Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
TTle Allotment of the 'Land. EZEKIEL XLV—XLVII. Ordinances for (he Prince, etc.
but "stand by the post" (cf. 1 Kings 8. 11, 22, Solomon standing before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the congregation ; also 2 Kings 11. 14 ; 23. 3, "by a pillar:'' the customary place), the court within belonging exclusively to the priests. There, as representative of tlie people, in a peculiarly near relation to God, he is to present his offerings to Jehovah, whilst at a greater distance, the people are to stand worshipping at the outer gMte of the same entrance. The offerings on sabbaths are larger than those of the Mosaic law, to imply that the v/orship of God
CHAPTER XLV.
Ver. 1-25. Allotmp;nt of the Land for the SanctuAFY, THE City, and the Prince. 1. offer an oblation— —from a Hebrew voot to heave or raise; because when anything wa.s ottered to Goil, the offerer raised the hand. The special territorial division tor the tribes is given in ch. 47.,
48. Onl3^ Jehovah's portion is here subdivided into its three parts: (1) that for the sanctuary (v. 2, 3); (2) that for tlie priests {v. i) \ (S) that for tlie Levltes {v. 5). Cf. ch. 48.
8-13. five and twenty thousand reeds, &c.—so English Version riglitly fills the ellipsis (cf. Note, ch. 42. 16). Hence "cubits" are mentioned in u. 2, not here, implying that is to be conducted by the prince and people in a more munificent spirit of self-sacrificing liberalily than formerly. 9. The worshippers were on the great feasts to pass from one side to the other, through 1 he loniple courts, in order that, in such a throng as should attend the festivals, the ingress and egress should be the more unimpeded, those going out not being in the way of those coming in. 10. prince In tUe inl<1st^—not isolated as at other times, but joining the great throng of worshippers, at their head, after the example of David (Psalm 42. 4, "I had gone with the multitude ... to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day"); the highest in rank animating the devotions of the rest by his presence and example. 13-15. Not only is he to perform offlcialacis of worship on holy days and fe;ists, but in "voluntary" offerings daily he is there (done cuhlls are meant. Taking each reed at twelve feet, the area of the whole would be a square of sixty m les on each side. The whole forming a square betc-xens the settled stability of the community and the harm >ny of all classes. "The holy portion of the Lord" iv.
1) lomprised the whole length, and only two-fifths of the breadth. The outer territory in its distribution harmonizes with the inner and more sacred arrangements of the sand uary. No room is to be given for ojypression (see v. 8), all having ample provision made for their wants and comforts. All will mutually co-operate without constraint or contention. 7. The prince's possession is to consist of two halves, one on the west, the other on the east, of the sacred territory. The prince, as head of the holy community, stands In closest connection with the sanctuary to show his individual zeal, surpassing all his people in liberality, and so setting them a princely example. IBhis possession, therefore, on both sides must adjoin that which was peculiarly the Lord's. [Fairbairn.] 13. The standard weights were lost when the Chaldeans destroyed the teinple. The threefold enumeration of shekels, twen-
IS. The prince's possession is to be inalienable, and any portion given to a servant is to revert to his sons at the year of jubilee, that he may have no temptation to spoil his people of their inheritance, as formerly (cf. Ahab and Naboth, 1 Kings 21). The mention of tlie year of jubilee implies that there is something literal meant, besides the spiritual sense. The Jubilee year was restored after the captivity. [Josepiius, Antiquities, 14. 10, 6; 1 Maccabees 6.
ty, twenty-five, fifteen, probably refers to coins of different value, representing respectively so many shekels, the three collectively making Op a maneh. By weighing these together against the maneh, a test was afforded whether they severally had their proper weight: sixty shok Qls in all, containing one coin a fourth of the whole
49.] Perhaps.it will be i-estored under Messiah's coming reign. Cf. Lsaiah 01. 2, 3, where "the acceptable year of the Lord" is closely connected with the comforting of the mourners in Zion, and "the day of vengeance" on Zion's
(fifteen sliekels), another a tliird (twenty shekels), another a third and a twelfth (twenty-five shekels). [Menochius.] LXX. read, "/?/,'^ shekels shall be your maneh." 13-15. In these oljlations there is a progression as to the relation between the kind and the quantity: of the corn, the sixth of a tenth, *. e.,a sixtieth part of the quantity specified; of the oil, the tenth of a tenth, t. e., an hundredth part; and of the tiock, one from every 200. 18. The year is to begin with a consecration service, not mentioned under the Levitical law; but an earnest of it is given in the feast of dedication of tiie second temple, which celebrated its purification by .Judas Maccabeus, after its defilement by Antiochus. 30. for Kim that is simple—for sins of ignorance (Leviticus 4. 2, 13, 27). 31. As a new solemnity, the feast of consecration is to prepare for the passover, so the passover itself is to have different sacrifoes. The mention of the prince's sons is another argument against Messiah being meant by "the prince."
19-34:. Due regard is to be had for the sanctity of the officiating priests' food, by cooking-courts being provided close to their chambers. One set of apartments for cooking was to be at the corners of the inner court, reserved for the flesh of the sin offerings, to be eaten only by the priests whose perquisite it was (Leviticus 6. 25; 7.7), before coming forth to mingle again with thepcople; another set at the corners of the ouer court, for cooking the flesh of the peace offerings, of which the people partook along with the priests. All this implies that no longer are the common and unclean to be confounded with tlie sacred and divine, but that in even the least things, as eating and drinking, the glory of God is to be the aim (1 Corinthians 10. 31). 33. courts joined—Faikbairn translates, "roofed" or "vaulted." But these cooking apartments seem to have been uncovered, to' let the srnoke and smell fices from those of the Mosaic law. Instead of one ram and seven lambs for the daily burnt offering, there are to be seven bullocks and seven rams. So also whereas the feast of tabernacles had its own offerings, which diminished as the days of the feast advanced, here the same are appointed as on the passover. Thns it is implied, that the letter of the law is to give place to its spirit, those outward rites of Judaism having no intrinsic ef Hcacy,but symbolizing the spiritual truths of Messiah's kingdom, of the meat the more easily pass away. They were "joined" or "attached" to the walls of the courts at the corners of the latter. [Menochius.] 33. boiling-places —boilers, under the rows—at the foot of the rows, i.e., in the lowest part of the wall, were the places for boiling made.
af? for instance the perfect holiness which is to character-
CHAPTER XLVII.
ize it. Cf. 1 Corinthians 5. 7, 8, as to our spiritual " passo\-er," wherein, at the Lord's supper, we feed on Christ by
Ver. 1-23. Vision of the TEMPiiS Waters. Border3 and Divi.sion of the Land. The happy fruit to the earth at large of God's dwelling with Israel in holy fellowship is, that the blessing is no longer restricted to the one people and locality, but is to be diffused with comprehensive catholicity through the whole world. So the plant from the cedar of Lebanon is represented faith, accompanied with "the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." Literal ordinances, though not slavishly bound to the letter of the law, will set forth the catholic and eternal verities of Messiah's kingdom.
CHAPTER XLVI.
as gathering umler its shelter "all fowl of every wing"
Ver. 1-21. Co.vtintjation OF the Ordinances for the Frinck and for the People in their Worship. 3. The prince is to go through the east gate without (open on the Babbalh only, to mark its peculiar sanctity) to the entrance of the gate of the inner court ; he is to go no further,
(ch. 17. 23). Even the desert places of the earth shall be made fruitful by the healing waters of the gospel (cf. Isaiah 35. I). 1. waters-so Revelation 22. 1, represent* " the water of life as proceeding out of the throne of God
The Virlue of the Holy Waters. EZEKIEL XLVIII. ITie Division. of the Land by Lai.
and of the Lamb." His throne was set up in tlie temple at Jerusalem (ch. 43. 7). Thence it is to flow over llie earth (Joel 3.18; Zechariah 13.1; 14.8). Messiah is the temple and the door; from His pierced side flow the living waters, ever increasing, both in the individual believer and in the heart. The fountains In the vicinity of Morlah suggested the image here. The waters flow eastward, i.e., towards the Kedron, and thence towards the Jordan, and so along the Ghor into tlie Dead Sea. The main point in thepicture is the rapid augmentation from a petty stream into a mighty river, not by the influx of side-streams, but by its own self-supply from the sacred miraculous source in tlie temple. [Henderson.] (Cf. Psalm 36. 8, 9 ; -16. 4 ; Isaiah 11. 9 ; Habakkuk 2. 14.) Searching into the things of God, we And some easy to understand, as the water up to the ankles ; others more diftlcult, which require a deeper search, as the waters up to the knees or loins; others beyond our reach, of whicli we can only adore the depth (Romans 11. 33). The healing ot the waters of the Dead Sea here answers to "there shall be no more curse" (Revelation 22.3"; cf. Zechariah 14. 11). 7. trets—not merely one tree of life as in Paradise (Genesis exceeding In number, the tree of life In Eden (Revelation
2. 7; 22. 2, 14). leaf . . . not lade—expr'»^si ng not only the unfailing character of the heavenly medicine of the tree of life, l)ut also that the graces of the believer (as a tree of righteousness), which are the leaves, and his deeds, which are the fruits that flow from those graces, are immortal (Psalm 1.3; Jeremiah 17.8; Matthew 10. 42; 1 Coi-- inthi.ins 15.58). new fruit— lit., first Unys, or first-fruit. They are still, each month afresh, as it were, yielding their first-fruit. [Fairbairn.] The first-born ot a, Unn, in Hebrew idiom, means the chie/est. As Job 18. 1.!," the first-born of death," i. e., the most fatal death. 13. 'J'he redivision of the land : the boundaries. The latter are substantially the same as tliose given by Moses in Numbers 34.
they liere begin with the north, but in Numbers 34. tliey begin witli tlie south. It is only Canaan proper, exclusive of the possession of the two and a half tribes beyond Jordan, that is here divided. Joseph . . . two portionsaccording to the original promise of Jacob (Genesis 48. 5,
22). Joseph's sons were given the birth-right forfeited by Reuben the first-born (1 Chronicles 5. 1). Therefore the former is here put first. His tivo sons having distinct portions make up the whole number twelve portions, as he had just before specified " twelve tribes of Israel ;" for Levi had no separate inheritance, so that he is not reckoned in the. twelve. 15. Zedad—on the north boundary of Canaan. IG. Hamatli—as Israel was a separate people, so their land was a separate land. On no scene could the sacred history have been so well transacted as on it. On the east was the sandy desert. On the north and south, mountains. On the west, an inhospitable sea-shore. But
2), but many: to supply immortal food and medicine to the people of God, who themselves also become " trees of righteousness" (Isaiah 61.3) planted by the waters, and (Psalm 1. 3) bearing fruit unto holiness. 8. the desert—or plain, HKbrew " Arabah" (Deuteronomy 3. 17; 4. 49; Joshua
3. 16\ which is the name still given to the valley of the Jordan and the plain south of the Dead Sea, and extending to the Elanitic gulf of the Red Sea. tUe sea—the Dead
Sea. " The sea" noted as covering with its waters the guilty cities the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah. In its bituminous waters no vegetable or animal life is said to be found. But now death is to give place to life in Judea, and throughout the world, as symbolized by the healing of these death-pervaded waters covering the doomed it was not always to be a separate laud. Between the parallel ranges of Lebanon is the long valley of EI-Bekaa, leading to "tlie entering in of Hamatli" on the Orontes, in the Syrian frontier. Roman roads, and the harbour made at Cresarea, opened outdoors through which the gospel should go from it to all lauds. So in the l.ast days, when all shall flock to Jerusalem as the religious centre of the world. Berothah—a city in .Syria conquered by David (2 Samuel 8. 8) ; meaning ivells. Hazar-Iiatticon— meaning "the middle village." Hanran — a tract ia Syria, south of Damascus; Auranitis. 17. Hazar-ennn— a town in the nortli of Canaan, meaning "village of tbuntains." 18. east sea—the Dead Sea. The border is to go down straight to it by the valley of the Jordan. .So Numbers 34. 11, 12. 19. Tartiar—not Tadmor In the desert, but Tamar, the last town of Judea, by the Dead Sea. Meaning "palm-tree;" so called from palm-trees abounding near it. iJJ. to the strangers—It is altogether unprecedented under the old covenant, that "strangers" should have " inheritance" among the tribes. Tiiere would not be locally room within Canaan for more than the tribes. The literal sense must therefore be modified, as expressing that Gentiles are not to be excluded from settling among the covenant people, and that spiritually their privileges are not to be less than those of Israel (Romans cities. Cf. as to " the sea" in general, regarded as a symbol of the troubled powers of nature, disordered by the fall, lienceforth to rage no more, Revelation 21. 1. 9. rivers—in Hebrew, "two rivers." Hence Hebrew expositors think that the waters from the temple were divided Into two branches, the one emptying itself into the eastorn or Dead Sea, the other into the western or Mediterranean. So Zechariah 14.8. However, though this probal)ly is covertly implied in the Hebrew dual, the flowing of the waters into the Dead Sea only is expressed. Cf.
V. 8, " waters . . . healed," which can apply only to it, not to the Mediterranean: also u. 10, "fish as the fish of the great sea;" the Dead Sea, when healed, containing fish, as the Mediterranean does. 10. En-gedl . . . Kn-eglnlin — En-gedi (meaning "fountain of the kid"), anciently, Haza/.oii-Tamar, now Ain-Jldy; west of the Dead Sea; David's place of refuge from Saul. En-eglaim means "fountain of two calves," on the confines of Moab, over against En-gedi, and near where Jordan enters the Dead Sea (Isaiah 15. K). These two limits are fixed on, to comprise between them the whole Dead Sea. flsU . . . accord-
10. 12; Galatians 3. '28; Ephesians 3. 6; Colossians 3. 11; Revelations 7. 9, 10). Still, " sojourneth," lu v. 23, Implies that in Canaan, tlie covenant-people are regarded as at home, the strangers as settlers, liig to their kinds Jerome quotes an ancient theory that "there are 153 kinds of fishes," all of which were taken by the apostles (John 21. 11), and not one remained uncaptured; signifying that both the noble and baseborn, the rich and the poor, and every class, are being 'drawn out of the sea of the world to salvation. Cf. Matthew It. 47, the gospel net; the apostles being fishermen, at first literally, afterwards spiritually (Matthew 4. 19). 11. marshes—marshy places. Tlie region is known to have
CHAPTER XLVIII.
Ver. 1-35. Allotment of the Land to the .sevekaj; Tribes. 1. Dan—The lands are divided into portions of ideal exactness, running alongside of eacli other, the whole breadth from west to east, standing in a common relation sui-li pits and marshes. The Arabs take tlie salt collected by evaporation in these pits for theirownuse, and thatof their flocks, not be healed—those not reached by the healing waters of the gospel, tliiough tlieir sloth and earthly-nilndedne.ss, are given over (Revelation 22. 11) to theirown Ijitteinessand barrenness (as"saltness" isoften employed to express, Deuteronomy 29. 23; Psalm 107. 34; Zephaniah 2. 9); an awful example to others in the punishment they suH'er (2 Peter 2. 6). 1!J. Instead of the "vine of Sodom and grai)es of Gomorrah" (Deuteronomy 32. 32), nauseous and unwholesome, trees of life-giving and liferestoring virtue shall bloom similar lu properties to, and to the temple in the centre: seven tribes' portions on the north, five in the smaller division in the south. The portions of the city, the temple, the prince, and the priesthood, are in the middle, not within the boundaries of any tribe, all alike having acoinnion interest In them. Judalj has the place of honour next the centre on the north, Benjamin the corresponding place of honour next the centre on the south; because of the adherence of these two to the temple ordinances and to the house of David for so long, wlien the others deserted them. Dan, on the contrary, so long locally and morally semi-heal Uen
IntroatLclion. DANIEL. JntroJitction.
suburbs, profane—t'. e., not strictly sacred as the sacerdotal portions, but applied to secular uses. 24. Benjamin —Cf. Jacob's prophecy (Genesis 49. 27 ; Deuteronomy 33. 12). It alone with Judah had been throughout loyal to the house of David, so its prowess at the "night" of the national history was celeljrated as well as " in the morning." 25. Simeon—omitted in the blessing of Moses in Deuteronomy 33., perhaps because of the Siineonite " prince," wlio at Baal-peor led the Israelites In their idolatrous whoredoms witii Midian (Numbers 25. 14). 2(5. Issachar
(Judges 18.). is to have the least honourable place, at the extreme north. For the same reason, St. John (Revelation 7. 5-S) omits Dan altogether. 3. Asher—a tribe of whicli no one of note is mentioned In the Old Testament. In the New Testament one is singled out of it, tlie proplietess Anna. 4. Maiiasseh—the intercourse and unity between the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan, and tlie nine and a half west of it, had been much kept up by the splitting of Manasseli, causing the visits of kinsmen one to the other from both sides of the Jordan. There shall be no need for this in the new order of things. 5. Ephraiin—This tribe, within its two dependent tribes, Manasseh and Benjamin, for upwards of 400 years under
Its ancient portion had been on the plain of Esdraelon. Compared (Genesis 49. 14) to "a strong ass crouching between two burdens," i. e., tribute and tillage; never meddling witli wars except in self-defence. 31. jjatts—(Revelation 21. 12, &c.) The twelve gates bear the names of the twelve tribes, to imply that all are regarded as having an interest in it. 35. liordla tliere—Jehovah-Shammah. Not that the city will be called so in mere name, but that the reality will be best expressed by this descriptive title (Jeremiah 3.17; 33. 16; Zechariah 2.10; Revelation 21.3; tlie judges held the pre-eminence. 6, Renben—doomed formerly for incest and instability "not to excel" (Genesis
49. 4). So no distinguished prophet, priest, or king had come from it. Of it were the notorious Dathan and Abiram, the mutineers. A pastoral and Bedouin character marked it and Gad (Judges5. 16). 15-17. The 5000 rods, apportioned to the city out of the 25,000 square, are to be laid f.rc in a square of 4500, with the 250 all around for
THE BOOKOFDANIEL.
INTRODUCTION.
Daniel, i. e., God is my judge; probably of the blood royal (cf. ch. 1. 3, with 1 Chronicles 3. 1, where a son of Damd is named so). Jerusalem may have been his birth-place (though cli. 9. 24, " thy holy city," does not necessarily imply this). He was carried to Babylon among the Hebrew captives brought thither by Nebuchadnezzar at the first deportation In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, As he and his tliree companions are called (ch. 1. 4) "children," he cannot have been more than about twelve years old when put in training, according to Eastern etiquette, to be a courtier
(ch. 1. 3, 6). He then received a new name, by which it was usual to mark a cliange ia one's condition (2 Kings 23. 34;
21. 17; Ezra 5. 14; Esther 2. 7), Belteshazzar, i. e.; a prince favoured by Bel. His piety and wisdom were proverbial among his countrymen at an early period; probably owing to that noble proof lie gave of faithfulness, combined with wisdom, in abstaining from the food sent to him from the king's table, as being polluted by the idolatries usual at heatlien banquets (ch. 1. 8-16). Hence Ezekiel's reference to him (Ezekiel 14. 14, 20; 28.3) is precisely of tliat kind we should expect; a coincidence which must be undesigned. Ezekiel refers to him not as arvriter, but as exhibiting a character righteous and wise in discerning secrets, in those circumstances now found In his book, which are earlier than the time when Ezekiel wrote. As Joseph rose in Egypt by interpreting Pharaoh's dreams, so Daniel, by interr preting Nebuchadnezzar's, was promoted to be governor of Babylonia, and president of the Magian priest-caste. Under Evil-merodach, Nebuchadnezzar's successor, as a change of officers often attends the accession of a new king, Daniel seems to have had a lower post, which led him occasionally to be away from Babylon (ch. 8. 2, 27). Again he camo into note when he read the mystic writing of Belsliazzar's doom on the wall on the night of that monarch's impious feast. Beucsus calls the last Babylonian king Nabonidus, and says he was not killed, but had an honourable abode in Carmauia assigned to him, after having surrendered voluntarily in Borsippa. Rawlinson has cleared up the discrepancy from the Nineveh inscription. Belshazzar was joint-king with his father, Evil-merodach or Nabonidus (called Minus in the inscriptions), to whom he was subordinate. He shut himself up in Babylon, whilst the other king took refuge elsewhere, viz.. In Borsippa. Berosus gives the Chaldean account, which suppresses all about Belshazzar, as being to the national dishonour. Had Daniel been a late book, he would no doubt haye taken up the later account of Berosus. If he gave a history difl'ering from that current in Babylonia, the Jews of that region would not have received it as true. Darius the Mede, or Cyaxares II., succeeded and reigned two years. The mention of this monarch's reign, almost unknown to profane history, being eclipsed by the splendour of Cyrus, is an incidental proof that Daniel wrote as a contemporary historian of events which he knew, and criu not borrow from others. In the third year of Cyrus he saw the visions (ch. 10.-12.) relating to his people down to the latest days and the coming resurrection. He must have been about eighty-four years old at this time. Tradition represents Daniel as having died and been buried at Shushan. Though his advanced age did not allow him to be among those who returned to Palestine, yet he never ceased to have his people's interests nearest to his heart (chs. 9. and 10. 12).
Authenticity of the Book of Daniel. Ch. 7. 1, 28; 8. 2; 9. 2; 10. 1, 2; 12. 4, 5, testify that it was composed by Daniel himself. He does not mention himself in the first six chapters, which are histm-ical; for in these it is not the author, but the events which are the prominent point. In the last six, which are prophetical, the author makes himpelf known, for here it was needed, prophecy being a revelation of words to particular men. It holds a third rank In the Hebrew canon: not among the prophets, but in the Haglographa (Chetubim), between Esther and Ezra, books like it relating to the captivity; because he did not strictly belong to those who held exclusively the profession of " propiiets" in the theocracy, but was rather a "seer," having the gift, but not tlie office of prophet. Were the book an interpolated one, it would have been doubtless placed among the prophets. Its present position is a proof of its genuineness, as it was deliberately put in a position different from that where most would expect to find it. Placed between Esther, and Ezra and Nehemiah, it separated the historical books of the time after the captivity. Thus, Daniel was, as Bengel calls him, the politician, chronologer, and historian among the prophets. Tiie Psalms also
Intro(h\cl inn. DANIEL. Inlroduction.
thougli many are prophetical, are ranked with the Haglographa, not with the prophets; and the Revelation of John
Is separated from his Epistles, as Daniel Is fnmi the Old Testament prophets. Instead of writing in the midst of the covenant people, and making them the foreg.round of liis picture, he writes in a heathen eourt, the world-kingdomu occupying tlie foreground, and the kingdom of God, thougli ultimately made the most significant; llie Ijackground, His peculiar position in the heathen court is reflected in his peculiar position in the canon. As the " propliets" in the Old Testament, so the Epistles of the apostles in the New Testament were written Ijy <|j vincly-commissioiied persons for their contemporaries. But Daniel and Jolni were not in immediate contact witli tlie congregation, but isolated and alone with God, the one in a heathen court, the other on a lonely isle (Revelation 1. »). Pokpiiy'EY, tiie assailant of Christianity In the third century, asserted tliat the book of Daniel was a forgery of tiie time of the Maccal)ees, 170^164
B. c, a time when confessedly there were no propliets, written after the events as to Antiochus Epiplianes, wiiicii it professes to foretell; so accurate are the details. A conclusive proof of Daniel's inspiration, if his prophecies can be Bhown to have been before the events. Now we know, from Josephus, that the Jews in Christ's days recognized Daniel as in the cano'n. Zechariah, Ezra, and Nehemiah, centuries before Antiochus, refer to it. Jesus refers to it in His characteristic designation, "Sou of man," Mattliew 24. 30 (Daniel 7. 13) ; also expressly by name, and as a " prophet," In Matthew 24. 15 (cf. Matthew 24. 21, with Daniel 12. 1, &c.); and in the. moment that decided His life (Matthew 2(1. 01) or death, when lliehigh priest adjured him by the living God. Also, in Luke 1. 19-2C, "Gal)riel" is mentioned, whose name occurs nowhere else in Scripture, save ch. 8. 16; 9. 21. Besides the references to it in Revelation, Paul confirms the prophetical part of it, as to the blasphemous king (Daniel 7. 8, 25; 11. 3C), in 1 Corinthians (5. 2; 2 Thcssalonians 2. .3,
4; the narrative part, as to the miraculous deliverances from "the lions" and "the fire," in Hebrews 11. 33, 34. Thus the book is expressly attested by tlie New Testament on the three points made the stumbling-block of neologists the predictions, the narratives of miracles, and the manifestations of angels. An objection has been started to the tinity of the book, viz., that Jesus quotes no part of the first half of Daniel. But Matthew 21. 44 would be an enigma if it were not a reference to the "stone that smote tlie image" (Daniel 2. .34, 35, 44, 45). Thus the New Testament sanctions clis. 2., 3., 6., 7., and 11. The design of the miracles in the heathen courts wliere Daniel was, as of those of Moses in Egypt, was to lead the world-power, which keemcd to lie victorious over the t heoci acy, to see theessential inner superiority of the seemingly fallen kingdom of God to itself, and to show prostrate Israel that the power of God was tlie Bame as of old in Egypt. The first book of Maccabees (cf. 1 Maccabees 1. 24; 9. 27, 40, with Daniel 12. 1; 11. 2G, of I.XX.) refers to Daniel as an accredited book, and even refers to the LXX. Alexandrian version of it. The fact of Daniel having a place in the LXX. shows it was received by the Jews at large prior to the Maccabean times. The LXX. version so arbitrarily deviated from the Hebrew Daniel, that Theodotion's version was substituted for it in the early Christian Church. JosEPllUS (AntiqiiUies, 7. 11, 8) mentions that Alexander the Great had designed to punish the Jews for their fidelity to Darius, but that Jaddua (332 b. c), the high priest, met him at the head of a procession, and averted his wrath by showing him Daniel's prophecy that a Grecian monarch shouUl overthrow Persia. Certain it is, Alexander favoured the Jews, and Josephus' statement gives an explanation of the fact; at least it shows that the Jews In Josephus' days believed that Daniel was extant in Alexander's days, long before the Maccabees. "With Jaddua (high priest from B. c. 341-322) the Old Testament history ends (Neliemiah 12. 11). (The register of the priests and Levites was not written by Nehemiah, who died about 400 b. c, but was inserted with Divine sanction by the collectors of the canon subsequently.) An objection to Daniel's authenticity has been rested on a few Greek words found in it. But these are mostly names of Greek musical instruments, which were imported by Greece from the East, rather tlian vice versa. Some of the words are derived from the common Indo-Germanic stock of both Greek ami Clialdee: lience their appearance in both tongues. And one or two may have come through the Greeks of Asia Minor to the Cliulilee. The fact that from the fourth yerse of the second chapter to the end of the seventh, the language is Chaldee, but the rest Hebrew, is not an argument against, but for, its authenticity. So in Ezra the two languages are found. The work, if that of one author, must have been composed bj' some one in the circumstances of Daniel, i. e., by one familiar with both languages. No native-born Hebrew who had not lived in Chaldea would know Chaldee so well as to use it with tiie same idiomatic ease as his native tongue; the very impurities in Daniel's use of both arc just sucli as were natural to one in his circumstances, but unnatural to one in a later age, or to one not half Hebrew, half Chaldean in residence as Daniel was. Those parts of Daniel wliich concern tlie whole world are mostly Chaldee, then tlie language of the world-empire. So Greek was made the language of the New Testament, wliich wa.s designed for the wliole world. Those affecting the Jews, mostly Hebrew ; and this not so impure as that of Ezekiel. His Clialdee is a mixture of Hebrew and Aramaic. Two predictions alone are enough to prove to us that Daniel was a true piophet.
(1.) That his prophecies reach beyond Antiochus; viz., he foretells the rise of the four great monarchies, Babylon, MedoPersia, Greece, and Rome (the last not being in Daniel's time known beyond the precincts of Italy, or rather of Latium), and tliat no other earthly kingdom would subvert the fourth, but that it would divide into part.s. All this has come to pass. No great earthly monarchy has arisen, though often attempted, as by Charlemagne, Charles V., and Napoleon. (2.) The time of Messiah's advent, as dated from a certain decree, His being cut o£t', and the destruction of the city. " He who denies Daniel's prophecies," says Sir Isaac Newton, " undermines Cliristianity, which is founded on Daniel's prophecies concerning Christ."
Chauactbristics of Daniel. The vision modeof revelation is the exception In other prophets, the rule in Daniel. In Zechariah (1.-6.), who lived after Daniel, the same mode appears, but the other form from the seventh cliapter to the end. The Revelation of St. John alone is perfectly parallel to Daniel, which may be cjilled the tld Testament Apocalypse. In the contents too there is the diCference above noticed, that he views the kingdom of God from the standpoint of the world-kingdoms, the development of which is his great subject. This mode of viewing it was appropriate to his own position in a heathen court, and to the relation of subjection in which the covenant people then stood to the world-jjowers. No longer are single powers of the world incidentally introduced, but the universal monarchies are the chief tlieme, in which the worldly principle, opposed to the kingdom of God, manifests Itself fully. The near and distant are not seen in the same perspective, as by the other prophets, who viewed the whole future from the eschatological point; but in Daniel the historical fZetoiis are given of tliat development of the world-powers which must precede the advent of the kingdom. [Aubeklen.] Significance of the Babylonian Captivity. The exile is the historical basis of Daniel's prophecies, as Daniel Implies in the first chapter, which commences witli the beginning, and ends with the termination, of the captivity
(ch. 1. 1, 21; cf. ch. 9. 1, 2). A new stage in the theocracy begins with tlie captivity. Nebuchadnezzar made three intursions inU Judah, The first under Jehoiakim (C06 b. c), in which Daniel was carried away, subjected the theocracy 620
Nebuchadnezzar Besiejes Jerusalem. DANIEL I. 27ie Babylonian Captivity BegifW, to tlio Babylonian world-power. The second (59S B. c.) was tliat in wtiich Jelioiachin and Ezelciel were carried away. The tliirU (588 B. C), in whicii Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and carried away Zedekiah. Originally, Abraham was raised out of the "sea" (Daniel 7. 2; of the nations, as an island holy to God, and his seed chosen as God's mediator of His revelations of love to mankind. Under David and Solomon, the theoci'acy, as opposed to the heathen power, attained its climax in the Old Testament, not only being Independent, but lord of the surrounding nations; so that the period of these two kings was henceforth made the type of the Messianic. But when God's people, instead of resting on Him, seek alliance vitli the world-power, that very power is made the instrument of their chastisement. So Ephraim (722 B. c.) fell by Assyria; and Judah also, drawn into the sphere of the world's movements from the time of Ahaz, who sought Assyrian help (7-10 B. c. ; Isaiali 7.), at last fell by Babylon, and thenceforth has been more or less dependent on. the world-monarchies, and so, til) Messiah, was favoured with no revelations from the time of Malachi,
400 years. Tlius, from the bejinning of the exile, the theocracy, in the strict sense, ceased on earth; the rule of the world-powers superseding it. But God's covenant with Israel remains firm (Romans 11.29); therefore, a period of blessing under Messiah's kingdom is now foretold as about to follow their long chastisement. The exile thus is tlie turning-point in the history of the theocracy, which Roos thus divides: (1.) From Adam to the exodus out of Kgypt.
(2.) From the exodus to the beginning of the Babylonian captivity. (3.) From the captivity to the milU'nnium. (4.) From the millennium to tiie end of the world. The position of Daniel in the Babylonian court was in unison witli the altered relations of the theocrac.y and the world-power, which newrelatlon was to be the theme of his propliei-y Karller prophets, from tlie stand-point of Israel, treated of Israel in its relation to the world-powers ; Daniel, from Babylon, the centre of the then world-power, treats of the world-powers in their relation to Israel. His seventy years' residence in Babylon, and his high official position tliere, gave him an insight into tlie world's politics, fitting him to be the recipient of political revelations ; while his spiritual experiences, gained through Nebuchadnezzar's humiliation, Belshazzar's downfall and the rapid decaj' of the Babylonian empire itself, as well as the miraculous delivei'- ances of himself and his friends (cli. 3.-6.), al Llitted him for regarding things from the spiritual stand-point, fiora which the world's power appears transient, but the glory of God's kingdom eternal. As his political position was the body, the scliool of magicians in which he liad studied for three years (Qh. 1. 4, 5) was the soul; and his mind strong iu faith and nouri.shed by the earlier propliecles (ch. 9. 2), tlie spirit of his prophecy, which only waited for tlie spirit of revelation from above to kindle it. So God fits His organs for their work. Auberlen compares Daniel to Josepii the one at the beginning, the otlier at the end of the Jewish history of revelation; both representatives of God and His people at heathen courts ; Iioth interpreters of the dim presentiments of truth, expressed in God-sent dreams, and therefore raised to honour by the powers of the world: so representing Israel's calling to be a royal priestliood among the nations; and t.vpes of Clirist, the true Israel, and of Israel's destination to be a liglit to lighten the wliole Gentile world, as Romans 11. 12, 1.5 foretells. As Achilles at the beginning, and Alexander at the end, of Grecian history are the mirrors of the whole life of tlie Hellenic people, so Joseph and Daniel of Israel.
Contents of the Book. Historical and biograpliical introduction in the first chapter. Daniel, a captive exile, is representative of his nation in its servitude and exile: while his heavenly insight into dreams, far exceeding tliat of the magi, represents the Divine superiority of the covenant people over their heathen lords. The high dignities, even in the world, which he thei-eby attained, typify tlie giving of the earth-kingdom at last "to the people of the saints of the Most High" (ch. 7. 27). Thus Daniel's personal history Is the typical foundation of his prophecy. The propliets had to experience in themselves, and in their age, something of what they foretold about future times ; .iust as David felt much of Christ's sufterings in his own person (cf. Hosea 1. 2-9, 10, 11; 2. 3). So Jonah 1., &c. [Roos.] Hence bio graphical notices of Daniel and his friends are inserted among his prophecies. Chs. 2.-12 contain the substance of the book, and consist of two parts. Tlie first, viz., chs. 2.-7., represent the development of the world-powers, viewed from a historical point. The second, chs. 8.-12., tlieir development in relation to Israel, especially in the future preceding Christ's first advent, foretold in the ninth chapter. But prophecy looks beyond the Immediate future to the complete fulfilment in the last days, since the individual parts in the organic history of salvation cannot be understood except In connection with the whole. Also Israel looked forward to the Messianic time, not only for spiritual salvation, but also for the visible restoration of the kingdom which even now we too expect. The prophec.v whicli tliey needed ought tlierefore to comprise both, and so mucli of tlie history of the world as would elapse before the final consummation. The period of Daniel's prophecies, therefore, is that from the downfall of the theocracy at the captivity till its final restoration, yet future—tlie period of tlie dominion of the world-powers, not set aside by Christ's first coming (John 18. 36; for, to have taken the eartli-kingdom then, would have been to take it from Satan's hands, Matthew 4.
8-10), but to be superseded by His universal and everlasting kingdom at His second coming (Revelation 11. 15). Thus the general survey of the development and final destiny of the world-powers (chs. 2.-7.) fittingly piecedes the disclosures as to the immediate future (chs. 8.-12). Daniel marks the division by writing the first part in Clialdee, and the second, and the introduction, in Hebrew ; the former, referring to the powers of the world, in the language of the then dominant world-power under which he lived; the hitter, relating to the people of God, in their own language. An Interpolator in a later age would have used Hebrew, the language of the ancient prophets throughout, or if anywhere
Aramaic, so as to be understood by liis contemporaries, he would have used It In the second rather than in tlie first part as having a more immediate reference to his own times. [Axjbeblen.J
CHAPTER I.
of Jehoiakim: this probably took place in the end of the third year of Jehoiakim, shortly before the battle of Carchemlsh. [Fairbairn.] Nebuchadnezzar took away the captives as hostages for the submission of the Hebrews. Historical Scripture gives no positive account of this first deportation, with which the Babylonian captivity, i.e., Judah's subjection to Babylon for seventy y(>ars (Jeremiah
Ver. 1-21. The Babylonian Captivity begins; Daniel's Education at Babylon, &c. 1. third year—cf. Jeremiah 25.1, "the fourth yinxr; Jehoiakim came to the throne at the end of the year, wlii(;li Jeremiah reckons as tl\e first year, but which Daniel leaves out of count, being an incomplete year: thus, in Jeremiah, It Is " the fourth year;" in Daniel, "the WiirtZ." [Jahn.] However, Jeremiah (25. 1; 46. 2) merely says, the fourth year of Jehoiakim coincided with the first of Nebuchadnezzar, when the latter conquered tfie Egyptians at Oarchemish; not that the de-
29. 10), begins. But 2 Chronicles 36.6,7, states, tliat Nebuchadnezzar had intended "to carry Jehoiakim to Babylon," and that he " carried off the vessels of the l)ouse of the Lord" thither. But Jehoiakim died at Jerusalem, before the conqueror's intention as to him was carrii d into portation of captives from Jeinsalem was in the fourth year efl'ect (Jeremiah 22. 18, 19; 36. 30), and his dead body, as was