Commentary on Daniel 1 part 3/6

'I saw a dream, and it made me afraid, and I was troubled upon my bed, and the visions of my head confounded me.'

'And a decree was set forth by me, to bring in before me all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.'

See how He wishes to abase him, not by the actual experience of the events, but by the foretelling of the things to befall;

and how fearful the dream was. Why, then, did the spirit not now depart from him, nor was he ignorant of the dream, as before? Because, since Daniel had before given sufficient proof—namely, in the dream that preceded this one—there was thereafter no need that a second test be brought forward.

For God transacts all things for need's sake, not for ostentation.

And in another way it comes about also for the confuting of the magicians.

'Let the king tell the dream, and we will declare its interpretation;'

they are convicted of being unable to do even this very thing, not merely that other.

The matter which the king asks is weighty;

and there is no man who is able to declare it, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with any flesh.

From these words he learned that Daniel had not spoken even the former things out of this human wisdom.

He learned that even in earlier times they used to say nothing sound, just as he himself declares, but rather that they were altogether destitute of any who could put them to the test.

But when a demonstration came to them from Judea, namely Daniel, they no longer dare even to invent anything.

So then, by a providential ordering these men are once more summoned.

For what reason, having received proof of Daniel's power in so many instances, did he not call him first?

For God Himself arranged this, so that after their defeat the victory might be made manifest.

And not even so did he become better, but he wished to come to the very test.

Thus is God in every case without blame.

And the enchanters, the magicians, the Gazarenes, the Chaldeans came in;

and I told the dream before them,

and they did not make known to me its interpretation, until at last another came in before me, Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar according to the name of my god, who has the Spirit of God in himself;

and I told the dream before him.

'Until,' he says, 'another came in before me.'

He speaks thus as one who had forgotten.

For indeed many years had passed, and he had quickly cast away the remembrance, seeing that he was amid such great cares and lived amid such abundant fare.

His saying 'another' is a sign that he was utterly ignorant of him.

'According to the name,' he says, 'of my god.'

Does he mean to say this, that 'I so honored him that I gave him even a name derived from the god'?

For indeed it was their custom to name their children after the names of the gods;

since they even made gods out of men.

So too was the obelisk; and so among us a certain man was called Belaeus.

For when the demons saw men honored in this way and called gods, they too coveted this.

For what reason does he say, 'Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar'? Because he possessed the power of God.

For this was among them the greatest honor.

And Daniel endured to be called this for their sakes;

yet nowhere here, when he makes mention of himself, does he call himself Belteshazzar.

As great an honor as the king's son was accounted worthy of, so great was this man also; and even before the test he seemed to be wondrous from his very appearance.

'Not indeed by his own power,' he says, 'did he speak, but he had the holy Spirit of God in himself.'

This 'Spirit' is not that which we call the Paraclete, but, as one might say, an inspiration; he was possessed by a divine breath.

'Belteshazzar,' he says, 'the chief of the enchanters.'

See how many tokens there are that he was superior.

'Belteshazzar, chief of the enchanters, of whom I knew that the holy Spirit of God is in you.'

'The better one, the one superior to all, whom I have come to know.'

For lest he should again reduce him to the necessity of saying:

'And I too—not by any wisdom that is in me—'

by this most of all he expected to draw him to himself, and this he said before all else.

'For do not, because I called you chief of the enchanters, suppose that on this account I have spoken as though bearing witness that these things are uttered by human wisdom;'

'you are indeed chief of the enchanters;'

'but I know that, moved by divine power, you speak all things;'

'I have come to know it through the proof of the deeds themselves.'

'And no mystery,' he says, 'is too hard for you.'

'For human things are imperfect;'

'Hear then the vision of my dream which I saw, and tell me its interpretation, even the visions of my head upon my bed.'

What then does he say? 'I was beholding, and lo, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great.'

'The tree grew great and became strong, and its height reached to heaven, and its expanse to the ends of all the earth; its leaves were fair, and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all; and beneath it the wild beasts of the field lodged, and in its branches dwelt the birds of heaven;'

'from it all flesh was fed.'

What does the vision mean? Again the transitory nature of human affairs is shown.

'The birds,' he says, 'and the beasts enjoyed shade in it, and dwelt there;'

'and their food was from thence.'

He means that it overspread the whole inhabited world.

Formerly then it was through an image, but now through a tree, that the events are shown to him.

For why did he not send Daniel to tell these things? Because in this way the message was going to be the more trustworthy and the more awe-inspiring, since the matters were brought before the eyes, so that you might learn that He who makes the plants grow is the same who makes the kingdom to grow, secretly, and without our knowing it.

'I was beholding in a vision of the night upon my bed, and lo, a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven in strength, and thus he said:'

'Cut down the tree, pluck off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit;'

'let the beasts be shaken out from under it, and the birds from its branches;'

'nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth;'

'and with a band of iron and bronze, and among the grass outside, and in the dew of heaven let it lodge, and let its portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth;'

'let his heart be changed from that of men, and let a beast's heart be given to him, and let seven times pass over him.'

'By the decree of the watcher is this word, and the demand is the utterance of the holy ones, to the intent that the living may know that the Most High is Lord of the kingdom, and He will give it to whomever it seems good to Him, and He will raise up over it the basest of men.'

He calls the watcher a great light and a splendor.

'And a holy one came down from heaven, and called out in strength,' so as to astound him.

'Cut down the tree, nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth.'

But since the stump is wont oftentimes to perish, therefore 'Leave it,' he says, 'as it were in a band of iron and bronze.'

'And seven times,' he says, 'shall be changed upon him, and his dwelling shall be with the beasts.'

For that these things concerned a man, the sequel made plain: 'And a beast's heart,' he says, 'shall be given to him.'

For 'By the decree of the watcher is the word;'

of itself it cannot be brought to light, he says, but there is need of one to interpret it.

'And the demand,' he says, 'is the utterance of the holy ones;'

And the saints too will be able to say this.

He means either this or that: namely, that both the asking and the reason for which these things came to pass were made clear to him also through the answer.

'That the living may know,' he says, 'that the Most High is Lord of the kingdom of men.'

Do you see how God provides for men? How His rule has not been shut up within the Jews alone? 'This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw; and do you, Belteshazzar, tell its interpretation, for all the wise men of my kingdom cannot make known to me its interpretation.'

'But you are able, because a holy spirit of God is in you.'

'For all the wise men of my kingdom cannot.'

He knew that this again gladdened Daniel—that all confessed themselves defeated—not for the sake of Daniel's own glory, but because thereby the power of God was again proclaimed.

'But you are able,' he says; 'tell it.'

Why? 'Because a spirit of God is in you.'

See how he begins from this point and likewise ends with it.

'The tree which you saw, that grew great and became strong, whose height reached to heaven and its breadth to all the earth; whose leaves were flourishing and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all;'

'under it dwelt the wild beasts, and in its branches the birds of heaven lodged—it is you, O king, for you have grown great and become strong, and your greatness has increased and reached to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth.'

'And whereas the king saw a watcher, even a holy one, coming down from heaven, and he said:'

'Cut down the tree and destroy it, yet leave the stump of its roots in the earth, and in a band of iron and bronze; and among the grass of the field, and in the dew of heaven let it lodge, and let its portion be with the wild beasts, until seven times pass over it—'

'this is the interpretation of it, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king:'

'they shall drive you out from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts, and they shall feed you with grass like an ox, and your body shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He wills.'

'Leave the stump of the roots of the tree—'

'your kingdom shall remain to you, from the time that you come to know the heavenly authority.'

What then does he say? How shall there be a release from the calamity? 'Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and redeem your sins by almsgiving, and your iniquities by mercies to the poor.'

'Perhaps there will be a longsuffering toward your transgressions.'

What do you mean, 'Perhaps there will be'? Do you set the strength of the remedy under some doubt? I said 'Perhaps' not because I doubt—God forbid—but because I wished to heighten his fear, as of one who had sinned beyond all healing and all pardon.

For if, even after it was spoken thus, he persisted in his madness, much more would he have done so had it not been uttered with any qualification.

For indeed elsewhere too He intends this, saying through the prophet:

'Though you wash yourself with nitre, you are stained before Me, says the Lord.'

'Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard its spots?'

As therefore in that passage He shuts out repentance—not that He may shut it out, but rather that He may strike fear—

so here too, wishing to show the magnitude of the sins committed, he said, 'Perhaps.'

And for what reason did he not say:

'Be humble-minded, acknowledge God'? For if he suffers these things on account of this, as he himself also says, for what reason do you exhort other things? He said, 'That they may know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men.'

What then? So that others may be brought to sober sense, am I punished? Not so; but in the dream, since He did not wish to disclose the plain meaning, He said, 'That the living may know;'

but Daniel says, 'Until you yourself know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He wills.'

Do you see how here he discoursed concerning humility? 'But in the dream,' he says, 'this is the remedy.'

Just as in the case of a ruler who is angry: the ruler himself would say nothing, but one of his household servants, approaching the accused, would say:

'Give money, and oftentimes we are able to snatch you away from the evils that press upon you.'

'While the word was yet in the king's mouth, there came a voice from heaven:'

'To you it is spoken, O King Nebuchadnezzar:'

'your kingdom has departed from you, and they shall drive you out from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the wild beasts, and they shall feed you with grass like an ox;'

'and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He wills.'

'In that very hour the word was fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: he was driven out from among men, and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until his hairs grew long like lions' and his nails like a bird's.'

See the sentence borne down from on high upon Nebuchadnezzar himself.

And in the end the events came to pass.

'You were ignorant,' he says, 'of the nobility that belongs to man; you fell down to the dishonour of beasts.'

Nothing could be more dishonourable than this—not even if He had made him a poor man, nor a slave master, nor anything else of the kind.

In no way would He have cast him out from his natural nobility—not by changing his body into the nature of a beast, but by transferring into brutishness that very faculty by which he differs from the irrational creatures.

How so? That the rest also might learn—from his food, from his appearance.

And what are we instructed by these things? That we are disposed nothing better than these beasts—even if the same things do not befall us—whenever we slip into pride or into the brutish passion.

How many now, like that Nebuchadnezzar, have the mind of a beast? Hear then John saying:

'Serpents, brood of vipers!'

and again another prophet saying:

'They became as lust-crazed horses;'

'each neighed after his neighbour's wife;'

'Dumb dogs, unable to bark;'

and elsewhere again one calling them foxes, and another dragons and basilisks.

But it is far worse to become brutish while living this present life than to suffer what Nebuchadnezzar suffered.

For he suffered no dreadful harm to his soul;

but we, thus gathering up ten thousand sins, how much worse are we already, according to what has been said!

The men of the heathen also changed men into beasts (in their fables).

But let us see how. Those things are fable, but these are truth.

For what reason did they change those men? For no reason at all;

but the Scripture states the reason too:

'That all may know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men.'

Do you see how all things are possible to God—both to make beasts out of men, and to change the mind? Consider what a sight it was to behold him who was before this in such great splendour now dwelling among the beasts, naked.

For indeed He did not change his outward form, since that would have been nothing to shudder at.

And by 'taking the heart of a beast' He does not mean this—that he stood out of his mind—but that, still having a human soul, he perceived what was happening.

For had he been changed into a beast, he would not have known the things that were befalling him.

What then is it, 'A heart of a beast was given to him'? He became savage, that is; he no longer wished to be among men, or even feared to be among men, or regarded men as though they were beasts.

What could be loftier than that man? What could be lowlier than he? 'And he was driven out from among men.'

Nowhere did his power stand forth.

He was not a flesh-eating beast, but he ate grass, and was an image of the irrational creature.

'as at your accustomed food, you shall have the grass.'

How was it that the wild beasts did not devour him? How did his body have strength to digest? How was he not destroyed? For the time was not short.

He went about as an example of humility to all, bearing in himself the marks of his chastisement, like one branded.

And yet, perhaps someone might say, it would have been better for him to be among men and to suffer this there.

But precisely so that his punishment might be intensified, this came to pass.

For the correction remained the same, since all reported the things concerning him, and perhaps beheld him from outside.

And to see this was far more terrifying.

Nor was the time short, but it too was sabbatical.

For 'Seven seasons,' it says, 'shall pass over him.'

'And at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar,' he says, 'lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding was restored to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and glorified him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation.'

'And all the inhabitants of the earth were reckoned as nothing.'

'And according to his will he does in the power of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,'

'and there is none who can withstand his hand or say to him:'

'What have you done?' 'My eyes,' he says, 'I lifted up to heaven.'

That is to say, he drew near and prayed to God, and from thence he sought help.

And yet, even when the time was fulfilled, he did not presume upon it.

For just as God was able to prevent matters from ever coming to the test, so too, even if, when the appointed time was fulfilled, he was going to remain uncorrected, the appointed limit would have profited him nothing.

For God's sentence is not by necessity, but is shaped according to our own affairs.

So also Daniel, even though the time was fulfilled, fittingly prays that, should wickedness come upon him again, it might not be added once more.

For just as this happens in the case of God's loving-kindness, as with Hezekiah,

so also it is likely to happen in the case of punishment, as with the Jews: he willed them to depart at once into Palestine,

but they, by their transgression, caused forty years to be added to them.

Behold how he flees to God for refuge.

'I looked up,' he says, 'to heaven, and I became a man again.'

'And my form returned to me.'

For his form had indeed been changed from that of a man, yet had not been transformed into a beast.

And what then? 'I praised and glorified.'

'The Most High,' he says, 'I blessed, and him who lives forever I praised and glorified.'

For men reckon nothing so worthy of God as to be eternal.

'For his dominion,' he says, 'is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation.'

Since it is chiefly in this that man falls short of him, and this was what men counted blessed.

'For his dominion,' he says, 'is an everlasting dominion'—it is throughout all time.

'Without food,' he says, 'he sustained me;'

'without clothing, without all the rest, my body was not destroyed.'

Consider what manner of man he was as he returned from the wilderness to his kingdom.

'At that time,' he says, 'my understanding returned to me, and I came into the honor of my kingdom;'

'and my form returned to me;'

'and my rulers and my nobles sought me out;'

'and I was established over my kingdom, and yet greater majesty was added to me.'

'And my nobles sought me out,' he says—those who had driven out him who ruled and reigned.

But it was because of God's command.

For this reason a time is appointed, that you may not suppose anything to have happened of itself.

'And his kingdom endures from generation to generation;'

'and all the inhabitants of the earth were reckoned as nothing.'

For if I, who ruled over all, was reckoned as nothing, how much more all the rest.

For he who deposed one so mighty from his kingdom can much more do so to those who are subject.

'And according to his will he does in the power of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.'

As for 'they were reckoned as nothing'—it is not that he despises them, God forbid, but that he is mighty and leads them as he wills.

This indeed is what the following words also make clear:

'And according to his will he does in the power of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.'

Granted, concerning the earth you know;

but concerning heaven, whence do you know it? From the dream.

How did they obey? From the fire of the furnace.

'And there is none who can withstand his hand or say to him:'

'What have you done?' Not only, he says, will he not oppose, but he will not even so much as utter a word.

He rules over all, he is all things.

'At that very time,' he says, 'my understanding returned to me.'

At what time? At the one spoken of by God.

Whence did they also bring him back to the kingdom? For how did those who had cast down one so mighty bring back one become so weak? 'And I came into the honor of my kingdom, and my form returned to me;'

'and my rulers and my nobles sought me out;'

'and I was established over my kingdom, and yet greater majesty was added to me.'

Do you see how he is able both to establish and to overthrow a kingdom? Indeed, one ought to have been persuaded of these things by what went before;

but since you are ignorant, he overthrew it, and again established it.

'Now therefore I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and glorify the King of heaven, for all his works are true, and his ways are judgments, and all those who walk in pride he is able to abase.'

One cannot say that he has power, but that it is unjust;

but his righteousness also is great.

'And all those who walk in pride he is able to abase.'

He did not say 'he abases,' that he might show you his long-suffering, and that you might learn that it is not through weakness, but that through one he corrects the rest.

Did you see power? Did you see righteousness? Did you see loving-kindness? Did you see these things spoken from a barbarian's mouth? Who ever philosophized thus? Those nurtured among the prophets did not utter any such thing in this manner, but rather the opposite.

'The Lord will surely do no good,' it says, 'nor will he do any harm.'

And again, 'Have we not by our own strength obtained horns for ourselves?'

And, 'Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and in them He takes pleasure.'

And, 'What profit is it that we have served Him?' Did you see in Palestine the doctrines of Satan? Did you see among the barbarians a prophetic philosophy? These are figures of the nations, of the grace that was to come, since these were destined to leap forward ahead of those.

Then Belshazzar, when the banquet had turned to drunkenness, orders the vessels to be brought out, as though glorying in his father's victory—or rather, playing the drunken reveler.

Or perhaps because those men had been witnesses of what had happened, so as to demolish the wonder they held concerning God.

And this he did out of arrogance—that is, it came also of drunkenness.

Let us guard against drunkenness, beloved.

For many absurd things come to pass through it.

But drunkenness gets the better even of great men; for it was in the tasting of the wine that he gave this command.

The very things which his father, though he had carried them off, spared—and which he himself, having taken the city, did not dare to put to human service—these this man not only used himself, but even handed over for the use of his nobles, his concubines, and his consorts.

'Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and the wine was set before the thousand.'

'Belshazzar the king, while drinking, gave command in the tasting of the wine to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had carried off out of the temple that is in Jerusalem, that the king and his nobles and his consorts and his concubines might drink from them.'

'And the silver and golden vessels were brought, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried off out of the temple of God in Jerusalem;'

'and the king and his nobles and his consorts and his concubines drank from them.'

'And they drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver and bronze and iron and wood and stone.'

Did you see how they were taken? But observe their strength even after they had been captured and set up in the idol's shrine.

Let that man be after his own choosing.

Why also for this one? These things were taken away because of their sins.

What was the end, even after the signs? How was it that those men suffered nothing, but the king alone? For this man had spoken; he himself was the cause. 'They praised,' it says, 'the gods of gold and silver.'

For what reason was there this difference among their gods? The devil, wishing to deprive them of all excuse, often ordered them to be made of wood, so that they might not even have from the costliness of the material any plea in their defense.

Observe that nowhere is God ruling, but following.

For what reason did the judgment follow swiftly, in that very hour? So that the effect of the former wonders might not be undone while God was being outraged through the vessels, He willed to put men to shame.

and in that very hour came the punishment.

For what reason is a prophet not sent to bring the charge, but the joint of a hand? So that the amazement might be the greater.

'In that very hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote opposite the lamp upon the plaster of the wall of the king's house;'

'and the king watched the joints of the hand that wrote.'

Add too that it was evening.

The swelling that came from the drunkenness had to be brought down.

Then all who were present had to learn that he was paying the penalty.

Why did He not send down a thunderbolt at once from heaven? So that His servant might again be glorified;

so that he himself might hear why he was suffering these things.

For Daniel, when he came in, does not only interpret the writing, but also draws out long discourses full of counsel—not as one who would benefit that man, but as one who would make the others better.

'Then Daniel came in before the king.'

'And the king said to Daniel:'

'Are you that Daniel, of the sons of the captivity of Judea, whom the king my father brought down from Judea?' He says these things as one striking him with awe and putting him under compulsion.

But in saying, 'Whom the king my father brought from the captivity of Judea,' he was speaking these words against himself, [wondering] whether it needed captives everywhere.

'I have heard concerning you, that a holy spirit of God is in you, and that watchfulness and understanding and surpassing wisdom were found in you.'

'And now the wise men, the magicians, the Gazarenes, the Chaldeans have come in before me, that they might read this writing and make known to me its interpretation;'

'and they were not able to declare to me the interpretation of this word.'

'And I have heard concerning you, that you are able to interpret interpretations and to loose knots.'

'And now, if you are able to read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed in purple, and the golden chain shall be upon your neck, and you shall rule as third in my kingdom.'

He confesses even the defeat of his own men, and says:

But observe the prophet: in the case of his father, how disheartened he was, but here nothing of the sort;

but what does he say? 'Then Daniel answered, and said before the king:'

'Let your gift be to yourself, and give the reward of your house to another;'

'yet I will read the writing to the king, and make known to you its interpretation, O king.'

For what reason does he decline it? That you might learn that it is not on account of those things that he speaks.

For that he did not say these things simply out of anger [is shown by his words], 'But I,' he says, 'will read the writing, and will declare to the king its interpretation.'

Do you see him superior to riches, above honor, needing nothing of the king's things? Such ought those to be who speak the things of God.

That the king might not suppose that Daniel had drawn him over by this [reward], or that anything of what was said was of human motive.

What then does he say? Letting go of speaking the writing, he draws out counsel, from the very outset reminding him of the things that had befallen his father.

'The Most High God gave the kingdom and the majesty and the honor and the glory to Nebuchadnezzar your father.'

'And because of the majesty which He gave him, all peoples, tribes, and tongues were trembling and fearing before his face.'

'Those whom he wished, he himself slew; and those whom he wished, he himself smote; and those whom he wished, he himself abased.'

'And when his heart was lifted up and his spirit grew hard to deal proudly, he was brought down from the throne of his kingdom, and his honor was taken from him, and he was driven out from among men, and his heart was made like the beasts', and his dwelling was with wild asses, and they fed him grass like an ox, and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He wills.'

For if that man, he says, was without excuse, you, who after such an example were not brought to your senses, of what are you worthy, tell me? For you cannot even take refuge in ignorance.