of I^ebuchadnezzar 
 from his sovereignty and his loss of reason for a period 
 of seven years ; at the end of which time, when his pride 
 should be sufficiently abased, his reason should return to 
 him, and he should be again established in his kingdom. 
 "All this (says the sacred narrative) came upon the 
 king IS'ebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he 
 
 omnium, vel saltem una cum Chaldseis interpretandi somnii causa ad regem vocatus 
 
 fuerit." ROSENMULLER. 
 
 " Quod autem prius Chaldseos interrogasse rex dicitur, ratio est, quod sapientia 
 Danielis ita magis explendescebat." 
 
 1 " Ceterum cf quod Xerxi expeditionem in Grseciam suscepturo obtigisse dicitur 
 somnium apud Herodot. 7-19, ubi tertiam regi persomnium oblatam visionem magos 
 narrat interpretatos esse ad nniversam spectare terram, significareque, homines 
 omnes servos ei futuros. Fuisse earn visionem hujusmodi. Visum esse sibi 
 Xerxem coronari olese fronde, ramosque olese universam occupare terram, deinde 
 vero evanescere coronam capiti impositam." — Maurer. 
 
 ^ '* Et ecce, vigil, isqtf^- sancius, de cselo descendebat Scholion codicis 
 
 Alexandrini apud Theodot : T^ 5e elp (hir) ovSev erepou i] ayprjyophi nal dypvirfos 
 epnr]vev€Tai — nomen angelorum, quippe qui rem ipsis creditam custodiunt." — 
 Maurer. 
 
48 DANIEL. 
 
 walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The 
 king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I 
 have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of 
 my power, and for the honour of my majesty ? While 
 the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from 
 heaven, saying, king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is 
 spoken ; The kingdom is departed from thee, and they 
 shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be 
 with the beasts of the field : they 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" (iv. 28-32). 
 
 With a view of illustrating the greatness of this 
 greatest of Babylonian monarchs, we shall give a brief 
 outline of the glory of his conquests, the glory of his 
 kingdom, and the glory of the man. 
 
 1. "In Nebuchadnezzar (says Dr. Pusey) the Baby- 
 lonian monarchy reached its meridian. It had risen in 
 the twenty years of his father Nabopolassar ; its great- 
 ness culminated in his own forty-three years.'' Jere- 
 miah thus describes his unlimited empire : "I have 
 made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the 
 ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, 
 and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. 
 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of 
 Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant ; and 
 the beasts of the field have I 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 them- 
 selves of him" (xxvii. 5-7). He appears to have been 
 
DANIEL UNDER NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 49 
 
 the " hammer " in the hands of the Almighty workman 
 to break and bruise the rebellious families of the then 
 known world — a fact sufficiently confirmed by the testi- 
 mony of Philostratus, Berosus, Josephus, and Megas- 
 thenes. Kot, however, to multiply quotations, we need 
 not wander from the book itself for proof of the univer- 
 sality of his wide-spread dominion : " The most high God 
 gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, 
 and glory, and honour : and for the majesty that he gave 
 him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and 
 feared before 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" (v. 18, 19). 
 
 2. If from the consideration of his conquests abroad 
 we turn to his magnificence at home, we find additional 
 tokens of his almost superhuman greatness. The city 
 ruled by this splendid autocrat was one of the wonders 
 of old time. It is called by Isaiah, " The glory of king- 
 doms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency . . . the 
 golden city .... which said in her heart, I will ascend 
 into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of 
 God" (xiii. 19 ; xiv. 4-13). Jeremiah describes it as "The 
 hammer of the whole earth .... the golden cup in the 
 Lord's hand that made all the earth drunken .... 
 dwelling upon many waters, abundant in treasures" 
 (1. 23 ; li. 7-13). Herodotus, who, however, had never 
 seen Babylon, says that its walls were sixty miles in 
 circumference, of sufficient breadth to allow six chariots 
 to drive abreast, and that it had one hundred gates of 
 brass. Among the objects of interest was the Eoyal 
 Palace repaired by Nebuchadnezzar, on the roof of which 
 
50 DANIEL. I 
 
 he walked when the arrogant expression (iv. 30) escaped 
 his lips. Adjoining to the palace were the celebrated 
 hanging gardens, built, it is said, on terraces one above 
 another, till they attained the height of the walls. 
 " Conquest (says Dr. Pusey) was the least part of the 
 glory of Nebuchadnezzar. He must have had the com- 
 mand of well-nigh unlimited human strength to accom- 
 plish his works His capital was guarded by those 
 
 stupendous walls, whose giant height, enclosing a space 
 of above one hundred and thirty square miles, secured 
 the provisioning as well as the defence of the city. Em- 
 bankments on the Persian gulf against the irruption of 
 the sea ; a reservoir for irrigation, forty parasangs (about 
 one hundred and thirty-eight miles) in circumference, 
 and about twenty fathoms deep ; navigable canals, one 
 of which, the Nahr Malka (king's river) still retains its 
 name; enormous embankments along the Euphrates, of 
 which that at Bagdad exists to this day ; besides the 
 rebuilding of almost all the cities of upper Babylonia, 
 " upon the bricks of which scarcely any other name i* 
 found," attest the practical concern of the great con- 
 queror for the well-being of his realm." 
 
 3. If to the glory of his conquests and his kingdom 
 we add that of the man himself, " surpassing (according 
 to Megasthenes) Hercules in valour and in the greatness 
 of his deeds : " half-human, half-divine ; invested with 
 irresponsible power, and intrusted with the lives and 
 fortunes of the greater part of the human race ; we may 
 easily conceive that it was hardly possibly to bear with 
 equanimity his almost unearthly elevation. Who could 
 have looked round as he did upon his splendid capital, 
 
DANIEL UNDER NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 61 
 
 every stone of which was inscribed with the name of the 
 great king ? "Who could have reflected, as he must 
 have done, upon his varied military and political achieve- 
 ments ? Who could have compelled religious adoration 
 which no subject throughout his vast empire dared 
 refuse, without a consciousness that he was more than 
 mortal, and that he had been raised to the level of the 
 gods ? 
 
 But the fiat went forth to abase his pride, and it is 
 remarkable that his punishment contrasted signally 
 with his offence. A short time ago his sceptre was the 
 sceptre of the habitable world, his throne the throne of 
 a god, and not of a man, and his power as illimitable as 
 his inexhaustible empire. Now he is placed in the most 
 pitiable of all conditions in which humanity can be 
 placed; the most abject captive in his overgrown do- 
 minions is his superior. Instead of the form erect, the 
 eye uplifted, the mind beaming through the counten- 
 ance ; a beast's heart is given to the human frame ; he 
 is degraded to the vacant and crouching maniac ; herding 
 with cattle, and eating grass like oxen ; his body wet 
 with the dews of heaven ; his hairs like eagle's feathers, 
 and his nails like bird's claws. 
 
 The foundation of this marvellous' account is probably 
 
 ^ It appears strange that so remarkable an event as the insanity of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar should have been passed over in silence by all post-exile writers, as well as by 
 those numerous profane historians, who have recorded so many of the deeds of the 
 great king ; and that Berosus, who does mention his death, should have simply 
 stated in his usual* manner that Nebuchadnezzar fell sick and died. Indeed, so 
 improbable did the contents of this chapter appear to the Church of former times, 
 that they resorted to an allegorical interpretation. The fall of the king from the 
 height of regal dignity to the level of the brute creation, typified in their estimation 
 
 * 'Envecruv 'eis 'appuaTiav fiiT-riWa!^a.To jhv 0lov.'' — Berosus. 
 
52 DANIEL. 
 
 to be traced to a fragment of Abydenus, wbich the 
 latter copied from Mogastlienes, preserved by Euse- 
 bius.' After describing tlie conquests of Libya and 
 Iberia by Nebuchadnezzar, the writer relates that whilst 
 walking on the roof of his palace he was seized with a 
 divine inspiration, and predicted the conquest of Babylon 
 
 " Satan, as lightning falling down from heaven" (Luke x. 18) ; or the dragon cast 
 out into the earth, and drawing with him the third part of the stars of heaven 
 Rev. xii.). It was also deemed incredible that a man should be fed on grass for 
 seven years, living for that period among beasts without injury, and that the throne 
 should be kept vacant for a madman for so long a time. Jerome, however, finds 
 fault with such incredulity, and argues that the circumstance of a man being 
 changed into a beast is not so marvellous as that of men being changed into flowers, 
 and trees, and stars, and stones, according to ancient mythology. It is possible 
 indeed to conceive that the madness of Nebuchadnezzar may be resolved into a rare 
 disease called lycanthropy, in which the sufferers imagined themselves changed into 
 wolves, and imitated their cries ; but it is more difficult to believe that the period 
 over which the malady of the heathen prince extended should be "seven" years, 
 " seven" being a Jewish number of perfection, and inapplicable to the circumstances 
 of a heathen monarch. Compare the command to heat the furnace " one-seven 
 times more than it was wont to be heated" put by the writer into the mouth of 
 Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 ^ " Ego vero in ea quam Abydenus de Assyriorum scripsit historia de Nabu- 
 chodonosore hsec, ait, reperi. Megasthenes, inquit, auctor est, Nabuchodrosorum 
 Herculi ipsi fortitudine atque animo priestitisse, atque in Libyam et Iberiam 
 impetu facto utriusque jam domitae colonias in dextram Ponti plagam deportasse. 
 Quibus jieractis, Chaldsei ferunt, eum reversum in regiam sedem (^apafias 'cirl ra 
 fia<Ti\7i'ia, quod vulgo reddunt ; conscenso palatio) divinitus repente afflatum quod 
 sequitur oraculum effudisse. Ille ego Nabuchodrosorus, O Babylonii, imminentem 
 vobis calamitatem prsenantio, quam Parces ut averruncent nee Belus, generis nostri 
 auctor, nee regina Beltis persuadere unquam poterunt. Persicus vcniet mulus, qui 
 dsemonum vestrorum usus auxilio, durum cervicibus vestris jugum imponet. Atque 
 hujus cladis auctor etiam Medus quidam erit, quo ante Assyrii magnojiere 
 gloriabantur. O utinam ipse, prius quam cives ita meos proderet, aut Charybdi 
 quiidam aut profundo pelago haustus atque absorptus periret, aut alias abreptus 
 invias per solitudines erro vagaretur, ubi nullius neque urbis neque homines vesti- 
 gium appareat, sed ferae duntaxat liberae pascantur volucresque circumvolent, 
 adeoque solus medios inter scopulos ac voragines jactaretur — INIihi quoque prius- 
 quam hsec ei tam nefaria mens injccta sit, fcliciorem exitum sortiri liceat. Hsec 
 
 effatus hominum ex oculis repente sublatus evanuit Ac rursus, non nuUis 
 
 interjectis, Nabuchodonosorus, inquit, regno potitus Babylonem intra quindecim 
 dierum spatium triplici muro cinxit, atque Armacalem, Acracanumque fluvios ab 
 Euphrate ortos alio derivavit. Turn Sipparenorum urbis in gratiam paludem fodit 
 cujus ambitus pa'-asangas quadraginta altitiudo vero ulnas viginti obtineret .... 
 palatiumque suum arboribus consitis, pensiles hortos vocabat, exornavit." — Prsep. 
 Evang., ix. 41, 
 
bANIEL UNDER NEBUCHADNEZZAE. 53 
 
 by a Persian mule, wliose associate should be a Mede. 
 When he had delivered this oracular saying he dis- 
 appeared. Abydenus states that subsequently Nebu-- 
 chadnezzar, after he had again received his kingdom^ sur- 
 rounded Babylon with a triple wall in fifteen days, 
 turned the course of the rivers Armacale and Acracanus, 
 dug a reservoir of forty parasangs in circumference, and 
 twenty fathoms deep, above the city of the Sippareni, 
 and adorned the grounds of his palace with magnificent 
 hanging gardens. Eusebius supposes this to have been 
 the occasion when, walking on the roof of his palace, 
 and beholding the great works he had accomplished, he 
 uttered the presumptuous exclamation, "Is not this 
 great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the 
 kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour 
 of my majesty ?'' 
 
 It is difficult to say to what extent the history 
 of the madness of Nebuchadnezzar may be traced to 
 this somewhat parallel account. The enumeration of 
 his magnificent embellishments by the heathen writer 
 may be thought to agree, although with some variation, 
 with the impious boast recorded by the prophet ; whilst 
 the sudden disappearance (Tj^avtaro) mentioned by the 
 former, may correspond with the equally sudden deposi- 
 tion ("in the same hour") given by the latter. Some 
 have even supposed a kind of insanity implied in the 
 oracular prediction (^ecrTrio-a?) which he is said to have 
 uttered ; such foresight being attributed formerly to a 
 state of mind under demoniacal influence. Altogether 
 as the traditions stand in Abydenus and Daniel, they 
 " sound like reminiscences" of the same events delivered 
 
64 DANIEL. 
 
 from different points of yiew : tlie heathen historian 
 relating the circumstances in a manner suited to his 
 pagan conception; the Jewish writer referring them to 
 those general laws of divine government which are never 
 lost sight of in this book. 
 
 And in selecting this subject from the annals of the 
 captivity, the writer may have wished to draw a parallel 
 between the circumstances of the Babylonian and Syrian 
 monarchs. The pride of the one at the sight of his 
 splendid capital would seem reproduced in the presump- 
 tion of the other who thought "he could reach to the 
 stars of heaven : " the heaven-sent madness of the former 
 finds a counterpart in the frantic conduct of the latter, 
 who obtained the sobriquet of 'Eirniav^)^^ the madman : 
 the humble confession of the first, " They that walk in 
 pride he is able to abase," is repeated almost verbatim 
 in the similar acknowledgment of the second, "It is 
 meet to be subject unto God, and that a man that is 
 mortal should not proudly think of himself as if he were 
 God;" whilst the encyclical letter of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 expressive of repentance, and addressed to all people, 
 and nations, and languages, is answered by the contrite 
 letters written by Antiochus to the Jews, " containing 
 the form of a supplication'' (2 Mace. ix.). And a cha- 
 racter more suited to the writer's purpose could not 
 have been found in the range of sacred history; the 
 circumstances of Nebuchadnezzar corresponding more 
 closely with those of Antiochus than with those of any 
 other persecutor of the holy people. The former in- 
 vaded Judea, destroyed the temple, carried away the 
 holy vessels, compelled the captive Jews to forsake their 
 
BANIEL UNDER NEBUCHADNEZZAE. 55 
 
 own religion, and to worship the golden image which he 
 had set up. These abominations are repeated by the 
 latter in an aggravated form. Again is Judea invaded 
 by the " armies of the aliens," the temple violated, the 
 holy vessels plundered, and the Jews compelled to for- 
 sake the worship of Jehovah for that of Eoman (or 
 Grecian) deities. A parallelism so complete and har- 
 monious was not to be lightly passed by. Our prophet, 
 therefore, with an admirable discretion, preferred the 
 times of Nebuchadnezzar to those of Sennacherib, or any 
 other invader, as more fully illustrative of the calamities 
 he wished to describe ; made the legends which the 
 prolonged period of the exile doubtless furnishod in 
 great abundance,^ the foundation of his spirit-stirring 
 
 1 The legends of the captivity not recorded in the canonical Scriptures are : — 
 1. The history of Bel and the Dragon. 2. Susanna and the elders. 3. The song of 
 the three holy children. 4. The epistle of Jeremy. 5. The prayer of JIanasses 
 6. The burning of Zedekiah and Ahab. 7. The story of the prophet Habbakuk 
 bringing the dinner to Daniel in the lion's den. 8. The prediction and sudden 
 disappearance of Nebuchadnezzar, recorded by Abydenus. 9. The tower built by 
 Daniel at Ecbatana (Ant. x. 11). Nor is it to be wondered at that traditions should 
 have arisen during the eventful sojourn in Babylon, it being only natural that so 
 long a period should not have been passed over without memorial. The foundation 
 of some of these would appear to be taken from some of the elder prophets. The 
 history of Bel and the Dragon owes its unmistakeable origin to the words of 
 Jeremiah, "1 will punish Bel in Babylon, and will bring forth out of hi:; mouth 
 that which he has swallowed up " (li. 44). The " burning fiery furnace " may 
 perhaps be traced to a similar punishment inflicted on Zedekiah and Ahab, " whom 
 the king of Babylon roasted in the fire" (Jer. xxix. 22). The great tree of which 
 the leaves were fair, and under the shadow of which all the fowls of the heaven 
 dwelt, which was hewn down (chap, iv.) may derive its source from the magnificent 
 imagery of Ezekiel : — "Behold the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair 
 branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature .... all the fowls 
 of heaven made their nests in his boughs . . . and under his shadow dwelt all great 
 nations . . . upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen . . , 
 and all the people of the earth have gone down from his shadow, and have left 
 him ... to the end that none of all the trees by the waters, exalt themselves for 
 their height " (xxxi.). The same thing may be said of the story of Daniel in the 
 lions' den, traceable to the somewhat similar circumstances of Joseph in the pit, 
 or Jeremiah in the dungeon. 
 
56 DANIEL. 
 
 and patriotic episodes ; encouraged his countrymen, by 
 the recollection of former deliverances, to resist to the 
 death the attempts upon their civil and religious free- 
 dom ; and sent forth his true-hearted appeal under the 
 name and authority of a revered" prophet of his nation ; 
 thus securing a consideration for his subject which he 
 could not have otherwise obtained. 
 
57 
 
 CHAPTEE ill. 
 
 DANIEL UNDER BELSHAZZAR AND DARIUS. 
 
 belshazzar's feast. . 
 
 '' Belshazzar', tlie king, made a great feast to a 
 thousand (LXX. 2000) of his lords, and drank wine 
 before the thousand," or over against^ the thousand. 
 A similar feast, extending over a period of one hundred 
 and eighty days, was made " unto all his princes and his 
 
 ' The identity of Belshazzar has long been a matter of dispute. He is called in 
 this chapter the " son " of Nebuchadnezzar, and the latter is continually spoken of 
 as his father (v. 2, 11, 13, 18) ; but Evil-Merodach succeeded Nebuchadnezzar in 
 the kingdom (Jer. lii. 31), and the time of Babylon's capture is fixed by the same 
 prophet in the third generation from Nebuchadnezzar — " All nations shall serve him 
 and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come'' (Jer. xxvii. 7). 
 To this, however, it may be answered, that in Hebrew "father denotes ancestor," and 
 "son," descendant ; and that no word is fouad to express "grandson.'' "When 
 Evil-Merodach was dead,'' says Josephus, " after a reign of eighteen years, Niglissar 
 (or Neriglissar) his son took the government, and retained it forty years, and then 
 ended his life. And after him the succession in the kingdom came to his son Laborsor» 
 dacus, who continued in it in all but nine months ; and when he was dead it came to 
 Baltasar, who, by the Babylonians, was called Naboandelus ; against him did Cyrus, 
 king of Persia, and Darius, king of Media, make war " (Ant. x. 11). According to 
 some, Belshazzar, or Naboandelus, is identical with the Nabonnedus of Berosus, or 
 Labynetus, as he is mis-called, the Nabonadius of Ptolemy, and the Nabonedochusof 
 Megasthenes. Others, again, have supposed that Belshazzar was the son of Nabon- 
 nedus, and associated with him in the kingly office at Babylon, where he was slain at the 
 taking of the city by the Medes and Persians, whilst his father escaped to Borsippa, 
 This hypothesis is thought to be supported by cuneiform inscriptions giving the 
 name of Belshazzar, or Bil-shar-uzur, to the eldest son of Nabonnedus ; and also 
 by the circumstance that Belshazzar desired to confer upon Daniel the office of " the 
 third ruler in the kingdom ;" a position somewhat shaken by the mention in the 
 following chapter, of the " three presidents, of whom Daniel was first," as well as 
 rendered needless by the dignity of the Queen-Mother. 
 
 2 " Adsidentibus lis : quod non nisi diebus maxime solemniter celebratis fieri 
 solebat : alias enim rex seorsus a proceribus epulabatur." — Maurer. 
 
58 DAXIEL. 
 
 servants, the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and 
 princes of the provinces," by Ahasueriis (Esth. i. 3). 
 This feast raay have been made in honour of some of the 
 gods' of Babylon, for it is said that " they drank wine, 
 and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of 
 iron, of wood, and of stone.'' This banquet was distin- 
 guished from others of similar character by a deed of 
 wanton impiety. " Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, 
 commanded to bring the gold and silver vessels which 
 his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple 
 which was in Jerusalem, that the king and his princes, 
 his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein." 
 It is noticeable that "whiles he tasted the wine," 
 {'evuy{r6v/x€vo<; 'airo rov oivov, LXX. "jam temulentus," 
 vulg.) immersed in one of those drunken orgies for 
 which Babylon was famous, the sacrilegious thought 
 occurred to him to send for the holy vessels, which his 
 great ancestor had plundered from the temple at Jerusa- 
 lem. Josephus informs us that " l^ebuchadnezzar had 
 taken them out of the temple at Jerusalem, but had not 
 made use of them, but had put them into his own 
 temple.'' Now, for the first time, they are brought 
 from the spot where they had been kept with supersti- 
 tious reverence, and are desecrated by libations poured 
 in honour of the Babylonian deities. We may suppose 
 the feast to have been of no ordinary kind, but one upon 
 
 ' Such festivals were probably common in Babylonia. On the cylinder of 
 Esarhaddon he is represented as making a similar feast at Sidon to Asshur, the great 
 god of Assyria. Nor do they appear to have been altogether unknown to the 
 Romeins. 
 
 "Hie cum Romuleos proceres trabeataque Ctesar 
 Agmina mille simul jussit discumbere mensis." 
 
 Staliiis Silvar, 4, 2, 32. — De Domitiano. 
 
DAJ!fIEL UNDEE BELSHAZZAE AND DAEIUS. 59 
 
 which the splendour of the mightiest dynasty of the 
 world was lavished. The purple of Tyre, the gold and 
 silver of Jerusalem, the treasures of Nineveh, the hiero- 
 glyphs of Egypt, the panelled walls sparkling with blue 
 and vermilion, each sculptured slab recording the deeds 
 of ''the great king, the king of Assyria," added lustre 
 to the scene. Fair forms, moreover, gave grace and 
 comeliness to the gorgeous festival, whose surpassing 
 beauty yet lingers in the neighbouring regions of Syria, 
 Circassia, and Georgia. Loud pseans were chanted in 
 honour of the " gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of 
 iron, of wood, and of stone ;" and yet louder swelled the 
 bacchanal as the holy vessels were produced from the 
 depositary where piety had placed them, and lips mad- 
 dened with wine shouted praise to the dumb idols "which 
 can neither walk, nor hear, nor see, nor smell." 
 
 " In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand 
 (the idea would seem borrowed from Ezek. ii. 9, viii. 3) 
 and wrote over against the candlestick (the feast was 
 made at night, v. 30) upon the plaster^ of the wall, and 
 the king saw the part (the extremity) of the hand that 
 wrote." The words traced by these superhuman fingers 
 are three in number; the first being repeated possibly 
 by way of emphasis. " Mene ; God hath numbered thy 
 kingdom and finished it. Tekel ; thou art weighed in 
 the balances, and art found wanting. Peees ; thy king- 
 dom is divided, and given to the Modes and Persians'' 
 — to the Mode and to the Persian. This last word. 
 
 ^ In the palace of Sennacherib, at Nineveh, chambers were discovered, whose 
 walls were coated with plaster like those of the banqueting house at Babylon.— 
 Layard. 
 
60 DANIEL. 
 
 esj^ecially in its plural form Pharsin, bearing an evident 
 affinity to " Persians." A short message,^ it is true, but 
 one of awful significance to that impious monarch : for 
 '' in that night ;" that night of wanton insult and bold 
 defiance of the Majesty of heaven ; that night of gross 
 licentiousness and revolting intemperance ; the narrative 
 says (although the contrary^ is stated by Berosus) " was 
 Eelshazzar king of the Chaldeans slain." 
 
 This description of the taking of Babylon during a time 
 of frantic revelry may be considered as a dramatic repre- 
 sentation of a real fact, given with such additions as 
 would be likely to arise after a lapse of four hundred 
 years from the original transaction. History abundantly 
 testifies that while this banquet was going on within the 
 walls, the armies of the Modes and Persians, united to 
 those of various other nations, were encamped without. 
 These had besieged the city in vain for more than two 
 years. From their gigantic walls, more like the bul- 
 
 1 Josephus thus explains the writing — *' Maneh : this, if it be expounded in the 
 Greek language, may signify apiQfios, a number ; because God hath numbered so 
 long a time for thy life and thy government, and there remains but a small portion. 
 Thekcl : this signifies (rrae/xhs, a weight ; and means that God hath weighed thy 
 kingdom in a balance, and finds it going down already. Fhares : this, also, in the 
 Greek tongue denotes KKaajxa, a fragment ; God will therefore break thy kingdom 
 in pieces, and divide it among the Medes and Persians" (Ant. x. 11). " Mane : it is 
 numbered : Pharcs : it is taken away ; Thekel : it is weighed. This is the interpre- 
 tation of the writing : — Is numbered, the time of thy kingdom ; thy kingdom 
 ceaseth, is cut short, is acomplished ; thy kingdom is given to the Medes and 
 Persians" (LXX.). "Et hoc estscriptum quod signatum est. Numeralum, Niimer- 
 atum, Pension, et Partientis. Hsec est interpretatio verbi illius. Numeratum : 
 numeravit Deus imperium tuum idque consummavit : certum annorum, quibus, 
 durare deberet, numerum imperio tuo constituit, isque jam plenus est. Pens/on : 
 pensus es in trutlnu., et inventus deficiens, s. mancus, i.e., justo levior. Parlitum : 
 partitum est regnum tuum, et datum est Medo et Persse." — Maurer. 
 
 2 " tia^vvvrl^os fifu oiv rh Koiirhv rod xp^^°" Siayfv6fi.(vos (v e»ce!ii7j rrj X'^P? 
 KaT(<TTpe<t>e rhv ^i6v." Berosus, " Cui (Nabonedocho) Cyrus, Babylone capta, Car- 
 manise priacipatum dedit." Megasthenes apud.— Eusbb., Praep. 9-41. 
 
DAKIEL UNDER BELSHAZZAR AND DARIUS. 61 
 
 warks of nature than the ramparts of men, the Baby- 
 lonians derided their invaders. Such was the fertility 
 of the soil, that to reduce the place by famine was im- 
 possible ; and added to this, they had provisions stored 
 up for twenty years. The most probable method of 
 taking such a stronghold was by stratagem, and this 
 was accordingly resorted to. The Euphrates, a quarter 
 of a mile broad and twelve feet deep, ran through the 
 centre of Babylon ; a trench, had been dug round the 
 city for the purpose of blockade, and into this the waters 
 of the Euphrates were turned, leaving the bed of the 
 river dry. As soon as the waters had ceased to flow in 
 their accustomed channel, Cyrus commanded his soldiers 
 to descend into the dry bed of the river, and the troops 
 passed by this novel route into the very heart of Babylon, 
 thus fulfilling the words of Jeremiah, "A drought is 
 upon her waters, and they shall be dried up'' (Jer. 1. 38), 
 " I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry" (li. 
 36). The Medo-Persian soldiers, slaying some and put- 
 ting others to flight, hastened to the palace, and reached 
 it before tidings had arrived that the city was taken. 
 So sudden and unexpected was the assault, that we are 
 told the extreme parts of the city were in the hands of 
 the enemy before those in the middle of it knew their 
 danger. Another account says that Babylon had been 
 taken three days before some parts were aware of it. 
 The gates of the palace, which, were strongly fortified, 
 were shut. The guards before them were drinking 
 beside a blazing light when the Persians sprang in upon 
 them. The noise reached the ears of the king inside the 
 palace, and not aware of the presence of the enemy, he 
 
62 DAXIEL. 
 
 ordered the guards to open the gates. The Persians 
 rushed in. " The king of Babylon heard the report of 
 them ; and his hands waxed feeble : anguish took hold 
 of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail" (comp. v. 6). 
 He, and all about him, perished. "How is Sheshach 
 taken : how is the praise of the whole earth surprised" 
 (Jer. 1. 43, li. 4l). 
 
 As the deliverance of the captive Jews was the imme- 
 diate result of the taking of Babylon, it is no wonder 
 that an event so full of interest to the holy people should 
 occupy a prominent place in their literature. The 
 majestic procession of forty thousand Jews across the 
 wilderness, aided by all the power of the Persian king ; 
 the rebuilding of the temple at the expense of "Cyrus, 
 Darius, and Artaxerxes" (Ezra vi. 14) ; the restora- 
 tion of the sacred vessels plimdered by Nebuchadnezzar ; 
 the coming of their Gentile deliverers to worship at 
 Jerusalem when they "sent unto the house of God 
 Sharezer and Eegemmelech and their men to pray before 
 the Lord" (Zech. vii. 2), are^ as might be expected, 
 favourite topics of ancient prophecy. Then, according 
 to the gospel of the return preached by the Deutero- 
 Isaiah, was there a voice heard, saying "Go ye forth 
 
 of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans depart 
 
 ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean 
 thing ; go ye out of the midst of her ; be ye clean that 
 bear the vessels of the Lord; for ye shall not go out 
 with haste, nor go by flight ; for the Lord will go before 
 you, and the God of Israel will be your rereward" 
 (Isa. xlviii. 20 ; lii. 11-12). " Arise, shine ; for thy light 
 is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee . . . 
 
DANIEL UNDER BELSHAZZAR AND DARIUS. 63 
 
 and the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the 
 brightness of thy rising . . . And the sons of strangers 
 shall build up thy walls (com. Zech. vi. 15), and their kings 
 shall minister unto thee . . . the sons also of them that 
 afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee .... thou 
 shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck 
 the breast of kings .... and they shall bring all your 
 brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations 
 upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon 
 mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain 
 Jerusalem, saith the Lord" (Isa. Ix.-lxvi. 20); and the 
 city shall be "built upon her own heap," and their go- 
 vernor (Zerubbabel) " proceed out of the midst of them." 
 Glorious things are spoken by that prophet, whoever he 
 may have been, of that season of springing freshness 
 when the redeemed of the Lord "went out of Babylon 
 with joy, and were led forth with peace ; the mountains 
 and the hills breaking before them into singing, and all 
 the trees of the field clapping their hands." Around 
 that captivity and that return is entwined an immortal 
 wreath of spiritual song, whose deep poetic fervour is 
 not unfrequently deemed too intense to shadow forth 
 a merely temporal deliverance, and is applied, but 
 without reason, to the future glories of the heavenly 
 kingdom. 
 
 It is conceived that the foundation of this dramatic 
 representation is to be found in the description given by 
 Jeremiah of the sudden capture of Babylon by the 
 Modes and Persians, at a season of furious revelry, 
 during which "her princes, and her wise men, her cap- 
 tains, and her rulers, and her mighty men," should be 
 
64 DANIEL. 
 
 made " drunken," and should sleep a perpetual sleep, 
 and not wake" (Jer. li. 39-57). As the " cedar in 
 Lebanon" (Ezek. xxxi.) possibly supplied the basis of 
 the great tree, hewn down, of Dan. iv. ; so the pro- 
 phecy of Jeremiah may have furnished the materials out 
 of which the writer drew his highly- wrought yet fun- 
 damentally truthful narrative. It is within the reach of 
 probability that the original Daniel, then a captive in 
 Babylon, " knowing by books the number of the years 
 whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the 
 prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the 
 desolations of Jerusalem" (ix. 2) may have announced 
 to the last reigning monarch that the period was fast 
 drawing to a close ; that God had numbered the years of 
 bis kingdom and finished it ; that he stood upon the 
 verge of the approaching crisis ; that " the Persian mule, 
 aided by his associate, the Mode," stood even then out- 
 side the walls of his city, and that the very " time of his 
 land had come." 
 
 The costume and imagery under which this simple 
 idea is conveyed — the banquet to the thousand lords ; 
 the profanation of the holy vessels ; the mysterious hand- 
 writing upon the wall ; the ghastly terror of Belshazzar 
 when " the king's countenance was changed, and his 
 thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loins 
 were loosed, and his knees smote one against another;" 
 his frantic appeal to the wise men of Babylon to deci- 
 pher the characters when " the king cried aloud (fortiter) 
 to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the sooth- 
 sayers ;" their inability, as in chapters ii. and iv., to 
 comply with the king's request ; the advice of the 
 
DANIEL TINDER BELSHAZZAR AND DARIUS. 65 
 
 queen/ who, in defiance of etiquette,- (Esth. i. 12) 
 appears at the banquet, and recommends that Daniel 
 should be summoned, who seems to have been entirely- 
 forgotten although made master of the magicians by 
 N'ebuchadnezzar ; the bribe held out to him that if he 
 could interpret the writing he should be made third 
 ruler ^ in the kingdom ; the tone of lofty reprobation 
 taken by the prophet, reminding us of Elijah before 
 Ahab, the Baptist before Herod, or Eleazar before Antio- 
 chus ; his stern reproof of the overweening pride of 
 Belshazzar ; his indignation at the profane use of the 
 sacred vessels ; his fearless interpretation of the fated 
 words, not knowing whether a meaning so adverse to 
 the existing dynasty might not be turned against him- 
 self; these, it is thought, may either be regarded as 
 accretions to the narrative of Jeremiah, natural enough 
 when the lapse of years is taken into account, or helps 
 to finish out a picture not altogether alien from the 
 character of a symbolic book. 
 
 And in recasting the prophecy of Jeremiah into its 
 present form the Maccabean editor, according to his 
 usual custom, seems to have referred pointedly to the 
 circumstances of his own age. The rare and peculiar 
 
 ^ The queen does not appear to have been the wife of Belsbazzar, his wives being 
 already mentioned (vv. 2, 3, 23), but the widow of Nebuchadnezzar. She calls to 
 the king's recollection the interpretations given by Daniel " in the days of Ms 
 father," and her words have a tone of command. Added to this, she is called the 
 king's " grandmother" by Josephus. 
 
 - Vashti's refusal to appear at the banquet of Ahasuerus was founded (says 
 Josephus) upon the Persian laws. " She, out of regard to the laws of the Persians, 
 which forbid the wives to be seen by strangers, did not go to the king." — Ant. xi. 6. 
 
 3 Josephus mentions that Belsbazzar " caused it to be proclaimed through all the 
 country " (Ant. x. 11) ; a proceeding which of itself would seem to require mor 
 than one night for its accomplishment. 
 
 6 
 
66 DANIEL. 
 
 offence of Belshazzar was impiety. Out of mere wanton- 
 ness of insult to the Majesty on Uigh he commanded the 
 holy vessels to be introduced at his licentious feast. 
 There could have been no temptation to commit this 
 sacrilege. It was a profound and meditated reproach 
 to the God of heaven. A similar act of wanton impiety 
 was perpetrated by Antiochus when he set np the 
 abomination which maketh desolate above the altar. It 
 was a gratuitous and inexcusable provocation of Deity. 
 It appears to have been done solely on the ground of 
 insult to the God of heaven as well as to the religious 
 feelings of the Jewish people, swine's flesh being an un- 
 clean offering forbidden by their law. In his obstinacy, 
 moreover, as well as in his impiety, Belshazzar was no 
 inapt type of his Syrian imitator. Aware of the punish- 
 ment which had overtaken his renowned ancestor ou 
 account of his pride, he carried his presumption to stiil 
 greater lengths. The neglect of the warning given by 
 the deposition of Nebuchadnezzar is prominent in the 
 rebuke administered by the prophet: "Then, his son, 
 Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou 
 knewest all this ; but hast lifted np thyself against the 
 Lord of heaven ; and they have bronght the vessels of 
 his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy 
 wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; 
 and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of 
 brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor 
 know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and 
 whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified'' (ch. v. 
 22, 23). The.obstinacy of the Babylonian finds a coun- 
 terpart in that of the Syrian offender. He, too, neglected 
 
DANIEL UNDER BELSHAZZAR AND DARIUS. 67 
 
 the warning given by the fate of his father (comp. 2 
 Mace. ix. 23), the Great Antiochus, who perished igno- 
 miniously in the attempt to plunder the temple of Belus 
 in Elymais. He, too, " lifted up himself against the Lord 
 of heaven.'' He, too, laid impious hands upon the holy 
 vessels of the temple, and " entered proudly into the 
 sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and the 
 candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof, and the 
 table of the shewbread, and the pouring vessels, and the 
 vials, and the censers of gold, and the veil, and the 
 croAvns, and the golden ornaments that were before the 
 temple, all which he pulled off: he also took the silver, 
 and the gold, and the precious vessels ; also he took the 
 liidden treasures which he found ; and when he had 
 taken all away he went into his own land" (1 Mace. i. 
 21-24). To these points of resemblance may be added 
 that of the sudden fate which overtook Belshazzar, slain 
 "in that night" of licentious revelry and wanton im- 
 j)iety, corresponding with the equally sudden end of 
 Antiochus struck down by a divine judgment in the act 
 of providing means for carrying on his iniquitous cam- 
 paign against the Jews. 
 
 From the comparison instituted between these leaders 
 of impiety it will be seen that theii- respective circum- 
 stances present a singular conformity with each other ; 
 the type fitting so closely to its antitype as to leave room 
 for the impression that the writer drew an imaginary 
 Belshazzar in Antiochus. But an imaginary Belshazzar 
 would also include an imaginary Nebuchadnezzar ; and 
 whatever suspicion may attach to the former, the history 
 of the latter is too deeply interwoven with that of the 
 
68 DANIEL. 
 
 holy people to admit of any question. The historical 
 character, moreover, of the book would appear fatal to 
 the introduction of a fictitious personage into the story, 
 although it is possible that extraneous matter may have 
 been added to the original traditions, an act which the 
 lapse of years may have effected of itself. We are dis- 
 posed to think that the Chaldee annals supplied our 
 author with materials more suited to his purpose than 
 the clumsy forgery of pseudo-Babylonian kings ; and 
 when to this it is added that one season of religious 
 tyranny would naturally be like another, a reason may be 
 found why the Babylonian should have been selected as 
 the type of the Syrian persecution, and why the spirit- 
 stirring tales of the captivity should have been chosen to 
 stimulate the patience and to revive the hopes of the 
 martyrs of later times. 
 
 DANIEL UNDER DAEIIJS. 
 
 "It pleased Darius^ to set over the kingdom an 
 hundred and twenty princes," (LXX. " an hundred and 
 
 ' The question of the identity of " Darius, the Median," like that of Belshazzar, 
 is one which has occupied the best attention of rival critics, but for which no solu- 
 tion seems likely to be found. According to Scripture (ix. 1) he is " the son of 
 Ahasuerus of the seed of the Medes;" according to Josephus and Xenophon he is 
 the sou of Astyages. Eminent scholars of the past and present day have identified 
 him with Cyaxares II., the uncle and father-in-law of Cyrus, with whom he was 
 associated in the conquest of Babylon ; a view confirmed by Josephus, who says 
 that Babylon was taken by " Darius, the son of Astyages, who had another name 
 among the Greeks.'' — Ant. x. 11. 
 
 "Darius vero ille Medus qui infra xi. 1, vocatur Darius Achasveri filius de 
 semine Medorum," alius intelligi nequit quam Cyaxares II. (Xenophontis) Medo- 
 rum rex, filius Astyagis, Cyri avunculus et mox socer, cujus auspiciis helium gestum 
 erat contra Assyrios qui dicuntur sive Babylonios. Cyaxares hie, hujus nominis 
 secundus, successit Belschazari, qui est Labynitus junior Herodoti, Nabonidus 
 Berosi, et Abydeni." — Rosenmuller. 
 
DANIEL UNDER BELSHAZZAR AND DARIUS. 69 
 
 twenty and seven satraps;" corap. Esth. i. 1), ''which 
 should be over the whole kingdom ; and over these three 
 presidents ; of whom Daniel was first : that the princes 
 might give accounts unto them, and the king should 
 have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above 
 the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit 
 was in him.; and the king thought to set him over the 
 whole realm" (vi. 1-3). 
 
 Hitherto Daniel has appeared on the scene of public 
 affairs only in great emergencies. He is summoned to 
 interpret the dream of llTebuchadnezzar (ch. ii.), and in 
 consequence of his successful reading of the future is 
 made " chief of the governors over all the wise men of 
 Babylon." In his capacity of ''master of the magicians" 
 he repeats his hermeneutical skill (ch. iv.), "is astonished 
 for an hour, and his thoughts trouble him," but his 
 distress is occasioned by the nature of the mystery he is 
 called to unravel and not by any want of ability to dis- 
 close it. It seems somewhat strange that after attaining 
 a position of such eminence he should have been for- 
 gotten in the reign of Belshazzar, for that king asks him 
 evidently as a comparative stranger: "Art thou that 
 Daniel which art of the children of the captivity of 
 Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry." 
 With the overthrow of the Babylonian power and the 
 accession of the new dynasty the scene is changed, and the 
 prophet is now represented as having attained a higher 
 position than he has yet reached. Preferred above the 
 Median and Persian princes in consequence of his in- 
 terpretation of the handwriting upon the wall in a man- 
 ner favorable to the conquerors, he is promoted to the. 
 
70 DANIEL. 
 
 office of third' ruler of the kingdom, and so excellent is 
 his spirit that it is contemplated to entrust him with the 
 sole administration of the hundred and twentj^ provinces 
 of that vast empire. His exalted position seems strangely 
 analogous to that of the captive boy who was anciently 
 clothed in the golden robes of the majesty of Egypt. 
 We may almost conceive his royal master saying of him 
 as Pharaoh did of Joseph: "Can we find such a one as 
 this is, a man in whom the sjiirit of God (an excellent 
 spirit) is ; and Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch 
 as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so dis- 
 creet and wise as thou art : thou shalt be over my house, 
 •and according unto thy word shall all my people be 
 ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. 
 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over 
 all the land of Egypt: and Pharaoh took off his ring 
 from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and 
 arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold 
 chain about his neck (ch. v. 7), and he made him to ride 
 in the second chariot which he had ; and they cried 
 before him, bow the knee ; and he made him ruler over 
 all the land of Egypt" (Gen. xli. 38-43). This elevated 
 position was not without its dangers. The presidents and 
 princes of Babylon (LXX. " the two satraps," comp. 
 1 Esdras iii. 9} indignant at the preference shewn to a 
 Jewish stranger, sought to find occasion against Daniel 
 concerning his administration of public affairs, but his 
 integrity was too conspicuous, to be impeached, "for- 
 
 1 " And Daniel was one of the three men having power above all in the kingdom 
 .... then the king purposed to set over his whole kingdom Daniel, and the two 
 men whom he set with him, and one hundred and twenty-seven satraps." — LXX. 
 
DANIEL UNDER BELSHAZZAR AND DARIUS. 71 
 
 asmuch as he was faithful neither was there any error ^ 
 or fault found in him." Unable to succeed on the ground 
 of public dishonesty they have recourse to artifice. The 
 Jewish education and religious habits of Daniel were 
 not unknown to them. It was a matter of notoriety 
 that he was a worshipper of the God of heaven, and 
 unable to convict him of political error they hope to 
 obtain a verdict against him concerning the law of his 
 God. The stratagem was well and deeply laid. The 
 Eastern autocrat is persuaded, without any compunc- 
 tion at the thought of interfering with the sj^iritual 
 liberties of his people, to issue an edict still more un- 
 qualified than that of N^ebuchadnezzar ; the latter com- 
 pelled his subjects to worship the golden image which 
 he had set up, but the former forbade all worship except 
 his own for thirty days. Possibly, in common with the 
 Persian kings, he regarded himself in the light of a 
 Deity, and thought that prayer to him would be equiva- 
 lent to prayer to the gods. To use the words of the 
 narrative, " Then these presidents and princes assembled 
 together to the king, and said thus unto him. King 
 Darius, live for ever. All the presidents of the kingdom, 
 the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the 
 captains, have consulted together to establish a royal 
 statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall 
 
 ^ The self-praise conspicuous throughout the book is a strong argument against 
 its genuineness (comp. i. 19, 20; v. 11, 12; vi. 3, 4). This laudatory spirit, con- 
 sistent enough in the mouth of others, is painful on the supposition that Daniel is 
 the author of the book which bears his name. Contrast the humility of Moses, 
 " Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the 
 children of Israel out of Egypt '' (Ex. iii. 11 ; iv. 10) ; or that of Jeremiah, "Ah 
 Lord God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child" (Jer. i 6); or that of the 
 Baptist, " I am (not the Christ ; but only) the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 
 Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias " (John i. 20-23). 
 
72 DAMEL. 
 
 ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of 
 thee, king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. 
 Now, king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, 
 that it be not changed, according to the law' of the 
 Modes and Persians, which altereth not" (ch. vi. 6-8). 
 
 "Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, 
 he went into his house; and his windows being open 
 in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his 
 knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks be- 
 fore his God, as he did aforetime" (ch. vi. 10). Solomon's 
 beautiful prayer at the dedication of the temple will 
 explain the position of the prophet praying toward Jeru- 
 salem as the Mahometan prays toward Mecca. " If they 
 pray unto thee (when in captivity because of their sin) 
 toward their land, and toward the city which thou hast 
 chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy 
 name ; then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy 
 dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and 
 maintain their cause" (2 Chron. vi. 38, 39). It will be 
 noticed that Daniel, like the Psalmist, prays three times 
 
 1 It has been supposed that these expressions of the supreme will of the Median 
 and Persian kings were stamped upon round bricks, afterwards solidly baked, as the 
 best and surest means of preventing any change in the edicts which thus became the 
 unalterable law of the Medes and Persians. Herodotus mentions that the Baby- 
 lonians were accustomed to have these cylinders constantly with them ; and Mr. 
 Layard gives an engraving of one that he found at Nineveh. " The seal (he says) 
 was evidently rolled on the moist clay at the same time as the letters were im- 
 pressed : the tablet was then placed on the furnace and baked." It is evident that 
 it would be impossible to alter a decree made in this manner, except by the annihila- 
 tion of the cylinders on which these laws were impressed. Hence the proverbial 
 saying, " The law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not." A further reason 
 for immutability is to be found in the divine attributes given to the Persian kings. 
 " Man claiming to act (says Dr. Pusey) through a divine presence could not afford 
 to appear mistaken or changeable." These decrees were moreover sealed with the 
 king's ring; " for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with 
 the king's ring, may no man reverse " (Esth. viii. 8). 
 
DANIEL UNDER BELSHAZZAR AND DARIUS. 73 
 
 a day, not out of contempt of the royal edict, but because 
 such, had been his custom previously. It has been 
 thought by some that this habit of frequent prayer, to 
 which also that of fasting (ch. ix. 3 ; x. 2, 3) must be 
 added, betokens a period when Pharisaic' notions began 
 to be introduced among the Jews. The daily practice of 
 the prophet, taken alone, would perhaps be of little value 
 in establishing such a supposition ; viewed, however, in 
 connection with other arguments it becomes important 
 by shewing the existence of an asceticism not developed 
 in earlier books, and thus betraying a theological con- 
 ception foreign to that of the period of the captivity. 
 
 The artifice of the enemies of Daniel succeeded. 
 Watching his conduct during the well-known hours of 
 morning, noonday, and evening devotion, they find 
 '' Daniel praying and making supplication before his 
 God," and turning to the worst account the savage 
 immutability of the laws of the Modes and Persians 
 they cause him to be cast into the den of lions. 
 
 A den- of lions, preposterous as the idea may seem to 
 
 ' " Exaggerated and excessive notions of the value of prayer betray a later 
 Judaism ; not later, however, than what may have been developed in Judaism under 
 the influence of Parsism, a generation or two after the return from Babylon. Thus 
 Daniel prays and makes supplication with windows open towards Jerusalem, though 
 he knew that a royal decree was signed condemning any one that did so to be cast 
 into the den of lions. He mourned and fasted three full weeks (x. 2. 3). A secret 
 was revealed to him in answer to prayer (ii. 19). He also abstained from the king's 
 
 meat and wine as profane, and lived on pulse (i. 12) An ascetic tendency, 
 
 which lays undue stress on the externals of religion, was fostered by the strict 
 ritualism that set in after the second temple was built. In Daniel's character and 
 conduct a spirit of this kind appears, not very prominently it is true, but distinctly 
 enough on certain occasions." — Davidson. 
 
 2 " Fovea leonum constat caverna terrse ampla, quatuor angulorum, intergerino 
 divisa in duo'cubicula. Cui intergerino est janua, quae superne claudi et patefieri 
 possit. Custodes leonum (qui fere Judaei esse solent) projecto in unum cubiculnm 
 pabulo, leones eum in locum eliciunt ; quo facto, clausa desuper janua, alterum 
 
74 DANIEL. 
 
 US, appears to have been a common, if not a necessary, 
 appendage to the palace of an Eastern monarch ; the 
 noble animals being kept either as executioners for 
 state criminals or for the purpose of hunting, which 
 seems to have been a favorite diversion of the kings of 
 Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia. A collection of slabs 
 now in the British Museum,' taken from what has been 
 called the lion-chamber at Nineveh, illustrates the use 
 to which a den of lions might be put. With whatever 
 difhculties the miraculous part of this history is encom- 
 passed we are not disposed to consider the existence of 
 
 cubiculum expurgant. Totum sub divo est nee nisi muro cinctum, ultra quern 
 possis in foveam despicere. In earn nonnunquam capite plectendi projiciuntur.'' — 
 
 HoSTIUS. 
 
 ' " In the Assyrian basement room at the British Museum are the results of the 
 last excavations at Konyunjik .... The whole of one side of the room is occupied 
 by a long line of slabs representing the hunting sports of the king, the scene of 
 which is evidently the so-called paradise or chase park, maintained for the royal 
 delectation, to which lions captured elsewhere were brought and set free for destruc- 
 tion. The lion hunting was enjoyed with chariots, wherein the king stood with two 
 guards and two charioteers. In the first subject the lions dash after such a party, 
 and attempt to drag the monarch from amongst it. He, with a royal smile of deri- 
 sion upon his face, stands calmly, and as brute after brute assails him passes through 
 their throats a short sword. The lions are always wounded with great arrows, four 
 being the number required to finish each creature, some of whom attempt, although 
 bristling with shafts, to fly at their tormentors as though unwounded. On the first 
 slab a terrible beast had hold on the pole of the chariot, and roaring tries to enter. 
 The guards spear, and the king stabs him with a short sword. The chariot flies, 
 urged by the driver, over the body of a dead lion, a lioness tearing after it. . . . The 
 
 hunting field seems to have been guarded by lines of soldiers Within the 
 
 cincture of the paradise thus defended and defined, we have a representation of the 
 manner in which the noble game was introduced. A great cage made of strong 
 wooden bars, fitted with a door, and made to drag on runners along the ground, is 
 brought in like a sledge. In the cage the beast has been borne from his distant den 
 in the hills that looked over the great plain of the rivers of Assyria. On its top a 
 small cage is attached, in which is the man whose duty is to draw up the barred door 
 for the beast's release. The little cage is evidently intended for his protection, in 
 
 case the lion should turn upon him On the opposite side of the slab the 
 
 putting to of the horses of the royal chariot is seen .... one seems restive at the 
 smell or roaring of the lions ; the headstrap of the other gets a vigorous tug from 
 a groom. The action of this group is very finely given in its- air of preparation and 
 gladness." — " The last from Nineveh," Fraser, Atiff., 1863. 
 
DANIEL UNDER BELSHAZZAR AND DARIUS. 75 
 
 a den of lions near the king's palace as one of tliem ; the 
 presence of such a menagerie being as much in accord- 
 ance with Eastern habits as that of astrologers at the 
 court of the King of Babylon. ISTeither again are we 
 inclined to endorse the objection that the den or pit into 
 which Daniel was cast admitted neither light nor air to 
 the lions confined in it; the Hebrew word being the 
 same as that employed in the Targums to denote the pit 
 into which Joseph was cast and the dungeon into which 
 Jeremiah was let down. 
 
 The distress of the king at the success of the arti- 
 fice employed by the enemies of Daniel; his fruitless 
 attempt to evade the severity of the Medo-Persian laws ; 
 his sleepless night (pernoctavit incsenatus, et concu- 
 binas, E. V. instruments of music, non admisit ad se) ; 
 his early visit to the lion-pit ; his joy at finding 
 Daniel unhurt ; and his command to cast the accusers 
 and their families^ into the den of the accused, complete 
 the picture as is usual with these highly wrought and 
 finished tales, and give it a lively interest. Josephus, 
 with additional zeal for the marvellous, relates that 
 when Daniel's enemies saw that he had sufi'ered no 
 violence, they gave out that the lions had been filled 
 with food and that therefore Daniel was saved ; and that 
 the king, in abhorrence of their wickedness, gave order 
 that they should throw in a great deal of flesh to the 
 
 ' " Superbi, crudeles, vitee necisque potestatem in servos et plebeios vindicantes 
 obscures. Cutes, vivis hominibus, detrahunt particulatim vel solidas. Leges apud 
 eos abominandse, per quas ob noxam unius omnis propinquitas (vi. 24') perit." 
 Ammian Marcell. xxiii. 6. "Lege cautum erat (apud Macedones) ut propinqui 
 eorum, qui regi insidiati erant, cum ipsis occiderentur " (Curt. vi. 11). [Cf. Josh, 
 vii. 24; 2 Sam. xxi. 5.] 
 
76 DANIEL. 
 
 lions and that when they had filled themselves Daniel's 
 enemies should be east into the den" (Ant. x. 11). The 
 experiment, if successful in the first instance, does not 
 appear to have succeeded in the second, for " The king 
 commanded, and they brought those men which had ac- 
 cused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, 
 them, their children, their wives ; and the lions had the 
 mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or 
 ever they came at the bottom of the den" (vi. 24). To 
 use the words of Psalm Ivii. expressive of deliverance 
 from lion -like adversaries : " God shall send forth his 
 mercy and truth, my soul is among lions .... They 
 have laid a net for my feet, and pressed down my soul ; 
 they have digged a pit for me, and are fallen into the 
 midst of it themselves." 
 
 The result of this remarkable deliverance corresponds 
 with those which followed previous interpositions in 
 behalf of the prophet and his companions. Darius makes 
 a " decree to all people, nations, and languages, that in 
 every dominion of his kingdom men tremble and fear 
 before the God of Daniel;"^ similar to that of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, that " every people, nation, and language, 
 which speak any thing amiss against the God of Sha- 
 drach, Meshach, and Abednego, should be cut in pieces, 
 and their houses made a dunghill." These kings, to 
 whom Belshazzar may be added, are also represented at 
 the close of each miraculous occurrence as promoting 
 Daniel to the highest honours, exalting Jehovah above 
 the gods of the heathen, and issuing edicts to their 
 
 1 " I Darius will be a worshipper of him and serve him all my days ; for the idols 
 made with hands cannot save as the God of Daniel has redeemed Daniel." — LXX. 
 
DANIEL UNDER BELSHAZZAR AND DARIUS. 77 
 
 numerous subjects (of which no traces are to be found 
 in history) commanding them to reverence the God of 
 Israel. 
 
 We are disposed to regard the narrative of Daniel in 
 the lion's den from the same point of view as those 
 which have preceded it, and to suppose that it rests 
 upon an original fact wrought into its present shape by 
 the artistic touches of a later writer. A prophet of the 
 Lord had been previously placed in a somewhat analo- 
 gous position. The princes of Judah, like the satraps of 
 Media, combine to accuse Jeremiah because of his faith- 
 fulness, before king Zedekiah. The weak and timorous 
 king unable, as in the case of Darius, to defeat their 
 object, delivers the prophet into their hands. Availing 
 themselves of the permission afforded, they let down 
 Jeremiah with cords into the dungeon or pit, " in which 
 there was no water but mire .... where he is like to 
 die for hunger." ' A servant of the king intercedes on 
 his behalf with Zedekiah, and at the king's command 
 takes thirty men (comp. vi. 7), and "passing clouts and 
 rotten rags under his armholes" lifts Jeremiah unhurt 
 out of the pit ( Jer. xxxviii.). 
 
 The correspondence of this incident in its main features 
 with the narrative related in Daniel is too plain to re- 
 quire comment. With the substitution of Jewish for 
 Medo -Persian scenery, and the prospect of death by hunger 
 instead of by wild beasts, the same tale is told of Jeremiah 
 as of Daniel. It may not therefore be thought improbable 
 
 ^ Reference would seem to be made to the hunger experienced by Jeremiah in the 
 pit in the apocryphal story of Habbacuc taking the dinner to Daniel in the lion's 
 den. — See Bel and the Dragon. 
 
78 DANIEL. 
 
 that the circumstances of the elder prophet formed the 
 basis of the present story, in the same manner as the 
 destruction of Babylon during a time of drunken revelry 
 supplied the foundation of Belshazzar's impious feast. 
 It may be added to this that the writer of Daniel quotes 
 by name the prophecy of Jeremiah, with which he was 
 doubtless thoroughly conversant. 
 
 The object of the Maccabean editor in recasting into its 
 present shape an event which the lapse of years may have 
 transferred from Jeremiah or Joseph to Daniel, or which 
 may rest on a basis of its own, is sufficiently apparent. 
 A new Darius had arisen demanding regal deification, 
 " exalting and magnifying himself above every god,'^ 
 and " establishing a royal statute and a firm decree,'^ 
 that whosoever should ask a petition of any god or man^ 
 excepting those of his own adoration, should suffer a 
 martyr's death. "He forbade them (says Josephus) to 
 offer those sacrifices which they used to offer to God 
 according to the law .... he also compelled them to 
 forsake the worship which they paid their own God, and 
 to adore those whom he took to be gods .... he also 
 appointed overseers who should comi>el them to do what 
 he commanded .... and if there were any sacred book 
 or law found it was destroyed; and those with whom 
 they were found miserably perished also" (Ant. xii. 5). 
 In the ftice of this command men were found who, like 
 Daniel, regarded not the decree which the king had signed, 
 •but who " were fully resolved and confirmed in themselves 
 not to eat any unclean thing, wherefore they choose 
 rather to die . . . that they might not profane the holy 
 covenant ; so then they died'' (1 Mace. i. 62, 63). And 
 
DANIEL UNDER BELSHAZZAR AND DARIUS. 79 
 
 tlirice-blessed and holy martyrs, ye have not died in 
 vain. A sacred light streaming adown the truthful 
 record of your glorious deeds kindles a flame of generous 
 sympathy in every true heart ; and ye stand forth to suc- 
 ceeding ages the revered and undying memorials of prin- 
 ciple preferred before expediency, and of piety cherished 
 above life itself. 
 
 That portion of the book which may be called the bio- 
 graphy of Daniel ends with this deliverance : the remain- 
 ing part being chiefly occupied with an historico-prophetio 
 narration of events extending to the times of Antiochus 
 Epiphanes. And it is only when viewed in the light in 
 which we have attempted to present the subject that the 
 former part of the book can be regarded in unity with 
 the latter. Apart from the consideration that the his- 
 torical is illustrative of the prophetical portion, no suffi- 
 cient reason can be given for the intermixture of personal 
 biography and prophetic vision in a work purporting to 
 be written by the same individual. But when it is per- 
 ceived that the scenes on the plain of Dura and at Babylon 
 prefigure those elsewhere enacted ; that the idolatrous 
 deifications of the monarchs of Babylon and Media reflect 
 impieties of a subsequent age; that the deliverances of 
 the servants of God who trusted in him in old time 
 foreshadow the triumphs of those saints who should in 
 later days possess the kingdom, the unity is restored, the 
 plan of the writer is seen to be consistent, and the pro- 
 phetic vision resolves itself into one grand whole of 
 absorbing interest, having for its object the sufiering 
 and the rescue of the holy people. 
 
80 
 
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84 DANIEL. 
 
 THE FOUR GREAT BEASTS. 
 
 Before an interpretation of these symbols is attempted 
 to be given, a principle must be laid down which, it is 
 thought, may serve as a key to unlock their meaning. 
 The principle supposes the visions seen in the second 
 year of Nebuchadnezzar, in the first and third years of 
 Belshazzar, and in the third (LXX. first) year of Cyrus, 
 to be difi'erent representations of the same events : in 
 other words, that the symbols of the Great Image (chap, 
 ii.); the Four Great Beasts (chap, vii.); the Earn and 
 the He-goat (chap, viii.), together with the explana- 
 tory^ vision contained in chaps, x. xi. xii. ; are not un- 
 connected with each other, but component parts of one 
 grand historico-prophetic scheme, in which, as is not 
 
 * The announcement which prefaces chap. xi. 2 : (v. 1 belonging to the subject of 
 the former chapter), " Now will I shew thee the truth," would appear to signify 
 that an explanation of preceding symbols is about to be offered. Accordingly the 
 angelic exegete omitting the mention (as in chap, viii.) of the Babylonian kingdom 
 of Nebuchadnezzar which had then passed away, proceeds to give the expected 
 interpretation. The IMedo-Persian kingdom symbolised by the Bear, " raising up 
 itself on one side and having three ribs in the mouth of it" (vii. 5), is explained of 
 "Three kings in Persia yet standing up, and a fourth richer than they all who 
 should stir up all against the realm of Grecia." The Macedonian kingdom set 
 forth by the four-winged Leopard is interpreted of a " mighty king (Alexander) 
 that shall rule wit li great dominion." The " four heads," of the fourfold division 
 of Alexander's kingdom to the four winds of heaven and not to his posterity." The 
 "ten horns," often kings of Syria and Egypt, who should precede or be contem- 
 porary with Antiochus. The "little horn" — of the "vile person" (Antiochus) 
 who " stands up in the estate of the raiser of taxes" (Seleucus Philopator). The 
 " three which fell" — of three kings (Seleucus, Demetrius, and Ptolemy Philo- 
 metor) " destroyed," " broken," and unable to " stand" before Antiochus. " The 
 Beast slain'' — of the king of the north (Antiochus, called (v. 21) " the vile person''), 
 who should " come to his end and none shall help him." " Solet enim in describea- 
 dis quse objecta sunt visis eorumque explicationibus ita versari vates, ut soepius, 
 quo loco primum memoranda erat res aliqua, eam pratermittat aut leviter tangat ; 
 turn vero inferiore aliquo loco, oblata iterum illius memorandi occasione, eam sup- 
 pleat aut accuratius describat," — Madrer. 
 
THE FOUR GREAT BEASTS. 85 
 
 unusual in similar apocalyptic writings, unity of design 
 and subject is preserved under variety of language and 
 figurative description. Our principle, moreover, confines 
 the interpretation within a limited chronological period ; 
 the events recorded by the writer being conjectured to 
 have taken place during the sway of certain Babylonian, 
 Medo-Persian, Macedonian, and Syro-Egyptian kings, 
 beyond which time it is thought the prophecy does not 
 far extend. With the arrival of a clearly defined epoch 
 in the history of the last of these a new character is 
 introduced whose extraordinary career it would seem the 
 intention of the writer of this book to describe. He is 
 distinguished as one who should bear a tyrannous hate 
 against the Jewish people ; should speak great and blas- 
 phemous words against the Most High ; should think to 
 change times and laws ; should pollute the sanctuary of 
 strength, take away the daily sacrifice, and set up the 
 abomination that maketh desolate ; but at the "time ap- 
 pointed" should be cut off by a miserable and remediless 
 excision, and should be "broken without'' — in ivant of — 
 (helping) "hand." With the destruction of this op- 
 pressor, a climax is reached and the principal object of 
 the prophecy attained. AVe shall endeavour to recognise 
 this principle in the interpretation we are about to offer 
 of the Four Great Beasts. Proceeding upon the hypo- 
 thesis that the symbols, although varied, are reiterated 
 representations of the same events, we shall interpret 
 them in connection with and as mutually explanatory 
 of each other ; whilst the horizon by which they are cir- 
 cumscribed will confine our exegesis within the limits of 
 the past, and prevent excursion of our inquiries into 
 
86 DANIEL. 
 
 subjects with which the prophecy does not appear to be 
 concerned. 
 
 The view not unfrequently taken of the Four Great 
 Beasts which arise out of the agitated sea of the heathen^ 
 world is that they represent the four world- empires of 
 Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Eome, which have 
 successively held dominion over the habitable earth. To 
 this it may be said that these symbols do not seem so 
 much to encourage the idea of empires extending over 
 the whole world as to designate particular kings or king- 
 doms whose affairs were mixed up with those of the Jewish 
 people previous to the times of Antiochus. It is therefore 
 evident that the last of these, the Eoman power, does not 
 come within the chronological term of these visions ; and 
 to this it may be added that no persecutor of the holy 
 people arises out of that power whose actions correspond 
 to those predicted of the " little horn." This has been so 
 strongly felt by the champions of the traditional view 
 that they have been compelled to invent an imaginary 
 Antichrist to be revealed hereafter, whose atrocities will, 
 it is conjectured, square with those attributed to the 
 "little horn:'' a theory which only eludes refutation 
 
 ' The sea is a figure commonly used in Scripture to represent the heathen world. 
 "The sea {i.e. the nations) is come up upon Babylon," Jer. li. 42, 27. "The 
 burden of the desert of the sea," (/.^. Enbylon), Isaiah xxi. 1-9. " Woe to the 
 multitude of many people which make a noise like the noise of the seas," Isaiah xvii. 
 12. "The abundance of the sea," explained by the parallelism "the forces of the 
 Gentiles," " shall be converted unto thee," Isaiah Ix. 5. The four great beasts of 
 Daniel "' which come up from the sea," like the Roman beast " rising up out of the 
 sea," Rev. xiii. 1. are heathen powers. To interpret therefore the fourth beast of the 
 Roman empire with a view of making the prophecy extend to modern times, is not 
 only to maintain that " the empire founded by Romulus and ruled over by Augustus 
 and Con>tantine which has passed through its regular decline and fall to absolute 
 extinction" still exists; but that it exists under the form contemplated by the 
 prophet as a heathen kingdom. 
 
THE FOUE GEEAT BEASTS. 87 
 
 because it offers no proof. This cliimerical introduction 
 of Antichrist into the visions of Daniel proceeds either 
 from an " invincible ignorance" respecting the time of 
 the second advent of Christ, which it is supposed will 
 be preceded by the appearing of some great adversary 
 of the Church ; or from the necessity, arising from the 
 absence of a suitable meaning in the past, of postponing 
 the interpretation to futurity, that dernier ressort of hard- 
 pressed expositors : " '-Ei? dcfiavk rov fivOov aveve'^x^v ovk 
 exet eXejxov." Without however pausing to inquire how, 
 or in what degree, the martyrs under the Syrian perse- 
 cution could be cheered by the somewhat irrelevant an- 
 nouncement of the coming of Antichrist at some crisis 
 of the Church's future history, we offer a few reasons 
 which may show that the Eoman empire does not seem 
 to be intended by the last of these symbols. 
 
 1. That by the Fourth Great Beast the Eoman empire 
 is not signified, would seem plain from the circumstance 
 that the above-named kingdom cannot with accuracy be 
 said to succeed the three first kingdoms : the sway 
 exercised by these being chiefly, if not entirely, Asiatic 
 and extending beyond the Eiver Euphrates; whereas 
 that river was the eastern limit of the Eoman empire. 
 Added to this, the Eomans were not the immediate suc- 
 cessors of the empire of Alexander, neither can their 
 kincrdom be said to have followed the Macedonian as the 
 Babylonian was followed by the Medo-Persian ; the 
 kingdom immediately succeeding the Asiatic rule of the 
 successors of Alexander being that of the Parthians, and 
 these were never brought under the Eom.an yoke. The 
 world-empire of the Eomans was moreover an after- 
 
88 DANIEL. 
 
 thought^ with which the writer of this book was not 
 acquainted ; the description given of the Eoman fleet, 
 '' ships of Chittiin" (Cyprus) betokening that he did not 
 then consider them on a par with the great Asiatic king- 
 doms. Nor indeed can it be asserted that at that time 
 Eome merited the distinction of a world- empire of the 
 first class. Kewly delivered from the desperate Punic 
 strufjc-les which at one time threatened the loss of 
 national existence she had but small and recently ac- 
 quired possessions in Europe, and none whatever in the 
 East, — " 'No one (says Dr. Pusey) anticipating in the 
 days of Antiochus that Eome would become the empress 
 of the world." 
 
 2. A second theory, that of Bunsen, regards '' the in- 
 terpretation of the four empires' symbols with reference 
 to the original Daniel's abode in Nineveh ; so that the 
 winged lion traditionally meant the Assyrian empire; 
 the bear was the Babylonian symbol ; the leopard that 
 of the Modes and Persians ; while the fourth beast re- 
 presented, as is not uncommonly held, the sway of 
 
 1 In the third book of the Jewish Sybil, a composition whose date is certainly 
 later than the time of Antiochus Epiphanes as the writer mentions the ten horns 
 of Alexander's kingdom and the horn which springing out of them should rule ; the 
 author* of this singular jipocalijptik not only maintains the superiority of the great 
 Asiatic kingdoms over that of Rome but threatens that Asia should repay to the 
 Romans all the evils done to them by the latter. 
 
 'OTTTToTe da(TiJio<popovs 'Aititjs uinSt^aro 'Pcifiri, 
 XprnJ-ard k€v rpis Toacra 5e5e'|eTOj tfj.na\ii/ 'Atrtrts 
 
 'E/c 'Pci/xris, 6\oj]v 5' a^roTiVeToi uPptf is avT^jv 
 
 ''EffTat Kai 2ajuor ^ix/ios fffeirai ArjKos SSrjXoy, 
 Kal 'PaS/irj pv(j.r). — Orac. Sibyll. Lib iii. 350-364. 
 
 • "C'etait parait-il un Juif d'Alexandrie vivant un peu apr6s I'epoque ou un Juif 
 palestinien avait compose le livre de Daniel. Son po me avec quelques interpola- 
 tions et additions remplit le livre iii. des oracles Sibyllins " — Colani, p. 24'. The 
 date is placed by Hilgenfeld, B.C. 137. Reuss, B.C. lo2; Ewald, B.C. l'J4. 
 
THE FOUR GREAT BEASTS. 89 
 
 Alexander. A like reference is traced in tlie mention 
 of Hiddekel on the Tigris in chap, x., for if the scene had 
 been Babylon under Darius, the river must have been 
 the Euphrates" (Essays and Ee views, p. 76). To this 
 it may be objected that no tradition exists respecting the 
 original Daniel's abode in Nineveh, and that the suppo- 
 sition that "Daniel was a noble and pious man, a saint, 
 and a seer from the middle of the eighth century B.C., 
 reverenced by his fellow captives, the Jews in Nineveh," 
 rests upon no sufficient evidence. It is true that Ezekiel 
 gives him an intermediate place between Noah and Job, 
 and refers to his superlative wisdom as to an historical 
 fact, Ezek. xxviii. 3 ; yet these admissions do not prove 
 that he was carried away captive into Nineveh, or that 
 ''the great river Hiddekel," only forty Eoman miles 
 from the Euphrates, may not have afforded as suitable 
 a spot for the prophetic vision as " the river {ttvXtj LXX) 
 of Ulai in the province of Elam :" (viii. 2). A stronger 
 argument against Bunsen's ingenious theory, may be 
 gathered from the book itself, in which the head of gold, 
 corresponding with the first great beast of chap, vii., is 
 declared to represent the Babylonian empire of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, leaving no place for the supposition that it 
 could have been preceded by the Assyrian. 
 
 3. The indistinctness of the imagery under which 
 the second and third great beasts are symbolised, may 
 leave room for hesitation whether the second should be 
 interpreted of the separate^ kingdom of the Modes or of 
 
 1 The claim for a second Median kingdom would seem to rest on the hypothesis 
 of independent sway having been exercised by Darius over Chaldea for the space of 
 two years previous to the annexation of the Median to the Persian empire ; ante- 
 cedence in dominion as well as priority in chronological order being given to the 
 
90 DANIEL. 
 
 the united Medo-Persian empire under Cyrus ; and 
 whether the third should be explained of the dominion 
 of Cyrus or of that of Alexander. With regard, how- 
 ever, to the fourth, there is an uniformity of opinion 
 which makes it more than probable [certo certius ; 
 Maurer), that the symbol must be referred either to the 
 united kingdom of Alexander and his successors, or to 
 that of his successors, or a portion of them, alone ; as it 
 is from the ''ten horns'' of this fourth beast that the 
 persecutor arises around whom these visions revolve. 
 Eejecting then, for reasons already assigned, and for 
 others which will be given, the above-mentioned theories, 
 we shall endeavour to explain these symbols of the Baby- 
 lonian, Medo-Persian, Macedonian, and Syro-Egyptian 
 dynasties; being led to this conclusion more by their 
 agreement with particular actions attributed in the pro- 
 phecy itself to particular kings Avhich rise up among 
 these kingdoms, than by abstract ideas of world-empires 
 which have succeeded each other upon the earth. 
 
 former. This is thought to be inferred from the symbol of the Ram with two 
 horns, one of which was " higher than the other and the higher came tip last" im- 
 plying, according to some, precedence as well as distinctness of rule. The " three ribs, 
 or tusks, in the mouth of it between the teeth of it" {wAevpa; sides, LXX), are sup- 
 posed to signify the three presidencies into which Darius is said to have divided the 
 kingdom (vi. 2) ; an idea favoured by the discovery of the Persian daric, a rare coin, 
 probably more ancient than the time of Darius Hystaspis, having on it a crown with 
 three points, suggestive, as it is thought, of the three presidents of whom Daniel was 
 first ; others, again, have interpreted them of foreign conquests, and have referred 
 them to the three cities of Nineveh, Calah, and Resen, subdued by the Medes (Gen. 
 X. 11, 12). This theory, which allows the third beast to be interpreted of the 
 Persian empire, explains the four-winged Leopard symbol of the swiftness and 
 impetuosity of the victories of Cyrus ; and the "four heads" of the four kings of 
 Persia (xi. 1,2): Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius Hystaspis, and Xerxes ; the ten mouths' 
 interregnum of Smerdis the Magian being omitted as unworthy of record. 
 
THE FOUR GREAT BEASTS. 91 
 
 I. BABYLONIAN KINGDOM OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 
 
 Vision op Chaptee II. 
 The head of gold. 
 
 " Thou, king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, 
 whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee ; and the form thereof 
 was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold" (ii. 31, 32). 
 
 "Thou, king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath 
 
 given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory Thou 
 
 art this head of gold. 
 
 Vision of Chaptee VII. 
 
 The lion with eaglets wings. 
 
 " Four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 
 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I beheld till the 
 wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and 
 made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it " 
 (vii. 3, 4). 
 
 The first of these symbols is explained in the book 
 itself, and therefore little more need be said. Suffice it 
 to observe that the glory of the Babylonian kingdom was 
 at its height during the splendid reign of I^ebuchadnezzar 
 the ''king of kings from the north'' (Ezek. xxvi. 7), and 
 may also be supposed to have expired with him. Nineveh, 
 Egypt, Tyre, Judea, in addition to other conquests, 
 yielded their treasures to embellish his superb city. The 
 very bricks of his palace inscribed, as it is said, with his 
 name repeated the panegyric of Scripture : "Babylon the 
 glory of kingdoms ; the beauty of the Chaldees' excel- 
 lency." " The golden city." '' The praise of the whole 
 earth." " Thou art this head of gold. '' 
 
 " The lion with eagle's wings" ^ (iv. 33), inconsistent 
 
 ^ " Quibus significatur pernicitas, qua Chaldaei in rebus gerendis usi sunt." — Cf, 
 Jes. xlvi. 11 ; Threa. iv. 19. — Maurke. 
 
92 DANIEL. 
 
 as the notion may appear, would nevertheless be an ap- 
 propriate symbol either of the Assyrian or Babylonian 
 empires : colossal specimens of winged lions, dug out 
 of the ruins of Nineveh, being among the discoveries 
 of this wonder-working age. The Babylonians are de- 
 scribed under both of these symbols. " The lion (says 
 Jeremiah) is come up from his thicket . . . his horses are 
 swifter than eagles^ iv. 7, 13. (Comp. Deut. xxviii. 49 ; 
 Ezek. xvii. 3, 12; Hab. i. 8). "The wings thereof 
 plucked,^ whereivith (Grotius) it was lifted up from the 
 earth," and its being made to " stand upon the feet as a 
 man, and a man's heart given to it," refer most probably 
 to the humbled attitude of the Babylonian autocrat after 
 he had learnt from his debasing punishment that "the Most 
 High ruleth in the kingdoQi of men;" allusion to which 
 seems to be made in iv. 16, v. 20, 21 : or if interpreted 
 generally of the Chaldean kingdom, may signify, though 
 with less likelihood, that after their overthrow by the 
 Modes and Persians, the Babylonians changed their fierce 
 and animal nature for more subdued and human feelings; 
 and instead of being lifted up on eagle wings of pride, or 
 wearing a lion's heart in their savage aggressions upon 
 the rest of the world, were taught by their sufferings to 
 stand upon their feet as other men, and to bear a human 
 heart in their intercourse with neighbouring nations. 
 
 ' " Deplumatio significat privationem turn ornamenti, turn facultatis, viriumque 
 pristinarum emergendi, et extollendi se in altum." — Similiter Cicero, Epist ad Atti- 
 cum, iv. 2. — " Qui mihi pennas inciderant noluut easdem renasci."— llosKMiiiiLEa. 
 
THE FOUE GREAT BEASTS. 93 
 
 II. MEDO-PERSIAN KINGDOM! OF CYRUS, CAMBYSES, 
 DARIUS HYSTASPIS, AND XERXES. 
 
 Vision of Chaptee II. 
 
 The silver Jcingdom. 
 
 "His breast and his arms of silver" (ii. 32). 
 
 "After thee shaU arise another kingdom inferior to thee " (ii. 39). 
 
 VisioN^ OF Chapter VII. 
 
 Bear with three ribs, or iush. 
 
 " Behold another beast, a second, like to a bear : and it raised up 
 itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it, between the 
 teeth of it ; and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh" (vii, 5). 
 
 Vision of Chapter VIII. 
 Earn with two horns. 
 
 " Behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns : 
 and the two horns were high ; but one was higher than the other, and 
 the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and north- 
 ward, and southward ; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither 
 was there any that could deliver out of his hand ; but he did according 
 unto his will, and became great" (viii. 3, 4). 
 
 " The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of 
 Media and Persia" (viii. 20). 
 
 The dominion indicated by the second of these sym- 
 bolic representations would seem to be the Medo-Persian 
 kingdom as distinct' from that of Media alone. In the 
 Image of chap, ii., this kingdom, symbolised by the 
 
 1 It is observable that the same night " which witnessed the close of the Baby- 
 lonian dynasty saw it transferred without any interval to the " Medes and Per- 
 sians." To this it has been objected that " Darius the Median took the kingdom, 
 being about threescore and two years old;" (although, on the supposition that 
 world-empires are denoted by these symbols, the shortlived reign of Darius is suffi- 
 ciently unimportant), and that " Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the 
 reign of Cyrus the Persian ; " but it may be said, on the other side, that the ram 
 with two horns, the acknowledged symbol of the Medo-Persian empire, is inter- 
 preted of the " kinffs of Media and Persia " (viii. 20) ; and that the law of the time of 
 Darius is aot that of the Medes only, but of the " Medes and Persians" (vi.8, 12, 15). 
 
94 DAXIEL. 
 
 "breast and arms of silver" — a figure significant perhaps 
 of united dominion in the person of Cyrus — is said to be 
 ''inferior" to the former, the rude and barbarous dynasty 
 of the kings of Media and Persia falling short of the 
 civilized greatness attained by the Babylonians ; the con- 
 quest of Babylon being achieved, not by their own un- 
 assisted eff'orts, but by the military combination of various 
 nations leagued against the common tyrant (Isaiah xiii. 
 4; Jer. xxv. 9 ; 1. 9 ; li. 27, 28). This "silver" king- 
 dom is likened (ch. vii.) to a bear, an implacable and 
 savage animal, an encounter with which is sometimes 
 more dangerous than with the monarch of the forest. 
 The character given to the Modes in Scripture answers 
 to this description: "They shall hold the bow and the 
 lance ; they are cruel and will not shew mercy" (Jer. 1. 
 42 ; Isaiah xiii. 17, 18) : similar ferocity being also abun- 
 dantly ascribed to the " cruel Persians.'' A peculiar fea- 
 ture of this symbol is, that it raises up itself on one side 
 (et9 ev fxepo(; : Tlieodotion), or one dominion (et dominatum 
 unum erexit : Maurer), one of the kings of Persia being 
 elevated "by his strength through his riches" above the 
 rest : no reason being apparent for the separate exalta- 
 tion of the "fourth" above the "three" kings of Persia 
 beyond the opinion entertained by the writer that the 
 reign of Xerxes was more remarkable ' than that of Cyrus, 
 Cambyses, and Darius Hystaspis ; a reign which is in- 
 variably followed in this book by the dominion of Alex- 
 ander (vii. 6 ; viii. 5 ; xi. 3). The " three ribs (or tusks) 
 
 1 Quod autem .... ultimum Persarum regem facit Xerxem, quum post ilium 
 secuti sint Artaxerxes Longim., Darius Nothus, Artax. Mnemon, Ochus, Darius 
 Codora., causa est quod, ut inquit Hieronymus, " non curse fuit prophetali spiritui 
 historis ordinem sequi, sed praeclara quaeque perstingere." — Maurer. 
 
THE rOIJR GREAT BEASTS. 95 
 
 in the mouth of it between the teeth of it," would seem 
 to indicate the three kings yet standing up in Persia 
 (xi. 2); the "three ribs," the "four heads," and the 
 "ten horns," alike denoting kings. The command^ given 
 to it, "Arise, devour much flesh;" or, as the same idea 
 is expressed (viii. 4), "I saw the ram pushing west- 
 ward, and northward, and southward ; so that no beasts 
 might stand before him, neither was there any that could 
 deliver out of his hand, but he did according unto his 
 will, and became great," may be suggestive of the war- 
 like and aggressive character^ of the Persian kings. The 
 
 * This command expressed in the formula, " They said thus unto it," would 
 almost seem to have the force of a prophetic direction. Inapplicable as it is to the 
 short-lived and delegated rule of the Median coadjutor in the capture of Babylon, it 
 meets an adequate realization in the victorious career of the Persian conqueror, 
 which appears to have been the subject of especial prophecy — "Who raised up 
 righteousness — isedek— from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before 
 him, and made him rule over kings ? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as 
 driven stubble to his bow." (Isaiah xli. 2). Ezra describes Cyrus as sajing in his 
 famous proclamation, " The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of 
 the earth." ( Ezra i. 2). Herodotus says of Cyrus, that "wherever he marched it 
 was impossible for the nations to escape him." Xenophon adds, that " he subdued 
 east, west, north, and south." History abundantly confirms the picture, too exact 
 for prophecy, of one of these Persian autocrats, who " by his strength through his 
 riches stirred up all against the realm of Grecia." " Herodotus counts and describes 
 fifty- six nations which served by land, horse and foot, or part in the fleet. There 
 were Indians in their cotton dress, and ^Ethiopians from beyond Egypt clad in skins 
 of lions: the black Walruchs from Gedrosia, and the Nomad tribes from the steppes 
 of Mongolia and the great Buchary, wild hunting tribes like the Sagartians, who, 
 without weapon of bronze or steel, caught their enemies, like the animals they 
 hunted, in leathern lassoes ; and Medes and Bactrians in rich array : Libyans with 
 four-horse chariots ; and Arabs upon camels : Phoenician mariners with numerous 
 squadrons, and Asiatic Greeks compelled to fight against their countrymen. Never 
 did despotism exhibit a spectacle which began so splendidly to end so pitiably." — 
 FusEY, from Heeren. 
 
 " Xerxes jam septuaginta millia de regno armaverat, et trecenta millia de auxiliis, 
 ut non immerito proditura sit, flumina ab ejus exercitu siccata, Greciamque omnem 
 vix capere ejus exercitum potuisse. Naves quoque decies centum millia numero 
 habuisse dicitur. Huic tanto agmini dux defuit. Ceterum si regem spectes, divitias, 
 non ducem, laudes ; quarum tanta copia in regno ejus fuit, ut cum flumina multi- 
 tudine consumerentur, opes tamen regiae superessent." — Jttstin Hist. 1. ii. cap. 10. 
 
 * Ad occidentem Persarum regibus paruerunt. Babylonia, Mesopotamia, Syria, 
 
96 DANIEL. 
 
 corresponding symbol of a ram with two horns, under 
 whicli the Medo-Persian kingdom is set forth (ch. viii.) 
 needs no other explanation than that given in the book 
 itself: " The ram which thou sawest having two horns 
 are the kings of Media and Persia;" the united Medo- 
 Persian dominion being represented by the single emblem 
 of a ram. 
 
 III. MACEDONIxVN KINGDOM OF ALEXANDER AND HIS 
 FOUR POTENT SUCCESSORS. 
 
 Vision of Chaptee II. 
 The Kingdom of Brass. 
 
 "His belly and his thighs of brass." 
 
 "Another third kingdom of brass which shall bear rule over all the 
 
 earth" (ii. 39). 
 
 Vision of Chapter VII. 
 
 Leopard with four witigs and four heads. 
 
 "After this I beheld and lo another like a leopard, which had upon 
 the back of it four wings of a fowl ; the beast had also four heads ; and 
 dominion was given to it" (vii. 6). 
 
 Vision of Chapter VIII. 
 
 He-goat with notable horn. 
 
 "Behold an he-goat came from the west on the face of the whole 
 earth and touched not the ground ; and the goat had a notable horn 
 between his eyes, and he came to the ram that had two horns, which 
 I had seen standing before the rivei', and ran unto him in the fury of 
 
 his power and smote the ram and brake his two horns 
 
 and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand : there- 
 fore the he- goat waxed very great, and when he was strong the great 
 horn was broken, and for it came up four notable ones toward the four 
 winds of heaven " (viii. 5-8). 
 
 "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, whereas 
 four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, 
 but not in his power" (viii. 21, 22). 
 
 Asia Minor : ad aquilonem Colchis, Armenia, Iberia, et Caspii maris accolse : ad 
 meridiem Judaea, vEgyptus, ^Ethiopia, Libya : non dicit : orientem versus, ab oriente 
 enim Persae venerunt ipsi." (Jes, xli. 2; xlvi. 11). — Maurkr. 
 
THE FOUR GREAT EEASTS. 97 
 
 Visiox OF Chapteks X. XI. XII. 
 "Behold there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the 
 fourtli shall be far richer than they all ; and by his strength, through 
 his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. And a 
 mighty king shall stand up that shall 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 towards the four winds of heaven" 
 (xi. 2, 3, 4 ) 
 
 The characteristics of the third kingdom are rapidity of 
 conquest, universality of dominion, and fourfold division. 
 
 The first-named of these qualities finds suitable repre- 
 sentation in the "thighs'' of the great image, indicative 
 of speed, as well as in the four-winged leopard, or 
 panther, which is employed to shadow forth the terrific 
 spring by which the Grseco-Asiatic kingdom leapt into 
 existence, and not least of all, in the poeticaP image of 
 the " he-goat touching not the ground" in the velocity of 
 his career from west to east. In six years, it is said, 
 Alexander subdued the whole of Asia and a great part 
 of Europe ; led his tired veterans as far as the Punjaub ; 
 marched them the almost incredible distance of ll',000 
 miles ; and when, satiated with conquest, they refused 
 to follow him further, sat down and wept because there 
 were no more worlds to conquer. 
 
 The universality of dominion which distinguished this 
 third kingdom is not onl}^ a matter of common knowledge, 
 but is insisted upon with frequency and minuteness of 
 detail in the prophecy itself. Under the symbol of the 
 great image it is described as " a third kingdom of brass 
 which shall bear rule over all the earth ;" in that of the 
 
 ^ ". . . . Cursuque pedum praevertere ventos ; 
 Ilia vel intactae segetis per sumiua volaiet 
 Gramina," — Vieg., ^n. vii. 806. 
 
98 DANIEL. 
 
 Four Great Beasts it is repeated that " dominion was 
 given to it." In the vision of chapter viii. the he-goat 
 comes from the west "on the face of the whole earth ;" 
 ^nd in that of chapter xi., a mighty king rules " with 
 great dominion :" to use the truthful words of Maccabean 
 history, '* He (Alexander) made many wars and won 
 many strongholds, and slew the kings of the earth ; 
 and went through to the ends of the earth, and 
 took spoils of many nations, insomuch that the earth^ 
 was quiet (subdued), before him" (1 Mace. i. 2, 3.) To 
 one of these splendid conquests particular attention is 
 directed. The overthrow of the Medo-Persian Eam by 
 the Grecian He-goat, Avlien he " ran unto him in the 
 fury of his power . . . and brake his two horns, and 
 cast him down to the ground and stamped upon him," 
 exact as the description is for prophecy, has, as far 
 as we know, never been disputed from the days of 
 Josephus to the present time. Indeed so vivid is the 
 symbolic imagery that we may almost in imagination 
 " stand before the river" as the Macedonian horse, led by 
 their youthful and fiery monarch, dash over the Granicus 
 to encounter the feeble myriads of Darius ; or, marching 
 with his hardy veterans across the burning plains of 
 Asia, mark the prostration of the submissive Oriental 
 before liis brass-clad (ii. 32) warriors. As we peruse 
 the prophetico-historic record, "The He-goat waxed very 
 great, and when he was strong the great horn was 
 broken," we seem perfectly to realize his romantic and 
 
 1 "^tuye Kfpavviov ivSpa, KUKhv 5' Act/tj (^0761' ij^fi, 
 Kal, T.aai naaa x^^" vurau <p6vov on^fjriefTa." 
 
 — Oiac. Sibyll. Lib. ix. 216, 217. 
 
THE FOUR GREAT BEASTS. 99 
 
 almost superhuman career ; at one time worsTiipped as 
 the Son of Amun Ea, and the next moment hurled by 
 the "marsh-fever of Babylon aggravated by intemper- 
 ance" from a greatness which he shared with the im- 
 mortal gods. " In the midst of designs (says Dr. Pusey) 
 the vastest and most multiform probably which intelli- 
 gent ambition ever conceived, when not yet thirty-three, 
 Alexander perished." The picture is drawn with such 
 vivid exactness and with so firm a hand that we feel we 
 are not dealing with prophecy but history ;' and that we 
 are not examining an obscure presentiment of doubtful 
 events of which the shadows fall dimly before, but a 
 succinct yet faithful relation of past and most certain 
 occurrences. 
 
 The four-fold division of this kingdom symbolised by 
 the " four heads" of the leopard is thought to be sug- 
 gestive of the partition of the Macedonian autocracy 
 among the four potent successors^ of Alexander after the 
 
 1 Daniel appears as confident on the subject of unmixed prophecy as on that of 
 pure history. This may be inferred from a passage in Hippolytus, in which that 
 ancient Father represents the prophet announcing events posterior to his own 
 times in terms of equal positiveness with those of which he is supposed to be 
 a witness. "Thou didst prophecy of the lion in Babylon for that was the home 
 of thy captivity : thou didst reveal the future history of the bear for still thou 
 wast in the world and didst see it fulfilled. Now thou tellest me of the pard ; 
 but how knowest thou of this, having already fallen asleep ? Who taught thee 
 to say these things unless it were He that formed thee from the birth ? God, 
 thou sayest, for thou didst speak the truth. The pard arose ; the he-goat came 
 (the ancient father evidently looking upon these as equivalent symbols) : he smote 
 the ram : he brake his horns : he trampled him under foot : he was exalted in his 
 fall : the four horns arose after him. Rejoice then, blessed Daniel : thou wast not 
 deceived : for all these things have come to pass." — Hippoliti opera. Ed. Fabri- 
 cius, p. 16. 
 
 - " Quae loco fracti cornu majoris excrererunt quartuor cornua, totidem regna, 
 significant (v. 122) orta e regno Alexandri, regna, puta, quae tenuerunt Seleucus 
 Nicator, Cassander, Ptolemaeus Lagi, Lysimachus ; i.e. Syriam cum Babylonia, 
 Media al : Macedoniam cum Thessalii, cet : ^Egyptum cum Phoenice, Judaei rel: 
 Thraciam cum Asia, minori rel." — Mauber. 
 
100 DANIEL. 
 
 great horn was broken ; or as the same division is else- 
 where expressed, " For it came up four notable ones 
 toward the four winds of heaven," — " No one (says Dr. 
 *!Pusey) having been found to doubt that by these are in- 
 tended Alexander's four successors the Diadochi, who 
 collectively held whatever survived of his Asiatic con- 
 quests and his own dominions subject to the rule of 
 Greece." This four-fold Macedonian division is distinct* 
 from the ten-fold Syro-Egyptian division which succeeds 
 
 ' The separation of the rule of Alexander and his four potent successors from 
 that of the ten Syro-Egyptian kings which arise subsequently is open to no greater 
 objection than the separation of the Median from the Persian kingdom ; an expe- 
 dient not unfrequently resorted to for tlie sake of interpreting the fourth beast of 
 the empire of Alexander or that of his successors which the necessity of the case 
 demands. It need not, therefore, be thought anomalous to explain the symbol of 
 the leopard with four heads, of a portion of the Grseco-Asiatic rule distinct from 
 that symbolised by the fourth beast with ten horns. To this it may be added that 
 an agreement may be discerned between the Leopard and the Macedonian He goat, 
 the latter of which symbols is interpreted (viii. 21) of the Grecian dominion : the 
 *' lour wings" indicative of swiftness, corresponding with the rapidity with which 
 the " he-goat from the west touched not the ground :" the " dominion given to it," 
 with its rule " on the face of the whole earth ;" and the " four heads," with the 
 " four notable ones" which came up instead of it after the great horn was broken ; 
 these parallels, not extending beyond the fourfold division of the ^lacedonian empire, 
 allowing sufficient interval for the introduction of ten Syro-Egyptian kings betvvecn 
 the dominion of the four potent successors of Alexander, and the rise of the " little 
 horn." Besides this, the term over which these symbols extend, does not appear to be 
 the whole duration of each empire. Possibly the first does not go beyond that of the 
 humiliation of Nebuchadnezzar. "After t/we shixll arise a kingdom inferior to </iee 
 .... thnu art this head of gold ;" and the wings thereof plucked (wherewith) it 
 was lifted up from the earth, and its (being) made to stand upon the fett as a man, 
 and a man's heart given to it," seems to favour the same idea. (Comp. v. 18-21 ; 
 iv. 16). The second may represent the Medo- Persian kingdom from the time of 
 Cyrus, to that of Xerxes, leaving 150 years of its subsequent existence altogether 
 unnoticed. The same limitation is observable xi. 3, wliere with the mention of the 
 fourth Persian kirig " who should stir up all against the realm of Grecia," the pro- 
 phecy proceeds to announce " the mighty king (Alexander) who should rule with 
 great doraiuion." The third may, therefore, be reasonably supposed to set forth 
 the rule of Alexander and the Diadochi, as distinct from that of their Syro-Egyptian 
 successors. In like manner the fou th symbol represents only ten Syro-l'>gy|)tian 
 liiiigs, who introduce Antionhus Epiphanes, to the exclusion of Antiochus Eupator> 
 AniiiJch IS Deus, Antiochus Sidetes, and others who succeeded him on the throne 
 of i<ynri. An em'r)le:n ^ilnila^ to lliose previously employed is also used to denote 
 thu sc^juiote luxuf Aaliochus. " 1 b;;heUl evea tii the dcuai wm :>laiu" (vii. 11). 
 
THE FOUR GREAT BEASTS. 101 
 
 it. That a connection, however, exists between iDoth 
 is evident from the fact that the " four heads" of the 
 leopard- symbol are omitted^ in that of the consecutive- 
 ten-horned beast ; whereas, in chapter viii., the ten 
 horns are left out, and their place supplied by the ''four 
 notable ones ;" the respective symbols being followed in 
 either case by the rise of the "little horn." According 
 to the interpretation given in the book itself, the '' ten 
 horns," among which arises the "little horn" are "ten 
 kings which shall arise" subsequently ; just as the king- 
 doms of the " four notable ones" are followed after some 
 interval,^ described as " the latter time of their kingdom" 
 (viii. 23), by that of the "little horn:" this interval, 
 comprising a period of about 150 years ; allowing suffi- 
 cient space for the subsequent tenfold division and pre- 
 senting the idea not so much of separate empires as of 
 the same empire under different phases of its existence. 
 
 IV. SYEO-EGTPTIAN KINGDOM OF THE " TEN HORNS." 
 Vision of Chaptee II. 
 
 " His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay" (ii. 33). 
 
 "The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron 
 breaketh in pieces and subducth all things : and as ii'on that breaketh, 
 all these shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest 
 the feet and (ten) toes, part of potter's clay and part of iron, the king- 
 dom shall be divided ; but there shall be in it of the strength of the 
 iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And 
 as the (ten) toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the 
 
 1 Similar omissions are of frequent occurrence; " it being in harmony with the 
 other prophecies of Daniel, that what is filled up in one place (should be) bridged 
 over in another." 
 
 2 " The kings then, or kingdoms, that should arise out of this kingdom, must, 
 from the force of the term as well as from the context, be kings or kingdoms 
 which should arise at some later stage of its existence, and not those first kings, 
 without which it could not be a kingdom at all.'' — Pusey, p. 77. 
 
i02 DA^'IEL. 
 
 kingcjpm shall he partly strong and partly broken. And whereas thou 
 sawest iron mixed with miiy clay, they shall mingle themselves with 
 the seed of men : but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron 
 is not mixed with clay" (ii. 40-43). 
 
 VlSIOX OF CnAPTEE VII. 
 
 " I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and 
 terrible, and strong exceedingly: and it had great iron teeth ('whose 
 teeth were of iron and his nails of brass') : it devoured and break in 
 pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse 
 from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns" (vii. 7). 
 
 "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which 
 Bhall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, 
 and shall tread it down and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out 
 of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise" (vii. 23, 24). 
 
 Visiox OF Chapters X. XI. XII. 
 
 " His kingdom shall be plucked up even for others beside those ; and 
 the king of the south," etc. etc. (xi. 4-45). 
 
 The principal characteristics of the fourth kingdom,' 
 not inaptly symbolised by its metallic and earthen com- 
 pounds, are terrific destructiveness and gigantic strength, 
 
 ^ It has been contended that the successors of Alexander are only " fragments of an 
 empire, and can in no sense be of themselves one empire: " an objection founded on the 
 assumption that four world-empires are represented by the four great beasts. But 
 the fourth Syro-Egyptian ten-horned beast which succeeded to many of the con- 
 quests of Alexander, and retained them for one hundred and fifty years, would seem 
 to deserve the character of an empire equally with the preceding beasts ; its duration 
 being implied in the " ten kings which shall arise and the other which shall rise 
 after them." That the stamping, bruising, breaking, and devouring qualities attri- 
 buted to the fourth beast should be dwelt upon at greater length than even the vic- 
 tories of Alexander himself, seems only natural when it is considered that Palestina 
 suffered little from the ravages of the Macedonian conqueror, whilst it became sub- 
 sequently the arena on which the Syrian and Egyptian princes contended for supre- 
 macy : the Jewish writer of the book naturally giving prominence to events in which 
 his nation was principally concerned. It may also be inferred from the circumstance 
 of no new symbol being employed to designate the fourth beast, as in the case of the 
 Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Macedonian dynasties, that a connection exists be- 
 tween the fourth kingdom and that which preceded it : this connection being still 
 further apparent in the interchange of the metallic characteristics of the third and 
 fourth kingdoms, •" whose teeth were of iron and his nails of brass'' (vii. 19). We 
 may add to this, that the Roman beast (Rev. xiii. 1, 2) combines onli/ three symbols, 
 the leopard, the bear, and the lion ; this threefold union, '■' framed after the descrip- 
 tion of Daniel," con6ning the number to that given in the elder Apocalypse. 
 
THE FOUR GREAT BEASTS. 103 
 
 coupled with instability of purpose and want of united 
 action. Unlike that of Alexander, which, sweeping like 
 a whirlwind in the rapidity of its winged progress over 
 the face of the whole earth, scarcely touched the ground 
 as it proceeded from conquest to conquest, and from do- 
 minion to dominion, the fourth Syro-Egyptian beast was 
 to stamp, and bruise, and devour, and tread down, and 
 break in pieces ; adding permanent subdual and incessant 
 laceration to indomitable ferocity and wasteful prodigality 
 of human life. Together with these brute-like qualities, 
 felicitously expressed by the " teeth of iron and the nails 
 of brass," it combined inherent weakness and suicidal 
 disunion. The kingdom should be "divided;" "partly 
 strong and partly broken;'' "the strength of the iron 
 mixed with miry clay;" its princes, although connected 
 with each other by mutual alliances,^ and "mingling 
 with the seed of men," not "cleaving one to another, even 
 
 ' "Nor did the followers of Alexander imitate him only in colonizing. The 
 blending of races was continued ; and very remarkably in part, through the position 
 
 given to the Jews on the ground of their faithfulness to their sovereigns It 
 
 is stated on the authority of extant documents, that tliis union of races, too (as well 
 as that between the Persian and the Macedonian), was begun by Alexander, and carried 
 on by his successors. This, moreover, took place to such an extent that one-third 
 
 of the population of Egypt consisted of Jews Nor was this intermingling 
 
 only in large places. Josephus mentions decrees in favour of Jews not only at 
 Ephesus, Laodicea, Miletus, Pergamus, Philadelphia, but in Delos also. . . . These 
 colonisations were the great and lasting influence of the Greek empire. They in- 
 volved, of necessity, a mixture of races." ..." It was no new idea in Alexander to 
 complete the military occupation of the subject countries through colonies ; but the 
 character of his foundations shews that military objects were by no means his sole 
 motives. His iimnediaie and more distant successors carried on Ids work mere or less 
 in his spirit ; the result, in most countries, was the lasting foundation of Hellenism." 
 — PusiiY, pp. 142, 147. 
 
 " Antiochus, Deus a suis dictus, Laodicem, et Berenicem uxores duxit, Ptolemaei 
 Philadelphi filias, teste Livio (Quod conjugium per biennium tantum duravit). 
 Et Magas, Philadelphi pater, Apamen duxit, filiam Antiochi, qui Seleuci fuerat 
 filius, quod nos docet Pausanias in Atticis. Et Antiochus Magnus Cleopatram filiam 
 suam coUocavit in matrimonium Ptolemaeo Epiphani" (et ipsum brevi solvendum). 
 — Grotius. 
 
104 DANIEL. 
 
 as iron is not mixed with clay." Contemporaneous his- 
 tory affords abundant confirmation of the destructive yet 
 unstable qualities, the iron strength and the clayey weak- 
 ness of the Syro-Egyptian successors of Alexander. Their 
 uninteresting career is a perpetual struggle for supremacy 
 and an endless succession of international aggressions, 
 till at last worn out by suicidal strife the ^'divided"' 
 kingdom of the Seleucida3 and the Ptolemies fell a prey 
 to the Romans. Its ruin, however, was not effected until 
 the accomplishment of the events with which the visions 
 of Daniel are concerned. As far as, and beyond the 
 times of Epiphanes, the fourth beast answered fully to 
 its devouring and trampling character ; but " partly 
 strong and partly broken," blending the unyielding iron 
 with the ductile and malleable cla)^, combining metallic 
 durability with earthen plasticity, the symbol adapts 
 itself religiously to the history of the Seleucidae and the 
 Ptolemies, and finds its adequate realization in their 
 varied career of aggression and defeat. 
 
 Another feature peculiar to the fourth beast is its di- 
 versity ''from all the beasts that were before it;" or, as 
 the same idea is elsewhere expressed, " The fourth beast 
 shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be 
 diverse {in evils ^ LXX.) from all kingdoms, and shall 
 devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and 
 break it in pieces : " a diversity which led to a difficulty 
 of description ; for whilst preceding kingdoms are repre- 
 sented by corresponding symbols, none can be found to 
 represent the '' monstrum, horrendum, informe, ingens," 
 
 ' The Septuagint translator paraphrases the clause, " the kingdom shall be divided" 
 (ii. 41), by, " there shall be another kingdom of two parts in it" (5(/xep};s), adapting 
 the prophecy to the Seleucidae and the Ptolemies. — Pusey, p 608. 
 
THE I OUR GEE AT BEASTS. 105 
 
 the unnatural ten-liorned beast incapable of delineation. 
 A reason for this diversity may be gathered from the 
 "divided" and ever-shifting dominion exercised by the 
 Syrian and Egyptian kings, these Princes not being " of 
 one mind, nor well-minded to one another'' (LXX.);^ 
 adding to the lust of foreign conquest the miseries of 
 internecine wars, and '' multiplying evils upon earth" 
 (1 Mace. i. 9), as much by their international struggles 
 for supremacy as by their ungovernable ambition. Dur- 
 ing the continuance of these exhausting conflicts, more 
 fatal to the holy people than the spoliations of Alexander, 
 or even the ruin effected by the Babylonian invader, 
 princes, trained in the pitiless school of the Macedonian 
 conqueror, trampled down without compunction all who 
 opposed their insatiable desires, and turned " the habit- 
 able earth" into shambles in their path to universal 
 empire. The miseries of that period^ especially as far as 
 the holy^ people were concerned, were never exceeded 
 by any former troubles in their eventful history. Situated 
 midway between Syria and Egypt, Judea, like the Low 
 Countries in days of European warfare, became the battle- 
 field of the contending parties, and to whichever side 
 victory might incline, its wretched inhabitants were alike 
 the sufferers. Whether the kings of Egypt (the south) 
 prevailed over the kings of Syria (the north), or the kings 
 of Syria over the kings of Egypt, this, to them, was only 
 
 ' " It had ten horns, and many counsels in its horns" (LXX.) 
 
 ^ " Ka\ Tore 'louSai'ois KaKhy eaaerai, ouSe (pvyovvrai 
 ^ijxbv KoX Koi/xhy Svcravacrx^TCi) ijfiari Kelveo .... 
 'A\A' OKTci) ^affiKeis vKctiBfOS Alyvwroio 
 . . . avTol KaKOTTiTa, Ka\ avTuiv efiya Troprtpa 
 Pe^ovai fiereireiTa, kcu ^AAo; &Wov oKeaaei," 
 
 Orac. SibylL Lib. ix. 239-249. 
 
106 DANIEL. 
 
 a change of masters. It is not then to be wondered at, 
 that a period like this, deeply stained with blood, and 
 presenting no respite from continuous and exterminating 
 wars,' should be characterised by emblems descriptive of 
 unusual and intolerable calamity, or that it should be 
 affirmed of the fourth beast that it was " exceeding 
 dreadful, whose teeth were of iron and his nails of brass.'' 
 A more faithful picture of the asperities of the time could 
 hardly have been drawn. Its very minuteness would 
 alone throw doubt on its prophetical character. Too cir- 
 cumstantial for the broader features of prediction gene- 
 rally, it carries with it the semblance of an historical 
 relation of past events, clothed in that "rough garment" 
 in which pious men of old time were wont to cover them- 
 selves as a mark of their prophetic office, but with no in- 
 tention to "deceive." 
 
 If our premises are correctly laid, it may be inferred 
 that by the fourth beast is symbolised the iron rule of 
 ten Syro-Egyptian kings which arise subsequently to 
 
 ^ "As Empedocles observed that there was a continual hostility among the four 
 elements which compose the universe, every one of them still combating with 
 his neighbour, and all of them continually striving to enlarge the boundaries of 
 their empires ; so did it happen among the potent successors of the great Alexander, 
 betwixt whom, especially those whose dominions lay contiguous, there was an eternal 
 jealousy and almost perpetual wars." — Plutarch. Vtt. JJemet. 
 
 '* While these princes ambitiously strove one against another, every one for his 
 own principality, it came to pass that there were continually wars; and the cities 
 were sufferers, and lost a great many of the inhabitants in these times of distress." — 
 Ant. xii. 1. 
 
 •' It happened in the reign of Antiochus the Great, who ruled over all Asia, that 
 the Jews as well as the inhabitants of Coele-Syria suffered greatly, and their land 
 was sorely harassed ; for while he was at war with Ptolemy Eupator, and with his 
 son called Epiphanes, it fell out that these nations were equally sufferers, both when 
 he was beaten and when hs had defeated the otiiers ; so that they were like a ship in 
 a storm which is tossed by the waves on both sides." — Ant. xii. 5. 
 
 " Turn maximum in terris Macedonum regnum nomenque : inde morte Alexandri 
 distractum in multa regna dum ad se quisque opes rapiunt lacerantcs viribus." — 
 XtV. zlv. 9. 
 
THE FOUR GREAT BEASTS. 107 
 
 the primary fourfold division of tlie kingdom of the Great 
 Alexander among his four potent successors. This four- 
 fold and ten-fold division' would seem to be recognized 
 
 ^ The two-fold aspect under which the Grecian beast is presented with four heads 
 and ten horns is answered by the Roman beast with " seven heads and ten horns" 
 (Rev. xiii. ])'; the " ten kings which shall {subsequently) arise" corresponding with 
 the "ten kings which have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings one 
 hour (contemporaneously) with the beast" (Rev. xvii. 12) It may help the view 
 we have adopted to find this four-fold and ten-fold division more or less apparent in 
 each of the four great visions of Daniel : the former being symbolised by the (four) 
 legs and feet of the great image (ch. ii.), the " four heads" (vii. 6), the " four not- 
 able ones ' (viii. S), and the "four winds of heaven" (xi. 4) ; the latter by the 
 (ten) toes of the great image, the " ten horns," the " latter time of the kingdom," 
 during which the little horn arises from among the ten horns, and the " others," 
 (subsequently enumerated xi. 4-45), "besides those" (four notable ones), for whom 
 the kingdom of Alexander should be plucked up. This subsequent division of the 
 kingdom of the Macedonian conqueror into ten horns, not omitting the mention of 
 " the horn which springing up close by should rule,'' is also found in a remarkable 
 passage of the third Jewish Sybil, descriptive of the conquest of Asia by Alexander ; 
 showing not only the acquaintance of the writer with the Book of Daniel, but con- 
 necting the ten horns with the ten-fold division of Alexander's kingdom. We sub- 
 join a paraphrase : — 
 
 " Deep woe shall Macedon to Asia bring ; 
 
 And direst grief of Europe shall shoot forth 
 
 From Jove's pretended* offspring, slavish race. 
 
 And Babel, mighty city, of all lands 
 
 On which the sun looks down, mistress renowned, 
 
 Shall it subdue, o'erthrown by evil fates, 
 
 Regardless of the tender infant's moan. 
 
 For suddenly to Asia's prosperous soil. 
 
 Decked with the purple robe of kings, a man 
 
 Fierce, partial, fiery, lightning-born, shall come. 
 
 All Asia shall endure a grievous yoke. 
 
 And the drenched earth drink in abundant gore. 
 
 Yet Hades waits for him who all o'erswept. 
 
 His race by their's is utterly destroyed 
 
 Whose race he seeks to root out and destroy. 
 
 He leaves one only shoot, which from ten horns 
 
 The waster severs, and another plant 
 
 Shall plant close by. Him too the warrior sire. 
 
 Of purple race, the waster smites, in turn 
 
 Smitten by sons of fierce accord in war. 
 
 And then the horn planted close by shall rule." 
 
 Orac. Sibyll. Lib. iii. 381-400. 
 
 * " *Ou Albs ovK "AfjLfMwvos aXridtia tovtov epovffiv 
 UdvTes, Ofuos KpoviSao uoQov 5' uis avTairKaaovTai. 
 
 Lib. ix. 197-8. 
 
108 DANIEL. 
 
 in chap. xi. 4, where, in addition to the partition " toward 
 the four winds of heaven," the kingdom of Alexander is 
 said to be "plucked up even for others beside those;" 
 this statement being immediately followed by the enu- 
 meration of ten SyrO'Egyptian kings who convulse the 
 Jewish earth previously to, or contemporaneously with, 
 the appearing of Antiochus. 
 
 It need scarcely be mentioned that considerable dif- 
 ference of opinion continues to exist with regard to these 
 ten kings. By some they have been interpreted of ten 
 kings exclusively Syrian who preceded Antiochus : these, 
 however, appear to have been only seven ^ in number, 
 Antiochus himself being the eighth, although a contrary 
 opinion is maintained by eminent critics. It has been 
 further conjectured, from the fact of the number " ten'' 
 being a round number, without specific numerical value 
 in the Scriptures generally, and employed in an indefinite 
 sense in the book itself (i. 14, 15, 20), that the "ten 
 horns'' are significant of the many kingdoms (multa 
 regna) into which the empire was divided subsequently 
 to the death of Alexander, when " his servants bare rule, 
 every one in his place, and their sons after them many 
 years." We are disposed to interpret the symbol of ten 
 kings, not exclusively Syrian, who were more or less 
 mixed up with Jewish affairs before and contemporane- 
 ously with the appearing of Antiochus ; and we think it 
 worthy of notice that from the four-fold partition of the 
 Macedonian kingdom (xi. 4) to the destruction of Antio- 
 
 ' 1. Seleucus Nicator. 2. Antiochus Soter. 3. Antiochus Theus. 4. Seleucus 
 Callinicus. 5. Seleucus Ceraunus. 6. Antiochus Magnus. 7. Seleucus Philopator. 
 8. Antiochus Epiphanes. 
 
THE FOUR GREAT BEASTS. 109 
 
 chus (xi. 45) the history is occupied with the successes 
 and reverses of ten kinsrs' of the north and south who 
 
 o 
 
 make Palestine their scene of conflict. 
 
 But whichever of these theories we may adopt it 
 would appear morally certain that the "little horn" of 
 chapter vii. cannot with any reason^ be dissociated from 
 the " little horn" of chapter viii. ; and that to inter- 
 pret the former cf Antichrist and the latter of Antio- 
 chus, not only exhibits obliquity of exegetical treat- 
 ment, but an utter disregard of that continuous re- 
 iteration of the same events which must be admitted 
 to be a chief characteristic of these prophecies. Similar 
 qualities attributed to the subject of either vision ren- 
 der it imperative that they should be similarly inter- 
 preted ; and when to this it is added that the preceding 
 symbols are allowed to shadow forth respectively the 
 same historical events ; exegetical consistency would 
 
 * Ptolemy Philadelphus (xi. 5). 2. Antiochus Deus (xi. 6). 3. Ptolemy Euergetes 
 (xi.7). 4. Seleucus Callinicus Cxi. 8). 5. Ptolemy Philopator (xi. 9). 6. Antiochus 
 Magnus (xi. 11, 13, 15). 7. Ptolemy Epiphanes (xi. 14). 8. Seleucus Philopator 
 (xi. 20). 9. Demetrius (xi. 22). 10. Ptolemy Philometor (xi. 25, 40). 
 
 - Strenuous efforts have been made at any sacrifice, whether of exegetical con- 
 sistency or common sense, to interpret the fourth beast of the Roman empire, and 
 thus, by drawing out the prophecy to modern times, to leave room for the coming 
 of the Son of Man to destroy an imaginary Antichrist. With this view, a corres- 
 pondence has been pointed out between the bear and the leopard of chapter vii. and 
 the Medo- Persian ram and the Macedonian he-goat of chapter viii. It has, how- 
 ever, been overlooked that these symbols are respectively followed by the fourth 
 ten-horned beast, succeeded by the " little horn," who wears out the saints of the 
 Most High, and is destroyed after a solemn process of judgment, in which the 
 Ancient of days executes sentence upon Antiochus ; and in the corresponding vision 
 by the "four notable ones,'" succeeded, after some interval, by the "little liorn," 
 who also destroys the holy people, but is " broken without hand." If, then, the 
 symbols of the bear and the leopard, upon the admission of opponents, coincide with 
 those of the ram and the he-goat, upon what principle is the ten-horned beast sepa- 
 rated by an incongruous remoteness from the four-headed beast ; and the *' little 
 horn " succeeding the former explained cf Antichrist, while that succeeding the latter 
 is referred to Antiochus? 
 
110 DANIEL. 
 
 seem to require that those immediately succeeding should 
 not be explained of things so widely distant from each 
 other as the impieties of the Syrian tyrant and the ex- 
 pected opposition of some future enemy of the Church. 
 To the objection that they who consider the prophecy to 
 have been written after the event ought to have no diffi- 
 culty in finding a meaning for these symbols, — " it being 
 as inconsistent with the orthodox (?) school to attempt to 
 explain them as it would be in the school of Porphyry (?) 
 not to explain them,'' — it may be answered that the same 
 may be urged against the books of Enoch and 2 Esdras, 
 which, professedly containing historico-prophetic repre- 
 sentations of events long passed, are still a weary trouble 
 to the learned. Independently of the mysterious cha- 
 racter of apocalyptic writings generally, the difficulty of 
 interpretation is increased by the defective history of the 
 period as well as by the sameness of nomenclature which 
 characterises the descendants both of Ptolemy and Seleu- 
 cus. It may, therefore, be no easy task to determine 
 with accuracy the " ten kings which shall arise" in the 
 latter time of the kingdom of the four notable ones, or 
 even to specify with precision' the four potent successors 
 of the Macedonian conqueror : symbolic prophecy, espe- 
 cially in cases where the same events are repeated under 
 a variety of emblems, not admitting of a definite inter- 
 pretation of particulars, although the general meaning 
 may be sufficiently apparent. 
 
 ' Josephus mentions /?ye principal successors of Alexander. "As his government 
 fell among many, Antigonus obtained Asia ; Seleucus, Babylon ; and of the other 
 nations whicli were there, Lysimajhus governed the Hellespont; Cassander pos- 
 sessed Macedonia: and Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, seized upon Egypt.— ^»^ xii, 1. 
 
THE FOUR GEE AT BEASTS. Ill 
 
 Similar vagueness^ is perceptible in the use of the terms 
 employed to describe the rise of the "little horn :" now 
 contemporaneoiislfj "among" the ten horns; now siihse- 
 quently "after'' the ten horns; now proceeding '-'' oiif'' 
 of one of the four notable ones ; now, posterior to them 
 in point of date, " in the latter time of their Icingdom ; " 
 the indefinite character of these expressions, while it 
 meets with singular propriety the case of Antiochus, who 
 appears both "after" and "among" the ten Syro-Egyp- 
 tian kings, " out" of the four notable ones, and yet "in 
 the latter time of their kingdom," making loopholes for 
 meaningless objections as well as frustrating the attempt 
 to interpret with mathematical precision. One great fact, 
 however, is sufiiciently apparent, that the writer intended 
 to denote a conspicuous persecutor of the Jewish people, 
 who should arise in the latter part of the divided king- 
 dom of Alexander's successors, and we can conceive of 
 no other to whom the prophetic description can apply 
 but the Antichrist of the prse-Christian period. 
 
 ^ Josephus and the writer of 1 Maccabees use terms of similar indistinctness in 
 describing the rise of Antiochus. The former after saying that they " who should 
 reign over the habitable earth for many years should not be of his (Alexander's) 
 kindred," adds that " from among them should arise a certain king" (Antiochus). — 
 Ant. X. 1 1. The latter, that " after his death his servants all put crowns upon them- 
 selves, and so did their sons after them many yean .... and there came out of them 
 a wicked root, Antiochus, surnamed Epiphaaes." — 1 Mace. i. 9, 10. The ambiguity 
 of the terms in which the rise of the tyrant is expressed by these writers, whilst it 
 leaves no doubt as to the person meant, throws an air of uncertainty around the 
 time of his appearance upon the scene of the divided Grecian empire. 
 
112 DANIEL. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE LITTLE HORN. 
 
 The symbol of the little liorn has been explained of 
 almost every remarkable personage, or of every startling 
 phenomenon, which has agitated the world from the days 
 of Daniel to the present time. Intense hatred of a 
 cognate church has driven the majority of Protestant 
 interpreters to apply the symbol to the church of Eome, 
 that ecclesiastical bug-bear which is immediately sug- 
 gested to some minds as often as the word "beast" is 
 met with in the Scriptures. A statement of the so-called 
 arguments on which this, aud similar theories, are sup- 
 posed to be founded, would require a volume of greater 
 dimensions than the present ; but perhaps the enumera- 
 tion of them is less to be regretted when it is remembered 
 that the interpretations are mutually destructive one of 
 another. Others, again, have applied the symbol to 
 Antichrist, and have explained the figures descriptive of 
 the struggle between the Jewish patriots and their Syrian 
 oppressors of some future contest between the Church and 
 the powers of evil. This interpretation would seem to 
 be purely arbitrary, and to have its origin in an attempt 
 to divest the book of Daniel of its historical character. 
 With equal disregard of cxegetical consistency, it has 
 been attempted to separate verses 35-45 of chapter xi. 
 
THE LITTLE HORN. 113 
 
 from the preceding subject and to refer them to an Anti- 
 christ yet to be revealed ; in forgetfulness of the context 
 which is occupied with the history of Antiochus until his 
 miserable death at the end of the chapter. The late date 
 which we have adopted precludes this system of capricious 
 interpretation and confines the field of inquiry within the 
 chronological horizon of the writer. If such limitation 
 increases the difficulty of finding a suitable meaning, it 
 also adds, if it can be found, to its conclusiveness ; for to 
 obtain within a given cycle a more satisfactory interpre- 
 tation than that for which long periods have been vainly 
 exhausted is a strong presumption in favour of truth. 
 
 In our own opinion the symbol of the "little horn"' 
 can only represent the great oppressor of the Jewish 
 nation, Antiochus Epiphanes. It would, we think, be 
 simply difficult to find another who could answer to the 
 character and fulfil the description given of him by 
 Daniel. And in order to maintain this view there is no 
 necessity, as is sometimes thought, to press the question 
 of a Maccabean date ; for even on the supposition that 
 the book of Daniel is a genuine work of the time of the 
 captivity, no other interpretation could be seriously en- 
 tertained. This opinion is firmly held by Moses Stuart. 
 
 * " The critics of both schools are almost unanimous in referring the ' little horn ' 
 of chapter viii. to Antiochus Epiphanes. He was a Syrian, and naturally took his 
 rise from the Grseco-Macedonian dynasty. On no supposition could he be said to 
 have sprung from the Roman empire. And if his portrait be accurately drawn in 
 chapter viii. it is equally so in chapter vii. To apply one description to one prince, 
 and another to a second, is met by the ^;ri;H(i /«c(c objection that it destroys the unity 
 of the book and is contradicted by an evident similarity of details. A comparison of 
 the passages vii. 8, 11, 20, 21, 24-26, and viii. 9-12, 22-25, will leave no other impres- 
 sion on the mind of an unprejudiced person than this : that they pourtray but one 
 character under differences due to a gradual and successive revelation, and permissible 
 through probable intervals of composition." — Rev. J. M. Fuller, p. 240. 
 
114 DANIEL. 
 
 "Frcnn this dynasty (the divided Grecian dominion) 
 springs Antiochus (vii. 8, 20), who is most graphically 
 described (v. 25) as one who shall ' speak great words 
 against the Most High and shall wear out the saints of 
 the Most High.' '' He is supported in this view by nearly 
 every writer of consideration who has given his thoughts 
 on this subject to the world. In endeavouring to main- 
 tain this position we shall first cite the passages in which 
 the persecutor, and the qualities ascribed to him, are set 
 forth ; and tlien show from contemporaneous and sub- 
 sequent history their fulfilment in the person and cir- 
 cumstances of Antiochus Epiphanes. 
 
 I. THE EISE OF ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES. 
 
 "I considered the horns and behold there came up among them 
 another little horn" (vii. 8). 
 
 "Another (horn) shall rise after them and he shall be diverse from 
 the first" (vii. 24). 
 
 " And out of one of them (the four notable ones) came forth a little 
 horn" (viii. 9). 
 
 " In the latter time of their kingdom (the four notable ones) when 
 the transgressors are come to the full (ubi compleverint peccatores peccata 
 sua), a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, 
 shall stand up" (viii. 23). 
 
 "And in hia estate (Seleucus Philopator) shall stand up a vile person 
 (Antiochus Epiphanes) to whom they shall not give the honour of the 
 kingdom" (xi. 21). 
 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, the second son of Antiochus the 
 Great, sprang from the stock of the Syrian inheritors of 
 the Macedonian conquests. '' Out of them (the four 
 potent successors of Alexander) arose another lesser horn, 
 Antiochus Epiphanes" (Ant. x. 11). This direct testi- 
 mony of Josephus is confirmed by the writer of the first 
 book of Maccabees. '^ There came out of them (the ser- 
 
THE LITTLE HORN. 115 
 
 vants of Alexander who all put crowns upon themselves) 
 a wicked root {pt^a afjiapTwKo^^^ Antiochus, surnamed Epi- 
 phanes, son of Antiochus the king" (1 Mace. i. 10). He 
 is described as a "little horn" (parvis initiis); less than 
 the four notable ones who succeeded the Macedonian 
 conqueror, or the ten Syro-Egyptian horns, whilst the 
 surname "Epiphanes," although common to other kings, 
 was given to him on account of the unenviable notoriety 
 which he acquired as the persecutor of the holy people. 
 
 The time of his appearance on the scene of Jewish 
 affairs is distinguished as one of great national apostacy. 
 The conquests of Alexander had introduced Greek customs 
 and modes of thought among the inhabitants of Palestine, 
 and it required but slight external pressure to draw 
 away a people half ashamed of their eccentric habits and 
 the peculiarities of their burdensome ceremonial from 
 the faith of their forefathers. Grecian games were 
 already in vogue at Jerusalem, and the foreign appella- 
 tions of Jason and Menelaus were assumed by the high- 
 priests, Jesus, and Onias themselves (Ant. xii. 5). 
 Citizens of Jerusalem were not ashamed to call them- 
 selves Antiochians, or to send special messengers "to 
 the sacrifice of Hercules'' at Tyre (2 Mace. iv. 9-19). 
 In the language of Daniel, "transgressors were come to 
 the full," and the time had arrived, when the wicked 
 should " do wickedly against the covenant" (viii. 23 ; xi. 
 32); or, as it is elsewhere described, when "wicked 
 men persuaded many .... and made themselves uncir- 
 cumcised and forsook the holy covenant" (1 Mace. i. 11- 
 15). The accession of Antiochus to the Syrian throne 
 at this critical period, while it greatly favoured the designs 
 
116 DANIEL. 
 
 of the Hellenizing party, prepared the way, as in former 
 periods of Jewish history, for the punishment of the na- 
 tional wickedness ; and, to use the Language of the prophet, 
 '' an host (the Jewish people) was given (to be destroyed) 
 against — together ivith — the daily sacrifice by reason of 
 transgression" (viii. 12). The same idea is insisted upon 
 by the Maccabean writer — " Not setting by the honours 
 of their fathers, but liking the glory of the Grecians best 
 of all, by reason whereof sore calamity came upon them ; 
 for they had them to be their enemies and avengers 
 whose custom they followed so earnestly, and unto whom 
 they desired to be like in all things" (2 Mace. iv. 15- 
 16). Thus their sin became their punishment, and their 
 desertion of the sanctuary was avenged in the pollution 
 of the sanctuary itself. It has already been observed 
 that the eiDoch which introduces Antiochus is defined 
 to be "the latter time of the kingdom" of the four 
 notable successors of Alexander, an epoch at the same 
 time subsequent to and contemporaneous with the 
 "ten horns." This description corresponds harmoni- 
 ously with the circumstances of the rise of the Syrian 
 persecutor ; and possibly of no other could it be affirmed 
 with equal fitness, that he should arise ^^ among''^ and 
 " after^'' i.e. contemporaneously, yet subsequently to the 
 ten kings, as well as '■'■outof'' and " in the latter time of 
 the kingdom^'' of the four potent successors of Alexander. 
 
THE LIXrLE HORN. 117 
 
 II. THE CONQUESTS OF ANTIOCHUS. 
 
 " Another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns 
 plucked up by the roots" (vii. 8). (" And three of the first horns were 
 dried up by it," LXX.) 
 
 "Before whom three fell" (vii. 20). 
 
 "He shall subdue three kings" (vii. 24). 
 
 " He waxed exceeding great toward the south, and toward the east, 
 and toward the pleasant land" (viii. 9). 
 
 " Within few days he (Seleucus Philopator) shall be destroyed, 
 neither in anger nor in battle ; and in his estate shall stand up a vUe 
 person" (xi. 20, 21). 
 
 " "With the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, 
 and shall be broken ; yea, also the prince of the covenant" (Demetrius), 
 (si. 22). 
 
 "He (Ptolemy Philometer) shall not stand, for they shall forecast 
 devices against him" (xi. 25). 
 
 The three horns " plucked up by the roots" by Antio- 
 chus are defined to be " three of the first horns" — the ten 
 horns before mentioned — "among" which Antiochus him- 
 self arises. These we have thought to be Seleucus Philo- 
 pator, his brother, assassinated by Heliodorus, probably 
 at the instigation of Antiochus; Demetrius, the son of 
 Philopator, his nephew, called " a prince of a covenant" 
 (xi. 22), detained by him unjustly as a hostage at Eome 
 in order that he might possess himself of the throne of 
 Syria ; and Ptolemy Philometor, the youthful son of his 
 sister Cleopatra, against whom he waged many and suc- 
 cessful wars. 
 
 Of the first of these it is said in the prophecy itself 
 that he should be ''destroyed neither in anger nor in 
 battle " (non in fervore pugnse, sine gloria bellica, sed 
 morte infausta, insidiis oppressus Heliodori) ; words 
 which, although not directly attributing his murder to 
 
118 DAXIEL. 
 
 Antiochus, leave room for the supposition that his im- 
 mediate successor was not altogether guiltless : of the 
 second, that he should be ''broken" before him; and of 
 the third, that he should not " stand." It will also be 
 observed that these three kings are contemporaneous with 
 Antiochus, being in fact the three last-mentioned of ten 
 Syro-Egyptian kings, who introduce and are connected 
 with the history of the " vile person" (xi. 21-45) ; a cir- 
 cumstance which serves to illustrate the apparent contra- 
 diction that the "little horn" arises both "among" and 
 ''after" the ten horns. ^ 
 
 The area over which the conquests of Antiochus ex- 
 tend is also marked out with characteristic precision: 
 their direction pointing "toward the south, and toward 
 the east, and toward the pleasant land." These parti- 
 culars find a realization in the history of those times. 
 Twice (some say four times) he invaded Egypt, the 
 
 1 The terms in which the rise of Antiochus is expressed are too vaguely conceived 
 to warrant the positive conclusion that by the " ten horns " kings of Syria are alone 
 intended, and that he must therefore be the eleventh Syrian kiog. Of this no in- 
 timation is given in the book itself ; and history abundantly testifies that he is the 
 eighth Syrian king, and that his reign is contemporary with that of the sixth Ptolemy. 
 " There would be a fixed principle (supposes an objector) in selecting either house, 
 the Ptolemies or the Seleucidse ; but either house furnishes less than ten, both to- 
 gether more than ten." No such selection, however, is demanded by the terms in 
 which the prophecy is couched. The objection, that since the narrative is posterior 
 •to the event, no difficulty ouglit to be experienced in the interpretation of the ten 
 horns, or the three uprooted by the little horn, falls to the ground when the symbolic 
 character in which these events are set forth is taken into account. The characteristic 
 of prophecy, when couched in ordinary language, is vagueness with reference to parti- 
 culars; but when, as in the present case, the visions are purposely clothed in sym- 
 bolic dress, the meaning might be difficult of apprehension even to contemporaries 
 themselves. Similar obscurity is apparent in the description of the " great horn" 
 spoken of in the book of Enoch, whom the ravens and ravenous birds try to destroy, 
 As in Daniel, the mention of this " great horn" occurs in a purely historical passage 
 in which the writer gives an outline of sacred history from Adam to the time of the 
 Maccabees. Interpreters, however, are much divided in their opinions whether the 
 symbol refers to Judas Maccabeus or to John Hyrcanus. 
 
THE LITTLE HORN. 119 
 
 south (xi. 25-29, 40-43). He recovered the upper pra- 
 viuces of Syria, the east, from Ptolemy Philometor, who 
 succeeded to them as the dower of his mother, Cleopatra 
 (Bell, Jud. i. 1) ; and his devastations of the " pleasant 
 land," Judea, are too well known to require comment. 
 Josephus says with regard to his invasions of Egypt (the 
 south) that " Antiochus resolved to make an expedition into 
 Egypt .... so he came with great forces to Pelusium, 
 and circumvented Ptolemy Philometor by treachery 
 (' they shall forecast devices against him,' xi. 25), and 
 seized upon Egypt" (Ant. xii. 5). Driven from thence 
 by the menace of the Eoman legate, who charged him to 
 let that country alone, he made an expedition against the 
 city of Jerusalem: in the words of our prophet, ^'The 
 ships of Chittim (LXX. the Eomans) shall come against 
 him, therefore he shall be grieved and return and have 
 indignation against the holy covenant" (xi. 30). His 
 dominion over Syria and the Eastern provinces extended 
 "from the river Euphrates nnto the borders of Egypt" 
 (1 Mace. iii. 32) ; and when, in want of means to pay his 
 troops preparatory to an intended invasion of Judea, he 
 went into Persia to collect the taxes of that conquered 
 country, "he left one Lysias governor of the kingdom as 
 far as the bounds of Egypt, and of the lower Asia, and 
 reaching from the river Euphrates" (Ant. xii. 7). De- 
 scribed as a "little horn" in the commencement of his 
 reign, he afterwards increased to formidable dimensions ; 
 " waxing exceeding great," and, with the exception, 
 perhaps, of the great Antiochus, his father, becoming 
 the most magnificent of the Syro-Macedonian kings. 
 
120 DANIEL. 
 
 III. THE CEAFTY POLICY OF ANTIOCHUS. 
 
 "His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he 
 shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and practise .... and 
 through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand, and 
 he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many" 
 (viii. 24, 2o). 
 
 "He shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries 
 .... and after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully 
 .... he shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the 
 province .... and he shall forecast his devices against the strong- 
 holds even for a time" (xi. 21, 23, 24.) 
 
 " Antiochus Epiplianes (says Mr. Westcott) was given 
 as a hostage to the Eomans after his father's defeat at 
 Magnesia. In B.C. 17o he was released by the interven- 
 tion of his brother Seleucus, who substituted his own son 
 Demetrius in his place. Antiochus was at Athens when 
 Seleucus was assassinated by Ileliodorus. He took ad- 
 vantage of his position, and by the assistance of Eumenes 
 and Attains easily expelled HeliodoruSj who had usurped 
 the crown, and himself ' obtained the kingdom by flat- 
 teries.' " The treacherous qualities by which Antiochus 
 obtained possession of the Syrian kingdom to the exclu- 
 sion of his nephew Demetrius, the lawful heir to the 
 throne, receive ample confirmation from Josephus and 
 the writers of the Maccabean history. " Xing Antiochus 
 (says the former) returning out of Egypt for fear of the 
 Eomans made an expedition against the city of Jeru- 
 salem ; and when he was there, in the one hundred and 
 forty third year of the kingdom of the Seleucidee, he took 
 the city without fighting, those of his own party opening 
 the gates to him .... and pretending peace, he got 
 
THE LITTLE HORN. 121 
 
 possession of the city by treachery; at which time he 
 spared not so much as those that admitted him into it, 
 on account of the riches that lay in the temple" (Ant. 
 xii. 5). Antiochus could the more easily play the part 
 assigned to him, inasmuch as the Hellenistic party had 
 secret friends within Jerusalem, headed by the impious 
 Menelaus, who encouraged his insidious and oppressive 
 acts (comp. 2 Mace, v.) The crafty policy of Antiochus 
 seems to have been adopted by his lieutenant Apollonius. 
 "The king (it is said) sent his chief collector of tribute 
 unto the cities of Juda, who came unto Jerusalem with a 
 great multitude, and spake peaceable words unto them, 
 but all was deceit ; for when they had given him cre- 
 dence, he fell suddenly upon the city, and smote it very 
 sore" (1 Mace. i. 29, 30). "Antiochus (complains Jose- 
 phus, Con. Apion. ii. 7) had no just cause for that ravage 
 of our temple that he made : he only came to it when he 
 wanted money without declaring himself an enemy, and 
 attacked us while we were his associates and friends." 
 We can scarcely fail to recognize in these actions a con- 
 firmation of the treacherous qualities ascribed by the 
 prophet to Antiochus, " working deceitfully after the 
 league made with him;" confirming a covenant with 
 many and then breaking it ; making use of the traitorous 
 conduct of the apostate Jews to further his own purposes ; 
 "circumventing Ptolemy Philometor by treachery, and 
 unjustly retaining his nephew as a Eoman hostage ; these, 
 and similar acts of perfidy, exhibit the character of a man 
 who, whatever may have been his ability, appears to 
 have been reckless and unscrupulous in carrying out his 
 designs ; and who on that account, as well as on others 
 
122 DANIEL. 
 
 more particularly obnoxious to the Jews themselves, has 
 handed down an infamous name to posterity. 
 
 IV. THE BLASPHEMIES OF ANTIOCHUS. 
 
 " In this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth 
 speaking great things" (vii. 8). 
 
 " I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the 
 horn spake" (vii. 11). 
 
 " That horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, 
 whose look was more stout than his fellows" (vii. 20). 
 
 "And he shall speak great \?ovds{^^aacj>-fiiJ.ova- \6yovs, Theodoret) against 
 the Most High" (vii. 25). 
 
 " And it waxed great even to the host of heaven : and it cast down 
 some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon 
 them. Yea, he magnified himself even to (against) the Prince of the 
 Host" (viii. 10, 11). 
 
 "He shall also stand up against the Prince of princes" (viii. 25). 
 
 " He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and 
 shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods .... neither 
 shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor 
 regard any god (this last clause is omitted by the LXX.); for he shall 
 magnify himself above all" (xi. 36, 37). 
 
 The peculiar feature in the character of Antiochus was 
 not so much impiety as a determination to coerce those 
 who differed from him to his own religious standard. 
 He had his "ism" like enthusiasts of more recent 
 times; and, having kingly authority, sought to force it 
 upon the world. Eegardless of the (Syrian) god of his 
 fathers, and possibly magnifying himself above every 
 god, he was not, as has been sometimes thought, alto- 
 gether destitute of religious veneration." It is distinctly 
 asserted of him that in the place, or on the base of the 
 
 ' " In two great and right things his was a truly royal mind, in gifts to cities and 
 worship of the gods." — Liv. xli. 20. 
 
 " In the sacrifices to the cities and in the honour to the gods he surpassed all who 
 had reigned before him. This one may judge from the temple of Jupiter Olympiua 
 at Athens and the statues around the altar at Delos." — Polybius. 
 
THE LITTLE HORN. 123 
 
 statue of tlie god whom liis fathers worshipped, he should 
 ^^ honour the God of forces ;i and a god whom his fathers 
 knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with 
 precious stones, and pleasant things : thus shall he do in 
 the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall 
 acknowledge and increase with glory'' (xi. 38, 39). It 
 would seem that Antiochus compelled his heathen sub- 
 jects as well as the Jews to acknowledge this strange 
 deity. The officers at Modin urge Mattathias to sacrifice 
 on the ground, that not only the men of Judah and Jeru- 
 salem, but all the heathen (comp. 1 Mace. i. 42) have 
 fulfilled the king's commandment; to which the noble 
 .answer is given, '' Though all the nations that are under 
 the king's dominion obey him, and fall away every one 
 from the religion of their fathers, and give consent to his 
 commandments, yet will I and my sons and my brethren 
 walk in the covenant of our fathers" (1 Mace. ii. 19, 20). 
 The only plea for this intolerance — a plea that must be 
 put in for the persecutor in every age — is excess of zeal 
 declaring itself in the attempt to overthrow the worship 
 of every other object but that of its own choice. 
 
 It is not difficult to imagine what the effect of such 
 proselytism would be upon a people like the Jews, con- 
 servative almost to bigotry on the question of religious 
 worship. In their estimation the propagator of the new 
 faith was a blasphemer of the worst kind, and no terms 
 of reproach were too base or too bitter to be applied to 
 him. That Antiochus fully merited such invectives there 
 
 ^ " Apparet agi de deo aliquo bellico. Qui cum Syris antea ignotus fuisse dicatur 
 (c/. xi. 38, 39) : probabiliter intelligendus est Jupiter Capitoliuus cui templum 
 Antiochise condere csepit Antiochus." — {Liv. xli. 20). — Maurer. (Comp. 2 Mace, 
 vi. 1,2). 
 
124 DANIEL. 
 
 can be little doubt. It is probable that he regarded the 
 true God in the same light as those gods of his country 
 whom he despised, and above whom he magnified him- 
 self. Josephus has preserved a letter addressed by the 
 Samaritans to ''Xing Antiochus Epiphanes the god;"' 
 and his blasphemies against the God of heaven are con- 
 firmed (1 Mace. i. 21, 24), where he is said to have 
 " entered proudly into the sanctuary,'' and to have spoken 
 very proudly.'' In 2 Mace. ix. 10, he is described as 
 " one who thought he could reach to the stars of heaven ;'' 
 no inapt commentary on the words, " He waxed great 
 unto the host of heaven, and he cast down some of the 
 host and of the stars (the people of Israel) to the ground." 
 Above all, his profanation of holy things ; his shameless 
 plunder of the temple, which other heathen kings had 
 been accustomed to respect; his wanton provocation of 
 the national prejudices in setting up the idol altar above 
 that of Jehovah ; not only justify the description given 
 of him by Daniel, but defy the annals of any period to 
 produce a character in whom they can be realized with 
 equal clearness. To the objection, scarce worthy of 
 notice, that the "little horn" of chapter viii., which is 
 admitted to represent Antiochus, does not correspond in 
 all its features with the "little horn" of chapter vii., we 
 would reply that the difference between these several 
 descriptions is not greater than that between the great 
 image of chapter ii. and the four great beasts of chapter 
 
 * " The reigning king (says Dr. Dollingerof the Lagidse) as well as all his ancestors 
 shared the temples and altars with the gods of the land. There were priests of the 
 god Soter, of the gods Euergetae, of the gods Philopator ; and as soon as one Lagides 
 succeeded his father on the throne, weie he of age or but a minor, he was creatsd a 
 god forthwith, and the high priest at Alexandria was charged with his worship," 
 
THE LITTLE HORN. 125 
 
 vii., in which the same ideas are allowed to be repeated 
 under a variety of symbol and language ; and it might, 
 with equal propriety, be contended that the kingdoms 
 symbolized by the four metals of the first are not analo- 
 gous to those set forth by the four beasts of the second, 
 because in the former all mention is omitted of the '' little 
 horn." Let it be added to this, that in both chapters the 
 characteristic features of the tyrant's history are never 
 lost sight of. His persecution of the holy people, his 
 blasphemies against the God of heaven, and his heaven- 
 inflicted and miserable death, find a place in each : the 
 variety of costume under which these ideas are set forth 
 being used to avoid a wearisome tautology as well as for 
 the purpose of delineating more graphically the person 
 who is the subject of them. 
 
 V. THE PERSECUTIONS OF ANTIOCHTJS. 
 
 " I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and pre- 
 vailed against them" (vii. 21). 
 
 " He shall wear out the saints of the Most High .... and they shall 
 be given into his hand" (vii. 25). 
 
 " A king of fierce countenance and understanding dark sentences 
 shall stand up ... . and he shall destroy wonderfully .... and shall 
 destroy the mighty and the holy people" (viii. 23, 24). 
 
 " They shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by 
 spoil many days" (xi. 33). 
 
 "And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to 
 purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end" (xi. 35). 
 
 " There shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was 
 a nation to that same time" (xii. 1). 
 
 "Many shall be purified and made white and tried" (xii. 10). 
 
 It is well known that the unenviable office here as- 
 cribed to Antiochus of " making war," (i.e. persecuting, 
 comp. Eev. xi. 7), with the saints, and wearing out 
 
126 DANIEL. 
 
 (by tortures) the saints of the Most High,'' obtained its 
 complete realization. ''This king of fierce countenance" 
 — avaih)]<i irpoawrro), LXX. — andof " furious mind,'' "whose 
 look was more stout than his fellows," not only gave 
 orders for the punishment of those who refused, at his 
 suggestion, to forsake the law of their fathers, but, ac- 
 cording to the writer of Maccabees ii., himself presided 
 over their abominable tortures. The tender mercies of 
 this royal executioner may be seen in an account of a 
 mother and her seven sons put to death by him for re- 
 fusing to eat swine's flesh. The eldest six suffered the 
 extremity of barbarous cruelty before the mother's eyes. 
 The last and youngest the tyrant agreed to spare if he 
 would turn from the laws of his fathers ; and when he 
 had vainly endeavoured to persuade him to apostatize, 
 he at last sent for his mother, and " exhorted her that 
 she should counsel the young man to save his life." But 
 with more than Spartan firmness, she exclaimed " my 
 son, have pity upon me that bare thee, and brought thee 
 up unto this age : fear not this tormentor, but take thy 
 death that I may receive thee again in mercy with thy 
 brethi'en." The death, also, of Eleazar, one of the prin- 
 cipal scribes, an aged man, " who was constrained to 
 open his mouth and to eat swine's flesh, but who, choos- 
 ing to die gloriously rather than live stained with such 
 an abomination, spit it forth, and came of his own accord 
 to the torment," affords another ''example to such as be 
 young to die willingly and courageously for the honour- 
 able and holy laws'' (2 Mace. iv). To this may be added 
 the untold sufferings of those heroic men who fled with 
 the Maccabees into the mountains and supported life there 
 
THE LITTLE HOEN". 127 
 
 "after the manner of beasts." A season of distress and 
 anguish followed, " such as never was since there was a 
 nation to that same time." Under the pressure of this 
 unheard of trouble, the holy city "became strange to 
 those that were born in her, and her own children left 
 her" (1 Mace. i. 38). " The Jews (says Josephus) every 
 day underwent great miseries and bitter torments ; for 
 they were whipped with rods, and their bodies were torn 
 to pieces, and were crucified while they were yet alive." 
 They also strangled those women and their sons whom 
 they had circumcised (1 Mace. i. 60, 61), as the king 
 had appointed, hanging their sons about their necks as 
 they were upon the crosses" (Ant. xii. 5). Indeed, 
 '' under the whole heaven had not been done as had 
 been done upon Jerusalem ;" ^ no wonder that the mourn- 
 
 ^ In the recent work of Dr. Pusey, professing to be an unanswerable contribution 
 against the scepticism which would relegate the composition of the book of Daniel 
 to the Maccabean period, are found the subjoined passages which we place in parallel 
 columns, with the opposite statement of the venerable Dean of St PauFs, leaving 
 the reader to form his own judgment respecting the credit to be attached to eaeh. 
 
 •' It is remarkable that, coHi^-ari/ to the "Antiochus . . . determined to exter- 
 
 facts in the time of Antiochus, and con- minate the Hebrew race from the face of 
 formably to the facts under Titus, the the earth. The executmi of the sangui- 
 destruction is attributed to the people of nary edict was entrusted to Apollonius, 
 this prince, not to himself." p. 187. and executed with as cruel despatch as 
 
 " The people of a prince that shall the most sanguinary tyrant could de- 
 come shall destroy city and temple, i.e. sire. Apollonius waited till the Sabbath, 
 shall fire some houses in the city, yet leav- when all the people were occupied in their 
 ing it, as a whole, unhurt and inhabited peaceful religious duties. He then let 
 as before, and displacing not one stone or loose his soldiers against the unresisting 
 ornament of the temple, nay, not touching multitude, slew all the men, till the streets 
 it, for the idol altar was built oti the ran with blood, and seized all the women 
 brazen altar outside." p. 226. as captives. He proceeded to pillage and 
 
 Datiiel the Frophet, Rev. E. B. Puset, then to dismantle the city, which he set on 
 D.D. fire in many places : he threw down the 
 
 walls, and built a strong fortress on the 
 highest part of Mount Sion, which com- 
 manded the temple and all the rest of the 
 city."— History of the Jews, vol. i. p. 
 
 462. MlLMAN. 
 
128 DANIEL. 
 
 ful plaint arose, "K'o'w therefore our God hear the 
 prayer of thy servant and his supplications .... open 
 thine eyes and behold our desolations and the city which 
 is called by thy name" (ix. 17, 18). 
 
 VI. THE ATTEMPT OF ANTIOCHUS TO ABOLISH THE 
 JEWISH RELIGION. 
 
 "He shall think to change times and laws" (vii. 25). 
 
 "His heart shall be against the holy covenant" (xi. 28). 
 
 "He shall have indignation against the holy covenant" (xi. 30). 
 
 " He shall have intelligence with them that forsake the holy coven- 
 ant" (xi. 30). 
 
 " Such as do wickedly against the covenant shall be corrupt by 
 flatteries" (xi. 32). 
 
 In his attempt to exterminate the Jewish religion, to 
 call the temple that of Jupiter Olj^mpius, and to compel 
 the Jews to adopt the religious worship of the heathen, 
 Antiochus differs ("he shall be diverse from the first") 
 from other Gentile princes whose history has been inter- 
 woven with that of the holy people. So far from being 
 desirous of abolishing the worship of Jehovah, they ap- 
 pear to have been anxious to retain the religious offices 
 of the Jews. ISTebuchadnezzar respected the prophetical 
 character of Jeremiah (Jer. xxxix. 11): Cyrus is distin- 
 guished as the "anointed" (Isaiah xlv. 1) restorer of the 
 temjDle: Darius "sent unto the house of God Sherezer 
 and Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the 
 Lord'' (Zech. vii. 2) ; and commanded the Jews to " offer 
 sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven, and 
 to pray for the life of the king and his sons" (Ezra vi. 
 10). "Seleucus (Philopator) king of Asia, of his own 
 revenues, bare all the costs belonging to the service of 
 the sacrifices" (2 Mace. iii. 3). But Antiochus, the 
 
THE LITTLE HOEN". 129 
 
 staunch enemy of Judaism, like his antitype Nero, aimed 
 at the complete extinction of the existing worship. 
 ''King Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom, that all 
 should be one people, and every one should leave his 
 
 laws and should follow the laws and rites of the 
 
 strangers in the land (margin); and forbid burnt-offer- 
 ings, and sacrifice, 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 uncleanness and pro- 
 fanation: to the end they might forget the law, and 
 change all the ordinances : and whosoever would not 
 do according to the commandment of the king he should 
 die" (1 Mace. i. 41-50). Similarly Josephus says: "He 
 compelled them to forsake the worship which they paid 
 to their own God, and to adore those whom he took to 
 be gods, and made them build temples, and raise idol- 
 altars in every city and village" (Ant. xii. v.). 
 
 YII. THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION SET IIP BY 
 ANTIOCHUS. 
 
 "By him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his 
 sanctuary was cast down ; and an host was given him against the daily 
 sacrifice by reason of transgression" (viii. 11-12). 
 
 "The people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city 
 
 and the sanctuary, and in the midst of the week he shall 
 
 cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease" (ix. 26-27). 
 
 "And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the 
 sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and 
 they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate" (xi. 31). 
 
 "From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and 
 
 9 
 
130 DANIEL. 
 
 the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand 
 two hundred and ninety days" (xii. 11). 
 
 Of all historical facts, that recorded in the passages 
 above cited, is one of the most indubitable; the time 
 of its perpetration, as well as that of its duration, being 
 noted with minute precision. '' Now, the fifteenth day 
 of the mouth Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, 
 they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, 
 and builded idol-altars throughout the cities of Juda on 
 
 every side Now the five and twentieth day of the 
 
 rhonth they did sacrifice upon the idol-altar which was 
 upon the altar of God" (1 Mace. i. 54-59). Josephus 
 adds : ^' And when the king had built an idol-altar upon 
 God's altar, he slew swine upon it, and so offered a sacri- 
 fice neither according to the law nor the Jewish religious 
 worship in that city" (Ant. xii. v.). The wanton character 
 of this insult was inexcusable. It left its mark deeply 
 impressed upon the national mind. Bishop Newton, 
 in his anxiety to interpret the " little horn'' of 
 Antichrist, has spoken slightingly of the calamities 
 suffered under Antiochus, and has thought them in no 
 way to be compared to those endured under Nebuchad- 
 nezzar. But the Babylonian captivity, terrible as it 
 was, did not wound the national spirit so acutely as the 
 shorter yet more malignant persecution of Antiochus. 
 The Jew, always enthusiastic and impulsive, displayed 
 on the subject of religion a fanaticism akin to frenzy, and 
 the degradation heaped upon the altar of Jehovah sank 
 deeply into the heart of all the race. Hence the historical 
 prominence given to the treasured wrong. Hence the 
 inexpressible indignation at the gratuitous insult as 
 
THE LITTLE HORN. 131 
 
 well as the triumphant poean at the excision of the op- 
 pressor. It ceases, therefore, to be an object of wonder 
 that the deliverance of the holy people from such intoler- 
 able indignities should have supplied a theme congenial 
 to the exalted state of the national mind, which found 
 suitable expression in the noble plainness of Maccabean 
 history, and in the mysterious, yet not less significant 
 symbolism of Daniel. 
 
 VIII. THE MISERABLE EKD OF ANTIOCHUS. 
 
 " I beheld till the thrones were cast down (placed — donee sella 
 colJocatcB sunt), and the Ancient of days did sit, . . , , the judgment 
 was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then, because of the 
 voice of the great words which the horn spake ; I beheld even till the 
 beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning 
 flame" (vii. 9-11). 
 
 " The judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion to 
 consume, and to destroy it unto the end" (vii. 26). 
 
 "He shall be broken without hand." — E'eypliesyadishaver, — in want 
 (comp. Prov. xiv. 28) of hand to help him, he shall be broken (viii. 25). 
 
 "That determined shall be poured upon the desolate" — desolator 
 (margin) (ix. 27). 
 
 " He shall come to his end, and none shall help him,'' — ve mjn hozer 
 lo, — and there is not a helper to him (xi. 45). 
 
 It is noticeable that the destruction of Antiochus is 
 
 attributed in the book of Daniel to the Divine judgment.^ 
 
 ' " Quant au jugement . . . ce n'est pas ce que le dogme chre'tien appelle le 
 jugement dernier, mais le jugement de Dieu cotitre Antiochus Epiphane ; I'intervention 
 de Jehova en faveur de son peuple." — Colani. Comp. 1 Kings xxii. where Ahab 
 is sentenced to be slain after a solemn process of judgment : " I saw the Lord sitting 
 on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on 
 his left," etc. So also the judgment scene is described in the book of Enoch in 
 terms similar to those employed by Daniel — "At that time I beheld the Ancient of 
 Days while he sat upon the throne of his glory, while the book of the living was 
 opened in his presence, and while all the powers which were above the heavens stood 
 around and before him : then were the hearts of the saints full of joy because the consum - 
 mation of righteousness was arrived, the supplication of the saints heard, and the blood 
 
 of the righteous appreciated by the Lord of spirits In those days shall the 
 
 kings of the earth and the mighty men who have gained the world by their achieve- 
 ments become humble in countenance . . . I will cast them like hay into the fire and 
 like lead into the water : thus shall they bum in the presence of the righteous." — 
 Book of Enoch, xlvii. 3, 4 : xlviii. 7, 9. 
 
132 DANIEL. 
 
 In the sublime picture of chapter vii. 9, 10, the Ancient 
 of Days seated on his wheeled^ throne, and surrounded 
 by myriads of angels, executes just retribution upon the 
 sacrilegious tyrant. In the symbolic language of the 
 prophet, ''the beast^ is slain, and his body destroyed, 
 and given to the burning flame." This "just punish- 
 ment for his pride'' (2 Mace. vii. 36) is largely noticed 
 by contemporaneous and subsequent writers. " The Lord 
 Almighty, the God of Israel, smote him with an incura- 
 ble and invisible plague (comp. Acts xii. 23) ... . and 
 thus he that a little afore thought he might command 
 the waves of the sea (so proud was he beyond the con- 
 dition of man), and weigh the high mountains in a 
 balance, was now cast on the ground and carried in an 
 horse-litter, shewing forth unto all the manifest power 
 of God: so that the worms rose up out of the body of 
 this wicked man, and whiles he lived in sorrow and pain 
 his flesh fell away, and the filthiness of his smell was 
 noisome to all his army" (2 Mace. ix. 4-9). 
 
 Stricken down by an irresistible hand, the oppressor 
 acknowledges his guilt, and repents of his enormities. 
 "It is meet (he says) to be subject unto God, and that 
 a man that is mortal should not proudly think of himself 
 as if he were God. This wicked person vowed also 
 unto the Lord, who now no more would have mercy 
 upon him, saying thus, that the holy city (to the which 
 he was going in haste, to lay it even with the ground, 
 and to make it a common burying place,) he would set 
 
 ' " Erat igitur thronus currui impositus eoque vectus, ad instar illius quem Ezekiel, 
 cap. i. et 10, describit." — Rosenmuller. 
 
 ^ 'Ou 7op ix6vov d 'Avrioxos airwKtTo, dAAa koi i) fxaKtdovuth apX^ naaa Kart- 
 
 \v9ll. — POLYCHRON, cf. VS. '26. 
 
THE LITTLE HOEN. 133 
 
 at liberty ; and as touching the Jews, whom he had 
 judged not worthy so much as to be buried, but to be 
 cast out with their chiklren to be devoured of the fowls, 
 and wild beasts, he would make them all equals to the 
 citizens of Athens ; and the holy temple which before 
 he had spoiled he would garnish with goodly gifts, and 
 restore all the holy vessels with many more, and out of 
 his own revenue defray the charges belonging to the 
 sacrifices ; yea, and that also he would become a Jew 
 himself and go through all the world that was inhabited 
 and declare the power of God" (2 Mace. ix. 12-17). 
 "He fell into a distemper (says Josephus) which, as it 
 lasted a great while and as his pains increased upon him, 
 so he at length perceived he should die in a little time. 
 So he called his friends to him and told them that his 
 distemper was severe upon him, and confessed withal 
 that this calamity was sent upon him for the miseries he 
 had brought upon the Jewish nation while he plundered" 
 their temple and contemned their God" (Ant. xii. 9). 
 '' His pains (however) do not cease." " He is broken 
 without (helping) hand." "His end (not "the end 
 thereof," as in our version) shall be with a flood." " He 
 shall come to his end and none shall help him." " Thus 
 the murderer and blasphemer having suffered most 
 grievously as he intreated other men, so died he a 
 miserable death in a strange^ country in the mountains" 
 (2 Mace. ix. 28). 
 
 ' Polybius says that Antiochus came to his miserable end because he had a pur- 
 pose to plunder the temple of Diana in Persia : with the feeling natural to a Jew 
 Josephus ascribes the same event to his "sacrilegious plundering of the temple at 
 Jerusalem.'' 
 
 2 <i»£^ Td$ais rrjs riepertSos f(eX.nre rhv Biov." — Polybius. 
 
134 DANIEL. 
 
 It would perhaps be difficult to find a fulfilment which 
 answers with greater exactness to the symbol of " the 
 little horn" than the one now given. Speaking of the 
 fitness with which it squares with the history of Antio- 
 chus, a modern commentator observes, " There can be no 
 doubt that Antiochus Epiphanes :s denoted here. All 
 the circumstances of the 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 this symbol, he could not have found a 
 symbol that would have been more striking or more 
 appropriate than this" (Barnes on Daniel viii.). To this 
 it may be added, that Josephus appears to have been 
 aware of no other interpretation. He distinctly asserts 
 that ''the lesser horn" (Antiochus) arose out of the four 
 horns of Alexander's divided empire; that it "waxed 
 great," and that " God shewed to him (Daniel) that it 
 should fight against his nation and take their city by 
 force, and bring the temple worship to confusion, and 
 forbid the sacrifices to be offered for one thousand two 
 hundred and ninety-six days (comp. 1290 days, xii. 11) 
 .... that from among them (the four horns) there 
 should arise a certain king that should overcome our 
 nation and laws, and should take away the political 
 government, and should spoil the temple, and forbid the 
 sacrifices to be offered for three years. Accordingly it 
 happened that our nation suffered these things under 
 Antiochus Epiphanes" (Ant. x. 11). Interpreted by the 
 aid of contemporaneous and subsequent history, the sym- 
 bol of the little horn would seem to be capable of a 
 natural and intelligible solution ; explained as it some- 
 
THE LITTLE HORN. 135 
 
 times is of an imaginary Anticlinst of present or yet 
 future times, it becomes obscure, contradictory, and mis- 
 leading, involving palpable absurdities and encouraging 
 fanaticism and error. 
 
136 DANIEL. 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 JUDAS MACCABEUS. 
 
 It was not to be expected that an impatient people like 
 the Jews would long submit to insults of such a nature 
 as those heaped upon them by Antiochus. The flame 
 of insubordination soon burst forth, and Mattathias, a 
 priest of the order of Joarib, indignant at the abomina- 
 tions committed in Judah and Jerusalem, having first 
 slain the king's officer who compelled the Israelites to 
 sacrifice in his own village of Modin, betook himself, like 
 David of old, to the wilderness at the head of a small 
 band of patriots. '' If any one (he said) be zealous for 
 the laws of his country and for the worship of God, 
 let him follow me" (Ant. xii. 6). "So he and his 
 sons fled into the mountains (or the wilderness as it is 
 presently called) to dwell there " (1 Mace. ii. 28, 29), for 
 the sake of the protection afforded by the desert fastnesses. 
 What these heroic men suffered for conscience' sake 
 in the secret places of their desolate sojourn, as they 
 "wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and 
 caves of the earth," and to what extent they carried their 
 zeal for the law, when, being attacked by the forces of 
 Antiochus on the Sabbath, they, to the number of a 
 thousand, preferred to perish in the caves where they lay 
 hid, rather than break the commandment by offering re- 
 sistance on that holy day, may be learnt from 1 Mace. ii. 
 
JTTDAS MACCABEUS. 137 
 
 History no where supplies a record of more disinterested 
 zeal or more dignified endurance than that evinced by the 
 small yet "noble army of martyrs," who were "purified 
 and made white and tried " in that time of unparalleled 
 trouble. 
 
 After braving the authority of the tyrant for a year, 
 and " living in the mountains after the manner of beasts,'' 
 Mattathias, who seems to have been already advanced in 
 years when the insurrection was made, fell a victim to 
 the hardships consequent upon such a manner of life, 
 and was buried in the sepulchre of his fathers at Modin, 
 charging his sons with his latest breath to " give their 
 lives for the covenant of their fathers," and reminding 
 them by the examples of Joseph, Daniel, and the three 
 holy children, that " throughout all ages none that put 
 their trust in him shall be overcome." The sagacity of 
 this prudent and zealous leader is not inaptly shown in 
 the choice made by him of those amongst his sons whom 
 he desired should fill his place. " I know (he said) that 
 your brother Simon is a man of counsel, give ear unto 
 him alway ; he shall be a father unto you : as for Judas 
 Maccabeus he hath been mighty and strong even from 
 his youth up, let him be your captain and fight the battle 
 of the people" (1 Mace. ii. 65-66). " Judas then (says 
 Josephus) took upon him the administration of public 
 afiairs in the 146th year (of the Seleucidse) ; and by the 
 ready assistance of his brethren and of others cast their 
 enemies out of the country, put those of their own 
 country to death who had transgressed its laws, and 
 purified the land of all the pollutions that were in 
 it " (Ant. xii. 6). 
 
138 DANIEL. 
 
 The Maccabean leader began the work of national 
 deliverance by collecting around him such of his country- 
 men as remained faithful to the law amidst the cir- 
 cumstances of trial in which they were placed. He 
 soon found himself at the head of a small band of 
 desperate men, "and all his brethren helped him, and 
 so did all they that held with his father, and they fought 
 with cheerfulness the battle of Israel'' (1 Mace. iii. 2). 
 His first success was obtained over Apollonius the 
 governor of Samaria, the " chief collector of tribute " 
 (1 Mace. i. 29), and a bitter enemy of the Jews : the 
 Samaritans claiming to be Sidonians and not Jews (Ant. 
 xii. 5) and freely adopting the Greek customs imposed by 
 Antiochus. In this engagement Apollonius was defeated 
 and slain, and his sword retained by the conqueror as 
 a trophy of victory. Seron, general of the army of 
 Coele Syria, was the next opponent. He experienced 
 a still more disgraceful defeat than the former : his great 
 multitude being utterly routed in the going down of 
 Bethhoron " (1 Mace. iii. 24., Josh. x. 11) by the small 
 yet determined band of patriots: Judas, like another 
 Asa (2 Chron. xiv. 11), encouraging his soldiers with 
 the words, "It is no hard matter for many to be shut 
 up in the hands of a few ; and with the God of heaven 
 it is all one to deliver with a great multitude or a small 
 company " (1 Mace. iii. 18). Encouraged by success, the 
 troops of Judas encounter subsequently the whole power 
 of Syria under Gorgias " that cursed man " (2 Mace, xii, 
 35) and Nicanor, their heathen adversaries amounting to 
 the number of 40,000 foot, and 7,000 horse ; and so 
 confident are the latter of annihilating the insignificant 
 
JUDAS MACCABEUS. 139 
 
 band opposed to them that they are accompanied by 
 '' merchants to buy those that should be carried captives ; 
 having bonds with them to bind those that should be 
 made prisoners, and silver and gold with which they 
 were to pay for their price '' (Ant. xii. 7). The patriots, 
 putting their trust in God, resolve to conquer or perish, 
 ''for it is better for us (they said) to die in battle than 
 to behold the calamities of our people and our sanctuary ; 
 nevertheless as the will of God is in heaven, so let him 
 do" (1 Mace. iii. 59-60). Opposing stratagem by counter- 
 stratagem, Judas seizes and burns the camp of the enemy, 
 plunders it of its treasures, and returns laden with spoil and 
 singing hymns ^ of praise. " This victory (says Josephus) 
 greatly contributed to the recovery of their liberty." The 
 next year Lysias, the viceroy of Syria, confounded at the 
 
 ' It has been supposed that several of the later Psalms are of Maccabean date. 
 Amongst these we would single out Psalm cxviii., sung possibly by Judas and his 
 companions after the defeat of Gorgias or Lysias, when they " went home and sung 
 a song of thanksgiving and praised the Lord in heaven because it is good, because his 
 mercy endureth for ever" (1 Mace. iv. 24 ; Ps. cxviii. 1). The leading ideas of this 
 Psalm find an answer in Maccabean history. It is '• the house of Aaron " ( Mattathias 
 being "a priest of the order of Joarib" Ant xii. 6), which is bid to utter a song of 
 praise because the Lord, and not man, hath given them the victory. The gathering of 
 the heathen nations, like bees, against the Jews (vv. 10, 11, 12), is repeated in the 
 " nations assembled together against us to destroy us and our sanctuary " (1 Mace- 
 iii. 58). The help of God by which the former are delivered from their enemies 
 (v. 13) is answered in the words "How shall we be able to stand against them, 
 except thou, O God, be our help? (1 Mace. iii. 53). The chastisement yet not the 
 destruction of the holy people (v. 18) in the similar sentiment, " Though he punish 
 with adversity, yet doth he never forsake his people " (2 Mace. vi. 16). The opening 
 of the gates of righteousness (v. 19) in the cleansing of the sanctuary (1 Mace. iv.). 
 The binding of the sacrifice with cords even unto the horns of the altar (v. 27) in the 
 "offering of sacrifice according to the law upon the new altar of burnt offerings 
 which they had made " (1 Mace. iv. 53). The stone which the builders refused becom- 
 ing the head of the corner (v. 22) in the stone, not in hands, becoming a great moun- 
 tain and filling the whole earth (Dan. ii. 34, 35) : whilst the Hosanna (vv. 25, 26) 
 re-echoed in the Benedictus of the Gospel, finds its answer in the joyous services of 
 the feast of dedication when " all the people fell upon their faces worshipping and 
 praising the God of heaven who had given them good success." 
 
140 DANIEL. 
 
 defeat at Emmaus of the troops which he had sent under 
 Gorgias and Nicanor, and determined to subdue the 
 rebellious Jews, assembled, at Bethsura, a still larger 
 army of 60,000 chosen foot and 5,000 horse which he 
 commanded in person. The Maccabee, as he is often 
 called, meets this overwhelming force with only 10,000 
 men, unhesitatingly attacks them, and the rest perceiving 
 the desperate character of their adversaries retreat to 
 Antioch. "Lysias (says our historian) observing the 
 great spirit of the Jews, how they were prepared to die 
 rather than lose their liberty, and being afraid of their 
 desperate way of fighting as if it were real strength, took 
 the rest of the army back with him, and returned to 
 Antioch; where he enlisted foreigners into the service 
 and prepared to fall upon Judea with a greater army'' 
 (Ant. xii. 1). 
 
 Having, by these splendid victories over the lieutenants 
 of Antiochus, delivered Judea from the presence of hostile 
 invaders, the pious Maccabee resolves to ''go up to 
 Jerusalem to purify the temple and offer the appointed 
 sacrifices." The deserted state of the temple, with its 
 gates burnt down and plants growing in it of their own 
 accord, forced tears from his rugged soldiers. The work 
 of restoration speedily commenced. The idol altar was 
 thrown down, the sanctuary cleansed, the holy vessels 
 replaced, and " sacrifice offered according to the law upon 
 the new altar of burnt offering which they had made." 
 " Now it happened that these things were done on the 
 very same day on which their divine worship had fallen 
 off;" or as it is elsewhere stated, "Look at what time 
 and what day the heathen had profaned it, even in that 
 
JUDAS MACCABEUS. 141 
 
 was it dedicated with songs, and citherns, and harps, and 
 cymbals ; then all the people fell upon their faces wor- 
 shipping and praising the God of heaven who had given 
 them good success " (1 Mace. iv. 54, 55). 
 
 The subsequent acts of Judas ; his victories over the 
 neighbouring nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon 
 (comp. xi. 41, with 1 Mace. v. 3-8}, who, as was 
 frequently the case, were envious of the good fortune 
 of the Jews and took the part of their enemies; the 
 gradual subdual of Judea, city after city, before Judas 
 and Jonathan ; his intrepid attempt to raise the siege of 
 Bethsura by attacking the army of Lysias amounting to 
 80,000 foot, 20,000 horse, and 32 elephants, in which 
 engagement his heroic brother Eleazar perished; his 
 superb conquests over the armies of Nicanor; first at 
 Capharsalama, where Meaner was defeated with a loss 
 of 5,000 men, and again at Adasa, where the forces of 
 the Syrian general were completely routed and he 
 himself slain; the head and the right hand of "that 
 blasphemer " being cut off, and hung, the one upon the 
 tower, the other upon a gate of the temple, called after- 
 wards Meaner' s gate, — a final and crushing overthrow of 
 the Syrian power in Judea of which the remembrance 
 was kept yearly, on the thirteenth day of the month 
 Adar ; his celebrated league offensive and defensive 
 with the Eomans ; his unequal conflict with the troops 
 of Bacchides, 800 Jews against 22,000 heathen; his 
 chivalrous determination, worthy of the days of Leonidas 
 or Bayard, not to flee, "If our time be come let us die 
 manfully for our brethren, and let us not stain our honour'' 
 (1 Mace. ix. 10) ; his heroic death upon the field of battle ; 
 
142 DANIEL. 
 
 the gi-eat lamentation (comp. 2 Sam. 1) made for him, 
 " How is the valiant man fallen that delivered Israel," — 
 these, although interesting as well as important features 
 in the life of Judas, must be merely glanced atj as points 
 with which the prophecy of Daniel is not principally 
 concerned. Enough perhaps has been said to show the 
 conspicuous part played by this greatest of Israel's 
 champions in the defence of national and religious in- 
 dependence. Around no other head does the wreath of 
 liberty entwine with more grace and honour. Around 
 no other name does the veneration attaching to dis- 
 interested and patriotic deeds cling more firmly or more 
 deservedly. "He had been (says Josephus) a man of 
 valour and a great warrior, and mindful of the commands 
 of his father Mattathias ; and had undergone all difficul- 
 ties both in doing and suffering for the liberty of his 
 countrymen. And when his character was so excellent 
 while he was alive he left behind him a glorious re- 
 putation and memorial by gaining freedom for his nation 
 and delivering them from slavery under the Macedonians" 
 (Ant. xii. 2). 
 
 THE CLEANSING OF THE SANCTTJARY. 
 
 I. A principal achievement of the Maccabean patriots 
 which receives notice in the book of Daniel is the 
 Cleansing of the Sanctuary. The impiety which led to 
 this religious act, as well as the act itself, is distinctly 
 asserted, and it may be interesting, as before, to compare 
 the prophetic account with historical facts. 
 
 " I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain 
 naint which spake, How long sJuiIl be the vision concerning the daily 
 sacnjiee, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary 
 
JUDAS MACCABEUS. 143 
 
 and the host to be trodden under foot ? And he said unto me, Unto 
 two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be 
 cleansed'' (viii. 13, 14). 
 
 ''In the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the 
 oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall 
 make it desolate " (ix. 27). 
 
 " Arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary 
 of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place 
 the abomination that maketh desolate" (xi. 31). 
 
 "From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the 
 abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two 
 hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to 
 the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days" (xii. 11-12). 
 
 It will perhaps be admitted that these passages refer 
 to a horrible desecration of the temple accompanied by 
 the taking away of the daily sacrifice and the setting up 
 of the "transgression of desolation," or, as it is else- 
 where called, the " abomination that maketh desolate." 
 This pollution is followed at the end of a prescribed 
 period which is accurately defined, by the cleansing of 
 the holy place, and the restoration of divine worship. 
 It was the privilege of the noble Maccabee to execute this 
 great work. Amidst the indignities heaped upon his 
 nation, the wanton insult offered to the temple of the living 
 God lay heaviest at his heart. Fresh from the battle field 
 where the viceroy of Syria had been defeated, his sword 
 yet reeking with the blood of slaughtered enemies, he re- 
 solves to piuify the altar which the heathen had defiled. 
 "Then said Judas and his brethren, behold our enemies 
 are discomfited, let us go up to cleanse and repair the 
 sanctuary. Upon this all the host assembled themselves 
 together, and went up to mount Zion. And when they 
 saw the sanctuary desolate, and the altar profaned, 
 and the gates burned up, and shrubs growing in the 
 
144 DANIEL. 
 
 courts as in a forest, or in one of the mountains, yea, 
 and the priests' chambers pulled down, they rent their 
 clothes and made great lamentation, and cast ashes upon 
 their heads, and fell down flat to the ground upon their 
 faces, and blew an alarm with the trumpets and cried 
 toward heaven. Then Judas appointed certain men to 
 fight against those that were in the fortress [built by 
 Antiochus] until he had cleansed the sanctuary ; so he 
 chose priests of blameless conversation, such as had 
 pleasure in the law, who cleansed the sanctuary" 
 (1 Mace. iv. 36-43.) Josephus, who appears to have 
 kept close to the statement of the Maccabean writer, 
 gives an almost parallel account (Ant. xii. 7 ;) merely 
 adding that ''when he had carefully purged it and had 
 brought in new vessels, the candlestick, the table of shew 
 bread, and the altar of incense which were made of 
 gold, he hung up the veils at the gates and added doors 
 to them ; he also took down the altar of burnt offering 
 and built a new one of stones that he gathered together, 
 and not of such as are hewn with iron tools." 
 
 It would be difficult to add to the positiveness and 
 the circumstantiality with which these writers ascribe 
 the cleansing of the sanctuary to Judas Maccabeus; 
 this event appearing to be not only one of the most 
 certain, but most unique facts recorded in Jewish his- 
 tory. Josiah, it is true, purified the temple of ido- 
 latrous worship, which had been intermixed with that 
 of the true God, but no desolation corresponding to that 
 effected by Antiochus had previously taken place. The 
 Jews who returned from Babylon did not so much restore 
 as rebuild their temple from its foundations. Pompey 
 
JUDAS MACCABEUS. 145 
 
 went into the temple and saw what was unlawful for 
 him to see, but no cleansing followed this desecration. 
 Titus entered into the holy house as it was wrapped in 
 flames previous to its final and irremediable desolation, 
 but no re-consecration succeeded the impiety of the 
 Roman general. The profanation and subsequent puri- 
 fication of the temple, within the limits of the period 
 assigned by Daniel, find their accomplishment only in 
 the desolation of Antiochus, and the cleansing of the 
 sanctuary by Judas. No other event harmonizes with 
 the features or meets the necessities of the case. To 
 this must be added the corroborating circumstance, that 
 this pious restoration was commemorated by a feast which 
 lasted eight days, the observance of which was handed 
 down to the time of Christ. This was in all probability 
 '' the feast of Dedication," at which our Lord was present ; 
 the time of its celebration, in the middle of December, 
 agreeing with the statement of the evangelist ''and it 
 was winter '' (John x. 22). " Thus was there very great 
 gladness among the people for that the reproach of the 
 heathen was put away ; moreover Judas and his brethren, 
 with the whole congregation of Israel, ordained that the 
 days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in 
 their season from year to year by the space of eight 
 days, from the five and twentieth day of the month 
 Casleu, with mirth and gladness" (1 Mace. iv. 58, 59). 
 
 THE RESTORATION OF THE KINGDOM TO ISRAEL. 
 
 II. The cleansing of the sanctuary appears to have 
 been followed by the death of Antiochus, the two events 
 being nearly contemporaneous; a fact asserted in the 
 
 10 
 
146 DANIEL. 
 
 prophecy itself (ix. 27), as well as abundantly con- 
 firmed by the Maccaboan historians who connect his 
 sudden and inglorious end with the disastrous intelligence 
 brought to him into Persia, of the successful revolt of 
 the Jews. At the period immediately subsequent^ to 
 the destruction of the tyrant, a new and glorious future 
 is anticipated for Israel. A kingdom is seen to arise 
 from the wreck of the divided Macedonian empire, which 
 is to be superior to the preceding heathen kingdoms, 
 and to stand for ever ; or, as the same idea is elsewhere 
 expressed, a son of man comes with clouds to the Ancient 
 of days, and receives from him a kingdom which shall 
 not be taken away, like those of the ''rest of the 
 [heathen] beasts" (vii. 12.) We subjoin the passages 
 which describe the rise and universal dominion of this 
 Jewish kingdom. 
 
 " Thou sawcst till that a stone was cut out without hands, which 
 emote the image upon his feet, that were of iron and clay, and 
 brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the 
 silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff 
 
 ' It is distinctly announced in the book itself that the establishment of the king- 
 dom of the saints (the Jewish people) is immediately consequent upon the destruction 
 of the "little horn" (Antiochus). The analogy of the prophecy uniformly points 
 to this period. The stone (not in hands) smites the image, not upon its Babylonian 
 head of gold, nor its Medo Persian breast and arms of silver, nor its Grecian belly 
 and thighs of brass, but upon its Sijro-Egijptian feet of iron and clay, and becomes a 
 great (Jewish) mountain, filling the whole earth: or, as explained (v. 44), "In the 
 days of these kings (the ten toes of the great image) shall the God of heaven set up 
 a (Jewish) kingdom, which shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, 
 and shall stand for ever." With an equal regard to immediate consecutiveness "the 
 judgment sits," [upon Antiochus] "and the kingdom, and dominion, and greatness 
 of the kingdom under the whole heaven [is] given to the people of the saints of the 
 most High " (vii. 26, 27). Similarly the miserable end of the tyrant is the con- 
 summating event which is to introduce the time of the restoration : " when he 
 (Antiochus) bhall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people {i. e. 
 v.hen the strength of the Jewish nation shall be completely broken and prostrated 
 by the overwhelming evils brought upon them by the tyremt), all these things 
 (including his destruction, xi. 45) shall be finished (xii. 7). 
 
JUDAS MACCABEUS. 147 
 
 of the summer threshing-floors ; and the wind carried them away, that 
 no place was found for them : and the stone that smote the image 
 became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth " (ii. 34, 35). 
 
 "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a 
 kingdom, which shall never be destroyed ; and the kingdom shall not 
 be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these 
 kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that 
 the stone was cut out of the mountain 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 to the king what shall come to pass 
 hereafter" (ii. 44, 45). 
 
 " I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man 
 came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and 
 they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, 
 and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, 
 should serve him : his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall 
 not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" 
 (vii. 13, 14). 
 
 " And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom 
 under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of 
 the most High " (vii. 27). 
 
 These exalted figures, apparently too highly conceived 
 to be explained only of the political change in the cir- 
 cumstances of the Jewish people, are nevertheless 
 restricted by the express terms of the prophecy to the 
 period with which our history is concerned. It becomes 
 therefore imperative to interpret them, either of an 
 actual deliverance then experienced, or of an expected 
 Messianic deliverance, not, however, realized at the time 
 appointed. In support of the first of these theories, it 
 may be urged that the change from an ignominious 
 serfdom, to comparative libertj?-, was real and complete, 
 and the Jewish ascendancy established by the Maccabean 
 family maintained throughout a long and splendid line of 
 Asmonean kings. Within a few years of the death of 
 Judas, the Jews ceased to pay tribute to the kings of 
 
148 DANIEL. 
 
 Syria, and erected themselves into an independent nation. 
 After five hundred years of Babylonian, Medo-Persian, 
 Macedonian, and Syro- Egyptian vassalage, their rulers 
 once more proceeded from themselves and their governors 
 from the midst of them; whilst their territorial' ac- 
 quisitions equalled, if not exceeded, those of the most 
 exalted period of Jewish dominion. 
 
 Simon and Jonathan, the brothers of Judas, nobly 
 seconding the efforts for independence which he had 
 begun, succeeded in completely rescuing Judea from the 
 Syrian yoke. The former of these, "the benefactor and 
 ethnarch of the Jews," withheld from the Syrians their 
 accustomed tribute, and " on the first year of his high 
 priesthood, set his people free from their slavery under 
 the Macedonians, and permitted them to pay tribute to 
 them no longer '' ("Ant. xiii. 6.) Simon was followed by 
 his son Hyrcanus, who "revolted from the Macedonians, 
 nor did he any longer pay them the least regard 
 either as their subject or their friend'' (Ant. xiii. 10). 
 Aristobulus the son of Hyrcanus "intending to change 
 the government into a kingdom, first of all put a diadem^ 
 upon his head " (Ant. xiii. 11). To Aristobulus suc- 
 ceeded Alexander Jannoeus, whose queen Alexandra 
 
 ' " The Jews (in the reign of Alexander Jannseus) were in possession of the 
 following cities that had belonged to the Syrians, Idumeans, and Phenicians. 
 At the sea side— Strato's tower, Appollonia, Joppa, Jamnia, Ashdod, Gaza, 
 Anthedon, Raphia, and Rhino-colura. In the middle of the country, near to 
 Idumea — Adera, and Marissa : near the country of Samaria — Mount Carmel, and 
 Mount Tabor, Scythopolis, and Gadara : of the country of Gaulonitis — Selencia, and 
 Gabala : in the country of Moab — Ilesbon, and Medaba, Lemba, and Nonas, Gelithon, 
 
 Zara, the valley of the Cilices, and Pella The Jews also possessed 
 
 cities of Syria which had been destroyed" (Ant. xiii. 15). 
 
 - "Turn Judeei, Macedonibus invalidis, Parthis nondum adultis (et Romani procul 
 erant), sibi ipsi reges imposuere." — Tag. His. v. 8. 
 
JUDAS MACCABEUS. 149 
 
 held the government after his death till her decease at 
 the age of seventy-three. She left two sons, Hyrcanus II. 
 and Aristobiilus II. These, disputing for mastery at 
 Jerusalem, appealed to the all-powerful Eomans. Pompey 
 at that time, at Damascus, favoured by the party of 
 Hyrcanus, easily took the city of Jerusalem, and Judea 
 became a Eoman province. It may be also worthy of 
 notice that the restored kingdom of Israel did not ^end 
 with the extinction of the Asmonean line, who are again 
 succeeded by the Idumean family who, although aliens 
 by race, were Jews in religion. A princely line of 
 Herodian kings, appointed, it is true, by the Eomans, 
 yet exercising independent sovereignty, directed Jewish 
 affairs from the accession of Antipater to the days of 
 Agrippa II. the last of the Herods, who took the part of 
 the Eomans at the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. 
 
 It is around the splendid deliverance originated, if 
 not accomplished, by this priestly' warrior and his brave 
 companions that the visions of Daniel love to revolve, 
 and it would seem doubtful how much of this 
 highly-wrought and symbolical imagery is applicable 
 to the independence effected by their efforts, or to 
 some expected deliverance of which the former may 
 have been the type. Groaning under a tyranny which, 
 if exceeded in duration had never been surpassed in 
 intensity, the Jewish people impatiently awaited a rescue ; 
 and the extraordinary success of the Maccabean patriots 
 
 ' The priests went into battle with the rest and received their share of the spoil ; 
 the priesthood being compatible with military appointments. Thus Benaias the 
 priest was commander of the body guard of king Solomon and general of his army. 
 Sadoc and Joiada, both descendants of Aaron, belonged to the staff of David's army, 
 It is well known that the Maccabees were of the priestly race. — Dollinger. 
 
150 DA^^IEL. 
 
 against the forces of Antiochus may have raised the 
 national mind to a high pitch of enthusiasm. Ever ready- 
 to rush into extremes, and inflated with ideas of super- 
 iority over other nations (comp. 2 Edras vi. 55, 56), they 
 may have passed, in imagination, from throwing off the 
 Syrian yoke to dream of universal empire, and from the 
 position of hereditary bondsmen, into that of masters of 
 the habitable earth. The Syrian rule over the holy 
 people had been stern. The oppressor had gone forth 
 mercilessly to plunder and destroy. The holy and 
 beautiful house in which their fathers worshipped God 
 was filled with Gentile revelling (2 Mace. vi. 4), and 
 all their pleasant things were laid waste. The abomi- 
 nation of desolation stood upon the altar of Jehovah, 
 and unclean sacrifices smoked upon it, instead of the 
 pure offerings of the law. At this time of national 
 depression light breaks in upon the darkness. A deliverer 
 appears who " turns to flight the armies of the aliens ; " 
 rescues the nation from a twofold slavery ; restores their 
 religious and political rights ; and founds a splendid line 
 of Asmonean kings. Is it too much to suppose that the 
 brilliant successes of the Maccabees may have found 
 expression in the symbol of a stone, ^ not in (human) 
 hands, smiting the feet of the image and becoming a 
 great mountain (Zech. viii. 3) ; and filling the whole 
 
 ' The figure of a stone, not in hands (comp. the stone of tin or dross in the 
 hand of Zerubbabel, Zech. iii. 9, iv. 10, which afterwards became the head stone, 
 iv. 7) may symbolize the Jewish people, rejected of the builders and unworthy to 
 be compared with the heathen kingdoms of gold and silver and brass and iron, 
 becoming a great mountain and filling the whole earth ; whilst the notion of 
 Jewish supremacy over the heathen, implied by the stone smiting the image may owe 
 its origin to Hagg. ii. 2)-23, where the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen 
 is said ' • be overthrown before Zerubbabel. 
 
JUDAS MACCABEUS. 151 
 
 earth : or does it appear an unnatural application of 
 prophetic symbolism to conceive that the same illustrious 
 exploits may have been shadowed forth under the figure 
 of a son of man' (personified Israel) coming with clouds 
 to the Ancient of Days, and receiving from the most 
 High a kingdom which should not ''pass away'' like 
 that of Antiochus, nor be " left to other people." ? Certain 
 it is that the universal dominion given to a son of man is 
 the same as that which is presently ''given to the people 
 of the saints of the most High," and that nothing is more 
 common in prophetic writings than to represent collective 
 Israel under an individual type (Isa. xlix. 3-5 ; Ivi. 2). 
 It appears to us no more contrary to the analogy of the 
 symbolism used in this book that the Jewish kingdom which 
 followed that of Antiochus should be shadowed forth by 
 emblems corresponding to its permanence and dignity, 
 
 1 The symbol of a son of man {bar-enosJi), a frail, or mortal man, the root anush 
 signifying to be infirm, may be employed to personify the Jewisli people — "the 
 saints " (vii. 18-22-"27). A similar use of this figure is perceptible (Psalm cxliv. S, 4) , 
 where in thankfulness for deliverance shown to Israel, the Psalmist exclaims, " Lord 
 what is man that thou takest knowledge of him or the son of man {ben eiiosh), that 
 thou makest account of him ?" And that by this term collective Israel is represented, 
 would seem evident from the context, where the mercies acknowledged are those 
 shown to a people : " Happy is that peojjle that is in such a case, yea happy is that 
 people whose God is the Lord." The idea intended to be conveyed by coming with 
 the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days may be simply that of exaltation to 
 great national dignity. Comp. the arrogant boasting of the king of Babylon, 
 " I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God ; I will 
 ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the most High " (Isa. xiv. 13, 14). 
 
 D'apres la plupart des exigetes ce personnage semblable a un fils d'homme doit 
 etre le Messie. Pourquoi done ? La symetrie de la vision exige necessairement que 
 ce soit un empire celui des Juifs, qui doit remplacer les quatre autres, s'etendre sur 
 tons les peuples, et n'avoir pas de fin. Le prophete lui dunne pour symbole avec un 
 tact exquis, non plus un animal, mais la noble figure humaine, qu'ailleurs il attribue 
 a Gabriel, et a un autre ange, corame sent digne de ces etres surnaturels. Get 
 homme symbole, d'ailleurs, ne descend point du ciel : il y monte au contraire sur las 
 nuees pour etre presente a I'anciea des jours, coaime le dit formellement le 
 prophete. — Colani. 
 
162 DANIEL. 
 
 than that the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, 
 Macedon, Syria and Egypt, should be represented by 
 metallic and animal symbols descriptive of their re- 
 spective qualities. Besides this, the historical character 
 and successive order which mark preceding heathen 
 kingdoms preclude the supposition that they could be 
 followed in the same vision by a kingdom, distinct in 
 kind, as well as separated by a considerable interval, from 
 the mundane kingdoms which precede it. 
 
 But whilst we would interpret these emblems of the 
 Jewish kingdom set up by the God of heaven at the 
 period of the Maccabean struggle, it is by no means 
 improbable that their magnificent colouring may have 
 been tinged by Messianic' expectation. It is well known 
 
 ' The Messianic expectation of the Jewish people appears to have been especially 
 prominent in times of national distress ; the sustaining hope shining forth with a 
 brightness proportioned to the darkness of the affliction. The intensity of the 
 Syrian oppression may therefore suggest a reason why the writer should have 
 attributed to this epoch anticipations of a fervid character in the hope that the 
 magnificent destinies of the favoured people might find an adequate fulfilment in the 
 deliverance which then began to declare itself. It would also appear that Messianic 
 qualities are attached in Scripture generally not so much to future as to present 
 deliverers, whose career of success was giving promise of greater things. Isaiah saw 
 the realization of Israel's hope in the child of a young marriageable woman, the 
 time of whose birth is determined by the destruction within three years (Isaiah vii. 
 16) of the kings of Israel and Damascus. ]Micah saw a ruler in Israel " whose 
 goings forth had been from old from everlasting" in the man(Hezekiah), who should 
 be " the peace when the Assyrian should come into the land" (Micah v. 2-5). Jere- 
 mish discerned Messianic qualities in the " righteous branch" (Zerubbabel) which 
 the Lord should raise to David, who should bring back Israel to their own land 
 (Jar. xxiii. 5-8; xxxiii 15-16). Haggai and Zechariah assigned similar attributes 
 to the same distinguished person (Hagg. ii. 21-23; Zech. xii. 8). The Jews of 
 our Lord's time thought they saw a Messiah in .John the Baptist, and " mused in 
 their hearts of John whether he were the Christ or not ;" and in the time of Hadrian 
 they discovered similar qualifications in Bar-Cochebas. It would, therefore, be in 
 accordance with Jewish notions to connect the rescue effected by the Maccabees with 
 the hope of Messianic deliverance. Similarly the Jewish Sybil, after describing 
 V. 611) the troubles consequent upon the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, introduces 
 (v. 5i)i) the king from the east who should inaugurate the Messianic reign : — 
 '' Kal ror' 'an' 'rjeKloLO Oehs ■ne^i.i^iti ^aa-t\rja, 
 "O? TrSiraj' yatav Travmi iroXffioio KaKolo." 
 
JUDAS MACCABEUS. 153 
 
 that the hopes of the nation were then raised to the 
 highest pitch, and this may have assisted to create the 
 highly-wrought symbolism under which the independ- 
 ence commenced by Judas and his brethren is described. 
 An exaltation of ideas, natural under the circumstances 
 of the case, may have led to the conclusion that the 
 time had come, foretold in ancient prophecy, when 
 "the mountain of the Lord's house (comp. ii. 35) 
 should be established on the top of the mountains, and 
 should be exalted above the hills, and all nations should 
 flow unto it" (Isaiah ii. 2; Micah iv. 1). What then 
 if they saw in the triumphs of the patriots, the pre- 
 lude of Jewish supremacy, and the earnest of the 
 coming glory? Under the influence of such impres- 
 sions it need not be thought strange that the rescue 
 from Syrian tyranny should have been associated with 
 the prospect of universal empire, or that the then 
 existing deliverance should have fostered the hope of the 
 long-expected restoration of the kingdom to Israel. 
 
 III. Leaving without comment the rebuilding of the 
 street and wall by Maccabeus at the expiration of 
 "threescore and two weeks,'' of which an explanation 
 will be attempted in the succeeding chapter, we notice 
 briefly the assistance rendered by the hero to his country- 
 men, as described in the book of Daniel. 
 
 " The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do 
 exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct 
 many : yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, 
 and by spoil, many days. Now when they shall fall, they shall 
 be holpen with a little help : but many shall cleave to them with 
 flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, 
 and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end : 
 because it is yet for a time appointed" (xi. 32-35). 
 
1 54 DANIEL. 
 
 If ever there was a time in the annals of Jewish story 
 in which '' the people that do know their God should do 
 exploits,'' it is that with which we are now concerned. 
 The chronicles of that period abound with deeds of such 
 romantic valour, that but for the well-known veracity of 
 the author of Maccabees, they would appear to be well 
 nigh fabulous. It is recorded that all the five sons of Mat- 
 tathias perished in behalf of the cause they had espoused. 
 First, Judas, fell at a " Jewish Thermopylae." Within a 
 few days his brother John was " slain by the party of 
 Antiochus" (Bell, Jud. i. 1). Eleazar had j^reviously 
 thrown away his life in the same contest. Jonathan was 
 put to death by the treachery of Tryphon, the guardian 
 of Antiochus Eupator ; and last of all, Simon fell a 
 victim to domestic treason. Of the self-devotion of one 
 of these worthy sons of a worthy sire, Jewish history, 
 with pardonable pride, has left a memorable record. 
 Before the battle joined in one of those mountain 
 passes where the patriots, inferior in number to their 
 overwhelming foes, were wont to assail their enemies to 
 advantage, "Eleazar, the brother of Judas, seeing the 
 highest of the elephants adorned with a large tower and 
 with military trappings of gold, and supposing that 
 Antiochus himself was upon him, ran a great way before 
 his own army, and cutting his way through the enemy's 
 troops, got up to the elephant. Yet he could not reach 
 him who seemed to be the king by reason of his being 
 so high ; but ran his weapon into the belly of the beast, 
 and brought him down upon himself, and was crushed 
 to death, having done no more than attempted great 
 things, and showed that he preferred glory above life" 
 
JUDAS MACCABEUS. 155 
 
 (Bell, Jud. i. 1). The indomitable courage wliicli 
 prompted this onslaught is enhanced by the circum- 
 stances related in 1 Mace, vi., where it is said that in 
 order to provoke the elephants to fight, they showed 
 them the blood of grapes and mulberries ; that every 
 beast was attended by a thousand footmen and five hun- 
 dred horsemen clad in armour ; that upon the elephants 
 were strong wooden towers holding thirty-two men that 
 fought upon them, besides the Indian that ruled them. 
 Heroism like this, rash as it may seem, could not fail of 
 its efi'ect, and the war-cry of the Maccabee became only 
 another word for victory. 
 
 ly. The valiant Maccabee is also represented as as- 
 sisted by supernatural help, similar to that afforded to 
 Joshua, the high priest. 
 
 ''Now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when 
 I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. But I will shew 
 thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth : and there is none 
 that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince " 
 (x. 20, 21). 
 
 "At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which 
 standeth for the children of thy people : and there shall be a time of 
 trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same 
 time : and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that 
 shall be found written in the book" (xii. 1). 
 
 To realize the picture here set forth, it will be 
 necessary to refer to an angelic interposition on behalf 
 of the captive people, recorded in Zech. iii. The 
 elder prophet beholds Joshua, the high priest, "standing 
 (in judgment) before the angel of the Lord, and Satan 
 standing at his right hand (comp. Psalm cix. 6) to 
 resist him;" margin — to be his adversary. This ad- 
 versary is twice rebuked, for Jerusalem is to be 
 
156 DANIEL. 
 
 " chosen," and received once more into the Divine favour. 
 The filthy garments of the captivity are then taken from 
 Joshua ; he is clothed in the splendid attire of the high 
 priest (comp. Ecclus. 1), "and the angel of the Lord 
 stood by (to strengthen and encourage him); and the 
 angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying, Thus 
 saith the Lord of hosts : If thou wilt walk in my ways, 
 and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also 
 judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I 
 will give thee places to walk (ambulacra) among these 
 (angels') that stand by.'' This vision of Zechariah would 
 seem to be repeated in Dan. x. In the third year of 
 Cyrus, in which year the Samaritan and other adver- 
 saries of the Jews frustrated the rebuilding of the temple 
 by their accusations at the court of Persia, Daniel was 
 " mourning three full weeks" of days. In the twenty- 
 fourth day of the month J^isan, he beholds a " certain 
 man clothed in linen" (Joshua, the high priest, raised to 
 the level of the angels, Zech. iii. 7, and robed in the 
 shining garments with which the angel had invested him) 
 " by the side of the great river Hiddekel.'' The magnifi- 
 cently attired messenger recounts to Daniel the oppo- 
 sition he had received from Satan the adversary, (" the 
 prince (^o-rpar^o^ LXX.) of the kingdom of Persia," who 
 withstood the rebuilding of the temple for twenty-one 
 days, perhaps representing years) during the reigns of 
 Cyrus, Cambyses, or Ahasuerus, and Darius Hystaspis ; 
 "but lo, (he adds) Michael, one of the chief princes 
 (Michael the angel^ LXX.) came to help me; and I re- 
 
 ' Non jam inter sacerdotes tui similes, sed inter ipsos angelos obambulabis in 
 isacrario, angelos habebis socios comites-que. — Maurer. 
 
JUDAS MACCABEUS. 157 
 
 mained there (retardatus sum) with the kings of Persia." 
 The same priestly messenger tells Daniel, "Now I am 
 come to make thee understand what shall befall thy 
 people in the latter days (the times of Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes) for yet the vision is for days" (comp. viii. 
 26, X. 1): meaning, perhaps, that the circumstances 
 of the Babylonian were analogous to those of the 
 Syrian period ; the opposition experienced by Joshua 
 from the kings of Persia being repeated in that expe- 
 rienced by Judas Maccabeus from the prince of Grecia. 
 This idea would seem conveyed in the symbolic language 
 of the prophecy itself: "Now will I return to fight with 
 the prince of Persia, [i. e. to overcome his opposition) 
 and when I am gone forth (and when I shall have 
 performed this task) lo ; the prince of Grecia (Antio- 
 chus) shall come (to offer similar hindrance), .... and 
 there is none that holdeth with me in these things (there 
 is none that strengtheneth himself — -fortem se prwstat— 
 with me against these — al eyleh — viz., the prince of 
 Persia and the prince of Grecia) but Michael your prince: 
 also in the first year of Darius the Mode, even I, stood 
 to confirm and to strengthen him" (comp. ver. 13.) 
 
 In accordance with the parallelism between the 
 respective restorations efiected at the close of the 
 Babylonian and Syrian captivities, Michael is repre- 
 sented as standing up to assist Maccabeus as the angel 
 of the Lord assisted Joshua (Zech. iii.). The period 
 of this interposition is defined by contemporaneous 
 events, whose historical fulfilment would hardly seem to 
 admit of question, — the season of unparalleled trouble 
 in which the champion arises — the accompanying resur- 
 
158 DANIEL. 
 
 rection,' an expectation, as we have seen, familiar to the 
 Maccabean age — the taking away of the daily sacrifice, 
 and the setting up of the abomination that maketh deso- 
 late for the space of a " time, times, and an half," a term 
 still more accurately expressed by 1,290 days — the bles- 
 sing promised to him who, surviving that era of persecu- 
 tion, should live to see the death of the oppressor at the 
 expiration of forty-five additional days — restricting the 
 appearing of Michael " the great prince" to that parti- 
 cular era in Jewish history which witnessed the patriotic 
 efforts of the Maccabees, assisted, according to the belief 
 of those times, by the tutelary guardian^ of the Jewish 
 people. The angelic interpositions of the respective 
 periods would thus seem double one of another ; the 
 circumstances of the high priest of the Babylonian cap- 
 tivity being repeated in those of the high priest of the 
 days of Syrian persecution, and the interposition of the 
 
 ' " Si Daniel est le premier qui attende una resurrection des morts (au sens 
 propre) lors de rave'nement des temps nouveaux, il est aussi le premier qui assigne 
 a cet ave'nement une date precise et tres-proehaine." A partir de I'abolitioa du 
 sacrifice (par Antiochus) il y aura 1290 jours. Heureux celui qui perse'vere et 
 atteint 1335 jours.' Ea d'autres termes, les temps d'angoisse et d'oppression qui 
 sont deja commence' lorsque le Voyant ecrit son livre dureront trois ans et demi 
 (presque I'equivalent au premier de ces nombres) puis une lutte de 45 jours amdnera 
 le triomplie de Jebova." — Colani. 
 
 ^ That the personal interference of guardian angels in human aflfairs was the 
 settled belief of the Maccabean age is obvious from 2 Mace, xv., in which chapter 
 the vision of Judas is recorded, " And this was his vision, — That Onias, who had 
 been high priest, a virtuous and a good man, .... holding up his hands, prayed for 
 the whole body of the Jews. This done, in like manner there appeared a man with 
 
 grey hairs and exceeding glorious a lover of the brethren, who prayeth much 
 
 for the people and for the holy city, to wit, Jeremias the prophet of God . . . Where- 
 upon Jeremias gave to Judas a sword of gold, (comp. Josh. v. 13, 14) .... with 
 which (he) should wound his adversaries." After this follows the victory of Judas 
 over Nicanor, a '•'■ good angel" being sent before them, " for through the appearance 
 of God {Mica-el, who as God) they were greatly cheered .... and from that tiUiC 
 forth the Hebrews had the city in their own power." 
 
JUDAS MACCABEUS. 159 
 
 first Michael of the age of Joshua in that of the second 
 Michael of the time of Maccabeus. 
 
 The war of liberation, as it is called, resulting in the 
 complete independence of the holy people, is a proud 
 epoch in Jewish annals, and worthy to be compared with 
 the most disinterested efforts witnessed by any age or 
 country in behalf of civil and religious freedom. It is 
 questionable whether the whole range of Sacred history 
 presents a more perfect character than that of Judas. 
 " Among those lofty spirits who have asserted the liberty 
 of their native land against wanton and cruel oppression, 
 none have surpassed the most able of the Maccabees in 
 accomplishing a great end with inadequate means ; none 
 ever united more glorious valour with a better cause.'' 
 Eeared in the sharp school of adversity, with a mind 
 disciplined by trials of no ordinary kind, he proved him- 
 self equal to the emergencies of his situation, and fulfilled 
 the task of bringing back his nation to the worship of 
 Jehovah. The implicit faith whichi he appears to have 
 had in his mission communicated itself to his fol- 
 lowers, and carried him successfully through difiiculties 
 which would have effectually deterred others. It be- 
 came impossible to withstand men who were inspired by 
 prophetic hopes of victory and resolved to do or die.^ 
 
 1 An additional incentive to desperate valour appears to have been supplied, as 
 in the case of the troops of Mahomet, by the newly-conceived hope of an immediate 
 resurrection. This appears to have been the special privilege of those slain in battle. 
 Judas, we are told, " in that he was mindful of the resurrection," offers a sin offer- 
 ing of two thousand drachms of silver for some idolatrous soldiers upon whose bodies 
 were found things consecrated to the idols of the Jamnites : "for if he had not 
 hoped that they that were slain should have risen again it had been superfluous and 
 vain to pray for the dead ; and also in chat he perceived that there was great favour 
 for those that died godly ; it was an holy and good thought. Whereupon he made 
 a reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin." — 2 Mace, 
 xii. 44, 45. 
 
1 60 DANIEL. 
 
 Opposed by the overwhelming numbers of Seron, he 
 reminds his fainting soldiers that it is one with the God 
 of heaven to deliver with a great multitude or a small 
 company. Encompassed by the host of Gorgias, like 
 another Moses, he cries unto heaven, if peradventure the 
 Lord will " destroy this host before our face this day." 
 Placed in situations of unparalleled distress, and forced 
 to accept unequal conflict, still with the prowess with 
 which his name^ is associated, he confronts the foe, and 
 with holy confidence shouts his battle cry, " The Lord is 
 our help." Faithful in public and private life, dignified 
 in adversity, subdued in prosperity, with a zeal for re- 
 ligion unequalled, and a patriotism untarnished by a 
 single stain, he has handed down to posterity a name 
 conspicuous among the great and good ; the remembrance 
 of which still surrounds Israel with a halo of the past, 
 and illumines degenerate days with a glory caught from 
 the deeds of old. His conduct, however, needs no human 
 praise. It is indelibly inscribed in truthful words of 
 sacred story for which no inconsiderable portion of the 
 Church Catholic claims inspiration equal to that accorded 
 to the canonical Scriptures. "So he gat his people 
 great honour and put on a breast-plate as a giant, and 
 girt his warlike harness about him, and he made battles 
 protecting the host with his sword. In his acts he was 
 like a lion, and like a lion's whelp roaring for his prey. 
 
 ^ The word Maccabi has an uncertain derivation — some have supposed it to be 
 formed of the initial letters of the Hebrew sentence, Mi camoka Baelim Yvhovah, 
 Who is like unto thee among the Gods, O Jehovah (Ex. xv. 11). According to 
 others it is formed from Maccab, a hammer, a personal appellation of Judas, derived, 
 perhaps, from the use of his favorite weapon, like that of Charles Martel the hero of 
 the Franks. 
 
JUDA.S MACCABEUS. 161 
 
 For he pursued the wicked and sought them out, and 
 burnt up those that vexed his people. Wherefore the 
 wicked shrunk for fear of him, and all the workers of 
 iniquity were troubled because salvation prospered in his 
 hand. He grieved also many kings, and made Jacob 
 glad with his acts, and his memorial is blessed for ever 
 .... so that he was renowned unto the utmost part of 
 the earth." (1 Mace. iii. 3-9). 
 
 11 
 
162 DANIEL. 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 ESCHATOLOGICAL PERIODS OF DANIEL. 
 
 A MARKED peculiarity of this book, running like a 
 thread throughout its historico-prophetic visions and 
 distinguishing it not only from the writings of the 
 captivity but from prophetic compositions generally, is 
 what may be called its eschatology : the subject con- 
 tinually pointing to a climax which is to conclude and 
 to wind-up everything. The time of this consummation 
 is defined with a minuteness unknown to the rest of 
 Hebrew prophecy, and is preceded by the destruction of 
 an oppressor whose invasions of the civil and religious 
 liberties of the holy people, it is a principal object of the 
 writer to describe. In accordance with this eschatological 
 tendency Daniel beholds " till the beast is slain and his 
 body destroyed and given to the burning flame .... 
 until the Ancient of Days came .... and the time came 
 that the saints possessed the kingdom" (vii. 11-22). 
 As the prophecy draws to a close the same features are 
 more clearly developed, and the time of the consummation, 
 previously darkly intimated, becomes accurately, and even 
 chronologically, defined. " How long shall be the vision 
 (asks one saint of another saint) concerning the daily 
 sacrifice and the transgression of desolation to give both 
 the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot ? 
 
ESCHATOLOGICAL PERIODS OF DANIEL. 163 
 
 and he said unto me, unto two thousand and three 
 hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" 
 (viii. 13, 14). So again to the enquiry, "How long shall 
 
 it be to the end of these wonders? the man 
 
 clothed in linen .... sware by him that liveth for ever 
 that it shall be for a time, times, and an half, .... and a 
 thousand two hundred and ninety days" (xii. 6, 7-11). 
 Angelic beings are further introduced communicating to 
 Daniel "skill and understanding" respecting the arrival 
 of this consummation. Now, the angel Gabriel touches 
 him about the time of the evening oblation; "Understand, 
 son of man, for at the time of the end shall be the 
 vision .... behold I will make thee know what shall 
 be in the last end of the indignation, for at the time 
 appointed the end shall be" (viii. 17-19). Again, "The 
 man Gabriel whom (Daniel) had seen in the vision at 
 the beginning (showing that chap. ix. cannot be separated 
 from chap, viii.), .... informed me and talked with me, 
 and said, Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill 
 and understanding .... therefore understand the matter 
 and consider the vision. Seventy weeks are determined 
 upon thy people and thy holy city" etc. (ix. 21-24). 
 Further knowledge respecting this eschatological period 
 is conveyed by means of a second angelic colloquy to 
 which Daniel is permitted to listen (xii. 5-9). Blessings 
 moreover of a marked character are attached to the 
 comprehension of the times and the seasons which in- 
 troduce the end. "l!^one of wicked (it is said) shall 
 understand but the wise shall understand" (xii. 10); 
 "shall instruct many" (xi. 33); and "knowledge shall 
 be increased " (xii. 4). " Blessed is he that waiteth and 
 
164 DANIEL. 
 
 Cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty- 
 days, but go thy way till the end (xii. 4-9) be, for thou 
 shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days " 
 (xii. 12, 13). 
 
 From the passages already cited there can be little 
 doubt that the prophecy uniformly points to a culminating 
 point beyond which, or far beyond which, no vision 
 seems to extend. This consummation would appear to 
 be of speedy accomplishment (xii. 13) and not, according 
 to an absurd theory, ^ indefinitely prolonged. A further 
 peculiarity in the periods announced by Daniel is that 
 they differ from each other in duration, these differences 
 not being marked by long spaces of time, but only by 
 the excess or diminution of a few days. Similar dis- 
 
 1 The theory alluded to is known by the name of the Year-day system. Its object 
 would seem to be the prolongation of prophetic epochs beyond their ordinary limits 
 with a view of extending their application to modern times. This is attempted to 
 be done by substituting years for days in the case of those sacred numbers which can 
 be made to square with the required chronology ; other prophetic periods, not equally 
 elastic, being interpreted of natural divisions of time. This arbitrary hypothesis has 
 no foundation in Scripture generally or in the book of Daniel. It is true that 
 symbolic periods such as "seventy weeks," " threescore and two weeks," "seven 
 weeks," or "the midst, half of the week," are exceptional, but in ordinary cases, 
 years, months, weeks, days, and hours, are employed of natural divisions of time. 
 " By the Year-day theory (says Maitland) the expositor whenever it suits his purpose, 
 understands years instead of days. The result is a multiplication of the prophetic 
 period by 360 : in excuse for which they are in the habit of asserting roundly that 
 the prophets said days when they meant years. History by continually falsifying the 
 calculations of this school, signally avenges the cause of Divine prophecy." The 
 only argument adduced in support of this theory is founded on Ezek. iv. 4-6, and 
 Numbers xiv. 33. The prophet is commanded to lie on his left side 390 days and 
 on his right side 40 days ; " each day for a year." But it will be noticed that the 
 days are not changed into years. They are only the representatives of years ; for 
 how could Ezekiel lie on his left side 390 years and on his right side 40 years .' 
 Similarly the spies who go to explore the land of Canaan, return after 40 days' 
 absence with an evil report ; and accordingly the Israelites are condemned to wander 
 40 years in the wilderness; each year corresponding to one of the 40 days. Here, 
 as in the former case, there is no change of the day into the year. They merely 
 represent years ; the actions done on those days being expressive of the time during 
 which the punishment was to last. 
 
ESCHATOLOGICAL PERIODS OF DANIEL. 165 
 
 crepancy' exists between those given by Josepbus ; the 
 duration of the desolations not being accurately determined 
 either by the prophet or the historian. The utmost that 
 can be alleged against these unimportant variations is 
 that the terms do not exactly correspond with each other, 
 an objection which tells with equal force against both 
 writers : yet no one calls in question the veracity of the 
 latter because of these trifling discrepancies, or supposes 
 the unequal periods which he describes to relate to any 
 other events than the desolations of Antiochus. And 
 
 Periods of Daniel. 
 
 ' " They shall be given into his hand until a time, and times, and the dividing of 
 time" (vii. 25). 
 
 " In the midst (half) of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to 
 cease" (ix. 27). 
 
 " How long shall it be to the end of these wonders .... it shall be for a time, 
 times, and an half" (xii. 6, 7). 
 
 " From the time .... there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days " 
 (xii. 11). "Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred 
 and five and thirty days " (xii, 12). 
 
 Periods of Josep/ius. 
 
 "I shall relate that Antiochus .... took Jerusalem by force and held it three 
 years and three months." (Bell. Jud. Proemium.) 
 
 " He put a stop to the constant practice of offering a daily sacrifice of expiation 
 for three years and six months" (Bell. Jud. i. 1). 
 
 " Another lesser horn .... which should forbid the sacrifices to be offered for 
 one thousand two hundred and ninety six days" (Ant. x. 11). 
 
 " Should spoil the temple and forbid the sacrifices to be offered for three years" 
 (Ant. X. 11). 
 
 "The temple was made desolate by Antiochus, and so continued for three years" 
 (Ant. xii. 7). 
 
 " Now it happened that these things were done on the \erj same day on which 
 their divine worship had fallen ofl^ and was reduced to a profane and common use 
 after three years' time " (Ant. xii. 7). 
 
 On the supposition that the three corresponding symbolical periods of Daniel 
 " A time, times, and the dividing of a time," "A time, times, and an half," " The 
 midst (half) of the week," are significant not so much of an exact term of 3| years 
 as of a time of trouble during which the abomination of desolation was set up, they 
 are met in Josephus by three similar periods of three years, during which the same 
 profanity is said to have been committed; the 1290 days, to which must be added 
 the 1335 days, of the former, also approximating closely to the 1296 days of the 
 latter. 
 
1G6 DANIEL. 
 
 when to this it is added that the city was captured and 
 the holy rites forbidden more than six months before the 
 abomination of desolation was set up, and that there are 
 several points de depart from which the abominations of 
 Autiochus might be reckoned, it need not be a matter of 
 surprise that there should be an uncertain element in the 
 chronology. But whatever may be the starting points 
 from which these periods commence or the exact duration 
 which they comprise, they evidently point to one culmi- 
 nating crisis, terminating in the restoration of the 
 sanctuary and the contemporaneous destruction of the 
 oppressor. 
 
 A chronological period distinct from those already 
 named requires to be noticed. Daniel hears one saint 
 speaking to another saint (comp. Zech. ii. 3) *' How long 
 shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the 
 transgression of desolation to give both the sanctuary 
 and the host to be trodden under foot?" How long shall 
 impure sacrifices usurp the place of the clean offerings 
 of the law ? How long the profanation of the temple 
 and the oppression of the saints ? It is observable that 
 the desolation spoken of is not that of the temple 
 alone, but also includes the trampling under foot of the 
 ''host," — the holy peoj^le — described (viii. 10) as the 
 "host of heaven," part of whose stars' the little horn 
 (Antiochus) casts to the ground and stamps upon them. 
 In answer to this impatient " How long '' (comp. Zech. i. 
 12, Eev. vi. 10) the certain one Ha Palmoni of whom 
 the question had been asked, " said unto me (Daniel), 
 
 ^ " 'hiTTipas 6e avTovs wv6fi.airi 5ia rh irfptipaves Koi Xafiirphv rrjs evae^ftas. 
 Theodoret (comp. 2 Mace. ix. 10). 
 
ESCHATOLOGICAL PERIODS OF DANIEL. 167 
 
 Unto two thousand and three hundred days : ^ then shall 
 the sanctuary be cleansed." This period of entire days 
 (evening, morning) would seem to comprise that portion 
 of the reign of Antiochus from the 143rd year of the 
 Seleucidse in which he made his first assault upon 
 Jerusalem, to the 149th, the time of his death — a term 
 of six years 4-5 months, more accurately defined by 
 two thousand three hundred days than by the corres- 
 ponding heptad, or "one week" of ix. 27. It may 
 be urged in support of this interpretation that in con- 
 sequence of the exceeding profaneness of Jason the high 
 priest, and the general adoption of Greek manners, the 
 sacrifices had been interrupted for some time previous 
 to the setting up of the abomination of desolation by 
 Antiochus. " The priests (it is said) had no courage to 
 serve any more at the altar, but despising the temple and 
 neglecting the sacrifices, hastened to be partakers of the 
 unlawful allowance in the place of exercise " (2 Mace, 
 iv. 14). It is therefore with the strictest regard to 
 historical accuracy that the writer represents this season 
 of oppression as extending over a period of two thousand 
 three hundred days : the former part of the reign of 
 Antiochus being marked rather by conciliation than 
 hatred towards the Jews ; but the latter, from the first 
 invasion of Egypt to his death, being characterised by 
 intolerable persecution of the holy people, resulting either 
 from his own spoliations of their sacred treasures or the 
 still more formidable exactions of his lieutenants. 
 
 The remaining periods of 1290 and 1335 days (xii. 
 
 ^ "Ad vespero-matutina bis mille et trecenta, i.e. ad totidem dies integros 
 (cf. Gen. i. 5,8, 13, rel. coll. wxd^fj-epov 2 Cor. xi. 25, necnon Jes, xxxviii. 12)." 
 
168 DANIEL. 
 
 11, 12), the latter of which exceeds the former by the 
 additional space of 45 days, may be employed to describe 
 more accurately than by the symbolic term of a " time, 
 times, and an half," the duration of the setting up of the 
 abomination of desolation by Antiochus : the blessing 
 promised at the expiration of "the thousand three hun- 
 dred and five and thirty days" referring to the exultation 
 of those who should live to see the death of the tyrant 
 which, according to Jerome, took place forty-five days' 
 after the cleansing of the sanctuary. With this brief 
 examination we dismiss the subject of the shorter eschato- 
 logical periods of Daniel, deeming their slight and un- 
 important variations as ofi'ering no impediment to a 
 uniform and contemporaneous interpretation ; the excess 
 or diminution perceptible between them being easily' 
 accounted for by the several termini from which they 
 may be dated, and presenting the aspect, not of distinct 
 historical periods, but of varied phases of the same events 
 regarded from different points of view. 
 
 THE SEVEXTY WEEKS. 
 
 Hitherto the eschatological periods of Daniel, although 
 slightly varying from each other in duration, have been 
 of comparatively easy solution : the approach to unity 
 in the respective epochs, too near to admit of their appli- 
 cation to events distant from each other, supplying a 
 strong, and as we should suppose, an incontrovertible 
 argument for their similar interpretation. The same 
 consum^mating period, although regarded from a different 
 
 ' " Beatus ille qui illis 1290 diebus adhuc 43 supervixerit, videritque cum morte 
 Antiochi calamitatis finem mense Schebat anni. 148." — Maurer. 
 
ESCHATOLOGICAL PERIODS OF DANIEL. 169 
 
 point of view, would seem to be denoted by the ''Seventy' 
 Weeks ;" an arithmetical enigma which has baffled the 
 calculations of interpreters from the days of Jerome^ to 
 
 ^ It has been usual to interpret this celebrated passage of the death of Christ, and 
 the subsequent destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. The prophecy, however, refuses 
 to be coerced into the desired shape. It neither sanctions the anachronous intro- 
 duction of the catastrophe inflicted by the Romans into visions which are descriptive 
 of the Syrian desolations, nor does it permit the clause Ve-ayn-lo — and there is not 
 to him — to be twisted into an idea of vicarious substitution foreign to its meaning. 
 The absence, moreover, of any allusion in the New Testament to so remarkable a 
 passage as " Messiah cut off but not for himself," is inexplicable on the suppositioa 
 that the words had reference to our Lord's vicarious sacrifice ; and this silence is 
 more unaccountable because the clause is found in a context put by St. Matthew into 
 the mouth of Christ (Math. xxiv. 15). Added to this, insurmountable exegetical 
 difficulties impede, if they do not entirely subvert, the traditional theory. On the 
 supposition that our Lord is " Messiah cut off" (Isaiah liii. 8, uses a different word), 
 who, it may be asked, rebuilds the street and wall at the close oithe threescore and 
 two weeks (the Mashiach who is cut off being identical with the Mashiach who 
 rebuilds) ; or did the sacrifice and oblation taken away by Titus cease only for three 
 and a-half years ? What divine punishment came upon him who was called 
 " Deliciae humani generis," for the destruction of the city and the sanctuary ; and 
 how could it be said of him that his end (^ avvTiXeia avrov [LXX.) should be in 
 the flood, and that decreed destruction should be poured out on the desolator, 
 (margin.) Even on the supposition that the united term of the sixty-nine weeks, 
 dated from the insignificant commission of Ezra, B.C. 457, could be accommodated 
 to the epoch of the cutting off of Messiah, a longer space than the seventieth week 
 is required for the interval between the sacrifice of Christ and the subsequent 
 destruction of Jerusalem. The application therefore of Messianic exegesis to this 
 passage appears at once isolated and anachronous. The preceding and subsequent 
 visions are concerned with events anterior to the reign, and ending with the destruc- 
 tion of Antiochus ; the elimination therefore of the intermediate vision from the 
 chronological horizon occupied by the rest, disturbs the unity of the piece, and 
 carries the prophecy beyond the limits whereby the preceding and following visions 
 are circumscribed. " We object (says Davidson) to the ^Messianic interpretation 
 that it dees not harmonize well with the connection in which the passage stands. 
 The tenth and eleventh chapters may be regarded as a further development of the 
 contents of the eighth : for they give a brief history of the Persian and Macedonian 
 
 dynasties, till the death of Antiochus Epiphanes In consequence of this 
 
 parallelism between the eighth chapter on the one hand, and the tenth with the 
 eleventh on the other, it is probable that the ninth should bear the same relation 
 
 to the eighth as the twelfth does to the tenth and eleventh But if ix. 25-27 
 
 be explained of the time and death of Jesus Christ, the piece stands in an isolated 
 position ; it differs in that case both from what precedes and follows. 
 
 ' " Scio de hac questione ab eruditissimis viris varie' disputatum et unumquemque 
 pro captu ingenii sui dixisse quod senserat. Quia igitur periculosum est de magis- 
 trorum Ecclesiae judicare sententiis, et alterum prseferre alteri, dicam quid unus- 
 quisque senserit, lectoris arbitrio derelinquens, cujus expositionem sequi debeat." — 
 
 HiERON. 
 
170 DANIEL. 
 
 the present time, and of which the solution has been as 
 unsatisfactory as the attempt to square the circle. It has 
 been observed of this celebrated prophecy that " it would 
 require a volume of considerable magnitude even to give 
 a history of the ever varying and contradictory opinions 
 of critics respecting this 'locus vexatissimus,' and perhaps 
 a still longer one to establish an exegesis which would 
 stand " (Moses Stuart). It is also admitted on all sides 
 that our authorised version does not present a rendering 
 of the text sufficiently exact to satisfy the requirements 
 of careful criticism; such exactness being the more 
 needful because of the acknowledged difficulty of this 
 abstruse problem.^ We subjoin the translation of David- 
 son, to which we have presumed to add our own. 
 
 '' Seventy sevens are determined upon thy people and 
 upon thy holy city to accomplish the apostacy, and to 
 fill up the sins, and to expiate iniquity, and to bring in 
 everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and 
 prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know there- 
 fore and understand, from the going forth of the word to 
 build Jerusalem again till an anointed one, a prince, 
 shall be seven weeks ; and for threescore and two weeks 
 will it be rebuilt with streets and ditches, yet in distress- 
 ful times. And after the threescore and two weeks shall 
 an anointed one be cut off, and have no successor ; and 
 the people of a prince that shall come shall destroy the 
 city and sanctuary, and his end will be in the flood ; and 
 yet till the end continues war, desolations decreed. And 
 
 ' " Verissime monuit De Rossi in Var. Lect. ad h. 1., scripturam illam perquam 
 suspectam reddi conditione codicis illius a christiano homine procul dubio descripti 
 a sinistra ad dextram additamque Vulgatam versionem habentis, ad quam proclive 
 est cogitare vel suspicari fuisse hebrseam teztum emendatum." — Ros. 
 
ESCHATOLOGICAL PERIODS OF DANIEL 171 
 
 he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week ; 
 and the half of the week will put a stop to the sacrifice 
 and oblation ; and upon the wing of abominations 
 (comes) the desolator, even to the completion; then 
 shall the decreed destruction be poured out on the 
 waster." 
 
 Seventy weeks (^E^So/xTJKovTa i^SofMd8e<; LXX.) are deter- 
 mined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to ac- 
 complish the transgression, and to finish sins, and to 
 cover iniquity, and to bring in perpetual righteousness, 
 and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint a holy 
 of holies.^ Know thou therefore and understand from 
 the going forth of the word, to build again Jerusalem 
 unto a Mashiaeh a Prince (shall be) seven weeks : and 
 threescore and two weeks and street and wall shall 
 be built again, and in strait of times. And after the 
 threescore and two weeks a Mashiaeh shall be cut 
 oflF, and there is not (sub. a helper) to him. And 
 the people of the coming prince shall destroy the 
 city and the sanctuary, and his end shall be in the 
 flood, and unto the end, war, desolations decreed. And 
 he shall make firm a covenant with the many, one 
 week: and half of the week shall cause sacrifice and 
 oblation to cease ; and over the wing of abomina- 
 tions — the wing of the cherubim covering the altar 
 polluted by the idol altar built above them — (shall be) 
 that which maketh desolate, even to the consummation, 
 
 ^ "The expression kodesh kadoshim is used not of persons but things (Ex. xl. 10). 
 To explain the words of the anointing of the Messiah is contrary to the philological 
 analogy of the Hebrew Scriptures. The altar, when anointed, becomes a holy of 
 holies." — Rev. J. M. Poller. 
 
172 DANIEL. 
 
 and the destruction determined poured out on the 
 desolator. 
 
 1. Before addressing ourselves to the task of elucidating 
 this abstruse problem, we would premise that the 
 "Seventy Weeks" would seem to be weeks of years^, 
 in contradistinction to weeks of days (x. 2, 3 ), such a 
 conception being familiar to the sacred writers : " Thou 
 shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven 
 times seven years, and the space of the seven sabbaths 
 of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years " 
 (Lev. XXV. 8). This theory receives additional support 
 from the consideration that the period symbolised by the 
 half of the week (ix. 27) corresponds with its equivalents, 
 ''a time and times and the dividing of time" (vii. 25), 
 ''a time, times, and an half" (xii. 7), or three and a 
 half years. These '' seventy weeks," formed on the 
 basis of the ''seventy years" of the first Babylonian 
 captivity were to complete the term of the second Syrian 
 captivity ; the restoration effected by Zerubbabel at the 
 close of the former period being typical of that effected 
 by Judas Maccabeus at the close of the latter. And in 
 calculating these prophetic epochs regard must be had, 
 not to the consecutive order in which they succeed one 
 another, but to epochs, whether successive or not, whose 
 united number makes up the required aggregate. Had it 
 been the intention of the writer to announce only one 
 event which should happen at the expiration of the 
 whole period there would have been no break in the 
 
 ' *' Reperiuntur hujusmodi annorutn hebdomades apud Romanos quoque : dicit 
 enina Marcus Varro ap. Cell. N.A. 3-10, se jam undecimam annorum hebdomadem 
 ingressum esse, et ad eutn diem septuaginta hebdomadas librorum conscripsisse." 
 
 — MaT7REK. 
 
ESCHATOLOGICAL PERIODS OP DANIEL. 173 
 
 seventy heptads, and no necessity would have existed for 
 the division^ into the separate portions of 7-62-1; 
 such division evidently contemplating distinct portions of 
 time, not necessarily consecutive, but together making 
 up a total of seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety 
 years. It will therefore be necessary to find two events 
 which shall answer to two distinct periods; of which 
 the one shall happen at the close of " seven weeks," and 
 the other at the close of " threescore and two weeks," to 
 which last term the "one week" may be added; these 
 united periods making up the aggregate demanded by 
 the arithmetical enigma, and giving a total of ''seventy 
 weeks," or four hundred and ninety years. 
 
 2. It may also be useful to premise that the indefinite 
 value of symbolic arithmetic, especially when based on 
 the perfect number ''seven," invests prophetic epochs 
 with partial obscurity, and does not permit them to be 
 interpreted with mathematical precision. It would seem 
 difiicult, if not impossible, to express the duration of his- 
 torical events by heptads " with numerical exactness ; an 
 approach to complete accuracy being all that can be 
 expected from such a mode of computation. Consider- 
 able latitude should therefore be conceded to the exegesis 
 of the arithmetical puzzle of the " seventy weeks," due 
 
 1 This arrangement would appear to be justified by the punctuation, as well as 
 by the position of Vaic copulative before Shavuhim ; had a connected period been 
 intended, it would have been before Tashuv, and the number would have been sixty- 
 nine, and not seven and sixty-two. — Reichel. 
 
 * When accurate computation is demanded, these prophetic periods appear to be 
 resolved into days: thus the "one week" is more definitely rendered by two 
 thousand three hundred days (viii. 4), and a "time, times, and an half," by one 
 thousand two hundred and ninety days (xii. 11) : it being, however, at the same time 
 imperative that the historical term should be more correctly expressed by the heptads 
 employed, than by others of greater or less numerical value. 
 
174 DANIEL. 
 
 regard being had to the harmony sustained in the 
 original between the seven times and the seventy-seven 
 times. Similar allowance should also be made in the 
 interpretation of the half of this sacred number, sym- 
 bolically represented as "a time, times, and the dividing 
 of time " (vii. 25): " a time, times, and an half," (xii. 7) ; 
 **the midst (the half) of the week" (ix. 27); significant 
 perhaps of a season of distress and disaster (Luke iv. 25, 
 James v. 17). Neither should it be forgotten that the 
 number " seven" is employed in this wide sense by other 
 apocalyptic writers, and also in the book itself (iii. 19, 
 iv. 16). It is thus used by the writer of the book of 
 Enoch (a composition wTiose emblems are chiefly bor- 
 rowed from Daniel) of the seventy shepherds or heathen 
 kings who devour the Jewish flock from the time of the 
 exile to that of John Hyrcanus: the indefinite value 
 attached to the term "week," being further developed 
 in the "ten weeks" 10 x 7 = 70, in which is comprised 
 the history of the whole human race. The idea of per- 
 fection belonging to the sacred number " seven" is also 
 seen in the seven heavens described in the Ascension of 
 Isaiah ; the seventh and highest being the dwelling 
 place of Jehovah himself. Similar treatment of this 
 number expressive of completeness and perfection is ob- 
 servable in the Apocalypse ; where the churches, seals, 
 trumpets, vials, angels, spirits, mountains, heads, horns, 
 and eyes of the Lamb, are denoted by sevens. To this 
 may be added the "seven days" of 2 Esdras, vii. 30, 31, 
 during which " the world shall be turned into the old 
 silence," and at the expiration of which period " the 
 world, that yet awaketh not, shall be raised up." 
 
ESCHATOLOGICAL PERIODS OF DANIEL. 175 
 
 3. It is observable that this celebrated prophecy is 
 given in the shape of a sacred enigma, whose solution 
 demands both " skill and understanding." Its point 
 would seem to be that the seventy years of Babylonian 
 captivity should be answered by an analogous season of 
 seven times seventy years. Daniel, supposed to be a 
 captive in Babylon previous to the first restoration of 
 the city after its destruction by iJ^ebuchadnezzar, and 
 " understanding by books {the boohy the number of 
 the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah 
 the prophet that he would accomplish seventy years in 
 the desolations of Jerusalem," is represented as making 
 his supplication that the captivity which the holy people 
 were then suffering might be brought to a close. In 
 answer to his prayer (ix. 3-19) the man Gabriel whom 
 he had seen in the vision at the beginning is sent to in- 
 form him that not only seventy years, but seventy weeks 
 of years should be determined upon the Jewish people 
 and the holy city. Know thou therefore and under- 
 stand (says the angelic interpreter) from the going forth 
 of the word" to build again Jerusalem, the first time, 
 
 1 The employment of the article Ha-Sejjharim would seem to designate the books 
 used and known by all, the sacred scriptures. On this supposition, the collection 
 would have included the Pentateuch which does not appear to have been united to 
 the other scriptures until after the exile (Neh. viii., 2 Mace. ii. 13). 
 
 2 The clause " know therefore and understand from the going forth of the 
 commandment'' {min motsa davar — from the going forth of the word — comp. at the 
 beginning of thy supplications a word went forth — yatsa davar — v. 23, i. e. a word 
 went forth to Gabriel to make Daniel know the time of the end of the Babylonish 
 captivity), would seem to be introduced, as in v. 23, for the purpose of calling 
 Daniel's attention to the communication about to be revealed to him, in the 
 interpretation of which the angelic messenger was now come to give him "skill 
 and understanding.'' This view, which interprets "the going forth of the 
 commandment'' — word — not of a commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, 
 but of the going forth of a word to Gabriel to make Daniel know the time of the 
 end of the captivity, cuts at the root of the traditional theory which dates the 
 
176 DANIEL. 
 
 unto a Masliiacli a Prince shall be "seven weeks:" and 
 to build again Jerusalem, the second time, unto a Mashi- 
 ach^ shall be "threescore and two weeks:" street and 
 wall shall be built again, and in strait of times. It will 
 be noticed that the "seventy weeks" are divided into 
 two principal portions at the close of each of which a 
 rebuilding of Jerusalem takes place. At the end of the 
 first and shortest period, the " seven weeks," an anointed 
 prince restores the city after its Babylonian devastation. 
 At the end of the second, the "threescore and two 
 weeks," an anointed one (subsequently cut off) restores 
 Jerusalem after its Syrian devastation — the two desolations 
 as well as the two restorations corresponding with each 
 other; the destructions of Nebuchadnezzar being re- 
 peated in those of Antiochus, and the restoration effected 
 by Zerubbabel answered in that of Judas Maccabeus. 
 
 The " seventy weeks" are subdivided into the follow- 
 ing portions of "seven weeks," "threescore and two 
 weeks," " one week," and " the midst (half) of the week." 
 We proceed to examine in order these several divisions : — 
 
 THE SEYEN WEEKS. 
 The first term of "seven weeks," separated from the 
 following " threescore and two weeks" by numerical 
 
 seventy weeks from the decree of Cyrus, or the commissions of Ezra and Nehemiah. 
 It will be further noticed tliat the clause " to restore and build Jerusalem," beginning 
 with the preposition used to mark the infinitive, agrees with the preceding clauses 
 (ver, 24) in Hebrew parallelism and grammatical form. The whole passage may be 
 rendered thus :— 
 
 To accomplish the transgression and to finish sins ; 
 
 To cover iniquity, and to bring in perpetual righteousness ; 
 
 To seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint a holy of holies ; 
 
 To build again Jerusalem unto a Mashiach a Prince seven weeks ; 
 
 (To build again Jerusalem) threescore and two weeks ; 
 
 And street and wall shall be built again, and in strait of times. 
 
ESCHATOLOGICAL PERIODS OF DANIEL. 177 
 
 arrangement as well as by the Hebrew accent, is thought 
 to extend from the investment of Jerusalem by the army 
 of ^Nebuchadnezzar, e.g. 590, a criticaP period in Jewish 
 history, to B.C. 536, when Zerubbabel headed the 
 return from Babylon ; a period of 54 years, expressed in 
 heptads- by ^' seven weeks." It would seem that 
 Zerubbabel,^ here called Mashiach Nagid^ an anointed 
 one, a Prince, the absence of the article showing that 
 the Messiah is not intended, was the recognized leader 
 
 ' The investment of Jerusalem by the Babylonians b. c. 590 seems to have been 
 considered an epoch deserving particular commemoration ; the chronology of this 
 event being more minutely described, especially by Ezekiel, than that of the final 
 capture of the city b.c. 588. " Again in the ninth year (of Zedekiah), in the tenth 
 month, in the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me saying, 
 Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of 
 Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day " (Ezek. xxiv. 1, 2, Jer. 
 xxxix. 1, lii. 4 ; 2 Kings xxv. 1, Ant. x. 7). In the absence of given starting points 
 for the two rebuildings at the end of the seven and the sLxty two weeks respectively, 
 it would seem more natural to date them from the commencement of the Babylonian 
 desolations than from any other epoch. 
 
 2 The harmony of the arithmetical enigma may possibly require the perfect 
 number of " seven weeks " or forty nine years (a period significant of release and 
 jubilee (Lev xxv. 8), as an antithesis to the equally perfect number of "seventy 
 weeks " or four hundred and ninety years. This is seen with greater distinctness 
 in the original where the Shavuhim SJiiveah correspond in sound as well as in 
 numerical analogy with the Shavuhim Shicehim (comp. Gen. iv. 24). Similar regard 
 to sevenfold repetition is observable in 'EirraKis and i^SofniKovTaKis iirTOL ( Matt, 
 xviii. 21). " Nomen Shavuah quod in aliis V. T. libris terminationem Pluralis 
 foeminitiam recipit, hie et infra (x. 2, 3) terminationem masculinam habet. Et hoc 
 quidem loco earn ideo eligisse videtur, ut concentus quidam cum Shirchi,n efficiatur; 
 quam formam deinde retinuit." — Ros. 
 
 2 The majority of modern critics have explained Mashiach Nfit/id of Cyrus, the 
 "anointed" of the Lord (Isa. xlv. 1-13): who issues the edict for the return of 
 the Jews from Babylon. But independently of the fact that Cyrus does not 
 personally " restore and build " Jerusalem, the kings of Persia, when not mentioned 
 by name in this prophecy, are symbolically represented by heathen emblems fii. 32, 
 vii. 5, viii. 3) ; making it unlikely that Cyrus would be described under the Jewish 
 appellation of Mashiach, or anointed. On the supposition that the restoration 
 effected by Zerubbabel at the end of " threescore and ten years " (Zech. i. 12) 
 supplied the foundation from which our prophet drew the corresponding event 
 accomplished by Judas Maccabeus at the end of the "seventy weeks" — an idea 
 favoured by the analogy observable between the respective prophecies — a further 
 reason may be inferred for the preference to be given to Zerubbabel over Cyrus. 
 
 12 
 
178 DAKIEL. 
 
 of the Jews in the captivity, what in later times was 
 called "the Prince of the captivity," or "the Prince 
 of Judah " (Ezra i. 8), the " governor " (Ezra v. 14). Ac- 
 cording to Zecbariah, he is " the man whose name is the 
 Branch {soil, of the house of David, Jer. xxiii. 5, xxxiii. 
 15) ; and he shall grow up out of his place ; and he shall 
 huild the temple of the Lord ; even he shall build the 
 temple of the Lord ; and he shall bear the glory, and 
 shall sit and rule upon his throne ; and he shall be a 
 priest^ upon his throne (comp. MmliiacU Nagid)\ and 
 the counsel of peace shall be between them both " — 
 Zerubbabel and Joshua (Zech. vi. 12, 13). As described 
 in another place, he is one of the " two olive trees," or the 
 " two olive branches," (comp. Eev. xi. 4) which by the 
 hand of two golden pipes, empty out of themselves (oil into) 
 the gold; explained of "the two anointed ones (Joshua 
 and Zerubbabel) that stand by the Lord of the whole 
 earth" (Zech. iv. 11-14). To this distinguished leader 
 
 ' It would seem that Zerubbabel, although of the tribe of Judah "of which tribe 
 Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood" (Heb. vii. 14) ; did not only build the 
 altar but, conjointly with Joshua, executed the office of a priest. " Then stood up 
 Joshua the son of Josadak and his brethren, the priests, and Zfrubbabel 
 the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of 
 Israel .... and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt 
 offerings morning and evening" (Ezra iii. 2, 3 ; comp. 1 Esdras v. 48). Among the 
 priests who went uj) to Jerusalem from the captivity are mentioned, "The sons of 
 Phinees, the son of Aaron ; Jesus, the son of Josedec, the son of Saraias, and 
 Joacim the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Salathiel of the house of David, out of 
 the kindred of Phares, of the tribe of Judah " (1 Esdras v. 4). Josephus also says 
 that after the captivity they " made use of a form of government that was aristocratic 
 mixed with an oligarchy, for the high priests were at the head of affairs until the 
 posterity of the Asmoneans set up regal government " (Ant. xi. 4). Comp. Zech. 
 vi, 11-13, where the prophet is commanded to make (two) crowns, and to set them 
 upon the head of Joshua the son of Joseilech the high priest, and upon Zerubbabel 
 the "priest upon his throne," between whom and Joshua, in the joint execution of 
 the priestly office, there should be a " counsel of peace.'' Other instances of the 
 execution of the priestly office by princes of the line of David are to be found in 
 the scriptures (comp. 2 Sam. vi. 13, 1 Kings viii. 5 ; 2 Chron. xxx 24, xxxv. 7.) 
 
ESCHATOLOGICA.L PERIODS OF DANIEL. 179 
 
 of those of his countrymen '^ whose spirit God had 
 raised to go up to build the house of the Lord which is 
 in Jerusalem," belongs the praise of being the first who 
 should bring back the holy people from their house of 
 Babylonian bondage, and of introducing the time when, 
 according to the words of Jeremiah, " the city shall be 
 builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain 
 after the manner thereof .... and their nobles shall 
 be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from 
 the midst of them" (xxx. 18-22). It would seem 
 probable that the rebuilding of the city and temple by 
 Zerubbabel at the close of the prophetic period of " seven 
 weeks," may have been regarded as typical of the re- 
 building by the pious Maccabee, at the close of the 
 " threescore and two weeks," when similar events re- 
 peated themselves under a manifest correspondence of 
 outward circumstance and historical agreement — the 
 writer of this book accommodating the deliverance which 
 he records to that described in Zechariah, as, in after 
 years, the visions of the Apocalypse were accommodated 
 to those of Daniel. 
 
 THE THREESCORE AND TWO WEEKS. 
 
 The second period of "threescore and two weeks," 
 commencing from the same starting^ point as that of the 
 " seven weeks," and extending from e.g. 590 to the 
 
 1 No imperative necessity would appear to exist for the sixty two weeks to begin 
 from the point where the seven weeks end ; the division of the seventy weeks into 
 separate periods showing that their consecutive computation is not required. The 
 epoch therefore from which the second rebuilding of the city at the end of the sixty 
 two weeks commences, may be dated from the same starting point as that of the 
 first rebuilding, at the end of seven weeks. 
 
180 DANIEL. 
 
 death of Judas Maccabeus, b. c. IGl/ comprises a space 
 of 429 years, to which the " one week," or seven years, 
 may be added ; making a total of 436 years, expressed 
 in heptads by '' threescore and two weeks." Shortly 
 before the expiration of this term the street and wall of 
 Jerusalem are built the second time (itenim cedificabitur 
 Ges.), an act without precedent since the restoration of 
 the city by Zerubbabel, no assault having been made 
 upon Jerusalem from the days of Nebuchadnezzar to 
 those of Antiochus Epiphanes. It is said of this partiaP 
 restoration effected by the Maccabee and his compatriots, 
 " They builded up the Mount Zion with high walls and 
 strong towers round about, lest the Gentiles should come 
 and tread it down as they had before " (1 Mace. iv. 60) ; 
 the times in which the work is done being further 
 described as " troublous,'' or, as the same idea is else- 
 where expressed, " a time of trouble such as never was 
 since there was a nation even to that same time " (xii. 1, 
 comp. 1 Mace. iv. 41). 
 
 ^ The view now taken which makes the seventy weeks end in the restoration of 
 the city and sanctuary is in agreement with that of the LXX. translator, or com- 
 mentator, as he may be called ; the idea insisted upon in his version of the passage 
 being not the destruction, but the rebuilding of the city. " And thou shalt be 
 gladdened, and shalt find commands that answer be made, and shalt build Jerusalem 
 a city to the Lord.'' " In the prophecy of the seventy weeks (says a writer whose 
 argument we convert to our own purpose) the LXX. translator repeatedly falsifies 
 the time in order to make it fit in with that of Epiphanes. For the dates of the 
 original he twice substitutes seven, and seventy and sixty two, 139. This according 
 to the era of the Seleucida; which the Jews used, comprised the second year of the 
 reign of Epiphanes .... Thus he makes the latter part of the prophecy, a 
 prophecy of the chequered but successful resistance to Antiochus, ending not in 
 the destruction of the city and the sanctuary, but in a second rebuilding of the 
 city." — PusLY, p. 379. The LXX. translator had therefore no thought of extending 
 the prophecy to the times of the Messiah, but even falsified the text in order to 
 confine the interpretation to those of Antiochus, a convincing proof of the only 
 solution of the enigmatical problem considered probable by a contemporaneous age, 
 
 " " Reoedificabitur urbs quod ad plateam et fossam." — Uosenmuller. 
 
ESCHATOLOGICAL PERIODS OF DANIEL. 18] 
 
 " After (the) threescore and two weeks (not a different 
 period from that abeady laid down in v. 25), shall Messiah 
 be cut off" [exseindetur^ exterminahitur^ i^oXoOpevOi^a-erai 
 LXX.) i.e. shall meet with a violent^ death. The analogy 
 of the preceding interpretation leads us to explain this 
 much disputed clause of the death of that anointed high 
 priest and captain of his people, slain in the midst 
 of a glorious career which has rendered his name 
 illustrious. Independently of the impossibility of finding 
 another Jewish deliverer w^hose extermination is contem- 
 poraneous with the events recorded in these prophecies, 
 there would appear other sufficient reasons for applying 
 the excision spoken of to the death of Judas Maccabeus. 
 The MasMach who is cut off is the Mashiach^ who 
 returns and builds Jerusalem, a circumstance which fits in 
 with .the history of no other. The time of the cutting off 
 of MasMach which follows the rebuilding of the city at no 
 long interval — "after the threescore and two weeks" — 
 also corresponds with the fate of the Jewish champion cut 
 off within four years of the restoration of the sanctuary. 
 Moreover, the appellation MasMach would also appear to 
 be a more suitable designation for Maccabeus than for a 
 heathen prince; and it seems doubtful how far the 
 original readers of these prophecies would have been 
 interested in the announcement of the assassination of 
 Seleucus Philopator at Athens, or even the " unjust 
 
 1 The Hebrew word tearefh — shall be cut off — says Dr. Pusey, "never means 
 anything but excision ; death directly inflicted by God, or violent death at the hands 
 of man." 
 
 - It is conceived that the appellation Mashiach , an anointed, may be employed 
 equally of ISIaccabeus and Zerubbabel, the people having " bestowed the high priest- 
 hood upon Judas, which he retained for three years " (Ant. xii. 10, 11 ). 
 
182 DAmEL. 
 
 murder" of Onias at Antioch; events to which this 
 excision has been commonly referred. On the other 
 hand, the commemoration in the sacred books of the 
 heroic death of "the valiant man that delivered Israel,'' 
 of whom it was said that "when he was dead those that 
 were with him had no one whom they could regard as 
 theii' commander" (Ant. xii. 11), was a memorial calcu- 
 lated to inspire his followers with confidence and a 
 desire to imitate his glorious deeds. The fate of Macca- 
 beus would appear, moreover, to be set forth in the 
 prophecy in terms corresponding with the circumstances 
 of the case. In language similar to that which describes 
 the extermination of the Syrian oppressor who should 
 "come to his end, and none shall help him" — ve ayn 
 hozer lo — and "there is not a helper to him" (xi. 45), 
 it is affirmed of the Jewish champion, " Messiah shall be 
 cut off, but not for himself" — ve atjn lo — and there is not 
 (sub. a helper) to him : his chosen troops whom he had 
 so often led to victory, deserting him in the hour of his 
 greatest need, and leaving him to perish in the chivalrous 
 yet unequal conflict with the overwhelming numbers of 
 Bacchides ( 1 Mace. ix). 
 
 THE ONE WEEK. 
 
 The last and seventieth week, separated from the former 
 division by the Hebrew accent and merely added to make 
 up the prophetic number, the events which it comprises 
 being already included in the historical area terminating 
 with the restoration of the city and sanctuary by Judas 
 Maccabeus, has been interpreted by almost universal 
 consent of the dui-ation of the persecutions of a prince 
 
ESCHATOLOGICAL PERIODS OF DANIEL. 183 
 
 that shall come, ^ — o epxofMevo'? — the features of whose 
 impious reign are given with the minuteness which 
 characterizes preceding and following visions. (Comp. 
 viii. 11-14; xi. 31; xii. 7-11). It is affirmed of the 
 heathen people of this godless invader ("a kingdom of 
 Gentiles (who) shall corrupt the city and the holy place 
 with the anointed," LXX.) that they should destroy the 
 city and the sanctuary ; the personal invasion of Judea by 
 Antiochus for the purpose of plundering the temple 
 being followed by the more lasting occupations of his 
 lieutenants (1 Mace. i. 20-31), who were even more 
 savagely incensed against the holy people than Antiochus 
 himself. JIzs end, however (not that of the city and 
 sanctuary, which speedily recovered from their temporary 
 desolation), is in the flood (et fi7iis ejus principis erit 
 cum inundatione^ i. e. peribit tanquam siibitd eluvione 
 ahruptus^ comp. Psalm xc. 5) ; and till the end continues 
 war, desolations decreed. The prophetic space occupied 
 by these events is "one week," or seven years; a term 
 which, although not equal to the whole extent of his 
 reign, corresponds, with more or less accuracy, with the 
 duration^ of the persecutions of Antiochus, which may 
 
 ' It has been supposed that the coming prince Nagidha ba, distinguished from the 
 Jewish princes before mentioaed by the absence of the title Mashiach, ought to follow 
 the anointed one who precedes, in the way of hereditary succession ; and with this 
 view " Messiah cut off" has been explained of Seleucus Philopator, in whose " estate 
 (or place) the vile person (Antiochus) stands up " (xi. 21). It has, however, been 
 overlooked that the phrase ha ha is used, not of order of succession, but of invasion 
 of a hostile country ; as in xi. 16, where it refers to the invasion of Egypt by 
 Antiochus the Great. (Comp. xi. 9, 13, 21, 40-41). 
 
 2 On the supposition that one year i# occupied with his personal invasion of 
 Judea and plunder of the sacred treasures, after which sacrilegious exploit Antiochus 
 returns to his own land (I Mace. i. 24) ; that " two full years," during which it 
 may be presumed the Jews paid tribute, intervene between that event and the 
 commission given to ApoUonius, his chief collector of taxes, who destroys the city, 
 
184 DANIEL. 
 
 be dated " from the 143rd year of the kingdom of the 
 Seleucidee" (Ant. xii. 5), in which year he first took 
 possession of Jerusalem, to the 149th year in which 
 he died. During this term of "one week" Antiochus 
 makes firm a (not the) covenant^ with many, or the 
 many ; referring, most probably, to the alliance made 
 by the king with the apostate Jews. This defection of 
 the majority of the Jewish people is abundantly con- 
 firmed, " many of the Israelites consented to his religion " 
 (1 Mace, i. 43-52), and Mattathias is required to sacrifice 
 " as all the heathen have done, yea, and the men of Juda 
 also and such as remain at Jerusalem" (1 Mace. ii. 18); 
 the greater number forsaking the religion of their fathers 
 and availing themselves of the regal ''license to do after 
 the ordinances of the heathen" (1 Mace. i. 13). 
 
 and sets it on fire (1 Mace. i. 30-31) ; and that subsequently to this, that memorable 
 profanation was commenced, lasting for three, or three and a half years, which has 
 handed down his name with infamy to posterity ; it may be thought that the required 
 space of "one week," or seven years, is suflBciently exhausted, especially when 
 heptads are taken into account. (Comp. the 2,300 days, or six years and 4-5 
 months of viii. 14). 
 
 ^ It has been asserted that the word Bcrith — covenant — found seven times in the 
 Book of Daniel, is only used of the covenant between God and his people. But to 
 this it may be answered, that in this passage, as in xi. 22, the article is omitted ; the 
 remaining five either having the article, as ix. 4. ; the qualifying adjective, " holy," 
 (xi. 28-30) twice repeated ; or being found in construction, which leaves no doubt of 
 the meaning, as Marshidi Verith, " such as do wickedly against the covenant." In 
 a passage found, 1 Mace. i. 11-15, according to Jerome,* originally written in 
 Hebrew, and also expressive of the agreement entered into with the heathen by the 
 Jews, the word SiadriKri is used twice in the same context, and each time in a 
 different sense. " In those days went there out of Israel wicked men who persuaded 
 many, saying, Let us go and make a covenant with the heathen that are round about 
 us . . . . ; so they made themselves uncireumeised, and forsook t/te holy covenant :" 
 the covenant made with the heathen being contrasted with the holy covenant. 
 
 • " MaccabfBorum primum libriuii Ilebraicum rcperi ; secundus Greecus est." — Hiebon. "But, 
 without these, is the Maccabean history (ri MaKKaj8oif/ca), '"'hioh is entitled iSarfie<A»Soianoie/." 
 — Oriqf.n. 
 
ESCHATOLOGICAL PERIODS OF DANIEL. 185 
 
 THE HALF OF THE WEEK. 
 
 This extraordinary subdivision, separated from the 
 '' one week " by the Hebrew accent, whose historical 
 fulfilment is necessarily included within the preceding 
 term, is thought to denote that memorable epoch 
 in the annals of the holy people which witnessed 
 a cessation of the daily sacrifice f5r three, or for three 
 and a half years; an event without parallel in Jew- 
 ish history, and which can only be explained 
 with fairness of the profanation of the temple by 
 Antiochus. The identity of this period with other 
 correlative periods (vii. 25; xii. 7, 11, 12) is too obvious 
 to require comment. We shall therefore dismiss as 
 unworthy of notice the objections which have been urged 
 against this interpretation, in the assured conviction that 
 if the passage is not explained of the cessation of the 
 daily sacrifice caused by the Syrian oppressor it can never 
 be explained at all. It will be noticed that, as in preced- 
 ing and following visions, these impieties tread on the 
 heels of the consummation and introduce the destruction 
 of the perpetrator. As the king of fierce countenance 
 who destroys the holy people is " broken without hand " 
 (viii. 24), as the " vile person," called subsequently " the 
 king of the north '' (xi. 40), who goes forth with fury to 
 destroy and utterly to make away many, "comes to his 
 end and none shall help him " (xi. 44, 45) ; so this 
 last crowning act of desecration, intercepting for three, 
 or three and a half years, the religious worship of the 
 most devoted ritualists of whom history makes mention, 
 
186 DANIEL. 
 
 ushers in the consummation and brings down the heaven- 
 decreed punishment upon the dosolator. 
 
 The enquiry has yet to be made how far the historical 
 periods correspond with the heptads under which they are 
 expressed. On the supposition that the '' seven weeks " 
 represent 54 years, from the assault upon Jerusalem by 
 Nebuchadnezzar b. c. 590, to the restoration by Zerub- 
 babel in the first year of C}tus e.g. 53G : that the " three- 
 score and two weeks,* starting from the same terminus a 
 quo^ represent 429 years, to the death of Judas Maccabeus 
 B.C. 161, to which may be added the ''one week," 
 significant of a period of 7 years, during which Antiochus 
 makes a covenant with the apostate Jews; we have 
 arrived at a total of 54 + 429 + 7 = 490 years. Owing 
 to the uncertain character of biblical chronology, it is 
 possible that an approximation to complete numerical 
 exactness is alone attainable ; sufiicient agreement, how- 
 ever, may be discernible between the prophetic heptads 
 and their historical fulfilments to satisfy the general 
 requirements of the arithmetical problem. 
 
 Such the result at which we arrive from a consideration 
 of the eschatological periods of Daniel: the "seventy 
 weeks," equally with the shorter periods, terminating in 
 one culminating crisis to which the prophecy uniformly 
 points, and beyond which it does not seem to extend. 
 Eepudiating therefore the conjecture, that portions of 
 the book can be arbitrarily selected from the rest and 
 applied now to Antiochus, and now to some future enemy 
 of the Church, we dismiss unreservedly idle surmises 
 respecting the appearing of Antichrist, and pseudo- 
 religious tableaux of approaching doom. I^ay more, by 
 
ESCHATOLOGICAL PERIODS OF DANIEL. 187 
 
 confining these visions within the limits of the past, we 
 desire to exhaust the source from whence the predictive 
 material is chiefly derived ; to take away the occupation 
 of would-be prophets; to deprive spiritual charlatans 
 and their abettors in high places of the means of 
 perpetuating ignorance and uncharitableness ; and to 
 place (if God shall will) the exegesis of this mysterious 
 volume upon a basis that shall stand. 
 
188 DANIEL. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER AND HISTORICAL MINUTENESS 
 OF DANIEL XI. 
 
 The Book of Daniel naturally divides itself into what 
 may be called its biographical and prophetical portions : 
 the former commencing from the first to the end of the 
 sixth chapter; the latter, from the vision of the four 
 great beasts of the seventh chapter to the end of the 
 book. Tlie second of these is chiefly occupied with a 
 historico-prophetic narrative of events which succeed each 
 other in chronological order ; the eleventh chapter espe- 
 cially being little else than an epitome of the reign of 
 those Syro-Egyptian kings which introduce "the vile 
 person," Antiochus, and forming "a history of the 
 struggles of the Jewish Church with the Greek powers 
 up to the death of its great adversary" (xi. 45). The 
 attention to particulars perceptible in this chapter has 
 perhaps more than anything else tended to invalidate 
 its predictive character ; the plots and counterplots, the 
 successes and reverses, the alliances and ruptures of 
 these kings of the North and of the South being detailed 
 in it with unusual minuteness ; and as the time draws 
 on for the oppressor himself to appear upon the scene, 
 the narrative appears to lose the semblance of a 
 
HISTORICAL MINUTENESS OF DANIEL XI. 189 
 
 prophetical composition altogether, and to wear the 
 aspect of unmixed history.^ In order to exhibit the 
 historical complexion of this chapter, a position recog- 
 nised by the Jews themselves, who exclude the Book 
 of Daniel from their prophetical scriptures, it will be 
 necessary to enter into particulars, and to examine it 
 verse by verse. 
 
 The historical area comprised in this explanatory 
 chapter, which stands out in marked contrast from the 
 symbolism employed in those which precede it, would 
 seem to extend from the third year of Cyrus (x. 1) to 
 the death of Antiochus (xi. 45). The first verse, " Also 
 in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I stood to 
 confirm and strengthen him," connected by the copula 
 with the angelic interposition previously mentioned, may 
 be considered to belong to the former chapter, leaving 
 the new subject to commence with the invitation to 
 
 1 " It may be proper to stop here, and reflect a little how particular and circum- 
 stantial this prophecy is concerning the kingdoms of Egypt and Syria, from the death 
 of Alexander to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. There is not so complete and 
 regular a series of their kings, there is not so concise and comprehensive an account 
 of their aflfairs, to be found in any author of those times. The prophecy is really 
 more perfect than any history. No one historian hath related so many circumstances, 
 and in such exact order of time, as the prophet hath foretold them : so that it was 
 necessary to have recourse to several authors, Greek and Roman, Jewish and 
 Christian ; and to collect here something from one, and to collect there something 
 from another, for the better explaining and illustrating the great variety of particulars 
 contained in this prophecy. If authors whose works have since entirely perished, 
 and those who are extant were still complete, the great exactness of the prophecy 
 might in all probability have been proved in more particulars than it hath been. 
 This exactness was so convincing that Porphyry could not pretend to deny it : he 
 rather laboured to confirm it, and drew this inference from it, that the prophecy was 
 so very exact, that it could not possibly have been written before, but must have 
 been written in, or soon after the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, all being true and 
 exact to that time, and no farther.'' — Newton on the Frophecies. 
 
 In the preceding note. Bishop Newton appears to have been struck by the historical 
 character of this chapter, although his prepossessions were too strong to admit the 
 force of the arguments advanced by Porphyry, Grotius, and Collins. 
 
190 DANIEL. 
 
 attention, " And now will I shew thee the truth." '- 
 Accordingly the historico-prophetic narrative, omitting, 
 as in chapter viii., all mention of the Babylonian kingdom 
 which had then passed away, proceeds to enumerate 
 three kings yet standing up (adhuc stantes) in Persia, 
 and a fourth conspicuous above the rest for his strength 
 and riches. The three kings of Persia, and the fourth 
 " far richer than they all," are conceived to be, 
 
 CYRUS, CAMBYSES, DARIUS HYSTASPIS, AND XERXES. 
 
 " 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 stir up all against the realm of Grecia" (xi. 2). 
 
 We have already considered this verse explanatory of 
 the symbol of chapter vii. 5, in which the Medo-Persian 
 Bear, having three ribs, or tusks, in its mouth, is de- 
 scribed as elevating one dominion above the rest; the 
 whole of the eleventh chapter appearing to us to be 
 an historical paraphrase of previous symbols from the 
 time of Cyrus to the death of Antiochus Epiphanes. It 
 is observable that the writer reckons only three kings 
 of Persia, including Cyrus, the short reign of Smerdis 
 the Magian being omitted as unworthy of notice. With 
 the introduction of the fourth, Xerxes, the prophecy, 
 as in other places, passes on to the mention of Alexander ; 
 it being the object of the writer, according to Jerome, 
 rather to single out remarkable eras than to follow exact 
 historical order. The fourth, " far richer than they all," 
 who should "stir up all (Asia) against the realm of 
 Grecia," needs no comment; the reference to Xerxes 
 
 ' "Jam igitur ut oflScio mep satisfaciam, veritatem, ea quse populo tuo certissime 
 eventura sunt, indicabo tibi." — Maurer. 
 
HISTORICAL MINUTENESS OF DANIEL XI. 191 
 
 being as patent as the historical character of the so- 
 called prophecy. It would be simply impossible, without 
 actual mention by name of the person concerned, to 
 depict in plainer terms the ambitious design of the 
 insatiable Persian, which resulted in the extermination 
 of the aggressor, and laid the foundation of subsequent 
 Greek rule in Asia. 
 
 ALEXANDER AND HIS FOUR POTENT SUCCESSORS. 
 SELEUCUS NICATOR, PTOLEMY LAGI, LYSIMACHUS, 
 AND CASSANDER. 
 
 "And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall 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 his 
 dominion which he ruled : for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even 
 for others beside those " (xi. 3, 4). 
 
 As in the preceding case, these verses are conceived 
 to be an historical explanation of the symbol of the 
 Leopard with four heads of chapter vii. 6, and to shadow 
 forth the Macedonian kingdom of Alexander and his 
 four potent successors. The '' mighty king," beyond all 
 reasonable doubt, is Alexander, surnamed "The Great," 
 from his almost superhuman exploits ; whose oecumenical 
 dominion extended from the Mediterranean to the Indus, 
 and from Egypt to Babylon. At the very summit of 
 his greatness his kingdom is "broken" by his sudden, 
 and possibly treacherous' death, and "divided toward 
 the four winds of heaven" (comp. viii. 8); none of 
 "his posterity" succeeding to this world-wide empire, 
 
 ^ . . . . " IlpoSoOels So\ia>v v(p' kralpwv. 
 'Iv^ovs yap ■KpoKn:6vra koI els BafivXccva /xoXwvra 
 Bap^apov e^oXecret tovtop <p6vov a/jLcpl rpaire^rjs." 
 
 — Orac. Sibyll. lib. ix. 222, 223. 
 
192 DANIEL. 
 
 although he left two sons, Hercules and Alexander. 
 This fourfold division is expressly stated to be not 
 "according to his strength" (LXX.), nor "according to 
 his dominion which he ruled" as sole autocrat; or, as 
 it is elsewhere expressed, " four kingdoms shall stand up 
 out of the nation, but not in his power" (viii. 22). 
 The kingdom of the "four notable ones" is again sub- 
 divided into "ten horns," i.e. ten kings' of Syria and 
 Egypt which are enumerated in order; "for his (Alex- 
 ander's) kingdom shall be plucked up even for others 
 beside those" (four). 
 
 PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS AND ANTIOCHUS THEOS. 
 
 "And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; 
 and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion ; his dominion 
 shall be a great dominion. And in the end of years they shall join 
 themselves together J for the king's daughter of the south shall come 
 to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not 
 retain the power of the arm ; neither shall he stand nor his arm : but 
 she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat 
 her, and he that strengthened her in these times" (xi. 5, 6). 
 
 The first of these ten kings, called " the King of the 
 
 South " (the kingdom of Egypt, LXX.) who should be 
 
 strong^ above, or out of his princes, would seem to be 
 
 ' " Idcirco autem cetera regna dimitteus, Macedoniae videlicet et Asise, tantutn de 
 ^gypti et Syriae narrat regibus : quia in medio Judaea posita, nunc ab illis, nunc ab 
 istis regibus tenebatur : et scripturae sanctic propositum est, non externam absque 
 Judaeis, historiam texere, sed earn que Israeli populo copulata est." — Hieron. 
 
 '^ The elliptical clause, on-min-sarav, and (sub. he shall be strong) above, or out of 
 his princes — the princes of Alexander before spoken of (ver. 4), or other princes of 
 the Egyptian dynasty — cannot without violence be interpreted of the prince " strong 
 above him," called (ver. 5), the " king of the north." The necessity, therefore, of 
 referring the passage to Seleucus Nicator, the lieutenant of Ptolemy Lagi, on the 
 ground that the former was one of the princes of the latter, would appear to be 
 precluded. Moreover the alliance entered into by the kings of the north jmd south 
 does not apply to the history of Ptolemy Lagi and Seleucus Nicator, to whom the 
 kings spoken of (ver. 5) have been sometimes referred; and to tliis it may be added 
 that a prominence among the ten horns would naturally be given to Ptolemy Phila- 
 delphus, the reign of that prince being a critical ejjoch in Jewish history. 
 
HISTORICAL MINUTENESS OF DANIEL XI. 193 
 
 Ptolemy Philadelphus, the youngest son of Ptolemy 
 Lagi, whose emj)ire, according to Jerome/ surpassed 
 that of his father. The prince who should show him- 
 self strong against him (the king of the south) and whose 
 "dominion shall be a great dominion," is thought to be 
 Antiochus II., surnamed the " God," who for many 
 years was engaged in destructive and successful warfare 
 with Philadelphus.- Anxious to bring the contest to a 
 close, which had lasted for a considerable time, " in the 
 end of years, they [the hefore-named princes) shall join 
 themselves together " by mutual alliance,^ and enter into 
 a treaty. By this treaty Ptolemy Philadelphus gives ^ his 
 daughter Berenice in marriage to Antiochus Theos, 
 king of Syria: "The king's daughter of the South shall 
 come to the king of the North to make an agreement " 
 (margin — rights — facere recta quce curva sunt et tortuosa^ 
 hinc efficere conciliaiionem). Laodice, however, the for- 
 
 1 " Narrant enim historise, habuisse eum peditum ducenta millia, equitum viginti 
 millia, curruum vero duo millia, elephantos, quos primus eduxit ex Ethiopia, 
 quadrigentas, naves longas, quas nunc Liburnas vocant, mille quingentas, alias, ad 
 cibaria militum deportanda, mille; auri quoque et argenti grande pondus." — 
 
 HiERON. 
 
 2 " Totis Babylonis atque Orientis viribus dimicavit." — Hieron. 
 
 5 Primum Syriae regnavit Seleucus cognomento Nicator : secundus Antiochus qui 
 appellatus est Soter ; tertius et ipse Antiochus qui vocabatur ©eos. Iste adversus 
 Ptolemseum PhUadelphum, qui secundus imperabat ^gyptiis, gessit bella quam 
 plurima . . . Volens itaque Ptolemseus Philadelphus post multos annos molestum finire 
 certamen, filiam suam, nomine Berenicen Antiocho uxorem dedit, qui de priore 
 uxore, nomine Laodice, habebat duos Alios, Seleucum qui cjgnominatus est Calli- 
 nicus, et alterum Antiochum .... Antiochus autem (Theos) Berenicen consortem 
 regni habere se dicens, et Laodicen in concubinse locum, post multum temporis 
 (mortuo Ptolemseo Philadelpho) amore superatus, Laodicen cum liberis suis redusit 
 in regiam. Quae metuens ambiguum viri animum, ne Berenicen reduceret, virum 
 per ministros veneno interfecit. Berenicen autem cum filio qui ex Antiocho natus 
 erat, Icadioni et Genneo, Antiochise principibus, occidendam tradidit, filiumque 
 suum Seleucum Callinicum, in patris loco regem constituit." — Hieron. 
 
 * " Deduxitque earn usque Pelusium ; et infinita auri et argenti millia, dotis. 
 nomine dedit: unde <pepvo(p6pos, i. e. dotalis appellatus est." — Hieron. 
 
 13 
 
194 DANIEL. 
 
 mer wife of Antiochus, who had been divorced to make 
 room for Berenice, being recalled by Antiochus upon the 
 death of Ptolemy, causes Berenice and her son, " whom 
 she brought fortli," to be put to death, and places her 
 own son Seleucus Callinicus on the throne. Thus 
 '' she (Berenice) does not retain the power of the arm," ^ 
 but is "given up" to death (comp. viii. 12). The 
 object for which the alliance was contracted failed ; and 
 the countries of Syria and Egypt continued to engage in 
 war as before. 
 
 SELEUCUS CALLINICUS AND PTOLEMY EUERGETES. 
 
 " But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, 
 which shall come with an ai-my, and shall enter into the fortress of the 
 king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail : and 
 shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and 
 with their precious vessels of silver and of gold ; and he shall continue 
 more years than the king of the north. So the king of the south shall 
 come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land" (vv. 7, 8, 9). 
 
 In revenge^ for the murder of his sister Berenice, her 
 brother Ptolemy Euergetes, '^ a branch of her roots," 
 enters into ''the fortress of the king of the north,'' 
 Seleucus Callinicus; and so far prevails that he takes 
 (according to Jerome) Syria, Cilicia, the upper parts 
 beyond the Euphrates, and almost the whole of Syria. 
 Following the ancient practice of carrying away the 
 gods of the vanquished nations, Ptolemy " carries 
 captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and 
 with their precious vessels of silver and of gold," 
 amounting to 2,500 vases and images ; for which exploit 
 
 ' " And his arm shall be paralysed, and those who go with him, and shall not 
 prevail ; for his arm shall not establish strength, and shall abide for a time." — LXX. 
 
 - " Tot'Tft (caedem intellige sororis et filii illius) Tivvvfjifvos \aoSiKr)v (KTuvi, koI 
 ts Supiaj' ivf0a\f, Koi €s Ba$u\wya ijKaffi." — ArriAV, De 2teb. St/rAxv. 
 
HISTORICAL MINUTENESS OF DANIEL XI. 195 
 
 the Egyptians (^BeiatSaifiovearepot) gave him the title of 
 Euergetes, or Benefactor.^ After this he abstains for 
 some time from war with Seleucus Callinicus ; the clause 
 "he shall continue more years than the king of the 
 north," being more correctly rendered, he shall stand 
 away from (conflict with) the king of the north for some 
 years. The text immediately following is somewhat 
 obscure ; but if, with Eosenm idler, ver. 9 be rendered 
 "The king of the north (ver. 8) shall come into the 
 kingdom of the king of the south (i. e. to invade it), and 
 shall return into his own Inncl," the passage may 
 signify that subsequently Seleucus Callinicus made an 
 unsuccessful expedition against Egypt which ended 
 disastrously to himself. "He first" (says Mr. Westcott) 
 " collected a fleet which was almost totally destroyed by 
 a storm ; and then, as if by some judicial infatuation, he 
 came against the realm of the king of the south, and 
 (being defeated) returned to his own land" (to Antioch).^ 
 
 ANTIOCHUS THE GREA.T AND PTOLEMY PHILOPATOR. 
 
 " But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of 
 great forces : and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass 
 through : then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress. 
 And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come 
 forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north : and he 
 shall set forth a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given 
 into his hand. And when he hath taken away the multitude, his 
 
 1 " Quum audisset (Ptolemseus Euergetes) in .(Egypto seditionem moveri, di- 
 ripiens regnum Seleuci quadraginta millia talentorum argenti tulit, et vasa pretiosa 
 simulacraque deorum, duo millia quingenta, in quibus erant et ilia quae Cambyses 
 capta ^gypto in Persas portaverat. Denique ge-is ^Egyptiorum idolatrise dedita, 
 quia post multos annos deos eorum retulerat, Euer;: 'cm eum appellavit." — Hieron. 
 
 2 "Rex Syriae, Seleucus Callinicus, qui, quum pL.st Ptolemsei ex Syriii discessum 
 civitates, quae ab ipso defecerant, imperio suo restituisset, - eluti par viribus bellum 
 Ptolemseo intulit, sed naufragium passus, victusque prselio, trepidus Antiochiam refu- 
 git." — Justin, xxvii. 2. 
 
196 DANIEL. 
 
 heart shall be lifted up ; and he shall cast down many ten thousands : 
 but he shall not be strengthened by it" (w. 10, 11, 12). 
 
 The sons of Seleucus Callinicus with the intention of 
 avenging the disgrace of their father, take up arms 
 against Ptolemy Philopator, the son of Euergetes, a 
 prince ''to the last degree sensual, effeminate, and 
 debased,'' — "His sons (LXX. his son) shall be stirred 
 up and shall assemble a multitude of great forces." 
 One' of these, Antiochus, the most celebrated, "shall 
 certainly come and overflow and pass through," like a 
 torrent which has burst its banks, as far as Eaphia, the 
 " fortress " of the king of the south. Ptolemy Philopator, 
 however, defeats the forces of Antiochus at Eaphia, near 
 Gaza, amounting to 72,000 foot, 2,000 horse, and 102 
 elephants, whilst those of Ptolemy were of nearly equaP 
 number. In this memorable battle 10,000 of the troops 
 of Antiochus were slain, and 4,000 taken prisoners, — 
 " the multitude^ shall be given into his hand." Ptolemy 
 however " was not strengthened by the casting down of 
 ten thousands," but contenting himself with the recovery 
 of the provinces of Coele-Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine, 
 which had been taken from him by Antiochus, returned 
 once more to his luxurious^ mode of life. 
 
 • " Inchoatum est bellum a Seleuco Cerauno, continuatum post mortem illius ab 
 Antiocho." — Polyb. v. 40. The verb " he shall certainly come" (ou-ra-ro) is in the 
 singular number, showing that only one of the sons of Seleucus is intended. 
 
 - " Habuit Ptolemaeus ad Raphiam peditum Ixx. millia, equitum v. millia, elephan- 
 tos Ixxiii." — Polyb. 86. 
 
 3 " Quum acriter pugnatum esset, et cornu quidem, cui Antiochus prsefuerat, 
 vicisset, alterum tamen cum media acie succubuit, csesis ad decern millia et amplius, 
 vivisque captis circiter quatuor millibus, necnon compluribus elephantis." — 
 POLTB. i. 1. 
 
 * "Spoliasset (Ptolemieus Philopator) regno Antiochum, si fortunam virtute 
 juvisset. Contentus tamen recuperatione urbium quas amiserat, factaque paee, 
 avide materiam quietis arripuit ; revolutusque in luxuriam, occis^ Eurydice more 
 
HISTORICAL MINUTENESS OF DANIEL XI. 197 
 
 ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT AND PTOLEMY EPIPHANES. 
 
 "For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a 
 multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after 
 certain years with a great army and with much riches. And in those 
 times there shall many stand up against the king of the south : also 
 the rohbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision ; 
 but they shall fall. So the king of the north shall come, and cast up 
 a mount, and take the most fenced cities : and the arms of the south 
 shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any 
 strength to withstand" (vv. 13, 14, 15). 
 
 "After certain (13) years" Ptolemy Philopator dies, 
 and is succeeded by his son Ptolemy Epiphanes, a child 
 of the age of five years. Taking advantage of his youth, 
 Antiochus the Great again invades Egypt. He is joined 
 in this fresh campaign by Philip III., king of Macedon, 
 on the condition that each should annex to their own 
 empire those cities of Egypt which were nearest to their 
 own country, — " Many stand up against the king of the 
 south.'' During the contests between Antiochus and 
 Ptolemy Epiphanes, the Jews, equally sufi'erers both 
 when he was beaten and when he was victorious, and as 
 Josephus says, "like a ship in a storm which is tossed by 
 the waves on both sides," divided themselves into two 
 parties espousing different interests. The Syrian party, 
 called in ver. 17 "the upright ones," "went over to 
 Antiochus of their own accord and received him into 
 Jerusalem, and gave plentiful provision to all his army, 
 and to his elephants, and readily assisted him when 
 he besieged the garrison which was in the citadel" 
 
 e^demque sorore sua, Agathoclese meretricis capitur illecebris, et regii nominis ac 
 majestatis oblitus, noctes in stupris, dies in conviviis consumsit." — Polyb. 87 ; 
 Justin, xxx. 1. 
 
198 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 (Ant. xii. 3). The Egyptian party, hero called 'Hhe 
 robbers of thy people,'' hoping perhaps to '* establish the 
 vision" of Isaiah xix. 19, went down in greut numbers 
 into Egypt under Onias the high priest, and "built a 
 temple and an altar to God at Leontopolis, like indeed to 
 that in Jerusalem, but smaller and poorer" (Ant. xiii. 3). 
 (" Thoughts shall arise against the king of Egypt, and 
 he shall rebuild what is fallen of thy nation^ and he shall 
 arise to raise up the prophecy" LXX.). "But they 
 shall fall :" the attempt shall be unsuccessful ; the city 
 of Onias being afterwards destroyed by the Jews 
 themselves. 
 
 In the meanwhile complete success attends the arms 
 of Antiochus. " The king of the north comes and casts 
 up a mount, and takes the most fenced cities " of Syria 
 from Scopas, the general of Ptolemy ; defeats him with 
 great loss at Paneas, near the sources of the Jordan, and 
 finally reduces him to capitulate with 10,000 of his men 
 at Sidon,^ — " The arms of the south shall not withstand, 
 neither his chosen people (the troops sent by Ptolemy to 
 assist Scopas), neither shall there be any strength to 
 withstand; but he that cometh against him shall do 
 according to his own will, and none shall stand be- 
 fore him." 
 
 " And he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be 
 consumed (or, perfected). He shall also set his face to enter with the 
 
 ' •' Antiochus volens Judaseam recuperate et Syriae urbes plurimas (quas dum ab 
 eo bellum gereretur cum Attalo, Pei-gami rege, iterum occupaverat Scopas, dux 
 Ptoleinsei), Scopam juxta fontes Jordanis, ubi nunc Paneas condita est, inito cer- 
 tamine fugavit, et cum decern millibus armatorum obsedit clausum in Sidone. Ob 
 quem liberandum misit FtolerasEus duces inclytos Eropum et Menoclem et Da- 
 moxenum (cum delect;! manu). Sed obsidionem solvere non potuit, donee fame 
 superatus Scopas manus dedit, et nudus cum sociis dimissus est." — Hieron. 
 
HISTORICAL MINUTENESS OF DANIEL XI. 199 
 
 strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him ; thus shall 
 he do : and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her : 
 but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him " (vv. 16, 17). 
 
 Assisted by those "upright" Jews who were favour- 
 able to his designs (so called in contradistinction to 
 the ''robbers" who took the part of Ptolemy), Antiochus 
 adds Judea to his dominions. He stands in the glorious 
 land {terra Israelitica ; cf. Jer. iii. 19 ; Ezek. xx. 6, 15 ; 
 Zech. vii. 14), and assists the Jews in the work of 
 repairing their city and finishing their temple. "After 
 this," says Josephus, " Antiochus made a friendship 
 and a league with Ptolemy, and gave him his daughter 
 ('the daughter of women,' puella) Cleopatra to wife, 
 and yielded up to him Coele-Syria, Samaria, Judea, 
 and Phoenicia, by way of dowry" (Ant. xii. 4). This 
 marriage was contracted probably with a view of 
 retaining these provinces under his own power, thus 
 "corrupting" the mind of his daughter to favour his 
 designs upon Egypt.' She, however, does not " stand on 
 his own side, neither is for him ;" for she takes the part 
 of her husband Ptolemy instead of her father Antiochus. 
 
 "After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take 
 many : but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered 
 by him to cease ; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn 
 upon him. Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own 
 land : but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found " (w. 18, 19). 
 
 After his successes in Egypt, Antiochus captures 
 Ehodes, Samos, Colophon, and other islands and mari- 
 
 ' "Volens Antiochns non solum Syriam, et Ciliciam, et Lyciam, et alias pro- 
 vincias, quse Ptolemaei fuerant partium, possidere, sed in ^gyptum quoque regnum 
 suum extendere, filiam suam Cleopatram ... respondit Ptolemaeo et tradidit, 
 promissu ei dotis nomine Coele-Syria, et Judsea .... Neque vero obtinere potuit 
 ^Egyptum, quia Ptolemseus Epiphanes et duces ejus, sentientes dolum, cautiua 
 egereut, ec Cleopatra magis viri partes quam parentis fovit." — Hieron. 
 
200 DANIEL. 
 
 time places on the coast of Asia Minor ; and, crossing 
 
 the Hellespont, enters, by the advice of Hannibal, upon 
 
 war with the Eomans. But " a prince for his own 
 
 behalf (Lucius Scipio), shall cause the reproach offered 
 
 by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall 
 
 cause it to turn upon him:" [sed cessare faciei imperator 
 
 quidam opprobrium ejus illi; prceterquam quod oppro- 
 
 hrimn ejus convertet in ipsum). Vanquished by the 
 
 Eoman consul with terrible slaughter at Magnesia,^ he 
 
 with difficulty obtained peace from the Eomans on the 
 
 severe conditions that he should evacuate Europe, cede 
 
 all his possessions on the Eoman side of Mount Taurus, 
 
 and pay the enormous sum of 15,000 Euboic talents to 
 
 cover the expenses of the war. Eeturning to the " fort 
 
 of his own land" (Syria), he was slain in an unsuccessful 
 
 attempt^ to plunder the temple of Belus, or Jupiter, in 
 
 Elymais, with a view, it is supposed, of collecting means 
 
 to pay the tribute imposed by the Eomans, — "He shall 
 
 stumble and fall, and not be found." 
 
 SELEUCUS PHILOPATOK. 
 
 "Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of 
 the kingdom : but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in 
 anger, nor in battle " (ver. 20). 
 
 Seleucus Philopator, the " raiser of taxes in the glory 
 
 * " Quo in prselio infelici amisit, innumeratis captivis, circiter 1. millia; vix enim 
 caesorum numerus iniri potuit prae multitudine ; elephantis etiam interfectis, prseter 
 quindecim qui vivi fuerunt capti. Pacem Antioclius impetravit a Romanis hac 
 demum conditione ut Europa. cederet, et Asia omni cis Taurum." — Liv. " Tantam 
 enim apud Magnesiam cladem accepit Antiochus, ut ifv ^acriKevs, Ai^noxos 6 
 Me'ycts dicereut homines." — Appian. Dc licit. /St/r. c. 37. 
 
 - " Antiochus quum gravi tributo pacis, a Romanis victus, oneratus esset : sive 
 inopia pecunise compulsus, sive avaritia, sollicitatus, qua sperabat se sub specie 
 tributariae necessitatis excusatius sacrilegia commissurum ; adhibito exercitu, noctu 
 templum Elymsei Jovis (ToD Bt)\ou — Strabo) aggreditur. Qua re prodita, concursu 
 incolarum cum omni militia interficitur." — Justin, xxxii. 2. 
 
HISTORICAL MINUTENESS OF DANIEL XI. 201 
 
 of the kingdom," [qui iransire faciei exactor em deem regni^ 
 
 i. e. Judceam) succeeds to the throne of Syria. His reign 
 
 is chiefly remarkable for an attempt to plunder the 
 
 temple of its sacred treasures, possibly with a view of 
 
 paying the taxes imposed by the Eomans on his father 
 
 Antiochus the Great. For this purpose he sends his 
 
 treasurer Heliodorus to Jerusalem, who is deterred from 
 
 his sacrilegious purpose by the appearance of an armed 
 
 and terrible rider.' After an inglorious reign of twelve 
 
 years he is assassinated^ by Heliodorus, probably at the 
 
 instigation of his brother Epiphanes ; and is destroyed 
 
 " within few days," i. e. not long after — " neither in anger 
 
 nor in battle ; '' without the martial renown and splendid 
 
 achievements which distinguished his warlike father. 
 
 ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES. 
 
 "And ia his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall 
 not give the honour of the kingdom : but he shall come in peaceably, 
 and obtain the kingdom by flatteries" (ver. 21). 
 
 An introductory sketch has been given up to this 
 
 1 " Heliodorus, the royal treasurer, was immediately despatched to take possession 
 of this unexpected fund (the riches of Hyrcanus deposited in the treasury of the 
 temple) so opportunely discovered ; for the finances of Seleucus were exhausted by 
 the exactions of the Romans. The whole city was in an agony of apprehension ; the 
 high priest seemed in the deepest distress while the royal officer advanced to profane 
 and pillage the temple of God. Suddenly a horse, with a terrible rider clad in 
 golden armour, rushed into the courts, and made at Heliodorus with his fore feet. 
 Two young men of great strength and beauty, and splendidly attired, stood by the 
 rider, and scourged the intruder with great violence. At this awful apparition the 
 treasurer fell half dead upon the pavement ; was carried senseless out of the pre- 
 cincts of the sanctuary, and only revived after the promise of the high priest 
 to intercede with his offended Deity." (2 Mace, iii.) — Milman's History of the 
 Jews. 
 
 2 " Seleucus quem Philopatora Grseci vocavere, quum paternis eladibus fractas 
 admodum Syrise opes accepisset, post otiosum, nuUis admodum rebus gestis nobili- 
 tatum annorum duodecim regnum, minorem natu fratrem (Antiochum Epiphanem) 
 misso Romam in ejus locum Alio suo Demetrio, revocavit ex foederis legibus quo 
 mutari identidem obsides opportebat. Vix Llle Athenas pervenerat, quum Seleucus 
 insidiis Heliodori, unius ex purpuratis, oppressus interiit." — Liv. xli. 19. 
 
202 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 point of those Syrian and Egyptian kings who preceded 
 Antiochus Epiphanes ; regard being had to those events 
 in their respective histories ; with which the Jews were 
 more immediately concerned. Hitherto their Syrian and 
 Egyptian masters seem to have inflicted no greater 
 injuries upon them than those to which they were locally 
 and politically subject, but with the death of Seleucus 
 Philopator a season is reached of more than usual trouble 
 to the holy people. Accordingly, the brevity which 
 characterizes preceding descriptions is exchanged for 
 comprehensive detail and historical minuteness; and 
 from ver. 21 to the end of the chapter, the narrative is 
 solely occupied with the character and fortunes of the 
 great oppressor of the Jewish people. 
 
 An almost unanimous criticism has interpreted the 
 " vile person " of Antiochus Epiphanes. He had been 
 sent to Eome by his father as a hostage (1 Mace. i. 10), 
 without any prospect of the crown, when upon the 
 assassination of his brother Philopator by Heliodorus, 
 this '' wicked root '' seized upon the throne of Syria to 
 the exclusion of his nephew Demetrius. He is called a 
 " vile person '' (despectus) both on account of his previous 
 condition as a hostage, as well as of his actions, many 
 of which were unworthy ^ of the dignity of a king. 
 
 ' "Antiochus united the quick and versatile character of the Greek with the 
 splendid voluptuousness of an Asiatic. At one time he debased his royal dignity by 
 mingling with the revels of the meanest of his subjects, scouring the streets in his 
 riotous frolics, or visiting the lowest places of ])ublic entertainment and the common 
 baths ; or, like Peter of Russia, conversing with the artisans in their shops on their 
 various trades. With still less regard to the dignity of his own character, he was 
 fond of mimicking in public the forms of election to the Roman magistracies ; he 
 would put on a white robe, and canvass the passengers in the streets for their votes. 
 Then, supposing himself to have been elected oedile, or tribune, he would cause his 
 curule chair to be set in the open market-place, and administer justice {Romano 
 
HISTORICAL MINUTENESS OF DANIEL XI. 203 
 
 Polybius relates of him, that he was in the habit of 
 drinking to excess in the company of the meanest 
 strangers, and that he would suddenly load those whom 
 he had never seen before with unexpected gifts. 
 Diodorus asserts, that, notwithstanding some kingly 
 qualities, he was utterly despised^ by all. The prophecy 
 would seem to describe the insidious manner in which 
 he gained possession of the crown : cajoling the Eomans, 
 although inwardly he was most hostilely disposed towards 
 them, to release him from his condition as a hostage ; and 
 when the time for action had arrived, availing himself 
 of the aid of the kings Eumenes and Attains, the faithful 
 allies of the Eomans, to expel Heliodorus who had 
 usurped the throne ; thus possessing himself of the 
 crown of Syria " peaceably," and " obtaining the king- 
 dom by flatteries." 
 
 DEMETEIUS. 
 
 "And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before 
 him, and shall be broken ; yea, also the prince of the covenant. And 
 after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully : for he shall 
 come up, and shall become strong with a small people. He shall enter 
 peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province ; and he shall 
 do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers ; he 
 shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches : yea, and he 
 shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time " 
 (vv. 22, 23, 24). 
 
 hiore, sella eburneu posita jus dieehat, disceptabatque controversias minimanim re- 
 rum (Ltv. xl. 1) — a poor revenge against a people before whose power he trembled. 
 On the other hand, the pleasures of Antiochus were those of a Sardanapalus ; and 
 his munificence, more particularly towards the religious ceremonies and edifices, 
 both of his own dominions and of Greece, was on a scale of truly Oriental grandeur ; 
 for among the discrepancies of this singular character must be reckoned a great 
 degree of bigotry and reli;;ious intolerance." — Milman's History of the Jews. 
 
 ' " Fuisse Antiochi cousiliaqusedam et facta prorsus regia atque admirationedigua, 
 quaedam contra abjecta ideo et vilia ut ab omnibus sperneretur. Ilinc Epiphanes 
 quia ^ocatus,sed ob res gesUsEpim fines (insanus) nominandus." — Diod. Sic. lib. 31. 
 
204 DANIEL. 
 
 The arms of the overflower (^paxioves rov KaraKXv^ovrof^ 
 LXX.) having been overflown before his face, as the 
 passage might be more correctly rendered, referring prob- 
 ably to the frustration of the prospects of Heliodorus, the 
 murderer of Seleucus, by the unexpected appearance of 
 Antiochus, the narrative proceeds to say of the latter 
 that he should deal deceitfully above, or beyond the 
 covenanted league, and that a prince of a covenant^ should 
 also be " broken before him." Eefercnce maybe made 
 in this passage to the agreement between Antiochus the 
 Great and the Eomans, when ''they (the Eomans) took 
 (Antiochus) alive, and covenanted (comp. ex foederis legi- 
 hus — Liv.) that he and such as reigned after him should 
 pay a great tribute, and give hostages, and that which was 
 agreed upon" (1 Mace. viii. 7). It would seem probable 
 that by " a prince of a covenant," Demetrius, the son of 
 Seleucus Philopator, and grandson of the Great Antiochus, 
 who had been sent to Eome by his father as a hostage in 
 the place of his uncle Epiphanes, may be intended ; ^ the 
 "league'' broken by the latter, referring to the treach- 
 
 1 The absence of the article, as well as of the qualifying adjective " holy," would 
 seem to show that here, as in ix. 27, the word Berith does not signify the covenant 
 made between God and his people, but simply an agreement between the Romans 
 and Antiochus the Great. 
 
 2 Others have explained the "prince of the covenant" of Ptolemy Philometor, 
 the son of Cleopatra, and nephew of Antiochus : the infringement of the " league " 
 being supposed to refer to the quarrel between Antiochus and Ptolemy respecting 
 Coele-Syria ; the latter claiming that country as part of the dowry of bis mother 
 Cleopatra, and the former denying that it ever had been given. Against this view it 
 may be urged that vv. 21-24 would seem to refer to the treacherous occupation of 
 Syria by Antiochus previous to the invasion of Egypt; Ptolemy Philometor not 
 being introduced until ver. 25, when he appears under the title common to the 
 sovereigns of Egypt, " the king of the south." (Comp. ver. 40). Should it, bow- 
 ever, be thought more natural to explain the " prince of the covenant" of Seleucus 
 Philopator ; the overflower, overflown before Antiochus (xi. 22), might in that case 
 be interpreted of Heliodorus. 
 
HISTORICAL MINUTENESS OF DANIEL XI. 205 
 
 erous plots of Antiochus that Demetrius the lawful heir 
 might be detained at Eome, in order that he himself 
 might succeed to the throne of Syria, and "become 
 strong with a small people." The spoliation and plunder 
 exceeding all that his fathers or his fathers' fathers had 
 done, may allude to the devastation of neighbouring 
 countries by Antiochus {ahiindantes et uberes urhes 
 mgredietur\ especially that of Armenia, whose king Ar- 
 taxias^ is said by Arrian to have been taken captive 
 by him. *' "Wherever he came" (says Bishop Newton) 
 *^he scattered among them the prey, and spoil, and 
 riches; the prey of his enemies, the spoil of temples, 
 and the riches of his friends, as well as his own revenues, 
 being expended in public shows, and bestowed in lar- 
 gesses among the people" (1 Mace. iii. 30). 
 
 PTOLEMY PHILOMETOR. 
 
 " And lie shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of 
 the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be 
 stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army ; but he shall 
 not stand : for they shall forecast devdces against him. Yea, they that 
 feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall 
 overflow: and many shall fall down slain. And both these kings' 
 hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table • 
 but it shall not prosper : for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. 
 Then shall he return into his land with great riches ; and his heart 
 shall be against the holy covenant ; and he shall do exploits, and return 
 to his own land" (vv. 25-28). 
 
 After an easy conquest of the border provinces 
 
 Antiochus extends his ambitious designs towards Egypt. 
 
 " When the (Syrian) kingdom was established before 
 
 Antiochus, he thought to reign over Egypt that he might 
 
 1 " He governed Syria and the neighbouring nations with vigour, having Tinoar- 
 chus as satrap in Babylon; he vparred against Artaxias, king of Armenia, and, having 
 taken him, died, leaving a nine years' old boy, Antiochus, to whom the Syrians 
 gave the name of Eupator, on account of his father's valour." — App. Syr. 4,5-6. 
 
206 DANIEL. 
 
 have the dominion of two realms. Wherefore he entered 
 into Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots, and 
 elephants, and horsemen, and a great navy (comp. xi. 40), 
 and made war against Ptolemy (Philometor) king of 
 Egypt; but Ptolemy was afraid of him and fled, and 
 many were wounded to death (comp. "many shall fall 
 down slain.'') Thus they got the strong cities in the 
 land of Egypt, and he took the spoils thereof" (1 Mace, 
 i. 16-19). It is likely that Antiochus with his accustomed 
 treachery corrupted the servants and friends of Ptolemy, 
 and prevailed as much by deceit as by force of arms. 
 Josephus relates that "he came with great forces to 
 Pelusium, and circumvented Ptolemy Philometor by 
 treachery and seized upon Egypt " (Ant. xii. 5) ; agree- 
 ing with the prophetic statement, " They that feed upon 
 the portion of his meat (^. e. his servants) shall destroy 
 him and forecast devices against him." "And both 
 these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall 
 speak lies at one table;" Antiochus professing^ to take 
 the side of Ptolemy Philometor against his brother 
 Ptolemy Euergetes II., who had assumed the supreme 
 power at Alexandria (parcens puero et amicitiam 
 simulans . . .puerique rebus se providere dicens.^^ Hieron.) 
 "But it shall not prosper." The crafty policy which 
 would set one brother against another with the view of 
 reigning over Egypt through his nephew (Philometor) 
 fails of success; the Alexandrians at once make his 
 
 1 "Antiochus frustra tentatis moenibus Alexandrise (quo cum Cleopatra confu- 
 gerat Ptolsemus VII. Euergetes, rex creatus ab ^gyptiis loco patris Ptolemiei 
 Philometoris qui Antiochi in manu erat) abscesserat ; ceteraque ^Egypto potitus, 
 relicto Memphi majore Ptolemieo (I'hilometore), cui reguum quaeri suis viribus 
 simulabat, ut victorem mox aggrederetur, in Syriam exercitum abduxit." — Liv. 
 xlv. 11. 
 
HISTORICAL MINUTENESS OF DANIEL XI. 207 
 
 brother king, and expel Antiochus. Baffled in his attempt 
 
 to subdue lower Egypt, he raises the siege of Alexandria 
 
 and returns into Syria laden with treasures, " his court 
 
 and even his own dinner table shining with a blaze of 
 
 silver and gold unknown before in Syria." 
 
 "At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; 
 but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. For the ships of 
 Chittim shall come against him ; therefore he shall be grieved, and 
 return, and have indignation against the holy covenant : so shall he do ; 
 he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the 
 holy covenant. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall 
 pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily 
 sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate " 
 (vv. 29-31). 
 
 Antiochus, says the writer of 2 Maccabees, ''prepared 
 his second voyage into Egypt " (v. 1) ; but this latter 
 expedition was not equally prosperous with the former. 
 A new and unexpected opponent^ appears on the scene, and 
 puts a check to the lust of Syrian aggrandisement. " Ships 
 of Chittim" {legati Romani navihus vecti Macedonicis) are 
 drawn up in order of battle in the bay of Alexandria, 
 and the legate, Popilius Lsenas, holding in his hand the 
 fiat of Imperial Eome, commands Antiochus to depart 
 from Egypt, and be content with his own territory. 
 Upon the hesitation of the latter, the Eoman, with the 
 stick which he held in his hand, draws a circle around 
 him in the sand as he stood upon the sea-shore, and bids 
 
 ' " Ad Eleusinem transgresso flumen, qui locus quatuor millia ab Alexandria 
 abest. legati Romani occurrerunt. Quos quum advenientes salutasset, dextramque 
 Popilio, porrigeret, tabellas ei Popilius Senatus consultum habentes, tradit, atque 
 omnium primum id legere jubet. Quibus perlectis, quum se consideraturum, adhi- 
 bitis amicis, quid faciendum sibi asset, dixisset. Popilius, pro cetera asperitate 
 animi, virga, quam in manu gerebat, circumscripsit regem, ac priusquam hoc circulo 
 exeas, inquit, redde responsum senatui quod referam. Turn demum Popilius dex~ 
 tram regi, tanquam socio atque amico, porrexit." — Liv, xlv. 1112. 
 
208 DANIEL. 
 
 him give an answer to the decree of the senate before 
 he steps out of that circle. Compelled to depart from 
 Egypt, and hoping to recruit his exhausted treasury by 
 the plunder of the temple at Jerusalem, he vents on the 
 Jews his displeasure against the Romans, and thinking, 
 from the struggles for supremacy^ of the rival high 
 priests, Jason and Menelaus, that " Judeea had revolted, 
 he removed out of Egypt in a furious mind, and took the 
 city (Jerusalem) by force of arms" (2 Mace. v. 11). 
 He has intelligence with those Hellenizing Jews " who 
 forsake the holy covenant;" for when "returning out of 
 Egypt for fear of the Eomans he made an expedition 
 against the city of Jerusalem in the 143rd year of the 
 kingdom of the Seleucida3, he took the city without 
 fighting, those of his own party opening the gates to 
 him" (Ant. xii. 5). He "pollutes the sanctuary of 
 strength (sancttiarium, arcem, i. e. templum) and places the 
 
 ^ " A false rumour of his death having reached Palestine, Jason, the dispossessed 
 high priest, seized ths opportunity of revolt against his brother, took the city, shut 
 up Menelaus in the castle of Acra, and began to exercise the most horrible revenge 
 against the opposite party. The intelligence of the insurrection, magnified into a 
 deliberate revolt of the whole nation, reached Antiochus, The doom of the city had 
 not been without its portent. Early in the year (b. c. 167), the heavens had been 
 ablaze with what appeared horsemen in cloth of gold, tilting at each other, with the 
 flash of swords and bucklers (possibly an aurora borealis). The wild tumult in the 
 sky lasted for forty nights (2 Mace. v. 1). The ill-fated city, according to the omen, 
 fell without much resistance. The conqueror marched without delay against Jeru- 
 salem, put to death in three days' time 40,000 of the inhabitants, and seized as 
 many more to be sold as slaves. Bad as this was, it was the common fate of 
 rebellious cities ; but Antiochus proceeded to more cruel and wanton outrages against 
 the religion of the people. He entered every court of the temple, pillaged the treasury, 
 seized all the sacred utensils, the golden candlestick, the table of shewbread, the 
 altar of incense; and thus collected a booty to the amount of 1,800 talents. He 
 then commanded a great sow to be sacrificed on the altar of burnt offerings, part of 
 the flesh to be boiled, and the liquor from the unclean animal to be sprinkled over 
 every part of the temple ; and thus desecrated with the most odious defilement the 
 sacred place which the Jews had considered for centuries the one holy spot in all the 
 universe."— Milman's History of the Jeics. 
 
HISTORICAL MINUTENESS OF DANIEL XI. 209 
 
 abomination that maketh desolate;'' for "the king had 
 sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem . . . that they 
 should pollute the sanctuary and holy people .... 'Now 
 the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, they set up the 
 abomination of desolation upon the altar .... and did 
 sacrifice upon the idol-altar which was upon the altar of 
 God" (1 Mace. i. 44-46; 54-59). 
 
 " And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by 
 flatteries : but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and 
 do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct 
 many : yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, 
 and by spoil, many days. Now when they shall fall, they shall be 
 holpen with a little help : but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. 
 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to 
 purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end : because 
 it is yet for a time appointed" (vv. 32-35). 
 
 The Jews at this time were divided into the Judaistic 
 and Hellenistic parties/ described in this book as "they 
 that do know their God," and "such as do wickedly 
 against the covenant." The latter of these are corrupted 
 by the "flatteries" of Antiochus, and are induced by 
 the promise of splendid rewards (1 Mace. ii. 18) to 
 conform to the practices of the heathen ; whilst the former 
 oppose manfully the iniquitous commands of the king, 
 and choose rather to die that they may not be defiled 
 
 ^ "By the year 170 B.C., Hellenism," says Bollinger, "had made such progress 
 among the Jews that Antiochus Epiphanes was able to plan the extirpation of the 
 Jewish religion, and the conversion of the temple at Jerusalem into a temple of 
 Jupiter Olympius. The richer and nobler among them had made acquaintance with 
 Greek manners and Greek lu.xuries of art and life in the courts of Antioch and 
 Alexandria. The law, with its developments and restraints, was, any how, a heavy 
 yoke in their eyes, and the proud rule of the Scribes a hateful tyranny. In face of 
 the refinement of the Greeks and their ridicule, they grew ashamed of their ' bar- 
 barous laws,' which denied them all participation in the pleasures of the Grecian 
 symposia : they would gladly have had gymnasia, theatres, and the contests of the 
 arena ia Jerusalem itself." 
 
 U 
 
210 DAOTEL. 
 
 with meats, and that they might not profane the holy 
 covenant." The " little help wherewith they should be 
 holpen," like the stone which afterwards became a great 
 mountain, may be significant of the efforts of the patriots, 
 small indeed at first, but afterwards increasing in organiza- 
 tion and formidableness : for it was not till after the 
 victory over Seron, that "the fear of Judas and his 
 brethren, and an exceeding great dread began to fall 
 upon the nations round about them, insomuch that his 
 fame came unto the king, and all nations talked of the 
 battles of Judas'' (1 Mace. iii. 25, 26): whilst the '^fall 
 of them of understanding to try them, and to purge 
 and to make them white" (comp. Eev. iii. 4, 5), presents 
 a faithful picture of the untold suflferings of those martyrs 
 who were "zealous for the law, and gave their lives for 
 the covenant of their fathers." 
 
 "And the king shall do according to his will : and he shall exalt 
 himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak 
 marvelloiis things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the 
 indignation be accomplished : for that that is determined shall be done. 
 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of 
 women, nor regard any god : for he shall magnify himself above ail- 
 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces : and a god whom 
 his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with 
 precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most 
 strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and 
 increase with glory : and he shall cause them to rule over many, and 
 shall divide the land for gain " (vv. 36-39). 
 
 A prominent feature in the character of Antiochus 
 appears to bo an excessive veneration for some deity 
 distinct from those of his country's worship : this pre- 
 ference leading him to despise others in the same 
 proportion. He appears to have compelled the heathen 
 
HISTORICAL MINUTENESS OF DANIEL XI. ^ll 
 
 (1 Mace. ii. 19) as well as the Jews ''to fall away, every 
 one from the religion of their fathers," in order to ac- 
 knowledge a "god whom his fathers knew not," but 
 whom " he shall honour with gold, and silver, and with 
 precious stones, and pleasant things;'' erecting his statue 
 on the base of that of the god whom his fathers 
 worshipped. IN'ot only is he a "blasphemer" (2 Mace, 
 ix. 28) against the "God of gods," but neither to the 
 "god of his fathers," nor to "the desire^ of women," nor 
 indeed to any (Syrian) god does he pay divine honours, 
 for he eschews their religious worship altogether, and 
 considers himself superior to them all. The only deity 
 he is willing to allow is the "god of forces;" whether, 
 as some have thought, Mars, the Eoman war god, or 
 Jupiter Olympius, to whom he dedicated the temple at 
 Jerusalem. This strange god "he shall acknowledge 
 and increase with glory;" shall set up his statue in "the 
 most strong holds," i. e. in the most strongly fortified 
 towns; shall appoint guards in every city to compel 
 worship "according to the king's commandment," and 
 shall promote those who recognise this deity to the 
 highest positions as a reward of their obedience. " He 
 
 ' That by "the desire of women" (comp. Isai. xliv. 9) some Syrian goddess, 
 especially worshipped by women, is intended, would seem evident, from the con- 
 nection in which the passage stands, in which are enumerated the deities whose 
 adoration was refused by Antiochus. It is probable that this deity was Nanea or 
 Diana (Venus, Maurer), whose temple Antiochus attempted to plunder (2 Mace. i. 
 13-16; 1 Mace. vi. 1-4). In a passage in Granius Licinianus, where an account is 
 given of this transaction, Nanea is called Diana : this singular identification sug- 
 gesting the supposition that the latter name may be a modification of Anais, Anaitis, 
 Tanais, Tanith, under which, and possibly other names, the worship of this 
 goddess extensively prevailed in the East. It has been thought that these various 
 appellations all convey the idea of maternity ; the goddess, like the Luuina of the 
 Latins, being the presiding divinity of increase and child-birth. 
 
212 DANIEL. 
 
 shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the 
 land for gain." 
 
 "And at the time of the end' shall the king of the south push at 
 him : and the king of the norlh shall come against him like a whirl- 
 wind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships ; and he 
 shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He 
 shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall he 
 overthrown ; but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and 
 Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch 
 forth his hand also upon the countries : and the land of Egypt shall 
 not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and 
 of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Lybians 
 and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps'' (vv. 40-43). 
 
 It is uncertain whether these verses refer to previous 
 invasions of Egypt, or to some subsequent invasion of 
 which history has left no trace. The continuous re- 
 iteration of the same events throughout the book renders 
 it probable that the former of these theories is correct ; 
 and to this it may be added, that there is no mention of 
 any Syrian invasion of Egypt in the eleventh year 
 of Antiochus, the war against Egypt having been put 
 an end to in the ninth year of his reign, through the 
 interference of Eome. During this campaign, in which, 
 after his return from Egypt, he devastates Palestine and 
 the neighbouring countries; "Edom, Moab, and the 
 chief (1 Mace. v. 6) of the children of Ammon," the 
 hereditary enemies of the Jews, not only " escape out of 
 his hand" but possibly assist him in his aggressions 
 upon Judea; the Libyans and Ethiopians, the ancient 
 
 ' "The time of the end" (tctnpus ultimutn, i.e. tempus Antiochi Epiphanis), 
 when "the king of the south" (Philometor) pushes at "the king of the north" 
 (Autiochus), may refer not only to the period immeciiately preceding the death of 
 the latter, but to the whole epoch itself. 
 
HISTOEICAL MINUTENESS OF DANIEL XI. 213 
 
 allies of the Egyptians (Ezek. xxx. 5) also follow " at 
 his steps," and serve under the banner of the conqueror. 
 The former of these, as in the case of the first restoration 
 of the city and temple by Zerubbabel, are displeased '' that 
 the altar was built and the sanctuary renewed as before 
 .... wherefore they thought to destroy the generation of 
 Jacob that was among them .... Then Judas fought 
 against the children of Esau in Idumea at Arabattine 
 .... and he gave them a great overthrow .... also he 
 remembered the injury of the children of Bean (probably 
 the same as Baal-meon or Bethmeon, i. e. Moab) .... and 
 destroyed them utterly .... afterward he passed over 
 to the children of Ammon where he found a mighty 
 power, and much people, with Timotheus their captain ; 
 so he fought many battles with them till at length they 
 were discomfited before him" (1 Mace. v. 1-8). 
 
 "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. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palaces 
 between the seas in the glorious holy mountain ; yet he shall come to 
 his end, and none shall help him " (vv. 44, 45). 
 
 After his return from Egypt disastrous intelligence' 
 from the east and from the north awaits him. He had 
 heard that Alexander had stored up riches in a city of 
 Elymais in the country of Persia; "wherefore he came 
 and sought to take the city and to spoil it:" but being 
 defeated in his sacrilegious attempt he returned " with 
 great heaviness" to Babylon. As he came '-'with dis- 
 
 » *♦ Videtur res utrinque (et in Perside et in Judsea) infeliciter gesta Antiocho 
 vehementem indigaationem, indigaatio autem intestinorum dolores mortiferos conci- 
 tasse." — Maurer. 
 
214 DAiaEL. 
 
 honour out of Persia," tidings arrived that the ^* armies 
 which went against the land of Judea were put to flight, 
 and that Lysias who went forth first with a great power 
 was driven away of the Jews .... also that they had 
 pulled down the ahomination which he had set up upon 
 the altar at Jerusalem, and that they had compassed 
 about the sanctuary with high walls as before, and his 
 city Bethsura" (i Mace. vi. 5, 7). Exasperated at his 
 double loss, he ''goes forth with great fury to destroy 
 and utterly to make away many, and to plant the 
 tabernacles of his palaces (his splendid tents) between 
 the seas (the Mediterranean) and the glorious holy 
 mountain (Moriah): or, as it is expressed by the Macca- 
 bean writer, "Then swelling with anger, he thought 'to 
 avenge upon the Jews the disgrace done unto him by 
 those that made him flee : therefore commanded he his 
 chariot-man to drive without ceasing, and to dispatch 
 the journey — the judgment of God now following him : 
 for he had spoken proudly in this sort, that he would 
 come to Jerusalem, and make it a common burying-place 
 of the Jews " (2 Mace. ix. 4). Vain and empty boast ! 
 The tyrant is stricken down by an "invisible and 
 incurable plague," and "his grief was ever more and 
 more, and he made account that he should die : where- 
 fore he called for all his friends, and said unto them ; 
 The sleep is gone from mine eyes, and my heart faileth 
 for very care : and I thought with myself into what 
 tribulation am I come, and how great a flood (comp. 
 ix. 26) of misery is it wherein now I am: for I was 
 bountiful, and beloved in my power. But now I re- 
 member the evils that I did at Jerusalem, and that 
 
HISTORICAL MINUTENESS OF DANIEL XI, 216 
 
 I took all the vessels of gold and silver that were therein, 
 and sent to destroy the inhabitants of Judea without a 
 cause. I perceive, therefore, that for this cause these 
 troubles are come upon me ; and behold, I perish through 
 great grief in a strange land" (1 Mace. vi. 9-13). 
 
 From the ease with which an interpretation has been 
 given, it appears that chapter xi. expresses a different 
 order of conceptions from the rest of the prophetical 
 writings. In addition to its chronological order and 
 historical minuteness, it possesses another featui'e which 
 yet more strongly distinguishes it from other prophecies ; 
 the writer dilating events supposed to be future, and 
 reducing within narrow limits those which happen near 
 his own times — a mode of treatment, as we have else- 
 where observed, foreign to the usual practice of pro- 
 phetic writers. On the supposition that the author 
 of this book lived at the time of the Captivity, it is 
 difficult to understand why so large a portion should 
 have been devoted to the more remote persecutions of 
 Antiochus to the neglect of other topics of nearer, and 
 more general interest. From the period of his rise out 
 of the stock of Syrian kings to that of his most wretched 
 fall, he is the pivot around which these visions re- 
 volve; and the welcome announcement of his death 
 furnishes the key-note of exultation with which they 
 close. Indeed the biographical, as well as the prophetical 
 portions of this book, would seem illustrative but of one 
 subject; the earlier chapters being occupied with tales 
 of suffering for conscience sake, introduced, as it would 
 appear, into the history for no other reason than because 
 they are analogous to similar scenes experienced at a 
 
216 DANIEL. 
 
 later period. And as the theme advances from personal 
 biography to historico-prophetic narrative, the one idea 
 which pervades the whole becomes more and more 
 apparent. The internecine and perpetual wars between 
 his predecessors, the kings of Syria and Egypt, the 
 inauspicious alliance of Ptolemy Philadelphus and An- 
 tiochus Theos, the impotency of Callinicus, the piety of 
 Euergetes, the voluptuousness of Philopator, the mag- 
 nanimity of the great Antiochus, the helplessness of 
 Ptolemy Epiphanes, the avarice of Seleucus, the de- 
 tention of Demetrius, the duplicity of Philometor, owe to 
 him their place in this prophetic history. True to its 
 specific object, the narrative details even the minute 
 particulars of his personal career: his contemptible 
 character, unworthy of a son of the great Antiochus, his 
 political insincerity and breach of public faith, his 
 treacherous conduct, perfidious above that of the Syrian 
 kings before him, his fierce countenance and unsparing 
 vindictiveness, his unprovoked aggressions upon Egypt 
 and neighbouring countries, his abject servility in the 
 presence of the Eoman legate, his contemptuous neglect 
 of the gods of his country, his superstitious adoration of 
 a strange deity, his impious blasphemies against the God 
 of heaven, his superhuman and intolerable pride, his 
 wanton and abominable desecration of the holy place, his 
 unparalleled and exterminating persecutions of the chosen 
 people, his unscrupulous and sacrilegious covetousness, 
 his heaven-inflicted and remediless plague, and his 
 sudden and inglorious death. And to keep alive in the 
 memory of the nation the indignities which they suffered 
 at the hands of this monster of humanity, and to rescue 
 
HISTORICAL MINUTENESS OF DANIEL XI. 217 
 
 from oblivion the heroic resistance of "the people that 
 do know their God," was a theme worthy of the re- 
 awakening fervour of the Jewish intellect, and which 
 found adequate expression in the historico-prophetio 
 visions of Daniel. 
 
2^8 DANIEL, 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ANALOGY BETWEEN THE APOCALYPSE OF THE OLD 
 TESTAMENT AND THAT OF THE NEW. 
 
 The s cenes we have attempted to describe in previous 
 chapters correspond in a remarkable manner with those 
 which took place about two hundred and thirty years 
 later i n the Christian Church ; and indeed so close is the 
 (resemblance between them, that it has not been unusual 
 Ifor interpreters to explain the symbols under which 
 Ithey are respectively delineated of the same events. 
 Instead, however, of regarding the visions of Daniel as 
 predictive of scenes which occurred at a later period, it 
 fe may with greater reason be supposed that they are 
 ^ merely typical of analogous calamities; the former sup- 
 \ plying the ideas reflected in the latter, as well as the 
 symbolic dress in which they are, for the most part, 
 clothed. It is observable, that whilst the author of 
 t he second Apocalypse occasionally presses into his service 
 figures employed by Ezekiel and Zechariah^ he is pro - 
 o^'^use in his adaptation of those of Daniel. "Borrowing 
 freely," says an able writer on this subject, "from the 
 elder prophets their imagery, their supernatural ma- 
 chinery, and their historical conceptions, the seer of the 
 Eevelation converts them with the privilege allowed to 
 great creative genius to his own special purposes . . . 
 From Daniel he takes his hisf.orinal p.onopption of Pagan 
 
THE APOCALYPSE OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. 219 
 
 empire, arising brute-like out of the sea ; his vision of 
 t he Son of Man ; ... his kin^ of the fierce countenance : 
 h is Michael, the great prince, the guardian angel of t he 
 s acred Hebrew nation ; his resurrection, judgment, an d 
 ki ngdom of God. " 
 
 It will be the endeavour of this chapter to show, that 
 with regard to the above-mentioned prophet, the obli- 
 gations of the seer of Patmos are most certain, and his 
 ''borrowings most systematic;" and that whilst images 
 are occasionally taken from other prophets, he lapses 
 into imitation in his habitual reproduction of the words 
 and ideas of Daniel. 
 
 1. I n tracing ou t this analogy we may notice fir st 1 
 the somewhat doubtful position occupied by both writ- 
 ings ; the former being placed by the Jews in the rank 
 of Hagiographa, and the latter classed by ancient autho- 
 rity among the Deutero-canonical, or books of the second , 
 order. The genuineness of the latter we know to have 
 been questioned at an early period, so that it cannot 
 with precision be said to take rank among those books 
 
 " of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church." 
 Speaking of canonical books, Eusebius says, "To these 
 may be added, (f it seem ffood, the Apocalypse of John . . . 
 which some reject, but others reckon among the acknow- 
 ledged books" {Eccles. Hist. iii. 25). The analogy be- 
 tween the two starts from the questionableness of age 
 and authorship; this questionableness, more than any- 
 thing else, suggesting a "liberty of prophesying" in 
 their respective interpretation, greater than might be 
 exercised in the case of other canonical books. 
 
 2. A second feature of resemblance is traceable in 
 
 (90g( 
 
220 DANIEL. 
 
 what may be called, for want of a better name, the 
 apocalyptic character of both writings . After the period 
 of the exile, a new style of teaching took the place of 
 earlier prophecy. Angelic communications were intro- 
 
 . duced to supply the "Word of the Lord" which came 
 
 to the ancient prophet, and vision and symbol super- 
 
 /M seded the sublime sayings which fell from the lips 
 
 »J^ of the seers of old. Conceptions of a celestial hierarchy 
 
 I (possibly the result of contact with their eastern con- 
 
 * querors) began to be developed, and a continuous ex- 
 ertion of superhuman, interposition was employed for 
 th^ purpose of unfolding the divine decrees to men. 
 T hese apocalyptic features distino;uish the writings o f 
 Daniel and John from the other Scriptures : the book 
 I of Daniel, with its abundant angeiology, dilfering as 
 completely from the writings of the Captivity, as the 
 Apocalypse from the gospels and epistles of the New 
 Testament. 
 
 3. The circumstances of persecution for conscience 
 
 [sake under which both appear to have been written, 
 present also a remarkable conformity. The period with 
 which the former is concerned is designated a " time of 
 trouble such as never was since there was a nation even 
 to that same time :" that of the latter, as " the hour of 
 temptation which shall come upon all the world to try 
 them that dwell upon the earth." During the earlier 
 season of trial, "many are purified and made white and 
 tried;" under the latter, the souls of white-robed martyrs 
 are heard crying under the altar, "How long, Lord, 
 holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood 
 on them that dwell on the earth." The duration over 
 
THE APOCALYPSE OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. 221 
 
 which these persecutions extend would seem also to 
 include a nearly equal period. According to Daniel, the 
 period is "a time, times, and an half;" or, "a thousand 
 two hundred and ninety days." According to the seer 
 of the Revelation, it is also '' a time, times, and an half;" 
 or " a thousand two hundred and threescore days." 
 
 4. A further agreemen t may be traced in the scope 
 and design of the respective prophecies: ihe object ot tnei 
 earlier Apocalypse being to sustain the martyrs of the 
 Maccabean period under a season of religious persecution) 
 a rising from the blasphemous attempt of a heathen tyrant J 
 to subvert the religion of Jehovah : that oi' the latter, to 
 support the martyrs of the first century under the pres- 
 sure of analogous calamities arising from the attempt of 
 Nero to abolish the Christian faith. In either case the 
 heathen appear to have concentrated their efforts against 
 the faithful ; and the question at issue was the supre- 
 macy of idolatry, or the worship of the True God. 
 
 5. Other minor p oints of resemblance might be ad- 
 duced, such as the compulsory worship of the go lden 
 i mage set up on the plain of Du ra, contrasted with the 
 compulsory worship of the image of the beast; the 
 resurrection of the faithful martyrs when '' many tha 
 slept in the dust of the earth should awake," corres 
 ponding with the first resurrection of those who had not 
 worshipped the beast nor his image; the "book," 
 containing the names of those who should be delivered, 
 agreeing with the " Lamb's book of life ; " the consum- 
 mation of the Syrian tyranny, when " all these things 
 should be finished," reproduced in the consummation 
 announced by the seventh angel, when *' the mystery of 
 
 
222 DANIEL. 
 
 God should be finished, as he had declared to his ser- 
 vants the prophet s." But perhaps enou gh has been said 
 to show that a marked analogy exists between the first 
 and the second Apocalypse, extending not only to the 
 form and structure, but to tiie ideas and language 
 e mployed by the respectiv e writers. A reason for this 
 may be found in the corresponding circumstances of 
 the respective periods; similar seasons of persecution 
 and suffering for conscience sake naturally demanding 
 similarity of descriptive treatment; the author of the 
 Apocalypse, as is* not unusual with prophetic writers, 
 regarding his predecessors' teaching as common property, 
 and adapting it to the events of his own times. 
 
 I. A principal feature conspicuous in both writers, an d 
 
 \ [es pecially in th e latter, is the frequent e mployment^ of 
 
 ^ {a ngelic visions . The analogy between the m in thi s 
 
 particular is of the most striking kind. By way of illus- 
 
 -tration, we shall subjoin in parallel columns the passages 
 
 which describe the superhuman revealer of Daniel's 
 
 visions, and those which delineate the appearance of 
 
 ^the 3on of Man. 
 
 Angelic Messenger of Daniel. Appearance of the Son of Man. 
 
 "Then I lifted up mine eyes, " One like unto the Son of Man, 
 
 hind looked, and behold a certain clothed with a garment down to 
 
 -JXman clothed in linen, whose loins the foot, and girt about the paps 
 
 jjrVere girded with fine gold of with a golden girdle. His head 
 
 IT Uphaz : his body was like the and his hairs were white like wool, 
 
 beryl, and his face as the appear- as white as snow ; and his eyes 
 
 ance of lightning, and his eyes as were as a flame of fire ; and his 
 
 lamps of fire, and his arms and feet like unto fine brass, as if they 
 
 his feet like in colour to polished burned in a furnace ; and his voice 
 
 brass, and the voice of his words as the sound of many waters... and 
 
 like the voice of a multitude... his countenance was as the sun 
 
 And when I heard the voice of shineth in his strength ; and when 
 
THE APOCALYPSE OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. 223 
 
 his •words, then was I in a deep I saw him, I fell at his feet as 
 
 sleep on my face, and my face to- dead" (Rev. i. 13-17). 
 ward the ground" (Dan. x. 5, 6, 9). 
 
 "I heard the man clothed in "And the angel which I saw 
 
 linen, which was upon the waters stand upon the sea and upon the 
 
 of the river, when he held up his earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 
 
 right hand and his left hand unto and sware by him that liveth for 
 
 heaven, and sware by him that ever and ever... that there should 
 
 liveth for ever that it shall be for be time no longer : but in the days 
 
 a time, times, and an half; and of the voice of the seventh angel, 
 
 when he shall have accomplished when he shall begin to sound, the 
 
 to scatter the power of the holy mystery of God should be finished" 
 
 people, all these things shall be (R ev, x. 5-7) . 
 finished" ( Dan, xii. 7). 
 
 These passages, mutually compared, exhibit not merely 
 g eneral resemblance, (but identity of thought and lan- 
 guag eN T he man clothed in the priestly linen garm ent, 
 '^ whose loins were gird ed with fine gold of Uphaz," 
 correspo nds with ^Hhe Son of Man, clothed with a 
 g arment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with 
 a g olden girdle." His "body like the beryl^ and h ia 
 f ace as the ap pearance of lig htning^" agrees wifh ^^hi a 
 countenance as the sun shining in his strength." His 
 " eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in 
 colour to polished brass," are expressions analogous 
 to " his eyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine 
 brass, as if they burned in a furnace." " The voice of 
 his words like the voice of a multitude," is reproduced 
 in the ''voice as the sound of many waters" or, "of a 
 great multitude" (Eev. xix. 6) ; whilst the terror of th e 
 prophet at the p:reatness of the vision depicted in t he 
 words, " there remained no strength in me ... I was in a 
 deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground," 
 is repeated in the parallelism, " and when I saw him, I 
 
 aoo< 
 
224 DANIEL. 
 
 fell 'at his feet as dead." Similarly in the analogous 
 visions of Dan. xii. and Eev. x., the man standing upon 
 the waters of the river corresponds with the angel 
 standing upon the sea and upon the earth; his invoca- 
 tion, when he " held up his right hand and his left hand 
 unto heaven,'' is repeated in his "lifting up his hand to 
 heaven;'' his oath, when he *'sware by him that liveth 
 for ever," is reproduced in the oath of the Apocalyptic 
 angel ; the purport of the oath, that when the power of 
 ^^ the holy people had been scattered for three and a half 
 years the indignation should be accomplished, finds a 
 parallel in the declaration that " there should be time no 
 longer (no more delay) ; but in the days of the voice of 
 the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the 
 mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared 
 to his servants the prophets." 
 
 II. Havins: secured attention by the introduction of 
 
 f angelic c ommunications into their re spective subjects, the 
 Macc abean writer and his ingenious imitator bring u pon 
 the scene of their historico-prophetic dramas the great 
 persecutors of the Jewish and Christian Churches, whose 
 deeds oi* atrocity bear so close a resemblance, tha t the 
 description of the one serves as a pattern for that of the 
 [Othe r. A comparison of the passages in which these are 
 described, will show the judgment of the seer in selecting 
 for his model a character which answered so completely 
 to that which he desired to delineate. 
 
 RiaE OF Antiochcs. Risk of Need. 
 
 " I saw in the night visions, " I stood upon the sand of the 
 
 and behold a fourth beast (came sea, and saw a beast rise up out of 
 up from the sea, vii. 3). ..and it the sea, having seven heads and 
 had ten horns" (Dan. vii. 7). ten horns" (Rev. xiii. 1). 
 
THE APOCALYPSE OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. 225 
 
 EisE OF Antiochits. 
 "I considered the horns, and, 
 behold, there came up among them 
 another little horn... and, behold, 
 in this horn were eyes like the 
 eyes of a man, and a mouth speak- 
 ing great things" (Dan. vii. 8). 
 
 EiSE OF Nero. 
 
 ''And I beheld another beast 
 
 coming up out of the earth, and he 
 
 had two horns like a lamb, and he 
 
 spake as a dragon" (Eev. xiii. 11). 
 
 Blasphemies of Antiochus. 
 
 "He shall speak great words 
 against the most High" (Dan, vii. 
 25). 
 
 "He shall exalt himself and 
 magnify himself above every god, 
 and shall speak marvellous things 
 against the God of gods, and shall 
 prosper till the indignation be 
 accomplished" (Dan. xi. 36). 
 
 Blasphemies of Neeo. 
 " And there was given unto him 
 a mouth speaking great things and 
 blasphemies... and he opened his 
 mouth in blasphemy against God, 
 to blaspheme his name, and his 
 tabernacle, and them that dwell 
 in, heaven" (Eev. xiii. 5, 6). 
 
 Persecutioij^s of Antiochtts. 
 
 " The same horn made war with 
 the saints, and prevailed against 
 them" (Dan. vii. 21). 
 
 "He shall wear out the saints 
 of the most High, and think to 
 change times and laws" (Dan. vii. 
 25). 
 
 Peesectttions of Neeo. 
 
 " And it was given to him to 
 make war with the saints, and to 
 overcome them" (Eev. xiii. 7). 
 
 "The beast that ascendeth out 
 of the bottomless pit shall make 
 war against them, and shall over- 
 come them and kill them" (Eev. 
 xi. 7). 
 
 COMPTTLSOBT WORSHIP OF AnTIO- CoMPTTLSOET WOESHIP OF I^EEO. 
 
 "Do ye not serve my gods, nor 
 worship the golden image which 
 I have set up... If ye worship not, 
 ye shall be cast the same hour 
 into the midst of a burning fiery 
 furnace, and who is that God 
 that shall deliver you out of my 
 hands" (Dan. iii. 14, 15). 
 
 "Whosoever shall ask a pe- 
 tition of any God or man for 
 
 "He had power to give life 
 unto the image of the beast... and 
 cause that as many as would not 
 worship the image of the beast 
 should be killed" (Eev. xiii. 
 15). 
 
 " He causeth the earth and them 
 which dwell therein to worship 
 
 15 
 
226 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 thirty days, save of thee, king, 
 shall be cast into the den of lions" 
 (Dan. vi. 7). 
 
 " iney snail De given m 
 
 ff hand until a time, times, ai 
 
 ty dividing of time" (Dan. vii. 
 
 Dtjeation of the Peesectttiox of 
 ANTiocnxJs. 
 
 "They shall be given into his 
 and the 
 25). 
 
 " It shall be for a time, times, 
 and an half" (Dan. xii. 7). 
 
 "From the time that the daily 
 sacrifice shall be taken away, and 
 the abomination that maketh de- 
 solate set up, there shall be a 
 thousand two hundred and ninety 
 days" (Dan. xii. 11). 
 
 DeSTETJCTIOX of Al^TIOCHTJS. 
 
 "I beheld even till the beast 
 was slain, and his body given to 
 the burning flame" (Dan. vii. 11). 
 
 "He shall be broken without 
 hand" (Dan. viii. 25). 
 
 " He shall come to his end, and 
 none shall help him" (Dan. xi. 45). 
 
 the first beast, whose deadly 
 wound was healed" (Rev. xiii. 
 12). 
 
 Dttration of the Peesectttion op 
 
 Nero. 
 
 " Power was given unto him to 
 continue forty and two months" 
 (Rev. xiii. 5). 
 
 "My two witnesses... shall pro- 
 phecy a thousand two hundred and 
 threescore days clothed in sack- 
 cloth" (Rev. xi. 3). 
 
 " And to the woman were given 
 two wings of a great eagle that 
 she might fly into the wilderness 
 into her place, where she is nou- 
 rished for a time, and times, and 
 half a time from the face of the 
 sei-pent" (Rev. xii. 14). 
 
 DESTK^CTI0^r of Neko. 
 
 " These both (the beast and the 
 false prophet) were cast alive into 
 a lake of fire, burning with brim- 
 stone" (Rev. xix. 20 ; xx. 10). 
 
 " The beast... shall go into per- 
 dition" (Eev. xvii. 8, 11). 
 
 It would seem from an attentive consideration of the 
 
 rpreceding parallelisms, that the writer of the Apocalypse, 
 
 I availing himself of that facility of adaptation for which 
 
 1 he is remarkable, was led to consider the sacrilegious 
 
 \ Syrian as the prototype of the impious Eoman, and to 
 
 (recognize in the madman Antiochus the precursor of the 
 
 bnonster Nero. P erhaps it is not tpo much to say, t hat 
 
 the identity between the persecutors could not h ave 
 
 been introdi]cp.d accidentally into their respective themes 
 
THE APOCALYPSE OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. 227 
 
 by the wi'iters of Daniel and the Apocalypse. It appear s ^ 
 to us indisputable that the former must have been the I Apt 
 c opy of whio-h the latter was i^he voice and ech o. The J 
 area of the former book is occupied with the description 
 of a heathen king, who rises out of the ten horns of the 
 fourth Syro-Egyptian empire ; is guilty of wanton blas- 
 phemy against the God of heaven ; wears out the saints ^ 
 of the Most High by abominable tortures ; compels the «. ^^ 
 Jewish people to forsake their own religion, and to wor- 
 ship the god of his adoration : whose persecutions con- 
 tinue for the space of three and a half years, but who is 
 finally broken without hand, and overthrown. The ar ea^ 
 of the latter is taken up with the description of his 
 counterpart and antitype. As Antiochu s rises from the 
 fourth ten-horned Syro-Egyptian beast of .Uan iei, so doe 3"^^t^ 
 Nero rise from the corresponding ten-horned Boma n ^ 
 beast of John. He too is guilty of wanton blasphemy '\ ^^ 
 against the God of heaven;^ wears out the Christian I 
 saints; compels them to worship his image (the usual I 
 test to which the Christians were submitted) f continues 
 
 1 " Nero took up arms against that very religion which acknowledges the one true 
 God. He was the first of the emperors which displayed himself an enemy of piety 
 towards the Deity. He publicly announced himself as the chief enemy of God " 
 (Eus. Hist. ii. 25). The following is a specimen of the religious adoration paid to 
 him; Returning to Rome after having been a conqueror in the Grecian games, he is 
 received with these words, — "Victor Olympian! Victor Pythian! Thou august, 
 august — to Nero the Hercules— to Nero the Apollo. The only conqueror in the 
 games of the circus — the eternal one — sacred voice. Happy those who liear thee" 
 (Dio, Cass. Lsiii. p. 1041); 
 
 2 " Consult your edicts ; there you will find that Nero was the first who 
 savagely persecuted this sect, springing up chiefly at Rome, with the imperial 
 sword. But we even glory in such a leader of our punishment ; for wlioever knows 
 what he was, is able to understand that only some great and good thing could be 
 condemned by Nero" (Tertullian, Apoloff. v.) 
 
 3 "I have taken this course about those who have been brought before me as 
 Christians; if they persevered in their confessions, I ordered them to be executed." 
 
228 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 his persecutions for three and a half years ; and at last 
 perishes miserably, or, in Apocalyptic terms, "goeth into 
 perdition.'' Surely this parallelism is not the result of 
 chance. Letters thrown heedlessly upon the floor do not 
 form themselves by accident into a beautiful poem, neither 
 do emblems drawn at random from the mystical books of 
 the Old and New Testaments, present analogies without 
 design and purpose. T he historical points of agreemen t 
 a lready ad duced seem to show one of two things : either 
 the latter writer must have i mitated the foyMSr, flV, d'S i s 
 not uncommonly h eld, tKe respective authors must hav e 
 treated of the same events. Mature consi deration assure s 
 us of the fallacy of this last theory. If now appears to 
 us that no satisfactory interpretation can be given which 
 does not recognize the fact that these prophecies are 
 double one of another. But as we compare the identity 
 of symbol and vision, thought and language, structure 
 and style, we cease to wonder that interpreters should 
 ^t»i<have fallen into the pardonable mistake of applying the 
 characteristics by which Antiochus is distinguished to 
 the circumstances of Nero. 
 
 III. In addition to the above-mentioned points of 
 personal re semblance between the Syri an and Eoman 
 persecutors, other features of correspondence presen t 
 themse lves arising from the peculiar circumstances of the 
 respective times. The period wit h which the narra tives 
 are concerned is one o f suffering f or conscience sake . 
 
 Of others who recanted the writer says, " These denied that they were Christians 
 now, or ever had been ; they called upon the gods and suiiplicated your image, which 
 I caused to be brought to me for that purpose with frankincense and wine; they 
 also cursed Christ, none of which tilings it is said can any of those that are really 
 Christians be compelled to do" (Plin., ad TraJ., epist.) 
 
THE APOCALYPSE OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. 229 
 
 when the blood of the s aints was shed like water round 
 about Jerusal em, and there was none to bury them . 
 This time of trouble is described by both writers in some-"^ 
 what similar terms ; the endurance of the martyrs, under I 
 the Syrian tyranny, being reflected in that of those who /^ ^ 
 suffered under the Neronic persecution. We subjoin J 
 some of the most striking parallelisms : 
 
 The Time of Trouble. 
 " There shall be a time of trou- 
 ble such as never was since there 
 was a nation even to that same 
 time" (Dan. xii, 1). 
 
 The Maettrs. 
 "They shall fall by the sword, 
 and by flame, by captivity, and 
 by spoil many days... and some of 
 them of understanding shall fall, to 
 try them, and to purge, and to 
 make them white, even to the 
 time of the end" (Dan. xi. 33- 
 35). 
 
 "Many shall be purified and 
 made white and tried" (Dan. xii. 
 10). ^ 
 
 The Book of Delivekance. 
 
 "The judgment was set, and 
 the books were opened... at that 
 time thy people shall be delivered 
 every one that shall be found 
 written in the Book" (Dan. vii. 
 10; xii. 1). 
 
 The Tike of Troitble. 
 " The hour of temptation which 
 shall come upon all the world to 
 try them that dwell upon the 
 earth" (Eev. iii. 10). 
 
 The Martyrs. 
 
 " I saw under the altar the souls 
 of them that were slain for the 
 "Word of God, and for the testi- 
 mony which they held ; and they 
 cried with a loud voice, saying, 
 How long, Lord, holy and true, 
 dost thou not judge and avenge 
 our blood on them that dwell on 
 the earth?" (Kev. vi. 9, 10). 
 
 "These are they which came 
 out of great tribulation, and have 
 washed their robes, and made them 
 white in the blood of the Lamb" 
 (Eev. vii. 14). 
 
 The Book of Deliyeeance. 
 
 " I saw the dead, small and 
 great, stand before God, and the 
 books were opened, and another 
 book was opened which is the 
 Book of life... and whosoever was 
 not found written in the Book of 
 life was cast into the lake of fire" 
 (Kev. XX. 12, 15). 
 
230 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 The Restjeeection. 
 "Many of them that sleep in 
 the dust of the earth shall awake ; 
 some to everlasting life, and some 
 to shame and everlasting contempt" 
 (Dan. xii. 2). 
 
 The Blessing. 
 
 " Blessed is he that waiteth, and 
 Cometh to the thousand three hun- 
 dred and five and thirty days : but 
 go thou thy way till the end be ; 
 for thou shalt rest and stand in 
 thy lot at the end of the days" 
 (Dan. xii. 12, 13). 
 
 " They that be wise shall shine 
 as the brightness of the firmament, 
 and they that turn many to righte- 
 ousness as the stars for ever and 
 ever" (Dan. xii. 3). 
 
 The Resthibection. 
 " I saw the souls of them that 
 were beheaded for the witness of 
 Jesus and for the Word of God... 
 and they lived and reigned with 
 Christ a thousand years... This is 
 the first resurrection" (Rev. xx. 
 4,5). 
 
 The Blessln-g. 
 
 " Blessed and holy is he that 
 hath part in the first resurrection ; 
 on such the second death hath no 
 power ; but they shall be priests of 
 God and of Christ, and shall reign 
 with him a thousand years" (Rev. 
 XX. 6)^ 
 
 "And there shall be no night 
 there; and they need no candle, 
 neither light of the sun; for the 
 Lord God giveth them light ; and 
 they shall reign for ever and ever" 
 (Rev. xxii. 5). 
 
 . The reader will not fail to have noticed in these 
 
 \ parallel texts a marked correspondence of emblematical 
 
 y^ igure and verbal agreement. Strange and unu sual ideas 
 
 such as those of the "book" and the "resurrection,'' 
 
 are employed by either proph et. The "time of trouble ' ' 
 
 of the former, re-appears in the "great tribulation' of 
 
 the latter; and the "purified [onesl made Avh ite, an d 
 
 tried'' of Daniel, in the "palms" and "white robes" 
 of John. The distinct idea of a resurrection, when 
 " many that slept in the dust of the earth should awake " 
 (explained by some of the politicaP restoration of the 
 
 ' " Reddita autem victoria, et caesis Antiochi ducibus, ipsoque Antiocho in 
 Perside mortuo, salvatus est populus Israel, omnes qui scripti erant in libro Dei, 
 hoc est, qui Legem fortissime defenderunt ; et contrarie qui deleti sunt de libro, hoc 
 
THE APOCALYPSE OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. 231 
 
 holy people) is peculiar to Daniel, and seems to have 
 been elicited by the extraordinary sufferings of those 
 days. Like the first resurrection of the Apocalypse, it 
 is partial, and reserved only for the faithful. This idea, 
 of later growth than the period of the captivity, was 
 familiar to the Maccabean age. " The king of the world 
 (says the second of the seven brethren martyred by 
 Antiochus), shall raise us up who have died for his laws 
 unto everlasting life." "It is good (said the fourth) 
 being put to death by men, to look for hope from God 
 to be raised up again by him ; as for thee, thou shalt ^ 
 have no resurrection to life." '' Our brethren (said the h/OTt 
 seventh and last) who now have suffered a short pain, / 
 are dead under God's covenant of everlasting life ; but 
 thou through the judgment of God shalt receive just 
 punishment for thy pride" (2 Mace. vii. 9, 14, 36). 
 That this expectation was prevalent at the period for 
 which we contend, is corroborated by the testimony of 
 the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews. It is of the 
 martyrs of the Maccabean age that the words are spoken, 
 "Women received their dead raised to life again; and 
 others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they 
 might obtain a better resurrection " (Heb. xi. 35). It is] 
 also worthy of notice that as the resurrection is the re- 
 ward held out to the martyrs of the Syrian persecution b^ 
 Daniel, so is the same recompence confined to the martyrs 
 of the Neronic persecution by John. They who ex- 
 
 est, qui prsevaricatores exstiterunt Legis, et Antiochi fuerunt partium. Tunc, ait 
 (Porphyrius) hi qui quasi in terrse pulvere, dormiebant, et operti erant malorum 
 pondere, et quasi in sepulchris miseriarum reconditi, ad insperatam victoriam de 
 terrse pulvere surrexerunt, et de humo elevarunt caput ; custodes legis resurgentes 
 in vitam seternam, et prsevaricatores in opprobrium sempiternum " — Hieron. 
 
232 DANIEL. 
 
 perience the '' time of trouble " such as never was since 
 there was a nation to that same time, are reproduced in 
 those that were "beheaded" (TreTreXeKia/xivoc') "for the 
 witness of Jesus and for the Word of God ;" and they 
 who "shine as the brightness of the firmament and as 
 the stars for ever and ever," in those who "live and 
 reign with Christ a thousand years." 
 
 IV. From scenes of agonizing persecution at the hands 
 of heathen tyrants', the former of whom appears to have 
 been as desirous of subverting the Jewish religion as 
 the latter of exterminating the Christian faith, these pro- 
 phecies pass on to describe a rescue of the Jewish people 
 ' from their humiliating condition, and a judgment upon 
 
 \ 
 
 the oppressor followed by an universal and everlasting 
 reign of the saints. According to Daniel, this deliverance 
 is symbolized under the figure of a son of man coming 
 with the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days, and 
 receiving from him a kingdom which destroys and breaks 
 in pieces all other kingdoms and which lasts for ever. 
 Similar ideas are reiterated in the Apocalypse, and it 
 may be interesting to compare the passages in which 
 these parallel events are described. 
 
 The Sox of Man. The Son op Man. 
 
 "I saw in the night visions, and, "And I looked, and behold a 
 
 behold, one like the (a) Son of Man white cloud, and upon the cloud 
 
 came with the clouds of heaven, one sat like unto the Son of Man, 
 
 and came to the Ancient of Days, having on his head a golden crown, 
 
 and they brought him near before and in his hand a sharp sickle " 
 
 him" (Dan. vii. 13). (Rev. xiv. 14). 
 
 The Judgment. The Judgment. 
 
 "I beheld till the thrones were "I saw thrones, and they sat 
 
 cast down (placed), and the Ancient upon them, and judgment was 
 
THE APOCALYPSE OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. 233 
 
 of days did sit. ..the judgment was 
 set and the books opened ... and 
 judgment was given to the saints 
 of the Most High... The judgment 
 shall sit, and they shall take away 
 his dominion, to consume and to 
 destroy it unto the end " (Dan. vii. 
 9, 10, 22, 26). 
 
 *' I beheld even till the beast was 
 slain, and his body destroyed and 
 given to the burning flame " (Dan. 
 vii. 11). 
 
 The Kingdom. 
 
 "And there was given him 
 dominion, and glory, and a king- 
 dom, that all people, nations, and 
 languages, should serve him; his 
 dominion is an everlasting domin- 
 ion, which shall not pass away, 
 and his kingdom that which shall 
 not be destroyed" (Dan. vii. 14). 
 
 " The saints of the Most High 
 shall take the kingdom, and possess 
 the kingdom for ever, even for ever 
 and ever; ...and the kingdom and 
 dominion, and the greatness of the 
 kingdom under the whole heaven, 
 shall be given to the people of the 
 saints of the Most High" (Dan. vii. 
 18, 27). 
 
 given unto them,... and I saw a 
 great white throne, and him that 
 sat on it... and I saw the dead, 
 small and great, stand before God, 
 and the books were opened" (Rev. 
 XX. 4, 11, 12). 
 
 " And the beast was taken and 
 with him the false prophet that 
 wrought miracles before him . . . 
 These were both cast alive into a 
 lake of fire burning with brim- 
 stone" (Rev. xix. 20). 
 
 The Kingdom. 
 
 ' ' And the seventh angel sounded ; 
 and there were great voices in 
 heaven, saying. The kingdoms of 
 this world are become the kingdoms 
 of our Lord, and of his Christ ; and 
 he shall reign for ever and ever" 
 (Rev. xi. 15). 
 
 "And I heard a loud voice, 
 saying in heaven, Now is come 
 salvation and strength, and the 
 kingdom of our God, and the power 
 of his Christ" (Rev. xii. 10). 
 
 " And the nations of them which 
 are saved shall walk in the light 
 of it ; and the kings of the earth 
 do bring their glory and honour 
 into it,... and they shall reign for 
 ever and ever" (Rev. xxi. 24; 
 xxii. 5). 
 
 T he analop;Y "between the Apocalypse of the Old 
 Testa ment and that of the Kew is further maintained in 
 these unique and extraordinary symbo ls. The 6on bf 
 Ma n com in g with the clouds of heaven to the Ancie nt of 
 Days of Daniel, is reproduced in the ^' 8on of Man comi ng 
 with clouds," or ^^ sitting on a cloud " (Eev. i. 7 ; xiv. 14), 
 
234 DANIEL. 
 
 of Joliii ; the judgment upon the Danielle beast (Antio- 
 chus) is answered in the judgment upon the Apocalyptic 
 beast (Nero) ; and the everlasting kingdom given to the 
 people of the saints of the Most High, in the everlasting 
 *reign of the " servants of God and the Lamb " (Eev. 
 xxii. 3-5). 
 
 V. The analogy between the Apocalypse of the Old 
 Testament and that of the New is continued in the 
 calamities brought by either persecutor upon Jerusalem ; 
 the temporary desolation of the city and sanctuary by 
 Antiochus being repeated in the more fatal and permanent 
 destruction which originated with Nero. This latter 
 calamity, although executed by his successors Vespa- 
 sian and Titus, may be said to have commenced under 
 Nero, as the former under Antiochus. These analogous 
 desolations are described in parallel terms. 
 
 Syrian desola.tio:n of Jektjsalem. Romaic desolation' of Jerusalem. 
 
 " How long shall be the vision " Measure the temple of God and 
 
 concerning the daily sacrifice, .. .to the altar and them that worship 
 
 give both the sanctuary and the therein, but the court which is 
 
 host to be trodden under foot ? without the temple leave out, and 
 
 And he said unto me, Unto two measure it not, for it is given unto 
 
 thousand and three hundred days " the Gentiles; and the holy city 
 
 (Dan. viii. 13, 14). shall they tread under foot forty 
 
 "The people of the prince that and two months" (Eev. xi. 1, 2). 
 shall come shall destroy the city " The great city which spirit- 
 
 and the sanctuary... unto the end ually is called Sodom and Egypt, 
 
 of the war desolations are deter- where also our Lord was crucified ; 
 
 mined... and for the overspreading ...and the same hour there was a 
 
 of abominations he shall make it great earthquake, and the tenth 
 
 desolate, even until the consumma- part of the city fell" (Rev. xi. 
 
 tion" (Dan. ix. 26, 27). 8-13). 
 
 L et this then be added to t he rest, that an analogy is 
 found to exist between the desolations brouo^ht upon the 
 
THE APOCALYPSE OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. 235 
 
 holy city by either tyrant: the temporary calamity in- 
 flicted by the Syrian affording a type of the permanent 
 destruction accomplished by the Eoman. "The people 
 of the prince that should come,'^ of Daniel, are reproduced 
 in " the Gentiles " of the Apocalypse ; the " treadin g 
 under foot of the sanctuary and the host," in the ''tread- 
 ing under foot of the holy city;" whilst the duration of 
 the overthrow, for "a time, and times, and the dividing 
 of time," finds an equivalent in the corresponding period 
 of " forty and two months.'' T he historical importanc e 
 of this latter catastrophe sufficiently accounts fo r the de- 
 si re to discover its pr ophetic announcement in the book 
 of Daniel. It was the great crisis for which the world 
 was waiting. In unequivocal language, which hardly 
 even the science of hermeneutics can explain away, the 
 Son of Man had announced his speedy advent to destroy 
 Jerusalem and to establish the kingdom of heaven, be- 
 fore the generation which had heard his words had 
 passed away. His apostles had reiterated his solemn 
 threatenings. The Apocalypse h ^^ tp^^^ '^p th^ ^hem e 
 o l an immediate catastrophe, and had rung out the 
 knell of the old Jewish world . It ceases, therefore, 
 to be a wonder that calamities described under such 
 similarity of thought and diction, and reproduced under 
 such agreement of circumstance and action, should have 
 caused exegetical confusion; and that the Dromio-like 
 resemblance between the chief actors in the respective 
 scenes should have led interpreters to explain the Syrian 
 abominations of those perpetrated by the Eomans, and 
 the desolation of the city and sanctuary by Antiochus, 
 of the destruction of the city and temple by Titus. 
 
236 DANIEL. 
 
 VI. In addition to the h istorical resemblance alread y 
 traced in the scenes described by Daniel and John, mino r 
 points of verbal imitation give weight to the position th at 
 t he second Apocalypse is, to a great extent, a transcript o f 
 t lift firs t. Among the ideas and expressions common, if 
 not peculiar, to both, w e may compare thp. rftmnrlcab le 
 '' 1 Daniel " (Dan, viii. 15. 271 with ^^T.TnhTi" fT^P.v . 
 xxi. 2; xxii. 8) . The confident appeal to veracity^ 
 ■'' Th e vision which was told is true" (Dan, viii. 26 ; x. 
 21 'xi. 2), with "These words are true and faithful'^ 
 
 iR p.j. yyi. Fi ; xi^r. 9^. The unique idea, known only to 
 the writers of Daniel and the Apocalypse, of "The 
 Ancient of Days, the hair of whose head was like the 
 pure wool" (Dan. vii. 9, 22), with "The head and hairs 
 white like wool, and white as snow'' (Eev. i. 14); " The 
 I judgment set when the Ancient of Days did sit'' (Dan. vii. 
 9, 10), with " The great white throne and Him that sat on 
 it" (Rev. XX. 11). The "thousand thousands minister- 
 ing unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand 
 standing before him" (Dan. vii. 10), with the "Ten 
 thousand tim.es ten thousand, and thousands of thou- 
 sands" (Eev. V. 11). "The Son of Man coming with 
 • the clouds of heaven" (Dan. vii. 13), with "The Son of 
 Man sitting upon a white cloud" (Rev. xiv. 14). " The 
 dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, na- 
 tions, and languages should serve him" (Dan vii. 14), 
 with " The kingdoms of this world are become the king- 
 doms of our Lord and of his Christ" (Rev. xi. 15). 
 "Michael the great prince which standeth up for the 
 children of thy people" (Dan. xii, 1), with "Michael 
 and his angels fi.ghting against the devil and his angels'^ 
 
THE APOCALYPSE OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. 237 
 
 (Eev. xii. 7). " The time of trouble, such as never was 
 since there was a nation even to that same time" (Dan. 
 xii. 1), with ''The great earthquake such as was not 
 since men were upon the earth" (Eev. xvi. 18). The 
 " casting of the host and stars to the ground and stamp- 
 ing upon them" (Dan. viii. 10), with "The dragon draw- 
 ing the third part of the stars of heaven and casting them 
 to the earth'' (Eev. xii. 4). " God of gods and Lord of 
 kings'' (Dan. ii. 47), with '' King of kings, and Lord of 
 lords" (Eev. xix. 16). "The living God" (Dan. vi. 
 20)j with " The living God" (Eev. vii. 2). " All whose 
 works are truth and his ways judgment'' (Dan. iv. 37), 
 with "True and righteous are thy judgments" (Eev. 
 xvi. 7). " Saints of the Most High" (Dan. vii.), with 
 "King of saints" (Eev. xv. 3). "The four winds" 
 (Dan. vii. 2), with "The four winds" (Eev. vii. 1). 
 "The four beasts coming up from the sea" (Dan. vii. 3), 
 with " The beast rising up out of the sea" (Eev. xiii. 1). 
 The "ten horns" (Dan. vii. 7), with the "ten horns" 
 (Eev. xvii. 3). The little horn which " came up among 
 them . . . and shall rise after them" (Dan. vii. 8, 24), 
 with "The beast that was, and is not, even he is the 
 eighth, and is of the seven" (Eev. xvii. 11). " The 
 beast slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the 
 burning flame" (Dan. vii. 11), with "The beast taken 
 and cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone" 
 (Eev. xix. 20). " The lion, the bear, and the leopard" 
 (Dan. vii. 4-6), with "The beast like unto a leopard, 
 his feet as a bear, and his mouth as a lion" (Eev. xiii. 2). 
 "The beast with four heads and ten horns" (Dan. vii. 
 6, 7), with the beast " having seven heads and ten horns" 
 
238 DANIEL. 
 
 (Eev. xiii. 1). '^ The ten horns are ten kings that shall 
 arise" (Dan. vii. 24), with "The ten horns are ten kings 
 which have received no kingdom as yet'' (Rev. xvii. 12). 
 ''The army of heaven" (Dan. iv. 35), with " The armies 
 of heaven" (Rev. xix. 14). "Great Babylon" (Dan. iv. 
 30), with " Great Babylon" (Rev. xvi. 19). " The gods 
 of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which 
 see not, nor hear, nor know" (Dan v. 23), with " Idols 
 of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood, 
 >^which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk" (Rev. ix. 20). 
 ^Jj* The worship of "the golden image" (Dan. iii.), with 
 
 f'^ " The worship of the image of the beast" (Rev. xiii. 15). 
 " The four men loose walking in the midst of the fire 
 *'%3 .... and the form of the fourth is like the (a) Son of 
 ^ God (Dan. iii. 25), with " The Son of Man walking 
 "^jv in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks" (Rev. 
 ^jr i. 13). The command to " shut up the vision and 
 seal the book" (Dan. viii. 26 ; xii. 4), with the con- 
 verse direction, " Seal not the sayings of the prophecy 
 of this book" (Rev. xxii. 10). The enigma proj)osed to 
 the wise, "How long shall it be to the end of these 
 wonders ? . . . . none of the wicked shall understand, 
 but the wise shall understand " (Dan. xii. 6, 10), with 
 the equivalent, "Here is wisdom; let him that hath 
 understanding count the number of the beast " (Rev., 
 xiii. 18 ; xvii. 9) : and, lastly, the blessing of the resur- 
 rection, "Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the 
 thousand three hundred and five and thirty days " (Dan. 
 xii. 12), with, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part 
 in the first resurrection; on such the second death 
 hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and 
 
THE APOCALYPSE OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. 239 
 
 of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years " 
 (Eev. XX. 6). 
 
 These parallelisms of thought and diction, to whichn 
 may be added those of structui'e and arrangement, ex- / 
 hibit together so complete an analogy between the \ 
 Apocalypse of the Old and that of the New Testament 
 as almost to compel the conclusion, that either the writer 
 of the latter must have drawn largely from the former, 
 or that the respective authors intended to describe the 
 same events. We give our adherence to the former of-* 
 these theories, not only because it appears to have been 
 the practice of the latter to avail himself of ideas bor- \ 
 rowed from the ancient prophets, but because likeness \ 
 of subject demanded likeness of symbolic representation. I 
 The earlier Ap'^^n,1yp°Q thu° b^^nm^ th^ morlQl ^f thf" / 
 latter, a nd the Syrian distress the type under which that 
 of Nero found adequate expression. We are content to 
 leave this parallelism^ without further comment, simply 
 observing that similarity of symbolic representation 
 wnnlfl sApm f|> dpmnnrl similarity of exec^etical treatmen t ; 
 flT^d that ns thp. visions of either ijrophecy have their 
 
 :N' 
 
 * I t is wort hy of notice, that ia the par allelism between D aniel and the Apo- 
 calypse, the emblems of the latter are ratti er the result of imitation flt Styig'kn d ^J^ 
 fig ure than a correct delineation ot tne suDiects whicli they are intended to pour tray. y *^^ 
 Thus the horns of the Roman beast are " ten,' not because Nero is the tenth 
 €mperor, but because the Syro-Egyptian beast of Daniel is furnished with '* ten 
 horns." The same beast is said to be "like unto a leopard, and his feet as the feet 
 of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion," more for the sake of resemblance 
 to the beasts of Daniel than exact conformity to the Roman empire. The second 
 " beast coming up out of the earth with two horns like a lamb, and speaking as a 
 dragon" (Rev. xiii. 11), is so described because " the little horn" (Antiochus) comes 
 up among the ten horns of the fourth beast, and in this horn were (two) " eyes like 
 the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things" (Dan. yii. 8). The duration 
 of the persecution of Nero " continues forty and two months, or a time, times, and 
 half a time;" not because it extended over that precise period, but because it was 
 that of the desolation spoken of by Daniel. 
 
240 DANIEL. 
 
 consummation in the deatli of the tyrant/ so the interpre- 
 tation of the latter would be circumscribed by that of 
 the former; in other words, as the exegesis applied to 
 thr bnolr nf T> nmcl cannot be extended bey ond the times 
 of Antiochus Epiphanes, so that of the Apocal ypseln ust 
 b e " tJUlifiued lu thu tlliiljij bt yero". Both prophecies 
 would seem bounded by their own historical limits ; the 
 introduction, therefore, of an element of futurity into the 
 interpretation of the latter, and the prolongation of its 
 visions beyond the actual present or the immediate 
 future of the seer, creates an eschatology for the second 
 which is not discoverable in the first, and deranges 
 the harmony subsisting between them. 
 
 ^ According to Daniel, a son of man comes with the clouds of heaven at the 
 
 juncture when " the beast (Antiochus) is slain, and his body given to the burning 
 
 flame." According to John, "the Son of Man appears when the beast (Nero) is 
 
 Xm taken and cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." The reign of the 
 
 h » saints with either prophet commences from the same period. According to Daniel, 
 
 " the little horn makes war with the saints tmtil the Ancient of Days comes 
 
 and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." According to John, the 
 millennial reign commences at the period when the beast is taken and destroyed (Rcy. 
 xix. 20 ; XX. 4). 
 
241 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 MESSIANIC IDEAS. 
 
 It will readily be imagined from the tenor of preceding 
 observations, that we are not among those who conceive 
 the author of the Book of Daniel to have given utterance 
 to predictions which find a primary and immediate ac- 
 complishment in the person of Jesus Christ ; and we have 
 arrived at this conclusion, not because we are main- 
 taining prophecy, in the sense of foretelling future events, 
 to be impossible, but because the express terms of the 
 book appear to confine the subject within chronological 
 limits which negative such a conception. But whilst 
 unable to endorse the traditional opinion that the writer 
 saw the glories of our own Messiah, and spake directly of 
 him, we would admit that the symbols of Daniel may 
 have contributed to give shape to the Messianic concep- 
 tions of the Christian period, and that our prophet may 
 have delineated with greater appropriateness than those 
 who preceded him, the features under which the Saviour 
 manifested himself to the world. Regarded from this 
 point of view, the Book of Daniel may be said to be more 
 thoroughly Messianic than any other book of the Old 
 Testament. The appellation "Son of Man," a title in 
 which our Lord most delighted, would seem taken from 
 this source. The glorious apocalypse of the Son of Man 
 
 16 
 
242 DANIEL. 
 
 coming in the clouds of heaven, appears to owe its origin 
 to the Danielic prototype of a "Son of Man coming 
 with the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days." 
 The destruction of the Christian Antichrist may be 
 traced to the overthrow of the Antichrist of the Syrian 
 period. The setting up of the abomination of desolation 
 of the days of Christ is compared to a somewhat similar 
 event of the days of Antiochus. The announcement of 
 the approaching end of the world, so unhesitatingly 
 advanced by the writers of the Apostolic age, resembles 
 the consummation, or "time of the end,'' continually 
 reiterated by Daniel. The judgment, when " The Son of 
 Man should sit upon the throne of his glory, and before 
 him should be gathered all nations" (Matt. xxv. 31), 
 may owe its shape to the "judgment set, and the books 
 opened" of the former period. The resurrection accom- 
 panying that judgment, answers to the corresponding 
 phenomenon when " many that sleep in the dust of the 
 earth should awake, some to everlasting life, and some 
 to shame and everlasting contempt ;" whilst the heavenly 
 kingdom which our Lord declared to be " at hand," whose 
 approaching reign of purity and glory he charged his 
 apostles to announce, which he illustrated by so many 
 exquisite parables and whose moral qualifications he 
 insisted on with so much zeal and tenderness, takes its 
 unmistakeable rise from "the kingdom, and dominion, and 
 the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, 
 given to the people of the saints of the Most High." 
 
 To some a certain hermeneutical verdict may seem 
 pronounced by our Lord upon the book whose ideas he 
 appears to have accommodated to the circumstances 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 243 
 
 of his Messianic career. But in their application of 
 passages from the Old Testament, the writers of the 
 New are for the most part inexact and arbitrary, 
 "considering more the words than the meaning, and 
 regarding neither the historical sense nor the context," 
 and we have no reason to assume that, in this particular, 
 our Lord exercised a critical discernment in advance of that 
 of his own age. It would be well for those to whom this 
 statement may give pain to remember that the writers of 
 the New Testament do not always claim for their Master 
 that infallible knowledge^ which theological inference 
 has ascribed to him. It was said of him without hesita- 
 tion by those whose devotion to his cause and person 
 cannot be called in question that he "increased in wisdom," 
 i. e, advanced gradually in iatellectual development, as 
 well as " in stature " (Luke ii. 52). He was not ashamed 
 
 1 Our Lord alludes to this limitation of knowledge where he says to his disciples 
 after the resurrection, " It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which 
 the Father hath put ew /it's oii.7j^ow«r." T^ iS^a i^ovcria, Acts i. 7. (Comp. Kaipo7s 
 ISiols, his own times, i.e. times known to him only. 1 Tim. vi. 15). " This (says 
 Dean Alford) is one of the things which the Father hath put in his own power, and 
 with which the Son in his mediatorial oflnce is not acquainted. We must not deal 
 unfaithfully with a plain and solemn assertion of our Lord by such evasions as ' He 
 does not know it so as to reveal it to us.' Of such a sense there is not a hint in the 
 context ; nay, it is altogether alien from it." Similarly the writer of the Apocalypse 
 declares that " God i/ave unto (Jesus) the revelation of things which must surely 
 come to pass" (Rev. i. I), and pronounces the Lamb worthy, by virtue of his re- 
 deeming sacrifice, to open the Book which "no man— ouSeis — in heaven, nor in 
 earth, nor under the earth, was able to open" (Rev. v. 3-9). Comp. " No man — 
 ovShs diSfv — none hioiveth — no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the 
 Son, but the Father," (Mark xiii. 32) ; or, as expressed by St, Matthew, " But my 
 Father onl I/" (Matt. xxiv. 36). "This doctrine," says Mr. Houghton (Pentateuch 
 Examined. Part III. Colenso), is expressly taught by our Lord himself; has the 
 sanction of very many eminent Biblical writers, both ancient and modern ; and is 
 implied in the language of the formularies of our church." "If one does not 
 wish to deny," says Calvin, " that Christ has been made a true man, one must not 
 be ashamed to confess that he has voluntarily subjected himself to all the things 
 which cannot be separated from the human nature." — Com. on Lxike ii. 40. 
 
244 DANIEL. 
 
 to allow that his knowledge was limited with regard to 
 the most momentous of all his prophecies, the coming 
 of his own kingdom. lie foresaw the fact; declared 
 that it should happen before the generation which had 
 heard his words should pass away; but acknowledged 
 that the exact day and hour were unknown to him (Matt, 
 xxiv. 36; Mark xiii. 32). It is moreover, seldom re- 
 membered that imperfection of knowledge would be a 
 necessary condition of that state to which he humbled 
 himself. If the perfect manhood of Christ (which it 
 would be the worst of heresies^ to deny) consisted 
 according to the so-called Athanasian symbol of a 
 "reasonable soul and human flesh;" the soul would 
 necessarily be as subject to the infirmities of the human 
 mind in its limitations of knowledge, as the body to the 
 infirmities of grief and pain. It need not then surprise 
 
 ' " Mais la divinite de Jesus Christ ! Que deviendra t'elle si !a critique peut 
 porter une main temeraire sur la persoime de notre Maitre, et le montrer ignorant 
 bien des choses . . . N'avez vous done jamais lu, repondraije, le mot de I'evangeliste: 
 ' il croissait en sagesse et en grace.' Ou bien pensez vous que c'ait ete precisement 
 le privilege de Jesus de cesser de croitre en sagesse a partir d'un certain age ? II me 
 semble plus respectueux de supposer que le progres a eu lieu jusqu'a la fin, jusqua 
 Gethsemane : ' Je me sanctifie,' lui fait dire Jean quelques heures avant sa mort. 
 N'avez vous jamais medite non plus cette grande parole, ' Le Fils ignore.' 
 
 Marc. xiii. 32 L'Eglise enseigne la divinite de Jesus, mais elle enseigne 
 
 aussi son humanite, et voila ce qu'on oublie etrangement. Elle affirme qu'il 
 y a en Jesus une humanite complete, et qui ne consiste pas seuleraent dans un 
 corps humain, mais aussi dans une volonte humaine, et une intelligence humaine. 
 Sans doute cette nature humaine complete, est unie a la nature divine, mais 
 I'union n'est pas la confusion, dit L'Eglise, et la divinite de Jesus ne peut porter 
 aucune atteinte a sa parfaite humanitd. Quiconque n'admet pas I'absolue distinc- 
 tion des deux natures en J^sus Christ est heritique au premier chef: H(cc est 
 fides Catholiea quam nisi quisquc fidditcr firmitcrqm eredidcrit, salrus esse non j)oterit. 
 . . . Les Peres de L'Eglise en parlent fort serieusement. Puisque Jesus est homme, 
 et que par consequent il a une intelligence humaine, il n'a pu savoir tout disent ils 
 Voici saint Athanase, le vehement adversaire d'Arius, qui declare que Jesus, ayant 
 pris notre chair, ne devait pas avoir honte d'avouer son ignorance en sa qualite 
 d'homme." — Athan. contra Arianos, Orat. iii. 43 ; Croyancei Messianiques, Colani, 
 p. 244. 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 245 
 
 US to discover that Jesus shared the Messianic conceptions 
 of his contemporaries, and that his apprehension of the 
 book of Daniel corresponded with that of the age in 
 which he lived. It would seem that the exegesis of that 
 time allowed texts from the Old Testament to be ac- 
 commodated to the Messiah with an extreme facility ' ; 
 a principal object of the searchers of scripture being to 
 discover passages, which might be strained to admit a 
 Messianic application. This desire appears to have been 
 encouraged by the circumstances of the Jewish nation in 
 the days of our Lord, and it would seem probable that a 
 hope was widely entertained of a deliverance from the 
 Eoman rule similar to that experienced by their fore- 
 fathers at the Syrian period. Hence the impatience of 
 
 ' " VVe find (saj's Mr. Wilson, in the Introduction to Brief Examination of 
 prevalent opinions on Inspiration) in our Lord's ovra quotations of the Old 
 Testament and in those of His Apostles, not a rhetorical manner as distinguished 
 from a logical one, but rather an oriental wideness as contrasted with the precision 
 of the Greeks and of the modern West." (Comp. Matt. ii. 15, 17, 18, 23). 
 
 This wide use of passages from the Old Testament is observable in the writings of 
 St. Paul, where we find Psalm xiv. 1-7, descriptive of the wickedness of the oppres- 
 sors of Israel, employed, among other texts, to prove the universal depravity of man- 
 kind (Rom. iii. 9-19), and the history of Hagar and Sarah (Gen. xxi. 1-12) allegorized 
 to the circumstances of the Jewish and Christian Churches, an application not 
 strictly deducible from the sense of the original quotations. To a still greater extent 
 this practice may be recognized in the fanciful expositions of some of the apostolical 
 Fathers, such as the " scarlet thread " let down from the windows of Rahab's house 
 significant, according to Clement, of the blood of the Lord ; and the " three hundred 
 and eighteen " servants of Abraham emblematical, according to S. Barnabas, of the 
 cross and name of Jesus. In the Mishna, passages are quoted from the Old 
 Testament without any regard to the context or to their true meaning. " Whence is 
 it (it is asked) that a red string is to be tied to the head of the scapegoat ? From 
 the verse, Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow " — Mishna 
 Sabbath ix. 3. An equally arbitrary application of Scripture is also found in 
 Maimonides, where the text " Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil, neither 
 shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment" (Ex. xxiii. 2) 
 is thus paraphrased : " To turn after many, if there shall be a division amid the 
 Sanhedrim in matters of judgment ; as it is said, to turn after many " — Sephcr 
 Hammitz-voth. 
 
246 DANIEL. 
 
 the Jews under the Eoman yoke and their continual 
 outbreaks against the existing government : hence the 
 eagerness with which they ascribed Messianic qualities 
 both to the Baptist and to our Lord, and hence also the 
 numerous aspirants^ to the office and the dignity of 
 Messiah. With the appearing of the Great Teacher, 
 who spake as never man spake, and did works such as 
 never man did, the time, as they thought, had come, and 
 
 ' The attempts of Judas of Galilee, Theudas, the Egyptian, each of whom assumed 
 the title and sought to inaugurate the kingdom of the Messiah ; and even subse- 
 quently to the destruction of Jerusalem, those of Jonathan and Bar-Cochebas, show 
 how deeply the Messianic idea had penetrated the national mind. It scarcely needs 
 to be said that the part taken by our holy Redeemer had nothing in common with 
 these interested assumptions of the Messianic office. His soul-elevating and right- 
 eous theory of a kingdom of the skies which none but the meek and pure, the 16wly 
 and merciful, the just and good, the pardoned and penitent should inherit, where 
 wrongs should be redressed and righteousness vindicated, was of an essentially 
 difterent character from the political insurrections of religious fanatics* who did not 
 scruple to pervert popular expectation to the furtherance of their ambitious designs. 
 Indeed had the kingdom whose claims he advocated been similar to that sought to be 
 established by these impostors, he might, as he said, have resorted to other means for 
 its success. " If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that 
 I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now is my kingdom not from hence " 
 (John xviii. 3C). But although "not of this world," like that of imperial Rome, 
 it was nevertheless a real reign of righteousness and peace ; in which, in some 
 mysterious and momentary way, the dead should be raised and the living changed, 
 the elect gathered from the four winds, and the kingdom of this world merged into 
 that of our Lord (God) and of his Christ. No wonder that the beatific vision caught 
 pure and holy souls ; and that its righteous qualifications won the affections of God- 
 fearing men. Contrasted with the hard formality and dim futurity of Judaism, 
 it shines forth as ' a thing of beauty,' and a 'joy for ever.' We cease to be surprised 
 that when desirous of administering the deepest consolation, an apostle should be 
 heard saying, " The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the 
 voice of the Archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise 
 first (J. e. before those who-shall be alive at his coming shall receive their summons 
 to meet him) ; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with 
 them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord ; 
 wherefore comfort one another with these words" (1 Thess. iv. 16-18) 
 
 • Faux Messies. Cc premier acte est positivement indiqud par Jos^phe dans ses rOcits sur 
 Theudas et sur I'Egyptien. Le premier s'insurprea sous Claude en 44 (Ant. xx. 5-1). L' 
 E^ptien parait sous N(?ron en 58 un pcu avant que Paul soit arretc a .Icrusalem (corap. Acts 
 xxi. 38). Josepbe parlc encore d'autres impostcurs ou cntliousiastes qu'il ne nonimc pas, con- 
 tcmporains do I'Egyptien, faisant appcl comnie lui aus croyanccs populaires, attirant Ic peuple 
 an dfeert, et lui promettant le» (TVI^fM i\(v6epias et la ffWTTjp^a."— Ketille. 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 247 
 
 the vision of the prophet was about to receive its 
 accomplishment. This hope, checked for a while by the 
 death of Jesus, re-appeared in the announcement of his 
 speedy return with power and great glory even before 
 the generation which had listened to his words had passed 
 away. To what extent these expectations pervaded the 
 teaching and influenced the career of the Eedeemer him- 
 self, may be seen by a comparison between what may be 
 called the eschatology of the Maccabean age and that of 
 the times of Christ. We proceed therefore to examine 
 some particulars in which the Messianic ideas of Daniel 
 appear to be reproduced in the history of our Lord, as 
 related in the Gospels, and the subsequent writings of the 
 New Testament. 
 
 I. A topic prominently insisted upon by the prophet 
 of the Old Testament, is the establishment of a kingdom 
 of the saints, or the holy people, which should succeed 
 the breaking up of the dominion of the little horn. The 
 gradual increase of this kingdom is shadowed forth under 
 the emblem of a "stone cut without hands which became 
 a great mountain, and filled the whole earth ;" its supe- 
 riority, in the assertion that it should "break in pieces 
 and consume all other kingdoms;" its superhuman 
 origin, in the statement that it should be set up by " the 
 God of heaven ;" while its durability finds expression in 
 the words, " it shall never be destroyed, but shall stand 
 for ever." 
 
 This extraordinary conception of a kingdom of the 
 saints, unfulfilled at the period to which the original 
 prophecy points except so far as the successes of the 
 holy people are concerned, presents features of remarkable 
 
248 DANIEL. 
 
 coincidence with the evangelical kingdom announced by 
 our Lord. As the former is set up by ''the God of heaven," 
 so is the latter a " kingdom of heaven," and a " kingdom 
 of God ;" as the one is " given " by the Ancient of Days 
 to a Son of Man, so it is said of the other, " I appoint 
 unto you a kingdom as my Father hath appointed unto 
 me" (Luke xxii. 29); as "the saints of the Most High 
 take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even 
 for ever and ever," so does the king say to them on his 
 right hand, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
 kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
 world." To make known the good news of this ap- 
 proaching kingdom was the great work of our blessed 
 Lord on earth, and the key-note of his own teaching^ 
 
 ' The Sermon on the Mount, which may be supposed to comprise the substance 
 of our Saviour's teaching, would appear to be an epitome of the duties expected 
 from, and the rewards promised to, the children of the kingdom whose approaching 
 advent had been previously announced (Matt. iii. 2; iv. 17,23), The beatitudes 
 which preface this inimitable discourse exhibit under a variety of equivalent expres- 
 sions, the blessedness of those who should share the Messianic reign. " The meek," 
 it is said, " shall inherit the earth " (Enoch 1.) ; " the pure in heart shall see God" 
 (Rev. xxii. 4) ; the peacemakers "shall be called (shall be) the children of God," 
 (Gal. iv. 7) ; whilst the poor in spirit, and the persecuted for righteousness' sake are 
 bid to " rejoice in that day and leap for joy," for " theirs is the kingdom of heaven '' 
 (v. 3-12). The time of its establishment is that of the fulfilment of the law and 
 the prophets in the coming of the Messiah ; the phrase " till heaven and earth pass" 
 (v. 18), or as the same idea is elsewhere expressed, " Heaven and earth shall pass 
 away," (xxiv. 35) corresponding with the passing away of the " first heaven and the 
 first earth" (Rev. xxi. 1) and the development of the " new heavens and a new earth 
 wherein dwelleth righteousness " (2 Pet. iii. 13). The characteristic qualities of 
 those who should be called (should be) great as well as of those who should be 
 least in the kingdom of heaven (ver. 19) are noted with distinctness; and the 
 disciples are cautioned that unless their righteousness should exceed the righteous- 
 ness of the Scribes and Pharisees they should not enter into it (ver. 20). In antici- 
 pation, perhaps, of Messianic sovereignty Jerusalem is called " the city of the great 
 king" (ver. 35), elsewhere named " the city of my God new Jerusalem, which 
 Cometh down out of heaven from my G<5d " (Rev. iii. 12); the disciples are 
 bid to pray for its speedy advent (vi. lOj, and leaving the consideration of 
 earthly things, to " seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" (vi. 33), 
 "for (adds St. Luke) it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 249 
 
 as well as that of his disciples. The Gospel of Jesus, 
 according to the Synoptics, is the '' Gospel of the king- 
 dom" (Matt. iv. 23; ix. 35; xxiy. 14), elsewhere called 
 the "Gospel of the kingdom of God."^ It is the an- 
 nouncement of ''the Son of Man cominor in his kins- 
 dom"- (Matt. xvi. 28), i.e. the complete establishment 
 of the kingdom at the coming of the king himself. 
 "After that John was put in prison, Jesus (the successor 
 of the Baptist in proclaiming the near approach of the 
 Messianic reign) came into Galilee preaching the 
 gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, the time is 
 fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand — rf1<^LKGv — 
 repent ye, and believe the Gospel" (Mark i. 14, 15). 
 "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say (as 
 the Baptist had done before him) repent, for the king- 
 
 And to make it plain that the kingdom spoken of was a future and celestial one, our 
 Lord assigns the time of the judgment as that of entrance into it. " Not every one 
 (he says) that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, 
 but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven;" or, as he further 
 explains his meaning, " Many (who shall seek to enter in, but shall not be able) 
 shall say unto him in that day ( — that well-known day — " the day of the Lord" — 
 "the day of Christ" — "the day of God"— "the day of judgment" — "the great 
 day" — "the last day" — and, eventually "that day," without further comment, 
 (Comp. Luke vi. 23 ; xvii. 31; xxi. 34 ; 1 Thess. v. 4 ; 2 Tim. i. 18 ; iv. 8), " have 
 we not prophesied in thy name," etc., to whom he will profess " I never knew you, 
 depart from me, ye that work iniquity," (vii. 21-23). 
 
 1 The phrase "the kingdom of heaven," used more than thirty times by St. 
 Matthew, is generally expressed by SS. Mark and Luke under its equivalent desig- 
 nation, " the kingdom of God." This difference may, perhaps, be traced to the cir- 
 cumstance that the first Gospel, according to Jerome, Chrysostom, Epiphanius, 
 Eusebius, Origen, Irenseus, and Papias, was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic, 
 in which the term " heaven " is occasionally employed to represent the Deity (Dan. 
 iv. 26). " Coelum, Dei sedes et domicilium, Chaldseis et serioribus Hebreeis dicitur 
 pro Deo ipso, quem loquendi modum N. T. Scriptores secuti sunt" (Matt. xxi. 25; 
 Luke sv. 18). — Res. 
 
 ' Comp. " when thou comest in thy kingdom" e'c tt} ^wjiK^'ia crov (Luke xxiii.) 
 42). Also : " Ye shall not see me henceforth — andpri — -from just now — till ye shall 
 say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matt, xxiii. 39; Luke 
 ^)x.38 ; Mark xi. 10). 
 
260 DANIEL. 
 
 dom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. iv. 17). ''As ye go 
 (he said to the disciples) preach, saying, The kingdom 
 of heaven is at hand " (Matt. x. 7). "The law and the 
 prophets (he declared) were until John ; since that time 
 the kingdom of God is preached and every man presseth 
 into it." "9 dvrrjv Sid^eTai (Luke xvi. 16 ; Matt. xi. 12), 
 makes its attainment the paramount concern. " Let the 
 dead bury their dead (he said to a hesitating follower), 
 but go thou and preach the kingdom of God." To one 
 who would first bid farewell to friends at home, he said, 
 "No man having put his hand to the plough, and look- 
 ing back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke ix. 60-62). 
 Into whatever city the seventy disciples whom he sent 
 two and two before his face should enter, they were bid 
 first to say, "The kingdom of God is come nigh — rjyyiKev 
 — unto you;" and in the case where the good tidings of 
 salvation should be rejected, the heralds of the kingdom 
 were instructed to wipe off the dust of that city from 
 their feet, as of a place doomed to destruction, with the 
 parting denunciation, " Notwithstanding be ye sure of 
 this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you" 
 (Luke X. 8-11). The proclamation of this kingdom 
 formed the basis of our Lord's habitual discourses, " as 
 he taught the people in the temple and preached the 
 Gospel" — evcvyrye\L^o/j,6vou — (Luke XX. 1), not only in Jeru- 
 salem but " to other cities also, for therefore (he said) am 
 I sent" (Luke iv. 43, 44). This was the kingdom for 
 whose approach the disciples were bid to pray, "Thy 
 kingdom come," and until whose final inauguration they 
 were to hold trust, " Occupy till I come" (Luke xix. 13). 
 The parables of the kingdom, especially those of the 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 251 
 
 leaven and the grain of mustard seed (Matt, xiii.), 
 describe its gradual increase and exhibit the stone, not 
 in hands, "becoming a great mountain and filling all 
 the earth." Those again of the tares and the wheat and 
 the net cast into the sea, connect the final establishment 
 of the kingdom with the end of the world (age), then 
 supposed to he touching its appointed term, and represent 
 the Son of Man sending forth his angels (comp. Matt. 
 XXV. 31), and gathering ''out of his kingdom all things 
 that offend and them which do iniquity;" whilst those 
 of the treasure hid in the field, and the pearl of great 
 price, declare its superlative and inestimable value, and 
 the imperative necessity of first seeking righteousness 
 and the kingdom of God (Matt. vi. 32). '' To make known 
 these evangelical tidings (for the Gospel as preached by 
 our Lord and his disciples is the good news of the coming 
 kingdom,^ and not a Calvinistic scheme of redemption), 
 the chosen twelve are sent first to the " lost sheep of the 
 house of Israel." They proclaim the approach of a mag- 
 nificent celestial theocracy under which the Jewish 
 people, all their sin and transgression taken away (comp. 
 Dan. ix. 24), should be exalted to the highest pitch of 
 national grandeur. The ''good tidings of great joy" 
 
 ' This approaching kingdom is necessarily announced as an object of belief. Men 
 are invited to " repent and believe the Gospel." Hence Christianity itself is called 
 " the Faith;" and Christians are styled "believers" (Acts ii. 44; iv. 4, 32; v. 14). 
 Mention is made of the "word of faith" (Rom. x. 8), of the preaching of Jesus 
 Christ " made known to all nations for the obedience of faith" Rom. xvi. 26 ; i. 5) ; 
 of those who have stood in the faith (2 Cor. i. 24), and of those who "shall depart 
 from the faith" (1 Tim. iv. 1). The "trial" of this faith lasting only till the 
 " appearing of Jesus Christ " (1 Pet. i. 7), when believers should receive " the end 
 of their faith, even the salvation of their souls." Our Lord uses the word in a 
 similar sense : " Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith (the 
 faith) on the earth" (Luke xviii. 8). 
 
252 DANIEL. 
 
 made known, not to all people, but to all the people of 
 Israel (ttuvti, tco Xaco^ Luke ii. 10; Acts xiii. 24), announce 
 a deliverer " set for the fall and rising again of many in 
 Israel," who should " save them from their enemies and 
 from the hand of all that hate them." Impressed with 
 this idea of Jewish salvation, ^ holy men, like Simeon, 
 " waited for the consolation of Israel,'' and holy women, 
 like Anna, " spake of him to all that looked for redemp- 
 tion in Jerusalem.'' Blameless priests, like Zacharias, 
 praised the '' Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and 
 redeemed his people," whilst angelic messengers declared 
 of Jesus " He shall be great and shall be called the Son 
 of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him 
 the throne of his father David, He shall reign over the 
 house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall 
 be no end " (Luke i. 32, 33-68 ; ii. 25-38). Nor can it 
 be denied that, an opinion prevailed that our Lord's 
 coming was to be attended with special benefits to the 
 Jewish nation, " as God had promised to their forefathers, 
 Abraham and his seed for ever." He was a king and 
 he had a kingdom.- '' Not {now) from hence {evrevdev, 
 thence) nor of this world," like the ephemeral thrones of 
 
 1 " We have now learned to give all such passages a spiritual meaning ; to under- 
 stand by "Abraham's seed" the children of the faith of Abraham, and by " God's 
 people, Israel," the body of true believers. But certainly this is not the way in 
 which the first Jewish believers would have interpreted such words." — Ejiistle to the 
 Romans, Colenso, p. 10, 
 
 2 The hatred against Christ, both from Jew and Gentile, seems to have proceeded 
 from misconception of the nature of this heavenly kingdom. To the former, a king- 
 dom which was to be " not of this world," and to include the meek, the poor, the 
 harlot, and the publican, was essentially opposed to the conception which associated 
 the Messianic reign with temporal dominion, and a splendid line of " kings sitting 
 upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he and his servants and 
 his people" (Jer. xxii. 4). To the latter the bare assumption of regal titles implied 
 antagonism to the Roman government (John xix. 12; Acts xvii. 7). 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 253 
 
 Herod or Cassar Tiberius, but an ''everlasting kingdom'' 
 (2 Peter i. 11), to be heralded ere-long by "a great sound 
 of a trumpet" (Matt. xxiv. 31 ; 1 Cor. xv. 52 ; 1 Thess. 
 iv. 16), and ushered in by " more than twelve legions of 
 angels ;" not merely a spiritual reign over the mind and 
 heart of men, but a real, yet "heavenly'' (2 Tim, iv. 
 18) dominion, a "noAv Jerusalem," as it were, "coming 
 down from God out of heaven."' Fully persuaded of 
 the celestial character of the approaching kingdom, our 
 Lord at his temptation, rejected " the kingdoms of the 
 world and the glory of them'' (Matt. iv. 8), and "when 
 he perceived that the Jews would come by force and 
 make him a king'' (John vi. 15), retired into solitude. 
 
 1 The difference between the kingdom of heaven preached by our Lord and the 
 Messianic reign foretold by the ancient prophets, would seem to consist in the 
 semi-celestial nature of the former as contrasted with the purely mundane character 
 of the latter. According to the prophetical theory, the Messiah was supposed to be a 
 temporal king, pious as David, rich as Solomon ; his throne was to be established at 
 Jerusalem, his dominion to extend from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates, whilst 
 the grandeur of his kingdom was to be shown in the subjugation of the heathen, and 
 the exaltation of the Jewish people to the highest pitch of national prosperity. 
 According to the view conceived by our Lord, the Messianic reign was to be partly 
 of a mundane and partly of a celestial character — a kingdom of heaven upon earth ; 
 its king, a superhuman being descending from heaven -armed with powers to judge 
 the quick and dead; its inhabitants, no longer "subject to vanity" — corruption 
 — but " partakers of the divine nature ;" and its qualifications of such a perfect 
 moral type, as to create the misconception that the accessories of the kingdom might 
 be substituted for the kingdom itself; its seat of empire, not " Jerusalem that now 
 is," but " new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven ;" its dominion, 
 universal, everlasting, and embracing heaven and earth. In other words, it was to 
 be a "regeneration," a "restitution of all things," a " new heavens and a new earth," 
 '* a world (soon) to come," immediately consequent upon the then imminent dissolu- 
 tion of the material universe. 
 
 " Avant la mine de Jerusalem, le Messie est un roi qui, descendant de David, 
 doit ramener les beaux jours du rcgne de ce prince, elever le peuple elu au plus 
 haut point de la gloire et Se la prosperite, faire fleurir sur la terra entiere la 
 connaissance de Jehovah. Plus tard sous les Seleucides, ces esperances passent 
 de la forme prophetique a ce qu'on peut appeler la forme apocalyptique, Le 
 Messie devient un etre surhumain, qui doit descendre du ciel, presider a la 
 resurrection, juger les vivants et les morts, puis regner eternellement sur une 
 Jerusalem renouvelee," — Melanges d'Histoire Jieligietise, Scherer, 
 
254 DANIEL. 
 
 He seems to have retained this conviction unshaken 
 amidst the most distressing circumstances. True, at the 
 judgment hall of Pilate, when asked if he was a king, 
 he simply appealed to the obvious fact calculated to quell 
 suspicion on the part of the Eoman government, that had 
 his kingdom been of this world his servants would not 
 have suffered him to have been delivered to the Jews 
 (John xviii. 36, 37) ; but to the solemn adjuration of the 
 high priest, ''Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed V 
 he replied in the very words of Daniel, "I am ; and ye 
 shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of 
 power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" (Mark xiv. 
 61, 62 ; Matt. xxvi. 63, 64 ; Luke xxii. 69, 70). 
 
 It is also worthy of attention that the disciples appear 
 to have entertained views of theii- Master's kingdom 
 similar to those which he had himself expressed. What- 
 ever may have been the belief of later times, it would 
 appear certain that the expectation of the Church of the 
 age of the apostles and of that which immediately suc- 
 ceeded them^ was that of a celestial kingdom upon earthy 
 
 1 The doctrine of a celestial kingdom of heaven upon earth, inconsistent as the 
 notion may appear to us, had its staunch supporters amongst the most celebrated of 
 the ancient Fathers. Papias, according to Eusebius — avrip to. irdpra '6ti fxaKiara 
 Xo-yidircLTos, Kol T7)s ypa<pris it5rifj.wi/ — says of the productiveness of the earth in the 
 millenial period, " A grain of wheat will produce 10,000 heads, and each head will 
 have 10,000 grains, and each grain will yield ten pounds of clear fine flour, and other 
 fruits will yield seeds and herbage in the same proportion." Irenseus, his disciple, 
 asserts that Christ said to his disciples, when speaking of the days of his Messianic 
 reign on earth, " The days will come in which vines will grow, each having 10,000 
 branches, and on each branch there will be 10,000 twigs, and on each twig 10,000 
 clusters of grapes, and each grape, when pressed, will yield twenty-five measures of 
 wine ; and when any one of the saints shall take hold qf a cluster of grapes, another 
 cluster will cry out, "I am a better cluster; take me, and on ray account give 
 thanks unto the Lord " (Iren. Con. llto: v. 33). " At this period (says Lactantius, 
 lib. 7) brutes shall not live by blood, nor birds by prey, but all things shall be 
 peaceful and tranquil : lions and calves will stand together in the stall : the wolf will 
 not seize the sheep : the dog will not hunt : hawks and eagles will do no hurt : the 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 255 
 
 to be set up at the time of Christ's re-appearing, who, as 
 in the case of the certain nobleman (Archelaus) ^'had 
 gone into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, 
 and to return " (Luke xix). The terms of proximity in 
 which its speedy approach is indicated, such as '' quickly," 
 "at hand," "nearer," " drawing nigh," ''approaching," 
 as well as those descriptive of the briefness of the interval, 
 as "short," "far spent," "a little while,'' f^iKpov oaov 
 oaov — hrevissimum adhuc temporis spatium — "while — a%/3t? 
 ov — it is called to day," whilst they assert its im- 
 pending, and all but present character, in language 
 which cannot be mistaken, preclude at the same time 
 the supposition that the influence of moral qualities, such 
 as goodness, meekness, purity, etc., could be described 
 under the figure of a kingdom ; these being simply the 
 requisite preparations for participating in its glories 
 when it should come suddenly upon them while 
 they were yet alive upon earth — the heavenly birth 
 {dvcodev^ John iii. 3) — the conversion (Matt, xviii. 3), 
 
 infant shall play with serpents Men will lead a life of perfect tranquillity and 
 
 abundance, and will reign together with God ; and the kings of the Gentiles will 
 come from the ends of the earth with gifts and presents to adore and honour the 
 Great King whose name will be famous and honourable among all nations under 
 heaven, and all kings who rule upon earth. This is what the prophets declare shall 
 come to pass." S. Barnabas and S. Augustine held the notion of a Sabbatical mil- 
 lenium upon earth at the expiration of six thousand years. The Apocalypse, beyond 
 all question, maintains the theory of a mundane-celestial kingdom. The New Jeru- 
 salem comes down from heaven to earth, and the tabernacle of God is set up among 
 men. On the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes, and on the foundations 
 are the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. The tree of life yields twelve 
 fruits every month for those chosen Jews who are written in the Lamb's book of life, 
 while the leaves of the tree only are for the healing of the nations. As time advanced, 
 however, the millenial expectations of the early Church underwent a change. 
 Within a few years the belief of a terrestrial reign of Christ on earth became an 
 unpalatable doctrine. The Chiliasts were pronounced visionary, and succeeding 
 ages negatived the devout conclusions of men who had held converse with the 
 disciples of the Apostles themselves. 
 
256 DANIEL. 
 
 without which they should not '' enter into the king- 
 dom of heaven." So far from being the kingdom 
 itself, these moral qualifications were to be the 
 harbingers of its approach, by the exercise of which 
 the Church of that age was to be "looking for and 
 
 hastening' unto the coming [Trpoa-BoKWVra'i kuI a7rivSovTa<i 
 
 rrjv Trapovaiav, hastening the coming) of the day of God'' 
 (2 Peter iii. 12), and blotting out their sins by repentance 
 and conversion in order that the times of refreshing mag 
 come — oTTcocr av eXOwat Kaipol avay^v^ew<i — from the presence 
 of the Lord (Acts iii. 19), " diligent that they might be 
 found of him in peace without spot and blameless" (2 
 Peter iii. 14), and " coming behind in no gift, waiting 
 for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. i. 7, 8). 
 Surely that could not have been a spiritual kingdom in 
 which the disciples were to "eat and drink, and to sit 
 on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. 
 xix. 28; Luke xxii 29, 30); in which "many should 
 come from the east and west and should sit down [ad 
 ccenam) with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (Matt. viii. 11) 
 to "eat bread in the kingdom of God'' (Luke xiv. 15) ; 
 until whose arrival our Lord declared that he would not 
 " drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when he 
 should drink it new with them in his Father's kingdom " 
 (Matt. xxvi. 29) ; ''in the kingdom of God'' (Mark xiv. 
 
 ^ These expressions could not be used of some distant period long after their own 
 death (Comp. avajxivnv, 1 Thess. i. 10); the quotation from Psalm xc. 4, employed 
 to refute the scepticism consequent upon the non-fulfilment of the promise of the 
 coming within the time appointed, by no means implying an indefinite postponement 
 of the advent, but pleading for a longer interval than that which had already elapsed. 
 Comp. ver. 10, where, as in Matt. xxiv. 43, the day of the Lord is said to come as a 
 thief in the night ; also ver. 9, where the delay is described as in mercy to those then 
 living 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. . 257 
 
 25) ; " until the kingdom of God shall come" (Luke xxii. 
 18) ; and unto the manifestation of which they were by 
 a sacramental act to announce the Lord's death "till he 
 come" (1 Cor. xi. 2G). Surely that kingdom was not 
 conceived as purely spiritual which included various 
 degrees of official responsibility (parable of the talents 
 and of the ten pieces of money), and of celestial glory 
 (1 Cor. XV. 41) ; about which the question of precedence 
 was fiercely contested (Matt, xyiii. 1), and respecting 
 which the sons of Zebedee urged the ambitious request 
 " Grant unto us that we may sit one on thy right hand 
 and the other on thy left hand in thy glory," — a request 
 which our Lord said it was not in his power to grant, 
 but which should be "given (necessarily at some future 
 time) to those for whom it was prepared " (Mark x. 35-40 ; 
 Matt. XX. 23). Surely that could not be "a kingdom 
 of the mind" alone into which they that have riches 
 should hardly enter, a saying which elicited the excla- 
 mation " who then can be saved" (Mark x. 23-26) ; in 
 which publicans and harlots were to take precedence of 
 Scribes and Pharisees (Matt. xxi. 31), and which was 
 especially to be the recompense, not only of those who 
 were "poor in spirit" (Matt. v. 3), but of those who 
 were 2^oor in this tvorld^ yet " rich in faith and heirs of 
 the kingdom " (James ii. 5 ; Luke vi. 20 ; xvi. 25). 
 That could not well have been a present reign of " righte- 
 ousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost," distinct 
 from more literal Messianic expectations, for which 
 Joseph of Arimathea '''- tvaited^'' (Luke xxiii. 51): unto 
 which Paul prayed that he might be ^^ preserved^'' 
 (2 Tim. iv. 18): until {^Kpc) whose appearing, Timothy 
 
258 DANIEL. 
 
 was to " keep the commandment without spot and nn- 
 rebukablo " (1 Tim. vi. 1-1) : from which the discreet 
 Scribe was "wo^/ar" (Mark xii. 34): the adjuncts of 
 which IlymenoDus and Philetus supposed already past 
 (2 Tim. ii. 17), — a presumption of its nearness as apostoli- 
 cally expected: whose sudden'^ coming during the life-time 
 of his contemporaries, was the plain and unequivocal 
 doctrine of St. Paul; and in fidiilling their task of 
 proclaiming whose approach the disciples should not 
 have exhausted {epuise) " the cities of Israel, //// the Sion 
 of Man he come^'' (Matt. x. 23). An ascendancy of 
 Christian principles over Jewish formalism was not all 
 that was included in the '' inheritance, incorruptible, and 
 undefiled," not fading away like the earthly Canaan, but 
 '' reserved in heaven" for the Christians of those days, 
 and '■''ready to be revealed in the last time^^ (1 Pet. i. 
 4, 5) ; the kingdom which " flesh and blood (corruption) 
 should not inherit" (1 Cor. xv. 50); and which, as all 
 things had been delivered to the Son by the Father 
 (Matt. xi. 27), the Son should, at his coming, deliver 
 to God, even the Father, who did put all things under 
 him, that, "all should belong to God" (Enoch i.), 
 and that "God might be all in all" (1 Cor. xv. 24-28). 
 Surely the moral qualifications of the kingdom must 
 not be confounded with the kingdom itself; the sealing 
 of the Holy Spirit of promise whereby the Ephesiau 
 converts were sealed "unto the day of redemption" 
 (comp. Luke xxi. 28), not denoting the inheritance 
 
 ' " The day of the Lord could not thus come .smhlcvhj upon them after they were 
 dead: the instantaneous arrival, or the gradual approach of that momentous event, 
 would make no difference in its results on their destinies after they had disappeared 
 from this earthly scene." — Brief Examination by a Layman, p. 111. 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 259 
 
 itself, but being ODly " the earnest — appa/Scov — of their 
 inheritance zmtil the redemption of the ■purchased pos- 
 session^^ (Ephes. i. 14; iv. 30). Neither is it consistent 
 with the principles of reasonable exegesis to explain 
 the glory shortly to be revealed — ^w fieWovaav Bo^av 
 a7roKa\vcj)6rivai — at the manifestation of the sons of God, 
 to which the earnest expectation of the creature waiting 
 to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the 
 glorious liberty of the children of God (Luke xx. 36) 
 was directed, of a present reign of righteousness and 
 peace; an apocalypse for which all the creature — 
 Trdaa rj kti<tl^— to whom the gospel had been preached 
 (Mark xvi. 15 ; Col. i. 23) was groaning and travailing 
 in pain together with the apostle until that time] and not 
 only they, but himself also — ■^Atei9 avrol — who had the first 
 fruits of the spirit ; anxiously expecting the sonship, to 
 wit, the redemption of his body' (Eom. viii. 18-23; 
 2 Cor. V. 1-6 ; Philip, iii. 21). Above all, that revelation 
 in majesty tremendous which should inaugurate the 
 kingdom — that unimaginable advent of love and salvation, 
 of wrath and fear — that glorious apocalypse " at his ap- 
 
 ^ That the Apostle is here speaking of the redemption of his own body, not, 
 however, to the exclusion of others, would seem probable not only from the use of 
 the singular noun (rw/xaros, but from other parallel passages in which the same 
 idea is conveyed. In Philip, iii. 21, where, as he is wont, he is speaking of himself 
 in the plural number (ver. 17), he expresses the conviction that the Lord Jesus 
 Christ would change the body of his humiliation (comp. 2 Cor. x. 1, 10 ; xii. 5-7" 
 Gal. iv. 13, 14) to the same form with the body of his glory. So 2 Cor v. 1-9 he 
 seems to desire that he might be clothed upon with the resurrection body while he 
 was yet in the flesh, that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in his body, and 
 that "mortality might be swallowed up of life;" those who should be "quick" 
 upon earth at the Lord's appearing being, as he thought, "changed" or "clothed 
 upon" with the resurrection body ; whilst those who should have fallen asleep would 
 be first "unclothed," before receiving the resurrection body in which they should 
 »' reign on the (new) earth." (Rev. v. 10). 
 
2G0 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 pearing and his kingdom," — accompanied with appalling 
 natural phenomena, — the darkened sun, the bloodshot 
 moon, the falling stars, the roaring sea; attended with still 
 more astounding celestial portents, — the myriad hosts 
 of heaven, the voice of the archangel and the trump of 
 God, the judgment of the quick and dead, the wailing of 
 the lost, the gathering of the elect, the vivification of 
 them that sleep, the rapture of those that are " alive and 
 remain" — that inexpressibly awful "coming of the Son 
 of Man in the clouds of heaven with power and great 
 glory;" for which all the disciples were bid to watch 
 (Mark xiii. 37), and which some of their number should 
 be alive upon earth to see (Matt. xvi. 28 ; Mark ix. 1 ; 
 Luke ix. 27) : cannot be reconciled with the theory that 
 the kingdom advocated by our Lord was of a spiritual 
 nature, and that the glowing images under which it is 
 delineated merely exhibit an inversion of the more literal 
 Messianic conceptions of the ancient prophets. 
 
 This glorious advent of the Son of Man in his kingdom 
 was moreover to be heralded by premonitory signs, such 
 as '^ Jerusalem compassed with armies," the " great tribu- 
 lation" shortened for the elect's sake, etc., of which it was 
 said " When ye see these things come to pass know ye 
 that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand" (Luke xxi. 31) ; 
 and it is difficult to conceive if the signs were of a visible 
 and tangible nature, that the kingdom \7hicli they were 
 to introduce could be an ideal and spiritual one. IN^ay, 
 so far from entertaining the notion of a spiritual kingdom, 
 the disciples, in their enthusiasm, seem to have expected 
 its proximaie literal approach. As the Saviour made his 
 triumphant descent from the mount of Olives " the whole 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 261 
 
 multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God 
 for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, 
 Blessed be the king that cometh in the name of the 
 Lordj Blessed be the kingdom of our father David that 
 cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest " 
 (Luke xix. 37, 38; Mark xi. 10). Like the Pharisees, 
 they became loud in their demands "when the kingdom 
 of God should come," and it became necessary to check 
 their expectations " because they thought that the king- 
 dom of God should immediately appear" (Luke xix. 11). 
 The desponding tone in which they expressed the dis- 
 appointment caused by the crucifixion, " We trusted 
 that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel" 
 (Luke xxiv. 21), shows how deeply the expectation of 
 Jewish supremac}^ had sunk into their minds ; and even at 
 the ascension, all hope had not deserted them, " Lord wilt 
 thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel " 
 (Acts i. 6), — a hope still ' further encouraged by the 
 scenes which took place during the interval between 
 the resurrection and the ascension, when he was " seen 
 of them forty days and spake of the things pertaining to 
 the kingdom of God" (Acts i. 3). 
 
 Neither is it to be thought that the expectation of an 
 approaching kingdom of heaven upon earth was done 
 away by the illumination of the day of Pentecost. If 
 we except the additional obligation of making known 
 the Gospel to the Gentiles, the preaching of the apos- 
 tolic age is identical with that which preceded it. The 
 announcement of a good time coming, of a "restitution 
 of all things which God had spoken by the mouth of his 
 holy prophets since the world began" (Acts iii. 21), 
 
2G2 DANIEL. 
 
 immediately consequent upon the advent of Christ ; of a 
 '' time of reformation" (Heb. ix. 10), and of the " setting 
 up of the tabernacle (palatium) of David which is fallen 
 down, that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, 
 and all the Gentiles upon whom God's name is called" 
 (Acts XV. 16, 17), corresponds with what had been pre- 
 viously declared of the evangelical kingdom of heaven. 
 The continuous " and undeviating proclamation of an im- 
 pending Messianic reign which should embrace heaven 
 and earth (Col. i. 20) ; which should " gather all things in 
 Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth 
 even in him" (Ephes. i. 10); to which all things should 
 belong, whether "the world, or life, or death, or things 
 present or things to come" (1 Cor. iii- 22 ; Rom.viii. 38, 39); 
 aud of a "world {soon) to come" (Heb. ii. 5, vi. 5), of which 
 the favoured people, if not the sole inheritors should be the 
 lords and princes, is conspicuous throughout the writings 
 of that extraordinary period. The " hope of the Gospel," 
 " that blessed hope," " the lively hope," " the hope laid 
 up in heaven," " the hope of glory," the hope to be 
 realized at the " End," through " the grace to be brought 
 at the revelation of Jesus Christ^'' is the continuous topic 
 of encouragement addressed to the early church. The 
 apostolic missionaries " dispute and persuade the things 
 concerning the kingdom of God" (Acts xix. 8), and 
 
 " expound and testify the kingdom of God both 
 
 out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets from 
 morning till evening" (Acts xxviii. 23-31). They entitle 
 their message " the gospel of the grace (favour) of God" 
 (Acts XX. 24); "the gospel of Christ" (2 Cor. ix. 13); 
 "the glorious gospel of Christ" (2 Cor. iv. 4); "the 
 
• MESSIANIC IDEAS. 263 
 
 gospel of salvation" (Eplies. i. 13), and ^'the gospel of 
 peace" (Ephes. vi. 15). They stand and speak in the 
 temple "the words of this life" (Acts v. 20), "the word 
 of the Lord'' (viii. 25), " the word of God," a phrase used 
 commonly by St. Luke to express the preaching of the 
 gospel (Luke v. 1, viii. 1 1, 21, xi. 28 ; Acts iv. 31, vi. 2, 7, 
 viii. 14, X. 36, xi. 1, xii. 24, xiii. 7, 44, 46, xvii. 13, 
 xviii. 11, xix. 20). They declare that "through much 
 tribulation (men) must enter into the kingdom of God" 
 (Acts. xiv. 22), and desire that their converts may be 
 " counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which 
 they also suffer" (2 Thess. i. 5). They describe this 
 kingdom as an inheritance "undefiled" (1 Peter i. 4; 
 Eev. xxi. 27), and particularize the vices which shall 
 exclude from its possession (1 Cor. vi. 9 ; Gal. v. 19- 
 21 ; Eplies. v. 5). Equally with our Lord who speaks 
 of "the Son of Man coming in his kingdom" (Matt. xvi. 
 28), they connect "his appearing and his kingdom" 
 (2 Tim. iv. 1), and reproduce his glorious advent with 
 "all the holy angels with him" (Matt. xxv. 31), in the 
 "coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints" 
 (1 Thess. iii. 13). They exhort that men would " walk 
 worthy of God who hath called them unto his kingdom 
 and glory," and pray that " the Lord may direct their 
 hearts into the love of God and the patient waiting for 
 Christ" (2 Thess. iii. 5). And above all, in accordance 
 with the express teaching of their heavenly Master, they 
 represent this kingdom as imminent, and as likely to be 
 manifested before the term of their own natural life had 
 expired. Indeed their unshaken conviction of an ap- 
 proaching end of all things is too well known to need 
 
264 DAXIEL. • 
 
 further exemplification. The coming of their Lord was 
 all in all to them; the object of faith and expectation, the 
 stay under trial and suffering, the mainsjmng of action and 
 duty, the climax of joy and reward. It is remarkable 
 that they did not so much look for death as for the 
 advent of Christ, uncertain, as it were, which of the two 
 would precede the other. In a word, their hope had 
 ceased to be a doubtful expectation of a future event, 
 but had become almost a "hope that is seen," a deep 
 conviction of an impending reality interfering with the 
 duties (2 Thess. iii. 11), the necessary provision (Philip, 
 iv. C), and even -with the social relations (1 Cor. vii. 29) 
 of life. In the face of such testimony no room would 
 seem to be left for doubt. From a dispassionate and non- 
 controversial reading of the Kew Testament^ it would 
 appear morally certain that neither our Lord nor his im- 
 mediate followers taught the doctrine of a purely sj)iritual 
 kingdom.^ The promulgation of a theory so foreign to 
 
 ^ The belief in the near approach of the coming of Christ is spoken of, or implied, 
 in almost every book of the New Testament, in the discourses of our Lord himself 
 as well as in the Acts of the Apostles, in the Epistles of St. Paul no less than in the 
 book of the Revelation. — Jowett. 
 
 * It deserves in fairness to be noticed that Luke xvii 20, 21, interpolated from 
 the eschatology of Luke xsi., has been adduced in support of the theory that our 
 Lord taught the doctrine of a spiritual kingdom. A comparison, however, of the 
 contt'Xt witli the parallel passages, Matt. xxiv. 23, 24, Mark xiii. 21, 22, will sliow 
 that the idea conveyed is not that of a spiritual as opposed to a temporal reign, but 
 that the coming of Christ in his kingdom is not to be confounded with the appear- 
 ance of false Christs and false prophets v?hich should precede his advent, and should 
 "show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it vpere possible thev shall 
 deceive the very elect." "The kingdom of God (said our Lord to the Pharisees 
 who demanded the time of its manifestation) cometh not with observation {/.ifxa 
 TTopaTTjp^ffecoj, vith tratching, soil., for these deceivers) : neither shall they say, 
 Lo, here (is Christ) or lo there, for behold (lo) the kingdom of God is within 
 (or among) you'' — ivro^ vfxuv — "when, therefore, they shall say to you, Lo, he is 
 here, or lo, he is there ; go ye not out into the desert to seek for him, nor 
 pursue him in the clo'sters of the temple, for the Son of Man in his day shall be 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 
 
 265 
 
 Jewish notions^ would scarcely have evangelised the 
 world within the period appointed, and would have 
 failed to create that expectation of an approaching end 
 of all things which appears to have been the universal 
 
 among you as the lightning which setteth the heavens ablaze from east to west." 
 Indeed so far from giving any support to the theory of a spiritual kingdom, Luke, 
 who here reiterates, with some variation,* the words of Alatthew, describes the 
 advent of the Son of Man in his kingdom as an apocalypse, sudden as the lightning, 
 and overwhelming as the days of Noe and Lot : " Even thus (he says) shall it be in 
 the day when the Son of Man is revealed." The idea, therefore, that by the 
 expression, "The kingdom of God is within you," only a spiritual kingdom is 
 intended, is refuted by the context, as well as by statements elsewhere made by 
 the same writer. (Comp .\xi. 31. 32; Acts i. 6, 7). In the passage "the 
 kingdom 6f God is come {ecpeatrev) unto you" (Matt. xii. 28), in which Jesus, as in 
 his reply to the messengers of the Baptist (Matt, xi 4-6), adduces his miracles as a 
 proof that he was the Messiah, the Greek verb (comp. 1 Thess. ii. Ki) has an antici- 
 patory signification, meaning, probably, that the kingdom of God, like the grain of 
 mustard seed or the leaven, had begun to come in principle. The conviction is there- 
 fore forced upon us by the consentient testimony of the Scriptures of the New 
 Testament, that the expectation of the Church of the apostolic age was essentially 
 Messianic, and that it was not until that magnificent hope had been frustrated by the 
 course of events, that the theory of a kingdom coming without observable pomp and 
 show was substituted by the Church of a later age for the " faith (in an approaching 
 reign of unimaginable splendour) which was once delivered unto the saints ;" the im- 
 mediate prospect of celestial glory being deferred to a future hope of eternal life, and 
 the instant apocalypse of the Son of Man exchanged for an advent which was conjec- 
 tured to be ever hanging over the Church, — the horizon beyond which lie the glories of 
 that kingdom, though ever receding, never seeming distant ; and the Church, 
 following the setting splendour of that primitive apocalyptic vision, being always apt 
 to fancy that it beheld the rising signs of the re-appearing of the Son of Man. 
 
 ' " La distinction du temporel et du spivituel est completeraent etrangere au 
 genie des He'breux. Ce sont des categories creees par I'esprit moderne et occi- 
 dental, et que nous ne saurions transporter dans I'antiquite', sans un anachronisme. 
 La cosmologie religieuse du juif differe completement de celle du chretien EUe a 
 
 » " Le celC'bre tliscours sur la ruiiie de Jerusalem et sur le jugement dernier, dont lu re^daetion 
 Chez Matthieu et chez Marc est anterieuve a la prise de la ville par Titus, se trouve chcz Luc 
 dans une redaction posterieure a cet cvenement, et nous voyons par la comparison des deux 
 
 versions quelle liberte le troisieme evaiigeliste a prise a I'cgard du teste sacr^ Luc supprime 
 
 la prediction touchant I'abomination ftablie dans le lieu saint; car il salt qu'aucune idole paienne 
 ne flit installee dans le temple. Mais il ajoute que Jerusalem sera investie, entouroe d'uii corcle 
 par les armees ; car il se souviont de la muraille de blocus elevee par les Komains autour de la 
 ville. JIais il intercale ce trait que beaucoup des Juifs p.?riront par I'epee (1, 000,000 dit Josephe), 
 que beaucoup d'autres seront emmenes captifs (il y en eut 97,000) et que Jerusalem sera foul^e 
 aux pieds par les gentils ; car toutc cette desolation il vieiit d'en etre tenioin. Mais 11 rale le mot 
 (evdews) par lequel Jesus annonce sa venue immediatement apres la ruine de Jerusalem ; car 
 I'experience lui a demontre qu'eutre les deux faits il y aura un espace de temps plus ou moins 
 long."— CoLAyi. 
 
266 DANIEL. 
 
 belief of the apostolic age. No, the good news of the 
 gospel, as first preached, proclaimed — not the degeneracy 
 of human nature and its remedy in Christ — but the 
 approach of a real, superhuman, kingdom of the skies; 
 the scene of its development the '' new heavens and the 
 new earth ;" its glories partly of a celestial and partly 
 of a mundane character ; and the qualifications for 
 admission into it of such a lofty and almost superhuman 
 morality as to leave nothing more to be desired to make 
 men holy, happy, spiritual, pure, and good. 
 
 II. A further correspondence between the Messianic 
 ideas of Daniel, and the career adopted by or attributed to 
 our Lord, is presented in the unique and sublime vision 
 of Dan. vii. 13, 14. 
 
 In thoughts from the visions of the night when deep 
 sleep falleth upon men, Daniel beholds a son of man 
 coming with clouds to the Ancient of Days, and invested 
 with dominion and glory, and a kingdom. The peculiar 
 imagery of this human symbol (those immediately pre- 
 ceding had been bestial) appears to have been appropriated 
 by our Lord with this variation, that whilst the son of 
 man, of Daniel, ascends with clouds from earth to heaven, 
 the Son of Man, of the gospel, descends with clouds from 
 heaven to eartli. The appellation which Jesus preferred 
 
 ceci de particulii-r, qu'elle place Dieii et les anges au ciel, le sejour des morts dans 
 les profondeurs de la terre, et les destinees entieres de notre race sur la surface du 
 globe. Le judaisme ignore ces vagues regions superieures que le christianisme ouvre 
 aux ames des morts et au bonheur des rachetc's. Les morts ressuoiteront, mais pour 
 vivre de nouveau ici-bas. Les justes jouiront d'une ft'licite' eternelle, mais cette 
 felicity consistera dans la prosperitc et la grandeur nationales . . . Le Juif ne partage 
 pas Idspace en deux parties, le ciel et la terrc; il partage le temps en deux periodes, 
 celle qui precede la venue du Messie et celle (lui suivra cet e'veuenient." — Sciikrer. 
 (Comp. Eplies. i. 21 ; Matt. xii. 32; Mark x. 30; Luke xviii. :)0 ; xx. 3f, 35, 
 descriptive of the diwi/ & yvy and the aia>i' i fifWcoy). 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 267 
 
 above all others, tlie singularity of which offended and 
 surprised his countrymen (John xii. 34), would seem 
 taken from this source ; it being his wont to call himself 
 not so much the Sou of Mary, or the Son of Joseph, or 
 even the Son of God, as The Son of Man. In addition 
 to this superhuman, yet scarcely divine title, he, too, has 
 a glorious advent with the clouds of heaven, an advent 
 of wrath and destruction to his enemies, but of salvation^ 
 
 ' It is remarkable that the salvation of the gospel is set forth not so much as a 
 deliverance from sin and death, as from an approaching "judgment and fiery in- 
 dignation which should [soo", ix(KKovtos') devour the adversaries" (Heb. x. 127). 
 The Baptist warns his countrymen to "flee from the wrath («oo«) to come," 
 rrjs fxeWovcrris opyr,s — a wrath to be accomplished at the then approaching end of the 
 world, when the Messianic king would " sever the wicked from among the just," would 
 gather the wheat into his barn, and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Matt. iii. 
 7-12) ; or to use the words of St. Paul " when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from 
 heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know 
 not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ " (2 Thess. i. 7, 8). 
 Similarly Peter, on the day of Pentecost, warns those dwelling at Jerusalem of the 
 approach of that terrible day foretold by the prophets, when " the sun should be 
 turned into darkness and the moon into blood," and exhorts them to " save them- 
 selves from this untoward generation " (Acts ii. 20, 21, 40). So again the author of 
 the second Petrine Epistle represents that day accompanied with the dissolution of 
 the material world "wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the 
 elements shall melt with fervent heat," and bids the Christians of those times account 
 the long suffering of the Messianic king, in delaying his advent, salvation (2 Pet iii. 
 12-15). Hence the gospel ministered to those who should soon inherit salvation, 
 rohs fj.eWovTas KXripovoixety awTTjpiav (Heb. i. 14) is called the " word of this salvation" 
 (Acts xiii. 26) ; "the way of salvation" (xvi. 17) ; "the salvation of God" (xxviii.28) ; 
 "the power of God unto salvation" (Rom. i. 16) ; " the gospel of your salvation" 
 (Ephes. i. 13); "the hope of salvation" (1 Thess. v. 8); "salvation by our Lord 
 Jesus Christ" (v. 0) ; "salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" 
 (2 Tim. ii. 10) ; of which it is emphatically said, " Neither is there salvation in any 
 other" (Actsiv. 12). Hence Christ is the "captain of our salvation" (Heb. ii. 10) ; 
 " the author of eternal salvation" (Heb. v. 9) ; a salvation " nearer" when St. Paul 
 wrote his letter to the Romans then when he first became a Christian (Rom. xiii. 11); 
 a " salvation ready to be revealed in the last time," i. e. " at the appearing of Jt-sus 
 Christ" (1 Pet. i. 5, 7), when "he should appear the second time without sin unto sal- 
 vation" (Heb. ix. 28) ; and the Christians of those days should "receive the end of 
 their faith even the salvation of souls" (lives) (1 Pet. i. 9). It is of this deliverance at 
 Messiah's advent that St. Paul writes, " we shall be saved from (the) wrath through 
 him" (Rom. v. 9); and of which St. Peter says, " if the righteous scarcely be 
 saved where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear ? " (1 Pet. iv. 18). Hence the 
 
268 DANIEL. 
 
 and deliverance to his friends. It is described in 
 Danielic phrase, as ''The Son of Man coming in the 
 clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matt. 
 xxiv. 30) ; " The Son of man sitting on the right hand 
 of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" (xxvi. 64) ; 
 "The Son of Man coming in his kingdom" (xvi. 28) ; 
 all the tribes of the earth mourning and wailing because 
 of him (Eev. i. 7), and sending his "angels with a great 
 sound of a trumpet, to gather together his elect from the 
 four winds, from the one end of heaven to the other." 
 The " thousand thousands ministering unto him, and ten 
 thousand times ten thousand standing before him," of 
 the earlier prophet, are reproduced in the Son of Man 
 coming with " all the holy angels with him" (Matt. xxv. 
 31), "with all his saints'' (1 Thess. iii. 13) ; the "judge- 
 ment set and the books opened," in the Son .of Man sit- 
 ting on the throne of his glory and rewarding every man 
 according to his works ; whilst the " kingdom given to 
 the saints of the most High" is answered by the gospel 
 benediction " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
 kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
 world" (Matt. xxv. 31-34). 
 
 This correspondence of thought and language, too close 
 to admit of merely fortuitous resemblance, forces upon us 
 the conviction that the symbols and phraseology of Daniel 
 contributed to furnish the model after which the coming 
 of the Son of Man is described in the gospels : the 
 
 acceptance of Christ as the Messiah is accompanied with the promise of salvation 
 (Acts ii. 47 ; xvi. 31), and hence also the title of Saviour given to Christ (Luke ii. 
 11 ; John iv. 42 ; 1 John iv. H ; Acts v. 31 ; xiii. 2.3) : the forgiveness of sins with 
 which this salvation is attended (Acts ii. 38 ; v. 31 ; xiii. 38), being the necessary 
 preparation for the establishment of the righteous and heavenly kingdom. 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 26 D 
 
 l^eculiar ideas as well as the striking imagery being due 
 to no other prophet. And this accommodation^ of these 
 symbols to his own Messianic career ought not to be 
 thought unworthy of the Divine insight of Jesus. In 
 his true humanity he must have shared in many respects 
 the received opinions of his contemporaries, for ho was 
 born not only as a man, tut as a Jew, ("he took on him 
 the seed of Abraham," Heb. ii. 16) ; and as a Jew of 
 Palestine in a certain age. He may be supposed there- 
 fore to have regarded Daniel (a prophet at that time in 
 the highest estimation, and procuring "the opinion of a 
 sort of divinity for himself among the multitude," Ant. 
 X. 11) as presenting the features under which Messiah 
 was expected to appear with greater distinctness than 
 other prophetic writers. It is well known that our Lord 
 availed himself in his teaching of the sayings of the 
 Jewish doctors who had preceded him, just as the prophets 
 of the Old Testament regarded the utterances of their 
 predecessors as common property, and unhesitatingly 
 made use of them when occasion required. In like 
 manner, the symbols of Daniel presenting the most 
 suitable shape under which he might delineate his own 
 Messianic character, no greater objection can be laid 
 against his appropriation of them to his own case than 
 against St. Jude and the author of the second Petrine 
 epistle for their use of the book of Enoch. It does not 
 detract from the perfection of our Lord's sayings that 
 
 1 Similar accommodation of the book of Daniel to the events of Christian times 
 is perceptible in the Epistle of S. Barnabas. " Consummata enim tentatio, sicut 
 Daniel dicit, adpropinquavit ; propter hoc enim Dominus intercidit tempora et dies, 
 ut acceleret dilectus illius ad haereditatera suam." — Barn. Epist. iv, (Comp. Matt. 
 jLxiv. 22). 
 
270 DANIEL. 
 
 some of them had been previously spoken by Hillel, 
 neither does it take away from the value of the prayer 
 which he has taught us that its petitions were not alto- 
 gether unknown^ to the Jewish synagogue : and it need 
 not invalidate the moral precepts of the gospel that they 
 were accompanied by Messianic expectations which had 
 already found expression in the books of Enoch- and 
 Daniel. 
 
 ^ The adoption by our Lord of some of Ids apLoristic sayings from older Jewish 
 schools, affords a presumption that a similar course might be followed in the only 
 form of prayer which he seems to have taught his disciples. Ii is found accordingly 
 that its petitions are for the most part assimilated to more ancient devotional formulas. 
 
 1st. Petition: "Hallowed be thy name." " Deus. S. B. vult ut nomen suum 
 glorificetur in terra quemadmodum gloriosum est in ccelo." — Sohar. Exod. fol. 28. 
 
 col. 110, 111. ScHOElTGCN. 
 
 •2nd Petition : " Thy kingdom come." " II Jehuda el R. Seira ambo dixerunt, 
 Qusecunque preces nihil habent de regno, nomen precum non merentur."— i6'rt?J- 
 liedrin, fol. 2t>. Schokttgen. 
 
 3rd Petition : "Thy will," etc. " What is the short prayer.' R, Eliezer saith 
 "Do thy will in heaven, and give quietness of spirit to them that fear thee beneath," 
 or in earth. — Lightfoot. 
 
 4th Petition: "Give us," etc. '* Quicunque creavit diem, creavit etiam cibum 
 ejus. Proptirea dixit K. Eliezer: Quicunque habet quod hodie comedat, et dicit 
 quidnam crastino die comedam ? ille est hkiyoincrros." — Schoettgen. 
 
 5th Petition : " And forgive us," etc. " Eodem modo res procedit circa peccata 
 quffi homo committit contra Deura, et circa ea quae committit contra proximum 
 
 suum." — SCHOETTGF.N. 
 
 Oth Petition: "And lead us not," etc. " I'hrasis occurrit in Jalkut Kubeni, fol. 
 139, 2. Venit tempus ad inducendum ilium in manus tentationis." — Schot;ttgkn. 
 
 " But deliver us," etc. " Rabbi (Judah) was wont thus to pray : Let it be thy 
 good pleasure to deliver us from impudent men and impudence ; from an evil man 
 and from an evil chance, from an evil affection, from an evil companion, from an evil 
 neighbour, from Satan, the destroyer, from a hard judgment, and from a hard 
 adversary." — Lightfoot. 
 
 "Totahsec oratio ex foruiulis Hebrseorum concinnata est." — Wetstein. 
 
 2 It is probable that the book of Enoch, quoted by St. Jude, may also have 
 suggested ideas which found exiiression in the eschatological teaching of Jesus. 
 Comp. "The meek shall inherit the earth" (Matt. v. 5), with "The earth shall 
 rejoice, the righteous shall inhabit it, and the elect possess it" (Euoch 1.) "Ye may eat 
 and drink at my table in my kingdom (Luke xxii. 30), with "and with this Son of Man 
 shall they dwell, eat, lie down, and rise up for ever and ever" (Ixi. I"). " And hath 
 given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the Son of Man" (John 
 V. 27), with " He sat upon the throne of his glory, and the principal part of the 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 271 
 
 III. Those passages of the ekler prophet which describe 
 the setting up of the abomination of desolation in the 
 time of Antiochus (viii. 13; ix. 27; xi. 31; xii. 11), 
 deserve especial attention, inasmuch as they are thought 
 
 judgment was assigned to him, the Son of Man " (Ixix. 39). " In the regeneration 
 (iraKiyyfveaia) when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory" (Matt. xix. 
 28) with, " on that day the Elect one will sit on the throne of his glory. ..and I shall 
 renew the heavens and make them for an eternal blessing and light ; and I shall renew 
 the earth and make her a blessing, and let mine elect dwell upon her ; but those 
 who commit sin and iniquity shall not stand upon her" (xlv.) Comp. 2 Pet. iii. 13; 
 Rev. xxi. ] , 27, " The Son of Man shall come in his glory with all the holy angels 
 with him," etc. (Matt. xxv. 31), with " I saw that the heaven of heavens shook; 
 that it shook violently; and that the powers of the Most High, and the angels, 
 thousands of thousands, and myriads of myriads, were agitated with great agitation. 
 And when I looked the Ancient of Days was sitting on the throne of his glory while 
 the angels and saints were standing around him .... the Ancient of Days came with 
 Michael, and Gabriel, Raphael, and Phanuel, with thousands of thousands and 
 myriads of myriads which could not be numbered" (lix. 1 ; Ixs. 16). "The Son of 
 Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things 
 that offend, and them which do iniquity" (Matt. xiii. 41), with "The angels shall 
 take them to punishment'' (Ixi. 14). Moreover, as in the Gospels, the coming of 
 Messiah is attended by a resurrection, " In those days shidl the earth deliver up from 
 her womb, and hell deliver up from hers, that which it has received, and destruction 
 shall restore that which it owes. He shall select the righteous and holy from among 
 them ; for the day of their salvation has approached . . . And it shall be that those 
 who have been destroyed in the desert, and who have been devoured by the fish of 
 the sea and by wild beasts, shall return and trust in the day of the Elect Oue ; for 
 none shall perish in the presence of the Lord of Spirits, nor shall any be capable of 
 perishing" (L 1, 2; Ix. 7.) Comp. Rev. xx. 13. The following passages would also 
 seem taken from the same source. Compare " Go to now, ye rich men, weep and 
 howl for your miseries that are combi/j — ^Tzepxofjiivais — upon you .... ve have 
 heaped treasure together in — eV — the last days ... ye have nourished your hearts as 
 in the day of slaughter" (James v. 1-5), with " Woe to you who are rich, for in your 
 riches have you trusted, but from your riches you shall be removed .... you have 
 committed blasphemy and iniquity, and are destined to the day of the effusion of 
 blood, to the day of darkness, and to the day of the great judgment" (xciii.) " And 
 Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold the Lord 
 Cometh with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgment upon all, and to con- 
 vince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have 
 ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken 
 against him" (Jude 14, 15), with " Behold he cometh with myriads of his saints to 
 execute judgment upon them, and will destroy the godless, and judge all flesh for all 
 that the sinners and the ungodly have done and committed against him" (Enoch i. f)). 
 " The heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, 
 reserved unto fire against the day of judgment . . . nevertheless we, according to his 
 promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness" 
 
272 DANIEL. 
 
 to have been accommodated by our Lord to a some- 
 what similar profonation connected with liis own times. 
 Quoting the words and resting on the authority of Daniel, 
 the Saviour is said to have declared, " When ye therefore 
 shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by 
 Daniel' the prophet stand in the holy place (''where it 
 ought not" Mark xiii. 14): whoso readeth let him 
 understand : then let them which be in Judca flee to the 
 mountains" (Matt. xxiv. 15, 10). 
 
 The analogy of previous interpretation forbids the sup- 
 position that the prediction of Daniel could have been 
 uttered primarily of the Eoman invasion of Judea : it may 
 however be reasonably supposed that the profanation of 
 the Syrian may have been accommodated to an analogous 
 event in the subsequent history. The two cases, more- 
 over, were as nearly parallel as difference of age and 
 circumstances would admit. Antiochus "polluted the 
 sanctuary of strength and set up the abomination that 
 maketh desolate:" Titus encompassed Jerusalem with 
 armies, and polluted the sacred soil of Judea by the 
 presence of heathen invaders. A further analogy is 
 observable in the flight to the mountains which in either 
 case is the consequence of this desecrating act. Under 
 the former, "Mattathias and his sons fled into the 
 
 (2 Pet. iii. 7-13), with "The earth shall be immerged, and all things which are in it 
 perish" (Enoch i.) " The former heaven shall depart, and pass away, a new heaven 
 shall appear, and all the celestial powers shine with sevenfold splendour for ever" 
 (xciii. 17). Comp. Rev. xxi. 1. 
 
 ' The clause " spoken of by Daniel the prophet" is expressly omitted by St. 
 Augustine, and not found in the Vat. and most ancient MSS., nor in the Sinaitic. 
 No mention of the name of Daniel is made by St. Luke; the phrase, "Jerusalem 
 compassed with armies" being substituted for "the abomination of desolation 
 standing in the holy place." 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 273 
 
 mountains and left all that ever tliey had in the city " 
 (1 Mace. ii. 28): under the latter it is commanded, 
 " Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains, 
 and let them which are in the midst of it (Jerusalem) 
 depart out, and let not them that are in the countries 
 enter thereinto" (Luke xxi. 21). To this may be added 
 the agreement between ''The time of trouble such as 
 never was since there was a nation to that same time," 
 and "The great tribulation such as was not since the 
 beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall 
 be" (Matt. xxiv. 21). This reproduction of phrases 
 and forms of thought shows a connection between the 
 gospels and the book of Daniel perhaps hitherto in- 
 sufficiently noticed, ^^'hether the inferences to be 
 drawn from the correspondence between them will 
 harmonize with traditional opinions it may not now be 
 worth while to enquire ; but we may be certain of this, 
 ^that a blind adherence to stereotyped interpretation does 
 little to advance the cause of truth, i 
 
 IV. Another point of agreement between the prophecies 
 of Daniel and the teaching of our Lord is to be traced to ♦ 
 the eschatological element, or the introduction of topics 
 pointing to a time of an end, or last days, perceptible 
 in both. 
 
 The visions of the seer of the Old Testament, as has 
 been already observed, point to a consummation, or time 
 
 1 " It makes all the difference in the world whether we put the duty of truth in 
 the first place or in the second place . . . The spirit of the world asks first, ' Is it 
 safe ? Secondly, ' Is it true ?' The spirit of the prophets asks first, ' Is it true ?' 
 Secondly, ' Is it safe ?' . . . It is not that they and we hold different doctrines on 
 these matters, but we hold them in different proportions. What they put first, we 
 put second. What we put second, they put first." — The Bible, its Form and Sub- 
 stance. A. P. Stanley, D.D. 
 
 18 
 
274 DANIEL. 
 
 of the end. The kins-dom of Antiochus is to be " con- 
 sumed and destroyed unto the end" (vii. 26). In the 
 vision of chapter viii. the angel Gabriel informs Daniel 
 " Behold I will make thee know what shall be in the last 
 end of the indignation, for at the time appointed the end 
 shall be" (viii. 19). The martyrs of the Antiochian 
 persecution are "purged and made white even to the 
 time of the end" (xi. 35). Daniel is commanded to 
 " shut up the words and seal the book even to the time of 
 the end" (xii. 4). And the prophetic vision closes with 
 a repetition of the same idea: ''Go thou thy way till 
 the end be: for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot, 
 (LXX. rise to thy glory) at the end of the days" 
 (xii. 13). 
 
 A similar eschatological element is found in the teach- 
 ing of our Lord. Standing, as it were, at "the parting 
 asunder of the times .... at the end of one world and 
 the beginning of that which followed .... betwixt the^ 
 heel and the hand" (2 Esdras vii. 10); he taught that 
 "his appearing and his kingdom" would introduce the 
 ■consummation of all things. He compared the brief 
 interval which should precede his advent to a state of 
 agriculture, in which wheat and tares should grow together 
 " until the harvest j^'' and the harvest, he said, is " the end 
 of the world," or age. Again he compared his kingdom 
 to a net, from which " at the end of the world," or age, 
 the angels would sever the good from the bad. He 
 encouraged his disciples to perseverance by the assurance 
 of an impending consummation of all things ; " He that 
 endureth unto the end shall be saved;" and exhorted 
 them to preach the gospel as a witness unto all nations 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 275 
 
 (an event accomplisliecP within tlie limit of the apostolic 
 age, Col. i. G-23 ; Eom. x. 18 ; 2 Tim. iv. 17 ; Acts xvii. G) 
 by the confirming promise, "Lolam with you (my apostles) 
 alway (all the days — the remaining days) even unto the 
 end of the world," or age (Matt, xxviii. 20). The 
 announcement of this approaching houleversement of the 
 material world naturally excited the intense curiosity 
 of the disciples, and anxious to know the time of the 
 Parousia^ four of their number, under circumstances of 
 peculiar solemnity, put to their Master the important 
 question which was to solve all their doubts : " Tell us 
 when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of 
 thy coming, and of the end of the world" (Matt. xxiv. 3 ; 
 Mark xiii. 4 ; Luke xxi. 7). Our Lord gave for answer 
 that the end was not so immediately proximate as they 
 appear to have imagined, " not yet " (Mark xiii. 7) : " not 
 by and by " (Luke xxi. 9) : but that certain specified and 
 intelligible signs should precede that event, whereby they 
 might be aware of its approach. Amongst these he 
 enumerated false Christs and false prophets, rumours 
 of wars, famines, earthquakes, apostolic persecutions, 
 universal preaching of the gospel, flight of the disciples 
 from Judea, Jerusalem compassed with armies, the 
 abomination of desolation set up, unparalleled, yet 
 abridged, tribulation— " Then the End" — for "In those 
 days after that tribulation," or as it is elsewhere expressed, 
 " Immediately — eWem — after the tribulation of these 
 days," they — the men of that generation and the disciples 
 
 2 " En meme temps I'Evangile est preche dans toutss las nations sans que cette 
 predication universelle doive necessairemeut amener une conversion egalement gene- 
 rale. Elle aura lieu hs ^aprvpwv de sorte que leur incredulite sera sans excuse." — 
 Reville. 
 
276 DANIEL. 
 
 of those times — '' should see the Son of Man coming in 
 the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." We 
 have Ions: aso confessed ourselves unable to evade the 
 meaning or to qualify the force of these words. After a 
 mature recastiug of the subject, we again submit the 
 dilemma they involve to the honest and, if possible, the 
 unprejudiced consideration of all who " love the Lord 
 Jesus Christ in sincerity." For ourselves, a yearning after 
 truth constrains us now, as in times past, to accept them 
 in their natural and legitimate sense.' However we may 
 venture to suppose that our Lord shared the Messianic 
 conceptions of his age, we have not dared to lay at his 
 door tlie charge of sophistry or equivocation. We believe 
 that he who came to "bear witness to the truth,'' and 
 who was "the truth," was never more fully persuaded 
 that he spoke the truth, than when he is recorded to 
 have said, "When ye shall see all these things, know 
 that it is near, even at the doors : verily I say unto you, 
 this generation shall not pass till all these things be 
 fulfilled" (Matt. xxiv. 1-34). 
 
 The eschatological sayings of their Master were 
 
 ' "Si la premiere generation Chretienne a une croyance profonde et constante 
 c'est que le monde est sur le point de finir, et que la grande revelation du Christ va 
 bientut avoir lieu. Cette vive proclamation ' Le temps est proche ' qui ouvre et 
 ferme 1' Apocalypse: cet appelsans cesse repetd ' Que celui qui a lies oreilles entende,' 
 8ont les cris d'esperance et de raillement de tout I'age apostolique. Une expression 
 Syriaque 'Maran Atha' ' Notre Seigneur arrive,' devint une sorte de mot de passe 
 que les croyants se disaient eutre eux pour sc fortifier dans leur foi, et leurs espc- 
 rances. L' Apocalypse, ecrite I'an 68 de notre ere, fixe le terme a trois ans et demi 
 L' Ascension d'Isaie adopte un calcul fort approchant de celui ci . . . Jesus n'allait 
 jamais a une telle precision ; il disait que la date de ce grand jour n'est connue que 
 du Pere qui ne I'a revelee ni aux anges, ni au Fils, que ce serait une surjjrise comme 
 du temps de Noe et de Lot . . . Mais ses declarations sur la proximite de la catas- 
 trophe ne laissent lieu a aucune equivoque. ' La generation presente ne passera pas 
 Baosque tout cela s'accomplisse.' " — Renan, 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 277 
 
 reiterated with the closest imitation and the fullest 
 confidence, by those who undertook to make known his 
 gospel to the world. The apostles believed in an ap- 
 proaching consummation, and declared that " the end of 
 all things was at hand " ' (1 Pet. iv. 7). They represented 
 the time contracted as to what remained — 6 Kctipb<i 
 
 crvveaTd\/xivo<i rb Xolttov eariv — and the fashion {(rxVP-a — 
 
 external form) of this world as passing away (1 Cor. vii. 
 29-31 ; 1 John ii. 17). They conceived themselves to 
 be living in "the end of the world'' (Heb. ix. 26 ; 
 1 Cor. X. 11) : and spoke of their own, as the " last times," 
 or, "these last times" (2 Tim. iii. 1; Heb. i. 1 ; 1 Pet. 
 i. 20 ; James v. 3 ; 1 John ii. 18). They asserted, not 
 in a spirit of political recklessness, "After us, the deluge;" 
 but in one of terrible earnestness, " In our time the 
 deluge." They had arrived, as they supposed, at the 
 confines of the "world {soon) to come," of which they 
 already "tasted the powers" (Heb. ii. 5; vi. 5). This 
 deep rooted conviction was the secret of their unearthly 
 piety, their contempt of a world whose fashion was 
 passing away, their burning zeal, and theii' heroic self- 
 devotion. To be "preserved," nay more to have an 
 abundant "entrance" into the everlasting kingdom; to 
 be denizens of a "new heaven and a new earth wherein 
 dwelleth righteousness ;'' to be made glad with exceeding 
 joy when their Master's "glory should be revealed;" to 
 participate in the "approaching", salvation, "nearer" now 
 
 1 In this passage (comp. James v. 8) a tense of the verb is used which signifies 
 close proximity. It is the same tense which is employed to indicate the near 
 approach, the all but actual presence of the traitor. " Behold he is at hand (ijyyiKei/) 
 that doth betray me ; while he yet spake, lo, Judas one of the twelve came" (Matt, 
 xxvi. 46, 47). 
 
278 DANIEL. 
 
 than when they first believed, and '' ready to be revealed 
 in the last time ;'' these were the magnificcut hopes ^vhich 
 animated them in the task of preaching the " gospel of 
 the kinc-dom" to a thankless world. And when the stern 
 course of events negatived these enthusiastic expectations, 
 and it became necessary to substitute the gospel of the 
 Church for the gospel of the kingdom, it demanded all 
 the intrinsic excellency of the new religion to reconcile 
 its converts to the change. Had a fixed date' been 
 
 1 No fixed date being assigned in the Gospels for the reappearing of the Son of 
 Man, the Christians were enabled to slide gradually into a different acceptation of 
 our Lord's words, which could not have been the case had the time been positi\ely 
 determined. The reaction, therefore, experienced by the non-fulfilment of Messi- 
 anic expectations was less violent than might have been expected. That grave doubts, 
 however, existed in the Christian Church as the time of our Lord's return seemed 
 passing its appointed limit, is ^lain from the exhortations to patience perceptible in 
 the later writers of the New Testament. St. Paul found it necessary to check the 
 impression that the day of Christ was actually present (eVeVrTj^ei'), a belief which 
 had led the Thessalonian converts to neglect their usual avocations (2 Thess. ii. 2; 
 iii. 10, 11). St. James, under an appropriate agricultural simile, exhorts, '"Be ye 
 also patient, stablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh"— ^7'y(K« 
 'y_ 8) — a tense of the verb never used except of an event immediately proximate. It 
 would appear, moreover, that these doubts had assumed the shape of absolute 
 denial. "In the last of the days (says the writer of the second Petrine epistle) 
 shall come scoffers walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise 
 of his coming, for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were 
 from the beginning of creation" (2 Pet. iii. 3, 4) ; the taunts of these scoffers 
 implying that the apostles had not only taught the doctrine of a speedy advent, 
 but that the period allotted for that event had expired. Similar suspicion is 
 observable in the exhortation of Jude to " remember the words spoken before 
 (jrpoeip-nixevaii') of the apostles .... and to contend earnestly for the faith (in 
 the common salvation) which was once {before, ver. 5) delivered to the saints " 
 (Jude 3-17), which the "mockers of the last time" were denying. An apoca- 
 lyptic writer of that period (a d. 68) repeats the same idea: "Afterwards upon 
 the subject of his second advent his disciples shall forsake the doctrine of the 
 twelve apostles, their beloved and pure faith ; while much contention shall take place 
 respecting his coming and the proximity of his approach " (Ascen. Isa. iii. '^1, 22). 
 The absence moreover in the fourth gospel of the Eschatology of. the Synoptics, 
 would seem to show that the expectations respecting the coming of the Son of Man 
 had undergone a change. According to the three first Evangelists, our Lord, when 
 interrogated by the high priest, announced an almost immediate fulfilment of 
 Messianic hopes " Hereafter aTrdpri, from just now {anh rod vvv, from the now • — 
 
 • Equivalent to airdpTi: found only five tiiiios in the Ji'cw Testament (Luke i. 4S ; v. 10; 
 xii. 52 ; Acts xviii. 6 ; 2 Cor. v. 16) and alwaya used of events soon about to take place. 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 279 
 
 appointed for the time of the advent, as in 2 Esdras vii. 
 28, it is probable that Christianity would have been held 
 amenable for the extinction of the prospects it aroused. 
 Whilst it is easy (says M. Eenan) to account for the faith 
 of the generation which heard the words of Christ and 
 his apostles, the faith of the second generation, when 
 those words had not been answered by the event, is an 
 inexplicable mystery. At the death of that disciple who, 
 as they thought, should "tarry till he came" (John xxi. 
 22, 23), the despair of the Church must have been at its 
 height, for the christians of the first century had indistinct, 
 if any, ideas of a spiritual kingdom, and do not appear 
 to have seen in the destruction of Jerusalem, the coming 
 of the Lord. Will it be sufficient to account for the 
 ultimate establishment of Christianity to suppose that 
 the perfect character of our holy Eedeemer and the 
 superlative excellence of his divine sayings, may have 
 weaned believers in his name from the expectation of the 
 
 Luke xsii. 6-9) shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and 
 coming in the clouds of heaven" (Matt. xxvi. (54); but when examined before 
 Caiaphas respecting his disciples and his doctrine, he made no such announcement, 
 but referred to what he had publicly taught in the synagogue and in the temple 
 (John xviii. 20). " The kingdom of heaven, the announcement of which in the 
 Synoptics is the distinctive office of Jesus and his forerunner, and which is the 
 perpetual theme of his discourses and the object of anxious enquiry and expectation, 
 is not even mentioned in St, John (in chap. iii. the expression, " kingdom of God " 
 occurs, but in a diiTereat sense). The theocratic vision has faded before the dream 
 of a universal restoration, and the prophet of Nazareth is no longer pre-eminently 
 the Messianic king .... His advent in the clouds of heaven is no longer anticipated. 
 He no longer talks of the " kingdom " to the common people who hear him gladly, 
 employing proverb and parable as in Matthew, where " without a parable he spake 
 not unto them " (xiii. 34). With the exception of chap, xxi., of a legendary 
 character and supplemented possibly by a later hand, sparse and indistinct mention 
 is made of the re-appearing of the Son of Man; the tremendous adjuncts as well as 
 the premonitory signs accompanying his advent Vv'hich occupy so prominent a place 
 in the other gospels being altogether omitted ; this omission agreeing with the gnostic 
 tendency of the fourth gospel, as well as with its late date at the commencement of 
 the second century. 
 
280 DANIEL. 
 
 latter-day glories of the Messianic kingdom to the 
 acceptance of the practical qualij&cations with which that 
 hope was accompanied ; the pearl of great price being 
 found worthy to retain its unspeakable value after the 
 gorgeous casket in which it was enshrined had been 
 broken to pieces? 
 
 V. Another feature in the eschatology of Daniel which 
 seems to have found expression in later' times, is the 
 destruction of a great adversary by the coming of a son 
 of man to the Ancient of Days. 
 
 We need not repeat here those numerous texts which 
 describe the overthrow of the Antichrist of the Syrian 
 period. Those who have followed us thus far will have 
 recognized in Antiochus ''the beast slain and his body 
 destroyed and given to the burning flame ;" the judg- 
 ment sitting upon the persecutor, and " taking away his 
 dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end." 
 
 This delineation of a great enemy ^ of the Jewish 
 people destroyed by the coming of a son of man with 
 the clouds of heaven, may have originated the belief, 
 common to the apostolic age, that the second advent of 
 
 ' " As our blessed Saviour hath cited and appealed to the book of Daniel, 
 so likewise have his apostles drawn from the same fountain. St. Paul's and St. 
 John's predictions are in a manner the copies of Daniel's originals with some im- 
 provements and additions. The same times, the same persons, and the same events, 
 are described by St. Paul and St. John as well as by Daniel (?); and it might, 
 therefore, with reason be expected that there should be some similitude and 
 resemblance in the principal features and characters." — Newton On the FropJiecies. 
 
 2 The idea of an adversary, or adversaries, to be destroyed by Messiah at his 
 advent, is found not only in the book of Daniel, but in subsequent apocalyptical 
 literature ; the same features being repeated, although with some variation, in the 
 overthrow by Messiah of the pagan kings of the third book of the Jewish t^ybil, 
 that of the seventy shepherds of the book of Enoch, of the impious Armillus slain 
 by Messiah- ben-David of the Targum of Jonathan-ben-Uzziel, and of the heathen 
 consumed by flames issuing out of the mouth of Messiah (2 Esdras xiii. 10), as well 
 as ia the destructioa of the beast of the Apocalypse. 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 281 
 
 Christ was to be immediately preceded by the appearance 
 and subsequent destruction of Antichrist; an opinion, 
 which, if not directly advanced by the Saviour himself, 
 seems to have been entertained by his disciples and 
 immediate followers. It is worthy of notice that the 
 Antichrist of the Old Testament is not a future, but a 
 then opposing enemy ; the time of his appearing as well 
 as that of his overthrow being chronologically determined 
 by the accompanying events of the taking away of the 
 daily sacrifice, and the setting up the abomination which 
 maketh desolate. Similarly the Antichrist of the New 
 Testament is an adversary whose opposition is confined 
 to the apostolic age, and whose destruction is contem- 
 poraneous with the coming of the Son of Man. "Little 
 children, it is the last time (hour) : and as ye have heard 
 that (the) Antichrist shall come, even now are there many 
 Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time " 
 (hour) (1 John ii. 18): and that these Antichrists were 
 then existing, and then troubling the peace of the Church, 
 is made certain from the circumstance that they arose 
 among the Christians of those early times (1 John ii. 19). 
 The theory of anti-christian influences then at work, 
 although conceived in a form nearer to the Danielio 
 original, holds a conspicuous place in the eschatology of 
 St. Paul. '' Let no man deceive you by any means, for 
 that day shall not come except there come a [the) falling 
 away first, and that man of sin (comp. o? inrepotau KUKoiq 
 irdvra'i Tov<i eixirpoaOev Dan. vii. 24, LXX.) be revealed, the 
 son of perdition (Dan. vii. 11), who (now) opposeth and 
 exalteth himself above all that is called God or worshipped 
 (Dan. xi. 36), so that he as God (now) sitteth in the 
 
282 DANIEL. 
 
 temple of God, shewing himself that he is God (Dan. 
 xi. 3C) .... \vhom the Lord shall consume with the 
 spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness 
 of his coming (2 Thess. ii. 3-8). In this, as in every 
 other phase of the eschatology of the New Testament, 
 the time assigned for the destruction of this adversary is 
 fixed with a precision which cannot be called in question ; 
 and the analogy of the case would seem to demand that as 
 the Syrian Antichrist was a then opposing enemy, so the 
 Antichrist of the Christian Church should not be separated 
 from the period laid down for his opposition in the 
 Scriptures themselves. 
 
 VI. Nor may the mention of a Eesurrection be omitted 
 when we are tracing those ideas in the book of Daniel 
 which appear as anticipations of the revelations of the 
 Gospel. Great thoughts, as well as great men, are 
 called forth by stirring times, and it seems to have been 
 reserved for the unparalleled sufferings of the Maccabean 
 age, to elicit the first distinct^ concej)tion of a resur- 
 rection from the dead. This doctrine is proclaimed by 
 Daniel without equivocation or disguise : ' ' Many of them 
 that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to 
 
 1 It is probable that the book of Daniel contains the only clear anticipation of a 
 resurrection to be found in the Old Testament : the texts usually adduced, such as 
 " Thy dead shall live; my dead body shall they arise" (Isaiah xxvi. 19), typifying 
 the political restoration of Israel; the "dry bones" (Ezek. xxxvii.) prefiguring the 
 return from the captivity; the living " Redeemer" (Job six.) whose interposition in 
 his behalf the patriarch should see for himself, and who, although he had "escaped 
 with the skin of his teeth" he should behold in his flesh, being adumbrations and 
 illustrations rather than direct proofs of the doctrine in question. To this it may 
 be added, that the rise of the rival sects of Pharisees and Sadducees whose turning- 
 point of religious difference was the subject of the resurrection, is traceable to the 
 Maccabean period : a fact which may account for the want of clearness with which 
 so important a doctrine is treated in other books of the Old Testament, as well 
 as for its distinct announcement in the book of Daniel. 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 283 
 
 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 for ever and ever" (xii. 
 2, 3) : the proximity of this event being implied in the 
 announcement made to Daniel, "Go thy way till tlie 
 end be : for thou shalt rest ; and stand in thy lot at the 
 end of the days'' (xii. 13). 
 
 This expectation, peculiar to the Maccabean period, 
 "when they were mindful of the resurrection" (2 Mace, 
 xii. 43, 44 ; vii. 9, 11, 14, 23, 29, 36), is repeated in the 
 " life and immortality brought to light in the gospel ;" 
 the law of a future state founded upon the resurrection 
 of Christ from the dead being the main doctrine of its 
 first preachers. Wherever they went, they taught " Jesus 
 and the resurrection ;" this fact being in their estimation 
 the earnest of the coming kingdom, the "assurance" 
 (TTt'o-Ti?) of an approaching judgment (Acts xvii. 31), and 
 the pledge of the resurrection of the saints (1 Cor. xv. 
 23; 1 Thess. iv. 14; Eom. xiv. 9; 1 Pet. i. 3). As 
 in the Danielic vision the promise of a resurrection is 
 held out to the "wise," and to them that "turn many 
 to righteousness ;" so, in the gospel, the " gift of life " 
 is adduced as the reward of faithfulness and patient 
 suffering : " If we suff'er we shall also reign with him " 
 (2 Tim. ii. 12); "If so be that we sufi'er with him that 
 we may be also glorified together" (Eom. viii. 17). A 
 resurrection " of the just and unjust" is further described 
 by both in parallel terms, the "everlasting life and the 
 everlasting shame and contempt of the former being 
 repeated in the " everlasting punishment and the ever- 
 
284 DANIEL. 
 
 lasting life " of the latter (Matt. xxv. 46 ; John v. 29). 
 Similar agreement is also observable in the picture drawn 
 by each of the reward of the blest: the "righteous who 
 shine as the brightness of the firmament and the stars 
 for ever and ever," being reproduced in the "righteous 
 shining forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father " 
 (Matt. xiii. 43), and in " one star differing from another 
 star in glory '' (1 Cor. xv. 41). As moreover in the days 
 of Syrian trouble a resurrection was supposed to be 
 immediately consequent upon the death of the martyrs, 
 so in those of the gospel, there is a resurrection of souls 
 beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of 
 God (Rev. XX. 4, 5) : and so proximate is the period 
 appointed for this event that it is within the compass of 
 the natural life-term of the then existing generation. 
 It is of those then living that St. Paul affirms. "We 
 shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed" (1 Cor 
 XV. 51). "We which are alive and remain^ unto the 
 coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are 
 asleep " (1 Thess. iv. 15). It is with reference to the 
 probable continuance upon earth of himself, or of some 
 of those whom he addressed, unto the day of the Lord, 
 that St. Paul wrote, "Whether we wake or sleep, we 
 should live together with him" (1 Thess. v. 10), — 
 "Whether present or absent, we may be accepted of 
 him" (2 Cor. v. 9), — "Whether we live, we live unto 
 the Lord ; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord ; 
 whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's " 
 (Pom. xiv. 8 ; Phil. i. 23, 24). 
 
 ' " Omnino putavit Paulus fieri posse ut ipse viveret judicii generalis tempore : 
 idque noa ex his tantum verbis satis aperte liquet, sed et ex 1 Cor. xv. 51-53, et 
 2 Cor. V. 1-3."— Grotiub. 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 285 
 
 VII. The conception of an accompanying Judgment 
 would also appear to have a conspicuous place among 
 those eschatological ideas of Daniel which we have 
 thought to be re-produced in the gospels. 
 
 Daniel beholds till the thrones were (placed), and the 
 Ancient of Days did sit ; thousand thousands ministering 
 unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand standing 
 before him; the judgment set, the books opened, and 
 judgment given to the saints of the Most High. 
 
 These ideas would seem repeated in the writings of 
 the New Testament with an almost exact fidelity. As, 
 according to Daniel, judgment is executed contem- 
 poraneously with the coming of a son of man with the 
 clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days ; so according 
 to the gospels, " When the Son of Man shall come in his 
 glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit 
 upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be 
 gathered all nations" — for the purpose of judgment 
 (Matt. xxiv. 30 ; xxv. 31, 32 ; xvi. 27 ; Luke xxi. 36). 
 As, according to Daniel, judgment is ''given to the saints 
 of the Most High" (vii. 22) ; so "in the regeneration" 
 (the times of the Messiah) the disciples "shall sit upon 
 twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" 
 (Matt. xix. 23 ; Luke xxii. 29, 30). " Do ye not know 
 (asks St. Paul) that the saints shall judge the world .... 
 shall judge angels" (1 Cor. vi. 2, 3); "for unto the angels 
 hath he not put in subjection the world {soon) to come, 
 whereof we speak " (Heb. ii. 5). " The time is come 
 (says St. Peter) that judgment must begin at (from) the 
 house of God" (1 Pet. iv. 17). And to these passages 
 we may add the vision of the Apocalypse, conceived not 
 
286 DANIEL. 
 
 only in the spirit, but in the very words of Daniel : ''I 
 saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was 
 given unto them .... and the books were opened, and 
 another book was opened which is the book of life (Dan. 
 xii. 1) and whosoever was not found written in the book 
 of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. xx). 
 
 This judgment is everywhere represented throughout 
 the "New Testament as contemporaneous with our Lord's 
 appearing ; the adverb of time, " When — the Son of 
 Man shall come in his glory" being answered by the 
 antithetical particle, " Then — shall he sit upon the 
 throne of his glory " (Matt. xxv. 31 ; Luke xxi. 36 ; 
 1 Peter iv. 5; James ii. 12; v. 9 ; Jude 14). And 
 these events are not only described as immediately^ about 
 to take place, but as mutually dependent upon each 
 other. " God (says St. Paul) hath (uotv) appointed a 
 day in the which he is soon about to judge — fj,eXX.€t, KpCveiv 
 — the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath 
 ordained" (Acts xvii. 31). "Behold (says St. James) 
 the judge standeth — eaTrjKcv — before the door" (v. 9). 
 Similarly the judgment soon to be passed — fiiXkovro'; — 
 upon the quick and the dead at the appearing and 
 kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Tim. iv. 1), 
 includes a sentence upon them which are alive and re- 
 
 ' The verb /xfWco, especially when found in construction with another verb, 
 is employed in the New Testament to denote proximity. In Acts xx. it is used five 
 times in this sense. Even the expression ri fitWfts — " why tarriest thou" — is in- 
 dicative of haste ; as if it had been said " Why do you not make haste." Comp. 
 ri [jieWeis iroieiv (Acts xxii. 16, 26). We desire here to express our concern that 
 no attempt has been made to i-evise our Authorized Version in spite of most certain 
 emendations pointed out by careful criticism. The retention of the translation now 
 given to the numerous passages in which the above-mentioned word is found, has 
 almost the appearance of a pious fraud. 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 287 
 
 main [then living) as "well as upon tliem which are asleep, 
 the time of the execution of this sentence being that of 
 the appearing and the kingdom. The advent described 
 in terms of equal proximity by St. Matthew, " The Son of 
 Man shall (soon) come, or, ' is coming^ — /ieXXet epxea-dac — 
 in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then shall 
 he reward every man according to his works, verily I 
 say unto you there be some standing here which shall 
 not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming 
 in his kingdom" (xvi. 27, 28), is connected with a 
 righteous retribution upon those who should not have 
 tasted of death as well as upon those who should have 
 tasted of death ; the time of this resurrection and judg- 
 ment being also that of the coming of the Son of Man 
 in his kingdom. So in the parable of the ten pieces 
 of money, spoken with the view of correcting false 
 impressions respecting the immediate establishment 
 {rrapaxprjiMa) of the kingdom, he likens himself to a 
 certain nobleman who goes into a far country to receive 
 for himself a kingdom and to return; who, calling his 
 ten servants, delivered unto them ten pounds with the 
 charge, '' Occupy till I come." At his return, having 
 received the kingdom, he commands those servants to be 
 summoned for the purpose of judgment, and proceeds 
 to reward them '' according to their works" (Luke 
 xix. 11-27). Everywhere throughout the writings of 
 the New Testament, the resurrection, the judgment, the 
 kingdom, and the advent, are synchronicaV and it appears 
 
 ' We adduce the following passages from the Apostolical Fathers and Eusebius in 
 support of the belief of that early period in an immediate and contemporaneous 
 resurrection, judgment, advent, and kingdom. 
 
 "Absentia vero illius patris-familias tempus est quod in adventum ejus restat ;" 
 
288 DANIEL. 
 
 to US as impossible to dissociate them from each other as 
 to defer the period laid down for their accomplishment. 
 We are not ashamed to confess our inability to reconcile 
 the proximity under which these phenomena are an- 
 nounced with the actual course of events. AVe seem 
 to be painfully conscious of the existence of a serious 
 discrepancy between the latter-day anticipations of the 
 Kew Testament and what might be considered their due 
 and legitimate fulfilment : a conviction arising not from 
 a superficial or deceitful handling of the sacred text, but 
 
 elsewhere described, " Post aliquantum vcro temporis; post dies deinde non multos." 
 Herm.e, Faslor Similitudo, 5. 
 
 " The apostles went forth to preach the good tidings that the kingdom of God wa* 
 soon about to come '' — fiehAnv tpx^ffdai. — Clem, ad Cor. i. 42. 
 
 " Let us be looking hourly— Kaff ^pav— for the kingdom of God in love and 
 righteousness," (comp. 2 Pet. iii. 12), since we do not know the day of the manifes- 
 tation — iirKpafeias—of God." — Clim. ad Cor. 12, Epist. ii. 
 
 '•AH the generations from Adam unto this very day, have passed away : but they 
 who have been made perfect in love by the grace of God, occupy the place of the 
 righteous, who shall be made manifest in the visitation — iiricrKoir^ — (comp. 1 Pet. 
 ii. 12) of the kingdom of Christ : for it is written, ' Enter into thy chambers for a 
 little space, till my anger and indignation pass away, and I will remember the good 
 day and will raise you itp out of your graves." — S. Clement ad Cor. i. 50. 
 
 " Of a truth quickly and suddenly shall his will be accomplished : for he shall come 
 quickly, and sliall not delay : and suddenly the Lord shall come to his temple, and, 
 the holy one whom ye expect. Let us consider, beloved, how the Lord shews 
 explicitly to us the resurrection which is soon to take place — tV jxiKKovaav avaajaaiv 
 iffiaQai—oi which he made the Lord Jesus the first fruits, raising him from the 
 dead." — Epist. ad Cor. xxiv. 
 
 Eusebius, speaking of the martyrdom of James the Just, the brother, or cousin of 
 our Lord, which took place immediately before the destruction of Jerusalem, ob- 
 serves that in the days of James there were certain " sects (heretical persons) which 
 did not believe either in a resurrection or that he was coming to give to every one 
 according to his works : as many, however, as did believe, did so on account of James. 
 As there were many, therefore, of the rulers that believed, there arose a tumult 
 among the Jews, Scribes, and Pharisees, saying that there was danger that the people 
 would now expect Jesus as the Messiah. They came together, therefore, and said to 
 James, ' We entreat thee restrain the people who are led astray after Jesus as if he 
 were the Christ ' . . . And he answered with a loud voice, 'Why do ye ask me 
 respecting Jesus the Son of Man ? He is now sitting iu the heavens, on the right 
 hand of great power, and is soon about to come — fitWei tpxeadai — in the clouds of 
 heaven." — Eccks. Hist. ii. 23. 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 289 
 
 from a reverent and careful examination, extended over 
 many years, of this particular question ; and we think it 
 the part of exegetical consistency to endeavour to grapple 
 with it, before we stereotype with too great confidence 
 traditional opinions which appear unable to stand the 
 test of searching and out-spoken criticism. 
 
 VIII. Such we conceive are the principal points of 
 agreement between the Messianic ideas of Daniel and 
 the qualities attributed to, or, as it would seem, ap- 
 propriated by, our Lord. Under whatever aspect we 
 contemplate what may be called the eschatology of the 
 !N"ew Testament, — whether we consider the setting up 
 of an abomination of desolation in the holy place, the 
 announcement of an approaching end of all things, 
 or the destruction of some great adversary ; whether 
 we turn our thoughts to the impending advent, resur- 
 rection, judgment, and kingdom of God, — we are met 
 by phenomena of a similar kind to those which have 
 already received expression in the book of Daniel. Is 
 it too much to say that the analogy is too close to be 
 fortuitous, and that it seems probable that our Lord 
 accommodated events with which the Maccabean de- 
 liverance was thought to be accompanied to his 
 Messianic career, as he accommodated the historical 
 fact of the setting up of the abomination of desolation in 
 the days of Antiochus to his own times. It has been 
 already observed of the symbolism employed by Daniel, 
 that its bold and exalted character seems to leave room 
 for doubt whether it should be applied to the political 
 restoration of the Maccabean period, or to some greater 
 event of which that may have been the type ; and it is 
 
 19 
 
290 DANIEL. 
 
 perhaps owing to the apparently inadequate fulfilment of 
 these visions at the time appointed, that a further Mes- 
 sianic element was supposed to be concealed in them. It 
 was a belief prevalent among the Jews of our Lord's 
 time that the day^ of the Messiah was revealed in Daniel, 
 and it is probable that this credence may have given rise 
 to the preference shown to the Messianic developments 
 of this book over those of other prophetical writings. 
 The inquiry has yet to be made in what way the 
 Messianic ideas adopted from Daniel may be said to 
 have received their accomplishment. To this question 
 a double answer may be given. To some they appear to 
 have had an immediate fulfilment in the advent of the 
 Son of man to destroy Jerusalem before the generation 
 which listened to his solemn threatenings had passed 
 away, and in the establishment of the spiritual kingdom 
 of Christianity upon the wreck of Judaism. Others, 
 again, conceiving that no historical events of the re- 
 quired period correspond to the magnificent terms in 
 which the advent is described, and anxious with a par- 
 
 > In the Talmud the day of the Messiah is said to be concealed in the Hagio- 
 grapha, and known to Jonathan- Ben- Uzziel, probably a disciple of Hillel, and the 
 supposed author of the Targum on the prophets. " And a voice was heard, saying, 
 ' Who is tliis who has revealed my secrets unto the sons of man ?' Up rose Jona- 
 than-Ben-Uzziel, and said : ' It is I who have revealed thy secrets to the sons of 
 man . . . But it is known and revealed before Thee, that not for my honour have I 
 done it, nor for the iionour of my father's house, but for thine honour, that the dis- 
 putes may cease in Israel' . . . And he further desired to reveal the Targum to the 
 Hagiographa, when a voice was heard : ' Enough ?' And why ? Because the day of 
 the Messiah is revealed therein." — Meg. Za. Similarly the day of the Messiah was 
 supposed to be hidden in the Targum to Daniel. Josephus also seems to intimate 
 that a Messianic signification was attached to the stone of Dan. ii. " Daniel also 
 declared the meaning of the stone unto the king; but I do not think it proper to 
 relate it, since I have only undertaken to describe things past or things which have 
 been (lately) done— to TrapeKdhvTa Koi ra yiyevfifMeva — but not the things that are 
 soon about to happen — ra fifWopra" (Ant. x. 10.) 
 
irESSTANlC IDEAS. 291 
 
 donable solicitude that the words of Christ should not 
 fail of their accomplishment, have postponed their ful- 
 filment, in spite of plain and positive statements to the 
 contrary, to an indefinite and distant future. 
 
 To the first of these theories it has been objected that 
 the second advent of Christ was not so much the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem, as an event coimectecP with that 
 destruction ; and that the sublime description of his 
 coming with all the holy angels with him in power and 
 great glory scarcely finds an adequate fulfilment in the 
 scenes, terrible as they were, which accompanied the 
 overthrow of the Jewish state and polity. It must be 
 conceded that the objection is not without weight ; and 
 that after making due allowance for Oriental phraseology 
 and rhetorical figure, something more^ was intended by 
 the coming itself and the unearthly scenes with which it 
 is said to be accompanied, than the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem and the subsequent establishment of Christianity. 
 However momentous the ruin of their city might have 
 been to the Jews, it could not have materially afi'ected 
 the Gentile converts to whom the warnings relating to 
 
 ' An argument for the accomplishment of the eschatological prophecies recorded 
 in the gospels at the period of the destruction of Jerusalem, may be seen in the 
 author's " Apocalypse fulfilled in the Consummation of the Jlosaic Economy and 
 the Coming of the Son of Man." On the supposition that our Lord's predictions, 
 as delivered to us, can be adequately explained of the phenomena with which that 
 event was accompanied, a harmony may be maintained between them and the facts 
 themselves. On the contrary hypothesis, that the historical events of that time do 
 not answer to the scope and magnificence of the terras employed, the expectations of 
 our Lord and his disciples must be considered to have been tinged by the Messianic 
 ideas of their contemporaries. 
 
 - '* The foundation of all the mistakes of these learned men (Wetstein, Grotius, 
 Hammond, Le Clerc, and Whitby) is their interpreting t^ic coming of Christ of the 
 destruction of Jerusalem : whereas the context, as it hath been shown, plainly 
 evinces, and they themselves at other times acknowledge, tliat it is to be understood 
 of his coming to judge the world "—Newton, on the Praphetiea. 
 
292 DANIEL. 
 
 the advent were principally addressed ; and it is evident 
 that S. Barnabas, in the epistle ascribed to him, and such 
 of the apostolical fathers as wrote after that event, did 
 not see in the destruction of Jerusalem the coming of 
 Christ in his kingdom. 
 
 The second of these, which defers the accomplishment 
 of these predictions to a distant future, is met by the 
 fataP answer, — that not merely once or twice, nor doubt- 
 fully and with hesitation, but continually, solemnly, and 
 distinctly, our Lord uttered the positive and apparently 
 incontrovertible statement that his kingdom was so near 
 of approach, and so immediately imminent, that some of 
 those who heard his words " should not taste of death 
 till they had seen the Son of man coming in his king- 
 dom" (Matt. xvi. 28; Mark ix. 1; Luke ix. 27); a 
 doctrine accepted without reserve by his disciples, and 
 reiterated by them and others with equal confidence 
 during the apostolic age. Like the kingdom of the 
 saints announced by Daniel, to be set up " in the days 
 of those kings ;" the kingdom of Christ was to be mani- 
 fested, " In those days after that tribulation" (Mark 
 xiii. 24), or more definitely expressed by Matthew, 
 " Immediately after the tribulation of those days" 
 
 ' " N'est il pas temps d'imposer silence aux sophismes de Texf^gcse et d'avouer ce 
 qui saute aux yeux ? Jesus, dans les discours qui lui sont attribues, n'annonce pas 
 seulement en general qu'il reviendra sur les nuees du ciel un jour, dans deux 
 mille ans peut-etre ou dans cent mille ; il annonce qu'il reviendra avant la mort 
 des personnes presantes, qu'il reviendra aussifnt aprcs que Jerusalem aura et6 
 profan>. Si les mots qu'on place dans sa bouche ont un sens, ils ont ce sens la ; 
 et s'ils ne I'ont pas, c'est que pour les theologiens blanc signifie noir et que noir 
 signi'ie blanc. Mais pour quiconque n'est pas un sophiste ce dilenime se pose 
 catc'goriquement : ou Jeaus s'est trompe, ou ces discours ne sent pas de lui." 
 COLANI, p. 2J2. 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 293 
 
 (xxiv. 29). Whatever difficulty exists with regard to 
 the terms of the prophecy, none can with fairness be said 
 to exist with regard to the time appointed for the ful- 
 filment ; and it would seem to be neither the part of 
 wisdom nor piety to be looking in the distant future for 
 a kingdom which Christ declared to be " near, even at 
 the doors." 
 
 The only remaining alternative would seem to be that 
 the Messianic expectations of our Lord, equally with 
 those of his disciples, were corrected by the event. On 
 the supposition that the actual discourses^ (Xoyla) of 
 Christ are handed down to us in the Gospel of St. 
 Matthew and, with some variation, in the synoptics 
 generally — a position which we ourselves do not venture 
 to call in question — it is found impossible to exclude 
 from them the continuous announcement of an imme- 
 diately proximate celestial kingdom ; on the other hand, 
 to hold that these eschatological sayings are not attri- 
 butable to our Lord himself, but are the result of a 
 great exaltation common to the writers of the period, is 
 not only to surrender a considerable part of the histories 
 themselves, but to negative the uniform belief of the 
 apostolic age. The choice has to be made between these 
 opposite theories; although the adoption of any one of 
 them is attended with its own difficulties, which should 
 be fairly met, and not timorously evaded, or dishonestly 
 concealed. What then, if the enthusiastic expectations 
 of the age should have led the evangelists to expand 
 our Lord's prophetic utterances against the Jewish state 
 
 ' " Mardaios (XiV ovv 'E^paiSi SiaXeKTw rh Khyia \rh Trapa Qeov \ey6ixeva], 
 ffweTci^aTo, (vel, ffvueypd\f/aTo), rip/iriUevffe S' aihu i>s ijv Svirarhs iKatj-ros." — Pafias. 
 
294 DANIEL. 
 
 and polity into the wider channel of a dissolving universe 
 and an end of the world ; the late date of the evan- 
 gelical history (a history at first delivered orally, for 
 an approaching end of all things demanded no litera- 
 ture) allowing sufficient interval for some accretion to 
 the original predictions ; or what again if the eschato- 
 logical sayings of Christ should have been accurately 
 recorded in the Synoptic Gospels (that according to St. 
 John betraying marks of a later period of composition 
 as well as of a different theological conception from the 
 three preceding histories), and if, on the whole, they 
 should present a true picture of the latter-day glories 
 anticipated by our Lord. If to this it be added that the 
 Son of Man admitted his perception to be circumscribed 
 on this particular subject, we have arrived at a point 
 which not only suggests a probable reason for the dis- 
 crepancy observable between the predictions and the 
 facts themselves, but which at the same time justifies 
 the inquiries of those who endeavour to ascertain the 
 truth by comparing the words themselves with the 
 course of events. The adoption of either of the pre- 
 ceding theories might be attended with less detriment to 
 the cause of religion than the retention of traditional 
 opinions which seem to rest on a distorted interpretation 
 of the Sacred Text. On the one hand, to suppose that 
 the primal and undying words of Christ which shall not 
 pass away have been obscured by enthusiastic expecta- 
 tions would only serve to illustrate the principle that 
 imperfection is inseparable from humanly recorded truth; 
 on the other hand, to infer that the eschatological sayings 
 attributed to our Lord are the result of a qualified appre- 
 
MESSIANIC IDEAS. 295 
 
 hension of a Providential mystery, would only imply 
 that he shared with others that limitation of knowledge 
 which was a necessary condition of the human nature 
 under which he was manifested to us. 
 
 The non-fulfilment, however, of these Messianic ex- 
 pectations within the time appointed for their accomplish- 
 ment need not detract from the perfection of that inimitable 
 teaching whose '^-emedial, and reconciling, and sanctify- 
 ing, and self-sacrificing, and sorrow-assuaging, and heaven- 
 aspiring words were addressed to the universal human 
 heart ;" neither should it be suffered to weaken the obliga- 
 tion, or impair the authority, of a single moral precept which 
 commends itself by its intrinsic worth as the perfect law of 
 love and liberty to mankind. Unwisely, therefore, do 
 they imperil Christianity who would make it answerable 
 with its life for every adventitious circumstance, whether 
 of miraculous event or Messianic' hope, with which it 
 stands connected. Above and beyond all these, its 
 adaptation to the religious instincts and the spiritual 
 wants of man affords at once a proof of its divine 
 origin, and a pledge of its continuance. '' For the 
 perpetuity of religion, the true religion, that of Christ 
 (says a master^ in Israel whose sentiments we repeat 
 
 1 " Deux choses sont certaines : la premiere, c'est que Jesus a fonde sa Mission 
 et son CEuvre sur I'idee du Messie, avec tout racompagnement des notions apocalyp- 
 tiques que cette idee emportait ; la seconde, c'est que en definitive, et a prendre les 
 choses d'un peu haut, cette croyance Messianique n'est pas I'essence de la doctrine 
 de Jesus, elle n'en est que la manifestation historique, la forme accidentelle. Le 
 fond de son enseignement, c'est ce qui est eternel, c'est la parole de pardon, la pitie 
 pour le pecheur, I'amour du petit et du pauvre, la foi au Dieu qui est le pere des 
 hommes ; le secret de sa puissance, c'est le spectacle d'une vie innocente et devouee, 
 le sacrifice volontaire de sa propre personne a la cause du bien et du vrai." — 
 
 SCHERER. 
 
 - Preface to Milman's History of the Jewa. 
 
296 DANIEL. 
 
 under a deep conviction that they bequeath to the 
 Church a rich legacy of needful caution .3 well as of 
 
 pious trust), I have no misgivings As it was the 
 
 moral and religious superiority of Christianity which 
 mainly subdued and won the world ; so that same power 
 will retain it in willing and perpetual subjection. The 
 strength of Christianity will rest, not in the excited 
 imagination, but in the heart, the conscience, the under- 
 standing of man." 
 
 THE END. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 P. 93, after vision of chapter viii., should follow vision of chapter xi. 
 
 " 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 stir up all against 
 the realm of Grecia" (xi. 2). 
 
 P. 99, for quartuor, read quatuor. 
 
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