Chapter XLVIII (continued, part 3)
fision of the Four Beasts. DANIEL VII. The Interpretation thereof.
saints," but in the vision (v. 13, 11), "the Son of man" takes the kingdom ; for Clirist and His people are one in sulTering, and one in glory. TuBGiifiLLEs translates, " most high places" (Ephesians 1. 3; 2. b). Though oppressed by the beast and little horn, they belong not to the earth from whicli the four beasts arise, but to the most high places. 19. Balaam, an Aramean, dwelling on the Euphrates, at tlie beginning of Israel's independent history, and Daniel at the close of it, prophetically exhibit to the hostile world-power.s Israel as triumplmnt over them at
world (1 Coriiitliians 11. 32), but to rule with Ilim In his
niilleiiuiuiii (MuUhew 5. 5; Luke 12. 32; 22.28-30; Romiins
5. 17; 1 CorintUliUi.s «. 2; Revelation 1. 6; 2. 26-28 ; 3. 21; 20.
i). This is to l)e our hope, not to reign in the present world course (1 Coriutliians 4. 8; 2 Corinthians 4. 18;
ritilippiJUis 3. 20; Hebrews 13. 14). There must be a " re-
gijnerulioii" of the world, as of the individual, a death previous lo a resurrection, a destruction of the world-king-
rtoms, before they rise anew as the kingdoms of Christ
(ftlattliew ly. 28). Even tlie millennium will not perfectly eradicate tlie world's corruption, another apostasy and judgment will succeed iKevelaliou 20. 7-15), in whicli the world of nature is to l)e destroyed and renewed, as the world of hUtorij was before tlie millennium (2 Peter 3. 8-
last, though the world-powers of the East (Asshur) and
tlie West (Cliittim) carry all before them and artiict Eber
(Isrfiel) for a time (Numbers 23. 8-10, 28 ; 24. 2, 7-'.), 22 21). To Balaam's " A.ssh a r" correspond Daniel's twoeastern king - doms, Babylon and Medo-Persia; to "Chittirn," tlie two western kingdoms, Greece and Rome (cf. Genesis 10. 4, 11
13); then comes the perfect earth and heaven (Hevelation
21. 1). Thus there is uu onward progress, and the Christian
Is waitiny for tiie consummation (Mark 1.3. 33-37 ; Luke 12.
22). In Babel, Nimrod the hunter (revolter) founds the
first kingdom of the world (Genesis 10. 8-13). The Babylonian world-power takes up the thread interrupted at the building of Babel, and the kingdom of Niinrod. As at Babel, so in Babylon the world is united against God; Babylon, the lirst world-power, thus becomes tlie type of the God-opposed wcn'hi. The fourth monarchy consummates the evil; it is "diverse" from the others only in its more unlimited universality. The three first were not in the full sense universal monarchies. The fourth
So, 30, 10-16; 1 Thessal<')nians 1. 0, 10), as liis Lord also is "expecting" (Ileorews 10. !3). 13. Son of man—(See Note, Ezekiel 2. 1.) Not merely Son of David, and King of Israel, but Head of restored humanity (corresponding to the world-wide horl/.on of Daniel's prophecy) ; the seed of the woman, crushing Antichrist, tlie seed of the serpent, according U) the I'rolevangel In Paradise (Genesis 3). The Representative man shall then realize the original destiny of man as Head of the creation (Genesis 1. 2h, 28); the centre of unity to Israel and the Gentiles. Tlie boast, which taken (Conjointly represents the four beasts, ascends from the sea (ch. 7. 2; Revelation 13. 1); the Son of man descends.from "heaven." Satan, as the serpent, is the representative head of all that is bestial; man, by following the serpent, has become bestial. God must, therefore, beconae man, so that man m.ay cea.se to be beastlike. Whoever rejects the incarnate God will be judged by the Son of man just because He is tlie .Son of man (John 5.27). This title is always associated witli His coming again, because the kingdom that then awaits him is that which belongs to Him as the .Saviour of man, the Restorer of the
is; so in it the God -opposed principle finds its full development. AH history moves within the Romanic, Germanic, and Slavonic nations; it shall continue so to Christ's second advent. The fourth monarchy repi'escnts universalism externally; Cliristianity, internally. Rome
is Babylon fully developed. It is the world-power corresponding in contrast to Christianity, and therefore contemporary with it (Matthew 13. 38; Mark 1. 15; Luke 2.1; Galatians 4. 4). 30. look . , . more stout thnit . . . fcllo^va —viz., than that of the other horns. '-J1. m.-«tJe ivar with the salnJs-nersecuted the Church (Revelation 11. 7; 13. 7). prevailed—but uot ultimately. The limit is mai'ked by "until" {v. 22). The little horn continues, tvithout intermis-
lost inheritance. ".Son of man" expresses His visible
sion, to persecute up to Chri.sl's second advent(Revelation
state, formerl}' in His humiliation, hereafter in His exaltation. He "comes to the Ancient of days" to be invested witli the kingdom. Cf. Psalm 110. 2: "The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength (Messiah) out of Zion." This investiture was at His ascension " with the clouds of heaven" (Acts 1.9; 2. 33, 34 ; I'salm 2. G-'J ; Matthew 28. IS), which is a pledge of His return " in like manner" " in the clouds" (Acts 1. 11; Jlatthew 2(i. (iJ), and "with clouds" (Revelation 1.7). The kingdom then was given to Him in
17.12, 14; 19.19,20). 33. Ancient of days came—the title applied to the Father In v. 13 is here applied to the Son; who is called "the everlasting Father" (Isaiah 9. 6). The Father is never said to "come;" it is the Son who comes. Judgment was given to . . . snints—judgment includes rule; "kingdom" in the end of this verse (1 Corinthians
6. 2; Revelation 1. 6; 5. 10; 20. 4). Christ first receives "judgment" and the "kingdom," then the saints with Him (u. 1.3,14). 34. ten horns — answering to the ten "toes" (ch. 2. 41). out of this kingdom—it is out of the fourth kingdom that ten others arise, whatever exterior territory any of them possess (Revelation 13. 1 ; 17. 12). rise after them—yet contemporaneous with them ; the ten are contemporaries. Antichrist rises after their rise, at
title and inriaible exercise; at His second coming it shall be in visible administration. He will vindicate it from the misrule of those who received it to hold for and under God, but who ignored His supremacy. The Father will assert His right by the Son, the heir, who will hold it for Him ^Ezekiel 21. 27; Hebrews 1. 2; Revelation 19. 13-16). Tkegelles thinks the investiture hei'e immediately precedes ChrifiVa coming forth; because He sits at God's right hand uiUil His enemies are made His footstool, then, the kingdom is given to the Son in actual investiture, and He comes to crush His so prepiired footstool under His feet. But the words, "with the clouds," and the universal power actually, though invisibly, given Him then (Ephegians 1. 20-22), agree best with His Investiture at the ascension, wliich, in tlie prophetic view that overleaps the Interval of ages, is the precursor of His coming visibly to reign ; no event of equal moment taking place in the interval. 15. body lit., sheath: the body being the sheath of the soul. 17. kings i. e., kingdoms. Cf. v. 23, "fourth kingdom ;" ch. 2. 38; 8. 20-22. Each of the four kings represents a dynasty. Nebuchadnezzar, Alexander, Antiochus, and Antichrist, thougli individually referred to, are
first "little" (u. 8); but after destroying three of the ten, he becomes greater than them all {v. 20,21). The three being gone, he is the eighth (cf. Revelation 17.11); a distinct head, and yet "of the seven." As the previous world-kingdoms had their representative heads (B.abylon, Nebuchadnezzar ; Persia, Cyrus ; Greece, Alexander), so the fourth kingdom and its Antichrists shall have their evil concentrated in the one final Antichrist. Aa Antiochus Epiphanes, the Antichrist of the third kingdom in ch. 8., was the personal enemy of God, so the final Antichrist of the fourth kingdom, his antitype. The Church has endured a pagan and a papal persecution
there remains for her an Infidel persecution, general, pu-
rifying, and cementing. [Cecil.] He will not merely, aa Popery, substitute \\ixase\f for Christ in ChrisVs nmne, but " deny the Father and the Son" (1 John 2. 22). Tlie persecution is to continue up to Christ's second coming (v. 21, 22); the horn of blasphemy cannot therefore be past ; for now there Is almost a general cessation of persecution. 35. Three attributes of Antichrist are specified : (1.) The highest worldly wisdom and civilization. (2.) The uniting of the whole civilized world under his dominion. (3.) Atheism, antltheism, and autotheism in Its fullest development (1 John 2. 22). Therefore, not only Is power taken
representatives of characteristic tendencies. IS. the Most High—the emphatic title of God in this prophecy, who delegates His power first to Israel; then to the Gentiles
(ch. 2. .37,38), on Israel failing to realize the idea of the theocracy; lastly, to Messiah, who sliall rule truly for God, taking it from the Gentile world-powers, whose history is one of continual degeneracy culminating in the last of
Vlxe kings, Antichrist. Here, in the interpretation, "the
T%c Interpi etatiun oj the Vviion. DANIEL VIII. VUion of llie Ram and He-Ooat.
has been consuming for 409 years past, and especially of late years. He is al.so to be " destroyed" suddenly by Christ at His coming; the fully-developed Man of sin (2 Thessalonians 2. 3) or false prophet making a last desperate effort in confederacy with the "beast" (Revelation 16. 13, 14, 16) or secular power of the Roman .empire (some conjecture Louis Napoleon): destroyed at Armageddon in Palestine.
from The fourth beast, as in the case of the other three, but Ciod destroys it ami the world-power in general by a tinal judgnieut. The present external CliriBlianity ts to give plaee to an almost universal apostasy, tliiiik—
carrji unlliin him as it ivcre the burden of the thouyht. cliange times—the prerogative of God alone (oil. 2. 21); hlasjihemoiisly assumed by Antichrist. The "times and laws" here meant are those of religious ordinance; staled limes
!27. grentness of the Itin^dom under . . , wliole Iieaveu —i.e., the power, which those several kingdoms had possessed, shall all be conferred on Messiah's kingdom, " Under . . . heaven," shows it is a kingdom on earth, not in heaven, people of . . . saints of . . . Most High—"the people of ilie saints, or holy ones" (Margin, ch.8. 24): the Jews, the people to whom the saints stand in a peculiar relation. The .saints are gathei ed out of Jews and Gentiles, but the stock of the Church is Jewish (Romans 9. 24; 11.24); God's faithfulness to this election Church is thus virtually faithfulness to Israel, and a pledge of their future national blessing. Clirist confirms this fact, whilst withholding the date (Acts 1. 6, 7). everlasting kingdom—If
of feasts. [Mauheh.] Perhaps there are included the times a.is!(jned by God to the duration of kingdoms. He shall set Himself above all that is called God (2 Thessalonians
2. 4), putting his own " will" above God's times and laws
(ch. 11. .SI), 37). But the " times" of His wilfulness are limited for the elect's sake (Matthew 24. 22). tliey—the saints, girveji into his Uaiirt—to be persecuted, time . . . times aiiU . . . dividing of time—one year, two years, and half a year: 126U days (Revelation 12.6, U); forty-two months (Revelation 11. 2, 3). That literally three and a half years are to be the term of Antichrist's persecution is favoured by ch. 4. 10, 23, where the year-day theory would be im-
everlasting, how can the kingdom here refer to the millennial one? . Answer. Daniel saw the whole time of future blessedness as one period. The clearer light of the New Testament distinguishes, in the whole period, the millennium and the time of the new heaven and new earth (cf. Revelation 20. 4 with 21. 1 and 22. 5). Christ's kingdom is "everlasting." Not even the last judgment shall end it, but only give it a more glorious appearance, the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, with the throne of God and the Lamb in it (cf. Revelation 5. 9, 10; 11. 15). 28. cogitations . . . troubled me—showing that the Holy Spirit intended much more to be understood by Daniel's words than Daniel himself understood. We are not to limit the significance of prophecies to what the prophets themselves understood (I Peter 1. 11, 12;.
possi[)le. If the Church, moreover, had been informed that !260 years must elapse before the second advent, the attitude of expectancy which is inculcated (Luke 12.
38; 1 Corinthians 1. 7 ; 1 Thessalonians 1. 9, 10; 2 Peter 3. 12) on the ground of the uncertainty of the time, would be out of place. The original word for "time" denotes a stated period or set feast; or the interval from one set feast to its recurrence, i.e., a 2/ear [Tregellks] ; Leviticus 23.4, "seasons;" Leviticus 23. 44, "feasts." The passages in favour of the year-day tlieory are Ezekiel 4. 6, where each day of the forty during whicli Ezekiel lay on his right side is defined by God as meaning a year. Cf. Numbers
14.34, where a year of wandering in the wilderness was appointed for eacli day of the ferty during which the spies searched Canaan ; but the days were, in these two cases, mei-ely the type or reason for the years, which were announced as they ivei-e to be fulfilled. In the prophetic part of Numbers 14. 34 years are literal. If the year-day system was applied to them, they would be 14,400 years! In Ezekiel 4. 4-6, if day meant year, Ezekiel would have lain on his right side forty years! The context here in u. 24,
Ver. 1-27. Vision of the Ram and He-Goat: thk
2300 Days of the Sanctuary being Trodden Down, With this chapter the Hebrew part of the book begins, and continues to be the language of the remainder; the visions relating wholly to the Jews and Jerusalem. The scene here narrows from world-wide prophecies to those affecting the one covenant people in the five centuries between the exileand the advent. Antichrist, like Christ, has a more immediate future, as well as one more remote. The vision, ch. 8., begins, and that, ch. 10.-1'2., concludes, the account of the Antichrist of the tliird kingdom. Between the two visions ch. 9. Is inserted, as to Messiah and the coven.ant people at the end of the half millennium (seventy weeks of years). 1. vision—a higher kind of revelation than a dream, after that ... at the first—that in ch. 7. 1. 2. Sliuslinn— Susa. Though then comparatively insignificant, it was destined to be the capital of Persia after Cyrus' time. Therefore Daniel is transported into it, as being the capital of the kingdom signified by the two-horned ram (Nehemiali 1. 1; Esther 1. 2-5). Elam —west of Persi.a proper, east of Babylonia, south of Media. Daniel was not present there personally, but in vision, Ulal—called in Pliny Eulceus; by the Greeks, Choaspes. Now Kcrah, or Karasu. Ho in ch. 10. 4 he receives a visioa near another river, the Hiddekel. So Ezekiel (Ezekiel I.
2.5, is not symbolical. Antichrist is no longer called a horn, but a king subduing three out of ten kiiiys(no longer horns, v. 7, 8). So in ch. 12. 7, where " time, times, and half a time," again occur, nothing symbolic occui-s in the context. So that there is no reason why the three and a half years should be so. For the lirst four centuries the " days" were interpreted literally; a mystical meaning of the 1260 days then began. Walter Brute first suggested the year-day theory in the end of the fourteenth century.
'She seventy years of the Babylonian captivity foretold by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25. 12; 29. 10) were understood by Daniel (ch. 9.2) as literal years, not symbolical, which would have been 25,200 years 1 [Tregelles.] It is possible that the year-day and day-day theories are both true. The seven (symbolical) times of tlie Gentile monarchies (Leviticus 26. 24) during Israel's casting off will end in the seven years of Anticlirist. The 1260 years of p.apal misrule in tiie name of Christ may be represented by three and a half years of open Antichristianity and persecution before the millennium. Witnessing churches may be succeeded by witnessing individuals, the former occupying the longer, the latter the shorter period (Revelation 11. 3). The beginning of the 1260 years is by Elliott set at 529 A. D., or 533, when Justinian's edict icknowledged Pope John II. to be head of the Church. By Luthf.u, at 606, when Phocas confirmed Justinian's grant. But 752 is the most likely date, when the temporal dominion of the popes began by Pepin's grant to Stephen II. (for Zachary, his predecessor's recognition of his title to France), confirmed by Charlemagne. For it was then first that the little horn plucked up three horns, and so became the prolongation of the fourth *cr«Zar kingdom. [Newton.] Thlswould bring us down to about 2000 a.d., or the seventh thousand millenary from creation. But Clinton makes about 1862 the seventh millenary, which may favour the dating from
1) at the Chebar. Perhaps because synagogues used to be built near rivers, as before praying they washed their hands in the water [RosenmullerJ, (P.salm 137. 1). 3, two horns—the two ought not to be in italics, as if it were not in the original; for it is expressed by tlie Hebrew
dual. "Horn" in the East is the symbol of power and
royalty, one . . . Ijlglner tlian . . . otlier . . . tl»e higher came up last—Persia, which was of little note till Cyrus' time, became then ascendant over Media, the more ancient kingdom. Darius was sixty-two years old (ch. 5. 31) when he began to reign; during his short reign of two years, being a weak king (ch. 6.), the government was almost entirely in Cyrus' hands. Hence Hkrodotus doea not mention Darius; but XENomoN does under the name
628 A.D. 26. consume . . . destroy—a twof jld oi)eration. Antichrist is to be gradually "consumed,' a.s tiie Papacy
of Cyaxares II. The "ram" here corresponds to the" bear'
bSti
Vision of Ihe Ram and He-Goat. DANIEL VIII. Twenty-three Hundred Days of Saer^toe,
ing to the Kuphratean (Turk) horsemen (Revelation 9. 14-
(ch. 7. 5), symbolizing clumsy firmness. Tlie king of Persia wore a jewelled ram's head of gold instead of a diadem, such as are seen on the pillars at Persepolis. Also the Hebrew foi ram springs from the same root as "Elam," or Persia. [Newton.] The "one horn higher tlian the other" answers to the bear " I'aising itself on one side" (of. JVote, ch. 7. 5). 4. ram pushing westward—Persia conquered westward Babylon, Mesopotamia, Syria, Asia Minor, northward—Colchis, Armenia, Iberia, and the dwellers on the Caspian Sea. southward—Judea, Egypt, Ethio-
21), loosed " an hour, a day, a month, a year" (391 years, In the year-day theory), to scourge corrupted idolatrous Christianity. In 637 A. D. the Saracen Moslem mosque of Omar was founded on the site of the temple, "treading under foot the sanctuary" (u. 11-13); and there it still remains. The first conquest of the Turlis over Christians was in 1281 A. D. ; and 391 years after they reached their zenith of power and began to decline, Sobieski defeating them at Vienna. Mohammed II., called "the conqueror," reigned 1451-1481 A. D., in which period Constantinople
pia, Libya; also India, under Darius. He does not say eastward, for the Persians themselves came from the east (Isaiah 46. 11). did according to his will—(Ch. 11. 3, 16;
fell; 391 years after brings us to our own day, in which Turkey's fall is imminent, vvaxed . . . great, toward
cf. ch. 5.19.) 5. he-goat— Graeco-Macedonia. notable horn—Alexander. "Touched not . . . ground," implies the incredible swiftness of his conquests; he overran the world in less than twelve years. The he-goat answers to the leopard (ch. 7. 6). Caranus, the first king of Macedonia, was said to have been led by goats to Edessa, which hemade theseatof his kingdom, and called iEge, t". e., goat-
. . . south—(Ch. 11. 25.) Antiochus fouglit against Ptolemy Philometer and Egypt, i. e., the south,, toward tlie easthe fought against tliose who attempted a change of government in Persia, toward the pleasant laud—Judea, "the glorious land" (ch. 11. 16, 41, 45; cf. Psalm 48. 2; Ezekiel 20. 6, 15). Its chief pleasantness consists in its being God's chosen land (Psalm 132. 13; Jeremiah 3. 19). Into it Antiochus made his inroad after his return from Egj'pt. 10. great, even to . . . liost of heaven—explained v. 24, "the mighty and holy people," i. e., the Jews (ch.7. 21) and their priests (cf. Isaiah 24. 21). The Levites' service is called " a warfare" (Margin, Numbers 8. 24, 25). Great civil and religious powers are symbolized by "stars" (Matthew
city. 6. standing before the river—Ulai. It was at the "river" Granicus that Alexander fought his first victorious battle against Darius, 834 b. c. 7. moved with choler —Alexander represented the concentrated wrath of Greece against Persia for the Persian invasions of Gi'eeoe; also for the Persian cruelties to Greeks, and Darius' attempts to seduce Alexander's soldiers to treachery. [Newton.] stamped upon him—In 331 B. c. he defeated Darius Codomanus, and 330 b. c. burned Persepolis and completed the conquest of Persia, none . . . could deliver—not the immense hosts of Persia could save it from the small army of Alexander (Psalm 33. 16). 8. when he was strong
24. 29). See 1 Maccabees 1. 2.5, &c. ; 2. 35, &c. ; 6. 2, 12, 13. Tregelles refers "stars" to tliose Jews whose portion from God is heavenly glory (ch. 12. 3), being believers in Him who is above at God's right hand: not the blinded Jews, cast . . . stars to the ground—so Babel, as type of Antichrist, is described (Isaiah 14. 13, 14), "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." Cf. Revelation 12. 4; 2 Maccabees 9. 10, as to Antiochus. 11. to the prince of the host i. e., God Himself, the Lord of Sabaoth, the hosts in heaven and earth, stars, angels, and earthly ministers. So v. 25, " he shall stand up against tlie Prince
. . . great horn was broken—the empire was in full strength at Alexander's death by fever at Babylon, and seemed then least likely to fall. Yet it was then " broken." His natural brother, Philip Aridceus, and his two sons, Alexander jEgus and Hercules, in fifteen months were murdered, four . . . toward . . . four winds—Seleucus, in the east, obtained Syria, Babylonia, Media, &e. ; Cassander, in the west, Macedon,Tliessaly, Greece ; Ptolemy, In the south, Egypt, Cyprus, &c. ; Lysimachus, In the north, Thrace, Cappadocia, and tlie north parts of Asia Minor. 9. little horn—not to be confounded with the little horn of the fourth kingdom in ch. 7. 8. The little horn in ch. 7. comes as an eleventh horn after ten preceding horns. In ch. 8. it is not an Independent fifth horn, after the four previous ones, but arises out of one of the four existing horns. This horn is explained (v. 23) to be "a king of fierce countenance," &c. Antiochus Epiphanes is meant. Greece with all its refinement produces the first, i. e., the Old Testament Antichrist. Antiochus had an extraordinary love of art, which expressed itself in grand temples. He wished to substitute Zeus Olympius for Jehovah at Jerusalem. Thus first heathen civilization from below and revealed religion from above, came into collision. Identifying himself with Jupiter, his aim was to make his oum. worship universal (cf. u. 25 with ch. 11.36); so mad was he in this that he was called Epimanes (maniac) Instead of Epiphanes. None of the previous worldrulers, Nebuchadnezzar (ch. 4. .31-34), Darius (ch. 6. 27, 28), Cyrus (Ezra 1. 2-4), Artaxerxes Longimanus (Ezra 7. 12), had systematically opposed the Jews' religious worship. Hence the need of prophecy to prepare them for Antiochus. The struggle of the Maccabees was a fruit of Daniel's prophecy (I Maccabees 2. 59). He is the forerunner of the final Antichrist, standing in the same relation to the first advent of Christ that Antichrist does to His second coming. The sins in Israel which gave rise to the Greek Antichrist were that some Jews adopted Hellenic customs (cf. ch. U. 30, 32), erecting theatres, and regarding all religions alike, sacrltlciug to Jehovah, but at the same time sending money for sacrifices to Hercules. Such shall be the state of the world when ripe for Antichrist. At v. 9 and 23 the description passes from the literal Antiochus to features which, though partially attributed to him, hold good In their fullest sense only of his antitype, the New Testament Antichrist. The Mohammedan Antichrist may also be included; answer-
of princes;" "against the God of gods" (ch. 11. 36; cf. ch. 7.
8). He not only opposes God's ancient people, but also God Himself, dally sacritice—offered morning and evening (Exodus 29.38,39). taken away—by Antiochus (1 Maccabees 1. 20-50). sanctuary . . . cast down—tliough robbed of its treasures, it was not strictly "cast down" by Antiochus. So that a fuller accomplislimeitt is future. Antiochus took away the daily sacrifice for a few years; the Romans, for many ages, and " cast down" the temple
and Antichrist, in connection with Rome, the fourth kingdom, shall do so again after tlie Jews in their own land, still unbelieving, shall have rebuilt the temple, and restored the Mosaic ritual : God giving them up to him "by reason of transgression" (v. 12), i.e., not owning tlie worship so rendered [Tkegelles]; and then the opposition of the horn to the "truth" is especially mentioned, la. an host—rather, "the host was given up to him," i. e., the holy people were given into his hands. So in v. 10 " the host" is used; and again in v. 13, where also "give " is used as here for "giving up" for destruction (cf. ch. 11. 6), [Maurer.] against , . . dally sacrlAce—rather (tlie host was given up for him to tread UTpon), " together \v\l\\ the daily sacrifice" (cf. i'. 13). by reason of transgression—
Maccabees 1. 11-16 traces all the calamities sullercd under Antiochus to the transgression of certain Jews wlu> introduced heathen customs into Jerusalem just belore. But transgression vfus not at the full (v. 23) under Antiochus; for Onias the high priest administered the laws in godliness at the time (2 Maccabees 3. 1). Therefore tl\e " transgression" must refer to that of tlie Jews hereafter restored to Palestine in unbelief, the truth—the worsliip of the true God. Isaiah 59. 14, "Truth is fallen in the street." practised, and prospered—whatever he undertook succeeded (r. 4; ch. 11. 28, 36). 13. that certain snint—Daniel did not know the names of these two holy angels, but saw only that one was speaking to the otlier. How long shall be the vision concerning . . . daily sacrilic<—How long shall the daily sacrifice be suspended'? transgression of desolation— making desolate, i. e., AiMochwH' desolating profanation of the temple (oh. 11. 31; 1'2. 11). CI, as to Rome and the last Antichrist, Matthew 24. 15. 14. 637
Gabriel Comfortelh Daniel, DANIEL VIII. and Interpretelh Iht Vision,
nnto me--the answer Is to Daniel, not to the Inquirer, for the liilter had asked In Daniel's name, as vice versa the saint or angel (Job 15.15; Psalm 89.6,7) speaks of the vision granted to Daniel, as it it had been granted to him-
take place at "the time of the end" makes it likely that the Antichrist ultimately referred to (besides tlie immediate reference to Antioclius) in this chapter, and the one In ch. 7. 8, are one and the same. The objection tliat the one in ch. 7. springs out of the ten divisions of the Koman earth, the fourth kingdom, the one in ch. 8. and 11. from one of the four divisions of the third kingdom, Greece, is answered thus : The four divisions of the Grecian emi)ire, having become parts of the Koman empire, shall at the end form four of its ten final divisions. [TiiKGKLi.KS.] However, the origin from one of the four parts of the third kingdom may be limited to Anliochus, the immediate subject of ch. 8. and 11., whilst the ulterior typical reference of these chapters, viz.. Antichrist, may belong to one of the ten Roman divisions, not necessarily one formerly of the four of the third kingdom. The event will tell. "Time of the end" may apply to the time of Antioehus. For it
self. For lioly nien are in Scripture represented as having attendant angels, with whom tiiey are in a way identified in InLeresls. If the conversation had been limited to the angels, it could have beeu of no use to us. But God conveys it to prophetical men, for our good, through the min-
istry of angels, two tliousaiid . . . tliree liimdred days —Ui., moriiinys and evenings, specified in connection with the morning and evening sacrifice. Cf. Genesis 1. 6. Six years and 110 days. This includes not only the three and a half years during which the daily sacrifice was /orftitfrfen by Anliochus (Josbfhus, B. J. 1. 1. sec. 1), but the whole
series of events whereby it was practically interruijted
beginning with the "little horn waxing great toward the pleasant land," and "casting down some of the host" (v.
is the prophetic phrase for the time of fulfilment, seen always at the end of the prophetic horizon (Genesis 49. I; Numbers 24. 14). 19. the laiit end of tlie indi{;nation God's displeasure against the Jews for their sins. For their comfort they are told, the calamities about to come are not to be forever. Tlie "time" is limited (ch. 9. 27; 11.27,31,36; 12.7; Habakkuk 2.3). 21. the first kingPhilip was king of Macedon before Alexander, but the latter was the first who, as a generalissimo of Greece, subdued the Persian empire. 23. not In hU power—not with the power which Alexander possessed. [AI.'VURKK.] An empire united, as under Alexander, is more powerful than one divided, as under the four Diadochi. 33. transgressors are come to tl»e full—This does not hold good of the times of Antioehus, but of the closing times ol the Christian era. Cf. Luke 18. 8, and 2 Timot hy 3. 1-9, as to the wickedness of the world, in general just before Christ's second coming. Israel' s ^nWl, too, shall then be at the full, when they who rejected t^hrist shall receive Antichrist;
9. 10); viz., when in 171 B. c, or the jnonth .Sivau in the year 1 12 of the era of the Seleucidas, the sacrifices began to be neglected, owing to the high priest Jason introducing at Jerusalem Grecian customs and amusements, the
paliEStra and gymnasium; ending with the death of Anliochus, Kio B. c, or the month Shebath, in the year
148 of the Seleucid era. Cf. 1 Maccabees 1. 11-15; 2 Maccabees 4. 9, &c. The reason for the greater minuteness of historical facts and dates, given in Daniel's prophecies, than in those of the New Testament, is, that Israel not having yet the clear views which Christians have of immortality and the heavenly inheritance, could only be directed to the earthly future; lor it was on earth the looked-l'or Messiah was to appear, and the sum and subject of Old Testament prophecy was the kingdom of God upon earth. Tlie minuteness of the revelation of Israel's
eartlily destiny was to compensate for the absence, in the Old Testament, of views of heavenly glory. Thus, in ch.
fulfilling Jesus' words, " I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive" (cf. Genesis 15. 16 ; Matthew
0., the times of Messiah are foretold to the very year; in ch. 8. the times of Anliochus, even to the day; and in ch. II. the Syro-Egyptian struggles in most minute de-
23. 32; 1 Tliessalonians 2. 16). of fierce countenance— (Deuteronomy 28. 50); one who will spare neitlier old nor young. xijulei-standJng dark sentences—rather, artifices. [Geseniuh.J Antioehus made himself master of Egypt and Jerusalem successively by craft (1 Maccabees I. 30, &c.
tail. Tkegelles thinks the 2300 days answer to the week of years (ch. 9. 27), during wliich the destroying prince
(ch. y. makes a covenant, which he breaks in the midst of the week (viz., at the end of three and a half years). Tlie seven years exceed the 2300 days by considerably more than a half year. This period of the seven years' excess above the 2300 days may be allotted to the preparations needed for setting up the temple worship, with Antichrisl's permission to the restored Jews, according
2 M.accabees 5. 24, &c.). 'H. not toy his own power which in the beginning was "little" (d. 9; ch. 7. 8); but by gaining over others through craft, the once little hora became " mighty " (cf. v. 25; ch. H. 23). To be fully realized by .'Vntichrist. He shall act by the power of Satan, who
to his "covenant" with them; and the 2300 days may date from the actual setting up of the worship. But, says AuBEKLPJN, the more accurate to a day the dates as to Autiochus are given, the less should we say the 1290, or 1335 days (ch. 12. II, 12) correspond to the half week troughly), and the 2300 to the whole. The event, however, may, in the case of Antichrist, show a correspondence between the days here given and ch. 9. 27, such as is not yet discernible. The term of 2300 days cannot refer to 2;W0 years of the treading down of Christianity by Molianimedanism, as this would leave the greater portion of the time yetfuture; whereas, Mohammedanism is fast waning.
shall then be permitted to work through him in unre-
stricted license, such as he has not now (Uevelation 13. 2); hence the ten kingdoms shall give the beast their power
(2 Tliessalonians 2. 9-12; Revelation 17.13). pro^ipcr and practise—prosper in all that he attempts (n. 12). lioly people—his persecutions are especially directed against
the Jeivs. 35. by peace—by pretending "peace" and friendship; in the midst oj security [Gesknius], suddenly striking his blow (cf. Note, Jeremiah 15. 8). "A spoiler al noon-day." also . . . against the Prince of princes—not merely against the Jews [v. 11 ; ch. 11. 36). broken without hand—by God's special visitation. The stone " cut out of the mountain without hands," i.e., Christ, is to smite the world-power image on his feet (ch. 2. 34), j. e., in
If the 2300 days mean years, dating from Alexander's conquests, ,334 B. c. to 323, we should arrive at aliout the close ol the sixth thousand years of the world, just as the
its last development (cf. ch. 7. 11). Antioehus' horrible death by worms and ulcers, when on his way to Judi^a, Intending to take vengeance for the defeat of liis armies by the Maccabees, was a pi imary fulfilment, foreshadowing God's judgment on llie last enemy of the Jewish Church. !4«. sliut . . . up . . . Vision—implying the vision was not to be understood for the present. In Uevela-
12ti0 years (ch. 7. 23) from Justinian's decree arrive at the same terminus. The Jews' tradition represents the Beventh thousand as the millennium. Cumminq remarks,
480 n. c. is the date of the waning of the Persian empire before Greece ; deducting 480 from 2:300, we have 1820; and
in 1821, Turkey, the successor of the Greek empire, began
Ui wane, and Greece became a separate kingdom. See
tion 2'2. 10 it is said, "deal not the vision, for the time is
Note, ch. 12. 11. elcansed— juslified, vindicated from profanation. Juilas Maccabeus celebrated the feast of dedication after the cleansing, on tlie twenty-fill li of tlie
at hand." What In Daniel's time was hidden was mou©
fully explained in Revelation, and as the time draws nearer it will be clearer still. It shall be for many days —it refers to remote times (Ezekiel I'i. 27). 37. 1 . . . was sick-through grief at the calaniHles coming on my peo-
nintli montii, Klsleu (1 Maccabees 4. 51-58 ; 2 Maccabees
10. 1-7; John 10. 22). As to the antltypical dedication of the new temple, see F>.ekiel 43., &c. ; also Amos 9. 11, 12. 16. CJaljriel—meaning, The strength of God. 17. the time of the end—so v. I9;.ch, II. 35, 36. 40. The event being to
ple and tlie Church of God (cf. Psalm 102. 14). afterward
I . . . did the ktrag'ii buitinegs—he who holds nearest
DANIEL IX.
Daniel's Confession and Prayer
for the Restoration of Jerusalem.
rence of sin should prepare sinners for reverent, humble acknowledgment of the justice of their punishment, keeping . . . covenant and merey—i. e., tlie covenant of, thy mei-cy, whereby thou liast promised to deliver us, not for our merits, but of thy mercy (Kzekiel 36. 22, 23). So •\^ak and sinful is man that any covenant for good on God's part with him, to take efl['ect, must depend solely on His grace. If he be a God to be feared for His j ustice. He la one to be trusted for His " mercy." love . . . keep li is commandments—keeping his commandments is the only sure test of love to God (John 14. 15). 5. Cf. Neheniiah's confession, Nehemiah 9. sinned . . . committed iniquity . . . done wickedly . . . rebelled—a climax. Erred in ignorance . . . sinned by infirmity . . . habitually and wilfully done wickedness ... as open and obstinate rebels set ourselves against God. 6. prophets . . . spnke ... to our kings ... to all tlie people—they fearlessly warned all without respect of persons. 7. confusion of faces, as at this day—shame at our guilt, betrayed in our countenance, is what belongs to us; as our punislnnent " at this day" attests, near, and ... far off—the cliastisement, however varied, some Jews not being cast off so far from Jerusalem as others, all alike were sharers in theguilt. 9. mercies—the piuraJ Intensifies the force ; mercj' manifold and exhibited in countless ways. Asitis liumblingto recollect "righteousness belongeth unto God," so it is comforting, that "mercies belong to the Lord our God." though we have rcbeUed—rather, since, &c. [ Vulgate] (P.salm 25.
communion with heaven can best discharge the duties of comnjon life, none understood it—he had heard of kings, but knew not their names ; he foresaw the events, but not the time when they were to take place; thereupon he could only feel "astonished," and leave all with the omniscient God. [Jerome.]
Ver. 1-27. Daniel's Confession and Peayer for JbKCSALEM : Gabriel comforts him by the Prophecy of THE Seventy Weeks. The world-powers here recede from the view; Israel, and the salvation by Messiaii 'promised to it, are the subject of revelation. Israel had naturally expected salvation at the end of the captivity. Daniel is therefore told, that, after the seventy years of the captivity, seventy times seven must elapse, and that even then Messiah would not come In glor" as the Jews might through misunderstanding expect from the earlier prophets, but by dying would put away sin. This ninth chapter (Messianic prophecy) stands between the two visions of the Old Testament Antichrist, to comfort " the wise." In the interval between Antlochus and Christ, no further revelation was needed ; therefore, as in the first part of the book, so in the second, Christ and Antiolirist in connection are the theme. 1. first year of Darius Cyaxares II., in whose name Cyrus, his nephew, son-inlaw, and successor, took Babylon 538 b. c. The date of this chapter is therefore .'>37 b. c, a year before Cyrus permitted the Jews to return from exile, and sixty-nine years after Daniel had been carried captive at tlie beginning of the captivity, 606 b. c. son of Ahasuerus—called Astyages by Xenophon. Ahasuerus was a name common to many of the kings of Medo-Persia. made king the phrase implies that Darius owed the kingdom not to his own prowess, but to tliat of another, viz., Cyrus. 3. understood by books—rather, letters, i. e., Jeremiah's letter (Jeremiali 29. 10) to the captives In Babylon ; also Jeremiah 25. 11, 12; cf. 2 Chronicles 36. 21; Jeremiah 30. 18;
11). Our punishment Is not inconsistent with His "mercies," since we have rebelled against Him. 10. set before us—not ambiguously, but plainly, so that we were without excuse. 11. all—(Psalm 14.3; Romans 3.12.) the curse . . . and . . . oath . . . in . . . law—the curse against Israel, if disobedient, which God ratified by oath (Leviticus 26.14-39; Deuteronomy 27. l,S-26; 28.15-68 ; 29). 13. confirmed his words—showed by tlie punishments we suficr, that His words were no idle threats, under
. , . heaven hath not been done as . . . upon Jerusalem—(Lamentations 1. 12.) 13. yet made we not our prayer before— soothed not the face of. Not even our chastisement has taught us penitience (Isaiah 9. 13; Jeremiah 5. 3 ; Hosea 7.10). Diseased, we spurn the healing meaicine. that we might turn, &c.—Prayer can only be accepted when joined with the desire to turii from sin to God (Psalm 66. 18; Proverbs 28. 9). understand thy truth attentively regard thy faithfulness in fulfilling thy promises, and also thy threats. [Calvin.] Tliy law (ch.
31. 38. God's promises are the ground on which we sliould, like Daniel, rest sure hope ; not so as to make our prayers needless, but rather to encoui-age them. 3. prayer . . . Buppllcation lit., " intercessions . . .entreaties for mercy." Praying for blessings, and deprecating emls. *. my confession—according to God's promises in Leviticus 26. 39-
42, that If Israel in exile for sin should repent and con/e.is, God would remember for them His covenant with Abraham (cf. Deuteronomy 30. 1-5; Jeremiah 29. 12-14; James
8. 12). [Maurer.] 14-. watched upon the evil—expressing ceaseless vigilance that His people's sins niiglit not escape His judgment, as a watchman on guard niglit and day (Job 14. 16; Jeremiah 31. 28; 44. 27). God watc/u'ng upon the Jews punishment forms a striking contrast to the Jews' slumbering in their sins. God is riglitcpus—True penitents "justify"' God, "ascribing rigliteousness to Him," instead of complaining of their punishment as too severe (Nehemiah 9.33; Job 36. 3; Psalm 51. 4; Lamentations 3. 39-42). 15. brought thy people . . . out of . . . Egypt—a proof to all ages that the seed of Abraham is
4. 10). God's promise was absolute, but prayer also was ordained as about to precede its fulfilment, this too being the work of God in His people, as much as the external restoration which was to follow. So it shall be at Israel's final restoration (Psalm 102. 13-17). Dan-
iel takes his countrymen's place of confession of sin, identifying himself with them, and, as their repreBentative and intercessory priest, "accepts the punisliment of their iniquit.v." Thus he typifies Messiah, tlie Slu-bearer and great Intercessor. The prophet's own life ond experience forms the fit starting-pointof the propliecy concerning the sin-atoneihent. He prays for Israel's restoration as associated in the prophets (cf. Jeremiah 31. 4,
tliy covenant people. That ancient benefit gives; us hope that thou wilt confer a like one on us now under similar circumstances (Psalm 80. 8-14 ; Jeremiah 32. 21 ; 23. 7, 8). as at this day—is known. 16. thy righteousness—not stern justice in punishing, but thy faithfulness to thy promises of mercy to them who trnst in thee (Psalm 31. 1 ; 113. I), thy city — chosen as thine In the election of grace, which changes not. for . . . Iniquities of . . . fatliers—(E.xodus
XI, 12, 31, &e. ) with the hope of Messiah. The revelation, now granted, analyzes into its successive parts that which the prophets, in prophetical perspective, heretofore saw together in one, viz., the redemption from captivity, and the full Messianic redemption. God's servants, who, like Koah's father (Genesis 5. 29), hoped many a time that now the Comforter of their afHictions was at hand, had to wait from age to age, and to view preceding fulfilments only as pledges of the coming of Him whom they so earnestly desired to see (Matthew 13.17); as now also Christians, who believe that tlie Lord's second coming is nigli, are expected to continue waiting. So Daniel is informed of a long period of seventy propiietic weeks before Messiali's coming. Instead of seventy years, as he might have expected (cf. Matthew 18.21,22). [Auberlen.] g;reat and dreadful God—as we know to our cost by the calamities we suflTer. The greatness of God and His dreadful abhor-
20. 5.) He does notimpugn God's justice in this, as did the murmurers (Ezeklel 18. 2, 3; cf. Jeremiah 31. 29). thy people ... a reproach—which brings reproach on thy name. " All the nations that are about us" will sajthat thou, Jehovah, wast not able to save thy peculiar people. So V. 17, " for the Lord's sake;" v. 19, "for thine own sake" (Isaiah 48. 9, H). 17. cause thy face to shine—metaphor from the sun, which gladdens all that it beams upon (Numbers 6. 25; Malachi 4. 2). 18. present . . . supplications—lit., cause to fall, &c. (cf. note, Jeremiah 36. 7). 19. The short broken ejaculations and repetitions show the
intense fervour of his supplications, defer not—ho Im-
Gabriel Informeth Daniel DANIEL IX. of tlie Seventy Weeks.
plies that the seventy years are now all but complete, thine own sake—often repeated, as being the strongest plea (Jeremiah U. 21.) 30. vvIiUes I was speaking—repeated in V. 21; empliatically marking tliat the answer was given l)efore the prayer was completed, as God promised (Isaiah 30. 19; 65. 24; cf. Psalm 32. 5). HI. I Uad seen in tlie vision at tlie beginning—u £2., In the forlSer vision by tlie river Ulai (ch. 8. 1, 16). fly swiftly— with
ninth chapter minutely predicts Christ's first coming, and its ettects on tlie covenant people. The seventy weeks date thirteen years before the rebuilding of Jerusalem ; for then the re-establishment of the theocracy began, viz., at the return of Ezra to Jerusalem, 457 B. c. So Jeremiah's seventy years of the captivity begin 606 b. c, eigliteeu years before the destruction of Jerusalem, for then Judah ceased to exist as an independent theocracy, having fallen under the sway of Babylon. Two periods are marked in Ezra : (1.) The return from the captivity under Jeshua and Zerubbabel, and rebuilding of the temple, which was the first anxiety of tlie theocratic nation. (2.) The return of Ezra (regarded by the Jews as a second Moses) from Persia to Jerusalem, the restoration of the city, the iid-
weariness, i. e., move swiftly as one breathless and wearied out with quick running. [Gesenius.] English Version is better (Isaiah 6. 2 ; Ezekiel 1. 6 ; Revelation 14. 6). lime of
. . . evening oblation—tlie ninth hour, three o'clock (cf.
1 Kings 18. 36). As formerly, when the temple stood, this hour was devoted to sacrifices, so now to prayer. Daniel, during the whole captivity to the very last, with pious patriotism never forgot God's temple-worship, but speaks of its rites long abolished, as if still in use. 33. to give thee . . . nntlerstandlng-ch. 8. 16; v. 26 in that chapter shows that the symbolical vision had not been under-
tionality, and the law. Artaxerxes, in the seventh year of his reign, gave him the commission which virtually includes permission to rebuild the city, afterwards confirmed to and carried out by Nehemiah in the twentieth year (Ezra 9. 9; 7, 11, &c.); v. 25, " from the going forth of the commandment to build Jerusalem," proves that the second of the two periods is referred to. The words in i>. 24 are not, "are determined upon the holy city," but " upon thy people and thy holy city ;" thus the restoration of the religious national polity and the law (the inner work fulfilled by Ezra the priest), and the rebuilding of the houses and walls (the outer work of Nehemiah, the governor), are both included in v. 2.5, "restore and build Jerusalem." "Jerusalem" represents both the city, the body, and the congregation, the soul of the state. Cf. Psalm 46., 48., 87. The starting-point of the seventy weeks dated from eighty-one years after Daniel received the prophecy : the object being not to fix for him definitely the time, but for the Church : the prophecy taught him that the Messianic redemption, which he thought near, was separated from him by at least a half millennium. Expectation was sufficiently kept alive by the general conception of the time; not only the Jews, but many Gentiles looked for some great Lord of the earth to spring from Judea at that very time (Tacitus, Hist. 5. 13; Suetonius, Fesp. 4). Ezra's placing of Daniel in the canon immediately before his own book and Neliemiah's was perhaps owing to his feeling that he himself brought about the beginning of the fulfilment of the prophecy (ch. 9). [AuBERLEN.j determined lit., cut out, viz., from the whole course of time, for God todeal in a particular manner with Jerusalem, tliy . . . thy—Daniel had in his prayer often spoken of Israel as "<Aj/ people, thy holy city;" but Gabriel, in reply, speaks of them as Daniel's ("thy" . . . "thy") people and city, God thus intimating that until the "everlasting righteousness" should be brought in by Messiah, He could not fully own them as His [TkeQELLEsj (cf. Exodus 32. 7). Rather, as God is wishing to console Daniel and the godly Jews, " the people whom thou art so anxiously praying for;" such weight does God give to the intercessions of the righteous (James 5. 16-18X finish lit., shut up; remove from God's sight, i. e., abolish (Psalm 51. 9). [Lengkerke.] The seventy years' exile was a punishment, but not a full atonement, for the sin of the people; this would come only after seventy prophetic weeks, through Messiah, make an end of—The Hebrew reading, " to steal," i. e., to nide out of sight (from the custom of sealing up things to be concealed, cf. Job 9.
stood. God therefore now gives "information" directly, Instead of by symbol, which required interpretation. 33. At tlie beginning of tliy supplications, &c.—The promulgation of the Divine decree was made in heaven to the angels as soon as Daniel began to pray, came fortli —from the Divine throne ; so v. 22. thou art greatly beloved—ZiX, a man of desires (cf. Ezekiel 23. 6, 12); the object
of God's delight. As the apocalyptic prophet of the New Testament was "the disciple whom Jesus loved," so the apocalyptic prophet of the Old Testament was " greatly beloved" of God. the vision—the further revelation as to Messiah in connection with Jeremiah's prophecy of seventy years of tlie captivity. The charge to " understand" is the same as in Matthew 24. 15, where Rome primarily, and Antichrist ultimately, is referred to (cf. note, v. 27, below), a*. Seventy weeks viz., of years; lit.,Seventy sevens ; seventy heptads or liebdomads; 490years; expressed in a form of "concealed definiteness" [HengstenbebgJ, a usual way with tlie propliets. The Babylonian captivity is a turning-
point in the history of the kingdom of God. It terminated the free Old Testament theocracy. Up to that time
Israel, though oppressed at times, was, as a rule, free. From the Babylonian captivity the theocracy never recovered its full freedom down to Its entire suspension by Rome; and this period of Israel's subjection to the Gen-
tiles is to continue till the millennium (Revelation 20.), when Israel sliall be restored as head of the New Testament theocracy, which will embrace the whole earth. The free theocracy ceased in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, and tlie fourth of Jehoiakim ; the year of the world
3338, the point at which the seventy years of the captivity begin. Heretofore Israel had a right, If subjugated by a foreign king, to shake oflf the yoke (Judges 4. and 5.; 2 Kings 18. 7) as an unlawful one, at the first opportunity. But tlie nropliets (Jeremiah 27. 9-11) declared it to be God's
will that they should submit to Babylon. Hence every
efTort of Jehoiakim, Jeconlah, and Zedeklah to rebel was vain. The period of the world-times, and of Israel's depression, from the Babylonian captivity to the millennium, though abounding more In afflictions (e. g., the two destructions of Jerusalem, Antlochus' persecution, and those which Christians sufTered), contains all that was good In the preceding ones, summed up in Christ, but in a way visible only to the eye of faith. Since He came as a servant, He chose for His appearing the period darkest of
7), is better supported, make reconciliation for— to cover, to overlay (as with pitch. Genesis 6. 14). Cf. Psalm
all as to His people's temporal state. Always fresh persecutors have been rising, whose end is destruction, and so it sliall be with the last enemy, Antichrist. As the Davidic epoch is the point of the covenant people's highest glory, so the captivity is that of their lowest humiliation. Accordingly, the people's sufTerings are reflected in the picture of the suffering Messiah. He is no longer represented as the theocratic King, the Antitype of David, but aa the Servant of God and Son of man ; at the same time the cross being the way to glory (cf. ch. 9. with ch. 2. 34, 35,
32. 1. bring In everlasting righteousness—i>iz., the restoration of the normal state between God and man (Jeremiali 23. 5, 6) ; to continue eternally (Hebrews 9. 12; Revelation 14. 6). seal up . . . vision . . . prophecy — lit., prophet. To give the seal of confirmation to the prophet and ills vision by the fulfilment, anoint the Most Holy —primarily, to "anoint," or to consecrate after its pollution " the Most Holy" place : but mainly Messiah, the antitype to the Most Holy place (John 2. I9~22). The propitiatory in the temple (the same Greek word expresses th« mercy-seat and propitiation, Romans 3. 25), which the Jews looked for at the restoration from Babylon, shall have Ita true realization only in Messiah. For it is only when sin
44, and ch. 12. 7). In the second and seventh chapters,
Clirlst's first coming Is not noticed, for Daniel's object was to prophesy to his nation as to the whole period from the destruction to the re-estabUshment of Irrael; but this 640
is "made an epd of,'' God's presence can be perfect
Gabriel Tnformeth Danid DANIEL IX. of the Seventy Weeks.
24 ; 23. 28-31). Israel might naturally expect Messiah's kingdom of glory, if not after the seventy years' captiv-
manifested. As to " anoint," cf. Exodus 40. 9, 34. Messiah was anointed with the Holy Ghost (Acts 4. 27; 10. 38). So
ity, at least at the end of the sixty-two weeks; but, instead of that, shall be His death, and the consequent destruction of Jerusalem, notfor himself—rather, " thera shall be nothing to Him" [Hengstenberg] ; not that the
hereafter, God-Mcssiah will "anoint" or consecrate with His presence the holy place at Jerusalem (Jeremiah 3. 16,
17; Ezekiel 37. 27, 28), after its pollution by Antichrist, of which the feast of dedication after the pollution by Antiochus was a type. 25. from the going fortSi of the commandment— yiz., the command from God, whence originated the command of the Persian king (Ezra 6. 14). AUBERLEN remarks, there is but one Apocalypse in each Testament. Its purpose in each is to sum up all the preceding prophecies, previous to the "troublous times"
real object of His first coming (His spiritual kingdom) should be frustrated; but the eart/iZj/ kingdom anticipated by the Jews should, for the present, come to naugld, and not then be realized. Tkegelles refers the title, "the Prince" {v. 25), to the time of His entering Jerusalem on an ass's colt. Ills only appearance as a king, and six days afterwards put to death as " King of the Jews." the people of tlie prince—the Romans, led by Titus, tlie representative of the world-power, ultimately to be transferred to Messiah, and so called by Messiah's title, " the Prince;" as also because sent by Him, as His instrument of judgment (Mattliew 22. 7). end thei-eof—of the sanctuary. Tregelles takes it, "the end of the Prince," the
of the Gentiles, in which there was to be no revelation. Daniel sums up all the previous Messianic prophecy, separating into its individual phases what the prophets had seen in one and the same perspective, the temporary deliverance from captivity and the antitypical final Messianic deliverance. The seventy weeks are separated
(V. 2r)-27) into tliree unequal parts, seven, sixty-two, one. The seventieth is the consummation of the preceding
last head of the Roman power. Antichrist, with a flood—viz., of war (Psalm 90. 5 ; Isaiah 8. 7, 8 ; 28. 18). Implying the completeness of the catastrophe, "not one stone left on another." unto the end of the war
ones, as the Sabbath of God succeeds the working days; an idea suggested by the division into iveeks. In the sixty-nine weeks Jerusalem is restored, and so a place
rather, "unto the end there is war." determined—by God's decree (Isaiah 10. 23 ; 28. 22). 37. he shall conlirm the covenant—Christ. The confirmation of the covenant
is prepared for Messiah wherein to accomplish His sabbatic work (u. 25, 26) of "confirming the covenant"
(v. 27). The Messianic time is the Sabbath of Israel's history, in which it had the offer of all God's mercies, but in which it was cut off for a time by its rejection of them. As the seventy weeks end with seven years, or a week, so tliey begin with seven times seven, t. e., seven weeks. As the seventieth week is separated from the
is assigned to Him also .elsewhere. Isaiah 42.6, "I will give thee for a covenant of the people" {i. e.. He in wliom the covenant between Israel and God is personally expressed); cf. Luke 22. 20, "The new testament in my blood;" Malachi 3. 1, "the angel of the covenant;" Jeremiah 31. 31-34, describes the Messianic covenant in full. Contrast ch. 11. 30, 32, " forsake the covenant," " do wickedly against the covenant." The pi-ophecy as to Mes-
rest OS a period of revelation, so it may be with the seven weeks. The number seven is associated with revelation;
for the seven spirits of God are the mediators of all His revelations (Revelation 1. 4; 3. 1; 4. 5). Ten is the number
siali's confirming the covenant with many would comfort the faitliful in Antiochus' times, who suffered partly from persecuting enemies, partly from false friends (ch.
of what is human; e.g., the world-power issues in ten heads and ten liorns (eh. 2. 42; 7. 7). Seventy is ten multi-
plied by seven, tlie human moulded by the Divine. The
11.33-35). Hence arises the similarity of the languago here and in ch. 11. 30, 32, referring to Antiochus, the type of Antichrist, with many—(Isaiah 53. 11; Matthew
teventy years of exile symbolize the triumph of the worldpower over Israel. In the seven times seventy years the world number ten is likewise contained, t. e., God's people is still under the power of the world ("troublous times"); but the number of the Divine is multiplied by
20. 28 ; 26.28; Romans 5. 15, 19; Hebrews 9. 2S.) In . . . midst of . . . week.—the seventy weeks extend to 33
A. D. Israel was not actually destroyed till 79 a. d., but it was so virtually, 33 a. d., about three or four years after
Itself; seven times seven years, at the beginning a period of Old Testament revelation to God's people by Ezra, Nehemiah.and Malachi, whose labours extend over about half a century, or seven weeks, and whose writings are last in the canon ; and in the end, seven years, the period of New Testament revelation in Messiah. The commencing seven weeks of years of Old Testament revelation are hurried over, in order that the chief stress might rest on the Messianic week. Yet the seven weeks of Old Testament revelation are marked by their separation from the sixty-two, to be above those sixty-two wlierein there was to be none. Messiah the Prince Hebrew, Nagid. MesHah is Jesus' title in respect to Israel (Psalm 2. 2; Matthew
Christ's death, during which the gospel was preached exclusively to the Jews. When the Jews persecuted the Church and stoned Stephen (Acts 7.), the respite of grace granted to thera was at an end (Luke 18. 7-9). Israel, having rejected Christ, was rejected by Christ, and henceforth is counted dead (cf. Genesis 2.17 with 5. 5; liosea 13.
1, 2), its actual destruction by Titus being tlie consummation of the removal of the kingdom of God from Israel to the Gentiles (Matthew 21. 43), which is not to be restored until Clirist's second coming, wlien Israel shall be at tho head of humanity (Matthew 23. 39; Acts 1.6,7; Romans 11.
25-31; 15). The interval forms for the covenant people a great parenthesis, he shall cause the sacrifice . . . oblations to cease—distinct from the temporary "taking away" of " the daily" (sacrifice) by Antiochus (ch. 8. 11; 11.
27. 37, 42). Nagid, as Prince of the Oentiles (Isaiah 55. 4). Nagid is applied to Titus, only as representative of Christ, who designates the Roman destruction of Jerusalem as, in a sense. His coming (Matthew 24. ; John 21.
31). Messiah was to cause all sacrifices and oblations ia general to "cease" utterly. There is here an allusion only
22). jlfe.«u(A denotes His calling; Nagid, power. He
to Antiochus' act; to comfort God's people when sacri-
is to "be cut off, and there shall be nothing for Him." (So the Hebrew for "not for Himself," v. 26, ought to be
ficial worship was to be trodden down, by pointing them
translated). Yet He is "the Prince" who is to "come," by His representative at first, to inflict judgnxent, and at last in person, wall—the "trench" or "scarped rampart." [Tregkli^es.] The street and trench include the complete restoration of tlie city externally and internally, which was during the sixty-nine weeks. H6. after threescore and two week»—rather, the threescore and two, &c. In this verse, and v. 27, Messiah is made the prominent sub-
to the Messianic time when salvation would fully come and yet temple sacrifices cease. This is the sam« consolation as Jeremiah and Ezekiel gave under like circumstances, when tlie destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar was impending (Jeremiah 3. 16; 31. .31 ; Ezekiel 11.
19). Jesus died in the middle of the last week, 30 A. D. His prophetic life lasted three and a half years ; the very time in which "the saints are given into the hand" of Antichrist (ch. 7. 25). Three and a half does not, like ten, designate the power of the world in its fulness, b'lt (whilst opposed to the Divine, expressed by seven) broken and defeated in its seeming triumph;, for immediately after the three and a half times, judgment falls outhe victorious world-powers (ch. 7. 25, 26). So Jesus' death seemed the triumph of the world,. but was really its d©-
ject, while the fate of the city and sanctuary are secondary, being mentioned only In the second halves of the verses. Messiah appears In a twofold aspect, salvation to believers. Judgment on unbelievers (Luke 2. 34; cf. Malachi 3. 1-6; 4.1-3). He repeatedly, in Passion week, connects His being "cut off" with the destruction of the city, as cause and effect (Matthew 21. 37-11 ; 23. 37, 38 ; Luke 21. 20-
Daniel seeth a Glorious Vision. DANIEL X. He is Comforled by an AngeL
feat (John 12.31). The rending of the veil marked the cessation of sacrifices through Christ's death (Leviticus 4. 6,
the God-opposed spirit of the world. These struggles are not merely symbolical, but real (1 Samuel 16. 13-15; 1 KIngii 22.22; Ephcsians 6. 12). 1. third year of Cyrus—two year* after Cyrus' decree for the restoration of the Jews had gone forth, in accordance with Daniel's prayer in ch. 9. This vision gives not merely general outlines, or symbols, but minute details of the future, in short, anticipative history. It is the expansion of the vision in ch. 8. That which then " none understood," lie says here, " he understood ;" the messenger being sent to liira for this (u. 11, 14), to make him understand it. Probabjy Daniel was no longer in office at court; for in ch. 1.21, It is said, "DanieJ continued even unto the first year of King Cyrus;" not that he died then. See JYote there, but the time appointed was long—rather, " it (i. e., the prophecy) referred to great calamity " [Matjrbr] ; or, " long and calamitous warfare." [Gesenius.] Lit., host going towar ; hence, warfare, calamity, it. mourning—i. e., afflicting myself by fasting from " pleasant bread, flesh and wine" (v. 3), as a sign of sorrow, not for its own sake. Cf. Matthew 9. 14, "fast," answering to
17; It). 2, 15; Hebrews 10. 11-18). There cannot be a. covenant wiHiout sacrifice (Genesis 8. 20; 9.17; 15. 9, &c.; Hebrews 9. 15). Bui here the old covenant is to be confirmed, but in a waj peculiar to the New Testament, viz., by tlie one sacrifice, which would terminate all sacrifices (Psalm
40. 0, 11). Tiius as the Ijevitical rites approached their end, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, with ever-increasing clearness, oppose the spiritual new covenant to tlie transient earthly elements of the old. for the overspreading of abominations on account of the abominations committed by the unholy people against the Holy One, He shall not only destroy the city and sanctuary (v.
2.5), but shall continue its desolation until the time of the consummation "determined" by God (the phrase is quoted from Isaiah 10. 22, 23), when at last the world-power shall be judged and dominion he given to the saints of the Most High (cli. 7. 26, 27). Aubeklen translates, " On account of the desolating summit of abominations (cf. ch. 11. 31 ; 12. 11
' mourn" (v. 15). Cf. 1 Corinthians 8. 8; 1 Timothy 4.3, which prove that "fasting" is not an indispensable Christian obligation ; but merely an outward expression of sorrow, and separation from orjinar.v worldly enjoyments, in order to give one's sea lo prayer (Acts 13. 2). Daniel's mourning was probably for his countrymen, who met with many obstructions to their building of the temple, from their adversaries in the Persian court. 3. no pleasant bread—"unleavened bread, even the bread of affliction" (Deuteronomy 16. 3). anoint—the Persians largely used unguents. 4, first month—Nisan, the month most suited for considering Israel's calamity, being that in which the feast of unleavened bread reminded them of their Egyptian bondage. Daniel mourned not merely for the seven days appointed (Exodus 12. 18), from the evening of the fourteenth to the twenty-first of Nisan, but thrice seven days, to mark extraordinary sorrow. His mourning ended on the twenty-first day, the closing day of the passover feast; but the vision is not t!U the twenty-fourth, because of the opposition of" the prince of Persia" {v. 13). I -w-as by . . . the . . . river-in waking reality, not a trance {v. 7); when younger, he saw the future in images, but now when old, he receives revelations fi'om angels In common language, j. e.,in the apocalyptic mode. In the patriarchal period God often appeared
thus the repetition of the same thing as In v. 26 is avoided), and till the consummation which is determined, it (the curse, V. 11, foretold by Moses) will pour on the desolated." Israel reached the summit of abominations, which drew down desolation (Matthew 24. 28), nay, which is the desolation itself, when, after murdering Messiah, they offered sacrifices. Mosaic indeed in form, but heathenish in spirit
(cf. Isaiah 1. 13; Ezekiel 5. 11). Christ refers to this passage (Matthew 24. 15), " When ye see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place" {the latter words being tacitly implied in "abominations" as being such as are committed against the sanctu-
ary). Tregelles translates, "upon the wing of abominations shall be that which causetli desolation;" viz.,s\,\i idol set np on a wing or pinnacle of the temple (cf. Matthew
4.5) bj' Antichrist, who makes a covenant with the restored Jews for the last of the seventy weeks of years (ful-
filling Je.sus' words, "If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive"), and for the first three and a half years keeps it, then in the midst of the week breaks
it, causing the daily sacrifices to cease. Tregellbs tlius identifies the last half week with the time, times, and a half of the persecuting little horn (ch. 7.25). But thus there is a gap of at least 1830 years put between the sixtynine weeks and the seventieth week. Sir Isaac Newton explains the wing ("overspreading") of abominations to be the Roman ensigns (eagles) brought to the east gate of the temple, and there sacrificed to by the soldiers ; the war, ending in the destruction of Jerusalem, lasted from spring
visibly, i. e., theophany. In the prophets, next in the succession, the inward character of revelation is prominent. The consummation is when the seer looks up from earth into the unseen world, and has the future shown to him by angels, i. e., apocalypse. So in the NewTestament there
67 A. D. to autumn 70 A. D., i. e., just three and a half years, or the last half week of years (Josephits, B. J. 6. 6). poured upon tlie desolate Treqelles translates, "the caiiser of desolation," viz.. Antichrist. Cf. "abomination that makelh desolate" (ch. 12. 11). Perhaps both interpretations of the wliole passage may be in part true ; the Roman desolator, Titus, being a type of Antichrist, the final desolator of Jerusalem. Bacon {Adv. Learn. 2. 3) says, " Prophecies are of tlie nature of the Author, with whom a thousand years are as one day ; and therefore are not fulfilled punctually at once, but have a springing and germinant accomplishment through many years, though the height and fulness of them may refer to one age."
is a parallel progression : God in the flesh, the spiritual activity of the apostles and the apocalypse. rAuBEiii>EN.] HlddeUel—the Tigris. 5. lifted up mine eyes—from the ground on which they had been fixed in his mourning, certain man lit., one man. An angel of tlie highest order ; for in ch. 8. 16 he commands Gabriel to make Daniel to understand the vision, and in cli. 12.6 one of tlie two angels inquires of him how long it would be till the end predicted, linen—the raiment of priests, being the symbol of sanctity, as more pure than wool (Exodus 28.42); also otprophets (Jeremiah 13. 1) ; and of angels (Revelation