In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head on his bed. Then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters.
Daniel spoke and said, “I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the sky broke out on the great sea. Four great animals came up from the sea, different from one another.
“The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand on two feet as a man. A man’s heart was given to it.
“Behold, there was another animal, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth. They said this to it: ‘Arise! Devour much flesh!’
“After this I saw, and behold, another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The animal also had four heads; and dominion was given to it.
“After this I saw in the night visions, and, behold, there was a fourth animal, awesome and powerful, and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet. It was different from all the animals that were before it. It had ten horns.
“I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots: and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.
“I watched until thrones were placed, and one who was ancient of days sat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, and its wheels burning fire.
A fiery stream issued and came out from before him. Thousands of thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set. The books were opened.
“I watched at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke. I watched even until the animal was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given to be burned with fire. As for the rest of the animals, their dominion was taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Dominion was given him, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom that which will not be destroyed.
“As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth concerning all this. “So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.
‘These great animals, which are four, are four kings, who will arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’
“Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth animal, which was different from all of them, exceedingly terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of bronze; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet; and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three fell, even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, whose look was more stout than its fellows. I saw, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
“Thus he said, ‘The fourth animal will be a fourth kingdom on earth, which will be different from all the kingdoms, and will devour the whole earth, and will tread it down, and break it in pieces. As for the ten horns, ten kings will arise out of this kingdom. Another will arise after them; and he will be different from the former, and he will put down three kings. He will speak words against the Most High, and will wear out the saints of the Most High. He will plan to change the times and the law; and they will be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.
“ ‘But the judgment will be set, and they will take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it to the end. The kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole sky, will be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions will serve and obey him.’
“Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts much troubled me, and my face was changed in me; but I kept the matter in my heart.”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 Hear. Daniel begins to offer instruction peculiar to the…
Hear. Daniel begins to offer instruction peculiar to the Church. For God had formerly appointed him an interpreter and instructor to, profane kings. But he now appoints him a teacher to the Church, that he may exercise his office within it, and instruct the sons of God in the bosom of the Church. We must notice this first of all, because thus far his predictions extended beyond the limits of the household of faith, but here Daniel’s duty is restricted to the Church. He says: This vision was bestowed upon him in the first year of King Belshazzar, before that change happened, which we have previously seen. First of all, we must try to understand the design of the Holy Spirit; that is, the end and use for which he opened up to Daniel the material of this chapter. All the prophets had held out to the elect people the hope of deliverance, after God had punished them for their ingratitude and obstinacy. When we read what other prophets announce concerning their future redemption, we should suppose the Church to have been promised a happy, quiet, and completely peaceful state, after the people had returned from captivity. But history testifies how very differently it turned out. For the faithful must have grown weary and have fallen away unless they had been admonished of the various disturbances which were at hand. This, then, is the first reason why God revealed to his Prophet what we shall soon see; namely, that three monarchies yet remained, each of which should succeed the former, and that during them all the faithful should endure permanently and constantly in reliance on the promises, although they should see the whole world shaken, and severe and distressing convulsions prevailing everywhere. For this reason, Daniel’s vision concerning the four empires is here set forth. Perhaps it will be better to defer the summary of it till the Prophet begins to treat of each beast separately. But with regard to the two first verses, we must observe the time of the dream.
Before the Medes and Persians transferred the Chaldean Empire to themselves, the Prophet was instructed in this subject, that the Jews might recognize the partial fulfillment of what God had so often promised themselves and their fathers. For if their enemies had possessed Babylon without any new prediction, the Jews perhaps would not have been so attentive to those prophecies which had been long ago uttered in their favor. Hence God wished to refresh their memories, and then, when they saw the fall of that empire which all thought to be impregnable, they would perceive the government of God’s secret counsels, and the partial, if not the complete fulfillment of what he had testified by their prophets. He says — he saw a dream When he previously spoke of the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar he mentioned a vision, but not for the same reason, because the unbelieving when seeing do not observe. They perceive something indeed, dimly and without distinctness, while their thoughts immediately fade away. The Prophet’s method was different; because he not only dreamed, but saw a distinct vision, and thus could profitably deliver to others what he had received. The Prophet then expresses something peculiar by this phrase, for we know how prophets usually attribute such visions to God, when they perceive the secrets of heaven, not with the eyes of flesh, but by the illumination and intelligence of the Spirit. He adds — visions of his head were on his bed; thus the dream would have more weight, and lest we should think any confusion existed in Daniel’s brain. Thus he expresses how he saw whatever the Lord wished him to know in a dream with a calm mind. He afterwards adds — Then he wrote the dream, and explained the meaning of the words. By this phrase he teaches us how his seeing the vision was not for his own sake personally, but for the common edification of the Church. Those who suppose Daniel to have leapt suddenly from his bed, lest he should forget the dream, offer a vain and frivolous comment. Daniel rather wished to bear ‘witness to this vision as not peculiar to himself, but common to God’s elect people; and hence not only to be celebrated orally, but to be delivered to posterity for a perpetual remembrance. We must bear in mind these two points; first, Daniel wrote this prophecy that the knowledge of it might ever be celebrated among the faithful; and then, he considered the interests of posterity, and so left the vision written. Both these points are worthy of notice to induce us to pay greater attention to the vision, since it was not delivered for a single individual; but God chose Daniel as his minister, and as the herald and witness of this oracle. Hence we see how it concerns us; it was not teaching for any single age, but it extends to us, and ought to flourish till the end of the world. He repeats the same thing by adding — he explained the sense of the words. For those who separate these two clauses, seem to stumble on plain ground. Daniel then spoke and said — This has no reference to words, but to writing; as if the Prophet had said, I have discharged my duty; since he knew that what we shall afterwards see concerning the four monarchies was not divinely entrusted to him for the sake of suppressing anything made known, but he rather felt himself a chosen instrument of God, who was thus suggesting to the faithful material for trust and endurance. He spoke, therefore, and explained; that is, when he desired to promulgate this oracle, he bore witness to there being no difference between himself and God’s Church in this announcement; but as he had been an elect and ordained teacher, so he delivered what he had received, through his hands, Hence Daniel not only commends his own faith, but excites all the pious to anxiety and attention, lest they should despise what God had pronounced through his mouth.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 Whereas the people of Israel looked for a continual…
Whereas the people of Israel looked for a continual quietness, after their seventy years, as Jeremiah had declared, he showeth that this rest shall not be a deliverance from all troubles, but a beginning, and therefore encourageth them to look for a continual affliction, till the Messiah be uttered and revealed, by whom they should have a spiritual deliverance, and all the promises be fulfilled: whereof they should have a certain token in the destruction of the Babylonian kingdom.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–28 Dan 7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king…
Dan 7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, [and] told the sum of the matters.
Ver. 1. In the first year of Belshazzar.] Here beginneth, to speak properly, the prophecy of Daniel, or rather the second part of Daniel’s works, which is concerning visions exhibited of God by divine revelations, not to others, but to himself. This vision is the subject and groundwork of the rest that follow to the end of the prophecy. One not unfitly compareth it to a general map of the whole world; the rest to particular tables of various countries.
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Daniel had a dream and visions of his head.] God renewed unto him the same thing by vision which he had exhibited before by dream, in recompense of his religious care to know the matter and to record it for the Church’s comfort. {a}
Then he wrote the dream.] It was God’s will the visions of the prophets should be written {Isa 30:10} and published to the Church. {Isa 30:30}
{a} Jun.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 28 In the first year of Belshazzar: now Daniel begins…
In the first year of Belshazzar: now Daniel begins to declare the visions God showed him at sundry times, therefore he goes back to the first year of Belshazzar. It is observed by the curious, that the word Belshazzar is here changed by the prophet, one letter transposed, which alters the signification greatly; for his name is בלאשצר Dan 5:1, which signifies
treasures searched out and possessed; but the word in the text is this, בלשאצר which means,
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Bel is consumed with the fire of an enemy, as was prophesied by Jeremiah, Dan 1:2; Jer 51:44. See Jer 51:25,58. The Jews used to change the names of idols and idolaters, and it turned to a reproach to them, as Grotius proves well out of Moses de Kotzi.
He wrote the dream: these visions of Daniel were sent, and recorded by him in writing, for the benefit of the church, to rectify their mistake; for they thought all things would succeed prosperously after they returned out of their captivity: yet they should find a world of troubles in many generations following, seeing that of the four great monarchies, which he calls beasts, there was but one passed, and they should find three more yet to come. This Daniel dreamed, saw, wrote, and told the sum of it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 9, 15 The date of this chapter places it before ch.…
The date of this chapter places it before ch. 5, which was in the last year of Belshazzar, and ch. 6, which was in the first of Darius; for Daniel had those visions in the first year of Belshazzar, when the captivity of the Jews in Babylon was drawing near a period. Belshazzar's name here is, in the original, spelt differently from what it used to be; before it was Bel-she-azar - Bel is he that treasures up riches. But this is Bel-eshe-zar - Bel is on fire by the enemy. Bel was the god of the Chaldeans; he had prospered, but is now to be consumed.
We have, in these verses, Daniel's vision of the four monarchies that were oppressive to the Jews. Observe,
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I. The circumstances of this vision. Daniel had interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and now he is himself honoured with similar divine discoveries (Dan 7:1): He had visions of his head upon his bed, when he was asleep; so God sometimes revealed himself and his mind to the children of men, when deep sleep fell upon them (Job 33:15); for when we are most retired from the world, and taken off from the things of sense, we are most fit for communion with God. But when he was awake he wrote the dream for his own use, lest he should forget it as a dream which passes away; and he told the sum of the matters to his brethren the Jews for their use, and gave it to them in writing, that it might be communicated to those at a distance and preserved for their children after them, who shall see these things accomplished. The Jews, misunderstanding some of the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, flattered themselves with hopes that, after their return to their own land, they should enjoy a complete and uninterrupted tranquility; but that they might not so deceive themselves, and their calamities be made doubly grievous by the disappointment, God by this prophet lets them know that they shall have tribulation: those promises of their prosperity were to be accomplished in the spiritual blessings of the kingdom of grace; as Christ has told his disciples they must expect persecution, and the promises they depend upon will be accomplished in the eternal blessings of the kingdom of glory. Daniel both wrote these things and spoke them, to intimate that the church should be taught both by the scriptures and by ministers' preaching, both by the written word and by word of mouth; and ministers in their preaching are to tell the sum of the matters that are written.
II. The vision itself, which foretels the revolutions of government in those nations which the church of the Jews, for the following ages, was to be under the influence of. 1. He observed the four winds to strive upon the great sea, Dan 7:2. They strove which should blow strongest, and, at length, blow alone. This represents the contests among princes for empire, and the shakings of the nations by these contests, to which those mighty monarchies, which he was now to have a prospect of, owed their rise. One wind from any point of the compass, if it blow hard, will cause a great commotion in the sea; but what a tumult must needs be raised when the four winds strive for mastery! This is it which the kings of the nations are contending for in their wars, which are as noisy and violent as the battle of the winds; but how is the poor sea tossed and torn, how terrible are its concussions, and how violent its convulsions, while the winds are at strife which shall have the sole power of troubling it! Note, This world is like a stormy tempestuous sea; thanks to the proud ambitious winds that vex it. 2. He saw four great beasts come up from the sea, from the troubled waters, in which aspiring minds love to fish. The monarchs and monarchies are represented by beasts, because too often it is by brutish rage and tyranny that they are raised and supported. These beasts were diverse one from another (Dan 7:3), of different shapes, to denote the different genius and complexion of the nations in whose hands they were lodged. (1.) The first beast was like a lion, Dan 7:4. This was the Chaldean monarchy, that was fierce and strong, and made the kings absolute. This lion had eagle's wings, with which to fly upon the prey, denoting the wonderful speed that Nebuchadnezzar made in his conquest of kingdoms. But Daniel soon sees the wings plucked, a full stop put to the career of their victorious arms. Divers countries that had been tributaries to them revolt from them, and make head against them; so that this monstrous animal, this winged lion, is made to stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart is given to it. It has lost the heart of a lion, which it had been famous for (one of our English kings was called Caeur de Lion - Lion-heart), has lost its courage and become feeble and faint, dreading every thing and daring nothing; they are put in fear, and made to know themselves to be but men. Sometimes the valour of a nation strangely sinks, and it becomes cowardly and effeminate, so that what was the head of the nations in an age or two becomes the tail. (2.) The second beast was like a bear, Dan 7:5. This was the Persian monarchy, less strong and generous than the former, but no less ravenous. This bear raised up itself on one side against the lion, and soon mastered it. It raised up one dominion; so some read it. Persia and Media, which in Nebuchadnezzar's image were the two arms in one breast, now set up a joint government. This bear had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth, the remains of those nations it had devoured, which were the marks of its voraciousness, and yet an indication that though it had devoured much it could not devour all; some ribs still stuck in the teeth of it, which it could not conquer. Whereupon it was said to it, "Arise, devour much flesh; let alone the bones, the ribs, that cannot be conquered, and set upon that which will be an easier prey." The princes will stir up both the kings and the people to push on their conquests, and let nothing stand before them. Note, Conquests, unjustly made, are but like those of the beasts of prey, and in this much worse, that the beasts prey not upon those of their own kind, as wicked and unreasonable men do. (3.) The third beast was like a leopard, Dan 7:6. This was the Grecian monarchy, founded by Alexander the Great, active, crafty, and cruel, like a leopard. He had four wings of a fowl; the lion seems to have had but two wings; but the leopard had four, for though Nebuchadnezzar made great despatch in his conquests Alexander made much greater. In six years' time he gained the whole empire of Persia, a great part besides of Asia, made himself master of Syria, Egypt, India, and other nations. This beast had four heads; upon Alexander's death his conquests were divided among his four chief captains; Seleucus Nicanor had Asia the Great; Perdiccas, and after him Antigonus, had Asia the Less; Cassander had Macedonia; and Ptolemeus had Egypt. Dominion was given to this beast; it was given of God, from whom alone promotion comes. (4.) The fourth beast was more fierce, and formidable, and mischievous, than any of them, unlike any of the other, nor is there any among the beasts of prey to which it might be compared, Dan 7:7. The learned are not agreed concerning this anonymous beast; some make it to be the Roman empire, which, when it was in its glory, comprehended ten kingdoms, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Britain, Sarmatia, Pannonia, Asia, Greece, and Egypt; and then the little horn which rose by the fall of three of the other horns (Dan 7:8) they make to be the Turkish empire, which rose in the room of Asia, Greece, and Egypt. Others make this fourth beast to be the kingdom of Syria, the family of the Seleucidae, which was very cruel and oppressive to the people of the Jews, as we find in Josephus and the history of the Maccabees. And herein that empire was diverse from those which went before, that none of the preceding powers compelled the Jews to renounce their religion, but the kings of Syria did, and used them barbarously. Their armies and commanders were the great iron teeth with which they devoured and broke in pieces the people of God, and they trampled upon the residue of them. The ten horns are then supposed to be ten kings that reigned successively in Syria; and then the little horn is Antiochus Epiphanes, the last of the ten, who by one means or other undermined three of the kings, and got the government. He was a man of great ingenuity, and therefore is said to have eyes like the eyes of a man; and he was very bold and daring, had a mouth speaking great things. We shall meet with him again in these prophecies.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–28 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon,....…
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon,.... Daniel having finished the historical part of his book, and committed to writing what was necessary concerning himself and his three companions, and concerning Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and Darius the Mede, proceeds to the prophetic part, and goes back to the first year of Belshazzar's reign, seventeen years before his death, and the fall of the Babylonish monarchy last mentioned; for so long Belshazzar reigned, according to Josephus (u); and with which agrees the canon of Ptolemy, who ascribes so many years to the reign of Nabonadius, the same, with Belshazzar: he began to reign, according to Bishop Usher (w), Dean Prideaux (x), and Mr, Whiston (y), in the year of the world 3449 A.M., and 555 B.C.; and in the first year of his reign Daniel had the dream of the four monarchies, as follows:
Daniel had a dream: as Nebuchadnezzar before had, concerning the same things, the four monarchies of the world, and the kingdom of Christ, only represented in a different manner: or, "saw a dream" (z); in his dream he had a vision, and objects were presented to his fancy as if he really saw them, as follows:
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and visions of his head came upon his bed; as he lay upon his bed, and deep sleep was fallen on him, things in a visionary way were exhibited to him very wonderful and surprising, and which made strong impressions upon him:
then he wrote the dream: awaking out of his sleep, and perfectly remembering the dream he had dreamed, and recollecting the several things he had seen in it; that they might not be lost, but transmitted to posterity for their use and benefit, he immediately committed them to writing:
and told the sum of the matters; the whole of what he had dreamt and seen; or however the sum and substance of it, the more principal parts of it, the most interesting things in it, and of the greatest importance: when it was daylight, and he rose from his bed, and went out of his chamber, he called his friends together, and told them by word of mouth what he had seen in his dream the night past; or read what he had written of it, which was as follows:
(u) Antiqu. Jud. l. 10. c. 11. sect. 4. (w) Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3449. (x) Connexion, &c. part. 1. p. 114. (y) Chronological Tables, cent. 10. (z) "somnium vidit". V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 16, 18, 25, 28 We come now to the prophetical part of Daniel,…
We come now to the prophetical part of Daniel, in which are many things hard to be understood. In this chapter we have, The vision of the four beasts, ver. 1-8. The vision of God's throne of government and judgment, ver. 9-14. The interpretation of those visions, ver. 15-28.
In the first year of Belshazzar - This prophecy is written in Chaldee, to be a monument to him, of the reverence his father and grandfather shewed towards God, who had done such mighty works for them. Then he wrote - These visions were recorded for the benefit of the church, to rectify their mistake: for they thought all things would succeed prosperously after they returned out of their captivity.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 27, 28 The prophet having, in the preceding chapters of this…
CHAPTER VII
The prophet having, in the preceding chapters of this book,
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related some remarkable events concerning himself and his
brethren in the captivity, and given proof of his being
enabled, by Divine assistance, to interpret the dreams of
others, enters now into a detail of his own visions, returning
to a period prior to the transactions recorded in the last
chapter. The first in order of the prophet's visions is that
of the four beasts, which arose out of a very tempestuous
ocean, 1-9;
and of one like the Son of man who annihilated the dominion of
the fourth beast, because of the proud and blasphemous words of
one of its horns, 9-14.
An angel deciphers the hieroglyphics contained in this chapter,
declaring that the FOUR beasts, diverse one from another,
represent the FOUR PARAMOUNT empires of the habitable globe,
which should succeed each other; and are evidently the same
which were shadowed forth to Nebuchadnezzar by another set of
hieroglyphics, (see the second chapter,) 15-26.
But for the consolation of the people of God, it is added that,
at the time appointed in the counsel of Jehovah, "the kingdom
and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole
heaven, shall be given to the saints of the Most High;" and
that this kingdom shall never be destroyed or transferred to
another people, as all the preceding dominations have been,
but shall itself stand for ever, 27, 28.
It will be proper to remark that the period of a time, times,
and a half, mentioned in the twenty-fifth verse as the duration
of the dominion of the little horn that made war with the
saints, (generally supposed to be a symbolical representation
of the papal power,) had most probably its commencement in
A.D. 755 or 756, when Pepin, king of France, invested the pope
with temporal power. This hypothesis will bring the conclusion
of the period to about the year of Christ 2000, a time fixed
by Jews and Christians for some remarkable revolution; when
the world, as they suppose, will be renewed, the wicked cease
from troubling the Church, and the saints of the Most High
have dominion over the whole habitable globe. But this is all
hypothesis.
NOTES ON CHAP. VII
Verse 1. In the first year of Belshazzar] This is the same Belshazzar who was slain at the taking of Babylon, as we have seen at the conclusion of Da 5:30-31. That chapter should have followed both this and the succeeding. The reason why the fifth chapter was put in an improper place was, that all the historic parts might be together, and the prophetic be by themselves; and, accordingly, the former end with the preceding chapter, and the latter with this. The division therefore is not chronological but merely artificial.
Told the sum of the matters.] That he might not forget this extraordinary dream, he wrote down the leading particulars when he arose.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 19, 23, 25, 26, 28 Dan 7:1. In the first year of Belshazzar, &c.…
Dan 7:1. In the first year of Belshazzar, &c. — The prophet, having related some remarkable passages concerning himself and his brethren in captivity, and having given proof of his supernatural illumination in interpreting other men’s dreams, proceeds to give an account of his own visions; and thereupon goes back to the first year of Belshazzar’s reign, which was seventeen years before the history contained in the last chapter. This vision concerns the same events with those referred to in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, chap. 2., with some enlargements and additions, and different images.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon…
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon - On the character and reign of Belshazzar, see Introduction to Dan. 5 Section II. He was the last of the kings of Babylon, and this fact may cast some light on the disclosures made in the dream.
Daniel had a dream - Margin, as in Hebrew, saw. He saw a series of events in vision when he was asleep. The dream refers to that representation, and was of such a nature that it was proper to speak of it as if he saw it. Compare the notes at Dan 2:1.
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And visions of his head upon his bed - See the notes at Dan 4:5.
Then he wrote the dream - He made a record of it at the time. He did not commit it to tradition, or wait for its fulfillment before it was recorded, but long before the events referred to occurred he committed the prediction to writing, that when the prophecy was fulfilled they might be compared with it. It was customary among the prophets to record their predictions, whether communicated in a dream, in a vision, or by words to them, that there might be no doubt when the event occurred that there had been an inspired prediction of it, and that there might be an opportunity of a careful comparison of the prediction with the event. Often the prophets were commanded to record their predictions. See Isa 8:1, Isa 8:16; Isa 30:8; Hab 2:2. Compare Rev 1:19; Rev 14:13; Rev 21:5. In many instances, as in the case before us, the record was made hundreds of years before the event occurred, and as there is all the evidence that there could be in a case that the record has not been altered to adapt it to the event, the highest proof is thus furnished of the inspiration of the prophets. The meaning here is, that Daniel wrote out the dream as soon as it occurred.
And told the sum of the matters - Chaldee, “And spake the head of the words.” That is, he spake or told them by writing. He made a communication of them in this manner to the world. It is not implied that he made any oral communication of them to anyone, but that he communicated them - to wit, in the way specified. The word “sum” here - ראשׁ rē'sh - means “head”; and would properly denote such a record as would be a heading up, or a summary - as stating in a brief way the contents of a book, or the chief points of a thing without going into detail. The meaning here seems to be that he did not go into detail - as by writing names, and dates, and places; or, perhaps, that he did not enter into a minute description of all that he saw in regard to the beasts that came up from the sea, but that he recorded what might be considered as peculiar, and as having special significancy.
The Codex Chisianus renders this, ἔγραψεν ἐις κεφάλαια λόγων egrapsen eis kephalaia logōn - “He wrote in heads of words,” that is, he reduced it to a summary description. It is well remarked by Lengerke, on this place, that the prophets, when they described what was to occur to tyrants in future times, conveyed their oracles in a comparatively dark and obscure manner, yet so as to be clear when the events should occur. The reason of this is obvious. If the meaning of many of the predictions had been understood by those to whom they referred, that fact would have been a motive to them to induce them to defeat them; and as the fulfillment depended on their voluntary agency, the prophecy would have been void. It was necessary, therefore, in general, to avoid direct predictions, and the mention of names, dates, and places, and to make use of symbols whose meaning would be obscure at the time when the prediction was made, but which would be plain when the event should occur. A comparison of Dan 7:4, Dan 7:9, Dan 7:11, Dan 7:14, will show that only a sumptuary of what was to occur was recorded.
Matters - Margin, as in Chaldee, words. The term words, however; is often used to denote things.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28 Baltassar. Chaldee: a letter is wanting. (Haydock) --- This…
Baltassar. Chaldee: a letter is wanting. (Haydock) --- This Baltassar was slain. (Chap. v.) (Calmet) --- The two visions happened before that event. (Worthington) --- The. Protestant: "visions of his head, upon his bed. Then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters." (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Chap. 7–12
SECOND (PROPHETIC) DIVISION
Chap. 7–12
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1. The vision of the four world-kingdoms and of the Messianic kingdom
Daniel 7
1In the first year of1 Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had [saw] a dream, and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.2
2Daniel spake3 and said, I saw4 in my vision by5 night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven [heavens] strove upon [were rushing to] the great sea. 3And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another6
4The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till7 the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made [to] stand upon 5the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. And, behold, another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised8 up itself [was made to stand] on one side,9 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. 6After this I beheld,4 and lo, another, like a leopard, which [and it] had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl [bird]: the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. 7After this I saw10 in the night visions, and, behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth:11 it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts 8that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered12 the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom [and from before it] there were three of13 the first horns plucked up by the roots [were extirpated]: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
9I beheld, till7 the thrones were cast [set] down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose [his] garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the14 pure wool: his throne was like the13 fiery flame [flames of fire], and his wheels as burning fire. 10A fiery stream [stream of fire] issued [flowed] and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him,15 and ten thousand times ten thousand stood16 before him: the judgment was set [did sit], the books 11were opened. I beheld4 then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake [was speaking]; I beheld, even till7 the beast was slain, and his 12[its] body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning [And] the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away:17 yet their lives were prolonged for18 a season and time.
13I saw4 in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came [was coming] with the clouds of heaven [the heavens], and came to [reached] the 14Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him [to him was given] dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages,19 should serve20 him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
15I Daniel was grieved in my spirit [my spirit was grieved] in the midst of my body [its sheath], and the visions of my head troubled21 me. 16I came near unto22 one12 of them that stood by, and asked him23 the truth of21 all this. So [And] 17he told me, and made24 me know the interpretation of the things.25 These great 18beasts, which are26 four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But [And] the saints of the Most High26 shall take [receive] the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
19Then I would know [wished] the truth of21 the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others [of them], exceeding dreadful, whose [its] teeth were of iron, and his [its] nails of brass; which devoured, brake [breaking] in pieces, and 20stamped the residue with his [its] feet; and of21 the ten horns that were in his [its] head, and of the other which came up, and before whom [from before it] three fell; even [and] of that horn that [and it] had eyes, and a mouth that spake [speaking] very great things, whose [and its] look was more stout than his 21[its] fellows. I beheld,4 and the same [that] horn made war with the saints, and prevailed1 against them; 22until the Ancient of days came, and [the] judgment was given to the saints of the Most High;26 and the time came [arrived] that [, and] the saints possessed the kingdom.
23Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom27 upon [the] earth, which shall be diverse from all [the] kingdoms, and shall devour the Whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 24And the ten horns out of this28 kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise [arise] after them; and he shall be diverse from the29 first, and he shall subdue [abase] three kings. 25And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out [afflict] the saints of the Most High,26 and think to change times and laws [law]: and they shall be given into his hand, until a time and times and the 26dividing of [half a] time. But [And] the judgment shall [did] sit, and they shall take away his dominion, o consume and to destroy it unto the end. 27And the kingdom and [the] dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven [heavens], shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High,30 whose [his] kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all [the] dominions shall serve and obey him.
28Hitherto is the end of the matter.31 As for me32 Daniel, my cogitations [thoughts] much troubled20 me, and my countenance33 changed in21 me: but [and] I kept the matter30 in my heart.8
EXEGETICAL REMARKS
Dan_7:1. Historical introduction. In the first year of Belshazzar; hence, in the first year after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, the father and predecessor of Belshazzar; see on Dan_5:1.34This designation of the time “seems substantially to have furnished the occasion for renewed reflection on the part of the prophet, bearing upon the former series of prophetical meditations that had been called forth in him by an important event (the dream of Nebuchadnezzar concerning the image of the monarchies, which Daniel interpreted, chap. 2). The idea of the four heathen kingdoms which were to precede the introduction of the Messianic kingdom of Israel, that was announced by the earlier prophets and believed by them to be near, is again brought out comprehensively in this place, with reference to the course observed by those kingdoms toward the theocracy” (Kranichfeld). —Concerning the chronological parallelism of the series of apocalyptic visions, opened by this new vision of the monarchies, with the series of historical events recorded in the former division of the book, and beginning with chap. 2, see the Introd., § 3.—Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed. Cf. Dan_2:19; and with reference to the visions of his head, cf. Dan_2:28.—Then he wrote the dream, immediately or soon after it transpired; a note intended to strengthen the following statements concerning its nature (cf. Dan_12:4). This note, however, as the change of person between Dan_7:1-2 indicates, was probably introduced by the author at a later time, in connection with his final revision of the whole book. The closing verse of the chapter, which likewise is merely important as a transitional passage, seems also to be a later addition.—And told the sum of the matters; gave the leading features. רֶאשׁ מִלִּין, the sum or substance of the words; cf. רֹאשׁ in passages like Lev. 5:24; Psa_119:160; and also the Talmudic ראשי דברים (Rosh hash., II. 6), and the Gr. κεφάλαιον, which is employed in this place by the Sept. The “sum” signifies, of course, the aggregate of all that is of Messianic significance. Cf. Ewald: “When it is said that Daniel merely recorded the leading features, or gave a mere summary, of the wonderful visions which he saw, the meaning becomes evident, when it is observed with what freedom the leading outlines of the visions are drawn in the first two turns of the description (Dan_7:1-14), and are afterward repeated for the purpose of interpretation. All the remaining prophetic sections of the book have the same plan in substance; but whenever it is attempted to record personal experiences and observations in writing, it is advisable to furnish the briefest outline consistent with clearness, on account of the readers, if for no other reason.”*
Dan_7:2-3. The entrance of the four beasts. Daniel spake and said. The incoherence of these words with the statements of Dan_7:1 seems to indicate that they no longer belong (as Kranichfeld believes) to the supplementary note, Dan_7:1, but that they originally served to introduce the description of the vision.—I saw in my vision by night; עִם, “during, by,” spoken of synchronous things; cf. Daniel 3:33.—And behold, the four winds of the heavens strove (“broke forth”) upon the great sea. Concerning אֲרוּ, see on Dan_2:31.—The fourfold number of the “winds of the heaven” (i.e., the winds blowing from the different quarters of heaven, or, more simply, those blowing under heaven; cf. “the birds of heaven”) has reference, of course, to that of the beasts in Dan_7:3 et seq. It designates all the winds of the world (cf. Dan_8:8; Zec_6:5; Jer_49:36), and therefore indicates at the outset the universal importance of the following vision. Hence actual winds must be intended, and not “angelicæ potentates” as Jerome suggests, under reference to Deu_32:8 (Sept.).35 It is not necessary to ask, in connection with a dream-vision, how all the four winds could arise together; nor how the great sea (i.e., probably the Mediterranean, the ocean of the nations of hither Asia; cf. Jos_15:48) could enter into the dream of an Israelite who resided from his early youth at Babylon. The sea, as is frequent in prophetic figurative language of the Old Testament, represents the heathen world of nations, which unquestionably afforded a striking illustration in every case when they arose in hostility against the theocracy, in order to overwhelm and destroy the constantly-diminishing people of God, as the raging waves of the ocean break upon an insignificant island or coast. Cf. Isa_8:7 et seq.; Isa_17:12; Isa_27:1; Isa_57:20; Psa_46:4; also Rev_8:8; Rev_17:15; and with reference to the overflowing (by hostile forces) see Dan_9:26; Dan_11:10; Dan_11:22; Dan_11:26.—מְגִיחָן לְיַמָּא may be properly translated “breaking forth upon the sea, breaking loose against the sea;” on גִּיחַ, cf. the corresponding Heb. word in Job_40:23; Eze_32:22, and also the Syr. and Targum. usage, which principally employs the word to represent the hostile irruption of warlike forces. Less natural is the factitive rendering of the partic, “caused the great sea to break forth” (Kranichf.), and the reciprocal, by Luther, “stormed against each other on the great sea (cf. Ewald’s “swept through the great sea”); the prep. לְ seems not suited to either conception.36
Dan_7:3. And four (excessively) great beasts came up from the sea. The strengthening of the idea implied in the reduplicated רַבְרְבָן may be rendered, with Ewald, by “monstrous,” or by an adverb of comparison prefixed to “great,” as “very, excessively,” etc.37 Kranichfeld is incorrect and interpolating: “four ravenous beasts.”—The rising of “the beasts from the sea” describes, figuratively, their rising out of the great undefined, and, so to speak, mist-enveloped sea of nations, and their more noticeable entrance into the range of the dreaming prophet’s vision. There is therefore no allusion to a coming up out of the sea to the land (unlike Gen_41:2; Gen_41:18 et seq.), especially since, in the parallel description in Dan_7:17, four kings, corresponding to the four beasts, arise “out of the earth.” [“These four fierce beasts arise, not all at once, but, as Dan_7:6-7 teach, one after another” (Keil).]—Concerning the representation of nations or kingdoms under the figure of certain beasts, especially ravenous beasts, monsters (cf. Isa_27:1; Isa_40:9; Eze_29:3; Eze_32:2; Psa_68:31; Psa_74:13), see Ewald: “It is an ancient habit to regard beasts as symbols of kings and empires; but it first became really significant through the custom of emblazoning them on standards and arms, especially on shields, and also on permanent monuments and works of art, as standing symbols. The most ancient picture-writing in Egypt and Assyria afterward contributed its part to introduce an intimate connection in thought between a figurative creature and a kingdom corresponding to it. It is now known that each of the twelve tribes of Israel bore the figure of an animal on its standard and its coat of arms; and likewise that every representative of a tribe could wear such a symbol, while a king could elevate the symbol of his tribe to the dignity of a national emblem” (Geschichte des v. Israel, iii. 341, 849). Certain animals, such as the lion, panther, and ox, would naturally be suggested in any case; and others would be chosen by way of contrast. But nowhere would such animal-symbols be likely to become so significant as in the ancient Assyrian empire. This has become the more certain, since the frequent colossal animals scattered among the ruins of Nineveh and other places, which served as symbols of the power and greatness of that empire, i.e., of its kings and gods, have been brought to light. Hence, after Assyria and the other great powers of the ancient world had, from the 8th and 7th centuries B. C, been opposed to the Israelites, whom the latter were continually less and less able to resist, their poets and orators adopted the custom of designating them on proper occasions by such symbols, e. g., Assyria as a lion or as a “reed-beast,” and Egypt as a crocodile or dragon. As a consequence, it is comprehensible why animals were chosen here and in chapters 7 and 8 as symbols of the great monarchies beginning with the Assyrio-Chaldæan, although these animals are selected independently, because an entirely new conception is here introduced. Since an increased spiritual significance was attributed to animals as the emblems of kingdoms, it would become possible for the imagination to extend such figures beyond the realm of actual creation, and to construct ideal forms; but our author clearly avoids the use of wholly imaginary animals for this purpose, as being inappropriate. His object is here to represent in a more striking and impressive manner the four successive changes of the great world-kingdom described in chap. 2 under the figure of a monstrous human image, which t afforded but faint analogies; and for this purpose he selects four wild beasts, which differ among themselves respectively, and which over-come each other in succession.—Diverse one from another, for the reason that they represented distinct kingdoms, which differed from each other respectively, and were peculiarly constituted in respect to their national character and their political tendencies. These distinctions are now to be brought out as clearly and prominently as possible, thus indicating a different purpose from that connected with the image of the monarchies, which was chiefly designed to represent the perpetuation of the same heathen world-power throughout the four successive phases of its development.
Dan_7:4-8. More detailed description of the four beasts, and especially of the fourth. The first was like a lion and had eagle’s wings. The emblem of a wonderful beast so constituted might be chosen with propriety to represent the Chaldæan, or, if it be preferred, the Assyrio-Chaldæan world-power (cf. supra, Eth.-fund. principles, etc., on chap. 2), since the winged lions with human heads recovered at Nimrud (Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, p. 348) and also the similar images of winged animals at Babylon (Münter, Religion der Babylonier, pp. 98, 139) were doubtless designed as symbols of the power and glory of that empire or of its rulers. In addition, the description of Nebuchadnezzar as a lion in strength and an eagle in swiftness was familiar to his contemporaries, as may be seen on the one hand, in Jer_4:7; Jer_49:19; Jer. 1:17, 44; on the other, in Jer_49:22; Lam_4:19; Hab_1:8; Eze_17:3; Eze_17:12. Moreover, the rank of the lion as the king of beasts, and of the eagle as the king of birds, corresponds to that of gold, the most precious of metals, which had been in chap. 2 the symbol of the first world-kingdom. As in that instance (Daniel 7:38) the king was identified with his realm, and therefore was regarded as its representative, so here the fate of the first world-kingdom is illustrated by various traits taken from the history of Nebuchadnezzar in chap. 4—I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, i.e., until its power and unrestrained motion were taken from it; cf. Dan_4:28 et seq.—And it was lifted up from the earth, to which, after being deprived of its wings, it had been confined; compare Dan_4:30 with Dan_4:33. The words, therefore, as well as those which follow, relate to the restoration from a state of beastly degradation to the upright posture and free dignity of man. Others, as Jerome, Theodoret, Rashi, Bertholdt, Hitzig, etc., render it, “and it was taken away from the earth,” as if the sentence implied the destruction of the Chaldæan world-power; but neither its connection with the following context, nor the usual meaning of נְטַל “to raise up, elevate,”—cf. Dan_4:31 and the corresponding Heb. verb, Gen_21:18—will justify this reading.—And made (to) stand upon the feet as a man; cf. Dan_4:13; Dan_4:31; Dan_4:33; Dan_5:21. Notice the suffixless עַל רַגְלַיִן “upon two feet,” instead of “on its two feet,” which (corresponding with 2Ki_13:21) would have been employed if the description had from the first referred to Nebuchadnezzar in person. [The phrase “does not mean that the whole beast was lifted up into the air, but that it stood upon its hinder legs, taking the upright position of a man. The purpose of this is explained more fully by the clause that follows.—רַגְלַיִן is a Hebraizing dual form, only found in Biblical Chaldee.…—The heart of a man was given to it, i.e., (in connection with the preceding clause), not only did it take the outward position of a man, but also, partook of his internal mind and feelings. I understand the design here to be to characterize the greater moderation and humanity which the Babylonian dominion exhibited after Nebuchadnezzar’s malady and restoration, or, to use the language of the prophet, after ‘its wings were plucked.’ ”—Stuart.]—See Hitzig on this passage, with reference to the at times venturous explanations offered by exegetes who deny its relation to chap. 4 in any way whatever (e.g., Bertholdt: “The writer designed to indicate in this place that human empires are symbolized;” J. D. Michaelis, Dereser: “The civilizing of the formerly barbarous Chaldæns, which was reserved until the Babylonian period, was to be described;” Jerome, Rashi, Ibn-Ezra, etc.: “The standing upon two feet of the hitherto four-footed beast was to symbolize the humiliation of the Chaldæans on the overthrow of their supremacy;” etc., etc.).
Dan_7:5. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear. אָחֳרִי is the more extended, תִּנְיָנָה the more definite idea; the former only is repeated in Dan_7:6, and the latter in Dan_7:7. The bear, considered as being second only to the lion in point of strength and savage disposition, is frequently mentioned in close connection with the latter; e.g., 1Sa_17:34; Pro_28:15 (cf. Dan 17:12); Wis_11:17.—And it raised up itself on one side; or even, “it stood leaning to one side” (Hitzig), as it is to be rendered on the authority of the reading שְׁטַר, “side” (for which several MSS. substitute the usual Aram, form סְטַר. The common reading שְׁטַר would require to be regarded as synonymous with the Heb. מִשְׁטָר, “dominion” (Job_38:33), but would thus lead to the vapid sense, “and it raised up one dominion,” which is opposed by the context, and is questionable in every respect. This meaning, however, has recently been unsuccessfully advocated by Kranichfeld, who refers to the erection of a Median empire on the ruins of the Babylonian. Most expositors regard it correctly as indicating a leaning posture of the beast, an inclination to one side. Such a posture would naturally suggest a tendency to fall, an unsteady, vaccillating character of the monarchy in question, verging upon ruin—and thus it has been interpreted by the Sept., Theodot., the Syr., and by many moderns, as Hitzig, Ewald, Kamphausen, etc., who find here a reference to the weakness and brief duration of the Median supremacy, which soon gave way to that of the Persians. The context, however, requires that a strong kingdom, animated with a lust for conquest—or, in the figurative language of the text, a “voracious” kingdom—should be understood, to which the words “arise, devour much flesh,” are not spoken ironically and uselessly. For this reason we must suppose (with Hävernick; cf. also Bertholdt, Von Lengerke, and Maurer) that the beast inclined forward, i.e., that it was prepared to spring and to attack; and this threatening, rapacious, and warlike posture of the beast shows clearly that not the weak and short-lived Median kingdom, but the powerful empire of the Medo-Persians. with its greed for lands and conquest, is intended.38—And it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it. תְּלָת עִלְעִין evidently designates a prey that has already been seized by the beast, and which it is preparing finally to devour (cf. Num. 11:38; Zec_9:7), and not (as Saadia, Bertholdt, and Hävernick suppose) parts of its own body, such as three molar teeth—an interpretation which עלעין nowhere bears. The three states, or even cities, which became the prey of the Persian empire as symbolized by the “three ribs,” an hardly be specified; perhaps three is used merely as a round and indefinite number. If, however, it is attempted to designate them more particularly, it will certainly be more appropriate to conceive of three countries, e.g., Babylon, Egypt, and Lydia (or, instead of the latter, Palestine, including Syria), which were conquered by the Medes or Medo-Persians (with De Wette), than (with Hitzig) to think of the three great Assyrian cities on the Tigris, Nineveh, Calah, and Resen,—or Nineveh, Mespila (?), and Larissa, which, according to Xenophon, Anab., Dan_3:4; Dan_3:10, the Medes are said to have destroyed (cf. Gen_10:12; Jon_3:1 et seq.).—And they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. These words evidently refer to something in the history of the Median empire, that is subsequent to the devouring of the three ribs, and therefore to the later wars of that state for conquest and plunder, which followed after the subjugation of the three neighboring kingdoms. This clearly indicates that the beast described in this connection does not represent Media only, but the united Medo-Persian empire (against Ewald, Kranichfeld, etc., and also against Hitzig, who applies this command to “devour much flesh” to the overthrow of the Chaldæan empire by the Medes, which he believes to have preceded the destruction of the three cities on the Tigris). The direction to devour much flesh is, however, an appropriate feature in the description of the voracity of this ζῶον πάμφαγον; cf. Mic_3:2-3; Isa_9:11; Jer_50:17. The speakers who are implied (אָמְרִין, as in Dan_3:4; Dan_4:28) are the angelic powers of God, who govern the world and especially watch over and guide the fortunes of the great world-powers.39
Dan_7:6. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of (or “like”) a fowl. Ewald observes, with entire correctness: “This beast is already distinguished from the other in being less one-sided, and in having ‘four wings of a bird’—i.e., such as are large and capable of carrying it swiftly to any place—on its back. [It moves, however, “not so royally as Nebuchadnezzar—for the panther has not eagle’s wings but only the wings of a fowl—yet extending to all the regions of the earth” (Keil).] Hence it can move with ease and freedom towards either of the four regions of the world, and therefore, in a sense, it possesses all the four regions of the world, i.e., it is in the full sense a world-kingdom.” Cf. Kranichfeld also: “The flashing swiftness of movement, the παρδάλεος ὀξύτης (Hab_1:8), which is here specially indicated by ‘four wings of a fowl on the back of it,’ i.e., in a condition for flying, is regarded as characteristic of this beast (the leopard) while lurking for its prey (Jer_5:6; Hos_13:7). Compared with the clearness and correctness of this interpretation there seems to be a strange lack of motive for the refusal of the two scholars to apply it to that world-kingdom, which more than any other was remarkable for its extension by leaps of panther-like swiftness, and by the lightning-like rapidity of its rise and fall—namely, the Macedonian empire of Alex, the Gr.” Cf. the remark of Hitzig: “The special rapidity of the Persian movements to war and victory cannot be historically established”—certainly a correct remark, but one which ought not to have decided its author, who was likewise an opponent of the Macedonian hypothesis, to regard the four wings in this instance, not as symbols of rapid movement, but as “an emblem of the far-reaching protecting royal power from above” (after Lam_4:20; Psa_36:8).—The beast had also four heads, i.e., it extended its dominion in the four quarters of the earth, and governed the whole world. The words which follow, “and dominion was given unto it,” are probably merely epexegetical of this symbolical description, in which the four heads have the same significance as the pushing of the ram towards the four quarters of the heavens in Dan_8:4, or as the four faces of the cherubs which looked towards the four quarters of the earth in Eze_1:10 et seq. If it is desired to interpret the four heads more closely, they may be taken to represent the four principal divisions or aggregates of countries which the empire of Alexander embraced (cf. Hävernick on this passage), e.g., Greece, Western Asia, Egypt, and Persia (including India). This is less arbitrary, at least, than the opinion of Jerome, that the heads represented the four leading generals of Alexander, viz.: Ptolemy, Seleucus, Philip, and Antigonus, or than the favorite assumption of many moderns after Von Lengerke (e.g., Hitzig, Ewald, Kamphausen, etc.), that the author represents the four earliest Persian kings, from Cyrus to Xerxes, who alone were known to him as the four heads of the leopard. The advocates of the latter opinion refer for support to Dan_11:2, which passage, however, does not even imply that Daniel knew of but four kings of Persia (see on that passage), to say nothing of its affording no proof whatever that the present passage is concerned with any Persian kings. Our apocalyptist does not represent kings by heads, but by horns (see Dan_7:8; Dan_7:24 et seq.); a feature which recurs in the apocalypse of St. John, where the ten horns of the beast (Rev_17:13) symbolize ten kings, while the seven heads indicate seven mountains. This analogy seems to favor the view of Hävernick, which assumes that the four heads represent the four principal sections of the world-kingdom in question, but of course without demonstrating its correctness.
Dan_7:7. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly. Observe the solemn minuteness with which the fourth beast is introduced, and also the description as both “dreadful and terrible,” דְּחִילָה וְאֶמְתָּנִי; cf. Chr. B. Michaelis: “Jung-untur duo synonyma, ad intendendum rem signi-ficatam, ut hæc bestia non vulgariter, sed supra modum horribilis apparuisse videatur.”40—And it had great iron teeth. Iron is mentioned as signifying firmness and incisive sharpness (cf. Jer_15:12; Mic_4:13), while the teeth symbolize its lust of conquest (cf. Dan_7:5).—It devoured and brake in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it. Unlike the other beasts, it was not content with simply securing its prey, but, rejoicing in destruction, it stamped with its feet what it could not devour. This description evidently does not indicate that the conquests of the fourth world-kingdom were more extensive than those of its predecessors, but merely that its course was more devastating and destructive. This obviously alludes to the description of the legs of iron and clay (the organs employed in treading and stamping), which belonged to the colossus in chap. 2, and corresponds fully to the actual character of the empires of the Macedonian Diadochi, and particularly that of the Seleucidæ. Cf. Kranichfeld: “It is generally acknowledged that the description of the fourth beast agrees in its leading features with that of the fourth kingdom in Dan_2:40; especially in regard to its rage for destruction, which crushed without pity and trode everything under foot. Even the iron, the medium of destruction in Dan_2:23; Dan_2:40, returns here in the large teeth of the monster. The terrible appearance of the colossus resulted primarily from its fourth constituent part, and corresponding to this, the qualities which produce a terrible appearance are here expressly connected with the form of the fourth beast.”—And it was diverse from all the beasts before it. This does not assert that “it combined in itself all that was prominent in the three former beasts, the lion, bear, and leopard respectively” (Jerome, Hävernick, et al., under comparison with Rev_13:2), but merely that it differed from them all, and displayed its nature in a way that could not be realized by a comparison with the lion, the bear, or the leopard. This difference of the fourth beast from all the others is chiefly suggestive of the fragmentary and divided character of the fourth world-kingdom, and consequently alludes to the composition of the feet of the colossus out of intermingled iron and clay.41 The opinion of Hävernick and other advocates of the theory which regards the Roman empire as the fourth world-kingdom, that this description indicates the contrast between the character of that empire and that of the Oriental-Hellenistic monarchies which preceded it, is entirely too far-fetched; but that of Hitzig is no less so, when, in the support of his theory that the fourth beast represents Alexander the Great, he asserts that the contrast between the Hellenistic and the Oriental rule is here indicated—a contrast that was far greater than that between Rome and the world-kingdoms which preceded it.—And it had ten horns. According to Dan_7:24 these ten horns represent “ten kings.” Unlike ordinary animals, which have two horns, this monster representing the fourth world-kingdom has ten, being so many symbols of warlike power and dominion (cf. Deu_33:17; 1Sa_2:1; 1Sa_2:10; Psa_18:3; Job_16:15; Mic_4:13, etc.). The number ten is hardly to be strained, in this connection, to represent ten specified kings; but like the number four in Dan_7:6, it is rather to be taken in a symbolic sense, and to be regarded as indicating a multiplicity of rulers, or an indefinitely large number of kings—in harmony with the usual significance of the number, both in the Scriptures and elsewhere, as the symbol of earthly perfection.42 Kranichfeld observes correctly, “It is clearly not in the nature of the prophetic idea, that the number ten, in addition to the value which it thus has for the writer, should be capable of being demonstrated on the analogy of ordinary numerals, in the realization of the picture of the future.” The notes on chap. 11 will show that in the more detailed description of the development of the fourth world-power in that place, there is by no means an exact enumeration of ten kings on the throne of the Seleucidæ.
Dan_7:8. And behold, there came up among them another little horn. Concerning אָחֳרִי and its relation to the succeeding modifying predicate, see supra, on Dan_7:5.—The prophet observes the rising or springing up of this little horn, the eleventh one, as taking place between the ten which already existed (notice the idea of continued observation, so to speak, of being lost in observation, which is indicated by the expression מִשְׂתַּכַּל הֲוֵית, “I was engaged in considering, in observing”). The smallness of the new horn in this case, as in the parallel Dan_8:9, refers merely to its original state, not to its later appearance when fully grown; for, according to Dan_7:20, it was then greater than any of the other horns. Concerning the reading סִלְקַת, instead of סִלְקָת, see Hitzig on this passage.—Before (or “by”) whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots; i.e., it grew so strongly, and through its growth exercised so disturbing an influence upon its neighbors, that three of them were uprooted and wholly destroyed. Here also the definite number “three” is hardly to be strained to signify precisely three kings, who were overthrown by the monarch represented by the eleventh horn.43 The prophecy certainly had its more immediate Messianic fulfilment in the manner in which Antiochus Epiphanes rose from his originally obscure condition to the throne of the Seleucidæ, by removing two or perhaps three of his rivals (see infra); but from the prophet’s point of view, involving substantially a merely ideal, or, more correctly, a dream-like indefinite view of the future, the idea of precisely this personage in future history, and of the political conjunctures preceding his accession to the throne, was assuredly excluded.—And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man. Eyes like those of a man, human eyes (therefore two in number, despite the plural עַיְנִין, which is probably substituted for the dual for euphonic reasons merely, and by virtue of a usage that is frequent in the chaldee), are borne by the horn in token that it represents a man,44 and, moreover, a wise, judicious man; for here as elsewhere (e.g., Eze_1:18; Eze_10:12) eyes are the symbol of understanding; cf. שכל, “to look at, understand.”—And a mouth speaking great (or “proud”) things; a farther indication of the human nature and character of the historical personage prefigured by the horn. מְמַלֵּל רַכְרְבָן, properly, “speaking great or monstrous things;” cf. supra, on Dan_7:3, and also infra, Dan_7:11; also the Heb. דִּבַּי גְּרוֹלוֹת, Psa_12:4. The interpretation in Dan_7:25 shows that blasphemies are meant by this “speaking of great things;” cf. Dan_11:36; Rev_13:5.45
Dan_7:9-12. The Divine judgment upon the world-powers. I beheld (such things) till the thrones were cast down (or “set”) The A. V. is literal (רְמִיו). The chairs of the Orientals consist of cushions, which are not set down, but laid down, and, in case of haste, are cast down; cf. ἔκειντο, Rev_4:2. The place where the thrones are set is not in heaven, for according to Dan_7:13 the Son of man descends to it from heaven; nor is it on the earth, but, as in Dan_12:7, a locality intervening between heaven and earth. [“Seats, not merely a throne for God the judge, but a number of seats for the assembly sitting in judgment with God. That assembly consists neither of the elders of Israel (Rabbins), nor of glorified men (Hengstenb. on Rev_4:4), but of angels (Psa_89:8), who are to be distinguished from the thousands and tens of thousands mentioned in Dan_7:10, for those do not sit upon thrones, but stand before God as servants to fulfil his commands and execute His judgments” (Keil).]—And the (“an”) Ancient of days did sit; viz., on his throne, in order to preside at the judgment; cf. Psa_9:5; Psa_29:10; Isa_28:6. The “Ancient of days” (עַתִּיק יוֹמִין), i.e., the aged in days (πεπαλαιωμένος ἡμερῶν, Sus. 52), is doubtless the God of Israel, the same as the Most High, Dan_7:25, who was blasphemed by the little horn. He is described as the “Ancient of days,” probably not by way of comparison with the younger associated judges, nor yet with the “blasphemous upstart,” the little horn (Kranichfeld), but in comparison with the more recent gods of the heathen; cf. Deu_32:17; Jer_23:23. This predicate therefore refers to that attribute of the God of the Old Covenant, which is designated in such expressions as אֱלֹהֵי קֶדֶם, Deu_33:27, ישֵׁב קֶדֶם, Psa_55:20; βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων, 1Ti_1:17; (ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος,) Rev_1:17 (cf. Isa_44:6; Isa_48:12). “He, who from primitive times has proven Himself a powerful judge, assumes the form of venerable age, in order to beget the confidence that He possesses the wisdom and power to bring the blasphemer to judgment.”—His garment was white as snow; thus correctly Theodot., Vulg., Hitzig, under comparison with Mar_9:3, but conflicting with the Masoretic accentuation, which requires “as the white snow” The white color of the garment is probably not designed “to increase the impression of awful majesty” (Kranichf.), but to symbolize the purity and innocence of the judge. He appears, “so to speak, robed in the צְדָקָה of the righteous judge;” cf. Isa_59:17; Job_29:4; 2Ch_19:7, and also the passages which mention the light, the symbol of holiness, as the garment of God, e.g., Eze_1:26; Psa_104:2; 1Ti_6:16.—And the hair of his head like the pure wool, hence, likewise as white as snow, as in the case of a venerable sage. Cf. the parallelism of snow and wool in passages like Isa_1:16; Psa_147:16; Rev_1:14.—His throne like the fiery flame; flashing like flaming fire, and apparently composed of it. The mention of the fiery appearance of the throne of God, does not of itself convey the conception of flaming vengeance on the part of the strict judge (Deu_4:24; Deu_9:3; Deu_32:22; Heb_12:29, etc.); for He frequently appears surrounded by fire in cases where His judicial character is not involved, e.g., Gen_15:17; Exo_3:3; Psa_18:9, etc. In the present instance, however, the judicial significance of the fire that emanates from God is clearly established by the connection, as in Exo_19:16; Exo_20:15; Psa_50:3 et seq. (against Hitzig and Von Lengerke).—His wheels as burning fire. The throne of the universal judge is therefore mounted on wheels (cf. the cherubic chariot, Eze_1:12 et seq.; Dan_10:13 et seq.; Psa_77:19), whose swift revolutions are encompassed with flashing fire. This description of the Divine throne of judgment as mounted upon wheels leads Kranichfeld to the incongruous opinion that the “casting down of the thrones” was accompanied with noise (!).
Dan_7:10. A fiery stream issued and came forth from him; i.e., from the Divine Judge, not from His throne; for the קֳדָמוֹהִי of the first sentence can hardly be construed with a different object from that of the second, which clearly relates to God. Nevertheless both the author of the book of Enoch (Enoch14:19) and the writer of the Apocalypse (Dan_4:9) represent the fiery stream as issuing from the throne, in the descriptions copied by them from this passage. Ewald interprets the “stream of fire” as a “stream of light,” and arbitrarily makes it the symbol of the speech which issues from God, that is, of His command to begin the judgment (in support of which he appeals to Dan_2:15; Dan_6:27, etc., whose character is entirely different). Hitzig is no less arbitrary when he remarks that the stream must be conceived as flowing evenly over a smooth bottom (hence like liquid glowing lava!), and as constituting the floor for the entire scene of the judicial procedure, since without this “the whole apparition would float in the air without support”—an empty fancy, which the prophet’s language in no wise favors.46—Thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The imperfect tense of the verbs indicates that a readiness to serve existed in the thousands as a constant and enduring quality. Concerning “to stand before one” as synonymous with “to serve,” cf. Dan_1:4.—In relation to the plural ending יכ—in אֲלָפִים, which the Keri rejects as a Hebraism, cf. Dan_4:14; Ezr_4:3.—The Kethib רִבְוָן (the plural of רִבּוֹ) immediately following is likewise to be retained, in opposition to the Hebraizing Keri רִבְבָן, Hitzig’s suggestion, however, to write רִבּוּ (on the analogy of the corresponding Syr. word) instead of רִבּוֹ is unnecessary.—The “thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand” are of course a host of ministering angels, which, standing in a wide circle, surrounds the council of the judges who are seated beside God (these are angels of a superior order, or perhaps “elders,” cf. Rev_4:4). Cf. Deu_33:2; 1Ki_22:19; Neh_9:6; Psa_68:18; Psa_103:20 et seq., and also the mention of the angelic hosts in Gen_32:3; 2Ki_6:17, etc. The numbers 1,000 and 10,000 are not to be regarded as definite; they indicate, in a symbolic manner, the impression of an innumerable multitude which was made on the prophet in his dream-vision, while he was naturally in no condition to overlook the whole of this immense host, to say nothing of counting its numbers exactly; cf. Psa_68:18; Psa_91:7.47—The judgment was set. דִּינָא is properly an abstract word, signifying “judgment;” here used concretely to designate the judicial conclave composed of the superior angels—the angelic princes or archangels (cf. Jos_5:14; Tob_12:15, etc.); cf. the analogous use of judicium in the concrete by Cicero, Verr., II. 18. Since chairs indeed were mentioned in the foregoing (Dan_7:9 a), but nothing was said about the judges taking their seats, we must find it indicated in this place, and it is therefore not necessary to explain, with Dathe and Kranichfeld, that “He seated Himself in judgment” (the Ancient of days), as if this were merely a repetition of יְתב in Dan_7:9 (similarly also Syrus, who read דַּיָּנָא instead of דִּינָא, and therefore renders it, “the judge seated himself”).—And the books were opened; the books of record, in which the good and bad deeds of men were recorded, that they may serve as a basis of the sentence to be pronounced upon men by God, the heavenly judge. Cf. Rev_20:12, as well as the frequent mention of the “book of life” in which the names of the heirs of celestial glory, who have been reconciled to God, are inserted,—in Exo_32:32; Psa_69:29; Isa_4:3; Dan_12:1 (see on that passage); Luk_10:20; Php_4:3; Rev_3:5; Rev_20:15; also the “book of remembrance,” in which God records the sufferings of His faithful servants, which is noticed in Psa_56:9; Mal_3:16, etc.
Dan_7:11. I beheld then, because of the voice of great words which the horn spake—I beheld even till the beast was slain. An anacoluthon, in the second חָזֵה הֲוֵית repeats the first, which was separated from בֵּאדַיִן by the accent, but gives a somewhat different turn to the thought; cf. the similar constructions in Jer_20:5; Rev_12:9; 1Ma_1:1. עַד דִּי, “till that,” indicates a protracted trial, which ends with the destruction of the beast, i.e., with the judicial execution of the God-opposed world-power. The little horn, representing the last anti-christian king of the fourth monarchy, who brings ruin upon his whole empire by his insolent rebellion against the Most High, is designated as the cause for this destruction.—And his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame; rather, “and given for burning to the flame.” The latter of these expressions illustrates the former; the destroying of the “body” of the beast, i.e., of the entire edifice of anti-christian national power, is effected by burning, which burning (יְקֵדָא= Heb. שְׂרֵפָֹה in Isa_64:10) is of course to be taken figuratively, as in Isa_9:4; Isa_66:24; Rev_19:20; Rev_20:10; and the fiery nature of the Divine Judge of the world, as described in Dan_7:9, unquestionably stands in a causal relation to the kindling of this devouring fire of judgment; cf. Isa_10:17; Isa_30:27; Zep_1:18, etc.
Dan_7:12. The rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away; rather, “and the power of the rest of the beasts was also taken away.” The subjects of הֶעְדִּיו are the celestial powers, as in Dan_7:5. Since the dominion of the three earlier beasts was destroyed before the rise of the fourth, so far at least as it was a dominion over the world in the proper sense, and since it does not seem admissible to take הֶעְדִּיו in the sense of the pluperfect, thus explaining the passage as a mere supplementary note (against Ephraem, Polychron., Kamphausen, C. B. Michaelis, etc.), the judgment inflicted on the “rest of the beasts” together with that visited on the fourth must be understood to signify that utter destruction of the heathen world-powers which subjects the remnants of all the four world-kingdoms to the new all-embracing Messianic dominion, and incorporates them in its realm; for as the characteristic expression שְׁאָר חֵיוָתָא, “the rest of the beasts” (instead of חיותא אחרן or כל־חיותא ד־קדמוח, Dan_7:7 b) indicates, certain fragments or remnants of the three former world-kingdoms are conceived of as continuing to exist beside the fourth, and as being involved in its destruction. The fall of the three earlier world-kingdoms is not regarded as complete by the prophet, inasmuch as larger or smaller portions of them continue to exist beside the last—perhaps temporarily incorporated into it as provinces, but not on that account assimilated to it—until the Messianic judgment involves them in a common destruction. That he refers only to such remnants, and not to new kingdoms essentially distinct from the former world-monarchies (as J. D. Michaelis, Von Lengerke, Hitzig, Ewald, etc., suppose), is evident (1) from the parallel description in chap. 2, where the destruction of the four constituent parts of the colossus results at the last and in the same moment through the agency of the stone which rolls from the mountain (see Daniel 7:34 et seq., and especially Daniel 7:44); (2) from the later parallel, Dan_8:4, where all the beasts (כָּל־חַיּוֹת) with whom the Persian ram contends, are likewise only the constituent parts into which the latest world-kingdom had dissolved, and which are all overthrown and subjugated by the new dynasty (see on that passage, and compare Kranichfeld’s remarks on this place, p. 265 et seq., which are certainly correct).—Yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time; rather, “for the duration of their life was fixed, to the season and time.” This time (זְמַן, identical with זִמְנָא, Dan_7:22, according to the correct opinion of Von Lengerke, Kranichfeld, etc.) has come, so far as the seer is concerned, with the judgment of the fourth beast and of the remnants of the other beasts, which has just been described. The duration of their lives (אַרְכָא בְחַיִּין, properly “respite, prolongation of life”) finds its unalterable terminus ad quem in this period of Messianic judgment, beyond which, indeed, the various nations (Dan_7:14) continue to exist, but not the heathen world powers formerly composed of them. Concerning זְמַן וְעִדָּן Heb.=עֵת וּמּוֹעֵד) see on Dan_2:21.
Dan_7:13-14. The erection of Messiah’s kingdom. I saw in the night visions, and behold; again a solemn and circumstantial introduction, like that preceding the description of the fourth beast in Dan_7:7. Cf. the minuteness with which the prophet dwelt on the description of the fourth world-power, and of the Messianic judgment which came upon it, in Dan_2:40 et seq.—(One) like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven; literally, “with the clouds of heaven (one) coming like a Son of man” (אָתֵה הֲוָא). The subject is omitted, and must be rendered indefinitely by “one,” as in Dan_8:15; Dan_10:16; Dan_10:18. “With the clouds of heaven,” i.e., together with them (Rev_1:7), and therefore in them (Mar_13:26) or upon them, ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν (Mat_24:30; Mat_26:64; Rev_14:14). As the Messiah here comes to God upon the clouds of heaven and stands before Him, so God Himself rides, in poetical and prophetic descriptions elsewhere, upon the clouds as His celestial chariot, cf. Psa_104:3; Jer_4:13; also Psa_18:10-18; Psa_97:2-4; Nah_1:3 et seq.; Isa_19:1 (cf. Isa_14:14).—בַּר אֱנָשׁ, “son of a man, son of man,” is a simple circumlocution to express the idea “man,” which is found also in the Syr. and the Targums; and therefore = the Heb. אֱנוֹשׁ or אָדָם, or which the Heb. also occasionally substitutes בֶּן־אָדָם or בֶּן־אֱנוֹשׁ (see Psa_8:5; Psa_144:3; and infra, Dan_8:17; Dan_10:16; Dan_10:18). This combination serves to specially point out an organic connection with or membership in the human race. The personage whom Daniel saw coming with the clouds of heaven had the appearance, therefore, of being one of the human race—a man. The mention of the human appearance of the apparition certainly does not aim at contrasting it with the forms of the beasts before described (as Hofmann supposes, Weissagung und Erfüllung, I. 290); for these have passed from the prophet’s vision in consequence of their destruction, which has already transpired (Dan_7:11-12). The comparison with the human form of Him who comes with the clouds, which, although not expressed, is certainly implied, is to be found in the super human—hence the Divine, or at least angelic—form, which the seer would naturally expect to behold in these exalted scenes (see Ewald on this passage). That he should observe a form similar to that of man, shining through the clouds, instead of a terrifying apparition that blinds and confuses his senses, produces on him an impression of wonder, but also of pleasure. Cf. Kranichfeld: “The case here is different from that of Dan_3:25, where only ordinary men might be looked for in the fiery furnace, so that he who became the associate of the three Jews was at first regarded merely as partaking of human nature, and a comparison with merely human traits was necessary to lead the judgment to express the stronger utterance כְּבַר אֱלָהִין, without thereby denying the human appearance of the form. And as the judgment in Dan_3:25 rests in the conclusion that the personage in question belongs to the race of gods, although present in human form, so it here concludes that the object of notice is one belonging to the human race, but wearing the form of God.” The prophet, however, holds fast to the distinction between a wholly human appearance and the vision he has seen, and indicates this by the particle of comparison כְּ, which points out that he intends to represent a really supernatural, but still human like personage. (The correspondence with the כְּ in Dan_7:4; Dan_7:6, does not militate against this conception of the כְּ here—despite the assertion to the contrary b4y Richno, in the Stud. u. Kritt., 1869, II., p. 255.) There cannot be the slightest doubt, in view of the entire description, particularly in Dan_7:14, and also in view of the exactly corresponding signification of the destroying stone, in the parallel vision of the 2d chapter (see Dan_2:44 et seq.), that this superhuman form of a man represents the Messiah, the Divine-human founder of that fifth world-kingdom, which is at the same time a heavenly kingdom of eternal duration. The effort of Hitzig to refer the כְּבַר אֱנָשׁ to the people of Israel as the “personified community of saints, which rules over the heathen,” is merely the product of a persistent and fundamental aversion to the idea of a personal Messiah, which results naturally from the extreme rationalistic position of that exegete. The interpretation which asserts a personal Messiah is advocated by nearly all expositors (with the exception of Ibn-Ezra, Jahn, Paulus, Baumgarten-Crusius, and Hofmann, who agree with Hitzig, but, in part, for very different reasons, and giving a more positive turn to the subject), and is removed beyond the region of doubt, (1) by Dan_7:18; Dan_7:21 of this chapter, in which an unbiassed exegesis is compelled to find the people of Israel clearly distinguished from the Son of man (see on Dan_7:18); (2) by the undeniable reference of υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, the pre-eminently favorite Messianic designation of Himself employed by the Saviour, to this passage (Mat_8:20, etc.; Joh_12:34); (3) by important testimonies of the Jewish-Hellenistic literature, such as Enoch (Enoch 46:1–3; (Enoch 48:2 et seq., (Enoch 62:7, 9, 14; (Enoch 63:11; (Enoch 69:27.—Cf. Hilgenfeld, Jüdische Apokalyptik p. 155 et seq.), Orac. Sibyll. (III., 286 et seq., 653 et seq., ed. Friedlieb; cf. Zündel, Kritische Untersuchungen, p. 163 et seq.);48(4) by most of the rabbins (e.g., R. Joshua in Ibn-Ezra, Saadia, Rashi, Ibn-Jahja, etc.), who frequently designate the Messiah simply as עֲנָנִי, “the beclouded one.” Cf. the Eth. -fund. principles, etc., No. 4.—And came to the Ancient of days; i.e., he was admitted to the immediate presence of God (cf. Eze_42:13), conducted before Him until he was placed as near as were the elders who sat on the right and left, and even still nearer.—And they brought him near before him. The subject of הַקְרְבוּהִי is probably not “the clouds,” but rather thy ministering angels, Dan_7:10. Thus Hitzig, Ewald, etc., correctly hold, in opposition to Kranichfeld, who construes the clouds as the subject, and to several others, as Kamphausen, etc., who prefer to leave the subject wholly undesignated, as with הֶעְדִּיו, Dan_7:12.—That the Messiah was required to be brought before God and be presented to Him at this juncture, indicates that the prophet regards him as having previously existed while the beasts exercised their dominion—and therefore that he ascribes personal pre-existence to him. Daniel probably conceived of him as pre-existing among the thousands and tens of thousands of the saints of God, and as subduing and crushing the God-opposed world-powers at their head (Dan_7:11-12); for only thus can be explained the investing of the Messiah with eternal dominion over the kingdom of God, which is evidently a reward for his valiant battling in the service of the Most High, as described in the next verse; cf. also the parallel description in Dan_2:44 et seq.
Dan_7:14. And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom. Instead of יְהִב Syrus and the Vulgate read יְהַב—“and He (the Ancient of days) gave him,” etc.; likewise Luther in this place and the parallel Dan_7:22, where also the Sept. and Theodot. interpret יְהַב. In the latter instance the active sense would certainly seem preferable, since the “Ancient of days” immediately precedes a different verb in the 3d sing. active as its subject; here, however, this subject is too distant, and the analogy of Dan_7:4; Dan_7:6 recommends the passive form יְהִיב.—The triad “dominion, glory, and kingdom” recalls Daniel 3:33; Dan_4:31; Dan_6:22, where at least “dominion” (שָׁלְמָו) and “kingdom” (מַלְבוּ) are given. Upon it is based the ancient, doxology at the close of the Lord’s prayer: σοῦ γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας.—And all people.… should serve (“served”) him. Concerning the triad “peoples, tribes, and tongues” see on Dan_3:4. Von Lengerke and Ewald regard יִפְלְח׳וּן as future, “shall serve him,” but thereby assume a rather harsh change of tense in the midst of the remarks which describe the objects seen in the vision. Hitzig, Kranichfeld, etc., are correct in considering the verb as logically dependent on the preceding principal verb יְהִיב, thus expressing design “in order that,” or, “so that all people, etc., should serve him.” פלח in itself is certainly not to be limited to signify religious service (Divine adoration, cultus), for in the extra-Biblical Chaldee, e.g., in the Targums, it signifies also a purely secular service, and in Dan_7:27 of this chapter it is synonymous with אשתמע, “to obey;” but in point of fact it serves, both here and in that passage, to designate service rendered to a Divine person, which is also its bearing in Dan_3:12 et seq.—His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not be destroyed. Cf. Daniel 3:33; 4:3; 6:27; also Mic_4:7; Luk_1:33; Rev_11:15; Rev_19:16, etc.
Dan_7:15-18. The interpretation of the vision in general, without special reference to the fourth beast. The impression of alarm produced on Daniel by what he saw, led him to seek a further explanation of its meaning. He therefore mingles with the host that surrounds the Ancient of days, after having hitherto remained apart as a mere observer. A second act in the drama of the dream-vision, in which the prophet himself takes part, though merely as an inquirer, begins therefore at this point. Von Lengerke arbitrarily remarks: “The vision is now over (with Dan_7:14); but the seer remains on the heavenly scene, and requests an angel to interpret the dream.” That this is incorrect, appears from Dan_7:16, where the ministering hosts of angels mentioned in Dan_7:10 still appear, while on that assumption they must have disappeared with all the other features of the vision; and the character of what follows, to the end of the chapter, does not indicate that it is a mere interpretation as distinguished from the preceding dream.—I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body; properly, “within in the sheath” (בְּגוֹ נִּדְנֶח) i.e., in the body, which contains the spirit, as the sword is contained in its scabbard; cf. Job_27:8; Pliny, H. N., VII., 53. Ewald well remarks that “as the sword remains at rest as long as it is in its sheath, so the spirit of man is generally quiet while it feels itself enclosed by the coarse veil of the body; but there are still moments in which the spirit becomes restless while in its coarse tenement, and when it would break forth impatiently and venture all,” etc. In relation to כְּיָא (properly “to abbreviate, contract, torquere”) as designating an unusually bitter grief, cf. the corresponding Syr. and Arab. verbs. The feature that plunges the prophet into so severe and bitter sorrow is not so much the circumstance that he is unacquainted with the special meaning of the vision, as that a majority of its features, and particularly the four beasts and the dreadful fate imposed on them, were so prophetic of evil and misfortune. The end, indeed, toward which everything was tending, according to Dan_7:13-14, was glorious, but the way by which to reach it was painful, and opened a prospect of severe conflicts for the people of God; and the prophet must have suspected this, even before it was explained to him in detail.—אֲנָא, in the combination רוּחִי אֲנָא, is not the nominat. absol., as Bertholdt supposed, but is in apposition to the suffix in רוּהִי; cf. Dan_8:1; Dan_8:15; Ezr_7:21; also Winer, § 40, 4, and concerning the corresponding construction in the Hebrew, see Gesenius, Lehrgeb., p. 728. The solemn emphasis which the prophet’s language gains by this appositional supplement, corresponds to the importance of his vision; cf. Dan_10:1; Dan_10:7; Dan_12:5.
Dan_7:16. I came near unto one of them that stood by, i.e., one of those engaged in His service, who stood about God.—And asked him the truth (or “the true explanation”) of all this; יַצִּיבָא properly “the firm, or certain;” here used of the trustworthy interpretation, conforming to the designs of God, for which Daniel asks. Kranichfeld interpolates: “He desires that nothing should be concealed because of a desire to spare the inquirer in his excited state.” This additional idea of laying aside reserve, of disregarding considerations of pity, is not contained in the simple יַצִּיבָא.—And he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things (or “words”), viz.: in the remarks which follow (Dan_7:17-18). The clause “and made me to know is therefore epexegetical to “and he told me;” the וּ before פְּשַׁר is explicative, as in Dan_7:1 a. Von Lengerke and Kranichfeld unnecessarily take יְּהוֹדְעִנַּנִי in the telic sense, “He told me that he would make me to know,” etc. The reason for such a promise to reveal the interpretation is not discoverable, since the interpretation itself immediately follows.
Dan_7:17. These (exceedingly) great beasts, which are four—four kings—shall arise, etc. With reference to the clause in the nom. absol., “these exceedingly great beasts, which are four” (or, “With reference to these.… beasts, concerning them,” etc.), cf. Dan_7:23-24, and also Isa. 49:49.—The four kings מַלְכִין, whom the beasts are here said to denote, are unquestionably not regarded as four individuals, but as the representatives of four kingdoms, as appears from Dan_7:23-24 (where the fourth beast is represented as a מַלְכוּ governed by a numerous succession of individual kings). Cf. the identifying of מַלְכוּ and מֶלֶךְ which appears already in Dan_2:37 (as well as supra, Dan_7:4) in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, and again in Dan_8:21 et seq.; Dan_11:2.—The “arising of the kings will be מִן אַרְעָא, i.e., not “out of the earth,” but “from the surface of the earth,” hence, in effect, “on earth” (Luther).—In the later Heb. parallels, Dan_8:22-23; Dan_11:2-3 et seq., קוּם is rendered by עָמַד. The future יְקוּמוּן denotes the Divine decree, which limits the duration of the dominion of kings, as well as appoints their rise. Instead of “They shall arise,” יְקוּמוּן may therefore be rendered modally, “They shall be compelled to arise.” If the purely future sense be retained, it will be necessary to assume, with Von Lengerke, Kamphausen, etc., that the prophet carelessly, or by virtue of a denominatio a potiori, included the actually existing, and even partially superseded Babylonian world-kingdom among the future ones of his vision. This view is, however, more eligible than the strange assumption of Hitzig that the author does not in this connection regard the Chaldæan empire as the first of the coming monarchies, but assigns that position to the reign of Belshazzar merely, which opened shortly after the time of this vision; as if Dan_7:1 did not expressly specify “the first year of Belshazzar” as the time of recording the vision, and as if it were at all certain that the author really regarded Belshazzar as the last Chaldæan king! Moreover, how can it be reconciled, that while formerly (Dan_2:37) Nebuchadnezzar was selected as the representative of the Chaldæan monarchy, and this was to a certain extent repeated at the commencement of the present vision (see Dan_7:4), the unimportant, listless, idle Belshazzar should here suddenly be installed in his place?
Dan_7:18. But the saints of the Most High shall take(“receive”) the kingdom. The plural עֶלְיוֹנִין, which occurs here and in Dan_7:22; Dan_7:25; Dan_7:27, serves, like עִלַּי in the Targums, as a pluralis excellentiæ, to denote the God of Israel, who in Gen_14:18 is called אֵל עֶליוֹן. As similar plurals of excellence, cf. not merely אֱלֹהִים, but also קְדוֹשִׁים, Jos_24:19; Hos_12:1; Pro_9:10; Pro_30:3.—The “saints of the Most High,” or the “saints” simply (קדִּישִׁין) as they are called in Dan_7:21-22, are not the angels, mentioned in Dan_7:10; Dan_7:16, who surround the throne of God, but the people of God on the earth, the “real members in the communion of the perfectly true religion” (Ewald), the members of the house of Israel in its ideal spiritual signification (Gal_6:16), the Israel of the Messianic time of fulfilment; cf. Isa_4:3; Isa_6:13; Isa_62:12; Rom_9:6, etc.—The same expression is also found in Dan_7:22; Dan_7:25; cf. עַם־קְדוֹשִׁים, Dan_8:24, and עַס־קֹדֶשׁ, Dan_12:7 (also Exo_19:6; Deu_7:6; Deu_14:21; Psa_16:3; Psa_34:10).—When it is said that these saints of the Most High “shall receive the kingdom,” the reference is evidently to the transmission of the Messianic kingdom into the hands of the Son of man from the Ancient of days, as described in Dan_7:14. The saints, however, are by no means to be regarded as identical with the Son of man, so as to make him a mere personification of the people of Israel. This view, which, besides being advocated by Hitzig and Hofmann (see supra, on Dan_7:13), is adopted by Herzfeld in his Geschichte Israels, II., 381, is opposed by Dan_7:21, where the saints are represented as a host of battling persons, and are clearly distinguished from the Messiah, who is exalted far above them, and at the time of their conflict with the anti-christ tarries in heaven with the Ancient of days—hence the relation between the Messiah and the Messianic people is represented to be such that he aids them in heaven and from heaven (strengthening, comforting, and supporting them in their conflicts and sufferings), and for that reason, as their representative, receives for them the dominion over the eternal kingdom from the hand of God, as was already indicated in the vision, Dan_7:14. Cf. Auberlen p. 51; also Von Lengerke, Kranichfeld, and Ewald on this passage. The latter correctly observes, p. Dan 406: “If the language in this place and in Dan_7:22; Dan_7:27 refers at once to the genuine members of Messiah’s kingdom instead of Himself, this is merely for the purpose of more fully explaining the great picture which has been given once for all. A kingdom and its sovereign cannot exist without subjects, and in fact, they only exist through the latter.… When such a people has really been found, it receives the power and perpetuity, the indestructible and eternal character, as well as the dignity and the pre-eminence which lie in the nature of that empire and its Messiah (cf. Dan_2:44). The language of this interpretation refers therefore to this people, and the subject of the vision in Dan_7:13 et seq. derives therefrom a self-evident but not unimportant completion. This by no means implies, however, that the Messiah, who was already sufficiently characterized in that passage, is identical with the people who are now, at the final stage, included, any more than that the description of the Messiah in that place, whose majestic character is not easily repeated, has any analogy with the words here employed. The king and his people are associated only in the final results and end, in the eternity and glory of the kingdom itself, as is strikingly remarked in this passage and in Dan_7:27; and yet even here the distinction is clearly observed that the three things, ‘authority, glory, and dominion,’ i.e., majesty in its full activity and glorious recognition, are in Dan_7:14 awarded only to the Messiah, and not to his people.” Cf. also the same author’s Jahrbücher der biblischen Wissenschaft, vol. III., p. 231 et seq.—And possess the kingdom for ever, etc. אחסן, “to possess,” here denotes the continued possession, while in Dan_7:22 it is inceptive, and signifies the assumption of the possession, or the entrance upon it. The superlative expression עַד עָלַם עָלְמַיָּא, “unto the eternity of eternities, unto all eternities,” is exactly like the Hebrew עַד־עוֹלְמֵי עַד, Isa_14:17; cf. 1Ti_1:17; Eph_3:21, etc.
Dan_7:19-22. Daniel desires a certain explanation of the fourth beast. He therefore briefly recapitulates the former description of its appearance and fate in Dan_7:7-14. In this recapitulation, which recalls to mind the similar ones in Dan_2:45 (cf. Daniel 7:34), and especially in Dan_4:17 et seq. (cf. Dan_7:7 et seq.), we have the new features that claws of brass are noticed in addition to its iron teeth (Dan_7:19), and that the people of God are mentioned as warring against the beast (aided by the Messiah, and under his protection) and overcoming it.—Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast. צְבִית עַל לְיַצִּבָא, I desired to be certain about this, ἐζῆτουν ἀκριβῶς περί (Theodot.). The reading לְיַצַּבָא, instead of לְיַצִּבָא, which is found in three MSS. at Erfurth, probably owes its origin to the defective form, which in this place, unlike Dan_7:16, seemed to indicate an Inf. Pael (which, however, is found in no other place). The rendering in the Vulgate: “Post hoc volui diligenter discere,” may also have contributed to originate that reading.—Whose teeth were of iron and its nails of brass. The brazen claws are associated with the iron teeth, by virtue of the association of ideas, which frequently connects iron and brass in thought; see e.g., Deu_33:25; Jer_15:12; Isa_45:2; Psa_107:16, etc.
Dan_7:20. And the other which came up, and before whom three fell. Literally, “and they fell before him the three.” The relative construction is dropped at this point, as well as the connection of the speech from וְעַל, at the beginning of the 20th verse, so that the discourse again assumes the character of description, especially from the beginning of the 21st verse.—And (of) that horn that had eyes; properly, “and that horn, and it had eyes,” etc. The וְ before עַיְנִין is epexegetical or correlative, as in Isa_44:12; Psa_76:7.—The form מְמַלִּל with—occurs also in Dan_7:25 and Dan_6:22.—Whose look was more stout than his fellows. מִן חַבְרָתָהּ, a shortened expression for מִן חֵזוּ ה׳; cf. Dan_1:10; Dan_4:13; Dan_4:30.
Dan_7:21. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, etc. This war against the saints merely indicates a special feature connected with the “devouring, breaking in pieces, and stamping under foot” (Dan_7:19), of which the beast was guilty, but precisely that feature which would especially arouse the attention and fears of the prophet. So far as the mode of expression is concerned, the writer here passes from figurative to literal language; cf. Rev_11:7; Rev_13:7; Rev_19:19.
Dan_7:22. Until.… judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; i.e., “until justice was done to them.” דִּרנָא here signifies justice to be secured by law, equivalent to the Heb. מִשְׁפָּט e.g., Deu_10:18; cf. Psa_140:13. It cannot here be taken in the sense of judging or performing judicial functions; for according to Dan_7:9-10, it is God, with whom are associated the elders of heaven, who sits in judgment and administers justice (cf. Psa_9:5). There is no design here to assign a participation in this judicial administration of the Almighty to the saints (thus differing from Mat_19:28; 1Co_6:2).—Instead of “the saints of the Most High,” the original has “saints of the Most High,” without the article, which is also the case in the latter half of the verse, and in Dan_7:21. Concerning the omission of the article in solemn and poetic speech, cf. Ewald, Lehrb., § 277 b, where Mic_7:11 et seq.; Isa_14:32; Hab_3:16; Psa_56:11, etc., are adduced as illustrations of the Hebrew usage.
Dan_7:23-27. The explanation of the angel respecting the fourth beast and its judgment. The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom; rather, “the fourth beast, a fourth kingdom shall be,” etc. The same construction as in Dan_7:17 a, and as in Dan_7:24.—And shall devour the whole earth. The emphasis does not fall on “the whole earth,” but on “shall devour” (.תֵּאכֻל), which is not only placed first, but is also repeated by two synonymous terms following the object. כָּל אַרְעָא does not, therefore, as Hitzig supposes, signify “all the countries of the earth,” for this would result in an unnecessary exaggeration of the hyperbole which, without question, really exists. Nor does the related אכל signify “to swallow up,” which would be equivalent to “appropriating, or incorporating with itself” (as Hitzig asserts, appealing for proof to Deu_7:16; Isa_9:11; Jer_10:25—which passages are, however, by no means convincing), but only “to devour,” which, like the synonyms “to break” and “to stamp” דּוּשׁ and חַדֵּק, indicates merely a devastating and destructive energy, without including the idea of conquering. The fourth world-kingdom, therefore, may be held to signify the empire of the Seleucidæ, in the light of this passage also; and there is no necessity to refer it to the Macedonian empire of Alexander, nor yet to that of the Romans.
Dan_7:24. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise; rather, “And the ten horns; out of this kingdom shall arise ten kings.” מִנֵּהּ מַלְכוּתָה, literally, “out of this, the kingdom,” i.e., out of this same kingdom; cf. on Dan_3:6. Concerning the form מַלְכוּתָה, for מַלְכוּתָא, see on Dan_2:7. Hitzig prefers, needlessly, to substitute the ending—הָּ, and refers the resulting “out of it, his kingdom” to the fourth beast, or even to the “other one” (antichrist) who is afterward mentioned, as its subject—which clearly is forced and arbitrary. Hengstenberg (p. 211 et seq.) attempts, contrary to the sense of the prophet, to make the “ten horns” represent ten kingdoms, i.e., ten Christian German states which are developed out of the Roman world-empire. Bleek (Jahrb. für deutsche Theol., 1860, I. p. 68) also inclines to this transformation of the “kings” into kingdoms, since he attempts to apply the fourth beast as a whole to the Macedonian-Hellenistic world-monarchy, the ten horns to the several kingdoms of the Diadochi which sprang from the former, and the eleventh horn directly to the dominion of the Seleucidæ and at the same time to its characteristic leading representative, Antiochus Epiphanes. Since the ten horns correspond to the partly iron and partly clay toes of the colossus in Dan_2:41 et seq.,49 the assumption that “kings” are here really put for “kingdoms” might seem admissible; but in parallelizing the toes of the image with the horns of the beast, the prophet would hardly think of individual rulers, any more than of distinct states or kingdoms (see on Dan_2:42). A horn, as Hitzig justly observes, would not be especially appropriate as the symbol of a kingdom; and the attempts of Luther, Melancthon, Geier, Ph. Nicolai (De regno Christi, l. I., c. 5 ss.), etc., to make the ten horns denote ten designated states which were formed out of the Roman world-monarchy—e.g., Syria, Asia, Egypt, Africa, Greece, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and England, or (as Nicolai, l. c, suggests) Syria, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Germany, Poland, Hungary, France, Spain, and England—can only produce absurd and arbitrary results. In Dan_7:8 the horn is clearly represented as a person; and accordingly the numerous horns in this place are probably intended to denote individual royal personages. Cf. also Dan_8:21, where the horn is said, in the plainest terms, to represent a personal king.50 For the rest, see Ethico-fund. principles, etc., Nos. 2 and 3.—He shall be diverse from the first. “As then fourth kingdom differs (Dan_7:7; Dan_7:19) from the other three, so he differs, and to his disadvantage, from his predecessors; this is true generally, but especially so in his conduct towards God and his saints, Dan_7:25” (Hitzig).—And he shall subdue three kings. יְהַשְׁפִּיל, the opposite of אֲקִים, as in Dan_2:21. It does not denote a merely moral humiliation, but a complete degradation, and even a hurling down, a seizing of their dominion (cf. Eze_21:32; Isa_10:33). This is also shown by Dan_7:8, which speaks very plainly about a “plucking up by the roots” of three of the former horns by the “little horn,” and thereby probably refers to a supplanting of three rulers of the Seleucidæ by the violence of a new sovereign (see on that passage),51
Dan_7:25. And he shall speak—words against the Most High; יְמַלִּל—מִלִּן, like the Heb. דִבֶּר דְּבָרִים, Hos_10:4; Isa_8:10; Isa_58:13. It appears from Dan_7:8; Dan_7:20, and also from the later parallel, Dan_8:25 b, that blasphemous words are meant. This prophecy was certainly fulfilled in a marked degree by the blasphemous words of Antiochus Epiphanes (1Ma_1:24, etc.), but by no means for the last time; cf. the N.-T. prophecies relating to antichrist, 2Th_2:4; Rev_13:5 et seq. לְצַד עִלָּיָא, properly, “in the direction of the Most High,” i.e., against the Most High (who is personally near), “against the person of the Most High” (Kranichfeld).— And shall wear out (“disturb”) the saints of the Most High. Hitzig’s remark is too farfetched: “יְבַלֵּא is assonant with the preceding parallel יְמַלִל, and is not equivalent to ‘disturb, wear out’ (cf. בַּלּוֹת in 1Ch_18:9, and the Targ., Isa_3:15), but signifies ‘ to try, oppress, make wretched’ ” (?).—And think to change times and laws. זִמְנִין does not signify “statuta sacra” (Hävernick), but=Heb. מוֹעֲדִים, “festival seasons” (Lev_23:4; Isa_33:20), i.e., determined, legally appointed times for religious celebrations in general, for the great annual feasts as well as for the weekly and monthly (Sabbaths and new moons); cf. Num_28:2. The following וִדָת, “and law, traditional usage,” indicates that the impious king shall not merely endeavor to change the appointed times of these rites, but that he shall seek to abrogate the ceremonial observances of religion themselves; hence, what was formerly said in a good sense (Dan_2:21) of God, the absolutely perfect and omnipotent “changer of times and seasons,” is here predicated in a bad sense of His dasmoniacal adversary, the impious Ἀντίθεος. Cf. the attempts of Antiochus Epiphanes, recorded in 1Ma_1:45 et seq.; 2Ma_6:2-7, to destroy the theocratic system by abrogating the daily sacrifices, the observance of Sabbaths and feasts, and by introducing the sacrifice of unclean beasts, and the worship of Jupiter and Bacchus—attempts in which the prophecy before us found its more immediate historical fulfilment, while its ultimate realization must be looked for in the last times, according to 2Th_2:4; Rev_13:8; Rev_13:12 et seq.—And they shall be given into his hand until a time and (two) times and the dividing of (or, “a half”) time. The expression sounds, upon the whole, like Mic. 5:26; but the duration of the period of suffering imposed by the permission and pædagogic wisdom of God is somewhat more definitely fixed in this instance, without, however, omitting the mystical feature in this limitation which requires to be interpreted. The aggregate duration of this time of affliction is divided into three distinct periods, which, however, are sufficiently indefinite in themselves, and therefore in no wise indicate the real measure of time in the prophet’s mind; for while it is entirely probable that עִדָּן has the same signification here as in Dan_4:13, namely, “a year” (see on that passage), yet the duration of “a year” in a vision of the future, which constantly presents symbolic conceptions, is upon the whole extremely doubtful. It must remain an open question whether ordinary calendar years are intended, or, what is scarcely less probable in itself, whether mystical periods are referred to, which are measured by a standard not known to men, but only to God.52 It may be shown with, more confidence how the three particular designations of time, עִדָּן ,עִדָּנִיןּ and פְּלַג עִדָּן, are related to each other, and also why precisely these terms are employed in the prophecy, which are repeated in the Heb. of the parallel, Dan_12:7, in the words מוֹעֵד, מוֹעֲדִים and וָחֵצִי. In harmony with a not infrequent Chaldee usage, the plural עִדָּנִין is put for the dual (cf. Targ., Amo_4:6; Exo_11:5; Num. 19:36; supra, Dan_7:8 et seq., and, upon the whole question, Winer, § 55, 3), and therefore, like the corresponding Heb. מוֹעֲדִים, represents a double period, a pair of times, and, in case עִדָּן signifies a year, a period of two years. The converse holds with פְּלַג, which, though in itself denoting any fraction whatever, is shown positively by the parallel חֵצִי Dan_12:7 to signify “a half.” Hence a double year is at first added to the year which stands at the beginning, and afterward another half year. The period of 3½ years which thus results is symbolically significant, inasmuch as it forms the half of seven years, and therefore stands related to the prophetically significant “seven times” in Dan_4:13, as the half to the whole. If, therefore, the sevenfold number of the years passed in lycanthropy by Nebuchadnezzar (which was not to be taken literally, but ideally and prophetically) denoted, in a general way, an extended duration of the sufferings imposed on him by God, it follows that the present figures indicate a period of affliction that is shorter by one-half. “A time, and times, and a half time” represents a time of suffering that is abbreviated by one-half, or that is interrupted at the middle, similar to that referred to in the prophetic words of Christ: εἰ μὴ ἐκολοβώνησν αἱ ἡμέραι ἐκεῖναι, οὐκ ἀν ἐσώθη πᾶσα σάρξ, Mat_24:22; Mar_13:20. The same idea of a shortened or halved time of affliction is expressed by the “half-week” (i.e., half week of years) in Dan_9:27, which, like the 1, 290 days in chap. 12–11 (or the 1, 260 days or 42 months of the Apocalypse, Rev_11:2 et seq.; Rev_13:5), is merely a tolerably exact designation of the 3½ years, in different language. It will be shown hereafter that this prophecy of the affliction of Israel during 3½ years prior to its deliverance likewise had a typical fulfilment in the history of Antiochus Epiphanes, while its final realization is reserved for the eschatological future.53 For the present it will be necessary to remember merely, as the result of an unprejudiced exegesis having a suitable regard for the prophetic usage of language in this book, that a strictly literal conception of the period of 3½ years will hardly conform to the sense of the prophecy, and that there is therefore no need to seek for a period of suffering in the history of the Jews, while subject to that Syrian despot, which shall cover precisely that length of time, for the purpose of demonstrating that first fulfilment of the prophecy.54—But the judgment shall sit; cf. Dan_7:10 b, and also Dan_7:22.—And they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy (it) unto the end. שָׁלְטָנֵחּ is to be repeated, as the accusative of the object to the two infinitives. עַד־סדֹפִא, “unto the realized end,” i.e., to the end of the last God-opposed world-power, which marks the end of the heathen world-power as a whole. סדֹפָא therefore designates (unlike Dan_6:27, where the never-accomplished end of God’s kingdom is referred to) the goal at the end of the development of earthly dominion, which coincides with the erection of the kingdom of God (Dan_7:13 et seq.).
Dan_7:27. And the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom (“kingdoms”); a triad similar to that in Dan_7:14, differing only in the substitution of דֵבדּתא, “the greatness” (Luther, “the power”), for יְקַר “glory.” דִּי מַלְכְוִת depends equally on all the three nouns as a subjective genitive, and therefore denotes that the dominion, power, and greatness possessed by all the heathen kingdoms is intended. On the meaning of the expression “of the kingdoms under the whole heaven,” see supra, on Dan_7:12.
Dan_7:28. The impression made on Daniel by what he has seen and heard. Hitherto is the end of the matter (or “remarks”), namely of the interpreter, the conclusion of which coincides with the end of the dream. De Wette, Hitzig, etc., render it inappropriately, and contrary to the sense of מִלְּתָא, “Thus far the history”—an interpretation which finds no support in Dan_12:6.—As for me, Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, namely, after awaking from his dream-vision; cf. Dan_2:1; Dan_4:2.—And (the color of) my countenance changed in me. Cf. Dan_5:9, where the same expression is found, and Dan_10:8, which is parallel in substance.—But I kept the matter in my heart, viz.: the remarks of the interpreting angel, Dan_7:17 et seq., and consequently, the subject and signification of the dream-vision. Cf. Luk_2:19.
Ethico-fundamental Principles Related To The History Of Salvation, Apolo-getical Remarks, And Homiletical
1. After what has been remarked, it is apparent that the principal force and the greatest interest of the prophetic descriptions of this chapter centre in the fourth world-kingdom and in its development as an anti-christian power, which immediately prepares the way for the judicial advent of Christ. In the parallel description in the second chapter,—where the series of world-kingdoms was represented by four metallic substances, respectively inferior to each other in value, in the order of their succession, and although together forming a great colossus, yet indicating its perishable nature by the weakness of the feet on which it rested—the observation of both the dreaming king and the interpreting prophet was fixed equally on all the four world-monarchies. Their intimate relations to each other, their separation, and their subjection to the same ultimate fate through the agency of the rock of Messiah’s kingdom, formed the principal features of that prophecy, which, however, likewise dwelt more extensively upon the fourth kingdom than upon its predecessors (Daniel 7:40 et seq.); but the principal reason for the prominence thus given to the last kingdom in the series, existed substantially in the fact that the aim was to point out that its heterogeneous elements and its divisions laid the foundation for its own ruin, and, as a matter of course, for the fall and ruin of the former empires. The case is different with the present vision and its interpretation. Each of the four beasts which in this instance represent the world-kingdoms is indeed drawn with nervous and strongly characterizing strokes, that admit of no doubt respecting their identity with the four constituents of the image (Dan_7:4 et seq); but the attention of the narrator is principally directed to the fourth beast, and to the horn which denotes the height of the development of the world-power (Dan_7:7 et seq.; 11 et seq.), even during the dream-vision itself. The interpretation of the vision disposes of the first three beasts and their reference to the three earliest world-kingdoms very summarily (Dan_7:17), but emphasizes the fourth beast and its “little horn which speaks blasphemous things,” as symbols of the final phase of development on the part of the world-power, and of the reign of antichrist produced by it; for not only are the characteristic peculiarities of this beast noticed twice over, the second time in a recapitulation denoting the reflections of the prophet concerning its nature and appearance (Dan_7:18-22), but they receive a somewhat detailed explanation (Dan_7:23-26), which does not indeed display the clearness of the disclosures in chapters 8, 11, and 12 relating to the same events in the period immediately prior to the Messianic future, but which is nevertheless far superior to all the former prophetic sections of the book, and especially to that contained in chap. 2, in the precision and clearness of its expositions.
2. In order to a correct apprehension of the Messianic bearing of this prophecy, it is requisite before all else, that the identity of the monarchial relations and situations indicated in this chapter with those described in chapters 8, 11, and 12, should be carefully observed; or, in other words, that the common reference of the prophecies in all these chapters to Antiochus Epiphanes and the Maccabæan period, as marking their more immediate fulfilment, should be recognized. The following considerations will demonstrate that this reference is common to the prophecies mentioned (and also to that contained in Dan_9:24-27), and that, consequently, the second part of the book of Daniel refers, as a whole, to that time as the epoch of its first and more immediate fulfilment:
a. The world-power in question is described as divided and subject to dissensions in itself, in all the parallel representations, especially in chap. 2 and 7 on the one hand and chap. 11 on the other. This agreement extends even to the point, that in both instances, Dan_2:43 as well as Dan_11:6; Dan_11:17, the vain attempts to secure peace by means of intermarriages are noticed (see on Dan_2:43 and cf. infra, on chap. 11, l. c).
b. The number ten is applied to the kings of the fourth monarchy, and receives prominent mention in at least two of the parallel descriptions (chap. 7 and 11), although merely as a symbolic number, which finds its counterpart, in a general way, in the first ten possessors of the throne of the Seleucidæ. (It must be remembered, however, that [according to the author’s view] neither the ten toes of the image of the monarchies, Dan_2:42 et seq., nor the four horns of the Grecian goat, Dan_8:7 et seq., refer to these ten predecessors of Antiochus Epiphanes, or to any individual kings whatever.)
c. The blasphemous and sacrilegious course of the eleventh king—symbolized by the “little horn”—towards the Most High, His law, and His saints, is described in chap. 7 (Dan_7:8; Dan_7:11; Dan_7:20-25), and more fully in Dan_8:10; Dan_8:24 et seq.; Dan_9:24 et seq. [?]; Dan_11:31; Dan_11:36, in a manner that recalls the statements of the Maccabæan books relating to the abominable attempts of Epiphanes to profane the Jewish worship and oppress its adherents, with the liveliest and strongest emphasis.
d. Chapters Dan_7:25; Dan_9:27; Dan_12:7 et seq., agree in limiting the duration of the tribulation caused by the antichristian tyrant to 3½ years. (In relation to the merely apparent discrepancy in the duration of the suffering, as stated in Dan_8:14 and Dan_12:12, see on those passages.)
e. The several descriptions agree in superseding and destroying the antichristian supremacy by the erection of a Messianic kingdom. This is not only asserted in the chapter before us and in Dan_2:44 et seq., but also in chap. 8, where the breaking of the foe without hands (Dan_7:25) is evidently synonymous with the loosening of the destroying stone “without hand” in Dan_2:34; Dan_2:45, and where the “justifying” (Dan_7:14) of the desolated sanctuary denotes nothing else than the introduction of the Messianic period of salvation. Further illustrations of this head appear in Dan_9:24 and in Dan_12:1 et seq., 7 et seq., where the Messiah likewise is described as the direct opponent and victorious successor of antichrist and his abominations. Hengstenberg (p. 213 et seq.), Hävernick, Ebrard (Offenb. Joh., p. 84 et seq.), Zündel (p. 119), and Auberlen (p. 197 et seq.) attempt in vain to deny the identity of the antichrist noticed in chapters 2 and 7 with the enemy of the people of God described in chapters 8 and 9, asserting that the former is to be looked for in N.-T. times immediately prior to Messiah’s second advent, while the latter appeared and was destroyed during the Old Dispensation and before the first advent of Christ, and that the prophecies in chapters 2 and 7 relate to the eschatological antichrist, while those in 8 and 11 denote a typical personage!-as if the descriptions in Dan_7:25 did not already indicate an opponent of the O.-T. church and ceremonial! as if the “changing of (festal) times and laws, there referred to, could designate anything but the violent offences against the temple and the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, as described in chapters 8, 9, and 11 (see supra on Dan_7:25, and also under c)! and as if an Israelitish prophet could possibly suspect that the worship of Messianic times would differ from that of the former dispensation; and as if he had not, in Dan_9:24, even expressly opened the prospect of a restoration of the O.-T. sacrifices and sanctuary services when Messiah should appear (see on that passage)! An unprejudiced exegesis, governed by scientific principles, can discover but a single antichrist in all the parallel prophecies, and that one is clearly described as the immediate predecessor of the Messiah, who supersedes and destroys him.55 The prophet, however, was evidently ignorant of the merely typical importance of this antichrist, as being only a forerunner of the antichrist of the last times (to whom refer the N.-T. descriptions of the future, which are based upon this book indeed, and which frequently recall its features—in 2 Thessalonians 2; Rev_11:7; Rev_13:1 et seq.; Rev_13:7; Rev_19:19 et seq.); for instead of representing the former as merely an imperfect analogue of the incomparably more atrocious impiety, the far more concentrated and diabolical wickedness of the latter, as he must have done if he were actually conscious that the distinction between type and anti-type existed in this case, he everywhere presents the idea of a flagrant rebellion against the Most High, and of the desecration of the sanctuary, and the attempted extirpation of the true religion, in expressions of equal force. And instead of dwelling chiefly on the anti-type as the more important character, and as being more significant in his relations to Messiah’s work, as might have been expected, he pursues a contrary course, and furnishes a far more thorough and realistic prophetic description of the type!—We are therefore obliged to conclude that in harmony with the law of prophetic perspective, Daniel saw the type and anti-type, the vista of Old and New-Testament times, the scenes of the more immediate future and those of the eschatological period, as a comprehensive whole, and that from his point of view, as a captive in Babylon, he no more saw the interval between the two features in the history of the future, although it covered thousands of years, than the pilgrim who journeys toward a distant goal is able to observe the broad and depressed valley that intervenes between the mountain immediately before him and that which seems to rise in close proximity beyond it. Cf. Hofmann, Weissagung und Erf., p. 313 et seq., where it is correctly remarked, with reference to the closing verses of chap. 11, which describe the terrible end of the typical antichrist, Antiochus Epiphanes, that “at a subsequent point he (the prophet, or rather the angel who speaks to him) observes only the final end of national history, the fear and tribulation which overtake the whole world, and the preservation of Israel in the midst of it, in addition to the final end of human history, the resurrection of the dead to life or to perdition (Dan_12:1-3).… The connection of these last things with the prospect of the end of that oppressor of Israel is not different, for instance, from that by which Isaiah speaks of the impending attack on Jerusalem by Assyria as the final alarm of that city, or which causes Jeremiah to regard the end of the seventy years as coinciding with the end of all the afflictions of his people.” Similar views are advanced by the same author in his Schriftbeweis, II. 2, 547 et seq., and also by Delitzsch, p. Dan 285: “It is a law of Messianic history that the fulfilment of a prophecy, if not completed by one event, must produce successive developments, until the actual state that has been realized shall correspond to the sense and word of the prophecy. The afflictions caused by Antiochus were not the last experienced by God’s people; but the book of Daniel predicts them as the last, as Isaiah in the downfall of Assyria, chapter 10, and Habakkuk in the destruction of Babylon, chap. 2. et seq., foretell the overthrow of the world-power. The range of the prophet’s vision is decided by the border of the horizon where arises the glory of the congregation of God, but not the measure of the meaning which the Spirit of prophecy introduces into his words, and which history gradually unfolds.”
3. While, however, the more immediate fulfilment of the predicted misfortunes of the dream-vision is to be chiefly, and even exclusively sought in the period of tribulation marked by the reign of the Seleucidæ and the revolt of the Asmonæans, it does not follow in any degree that a contemporary of that generation must be regarded as the composer of this vision, and that therefore it must be held to be a prophecy forged ex eventu. In opposition to this assumption of a pseudological conventional composition of the chapter by an apocalyptist of the Maccabæan period, it must be observed that discrepancies exist between several leading characteristic features of the prophecy and the facts connected with the history of the sufferings of Israel under Antiochus, and also the facts connected with the development of the empire, which are unquestionably more marked than the origin of the chapter in the time of the Maccabees would justify in any way. Above all we notice the following:
a. The difference between the ten horns of the fourth beast (Dan_7:7 et seq., 20, 24) and the number of the predecessors of Antiochus Epiphanes on the throne of the Seleucidæ. The most plausible method of reconciling the number of the horns with that of the early Seleucidæ—hence, of fixing the number of the latter at ten, while Antiochus follows as the eleventh—is that adopted by Prideaux, Bertholdt, Von Lengerke, Delitzsch, and Ewald, by which Alexander the Great is excluded from the series, and Seleucus Nicator heads the list. This certainly secures a succession of seven rulers down to Seleucus IV. Philopator, the brother and predecessor of Ant. Epiphanes (1. Seleucus Nicator, B. C. 312–280; 2. Antiochus Soter, 279–261; 3. Antiochus Theos, 260–246; 4. Seleucus Callinicus, 245–226; 5. Seleucus Ceraunus, 225–223; 6. Antiochus the Great, 222–187; 7. Seleucus Philopator, 186–176); but every attempt to designate the three missing monarchs, who should fill the brief interregnum and state of restless anarchy which preceded the accession of Antiochus Epiphanes, results in failure. The ordinary resource is to assume that these three kings, whom Antiochus dethroned and superseded, or, as the figurative language in Dan_7:8 has it, “the three horns which were uprooted before the little horn came up,” were (1) Demetrius, the eldest son of Seleucus Philopator, and therefore the nephew of Ant. Epiphanes, who was at Rome as a hostage when his father died, and whose crown was usurped in his absence by his uncle (who had just returned to Syria from an extended sojourn in Rome, where he had likewise been a hostage); (2) Heliodorus, the murderer of Seleucus Philopator (see Dan_11:20), who occupied the throne for a short time after poisoning that king, until Epiphanes dethroned him; and finally (3) Ptolemy IV. Philometer, king of Egypt, a minor at the time, who was the son of Cleopatra, the daughter of Antiochus the Great and sister of Epiphanes. It is assumed that this queen laid claim to the throne of the Seleucidæ for her son, or at least to the provinces of Palestine and Phœnicia, which adjoined Egypt. In point of fact, however, none of these rivals of Epiphanes could be regarded as the king of Syria, for Heliodorus was a mere usurper, who was dethroned after a brief reign, and there is no record to show that either Demetrius or Ptolemy Philometer pretended to the throne with any degree of earnestness.56 Hence a variety of different explanations have been attempted; as, for instance, Alexander the Great has been included in the series of the ten kings, as being the actual founder of the empire of the Seleucidæ (!), so that the line begins with him and closes with Seleucus Philopator as the eighth, Heliodorus as the ninth, and Demetrius as the tenth representative of that dynasty (thus Hitzig, on the passage, and Hilgenfeld, Die Propheten Esra und Daniel, 1863, p. 82); or again, attention is called to the fact that exactly that period in the history of Syria which immediately precedes the reign of Epiphanes, is known to be particularly obscure, uncertain, and defective in its records (Ewald, and also Hitzig and Kamphausen); or it is observed that on the analogy of the toes of the image, which were partly of clay and partly of iron, the requisite number of kings is probably to be found both among the Seleucidæ and the Ptolemies (Rosenmüller, Delitzsch, following Porphyry, Polychron, and other ancients); or the attempt to discover a succession of ten kings is wholly given up, and the ten horns are regarded as denoting ten contemporary rules, e.g., ten satraps or generals of Alexander the Great, among whom the three that Seleucus Nicator conquered, Antigonus, Ptolemy Lagus, and Lysimachus, were especially prominent (Bleek, p. 68). The uncertain and unsatisfactory nature of all these attempts at an explanation, which Delitzsch (p. 283) also acknowledges in substance, has finally led even several advocates of the theory of the Maccabæan composition of this section (e.g., Hertzfeld, Geschichte Israels) to adopt the only correct view, on which the number ten as applied to the horns is a round or symbolic number, whose more specific interpretation it is useless to attempt. This view is also held in substance by a majority of the expositors who refer the fourth beast to the Roman world-power and the occidental-Christian kingdoms which emanated from it, although they hold fast to the really prophetic character of the vision, and therefore its origin with Daniel and during the captivity.57 We have already shown that the advocacy of the genuineness of this prophetic book by no means involves, as a necessary consequence, the interpretation by which the fourth beast designates Rome. It has also been shown, on Dan_7:8, that we must be content with a general and symbolic explanation of the subordinate three-fold number of the horns, as well as of the number ten. Cf. infra, on Dan_11:2 et seq.
b. The statement in Dan_7:25, according to which the period of tribulation, prepared for God’s people by the eleventh king of the fourth monarchy, was to cover “a time, and two times, and a half time” (hence according to Dan_4:13 was to extend over three and a half years and then to be ended by an act of Divine judgment), will likewise admit of no exact and thoroughly satisfactory comparison with the periods of religious persecution under Antiochus and of the Maccabæan revolt. If the introduction of a sacrificial worship and the erection of an altar to the Olympic Zeus by Antiochus (1Ma_1:54) be taken as the terminus a quo, and the rededication of the desecrated sanctuary by Judas Maccabæus (1Ma_4:52) as the terminus ad quern of that period of suffering, the result is merely three years and ten days, instead of three and a half years (cf. Josephus, Ant. XII. 7, 6); for the Maccabæan books fix the date of the former event on the 15th Chisleu of the year 145 of the æra of the Seleucidæ (=B. C. 167) and of the latter on the 25th Chisleu 148 æ. Sel. (B. C. 164). Hitzig attempts unsuccessfully to recover the five and two third months yet lacking by going back to the arrival in Judæa of Appollonius, the commissioner of tribute (which he asserts must have happened about three months before the 15th Chisleu 145, according to 1Ma_1:29 [cf. Dan_5:19]), as the actual commencement of the æra of persecution. The result is still only three and a fourth years instead of the requisite three and a half; and a yet more unfortunate feature, which increases the difficulty of settling both the beginning and the end of the epoch of three and a half years in question, appears in the two-fold consideration, that on the one hand the real beginning of the Maccabæan persecution may be found in the barbarous attack on the life and religion of the Jews, which, according to 1Ma_1:22, took place fully six years prior to the re-dedication of the temple, while on the other hand it is by no means necessary to regard the dedication of the sanctuary on the 25th Chisleu 148 as marking the cessation of the persecution, which might rather be dated from the great victories of Judas Maccabæus over the Syrian generals Gorgias and Lysias (the one of which was gained during the year 147, and the other in the earlier months of 148 in the æra of the Seleucidæ), or on the contrary, from some event subsequent to the dedication, as the death of Antiochus Epipbanes (cf. infra, on Dan_12:11). The theories which are admissible, therefore, vacillate between periods covering from three to six years, without being able, in any case, to demonstrate an asra of exactly three and a half years, such as Dan_7:25 requires, and further, without presenting any evidence from the recorded history of the Maccabæs of so sudden, complete, and wonderful a conclusion of the period of suffering (without being secured by repeated conflicts and successes), as the same passage and its parallels in Dan_8:14 and Dan_7:7 et seq. seem to require. For this reason58 we are sometimes referred to the alleged insufficiency of our information respecting the various events connected with the Maccabæan history, which lacks certainty and thoroughness (Hilgenfeld, as above), and at others, the assumption has been adopted that the Maccabæan tendency-writer employed a designedly mystical and indefinite mode of indicating time, which cannot be accurately elucidated by a comparison with the facts of history (Von Lengerke). However conceivable and in itself probable the latter view may be, on the opinion that the prophet was drawing an apocalyptic picture of the distant future, which was necessarily ideal and indefinite so far as details were concerned, it is to the same degree improbable and incapable of being demonstrated, when the author is regarded as a conventional inventor of vaticinia ex eventu, who everywhere attempts to introduce allusions to the circumstances of the recent past or of the present. From such a writer we might assuredly have expected a more exact agreement and palpable correspondence between the prophecy and its fulfilling counterpart than results from the relation of the 1 + 2 +½ times to the period of the Antiochian persecution. “The alleged pseudo-composer of our chapter must accordingly have written for a time, with whose historical conditions he was unacquainted, despite the fact that he was its contemporary; and the entire condition of the theocracy, covered with shame and the want of success as it was, during the three and a half years of this chapter—before whose expiration this advocate of the actually victorious but not by him so-designated Maccabæan rebellion is said to have written—becomes historically inconceivable in the light of the pseudo-Daniel tendency-hypothesis” (Kranichfeld).
c. Intimately connected with this is the discrepancy between the picture of the Messiah drawn in our chapter, and the nature of the Messianic hopes entertained by the Jews of the Maccabæan period, as revealed in the books of the Maccabees, and also in the other products of Jewish apocalyptic literature of nearly the same date. These authorities are indeed able to refer to a final deliverance and re-union of the scattered tribes of Israel (see, e.g., Sir_30:11; Sir_1:24; Tob_13:13-18; Tob_14:6), and also to a Divine visitation of judgment upon the heathen (Sir_32:18; Jdt_16:17, etc.); but they nowhere base their theocratic expectations clearly on the appearance of a single Messianic personage, least of all, on one who is so positively characterized by traits belonging to both Divine and human nature as is the “Son of man” in Dan_7:13 of this chapter. The προφήτης πιστός of 1 Macc. (1Ma_14:41) is a purely human prophet, devoid of all celestial, supernatural character; and the “poor righteous one” of the book of Wisdom (Dan_2:10-20) can make no claim to recognition as an individual Messianic person, but is rather a mere personification of the class of suffering righteous men. The conception of a Messiah is very dim upon the whole in all the apocryphal literature of the two centuries immediately preceding the Christian æra; and in the cases, where the expectation of a personal Messiah, possessed of the Divine-human character to a greater or less degree, actually appears in several productions of this period, as in books II. and III. of the Sibylline Oracles, or in the book of Enoch (which at least some critics admit to have been composed as early as in the second century B. C., and possibly under John Hyrcanus—e.g., Ewald, Dillmann, Jos. Langen), the dependence of such writings on this book must doubtless be assumed (cf. the passage from the Orac. Sibyll. 1. II., cited above, on Dan_7:8, and also Introd. § 6, note 3). This dependence, however, in no wise compels to the assumption that the prophecies of Daniel originated in the Asmonæan period; it is far more readily understood on the opinion that they originated during the captivity, but that they were recognized at their true value and introduced into general use in all the circles of pious Jewish apocalyptists in the Maccabæan age and as a result of its afflictions.
4. In support of the opinion that He who “came with the clouds of heaven” in Dan_7:13 is no other than the personal Messiah, it has already been remarked among other things (see on that passage) that Christ preferably and frequently employed the phrase ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, as a testimony in favor of that view. It is now recognized by a majority of expositors and Biblical theologians that this designation, which is found in all eighty-one times in the New Testament, was intended to recall Dan_7:13, and to assert the identity of Jesus as the Messiah with the אֳנָשׁבַּר who is there described, although several (e.g., Von Hofmann, Delitzsch, Kahnis, etc.) still attempt to advocate the view formerly represented by Huetius, Harduin, Schleiermacher, Neander, Weisse, Baur, etc., on which the phrase was derived from Psa_8:5, and designates Jesus, not as being the Messiah, but as “the flower of humanity,” as “the ideal and normal man,” the “man of history, toward whom all human development tends.” The former method of explaining the phrase does not exclude the latter, but is rather to be traced back to both these passages of the Old Testament, inasmuch as Dan_7:13 also expresses the sense of the ideal and normally human, of the perfectly human, and even of the Divine human, as will appear with special clearness from the manner in which the Saviour, in Mat_26:64, replies to the question of the High priest inquiring whether He were “the Christ, the Son of God,” when, with an evident allusion to this passage, He declares Himself “the Son of man,” who shall thereafter be seen sitting “on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven;” cf. also Joh_7:35-36, where in answer to the question of the unbelieving people, “Who is this Son of man?” the Lord declares, “Yet a little while is the light with you,” and thus again identifies himself most clearly with the Messianic “Son of man” of this passage. Cf. Meyer and Lange on both these passages (and also on Mat_8:20); likewise Gess, Lehre von der Person Christi (1856) p. 7 et seq., 257; J.F. Tafel, Leben Jesu, p. 127 et seq., and especially Nebe, Ueber den Begriff des Namens υιὸς του ἀννρώπου Herborn, 1860; also Holtzmann, Ueber den neutestamentlichen Ausdruck Men-schensohn, in Hilgenfeld’s Zeitschr. f. wissenschaftliche Theologie, 1865, p. 212 et seq. (although the latter has so distorted a view of the reference of the name to Dan_7:13 that he chooses to entirely exclude that to Psa_8:5, thus approaching the opinion advocated by Strauss in his Leben Jesu).—In addition to this reference to our passage in the mouth of our Lord as directly testifying to a personal Messiah, and besides the possibly still more ancient references in the same spirit which are found in the Sibyllines and the book of Enoch (see supra), the substantial agreement of its description of Christ with that of the prophets prior to the captivity affords an important testimony in favor of the correctness of our view. Especially if the description of the “Son of man” in Dan_7:13 et seq., to whom an eternal and all-embracing dominion over all nations is given, be compared with the designation מָשִׁיחַ נָגִיד, “an anointed prince,” in Dan_9:26, which, although primarily applicable to a typical forerunner of Christ (see on that passage), yet clearly indicates the character of the Messianic ruler as being at the same time priest and king, the result will be a demonstration of the close analogy and even identity of Daniel’s description of the Messiah with those by which Isaiah (Dan_9:5; Dan_11:1 et seq.) and his contemporary, Micah (Dan_5:1 et seq.), characterize the spiritually anointed ruler of the house of David who should introduce the period of the deliverance of Israel and all nations, and also with the Messianic prophecies of Jeremiah (Jer_23:5; Jer_30:9) and Ezekiel (Eze_34:23; Eze_37:25) and even those of the time of David and Solomon together with the period immediately subsequent, e.g., David himself (Psalms 110), Nathan (2 Samuel 7), Amos (Dan_9:11 et seq.), Hosea (Dan_3:5), etc. The Messiah of Daniel does not differ from Him to whom all the earlier prophets bore witness; the super-human glory and perfection of power of Him who nevertheless appears in human form, as described in this vision, correspond exactly to the expectations which the prophetism of Israel in general, from the time of David, when the theocracy bloomed and shone in its splendor, had learned to connect with a later offspring of the house of David, as the restorer, endowed with Divine power and majesty, who should renew the glory of that house, and consequently the glory of the theocracy as a whole.
5. For the purpose of a practical homiletical treatment of the chapter it will of course be necessary to pay special regard to the shining clearness of this description of the Messiah, and through it to clear up the more obscure features of the prophetic vision, in so far as this may be possible and of practical utility. The Divine-human Messiah of Israel, the founder and ruler of the kingdom of God in the earth, the Saviour and Judge of the world (cf. Joh_4:42; Joh_5:27), is to be described in His relations toward the earthly world-power, which, passing through various forms and phases of development, finally reaches the diabolical rage of anti-Christianity, and rebels against Him; and his ultimate triumph over all His foes is to be displayed as a necessity, founded in the Divine economy of salvation. In this connection it will not be wise to enter upon a consideration of those phases in the development of the world-power, symbolized by the figure of the beasts, in their relation to the pre-Christian world-monarchies which are to be regarded as their historical counterparts, any farther than is imperatively necessary for the purpose of clearness. The ideal and fundamental thought of the prophecy, which substantially coincides with that of the image of the monarchies in chap. 2. and may be expressed by the statement “that all the kingdoms of the earth must be put to shame” (cf. Rev_11:15; Rev_12:10) before the kingdom of the everlasting God (the Ancient of days, Dan_7:9), and of His Anointed, must evidently be made prominent; but the details of its realization in the history of the world should receive only a subordinate attention, especially since none of the theories promulgated to the present time, which undertake to specify the particular kingdoms designated by the four beasts, can claim to be absolutely correct, and recourse must therefore be had to a choice between probabilities, or between interpretations, more or less plausible, of the mysterious hieroglyphic animal figures that “came up from the sea.” For as merely the forms of the future world-monarchies were revealed to the prophet—sometimes indeed in surprisingly definite and exact outlines—but he was not made acquainted with their names; as their nature, but not their historic appearance was prefigured to him: so can no effort of scientific penetration on the part of exegetes succeed in establishing an exact correspondence between the character of these monarchies, as shadowed forth in prophetic images, and its actualization in the surging confusion of the life of nations during the course of the last pre-Christian century, and thus in stating, with mathematical exactness and certainty, which great world-kingdom subsequent to the captivity was intended by the Spirit of prophecy by each of the beasts seen by Daniel, what kings were represented by the ten horns of the fourth beast, what was the precise conception of the blasphemous course and anti-theocratic rage of the last horn, and whether, in point of fact, Antiochus Epiphanes conformed to it in all respects, or merely realized it generally and in substance. In view of these unavoidable obscurities and difficulties, the practical expositor, still more than the scientific exegete is limited to a chaste, modest, and reserved course in the treatment of this prophecy as it applies to the history of nations and of the world. Instead of pursuing to particulars the interpretation of the series of monarchies in Dan_7:4-7, or even of the succession of kings in Dan_7:8, in the details of history, he will be able to present only examples of the wonderfully exact correspondence between the type and its historical anti-type, or illustrative proofs of the generally unquestionable congruity between the visional and the actual succession of monarchies; and especially, instead of treating the fourth beast and its eleventh horn (in which the idea of the fourth beast attains its complete development, and which may, therefore, to a certain extent, be identified with the beast itself) as referring solely to the anti-Christian world-power in pre-Christian times, or also to the Roman supremacy with Herod or Nero as the representative of its anti-Christian character59—which would be wholly impractical and a grave offence against all the rules of sound homiletics;—instead of so one-sided an Old-Testament or typical interpretation of this beast, he will doubtless be obliged to deal prominently with that more unfettered, spiritual, and ideal mode of treatment, by which the fourth beast represents at the same time both type and anti-type, thus including the world-power of the last times, which is inimical to God and Christ. Here also every one-sided interpretation, centring in a definite point of the history of the past, must be avoided, and the antichrist must not be found specifically in the Turkish nation (so Luther, Vorrede über den Proph. Daniel; Melancthon in the Kommentar, where, however, he also associates the pope; Calov.; M. Geier, etc.), nor in the pope (Luther in his exposition of chap. 11. and 12. and elsewhere frequently; also Brentius, Calvin, Zanchius, Cocceius, Buddeus, Bengel, Roos, and recently, F. Brunn, in the little work, 1st der Pabst der Antichrist? Dresden, 1868), nor in Napoleon I. or III. (cf. Leutwein, Das Thier war und ist nicht, etc., Ludwigsburg, 1825), nor, most remarkable of all, in Count Bismarck as representing the Prussian State (thus, e.g., Groen van Priesterer; many clergymen of Würtemberg in the year 1866, etc.), but his eschatological character as belonging to the final stage of mundane history must be retained. Cf. Lünemann, on 2 Thessalonians 2, p. 204 et seq.; Auberlen and Riggenbach on the same chapter, p. 117 et seq.; H. O. Köhler, Die Schriftwidrigkeit des Chiliasmus, in Guericke’s Zeitschr. für die luth. Theol. und Kirche, 1861, No. III., p. 459 et seq.) where the numerous writers in the Middle Ages are mentioned, who declared the pope to be the antichrist, e.g., bishop Arnulf of Orleans, 991; Honorius of Autun; John of Salisbury; Joachim 5. Floris; Robert Gross-head; Joh. Milicz; Matthew 5. Janow; Gregory of Heimburg; the Waldenses; many Hussites, et.); S. Baring Gould, Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, London, 1866 (chap. 9, the Antichrist); H. W. Rinck, Die Lehre der Heiligen Sohrift vom Antichrist, mit Berüucksichtigung der Zeiehen unserer Zeit, Elberfeld, 1867 [and many of the monographs cited at the close of the Introduction].
Since but few of the practical expositors of former times occupy the ground of this more free and spiritual interpretation, but rather are generally concerned to adapt the visions of the prophet to special events and appearances in modern history, or confine themselves to the work of disproving the interpretation which assumes that the chap. was a vatic, ex eventu, written by a pretended Daniel in the Maccabæan period (so many church fathers, e.g., Jerome, whose observations on this section aim solely to resist the tendency-critical attacks of Porphyry; among moderns, e.g., Hävernick), a thoroughly proper practical and homiletical treatment of the chapter, based on a solid exegetical foundation, can of course derive but little benefit from them. Nevertheless, we quote several observations on the more important passages.
On Dan_7:4-8, Melancthon: “ Mirabili Dei consilio et voluntate Ecclesia subjecta est cruci.… . Prœdicunt Prophetas et Apostoli, inundum pmnas daturum esse, quod post sparsum evangelium tyranni sœviant in membra Christi, deinde et ab illis ipsis qui gubernant Ecclesiam, polluta sit Ecclesia idolis, falsis dogmatibus, paricidiis sanctorum libidinibus.” (To this, however, is added the one-sided and arbitrary remark, “Est ex his seminibus ortam esse pestam Mahometicam historia ostendit.”) On Dan_7:9, Calvin: “ Sciamus non posse a nobis Deum conspici qualis est, donee simus plane similes ei.… Deus certe neque solium aliquod occupat, neque rotis vehitur, sed non debemus imaginari Deum in sua essentia them. esse, qualis prophetœ suo et aliis sanctis patribus apparuit; sed induit subinde varias formas pro captu hominum, quibusœ prœsentia; suœ aliquod signum dare volebat.”
On Dan_7:11-12, the Tüinger Bibel: “In His eternal decree God has fixed a limit to every kingdom; beyond this it cannot go, and the Divine providence exerts a special agency to this end (Isa_23:15).”
On Dan_7:13 et seq., Luther (Von den letzten Worten Davids, in his Werke, vol. xxxi. p. 80 et seq.): “This eternity or eternal kingdom cannot be given to any evil creature, whether man or angel; for it is the power of God, and of God Himself.… Namely, the Father confers the everlasting power on the Son, and the Son receives it from the Father, and all this from all eternity … At the same time, the Son is also a child, i.e., a real man and the Son of David, to whom such eternal power is given. Thus we see how the prophets properly regarded and understood the word ‘ eternal,’ when God says to David by the mouth of Nathan, ‘ I will place my and thy son in my eternal kingdom’ (2Sa_7:13; 2Sa_7:16).”
On Dan_7:25, Starke: “When crowned heads assail God with impious hands, and are not content with the honor of earthly gods, their respect and honor, dominion and glory, are taken from them by a common stroke; cf. Act_12:22 et seq.”
Footnotes:
[1]To.
[2]Or, chief of the words.
[3]Answered.
[4]Was seeing.
[5]With the.
[6]Changed this from that.
[7]Was seeing till that.
[8]הקימת is evidently used here to correspond with the description of the preceding verse, and hence the pointing הֳ׳ to is preferred, as in the margin.
[9]לִשְׁטַר־חַד to one side, sidewise, i.e., partially, prob. on the fore or hind feet only; in a crouching or half-risen posture; thus contrasted with the erect attitude of the lion preceding on both feet רַגְלַיִןעל.
[10][This assumption rests upon the author’s theory that Belshazzar is identical with Evil-merodach, which, as we have shown in the notes appended to the Introduction, is not sustained by the latest authorities or Babylonian history. If Rawlinson’s conjecture is correct, that Belshazzar was the son of Nabouned, left in command of Babylon while his father threw himself into Borsippa, the date in question will relate to the viceroyship of the former, which may well have continued a year or more (or even into the third year, see Dan_8:1), since the siege of Babylon lasted two years.]
[11]The position of the terms is emphatic, teeth of iron were to it, great ones.
[12]Was occupying my attention with.
[13]Out of, or among.
[14]The definite article is here injurious to the sense.
[15]Would serve him as attendants.
[16]Myriad of myriads would stand.
[17]Literally, caused to pass away.
[18]And a lengthening in their lives was given them till.
[19]As in Dan_6:25 : All the nations, the peoples, and the tongues.
[20]Labor for.
[21]Would trouble.
[22]Upon.
[23]Would ask from him.
[24]Would make.
[25]Or, words.
[26]In the plur., like most names of Deity.
[27]A kingdom the fourth.
[28]It the.
[29]To the side of.
[30]They.
[31]Or, word.
[32]I.
[33]Looks would be.]
[34][“This vision accords not only in many respects with the dream of Nebuchadnezzar (ch.2), but has the same subject. This subject, however, the representation of the world-power in its principal forms, is differently given in the two chapters. In Daniel 2 it is represented according to its whole character as an image of a man whose different parts consist of different metals, and in chap. 7 under the figure of four beasts which arise one after the other out of the sea. In the former, its destruction is represented by a stone breaking the image in pieces, while in the latter it is effected by a solemn act of judgment. This further difference also is to be observed, that in this chapter, the first, but chiefly the fourth, world-kingdom, in its development and relation to the people of God, is much more clearly exhibited in Daniel 2. These differences have their principal reason in the difference of the recipients of the Divine revelation: Nebuchadnezzar, the founder of the world-power, saw this power in its imposing greatness and glory; while Daniel, the prophet of God, saw it in its opposition to God in the form of ravenous beasts of prey. Nebuchadnezzar had his dream in the second year of his reign, when he had just founded his world-monarchy; while Daniel had his vision of the world-kingdoms and of the judgment against them in the first year of Belshazzar, when the glory of the world-monarchy began to fade, and the spirit of its opposition to God became more manifest.”—Keil.]
[35][Keil’s remark, however, is apposite: “The winds of the heavens represent the heavenly powers and forces by which God sets the nations of the world in motion.”]
[36][We suggest that the preposition rather indicates the direction of the winds as converging to this one point as a scene of conflict.]
[37][The reduplicated form, however, seems to be merely the usual one in Chaldee.]
[38][Keil adopts a different, but, as it seems to us, farfetched and over-ingenious interpretation: “This means neither that it leaned on one side (Ebrard), nor that it stood on its fore feet (Hävernick), for the sides of a bear are not its fore and hinder parts; but we conceive that the beast, resting on its feet, raised up the feet of the one side for the purpose of going forward, and so raised the shoulder or the whole body on that side. But with such a motion of the beast the geographical situation of the kingdom (Geier, Mich., Ros.) cannot naturally be represented, much less can the near approach of the destruction of the kingdom (Hitzig) be signified. Hofmann, Delitzsch, and Kliefoth have found the right interpretation by a reference to Daniel 2, 8. As in Daniel 2 the arms on each side of the breast signify that the second kingdom will consist of two parts, and this is more distinctly indicated in Daniel 8 by the two horns, one of which rose up after the other, and higher, so also in this verse the double-sidedness of this world-kingdom is represented by the beast lifting itself up on one side. The Medo-Persian bear, as such, has, as Kliefoth well remarks, two sides; the one, the Median side, is at rest after the efforts made for the erection of the world-kingdom; but the other, the Persian side, raises itself up. and then becomes not only higher than the first, but also is prepared for new rapine.”—Stuart justly remarks that “the difficulty seems to have arisen from the fact that, until lately, we have been ignorant of a like symbol sculptured on the ancient monuments of Persia. Münter (Rel. der Bab., p. 112) has given ns a description (with an engraving) of an animal of the symbolic kind, in a group near the star of Belus, which, kneeling or lying on the right foot, has its left one erect. A sense of security, combined with watchfulness, seems to be the indication. Probably this symbol, now on the monuments of Persia and Babylon, was a part of what belonged to the insignia of the royal and national standards.”]
[39][“The plur. אָמְרִין is impersonal”(Keil); “it might be rendered passively” (Stuart).]
[40][“The writer gives to this fourth beast no particular name. Plainly it was a peculiar monster. The reason why he omits a name seems to be, that in the world of nature no similitude could be found, for in no case of really-existing beasts are four of them united in one, so as to constitute an appropriate symbol for the four kingdoms of Alexander’s successors. He classes these under the dynasty, comprehensively considered, which grew up out of the predominance or victories of the Greeks in the East. But when enough is introduced to designate the general nature of the dynasty, both here and in Daniel 8, 9, he goes over into a notice of only such kings as were in the neighborhood of Palestine, and had more or less to do with annoying it. As Antiochus Epiphanes was incomparably the most annoying and mischievous of them all, so a peculiar share of the prophecy respecting the fourth dynasty is allotted to him in each of the chapters named. It is evident from a comparison of historical facts as well as from the nature of the case, that a dynasty is spoken of by Daniel as more or less dreadful and destructive according to the measure in which Palestine was actually affected by it in this way.”—Stuart. Keil, on the contrary, who adopts the common or “orthodox” interpretation of the fourth monarchy, gives a different explanation of this feature: “The fourth kingdom is represented by a nameless beast, because in Daniel’s time Rome had not come into contact with Israel, and as yet lay beyond the circle of vision of Old-Testament prophecy.” This candid admission one would think might have led the commentator to doubt any reference even here to Rome. He does not seem, moreover, to have perceived that for precisely the same reason the Macedonian empire should have been represented by some nameless beast, as being hitherto unknown to the Hebrews.]
[41][May not the diversity rather consist in the fact that, unlike all the former governments, the Seleucid dynasty began a systematic attack upon the religious institutions of the subject Jews?]
[42]See Leyrer, art. Zahlen in Herzog’s Real-Encyklop., vol. 18, p. Dan 378: also Zöckler, Theologia naturalis, I. 713 et seq. In both places the essentially political or cosmical significance of this number is pointed out, in opposition to Delitzsch, who regards it as the symbol of Divine perfection. cf. further, Bähr. Symbolik des mos. Kultus, I. 175; Hofmann, Weissagung und Erfüllung, I. 75; Hengstenberg, Beiträge z. Einl., III. 391, 605. [On the contrary, it seems to us that the definiteness of the numbers four and three in the same connection requires a similar definiteness in this number likewise. See our remarks in the Ethico-fundamental principles, etc., on this chap. No. 3, a.]
[43][See, however, the remarks in the Ethico-Fundamental principles, etc., below, 3, a.]
[44][“The eyes of a man were not attributed to it (merely) in opposition to a beast, but in opposition to a higher celestial being, for whom the ruler denoted by the horn might be mistaken on account of the terribleness of his rule and government: ‘ne cum putemus juxta quorundam opinionem vel diabolum esse vel dæmonem, sed unum de hominibus, in quo totus Satanas habiturus sit corporealiter,’ as Jerome well remarks; cf. Hofmann and Kliefoth.”—Keil.]
[45][“A mouth which speaketh great things is a vainglorious mouth. רַבְרְבָן are presumptuous things, not directly blasphemous (Hävr.). In the Apocalypse, Rev_13:5, μεγάλα and βλασμίαι are distinguished.”—Keil.]
[46][“Fire and the shining of fire are the constant phenomena of the manifestation of God in the world as the earthly elements most fitting for the representation of the burning zeal with which the holy God not only punishes and destroys sinners but also purifies and renders glorious His own people; see on Exo_3:3.”—Keil.]
[47][“In the N. T. Christians are represented as sharing in the like solemnities, 1Co_6:2; Mat_19:28; Luk_22:30; Rev_3:21. Not improbably such expressions as ‘Let us make man in our image.’ Let us go down and see, ‘Who will go for us?’ take their plural form from such views of the heavenly Concessus. The sum of the matter is that the prophet presents the Supreme Lord and Judge to our view by imagery borrowed from earthly sovereigns, i.e., as having all the insignia of pre-eminence and supremacy around him.”—Stuart.]
[48]Cf. also Sibyll., 1. II, p. 277, ed. Galland: ἥξει ἐν νεφέλη πρὸς ἅφθιτον ἄφθͅτος αὐτὸς ἐν δόξη χριστὸς σὺν ἀμύμοσιν ἀγγελτῆρσι καὶ καθίσει, κτλ.
[49][This correspondence, however, cannot be legitimately urged as an argument in favor of the contemporaneousness of the ten kings, for it is doubtful if the number of the toes has any special significance, and no stress is laid upon it in the explanation of the vision. Like the two legs, it forms but an accidental accessory in completing the figure. Otherwise we should be obliged to count the toes on both feet likewise, and this would be more than any interpreters are prepared to do.]
[50][Keil’s reference to Dan_8:20-22 is unavailing against this express statement of the text here, for not only is the great goat horn there undeniably a personal ruler, but so are likewise the “four notable horns” that succeed it as the founders of so many dynasties. His entire argument on this point is a perversion of the sense: “Since the ten horns all exist at the same time together on the head of the beast, the ten kings that arise out of the fourth kingdom are to be regarded as contemporary.” On the contrary they are explicitly said to “arise” in the sight of the prophet, as if they were not there originally, and this admits, if it does not require, the idea of their gradual and consecutive development. So in the case of the two-horned ram (Dan_8:3) we might with equal reason have presumed both horns to have arisen simultaneously, but such many words to be kings of one and the same kingdom, they must in the nature of the case be successive; for ten simultaneous sovereigns in one dominion would be a palpable absurdity. In case of the last three only, whose fall makes room for the eleventh, is there a partial simultaneousness
[51][Keil contends that “the king coming after them can only overthrow three of the ten kingdoms when he himself has established and possesses a kingdom or empire of his own.” But such is not the process represented in the vision. The little horn in the act of arising evidently usurps the room previously occupied by the three others. It is this expansion in their place that makes it become great. They must, therefore, have been themselves rivals at the time, and not well-established in their seat, when this fourth contestant arose in its first insignificance.]
[52][Few readers, however, will be content with this indefinite exposition of these sharply defined and frequently reiterated statements of time with reference to the event predicted. The difficulties in the way of their literal application to the period of desecration of the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes do not appear so formidable as to require such a vague interpretation. See under the Ethico-fundamental considerations below.]
[53][Some of those modem interpreters who hold in part to the “year-for-a-day theory” make the little horn in this passage to be different from that in Daniel 8, referring the latter to Antiochus Epiphanes, but the former to the papacy or else to Mohammedanism. Such as maintain that the days stand for years in both instances regard the difference in the periods between this passage and that (1,050 years here and 2,300 there) as caused by computing the period in the one case from the rise of the power to its downfall, and in the other from Daniel’s own time. In either case the same fatal objection applies, that there is no good evidence of such a symbolic use of the word “day” by Daniel.]
[54][Keil in like manner, argues for the purely symbolical and indefinite import of this designation of time, being driven thereto by his theory that this whole prophecy applies to the duration of the Roman power, which he extends into the unknown future. He has all along contended against a literal interpretation of these chronological data as they seem to be.]
[55][Keil seek (p. 258 et seq.) to make the most of the incidental variations in the description of the “little horn,” in Daniel 7; Daniel , 8; but his points are minute and often far-fetched, whereas the coincidences are striking, numerous, and essential. Consult the harmonic table in the introduction. Lest we might be thought to treat the opposite view too lightly, we briefly note the differences adduced by Keil. 1. The little horn of Daniel 7 rises out of one of the four horns without adding to their number or injuring them; that of Daniel 8 arises among the ten as an additional or parallel element, and uproots three. This merely proves that the four powers are not identical with the ten horns, which is precisely our view. 2. The enemy in Daniel 7 goes much farther in his violence than that in Daniel 8; but as the conduct is of the same general character, this is evidently but a fuller or more detailed description. Both certainly tallied with the behavior of Antiochus. It is vain to allege that in one chapter the persecutor is not an antichrist because he is not directly said to arrogate divinity as in the other chapter, but only to oppose the people of God; for those are everywhere in the Bible identitied with God himself, and their cause and interests are his likewise. 3. The periods in the two cases are different (2,300 days, and a year and a half, or 1,290, or 1,335 days). This is readily explained as including in some passages more accessory circumstances than in others. See the exegetical remarks on each.]
[56][Keil urges these objections with all their force to disprove any reference here to the time of the Seleucidæ; but they apply with equal and even greater force to the Roman list of emperors. It does not appear however, that the three horns in question represent actually reigning kings, nor do the terms “plucked up” and “fell” clearly mean dethronement. It is sufficient that they were royal personages who claimed or were entitled to the throne. One of them, at least, Heliodorus, actually occupied it, for a brief period, indeed, but long enough to come within the description. The other two, as being legitimate heirs, may fairly be designated as princes, and this is all that the figure requires. The partial and temporary royalty of all three is evidently denoted by their speedily succumbing to the upstart. It is difficult to imagine a case of four rivals to the fame throne that would more accurately answer to the vision.]
[57][So formidable is this difficulty on the Roman theory of interpretation that Keil, its last most noted advocate, takes refuge in a remarkable postponement of the solution. “The kingdoms represented by the ten horns belong still to the future. To be able to judge regarding them with any certainty, we must first make clear to ourselves the place of the Messianic kingdom with reference to the fourth world-kingdom, and then compare the prophecy of the Apocalypse of John regarding the formation of the world-power—a prophecy which rests on the book of Daniel.” This is a virtual abandonment of the field. If all the other parts of this prophecy have their clear counterpart in history, why not this also? If, as Keil claims, these ten horns are found simultaneously on the head of the beast as it first arises, it is obviously inconsistent to refer their identification to the future. But the attempts made to distinguish the horns in question, in their literal application Rome, have signally failed, as the most cursory inspection of the schemes proposed in various commentaries on Daniel and the Apocalypse will abundantly show. The ten kings in Rev_17:12 are there expressly assigned to the indefinite future; but the seven in Dan_7:10 are clearly characterized as belonging to proximate history, and the first six as having been at the time actually realized.]
[58][In this chronological examination the author does injustice to the data in question, as the following exhibit from Stuart’s Commentary (p. 223) will render clear: “Is this expression of time poetical merely and figurative, consisting of round numbers (as they say), and comprising just half of the mystical number seven, which is so often employed in a kind of tropical way? Historical facts seem to speak for the literal interpretation, in the book before us. Yet, considering the nature of the case and of the number usually concerned with such reckonings (i.e., the number seven), we surely need not be solicitous about a day, a week, or even a month, more or less. The convenience of the reckoning, when it is near enough to exactness, for all the purposes of prophecy, is very obvious, and will account for adopting it.
“In exhibiting the historical facts, we will begin with an sera which is certain, viz., the time when Judas Macc, expurgated the temple, and began the service of God anew. This was on the 25th of Dec. 148 ann. Sel. = 165 B.C., see 1Ma_5:52. Counting back three and a half years, we come to June in 145 A. S. = 168 B.C. Livy has described the retreat of Antiochus from Eypt, in the early spring (‘primovere,’ Liv. 45:11) of that year. While on that retreat, Antiochus detached Apollonius, one of his military chieftains, to lay waste Jerusalem (comp. 2Ma_5:11, which makes the time clear), for he had heard that the Jews exulted at his misfortune, in being obliged by the Romans to retreat from Egypt, and he was determined to wreak his vengeance on them. He did so effectually, as 1Ma_1:29 seq. fully shows; and Daniel 7:29, 20, of the same chapter, compared together, show that the year was 145 A. S. as above stated. From June, when Jerusalem was proably taken, to December, is six months; and from December in 168 to December, 165, is three years. In the same way, as to time, does Josephus reckon Prœm. ad Bell. Jud. § 7. But to avoid perplexity, it should be noted that a different mode of reckoning, viz., three years, is sometimes employed, e.g., in 1Ma_1:54, and the consecration of it by Judas Maccabæus, 1Ma_4:54. Some six months after capture of the city, during which all manner of crueltied and excesses were committed, appear to have elapsed before Antiochus began his swinish offerings in the temple. The consecration of the temple by Judas introduced regular Hebrew worship there; and the death of Antiochus happening shortly afterward, the period of his oppression was of course at its end. Thus did events correspond very exactly with the time designated in our text. We cannot indeed specify the exact day, because history has not done this; but it is enough, that we come so near to the time designed, as to remove all serious difficulty respecting it.”
To this we may add that the period three and a half years may reasonably be taken as a somewhat round number, not only because of its being in itself a general and inexact expression, but more especially as being the half of the conventional term of seven years. See on Dan_9:27.]
[59]Thus, e.g., Beckmann, Meditationes political, c. 26, and Koch (in Starke, on Dan_7:8).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 the four winds--answering to the "four beasts"; their several…
the four winds--answering to the "four beasts"; their several conflicts in the four quarters or directions of the world.
strove--burst forth (from the abyss) [MAURER].
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sea--The world powers rise out of the agitations of the political sea (Jer 46:7-8; Luk 21:25; compare Rev 13:1; Rev 17:15; Rev 21:1); the kingdom of God and the Son of man from the clouds of heaven (Dan 7:13; compare Joh 8:23). TREGELLES takes "the great sea" to mean, as always elsewhere in Scripture (Jos 1:4; Jos 9:1), the Mediterranean, the center territorially of the four kingdoms of the vision, which all border on it and have Jerusalem subject to them. Babylon did not border on the Mediterranean, nor rule Jerusalem, till Nebuchadnezzar's time, when both things took place simultaneously. Persia encircled more of this sea, namely, from the Hellespont to Cyrene. Greece did not become a monarchy before Alexander's time, but then, succeeding to Persia, it became mistress of Jerusalem. It surrounded still more of the Mediterranean, adding the coasts of Greece to the part held by Persia. Rome, under Augustus, realized three things at once--it became a monarchy; it became mistress of the last of the four parts of Alexander's empire (symbolized by the four heads of the third beast), and of Jerusalem; it surrounded all the Mediterranean.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 1. In the first year of Belshazzar — For…
1. In the first year of Belshazzar — For Belshazzar see Introduction, III, 3, (4). If these portions of the Daniel apocalypse represent actual events, then Daniel 7, 8 must chronologically precede chap. 5. Contemporaneous records make it impossible to believe that Belshazzar ever reigned over Babylon as its supreme ruler — which fact is also suggested by verse 29 — but he may have been made co-ruler with his father, Nabonidus, as many crowned princes were before and after this date. Although this is not stated in any cuneiform documents which have so far been found, it is certain that for a number of years before his father’s death he seems to have been the real ruler of the kingdom. [See Introduction, III, 3, (4).] Daniel is here stated to have written down the “visions of his head” (compare Dan_2:28) and to have told the sum and substance of them to others, although the book as a whole, or the interpretation of it, was to be sealed and hidden (Daniel 12; Daniel 4).
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–28 1. In the first year of Belshazzar] The visions…
1. In the first year of Belshazzar] The visions (c. 7–12) are not a continuation of the narratives (c. 1–6), but form a series by themselves: the author accordingly no longer adheres to the chronological order which he has hitherto followed, but goes back to a date anterior to that of ch. 5 (see Dan_5:30). In view of what was said at the beginning of ch. 5 it is, of course, impossible to estimate the ‘first year’ of Belshazzar in years b.c.
had] lit. saw.
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visions of his head upon his bed] The same phrase in Dan_2:28.
then he wrote the dream] With reference to the sequel (Dan_7:2 ff.), in which Daniel speaks in the first person, and which in these words is represented as having been committed to writing by Daniel himself. The first person (with the exception of Dan_10:1) continues from Dan_7:2 to the end of the book.
the sum of words (or things)] contained in the revelation, i.e. its essential import.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28 (1) The date of this and of the following…
VII.
(1) The date of this and of the following chapter comes in chronological order after the fourth chapter. As St. Jerome has observed, “In superioribus ordo sequitur historiœ quid sub Nebuchadonosor et Balthasar, et Dario sive Cyro mirabilium signorum acciderit. In kis vero narrantur somnia quœ singulis sint visa ternporibus: quorum solus propheta conscius est, et nullam habent apud barbaras nationes signi vel revelationis magnitudinem, sed tantum scribuntur, ut apud posteros eorum quœ visa sunt memoria perseveret.”
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Visions.—From this, and from the phrase “sum of the matters,” it appears that Daniel had other visions at this time. By “sum” is meant the principal parts of the vision.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 23, 25, 28 Vers. 1-28. THE VISION OF THE FOUR BEASTS. This…
Vers. 1-28. THE VISION OF THE FOUR BEASTS. This chapter begins the second section of the book. All before this has been narrative; visions are introduced into the narrative, but they were not given to Daniel himself, but to others; his role was the secondary one of interpreter. These visions and the events connected with them are related more as incidents in the biography of Daniel, than as revelations of the future. With this chapter begins a series of revelations to Daniel personally. This chapter is the last chapter of the Aramaic portion of Daniel. Though thus linguistically joined to what has preceded, logically it is related to what follows.
In the first year of Belshazzar King of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters. The language of the Septuagint is suggestive of the actual state of matters, "While Baltasar was reigning acting as king for the first year, Daniel saw a vision beside (para) his head upon his bed. Then Daniel wrote the vision which he had seen in heads (chapters, kefalaia) of narration (logwn)." While these words do not necessarily imply that Belshazzar was not king, but only acting as king, they yet may mean this. We know now that for five years during the nominal reign of his father Nabunahid, Belshazzar really reigned. Theodotion does not absolutely agree with the Massoretic reading here, "In the first year of Belshazzar King of the Chaldeans, Daniel saw a dream (ejnupnion) and the visions of his head upon his bed, and he wrote the dream." The omission of the final clause will be observed. The Peshitta is closer to the Massoretic; it differs, in fact, only by the insertion of malcootha, "the reign of," before "Belshazzar." This is, in all probability, the original heading of the tract in which Daniel first published his prophecy. What were the circumstances, so far as we can attain a knowledge of them, when thus the future was revealed to Daniel? The Scythian forces under Astyages had conquered all the countries intermediate between the steppes whence they had come and Babylonia. Above all, they had overthrown the Median Empire, that was closely associated with that of Babylon. They had pressed in upon Babylonia, and were besieging its cities when Cyrus, the King of Ansan, rebelled against Astyages. We may imagine that, from the extent of their empire, the Manda would have to be somewhat scattered. Cyrus then might easily gain advantage over the small division of Manda that held the canton of Ansan. As usually, the attacks of Elam and Media on Babylonia and Assyria had been made across the canton of Ansan; the rebellion of Ansan would thus separate the Manda in Elam and Media from those in Babylonia the latter being the main portion. Cyrus succeeded in rousing the Medes, Elamites, and Persians against this invading horde, and wrested the power from them. Nabunahid, in a pious inscription, regards Cyrus as the instrument in the hand of Marduk to overthrow these oppressive Manda. Shortly after this uprising of Cyrus, Nabunahid is to appearance stricken with illness, and for several years takes no part in the business of the empire. In the seventh year of Nabunahid, we learn from the annals that the king was in Tema, and did not come to Babylon, but that the king"s son conducted the affairs of the monarchy. It was probably, then, in this year, when Cyrus had defeated the Scythians, and had driven them out of Elam, Media, and Babylonia, that Daniel had the vision recounted in this chapter. Keen political insight might easily foresee the events in the comparatively immediate future. The rise of a vigorous new power like that of Persia meant menace to the neighbeuring powers. Babylonia, filled with treachery and discontent, was in no condition to resist. The fall of Babylon seemed imminent its place was to be taken by Persia. But Babylon had succeeded Assyria, and before Assyria had been the empires of Egypt and the Hittites. He remembered the dream of his old master Nebuchadnezzar. Now a dream is vouchsafed to himself, which repeats the vision of Nebuchadnezzar with some differences. He is reminded that the changes that come over the affairs of men are not unending. The rise and fall of empires is not the confused whirl of uncontrolled atoms, but all tending towards an end the establishment of the kingdom of God upon the earth.
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HOMILETICS, Vers. 1-12.
Godless kingdoms.
Daniel"s vision brings before us the origin, the character, and the destiny of godless kingdoms.
I ORIGIN.
1. Earthly. The Divine kingdom comes from above the clouds of heaven" (ver. 13). These kingdoms come from below from the dark depths of the sea. Earthly passions, not the will of God, shape their origin.
2. Tumultuous. "The four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea;" the kingdoms issued from the throes of the storm. The great monarchies of antiquity did not grow up by the development of peaceful arts and commerce. They were formed by wars of conquest, and wild, wicked strifes of ambition. The glory of political success often leads men to disregard the crimes by which it is achieved. But these cannot be ignored by God.
3. Successive. One after another the great beasts rise from the sea. God"s kingdom is one and lasting, but as these earthly kingdoms are transient, new kingdoms take the place of the old. Thus the same drama is reacted in many ages. Till the reign of Christ is complete, we must expect to see the rise and fall of earthly ambition.
II CHARACTER.
1. Points of agreement.
(1) They are all more or less brutal. To Nebuchadnezzar the kingdoms appeared bright and glorious. (Dan_2:31) To Daniel, the prophet of God, they appeared savage and brutal. The passions of godless politics are low and unspiritual.
(2) They are destructive. The true end of government is the peace and welfare of the world. But it has always been the work of wicked ambitious monachies to spread devastation and misery.
2. Points of difference. The great beasts are "diverse one from another." Nationalities are of various types. The faults of governments are not all alike. Evil assumes various forms. All godless kingdoms are not equally bad. In the vision, the first kingdom shows signs of improvement in its later days (ver. 4). The second is far more destructive (ver. 5). The last power is least in apparent size, yet most fatal to its neighbours (ver. 8). Thus human history is full of variety, change, and surprise. It is only in the Divine order that we meet with assured and peaceful stabilty.
III THEIR DESTINY.
1. They are all only temporary. One succeeds another.
2. They all come up for judgment (ver. 10). There is a judgment on nations as well as on individuals. The proudest earthly power must bow before the judgment-seat of God. They who ignore God will not escape his notice.
3. As there are degrees and varieties of crime, so there will be degrees and varieties of punishment. The worst of the great beasts is entirely destroyed (ver. 11). The others are dealt with more leniently. Thus at the great judgment the sentence will be proportionate to the sin. (Luk_12:47, Luk_12:48)
4. The godless kingdoms will all be superseded by the universal and eternal kingdom of heaven. God"s righteous rule will ultimately take the place of the most violent and destructive earthly powers. Evil will finally succumb to good.
HOMILIES BY H.T. ROBJOHNS Vers. 1-12.
Brute rule.
great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another" (ver. 3). We remark the transition here from history to prophecy; the date, the first year of Belshazzar, that is, before the fall of the first of the world-powers about to be described; the form, a dream, before this Daniel had interpreted others" dreams, he now dreams himself; the fact that it was at once committed to writing, i.e. not set down after fulfilment; and that the prophecy is only an outline, so that we must not expect too much detail. All this in ver. 1. The nature of the prophecy rebukes dogmatism. It may be well to call attention here to the fact that all these expositions and homilies are written independently of each other; there may be, then, possibly some diversity of critical judgment; this, however, will be no disadvantage to the student. For our own homiletic purpose we treat this chapter under three sections in the first, we have a vision of brute rule; in the second, of Divine sovereignty; in the third, of a great rebellion.
I ITS CONDITION. "The great sea" is distinguished from all inland seas. The ocean. The image of our troubled world (Isa_17:12-14; Rev_21:1) Out of the commotion and confusion of troubled peoples the four forms of brute rule arose.
II ITS CAUSE. "The four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea." As the wind plays on ocean, so do supernatural powers (in this case evil) lash into fury the passions of a troubled world; and out of revolutionary confusion emerges oft mute despotism.
III ITS GENERIC NATURE. "Four beasts." Four great empires. Same as described in ch. 2. Why the different form? That vision gave the external glory; this the inmost nature. They had life in them, but it was a life less than human. Man sinks below the human when the pneuma is no longer animated by the Spirit of God. As with man individually, so collectively, so with nations, governments. Government is of God, but may lose the Divine in it, and so become brutal. A boast may inspire terror; but its look is not heavenward, but earthward; hears no Divine voice; has no conscious relations with God. "Four beasts," but "diverse." All brutal.
IV SPECIFIC FORMS.
1. The lion-form. The Babylonian empire. Dominant, like the king of the forest; swift and reaching far, like the eagle. Then came deteriorations. The deteriorations developed slowly. "I continued looking" is the sense. Swift energy was crippled. Not even with the speed of a lion walking did the empire advance; but painfully, slowly, as a beast marching on hind legs alone. Then instead of the lion-heart at the centre of government, the timid heart of a man. Here we have the glory of Nebuchadnezzar"s Babylon, its gradual decay under his successors, until it fell before one mightier than itself. So do governments without God go down.
2. The bear-form. The Persian empire. Less noble than the lion; fierce, heavy, slow. Of these characteristics, the most striking illustration would be the cumbrousness and slow advance of the Persian armies; e.g. the invasion of Greece by Xerxes (see the histories). Note the accessories of the symbol. Raising itself on one side, and perhaps striking out with its right forearm. This indicates the combination of Mode with Persian the latter the stronger and more aggressive. The three ribs devoured stand for Lydia, Babylon, Egypt, subdued. "Devour much flesh" suggests the awful waste of life incident to Persian progress. How many of the two millions returned from Greece?
3. The leopard-form. The Greek empire, specially under Alexander. Characteristics: insatiable appetite for blood, swiftness, subtlety. "Four wings." "Four heads." The Greek dominion essentially one, but with four centres. Trace the analogy. Alexander"s determination to conquer the world. Swift movement, equalled only by Napoleon I The subtlety of his genius. The division of his empire into four.
4. The nameless form. The Roman empire. So terrible is this power, that no one creature can represent it, nor the combined attributes of many. The eminence and importance of this empire are apparent from:
1. Its prominence in this chapter.
2. Daniel"s anxiety to "know the truth of the fourth beast.
3. Its collision with the Divine kingdom.
4. Its successive historical aspects.
(1) Its first aspect. (See ver. 7.) All this exhibits the utterly destructive energy of Rome. What it did not devour, it destroyed for destruction"s sake. A contrast with the other powers. They ravaged, subdued, extorted tribute; "but their connection with the states which they subdued was loose and disjointed." Rome conquered all, kept all, assimilated all
(2) Two developments.
(a) "Ten horns. " Horn is the symbol of power. The ten were on the head from the beginning, to manifest the unity of the Roman empire plus the European nations. Their development, however, was not at once.
(b) The one. Small at the beginning. Displaces a third (nearly) of existing powers. A development of the Roman domination. "Eyes" for a certain intelligence. Pride and blasphemy out of its "mouth"? What can this be but the papacy?
V ITS JUDGMENT AND OVERTHROW. Not for ever and for ever shall the brutal reign. How sublime the contrast ushered in by ver. 9! Below, the ocean, lashed by powers of evil; out of it the brutal, its last developments the worst. Now heaven opens. Thrones were set (not "cast down"). A central throne. On it the Eternal The throne the source of all splendour, the fount of energy. (Rev_4:5) Judgment proceeding. Not the last judgment. But the continuous judgment of men and nations. The Roman empire, and all that came of it doomed annihilated. The other empires long gone, though for a while they lingered.
Learn:
1. The eternal supremacy of God.
2. The righteousness of his judgments.
3. The certain doom of all that is alienated from his own Divine life.
Individuals and nations are human and. humane only as they live in him. The reign of the brutal in any form cannot be eternal. Animalism in all its ugly, cruel, sensual forms, must go down; for God in Christ "must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. R.
HOMILIES BY J.D. DAVIES Vers. 1-8.
A vision of human violence.
Dreams have a foundation in external fact. The mind of man has a creative faculty a faint reflection of the Divine and, when released from the domination of visible things, it asserts its original power. Daniel was advanced in years, had seen many changes in the government of Babylon, and probably had been brooding seriously over the fortunes and prospects of the Hebrews. The past and the future were inextricably interlaced.
I NIGHT HAS ITS USES, AS WELL AS DAY. Night is not an entire blank in a man"s history. God is as much with us by night as by day. "He giveth his beloved sleep." But, at the same time, he supports the imagination and memory in strange activity. Here we have a hint of the separate life of mind and body. If this occurs now, may not the mind be amply active, while the body is fast asleep in the grave? Night reveals to us pictures, which the garish day dissipates. Darkness is freighted with celestial light. What is darkness to the body need not be darkness to the mind. Trial may have a rough exterior, but there is latent good within. Sorrow is endowed with a Divine power of benediction. Death itself to the saint is but a veil that hides the dawning light. Reality is often the antipodes of phenomenon.
II MATERIAL THINGS ARE MIRRORS IN WHICH MEN MAY SEE THEIR TRUE CHARACTERS. The mind, in its infantile state, is most impressed with visible and tangible things. "The great sea" is a significant picture of the mobility and restlessness of the multitude. The masses of men, having no settled beliefs, no fixed principles of action, are as fickle, and as easily wrought upon, as the unstable sea. As the briny waters are promptly driven hither and Thither by every wind that blows, so the multitudes are moved and tossed by every passing passion by the faintest prospect of self-advantage or by the fevered ambition of a stronger will than their own. The Jews, having relinquished their safe anchorage, viz. faith in God, were driven helplessly north and south, east and west, by the wind passions of unscrupulous conquerors. It seemed as if the four winds of heaven strive at one and the same time upon this Hebrew sea. "The wicked are like the troubled sea.
III UNTAMED BEASTS ARE THE APTEST SYMBOLS OF MILITARY CONQUERORS. One is like a lion, though, as years roll on, he at length acquires a man"s heart the sensibility of human tenderness. A second is like a leopard; yet so swift is he for destruction, that the fleetness of the leopard fails to convey all the truth; therefore four wings of a fowl are added to the symbol. A third is like a bear, intent only on tearing and consuming much flesh. A fourth destroyer of men is so fierce and death-breathing that not one of the savage beasts in nature can represent him. He is a "beast dreadful and terrible," having teeth of iron. It is rare that beasts of prey make war upon their own species, much less upon their own kindred. God has provided the wildest beast with but two horns, to serve as weapons of defence; but this human monster was furnished with ten horns. One cannot but be struck with the singular incongruities we meet with in this prophetic dream; yet even this fact is instructive. The wildest vagaries of the imagination are outstripped by the moral incongruities of human character and human conduct. Where shall we find an incongruity so strange as this the wilful degradation of the man to a level lower than the untrained beasts?
IV GOD"S PRESENT REVELATIONS TO MEN ARE PARTLY OBSCURE, PARTLY CLEAR. "We know only in part; hence we prophesy only in part." We may be sure that this arrangement is best. It is an act of kindness and of wisdom on the part of God. It serves to stimulate inquiry on our part. We may learn from it to cherish humility, inasmuch as we are not at present competent to receive larger communications of God"s will. Thankful ought we to be that we have enough knowledge of God"s will for our practical guidance; and when we have worked up all this raw material into personal service, we shall obtain more. God "made known his ways unto Moses," but his acts only unto "the children of Israel." "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord." It is one of the attractions of the heavenly state, that fresh light will continually be shed upon the past history of our race, as well as upon the wisdom of the Divine government. D.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 13, 18, 23, 25, 27 I saw in my vision by night.
Dan_7:2-3
I saw in my vision by night.
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Modes of Communication with God
Since the days of the apostles, the intercourse between Heaven and earth has been maintained through the ordinary channels. God speaks to man through the medium of his conscience--in the Bible, and by the operation of His providence. These are now the appointed means whereby we are to ascertain a knowledge of our duty. Not that our Heavenly Father is less desirous of guiding us into the path of truth, or that we, His children are more abandoned to the perils of the world than were the people of His inheritance in a former age; but the ransom of our souls having been effected through the meritorious sacrifice of the Son of God, the Saviour, having ascended into glory and received gifts for men; and instruction, accompanied with the most cheering promises, adapted to the case of every individual, having been imported in the canon of Scripture, the Deity has withdrawn Himself from holding a more immediate communion with His creatures, leaving us, not to ourselves, but to the influence of those aids which He has provided. Though visible conferences have ceased between the inhabitants of this world and their omnipresent Creator, we are still under Divine control, and derive our guidance, our strength, and our comfort from on high. The ancient seers were instructed in different ways. Some were endowed with the gift of prophecy by the action of the Holy Spirit upon the mind, illumining the understanding, and conveying to the person so inspired the requisite acquaintance with events not yet accomplished. Angels were also employed to unfold to men the designs of the Almighty. Daring the ages of prophecy, dreams appear to have been frequently of a supernatural order, and highly significant of some important circumstance. (Charles Popham Miles, B.A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 8, 9, 11, 13, 18, 19, 22, 26, 27 SECT. XXII.—THE VISION OF THE FOUR BEASTS (Chap. Dan_7:1-7)
HOMILETICS
SECT. XXII.—THE VISION OF THE FOUR BEASTS (Chap. Dan_7:1-7)
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We now come to the second and principal part of the Book of Daniel, the prophetical portion, the narratives it contains being merely introductory to the visions. The present, as well as the succeeding chapter, chronologically anterior to the preceding one, this vision having been given in the first year of the reign of Belshazzar, probably twenty-three before the events narrated in the preceding chapter; the editor or arranger of the book, whether Ezra or Daniel himself, having for convenience placed the narrative before the present and following chapters, in order to preserve uninterrupted the continuity of the prophecies.
The present chapter, in its matter as well as its position, the central portion of the book. It is in both respects to the Book of Daniel what the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans is to that epistle. Next to the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, and perhaps the ninth chapter of this same book, we have here the most precious and prominent portion of the sure word of Messianic prophecy. The chapter worthy of the most careful prayer and study. Referred to directly or indirectly by Christ and His apostles perhaps more than other portions of the Old Testament of similar extent. Appears to have been regarded by the Old Testament Church, in the centuries preceding the Messiah’s first advent, as pre-eminently the “word of prophecy.” The same apparently in the New Testament Church till the Revelation of John was vouchsafed for its guidance. The Saviour’s chosen title of “the Son of Man,” as well as the declaration of His future coming “in the clouds of heaven,” obviously taken from this chapter. So Paul’s description of the “Man of Sin” in his second Epistle to the Thessalonians (chap. 2) Frequent and obvious parallels between its images and predictions and those of the Book of Revelation, more especially those connected with the ten-horned beast (Rev_13:1-7), the Lord’s second Advent, the reign of Christ and His saints, and the final judgment.
The vision not understood by Daniel, till at his own request it was explained to him by one of the angels present in it; an indication at once of our duty and privilege in relation to the study of the word of prophecy. The vision and its interpretation given for our sakes especially, “on whom the ends of the world have come.” One part of the Holy Spirit’s office to show us things to come, which have been already “noted in the Scripture of truth;” while it is our part to imitate the prophet in “searching what or what manner of time the Spirit that was in them did signify, when he showed beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow” (1Pe_1:11).
This, as well as the prophecies that follow, delivered in Daniel’s own name, the reason being because the visions were communicated to him personally. Daniel not now a narrator of events, but a witness of what had been delivered to himself. Difference of the person used, no evidence of a difference of authorship. Authors known to employ both the first and third person in their narratives. The unity of the two parts of the book indicated by the sameness of the spirit, the style, and the interdependence of the parts upon each other. The contents of both portions, however, probably written at different times.
The language employed in this chapter still the Chaldaic [150], which, however, ceases with the close of it, the remaining portion of the book being in Hebrew. The reason apparently found in the nature and object of the two parts thus differently written. The Chaldaic probably by this time as much or more the language of the Jews in Babylon than their own Hebrew, as it continued to be that of those in Palestine afterwards. This also the language of the Targums, translations or rather paraphrases of the Old Testament when the Hebrew ceased to be the spoken language of the Jews.
[150] “This chapter,” says Brightman, “is written in the common tongue of the heathenish kingdom, that the common prophecy might come abroad unto all. The vision in the next chapter is in the proper tongue of the holy people; the prophet thus intimating that this in the seventh chapter is more general, that in the eighth more particular, as also those which follow to the end of the chapter.”
The vision of the Four Beasts corresponds to that of the Great Image in chap. 2. This given in a dream to Daniel, as that had been to Nebuchadnezzar. The interpretation given by an angel at the same time. The whole vision committed to writing probably soon after its communication to the prophet, being intended to form a part of Sacred Scripture, as it has done since the canon of the Old Testament was completed in the days of Ezra and Malachi; thus securing accuracy, and giving permanency to the inspiration for the benefit of succeeding ages. Hence the prophets often commanded to commit their revelations to writing. See Isa_8:1; Isa_30:8; Jer_30:2; Hab_2:2; Rev_1:11; Rev_21:5. Daniel not only “wrote the dream,” but “told the sum of the matters” to his friends and countrymen about him (Dan_7:1). The prophets in general preachers as well as writers. Their hearers called their “children” and “disciples” (Isa_8:16-18). Figuratively, their “threshing” and the “corn of their floor” (Isa_21:10). The Sabbath and the new moon the ordinary days for their public ministration (2Ki_4:23). Daniel, however, rather a prophet by gift than by office, and his communications to others, therefore, probably more private.
The effect of the vision on the prophet himself powerful and disturbing. “My cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me” (Dan_7:28). So the corresponding vision afforded to Nebuchadnezzar “troubled his spirit” (chap. Dan_2:1). Still stronger language used by Habakkuk, in describing the effect produced upon himself by the disclosure of the future communicated to him (Hab_3:16).
The present vision, in some of its leading features, a repetition of that afforded fifty years before to Nebuchadnezzar, accompanied, however, with important additions; a circumstance tending to give special weight to the vision, and to draw particular attention to it; while confirmation was thus given to both visions, and the interpretation of each rendered both more easy and more memorable [151]. The vision given to Daniel and the Church for the sake of the additions), especially that relating to the “little horn.” The former part of the vision already clearly accomplished; the latter part manifestly approaching its fulfilment. The vision affords a compendious history of the world from the time of Daniel to that of Christ’s millennial kingdom, in so far as that history stands more immediately related to the Church both of the Old and New Testament. The Saviour’s exhortation in reference to another portion of Daniel’s prophecies, eminently applicable to this: “Let him that readeth understand.” David’s, or perhaps Daniel’s own prayer, here particularly suitable and necessary: “Open Thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law” (Psa_119:18).
[151] According to Calvin, the repetition is given for greater clearness, and in token of the certainty of the prophecy. This repetition, Archdeacon Harrison remarks, is “according to the method of divine prediction, presenting at first a general sketch and outline, and afterwards a more complete and finished picture of events.” Sir Isaac Newton observes “that the prophecies of Daniel are all of them related to one another, as if they were but several parts of one general prophecy, given at several times;” and that “every following prophecy adds something new to the former.”
The subject of the vision is the four great or universal monarchies, here represented under the figure of so many wild beasts, as they were in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream under that of a great and splendid image, with its four parts composed of different materials; together with another and everlasting kingdom which should succeed them all. The four beasts are said in the interpretation to be “four kings,” or, as in the Greek version, “four kingdoms, that should arise out of the earth” (Dan_7:17). The same object—the kingdoms of this world—thus presented under very different aspects to the carnal, worldly-minded monarch, and to the godly, spiritually-minded prophet. To the carnal, unrenewed man, the world appears as a dazzling show; to the spiritual and renewed, a hateful reality of ambition, selfishness, rapacity, cruelty, and oppression, resembling so many wild beasts contending for the mastery [152]. These four beasts or kingdoms, however, are only introduced to show what was God’s purpose in reference to the establishment of His own kingdom or that of the Messiah, which, like the stone in chap. 2, should remove and succeed them all, and which should last for ever.
[152] “Four great beasts.” “The image appeared with a glorious lustre in the imagination of Nebuchadnezzar, whose mind was wholly taken up with admiration of worldly pomp and splendour; whereas the same monarchies were represented to Daniel under the shape of fierce wild beasts, as being the great supporters of idolatry and tyranny in the world.”—Grotius. Auberlen points out more fully and profoundly the distinction between the two visions. “The outward political history had been shown in general features to the worldly ruler; for by his position he was peculiarly and almost exclusively fitted to receive a revelation of this kind. But the prophet obtains more minute disclosures, especially on the spiritual and religious character of the powers of the world, and such as were best adapted to his position and his receptivity. This difference of character easily explains the difference of images. While in the second chapter they are taken from the sphere of the inanimate, which has only an external side, they are chosen in the seventh chapter from the sphere of the animate. Further, as Nebuchadnezzar saw things only from without, the world-power appeared to him in its glory as a splendid human figure, and the kingdom, from its humility, as a stone: at first he beheld the world-power more glorious than the kingdom of God. Daniel, on the other hand, to whom it was given to penetrate farther into the inner essence of things, saw that the kingdoms of the world, notwithstanding their defiant power, are of a nature animal and lower than human; that their minds are estranged from and even opposed to God; that only in the kingdom of God is the true dignity of humanity revealed; and accordingly, the kingdom of God appears to him from the outset, and in the very selection of images, superior to the kingdoms of the world.… The colossal figure that Nebuchadnezzar beheld represents mankind in its own strength and greatness; but however splendid, it presents only the outward appearance of a man. But Daniel, regarding mankind in its spiritual condition, saw humanity, through its alienation from God, degraded to the level of reasonless animals, enslaved by the dark powers of nature.”
It is noticeable that the three beasts here mentioned by name are those which the Lord threatened by Hosea to send against Israel for their apostasy and sins, the lion, the leopard, and the bear, while a fourth was added as simply “a wild beast,” corresponding with the fourth in the vision without a name (Hos_13:7-8); clearly indicating the relation which these world-kingdoms bear to Israel and the Church, as, in the hand and according to the pleasure of God, instruments of chastisement for unfaithfulness. Similar figures to indicate the powers of the world not unfrequently employed by the prophets. So Jer_4:7; Jer_5:6; Psa_68:30. Men in their natural condition, as fallen and without the renewing grace of God, often similarly represented under the figure of savage beasts. (See Psa_10:9-10; Psa_57:4; Psa_58:4; Psa_58:6; Psa_59:6.) In more senses than one men rendered by sin “like the beasts that perish.”
The four beasts in the vision are represented as coming up out of the great sea when thrown by opposing winds into tempestuous commotion (Dan_7:23). Such a sea a picture of the great world of mankind in its alienation from God and consequent dispeace (Isa_48:22; Isa_57:21). The origin of the great monarchies of the world the conflicting passions and commotions among men. Nimrod “began (was the first) to be a mighty one in the earth: he was a mighty hunter before the Lord” (Gen_10:8-9). The Mediterranean, on which Daniel had often looked when in his native country, often called “the Great Sea,” as distinguished from the smaller bodies of water in Palestine. It was on the borders or in the vicinity of that sea that the four great contending monarchies lay. The “four winds of the heaven,” by which the great sea was tossed into a tumult, probably intended to represent the external means and circumstances by which God in His holy providence operates on the nations and rulers of the world, thereby arousing them into action, while He wisely overrules and controls their own carnal passions.
It is also worthy to be observed that the number of monarchies represented both in the vision of the king and the prophet is the same, namely, four; an evidence itself of the divine origin of the book, when taken in connection with the remarkable fact that there have never been more than four great universal monarchies in the world, though some, as Charlemagne and Napoleon Buonaparte, have laboured hard to establish a fifth. The four, as already seen in connection with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, are those of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome [153]. From this general view of the vision we may note—
[153] “This opinion,” observes Keil, “which has been recently maintained by Hävernick, Hengstenberg, Hofmann Auberlen, Zündel, Kliefoth, C. P. Caspari, and H. L. Reichel, alone accords, without any force or arbitrariness, with the representation of these kingdoms in both visions, with each separately, as well as with both together.” Compare Comm, on chap. Dan_2:36-45, section ix. page 41.
1. The importance of the word of prophecy. The repetition of the prophecy regarding the four great monarchies and the divine kingdom that was to succeed them, itself significant. Given first in a dream to Nebuchadnezzar and then in a vision vouchsafed to Daniel himself, the repeated revelation of the same things, under different forms, seems a clear intimation how important for the Church this communication appeared to the Spirit of God, whose it is to “show us things to come.” What God has thus so carefully given it can neither be safe nor right for His people to neglect. Especially is this the case with a prophecy which we know to apply to the times in which we live, and which has been given for our comfort and guidance in these last days. The words forming the preface to the Book of Revelation applicable here also. “Blessed are they that read, and they that hear the prophecy of this book, and that keep the things that are written therein; for the time is at hand” (Rev_1:2).
2. All history within the foreknowledge and under the control of God. This vision exhibits the great leading events of the world’s history from the time of Daniel, projected in the word of prophecy as on a map. Hence not only foreknown, but so overruled as infallibly to come to pass. This without the slightest prejudice to or interference with the freedom of man’s will, and so without any diminution of his responsibility. God’s foreknowledge and man’s freedom—God’s purposes and man’s responsibility—solemnly and mysteriously compatible with each other. Both alike realities, however unable we may be in our present state to reconcile them. Now we know only in part. The Jews, not knowing their own Scriptures, fulfilled the same by crucifying their King and Saviour, to their deep and dire condemnation, under which, alas! they still lie. “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Act_2:23). The hands still wicked hands though fulfilling the secret counsel and foreknowledge of God. The same thing true in regard to the events of general history and individual life. The providence that appoints the establishment or overthrow of an empire presides over the fall of a sparrow, fixes the bounds of our habitation, and numbers the hairs of our head.
3. The true character of the kingdoms of this world. To Daniel these appear not as dazzling image, but as savage and irrational beasts, the symbols of selfishness, cruelty, rapacity, and strife, obeying the impulses of appetite and passion instead of the dictates of reason and conscience. History makes good the picture. The universal admission that sin has reduced men to the level of beasts. Paul’s description of fallen men apart from divine grace, as given in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, verified by the testimony of the heathen themselves. “Full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity” (Rom_1:29). The divine verdict—“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked”—realised by universal observation and experience. Time given fully to develop man’s need of a Saviour from sin before that Saviour came. Four thousand years only proved the divine testimony given at the time of the Flood to be true: “The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen_8:21; Gen_6:5). Man was shown to be sick unto death—desperately, and, to all human effort, incurably wicked; and the Healer came. “He shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins” (Mat_1:21).
HOMILETICS
SECT. XXIII.—THE FOUR GREAT EMPIRES (Chap. Dan_7:3-7; Dan_7:17-24)
“These great beasts, which are four,” said the interpreting angel, “are four kings which shall arise out of the earth” (Dan_7:17). By the four kings we are to understand not four separate individuals, but, as the Greek version has it, four kingdoms or empires, succeeding each other, as in the vision of the Great Image (chap. 2) These, as already remarked, are almost universally understood to be the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Greek or Macedonian, and the Roman. We now notice these empires separately as here described, leaving the description of the Little Horn for another section.
I. The first or Babylonian Empire. The first of the four beasts which Daniel beheld rising up out of the earth was a lion with eagle’s wings (Dan_7:4). This figure common among the sculptures of Nineveh and the ruins of Persepolis [154]. A winged lion a fit symbol of the first or Babylonian Empire [155]; a lion being expressive of its superiority, and its wings of the rapidity of its conquests. Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar, as its representative in its best days, described by the prophets as the instrument of God’s chastisement of His people under the figure of a lion. See Jer_4:7; Jer_5:6; Jer_49:19; Jer_50:17. In the Great Image the same monarchy is represented by the head of gold, gold being among metals what the lion is among beasts. The figure of an eagle, the king of birds, also employed by the prophets to represent Nebuchadnezzar and his conquests. See Jer_48:40; Jer_49:22; Eze_27:2; Hab_1:6. The rapidity of those conquests seen in the fact that while, at the period of his father’s death, the empire comprehended Chaldea, Assyria, Arabia, Syria, and Palestine, Nebuchadnezzar greatly augmented it after his accession to the throne, adding to his tributary dominions both Egypt and Tyre. Ancient historians agree in considering him by far the greatest monarch of the East. The prophet, however, as he gazed upon the symbol, observed a change to pass upon it. “I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth (marg., by which it was lifted up, &c.), and made to stand upon its feet as a man; and a man’s heart was given to it” (Dan_7:4). An arrest was to be laid upon those conquests, and a state of humiliation and timidity to succeed them. Babylon’s monarchs were to be no longer lions, but as private men, deprived of power and strength. Possibly also an allusion is made to the humiliation connected with Nebuchadnezzar’s madness, and his ultimate deliverance from it. Succeeding reigns only brought disaster to the Babylonian Empire; and Belshazzar, its last king, was so far from being “lion-hearted,” that he was afraid to engage in open battle with the Persians, or to accept the challenge of Cyrus to single combat. He trembled and his knees smote each other at the sight of the writing on the wall. According to Jeremiah’s prophecy, he and his nobles “became as women” (Jer_51:30). The lion of Babylon was to be “put in fear” that he might “know himself to be but a man” (Psa_9:20) [156].
[154] “Like a lion, and had eagle’s wings” (Dan_7:4). Herder, Münther, &c., have pointed out the peculiarly Babylonian character which the animal symbolism in Daniel bears; and the recent excavations among the ruins of Babylon and Nineveh contain so many confirmations of the book being written after the captivity, as they show shapes of animals by which we are involuntarily reminded of those occurring here, and which suggest the thought that an acquaintance with sculptures of this kind may have proved a psychological preparation for the visions in the seventh and eighth chapters.—Hengstenberg. At the entrance to a temple at Birs Nimroud, says Keil, there has been found (Layard, (Babylon and Nineveh) such a symbolical figure, viz., a winged eagle with the head of a man. But the representation of nations and kingdoms by the images of beasts is much more widely spread, and affords the prophetic symbolism the necessary analogues and substrata for the vision. The Assyrian King Assur-bani-pal, the Sardanapalus of the Greeks, says in the inscription of one of his cylinders, in reference to Elam or Persia: “I broke the winged lions and bulls watching over the temple, all there were. I removed the winged bulls attending to the gates of the temples of Elam.”
[155] “The first” (Dan_7:4). Dr. Rule observes that as the fourth or Roman beast was to be the fourth upon earth, so the first or Babylonian must not only be the first of the kingdoms in this prophetical series, but also the first upon earth: which is historically true. About two thousand years before Daniel, the young population of the post-diluvian world, being then “of one language and of one speech,” journeyed from the east, found a plain in the laud of Shinar, dwelt there, began to build a city and a tower, and on their speech being confounded, were scattered abroad on the face of the earth. But the city remained with a sufficient population settled in it, the first built after the Deluge, and retaining the name Babel to mark the confusion of language which there took place. That city was the first central seat of power; and though the royal residence was for some time in Nineveh, and Babylonia was included within the empire of Assyria, Babylon recovered its primeval majesty, and was again the seat of empire from Nabopolassar to Belshazzar, and so rightly counted the first kingdom upon earth. Callisthenes, a friend of Alexander the Great, and his companion at Babylon, b.c. 331, sent thence to Aristotle a series of observations on eclipses made in that city, which reached back 1903 years, i.e., from 2234 b.c. The face of the sky had thus been read and recorded on that spot for near two thousand years.
[156] “A man’s heart was given to it” (Dan_7:4). Keil thinks that this, as well as the preceding expression, “lifted up,” when lying prostrate on the ground, to the right attitude of a human being, denotes that the beast nature was transformed to that of a man; and that in this description of the change that occurred to the lion there is, without doubt, a reference to what is said of Nebuchadnezzar in chap. 4. Although the words may not, however, as Hofmann and others think, refer directly to Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity, as here it is not the king but the kingdom that is the subject, yet Nebuchadnezzar’s madness was for his kingdom the plucking off of its wings. The completeness of the decay of Babylon under the second empire appears in the fact related by Strabo, that when Alexander completed the conquest of that empire about 331 b.c., he found the great temple of Belus in so ruined a condition, that it would have required the labour of ten thousand men for two months to clear away the rubbish with which it was encumbered.
II. The second or Medo-Persian Empire. This is represented by a bear raising itself upon one side, with three ribs in its month (Dan_7:5). The great universal monarchy that succeeded the Babylonian, already, in chap. 2, seen to be the Persian or Medo-Persian. Its symbol, portrayed upon its standard, from the known character of its princes and people [157], one of the most bloodthirsty of animals. Compare Isa_13:18. The bear at the same time a less courageous as well as a less noble and magnanimous animal than the lion, though exceedingly strong and voracious [158]. Hence, “Arise and devour,” &c. Corresponds to the breast and arms of the image, which were of silver, as being inferior to the Babylonian Empire, the head of gold. The bear raising itself upon one side [159], apparently expressive of the fact, that while this second empire was at first under the confederate kings of Media and Persia, the former had first the pre-eminence in the person of Darius, but after his death the Persians under Cyrus rose to the sole dominion. The two powers of Media and Persia or Elam, as united in the overthrow of Babylon, pointed to nearly two centuries before by the prophet Isaiah (Isa_13:17; Isa_21:2). These separate powers represented in the Great Image by the two arms, and their coalescence under Cyrus by the breast. The three ribs in the bear’s mouth, and the command to “arise and devour much flesh,” indicative of the rapacity and conquests of the Medo-Persian Empire. The three ribs have been supposed by Sir Isaac Newton and others to indicate Lydia with its capital Sardis—the country of Crœsus, Babylon, and Egypt, which Cyrus added to his conquests, without their properly belonging, however, to the body of his empire [160]; while others, as Calvin, have considered them to be Media, Assyria, and Babylonia. The inferiority of the second empire to the first, indicated as well in the symbol of the image as that of the beasts, apparent under the successors of Cyrus, who are known to have sadly degenerated, giving attention to pomp and show rather than to real strength and valour [161]. It lasted also a shorter time, having only continued 206, or at most 230 years from Darius, its first monarch, who ascended the throne B.C. 538, till its overthrow by Alexander the Great in 332.
[157] “A second like to a bear” (Dan_7:5). Bishop Newton says: Cambyses, Ochus, and others of their princes, were indeed more like bears than men. Instances of their cruelty abound in almost all the historians who have written of their affairs, from Herodotus down to Ammianus Marcellinus, who describes them as proud, cruel, exercising the power of life and death over slaves and obscure plebeians. “They pull off the skin (says he) from men alive, in pieces or altogether.” The cruelty of their modes of punishment indicative of the cruelty of their character. Rollin relates that one of the royal judges, condemned to death for receiving a bribe, was to have his skin taken off and fastened on the seat where he used to sit and give judgment, to be a warning to his son, who was to occupy it after him. Witness also the lions’ den.
[158] “Arise, devour much flesh” (Dan_7:5). Next to the lion, the bear is the strongest among animals; and, on account of its voracity, it was called by Aristotle ζῶον παμφάγον, “an all-devouring animal.”—Keil.
[159] “Raised up itself on one side.” The margin reads: “raised up one kingdom,” after R. Nathan, who has, “and it established a dominion,” with which Kranichfeld agrees. Keil objects to this as irreconcilable with the line of thought, and also because חַד (khadh) is not the indefinite article, but the numeral; and the thought that the beast established one dominion, or a united dominion, is in the highest degree strange; for the character of a united or compact dominion belongs to the second world-kingdom no more than to the first, while it cannot belong to a beast or kingdom to establish a kingdom at all. שְׁטַר (shetar), or rather, as in Syriac and the Targums, שְׂטַר = סְטַר (setar), is rendered by the Sept. and other old translators, as well as by Saadias, “a side.” According to Calvin, who translates, “stood on one side,” the expression refers to the Persians having previously been without fame or reputation, as well as without wealth. Gesenius thinks it an image of the kingdom of the Medes being ordered by God, after having long lain, as it were, in ambush, to rise and attack Babylon. Keil, with Hofmann, Delitzsch, and Kliefoth, regards the figure as indicating, according to chaps. 2 and 8, the double-sidedness of this empire—the one side, the Median, being at rest after the efforts made for the erection of the world-kingdom; while the other, the Persian side, raises itself up, and then becomes higher than the first and prepared for new rapine.
[160] “Three ribs.” According to Xenophon, Cyrus, after the conquest of Babylon and Lydia, undertook an expedition in which he subdued all those nations which lie from the entrance into Syria as far as the Red Sea; while his next expedition was to Egypt, which he also subdued. Keil, with Hofmann, Ebrard, Zündel, and Kliefoth, understanding the bear as the Medo-Persian, and not merely the Median kingdom, considers the three ribs to denote the three kingdoms of Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt, conquered by the Medo-Persians.
[161] Xenophon relates that immediately upon the death of Cyrus his sons fell into dissension; cities and nations revolted, and everything tended to ruin. He adds the reflection, that the Persians and their allies have evidently less piety towards the gods, less dutiful regard to their relatives, less justice and equity in their dealings with others, and at the same time are more effeminate and less fitted for war than they were at their commencement as a nation.
III. The third or Grecian Empire. This represented by a leopard with four heads and four wings, and corresponding to the belly and thighs of brass in the Great Image. The Persian empire having gradually decayed under the successors of Cyrus, it at length entirely succumbed to the power of Greece under Alexander the Great. The eager and fiery nature of this renowned conqueror symbolised by the leopard, an animal remarkable for its swiftness and the eagerness with which it springs upon its prey. Rollin observes that after the siege of Tyre, the character of Alexander degenerated into debauchery and cruelty. When Gaza, after a protracted resistance, was at length taken, Alexander manifested the cruelty of his character by ordering a thousand of its inhabitants to be put to death, and its governor to be dragged round the walls by ropes passed through his heels till he died. The spots of the leopard supposed to indicate the variety of the nations that constituted the Grecian empire, as the four wings plainly pointed to the rapidity of the Grecian conquests [162]. The four heads the prophetic symbol of the well-known division of the Grecian Empire into four parts soon after Alexander’s death. After a series of intrigues and murders, with a view to the succession, in which his mother, his wife Roxana, his brother, and his son, all perished by a violent death, the empire fell into the hands of the four principal generals, who divided it between them—Cassander holding Macedon and Greece; Lysimachus, Thrace and Asia Minor; Ptolemy, Egypt, Palestine, and Arabia Petræa; and Seleucus, Syria and the remainder, including Upper Asia or the Eastern Empire. The two last, especially in relation to the Jewish people, the most prominent and important. The fourfold division of the Greek Empire distinctly exhibited in the vision of the Ram and He-goat in chap. Dan_8:21-22.
[162] “Four wings of a fowl” (Dan_7:6). The victories and triumphs of the Greeks in the Persian war are well known to the reader of history: how in the time of Darius Hystaspes, b.c. 490, an army of 300,000 Persians was defeated by 11,000 Greeks at Marathon; and how Xerxes, his successor, lost nearly the whole of his fleet at Salamis only ten years after, while the remainder of his troops, left to prosecute the war in Greece, were nearly all cut in pieces in the following year at the battle of Platæa, his fleet being defeated on the same day at Mycale. The decisive blow to the power of Persia, however, was not given till about a hundred and fifty years after by Alexander the Great, who, born at Pella, in Macedonia, b.c. 356, succeeded his father, Philip, as king of Macedon, when only twenty years of age. Appointed generalissimo of the Greeks, he undertook an expedition against the Persians, while Darius Codomannus, the last king of Persia, was on the throne; defeated with 35,000 men an army of 100,000 Persians on the banks of the Granicus, and gained a similar victory in the following year at Issus in Cilicia. The fall of all Asia Minor followed; and soon after that of insular or new Tyre, which Alexander took, according to the word of prophecy, by connecting the island with the mainland by means of a causeway formed out of the materials of old Tyre. The final blow was given to Persia at the battle of Arbela, in Assyria, b.c. 331, when the Persians were twenty times the number of the Greeks. “When you next address me,” said Alexander, in reply to an offer of capitulation by Darius, “call me not only king, but your king.” The conquests of the winged leopard did not, however, stop till, having subdued the Medes, Parthians, Hyrcanians, Bactrians, and Sogdians, he crossed the Indus with the intention of penetrating into India, and was only obliged to turn back by the unwillingness of his army to proceed any farther. As further illustrative of the truth of the image, it is said that his movements were so rapid that his enemies were usually taken by surprise, and that he was able to pursue them on horseback for days and nights together, like a panther after his prey. “Can Alexander, who can do all things, fly also? And has nature on a sudden given him wings?” asked the confident defender of a rocky height of the messenger sent by Alexander. The height, however, was taken. “You see,” said the conquerors, “Alexander’s soldiers have wings.”
IV. The fourth or Roman Empire. The fourth empire is represented by a beast without a name, as if no existing animal could be found sufficient for the symbol [163]. It is described “as diverse from all the rest; dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly, having great iron teeth; devouring, breaking in pieces, and stamping the residue with its feet” (Dan_7:7). The corresponding part of the Great Image is the legs and feet, which were of iron, with a mixture of clay in the feet and toes; like the fourth beast, bruising and breaking to pieces. The identity of the empire symbolised in both cases obvious from the fact that the fourth beast is particularly represented as having ten horns, plainly corresponding with the ten toes of the image. According to the all but unanimous belief of both Jews and Christians, the empire indicated is that of Rome, which, as is well known, succeeded that of Greece. The iron in both the symbols indicative of the sternness of the people, and of the strength, duration, and destructiveness of the empire. The ten horns which characterised the fourth beast, like the ten toes of the image, symbolical of ten kingdoms which should be formed out of the empire in its state of weakness and decay [164]. Compare what is said in reference to the toes of the Great Image. It may only farther be noticed here in regard to the ten horns, that this circumstance connected with the fourth beast appears plainly to identify that beast with another mentioned in Rev_12:1; Rev_18:3; Rev_18:12, whose ten horns are also said to be “ten kings,” but which had “received no kingdom as yet” (Rev_17:12), that is, at the time the vision was given to the apostle; which makes it further manifest that the fourth beast or empire could be no other than the Roman. A new feature, and one of the most remarkable, being that for which more especially this second vision of the four great empires was given, is the rise of another or eleventh horn, called the “little horn,” but which in its character, pretensions, and actual doings was the most formidable of all, and with which more than all the rest the Church of God was to have to do. As this will be considered in a section by itself, we may only notice the following thoughts as suggested by the prophecy of the four beasts.
[163] “A fourth beast, diverse from all the others” (Dan_7:7; Dan_7:19). Thought by some of the Jews to be the wild boar, according to Psa_80:13. Not named, says Theodoret, from the changeable form of its government, kings, generals, tribunes, &c. According to Jerome, from its supereminent cruelty. Its diverseness from the others, Calvin ascribes to the composite character of the Roman people, the senatorial, equestrian, and plebeian ranks. That the Roman empire is intended the all but universal opinion. Some Jews, as Aben Ezra and R. Saadias, wish to make it the Turkish empire, including the Roman in the third, in order to avoid the conclusion that the Messiah has already appeared. Pfaff thinks that both the tyranny of the Turks and of the Popes is included under this fourth beast. Calvin thinks only of the Roman empire up to the first Advent of Christ. Willet, after Polychronius, Junius, Polanus, and others, interprets it of the kingdom of Syria, in which ten kings succeeded each other, the last of whom they suppose was Antiochus Epiphanes, the little horn; though typically of the Roman empire foreshadowed under it, John’s vision of the beast (Rev_13:1), or the Roman empire, having reference to this of Daniel.
[164] “And in had ten horns.” Some have understood the number ten as indefinite, indicating, as Augustine thinks, the whole of the kings in the Roman empire up to the coming of Antichrist; or, as Calvin, the several provinces or kingdoms of that empire; or as others, the kingdoms into which the Roman empire was divided and dissolved on its first partition into the Eastern and Western empires. Most, however, consider it to be a certain number. Some think of the kings who in the end should divide the empire between them. Thus Jerome says, “Let us say, what all ecclesiastical writers have handed down, that in the consummation of the world, when the kingdom of the Romans is about to be destroyed, there will be ten kings who shall divide the Roman world among them.” Irenæus had said in the second century, “Daniel, looking to the end of the last kingdom, that is, the ten kings among whom shall be divided the empire of those upon whom the Son of Perdition shall come, saith that ten horns did grow upon the beast. And more manifestly still hath John, the disciple of our Lord, signified concerning the last time and the ten kings which are in it, among whom shall be divided the kingdom which now reigns, explaining in the Apocalypse what were the ten horns which were seen by Daniel;” thus showing, as Archdeacon Harrison remarks, “how the earliest Christian expositors identified with the imagery before us that which reappears in the visions of the Apocalypse.” Most understand the ten kingdoms into which the Roman empire was divided in consequence of the invasion of the Northern nations. J. D. Michaelis remarks that “the number of the kingdoms in the great community of Europe moves, so to speak, fluctuatingly about this round number (ten), being sometimes more and sometimes less.” Hengstenberg thinks, however, that probably, at the time of the final fulfilment, the number ten will be a definite one. Auberlen observes that the reference in the Revelation to this fourth beast of Daniel “overthrows the whole modern view of the fourth beast (being the Greek kingdom), and of the four beasts in general; it overthrows hereby, secondly, the theory that the prophecies of Daniel are limited to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes; and it consequently overthrows, thirdly, the chief argument brought forward against the genuineness of our book.” “Rationalism,” observes Dr. Pusey, “has come round to the same view.” “I agree,” says Bleek, “with Auberlen, that the ten horns of the fourth beast cannot be meant of ten successive Syrian kings (as Bertholdt, V. Lengerke, Maurer, Hitzig, and Delitzsch think); nor of ten kings, some Syrian and some Egyptian (as Rosenmüller, &c., and Porphyry of old); but rather of the single portions into which the kingdom was divided.”
In like manner Rosenmüller and some other Germans endeavoured to make this beast to be the Greek empire in Asia after Alexander’s death. But Bleek, who is one of them, admits, “We are induced by Dan_7:8, where it is said of the little horn that it would rise up between the ten horns, to think of ten contemporaneous kings, or rather kingdoms, existing along with each other, which rise out of the fourth kingdom.” Therefore he will “not deny that the reference to the successors of Alexander is rendered obscure by the fact that chap. 8. speaks of four monarchies which arise out of that of Alexander after his death.” In opposition to the view that the parts of Alexander’s kingdom which became independent kingdoms might be numbered in different ways, and the number ten be made out from the number of the generals who retained the chief provinces, Zündel justly observes: “These kingdoms could only have significance if this number, instead of being a selection from the whole, had been itself the whole. But this is not the case. For at that time the kingdom, according to Justin, was divided into more than thirty parts.” According to Dr. Todd and the Futurists, the power indicated is one yet to be developed, as the precursor of the final Antichrist. Sir Isaac Newton observes that the Romans conquered the kingdom of Macedon, Illyricum, and Epirus in the eighth year of Antiochus Epiphanes, b.c. 167; that of Pergamos thirty-five years afterwards; Syria sixty-four years later, and Egypt after other thirty-nine years; and that by these and other conquests the fourth beast became greater and more terrible than any of the three preceding ones. Dionysius Halicarnassus, after enumerating the earlier empires of the world, the Assyrian or Babylonian, the Persian, and the Grecian, says, “The empire of the Romans pervades all regions of the earth which are not inaccessible, but are inhabited by mankind; it reigns also over the whole sea, and is the first and only one that has made the east and west its boundaries; and that there is no people that does not recognise Rome as the universal mistress, or that refuses to submit to its dominion.” Professor Bush says, “As the fourth beast of Daniel lives and acts through the space of 1260 years (the ‘time, times, and dividing, or half of a time,’ Dan_7:25), and as the seven-headed and ten-horned beast of John prevails through the same period, I am driven to the conclusion that they adumbrate precisely the same thing—that they are merely different aspects of the same reality; and this I have no question is the Roman empire.” Keil observes, after an elaborate proof of his premises: “Since, then, neither the division of the Medo-Persian kingdom into the Median and the Persian is allowable, nor the identification of the fourth kingdom (chaps. 2. and 7.) with the Javanic (the Greek or Macedonian) world-kingdom in chap. 8., we may regard as correct the traditional Church view that the four world-kingdoms are the Chaldean (or Babylonian), the Medo-Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman.”
1. The fulfilment of this prophecy an unquestionable fact, and as such, an evidence of the reality of prophecy in the sense of prediction, and of the divinity of at least this part of the Old Testament Scripture The fulfilment of prophecy employed by God Himself as an evidence of His deity (Isa_41:22-23; Isa_41:26; Isa_45:21; Isa_46:9-10). Declared to be the criterion of a divine messenger, except when the object is to lead away from God’s worship and revealed truth (Deu_18:21-22; Deu_13:1; Deu_13:3; Isa_8:20). The fulfilment of the prophecy before us undeniable, notwithstanding all attempts to set it aside. This and other predictions of Daniel acknowledged even by enemies to be true up to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, one of the Syrian kings in the third or Grecian empire, but denied to have been written before that period, and therefore maintained to be mere history and not prophecy. But the prophecy as truly fulfilled after that period as before it, and receiving its fulfilment at the present time. The fourth empire and the predicted facts connected with it more remarkable than any of its three predecessors, and to human foresight impossible to have been calculated upon. Yet that empire and those facts a reality which is before our eyes at the present day. An empire of iron crushing strength succeeding a third, acknowledged to be that of Greece, and in its latter period becoming weak by foreign admixture, and divided into ten kingdoms, with one rising up among them or after them of a description totally different from all the rest. These are simple facts, and found in a prediction delivered twenty-four centuries ago. With the convinced magicians of Egypt we may well exclaim, “This is the finger of God.” “I have told you before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass ye might know that I am He” (Joh_13:29).
2. The certainty of predicted events that have not yet taken place. Past fulfilment only makes the word of prophecy “more sure” or confirmed, that we may “take heed” to it, as to a “light shining in a dark place” (2Pe_1:19). While much of the present chapter, as well as of other prophecy, has been fulfilled, much of it still awaits its fulfilment. The destruction of the fourth beast with its “little horn” has not yet taken place, nor has its body yet been “given to the burning flame;” the Son of Man has not yet come “with the clouds of heaven;” nor has the kingdom been “given to the saints of the Most High.” Yet, as certainly as one part of the vision has been fulfilled, so certainly shall the other. Eighteen centuries ago, Jesus, after He had ascended with the clouds into heaven, said, “Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to every man as his work shall be.” As surely as the fourth predicted beast with its iron teeth came into existence and devoured and brake in pieces, so surely shall it be destroyed and its body given to the burning flame, and Jesus Christ come again with the clouds of heaven and take the kingdom, and the kingdom be given to the saints of the Most High, who shall reign with Christ for ever and ever (Dan_7:11; Dan_7:13-14; Dan_7:18; Rev_5:10; Rev_11:15).
3. Matter for thanksgiving and rejoicing that the kingdoms of this world are to be succeeded by one of a very different character. The kingdoms of the world are those of the four beasts, wherever they may have their place. These kingdoms naturally characterised by sin and suffering. Such the experience of the world up to the present time. The history of these kingdoms written in tears and blood; but they are not to be for ever. Three of the four have, as predicted long ago, come to their end. The fourth, which in its divided form is now going on, is not to be everlasting. The everlasting one is yet to come. Its foundations have already long ago been laid, but as yet it is far from being the mountain that is to fill the whole earth. But the time of this consummation hastens apace. The kingdom that is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost” will ere long constitute the monarchy of the Man Christ Jesus, the King of the Jews, which shall fill the earth and last for ever. Men shall yet everywhere be blessed in Christ, and all nations call Him blessed. The sure word of prophecy gladdens the Church with the hope of good times coming—glory to God in the highest, with peace on earth, under the reign of Him who is the Prince of Peace.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 Dan 7:1-28
Dan 7:1-28
The principles which underlie this prophecy are at once profoundly suggestive and exceedingly important.
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I. Foremost among them we find the terribly significant truth that earthly power in and of itself degenerates into brutality. The appropriate symbol of a great empire is a wild beast.
II. Observe that the tendency of this brutality is to increase. The four beasts that Daniel saw came in this order; first the lion, then the bear, then the panther, then that composite, unnamed, almost unnamable animal, with "great iron teeth, devouring and breaking in pieces, and stamping the residue with the feet of it."
III. The great lesson suggested by the prophecy is that the restoration of man to humanity, must come, not from himself, but from above. He who introduced the healing salt which was to purify thoroughly the little fountain of our earthly life was sent forth from the "Ancient of Days." He came from heaven to earth, that he might elevate earth at length to heaven.
W. M. Taylor, Daniel the Beloved, p. 137.
I. From this passage we learn, first, that we must not expect to escape accusation in the world. No matter how carefully we order our lives, slander will have something to say against us.
II. We learn, that when we must either sin or suffer, we ought, without hesitation to prefer the suffering.
III. We learn, that no human power can keep us from prayer.
W. M. Taylor, Daniel the Beloved, p. 116.
Reference: Dan 7:9.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 249.
Dan 7:10
I. The mere thought that there are in existence innumerable glorious immortal spirits; that their God is our God; that, let our condition in this world be ever so poor and degraded, yet these blessed angels disdain not to acknowledge themselves our fellow-servants; that they care for us and, as the Apostle says, minister for us as Christians and heirs of salvation; the mere thought of these plain Scriptural truths, may well arouse us from the lowborn cares and follies of this world, may make us "look up, and lift up our heads," lead us to consider what we are and what we are coming to. The glare of this world obscures our view of things spiritual. It is not without difficulty and considerable exertion that the mind can realise to itself things heavenly and unseen. It is only by spiritual aid, by light from above, that we can overcome this difficulty, and learn to live and walk (as the Apostle so energetically expresses it) "by faith, not by sight."
II. To be in the presence and favour of Almighty God, this and this only can constitute the happiness of all reasonable creatures, of angels in heaven or of men in earth. If we think to be admitted to that blessed society hereafter, it is necessary that here, in this evil world, our happiness should be like theirs in the contemplation of God’s perfections, especially of His love, and in holding communion with Him—that high privilege to which we are entitled through the mediation of His Son, and the sanctification of His Spirit.
III. We are born into this world to live to eternity; but, as Christians, we have been newborn into Christ’s Church, to an eternity of happiness and glory; we are entitled to call God our Father, and the Angels our brethren. It should be our great object and prayer to be made fit for the society of angels. It is of great consequence for all persons who really believe in the truth of Christ’s Gospel, to withdraw their thoughts frequently from these temporary trifles, to raise them to high and heavenly realities; especially to the thought of that innumerable society of good angels, who, day and night, sing on high their Alleluias before the throne, and never rest. The more we cherish these happy thoughts, the more we shall, by the aid of God’s blessed Spirit, become like those exalted inhabitants of heaven.
Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times," vol. i., p. 152.
Dan 7:10
There are three books, and three alone, which are to last for ever. One is with us on earth, and two are kept in heaven. There is the Bible here, and up above there is the book in which our sins are written, and there is the "Lamb’s Book of Life." These are the books which shall be opened at the last day.
I. From a thousand passages in the Bible will God out of His open book set before us His law. His commands, His threatenings, His promises, will all stand forth to view, the same that you heard and read thousands of times from your very cradle. And here will lie the point: "You knew all this, My revealed law—have you kept it or have you broken it?"
II. In the second book, as in a faithful mirror, you will see the clear reflection of your whole life—not a line will be wanting. On one side there stands the long catalogue of all God’s gifts and mercies to you, His providences, His calls, His warnings, His love. On the other side, as if darker by the contrast, is inscribed your life. Every wasted moment is there, and every thought—the secret things of the soul’s deep places, are laid out as clear as the public acts; there is no difference between the chamber and the world. It will be an awful moment, when, in the presence of men and angels, the dark catalogue of all our sins shall be proclaimed.
III. In the Lamb’s Book of Life stands the name of every heir of heaven. That book is always in the Redeemer’s hand, and each moment He stands waiting with His everlasting pen, to record a name.
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 6th series, p. 214.
References: Dan 7:10.—J. Keble, Sermons from Advent to Christmas Eve, p. 25; S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches, p. 170.
Dan 7:13-14
Christ the centre of Biblical thought.
I. Observe some of the details of Biblical truth in which the centring of revelation in Christ is seen. (1) The first token of it is the Old Testament doctrine of the Messiah. (2) The second is the New Testament doctrine of His sufferings and death. (3) The concentration of Biblical thought in the Person of Christ is intensified further by the Biblical doctrine of the Deity of Christ. (4) It is seen in the Biblical doctrine of Christ’s mediatorial reign. (5) It is indicated by the Biblical doctrine of the eternal union of our Lord with the redeemed in heaven.
II. Observe some of the practical bearings of this preeminence of Christ’s Person and work upon Christian faith and character. (1) It has an obvious bearing upon the proportion and perspective of truth in a Christian’s belief. Let this one truth become regnant in the soul and all other truths fall into rank around it, and turn inwards towards it, as metallic particles do when a magnet approaches them. (2) This centring of truth in the Person of Christ should furthermore impart to Christian experience a profound sense of the reality of God as a personal Friend. (3) Another effect of the preeminence of Christ in Christian faith should be to render the friends of Christ objects of personal and profound affection. (4) The chief object of a regenerated life should be the object for which Christ lived and died. (5) The ascendency of Christ in Christian faith gives character to a Christian’s anticipations of heaven.
A. Phelps, The Old Testament a Living Book, p. 314.
References: Dan 7:13, Dan 7:14.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 286. 7—J. G. Murphy, The Book of Daniel, p. 124. Dan 8:1-27.—W. M. Taylor, Daniel the Beloved, p. 161. Dan 8:19.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv., No. 886. 8—J. G. Murphy, The Book of Daniel, p. 140. Dan 9:1-19.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii., No. 154. Dan 9:1-27.—W. M. Taylor, Daniel the Beloved, p. 184. Dan 9:3-22.—Christian World Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 134. Dan 9:8.—Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 166. Dan 9:23.—Ibid., Sermons, vol. xiii., No. 734. Dan 9:24.—Ibid., vol. xxviii., No. 1681; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vi., p. 364. Dan 9:26.—Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 16. 9—J. G. Murphy, The Book of Daniel, p. 152.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Vision of the Four Beasts
The Vision of the Four Beasts
In the first year of Belshazzar Daniel sees in a dream four beasts rising out of the sea (Dan_7:1-3). The first is like a lion, with eagle's wings (Dan_7:4), the second like a bear (Dan_7:5), the third like a leopard (Dan_7:6), while the fourth is a unique and ferocious monster with ten horns (Dan_7:7), Among the horns of the fourth beast there comes up a little horn with human eyes, which displaces three of the other ten, and carries itself proudly (Dan_7:8). God then appears sitting on His throne of judgment (Dan_7:9-10). The fourth beast is slain (Dan_7:11). A human figure appears in the heavens, and receives an everlasting kingdom (Dan_7:13-14).
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At Daniel's request an angel explains the vision (Dan_7:15-16). The four beasts represent four kings (or kingdoms: see on Dan_7:17) which are to appear in succession, and are to be followed by the kingdom of the people of God (Dan_7:18). Daniel's interest centres specially in the fourth beast and the conclusion of the vision (Dan_7:19-22), The fourth beast is explained as a conquering kingdom (Dan_7:23), the ten horns are ten of its kings, and the little horn is an eleventh king who shall put down three of the former ten (Dan_7:24), and shall blasphemously persecute the saints for 'a time, times, and half a time' (Dan_7:25). In the day of God's judgment the little horn will lose his dominion (Dan_7:26) and the everlasting kingdom of the saints will follow (Dan_7:27).
Interpretation The four kingdoms in this chapter are presumably the same as those in c.. 2. The reasons for regarding the fourth as the Greek (rather than the Roman) empire are given in Intro. See also on Daniel 2.
Teaching. This chapter contains a prophecy of the Messianic kingdom of God. It is expected to appear after the overthrow of Antiochus Epiphanes, and to be in the hands of the Jewish people.
1. Belshazzar king of Babylon] For the historical difficulty see on Dan_5:1. Belshazzar is clearly regarded as actual king, since the years of his reign are reckoned by both here and in Dan_8:1.
2. Strove] RV 'brake forth.' The great sea] the Mediterranean.
3. The imagery recalls the figures, so often found on Babylonian bas-reliefs, of winged lions and other monsters. The sea symbolises the confused welter of nations before the Babylonian empire arose.
4. The first] beast is either the Babylonian empire, or more probably Nebuchadnezzar himself (see on Dan_2:38), the changing of the beast from the brute to the human condition referring possibly to Nebuchadnezzar's improvement under God's discipline (Daniel 4). The feet] RV 'two feet.'
5. The second beast may be either the alleged Median empire of Darius (the three ribs in its mouth being perhaps three nations conquered by it before the taking of Babylon), or Belshazzar (the picture of the bear describing his sluggish and sensual nature): see on Dan_2:39,
6. The third beast is either the Persian empire founded by Cyrus, as distinguished from the Median rule attributed in this book to Darius, or the Medo-Persian empire regarded as one. The four heads are perhaps the four Persian kings who are mentioned in OT.—Cyrus, Darius (Hystaspes), Xerxes (Ahasuerus), and Artaxerxes,
7. A fourth beast] the conquering Greek empire of Alexander the Great, Ten horns] see on Dan_7:24.
8. Another little horn] Antiochus Epiphanes, The description of this horn is continued in Dan_7:24-25, Three of the first horns] see on Dan_7:24.
9, 10. The judgment scene is presented in the form of a material spectacle, which is first found in Daniel, though it is common in other apocalyptic books and in the NT. Cast down] RV 'placed.' His wheels] RV 'the wheels thereof' (of the throne). Ancient of days] An expression for God peculiar to Daniel. The book of Enoch has, 'The Head of Days.'
12. The rest of the beasts] the former kingdoms, survived as nations, but without power.
13. One like the Son of man] RV 'one like unto a son of man'—a human figure as opposed to the four brute figures, and coming from heaven as opposed to their coming from the sea. This figure denotes, not the Messiah as an individual, but the kingdom of God as the successor of the kingdoms of this world.
14. People] RV 'peoples.'
17. Four kings] This statement must be taken loosely. The fourth beast is not strictly a king, but a kingdom with various kings (Dan_7:23-24).
18. Take] RV 'receive.'
19-22. A recapitulation of Dan_7:9-14.
23. The fourth kingdom] RV 'a fourth kingdom,' the Greek empire of Alexander the Great.
24. The ten horns] are to be sought among Alexander and his successors. The following table of the Greek kings of Syria and Egypt may be useful here:
Syria.B.C.Egypt.B.C.Seleucus I (Nicator)312-280Ptolemy I (Soter)305-285Antiochus I (Soter)280-261 Ptolemy II (Philadelphus)285-247Antiochus II (Theos)261-246 Seleucus II (Callinicus)246-226 Ptolemy III (Euergetes)247-222Seleucus III (Ceraunus)226-223 Ptolemy IV (Philopator)222-205Antiochus III (the Great)223-187 Ptolemy V (Epiphanes)205-181Seleucus IV (Philopator)187-176 Ptolemy VI (Philometor)181-146Antiochus IV (Epiphanes)176-164 Antiochus Epiphanes was the son of Antiochus the Great, and the younger brother of Seleucus IV, whom he succeeded on the throne. Seleucus Iv was murdered by a usurper named Heliodorus; but Antiochus speedily drove out the latter. The real heir to the throne was Demetrius, the son of Seleucus IV, but he only obtained the kingdom after the death of Antiochus. Another rival of Antiochus is said to have been Ptolemy VI, of Egypt, whose mother, Cleopatra, was a daughter of Antiochus the Great. These relationships are shown in the accompanying table:
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The ten horns are variously reckoned as including or excluding Alexander the Great, and as comprising only Syrian, or both Syrian and Egyptian kings. Including Alexander, the first seven may be Alexander the Great, Seleucus I, Antiochus I, Antiochus II, Seleucus 11, Seleucus III, Antiochus III, and the last three Seleucus IV (whose murder may have been instigated by Antiochus Epiphanes), Heliodorus, and Demetrius. If Alexander be omitted, the first seven will include Seleucus IV; while the last three may be Heliodorus, Demetrius, and Ptolemy VI. The number ten may be a round one, and the exact interpretation of the ten horns is of less consequence than the recognition of the little horn as Antiochus Epiphanes.
25. The v. exactly describes the conduct of Antiochus (1Ma_1:41-50). Laws] RV 'the law.' A time, times, and the dividing of (RV 'half a') time] Three years and a half appears all through the book of Daniel as the period appointed for the tyranny of Antiochus. It is to be regarded as a round period (the half of seven years), denoting a short and incomplete interval of time.
27. Of the kingdom] RV' of the kingdoms.' People of the saints] Here and in Dan_7:18 these are spoken of as the rulers of the future kingdom of God. The 'on of man' is not a personal king, but a symbolic figure for God's kingdom in its superiority to the other kingdoms symbolised by the four beasts.
28. Hitherto] RV 'here.' The table on next Page sums up the general interpretation of Daniel 2, 7 adopted in the notes.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 26, 27 great sea
great sea
The "sea" in Scripture imagery stands for the populace, the mere unorganized mass of mankind Mat 13:47; Rev 13:1.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 CHAPTER 7 The night visions of Daniel
II. THE GREAT PROPHECIES OF DANIEL
CHAPTER 7 The night visions of Daniel
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1. The night vision of the three beasts (Dan 7:1-6)
2. The night vision of the fourth beast (Dan 7:7-8)
3. The judgment vision (Dan 7:9-12)
4. The son of man and His kingdom (Dan 7:13-14)
5. The interpretation of the visions given (Dan 7:15-28)
Dan 7:1-6. The sea in the vision is the type of nations Rev 17:15. The three first beasts he saw represented the same great monarchies which were shown to Nebuchadnezzar in his dream by the gold, silver and brass. The lion Daniel saw first rising out of the sea stands for the Babylonian empire symbolized by the lion Jer 4:7. The plucking of the wings and the man’s heart must refer to Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity and restoration (chapter 4). The bear is the emblem of the Medo-Persian monarchy (corresponding to the chest of silver in the image). One side of the bear was raised up, higher than the other, because the Persian element was the strongest. The three ribs denote the conquest of three provinces by this power. The leopard with four heads and wings is the picture of the great Alexandrine empire, the Graeco-Macedonian (corresponding to the belly and thighs of brass in the image).
The four wings denote its swiftness, the four heads the partition of this empire into the kingdoms of Syria, Egypt, Macedonia and Asia Minor. It is seen in the next chapter as the rough he-goat with a notable horn (Alexander the Great) and the little horn (Antiochus Epiphanes). The fourth beast was not seen in the first vision. Before we turn to the second night vision of the prophet we call attention to the fact that in the selection of beasts to represent these world powers who domineer the times of the Gentiles, God tells us that their moral character is beastly. The lion devours, the bear crushes, the leopard springs upon its prey.
Dan 7:7-8. This represents Rome, corresponding to the two legs of iron and the ten horns with the little horn between has the same meaning as the ten toes on the feet of the image. The little horn we find more fully mentioned in another portion of this chapter. Thus the prophet beheld the same monarchies revealed in the second chapter under the emblem of ferocious beasts. Such the nations are and in their standards and national emblems they have borne witness to their beastly characters. Notice also here the same process of deterioration as in the image. The monarchies degenerate from lion to bear, from bear to leopard and then into a great nondescript.
Dan 7:9-12. This vision brings us to the close of the times of the Gentiles. When the fourth beast with the ten horns and the little horn, the last thing spoken of this world empire, is in full swing, then the end comes. It is a great judgment scene which is here before us. How different the end of this age as revealed in the Word and as it is believed in Christendom. The great mass knows nothing whatever about this age coming to an end. It will go on indefinitely, so they believe, and its future is world progress, better times and the triumph of the Christian civilization. But others concede that a judgment must come and they think of the judgment here as the universal judgment, the great white throne judgment. This judgment is not the last judgment at all. It is a judgment which precedes the final judgment by 1,000 years. This judgment here must be read in connection with passages like Mat 25:31-46 and Rev 19:19-21. In reading the last passage no one can doubt that we have the same judgment here revealed to Daniel. But who is the one who occupies the central place in this vision of judgment? There can be but one answer. It is our ever blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Joh 5:22 gives the conclusive answer: “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.” The Ancient of Days is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is still more demonstrated if we turn to John’s great Patmos vision.
Dan 7:13-14. These words are so plain that every Christian knows what they mean. They describe the second coming of Christ and the kingdom He then receives from the Father’s hands. If this passage were more considered, Christians would stop speaking about the kingdom now. No kingdom till Christ comes again. Both the judgment vision and the vision of His coming to receive the kingdom correspond to the stone which smites the image and as a mountain fills the whole earth.
Dan 7:15-28. First, Daniel hears about the four beasts. But there is a significant statement in Dan 7:18, the saints of the Most High receiving the kingdom.
Who are the Saints of the Most High? The fact that the term “Most High” is in the plural and may also be translated with “the most high or heavenly places” has led some expositors to say that the saints are the same who are seen in the Epistle to the Ephesians in which “the heavenly places” are repeatedly mentioned: in other words, the saints which compose the Church. It is true the Church will be with the Lord in Glory and “we shall reign over the earth,” but this does not necessarily mean that the saints here represent the Church. There are other saints besides “Church saints.” The saints of whom Daniel was thinking were his own beloved people. To that people is promised a kingdom in the days of the Messiah. With Him, the Lord in glory, there is a heavenly people, so as Messiah and the Son of Man in connection with the earth He has an earthly people, saints which will receive and possess with Him that kingdom which will fill the whole earth. These saints are the Godfearing Jews, who pass through the great tribulation and inherit the blessings and promises which God gave through their own prophets.
Another important matter is the little horn of whom now Daniel hears more fully. The ten horns are kings and the little horn in their midst will be the final imperial head of the revived Roman empire, that world domineering person of whom we read repeatedly in the Word of God. He must be distinguished from another one, the personal anti-Christ, the man of sin and son of perdition. In Revelation the revived Roman Empire is seen in Rev 13:1-10, and the second beast which John saw rising from the sea is the false Christ having two horns like a lamb but speaking like a dragon Rev 13:11, etc.) A closer study of these coming leaders of the end time is needed to understand the details; here we but point the way. Our larger work on Daniel will give help on all these chapters.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 15 The Vision of the Four Beasts
The Vision of the Four Beasts
v. 1. In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, who was coregent with his father Nabonidus and the grandson and adopted son of Nebuchadnezzar, according to the most reliable secular accounts, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head, distinct images of his mind, quite distinct from confused pictures, upon his bed, that is, during the night; then, immediately or soon after it transpired, he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters, setting forth the main facts in due order and omitting matters of secondary importance, such as details pertaining to the appearance of the beasts.
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v. 2. Daniel spake and said, in introducing his narration of the strange experience which befell him, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven, from the four main points of the compass, strove upon the great sea, storming along against one another upon the face of the ocean.
v. 3. And four great beasts, monstrous beings, came up from the sea, world-powers rising out of the agitation of the political sea of the heathen world, diverse one from another, one after the other issuing from the great deep.
v. 4. The first was like a lion and had eagle’s wings, emblem of kingly power and authority; I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, taking from the beast the ability to fly. And it was lifted up from the earth, to which it was confined after having been deprived of its unrestrained motion, and made stand upon the feet as a man, standing upon its hind feet in an upright position, and a man’s heart was given to it, so that it partook of the mind and the feelings of a human being.
v. 5. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, appearing later in point of time, and it raised up itself on one side, so that it leaned over sideways, as it lifted the shoulder on that side to move forward; and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it, a part of a prey which had been seized by it, of animals which it had overcome; and they said thus unto it. Arise, devour much flesh, being given to conquest and plunder.
v. 6. After this I beheld, and, lo, another, a third animal coming on the scene somewhat later in history, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl, enabling it to move with great rapidity; the beast had also four heads, indicating that its authority would be divided among four sovereigns; and dominion was given to it, great authority and power in the world.
v. 7. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, coming on the scene as the last world-power, dreadful and terrible, of awe-inspiring fierceness, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth, symbolizing the lust of conquest and destruction; it devoured and brake in pieces, greedily feeding on whatever it could get into its power, and stamped the residue, whatever it could not devour, with the feet of it, bent upon annihilating all that stood in its way. And it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it, so that the entire animal kingdom could furnish no beast to which it was similar; and it had ten horns, giving further impression of power and ferocity.
v. 8. I considered the horns, observing them very closely, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, springing up as the eleventh and, at first, insignificant in size, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots, to make room for the newcomer; and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, symbols of understanding, although not possessing the characteristics of divinity, and a mouth speaking great things, full of proud and blasphemous boasting.
v. 9. I beheld, still engaged in close observation, till the thrones were cast down, by a great act of judgment, and the Ancient of Days, symbol of the eternal and majestic God, did sit, whose garment was white as snow and the hair of His head like the pure wool, both symbols of unsullied purity and holiness; His throne was like the fiery flame, flashing as though composed of a fiery mass, and His wheels as burning fire, symbolical of the fiery zeal with which the Lord punishes the transgressors, but also purifies His people and prepares them for the future glorification.
v. 10. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him, to devour the sinful and hostile forces of the world and to purify the children of the Kingdom. Thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him, an uncounted number of holy angels ready to do His bidding. The Judgment was set, everything was made ready for the trial, and the books were opened, namely, the books of record, in which the deeds of men were entered, to serve as the basis of the sentence to be pronounced upon men by the heavenly Judge.
v. 11. I beheld them because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake, for it was due to the boasting of the ruler represented by the last horn that the judgment and destruction came upon the world; I beheld even till the beast was slain, namely, the fourth, the fierce and destructive beast, and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame, whose devouring fiery streams issued from the throne of the eternal Judge.
v. 12. As concerning the rest of the beasts, the three which were first described, they had their dominion taken away, their power was also taken away in the general judgment; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time, rather, "for the duration of their life was fixed," as to the season and time; God had determined beforehand how long their power should last.
v. 13. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, riding upon them as on a celestial chariot, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. It is on the basis of this passage, which describes the formal inauguration of the Messiah as King of His eternal kingdom, that Jesus applied the name "Son of Man" to Himself so frequently in the gospels.
v. 14. And there was given Him dominion and glory and a kingdom, divine authority over the domain of the earth, 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. The description clearly shows that the Son of Man is a person distinct from the Father, and that the fact of His eternal dominion and power is a direct argument for His deity. Cf Rev 11:15; Rev 19:16.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27 General Information:
General Information:
Chapters 7 and 8 are not in chronological order. They happened while Belshazzar was still the king, before the rule of Darius and Cyrus that was discussed in chapter 6.
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General Information:
In Daniel's vision, he saw animals that were symbols of other things. Later in the vision someone explains the meaning of those symbols. (See: Symbolic Language)
Belshazzar
This was the name of Nebuchadnezzar's son, who became king after him. See how you wrote this name in Daniel 5:1.
a dream and visions
The words "dream" and "visions" both refer to the same dream that is described in this chapter. AT: "visions while he was dreaming" (See: Doublet)
the four winds of heaven
"winds from everywhere" or "strong winds from all four directions"
stirring up
"whipped up" or "agitated" or "caused high waves in"
translationWords
king
Babylon
Daniel
dream
vision
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27 7:1–12:13 The second half of the book features visions…
7:1–12:13 The second half of the book features visions given to Daniel. These visions showed Daniel and his people, both those in exile and those who had returned to Judea, that the future is securely in God’s hands. All empires will ultimately fall before the Kingdom of Heaven. Daniel’s people will be rescued from all their troubles (12:1-3), and God will resurrect and judge all humankind (see 12:13). Daniel interpreted these visions with help from divine messengers (7:10; 8:15; 9:22; 10:14; 12:7).
7:1-28 This chapter contains a terrifying vision (7:2-14) and its interpretation (7:17-27). The sequence of kingdoms recalls Nebuchadnezzar’s dream some forty-five years earlier (2:1-45).
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7:1 Earlier: This vision occurred before the events in ch 6. • Daniel wrote down this vision.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.